I'm Rooting For You - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Submitted 4 years, 1 month ago by
ShadowsOfSense
Competition Theme: I'm Rooting For You
It's time to enter the Tavern! The best minions have to be versatile, after all.
- You must create a minion which will appear in both traditional Hearthstone and Battlegrounds
- You will need to submit two cards - one with a normal mana cost, and one with a Battlegrounds Tier
- A comprehensive guide on how to create a Battlegrounds card in Hearthcards can be found here, but to summarise, you need to click the small settings option between the input and the preview
Wailor wants us to take on the Battlegrounds this week, so make sure your minions are ready to fight!
As always, I can be reached through Discord or here on the site via PM if you have any issues to report.
Competition Phases
Here are the phases of this card design competition
- Submission Phase: Starts on Mon, Oct 26 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Sat, Oct 31 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
- Voting Phase: Starts on Sat, Oct 31 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Sun, Nov 1 16:00 EST (GMT -0500)
- Finalist Phase: Starts on Sun, Nov 1 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Mon, Nov 2 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
- Winner Selected: After finalist voting concludes and we validate votes.
Discussion Thread Rules
No thread rules were added to this season. Please populate and manually edit this thread with them.
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Competition Theme: I'm Rooting For You
It's time to enter the Tavern! The best minions have to be versatile, after all.
Wailor wants us to take on the Battlegrounds this week, so make sure your minions are ready to fight!
As always, I can be reached through Discord or here on the site via PM if you have any issues to report.
Competition Phases
Here are the phases of this card design competition
Discussion Thread Rules
No thread rules were added to this season. Please populate and manually edit this thread with them.
Welcome to the site!
Sinti created this helpful one-stop image for creating a Battlegrounds card in Hearthcards if you don't want to read the full guide.
Click through to settings, set the Tavern Tier and don't give your minion a mana cost! Simple.
Welcome to the site!
I really like this prompt. Takes usage of a feature that hasn't been used in a comp yet. I'm pretty sure this is actually the first time Golden cards actually now have a practical purpose in comps.
Naturewalker is my first idea. The card is very flexible in the number of decks it can go in, allowing basic support for any tribal deck. Thus, it is also flexible for any tribal strategy in Battlegrounds.
The initial +1/+1 buff can be used on a minion with no type, although this will not grant your other no type minions the "global" +1/+1 buff as "no type" is not really a type.
If the Battlecry is used on an Amalgam, my guess is that it would probably detect with type is most prevalent in your hand, deck, and battlefield at the time and buff that. Or it could very well buff every tribal minion you have as options to do this are extremely limited.
My idea brings together Freeze Shaman, an archetype that never got off the ground, with Freezing in Battlegrounds, an aspect of the game that hasn't really been explored fully.
Herald of Winter can be most readily compared to Ethereal Arcanist, except it requires more work than simply casting a Secret and sitting on it. The Arcanist is also a Classic minion, so I think I can get away with -1 on the Cost.
I have two ideas for this so far:
Feedback (so far):
Demonxz95
All in all, I like the card, even if it feels a bit bland in terms of flavor. However, that's pretty common amongst BG cards, so it's not that big of a deal either.
linkblade91
In Constructed, it would certainly be a part of Freeze Shaman if that deck was viable, which could happen if it had more Freeze activators.
In Battlegrounds, I like the strategic factor of weighting whether it's worthwhile to Freeze a bad board or not. It's certainly more interesting than other self-scalating cards like Hangry Dragon or Goldgrubber, which just require you to do stuff you want to do anyways. Also, the fact it synergizes with Stasis Elemental makes it a believable part of the Elemental tribe.
I wanted to both give more support to Pirates in Battlegrounds and make Pirate rogue more viable. In constructed, this card has several uses. As part of the Witchwood set, it would help make cards like Cursed Castaway potentially viable. It also has synergy with Captain Hooktusk (you can play Ghost ship the turn before, then play Captain Hooktusk, sacrifice your Pirates and the Ghost Ship and get 1 Health copies of them back) which makes it feel at home in the Year of the Raven. As a Deathrattle unit, it could also work in some versions of Deathrattle Rogue.
