I'd be OK with reskinning the Animal Companions if it was a different class. However, re-using the effect in hunter, especially for such iconic minions, seems quite lazy. Either use the standard companions (not ideal, since they have no connection to Altimor), or come up with new statlines or abilities: rush and lifesteal are the two big ones that have been added to Hearthstone since its intial release. Lots of options for the third ability: silence, gives your other minions poisonous or divine shield, etc.
Doesn't even say "targets enemies if possible." Probably lame.
With the amount of Buff spells druid has that would be awful. I think you may want to play this as a finisher while you have a board. Or maybe a reload with all the draw spells available. With standard druid spells it does not seem to be meant as a Rune or Yogg "oh crap" button
My stupid ass played in the arena and duels using a free pass and got 45 gold. Now I always have 45 gold left. Support can neither take 45 gold, nor give me 5 gold. I don't want to try to get the right amount of gold in the arena at all. Who even came up with such stupid awards?
I think it is fine that old effects can be achieved through different means...What I don't think is fine is that they release weaker alternatives of past cards.
I love reprints/reworks. Bringing cards back in a different meta could give it the chance to shine it never had. Or slight tweaks to effects/cost can make a big difference. I do have to argue that even weaker remakes have their place. Take Shadow Visions vs Thrive in the Shadows. Thrive is certainly weaker as it draws the card rather than copy. If you had the choice why would you ever run Thrive? Reno/highlander decks. Having that extra option while weaker can still be useful to the game and deck building. Also Visions may be too high of a power level to ever bring back in say a Core set. Thrive existing gives them a similar yet powered down option. Here while we are talking about Call of the Wild vs Huntsman Altimor, a spell vs a minion, giving similar effects to different kind of cards allows for unique deck building purposes. A no minion hunter deck for instance wouldn't be able to use Altimor, while if they ever make a no spell benefit he would become an option for the same effect.
Huntsman Altimor himself I think is stronger than he looks. I don't think Infuse will be as hard to trigger, especially in hunter. We have to see the rest of the set of course before final judgement. Still I think the effect is strong enough to be worth the weight. Also it's not a hard card to adjust if it does fall short with so many different numbers (stats, cost, infuse). So even if it turns out weak it can be saved. I still believe a 7 mana To My Side! + a 5/4 is worth running even if you can't reach the 8 infuse mark consistantly.
People said Wing Commander Ichman was too weak and too expensive too. Yet he sees decent play. I'd bet the same for Altimor. Looks weak on paper but plays out better than expected.
although I'm not opposed to some more RNG fiesta, I feel that Cora pointing out the spell's core idea being similar to its original WoW twin is a very moot point.
Hearthstone puts its own filter on anything related to its WoW origins , so now suddenly going "yeah but see, we made it so it's true to the original druid spell's idea!" makes me go like ... yeah, so what? just because it suits you this time, suddenly that's an argument? haha :D
I feel like all they needed to do was just give the Gargon Companions +1/+1 or something and nobody would've had a major problem with it. Some people might've had little disgruntles, but I think most people would've seen it as a cool and flavorful callback/upgrade to Animal Companion as opposed to a lazy reskin of it.
It’s 1 mana cheaper PLUS you get a 5/4 body on the board. Normally, by turn 7 it doesn’t help much to get another minion that does nothing this turn. However, when it’s summoned alongside the three companions, an extra 5/4 minion seems like it would have some value.
I’m not going to say this is definitely worth the cost until I’ve played it - Infuse(8) sounds like quite a lot, and I’d be inclined to give him a couple more points of stats. But I can see where Blizzard is coming from with this, and unlike me they have had the chance to playtest it.
I personally don't see anything wrong with team5 revisiting old card effects. And its not like this is the first nor shall it be the last.
The artwork is to me a bigger problem because the gargon companions artwork is fairly poor, with no personality. Misha has taunt, huffer has charge, that makes sense thematically because the former is a bear and the latter's a wild boar. Hecutis and Margore might as well have been the same beast. They could've make one look large, imposing and the other sleek but rushing. Is this something to do with the lore that they look so boring?
So for those who have looked at the stats lately they will know that Annie and Bard are the two highest played Champs in the game in terms of the number of high tier lists they are present in.
I've already spoken about why ravembloom is a problematic and poorly designed card in its current iteration aka should buff spells not creatures, both is too powerful for a 1 mana landmark.
But Bard is a whole nother kettle of fish. Annie while being the A tier queen with 3 lists, Bard is the S tier king with two lists but can essentially be jammed anywhere and win as Mogwai often complains.
Why is this? Well high rolling in a word, boom two chimes okay that's a 4/4 for one mana, boom another 3 chimes k that's a 7/7 on turn 4 and you basically nothing to increase the chime level in your deck except run Bard as a champion.
Now you'll say that's astronomically low ods, and I would say yes but turns out free wins are free wins and in a game based around a 50-58% matchup table free wins are king.
The new cards and new expansion are looking to learn lessons from mistakes of the last but at the end of the day if bards free chime placement isn't nerfed 3 - 2 and ravenbloom doesn't stop globally buffing creatures even creatures spawned like tokens the metas not really going to change in a healthy way like it should.
