I just played a few more matches against a couple of Hunters, 1 Warlock and 2 Paladins. I won the first four and lost my last one against a paladin so now I'm at Rank 13.During these games I was able to use Fan of Knives to completely wipe the minions from my opponents' board on turns 3 & 4. My opponents were putting the pressure on with cheap (low mana cost) minions and Fan of Knives was largely the reason I won those matches.
The funny thing is that when I first started playing the Rogue class I thought this card was pretty much useless. Wow, I thought, spend 3 Mana and deal 1 damage to each enemy minion. I get to draw a card, but they still have board control on me and I deal no damage to their hero. How could Fan of Knives ever be useful in any Rogue deck?
Fan of Knives Can Be Buffed!
After learning more about the game, I realized that Fan of Knives was a spell and therefore benefited from +Spell Damage. I immediately changed my deck to add more minions with low mana costs that had +Spell Damage like the Kobold Geomancer and Dalaran Mage.
Through experience I found that I could safely get out one or both each of these minions, especially if my opponent is going straight for direct Hero damage. I also found that most opponents don't try very hard to kill the Dalaran Mage early on. Being that it has 4 Life and only 1 Attack I believe that most don't feel it is a big threat or that it is even worth wasting minions/spells to kill.
Dealing With The Pressure of Low Cost Enemy Minions
Luckily most enemy minions that have a low mana cost and higher attack usually have only 1 or 2 health. However, by turns 2 & 3 players can have 3-4 of these minions on the board, putting extreme pressure on early in the match. For players that don't have taunt or low cost AOE (Area of Effect) spells this can be a huge headache and many times can cost them the match.I usually wait for my opponent to play 3, sometimes even 4 low cost minions depending how much total attack the minions have (5 ATK total is usually the max I will wait for). I then play the Kobold Geomancer, Backstab any Minion over 3 health and then use Fan of Knives.
This immediately deals 2 damage to all enemy Minions and wipes the board leaving the Kobold Geomancer still intact. My Hero does end up taking some (about 3 - 6) damage, but I end up with more cards and board control out of the exchange.
When is Fan of Knives Most Useful?
I've found that this strategy works exceptionally well against Hunters and Warlocks who often try to get low cost Minions out as quickly as possible. The best situation I've been in was when I had a Kobold Geomancer already on the board and Fan of Knives, Preparation, Dalaran Mage in my hand.
The Hunter had played Timber Wolf, Dire Wolf Alpha & Ironfur Grizzly on turns 1, 2 and 3 (9 Total Attack on the board). I played the Dalaran Mage for all three of my Mana and then I was able to use Preparation to play Fan of Knives for free! I cleared all of his minions and still had my Kobold Geomancer & Dalaran Mage in play.
There are many different strategies that can be employed using Fan of Knives, and this is just an example that works for me. I find that experimenting with new deck builds and strategy is a great way to gain experience and improve your hearthstone skills.
Please comment below if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or ideas related to Fan of Knives. Thank you for reading!
