Tactician Custom Class (4/12/20 - Ashes of Outland)

Submitted 4 years, 7 months ago by

Introducing Taran Zhu, the Tactician

(Complete card set up to Ashes of Outland)

From the mists of Pandaria comes Taran Zhu, master of the Shado-Pan and expert strategist. Although trained as a monk, his strategies focus on leading and empowering his army to victory. Strength in numbers is his philosophy, as is giving strength to his numbers through minion buffs.

Class Strengths:Class Weaknesses:
  • Numbers: Tacticians can use a variety of cards to build a large board. Strength in numbers indeed.
  • Buffs: Through spells and the new Tactic keyword, Tacticians can build their minions up with strength and Taunts for the coming fight.
  • New interactions: Tacticians see the value of their cards and have powers related to card rarity, positioning, and the new Shado-Pan Agent token.
  • No hero healing or weapons: Tacticians rely on their minions to execute their battle plans.
  • Minimal board clear: Besides a few spells meant for single target removal, the only path to a clear board is through smart trades.
  • Small minions: Tacticians need to stay wary of large board clear spells and be ready to deploy reinforcements when needed.

New Keyword: Tactic

A good Tactician should select his army to match the traits they desire. Minions with "Tactic (X):" will grant bonuses to any minions on the board that fit the tactic. Tactic minions work as an Aura but give permanent buffs instead of temporary, and can focus on stats, Mana cost, Keywords, tribes, or card rarity.

Upgraded Hero Power: Extra Strength

The Tactician gains an extra buff from their hero power, but have to utilize proper minion placement to reap the benefits.

Cosmetic Heroes

Genn Greymane was available as part of the Witchwood Mega-Bundle, while Lord Taran is Tactician's 1,000 win portrait.

 

Card Sets:

Basic

The Basic set sets the tone for the class with cards focused on minions, positioning, and Shado-Pan Agents; as well as introducing Tactics and card rarity.

Classic

The classic set expands on the mechanic introduced in Basic, with more Tactic minions and rarity interactions. The Jade Serpent Yu'lon serves as our legendary, providing a build-around where less valuable minions can become strong and prove themselves on the battlefield.

Tokens:

Curse of Naxxramas

Show Spoiler

The Naxxramas card continues the focus on strengthening minions while also bringing in the Tactician's first card with Deathrattle.

Goblins vs. Gnomes

Show Spoiler

The GvG cards, in addition to the requisite Mech synergies and RNG effects, give Tacticians a means to fight back with damage-focused cards and strong attack buffs like Lead into Battle and Gear Up. Li Li Stormstout provides a way to restore your board and help protect it from AoE spells.

Blackrock Mountain

Show Spoiler

Time to head to the mountains. Cloud Serpent Rider has Dragon synergy and is meant to work well with Yu'lon, and Firemaster is an attack-oriented version of Earthmaster.

The Grand Tournament

Show Spoiler

It's time for the Grand Tournament, and the next round is on Chen! In addition to continued support for Shado-Pan Agents and Rare cards, new Brew spells allow for cheaper buffing of minions as well as cards to help you get even more power out of the special drinks. Plus Jousting and Inspire are featured.

The League of Explorers

Show Spoiler

The League has discovered three new cards! Naga Tribalist is a good value minion, Planning Ahead is for when you need just the right card for your strategy, and Jewel of Riches introduces a whole new mechanic for Tacticians: upgrading rarities (more on that in the FAQ)!

Whispers of the Old Gods

Show Spoiler

With the return of the Old Gods, the Sha rise in Pandaria to serve the bidding of Y'Shaarj. The cards for Whispers feature more interactions with minion deaths of friends and foes alike, such as Giant Sha, Vicious Sha, and Old Gods Rising. The Sha of Pride gives an extra opportunity to summon Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound.

One Night in Karazhan

Show Spoiler

The party is on in Karazhan! Dragon Portal continues Dragon support, and Magical Maiden and Onyx Rook both give interesting tactics for minion positioning.

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

Show Spoiler

Welcome to Gadgetzan, home-turf of the Jade Lotus (and those two other idiot gangs). Tacticians will be able to use Jade Golems to their advantage, but they can also fight fire with fire through the Lotus Pickpocket and Grimy Turncoat stealing the powers of the other gangs. Zhang Blackpaw will show his daughter how it's done when it comes to the power of Jade.

Journey to Un'Goro

Show Spoiler

The quest to Un'Goro Crater begins! Journey to Un'Goro has more interactions with upgrading rarity and Dragons through cards like Saurok Spellmancer and Cloud Hatchling, along with Adapt and Epic synergy with Ancient Brew and Saurok Commander. Li Li, Junior Explorer will help you find a Legendary for your deck, and if you Search for the Statue, you will find the long-forgotten Elune Parthenos and become legendary (literally)!

Tokens:

Knights of the Frozen Throne

Show Spoiler

A good Tactician values his soldiers above all else. But what happens when a good Tactician falls to darkness? Knights of the Frozen Throne focuses on Deathrattle cards like Snow-Covered Archer and Sacrificial Soldier, and other cards based on sacrificing your minions like Lich Mystic and Spirit of Shado-Pan. Gravewalker Zhu gives your hero one last chance to make a comeback after death, while Archlich Kel'thuzad gives your Deathrattle minions a second chance at life (until their second chance at death).

Kobolds and Catacombs

Show Spoiler

Into the dungeons to fight some Dragons! Kobolds and Catacombs introduces more Dragon synergy and buff cards like Dragon Whisperer and We're Rich! as well as more Tactic cards like Tushui Leader and Questing Pandaren. Fu Zan will shuffle Flaming Kegs that deal 5 damage to your opponent's left-most minion, while The Dungeon Master will get you a Dragon (just hope you get a high roll!)

Tokens:

The Witchwood

Show Spoiler

Don't get lost in the woods… The Witchwood introduces new cards with Rush like Huojin Protector and Gilneas Brew, as well as Taunt synergy with Gorgeous Gilnean and Into The Fray. Madame Shearer will help your Taunt minions protect your hero, but Doctor Sezavo will help your Rush minions destroy the enemy (for a price).

Token:

The Boomsday Project

Show Spoiler

Welcome to Boom Labs! The Boomsday Project brings the Mechs back to the Tactician class with new Mech minions and Mech synergy like Box-O-Boom and Goblin Punk and damaging spells like What Goes Up… and Holozooka. Doctor Magnetron gives Mech decks a whole new angle to their strategy, while Magnetron's Holoprinter can save you when your opponent's board gets out of control - by plagiarizing it!

Rastakhan's Rumble

Show Spoiler

TURTLE POWER! Rastakhan's Rumble brings Taunt synergy in a big way like with Spirit of the Turtle and new cards that require strategy to play right like Chain Reaction, Sportsmanship,and Time to Rumble. Torga, the Turtle rewards you for maintaining a board of Taunts; while War-God Jalak will steal a Legendary for you and could turn the tides of battle.

Rise of Shadows

Show Spoiler

From the depths of Blackrock, Nefarian returns to join the League of E.V.I.L. along with a few prisoners he broke out from the Violet Hold! Rise of Shadows brings back Dragon support as well as introducing Secrets to the Tactician class and an emphasis on spells. Lord Victor Nefarius can find you the perfect Dragon to turn the tide, while Cyanigosa gives you power for playing spells.

 Nefarian's Lackey:            Token:          

Saviors of Uldum

Show Spoiler

Ancient powers are awakened in Uldum! Saviors of Uldum continues Nefarian's emphasis on spells with the new Secrets Dead Man's Volley and Confusing Screech, and more card generation. Reawakening gives Tacticians powerful spells from your opponent's class, while Phaerix the Chosen can restore spells that have been played and give players a big push.

Descent of Dragons

Show Spoiler

Ancient powers awaken! In Descent of Dragons, Tacticians gain a whole host of Dragon minions and synergy with cards like Proto-Drake and Shadow Breath; as well as the power to invoke Galakrond, the Ancient and summon power from the past. Nefarian, the Abomination will help you construct the perfect Dragon, while Rend, Dark Warchief will destroy any Legends that get in his way.

