Hail Hydra - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Submitted 1 year, 10 months ago by
Demonxz95
Competition Theme: Hail Hydra
The Year of the Hydra came with some cool mechanics. What would happen if we put them together?
- You must make a card that utilizes at least two of the follow mechanics on the same card:
- Colossal
- Dredge
- Naga Synergy
- "Sunken" Cards
- Infuse
- Locations
- "Suspicious" Cards
- Reborn
- Undead Synergy
- Manathirst
- It is also important to note that merely just being a Naga or Undead does not count as synergy for the purposes of the competition.
The year of the Hydra is coming to an end, and Demon wants us to celebrate the year by combining its mechanics together.
As always, we 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, Feb 13 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Sat, Feb 18 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
- Voting Phase: Starts on Sat, Feb 18 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Sun, Feb 19 16:00 EST (GMT -0500)
- Finalist Phase: Starts on Sun, Feb 19 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Mon, Feb 20 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
- Winner Selected: After finalist voting concludes and we validate votes.
Discussion Thread Rules
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Competition Theme: Hail Hydra
The Year of the Hydra came with some cool mechanics. What would happen if we put them together?
The year of the Hydra is coming to an end, and Demon wants us to celebrate the year by combining its mechanics together.
As always, we 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.
I have a bunch of ideas this time. Let me know which one you prefer andhow would you improve them.
Suspicious "San'layn" makes fun of the fact there are several types of vampires in the Warcraft lore. In particular, this guy is supposed to be a venthyr disguised as a vampyr, hence why it has synergy with Infuse and why it lacks the Undead tag. Not sure if this flavor is too obscure, but I think it's the main selling point of the card.
The other two cards are pretty straight forward, although I'm not sure if Master of Searemonies should work the other way around (if Dredge a spell, draw a Naga)
I made a few ideas, but threw them out. Trying to do something more simple this week:
Combines Dredge and Locations, of course. Like Holy Wrath you must choose your target before you Dredge, so you won't be able to guarantee it's the best choice (unless you go face, because that is the place).
It is surprisingly difficult to comp up with anything good in this competition.
Threw some spaghetti at the wall - feel free to only comment on your favorite.
Naga Spellguard: Inspired by the Fel synergy that [Hearthstone Card (Herald of Chains) Not Found] begins to get towards.
War Council: Shaman never gets draw. Meant to support Wrathspine Enchanter's deck type.
Gorebringer: Statboy eats other boys. Trying out the dual-rune thang they're starting.
Fresh Digs: More boys! Needs better art for the fun name.
Better call Thrall!
My idea. Also AI image generation can be daunting.
"Truth is in the shadows, waiting to be revealed by the light. But light only disperses the shadow." - Me
"If other people shared traits of those considered naive, the world would've become a better place." - Also me
These are my two main ideas, I wanted to make something that thematically fit into the Return to Naxxramas miniset and made use of the Infuse keyword, which just naturally fits really well with undead. For Scrapmetal Avenger (please let me know if you can think of a better name), I made a card that fits pretty naturally into both Mech and Undead decks, as they both tend to have tokens and smaller minions that die. It's a bit like Denathrius, but archetype specific and can only remove 1 minion. For Corpse Researcher, I thought it would be cool to have an Infuse card that plays around with minion types and can act as a very specific tutor with the right setup. It might seem like too versatile of a tutor, but it requires the next friendly minion that dies to be of the minion type you want to tutor, as if a minion without a minion type infuses it, the card will be infused to draw any minion type-less minion. Therefore, this card is only really powerful in decks that contain a lot of one minion type (for example, tutoring something like Malygos would be very difficult). Death Knight can also use their Hero Power to make it draw an undead, which could tutor some pretty powerful cards. Which card do you think is better?
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My first two attempts. I don't really like either of them too much, so I will probably keep brainstorming til I come up with something better.
Like Demon said, this competition was harder than I expected; most of the keywords lead to my cards feeling too restricted by conditions. Gonna keep at it though!
Edit: (I could only fit two of the tokens in this comment, but Koma would obviously come with 4 total) Linkblade correctly pointed out that my last version of Koma was extremely similar to Gaia, the Techtonic so I wanted to avoid that. Instead, I tried to go a DIFFERENT direction for mage, i.e. Hero Power mage. On turn ten, with no OTHER cards to buff your hero power by default, you would deal 5 damage with this card if your opponent had enough minions for you to attack into. On following turns, you start to deal 9, and then more and more from there if they don't have a way to deal with Koma. Thanks for the first round of feedback!
We've been seeing some very cool prompts this season, although this one is indeed a little tough. Yet, I'm quite happy with this find:
I do recognize that it's quite the upgrade from Embalming Ritual, so it might need an increase in stats. My thoughts here are that Paladin just isn't very likely to abuse the Reborn itself, like we're used to from Priest, and has to rely on setting up buffs first to make the effect worthwhile. Please let me know your thoughts on that.
