Hearthstone
In The Swing Of Things - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Submitted 4 years ago by
ShadowsOfSense
Competition Theme: In The Swing Of Things
We're taking a swing at a rarely done type of weapon this week!
- You must create a weapon with 1 Durability
- There are very few examples in-game, so you can get creative!
We have linkblade91 up to the plate this week for our theme - let's see how they end up swinging!
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, Dec 7 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Sat, Dec 12 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
- Voting Phase: Starts on Sat, Dec 12 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Sun, Dec 13 16:00 EST (GMT -0500)
- Finalist Phase: Starts on Sun, Dec 13 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Mon, Dec 14 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
- Winner Selected: After finalist voting concludes and we validate votes.
Discussion Thread Rules
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Competition Theme: In The Swing Of Things
We're taking a swing at a rarely done type of weapon this week!
We have linkblade91 up to the plate this week for our theme - let's see how they end up swinging!
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!
Actually got a large number of ideas for this one, early too:
Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire, is a sentient weapon that whispers in your mind, driving you to madness. Gameplay-wise, it's the return of Shadow Priest, encouraging you to use cards like Shadowbomber, Spawn of Shadows, and/or Knife Vendor. Damage both heroes, than heal yourself back up with Xal'atath!
Still wondering if I have phrased it correctly. I want you to hurt yourself via the cards above, and not just trade into minions for the Durability. Edit: Maybe this second one is better?
Balancing tweaks will need to be accounted for, but this is the permanent weapon.
And if you're wondering about somehow equipping another Everlast while you have one already, then don't worry because this interaction can easily be hard-coded to not loop.
Here's my first idea, which... Kinda breaks the rules (but so does Molten Blade, so I guess it's fine).
The card is supposed to be a pun on mirror maze. The first one is more fitting in terms of class identity, while the second one allows me to put it in Darkmoon (which makes sense, because of the mirror maze thing). For the second version, I chose Shaman because they use hammers and have a lot of transform effects (Rogue would probably be more fitting, but they don't use hammers and I think the pun is the most interesting aspect of my card).
EDIT: I'll give some feedback, since several people has posted since I started writing this.
Nirast
Worgen Claw is probably my second option, even if it seems a bit weak. The base form is probably worse than Fiery War Axe and the Comboed version is a 3 mana Light's Justice. I'd probably bump its Attack to 5.
Your other cards seem too complicated for my taste.
linkblade91
About the wording thing, I'd go with the first version.
Demonxz95
"The souls of the fallen shall burn again! This fel blade shall consume what's within!"
The purpose of this weapon is to possess your opponent's weapons in the blade, refurbishing it to be used again. If you fail to slay the minion, the blade breaks and can no longer resurrect itself. 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
A Shaman variation on the Stormhammer concept of conditional durability (although I gave this one less stats since the condition is easier to achieve).
Feedback time:
Pokeniner:There's an interesting idea here, but I don't know if it fits DH since (a) it's a weaker Twin Slice that can't synergize with other weapons like Twin Slice can, and (b) DH doesn't really have as much weapon synergy to make this work. Also you need to change the wording to "return this" instead of it since it sounds like you're copying the minion not the weapon.
Wailor: I'd go with the Paladin/Priest version since it fits the flavor of the card better.
Demonxz95: Interesting concept, although I wonder if it wouldn't fit better in Rogue than Warrior where they really value big weapons.
linkblade91: The right one works better, but Priest aggro weapons don't really make sense to me. You could reduce the cost and attack or make it a Warlock.
Nirast: A lot of weapons here. My favorite is Worgen Claw out of these since it's simple but effective, but The Harvester doesn't fit Druid to me (why would they want to cut down trees?) and the others are too wordy intheir current states.
-Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)
Check out the Tactician custom class!
Infusion Hammer is pretty simple design meant to push Elemental Shaman, an archetype I feel like should have been pushed more in the past. One elemental gets you an ok card, anything past that gets pretty good.
Xal'atoh is an often forgotten corrupt weapon next to the admittedly cooler Xal'atath. I wanted to make it for a greedy Control Warrior as a slow soft win-con via semi-infinite value. I'm pretty happy with the overall flavor, being similar to-referencing Gorehowl while synergizing with Y'shaarj, but the balance is definitely something I'm not 100% on.
New idea!
First idea, not happy with the art yet but I wanted to hear your thoughts about the balance and the effect. I've decided to put it in Rogue because they got some weapon support in Scholomance.
Will add feedback in roughly 12 hours.
Edit: Second idea. A bit wordy, but intriguing. Which one do you prefer and why?
