Hearthstone
Ménagerie à Trois - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Submitted 4 years, 9 months ago by
ShadowsOfSense
Competition Theme: Ménagerie à Trois
For this competition, we want you to care about minion types (or tribes, or whatever you want to call them).
- You must create a minion with a minion type
- The accepted types are Beast, Demon, Dragon, Elemental, Mech, Murloc, Pirate and Totem
- Your minion must have an effect that interacts with a different minion type than its own
- Some examples include Hungry Crab, Zoobot and Skyfin
Welcome back to another competition, this time from shaveyou!
As always, I can be reached through Discord or here on the site via PM if you have any issues to report.
Competition Phases
Here are the phases of this card design competition
- Submission Phase: Starts on Mon, Mar 16 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Sat, Mar 21 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
- Voting Phase: Starts on Sat, Mar 21 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Sun, Mar 22 16:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
- Finalist Phase: Starts on Sun, Mar 22 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Mon, Mar 23 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
- Winner Selected: After finalist voting concludes and we validate votes.
Discussion Thread Rules
No thread rules were added to this season. Please populate and manually edit this thread with them.
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Competition Theme: Ménagerie à Trois
For this competition, we want you to care about minion types (or tribes, or whatever you want to call them).
Welcome back to another competition, this time from shaveyou!
As always, I can be reached through Discord or here on the site via PM if you have any issues to report.
Competition Phases
Here are the phases of this card design competition
Discussion Thread Rules
No thread rules were added to this season. Please populate and manually edit this thread with them.
Welcome to the site!
Good theme, @shaveyou. I would have picked a very similar one
I make bad custom Hearthstone cards sometimes.
Congrats to the winner. What do you guys think of this one (author of the image: Brayan Menchú, found here)?
Flavour: Sir Magnet-o-Mrgl's one-on-one classes: make your own Abomi-mrgl-nation!
No vanilla stats since the effect allows for a pretty swingy turn.
These are my early ideas; the effects feel plain, but hopefully the flavor is on-point. I'll keep brainstorming.
Forge Elemental crafts better Mechs from its own body, making them extra sharp (like swords and stuff).
Wildfire Dragon is fueled by the presence of Elementals, blasting enemies with the excess energy.
@Iskar: Does that mean that Murlocs can magnetize to each other, or just to Mechs? Because if it's the latter, I can't see this having too much use outside of combos.
@linkblade: Both are good cards, but I think Forge Elemental is the more interesting and flavorful of the two.
Here are two ideas I've had, although I have an idea for another if I can find fitting artwork for it.
-Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)
Check out the Tactician custom class!
Alright, I'll go with that one for now. I spruced it up a bit with some light editing; giving it a better name for starters:
As for your cards, I like the Bronze Mechadrake more. I was thinking of using that Curator image myself, but it doesn't fit the beasts in the image-slot very well and the card overall feels forced to me. Bronze Mechadrake on the other hand fuses Dragon Paladin with Mech Paladin to make an appealing late-game minion. Hopefully people see that it's different enough from Sleepy Dragon to warrant existing.
Going to put this here and sleep on it. See how I feel about it in the morning.
I would've said the exact opposite than Hordaki :D I guess I'm too scarred and scared of aggro Mech decks, giving Windfury and attack buffs to a tribe that can be sticky and go wide fast could be problematic. Not to mention magnetic buffs. The "Blizzard balancing" of Wildfire Dragon was way more appealing to me. Honestly, since there's not much synergy between the tribes right now, you could easily add +2 Attack or Health or +1/+1 and it would still feel fair to me.
Feedback in the spoiler below.
@linkblade91: Living Forge reeks of flavour, which is fantastic. Regardless of potential power, I can absolutely see this being an Epic printed in a real Hearthstone set. That said, some Mechs have Rush/Charge, which is where the power of this card lies. I can already see the Wild highlights with a lucky Finicky Cloakfield.
@Hordaki: Bronze Mechadrake for the win. This is no doubt, a very strong Paladin card with the potential to be a beast in Arena. I was thinking about whether to raise the cost to (10) but decided against because if don't fulfil the condition it's obviously just a plain 4/12. Food for thought perhaps?