@AeroJulwin What if you also made it damage the Hero like the new Paladin cards? That way you can make it weaker without changing the mana cost
Hey! This is my first post here!
Bonehull is a slow neutral location which has a lot of potential value if you are willing to wait. It also can be used to fetch other Sunken cards more reliably, and make another for decks to Dredge. I felt 2 Mana was a good cost for this because for a lot of decks the value you get from this wont be felt in several turns.
Suspicious Angler combines the suspicious cycle and Dredge. As giving your opponent a free card is not usually worth dredging for, this instead puts the card on top of their deck. Going for your most important pieces with the Angler might not be optimal, and guessing correctly might not be that good either for your opponent. Drawing a murloc for a deck that doesnt have any synergy with them is very bad.
Anub'arak, Crypt Lord combines Reborn and Colossal. As Colossals summon their apendages when summon, Anub'arak will come back with new 2/4 Taunt appendages when dies the first time. I noticed there are a lot of Taunt minions in Unholy DK, and also some in Blood DK too, which gave me the idea to create a card that synergises with them.
Well this competition is going so slow. My plans that I made for this season to get more people involved here hasn't worked nearly as well as I hoped it would. :(
But here's feedback.
I think I like Suspicious "San'layn" the best, but I'm not really sure what the name is in quotation marks, and it would probably confuse a lot of people.
I do think Master of Searemonies steps on Trench Surveyor a bit too much, with both being Mage cards from the same set with the same statline that both Dredge and conditionally draw a typed minion.
Do not go with this.
It's a mess to understand and it doesn't have the soul of a Colossal minion.
I like Scrapmetal Avenger the best. It feels like a realistic interpretation of Endless Infusing and it can't go too out of control like Denathrius could.
I don't like Corpse Researcher because the Infuse effect is way too sidegrade-y to be believable.
The reason I didn't go with Suspicious Diver before is because it felt too weak. Suspicious Usher and Suspicious Alchemist always give you a card to use right away (even if doing so would reveal the card you chose), but you have to wait to draw the card you Dredge. And if your opponent guesses it correctly, they get to use the card first. Another person also appears to have submitted this design, so it'd be best to avoid it (unless that was you).
Sadistic Spellweaver is a perfectly believable card, but it's not eligible for the competition since it only has one mechanic (Naga Synergy).
Koma, the World Eater is probably one of my favorite cards so far.
This is a fine idea on paper, but there's a massive game-breaking oversight with it: It applies the Reborn as an enchantment, and so is the part where it says it's Reborn with enchantments.
Therefore every time it's Reborn, it would apply the Reborn again creating an infinite minion.
Hey! Glad you decided to join us here. Hope you have fun.
Bonehull seems cool, but it's weirdly anti-synergistic with the Dredge since you want the Treasures to stay in your deck so they can upgrade, intruding on your Dredges.
Suspicious Angler is probably a more on-brand interpretation of Suspicious Dredge cards, but it will still feel like it's stepping on their toes too much, so it's best to avoid it.
Anub'arak, Crypt Lord is super sticky and I can see it being slightly annoying to play against, but it's probably your best bet.
Feedback time!
sunbird1002 - Hey, let me welcome you to Out of Cards, and our side of things most especially :D I don't know how long you've been at this whole card-makin' business, but I wanted to start by saying your cards are well made and without flagrant errors, so that's awesome. Going through them, I think Suspicious Angler is the best one. Bonehull is fine but not my favorite, while Anub'arak having Reborn as a Colossal would mean the appendages respawn as well. This could be okay, but it also means your Taunt minions will explode up in Attack because the Claws will trigger at least four times per play of Anub'arak. Suspicious Angler, meanwhile, seems balanced and good, while also supporting an archetype in need of help.
AeroJulwin - I think just for the sake of not being blatantly better than Embalming Ritual, it should cost 2. Otherwise you're arguing that being Reborn with enchantments is worth 0-Mana, which doesn't sound right to me at all. Cool location, though.
Dolphinslayer - Uh oh, another 1-Mana Suspicious Dredger. Sadistic Spellweaver has a neat riff of Naga synergy playing off the Undead condition, but alluding to the condition without including it means this doesn't actually have "Undead synergy". Simply being Undead is not enough. Now, Koma. Koma would be very cool…if the Mage's current Colossal didn't exist. As it stands, this is basically a more powerful, Naga version of Gaia, the Techtonic. Same class, it has the "when a friendly (X) attacks" condition, and the tokens have Rush; you even made it a 5/7. I don't mean to hate on it, but it's just too similar for my liking…I think you can make something more original with that artwork.
