This is primarily for collectors of paper MtG who want to get their fix of alternate art for previously released cards. It's supposed to have digital codes for MTGA and MTGO, but I couldn't find any solid details about the offers (MTGA is supposed to get card sleeves and MTGO is supposed to have non-foil versions of the cards).

You can find all the details in the Secret Lair Recap on the MTG site.

It's something we all think but didn't get actual confirmation the current hs meta (not bg) is bad and shaman is 27.9% of the meta is shaman (source vicious syndicate Nov 14 meta report)

Which is NOT a healthy meta.. And the solution is EASY to retire evolve or the whole wild set early, team 5 knows it but doesn't do it.. Why?

The theory is 2 reasons:

1. To promote battle grounds

2. To make it so players have less gold toward the expansion. 

Don't see most hs streamers playing normal hs anymore and I can see why... 

Dunno about you but the scheme is working and is really annoying that they don't act or communicate about actual hs since hs bg came out suppously because of the above reasons. 

Why do we have discussion happening about a card in 3 different places? This was something I disliked about Hearthpwn and the same thing happens here

A new card comes out and it is really harder than it needs to be to have a coherent discussion with the community about a new card.

I think the card discussion forum is redundant isn't it?

Also there are 2 places where we can vote for the card ?

Maybe the reveal discussion should be where we talk about the reveal - the "discuss this card" goes to the card page and that is where we vote and discuss?

On login you can get some free stuff for Thanksgiving. Don't miss out!

Greetings, friends!

This is actually my first post on the Out of Cards forums proper- you may know me as FearGralex, the writer of the weekly Meta Breaker column here on Out of Cards. Although my main involvement with the community so far has been with Standard deckbuilding, I also have a lot of passion for custom card design and I'm excited to finally have a (mostly) finished project to share with all of you. So without further ado, I present to you my own custom class: The Duelist!

Upgraded Hero Power: 

Show Spoiler

Retaliate

Retaliate is the new mechanic for the Duelist class. After a Retaliate minion is attacked and both minions take damage, a small animation plays where the Retaliate minion hits its attacker back. Only the opponent's minion takes damage during this second attack. 

For those of you familiar with MtG, you can think of Retaliate as a powered-down version of Double Strike- it only occurs when the Retaliate minion gets attacked, and the "extra attack" happens after the regular damage step, not before).

Retaliate minions are very strong in combat when attacked, meaning the opponent will often have to leave them alone unless absolutely necessary, leaving those minions free to trade how they want to or go face. They also combo very well with cards that can grant Taunt, meaning cards like Sunfury Protector are highly prized by the Duelist.

Themes

Here are some mechanical strengths and weaknesses that form the Duelist's class identity. In general, the Duelist is a tempo-focused class that focuses on maintaining board control with strong minions, buffs, healing and some direct damage. However, where the Duelist can struggle is below-average access to card draw, limited hard removal, and no AoE.

Basic Set

The Duelist's basic set lays a lot of the mechanical foundations for the class:

Relic Weapons:

• Defensive Stance is a bread-and-butter spell for the class, setting up advantageous trades and forcing the opponent to interact with your Retaliate minions.
• Confrontation at Sea is the first example of the Pirate support the Duelist employs- those with wanderlust have to stick together! The aim for the Duelist's Pirate support is that it can support more midrange-y styles, rather than the face-rolly Aggro Pirates we're all familiar with.
• Back Alley Showdown is if efficient removal but has a pretty hefty drawback- part of the Duelist's class identity is that hard removal is rare and usually comes with an extra condition. Fight your opponents fair and square!
• Legendary Find is like an Animal Companion for weapons- Tala finds some exciting and powerful weapons on her extensive journeys!

Classic Set

The Duelist's Classic Set introduces an extensive set of new tools for the class- Retaliate minions, various removal options, more Pirates and Pirate support, and some nasty fencing techniques that let you style on your opponent.

Tokens:

• Deadly Duel allows you to provoke your opponent's minions into starting a fight they can't win- for best results, play this card when your board consists only of Retaliate minions.
• Parry Riposte represents the fencing technique where the user blocks an opponent's attack and makes an attack of their own- in this case, the Duelist responds in kind! The amount of damage the spell does will be indicated in italics on the card.
• Richpath Looter provides a small bit of Coin generation- what's a wanderer's journey without treasure? Could this also hint at some Coin synergy for the Duelist in the future? (No comment).
• Feint represents another fencing technique with a false attack followed by a real attack past your opponent's parry. In Hearthstone, Duelists are quite good at getting through opposing Taunts with this card.
• Counterattack is the other hard removal option for Duelists, though it's only limited to minions that attacked you last turn.
• Fleche represents the fencing technique often used as a finishing blow- the fencer launches themselves at top speed to run the opponent down before running off the strip and resetting. In Hearthstone, Fleche can be used as a burst damage finisher that requires a minion- and if that minion doesn't finish off the opponent, perhaps you can even re-use its Battlecry!
• Song-Jin Richpath is a Hearthstone original Legendary who runs a nasty Pirate crew. Whenever his flunkies go out to plunder, they bring in the spoils! Note that Song-Jin and any other Retaliate minions will give you TWO Coins whenever they are attacked by the opponent.

Curse of Naxxramas

Show Spoiler

Mighty Blow gives Duelists another removal option- but once you vanquish a foe in battle, their corpse sticks around to fight for you. Spooky!

Goblins vs. Gnomes

Duelists in Goblins vs. Gnomes get access to plenty of new toys to play with. A couple cheap Mechs, some Spare Part generation, more healing tools, and a spot of Pirate support round out this expansion.

