I'm tempted to say Crazed Geomancer looks like it could be an Elemental. I also think Gravelpatcher, Slab Cracker, Earthen Stoneshaper, and Crystal Bowrunner could possibly also be Elementals.
As for the economy, or the F2P experience - I don't know, I feel like the game is fairly generous, in that they just give you full decks to play right away, and you earn 3 packs a week for wins, and a number of free random cards every day. I have a whole pile of wild cards that I can use to make any cards I like (always a hoarder) and they have various free events to play for cosmetics or alternate card art. Other events (drafts and such) have to be bought into with gems, which cost money, so I haven't really done anything there (spent $5 on the welcome bundle), so if that's your preferred style or play, or if you only like crafting the top tier decks, maybe it's harder, I don't really know. I can only say I've never felt like I was locked out of anything, or playing at some unfair disadvantage. I play how I like, I experiment, and I'm learning new things all the time.
From my time playing Hearthstone, I've kinda stopped caring about ranks too much. In my early days, I just wanted to rank up as much as I could and when I couldn't do that, it was annoying. Now though, I just learned to stop caring too much about it and just enjoy playing the game. Obviously, ranking up would be nice and I do want to win games, but I've reached the point where I just want to enjoy the game.
How friendly is it to people who aren't very familiar with Magic? I have some knowledge and I know all of the basic rules, but to say I know everything is far from the truth.
At first it looked very complicated, but I've gotten a better hang of it from playing it a little bit, although I still have quite a bit to learn. I have thought of getting MTG:A for myself, although I'm unsure given how mixed the F2P experience feedback has been.
One thing that is slightly annoying is getting land-screwed in both directions, but what can you do? After playing Hearthstone a lot where players don't interact on other player's turns at all (barring Secrets and a few select cards such as Loatheb), I will most likely be slightly thrown off by a lot of Instants. I'm definitely less familiar with MTG than I am with Hearthstone and Yu-Gi-Oh (which I'm starting to lose familiarity there too because of the new Link Summoning mechanic), but it looks like a really neat card game that I'm willing to get more into.
As someone who isn't a BIG MTG player, but does play it occasionally and is interested in getting into it more, I have actually considered getting MTG: Arena. It looks really cool and faithful to the original game and it would probably help me learn more about it.
I must ask though, how is the F2P experience for you guys? I've heard both ends of the spectrum before.
I've been going to the Fan Creation forum on HearthPwn just about daily for years now. It's easily the best part of the website in my opinion, and pretty much the only reason I stay on, as well as card reveal season.
One of the most disappointing things about HearthPwn was that there wasn't very much emphasis put on the fan creation community. News articles regarding the fan community or their competitions never received much attention. Not everyone is interested in creating cards, I get it, but I think it's still possible to do something about it. I have some proposals.
Over here, Sylicas made his/her own column called "Archivist's Lore", where he/she brings up some cards and talks about how they relate (or don't) to WoW lore. It's a really nice read. One proposal I had was to have something like this called "Fan Community Spotlight" or something like that, name is subject to change. In this column, we look at a custom class or card set that someone has made, interview that person and talk about the process of creating the set. Anybody could choose to run it if they want to, doesn't have to be me. Doesn't have to be run on any sort of basis either.
Over here, I also made a guide on creating a Basic set for a custom class, which I copied over from HearthPwn where I also posted it there.
When making a custom class, the Basic Set is arguably the hardest set to get right. We all want to get to our flashy cards as soon as possible, but the Basic Set is the most important set. It defines the groundwork for the class. The quality of your Basic Set will greatly impact the rest of your class. The other hard part about it is that they can't be very obscure, because they're intended to be... Basic. They're cards that are intended to be very simple, yet very essential for the class.
Every class should have access to at least one non-friendly AoE with Shaman being the odd one out, presumably because they have Lightning Storm in the Classic set. Even Rogue, whom is supposedly the epitome of weak when it comes to AoE, still has Fan of Knives in their Basic set (and formerly, Vanish as well).
Both Shaman and Priest are notably odd men out here. Shaman can be assumed to be out because of the existence of Mana Tide Totem in the Classic set. Priest is out because of the rotation of Northshire Cleric out of the Basic set and the change to Power Word: Shield.
Druid this time is the exception to all of the other classes. We can assume this is because removal is supposed to be a weakness for Druid and they make up in other aspects. Demon Hunter similarly has no direct hard removal, but does have a lot of access to damage and specializes in attacking (whether it be from your hero or your minions).
Once you get past that, you can also add cards that specifically fit to your class's themes. For example:
Northshire Cleric would also count for this category, but his since left the Basic set.
A class's Basic set usually only has 1 or 2 minions.
The class with the most is Hunter and Demon Hunter with 4. If you have more than 4 minions in your Basic set, you should cut a few of them. Rogue formerly used to be the only class with none, but has since had Plaguebringer added. For reference, here is the number of minions in each class's Basic set:
This doesn't mean you should try to make every card like this, but it's nice to have should it happen. Some classes (Shaman and Druid) in particular may not follow some of these categories, in part because they have easy to access cards in the Classic set (Mana Tide Totem, Lightning Storm) or are intended to be weak in a particular aspect. You could possibly justify skipping one of these should that come up.
You had to go, did you?