Tokens:

Chromatic Dragon Tokens:

Galakrond's Awakening

Show Spoiler

The final battle begins! Galakrond's Awakening contains three new cards for Tactician: Blackrock Pitmaster can generate Lackeys, Dueling Dragons works as both removal and Dragon summoning, and EVIL Strategist can give your Lackeys a boost.

Ashes of Outland

Show Spoiler

The power of the void calls… In Ashes of Outland, Tacticians have made a deal with the Demons for power with cards like Huojin Felblade, Fel Volley, and Dark Alliance. Prince Xavalius will help take out your opponent's big hitters, while Chen the Corrupted will show what happens when you embrace the darkness.

Battlegrounds

Show Spoiler

 

 

Tokens:

Solo Content:

Show Spoiler

Icecrown

"Your minions abandon you, Tactician! They know my victory is inevitable."

In the Tactician's fight against the Lich King, he will steal your minions every turn. Players have to build a board fast and make sure not to give Arthas anything he can take advantage of.

Dungeon Run

Taran Zhu is heading into the dungeons! Make your way through the 8 bosses and claim your treasure!

Link to Tactician card buckets and starter deck

Rumble Run

Let's get ready to RUUUMBLEEEEE! When Rikkar joins the Tacticians and Team Torga, he gets access to three Shrines: Paralyzing Relic will shock opposing minions away from fighting, Torga's Shell will provide a defensive boost, and Torga's Summons will return dead minions to your hand (from both sides). Along with the six Tactician Teammates (which you can find here), Tacticians will show Gurubashi Arena who's boss!

Link to Teammate cards, card buckets, and starter decks

Dalaran Heist Tactician Hero (Abby-Ration)

"So, 'Abby'. Maloriak tells me you're his brightest aberration yet. That's not saying much coming from someone not much brighter than an aberration, but let's see if you have what it takes."

In the Dalaran Heist, Tacticians can control Abby-Ration, an new aberration with dreams of ruling Blackrock (or whatever Nefarian allows her to rule. Maybe she can rule the Grim Guzzler). In addition to the normal Strengthen hero power, Abby has access to two new ones. Summon 10 minions to unlock New Friends, and play 15 spells to unlock Random Rune.

Link to card buckets and starter decks

The Dalaran Heist Chapter 6 - Skies of Dalaran

"While those bozos put their little plan into action, we need to make sure no reinforcements get through to the city."

While the Dalaran portals have been shut down, Nefarian still has to prevent help from flying in. Use a floating island for fending off the intruders but be warned - They aren't that stable. Too many minions on the board will destroy all of them, so avoid building too big of a board (or use it to your advantage and destroy your enemies). Fight against Dalaran heroes and heroes from past adventures to make sure the League of E.V.I.L. can win!

Link to adventure guide and boss listings

Fire FEST-E.V.I.L. (Blackrock Crash)

Nefarian's going home, and he's NOT happy. Play through the Blackrock Crash as Victor Nefarius and show this loser league how to properly take over Blackrock Mountain!

"Hey, you lousy rat! STAY AWAY FROM MY STUFF!"

For Round 6, Nefarian has to protect his lab from the other league members who see it as free loot. The other classes fight dragon Nefarian as normal, but Nefarian fights against a variation of the King Togwaggle fight from the Dungeon Run. He no take lab equipment.

Link to card buckets and starter deck

Tombs of Terror Chapter 5 - The Pit of Scales

"Elise, I've fought a lot of crocolisks in my days. But I ain't never seen a crocolisk flyin' or breathin' fire before!"

The Pit of Scales, home of the crocolisks. At least until Obsidus took control and converted it into his personal rookery. Help the League of Explorers defeat the Plague Lord of Scales and restore order to Uldum! This wing's twist summons you an Eternal Drake, a Dragon that give you a Dragon when it dies and passes it's Deathrattle on to it. Use them to your advantage as you take on Obsidus!

Link to adventure and boss guide

FAQ:

Q: How does Tactic work exactly?

A: Tactic works as an Aura, but unlike aura effects Tactic enchantments are permanent buffs instead of temporary. It works on both minions already on the board when played and minions played after the Tactic minion is on the board.

When you play a minion with the Tactic keyword, it checks to see if minions on the board fit the criteria specified on itself. If there are any minions that fit, the Tactic minion enchants them. Afterwards, any time your board changes it checks again. If it notices any minions on the board that fit the Tactic and have not been enchanted yet, it enchants them. The enchantments are permanent, so if the Tactic minion is destroyed the minions buffed retain their buffs (unlike a normal Aura effect).

Q: What about "upgraded rarity"?

A: Cards that allow you to upgrade a rarity will give you a card of the next rarity in the ranking (minions transformed into upgraded rarities will stay the same Cost). Think of Evolve, but with rarity instead of Cost. The ranking goes

Basic -> Common -> Rare -> Epic -> Legendary

Legendaries cannot be upgraded. It's like trying to evolve a Mountain Giant: it will be unaffected. And if there are no Legendary spells in Standard, upgraded spells can't go past Epic.

 

Credits:

Cards made with Hearthcards using the Demon Hunter class skin

Art found on Blizz-Art and Artstation (and occasionally Google Images)

Thanks to sinti, Neoguli, Doomer22, MalcolmReynolds, and Demonxz95 for balance input

Artwork credits can be found in my Imgur albums for each set

Basic, Classic, Adventures, GvG, TGT, Old Gods, Gadgetzan, Un'Goro, KotFT, Kobolds, Witchwood, Boomsday, Rastakhan, Shadows, Uldum, Dragons, Outland,

Changelog:

Show Spoiler

08/15/19 - Changed Guardian Monk to 3 Mana.

08/16/19 - Added Goblins vs. Gnomes and Blackrock Mountain.

                  - Balance updates to the Basic and Classic set (listed down below)

08/17/19 - Added The Grand Tournament and The League of Explorers

08/18/19 - Added Whispers of the Old God and One Night in Karazhan

                  - Various consistency improvements

08/19/19 - Added Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

                  - Altered Hero Power to lower the power and fit better with the class identity

08/20/19 - Added Journey to Un'Goro

08/22/19 - Added Knights of the Frozen Throne

08/24/19 - Added Kobolds and Katacombs and The Witchwood

08/25/19 - Added The Boomsday Project and Rastakhan's Rumble

08/26/19 - Added Rise of Shadows and Saviors of Uldum

                  -Changes to Torga, the Turtle and Cursed Fire

                  -Updated the FAQ to better explain how Tactic works

                  -Various consistancy updates

09/04/19 - Added solo content for Icecrown, Rumble Run, and the Dalaran Heist hero

                  - Added Genn Greymane as a cosmetic hero

09/05/19 - Added solo content for Fire FEST-E.V.I.L. and Skies of Dalaran

09/06/19 - Added card buckets for Dungeon Run

09/07/19 - Added card buckets for Rumble Run

09/10/19 - Added card buckets for Dalaran Heist and Blackrock Crash

                  -Added adventure guide for Dalaran Heist Chapter 6 - Skies of Dalaran

09/11/19 - Replaced Hidden Spikes with Spike Trap

10/02/19 - Added adventure guide for Tombs of Terror Chapter 5 - The Pit of Scales

                  - Added the 1,000 win cosmetic hero, Lord Taran

11/14/19 - Added Battlegrounds

11/20/19 - Added spoiler tags to the main post

12/14/19 - Added Descent of Dragons

01/22/20 - Added Galakrond's Awakening cards

                  - Reduced the cost and attack of Ancient Swipe

04/12/20 - Added Ashes of Outland

Thank you for reading, let me know what you think and what I can improve!

 

  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    Introducing Taran Zhu, the Tactician

    (Complete card set up to Ashes of Outland)

    From the mists of Pandaria comes Taran Zhu, master of the Shado-Pan and expert strategist. Although trained as a monk, his strategies focus on leading and empowering his army to victory. Strength in numbers is his philosophy, as is giving strength to his numbers through minion buffs.

