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It's either having the perfect token start that can't be dealt with or the perfect ramp start into Guardian Animals shenanigans that can't be dealt with.

Both is just "do nothing until you play the cards that win the game on the spot"

I am sure blizzard will try to half-ass force some other meme archetype for Shaman, Beast Shaman lets go :)

Isnt any druid that's not token basically plays nothing for 3 turns?

I just want a Druid archetype that doesn't rely on getting a crazy opening that no deck can deal with

Quote From dapperdog

Someone should make a thread on this because I do think this is a topic that deserves greater discussion, but I think its simple enough to just ask the question: Can we design an overload card thats not just blatantly broken?

Edit: Should have added that there are two other overload cards that are consistently in shaman when it was good: Lightning bolt and lava burst. No need to explain why.

It seems like the sort of thing that I'd make a thread for, so challenge accepted! I personally like the overload mechanic, so let's see if that survives the process of putting together an essay on it. I should probably attempt to quantify how much overload cards should have while I'm at it. 

Regarding good overload cards, I'm always surprised at how often people forget Serpentshrine Portal. That card seems to have got it exactly right and is rarely used as a finisher (meaning you do have to deal with the overload), so there must be some lessons to learn in there. I guess Lava Burst teaches us another lesson: if you want do design a card specifically as a finisher, pile a lot of overload onto it.

People were talking about Wailing Caverns, especially since May's card back is based around it. 

[Hearthstone Card (Wailing Caverns) Not Found]

To be fair though, unless I embarrassingly missed something, there's no official statement about it.

I appreciate the kindness - I humbly thank you for the support! :)

Shaman needs a good card draw right now.

Actually just have Mana Tide Totem and usually dies in one turn.

Cagematch Custodian is another card draw but it's a weapon tutor that doesn't fit on every archetype.

Nope, it's what Hogger would say given all the information. Play around with it, it's pretty basic just maybe unexpected.

It's not that the Barrens set is bad, but rather that it seems like support for a class that is already decent and already has tools to compete.

However, Shaman does not have a real direction, so hinting archetypes without giving a strong reason to play them is not going to work out, at least for now.

Agree: I don't play much Runeterra, but Deep (and Bilgewater in general) is one of my favorite mechanics - I love how the atmosphere changes when you get to 15- cards.

Ah thanks for confirming, completely forgot about the dual class cards

so Hog Rancher?

I went with the flashy, more memorable title. So I guess I should expect someone to pick on it.

Obviously its hyperbole, its a sweeping statement. The main problem with the overload mechanic is that the tradeoff is often poor and hearthstone has moved beyond what it was when overload was invented. Back in the day, it was acceptable to just drop a 4 mana 7/7 on coin in exchange for basically skipping a turn because the chances of it sticking for more than a turn is fairly good. Nowadays, there's just so many options available most minions simply never sticks for more than a turn. Flamewreathed Faceless would only be just a good card now. I'm not even sure if Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem can even cut it in standard nowadays.

I dont think I need to elaborate further on the tradeoff issue. Even when shaman was incredible, i.e. galakrond and the recent evolve meta, none of them were featured anywhere except for Lightning Bloom.

As for the druid comparison, you make good points which I can agree to. But also, both lightning bloom and innervate are still being played but I still rarely ever see druid run out of cards and lose.

Someone should make a thread on this because I do think this is a topic that deserves greater discussion, but I think its simple enough to just ask the question: Can we design a viable overload card thats not just blatantly broken?

Edit: Should have added that there are two other overload cards that are consistently in shaman when it was good: Lightning bolt and lava burst. No need to explain why.

They DM Races had dual class cards, so the 30 class cards meant 4 cards for each class, despite 30/10 = 3 per class. So it's 3 per class unless dual-class stuff messes with the maths.

Won't each class get 4 cards in the mini set? That's how DM races operated, unless I missed something.

Also, I remember seeing somewhere a dev mentioned there will be a focus on spell schools, so we can probably expect more Bru'kan type cards

@Avalon: if they hired you, we'd probably have a better game :D

Quote From dapperdog

Oh, and in case the devs are reading, heres a tip assuming you've been avoiding reddit the whole of this and last week. OVERLOAD = BAD. Seriously, why is druid able to cheat mana without any downside while shaman can't get an allegedly overstated card that cripples their next turn?

I always get a little annoyed when people say 'mechanic X is bad', especially when 'bad' means weak. No mechanic is fundamentally weak, they are just over-costed. Take inspire as an example: hunter's DoD cards showed the keyword itself is perfectly fine as long as the effect matches the effort put in. Likewise, lots of independently good overload cards have existed in the past, and some are still in Standard and don't need something like Tunnel Trogg to be strong.

As for the comparison with druid's mana cheat, that's a bit disingenuous. Druid's mana cheat always comes with card disadvantage and/or a (very) low tempo turn, with the latter being a big deal in a class with frankly abysmal removal. Overload forces a low tempo turn on you afterwards, yes, but that follows a high tempo turn so you aren't really falling further and further behind like druid does. And with the overload being embedded into the individual cards, there is no associated card disadvantage. So you have to be really careful when comparing them.

Overload's weakness is that you still have to pay it even if your high tempo turn is dealt with efficiently, but that doesn't mean it is fundamentally bad. That just needs to be factored into the overload cost, especially for minions.

Overload Session: 2 Mana Spell, Overload: 1, Draw cards equal to your current Overloaded Mana Crystals (X).

Just a few comments;

- Handbuff is impossible in dhunters simply because Illidari Inquisitor exist. I'm looking more into cards that give dhunters value or control, maybe some sort of board clear option or discover. Its not what we expect out of the class, but not impossible.

- Shaman only needs one other card draw option to be good. A decent tutoring card, even if its just another Ice Fishing will do wonders for the class. Right now, the problem is that shaman gases out fast, much faster than every other class, and their late game sucks. So I expect either a really powerful late game card, or card draw option.

Oh, and in case the devs are reading, heres a tip assuming you've been avoiding reddit the whole of this and last week. OVERLOAD = BAD. Seriously, why is druid able to cheat mana without any downside while shaman can't get an allegedly overstated card that cripples their next turn?

- I expect more minion support for mage, though knowing team5 there's probably going to be yet another casino card that will fill the salt thread once again. Losing to paladin is nowhere near as disgusting an experience compared to a highrolling mage.

- For hunter its really simple if you want tavish to actually see some play. Just print a 2 mana and 3 mana beast with rush. It doesn't even need to be fancy. Or maybe some crazy beast with high stats but backfiring battlecry.

But more likely we'll just get more deathrattles or face options. Why? Because hunter.

They ARE farming!

farming...?

I hope there is some kind of zoo priest support.

Thinking about what it's known as that they are doing might make a connection with what they are saying

I predict that Shaman will finally get card draw!... but everything has Overload attached to it