There seem to be two major questions here (and a brief, but seemingly irrelevant discussion of talent trees): should weaknesses/resistances to spell schools be a feature of Hearthstone, and should those weaknesses/resistances be implicit based on typing.
As far as the second question is concerned, I think this answer is plainly "no." Hearthstone is a relatively user-friendly game, and the lack of discoverability associated with those connections would be very hard to deal with. First, you'd need tons of helptext on every spell to explain what is or is not weak to it, then you'd need some tooltips to show you which enemy minions are of a given type, and all of that would have to be overlaid onto the game interface. It would be a nightmare.
The first question is a bit more interesting, but I think it's also a bad idea outside of anything but a very small number of Legendary minions. If it isn't very narrowly scoped in its application, you could easily get serious balance issues with the game. Imagine, for instance, a 2 mana 2/3 with "Immune to Holy spells." That minion is immune to all most Priest and Paladin removal spells, so putting it into play against those classes can create a sort of "virtual card advantage" - basically turning off one or more cards in your opponent's hand. Having a card which offers tempo and card advantage exclusively against a subset of classes could warp the metagame arbitrarily.
That's not to say that these effects shouldn't exist at all, but that example serves to highlight the way in which this sort of mechanic is more powerful than it looks on the surface, lopsided in its effects, and therefore inherently hard to balance. It starts to look a lot like Inspire as a mechanic - something which is overly rewarding a player for doing the kind of thing they'd be doing anyway (in this case, developing their board). It should be noted that Inspire was a largely failed mechanic because of how significantly underpowered the minions had to be in order to make it fair, and I think you'd get exactly the same thing here - either the minions in question would be underpowered and useless, or they'd be good enough to break the metagame.
On a more serious note, if this card is generated by a pure control Priest, they'll most likely be happy. Control priests don't go face, they win through value, so the mirror effect will most likely not be a factor whatsoever in that scenario.
What's the point of buffing health if inner fire is rotating out?
Having a virturally unkillable minion on what seems to be a more board centric meta, now that most burst from spells is out. Also, there's a chance Apotheosis will become a Holy spell. That alone makes Spirit Healer even more annoying.
That being said, I believe Lightsteed will be more consistent, at least in a more aggressive Priest deck. Spirit Healer can also find a spot in such a deck for critical mass' sake, but I believe Spirit Healer might find a better home in Paladin.
First of all, that effect would never be printed (or at least shouldn't be printed), and second, almost every class has it, and then you add a neutral card that also comes with the effect?
Certain effects are specific to X class for flavor, having either Hunter or Priest have it, would be ok, having more than half of the classes with access to that is borderline insane.
I mean, it would seem as a 0/1 minion, with a simple effect, until you realise that for at least one turn you know exactly what's up with your opponent hand and secrets, totally screwing the semi "intended" way of a card game.
Again, it would seem something minor, but that is a brutal effect.
Thank god they didn't rotate this, I play 2 in every control warlock so far (not highlander ones of course). Great card and still one of the better animations in the game.
Penance is great, and warlock cares more for healing than priest so yeah, way better here. I gues the only difference between the 2 cards now is that this is a shadow tribal card.
I had to take a look at my HSReplay recordings (match 1 and 2), they would suggest that 3-mana spells cost 1...probably. It was hard to follow the cost reductions. And it may have been Rhonin's Scrying Orb instead since sometimes 3-mana stuff costs 0 and sometimes it doesn't.
I've still played this in some wild control decks, really happy to see it back and with the keyword buff, even if you can no longer get the spell damage totem for it.
For me if feels so weird that this is staying and Polymorph isn't. At least both classes still have Devolving Missiles which in most situations it's better than both.
I always liked this card, mostly because of the artwork and creature itself. I hope a value oriented paladin deck ends up being good and this finds a place there.
Coming from goodness knows how many hours of playing Pokemon over my lifetime, the idea of (spell-)type match-ups is as obvious and natural to me as the existence of spells and minions to begin with. That said, I don't think it would be a good thing for the traditional Hearthstone game modes for 3 reasons.
First is simply complexity of card text, which is especially relevant in a game that insists on keeping below 4 lines of text. Clearly there will be no space to write weaknesses and resistances on every minion, many of whom already have 3 or 4 lines occupied. The obvious solution is to just write a 'spell-tribe' using the space where minion tribes are written. But is there space in there to convey sufficient information, especially when some existing tribes could have a whole range of type match-ups (I'm looking at you elementals)?
The second issue is much more philosophical: is HS with type match-ups actually the same game as HS without them? Certainly a lot of what happens now and in the past would play out differently without any changes to cards. Is such a fundamental shift actually in the game's interest given it sells itself as simple to learn?