    Class Strengths:Class Weaknesses:
    • Numbers: Tacticians can use a variety of cards to build a large board. Strength in numbers indeed.
    • Buffs: Through spells and the new Tactic keyword, Tacticians can build their minions up with strength and Taunts for the coming fight.
    • New interactions: Tacticians see the value of their cards and have powers related to card rarity, positioning, and the new Shado-Pan Agent token.
    • No hero healing or weapons: Tacticians rely on their minions to execute their battle plans.
    • Minimal board clear: Besides a few spells meant for single target removal, the only path to a clear board is through smart trades.
    • Small minions: Tacticians need to stay wary of large board clear spells and be ready to deploy reinforcements when needed.

    New Keyword: Tactic

    A good Tactician should select his army to match the traits they desire. Minions with "Tactic (X):" will grant bonuses to any minions on the board that fit the tactic. Tactic minions work as an Aura but give permanent buffs instead of temporary, and can focus on stats, Mana cost, Keywords, tribes, or card rarity.

    Upgraded Hero Power: Extra Strength

    The Tactician gains an extra buff from their hero power, but have to utilize proper minion placement to reap the benefits.

    Cosmetic Heroes

    Genn Greymane was available as part of the Witchwood Mega-Bundle, while Lord Taran is Tactician's 1,000 win portrait.

     

    Card Sets:

    Basic

    The Basic set sets the tone for the class with cards focused on minions, positioning, and Shado-Pan Agents; as well as introducing Tactics and card rarity.

    Classic

    The classic set expands on the mechanic introduced in Basic, with more Tactic minions and rarity interactions. The Jade Serpent Yu'lon serves as our legendary, providing a build-around where less valuable minions can become strong and prove themselves on the battlefield.

    Tokens:

    Curse of Naxxramas

    Show Spoiler

    The Naxxramas card continues the focus on strengthening minions while also bringing in the Tactician's first card with Deathrattle.

    Goblins vs. Gnomes

    Show Spoiler

    The GvG cards, in addition to the requisite Mech synergies and RNG effects, give Tacticians a means to fight back with damage-focused cards and strong attack buffs like Lead into Battle and Gear Up. Li Li Stormstout provides a way to restore your board and help protect it from AoE spells.

    Blackrock Mountain

    Show Spoiler

    Time to head to the mountains. Cloud Serpent Rider has Dragon synergy and is meant to work well with Yu'lon, and Firemaster is an attack-oriented version of Earthmaster.

    The Grand Tournament

    Show Spoiler

    It's time for the Grand Tournament, and the next round is on Chen! In addition to continued support for Shado-Pan Agents and Rare cards, new Brew spells allow for cheaper buffing of minions as well as cards to help you get even more power out of the special drinks. Plus Jousting and Inspire are featured.

    The League of Explorers

    Show Spoiler

    The League has discovered three new cards! Naga Tribalist is a good value minion, Planning Ahead is for when you need just the right card for your strategy, and Jewel of Riches introduces a whole new mechanic for Tacticians: upgrading rarities (more on that in the FAQ)!

    Whispers of the Old Gods

    Show Spoiler

    With the return of the Old Gods, the Sha rise in Pandaria to serve the bidding of Y'Shaarj. The cards for Whispers feature more interactions with minion deaths of friends and foes alike, such as Giant Sha, Vicious Sha, and Old Gods Rising. The Sha of Pride gives an extra opportunity to summon Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound.

    One Night in Karazhan

    Show Spoiler

    The party is on in Karazhan! Dragon Portal continues Dragon support, and Magical Maiden and Onyx Rook both give interesting tactics for minion positioning.

    Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

    Show Spoiler

    Welcome to Gadgetzan, home-turf of the Jade Lotus (and those two other idiot gangs). Tacticians will be able to use Jade Golems to their advantage, but they can also fight fire with fire through the Lotus Pickpocket and Grimy Turncoat stealing the powers of the other gangs. Zhang Blackpaw will show his daughter how it's done when it comes to the power of Jade.

    Journey to Un'Goro

    Show Spoiler

    The quest to Un'Goro Crater begins! Journey to Un'Goro has more interactions with upgrading rarity and Dragons through cards like Saurok Spellmancer and Cloud Hatchling, along with Adapt and Epic synergy with Ancient Brew and Saurok Commander. Li Li, Junior Explorer will help you find a Legendary for your deck, and if you Search for the Statue, you will find the long-forgotten Elune Parthenos and become legendary (literally)!

    Tokens:

    Knights of the Frozen Throne

    Show Spoiler

    A good Tactician values his soldiers above all else. But what happens when a good Tactician falls to darkness? Knights of the Frozen Throne focuses on Deathrattle cards like Snow-Covered Archer and Sacrificial Soldier, and other cards based on sacrificing your minions like Lich Mystic and Spirit of Shado-Pan. Gravewalker Zhu gives your hero one last chance to make a comeback after death, while Archlich Kel'thuzad gives your Deathrattle minions a second chance at life (until their second chance at death).

    Kobolds and Catacombs

    Show Spoiler

    Into the dungeons to fight some Dragons! Kobolds and Catacombs introduces more Dragon synergy and buff cards like Dragon Whisperer and We're Rich! as well as more Tactic cards like Tushui Leader and Questing Pandaren. Fu Zan will shuffle Flaming Kegs that deal 5 damage to your opponent's left-most minion, while The Dungeon Master will get you a Dragon (just hope you get a high roll!)

    Tokens:

    The Witchwood

    Show Spoiler

    Don't get lost in the woods… The Witchwood introduces new cards with Rush like Huojin Protector and Gilneas Brew, as well as Taunt synergy with Gorgeous Gilnean and Into The Fray. Madame Shearer will help your Taunt minions protect your hero, but Doctor Sezavo will help your Rush minions destroy the enemy (for a price).

    Token:

    The Boomsday Project

    Show Spoiler

    Welcome to Boom Labs! The Boomsday Project brings the Mechs back to the Tactician class with new Mech minions and Mech synergy like Box-O-Boom and Goblin Punk and damaging spells like What Goes Up… and Holozooka. Doctor Magnetron gives Mech decks a whole new angle to their strategy, while Magnetron's Holoprinter can save you when your opponent's board gets out of control - by plagiarizing it!

    Rastakhan's Rumble

    Show Spoiler

    TURTLE POWER! Rastakhan's Rumble brings Taunt synergy in a big way like with Spirit of the Turtle and new cards that require strategy to play right like Chain Reaction, Sportsmanship,and Time to Rumble. Torga, the Turtle rewards you for maintaining a board of Taunts; while War-God Jalak will steal a Legendary for you and could turn the tides of battle.

    Rise of Shadows

    Show Spoiler

    From the depths of Blackrock, Nefarian returns to join the League of E.V.I.L. along with a few prisoners he broke out from the Violet Hold! Rise of Shadows brings back Dragon support as well as introducing Secrets to the Tactician class and an emphasis on spells. Lord Victor Nefarius can find you the perfect Dragon to turn the tide, while Cyanigosa gives you power for playing spells.

     Nefarian's Lackey:            Token:          

    Saviors of Uldum

    Show Spoiler

    Ancient powers are awakened in Uldum! Saviors of Uldum continues Nefarian's emphasis on spells with the new Secrets Dead Man's Volley and Confusing Screech, and more card generation. Reawakening gives Tacticians powerful spells from your opponent's class, while Phaerix the Chosen can restore spells that have been played and give players a big push.

    Descent of Dragons

    Show Spoiler

    Ancient powers awaken! In Descent of Dragons, Tacticians gain a whole host of Dragon minions and synergy with cards like Proto-Drake and Shadow Breath; as well as the power to invoke Galakrond, the Ancient and summon power from the past. Nefarian, the Abomination will help you construct the perfect Dragon, while Rend, Dark Warchief will destroy any Legends that get in his way.