In Battlegrounds, this minion is sort of a mix between Kangor's Apprentice and Soul Juggler, in that it provides a bonus for a certain tribe of allies dying. It also has the Stealth keyword, which would work exactly like in constructed Hearthstone (it can't be attacked until it attacks a minion). This makes it much less vulnerable to being taken out early due to RNG, which I think makes it a unique and powerful card. At Tier 4, this consistency should be balanced. The ship also summons minions at 1 Health remaining, which means that they are vulnerable to token boards and need cards like [Hearthstone Card (Great Admiral Eliza) Not Found] to survive. At Golden it summons the units at full health, which is very powerful but balanced by the card being hard to triple as a Tier 4 unit. I could definitely see changing it to summoning them at 2 remaining Health if that feels more appropriate and balanced.
Early feedback:
CursedParrot - This seems better than the boat that currently exists in BG lol. Stealth guarantees it will attack last without being disturbed, after your Pirates have perished, and it could summon more than 3 Pirates if you're going full-up with the minion type. I assume it does not revive minions with their enchantments intact - that would be bonkers - but it still looks super powerful at first glance.
Wailor - I like Radiant First Mate: her Constructed iteration is flavorful, and she could be quite strong with a large Goldgrubber or Salty Looter in BG. Shirvallah's Disciple scares me; not just with an Amalgadon, but straight-up copying a giant minion like the aforementioned Goldgrubber without any additional effort seems really cheap.
Demonxz95 - I will echo Wailor's sentiments about bland flavor and the potential to cloud the distinct lines between BG minion types. That said it could be neat in a tribal Constructed deck, which I like to play. If used on Nightmare Amalgam/Amalgadon, I have to assume it would only buff minions with the "All" type (as that is technically its own distinct thing; Amalgadon counts itself when it checks the minion types you own). I would want it to buff all types, but I doubt it would be coded that way.
Ooooh I love this design theme. I might actually try to submit a card. Also be careful of cards that give divine shields or copy enchantments... Amalgadon is a card that exists and is rather problematic as well. Especially Divine Shield, it can make or break a card
This ain't no place for a hero
Here's my first idea, with the concept that the power level is radically different depending on which mode you play it in: constructed it's a decent 1-drop that can set up a turn two if you don't have any 2-cost cards, but in BG it's way more powerful due to the better hero powers you can acquire (although it's still dependent on which class you get). It also brings a DH minion to BG which hasn't happened yet.
Feedback time:
CursedParrot: That is way too powerful for Rank 4, even at Rank 6 Kangor's Apprentice can only summon 2 minions back. Plus with Stealth there's no hope of your opponent taking it out before you clear the rest of the board. Ditch the Stealth, rank it up, and limit the amount of Pirates (and use friendly and turn instead of ally and round in the text). I'm also not sure how useful this would be in constructed.
Wailor: Radiant First Mate may be too powerful for BG since Divine Shields can be devastating on the wrong cards. You could always give it to a random Pirate to make it less powerful, but I'm still not sure. I think Shirvallah's Disciple would be fine at Rank 6, Rank 5 seems a little too quick.
linkblade91: I love anything Freeze Shaman so you already hooked me with that, but it's still pretty interesting on its own since you might have to choose between freezing a bad board or losing a buff. I like it a lot.
Demonxz95: I like the idea, but I'd prefer it to be a particular tribe since BG doesn't really use cards with broad tribe effects like this. It's not bad, but I'm not really feeling it in the current version.
-Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)
Check out the Tactician custom class!
Here's my idea:
Mechs are really weak right now in BG, so I decided to give 'em a boost. I'm also thinking of using the regular version in the Halloween competition.
Feedback:
Hordaki: Garrison Commander. I could see Blizz printing your version, but it's probably more likely they just bring the Commander to BGs.
CursedParrot: 'Round' is pretty much exclusive to BGs, the word you're looking for is 'turn'. Look at Cobalt Scalebane. The card is fine in constructed, but I can see it being really broken in BGs. Maybe make it Tier 5.
Wailor: Radiant First Mate looks cool, but the idea of Piratedin makes me shake in me boots. Shirvallah's Disciple is better, but I'd make it cost 5 for the regular version. Funny enough, the latter would also copy Magnetics.
linkblade91: LOVE IT! Give Freeze Shaman some support!
Demonxz95: I like it. Really nice support for pretty much every comp except Menagerie in BGs, and card is fine in Constructed.
I'll probably scrap both cards, since Radiant First Mate is broken with Goldgrubber (and Amalgadon, but that card is broken in general and already has Annoy-o-Module, so whatevs) and Shirvallah's Champion is probably a bad idea all around.
