New Mechanic Idea

I've been messing around with hunter and came up with an intriguing idea

One of the reasons the class has traditionally gravitated toward aggression is because of the hero power. What if Blizzard introduced a mechanic that changes your hero power at the start of the game? 

We already have cards that upgrade or change your hero power, and we have quite a few. 

What I am thinking is a mechanic similar to Genn or Baku, where if you have X it changes your hero power. For example, a new rogue legendary could have a mechanic that triggers at the start of the game. I know a lot of people despise those cards and how they shaped decks, but those were neutrals. The new hero power could involve some beast synergy or something. 

You mean like Sir Finley Mrrgglton? Or the new quests? Or Dinomancy?

Yes you need to draw them but they are cheap enough that if you do they effectively are start of game changes. Any true start of game change would need to give a weak hero power (i.e. nothing stronger than the basic ones) or we'll be back in the Genn/Baku problem.

There is a core issue with new heropowers at the start of the game. In the early turns, you don‘t want to press that button because it‘s a tempo loss. Hence, there is no point in getting a different but balanced heropower at the start of the game. For the effect to be worth it, the new HP has to be relevant and then we‘re back at the Genn/Baku issue - consistant and identical tempo push in the early game.

It‘s basicly impossible to balance those  effects. One more damage or one more health are insanly strong on turn 2.

Also, we just got the new quests so it‘s not like you can‘t transform your heropower. Rogue, Druid and shaman can all be completed on turn 5, that’s still pretty early! The design is actually pretty smart. Unlike Sir Finnley or dinomancy, you guarantee the effect to trigger relatively early and can build your deck around it

Well, it is indeed intriguing and i kinda always liked (some not all of them) cards that mess/change the hero power but like AngryShuckie mentioned above -- the hero power should be weaker or almost equaly strong to the normal one unless you want another Genn/Baku Fiasko :) 

For me personaly that would not be a big problem because i kinda enjoyed some of those Genn/Baku decks - the only thing that ruined the Genn/Baku Meta for me was facing Baku Paladin 9 times out of 10 :) :) 

You're literally talking about Genn/Baku except with DK Hunter's hero power instead.  

The issue with hero powers is that they are ALWAYS there.  Always available.  Always doing the same thing.  They aren't like cards where you have a cost and a limited supply allowing for both a Tempo and a Value method of stopping them.  You can NEVER outvalue a hero power. That's why they go insane very quickly.  The second they become as valuable as a card you've effectively given them a free 2 mana card EVERY SINGLE TURN.  

You should never WANT to hit the hero power button. If the world was perfect, you should have a card to use every turn that does better.  I'd rather use Kill Command than Steady Shot.  I'd rather Frost Bolt than Firebolt.  I'd rather Shield Block than Armor Up.  I Steady Shot because I only have so many cards and need to conserve my REAL ammo: I'm sacrificing now to conserve for later.  THAT is what a Hero Power is for. 

To put it another way: if I have my hero power, and you have cards, I should lose.  The end.

Effects that bolster a hero power temporarily are fine.  Turning a Priest heal into damage so long as a 3/5 is around is fine.  That sort of thing.  Changing the hero power is fine IF it maintains the above.  Sometimes you can cheat and break that if you make it into the Win Condition, turning the hero power into an Exodia (I took my 5 cows to the pasture, found Hyper Farmer, and traded my mana for milk. Now I have a hero power that punches you in the face in real life!).  But otherwise, while the hero power can work differently, it should either require cards to work well or be not as good as the right cards.

So yeah.. otherwise, hero power changes are fine.

Anyone else miss DK Jaina >.< 

I sure do.

Speaking of jaina, though it’s not relevant to this thread but I remember getting her after beating the lich king. Thing is though I beat him with priest. I thought I would get machine gun Anduin but got jaina instead. It always puzzled me If It was a glitch or some other mechanic at work.

Quote From Shosupply

Anyone else miss DK Jaina >.< 

I sure do.

no,

I like the idea. And I always had a similar idea, even more so when we first saw the "At the start of the game" effect.

I like it, because it eliminates the "did I draw my important CARD?" effect.

And it also incentivizes people to create interesting and new decks (the way you said it is an example).

However, for this effect to not be annoying, Hero Power has to be not too strong... I mean, it has to be SYNERGISTIC in some way, to fit your deck.

And then they should balance it just like cards. Hero Powers can cost more than 2 mana. How about ODD Paladin 4-mana - summon 2x 1/1 Silver Hand Recruits.

Obviously very weak... However, the synergies in your deck, can make it strong. See, this way, your CARDS actually matter more than Hero Power...

You could use it every turn, but without synergies, your opponent can easily defeat you.

Quote From MachineGod

Speaking of jaina, though it’s not relevant to this thread but I remember getting her after beating the lich king. Thing is though I beat him with priest. I thought I would get machine gun Anduin but got jaina instead. It always puzzled me If It was a glitch or some other mechanic at work.

Don't feel bad.  I beat him first with Jaina and it gave Rexar and I am terrible hunter so it was kind of annoying. 

Oh I would have loved that since I mostly play hunter. Had to craft him. Crafting legendary Cardswhile being f2p is a whole different sorta pain. :(