    Tokens:

    Chromatic Dragon Tokens:

    Galakrond's Awakening

    Show Spoiler

    The final battle begins! Galakrond's Awakening contains three new cards for Tactician: Blackrock Pitmaster can generate Lackeys, Dueling Dragons works as both removal and Dragon summoning, and EVIL Strategist can give your Lackeys a boost.

    Ashes of Outland

    Show Spoiler

    The power of the void calls… In Ashes of Outland, Tacticians have made a deal with the Demons for power with cards like Huojin Felblade, Fel Volley, and Dark Alliance. Prince Xavalius will help take out your opponent's big hitters, while Chen the Corrupted will show what happens when you embrace the darkness.

    Battlegrounds

    Show Spoiler

     

     

    Tokens:

    Solo Content:

    Show Spoiler

    Icecrown

    "Your minions abandon you, Tactician! They know my victory is inevitable."

    In the Tactician's fight against the Lich King, he will steal your minions every turn. Players have to build a board fast and make sure not to give Arthas anything he can take advantage of.

    Dungeon Run

    Taran Zhu is heading into the dungeons! Make your way through the 8 bosses and claim your treasure!

    Link to Tactician card buckets and starter deck

    Rumble Run

    Let's get ready to RUUUMBLEEEEE! When Rikkar joins the Tacticians and Team Torga, he gets access to three Shrines: Paralyzing Relic will shock opposing minions away from fighting, Torga's Shell will provide a defensive boost, and Torga's Summons will return dead minions to your hand (from both sides). Along with the six Tactician Teammates (which you can find here), Tacticians will show Gurubashi Arena who's boss!

    Link to Teammate cards, card buckets, and starter decks

    Dalaran Heist Tactician Hero (Abby-Ration)

    "So, 'Abby'. Maloriak tells me you're his brightest aberration yet. That's not saying much coming from someone not much brighter than an aberration, but let's see if you have what it takes."

    In the Dalaran Heist, Tacticians can control Abby-Ration, an new aberration with dreams of ruling Blackrock (or whatever Nefarian allows her to rule. Maybe she can rule the Grim Guzzler). In addition to the normal Strengthen hero power, Abby has access to two new ones. Summon 10 minions to unlock New Friends, and play 15 spells to unlock Random Rune.

    Link to card buckets and starter decks

    The Dalaran Heist Chapter 6 - Skies of Dalaran

    "While those bozos put their little plan into action, we need to make sure no reinforcements get through to the city."

    While the Dalaran portals have been shut down, Nefarian still has to prevent help from flying in. Use a floating island for fending off the intruders but be warned - They aren't that stable. Too many minions on the board will destroy all of them, so avoid building too big of a board (or use it to your advantage and destroy your enemies). Fight against Dalaran heroes and heroes from past adventures to make sure the League of E.V.I.L. can win!

    Link to adventure guide and boss listings

    Fire FEST-E.V.I.L. (Blackrock Crash)

    Nefarian's going home, and he's NOT happy. Play through the Blackrock Crash as Victor Nefarius and show this loser league how to properly take over Blackrock Mountain!

    "Hey, you lousy rat! STAY AWAY FROM MY STUFF!"

    For Round 6, Nefarian has to protect his lab from the other league members who see it as free loot. The other classes fight dragon Nefarian as normal, but Nefarian fights against a variation of the King Togwaggle fight from the Dungeon Run. He no take lab equipment.

    Link to card buckets and starter deck

    Tombs of Terror Chapter 5 - The Pit of Scales

    "Elise, I've fought a lot of crocolisks in my days. But I ain't never seen a crocolisk flyin' or breathin' fire before!"

    The Pit of Scales, home of the crocolisks. At least until Obsidus took control and converted it into his personal rookery. Help the League of Explorers defeat the Plague Lord of Scales and restore order to Uldum! This wing's twist summons you an Eternal Drake, a Dragon that give you a Dragon when it dies and passes it's Deathrattle on to it. Use them to your advantage as you take on Obsidus!

    Link to adventure and boss guide

    FAQ:

    Q: How does Tactic work exactly?

    A: Tactic works as an Aura, but unlike aura effects Tactic enchantments are permanent buffs instead of temporary. It works on both minions already on the board when played and minions played after the Tactic minion is on the board.

    When you play a minion with the Tactic keyword, it checks to see if minions on the board fit the criteria specified on itself. If there are any minions that fit, the Tactic minion enchants them. Afterwards, any time your board changes it checks again. If it notices any minions on the board that fit the Tactic and have not been enchanted yet, it enchants them. The enchantments are permanent, so if the Tactic minion is destroyed the minions buffed retain their buffs (unlike a normal Aura effect).

    Q: What about "upgraded rarity"?

    A: Cards that allow you to upgrade a rarity will give you a card of the next rarity in the ranking (minions transformed into upgraded rarities will stay the same Cost). Think of Evolve, but with rarity instead of Cost. The ranking goes

    Basic -> Common -> Rare -> Epic -> Legendary

    Legendaries cannot be upgraded. It's like trying to evolve a Mountain Giant: it will be unaffected. And if there are no Legendary spells in Standard, upgraded spells can't go past Epic.

     

    Credits:

    Cards made with Hearthcards using the Demon Hunter class skin

    Art found on Blizz-Art and Artstation (and occasionally Google Images)

    Thanks to sinti, Neoguli, Doomer22, MalcolmReynolds, and Demonxz95 for balance input

    Artwork credits can be found in my Imgur albums for each set

    Basic, Classic, Adventures, GvG, TGT, Old Gods, Gadgetzan, Un'Goro, KotFT, Kobolds, Witchwood, Boomsday, Rastakhan, Shadows, Uldum, Dragons, Outland,

    Changelog:

    Show Spoiler

    08/15/19 - Changed Guardian Monk to 3 Mana.

    08/16/19 - Added Goblins vs. Gnomes and Blackrock Mountain.

                      - Balance updates to the Basic and Classic set (listed down below)

    08/17/19 - Added The Grand Tournament and The League of Explorers

    08/18/19 - Added Whispers of the Old God and One Night in Karazhan

                      - Various consistency improvements

    08/19/19 - Added Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

                      - Altered Hero Power to lower the power and fit better with the class identity

    08/20/19 - Added Journey to Un'Goro

    08/22/19 - Added Knights of the Frozen Throne

    08/24/19 - Added Kobolds and Katacombs and The Witchwood

    08/25/19 - Added The Boomsday Project and Rastakhan's Rumble

    08/26/19 - Added Rise of Shadows and Saviors of Uldum

                      -Changes to Torga, the Turtle and Cursed Fire

                      -Updated the FAQ to better explain how Tactic works

                      -Various consistancy updates

    09/04/19 - Added solo content for Icecrown, Rumble Run, and the Dalaran Heist hero

                      - Added Genn Greymane as a cosmetic hero

    09/05/19 - Added solo content for Fire FEST-E.V.I.L. and Skies of Dalaran

    09/06/19 - Added card buckets for Dungeon Run

    09/07/19 - Added card buckets for Rumble Run

    09/10/19 - Added card buckets for Dalaran Heist and Blackrock Crash

                      -Added adventure guide for Dalaran Heist Chapter 6 - Skies of Dalaran

    09/11/19 - Replaced Hidden Spikes with Spike Trap

    10/02/19 - Added adventure guide for Tombs of Terror Chapter 5 - The Pit of Scales

                      - Added the 1,000 win cosmetic hero, Lord Taran

    11/14/19 - Added Battlegrounds

    11/20/19 - Added spoiler tags to the main post

    12/14/19 - Added Descent of Dragons

    01/22/20 - Added Galakrond's Awakening cards

                      - Reduced the cost and attack of Ancient Swipe

    04/12/20 - Added Ashes of Outland

    Thank you for reading, let me know what you think and what I can improve!

