So I was playing a Braum deck against a SI/Noxus aggro spiders and falling behind fast. They played a Frenzied Skitterer, I figure: OK, sure they got buffed but my Braum went from 0/5 to 0/5 so no big deal. I want to take some power off the board so on my turn I challenge the weakest spider, a 3/1, and I play Radiant Strike--except Braum only becomes a 0/6, so the spider lives. :-( Apparently, even though it said 0 attack, it appreciated that it should have been at -1 from the Skitterer so the attack portion of my buff cancelled out. Quickly got overrun by fearsomes a few rounds later.
Just thought I would share that bit of experience.
In general: for spells and effects that do multiple things, the game tends to err on the side of doing what it can and NOT fizzling--e.g., if I play an Augmented Experimenter to deal 3, discard, and draw, but then my opponent interrupts with a Glimpse Beyond on the damage target, I still discard and draw.
The exceptions I know about are Vile Feast (no healing or spiderling if target dies first) and Glimpse Beyond (no cards if target dies first), and I think that's because the concept is that the target is specifically fueling the other results.
I feel like Power Infusion might be too good, since if you play both cards that turn its 0-Mana draw 2. Maybe it should say “Draw 2 cards. The first one you play this turn costs 2 less”, that way it’s less of a high roll card. Overall,, I love the changes and the new Holy Nova rework!
You're playing a somewhat weird list to be honest. I'm interested to know what your win rate is.
Some observations;
- you play hack the system but barely any weapons. So the intention is to play Licensed Adventurer and Sky Gen'ral Kragg. I personally don't think its viable to reduce your mulligan hand, just so you can play those cards.
- There's standard removal cards from control warrior, but no Omega Assembly. After blocking your opponent's tempo, you're relying solely on dr boom for the win. Since there's no Archivist Elysiana, and youre actively adding cards to your opponent's deck, you can't fatigue them out.
This deck is tailor crafted to beat face hunters, token druid (contentious) and other pure aggro decks. Outside of the perfect Dr Boom plays, I struggle to see how this deck can beat anything else. Not to be dick or anything, but against rogues, embiggen druids, highlander mage, and mech paladin, I simply can't imagine this deck winning.
But on the up side, I personally think warrior as a class can get up the top. Just need to tech in Dragonmaw Poachers or Black Knight for the embiggen list and albatrosses for highlander. Probably not control, but midrange-aggro list should be the best way for warrior right now.
That last game was so rough to watch. I've been screwed hard by draws in the past, but that was some next level shit AND on the biggest stage possible.
It was an awesome weekend though overall and I can't wait for the next big event!
Just posted a guide about a very similar version of Aggro Dragon Hunter. It's 60% winrate on hsreplay.net right now which of course will fall as meta adapts.
Only a few cards different from Muzzy/Orange's list. Still very aggro but a little more draw.
Maybe if I had some info about the total ranked players in Hearthstone, I will be able to picture what 15% of the meta looks like.
And again, I faced Shaman three times this week, 1 one them being Galakrond Aggro Shaman and 2 of them is Big Spell Shaman (utilizing Eureka!, Rain of Toads & Eye of the Storm).
It's not a shame to say that I lost all 3 matches.
Galakrond Shaman, still too many invokes & rush to maintain board control.
Big Spell. Loses once to Malygos combo, and the other one was lucky big random minion from The Fist of Ra-den
I hate to say. that this meta should include Shaman even just a little.
I do like [Hearthstone Card (Sky Gen'raal Kragg) Not Found] over Truesilver Champion because in the late game you can copy the rush if you need to, and provides better board presence if you can make some value trades. Truesilver Champion is not a bad option though if you don't have [Hearthstone Card (Sky Gen'raal Kragg) Not Found]!
You do have some valid points about Kangor's Endless Army, however it is mostly used as a late game value bomb against slower decks to refill your board. Think of it similarly to the late game value bomb of Shudderwock. You will most likely play it so late game that you'll have plenty of Mechano-Egg, Mechanical Whelp, 7/7's and 8/8's in your res pool. It is also not bad against aggressive decks as a desperation play to res that one mech you magnetized Zilliax onto. If you still don't like KEA I would replace it with a Tirion Fordring
I like your suggestion about Witchwood Piper! it does thin your deck of the early minions so you don't topdeck them later. I'll have to test it out vs Acolyte of Pain to see which I prefer tho because being able to copy Acolyte of Pain does have it's advantages in the late game over Witchwood Piper
Agreed that 1 copy of Equality can make it's way into the deck. As of now i'm unsure of which card to cut for it but is a very good suggestion!
if i use united standBADCARDNAME if one of my units would be recalled or damaged does the spell still resolves because it still on field or flizzes ? i dont have it to test it XD.
