The Alliance has seemingly gotten the short-end of the stick when compared to the Horde. While the Alliance does offer some unique tools, it is hard to compare it to the current power of the ferocity allies that have been released. Add to the fact that cards like Shadala, Silea Dawnwalker, and now Tatulla the Reclaimer, and you can see why the Alliance may have been pushed aside. The faction has plenty of good tools, but when compared to the best that the Horde have, it just comes up a little short.

If there is one thing that the Alliance really has going for it, it is the untargetable keyword. They keyword is the bane of a lot of players and their deck ideas and can often lead to a deck containing a few untargetable allies steam rolling lots of different strategies. Believe it or not, I'm not going to talk about any of those allies. By now, you know Apprentice Merry and Jeleane Nightbreeze are amazing, and many players have already discovered the usefulness of Myriam Starcaller. The Alliance has recently lost its unique trait of having the best end-game allies with the release of Ishanah, High Priestess of the Aldor and Varimatharas. But, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon adds a new tool to compete with these new giant allies.

Highlord Bolvar Fordragon's very existence screams “protector”. Your opponent is forced to attack him if the big ally remains on the field, and all of your opponent's abilities are forced to target him while he is in play. As a monster with 8 ATK and 8 health, it's not going to be very easy to remove the Highlord from the field without the aid of solid removal.

There are actually a few things to keep in mind with the Highlord. First of all, while this guy's effect is the ultimate form of protection, he actually doesn't have the protector keyword. This is a huge boon to Highlord's viability, since it lets him dodge any effects that hate on protectors such as the new traitor Warrior's flip power. It also means he can “protect” more than once per turn since he will always be the first target your opponent has to go after, even if they've attacked him once. That is often the disadvantage to protectors, but this is not so with Highlord Bolvar Fordragon.

Another useful aspect to Highlord's effect is how all opposing abilities and effects must target him. This goes far beyond eating a few Mortal Strikes or Wraths. Opponents can't play anything that targets anything on their side of the field either. For example, your opponent may be a Paladin. They want to play Blessing of Wisdom. However, they can't target their hero since Blessing of Wisdom can only target your Highlord. Therefore, if you have Highlord Bolvar Fordragon in play, then your opponent can't actually play their Blessing of Wisdom without giving its effect to you. The same goes for tricks like Earth Mother's Blessing, which can target any ally. Only effects that specify friendly heroes and allies or characters in your party can dodge Highlord's effect.

That being said, the Highlord Bolvar Fardragon can be a very powerful ally in the later stages of the game. Against decks like Form of the Serpent, he will cause plenty of problems since Cyclone doesn't actually keep the Highlord from doing his job of taking all the attacks and effects. The Druid player will still be forced to go through your giant ally. The same goes for Boomkin, as they are still forces to waste 8 or more points of burn on one of your allies. Warriors will have similar troubles, being forces to commit to a Heroic Strike turn just to get over your Highlord. This is a great way to take advantage of your opponent, since Highlord will force opponents to play differently to take him out. If a Warrior commits to using Heroic Strike, then your deck can be built to counter these plans. Paladins have Blessing of Freedom as well as Hammer of Justice, while Druids have Cyclone to stop the Warrior in their tracks. All decks have access to Hardpacked Snowball, and even if they threw the snowball at your Highlord, they'd still be forced to attack your 8/8 ally!

Control decks will also have some problems staring down your Highlord. The priest discard deck has to use The Bringer of Death to remove him, or else their win condition won't actually kick in with Voidfire Wand (you can play around Melt Face by simply having an ally in play). Warlocks admittedly offer more troubles to the Highlord player, but in a Paladin deck, the Highlord will still have protection via Blessing of Freedom in regards to things like Shred Soul (if they play Invoke the Nether, then you are probably out of luck). Paladins can't play their key card-drawing device, Blessing of Wisdom, while Highlord Bolvar Fardragon is in play either, so more than his immense size will be problematic for that class as well.

I've already mentioned a few nifty cards that work nicely with the Highlord. Paladins obviously have a lot of tools for supporting allies, with Blessing of Freedom being one of the best. Cards like Flash of Light and Blessing of Protection offer some uses with Highlord as well, but Redemption is probably one of the best to use Highlord with. Having your opponent destroy your massive 8/8 ally only to have it returned to play is devastating, and the fact that Redemption is great with Weeble, Narthadus, and Stella Forgebane only makes the Paladin a better class when it comes to maximizing the strengths of Highlord Bolvar Fordragon. Priests also have Resurrection and Power Word: Shield, making them good choices too.

Allies can also prove to be good back-up to your Highlord. Protectors will always have the option to step in and take an attack for Highlord Bolvar Fardragon if needed, so cheap and efficient protectors are great with the giant ally. One particularly good ally of note is Antikron the Unyielding, who can always act as Highlord's shield if he were to take an attack that would be too overwhelming. Marnie Moonlight is another good ally to pair with Highlord, as her large size makes her a pain to take out for aggressive decks and her effect can make anything (in this case, Highlord) a pain to take out period. Vindicator Zalreth from the Aldor line-up also gives you built-in Bringer of Death protection, allowing the Highlord to get back into play immediately following an activation from the field-wiping caster weapon.

Highlord Bolvar Fardragon is a particularly nasty new addition to the Alliance line-up of big dudes. His effect is powerful, and makes him the ultimate protector. Chances are you are not going to lose your hero while Highlord is in play, making a protective strategy of keeping Highlord alive a very interesting late-game to look towards. His effect will give all sorts of aggressive decks fits, while his big size and effect will be a major hindrance to control decks as well. With the benefits that come from running an Alliance Paladin, I am curious as to whether Highlord Bolvar Fardragon will see play at the Realm Championships taking place this weekend. It's certainly possible, and as one of the better Alliance cards to be released recently, it wouldn't be too shocking if the Highlord Bolvar Fardragon made a splash at some of the coming constructed events.