Edit 2: Simpler version, might be OP 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
New idea:
You can either use this to remove a minion immediately, of hold it to hit the enemy in the face at the end of your turn, bypassing Taunt.
Feedback:
anchorm4n: Balanced Blade is an interesting one, as the weapon would get weaker and weaker. I feel it's a tad strong right now, with 15 total damage for 5 mana. [Hearthstone Card (Self-Shaperinig Sword) Not Found] is 10 damage for 3, but you have to work your way up to the large damage ammount. I'd make yours a 4 mana 4/1
The second Rendition of Staff of Souls looks better, I don't think it's OP. My issue is that there's no reason for the one Durability, I prefer the blade.
Demonxz95: Worgen Fangs looks ok. I already told you my opinion on Everlast.
BloodMefist: Infusion Hammer looks ok, the most obvious design for a 1-Durability weapon. I think the uncorrupted version is Xal'atoh is actually better, since you need to pay 7 mana constantly to play the Corrupt version. (assuming that's the one you get in hand).
Hordaki: Really like this one, nice job!
Pokeniner: Cool design, but I don't see DH having trouble getting the Deathrattle. Still, it's basically '2 mana: Gain 2 attack this turn', so I don't know how broken it is.
Wailor: I like the Pally/Priest version better, and I like it A LOT! Really nice design.
Some ideas
Feedback
Nirast
The Harvester - A decent idea, but Treant synergy didn't exist until The Boomsday Project, two sets from K&C, so be careful of that.
Shard of the Light - Not a bad card, but it seems a bit too complicated.
Worgen Claw - Flavorful, but both forms are quite weak.
Dragoncaller - Ignoring the error ("Driscover" instead of "Discover"), the effect seems… strange.
Staff of Origination - A decent idea, but it has 5 lines of text.
Savage Claw - This is actually good.
Of all your cards, The Harvester is my favorite one. Just fix the grammatical error ("losing" instead of "loosing") and change the watermark and it'll be good to go.
Linkblade91
Wailor
Pokeniner
Hordaki
BloodMefist
Anchorm4n
DavnanKillder
Right now, my plan is either 3 mana Everlast, or a 5 mana 2/1 Everlast.
First idea: something that has nothing to do with the Durability, just to be quirky
(Xal’atath chooses = HS A.I.)
Feedback later hopefully
Make The Cow King an alternate Warrior skin plz
Here's my first Idea.
Not realy satisfied with the Name tough ...
Challenge me ... when you're ready to duel a god!
The art is already taken by Aluneth.
But not only that, it's a Legendary weapon which did not exist until K&C and for a class that doesn't use weapons (which also didn't exist until K&C), so you should change the watermark.
Oh ok ... never knew it wasn't allowed to use old arts - i mean the primer even gets you to an art gallery full of old art from Hearthstone cards ... and is every art used in every competition new ? or at least not from Hearthstone?
Sure Mage does not have lot`s of Weapons but still got some :) - i decided to go with the Whisper of the Old Gods Watermark because of the Yogg Theme from the Weapon.
Guess i have to think of something else.
Challenge me ... when you're ready to duel a god!
Initial ideas:
Feedbacks Tonight :)
Feedback
fungusABao: A neutral weapon will probably cost you some points since they aren't a thing in HS right now. That said, The Card of Legend looks cool, but I don't get how The Orb of Eternity is supposed to work. Either it's super easy to break or not at all without weapon removal. I don't like both of these options, but maybe I don't understand the mechanic correctly.
FieselFitz: Yeah, we do usually use fresh art, taking up something that has already been printed will cost you lots of points. Try artstation.com and use very abstract search patterns. I recently noticed that you get lots of cool stuff if you look for "elemental", "dagger" or something similar. I still like the effect, although a Zuljin in Mage might end up OP.
DestroyerR: Even with your explanation I don't understand how the HS A. I. would choose a target. Maybe the "perfect" one, like with Zeph? The flavor is certainly there with Xal'atath being sentient but maybe you need to adjust the wording so the effect becomes more clear.
DavnanKillder: Midnight's Scythe is my favorite even if Warlock isn't a weapons class. You should add a comma after "card".
Nirast: Nice idea, but… Demon Hunter has access to so much attack buff right now that giving them another 4 hits with a guarantee to strike face even through taunts will probably cost you votes. Personally I even refrained from making a DH card for this competition at all (the idea was to make it a 1/1 that gains +1/+1 for each Soil Fragment in your deck). DH needs a nerf and people won't like more support for them until some kind of fix has been implemented. Worgen's Claw is nice but would be better at 3 Mana imho.
Demon: It's a cool idea but I'm having trouble identifying a Worgen in the art. Everything else is fine.
BloodMefist: I prefer Infusion Hammer. Cool idea and very nice art!