Just my two cents, but a lot of players are getting sick of hearthstone Bard and I'm one of them and Annie I always hated soooo plz Riot just tweak them a bit.
Priest decks with a number of tossable minions to the Infuse is going to be the difficult part for this. Most Aggro Priest decks only really worry about spot removal to enable their own minions to get it... making this card not the best choice. For control decks, getting enough minions on the board without sacrificing the integrity of your deck strategy JUST to fuel this Infuse isn't a good option.
What I am curious on this is how it will Discover. Will it give you 2 random cards and you select one? Or will you be given two different Discovery 3-cards to choose from for Minion or Spell?
If it is the latter, this cards has a LOT of potential to give you lots of stuff. If it's the first, not so good.
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
Hard agree on this.
Unless infusing is much easier than I think, this card will eventually be buffed to only require 6 friendly minions to die.
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
I'd be OK with reskinning the Animal Companions if it was a different class. However, re-using the effect in hunter, especially for such iconic minions, seems quite lazy. Either use the standard companions (not ideal, since they have no connection to Altimor), or come up with new statlines or abilities: rush and lifesteal are the two big ones that have been added to Hearthstone since its intial release. Lots of options for the third ability: silence, gives your other minions poisonous or divine shield, etc.
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
the 5/4 body means nothing with all the power crept decks there are now. The charge minion is the main threat.
New Druid Spell - Convoke the Spirits
With the amount of Buff spells druid has that would be awful. I think you may want to play this as a finisher while you have a board. Or maybe a reload with all the draw spells available. With standard druid spells it does not seem to be meant as a Rune or Yogg "oh crap" button
New Druid Spell - Nightshade Bud
The new Legendary Dragon makes whelps on nature spells. These should trigger her immunity. So it may still be worth.
I assume how this will work is "choose minion or spell" then trigger the discover.
Looking forward to this, seems like a fun build around spell.
Group Therapy! Need to blow off some steam? Mega salty? Here's the place!
My stupid ass played in the arena and duels using a free pass and got 45 gold. Now I always have 45 gold left. Support can neither take 45 gold, nor give me 5 gold. I don't want to try to get the right amount of gold in the arena at all. Who even came up with such stupid awards?
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
I love reprints/reworks. Bringing cards back in a different meta could give it the chance to shine it never had. Or slight tweaks to effects/cost can make a big difference. I do have to argue that even weaker remakes have their place. Take Shadow Visions vs Thrive in the Shadows. Thrive is certainly weaker as it draws the card rather than copy. If you had the choice why would you ever run Thrive? Reno/highlander decks. Having that extra option while weaker can still be useful to the game and deck building. Also Visions may be too high of a power level to ever bring back in say a Core set. Thrive existing gives them a similar yet powered down option. Here while we are talking about Call of the Wild vs Huntsman Altimor, a spell vs a minion, giving similar effects to different kind of cards allows for unique deck building purposes. A no minion hunter deck for instance wouldn't be able to use Altimor, while if they ever make a no spell benefit he would become an option for the same effect.
Huntsman Altimor himself I think is stronger than he looks. I don't think Infuse will be as hard to trigger, especially in hunter. We have to see the rest of the set of course before final judgement. Still I think the effect is strong enough to be worth the weight. Also it's not a hard card to adjust if it does fall short with so many different numbers (stats, cost, infuse). So even if it turns out weak it can be saved. I still believe a 7 mana To My Side! + a 5/4 is worth running even if you can't reach the 8 infuse mark consistantly.
People said Wing Commander Ichman was too weak and too expensive too. Yet he sees decent play. I'd bet the same for Altimor. Looks weak on paper but plays out better than expected.
Hearthstone Designer Cora Georgiou Shares Insights on Convoke the Spirits - Gameplay, Prioritization & More
although I'm not opposed to some more RNG fiesta, I feel that Cora pointing out the spell's core idea being similar to its original WoW twin is a very moot point.
Hearthstone puts its own filter on anything related to its WoW origins , so now suddenly going "yeah but see, we made it so it's true to the original druid spell's idea!" makes me go like ... yeah, so what? just because it suits you this time, suddenly that's an argument? haha :D
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
make it +1/1 and give the charge or taunt minion Lifesteal. Then reduce either the infuse by 2 or mana cost by 1.
Caution: Lethal May Be Hot!
### Caution: Lethal May Be H
# Class: Mage
# Format: Wild
#
# 1x (1) Ice Lance
# 1x (1) Mirror Image
# 1x (2) Bloodmage Thalnos
# 2x (2) Doomsayer
# 2x (2) Frostbolt
# 2x (2) Loot Hoarder
# 1x (2) Novice Engineer
# 2x (3) Acolyte of Pain
# 2x (3) Arcane Intellect
# 2x (3) Frost Nova
# 2x (3) Ice Barrier
# 2x (3) Ice Block
# 2x (4) Fireball
# 2x (6) Blizzard
# 1x (7) Archmage Antonidas
# 2x (7) Flamestrike
# 1x (9) Alexstrasza
# 2x (10) Pyroblast
#
AAEBAc36AwasAZwCxQS4CLwIl6AEDMABywSWBfyeBP2eBP6eBOifBKGgBPDTBPHTBJzUBJ3UBAA=
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
I think they might reduce almost all infuse cards across the board. You have to draw the card first before you even get to infuse. 8 is way too much.
