I think that the issue people have is less with elusive’s existence, and more with the prevalence of decks that have so many elusive units that it becomes impossible to counter all of the elusives. Also, elusive as a keyword does take away from a core aspect of the game by not allowing your opponent to interact with it through normal units. This can be interesting to some extent when your opponent has only a few elusives, but when their entire deck is elusive units, it becomes a boring game where your control of the board no longer matters.
Also, you said that people should just be smart and have counters, but the problem is that then your entire game plan has to become focused on countering elusives instead of actually playing cards that you think are fun. To some extent, it doesn’t matter if elusive decks are balanced or counterable. If they make players have less fun with the game, then they are a problem.
WHy my Mecha'thun deck getting hit too... you know replacing Bloodbloom by couple of Galvanizers will reduce consistency a lot
This is also what I'm most sad about... Mecha'Thun Lock is a very honest and balanced deck, AND fun to play
Darkest Hour Lock is neither, so why not change Darkest Hour??
Balanced and honest? Seriously? Draw, draw, heal, draw more, destroy with eggs and plague of flames and hope my opponent doesn't have dirty rat and if he does, that he doesn't hit mechathun? I hate that deck so much
I don’t think elusive as a keyword is inherently bad, but I do that that it is bad if they’re so good that making an elusive deck could be a game plan. For that reason, I think that cards like Shadow Assassin are a problem, and I think it could honestly be nerfed to a 4 Mana 2/3. Also, the 2/1 elusive that gains Power when you summon units is a bit too good, so maybe it could be nerfed to something like a 3 Mana 3/1.
Do they have a policy on refunding adventure cards?
I don't particularly need the dust/gold anyway, but with felwing this seems like a case of the card's rarity not being representative of the actual price players spent for it.
I agree here - it's one of a few good cards in the adventure you may have factored into your purchasing (money or gold) decision on. Now you'll get the option of 200 dust back.
By all means nerf a relatively new adventure card if it's making the game virtually unplayable - but surely it's not necessary here with so many other nerf candidates around.
Definitely 12. Mages can spawn spells and freeze the board pretty well in Wild.
We need a tech card that sets quests back in the next expansion. An epic or lower minion that takes two points away, that will help.
I've only succeeded in using Unseen Saboteur three times against mages who've completed the quest; and Dirty Rat ain't a guarantee in derailing the combo (and I've seen some mages carrying both the Antonidas package and giants).
/been using anti-OTK decks in Wild since Uldum; the trinity of Dirty Rat, Unseen Saboteur and Skulking Geist is VERY useful in wild -- except against Mages finishing the quest in like five turns and Darkest Hour Locks.
I hear you, og. I feel that their ongoing ignorance of Ramming Speed's dominance is the biggest upset since their failure to nerf Unseen Saboteur, and that is in no way biased by the fact I have 3 of the latter.
I will add your just concerns to my official nerf campaign mandate - along with dapperdog's Chromatic Egg issue he's rightly expressed before.
(Though having 1 Unseen Saboteur in your collection might not be a bad thing sometimes).
Seriously, who the fuck thought it was a good idea to allow Dragonqueen Alexstrasza in arena? Are you fucking kidding me? Bullshit swing plays like that should not be allowed in arena, especially when it is so easy to achieve the no-duplicates rule. Arena decks don't come with a lot of answers to that bullshit. It's game ending and not fun.
Also, how the fuck do all of my opponents draft some stupid powerful legendary and I never get offered a single legendary? And when I finally do, it's always an option between 3 pieces of trash? Well, at least my arena tickets from the pre-order are used up so I can go back to the dumpster fire that is ladder...
Not feeling that need for a Sac Pact nerf. It just got back into vogue because demons are everywhere and being played by more than one class, and Lord J (who has pining the bench since Frozen Throne) needs another weakness other than 15 health.
Don't diss Unseen Saboteur. It wins lots of games for me in Wild. Standard just doesn't run old-school style OTK decks or feature control vs. control anymore.
(Sees another warlock's Cataclysm going off, a druid milling his own cards or wasting a Big Priest Rez before they've dropped a minion)
Great article Fear! The type of MTGA stuff I'd like to see more in OOC, not those daily deals but I digress.