Show Spoiler

• Visit the Shop gives you a little bit of everything- see if you can make something bigger than the sum of its parts! Note that it can't be played unless you control a friendly minion.
• Gnomish Bladewhirl generates a Spare Part every time he gets to attack- and if your opponent attacks him to clear him off the board, you'll get 2 Spare Parts.
• Both players get to see the card Scurvy Fortuneteller reveals. The future is an open book!
• Midnight Visit is kind of like a 5/5 Rush for 5 mana, but you need an opposing minion in order to play it.
• Ayela of the Morning can be very dangerous when buffed- keep Hero Powering every turn to keep her healthy!

Blackrock Mountain

The Duelist doesn't mess around with Dragon synergies too much. Instead, Duelists can harness the power of the Mountain's fire and enlist the help of Victor Nefarian's guards. The cards in this set aren't big build-arounds, but they're solid role-players that can perform well in multiple strategies.

Show Spoiler

• Soul's Fire can be a free Cold Blood pretty easily, which can help fuel some explosive starts in Aggro decks.
• Blackguard is a less-persuasive Cabal Shadow Priest. Why change someone's mind when you can just separate their mind from their body? It's quite strong in Arena and has some potential to be flexed in Constructed as well.

The Grand Tournament

The Grand Tournament is music to Tala's ears! It's an amazing opportunity to face new foes and prove her skills. Duelists in The Grand Tournament receive some build-around cards for multiple archetypes: Weapons, minion buffs, and Inspire all have a couple cards to support those archetypes. Not only that, but Lord Jorach of House Ravenholdt is here to show his prowess- has a challenger worthy of Tala's skill finally arrived?

Show Spoiler

• Bulwark and Stormwind Aspirant are designed for the minion buff archetype that can also support Eydis Darkbane and Fjola Lightbane. Stormwind Aspirant is another great receptacle for buffs, while Bulwark can help keep a minion safe once you're done buffing it.
• Glory Blade is a solid stand-alone weapon that can grant any minion Retaliate, and can lead to some fun combos with stuff like Taunt minions. Backup Squire can help you get an extra swing with your Glory Blade, or whatever other weapon you happen to be wielding.
• Fencing Master is Fencing Coach's older brother- it lets you continuously activate your Hero Power for free from turn to turn, keeping your Inspire effects turned on for free.
• A Worthy Foe is at least guaranteed to cycle you into a new card, but if your minion jousts a minion of at least the same cost, the competition is inspiring enough to summon your minion straight to the battlefield!
• Lord Jorach Ravenholdt is a true fencing master, and as such he provides you a steady stream of fencing techniques from Basic/Classic as long as you keep using your Hero Power.

League of Explorers

Exploring is once again right up Tala's alley- this set we've got a couple role-player spells and a minion that helps out with running a Reno Jackson Highlander deck.

Show Spoiler

• Ancient Stream lets an explorer make a quick pit stop before they get back on track. Providing a nice little heal while netting you another card makes this a nice option for control decks.
• Reno's Sidekick helps with running slightly-not-Highlander decks. With this guy you can get away with running a couple duplicates of your most important cards while still reliably triggering Reno Jackson. It's also a pretty solid card in its own right, Reno or no.

Whispers of the Old Gods

You may have noticed that so far Duelists can buff Attack and Health, but usually not both at once. Whispers of the Old Gods gives Duelists ways to work around that disadvantage- swapping Attack and Health represents the corruption of the old gods while playing well with the various buff spells the Duelist has available.

Show Spoiler

Tokens:

• Coupe is a fencing technique similar to a feint attack that allows the fencer to circumvent the opponent's guard. In Hearthstone, Duelists can use it to expose their opponent's weaknesses.
• Otherworldly Frenzy gives you an Attack boost for one turn before letting that extra Attack go into the minion's Health for the next round.
• Vicious Armaments is a nice way to tutor up a key Weapon while still helping to maintain your board presence.
• As with Gnomish Bladewhirl, if your opponent attacks Lazul's Legionnaire, it'll buff your C'Thun twice.
• Xav'Riel is a great top end for aggressive Pirate decks. Being able to swap all your minion's stats multiple times for no additional mana investment is quite powerful- and it lets Xav'Riel hang out as a safe 4/7 the turn you play him before switching back into a 7/4 on the next turn.

One Night in Karazhan

In Karazhan Tower, the Duelist gets a couple cards related to the Romulo and Julianne encounter- as well a portal that reveals THE MIGHT OF STORMWIND!

Show Spoiler

• Romulo's Retainer's Discover pool includes any card that restores Health in any fashion, including Lifesteal cards once those are introduced to the game.
• Stormwind Portal - Does its best Stormwind Champion impression.

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

Duelists in the Mean Streets are members of the dastardly Grimy Goons. Duelist Goons control the docks of Gadgetzan, forcing exorbitant tolls and smuggling weapons and other contraband from overseas. All the Duelist handbuffs hit the highest-Attack minion in your hand- that way you have more control over where the buffs go and you can really build up some big monsters. Oh, and did we mention these Goons are also Pirates?