Hordaki: Really nice, I like it!
Pokeniner: The general idea is not bad, but paying 2 mana for 2 attack isn't good enough imho.
Wailor: The idea is great, but the execution is tough. Here's why: I prefer the Scholomance art, but I understand your reasoning about the flavor which puts it in Darkmoon. On top of that, it has enough burgle flavor to feel awkward in anything but Priest and Rogue. I'd probably go with a Scholomance Priest card because art carries you farther than puns imho.
linkblade: For your intended use, it would be essential to use the second version. It's a very cool idea, the only thing I can contribute is to suggest to make it a Warlock/Priest dual class card. That would fit both class identies and compliment the colouring.
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
Feedback (feel free to contest if you think it’s wrong):
Nirast
TH — -1 star for aesthetics (losing, not loosing. Also, the whole effect really should be written as something like “after you attack, destroy a friendly Treant to not lose Durability”), so 4/5
SotL — -1(?) star for idea (feels a little forced to have the first effect jammed in as an incentive to attack), so 4(5?)/5
WC — -1 star for aesthetics (weapon, not Weapon. And doesn’t really have any business being a Warrior card), so 4/5
DC — -1 star for idea (Battlecry effect feels unnecessary, second effect is just “if you attacked a minion), -1 star for balance (probably busted in any dragon deck, even non dragon decks thanks to the battlecry), -1 star for aesthetics (Discover, not Driscover), so 2/5
SoO — -1 star for aesthetics (text is cramped, effect has nothing to do with flavor), -1 star for idea (The effect seems to not really achieve anything), -1 for balance (5 Mana for random minions), so 2/5
SC — -1 star for balance (for hunter it’s strictly worse than 3 Mana deal 4 damage, which is pretty meh already for hunter), -1 star for aesthetics (really shouldn’t be a hunter card) so /5
linkblade91
Xal (Version 2 is better) — 5/5 [totally not biased [Xal’atath bros :^) [but seriously, nice]]]
EDIT: I think the dual class one is too good with warlocks array of self damage, so 4/5 on that on
Demonxz95
EL — -2 stars for critical fail on balance (you can never equip another weapon again, any weapon buff lasts only 1 attack if it doesn’t give Durability, 1-damage attacks isn’t worth it), so 3/5
WF — -1 star for aesthetics (I really like the fact you wanted to do different arts for the stages, but just changing the shade feels bad. Also, those are very clearly NOT worsen fangs), -1 star for idea (just a bit too boring for my taste), so 3/
Wailor
MM (1st one) — -1 star for aesthetics (don’t really see it being a priest card, better to make it Paladin only and MDF watermark), so 4/5
Pokeniner
PB — -1 star for aesthetics (hero, not Hero), -1 star for balance (2 is too expensive considering you keep replaying this, I’d say 1) so /5
Hordaki
SC — 5/5
BloodMefist
IH — 5/5
Xal — -1 star for aesthetics (that a WoW screenshot?), -1 star for balance (I think the non-corrupted version of this is too good at generating value, just the Corrupt effect would be interesting), so 3/5
anchorm4n
BB — -1 star for aesthetics (I agree, Art needs changing), -2 star for critical fail on idea (just Gorehowl effect if you think about it), so 3/5
SoS(V1) — -1 star for aesthetics (it’s REALLY wordy), -1 star for idea (bit too complex for my taste), so 3/5
SoS(V2) — -2 stars for critical fail on balance (that’s a loooooot of gas which you can use right when your turn starts), so 3/5
Saving my progress so one accident doesn’t erase everything, I’m still writing
Also, about your feedback @anchor4n: it shows a purple aura around your targeting spells, you now play them as non target spells and the A.I. targets whoever it would on a single player match. Would it be better to just straight up write “Hearthstone AI”? I feel like it would detract from the flavor a little bit, but idk
Make The Cow King an alternate Warrior skin plz
How's this for an update to Xal'atath? Using the second wording so you cannot rely on minion trading for Durability, and it's a dual-class card to bring the Warlock into the mix with their combination theme. Would go really well with the three non-Legendary Priest/Warlock cards from Scholomance: Raise Dead, Brittlebone Destroyer, and Flesh Giant.
Feedback incoming.
Did someone say "Big Shaman support"?
Man, I don't think I've ever made this many cards for a comp. I really want a card where the 1 Durability matters, and I think this is it. Yeah, it's on the expensive side, and will probably rarely get as big as Doomhammer, but you also get a 1-mana large minion.
Edit: Idea that popped to mind after seeing DavnanKillder's Banishing Blade:
Feedback:
DavnanKillder - Banishing Blade is cool, but the Silence is irrelevant unless the minion has Deathrattle, since you'd trade anyway. Could be Paladin.