Agree with your picks except for Dirge Bat. 6 mana for a single removal is sooo expensive! Compare to Liliana that removes two creatures through sacrifice effect (Dream Trawler?) and she never sees play. I don't think I'd like to spend 6 mana for the bat's effect only for him to be removed the following turn OR you get pressured/killed by a large aggro board/Embercleave
It's actually better Tempo during the game, since galvanizers are not dead cards during the game, especially if you consider synergy with Zilliax and possibly Antique Healbot too.
Okay blizzard, but why now? When these decks started getting popular and wild players were heavily complaining, they said they were collecting more data, as usual. The biggest, persistent problem of wild is by far secret mage and I don't see them talking anything about addressing it. Do something about secret mage, please!
-I knew they were changing Sac Pact, but I thought making it 1-mana would suffice; now I think they may nuke it.
-I think the Albatross is ok, I just hate that I always draw them in the next few turns (yea, I don't play HL neither much card draw).
-Felwing may be ok at 5-mana.
-Kael'thas was always busted. I don't like the card. It may be ok to make just the third spell free and nothing more so they don't change it completely.
-They have to do sth about Priestess of Fury, right?
I had a couple of ideas based around Taunt and hero powers, to synergise with both the Quest and Reward of Fire Plume's Heart. The first is also useful for other Warrior archetypes, the other not so much, but could lead to some fun DIE INSECT! combos.
Show Spoiler
At the moment I am leaning towards the latter. Which do you guys prefer?
I prefer Sulfuron Firesmith. Couple of things though. First, it should say "Your Hero Power triggers twice." Power shouldn't be plural as you can only have 1 hero power active at a time. Second, I think this effect is way too powerful at 3 mana. You can achieve this same effect with Waterboy and Garrison Commander for 4 mana. Not to mention if you combo this with Garrison Commander, that's 32 damage for 9 mana. (and it's Ragnaros' attack, so you know they will all go face!). I think it might be better to try for 5 mana. Maybe 5/2/7?
Yeah, that version of the text does sound better. In my head, I was thinking about the multiple hero powers you can have over time, but that doesn't really make sense.
I don't think comparing the cost to Garrison Commander + Waterboy is exactly fair, considering a) both of those cards were very weak, so making a stronger version isn't necessarily bad, and b) they are both neutral and therefore have to consider the vastly more abuse-able hero powers of other classes. That said, I do see the issues with it being combined with Garrison Commander (as awesome as that finisher sounds), so I'd rather increase the costs and bring the stats in line. 5 mana sounds fair, because then the combo you described costs 11 mana, which means super keen memers can still play it with Emperor Thaurissan, or coin-generators like Licensed Adventurer. If you go that hard on a combo, I think you deserve the 32 damage lol.
Agreed, I like leaving the ridiculous combo within reach with Emperor Thaurissan, because yes, watching all those fireballs go face would be just way too amazing.
If they want Lord Jaraxxus to be playable, they have to get rid of the 15 health cap. At this point in Hearthstone, it's just too easy to die at 15.
I understand the Sacrificial Pact change, and it will surely be changed to only kill your own demons, but I'm still bummed because as soon as Warlock reaches the top, they have to smash it back down.
I had a couple of ideas based around Taunt and hero powers, to synergise with both the Quest and Reward of Fire Plume's Heart. The first is also useful for other Warrior archetypes, the other not so much, but could lead to some fun DIE INSECT! combos.
At the moment I am leaning towards the latter. Which do you guys prefer?
I prefer Sulfuron Firesmith, but it's very similar to my Ironmelt Guardian. Let me know if you decide to go with it, because having two submissions so similar would be kinda redundant and might hurt both of us.
I am afraid I have already submitted, with the adjustments suggested by Xarkkal and Linkblade made.
I honestly don't think they're too similar though. As yours is a Deathrattle it is both not as easily abuse-able, and has a whole other suite of synergies which lend themselves to completely different and interesting combos. I think you would be quite safe to submit it, if that was the one you were thinking of going with too.
Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock Changes Coming! Expect Changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
about fucking time. It needed someone to rage on Iksar in order to save wild. And to think he got bullied for it...
Elusives aren't the problem. YOU are
I think that the issue people have is less with elusive’s existence, and more with the prevalence of decks that have so many elusive units that it becomes impossible to counter all of the elusives. Also, elusive as a keyword does take away from a core aspect of the game by not allowing your opponent to interact with it through normal units. This can be interesting to some extent when your opponent has only a few elusives, but when their entire deck is elusive units, it becomes a boring game where your control of the board no longer matters.
Also, you said that people should just be smart and have counters, but the problem is that then your entire game plan has to become focused on countering elusives instead of actually playing cards that you think are fun. To some extent, it doesn’t matter if elusive decks are balanced or counterable. If they make players have less fun with the game, then they are a problem.
Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock Changes Coming! Expect Changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
Balanced and honest? Seriously? Draw, draw, heal, draw more, destroy with eggs and plague of flames and hope my opponent doesn't have dirty rat and if he does, that he doesn't hit mechathun? I hate that deck so much
TAUNT, INSECT! - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Probably not up to par with other submitted cards, but here is my attempt.
uninstalling until elusive is fixed
I don’t think elusive as a keyword is inherently bad, but I do that that it is bad if they’re so good that making an elusive deck could be a game plan. For that reason, I think that cards like Shadow Assassin are a problem, and I think it could honestly be nerfed to a 4 Mana 2/3. Also, the 2/1 elusive that gains Power when you summon units is a bit too good, so maybe it could be nerfed to something like a 3 Mana 3/1.
Blizzard Believes Sacrificial Pact is Not Fun - Looking at Potential Changes to It and More Cards in Hearthstone's Standard Format
I agree here - it's one of a few good cards in the adventure you may have factored into your purchasing (money or gold) decision on. Now you'll get the option of 200 dust back.
By all means nerf a relatively new adventure card if it's making the game virtually unplayable - but surely it's not necessary here with so many other nerf candidates around.
Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock Changes Coming! Expect Changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
Definitely 12. Mages can spawn spells and freeze the board pretty well in Wild.
We need a tech card that sets quests back in the next expansion. An epic or lower minion that takes two points away, that will help.
I've only succeeded in using Unseen Saboteur three times against mages who've completed the quest; and Dirty Rat ain't a guarantee in derailing the combo (and I've seen some mages carrying both the Antonidas package and giants).
/been using anti-OTK decks in Wild since Uldum; the trinity of Dirty Rat, Unseen Saboteur and Skulking Geist is VERY useful in wild -- except against Mages finishing the quest in like five turns and Darkest Hour Locks.
Blizzard Believes Sacrificial Pact is Not Fun - Looking at Potential Changes to It and More Cards in Hearthstone's Standard Format
I will add your just concerns to my official nerf campaign mandate - along with dapperdog's Chromatic Egg issue he's rightly expressed before.
(Though having 1 Unseen Saboteur in your collection might not be a bad thing sometimes).
Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock Changes Coming! Expect Changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
I think you underestimate the effect having to draw 2 cards in place of 1 has on the consistency and winrate of the deck.
Group Therapy! Need to blow off some steam? Mega salty? Here's the place!
Seriously, who the fuck thought it was a good idea to allow Dragonqueen Alexstrasza in arena? Are you fucking kidding me? Bullshit swing plays like that should not be allowed in arena, especially when it is so easy to achieve the no-duplicates rule. Arena decks don't come with a lot of answers to that bullshit. It's game ending and not fun.
Also, how the fuck do all of my opponents draft some stupid powerful legendary and I never get offered a single legendary? And when I finally do, it's always an option between 3 pieces of trash? Well, at least my arena tickets from the pre-order are used up so I can go back to the dumpster fire that is ladder...
Quest Trading - Play A Friend!
Battletag: Blackbird#22858
Region: EU
Trade only?: Yes, you go first pls.
DONE
Blizzard Believes Sacrificial Pact is Not Fun - Looking at Potential Changes to It and More Cards in Hearthstone's Standard Format
Not feeling that need for a Sac Pact nerf. It just got back into vogue because demons are everywhere and being played by more than one class, and Lord J (who has pining the bench since Frozen Throne) needs another weakness other than 15 health.
