Hearthstone
There Can Be Only One - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Submitted 3 years, 6 months ago by
ShadowsOfSense
Competition Theme: There Can Be Only One
This is a solo adventure - I don't want to see any doubling up!
- You must create a Highlander card for a class which does not already have one
- A Highlander card is one which has an effect when there are no duplicates in your deck, like Reno Jackson
- The classes which don't already have an effect like this are Demon Hunter, Rogue, Shaman and Warrior
This time, anchorm4n wants to make sure every class has the chance to go duplicate free - without relying on Zephrys and Reno, that is!
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, May 10 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Sat, May 15 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
- Voting Phase: Starts on Sat, May 15 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Sun, May 16 16:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
- Finalist Phase: Starts on Sun, May 16 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Mon, May 17 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
- Winner Selected: After finalist voting concludes and we validate votes.
Discussion Thread Rules
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Competition Theme: There Can Be Only One
This is a solo adventure - I don't want to see any doubling up!
This time, anchorm4n wants to make sure every class has the chance to go duplicate free - without relying on Zephrys and Reno, that is!
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!
She always has an ace under her sleeve... Or the whole deck sometimes.
Not sure if this has synergies that make it broken.
Seems pretty neat, although it potentially does a lot more than Elise the Enlightened does for 1 less mana. Conversely, your deck would now have duplicates, disabling other Highlander cards like Zephrys the Great and kind of undermining the deck's "flavor".
Ultimately not sure how to grade it. Love the art and the name, though.
This is my first idea. I was directly inspired by @Nirast's usage of Thunderfury in our mod Discord channel, so if they disapprove of the similarity I will back down.
It originally Invoked Galakrond, the Tempest but I removed it to save on words (and make the weapon more universal). I did however keep the watermark as Galakrond's Awakening; we'll pretend The Fist of Ra-den isn't there too lol.
Gameplay-wise, this works very well with the aforementioned Galakrond and his enablers. You can also combine Thunderfury with Speaker Gidra, Walking Fountain, Runic Carvings, and the dreaded Crabrider. Any Rush minions will do, but these are probably the best targets.
Ok, first ideas.
Caria Felsoul was given the Aldrachi Warblades by Kil'jaeden in lore, so why not have her teach your hero its ability? In a highlander deck, there isn't enough consistency to be very aggressive or to use combos, so the focus is on survivability to help outvalue the opponent.
Anduin Lothar can help warrior close out a game and find tools that they need to compsensate for the lack of card consistency.
Feedback:
First idea, I hope it's not too close to grumpymonk's.
This is meant to support the Big Demon Hunter archetype that never really took off. Alandien is one of the three Demon Hunter teachers in charge of training new adepts in WoW. She was the first known female Demon Hunter in-game. [I had initially used Kor'vas Bloodthorn for this card, but Blizzard has made her a real card in the meantime.]
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
The main disadvantage I see over Elise the Enlightened is that Elise is pseudo-draw, giving you a card advantage of 5-4 if you use her properly. Meanwhile, Kon'na "doesn't do anything" right away.
Maybe I overvalued card advantage, which might not be all that relevant in this case.
Looks like a slow start into the week... I'm sorry if I suggested a difficult theme again. I thought designing OP cards would be fun :(
Feedback:
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
Very much a flavor-focused card, but you get to ROCK ON!!!!!!
Reminder of what the Power Chords are:
Nah, not your fault. The comps this season have consistently been getting a lower and lower turnout than the comps from the first two seasons. I'm not exactly sure why though
Feeback
linkblade91
grumpymonk
anchorm4n
That said, the card right now is a bit weak, I believe. I'd either give her an aura effect (likeFrost Lich Jaina's) or give her vanilla stats.
Demonxz95
What if I go a completely different direction with Thunderfury?
Now it's a Barrens card, and ties directly into what Bru'kan wants to do: reap enemies with blasts of lightning! Intended to be paired with cards like Chain Lightning (Rank 1), Tidal Surge, and Stormstrike; also has synergy with Evolve and its ilk in Wild, which are all Nature spells for whatever reason. There are a lot of Shaman Nature spells, to be honest.
Also gained significantly more flavor, for two reasons: the obvious one (a weapon called "Thunderfury" boosts your lightning spells), and the less obvious one (it's a callback to Barrens chat in WoW, where people spammed stuff like "Did someone say Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker?" to be annoying).
Edit: I also have a third iteration, which is more of an "APM OTK" card. Potentially better than Doomhammer, but you have to chain Nature spells to really have a go at it. Thunderfury -> Stormstrike -> Lightning Bolt -> Lightning Bloom -> Serpentshrine Portal = 33 damage, if my math is right. Sounds decent enough, but you must be Highlander so it balances out I think.
Demonxz95 - As I noted in Discord, not a fan of the name "Riffy". I am however a fan of reusing Power Chords, and can only hope that such an expansion would introduce new ones as well (because the existing ones…well…they kind of suck lol).
anchorm4n - I like her: goes well with Big Demons, obviously, and synergizes indirectly with the DH's major ability to accumulate cards in-hand. Felosophy and Netherwalker, for example, would naturally find a home in such a deck.
grumpymonk - Caria is scary, given how readily the DH can acquire Hero attack power. And she's so cheap, meaning you can get started really early. Would be more difficult in a Highlander deck, though, so maybe it's okay? I think I like Anduin Lothar more.
Brand new idea. Lots of people seem to be trying Legendary weapons, so I figured I would try. Only problem is that balancing it is not the easiest thing in the world. Two separate versions.