Hey Cheese, nice to see your work around here :) Tho it seems a little silly to go to this length and then skip the probably easiest part, gems and watermarks, lol. It might make it confusing, if someone wouldnt read your descriptions ... which as you well know is going to happen :) Guess depends on how well you want to relay the information is all. Anyway, looking for more :)
Ishanah is interesting, not sure how strong would it be with the Quest, giving minions +5/+5 :D but i guess it has to stay up, decent classic lege i think.
Mindbender: im sure this would get abused sooner or later lol.
Not sure i would like Convincing Infiltrator in there.
And Power Word: Fortitude would be so brutally OP in arena, i dont like that as a basic card, it would be in (almost) every rotation.
27/03/2020: Combined with Blizzard's official take on the core sets. Also brand new layout!
PRIEST CORE SET REVAMP
Introduction
Following this post, I decided to post my own take on the Priest's core sets. The comparison is interesting because we had very different ideas.
I made a few custom classes in the past, so I had to think a lot about class identity and how to make a class feel unique while still being stable and balanced in the long term, and expandable with expansions. Like Shadows, I made a few custom cards, but most of my sets is nerfs/buffs and substitutions with expansion sets.
NOTE: This set was started slightly after Saviors of Uldum was released
Directions
General directions I follow for the core sets
Blizzard's official post on class identity is weird. It mixes class mechanics with strengths and weaknesses so most of the stuff doesn't make sense. The way I proceeded is completely different. I started by listing what should be the primary and secondary mechanics of the class, the strengths and weaknesses of the class as well as the archetypes available to it should follow from this list.
I say "core sets" a lot, but the Basic and Classic set are NOT interchangeable in their functions.
The Basic set is the spine of the class. It ensures the class' viability and establishes its primary mechanics.
Must be simple. Most cards must have 2 lines of text or less. Only simple keywords.
Versatile to support multiple playstyles
Minimal kit of everything a class needs to be viable (card draw; removal; direct damage; good standalone minions;...) even if not part of identity
Fine if slightly more OP than what you would expect from expansions
The Classic set is the limbs of the class. It ensures the class' internal diversity and estables its secondary mechanics.
Presents the more "complex" mechanics of the game (Deathrattle, etc...)
Because Classic packs are bought, there should be a sense of progression
Unlike the Basic set, Classic cards should be slightly below average to let room for expansions
About tribal synergies, each minion type has its own identity
Beasts
All size of minions
Good standalone value
Buff each other a lot
Each type of Beast has its subtheme (Bears=Taunt; Boars=Rush; Cats=Stealth; Wolves=buff other beasts; etc...)
Most common type of minions, as such their identity is less precise
Demons (Warlock & DH)
All size of minions
Powerful but with a drawback (taking damage; discard; ...)
Dragons
Medium to big minions
"If you're holding a Dragon"
Hand synergy
Lots of legendaries
4/12 statline as a signature
Elementals
All size of minions
"If you played an Elemental last turn"
Value generation
Battlecries
Mechs
Mechs were the focus of only 2 expansions (GvG and Boomsday) but they're otherwise a rare tribe and have no central identity!
Murlocs
Small minions
Board-wide buffs for other Murlocs
Relies on early-game snowballing. If allowed to stay on the board, they become nearly unstoppable
Pirates
Small to medium minions
Weapon synergy
Lots of direct damage
Totems (Shaman)
Small minions
0 attack with some exceptions
Powerful ongoing effects (aura/end of turn/whenever)
Tribal synergies are part of a class primary identity in only 3 cases
Beasts for Hunter
Totems for Shaman
Demons for Walocks and DHs
All other class-tribe associations are mostly a matter of coincidence as these tribes happen to fit in the class identity (eg pirates for Warrior/Rogue)
About which keywords I chose to keep in the core sets
Charge vs Rush - As you know, Charge is a dangerous keyword. This is why Rush was introduced...however there are a few cards that were meant to be finishers that wouldn't make sense without Rush. I will replace Charge with Rush on all core cards with Charge (and tweak stats accordingly) EXCEPT when Charge is on a legendary minion. There are 4 legendary minions with Charge in the classic set and they will keep Charge
Discover - Disover offers a choice between cards that are in standard. Due to how easy Discover can become skewed when the right cards are printed, there will be no Discover cards in my core sets.