@Xarkkal: Slight issue with the fact that this a named character but only a Rare. Aside from that, it's a useful card for synergy in Murloc decks. There are many situations where you wouldn't want a Murloc to die. Perhaps it having Rush is too strong? Instead it could be a (4)-mana 4/3 or not give the +1/+1 bonus.
Here's my card idea this week:
"Blood of demon, scale of murloc, wood of totem and... hat of pirate?"
He really wants to resurrect your Demons but just isn't that good at reanimating. An interesting tool for boards filled with Imps. Thoughts everyone? I wonder if it should read 'After a friendly Demon dies...' rater than 'Whenever...'
Started playing HS in May, 2015. The bad news: I missed the excitement of 'Naxx out?' and GvG. The good news: I never met an Undertaker.
I'm gonna start participating in these Discussions again now that I have more time lol
Here are my two cards. I've already used Magnetite Shard in a couple comps in Heathpwn.
I'll give some feedback later.
Thinking of jumping on the new Demon Hunter hype and do something with this.
Feedback:
Iskar: I feel the effect of giving non-Mech tribes Magnetic is a bit overdone and hard to do thematically, although the effect doesn't seem broken. The art doesn't seem Mechy though. It just looks like a Murloc in a suit. Also, the Classic watermark doesn't belong where Magnetic is used.
Linkblade: I like these cards. Wildfire Dragon has the cooler thematics of the two, although it contradicts the normal Elemental plan of saving them for future turns. As a result, I do think that Living Forge makes more sense as a card overall.
Hordaki: That Curator is surely an interesting way to go about this prompt. I like it. Bronze Mechadrake is neat, although I'm not sure if it would actually be playable (in Constructed that is, because it's pretty good in Arena).
Xarkkal: Feels fine. I like the flavor, although it appears to be a non-Legendary card with a specific name.
Dermostatic: This is simultaneously a hilarious and also very clever way to tackle the prompt. 2 tribes? Nah, ALL THE TRIBES!!! I'm concerned that all of the token spawning Warlocks like to do might make it too powerful since the upgrade is pretty big.
Wailor: I'd say Guardian of the Tides is my favorite of the three. Dragonfang Totem is cool, but it's a bit weak when it only buffs Dragons. And Magnetite Shard has the whole "non-Mech Magnetic" problem of being overdone and hard to make work flavor-wise (although it's actually handled better here than most other cases of this).
Two ideas this week, will add feedback tonight or tomorrow. What do you think?
I notice I am confused. Something I believe isn't true. How do I know what I think I know?
Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, hpmor.com
Feedback time!
@Iskar
If you go with it, change the Watermark to Boombsday, doesn't fit at all as a Classic card.
@linkblade91
@Hordaki
@Xarkkal
About your card, I think it has a few things to polish:
@Dermostatic
@Demonx95
@anchorm4n
Here is the first thing that I thought of
I wouldn't be surprised if someone else had the same idea as me. I will check in the submissions later to see if I need to change my card.
Carrion, my wayward grub.
Thanks for the feedback! I also prefer Darktide Conjurer. I could make it cost 7 (stats like... 5/4?) to balance the swing potential... what do you other guys think?
I notice I am confused. Something I believe isn't true. How do I know what I think I know?
Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, hpmor.com
Feedback seems to be 50/50 split between preferring Living Forge or Wildfire Dragon. Not helpful lol :P
Here's some feedback of my own:
Iskar - I'm not a fan of the card. You would need to attach the Murlocs to Mechs, but Murlocs don't have anything exciting to give to their host other than minor stats. I also don't think the card itself should be a Mech (he's a Murloc), thus defeating the point of the prompt.
Xarkkal - "Gnaws" is a formal name, suggesting the card is a Legendary. You also picked Un'Goro for the watermark, which is wrong (Rush did not exist yet at that time). It's an amusing edit for the art, though, and the effect seems fine.
Dermostatic - "Whenever" is fine. The art is great, and fits the Warlock/Demon synergy perfectly. I like the card, all-in-all.