     

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    5
  • sinti's Avatar
    Senior Writer Chocolate Cake 2070 2774 Posts Joined 10/20/2018
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    Looking good overall! Tho one thing looks kinda silly, how is Guardian Monk, a class card, worse than a neutral one from the same set? Sen'jin Shieldmasta. I get this is Basic card, but class cards are generally at least slightly stronger than neutral cards, not reverse power-creeped :)

    ~ Have an idea? Found a bug? Let us know! ~
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    2
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago
    Quote From sinti

    Looking good overall! Tho one thing looks kinda silly, how is Guardian Monk, a class card, worse than a neutral one from the same set? Sen'jin Shieldmasta. I get this is Basic card, but class cards are generally at least slightly stronger than neutral cards, not reverse power-creeped :)

    Because I forgot Shieldmasta existed when I was making that card, :P I'll drop it to 3 Mana to even things out.

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    2
  • sinti's Avatar
    Senior Writer Chocolate Cake 2070 2774 Posts Joined 10/20/2018
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago
    Quote From Hordaki
    Quote From sinti

    Looking good overall! Tho one thing looks kinda silly, how is Guardian Monk, a class card, worse than a neutral one from the same set? Sen'jin Shieldmasta. I get this is Basic card, but class cards are generally at least slightly stronger than neutral cards, not reverse power-creeped :)

    Because I forgot Shieldmasta existed when I was making that card, :P I'll drop it to 3 Mana to even things out.

    How can you forget about one of the most iconic cards in HS, phew! :) Yeah, lowering the cost to 3 mana seems like a good adjustment

    ~ Have an idea? Found a bug? Let us know! ~
    ~ Join us on Discord ~

    1
  • Lightspoon's Avatar
    Merfolk 495 405 Posts Joined 04/01/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    While I'm not a fan of Pandaren, I've found your class pretty charming! Can't wait to see more of it.

    Bravo!

    "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul?"

    1
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    More cards! Now that we're done with the starter sets, I feel like I can start printing weirder and more powerful cards since they're not evergreen (technically none of these are evergreen since they'll never be playable but you know what I mean). Gear Up in particular gives Tactician a win condition if they can avoid Flamestrike and keep a large board alive long enough. Let me know what you think.

    The rest are in the main post!

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    0
  • lukyduk's Avatar
    115 7 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    Neat work.  I especially like how your expansion cards compliment the previous sets.  I'd like to see more cool eastern dragon synergies.  The rarity cards also make for fun deck building challenges!

    What I'm not too crazy about currently, is the tactic keyword.  Is it essentially a conditional battlecry?  Seems like you're missing out on tying in with some cool pre-existing synergies by not just being labeled as 'battlecry'

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  • Neoguli's Avatar
    Duskrider 880 596 Posts Joined 06/25/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    My biggest concern is that there are quite a lot of cards that scream weak for me like Firemaster or Shado-Pan Master. You just got to buff them, because they seem too weak. Some cards are also weird to include imo (like Cleansing Mist), but I guess you plan on adding stronger spells and you prefer them to have these more useless spells as emergency options or to balance out odds of getting certain cards.

    Otherwise the class seems fine, but not that flashy and maybe slightly out of place. I do appreciate how you're trying to force players to position minions appropriately, and the rarity thing seems neat, but still not flashy for me. xd

    "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

    0
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago
    Quote From lukyduk

    Neat work.  I especially like how your expansion cards compliment the previous sets.  I'd like to see more cool eastern dragon synergies.  The rarity cards also make for fun deck building challenges!

    What I'm not too crazy about currently, is the tactic keyword.  Is it essentially a conditional battlecry?  Seems like you're missing out on tying in with some cool pre-existing synergies by not just being labeled as 'battlecry'

    Tactics work as both a Battlecry and an ongoing effect (like Addled Grizzly). As long as you have the Tactic minion on the board and another minion that fits it, the other minion gets a buff. It also means you can chain Tactics together. If you have Hozen Blademaster, Goblin Strategist, and a board with Shado-Pan Agents, the Goblin will give the Agents Taunt, which will trigger the Hozen to give them +3 Health. Suddenly your 1/2s are 1/5 Taunts. You have to plan around them, but they can really help build a strong board (which is critical for Tacticians).

    I'm definitely planning more dragons, but I still want to match up with the themes of each expansion.

    Quote From Neoguli

    My biggest concern is that there are quite a lot of cards that scream weak for me like Firemaster or Shado-Pan Master. You just got to buff them, because they seem too weak. Some cards are also weird to include imo (like Cleansing Mist), but I guess you plan on adding stronger spells and you prefer them to have these more useless spells as emergency options or to balance out odds of getting certain cards.

    Otherwise the class seems fine, but not that flashy and maybe slightly out of place. I do appreciate how you're trying to force players to position minions appropriately, and the rarity thing seems neat, but still not flashy for me. xd

    Later effects will definitely be flashier, but I didn't want to make the early sets too powerful, more to just show off the flavor of the class and give ideas for what it can do. I was thinking of buffing the Shado-Pan Master though.

     

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    0
  • Doomer22's Avatar
    Gul'dan 405 51 Posts Joined 07/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    First of all, good job on this class design. I really like the ideas you've got going on here, and you've clearly thought about what your class should be in terms of weaknesses and strengths. There are a few potential issues I have seen though, but I can be very nitpicky. So don't pay too much attention to me rambling on about minor details, but I hope it will give you something to think about :P

    Let's start with the core mechanics. I like the idea of Tactic, but there are a few instances where I'm not sure what the intended behaviour of it is. I'm assuming it works like an aura effect, meaning that the effect goes away when the minion with Tactic goes away.
    First of all, Pandaren General, which gives 1-Attack minions +1/+1. Historically speaking, Hearthstone does not look at the base stats of cards but at their buffed stats, meaning that the +1/+1 buff would mean the 1-Attack minions don't have 1 Attack anymore and should lose the buff. This is also the behaviour I am expecting from Goblin Strategist. When a minion has 2 Health left, it gains Taunt. Whenever it gets healed or damaged, it loses Taunt. But then again, you seem to have disproven that this is the way it works in a previous comment. Therefore I would advise rethinking how the mechanic works exactly, or reprashing certain cards/the tooltip

    Regarding the Shado-Pan Agents, this I quite like. It is like the Paladin Silver Hand Recruit synergies, but executed in a different way. However, I think the issue in this lies in the generators. There are only 4 cards that generate, and I would say that 2 (maybe 3) of them are playable. I'll go over them one by one, but I think this is just not enough. Paladin has the Hero Power as a constant generator, which makes up for a lot. I'll go over your generators one by one.
    Shado-Pan Trainer; I believe this card is nice for arena, but not viable enough for ladder. The guaranteed 4/6 in stats isn't terrible, accompanied by an end of turn effect, makes it playable in theory. However, I believe that you want to do more than that on turn 5 as a swarming deck. Also, you can't combo anything with the Agent, as it comes into play after you end your turn.
    Send in the Troops; Man, this card is strong. It's almost a Force of Nature, but for only 3 mana! So much tempo. I don't think it's overpowered, but I'd play this card in almost any deck.
    Huojin Taskmaster; Again, strong card. Casual 5 Mana 6/7, of which 4 Attack is protected by 4 Health in Taunts. Again, not overpowered, but strong nonetheless.
    Finally, Reinforcements; I really don't like this card :/. Let's compare this to Shadowform. The first time you cast it, this is arguably a downgrade of your Hero Power, while Shadowform arguably gives you an upgrade. Dealing 2 damage to a minion is such a strong HP that you don't want to change it to a slightly better Paladin HP. The second time you draw/cast it, at least Shadowform gives you another slight upgrade. All this will do is refresh your HP, for 3 mana and a card! Reinforcements should be a (2) Cost card at most, like Dinomancy.