Poisonous - There were originally no Poisonous cards in the Basic set before the introduction of [Hearthstone Card (Master Poisoner) Not Found]. I will therefore also have poisonous cards in my basic set
Lifesteal - There are currently no Lifesteal cards in the core sets. However the keyword is simple and I will therefore introduce some.
Priest class identity
I tried not to steer away too much from what Blizzard defined for the class, although there are definitely some directions I disagree with and went against. I will signal it when it is the case.
PRIMARY MECHANICS
Healing - Priest should be the best class at healing. It should have the most powerful and cost-effective healing cards, both single-target and multi-target. It should have healing synergy.
High-health minions - Going hand-in-hand with that, Priest should also have access to a lot of minions with high-health for their cost, as well as several ways of buffing a minion's health.
SECONDARY MECHANICS
Hard Removals - Priest has a lot of hard removals, that is removal that says "destroy" on the card rather than removal throught direct damage or other ways. Think of the Shadow Words.
Copying your stuff - Priest has a lot of cards to copy his own or his opponent's stuff, either through summon or card generation. This also implies that Priest is good at greed and value.
Comboing small spells - This is a theme that was explored during the Year of the Mammoth (2017) and culminated in Razakus Priest, which was the best deck in the game before its nerf.
Resurrect - I know this is a...controversial aspect of Priest, but gameplay-wise it is ok as long as it doesn't allow minion cheating.
Silence - Priest has a near-exclusive access to silencing effects.
Priest is GOOD at
Big minions (vertical minions, through health buffing)
Single-target hard-removals ("destroy" cards)
Value generation (copy, resurrect)
Surviving (healing)
Priest is AVERAGE at
Card draw
Board clears (I hope that my emphasis on board control through minions makes the need of a board clear less fundamental for Priest)
Priest is BAD at
Minion swarms. For Priest, it's quality over quantity
Direct damage ()
Tempo (Priest is the slowest class in the game)
The new core sets
Priest new Basic set
Priest new Classic set
COMMONS
RARES
EPICS
LEGENDARY
Justifications
Justifications
Basic
Flash Heal - Much better than Radiance! Since I HoF'd Auchenai Soulpriest, there's no reason to not have this card in the basic set.
Northshire Cleric(Cost increased to (2); Health increased to 4) - I disagree with Blizzard's decision to HoF her. Yes, at 1/3 she was degenerate but she is waaay too essential and fits well into Priest...and EVERY class needs some card draw...
Acolyte of Agony - AoA is a very good standalone minion that heals. Perfect for Priest's basic set. See above for my justification for introducing Lifesteal into core sets
Classic
Divine Hymn - This is mostly meant to replace Circle of Healing as the AOE heal card. CoH is too weak to be used as pure healing and was only used for combos.
Mindbender (CUSTOM!) - An alternative to Convincing Infiltrator which was considered too OP.
Dark Cultist - I know such a powerful on-curve minion can be somewhat dangerous to have in the classic set (not because it would ruin the game but because it would see play everywhere), but it's Priest, so I think that's okay. I chose it because it features two aspects of Priest in a single card (Deathrattle + health buff). Replaces Temple Enforcer.
Holy Champion - Solid minion. Health synergy. Perfect for priest!
Mind Bomb (CUSTOM!) - An alternative to Mass Dispel which is very clunky. Mind Bomb doubles as a mass silence and an AOE. Very effective against token and murloc decks! Also usable in silence decks.
Nightscale Matriarch - This card never saw play, but it could easily see play some day, it's perfect to have in the classic set. It's a Dragon, it's a big minion, it's health synergy!