Wailor - I prefer Dragonfang Totem the most: it helps create a new archetype (Handbuff Shaman), and fits well in a Dragon deck as an early minion (which they usually lack). I think the other two cards are a little forced.
Demonxz95 - *shrugs* I don't know, I feel like using Outcast before the expansion releases is cheating. We know how it works already, so there is that, but it seems like a grab for attention. If we look beyond that, I like the effect.
anchorm4n - Darktide Conjurer is definitely the better of the two. That said, the stats of the Conjurer are basically irrelevant, because you didn't specify that it would transform the "other" Murlocs on your board. Therefore, the Conjurer will be included and become a Demon immediately. I think he should cost more, to be a later swing for Murloc games that don't end early.
KANSAS - I believe someone created a Murlocs -> Pirates idea already among the submissions. Beyond that, I just don't find the effect that interesting.
Some more feedback...
@Wailor: All three of these cards are well designed. It's difficult to say how 'well' any of them would function because Dragon Shaman / Elemurloc / Elemech decks have never truly existed. Personally however, I think Magnetite Shard is the best. Even if the condition is… weird, a 5/1 Divine Shield buff for any Mech is nothing to laugh at. Guardian of the Tides seems powerful, but you're not often in a situation where you want to use your big board of Murlocs to clear the opponent's big board when you could go face.
@Demonxz95: Fun name. The effect isn't bad either, considering it targets ALL Demons. I know the Outcast effect is shiny and new but this could also work as a Start of Game effect for (1) mana more. All in all, a cool split-tribe card with funky art and flavour to boot!
@anchorm4n: If you want to go (7) mana then I think a 4/4 statline is appropriate. Personally, a (6)-cost 3/3 would also be playable, or even a (5)-cost 2/2 if you want to keep it cheap. However, the earlier played, the bigger the potential swing (try the (6)-cost version, see how you feel).
@KANSAS: This effect might as well be a meme considering how many people have mentioned/tried it over the years in custom card design. Someone has already designed a similar one for this comp (theirs buffs as well, but I think it's too wordy). I think you'd be better off trying something more original.
@linkblade91: Reiterating my support for Living Forge. Windfury effects are far and few between and this one is both interesting and not overpowered IMO.
I've reworked the terrible wee warlock slightly...
I've made it Rare (Murlocs for Warlock aren't exactly common), reduced the attack to 1 (it shouldn't be able to value trade and I don't think evil books hit very hard) and have added the stats of the Nightmare Amalgam to the effect text after checking a few other "similar" IRL cards. Was it fine as a 2/2? Anyone viscerally despise seeing a Murloc in a cloak?
Started playing HS in May, 2015. The bad news: I missed the excitement of 'Naxx out?' and GvG. The good news: I never met an Undertaker.
Bois it F E E D B A C C T I M E
linkblade: Both look pretty great, but Living Forge does have a more unique effect, you don't see Windfury used much nowadays. It does look balanced in retrospect, specially shines on Mech Hunter decks, which did need a little bit more omph.
Hordaki: Go with Mechadrake on this one. Curator does seem a bit forced imo, and highrolly in that regard. Say, wonder if 8 mana would be pushing it too much? Just has 2 more attack and 2 less Health in comparision to Mosh'Ogg Enforcer
Xarkkal: Stronk, but not dat strong. Looks fine, but the art should be more focused on the Beast instead of 50/50.
Dermonstatic: Love it!! I'm not sure balance is on-point but its a neaty pretty idea. Goes a little nuts in Wild but I think it's fine, it does not really have much place in lategame but it does in Tempo and mid-game.
Wailor: Dragonfang Totem is my favorite, Tides is also great, but I feel you should go for the Totem.
Demonxz95: Looks cute, but other than that its not really impressive, maybe a more Legendary-worthy effect?
KANSAS: Again, I like it, but effect's been overdone too unfortunately.
Got a few ideas under my belt for this competition and finally i made them in a healthy amount of time
"From break and ruin, the most beautiful performance begins"
Really wish you posted that like... 15 minutes earlier than you posted it. :(
Out of these, I think Astral Spiritbreather is the most "finalized" of the bunch I feel. The other two feel a little bit more awkward in design.
