Alright, it's time for the final competition of season 2. That means it's time to bring out the big guns!
Just like Circus Tamer here is bringing out the big Beasts. The audience wants to see those big, dangerous animals, and this card here will give them to you. You're able to curve it on turn 4 into a Beast on 5, or play it later and maybe play a big Beast in the same turn.
Not sure about this one. Too cheap and it's an aggro deck's delight, but a slower deck might not appreciate losing one of the cards they've been holding onto.
Edit: Also thought of a second iteration. Straight-up more card draw, but your opponent gets to see them at the start of their turn and shuffle one away.
There's a little double dip of sadness with the low-rolls.
You get the low-roll 900xp *and* it is almost impossible to not complete (draw 30 cards). So, if you play at all, you can't avoid completing the quest you didn't want.
There are several of these little toxic features in the game. Usually when they are mentioned people get angry at the poster. Interesting that you have create a whole article on it.
Howdy, I'm Taka. Been playing MtG since Lorwyn, YGO for a little bit longer, League since Xin Zhao's release, and Legends of Runeterra for about three days. I know I have a lot of room to get better at any of these games, but I believe my observations here still apply based on my previous experience in other games.
Anyhow, let's talk Shadow Isles, or the equivalent of MtG's Black if it decided to take steroids and throw any sense of opportunity cost out the window. Last breath, death bonuses, sacrificial combat tricks, hard removal, a hard sweeper, a fling, good aggro with Fearsome, drain on removal, and, probably the most annoying currently, Go Hard that turns into a one-sided sweeper and win-con. Not saying it doesnt have answers: Im sure it does. But it is overloaded with so much good stuff right now.
As for Elusive, this is more of an issue with the lack of answers available and how much value certain units with Elusive have. Sure, it is the equivalent of MtG's Flying, but at least Flying in MtG is either available to every color or can at least be answered by those where it isnt. Most of Noxus removal does nothing without an ally on board or without the elusive unit in question already being damaged, and Freljord has Frostbite which is less of answer and more of a stall tactic.
Apologies if this is inappropriate or unfounded; just been having a lot of frustration dealing with these two aspects of this game.
Agreed! I didn’t mention rogue in the above post because I haven’t really figured out his place yet. The Aggro variant seems still very strong but on a healthy acceptable level imo.
I just finished my climb with ETC warrior and had an astounding 15-3 winrate. Took me some time to figure it out though. With ETC, Rattlegore and Zephrys, there are lots of unintuitive ways to close out games. I had one mirror match, literal insanity.
I didn’t face many paladins or hunters btw, these might be more powerfull in gold and platin now that I think of it. Solid curvestone decks.
You are absolutely right about the Elemental set up required for Grand Finale. However, even if you only play the spell one turn earlier than eight (or later than that), making the spell cost less allows you to do more with the rest of your mana (playing it alongside an Animated Broomstick, for example).
Fun idea! My little experience with the grand finale tells me though, that it needs a little more than a couple 8/8 to win games. Giants are a threat on turn 5, less so on later turns.
The Sandwich only accelerates you power turn by 1, I feel like that doesn’t justify the inclusion and build around but the deck may prove me wrong!
—-> Turn 5: Naga Sand Wich Turn 6: Elemental Setup Turn 7: Grand Finale
Those are 3 consecutive turns without any direct impact. No rush, no removal, no taunt. You don’t get such an opportunity against any form of aggressive deck. And control decks should have no issue to answer your threats. Not only that, the Naga interrupts your elemental chain and your bonus effects won’t activate on turn 6.
I like however the part about the water elementals! Deep freeze singlehandedly won you games when DH was king. Recent shaman nerfs make face freezing much less exciting.
Even though I’m critical with the deck, I very much appreciate the article! Good read and fun exercise to analyze alternate deck ideas. Hence my on depth comment. Keep it up! :
It is a 5 mana weapon after all. Truth be told, that Dread Corsair swing was perhaps the one thing that kept evolve shaman relevant over the deluge of Kobold Stickyfingers everywhere. Basically its now 1 turn too slow, which is plenty considering how often the deck falters in the early game. There's also the fact, as you mentioned, that a full dust refund provided more than enough reason to stop playing evolve shaman and most players duly obliged.
Hunter and paladin can never truly be oppressive because the current iterations of both decks need board to win and cant bypass taunts as easily as say, soul dhunter. They also can't reload in the same way as shaman does, and generally not as unpredictable as rogues, priest or mage.
Playing priest isnt as bad as it used to be, so there's some plus.
Oooh, I've dabbled in making Elemental Mage ever since I got Frost Lich Jaina from the KotFT prologue, I'll definitely give this list a try. Just from looking at the list it just might scratch that Midrange itch I've been missing.