Mass Resurrection - PLEASE LOWER YOUR PITCHFORKS AND LET ME EXPLAIN FIRST!! Resurrect has been established as a core Priest mechanic over the years. Resurrect effects can cause problems if mana cheating effects are also very present (hello Barnes). However Mass Resurrection costs (9) mana which means that a "big" deck using it would be a late-game oriented one rather than a midrange one. (I was too lazy to redo the card but you have to imagine this with an epic gem instead)
Power Word: Replicate - Copying is a tertiary Priest theme. I know the flavor of the card is weird in the Classic set but I didn't want to alter it.
Inner Fire(Cost increased to (2); Rarity increased to epic) - Nerfed to 2 mana. That's the only way to ever make it balanced. Even without Divine Spirit it's restricting the design space among high-health minions.
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
These cards have a fundamentally unbalanced and unbalanceable effect (ie it can't be made balanced just by tweaking numbers).
On the contrary, these cards are just uninteresting and often straight up bad.
These cards are too widespread and limits novelty. They aren't interesting enough to just be nerfed.
On the contrary, these cards are too specific and narrow to be core cards.
These cards are fine and could have stayed. However there were better cards to fill their spots.
Shortlisted cards
Shorlisted cards
The following cards almost made it into my core sets, but didn't because there were no room left for them.
Vampiric Touch (CUSTOM!) - Was supposed to be the Lifesteal card of the set. Replaced with the existing Acolyte of Agony due to being potentially OP on certain minions. (Spoiler: It's gonna be in Paladin's core set instead).
Inner Focus (CUSTOM!) - I'm surprised this card doesn't exist. I thought this unconditional card draw would also be useful in the "small spell" Priest shell. I've been told it's OP so I bowed down to the pressure even though it's less powerful than Power Word: Shield except in the edge case when you have no minions.
Purify - "My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards Kripp, but it does contain the unstoppable PURIFIER!" Yes, I thought about bringing back what has been labeled the worst card in the game. This is because its effect is very simple and basic and is a building brick for the silence priest archetype. Ultimately didn't because Silence is too similar but more fitting for the core set.
Priest of the Feast - Second shortlisted card of a 3-card set. PotF has a very "priesty" statline at 3/6 and features both "small spell" synergy and healing, making it perfect for core sets. Didn't keep because I didn't have room. Other synergies felt more important.
Psionic Probe - Compared to Thoughtsteal, this has the added bonus of being a small spell and to fit in both the steal-yo-stuff shell and the small spell shell. Didn't take because at the end of the day it's a worse Mind Vision, and small spells aren't really core to the class. They were only good when Razakus Priest was around.
Devour Mind - This one doesn't fit in the small spell shell but it is a big value generator. Priest was historically good at generating value and this does it better. Ultimately scrapped because it is too clunky for the classic set. Thoughtsteal remains the best compromise.
Extra Arms - A buff that is also two spells in 1. Didn't keep because it doesn't really represent Priest in any meaningful way.
Plague of Death - People have been complaining about the lack of an evergreen board clear for Priest for a while. This is the ultimate board clear. Didn't keep because unfun and acts as a counter to too many things to be good for the game. Besides, my Priest isn't about "AFK and clear" anymore and my new Holy Nova presumable covers that need.
BONUS: Core sets with alternative structure
Alternative set
OK. I went completely wild here.
What's that? By alternative structure I mean a core set structure other than the 10 Basic/15 Classic structure we have now. I thought a lot about this. I thought about 10/10 (reduced Classic set), 15/10, and even 10/0 (no Classic set at all!). However I settled on this 10/10/9. The 9 being for a yearly rotating core set made entirely of reintroduced old cards (as in the Tombs of Terror event).
The purpose of this set is to avoid redundancy in cards as well as give more supports to the archetypes that are being pushed. 3 cards are re-introduced each expansion, for a total of 9 cards over the year. These cards can vary in rarity but they will stay the same between classes. This allows me to "deport" certain secondary themes of the class into yearly sets, so that they will go back and forth rather than always be there. In order for these sets to feel new, they should not contain any cards from the year that just rotated out.
I agree it's overtuned and needs a nerf, but it's the only thing keeping this game from being 100% shadow isles right now. Deny can go to 4 or 5 mana, but the game is ruined if other spells don't get nerfed with it. Deny is the dental floss holding the game together right now.
Fire Mage Jaina is super cool, would have liked to see her Kul'tiran attire though!