CursedParrot - Corpse Researcher is a cool way to use Infuse. I like it much more than Scrapmetal Avenger. In this day and age, though, the Researcher could get away with something other than Novice Engineer stats :P All that being said…does it use a second thing from the list, as the prompt requires? Not really…not sure how to fix that.
Neoguli - This is neat: I tried to do something similar with an idea I threw out, a Colossal that grows from Infusing. Seems like a strong card for turning things around in a heavy back-and-forth kind of game. One niggle I have is the text of the second image: it should say "Infused (line break) Colossal +1 (line break) Endlessly Infuse (2): (line break) Colossal +2", to demonstrate it has gained Colossal +1 and now would upgrade to Colossal +2. Another complaint is that the appendages gain Attack only when their Lifesteal becomes useless; maybe it should be the opposite, where they heal more after you get really low? Like "Rush, Lifesteal (line break) Has +3 Attack while your hero is at 15 or less Health." Lastly, the appendages should be a part of the core Colossal, not separate entities/individual dragons. It could grow more claws, for example.
Me0203 - I like War Council the most, although it doesn't necessarily support Wrathspine Enchanter well, because having a second/third copy of a particular Fire spell (for example) doesn't allow the Enchanter to then pop off more. They need variety, not a double-down. Writing that out, I suppose you would do it to ensure you could play the spell while holding a copy back for the Enchanter, but that's not super intuitive. What about "Draw a spell. Infuse (2 Naga): And add a copy to your hand."? You can then get a spell out of your deck that you might be lacking, while maintaining the copy ability.
Demonxz95 - Way to take Infantry Reanimator's job away, just as she received a buff, too! lol. Like with her, I imagine you wouldn't be using this for general board value, but rather to resurrect a specific Undead numerous times, such as a deck focused on Dar'Khan Drathir. I could see it, and having more resurrects ensures you can hit a critical mass of Dar'Khans for all your face-blasting pleasure. Not terribly original, though, given the aforementioned Warlock minion that does the same thing but with Reborn too.
Wailor - I think the Master does want it the other way, if I'm thinking things through properly. You usually need the Naga in hand when you go to cast spells, so maybe you'd rather have the Naga now and the spell after? Another thing to consider is how few "draw a Naga" cards there are: I think it's just Crushclaw Enforcer and a Hunter card.
Feedback round 1 (First time leaving feedback, sorry if I inevitably mess it up)
Carrion Swarmer seems horrible to go up against, but annoying taunt beetles are definitely in Druid's wheelhouse. It might be a tad under-costed for the value you get when infused, especially since Token Druid (A.K.A. the deck that wants this card the most anyways) will EASILY be able to finish that Infuse condition. Maybe a higher infuse cost could fix this as well.
Master of Searemones (boooooo) Is a nice Naga with spell synergies and all, but I feel it also might be a little TOO good. 2 mana 3/2 that draws you a spell AND sets you up to draw another Naga that probably has spellcasting synergies with said spell is really, REALLY efficient. If it came down a tad bit later, even as a 3 mana 4/3 even, it might feel a little less overpowered.
War Council is really interesting too, I think even better than Naga Spellguard (though that might just be because I prefer Shaman to Demon Hunter anyways), and the Infuse restriction/payoff feels fair, and also really impactful as well.
Gorebringer feels like it does a LOT for what you sink into it. Like, maybe too much. This could easily reach absurd stat totals. I think as well with a minion that pumps itself up by stealing stats from other minions, the Infuse cost to pump even more feels redundant, and a little counter-synergistic.
Fresh Digs is really cool, but just from play experience, Dredge 3 times has pretty negative synergy, no matter how you look at it. Each time you dredge, you're gonna basically be looking at the same 3 cards each time for the 2nd and 3rd option, with a maximum of one card difference each time. Then, for the next three turns, you're gonna be stuck drawing 3 undead minions of questionable quality that you already have copies of in your hand. I don't think this would ever feel that good to play, to be honest.
Corpse Researcher is really nice, kind of like an alternate version of Amalgam of the Deep that tutors through your deck instead of Discovering. I think the wording would be a little better as "Draw a minion that shares a type with the minion that Infused this instead." just to clarify for minions with multiple types.
Suspicious Angler is straight up a way cooler option of my Suspicious Driver, so props for that haha.
Anub'arak, Crypt Lord feels really really powerful, possibly oppressive, but still remains to be seen. I would love to try to build a Taunt DK deck around this to find out.
Wow. I never played any Mech Mage, and I totally forgot about Gaia, the Techtonic. You're absolutely right about that, it just totally slipped my mind haha. I'll work on it and come back with something better lol.
No worries :) I have faith in your ability to make a cool snake-Naga Colossal..thing lol
Feedback time:
Koma is a cool idea, but such a creature would be classified as a Beast in actual WoW lore, so I'd discard it.
All your cards are very solid for a newcomer. As a general tip for all them, they should use the Return to Naxx watermark, as they mix mechanics from all the year.