My third point was going to be about the one-sided nature of type match-ups, and how it would just shafts some decks against some classes for no reason other than the spell schools they have available. A little bit of thought quickly showed that was an over-reaction since few decks in HS are thematic enough to all be weak to a single type, and most spells don't do damage anyway. So in practice it would never be anything similar to the innate advantage of a fire team against a grass one in Pokemon, for example.
My actual third point is then: is it not an awful lot of complication for actually very little effect? You use paladin as an example, but other than Consecration it won't have any damage dealing spells, so it would never matter with any other card. Similarly rogue will kill minions with basically everything other than damage from spells (through weapons, minions or hard removal). Warrior probably won't even have spell schools, while druid will have nature but will mostly be punching things to kill them anyway. It looks like only mage, shaman, warlock and, to a lesser extent, priest will actually care much about it. And even then a lot of the time it won't matter.
So yeah, it's an obvious and neat idea, but one that doesn't make a whole lot of sense in traditional Hearthstone... I could absolutely see type match-ups appearing in Mercenaries however.
If pure paladin is still a thing when the next season starts I think this will find a place since it'll need more class cards to fill the gaps since there will be 2 less sets.
A 5 mana fully neutral 3 damage boardclear alongside Abusive Sergeant for any tempo/fast midrange deck. While not very flashy and somewhat lackluster on its own, Blademaster Samuro can make an impact on the meta, especially with that juicy 6 Health stat.
New Neutral Minion - Baron Geddon
Too bad I don't think this will see play anyway haha, still, was always a fan of the card.
New Warlock Spell - Hellfire
Been playing this card since day one, but I was hoping it was going to get some kind of change like Lightning Storm though not sure what I would like.
Expanded Magic Types - Good or Bad?
There seem to be two major questions here (and a brief, but seemingly irrelevant discussion of talent trees): should weaknesses/resistances to spell schools be a feature of Hearthstone, and should those weaknesses/resistances be implicit based on typing.
As far as the second question is concerned, I think this answer is plainly "no." Hearthstone is a relatively user-friendly game, and the lack of discoverability associated with those connections would be very hard to deal with. First, you'd need tons of helptext on every spell to explain what is or is not weak to it, then you'd need some tooltips to show you which enemy minions are of a given type, and all of that would have to be overlaid onto the game interface. It would be a nightmare.
The first question is a bit more interesting, but I think it's also a bad idea outside of anything but a very small number of Legendary minions. If it isn't very narrowly scoped in its application, you could easily get serious balance issues with the game. Imagine, for instance, a 2 mana 2/3 with "Immune to Holy spells." That minion is immune to all most Priest and Paladin removal spells, so putting it into play against those classes can create a sort of "virtual card advantage" - basically turning off one or more cards in your opponent's hand. Having a card which offers tempo and card advantage exclusively against a subset of classes could warp the metagame arbitrarily.
That's not to say that these effects shouldn't exist at all, but that example serves to highlight the way in which this sort of mechanic is more powerful than it looks on the surface, lopsided in its effects, and therefore inherently hard to balance. It starts to look a lot like Inspire as a mechanic - something which is overly rewarding a player for doing the kind of thing they'd be doing anyway (in this case, developing their board). It should be noted that Inspire was a largely failed mechanic because of how significantly underpowered the minions had to be in order to make it fair, and I think you'd get exactly the same thing here - either the minions in question would be underpowered and useless, or they'd be good enough to break the metagame.
New Priest Spell - Desperate Prayer
Boy, am I glad Gadgetzan Auctioneer is out.
On a more serious note, if this card is generated by a pure control Priest, they'll most likely be happy. Control priests don't go face, they win through value, so the mirror effect will most likely not be a factor whatsoever in that scenario.
New Neutral Minion - Spirit Healer
Having a virturally unkillable minion on what seems to be a more board centric meta, now that most burst from spells is out. Also, there's a chance Apotheosis will become a Holy spell. That alone makes Spirit Healer even more annoying.
That being said, I believe Lightsteed will be more consistent, at least in a more aggressive Priest deck. Spirit Healer can also find a spot in such a deck for critical mass' sake, but I believe Spirit Healer might find a better home in Paladin.
'Warcraft III'-themed Expansion
Shade, Sentinel Owl, Sentry Ward, Spirit Hawk.
First of all, that effect would never be printed (or at least shouldn't be printed), and second, almost every class has it, and then you add a neutral card that also comes with the effect?
Certain effects are specific to X class for flavor, having either Hunter or Priest have it, would be ok, having more than half of the classes with access to that is borderline insane.
I mean, it would seem as a 0/1 minion, with a simple effect, until you realise that for at least one turn you know exactly what's up with your opponent hand and secrets, totally screwing the semi "intended" way of a card game.
Again, it would seem something minor, but that is a brutal effect.
Brawl Block: Tinyfin Mode!