Meanwhile, here's some more feedback:
CursedParrot
If you change the text so that it says "turn", it wouldn't work either, because turns in Battlegrounds only refer to the Recruit phase (see Iron Sensei, Micro Machine or Lightfang Enforcer)
Hordaki
That said, I don't like how this card is completely useless for many heroes.
Nirast
It's like half a Kangor's Apprentice with the benefit of not depending on attack RNG nor taking up a slot in the board. I'd bump its Tavern Tier to 5 so that it is more scarce.
Feedback
Linkblade91 - Judging by the three upvotes you already have in the Discussion Topic, it seems like you're in pretty good shape. :) It's creative in that it works differently in both modes. I wouldn't mind seeing other Freeze synergy in Battlegrounds.
Wailor - Radiant First Mate seems fine. Pirates are not really a Paladin thing, but I suppose it would make sense in whatever set it would be a part of. Shirvallah's Champion is a neat Constructed card, but you are probably right in your worries about Battlegrounds. Not just for Amalgadon, but also Pogo-Hopper would get good use out of this.
CursedParrot - You should use "turn" instead of "round" since the latter is BG-specific terminology. It's not too powerful for Constructed, but it definitely could be for BG. I feel like the upgrade you get in Golden is also not very intuitive.
Hordaki - Good Constructed card, but I will have to agree with Nirast in that Team 5 would probably just add Garrison Commander instead if they really wanted this effect in BG. Something I don't like though is how it's completely useless with some heroes who have a Passive Hero Power or one with very limited uses.
Nirast - Very neat card in the Halloween comp, and it actually works well here too. I'm not sure if you should submit it for both comps at the same time though.
I think this prompt is too complicated. There should be more people posting ideas by this point :/ Anyways, I came up with a newer one which is hopefully less broken.
Prompt is pretty simple, i thought about making a submission, but i don't really care about battlegrounds.
Living like that.
It's simple, but hard to come up with interesting ideas for it.
I'm the one who suggested it, btw, so it was self-criticism, mostly 😂
Not sure how much is "This is too complicated!" and how much is "Ygh, I need to make the same card twice!", since hearthcards resets the maker once the card is created.
Demon support, thoughts?
Ever wonder what the rumble Run cards would be like in the HS world, well wonder no more and look at the custom collection created to solve that question in Rumble Run Returns! http://www.hearthcards.net/setsandclasses/#5363
You seemed to have imported the images wrong. No worries though.
As for the card itself, it relies on way too much of a broad spectrum of randomness to be useful. Demons have such a huge range of sizes. The card could easily a 3 mana 1/1 with a downside if you get a small Demon (which as a small Demon itself, makes that more likely), or makes it exponentially powerful if you get something like Enhanced Dreadlord.
I wouldn't go with this.
What if I changed Ghost Ship to:
3 Mana (Tier 3) 4/2 Stealth. Deathrattle: Summon a 2/1 Drowned Soul with Rush for each friendly Pirate that died this turn.
The Drowned Soul would be a Pirate so it still synergizes with Pirate synergy cards, but it wouldn’t be as powerful as a 1 Health copy. In constructed it’s a Jungle Panther with Pirate and Deathrattle synergy (the 2/1 having Rush makes it fairly powerful).
Feedback:
Naturewalker: I love it! The only suggestion I would make it to potentially change it to a 3 Mana 2/3 and make it only buff the units on your board, because the “wherever” part seems like it could be a highroll in constructed if you get it early.
Herald of Winter: I like the idea of Frozen synergy, but I think it might scale too little (and just gaining stats is a bit boring). Maybe something like “at the end of your turn, add a copy of the Frozen minion with the highest attack to your hand” could be more interesting.
Shadowmoon Adept: I like the concept but I worry that it could limit the design space of Battlegrounds Hero Powers. Maybe just “Battlecry: Refresh your Hero Power” could be less problematic.
Recycling Module: This one’s really cool! If you wanted to nerf it a bit you could make it summon a 1/1 or 2/2 copy (and you’d increase the Module’s stats).
Breathtaking Apparition: This seems like it could shut down a lot of BG strategies, but I guess that’s okay for a tech card. Maybe something like “When this attacks a minion, remove its keywords” could be better (so it just counters Divine Shield and Poisonous).
Simple Imp: It seems way too random, maybe it should be a 3/4 and transform an ally into your highest attack Demon instead.