There’s some cool submissions so far. I’m hoping to give some feedback later today or tomorrow. Also, who do I talk to about next week’s theme?
Anyway, my first idea.
I make bad custom Hearthstone cards sometimes.
As promised, some feedback from my side:
Iskar: There have already been a few questions if the murlocs are able to attach to each other. The idea is cool, but it's a little confusing yet. I'm not sure how to fix this, sadly...
linkblade91: Living Forge looks too scary for me. I like Wildfire Dragon, nice flavor!
Hordaki: Nice card, solid but not OP and the mech tag leaves room for magnetic shenanigans. Well done!
Xarkkal: Great art! I'm not sold on the battlecry, though. Maybe cut the Immune and just give +2/+2?
Dermostatic: Cool card! The effect is strong, but it needs set up and dies easily. I like it, especially the murloc in a cloak!
Wailor: Dragonfang Totem looks like a good idea! I would make it a rare, though.
Demonxz95: The card is really great! Major "but": I would prefer to leave Demon Hunters out of the competition this week. It began before we knew the class existed and some people already submitted before the stream. Minor "but": someone else already submitted a card with that art.
KANSAS: Nice flavor, but as suspected, there's already another submission with a very similar effect. I like yours better, if that helps. Maybe you can change the effect and keep the rest of it?
LarryMoments: Pankoctopus looks really weird. I think it would have to be a Choose One card, wouldn't it? That said, I prefer Astral Spiritbreather over Scavenging Tactician. Nice flavor and the effect invites to find a way to exploit it.
thepowrofcheese: Nice idea, it's really fitting. Is it debatable to make the cost reduction only 2? That would be enough for 5 of the 7 possible targets and getting out a Flametongue Totem or a Mana Tide Totem for free feels too strong for me.
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
Not really, it'd be a fourth option. Like Vulpera Scoundrel.
That said I'm seeing people liking Astral Spiritbreather the most, so I think I'll go with that one.
"From break and ruin, the most beautiful performance begins"
I couldn't decide between the two cards I made...until the decision was made for me: someone used the same art as my Wildfire Dragon, and I'm not going to submit a similar-looking card. So...yeah, Living Forge it is.
Thanks for the feedback guys, seems my idea would be hard to implement the way I thought about it.
Different idea - mushing it all up Amalgam style - all currently existing tribes referred to (picture author: Evgeny Konyakhin, found here):
Demonxz95: added the missing Battlecry, thanks!
I think you forgot to put Battlecry in the card text
Thank you all for the feedback! I find myself now wanting to take this idea in 2 different directions. Any thoughts?
First one.
The second one is simply a worse Houndmaster Shaw.
Agreed
Thanks for the feedback
I didn't really feel too strong about the card, I agree that this kind of card has been a bit overdone and isn't too original. Do you think I should make another Cookie card but with a different effect? Or would I be better off coming up with something else altogether?
Carrion, my wayward grub.
Alright, I brewed up a new card, I am not 100% sure on the name or powerlevel of the card. But I saw the art and thought this might be funny.
I was looking for some good art and saw this murloc shouting and waving his sword at the butterfly and had the idea for this card. What do you think?
Carrion, my wayward grub.
5 attack seems too high imo, same with 5 mana. Spider Bomb would be a good card to reference. Your deathrattle is much more conditional since it can only kill beasts. Furthermore, unless you put "random enemy beast", it could kill your own beasts if you had one. 3 mana 3/2 might be more in-line with the effect and typical Murloc stat lines. I'm also not the best at balancing cards, so you might want to see if anyone else has an opinion on that.
I like the art, effect is ok, but you might want to think about specifying "enemy beast".
Edit: Thinking about it, I'm unsure if Deathrattle is the right effect for the flavor of the card. How does this Beast Slaying murloc kill a beast when it dies? Maybe turn it into a Battlecry and don't specify "enemy" beast? Then it's a wild flailing murloc that comes onto the board possibly killing a beast on the way. Just some thoughts. Take it or leave it.