She IS wearing her BfA attire (which is what I assume you mean), it's just red instead of blue.
I'm personally not too fussed about getting new voice lines or entrance animations. I'm just glad to have a pirate rogue hero so my swashbuckling decks no longer have an anti-thematic assassin hero.
Attack power can go negative :-(
So I was playing a Braum deck against a SI/Noxus aggro spiders and falling behind fast. They played a Frenzied Skitterer, I figure: OK, sure they got buffed but my Braum went from 0/5 to 0/5 so no big deal. I want to take some power off the board so on my turn I challenge the weakest spider, a 3/1, and I play Radiant Strike--except Braum only becomes a 0/6, so the spider lives. :-( Apparently, even though it said 0 attack, it appreciated that it should have been at -1 from the Skitterer so the attack portion of my buff cancelled out. Quickly got overrun by fearsomes a few rounds later.
Just thought I would share that bit of experience.
does united stand negates spells?
In general: for spells and effects that do multiple things, the game tends to err on the side of doing what it can and NOT fizzling--e.g., if I play an Augmented Experimenter to deal 3, discard, and draw, but then my opponent interrupts with a Glimpse Beyond on the damage target, I still discard and draw.
The exceptions I know about are Vile Feast (no healing or spiderling if target dies first) and Glimpse Beyond (no cards if target dies first), and I think that's because the concept is that the target is specifically fueling the other results.
Cheese's custom revamp of the PRIEST core sets! (Updated 27/03/2020 with Blizz's new cards)
I feel like Power Infusion might be too good, since if you play both cards that turn its 0-Mana draw 2. Maybe it should say “Draw 2 cards. The first one you play this turn costs 2 less”, that way it’s less of a high roll card. Overall,, I love the changes and the new Holy Nova rework!
Group Therapy! Need to blow off some steam? Mega salty? Here's the place!
Fuck. It's been 2 days and no one really wanna do the "trade 80 gold" with me.
Gimme that juicy 160 gold. Not angry, just frustrating.
Is Control Warrior viable?
Yeah and that's not a good idea either.
Although interesting, it just isn't good.
Standard Meta Report #23 - Top Hearthstone Decks February 9, 2020 - February 16, 2020
It's a bit slow for what this deck is trying to do.
Dragonmaw Poacher if there are lots of mirrors, other dragon decks.
Big Ol' Whelp if you are looking at the list posted above.
Lifedrinker or Unleash the Hounds if you are looking at the list I posted below.
There's lots of options.
Is Control Warrior viable?
You're playing a somewhat weird list to be honest. I'm interested to know what your win rate is.
Some observations;
- you play hack the system but barely any weapons. So the intention is to play Licensed Adventurer and Sky Gen'ral Kragg. I personally don't think its viable to reduce your mulligan hand, just so you can play those cards.
- There's standard removal cards from control warrior, but no Omega Assembly. After blocking your opponent's tempo, you're relying solely on dr boom for the win. Since there's no Archivist Elysiana, and youre actively adding cards to your opponent's deck, you can't fatigue them out.
This deck is tailor crafted to beat face hunters, token druid (contentious) and other pure aggro decks. Outside of the perfect Dr Boom plays, I struggle to see how this deck can beat anything else. Not to be dick or anything, but against rogues, embiggen druids, highlander mage, and mech paladin, I simply can't imagine this deck winning.
But on the up side, I personally think warrior as a class can get up the top. Just need to tech in Dragonmaw Poachers or Black Knight for the embiggen list and albatrosses for highlander. Probably not control, but midrange-aggro list should be the best way for warrior right now.
Standard Meta Report #23 - Top Hearthstone Decks February 9, 2020 - February 16, 2020
For agro dragon Hunter would Evasive Wyrm be a good sub for Dragons bane?
Aggro Dragon Hunter [Muzzy / Orange]
Would [Hearthstone Card (Evasive Wyrm/card] be a good sub for Dragons bane?
) Not Found]MTG Arena - World Championship XXVI Winner
That last game was so rough to watch. I've been screwed hard by draws in the past, but that was some next level shit AND on the biggest stage possible.
It was an awesome weekend though overall and I can't wait for the next big event!
Find Your Champion Comes to the Magic World Championship - Free Cards & Sleeve in MTG Arena
Right?!? Anyone complaining about it is simply a whiner.