Show Spoiler

• Tavern Regular travels to Gadgetzan from Un'Goro a lot- he loves the drinks in Gadgetzan inns.
• Chart a Course technically nets you mana- but it's quite situational and tough to use if not played on the first turn. Can be used to set up some interesting curves if the cards line up right.
• Pay Up both gets you some more goods for the strongest minion in your hand and takes a little off the top for yourself.
• Backalley Bully might be tough to get going since it starts with low Attack, but you get a big payoff if you manage to get this to 4+ Attack.
• Max Luna, Battlemaster is actually a WoW character (albeit a bit obscure). In the game he comes down and cuts down as many foes as he can- give him some handbuffs to increase his destructive power!
• Dockside Extortionist will keep buffing your hand as long as he's on the board, and if your opponent tries to deal with him he gets in another 2 buffs. Another Un'Goro buddy of Tavern Regular.
• Dockside Giant is the main payoff card for Duelist's handbuff strategy. Most of the handbuffs are probably going to hit him since he's already so big- and the more handbuffs you get on him, the cheaper he gets! Plus he's a Pirate so you can tutor him with stuff like Confrontation at Sea.

Journey to Un'Goro

Given Tala's status as an Explorer, it's no surprise that she'd be quite good at Discovering things! In Un'Goro, The Duelist's Quest is about Discovering parts of this majestic jungle, and rewards you with a completed Map of the World. The set's also got your standard mix of Dinos and jungle dangers, as expected of Un'Goro.

Show Spoiler

Tokens:

• Grand Cartography - Tala follows her dream of drawing a map of the world- and she just needs Un'Goro to finally finish it! Most of the Discover support comes from the Duelist cards in this set, or from neutral Discover cards like Stonehill Defender. Once you finally complete the quest, you've got a complete Map of the World that lets you Discover a new surprise every turn.
• Trusty Machete can potentially net you two spells, which is quite powerful, but you've got to set up kills with the weapon specifically in order to cash in on that value.
• Jungle Forager is friends with all sorts of various jungle critters, and can help you complete your Quest on the cheap.
• Hardy Lookout can actually Discover itself AND Stonehill Defender, as well as a whole host of other Battlecry minions.
• Boiling Anger provides a small amount of weak AoE, as well as a Taunt body that gets bigger the more enemies you hit. Also plays really well with Spell Damage minions like Bloodmage Thalnos.
• Larger than Life gives you a flexible buff that should help make any stray minion into a massive threat. Watch out for that potential +3 Attack + Windfury!
• Skyscraper Bracchio takes a little time to get started, but if you drop him on an empty board or one with mostly small minions, he can end up being a massive threat.
• Ignius ignites fury in your other minions- if you strike them, they'll hit back twice as hard!

Knights of the Frozen Throne

While Tala seeks out worthy opponents and defeats them in honorable combat, Death Knight Tala seeks to crush inferiors beneath her boots. Duelist has a theme of enemy minions having Taunt this expansion- either being anti-Taunt or gaining benefits from the opponent having a Taunt minion. This set also features the venerable Dranosh Saurfang... oh no! He's been cut down by the Lich King!

Show Spoiler

Tokens:

• Shiver Me Timbers is more Discover support for Grand Cartography, but it serves another purpose. In a Pirate deck, you can get awesome late-game value if you happen to discover a Pirate that's already died, and for the low cost of 1 mana. This can be tough to pull off if you aren't running many Pirates, but it's definitely doable in dedicated Pirate decks.
• Icecrown Axe is a "fixed" version of Fiery War Axe where you have to spend a turn killing the 3/3 before you can hit anything else. There are also various other benefits to your opponent having Taunt minions, which we'll see shortly.
• Grim Monolith is another way to give your opponent a Taunt, but this one you actually want to stick around. Being able to prevent your opponent's minions from attacking makes this very powerful in the right situation, but there are 2 drawbacks. First, it has Taunt, which means you're going to have to kill it eventually to damage your opponent. Second, Duelist is not really a combo class and, unlike a class like Mage, doesn't really benefit from stalling out the game too much other than perhaps building up some extra board presence.
• Chainer Ghoul is an undercosted minion that drags an unsuspecting victim into the battle. Although its Battlecry may seem like a drawback, it lets you get key minions that are hiding behind Taunts and enables our next card.
• Northrend Brute is a regular Yeti unless the circumstances are correct. If your opponent has a Taunt or you curved this after Chainer Ghoul, you've got a brick wall minion that should really help put the brakes on aggro. Very strong against decks like Zoo.
• Spectral Swashbuckler is a nice midrange Pirate minion that replaces itself. Midrange Pirate decks now have quite a few tools to help them draw more Pirates, and this is nice to get back with Shiver Me Timbers.
• Dranosh Saurfang once famously charged at the Lich King, only to get cut down where he stood. In Hearthstone, he keeps that same foolhardy recklessness (he will suicide to The Lich King in game), and comes back as Deathbringer Saurfang, a fearsome guardian who protects Icecrown Citadel from unwanted visitors.
• Arthas' Rider knows that face is the place- he's tough to kill, and he can slowly but surely be your win condition while you slow down your opponent's board with Grim Monoliths.
• Tala, Death's Champion admires only the strong, and despises those who rely on magic or other abilities. She cuts down all keyworded minions your opponent controls when you play her. Not only that, but in her ruthlessness she's gained control of all three Relic Weapons, and can continuously summon them to wreak havoc on the battlefield. I think this card is quite strong, but about on par with the other Death Knights in this set.

Kobolds and Catacombs

In the Catacombs, Duelists are all about finding party members and buried treasure. Recruit is a major theme of this class, and there's lots of treasure to be found, whether that's in the form of Coins, Discovered cards, or the legendary burning blade Tiriosh.