At this rate, everyone will be a finalist because we won't have enough people lol. Some more feedback:
CursedParrot - That seems a little better, but Stealth and BG just don't mix, in my opinion. Plus the Rush doesn't play a part in BG, either, so its inclusion as a BG card is kind of weird.
Pokeniner - I agree with Demon.
Wailor - Silence in BG would be super powerful, but at least it's a Tier-6 minion and requires attacking. I hate the orphaned "it" at the bottom of the golden card, but that can't really be helped. All-in-all, I could see this minion in BG.
Nirast - Recycling Module is quite interesting; I was tinkering with a similar idea for my Lich class' Boomsday set, but I couldn't get the wording down. While anything could benefit the Mechs right about now, I don't know if this is enough: sure you can use it on a Deflect-o-Bot or Foe Reaper 4000, but is that the kind of help they need? They've got a bunch of Deathrattles as well, so resurrects are nice, but Kangor's Apprentice does that already. All-in-all the card is fine, I suppose; I just think Mechs need something more…dramatic. Or drastic. One of the two.
Hordaki - I don't like this card because it's literally useless for a number of BG characters, while it could be game-winning for the others. BG is balanced in-part based on the Hero Powers being used once: if The Lich King can put Reborn on two people, or Maiev can lock down two minions a round, that would seriously escalate how good they are. I will also echo the Garrison Commander sentiment the others have mentioned.
Here's my second idea (The Ghost Ship seems like a fundamentally flawed design):
(The Golden version would read "At the end of your turn, add a copy of 2 different Frozen minions to your hand," so that it can't get you triples really quickly)
In constructed, this would be a Freeze Mage and Freeze Shaman support card (because it would be part of the KotFT expansion). As a 1/5 it should have some chance of seeing play. In Battlegrounds it is similar to Gentle Djinni, but instead of always giving you a valuable card, it will likely give you something random. Additionally, because it forces you to Freeze it essentially "costs" 1 Gold (because you miss out on a reroll), making it similar to Rafaam's Hero Power. I think that it should maybe be at Tier 4 because of it's gold over time value, but I would prefer to keep it at Tier 3 if that isn't game breaking.
EDIT: It also forces you to keep a 1/5 on your board, which is far worse than Gentle Djinni at Tier 5. Between the unreliability, the 1 Gold "cost," and the cost in making your boardstate worse, I think that this would be balanced.
Sorry guys and gals, I'm having a nice 60 hours week, fighting covid in a task force at my working place. On top of that, I hardly ever play Battlegrounds. If inspiration strikes tomorrow, I'll slip something in, but that won't be of any quality. I'll participate in the voting, though!
I notice I am confused. Something I believe isn't true. How do I know what I think I know?
Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, hpmor.com
I got a sudden idea and slid into the submissions without asking for feedback because lack of time. I hope you'll like my Rogue Admiral!
Keep up with that, man :)
Few hours left for submissions, if anyone still working on a card, you better hurry! :)
@anchorm4n: stay strong! <3
~ Have an idea? Found a bug? Let us know! ~
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I'm happy to say that I've managed to submit last minute after all. I'm happy with my idea, I hope you like it, too.
My favorite submissions so far are Satyr Gang Leader, Evolfin (great pun!) and Shadowmoon Adept.
Also thanks for your kind words. Stay strong everybody!
I notice I am confused. Something I believe isn't true. How do I know what I think I know?
Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, hpmor.com
Good luck to our finalists!
Good luck, guys! I really like all finalists this week :D
Kinda sad my card didn't make it, but it's easy to see why lol
Congratulations to our very own Frosty :D
Congrats, Frosty!
It feels like it has been a while since we've had a winner that didn't come out first place in the first voting round. So I was wondering if that would change if the finalists got displayed in random order on the second voting page. Might be worth a try in season 3.
I notice I am confused. Something I believe isn't true. How do I know what I think I know?
Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, hpmor.com
Unexpected victory, but I'll take it! Thanks to everyone who voted.
I guess I'll have to come up with a fun theme for next week, no pressure...
This is actually something that both of us noticed. For the most part had a very mixed bag of cards with a different finalist voting position versus their top 8 positions in the first round, whereas season 2 has mostly just been whoever makes it to the top of the initial voting will also be the top of the finalist voting. Why this is happening now, I'm not so sure
Oh, and congrats Frosty. Pretty good win!