And I'm not even playing warlock at the moment.
Blizzard Believes Sacrificial Pact is Not Fun - Looking at Potential Changes to It and More Cards in Hearthstone's Standard Format
Don't diss Unseen Saboteur. It wins lots of games for me in Wild. Standard just doesn't run old-school style OTK decks or feature control vs. control anymore.
(Sees another warlock's Cataclysm going off, a druid milling his own cards or wasting a Big Priest Rez before they've dropped a minion)
Top Hearthstone Decks for Each Class in the Early Ashes Of Outland Meta
man o MAN galakrondlock feels GOOD to pilot.
and I like seeing other decks for Totem shaman, was having a hard time making mine work
Four Horsemen riding the Dragon
Have you tried Exodia Pala with Beardo and 1 cost spells? Feels amazing and even wins some games!
I had a deck page for it in the old site but hasn't brought it here. Might even end up in Wild Weekend decks! You interested?
Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock Changes Coming! Expect Changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
As much as I hate Secret Mage, these nerfs will help Renodecks coming back in meta, and that in turn will keep Secret Mages in check.
The Top 10 Ikoria Cards for Standard
Great article Fear! The type of MTGA stuff I'd like to see more in OOC, not those daily deals but I digress.
Agree with your picks except for Dirge Bat. 6 mana for a single removal is sooo expensive! Compare to Liliana that removes two creatures through sacrifice effect (Dream Trawler?) and she never sees play. I don't think I'd like to spend 6 mana for the bat's effect only for him to be removed the following turn OR you get pressured/killed by a large aggro board/Embercleave
Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock Changes Coming! Expect Changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
You can replace Bloodbloom with Galvanizer, then find one extra deck spot for the second Galvanizer.
It's actually better Tempo during the game, since galvanizers are not dead cards during the game, especially if you consider synergy with Zilliax and possibly Antique Healbot too.
Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock Changes Coming! Expect Changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
Okay blizzard, but why now? When these decks started getting popular and wild players were heavily complaining, they said they were collecting more data, as usual. The biggest, persistent problem of wild is by far secret mage and I don't see them talking anything about addressing it. Do something about secret mage, please!
Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock Changes Coming! Expect Changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
Yea, just kill Open the Waygate, it was never fine.
Blizzard Believes Sacrificial Pact is Not Fun - Looking at Potential Changes to It and More Cards in Hearthstone's Standard Format
-I knew they were changing Sac Pact, but I thought making it 1-mana would suffice; now I think they may nuke it.
-I think the Albatross is ok, I just hate that I always draw them in the next few turns (yea, I don't play HL neither much card draw).
-Felwing may be ok at 5-mana.
-Kael'thas was always busted. I don't like the card. It may be ok to make just the third spell free and nothing more so they don't change it completely.
-They have to do sth about Priestess of Fury, right?
TAUNT, INSECT! - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Agreed, I like leaving the ridiculous combo within reach with Emperor Thaurissan, because yes, watching all those fireballs go face would be just way too amazing.
Blizzard Believes Sacrificial Pact is Not Fun - Looking at Potential Changes to It and More Cards in Hearthstone's Standard Format
It happend with Barnes too - and yes, you can just dust it for the full value.
Blizzard Believes Sacrificial Pact is Not Fun - Looking at Potential Changes to It and More Cards in Hearthstone's Standard Format
If they want Lord Jaraxxus to be playable, they have to get rid of the 15 health cap. At this point in Hearthstone, it's just too easy to die at 15.
I understand the Sacrificial Pact change, and it will surely be changed to only kill your own demons, but I'm still bummed because as soon as Warlock reaches the top, they have to smash it back down.
TAUNT, INSECT! - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
I am afraid I have already submitted, with the adjustments suggested by Xarkkal and Linkblade made.
I honestly don't think they're too similar though. As yours is a Deathrattle it is both not as easily abuse-able, and has a whole other suite of synergies which lend themselves to completely different and interesting combos. I think you would be quite safe to submit it, if that was the one you were thinking of going with too.