Vengeful Axe is a simple design, but it works.
Midnight's Scythe is also a great design, but since Warlocks don't use weapons, I wouldn't go with it, or I'd make it Legendary.
DestroyerR - Soooo, random targets? Unless it won't target badly (like Shadow Word: Death your own stuff). Interesting idea, I like that you can break it whenever.
FieselFitz - Try to find different art, since that's already in the game. Preferably something round, so you can call it "Wheel of Yogg-Saron"
fungusABao - The Card of Legend is [Hearthstone Card (The Golden Monkey) Not Found] for 1 mana. Orb of eternity is just gonna get you killed. Also, you should give them classes.
linkblade91 - I really like this version. Works pretty well.
It is generally frowned upon to use card from existing (collectible) cards when designing a custom card. Using art from PVE content can sometimes pass, but if you want to be sure, avoid that too.
Especially in competitions like ours, where the goal is to kinda create a card that could exist in the game, it wouldnt make sense if two cards shared the same art :)
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As promised:
fungusABao - I don't really get The Orb of Eternity, so I would stay away from that one. The Card of Legend is amusing, but is it worth using? Random Legendaries are less effective versus a deck you constructed yourself, unless you're in YOLO mode because the deck isn't working.
FieselFitz - Old art isn't against the rules, per se, but it is pretty obvious and people will notice the discrepancy. Most of us just Google and use what we can find, with the hope that it looks close to Hearthstone's visual design.
DestroyerR - Xal'atath bros :) Potential bias aside, I like this card. The flavor is on-point, given the sentience of the weapon, and it requires smart deck building and planning to mitigate the chances that things go off-script. Plus you can always use non-target spells like Spirit Lash to reap the benefits of the Spell Damage.
DavnanKillder -
Nirast - I think I still like The Harvester the most: it just has perfect flavor, and gives Treant Druid some extra punch.
anchorm4n - Balanced Blade seems really similar to Gorehowl. What benefit does the Durability-stacking have, versus just saying "loses Attack instead of Durability" like Gorehowl? It's still going to end up a 0/X weapon eventually. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the card. The first Staff of Souls is cool, but way too wordy. There's unfortunately no way around that, though, so it just might be too much for its own good. The second SoS is definitely strong, but I guess it gets my vote by default.
Demonxz95 - As I noted in Discord, I like Everlast more.
BloodMefist - Infusion Hammer is pretty straight-forward; I like it well enough. I think Xal'atoh has potential, creating an infinite cycle of Corrupt -> Play -> Get it back -> Corrupt, etc., but at 7-mana it's way too expensive for that. You would need to constantly have access to cards that cost 8+, then follow them up with a 7-mana one-swing weapon. Maybe if it cost, like, 4-mana, it would be better, and adjusted accordingly. You'd need to remove Gorehowl at that point, though.
Hordaki - A 2-mana Shaman weapon connected to Overloading seems too similar to Likkim, in my opinion. It's not exactly the same, of course, but their intended gameplay pattern is essentially the same.
Pokeniner - A recurring "possession" weapon is cool, but it boils down to "gain +2 Attack this turn", which the DH already has in Chaos Strike, among other things. It also clogs up their weapon slot when they'd rather use other weapons with effects like Flamereaper or the Lifesteal from Aldrachi Warblades. I just don't think it's worth it :(
Wailor - Mirror Mace is cool, although I wouldn't be a fan of the Priest wielding a Rogue weapon or a Warrior weapon; that's just weird. I think it makes more sense for the Shaman, plus I like the art for that one more.
Someone beat me to Xal'atoh, so I just went ahead with Infusion Hammer. I'll try to do feedback this week!
Feedback Here:
Nirast -
linkblade91 -
Demonxz95 -
Wailor -
Pokeniner -
Hordaki -
BloodMefist -
anchorm4n -
DavnanKillder -
DestroyerR -
FieselFitz -
And I would also like to respond to @anchon4n's feedback: Neutral Weapons does exist, I believe there is various noncollectible example as adventure Treasure cards and also a collectible legendary neutral weapon in the schoolomance which is Sphere of Sapience.
Also I'd like to explain a little bit about the machanic of the Orb of Eternity in my point of view : for instance, you are at full health and you used the Orb of Eternity, then you plays Raise Dead, you take 3 damage so your remaining health become 27. Then, the effect of Orb of Eternity took in place, switches the durability and the remaining health, that makes the durability of it become 27 and your remaining health become 1. If you takes damage for another time, then the your remaining health become negative, the effect take in place again, switch your health back to 27 and the durability become negative, the Orb broke. But if you heal yourself for 2 which makes your health become 3, then you take 1 damage, that make your remaining health become 2, the effect take in again and ends up being 27 health and 2 durability If the Machanic works like what I thought.