Show Spoiler

Tokens:

• Loot Drop is a relatively consistent Discover card- there aren't TOO many Duelist weapons released at this time, so your chances of being offered any particular weapon are actually quite good. Plus it's more support for the Quest.
• Candleholder gives a small amount of AoE, which is very useful for Duelists since they normally don't get much access to it. His mini-candle does a great THE CANDLE impression.
• Golden Idol - You have to whack things for a couple turns before the idol breaks and you can sell it- or you can speed up the process a little bit with your Hero Power.
• Candlebeard - Solid stat-efficient minion for a more aggressive Pirate strategy. Being able to potentially grant Charge to anything costing (4) or less allows for some exciting combos, although they'll often be difficult to execute since the Recruit is random and drawing Candlebeard early isn't guaranteed.
• Candle Guru gives Duelists a small amount of incidental value on a midrange minion. Really nice minion to Recruit.
• Dungeon Prospector is another solid Recruit prospect, and he works really well with Loot Hoarder and the like. Note that you can only trigger his effect once a turn, but he does still play very well with cards like Gadgetzan Auctioneer.
• Tiriosh is a legendary blazing blade in Warcraft lore. In Hearthstone, the wielder can ignite minions it hits in battle, dooming them to their eventual demise.
• Loot Shop - think Slay the Spire vibes. It's nice to have a vendor in the middle of the dungeon so you can spend all those Coins you just found.
• Lesser Ametrine Spellstone Recruits an additional minion every time you upgrade it. Recruiting three 4-drops is quite powerful, but it's balanced by the fact that you need to play 3 minions to upgrade it each time. Doing so will usually require that your deck has at least some proportion of cheap-ish minions in it, which limits the potential impact of the triple-Recruit.
• Dungeon Dive is an unusual Duelist card in that it allows you to draw a ton of cards. The drawback is that it's very expensive and requires you to build your deck a certain way. Ideal Recruits include Candle Guru, Dungeon Prospector, and Injured Blademaster.

The Witchwood

Werewolves, ghosts, and Pirates, oh my! Duelist in The Witchwood has the theme of a haunted Wild West town- filled with Pirates, gargoyles, Rush and Retaliate minions, and even a nasty Tax Collector and a Sheriff!

Show Spoiler

Tokens:

• Eerie Graveyard is an unusual effect for Duelist that doesn't usually get resurrection effects. Limiting the effect to the same turn, though, makes the uses a lot more narrow. Combos quite well with All Hands on Deck.
• All Hands on Deck lets you summon the ghosts of Pirates who were executed in this town. Note that similarly to Power of Creation, you don't get the copies of the Pirates in your hand as well. Some great Pirates to hit with this include Candlebeard, Candleholder, Spectral Swashbuckler, Dockside Extortionist, Song-Jin Richpath, Southsea Captain, and Small-Time Buccaneer. Getting these 1/1 copies out early can also help you set up for Eerie Graveyard and Shiver Me Timbers.
• Monstrify is a strong early game buff that has the added potential of being used on an opponent's minion in a pinch.
• This town Ain't Big Enough for the two of us!
• Rampart Gargoyle is a slightly stronger version of Silithid Swarmer, since you can theoretically just keep your Hero Power once, keep your weapon equipped, and have a 3 mana 4/4.
• Collector Garrow is here to take your gold! Don't let him stick around too long, or the Duelist will be flush with cash.
• Hot Pursuit is an open-ended combo enabler that can help cheat out some top-end minions a little early.
• Nefarious Outrider can be drawn for either side of Ain't Big Enough- maybe you even get 2 copies of it!
• Sheriff Red-Eye's shot will keep firing through your opponent's minion line until your opponent either runs out of minions or the 10 damage has been used up. For example, if your opponent has a 5/5 on the left followed by two 3/3s, the right-most 3/3 takes 3 damage, then the middle 3/3 takes 3 of the remaining 7 damage, then the 5/5 takes the 4 remaining damage and survives.

The Boomsday Project

On The Boomsday Project, the Duelist is concerned with building the perfect combatant by any means necessary, never mind the cost or moral implication. Mechanical themes include minion buffs, "strength" represented by having a minion with power 4 or greater, and even combining minions together to make stronger combatants!

Show Spoiler

• Steroid Project is an undercosted minion buff that hits both sides. The player who casts the spell has a slight advantage, though, since they can attack first and can potentially take out the opponent's buffed minion before it can even be used.
• Rustbolt Tracker is an OK minion by itself, but it really shines when slapped onto another Mech, making that Mech a force to be reckoned with in combat. Combos especially well with W4R-M4CH1N3.
• Battle Suit makes the targeted minion a LOT more difficult to take down- not just buffing by 2 Health but basically buffing by another Health every time the minion is dealt damage, notably preventing ALL instances of exactly 1 damage. Really nice to slap this thing onto a Taunt (like the aforementioned W4R-M4CH1N3).
• Omega Battlecruiser - A decent vanilla early-game drop that provides a TON of stats in the late game.
• Rustworg Rider is another great receptacle for buffs, although he is not a Mech. Being able to continually take out weaker minions (even low-Attack minions with high Health) makes this a must-kill threat. Luckily, he's got low Health.
• Titanic Crush is another card in the vein of Wing Blast and Vendetta. Dealing 4 damage for free right after playing a 3-4-cost minion is a really nice tempo swing.
• W4R-M4CH1N3 is the guy you most want to put all your buffs on, particularly Rustbolt Tracker. This guy can eat entire armies of Zoo minions for breakfast if they don't have a removal spell at the ready.
• Grenzo, Perfect Specimen lets you combine all your board minions (maybe right after they've attacked?) into one huge Rushing threat. It's kind of an all-in strategy, but who doesn't want to have a random 50/50 hit their side of the board every now and then?
• Grenzo's Masterstroke is in a similar vein, but it lets you combine one of your minions with one of your opponent's and COMBINE THEIR EFFECTS. Now obviously this causes some coding challenges. I would have the card's display look like this: This combination text-formatting technology is already implemented on Swamp Queen Hagatha, I believe. Then once you play the card, hovering your mouse over it will display the effects gained by each minion as buffs, similarly to how Magnetic works. Some more clarifications on how the card works:
  • The Ultimate Machine will always cost (10) and will always be a Mech.
  • Its stats will be the combined stats of the two component minions.
  • Battlecries, Deathrattles, etc. all work as normal. Even Magnetic works since The Ultimate Machine is a Mech!
  • I'm sure this card allows for some broken combos- however, these combos are quite inconsistent because of the nature of the card. It always combines one of your minions with an opponent's, and it does both at random. For this reason, I feel the scenarios where this card does something truly silly will be limited to the occasional Trolden highlight clip.