    Now I'll go through the sets and comment on any outliers, starting with Basic.
    Wide Defense is an interesting card, but horrendously weak compared to Sunfury Protector. Sure, you can't usually target the two outside with her, but she does the job done of protecting something you want to protect just as well. My advice, add "Draw a card." to it.
    Windstrike is a card I am indifferent on. I get the idea of it being your classic 2 mana deal 3 card like Frostbolt, Lightning Bolt (/Rockbiter Weapon), Darkbomb, Wrath, Penance. The problem is that your Hero Power already does so much of that. Would you really want to pay a card for 1 extra damage? Normally I would say no. However, this is one of the few cards that directly deals damage to a minion. So perhaps you would run this as removal, but I'm very skeptical.
    Then there's Stock Up. I get that you want to introduce the concept of rarity in the Basic Set. However, if I recall correctly, every Basic class card is contained in a version of a Basic deck of that class with only other Basic cards. So I would advise swapping this with Epic Treasure. Also, tutoring in the evergreen set is dangerous and limits design space. It could be fine in this case, as Rare cards rarely break the game, but it its worth mentioning.

    So far so good, let's see what Classic has in store. Well, I really like all Classic cards. They all seem to have the right balane for Classic. The most questionable card would be Earthmaster if you ask me, because it requires 3 friendly Taunt minions to become a Fen Creeper. I think you can bump it down to 4 Mana.
    There is one card that doesn't fit in in my opinion, and that is Pandaren Collector. According to you, Tactic "will grant bonusses to any minions on the board that fit the tactic." So does that mean that it triggers on itself? Does it trigger on minions that are already on the board? Compared to an aura effect of Give +1/+1, the effect Draw a Card just makes very little sense to me. I may be alone in this, but it really triggers me, and I think it could confuse other/new people as well.

    Curse of Naxxramas. Man, I love Strength of Spirits. Such a cool card, I just wish it was real. It makes so much sense, especially for a class that goes wide. My compliments

    Then GvG, not much to say about this set. I would like you to clarify if Smasher Droid hits a random enemy, or both enemies when it is played opposite of two enemy minions. Also, with reluctance I will say that Gear Up could be bumped down a Mana. It is just as powerful as Bloodlust, as both will be used as finishers.

    Finally, Blackrock Mountain. Again, good job, these cards are well designed. Nothing else to say about them.

    I hope these comments will help you with making the best class you can. Really excited to see what else you can come up with, as you've done a great job so far. Keep up the good work!

    2
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    Wow Doomer, that is more in-depth analysis of the class than I ever expected to see, and I'm definitely taking some of your suggestions. Tactic isn't an aura effect but an effect like Addled Grizzly, but with the benefit of affecting minions already on the board when you play it. I'll update the tooltip to try and clarify this. And to answer your question about the Smasher Droid, if there are two opposite minions it targets one at random.

     

    And here are some balance updates based on Doomer and Neoguli's advice

    -Stock Up and Epic Treasure! are switching places do to the lack of Rare cards to draw in the Basic set.

    -Shado-Pan Master goes down to 7 Mana and its effect now gives +2 Attack instead of +1.

    -Pandaren Collector's effect now reads "After you play a Rare card, draw a card". The same effect, but more readable and helps to define Tactic as specific to minion enchantments.

    -Reinforcements goes down to 2 Mana and now gives the summoned Shado-Pan Agent Taunt.

    -Earthmaster goes down to 4 Mana with an edit for clarity in its Battlecry.

     

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    1
  • CableKnight's Avatar
    Rexxar 405 187 Posts Joined 03/14/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    This is really creative, nice work.

    Gosh dang it, cards bad.

    1
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    More cards! I knew I wanted to include Chen Stormstout in TGT since it would be hard to justify him in later sets, so I was trying to think of an appropriate power for him. Since he's a Brewmaster, I thought it would be fun if he brought brews from around Azeroth to the Tournament (I'm sure Refreshment Vendor would approve). It fit the theme of TGT and it allowed for more minion-buffing spells as well as a Tactician variation on Potions, so I think it worked really well. But let me know what you think! The LoE set also introduces rarity upgrading, which I hope to expand on in later sets.

    More in the main post!

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    0
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    More cards! Old Gods was an interesting set to build, since it turns out that Pandaria has shadow monsters spawned from Y'Shaarj. Naturally I had to use those in this set. And since Tacticians like to play a lot of cheap minions, it makes sense that I should introduce some cards that take advantage of them dying. Karazhan was very easy to come up with, since the Chess game and Dorothee were both influences on the Tactician's focus on minion positioning. Now on to Gadgetzan (three guesses for which gang we'll join).

    More in the main post!

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    0
  • Neoguli's Avatar
    Duskrider 880 596 Posts Joined 06/25/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    Theme-wise, this class could join either Jade Lotus or Grimestreet. I place my bet on Grimestreet because hand buffs would probably feel something that matches Tactician's identity of palnning ahead. But I wouldn't mind seeing Jade Golems in this class seeing it is based on Pandarens.

    "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

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    More cards! I considered joining the Goons, but in the end I figured it would be weird if the Pandaren class wasn't involved with the one time Pandarens have been a focus in a Hearthstone expansion. Jade Monk is meant to be a powerful Tactic that can easily net players a bunch of Golems if they play it right. I also thought it'd be cool if there were cards that gave you limited use of the other gang's abilities, since a Tactician would want to use his enemies strengths against them. Now it's on to Un'Goro! The Tactician's quest is gonna be epic...

    More in the main post!

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    0
  • KANSAS's Avatar
    Old God Fanatic 1745 2912 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    man, that hero power is ridiculous! hunters are able to deal 2 damage for 2. but that is only to face, yours is only to minions, but dealing damage to face is not equal to dealing damage to minions. that is why cards like Mind Blast and Sinister Strike deal so much damage for their mana cost.

    I know hero powers are very hard to design (when I made my custom class that was the hardest part). What might be more balanced and thematic is if maybe you had some kind of temporary minion buff, maybe something like "give a friendly minion +1 health" or "give a friendly minion +1 attack this turn only".

    Carrion, my wayward grub.

    1
  • Neoguli's Avatar
    Duskrider 880 596 Posts Joined 06/25/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    With each day, I can already see some potential for cool decks. Zhang is one of cards that might be very slow, but it has some nice upside that scales the longer this game goes. We could fix his problems with him being too slow by just including Master Oakheart. Also great with N'Zoth and Da Undatakah (in Wild).

    My apologies if you're amused that my favorite cards in Hearthstone are N'Zoth and Da Undatakah haha

    "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

    1
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago
    Quote From MalcolmReynolds

    man, that hero power is ridiculous! hunters are able to deal 2 damage for 2. but that is only to face, yours is only to minions, but dealing damage to face is not equal to dealing damage to minions. that is why cards like Mind Blast and Sinister Strike deal so much damage for their mana cost.

    I know hero powers are very hard to design (when I made my custom class that was the hardest part). What might be more balanced and thematic is if maybe you had some kind of temporary minion buff, maybe something like "give a friendly minion +1 health" or "give a friendly minion +1 attack this turn only".

    I was going to debate this, but looking at other 2 Damage spells I've realized that this is actually pretty good value and you're probably right. The problem with your suggestions though is that they're pretty much just worse versions of Priest and Mage hero powers. I'm thinking I'll change it to give a minion +1/+1, since it's decent but definitely not as valuable as the original hero power.

    Quote From Neoguli

    With each day, I can already see some potential for cool decks. Zhang is one of cards that might be very slow, but it has some nice upside that scales the longer this game goes. We could fix his problems with him being too slow by just including Master Oakheart. Also great with N'Zoth and Da Undatakah (in Wild).

    My apologies if you're amused that my favorite cards in Hearthstone are N'Zoth and Da Undatakah haha

    Zhang is very slow, but if you have enough Jade power when you play him getting 30/30 worth of stats on the board is always a good thing. My idea with Jade Tactician is that its slower and harder to play than the other Jade classes, but if you play it right you can get a lot of Jade in a short amount of time (you can also synergize Jade Monk with the Tri-Class Jade cards since they're all 3 Health).