Well since i'm still on Plat i really haven't seeing any secret mages whatsoever. My pocket meta is filled with Reno Priest, Big Priest, and aggro (and sometime random off meta deck) at the moment. Maybe those secret mages have already climb far above me.
my own experience has been getting between 6k and 8k gold collected per expansion available at day 1 of new set.
right now i have around 5,5k still around 2 months i believe from next set. i have saved 17 free packs of MDF for the mini exp. my guess is i will have more gold than in other expansions.
NOW THE PROBLEM is they will keep doing the stupid mini expansions that instead of being a point blank 2.5k gold like with other ones its gonna be a slot machine fiesta to get the 35 cards out of the regular expansion packs.
I would also prefer, if it would be just to play ranked games, not win. They made this change to all the "win X games as Y class" in the past, too.
But i can understand that they want to push ppl playing the game's main game mode, cant fault them too much for that, and they did lower the requirement from 7 games to 5, which is very noticeable. Still, I havent completed the 2500xp quest myself for like 3 or 4 weeks now, because i just dont enjoy playing ranked and my time is spent better elsewhere, i just have to accept that i lose on some xp. Like i said, would love if it was just play, but i can understand reasons behind this particular one.
Fond Fairewell - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Not sure if they're fairey enough, but it's what I got so far:
The Price Is Right - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Congratulations to Wailor!
[Game] Card Treasure Hunt (The Resurrection Attempt)
Another hint:
Fond Fairewell - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Alright, it's time for the final competition of season 2. That means it's time to bring out the big guns!
Just like Circus Tamer here is bringing out the big Beasts. The audience wants to see those big, dangerous animals, and this card here will give them to you. You're able to curve it on turn 4 into a Beast on 5, or play it later and maybe play a big Beast in the same turn.
Fond Fairewell - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Not sure about this one. Too cheap and it's an aggro deck's delight, but a slower deck might not appreciate losing one of the cards they've been holding onto.
Edit: Also thought of a second iteration. Straight-up more card draw, but your opponent gets to see them at the start of their turn and shuffle one away.
[Game] Card Treasure Hunt (The Resurrection Attempt)
Yikes. This is a doozy. Can't think of a card that fits all lines
The Price Is Right - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Good job Wailor
That last place tho. Guess should have go with Balance Keeper haha.
Fond Fairewell - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Been a while since I actually posted in the Discussion Thread. Got 3 ideas for what I want to do, all pretty similar (ignore any typos for now):
Building Braum Scargrounds Deck List & Guide - Runeterra Deck Spotlight
I appreciate the step-by-step approach, it really helps out an amateur deckbuilder like me!
Fond Fairewell - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Competition Theme: Fond Fairewell
It's time to go out with a bang - get your game on!
BloodMefist is asking for some fun and games to send off the season, so let's get creating!
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.
The Weekend of Kaldheim Card Spoilers for January 9 & 10
Some interesting cards. I want to bring up that Faceless Haven is currently put under white instead of colorless/lands.
The Weekend of Kaldheim Card Spoilers for January 9 & 10
You can replace all of the basics in your deck with snow covered basics without a problem. You don't need to worry about snow mana being hard to get.
Opinion: The Current State of Quests in Hearthstone and Its Impact on the Rewards Track
There's a little double dip of sadness with the low-rolls.
You get the low-roll 900xp *and* it is almost impossible to not complete (draw 30 cards). So, if you play at all, you can't avoid completing the quest you didn't want.
There are several of these little toxic features in the game. Usually when they are mentioned people get angry at the poster. Interesting that you have create a whole article on it.
Sand Witch Mage Budget Deck List & Guide for Darkmoon Faire - Budget Deck Breakdown
A flavorful sandwich
[Rant] Shadow Isles and Elusive
Howdy, I'm Taka. Been playing MtG since Lorwyn, YGO for a little bit longer, League since Xin Zhao's release, and Legends of Runeterra for about three days. I know I have a lot of room to get better at any of these games, but I believe my observations here still apply based on my previous experience in other games.
Anyhow, let's talk Shadow Isles, or the equivalent of MtG's Black if it decided to take steroids and throw any sense of opportunity cost out the window. Last breath, death bonuses, sacrificial combat tricks, hard removal, a hard sweeper, a fling, good aggro with Fearsome, drain on removal, and, probably the most annoying currently, Go Hard that turns into a one-sided sweeper and win-con. Not saying it doesnt have answers: Im sure it does. But it is overloaded with so much good stuff right now.
As for Elusive, this is more of an issue with the lack of answers available and how much value certain units with Elusive have. Sure, it is the equivalent of MtG's Flying, but at least Flying in MtG is either available to every color or can at least be answered by those where it isnt. Most of Noxus removal does nothing without an ally on board or without the elusive unit in question already being damaged, and Freljord has Frostbite which is less of answer and more of a stall tactic.
Apologies if this is inappropriate or unfounded; just been having a lot of frustration dealing with these two aspects of this game.