Rastakhan's Rumble

Geeeet ready to rumble, folks! Rastkhan's Rumble, like TGT, is like a fairground for the Duelist because of the spirit of competition in battle. Unlike TGT, however, we're abandoning honorable combat in favor of an all-out brawl! Torcali the Direhorn is the Loa for this class, since the Direhorn represents strength and the ability to take on all comers. Mechanical themes for this set include Retaliate, Overkill, and forcing enemy minions to attack.

Show Spoiler

• Victory is a good tool to heal up your minions right after they come out of combat. If you manage to get a minion with a flashy Overkill, you're rewarded with an extra card. Note that the minion you target does not need to have an Overkill effect itself to draw a card off of Victory.
• Zandalari Shanker bothers your opponent's minions by slashing their ankles and goading them to attack. He himself can trade with any 3-Health minion if he's the only minion on your board, although you also might want to try going for some cheeky plays where you force an enemy minion to attack your Retaliate minion.
• Epic Uppercut makes for a great finishing blow- so great, in fact, that you can use it as a finishing blow over and over again provided it's an Overkill each time!
• Ritual Daggers compares slightly favorably to Arcane Intellect in the early game, but in the later turns you have to wait a turn or spend a Hero Power before you can see the second card.
• Wulva Wildclaw can potentially slice through an entire board of minions if given the proper setup and buffs- but he's usually going to be vulnerable the turn the Duelist plays him.
• Spirit of the Direhorn combos well with Wulva and Torcali, as well as making your minions a lot more durable in combat.It's not quite as powerful as Battle Suit since the minion has to survive damage to get the extra Health, but having it on your whole board is still quite nice.
• Roar of Challenge is a buff and a removal spell packaged together. Note the enemy minion you provoke is random, so some board setup is required to get maximum potential.
• Bilgeblade Raider is yet another in a long line of Pirate tutors. He represents a must-kill threat, or he'll just keep drawing the Duelist cards.
• Although Torcali, the Direhorn may seem somewhat similar to the new Warrior Deathwing from Descent of Dragons, this card actually works a little differently. Tocali draws aggro from all your opponent's minions every single turn, and has Taunt as insurance against Charge/Rush minions. However, on your turn, she only hits for 6 damage as opposed to Deathwing's 12.

Rise of Shadows

It's time for all those Coin generators to pay off! The Duelist is a Dalaran-sided class in Rise of Shadows, and the full force of Dalaran's underground/banking/mogul network is here to help protect the city! Mechanical themes include Coins, Pirates, and unspent mana.

Show Spoiler

Tokens:

• Pocket Change is an essential enabler for the Coin archetype, as well as being an interesting card to set up potential combos with if you so desire.
• Rooftop Striker can be a devastating aggro creature if played on turn 4-5 before playing another threat. Coins help him come out with threatening stats a little earlier.
• Tavern Security is a payoff for the Coin archetype, and he's here to keep the shady characters out of Dalaran's taverns (because we all know how well THAT went).
• Potion of Hyperactivity is one of many awesome magical items you can find in the magical city. Its intended use is as a quirky combo card that helps your minions do a little more damage and/or re-use a Battlecry.
• Dalaran Cartographer is here to pick up some new crewmates- and they're particularly well-motivated by a little extra Coin.
• Money Talks - Gallywix's influence is still alive and well in this city. If you can pay up he'll reward you with a massive draw spell.
• Ol' Toomba unfortunately can't really give you Fantastic Treasures since Heistbaron Togwaggle already does that, but he does have some loot to speak of. He gives you two Coins right off the bat, and draws you a free card at the end of each turn. You also have the option of playing the Coins right away and increasing your unspent mana to adjust the cost of the card Toomba draws.
• Wanted Criminal is a top-end enabler for Coin decks- the impact of the Coins is mostly synergy-related as turn 8 is a little too late for them to be high-impact. He is, however, excellent to Discover with All Hands on Deck.
• Sky Admiral Rogers is the Captain of the Skyfire, a powerful Alliance gunship. Although all she does in-game is summon the ship, the ship itself has the powerful effect of raining fire down on foes until they fall. Combine with Brann Bronzebeard in Wild for extra fun.

More to Come!