Standard Meta Report #23 - Top Hearthstone Decks February 9, 2020 - February 16, 2020
Just posted a guide about a very similar version of Aggro Dragon Hunter. It's 60% winrate on hsreplay.net right now which of course will fall as meta adapts.
Only a few cards different from Muzzy/Orange's list. Still very aggro but a little more draw.
https://outof.cards/hearthstone/decks/12385-aggro-dragon-hunter-with-dragonbane-and-draw
Wild · Dragon Hunter · by og0 · 6 years, 7 months ago
Frenzied Felwing can be crazy strong when played early for free.
Deck went 13-0 from rank 17 to 10 in 55 minutes. Would be interesting to hear how it does at higher ranks.
edit: 33-3 to rank 5 on NA and EU
Standard Meta Report #23 - Top Hearthstone Decks February 9, 2020 - February 16, 2020
Maybe if I had some info about the total ranked players in Hearthstone, I will be able to picture what 15% of the meta looks like.
And again, I faced Shaman three times this week, 1 one them being Galakrond Aggro Shaman and 2 of them is Big Spell Shaman (utilizing Eureka!, Rain of Toads & Eye of the Storm).
It's not a shame to say that I lost all 3 matches.
Galakrond Shaman, still too many invokes & rush to maintain board control.
Big Spell. Loses once to Malygos combo, and the other one was lucky big random minion from The Fist of Ra-den
I hate to say. that this meta should include Shaman even just a little.
Standard Exodia Mage!
my bad, I only read the title said, "Standard Exodia Mage". I totally disregard his motive to be just for fun deck.
next time, maybe create some helpful tips that this deck is not to get ranked or anything.
moving on.
EDIT. and yes, I didn't read that deck type "just for fun" too. only at the title.
Is Control Warrior viable?
Yeah Hack the System sucks, but Rogue also plays a Quest it never completes ;)
does united stand negates spells?
The spell will resolve and target the minion you swapped.
New Quest Paladin
Thanks for your input!
I do like [Hearthstone Card (Sky Gen'raal Kragg) Not Found] over Truesilver Champion because in the late game you can copy the rush if you need to, and provides better board presence if you can make some value trades. Truesilver Champion is not a bad option though if you don't have [Hearthstone Card (Sky Gen'raal Kragg) Not Found]!
You do have some valid points about Kangor's Endless Army, however it is mostly used as a late game value bomb against slower decks to refill your board. Think of it similarly to the late game value bomb of Shudderwock. You will most likely play it so late game that you'll have plenty of Mechano-Egg, Mechanical Whelp, 7/7's and 8/8's in your res pool. It is also not bad against aggressive decks as a desperation play to res that one mech you magnetized Zilliax onto. If you still don't like KEA I would replace it with a Tirion Fordring
I like your suggestion about Witchwood Piper! it does thin your deck of the early minions so you don't topdeck them later. I'll have to test it out vs Acolyte of Pain to see which I prefer tho because being able to copy Acolyte of Pain does have it's advantages in the late game over Witchwood Piper
Agreed that 1 copy of Equality can make it's way into the deck. As of now i'm unsure of which card to cut for it but is a very good suggestion!
does united stand negates spells?
if i use united standBADCARDNAME if one of my units would be recalled or damaged does the spell still resolves because it still on field or flizzes ? i dont have it to test it XD.
User Interface Wishlist
Even better, it could autodetect when you have a deck string and automatically paste it
Cheese's custom revamp of the PRIEST core sets! (Updated 27/03/2020 with Blizz's new cards)
Hey Cheese, nice to see your work around here :) Tho it seems a little silly to go to this length and then skip the probably easiest part, gems and watermarks, lol. It might make it confusing, if someone wouldnt read your descriptions ... which as you well know is going to happen :) Guess depends on how well you want to relay the information is all. Anyway, looking for more :)
Ishanah is interesting, not sure how strong would it be with the Quest, giving minions +5/+5 :D but i guess it has to stay up, decent classic lege i think.
Mindbender: im sure this would get abused sooner or later lol.
Not sure i would like Convincing Infiltrator in there.
And Power Word: Fortitude would be so brutally OP in arena, i dont like that as a basic card, it would be in (almost) every rotation.