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    1
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    More cards! For Un'Goro, I wanted to focus more on rarity interactions since I hadn't really done much with it. The idea with focusing on Epic cards is that with Ancient Magic, you can transform Epics into Legendaries. It's more random than Evolve and other Mana-focused transformations, but could be much more powerful. Next up is Frozen Throne. What does a Pandaren Death Knight look like? Wait and see...

    More in the main post!

     

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    More cards! I started bringing in more Deathrattle-focused cards in Old Gods, but for Frozen Throne I decided to go all out. Gravewalker Zhu was my take on a Hero card with some sort of Deathrattle-like effect. Now if your opponent tries to deal lethal damage, they better be sure to clear your board first or they could be in trouble. It's probably not the most powerful Death Knight, but I thought it was an interesting idea.

    More in the main post!

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    0
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    More cards! For Kobolds I decided to add more Dragon synergy and buffs to fit with the DnD themes of the expansion. The Dungeon Master is a really powerful card if you get one of the big dragons, but not as much with a Faerie Dragon. For Witchwood I really wanted to make a bunch of Rush cards because I think it really fits the Tactician theme of board control. Let me know what you think!

    More in the main post!

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    0
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    More cards! Boomsday was my attempt at reintroducing Mech Tactician after GvG. Doctor Magnetron gives Mech decks a lot more options and fits with the class's emphasis on correct placement. For Rastakhan, I just looked for Loas that weren't already in use and realized that a turtle Loa would fit with Taunt Tactician. Both of these expansions also give more board clear options, but that require strategy to play correctly like with Chain Reaction. Now it's on to Rise of Shadows, where evil stirs once more. Have you heard the rumblings...?

    More in the main post! (and points if anyone gets the hint).

     

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    0
  • KANSAS's Avatar
    Old God Fanatic 1745 2912 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    I think the tactic keyword might be more simple and easy to understand if it didn't also work as a battlecry and a continual effect, but instead was just a continual effect. right now it just kinda feels like a lot in one keyword. 

    Carrion, my wayward grub.

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  • FieselFitz's Avatar
    Prince Charming 1105 1355 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    WoW .... the work you've done is very impressive! Very creative and well thought ! I always like to create cards and come up with ideas about them but this seems pretty awesome!

    Very well done!

    the only thing so far is that i agree with MalcomReynolds - i think the Tactic Keyword should either be like a Battlecry or an continual effect !

    Challenge me ... when you're ready to duel a god!

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago
    Quote From MalcolmReynolds

    I think the tactic keyword might be more simple and easy to understand if it didn't also work as a battlecry and a continual effect, but instead was just a continual effect. right now it just kinda feels like a lot in one keyword. 

    Quote From FieselFitz

    WoW .... the work you've done is very impressive! Very creative and well thought ! I always like to create cards and come up with ideas about them but this seems pretty awesome!

    Very well done!

    the only thing so far is that i agree with MalcomReynolds - i think the Tactic Keyword should either be like a Battlecry or an continual effect !

    Would it make more since to describe Tactics as an Aura that gives permanent buffs instead of temporary ones? I'd like to keep Tactics as is since if it was either-or then it wouldn't be unique.

     

    Anyway, the last card update (for now)! With the Year of the Dragon bringing a three-expansion arc, I thought it'd be cool to use this excuse to create new arc-types for Tactician. Spells have never been a huge focus of the class, but with Nefarian in charge it made sense to me to introduce more spell synergy to the class. The Reawakening quest in particular can get players a lot of spells (including more damaging ones than Tacticians are known for). Secrets were another mechanic I wanted to introduce, but unlike when Rogue added Secrets I'm actually adding more in each expansion (but I'm not planning on keeping them around after the Year of the Dragon). And of course you can't use Blackrock characters without Dragons!

    More in the main post!

    Now that I'm done with every expansion, I might go back and do some solo content (like the Tactician Rumble Run shrines or Nefarian's wing of the Dalaran Heist). Also as a bonus, here's Nefarian's lackey.

    Thanks for the support!

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Demonxz95's Avatar
    Senior Writer 2245 2626 Posts Joined 03/19/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    Hey, really nice work on the class. The aesthetic of the class is great, and the effort is admirable.

    I however do agree with Malcolm that Tactic is a bit of a confusing keyword. Some additional criticism:

    • The Hero Power should have "Hero Power" in bold at the top.
    • Class keywords are not allowed to be on Basic cards, so you'd need to move Pandaren General out of Basic.
    • You should post the upgraded Hero Power somewhere on the front page.
    • Keywords by themselves don't use periods (Goldshire Footman). Only when it's part of a sentence (Prince Valanar), or [Hearthstone Card (occasionally) Not Found] when a line uses multiple keywords (Obsidian Statue), or sometimes commas are used instead (Walking Fountain). The ruling on this however is admittedly very inconsistent. Sometimes, keywords are found on their own line as well (Argent Commander) if they have no effects. There are very strange rulings about this.
    • Dragon Portal should say "4-Cost" instead of "4-Mana".
    • The name Into the Fray has now been taken as of Saviors of Uldum.
    • Lich Mystic raises some questions. Since minions most often have 0 Health when they die, it'll only gain Attack. In fact, if a minion took *more* damage so it would have -1 Health or less, would it actually lose Health instead?
    • Cursed Fire is a dangerous design. In fact, permanent Attack reduction in general is a dangerous design. You don't want to be able to lock your opponent's board out.

    Most of the cards seem balanced (although I think Torga is really weak). Some of my favorite cards here include Pandaren Jouster and Planning Ahead. I love what you did with MSoG stealing the other gang's powers.

    I want to see more of this.

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 7 months ago

    Thanks for the input! I've made some changes:

    • Fixed the periods on keywords, Dragon Portal, and added "Hero Power" to the Hero Powers.
    • Put the upgraded Hero Power next to the main one (it used to be down in the Tokens section but that probably wasn't visible enough).
    • Into the Fray is now Into the Fight
    • Swapped Pandaren General and Hozen Noble's set placement.
    • Clarified Lich Mystic's text so it specifies that it gains the base stats and not the current stats.
    • Torga, the Turtle is now 6 Mana 4/7.
    • Changed Cursed Fire to "Silence and deal 3 damage to it [the minion]" so it still gets the idea of hurting the minion across without locking out the board.

    I guess I'll need to figure out what to do about Tactic since most people are confused by it. I don't want to weaken the effect, but it needs to be simplified somehow. Is describing it as a permanent Aura effect clearer, or do you guys think I need to change the mechanic?

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

    I've started adding Solo content to the post. Currently I have the Lich King fight, the Rumble Run cards, and the Dalaran Heist hero. I'm going to give Nefarian his own wing of the Heist, so stay tuned for that. I also gave Tactician a cosmetic hero with Genn Greymane who would have been available in a Witchwood Mega-Bundle shortly before Mecha-Jaraxxus actually introduced the concept.

    More in the main post!

     

    Right now I'm still thinking of changing how Tactic works. I'm weighing a few options:

    1. End of turn effect: I could change Tactic to give buffs at the end of the turn. This would make the effect easier to understand, but some Tactics could be too powerful if allowed to trigger twice (such as Tactics that give Deathrattles).
    2. Aura effect: Tactics would stay active as long as the Tactic minion is on the board. This is an option that could work but would overall make Tactics less viable as they would go away at the end of the turn.
    3. Current solution explained better: I feel like the way I initially explained Tactics made it sound a lot more complicated than I meant it to. Tactics are basically Aura buffs, but unlike Aura buffs don't disappear once the Tactic minion is destroyed. If that makes more sense then I can keep the effect as is.
    4. Some other fourth option: If you have any suggestions let me know.

    Please let me know what you think, I want this class to be the best it can be, so any input is greatly appreciated.

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Demonxz95's Avatar
    Senior Writer 2245 2626 Posts Joined 03/19/2019
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

    Really glad with how much effort you're putting into this. I've never seen anyone besides myself try to do all of the solo content. Now all you need are the card buckets in Dungeon Run, Rumble Run, and Dalaran Heist.

    Torga's Shell is also a really cool Shrine idea.