Not judging. Just sayin'.
I'm tempted to say Crazed Geomancer looks like it could be an Elemental. I also think Gravelpatcher, Slab Cracker, Earthen Stoneshaper, and Crystal Bowrunner could possibly also be Elementals.
From my time playing Hearthstone, I've kinda stopped caring about ranks too much. In my early days, I just wanted to rank up as much as I could and when I couldn't do that, it was annoying. Now though, I just learned to stop caring too much about it and just enjoy playing the game. Obviously, ranking up would be nice and I do want to win games, but I've reached the point where I just want to enjoy the game.
How friendly is it to people who aren't very familiar with Magic? I have some knowledge and I know all of the basic rules, but to say I know everything is far from the truth.
At first it looked very complicated, but I've gotten a better hang of it from playing it a little bit, although I still have quite a bit to learn. I have thought of getting MTG:A for myself, although I'm unsure given how mixed the F2P experience feedback has been.
One thing that is slightly annoying is getting land-screwed in both directions, but what can you do? After playing Hearthstone a lot where players don't interact on other player's turns at all (barring Secrets and a few select cards such as Loatheb), I will most likely be slightly thrown off by a lot of Instants. I'm definitely less familiar with MTG than I am with Hearthstone and Yu-Gi-Oh (which I'm starting to lose familiarity there too because of the new Link Summoning mechanic), but it looks like a really neat card game that I'm willing to get more into.
As someone who isn't a BIG MTG player, but does play it occasionally and is interested in getting into it more, I have actually considered getting MTG: Arena. It looks really cool and faithful to the original game and it would probably help me learn more about it.
I must ask though, how is the F2P experience for you guys? I've heard both ends of the spectrum before.
Without spoilers, these custom class/expansion threads will get very long, although this one isn't too bad so far.
So this begins.
Faceless Behemoth
Giant vanilla
We should have some sort of HearthPwn memorial.
Very informative thread.
Ladies and gentlemen...
WE ARE HERE!!!
Now I'm on board again.
Let's see if this works.
EDIT: It works! Now, does anyone here know who it is? (probably not)
The token.
Wait, I just realized...
Is there no Spoiler tool?
I've been going to the Fan Creation forum on HearthPwn just about daily for years now. It's easily the best part of the website in my opinion, and pretty much the only reason I stay on, as well as card reveal season.
One of the most disappointing things about HearthPwn was that there wasn't very much emphasis put on the fan creation community. News articles regarding the fan community or their competitions never received much attention. Not everyone is interested in creating cards, I get it, but I think it's still possible to do something about it. I have some proposals.
Over here, Sylicas made his/her own column called "Archivist's Lore", where he/she brings up some cards and talks about how they relate (or don't) to WoW lore. It's a really nice read. One proposal I had was to have something like this called "Fan Community Spotlight" or something like that, name is subject to change. In this column, we look at a custom class or card set that someone has made, interview that person and talk about the process of creating the set. Anybody could choose to run it if they want to, doesn't have to be me. Doesn't have to be run on any sort of basis either.
Over here, I also made a guide on creating a Basic set for a custom class, which I copied over from HearthPwn where I also posted it there.
When making a custom class, the Basic Set is arguably the hardest set to get right. We all want to get to our flashy cards as soon as possible, but the Basic Set is the most important set. It defines the groundwork for the class. The quality of your Basic Set will greatly impact the rest of your class. The other hard part about it is that they can't be very obscure, because they're intended to be... Basic. They're cards that are intended to be very simple, yet very essential for the class.
Each class's Basic set should include:
Single Target Damage
AoE
Every class should have access to at least one non-friendly AoE with Shaman being the odd one out, presumably because they have Lightning Storm in the Classic set. Even Rogue, whom is supposedly the epitome of weak when it comes to AoE, still has Fan of Knives in their Basic set (and formerly, Vanish as well).
Card Draw
Both Shaman and Priest are notably odd men out here. Shaman can be assumed to be out because of the existence of Mana Tide Totem in the Classic set. Priest is out because of the rotation of Northshire Cleric out of the Basic set and the change to Power Word: Shield.
Removal/Neutralization
Druid this time is the exception to all of the other classes. We can assume this is because removal is supposed to be a weakness for Druid and they make up in other aspects. Demon Hunter similarly has no direct hard removal, but does have a lot of access to damage and specializes in attacking (whether it be from your hero or your minions).
Once you get past that, you can also add cards that specifically fit to your class's themes. For example:
Northshire Cleric would also count for this category, but his since left the Basic set.
A class's Basic set usually only has 1 or 2 minions.
The class with the most is Hunter and Demon Hunter with 4. If you have more than 4 minions in your Basic set, you should cut a few of them. Rogue formerly used to be the only class with none, but has since had Plaguebringer added. For reference, here is the number of minions in each class's Basic set:
*Formerly 0
Top tip: It's also a really good idea for cards to follow more than 1 aspect, increasing utility and space. For example:
This doesn't mean you should try to make every card like this, but it's nice to have should it happen. Some classes (Shaman and Druid) in particular may not follow some of these categories, in part because they have easy to access cards in the Classic set (Mana Tide Totem, Lightning Storm) or are intended to be weak in a particular aspect. You could possibly justify skipping one of these should that come up.