Thanks so much for reading to the end of this showcase. I really hope you enjoyed the class. It's not done yet, though! Here are the things I plan to add to the class in this thread:

• Saviors of Uldum and, eventually, Descent of Dragons - duh.
• Balance changes to individual cards- I'm not perfect, and I have no doubt that some of these cards are too strong/too weak. I really value your feedback. Let me know what card(s) you think should be changed and why.
• Sample Duelist decks- hopefully at least 1 for each set- designed for each Standard meta. May also try to make some Wild ones as well.
• Solo adventure content- Dungeon run buckets, Rastakhan's Rumble Shrines/Treasures, Dalaran Heist/Tombs of Terror details
• Arena-exclusive card
• Battlegrounds cards

Above all else, I value honest feedback! I want to make this class the best it can be, so please share me your honest opinions about what you do and don't like about the class. And thanks again for reading :)

The Elder Scrolls: Legends (TESL) is a free to play card game from Bethesda. Find out more details and download it from the official website.

The reward this month in The Elder Scrolls: Legends will be the Rimmen Purveyor. It's already drawing huge criticism and early calls for a nerf. What are your thoughts? Get your own copy by making it to rank 9 on the ladder before the end of the month.

Say you have Brann Bronzebeard on the board, or better yet, you've played a Murmuring Elemental or used your hero power after completing Corrupt the Waters. Would Deathwing's second battlecry destroy himself? I'm sure we could all chime in with whether we think it would work or not, but I'd like to know if anyone has actually tried this, or seen it happen.

Why? A new way to win with Mecha'thun of course.

Hey y'all

I just got awarded a free dragons pack when I opened the game today - a nice added bonus after yesterday's compensatory gold and uldum packs.

Did everyone get a free dragons pack today? Was it announced in advance? I don't remember reading anything about it.

Just logged in and was given two free descent of the dragons packs but not sure why?

Not complaining at all but don't know if this is from maybe picking the battlegrounds team some time ago? 

I was wondering since you are breaking new ground into other card games would you consider going into Shadowverse?  I enjoy the anime aspects of it but I have not found a good resource for understanding their meta.  Most of their sites are written in dialects I cannot understand.  Much appreciated!

Details for the upcoming Gauntlet format for TESL.

Big plays, not-so-big decks. The Micro Gauntlet begins November 29!

We’re combining elements of this month’s past Gauntlets – the Twin Gauntlet and the Mini Gauntlet – and fusing them into an all-new event for The Elder Scrolls: Legends! Get ready for the Micro Gauntlet.

Micro Gauntlet: November 29 – December 2
In the Micro Gauntlet, the minimum deck size is condensed to just 30 cards for two-attribute decks or 45 cards for thee-attribute decks. Additionally, only up to two copies of each card may be included in a deck. (Unique Legendary cards are still limited to one copy per deck)

For this event, players must take serious consideration which cards to run - we can’t wait to see what kind of Micro-brews you all will come up with! Each run through the Micro Gauntlet costs one Event Ticket or 150 Gold, up to three maximum runs.

The Micro Gauntlet begins Friday, November 29 at 12pm ET and closes at 12pm ET on Monday, December 2. Events in The Elder Scrolls: Legends change regularly, so check in often to see what new challenges await!

If you're looking for some discounts for your gaming needs Eternal has some sale prices for Black Friday.

The countdown is on! Black Friday is nearly upon us, and we’ve got week-long deals no merchant would pass up!

The bargains get started early in the DWD Store and in-game in Eternal®, from Wednesday 11/27 00:01 am MST (07:01 UTC) to Saturday 12/7 00:01 am MST (07:01 UTC).

Kick off the shopping season with a new alternate-art Red Canyon Smuggler!

Smuggler’s Bundle – $29.99
The Smuggler’s Bundle will be available from the Dire Wolf Store, or in-game*, and includes:

4 alt-art copies of Red Canyon Smuggler
1 box of The Flame of Xulta
1,200 Gems
1 Draft ticket
…plus, players who help support the devs by purchasing directly from the Dire Wolf Store receive:

500 extra Gems, and 1 additional Draft ticket!
We didn’t do the math on this, but it sure seems like a great deal! Grab yours before we realize just how badly we messed up!

* Due to platform restrictions, the Smuggler’s Bundle on Nintendo Switch does not include Gems.

---

Box Discounts!
We’re clearing out older inventory to make room in the warehouse for all the new stuff coming in 2020! During the sale, boxes from the first four Eternal sets will be available in-game at their lowest prices ever!

The Empty Throne — We hear some of these are still good!
Omens of the Past — Does your Heart rest in the Vault, or are you ready to roll dem Bones?
The Dusk Road — For when you’re looking for a long Night (or a short game).
The Fall of Argenport — Always great, but even better with friends!
Select Boxes will be available in-game for 2,000 Gems each — a 31% discount!

---

Games & Merch!
One-Day Flash Sales!
Black Friday: Buy two playmats, get one FREE!
Plus: One pack from each set of Eternal and a bonus Draft ticket!
Cyber Monday: Buy two t-shirts, get one FREE!
Plus: One pack from each set of Eternal and a bonus Draft ticket!
— and even better, the Flash Sales are eligible for Week-Long Savings!

---

Week-Long Savings!
We get it: People are busy. That’s why we’re extending Black Friday with week-long deals that apply to all physical games and merch in the DWD Store (including Flash Sales!)

All physical games and merch is 15% off!
Get a FREE Eternal Draft ticket with each transaction!

Check out the new Gobble, Gobble event for Eternal!

Celebrate this time of year with a casual deck-building challenge!

Here’s what you need to know:

• The Gobble, Gobble event requires a 75-card deck made with the Throne deck-building rules.
• Only Common or Uncommon rarity cards are permitted.
• Rare, Legendary, and Promo rarity cards are not permitted.
• The event costs 400 gems or 5000 gold to enter.
• Each run is seven games, win or lose.
• You may change your deck between games in a run.
• You may enter as many times as you’d like.
• There is no leaderboard.