I made a brawl version of my Spell Token Druid deck:
Tavern Brawl · Spell Druid · by Zelgadis · 5 years, 7 months ago
New Neutral Minion - Razormane Raider
I guess you can say that Pit Fighter is "in trouble now".
I'll see myself out.
New Warlock Spell - Twisting Nether
Thank god they didn't rotate this, I play 2 in every control warlock so far (not highlander ones of course). Great card and still one of the better animations in the game.
New Warlock Hero - Lord Jaraxxus
Oh boy, time to save the Oozes again for the late game. Really really happy about the 15 life change.
New Warlock Spell - Drain Soul
Penance is great, and warlock cares more for healing than priest so yeah, way better here. I gues the only difference between the 2 cards now is that this is a shadow tribal card.
Hot Decks for Hearthstone's Duels Mode From China - March 2021
I had to take a look at my HSReplay recordings (match 1 and 2), they would suggest that 3-mana spells cost 1...probably. It was hard to follow the cost reductions. And it may have been Rhonin's Scrying Orb instead since sometimes 3-mana stuff costs 0 and sometimes it doesn't.
New Shaman Spell - Tidal Surge
I've still played this in some wild control decks, really happy to see it back and with the keyword buff, even if you can no longer get the spell damage totem for it.
Path to Ascension
"What's better than riding a crocodile? Riding 3."
no clue whatsoever finding this one :/
New Shaman Spell - Hex
For me if feels so weird that this is staying and Polymorph isn't. At least both classes still have Devolving Missiles which in most situations it's better than both.
New Paladin Minion - Guardian of Kings
I always liked this card, mostly because of the artwork and creature itself. I hope a value oriented paladin deck ends up being good and this finds a place there.
Expanded Magic Types - Good or Bad?
Coming from goodness knows how many hours of playing Pokemon over my lifetime, the idea of (spell-)type match-ups is as obvious and natural to me as the existence of spells and minions to begin with. That said, I don't think it would be a good thing for the traditional Hearthstone game modes for 3 reasons.
First is simply complexity of card text, which is especially relevant in a game that insists on keeping below 4 lines of text. Clearly there will be no space to write weaknesses and resistances on every minion, many of whom already have 3 or 4 lines occupied. The obvious solution is to just write a 'spell-tribe' using the space where minion tribes are written. But is there space in there to convey sufficient information, especially when some existing tribes could have a whole range of type match-ups (I'm looking at you elementals)?
The second issue is much more philosophical: is HS with type match-ups actually the same game as HS without them? Certainly a lot of what happens now and in the past would play out differently without any changes to cards. Is such a fundamental shift actually in the game's interest given it sells itself as simple to learn?
My third point was going to be about the one-sided nature of type match-ups, and how it would just shafts some decks against some classes for no reason other than the spell schools they have available. A little bit of thought quickly showed that was an over-reaction since few decks in HS are thematic enough to all be weak to a single type, and most spells don't do damage anyway. So in practice it would never be anything similar to the innate advantage of a fire team against a grass one in Pokemon, for example.
My actual third point is then: is it not an awful lot of complication for actually very little effect? You use paladin as an example, but other than Consecration it won't have any damage dealing spells, so it would never matter with any other card. Similarly rogue will kill minions with basically everything other than damage from spells (through weapons, minions or hard removal). Warrior probably won't even have spell schools, while druid will have nature but will mostly be punching things to kill them anyway. It looks like only mage, shaman, warlock and, to a lesser extent, priest will actually care much about it. And even then a lot of the time it won't matter.
So yeah, it's an obvious and neat idea, but one that doesn't make a whole lot of sense in traditional Hearthstone... I could absolutely see type match-ups appearing in Mercenaries however.
New Neutral Minion - Mankrik
Huge highroll potential, I believe at almost Prince Keleseth levels if you play Mankrik on 3 and topdeck the wife on 4.
New Paladin Minion - Tirion Fordring
If pure paladin is still a thing when the next season starts I think this will find a place since it'll need more class cards to fill the gaps since there will be 2 less sets.
New Warlock Spell - Fiendish Circle
Maybe some synergy with the new Ritual of Doom, but that's really it
Fiendish Circle
Maybe some synergy with the new Ritual of Doom, but that's really it
New Mage Minion - Babbling Book
I honestly don't know if this is sarcasm or not. I do honestly love this card and love to see it back.
New Warlock Minion - Dread Infernal
Psyched that this stayed the same. Always a fun card to bust out
Dread Infernal
Psyched that this stayed the same. Always a fun card to bust out
New Neutral Minion - Blademaster Samuro
A 5 mana fully neutral 3 damage boardclear alongside Abusive Sergeant for any tempo/fast midrange deck. While not very flashy and somewhat lackluster on its own, Blademaster Samuro can make an impact on the meta, especially with that juicy 6 Health stat.