I wanna go with Beast + Mech combo, But Beast will have to do.
And I can't put the Outland watermark even if I check the force button. I wonder what's wrong. Oh well. Neutral it is then.
Knowledge is Power
Have you tried actually creating the card with the Outland watermark? I got really frustrated until I noticed that force applied watermarks aren't shown in the preview.
Feedback: I think you can cut the "random". The battlecry is really only useful against Warlock and Demon Hunter and that way will wiff often enough to justify a targeted removal.
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
Yep, both Outland and Initiate watermark doesn't work.
I thought about the "random" too. But if the battlecry can choose which demon to destroy, it'll be too OP (Imagine picking a 5-8 demon drops). I think it's suffice with "random" one.
Knowledge is Power
Thanks for the feedback.
I wanted it to cost a lot since it just straight up kills a minion, but I guess due to the randomness of it and the beast restriction I might have overestimated the ability.
I thought about it killing your own beasts and decided that it fit the flavor of the card. I mean, this guy isn't the smartest, he is trying to kill a butterfly for crying out loud. The idea is he is just wildly swinging his sword until he kills something. But I do agree that making it a battlecry would be better.
Carrion, my wayward grub.
The power level is, unfortunately, really bad. Hemet Nesingwary already exists, with a higher Attack and a targeted Battlecry, and he's a terrible card. I would come up with something else.
I regret to inform you that the artwork is already used.
Spellweaver
Alright, this is a (mechanically) very similar card, but a lot more powerful when it doesn't go off. And also a lot more flavorful.
What do you think?
Carrion, my wayward grub.
I think you forgot to put the Elemental tribe on the card.
It seems okay, although it shouldn't use the Classic watermark when it has Rush (yeah, I realize some of the basic DH cards use post-launch keywords, but I don't think having the barriers bent a bit means we should just break them altogether wherever possible).
Thanks for reminding me about the tribe. But small details aside, do you think it is ready to submit?
Carrion, my wayward grub.
Almost missed my own competition! Loving what's come up so far, I'll offer feedback for the cards I don't think have been submitted yet:
Kansas - Angry Waters - As Demon has already pointed out, it needs the tribe tag, and ideally a different watermark (While I don't judge to much into them, a lot of people dislike Classic marks, and Rush only came in from Witchwood. I'd say Uldum for it personally. Other than that, It's a very techy card. Pirates are normally either the full deck, or rarely feature. While these kinds of cards have appeared before, Skulking Geist and Eater of Secrets are prime examples that exist purely to counter a problem, they're a little polarizing. I would suggest flattening the stats to a 6/4, as a 7 Attack rush for 5 mana feels a bit much.
Iskar - Totemental - It's a fun idea, if not perhaps too good play-wise. The one concern I have here is applying Magnetic to a non-Mech minion. Would it magnetize to Mechs, or Totems? Other than that, I like it.
Thepowrofcheese - Murkfin Elder - I like it. Murlocs have had minimal interaction with totems before with Primalfin Totem, so you could put this in a Murloc deck with the aim of cheating that out alongside, or else use it to pull a free Mana Tide totem and avoid some of the tempo loss that card generally causes.
Couldn't think of a card I was happy with for this one.
Good luck to everyone who submitted!
This post is discussing the wild format.
Good luck to everyone in the finals!
Started playing HS in May, 2015. The bad news: I missed the excitement of 'Naxx out?' and GvG. The good news: I never met an Undertaker.
I totally missed it, since I'm still used to Hearthpwn schedule. It's a shame because people seemed to like my Dragonfang Totem 😅
Next time, I guess.
A really strong group of finalists this week. If I had to pick a favorite it'd probably be either Darktide Conjurer or Primalfin Elder, but they're all really close. Good luck and may the best card win!
-Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)
Check out the Tactician custom class!
Turns out the best card was your card! Congratulations :)
WOOOOOOO! Thank you to everyone who liked my card, I'll wear this banner with pride.
-Hordaki (rhymes with Mordecai)
Check out the Tactician custom class!
Don't forget that you also get to decide the theme for 1.07
Congratulations! Great card, well done!
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