The Gobble, Gobble event will run from 10 AM MST (17:00 UTC) on 11/27 to 4 PM MST (23:00 UTC) on 12/3.
Note: This event does not grant QCP.

Run Rewards
Wins - Prizes
7 - 7 packs, 1 Diamond Chest, 1 premium Rare
6 - 7 packs, 1 Gold Chest, 1 premium Rare
5 - 6 packs, 1 Gold Chest, 1 premium Rare
4 - 6 packs, 1 Gold Chest, 1 Rare
3 - 5 packs, 1 Gold Chest, 1 Rare
2 - 5 packs, 1 Silver Chest, 1 premium Uncommon
1 - 4 packs, 1 Silver Chest, 1 premium Uncommon
0 - 4 packs of The Flame of Xulta

Is there going to be another live action reveal this time?  I really hope so!  I <3 watching those over and over again.

Make sure you log into the game client soon, so you can collect your FREE 3600 worth of Soul Gems being refunded due to recent Invade changes.

So I've been thinking about this a lot lately mostly because of cards being released in descent of dragons being pretty reminiscent of other, older cards. And ram wrangler was always one of my favorites to play. So I just thought I'd put this out there. I'm not talking the same stats as ram wrangler since a random dragon is worth way more than a random beast but still. Would it be good or would it be a meme card like ram wrangler was? Wyt? I know they made a card similar to ram wrangler in Barrens Stablehand but let's be real here you forgot that card even existed didnt you.

Eternal is a free to play card game from Dire Wolf Digital. You can get more details and download the game from their official website.

Here are the patch notes for the balance changes launching tomorrow.

Throne

In looking to improve the balance of strategies in Throne, we had two primary targets in mind: Fire/Time decks, with or without Justice as a third faction. When bringing an oppressive deck more into line with the rest of the tier 1 Throne strategies, we generally look to preserve the primary strengths and definition of the decks, while expanding counterplay and vulnerability to well-prepared opponents.

Tocas, Waystone Harvester – Now 2/4. (Was 3/4.)
Tocas, Waystone Harvester – After careful consideration, we ultimately settled on Tocas as a primary place to take points out of Praxis for two reasons. We believe changing it to be particularly effective, as it was played at such a higher rate than other options for acceleration. Additionally, the splash damage from Tocas’s ability being so omnipresent was suppressing some of the cards and strategies we’d like to see show up more. We discussed this idea of removing this ability; however, whenever possible, we strive to preserve the core functionality of cards and instead balance them with a more appropriate rate.

---

Xulta Arcanum – Now 4 durability. (Was 5)
Xulta Arcanum – While we like the existence of the decks made possible by Xulta Arcanum, we wanted to preserve the card as a fun and powerful endgame plan, taking just a small bite out of its durability. It is already a difficult site to attack, but with this increased vulnerability, it’s hopefully at least a little more assailable.

---

Edict of Shavka – Now 2F. (Was 1F)
Edict of Shavka – Moving Edict of Shavka to 2-cost is aimed as additional rebalancing of both of the aforementioned strategies; but it’s also just a bit of course correction for Fire, which had started to climb upwards a little more than we’d like. While Edict of Shavka provides some much needed relief against certain difficult threats, it was so easy and ubiquitous that it was pushing lots of cards out of the metagame.

---

Expedition

A brand new format like Expedition can go through a lot of phases, while players figure out how it works and what strategies are viable. While several strategies took turns in the top spot initially, players were able to find answers to each and keep the format evolving. Xenan Cultists, however, has proven itself too resilient, maintaining a dominant presence after its strong performance at this month’s ECQ. In looking to better tune the format, our goal was to preserve the elements of the deck that give it its own personality, while increasing potential vulnerabilities and counterplay.

Slumbering Stone – Now “Entomb: Draw a 2/2 Gargoyle with Flying.” (Was “Entomb: Play a 2/2 Gargoyle with Flying.”)
Slumbering Stone – While there’s a lot of cool possibilities with Slumbering Stone, it contributed more than any other card to bogging the game down and making attacking the Cultist decks too hard. We discussed other possible changes, but settled on changing the Entomb to draw in order to preserve some key combos with the card and open up a few new ones. It increases Xenan’s vulnerability to fliers, and reduces implied onboard complexity of pairing the card with sacrifice effects. One of the most important areas we wanted to limit was chaining of Vara reanimation triggers, which are still possible, but slowed down a little to prevent a consistent cascade of units.

---

Worthy Cause – Now costs 2TS. (Was 1TS.)
Worthy Cause – Worthy Cause has proven itself a little too efficient at taking out nearly any threat. Our hope is that this change preserves its versatility and combo-potential, while pulling back on the incredible tempo it can afford.

---

Incarnus, Makkar’s Listener – Now 3/2. (Was 3/3.)
Incarnus, Makkar’s Listener – While Slumbering Stone and Worthy Cause were our primary targets, on account of their ultra low cost and slightly burdensome tracking and complexity, the power level of Cultists was such that we wanted to do a little more to balance things out. While the play of Incarnus has proven itself quite fun, it has been showing up at a high enough rate and in enough different places that we felt this would better align it with the other Listeners, while also increasing the range of counterplay available to what can be a dangerous, unblockable threat.