Bump of my previous cards (which people seem very divided about) and a new idea.
Also, I'm kinda surprised to see that several people seemed to think the first version doesn't fit Priest, since copying stuff has always been their thing. I mean, it's a weapon, but that's why it's also part Paladin...
Pokeniner
Hordaki
BloodMefist
Demonxz95
anchorm4n
Nirast
My main issue with it, however, is that it's much better in Demon Hunter than it is in regular Hunter. In DH, you can buff your hero for a lot of Attack, go face and then equip the weapon, effectively dealing double damage. In Hunter, however, it's kind of a Heroic Strike for 3 mana, which isn't great.
For this reason, I'd suggest giving this weapon to either of the classes and adjust the cost accordingly. I think either class would be fine, since it makes sense mechanically in both of them.
DalvanKillder
DestroyerR
FieselFritz
fungusABao
linkblade91
You should make it priest/warrior there's precedent for a class mechanic just to be given to warrior just because it's on a weapon ala Ceremonial Maul
Living like that.
I'm finding the theme really difficult, because I feel like its hard to justify a 1 durability weapon without thinking that a better version could be made with more durability. Anyways, here's what I have.
Feedback:
Wailor - Mirror Mace is cute, but I like Soul Eater even more. I wouldn't go with the Shaman version because I don't see how the effect fits in that class.
Nirast - I like The Harverster the most, the rest of the weapons are interesting but are harder to build around then they look and are quite complicated.
fungusABao - The fact that you had to write an long explanation of what The Orb of Eternity does and that I'm not sure that I still fully understand what it does is sign that the card is too complicated. I like the The Card of Legend, I would suggest making a cost reduction of some sort (like making the legendaries cost 1 less) as I don't think that card is powerful enough to run right now.
FieselFitz - I like the idea, but isn't Yogg Saron about randomness to the max? You going to know what spells are cast when you play this, which limits the randomness.
DestroyerR - I'm not sure about having spell damage permanently by holding your weapon, even it makes the target random. That being said, I like the creativity with the text.
DavnanKillder - I like Banishing Blade and Vengeful Axe. I think Midnight Scythe might undermine Warlock's weakness in limited healing a little too much.
anchorm4n - Balanced Blade: Isn't this Gorehowl, except that you can hit face multiple times with it? Its much too powerful for aggro decks if that's the case.
Staff of Souls: I like the second version a lot. The first version is too slow and narrow in my opinion.
Pokeniner - Cool idea. Reminds me of Headcrack kinda.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I also liked more of Midnight's Scythe, so if noy new ideas pops of, I will submit it. Changed the art and the rarity.
Edit:
Also, made some changes in Banishing Blade
Some feedback!!!
Wailor
Soul Eater looks very powerful, maybe chenge the cost to 6 ou the attack to 4?
Nirast
linkblade91
fungusABao
FieselFitz
DestroyerR
anchorm4n
Demonxz95
BloodMefist
Hordaki
Pokeniner
1-Durability weapons are a theme in my Alraune class, so I pushed for this prompt to see what people would do with such a limited scope. I wasn't bold enough to take advantage of it this time, but I liked the idea of people making a weapon that truly could only be swung once. I guess it's a bit of a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of thing lol.
Of your ideas, I like Detachable Blade the most. Talonclaw is too close to Val'anyr, in my opinion, and Poison-Tip Dagger isn't exciting. Conversely, I think Echo is a clever workaround for the weapon. Edit: Didn't think of Blackwater Pirate.
There's a huge problem with Detachable Blade.
Blackwater Pirate.
EDIT: I did just remember that Echo cards can no longer cost less than 1. But in the context of when The Witchwood was released, this interaction would still exist all the way until Descent of Dragons.
After a bit of brainstorming, here is my card:
I had a few other ideas such as gaining the durability if you played an elemental last turn, and then deathrattle buff an elemental in your hand. Or maybe gain two durability if you have a murloc, and deathrattle buff a murloc. It doesn't have to be frozen minions. But the idea is that you can gain durability to have an above-average weapon, but sometimes you may want to avoid getting the extra durability so that you can get the deathrattle sooner. I hope the design is interesting and good. And if you think it should interact with something other than frozen minions let me know.
Carrion, my wayward grub.
How about this one?
so you either get a slightly worse Darkbomb, or a free 3 damage attack which your opponent can play around. Do you prefer this or Xal’atath?