    Really fantastic work on your end.

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago
    Quote From Demonxz95

    Really glad with how much effort you're putting into this. I've never seen anyone besides myself try to do all of the solo content. Now all you need are the card buckets in Dungeon Run, Rumble Run, and Dalaran Heist.

    Torga's Shell is also a really cool Shrine idea.

    Really fantastic work on your end.

    Thanks Demonxz! I'm glad you like it (especially since Time Traveler was one of the main inspirations for making my own class).

    Finally finished! Now with the card buckets and dungeon guides complete, I'll have to wait for the game to release more content before I post any more cards. I am planning a Tombs of Terror chapter for the Plague of Whelps, but I'm gonna wait until all of the wings are out before I start (BTW if anyone has artwork of a spirit made of a bunch of small dragons let me know). Thanks to everyone who's given support and feedback, I really appreciate it.

    Chapter 6 of the Dalaran Heist is also finished! This wing makes you fight on top of miniature floating islands surrounding Dalaran, but if there are more than 8 minions on the board it collapses and every minion is destroyed. It's a lot trickier to play around than some of the other twists, but you can use it to your advantage if you opponent gets too many powerful minions out. You also get to fight against bosses from previous dungeon runs who are flying in to help stop the League. Check out the adventure guide for more information.

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • KANSAS's Avatar
    Old God Fanatic 1745 2912 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

    How is Hidden Spikes supposed to work? what does your opponent see? does your opponent see you spending 4 mana, then a card dissapears from your hand, and nothing happens? and why isn't it a secret? also, compair it to Explosive Runes, or Snipe. it just isn't a very good card, and I have no idea how it would work.

    Carrion, my wayward grub.

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

    Yeah, I realized after making it that it didn't make much sense, so I'll try to fix it. Hopefully this version makes more sense (plus it's better since it can linger). Now it summons an non-interactible token that will deal damage to minions. Once the token runs out of damage, it self-destructs.

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 5 months ago

    Time for an update! Now that the Tombs of Terror is finished, I decided to go ahead and design the Plague Lord for Plague of Scales.

    Obsidus is based on playing a lot of Dragons both big and small, and Dragon synergy cards to overwhelm you. The first phase isn't too hard to deal with, but phases two and three will be a lot harder if you can't keep his board under control. (I wish I could've found artwork for him that fit better with the other Plague Lords but oh well) You can find the heroic hero powers in the adventure guide in the main post.

    The twist for Chapter 5 summons an Eternal Drake for each player. The Deathrattle will pass along to all of the Dragons gained by it, so you'll always have a Dragon on the board or in hand (which is useful for synergies). Use it to your advantage.

    I also went ahead and made the 1,000 win portrait for the class (I'll change the name once they show reveal the other portraits if it doesn't fit with the others). The two Tactician Wild cards coming back into Standard for the Halloween event are Gear Up and Dragon Portal. Now that Uldum is finished, I'll wait until after the next expansion is fully revealed before I make the next batch of cards. See you then!

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 4 months ago

    Update! I figure it's time for Tacticians to enter the Battlegrounds.

    Excuse the wonkiness of the golden card text, Hearthcards woudn't let me print it the same as the standard cards. I've started planning out cards for Descent of Dragons, but I'll wait for the full set to reveal so that I don't make any duplicates of real cards.

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 3 months ago

    A (small) update! Because of finals I haven't been able to work much on the Tactician cards for Descent of Dragons, but hopefully I can release the cards this weekend. I figured I'd at least show off the Legendary Dragon for the class. Introducing Nefarian, the Abomination.

    Nefarian works similar to Kazakus. You'll Discover twice from six "Aspects" based on the different Dragonflights (you can't pick the same aspect twice). The two aspects chosen will be fused into your Chromatic Dragon.

    Show Spoiler

    For example, if you choose the Black and Green Aspects, your Chromatic Dragon will look like this:

    Because there are only six options to choose from, you can plan for certain abilities and play Nefarian accordingly.

     

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • sinti's Avatar
    Senior Writer Chocolate Cake 2070 2774 Posts Joined 10/20/2018
    Posted 4 years, 3 months ago

    I went over it again today and damn you went all out! Doing PVE stuff and BG minions, which Snow-Covered Archer is actually a super smart design!

    ~ Have an idea? Found a bug? Let us know! ~
    ~ Join us on Discord ~

    1
  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 3 months ago

    New cards! I decided to go all in on the Dragon support for Descent, as well as a a lot of card generation through Invoking. I'll probably go for more classic Tactician cards (and bring back the Pandarens) for the next expansion depending on what the next expansion is, but it's been fun getting to introduce new archtypes for Tactician with Spell and Dragon Tacticians.

    Check out the rest under the spoiler tag or in the main post!

    Show Spoiler

    Ancient powers awaken! In Descent of Dragons, Tacticians gain a whole host of Dragon minions, as well as the power to invoke Galakrond, the Ancient and summon power from the past. Nefarian, the Abomination will help you construct the perfect Dragon, while Rend, Dark Warchief will destroy any Legends that get in his way.

    Tokens:

    Chromatic Dragon Tokens:

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Demonxz95's Avatar
    Senior Writer 2245 2626 Posts Joined 03/19/2019
    Posted 4 years, 3 months ago

    Your DoD set seems pretty sick. Even if Galakrond has an even more random-chance ability than the Warlock one, it's like a hundred times more fun too. It may not be the strongest Galakrond, but it definitely seems like the most fun one to play.

    Ancient Swipe seems like a strictly better Seal Fate (except for the fact that Seal Fate can target an undamaged hero), but that isn't exactly the strongest Galakrond Invoker, so the power level is fine. Blackrock Cultist also may be a worse Shield of Galakrond if you don't meet the requirement, but it is even stronger than Corrupt Elementalist when you do.

    It's also a bit of a "soft rule" that Secret classes never get more than 1 Secret in a set except Classic (or Rogue in K&C), but this is a very obscure soft rule that I imagine very few people know about it, so I don't blame you. The exact same soft rule used to exist to weapons, and as of RR, they've broken that rule a few times (if you don't count the Legendary weapons from K&C as breaking the rule, which I personally do not).

    Nefarian also looks like a really fun Legendary.

    Overall, great job.

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 2 months ago

    New cards! Since this is the last set for Year of the Dragon and Galakrond's Awakening doean't have any specifics to work with, I figured I'd use this to give Tacticians some Lackey interactions (which I didn't give much attention in the other sets). And Dueling Dragons is a removal card with a lot of RNG, but considering Tactician Galakrond decks I think it fits.

    I also decided to reduce Ancient Swipe to 2 damage and 2 Mana so it's not exactly like Seal Fate (which was a dumb oversight on my part). And to Demonxz, I know I made a lot of secrets for Tactician, but I wanted to make sure they had a healthy amount since I'm not planning to make more outside of Year of the Dragon.

    I'll probably make some boss battles for Awakening to explain what happened to Nefarian, but I don't know when I'll get around to that.

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

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  • Hordaki's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 650 264 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 3 years, 11 months ago
    New cards! It's taken longer than I would have liked to get this out because of life getting in the way, but I finally made the Outland set. For this I had the idea of adding some Demon synergy to the class. I don't think I'll add any more, but I hope that the cards included could make some interesting decks (especially with neutral Demons like Rustsworn Cultist, Mad Summoner, and the Portal minions). It's also an opportunity to bring in more minion-based cards after the heavy spell focus in Year of the Dragon (Shado-Pan Overlord is meant to bridge the gap between Nefarian's run and classic Tactician). Let me know what you think!
     
     
    The rest of the cards are on the front page or in the spoilers.
     
    Show Spoiler

    The power of the void calls… In Ashes of Outland, Tacticians have made a deal with the Demons for power with cards like Huojin Felblade, Fel Volley, and Dark Alliance. Prince Xavalius will help take out your opponent's big hitters, while Chen the Corrupted will show what happens when you embrace the darkness.

     

          -Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)

           Check out the Tactician custom class!

    1
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