The Audiopocalypse mini-set is an extra addition to Hearthstone's music-themed Festival of Legends expansion. Thanks to their small card pool, mini-sets can be somewhat hit-or-miss when it comes to their impact on the meta. If the cards are too weak, a mini-set can come and go without anyone really even noticing.
However, Audiopocalypse came with several minions that made an immediate impact. It helps that many of the new minions are dual-class cards, giving them more opportunities to see play. But of course, some are better than others. Here are the strongest minions from this musical mini-set.
10 Jukebox Totem
The ability to summon free Silver Hand Recruits each turn can create a significant amount of stats over time. Being both a Totem and summoning Recruits is an interesting combination of effects, but while there are many synergies focused around both minion types, there isn’t really a deck that wants both.
However, there are Paladin and Shaman decks that want to create wide boards, and Jukebox Totem is perfect for that. As a result, it has seen some play in Pure Paladin lists, and it wouldn't be too surprising if it finds a home in other decks as well.
9 Elite Tauren Champion
Elite Tauren Champion is certainly a fun card, which is why it has seen a great deal of experimentation. When its Finale effect is triggered, it gives your opponent an unplayable card that will deal eight damage to them if they don’t use all their mana. If they do, the card will be handed to you, dealing two extra damage. The process repeats until someone fails to meet the condition.
If this effect does deal eight or more damage to your opponent, it will be absolutely incredible. However, you do risk hurting yourself, especially in an aggressive deck, as you often won't be spending all your mana after turn five. And that's the sort of deck where this effect will be most useful.
8 Fanottem, Lord of the Opera
Fanottem, Lord of the Opera is one of the most interesting cards released in recent years. At a base cost of thirty mana, it will be some time before you can summon him at all, let alone for a reasonable cost, even with Warlock’s Hero Power allowing you to draw through your deck more quickly than in other classes.
Fortunately, Warlocks have a way around this problem: The Jailer, a card that destroys your deck to make your minions Immune. As a result, Fanottem will be free and unkillable. Warlock decks that were already running The Jailer before Audiopocalypse launched have often found ways to include Fanottem, either directly or as one of the three extra minions you can choose from E.T.C., Band Manager.
7 Costumed Singer
A Mage and Hunter Dual-Class card, Costumed Singer is at its best in a deck with Secrets, which both Mage and Hunter have plenty of. It always guarantees at least one draw, and potentially more if it survives your opponent’s turn. This effect thins your deck and also makes sure you have a Secret to activate any synergy you might have.
Neither of Costumed Singer’s classes are particularly focused on Secrets at the moment, but both do find ways to include them occasionally. Secret Mage isn’t exactly a top-tier deck, but it’s not unplayable either, and some variants of Big Beast Hunter include a Secret package. And if either class gets more Secret support in future expansions, Costumed Singer will only get better.
6 Yelling Yodeler
Triggering a Deathrattle’s effect twice can be exceptionally powerful. Your opponents are often incentivized to avoid hitting your Deathrattle minions, but the existence of Yelling Yodeler forces them to choose between giving you value in the moment or risking you getting an even bigger tempo swing if Yodeler is in your hand.
Unfortunately, neither of the Yodeler's two classes have much Deathrattle synergy at the moment. However, while Hunter hasn't found a place for it at all, Unholy Death Knight has seen some success with the minion. Additionally, even if the Yodeler isn't dominating the meta at the moment, any Deathrattle minions released in future sets will be far stronger because of its effect.
5 Remixed Totemcarver
Each turn it’s in your hand, Remixed Totemcarver switches to one of four minions, each summoning a different type of Totem. The options are Flametongue Totem, Mana Tide Totem, Jukebox Totem, or Stereo Totem. The randomness can put you in awkward situations occasionally, but all four variants are decent, with effects that include buffing minions, increasing your board presence, or drawing cards.
The Totemcarver is especially good in a Totem Shaman deck, which both buffs your Totems and benefits from summoning them, but any Shaman deck that wants to create a wide board can find a use for it.
4 Abyssal Bassist
Abyssal Bassist can be played in both Warrior and Demon Hunter, but has really only been run in Warrior decks. It’s particularly strong in Menagerie lists, which focus on playing minions of multiple different types. The Bassist is one of just two Demons that have ever been released for Warrior, and it’s the only one currently in Standard.
Aside from being a strong addition to the Menagerie playstyle, Abyssal Bassist also benefits from the several powerful weapons available to Warrior. You'll almost always be getting at least one discount from the Bassist's effect, if not more.
3 Magatha, Bane Of Music
Magatha, Bane of Music is obviously intended to be played in minion-heavy decks. That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to run zero spells, although that is an option some Magatha decks opt for. You just need to include few enough of them that you won’t draw them with Magatha most of the time.
Giving spells to your opponent is pretty much always going to be bad, even if they don’t synergize with their deck particularly well. But a five-mana 5/5 that gives you such an immense amount of card advantage, even if your opponent gets a spell or two, is why Magatha has seen play across multiple decks.
2 Backstage Bouncer
Backstage Bouncer is the dream card for a midrange deck. It has solid base stats (it’s a Chillwind Yeti, for those who have been playing Hearthstone since the beginning) and comes with Taunt for a bit of extra protection. And its Battlecry gives the Bouncer even more board presence, allowing you to turn a weak minion into a beefy frog. It can be used on a minion that had a useful Battlecry and low stats, one that has already taken significant damage, or, if you’re playing Shaman, on one of your Totems.
Given its power level, it shouldn’t be too surprising that Backstage Bouncer has proven to be strong in both Warrior and Shaman decks. Totem Shaman and Menagerie Warrior value the raw stats the Bouncer can provide, and the latter deck also benefits from the minion being a Beast.
1 Hollow Hound
Even in its base form, Hollow Hound is the ultimate comeback card. It can take out small boards while simultaneously healing you for a significant amount. And its impact gets increasingly impressive the more you buff it. The Hound has seen play in some Control Death Knight decks, which have some hand-buffing cards and can use it as another form of removal.
However, Hollow Hound has really found its niche in Big Beast Hunter, which has ways to buff it, cheat it out early, and resurrect it. The deck is focused on playing late-game minions and generally lacks board clears, so before Audiopocalypse released it struggled to weather the storm against aggro decks. Hollow Hound's combination of abilities made it the perfect solution to that problem.