To clarify on how Xal’atath works: it’s NOT random. It’ll have the targetable spells glow in a purple aura, and you don’t get to drag the spell to a target (just like non-target spells). When you play it, the HS singleplayer AI will choose the target they think is best, and the spell will target that minion.
Some people said Spell Damage doesn’t really benefit Priest a lot, so how about this?
If I continue feedback I’ll finish the previous page in my past post then continue here
Make The Cow King an alternate Warrior skin plz
Thank you for all your feedback! It seems Balanced Blade needs some more explanation (which isn't a good sign in the first place).
1) I'm aware of the fact that the art is bad and it remains to be seen if I have the time to look for something better.
2) I know this is close to Gorehowl, that's why I've put it in Rogue instead of Warrior.
3) But then, a) you can go face with Balanced Blade without destroying it and b) Rogue has Doctor Krastinov, Vulpera Toxinblade and Deadly Poison in Standard with many more options to buff the Attack in Wild. Admittedly it needs some setup, but I think this is way more dangerous than Gorehowl.
4) I'll probably drop it to 4/4/1 or maybe even 3/3/1 so the card isn't so dangerous anymore and you don't lose too much tempo playing it at the same time.
That said, I really like the art of Staff of Souls. The issue with this card is that there's no good reason to put it at 1 Durability when Skull of the Man'ari has 3 - a problem several of us seem to be struggling with. I'll see if inspiration strikes and maybe rework the effect. As I've told one of you in my feedback, I'm of the opinion that good art carries you farther than a good idea.
Staff of Souls:
Oh hell, here's a third idea. I'm pretty sure this will not be received well because of the current state of Demon Hunter, but I need to get it out of my head. Feel free to prove me wrong :)
More feedback:
DestroyerR: I'm still having trouble with Xal'atath's mechanic. The one out I see here is something like "Xal'atath chooses the perfect target." - that way, people would associate the affect with Zeph and understand how it works. I still think it's a cool idea flavorwise. I'd also understand if you would drop the card because it is too risky and Pocket Knife is a nice one, too.
KANSAS: Nice art, nice idea. I'd probably rate it 4 stars right now.
DavnanKillder: Midnight's Scythe is very cool and ready to go imho. 4 stars for the time being, but a strong contender for a 5 stars rating.
grumpymonk: I prefer Detachable Blade. Nice idea!
Wailor: I'm still fine with Mirror Maze being in Priest. Soul Eater looks interesting, too, but I'm not sure if the Weapon would actually break if there are no more Soul Fragments left in your deck. Unstable Felbolt still works if you don't have a friendly minion on board, after all. An unbreakable Soul Eater without a drawback would be OP.
Nirast: Thunderfury looks cool. There's a little error in Vol'jin's Mojo: it isn't a minion (line 2).
linkblade: Looks great and ready to go. Instant 5 stars!
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
Feedback:
Wailor, I don't like it. Oozes are barely played since most of the time your opponent won't have a weapon for you to destroy, and at their base they are just bad vanilla minions. I don't see why copying your opponents weapon is any better. Soul eater is a very cool design, but it is seriously OP, especially in a class like Demon Hunter that can already whip out a ton of damage. Getting an extra 5 damage for each soul fragment makes every attack of this weapon equivalent to playing a [Hearthstone Card (Soul Shard Lapidary) Not Found] I would change it a 4 mana 3/1 or maybe a 2/1 weapon. I also think you could adjust the text to make it read better, but I am not exactly sure how.
Pokeniner, Maybe this is just because I am biased against Demon Hunters, but I don't like the idea of them being able to get a two damage ping over and over again with no real way for you to stop it. They can't attack face with it, which is a plus, but [Hearthstone Card (penflinger) Not Found] is bad enough, we don't need another small board control tool to help demon hunters stay ahead.
Hordaki, As you mentioned, it is very similar to Stormhammer, which some people may not like. But for the most part I think it is a very cool card. I really like the idea of overload shaman, and I would love to have a flexible weapon like this to help the deck out.
BloodMefist, I don't like Xal'Atoh. 7 mana for 7 damage is a very bad deal, and adding another 7 mana card to your hand barely makes it better. Most of the time you would prefer to just play Gorehowl instead of playing Xal'Atoh and then spending another 7 mana next turn. And corrupting a 7 mana card is a real pain, and the payoff is terrible since Xal'Atoh is a very underpowered card to start with. That being said, I do really like Infusion Hammer. It is good in terms of balanced and flavor, and I am always happy to see an under represented archetype get a cool card.
Demonxz95, In theory, I think this is a very cool way to make use of the "worgen" mechanic, but in practice I don't think it really works. On one side it is a slightly better version of Eviscerate, and on the other side it is a worse version of Light's Justice. One side is clearly better than the other, and neither side is particularly intersting.