Thanks for all the feedback. I've got a version in quite happy with now.
Corpse Researcher is quite weak. The Infuse doesn't give it much extra value. I also don't think type synergy for any minion type should count as Undead or Naga synergy for this comp.
I think it'd be a good idea to have Bonehull Dredge a card first and then leave a Sunken Treasure in its place. This works well with the flavor and since you wouldn't want to dredge the treasure when it hasn't gotten any stronger yet, it currently only really lets you pick from two cards.
An important thing about Colossal minions that's often overlooked is that the main body and the limbs always have synergizing effects, so if the limbs buff Taunt minions, the main body should have Taunt. I also think it's somewhat on the strong side considering there's 16 Health of Taunt + a Reborn in the way of the heavy hitting body. Giving the main body Taunt will make it easier to get rid of while still giving the player plenty on the board.
I am not sure how to make named spoilers, but here is my feedback!
Wailor
All three cards are excellent. Suspicious San'lyan is the best of the three, though the quotes around 'San'layn' is overplaying the joke imo. Infuse cards are mostly useful, and it supports thief Rogue well, which I like. I think it hits good cards often enough to be played. Carrion Swarmer is dangerous.Its stickiness make it a very good buff target, and not that many decks can clear a double taunt reborn on turn 3. I think its on the verge of being too strong. Master of Searemonies is solid, and the effect is the right way round. We have a Naga which draws a Naga already. However, I think its weird that you Dredge for a Naga and then draw a card completely unrelated to the Naga. Also, Searemonies seems incredibly simple for a design competition. In all, I think the designs are clean, but my favourite is suspicious sayn'lan.
linkblade
I think Ship's Graveyard is too difficult to use without knowing what card you draw first. The Demon Hunter Dredge boardclear suffered from a similar issue, and this being single target makes it worse. Also, I think the location should have Frost Runes, or mayybe Blood Runes. Frost is supposed to be good at dealing damage from hand, which this location seems to be . I dont think it finds itself into an Unholy deck as it is so slow. I think possibly lowering the cost on this and adding a rune restriction can help the card a lot.
Demonxz
Polluted Pool works fine as a location. I think the flavour is the card's main miss. Why a polluted pool? Why not a graveyard or a battlefield where you expect the undead to rise from? Gaining Durability on locations is good on an infuse, and good flavour.
Me0203
My favourite is Naga Spellguard, though it looks weak currently (could be a 4/3?) Copying a spell in your hand is powerful with cards like Jace, but it requires running a Naga package.
Neoguli
This does not have the spirit of a colossal minion. Art is confusing, and its not very interesting IMO. Try another idea.
Cursed Parrot
Scrapmetal Avenger is better than Corpse Researcher. Corpse Researcher focuses way too much on which of your minions die first which is something your opponent can control very easily. If Corpse researcher is run an a tribe based deck like murloc shaman, the 2nd effect is useless. If not, the 2nd effect is difficult to control. Scrapmetal does include endlessly Infuse in a healthier way than Denathrius, the art and flavour works wonders.
Dolphinslayer
Sadistic Spellweaver has a good mixed condition, and a very naga like effect. I like it a lot, though spell damage +2 on a 3 mana minion is scary. I cant suggest many changes though. Koma still feels more like Gaia than ever. It has a lot of stuff rushing in, so that you buff your hero power. I feel the Hero Power effect is not going to be felt. Wildfire is a 1 mana card that makes your hero power better for the rest of the game, while this has a temporary upgrade on an 8 mana 3/3. You'd need to spend 10 mana on a fairly reactive play, but not a very strong one. I'd recommend thinking what else you can do with hero powers.
AeroJulwin
As Demonxz said, 'Reborn' counts as an enchantment, meaning infinite Reborn is possible. Embalming ritual was an ok card, not that strong. I thnk you could say 'all other echantments.' Perhaps making it 2 mana and making this less efficient to play can be good for the card. It could through in a +1/+1 in there too if you're going with a more expensive design.
Thank you everybody. I submitted the card with a different name and artwork after finding something that better fits Naxxramas.
I also want to thank everyone for their feedback. It led me to...submit a completely different card lol :D
I ran into the same problem when I joined. This should help:
spoiler text=][/spoiler
You have 18 hours, 18 minutes, and 18 seconds left to submit at time of posting!
Good luck to everyone in the voting!
Three clear favorites for me this week with the Vampire, Necroman-sea and Anon Anarth. Awesome design all three of them, I hope one will take the win! Good luck 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
I forgot to mention this earlier but we have 7 finalists this week due to a tie for the last spot. Good luck to everyone!
Demon is really racking up the victories this season! Congratulations.
Congratulations to Demon, the Jansher Khan of custom cards!
Better call Thrall!
Congrats to Demon!
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