---

Two Buffs and a Nerf

Varret, Hero-in-Training – Changes to its transformations.
Varret, the Mighty – Now 6/7 Overwhelm. (Was 6/6 Overwhelm.)
Varret, the Stealthy – Now 4/5 Lifesteal. (Was 3/5 Lifesteal.)
Varret, the Wise – Now 3/4 Aegis. (Was 4/4 Aegis.)
Varret, Hero-in-Training – While we’ve been happy to see Varret achieve such widespread adoption in Expedition, we’ve been tracking the balance between his possible Mastery paths and determined that a little rebalancing was necessary to ensure more variety among the options selected. Many of the strongest enablers give extra incentive to choose the “Wise” path, picking up Aegis to protect your investment. In addition to pulling back the Aegis option’s strength, we’re adding an extra point of strength to the “Stealthy” Lifesteal option and an extra point of health to the “Mighty” Overwhelm option.

---

Buffs

Inspired Prank – Now costs 3PP. (Was 4PP)
Elvish Swindler – Now 3/4. (Was 2/3.)
Between Fire, Time, and Justice in Throne and Time and Shadow in Expedition, we wanted to find a couple spots to show some love to interesting Primal cards. Inspired Prank and Elvish Swindler are both fun options that reward synergy that hopefully inspire some new explorations in deckbuilding.

Does anyone know how your opponents are selected inside the match (not MMR)? It seems totally random (except no playing the same player twice in a row), but don't know if it's ever been stated. Recently I had match where all 8 players were alive and I played the same player 3 times in 6 matches.  I feel like I sometime go an entire match without ever playing one of the players. The worst is facing AFK on turns 3 and 5. Seems crazy that there is not some sort of round-robin format

Kinda proud of myself for reaching number 190 in EU on Battlegrounds and wanted to share.
What are your thoughts on Battlegrounds?
I really like it and enjoy it even more than normal hearthstone.

Hello there. I’ve played Hearthstone for the past 2 years or so, so I have seen quite a lot and have a pretty good understanding of how the game works. Since the launch of the open beta of Battlegrounds, I’ve played quite a lot of games, so I've gathered some thoughts here to provide as feedback.

First of all, positives:

+The UI is great. Although different from the usual Hearthstone UI, the Battlegrounds one is quite enjoyable too.

+The heroes are pleasing to play as. Save for the fact that it'd always be pretty cool to play as The Lich King or Yogg-Saron, or Ragnaros, they are all thematic, their hero powers fit them quite well.

+The music is thematic as well. Both tracks that play in the Battlegrounds make you feel like you're in a tavern, chatting with a stranger, while waiting for your beer to come. I’d also like to suggest one of my favorite OSTs from WoW, the Kul Tiras Tavern Day 2 track: https://youtu.be/x9jH1UM3IbA

Now, negatives:

-The turn time is not enough, especially for mobile. I know this would be hard to balance, as if there was more time, it would get boring and tedious because of the waiting, but neither is it okay to have 20 seconds at Bob's Tavern sometimes. What I'd suggest would be to shorten the animation times, or add the option to.

-There are not so many strategies to adopt. I guess this is harder to fix, as it’d require adding more cards, but I’d quite like to see some new tribes being introduced as cards. It would be interesting to see Dragons with their in-hand synergies and Elementals with theirs and so on.

Now, some nitpicks:

-It’s a little disappointing that there are no voiced emotes. Remember how earlier I said that it’s cool to play as The Lich King or Yogg-Saron, or Ragnaros? You know what would be twice as cooler? Yeah, playing as those same heroes, but with fully voiced emotes. I know it would be hard to have 24 and soon more fully voiced heroes, because of the casting, but it would be a great improvement nevertheless.

-There are no clickables in the background. Sometimes, especially in the early game, you finish your turn quickly. And what is there left for you to do? Nothing. You can’t click on candles in the background to make them explode, you can’t brew potions, you can’t activate traps in ancient temples. It just breaks the whimsical and silly feel of the game.

So, those are my thoughts! I know it's only still beta, but I thought it'd be useful for the developers if I provided some feedback, you never know if they'll read it!

-Good luck

-Siupanifan93#2762

Hey, folks! There's an arena event going on right now on both Twiter and Reddit. If you want to participate, link a screenshot of your 7-win victories to either (or both) of the two links. 

When multiple heroes die in the same turn, how is their placement in the final ranks determined? Is it final score (i.e. -8, -4, 0) or is it based on overall wins? or final tavern tier? I am very confused as it does not seem to be consistent. Thanks for any clarification!

Since last week I have been seeing ads on OoC mobile but not on the web version. They appear on both my mobile phones so I don't think it's a device issue. 

Is this intentional? If so, the ads overlap the close button of the sidebar, which is rather annoying.

So this season has been the contrary of the last one: I climbed fast from Rank 10 to rank 5 with Tempo Rogue without any important difficulties. I was lucky with Quest Druid (I didn't encounter many of them, and I was lucky in some matches). Now that I achieved my objective, I plan to chill making the dailies, if possible with Pogo Rogue.

What about you?

Hi everyone, I'm here to show how pissed of I am with the new mode.

I guess Blizzard should do something about Battlegrounds mobile, because it's a pain in the ass play that mode in a cellphone.

I mean, I play both in the mobile and in the PC, and by the expirience I have who play in the PC have a big advantage in this mode, because the time the animations took in the mobile is a precious wasted time.

With that in mind, I guess Blizzard should remove or reduce the animation from the mobile App, or they should fix the time from the Recruit Phase.

Anyway, they must do something about it, bacause the way it is, it's unbalanced and unfair.

What you guys think?