Cheese's custom revamp of the PRIEST core sets! (Updated 27/03/2020 with Blizz's new cards)
I seriously fucked up the formatting. I'll use the HTML editor next time.
BTW, yes, there will be a next time because I'm working on other classes and neutral cards as well.
Cheese's custom revamp of the PRIEST core sets! (Updated 27/03/2020 with Blizz's new cards)
27/03/2020: Combined with Blizzard's official take on the core sets. Also brand new layout!
PRIEST CORE SET REVAMP
Introduction
Following this post, I decided to post my own take on the Priest's core sets. The comparison is interesting because we had very different ideas.
I made a few custom classes in the past, so I had to think a lot about class identity and how to make a class feel unique while still being stable and balanced in the long term, and expandable with expansions. Like Shadows, I made a few custom cards, but most of my sets is nerfs/buffs and substitutions with expansion sets.
NOTE: This set was started slightly after Saviors of Uldum was released
Directions
Blizzard's official post on class identity is weird. It mixes class mechanics with strengths and weaknesses so most of the stuff doesn't make sense. The way I proceeded is completely different. I started by listing what should be the primary and secondary mechanics of the class, the strengths and weaknesses of the class as well as the archetypes available to it should follow from this list.
I say "core sets" a lot, but the Basic and Classic set are NOT interchangeable in their functions.
About tribal synergies, each minion type has its own identity
Tribal synergies are part of a class primary identity in only 3 cases
All other class-tribe associations are mostly a matter of coincidence as these tribes happen to fit in the class identity (eg pirates for Warrior/Rogue)
About which keywords I chose to keep in the core sets
I tried not to steer away too much from what Blizzard defined for the class, although there are definitely some directions I disagree with and went against. I will signal it when it is the case.
The new core sets
COMMONS
RARES
EPICS
LEGENDARY
Justifications
Basic
Classic
Hall of Fame
These cards have a fundamentally unbalanced and unbalanceable effect (ie it can't be made balanced just by tweaking numbers).
On the contrary, these cards are just uninteresting and often straight up bad.
These cards are too widespread and limits novelty. They aren't interesting enough to just be nerfed.
On the contrary, these cards are too specific and narrow to be core cards.
These cards are fine and could have stayed. However there were better cards to fill their spots.
Shortlisted cards
The following cards almost made it into my core sets, but didn't because there were no room left for them.
BONUS: Core sets with alternative structure
OK. I went completely wild here.
What's that? By alternative structure I mean a core set structure other than the 10 Basic/15 Classic structure we have now. I thought a lot about this. I thought about 10/10 (reduced Classic set), 15/10, and even 10/0 (no Classic set at all!). However I settled on this 10/10/9. The 9 being for a yearly rotating core set made entirely of reintroduced old cards (as in the Tombs of Terror event).
The purpose of this set is to avoid redundancy in cards as well as give more supports to the archetypes that are being pushed. 3 cards are re-introduced each expansion, for a total of 9 cards over the year. These cards can vary in rarity but they will stay the same between classes. This allows me to "deport" certain secondary themes of the class into yearly sets, so that they will go back and forth rather than always be there. In order for these sets to feel new, they should not contain any cards from the year that just rotated out.
New (reduced) Classic set
COMMONS
RARES
EPICS
LEGENDARY
Cut cards:
Yearly 2019 (Year of the Dragon) set
For this example, here's what the yearly set for the year 2019 could have been:
NOTE: In order for yearly sets to feel new, this 2019 core set will not contain any 2017 cards since they would have just rotated out.
RISE OF SHADOWS
SAVIORS OF ULDUM (Healing)
DESCENT OF DRAGONS (Dragons duh)
Doomed game
I agree it's overtuned and needs a nerf, but it's the only thing keeping this game from being 100% shadow isles right now. Deny can go to 4 or 5 mana, but the game is ruined if other spells don't get nerfed with it. Deny is the dental floss holding the game together right now.
1000 wins hero rewards
She IS wearing her BfA attire (which is what I assume you mean), it's just red instead of blue.
I'm personally not too fussed about getting new voice lines or entrance animations. I'm just glad to have a pirate rogue hero so my swashbuckling decks no longer have an anti-thematic assassin hero.
1000 wins hero rewards
Fire Mage Jaina is super cool, would have liked to see her Kul'tiran attire though!