DavnanKillder, Banishing Blade is neat, but I don't think it really fits this competition. It feels like it should be a spell, but is only a weapon because it has to be. I really like Vengeful Axe, but I think you should either reduce the durabilty buff to +1, or increase the cost to 3 wince getting a 3/3 weapon on turn 2 is a bit much. I am not a fan of Midnight's Scythe since warlocks only have one weapon (and Skull of the Man'ari was a special exception) so I don't think Warlocks should get an attack-based weapon out of the blue. The Forbidden Scroll is very, very OP. Any warlock would be fine spending 9 life on a voidlord, which gives them 18 life worth of taunts, or 8 life for an Enhanced Dreadlord, which gives them 7 life in taunts and minimum 5 life from the deathrattle.
fungusABoa, The Card of Legend, while a fun design in concept, is a terrible card in play. In almost no situation is a random legendary going to be better than the cards you placed in the deck yourself. And how does Orb of Eternity work? As it is written, you would take any amount of damage and be reduced to 1 life. So playing this card would have no effect other than killing you after two hits. Did you intend for it to say "whenever your hero takes damage" instead of "after your hero takes damage"? Because if so the result would be infinite life. If it says "after" then the damage would have to resolve before the effect can take place. So if you are at 1 health and take 2 damage, you would go to negative 1 life, die, then the effect of the weapon would resolve. But it is too late since you are dead.
Linkblade91, I like the design, but I am not sure how priest is supposed to use this aside from using Spawn of Shadows, Shadowbomber, or handful of other terrible niche neutral cards. Also, giving an attack-based weapon to two classes that don't use weapons may not go over well with some voters.
grumpymonk, Poison-Tip Dagger is not a bad design, but it is my least favorite of the three. I really like Detachable Blade since it makes good use of the Echo keyword, and also justifies the 1-durability, and is also very balanced. Talonclaw is another very creative design, but I think it is a bit OP at 2 mana. I would make it a 3 or 4 mana weapon, or maybe do what Paladins do and have it buff a guy in your hand. Also the deathrattle should say "Equip Talonclaw" not "Reequip this".
DestroyerR, Pocket Knife feels a bit strange. I think the trade-off of spending mana or getting initiative on the attack makes for some interesting game play, and it is also a handy combo activator. I do not like Xal'Atath though. Having your spells cost health instead of mana can make for some terrible combo plays. Priests will have no hard time finding a way to sling out 15 spells on turn 3 and still have most of their life remaining. And worse, you can get that benefit for the entire game. You don't get to pick the target of the spells, which balances it a little bit, but it isn't enough to negate the tremendous benefits of getting free spells. Also, the text alone doesn't really make it clear exactly what the card does, which is fine for some cards, but your card will get more stars if it doesn't require expaining.
anchorm4n, Balanced Blade it just a wordier version of Gorehowl. It works exactly the same way. The only difference is that you can attack face with it, allowing you to half your opponents life with this one card alone. Staff of Souls is pretty cool, but I think you should increase the cost to 4 mana. 3 seems like too little considering how many cards this can generate over the course of the game. I don't really like Blade of Souls. Partly because Soul Demon Hunter is already OP enough and they don't need another source of burst damage. But also partly because it feels too much like a spell masquerading as a weapon just to fit the theme.
Carrion, my wayward grub.
How about this for detachable blade, since its the one that people seem to like the most?
In the enviornment where echo cards can cost 0, it would take two [Hearthstone Card (Blackwater Pirates) Not Found] to go infinite, and it would cost 11 mana.
Actually it would still only cost 8. The two Blackwater Pirates and then the weapon itself costs 0 in your hand
@grumpymonk, personally, I think it is fine at 2 mana. That interaction doesn't exist anymore and if this card was printed in Witchwood then they probably would have just made that same change sooner and avoided any broken combos.
Carrion, my wayward grub.
I've scraped Mirror Mace, so I'll focus on Soul Eater instead. What do you think about the new wording? I think it's more accurate, but also blander in some way.
Feedback:
grumpymonk
DalvanKillder
DestroyerR
If you go with the former, you should definitely clarify the targeting system in your submission, since it's not clear by reading the card alone.
KANSAS
anchorm4n
About Blade of Souls, I don't like it because it feels like it should be a spell instead of a weapon. Also, it makes more sense as a pure DH card.
Do you think it would work better if the effect interacted with something else like Murlocs or Elementals?
Carrion, my wayward grub.
Just like what I thought, both of them were not that good according to feedbacks, so I decied to go with another idea:
Similar to The Card of Ledgend, this one can also replaces a card you draw with another one, and hope it can be a little bit more useful than a random Golden Legendary. (If it is OP, then probably I will raise its cost by 1.)