Post-Nerf January
Agreed! I didn’t mention rogue in the above post because I haven’t really figured out his place yet. The Aggro variant seems still very strong but on a healthy acceptable level imo.
I just finished my climb with ETC warrior and had an astounding 15-3 winrate. Took me some time to figure it out though. With ETC, Rattlegore and Zephrys, there are lots of unintuitive ways to close out games. I had one mirror match, literal insanity.
I didn’t face many paladins or hunters btw, these might be more powerfull in gold and platin now that I think of it. Solid curvestone decks.
Sand Witch Mage Budget Deck List & Guide for Darkmoon Faire - Budget Deck Breakdown
You are absolutely right about the Elemental set up required for Grand Finale. However, even if you only play the spell one turn earlier than eight (or later than that), making the spell cost less allows you to do more with the rest of your mana (playing it alongside an Animated Broomstick, for example).
Sand Witch Mage Budget Deck List & Guide for Darkmoon Faire - Budget Deck Breakdown
Fun idea! My little experience with the grand finale tells me though, that it needs a little more than a couple 8/8 to win games. Giants are a threat on turn 5, less so on later turns.
The Sandwich only accelerates you power turn by 1, I feel like that doesn’t justify the inclusion and build around but the deck may prove me wrong!
—->
Turn 5: Naga Sand Wich
Turn 6: Elemental Setup
Turn 7: Grand Finale
Those are 3 consecutive turns without any direct impact. No rush, no removal, no taunt. You don’t get such an opportunity against any form of aggressive deck. And control decks should have no issue to answer your threats.
Not only that, the Naga interrupts your elemental chain and your bonus effects won’t activate on turn 6.
I like however the part about the water elementals! Deep freeze singlehandedly won you games when DH was king. Recent shaman nerfs make face freezing much less exciting.
Even though I’m critical with the deck, I very much appreciate the article! Good read and fun exercise to analyze alternate deck ideas. Hence my on depth comment. Keep it up! :
Post-Nerf January
It is a 5 mana weapon after all. Truth be told, that Dread Corsair swing was perhaps the one thing that kept evolve shaman relevant over the deluge of Kobold Stickyfingers everywhere. Basically its now 1 turn too slow, which is plenty considering how often the deck falters in the early game. There's also the fact, as you mentioned, that a full dust refund provided more than enough reason to stop playing evolve shaman and most players duly obliged.
Hunter and paladin can never truly be oppressive because the current iterations of both decks need board to win and cant bypass taunts as easily as say, soul dhunter. They also can't reload in the same way as shaman does, and generally not as unpredictable as rogues, priest or mage.
Playing priest isnt as bad as it used to be, so there's some plus.
Sand Witch Mage Budget Deck List & Guide for Darkmoon Faire - Budget Deck Breakdown
Oooh, I've dabbled in making Elemental Mage ever since I got Frost Lich Jaina from the KotFT prologue, I'll definitely give this list a try. Just from looking at the list it just might scratch that Midrange itch I've been missing.
Secret Mage in Wild
Well since i'm still on Plat i really haven't seeing any secret mages whatsoever. My pocket meta is filled with Reno Priest, Big Priest, and aggro (and sometime random off meta deck) at the moment. Maybe those secret mages have already climb far above me.
Rogtronic - Ireland's 3rd best Hearthstone content creator! (I don't know who 1 and 2 are but its a safe bet I'm 3rd)
My top 5 cards in the latest expansion!
Here's some Flavor Text, make a card!
Just so this doesn't die because I think it's a very cool game.
Next: There's something so human about taking something great and ruining it a little so you can have more of it.
(Yes, it's also a quote from a TV show because I have no imagination)
Opinion: The Current State of Quests in Hearthstone and Its Impact on the Rewards Track
my own experience has been getting between 6k and 8k gold collected per expansion available at day 1 of new set.
right now i have around 5,5k still around 2 months i believe from next set. i have saved 17 free packs of MDF for the mini exp. my guess is i will have more gold than in other expansions.
NOW THE PROBLEM is they will keep doing the stupid mini expansions that instead of being a point blank 2.5k gold like with other ones its gonna be a slot machine fiesta to get the 35 cards out of the regular expansion packs.
Opinion: The Current State of Quests in Hearthstone and Its Impact on the Rewards Track
I would also prefer, if it would be just to play ranked games, not win. They made this change to all the "win X games as Y class" in the past, too.
But i can understand that they want to push ppl playing the game's main game mode, cant fault them too much for that, and they did lower the requirement from 7 games to 5, which is very noticeable. Still, I havent completed the 2500xp quest myself for like 3 or 4 weeks now, because i just dont enjoy playing ranked and my time is spent better elsewhere, i just have to accept that i lose on some xp. Like i said, would love if it was just play, but i can understand reasons behind this particular one.