Ashen Elemental is a New Card Revealed by Corbett for Castle Nathria
Next turn means not this turn, nor the turn after your opponents turn. It really is not that complicated.
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
I feel like all they needed to do was just give the Gargon Companions +1/+1 or something and nobody would've had a major problem with it. Some people might've had little disgruntles, but I think most people would've seen it as a cool and flavorful callback/upgrade to Animal Companion as opposed to a lazy reskin of it.
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
It’s 1 mana cheaper PLUS you get a 5/4 body on the board. Normally, by turn 7 it doesn’t help much to get another minion that does nothing this turn. However, when it’s summoned alongside the three companions, an extra 5/4 minion seems like it would have some value.
I’m not going to say this is definitely worth the cost until I’ve played it - Infuse(8) sounds like quite a lot, and I’d be inclined to give him a couple more points of stats. But I can see where Blizzard is coming from with this, and unlike me they have had the chance to playtest it.
Riot Reveals 4 New Cards from the Upcoming "Forces from Beyond" Expansion, Including Landmark and Illaoi Support
Drop The Bomb is going to surprise you. It's an obvious auto include in every Zigs deck and might make Talliah/Zigs a top contender.
Ashen Elemental is a New Card Revealed by Corbett for Castle Nathria
You didn't watch the reveal video, didn't you?
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
I personally don't see anything wrong with team5 revisiting old card effects. And its not like this is the first nor shall it be the last.
The artwork is to me a bigger problem because the gargon companions artwork is fairly poor, with no personality. Misha has taunt, huffer has charge, that makes sense thematically because the former is a bear and the latter's a wild boar. Hecutis and Margore might as well have been the same beast. They could've make one look large, imposing and the other sleek but rushing. Is this something to do with the lore that they look so boring?
The Problem With Bard
So for those who have looked at the stats lately they will know that Annie and Bard are the two highest played Champs in the game in terms of the number of high tier lists they are present in.
I've already spoken about why ravembloom is a problematic and poorly designed card in its current iteration aka should buff spells not creatures, both is too powerful for a 1 mana landmark.
But Bard is a whole nother kettle of fish. Annie while being the A tier queen with 3 lists, Bard is the S tier king with two lists but can essentially be jammed anywhere and win as Mogwai often complains.
Why is this? Well high rolling in a word, boom two chimes okay that's a 4/4 for one mana, boom another 3 chimes k that's a 7/7 on turn 4 and you basically nothing to increase the chime level in your deck except run Bard as a champion.
Now you'll say that's astronomically low ods, and I would say yes but turns out free wins are free wins and in a game based around a 50-58% matchup table free wins are king.
The new cards and new expansion are looking to learn lessons from mistakes of the last but at the end of the day if bards free chime placement isn't nerfed 3 - 2 and ravenbloom doesn't stop globally buffing creatures even creatures spawned like tokens the metas not really going to change in a healthy way like it should.
Just my two cents, but a lot of players are getting sick of hearthstone Bard and I'm one of them and Annie I always hated soooo plz Riot just tweak them a bit.
Ashen Elemental is a New Card Revealed by Corbett for Castle Nathria
It's not about my understanding, but about not well explained card description (as it happens in Hearthstone) and developer point of view.
Because of this description, they can make it either way, if they want.
If the description would be "Whenever during your opponent's next turn they draw a card, they take 2 damage" - that would be clear, without any doubt.
Zeddy has the same doubts like me. "It probably don't work on player's turn... but it can, because of wording".
I await dev clarification, or will just check myself in the game :)
Hearthstone Designers Gallon and Songbird Share Insights on Huntsman Altimor - Callbacks, Tavish & More
It's pretty dumb how you have to infuse 8 just for a 1 mana cheaper epic card.
Stay On Target - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Good luck to the finalists!
New Neutral Minion - Ashen Elemental
This is going to be amazing... All the "cast when drawn" cards that are available, it just feels that this card was meant to sucker punch Warlock
New Neutral Minion - Theotar, the Mad Duke
I'm giving this 4 stars because it is going to be more irritating that Mutanis was/is/continue to be.
New Priest Spell - Clean the Scene
Priest decks with a number of tossable minions to the Infuse is going to be the difficult part for this. Most Aggro Priest decks only really worry about spot removal to enable their own minions to get it... making this card not the best choice. For control decks, getting enough minions on the board without sacrificing the integrity of your deck strategy JUST to fuel this Infuse isn't a good option.
New Druid Spell - Nightshade Bud
What I am curious on this is how it will Discover. Will it give you 2 random cards and you select one? Or will you be given two different Discovery 3-cards to choose from for Minion or Spell?
If it is the latter, this cards has a LOT of potential to give you lots of stuff. If it's the first, not so good.