The version that is stronger is paradoxically easier to balance due to the fact that it's effectively a 0-mana weapon when played with the ability, so the stats can be low without making the card extremely weak to play in mana value. The version that draws is obviously not as strong on base value, but it also has a harder sweet spot to find.
Got a few ideas, but I like this one the best. Not 100% on the flavou, and might make the Overload cost 3. Also, a rare sight for my cards: a custom watermark :P
Feedback:
Twice version: Not as overpowered as one might think, since making a Highlander Combo deck is easier said than done. Though I wouldn't make it a Battlecry, but a passive effect.
Attack version: My least favorite, personally.
Anduin: Kinda boring, though I wouldn't say it's overpowered.
“He never uses the same trick twice… but sometimes he will, just to keep you on your toes.”
Thoughts?
Make The Cow King an alternate Warrior skin plz
@DestroyerR Neat idea, but what about if you draw a card during your opponent's turn? You're not allowed to make decisions while it is not your turn.
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
linkblade91
Demonxz95
The thing I enjoy the most about them is that, yes, they allow you to run a dreaded 29-card deck, but since you have to go Highlander, you don't get the efficiency this kinds of decks usually allow you.
Between both versions, I'd say the one that costs 1 mana is the most balanced. If you go with that version, I think either 1/2 or 1/3 would be ideal.
Nirast
DestroyerR
A little quick note because 50% of the entries so far use the Classic watermark, and that percentage was even bigger a few days ago.
Don't use it. Highlander deckbuilding is not a Classic mechanic. It did not exist until League of Explorers, so cards for this prompt should realistically not exist any earlier than that.
This card is still a work in progress - feedback is appreciated! This is inspired by Wrathspike Brute.
Edit - will probably change the card text to say "after", instead of whenever.
Feedback:
linkblade91
Thunderfury II — -1 star for balance (as you said, there’s a LOT of Nature spells in Shaman. A Battlecry that lets you cast all of them twice permanently… that’s bound to be broken), so 4/5
Thunderfury III - 5/5, easily best iteration. Also gives this an actual purpose as a weapon rather than just being a minion like all other Highlanders
grumpymonk
AL — 5/5. Neat! Love the idea behind this one, like a general calling his armies. Almost like a better Varian, but different enough to not be a simple powercreep
anchorm4n
Demonxz95
Kingslayers — I like the first version best. As you said, easier to balance, and the idea is already interesting and unique enough. 5/5
P.S. imagine using non-custom watermark LUL
Nirast
Ilphelkiir
In response to feedback on Bataak: As Wailor said, Discover is already established to pick a random option on your opponent’s turn, so there’s no real problem here and you just end up drawing a random card as normal. Also, forgot to mention: if you no longer have a certain type of card in your deck, that option will disappear (so if you have no minions, the “minion!” option will no longer appear)
Make The Cow King an alternate Warrior skin plz
How do you actualy trigger discover on opponent's turn? Imo casting a random spell on opponent's turn doesn''t count, because these always have random targets, and I always interpreted discover as targeting in that case, and I do not think there's a card in game which say that you actualy discover, or do any other targeted effect, with possibility of triggering on opponent's turn.
Not trying to disregard any idea, but I think that's already 3rd custom card I saw which would allow to make choices on enemy turn, and people always say that it's ok, targets would be random, while there is no effect in game on which would this be biased as far as I know, but maybe I don't remember some interactions.
Also, sorry for inactivity, I am, like, in a very busy and stressful situation right now, so I'm just too tired to think about custom stuff, and that also kinda takes away motivation to provide feedback to others.
Ok
The base for this mechanic is, as you said, the Discover spells cast on your opponent’s turn. I don’t see why that wouldn’t be a proof of mechanics: Discovering isn’t targeting, and there are plenty of cards that don’t cast randomly (Lynessa Sunsorrow for instance) and Discover effects are still resolved randomly
Make The Cow King an alternate Warrior skin plz
@DestroyerR In fairness, you can test this out by playing Unseen Saboteur against someone with a Discover-spell in their hand. I assume it will work the way you want it to, but I guess my ultimate point is that you shouldn't have to assume what the card does in that situation. Unseen Saboteur specifies that randomness will come into play, and yours does not.
My point is that A) Discovering isn’t targeting, so the “targets are random” part isn’t relevant, B) even on cards that don’t specify randomness, like Lynessa, Discover effects also behave this way. At this point it’s a pretty well-known interaction
Make The Cow King an alternate Warrior skin plz
Yeah, and I would be pretty sure your card would work as intended, but none of those cards imply in their text they would allow to choose options, it's intuitional that they choose randomly, and it's just kinda strange and less intuitional when text in card straight implies that such thing could be possible. Of course it's still better than having more than 4 lines in text, I am probably more angry about other card I saw in which this would be easily solved.
Ok
You all forget about Oh My Yogg! which made discovering randomly a totally common thing. That may happen on your turn, but it happens randomly nevertheless without an explicit explanation on Oh My Yogg!.
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 all finalists! Only 7 this time - were there really that few entries this week not to allow an eighth?
It's an interesting challenge, but all but four of the classes were removed from the competition, leaving those who aren't experienced with those classes in the dust.
According to Shadows, there was roughly a six-way tie for eighth place, hence the decision to only have 7 finalists.
Congratulations to JFK!
Yay!
Congrats to JFK!
Oof, I got quite a beating in the finals with no less than eleven 1-star votes. But at least the participation in the finalist voting saw a solid rise of 50%. Let's hope it stays that way.
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