*perfect card is the same from Zephrys the Great.
feedbacks later.
I don't really like perfect card effects outside of Zephrys, since it basically just robs him of his "virginity", if you understand what I mean. And this exists in the same same set, no less. Not only that, but Zephrys's effect in general is a bit polarized in opinion and fairly frustrating to play against anyway.
Another such problem is that no collectible Neutral weapon existed until Scholomance, so if you want to make another one, it should be from that set or, preferably after.
Ture, then I will try to come up with some other ideas that have a simpler effect later. Thanks to your reflection.
Really a tough prompt for me this time Xb. New idea here, probably gonna change the art and the name later to fits shaman better.
Late feedbacks:
Wailor -
grumpymonk -
DavnanKillder -
KANSAS -
DestroyerR -
anchorm4n -
So ...
Since my first idea (or at least the art i used) wasn't liked that much i changed it. With the change of the Art i also decided to make a whole new card because i did not find a suitable art for my first idea.
So here is the new one:
Let me know what you think!
Challenge me ... when you're ready to duel a god!
If anything, my issue is that both effects don't seem related in an organic mater. This is of course very subjective and I might be the only person who thinks like this. That said, adding tribe synergy would make it seem even less cohesive.
Well, that was a tough one. I eventually got frustrated enough to sit down and write a short analysis of what could be done with a 1 Durability Weapon. That finally wielded 2 interesting ideas. I've put the more straight forward one to use but had to do with mediocre art. Maybe I'll try to go with the rational method for the next weeks instead of following my first gut feeling as I usually do.
If someone's interested: I've submitted Cedar Wand. It was tempting to go full Harry Potter crossover and make it a legendary Druid "Lifestick" that restores all friendly characters to full Health via Spellburst, but cards like this are hard to balance and rarely do well.
The second interesting idea was to make a 0/1 Weapon with a strong Deathrattle for a class that has no easy access to weapons. This would have required more time to thoroughly think through which I don't have right now. That's a shame because using Deathrattles would have been a nice idea this week.
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 must say i dont much like your design this time around, not only because i feel like its too strong, super easy to trigger and if there is no weapon removal, you literally have +2 Spell Damage for the rest of the game, but also because it feels like the effect is a weapon just to satisfy the prompt. Not to mention why is it a 2/1 weapon? Seems random.
I liked this prompt a lot, because it had a potential to come up with some interesting ideas. The easiest one was to try and figure out how to increase the Durability of the weapon, while that was kinda a bait, some ppl did a really good job and were creative and/or added a great flavor to the effect and why it does that.
But many ppl fell short to the fact that they just slapped their effect on a weapon, because they had to make a weapon, and the effect makes no sense, it could have been on a minion or been a spell and it would make more sense. Also giving weapons to non-weapon classes that have no reason to get a weapon in an expansion you attributed it to is weird, again, for no other than that you wanted this effect for this class and it had to have been a weapon.
Maybe im too strict and i do want everyone to have fun when designing their cards, i just wish these were some factors that ppl would consider more in the process, thats all :)
GL everyone!
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Fair points all of them.
A little defense of my card: I thought giving Mage a wand as a Weapon in an expansion themed around a magic school would be flavourful. I mean, what kind of card type would you make a wand if not a weapon? The wand increasing your magical abilities seemed natural, too, thus the Spell Damage. Triggering the effect was meant to be easy as well, since a mage should not have problems using their wand to their advantage. I concede that the 3/2/1 statline is a bit random but the point I was trying to make is that a "stick" isn't that great of a weapon. Finally, I accept that this would be very powerful in a meta without weapon removal, but my argument against that point is that Scholomance brought along strong Weapons synergies for at least Demon Hunter, Warrior and Rogue.
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 don't think the problem with the card is so much that it's a Mage weapon, but rather that it's incredibly broken.
You play it, and you just have Spell Damage +2 for the rest of the game if you just don't attack with it. This is why weapons that have passive effects like this are often avoided, because it's better to just not attack with them.
Thanks for the feedback! I'll try to do better next week :)
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 to all the finalists! I really don’t get Everlast though, how is it any good balance-wise? You forfeit access to any other weapon for 1 Attack each turn, and your weapon buffs last only 1 attack unless they also buff Durability
Make The Cow King an alternate Warrior skin plz
Congratulations to Hordaki!
Woohoo, triple crown! Hopefully now that I'm past finals I can be more active in giving feedback since I really appreciate getting it. Thanks everyone!
-Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)
Check out the Tactician custom class!
Congrats! Nice card :)
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