If you all browse the sub-reddit on a regular basis I'm sure you've seen numerous posts where people are asking, begging, pleading for new game modes/formats. Funny thing is, they just shout them at the devs without any explanation as to what they really want and never get down to the nitty gritty of what they're actually asking for. Since we just had WoW classic launch and some card nerfs I think it would be a good time to elaborate on some ideas that I think could potentially be implemented into the game without much change to how the game itself functions.
The way these formats are structured is that the higher on the list the format is, the more deck restrictions that exist. The further down, more deck freedom.
The Formats are: Grandmaster Standard Tables Pyramid Brawl Block Wild
Grandmaster: -The most strict format, it is designed for the players who are at the absolute top of HS.
-Uses Standard cards
-Ranks 50-1 do not exist.
-You must play 25 matches before getting your placement number, then you proceed to climbing like you would the regular ladder. --Pretty much placement matches to see where you are in relation to the other players you face. --The number will change while you are offline. ---You beat opponents A and B but lost to opponent C. Opponent C beats opponents A and B while you were offline and climbs higher than you. ---Prevents people from just sitting at a rank.
-This format exists so Team 5 can selectively remove cards from the format in case of them being over powered. See Dr. Boom, Mad Genius, Conjurer's Calling, and Luna's Pocket Galaxy. --Team 5 can also selectively ban cards that just simply see too much play. --Team 5 can also ban cards that cause an OTK, or an overpowered combo that can't be played against.
-As to whether or not this format grants eligibility for Blizzard events/tournaments should be considered. I would like for this to be the replacement for the current Standard Tournament format we have now.
Standard: -Should be left unchanged and left the way players are familiar with.
-If the Grandmaster format is implemented, the Standard format will most likely never be used for tournaments.
Tables: -Play with sets during a Standard year.
-Classic and Basic sets will be legal at all tables.
-Playing at the Kraken Table means that you are playing cards that were Standard legal in the Year of the Kraken. --So on and so forth with every other year. --"Launch year" will be used for the table that has Naxx, GVG, BRM, TGT, and LOE
-Undecided if this should rotate monthly or have all Tables present all year long.
-Table doesn't exist until the standard year has ended.
-Obviously shouldn't have a tournament presence.
-Legend Ranks within those Tables.
Pyramid: -Undecided if Wild cards should be used for this format.
-Restarts at the Standard rotation every year.
-At the end of every month, the top %10 of cards included into decks (not win percentage based) are banned.
-Beginning of the year and when expansions release are very unbalanced but should level out within 1-2 months after. -New cards are only added when the mode resets at the start of the standard year.
-Possible for fun tournament setting for Blizzard to host similar to The Wild Open.
-Has Legend Rank.
Brawl Block: -If you've played the Brawl you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't go look it up really quick.
-Rotates monthly.
-Has Legend Rank.
-Tournaments unlikely, due to monthly rotation.
Wild: -Yep, It's Wild.
These formats wouldn't require too much work for Blizzard to do and I think it would be healthy not only for the players being able to play their old cards, but for Team 5 to sell old packs sounds like a win-win.
I agree, which is why I'm opting to use normal spell cards instead of these strange location cards. The locations themselves are good ideas though. I'll keep some of them in mind.
So I made this expansion a while back, I think it was right before RoS and I was kind of fatigued of the game that moment, which explains why alot of these cards are just WAY OP. But at the same time I didn't entirely make this expansion with an inkling that most of these cards would be reasonable, I wanted to try something with a high power level to shake up a theoretical end-of-year Standard meta and obviously the Wild meta to make things a bit more fun. All the cards fall into the classes three talent tress in some way. Armaments of Azeroth is about each class strutting it's stuff to prove which is more dominant. I'll give brief descriptions of cards I want to highlight here and there.
So some ground rules with this set, each class has a Building, they are straight up, non-interactable, non-destructible, non-targetable cards, after I released the set and thought about it, I realized how absolutely broken these cards are, so hey there's something to learn from. Another thing, each class has is a General, super powerful cards that can turn the tide of the battle. There is one Neutral Building and several Neutral Generals, but a deck can only contain one of either. Meaning there is not possible way to mix and match these Legendary cards. You are either on the defensive, or offensive.
Druid: So fun things with Druid, Broll draws from the power of all the dead and currently alive minions which allows him to gain a copy of whatever enchantments have been played this game.
Teldrassil has a chance for a "Choose Both" card to be generated since it does count for a beast form.
As you can see in the Druid set one of my mistakes was, unintentionally, punishing a player for not owning a copy of Teldrassil. The player could have the cards that it supports but not the legendary itself, my way of thinking at the time was more along the lines of "save resources until you can get the maximum benefit out them". Also Pulverize was made before Team 5 said that Druid shouldn't have strong single target removal.
Hunter: With Vareesa Windrunner I thought that Hunter would need a new board clear since Deathstalker Rexxar was rotating out and Unleash the Hounds or Explosive Trap could help the class out a bit. I think most of Hunter's other cards are of course either really OP or just unplayable in typical HS fashion.
Trueshot Lodge was fun, it's a constant value generator, much like every other building in this set, and always keeps your opponent guessing.
Mage: First off, yes, Nessy is pretty much a mirror of Deathstalker Rexxar with an arguably better Battlecry. Build-a-Bot functions the exact same way as Build-a-Beast. I had this idea of a Gnome mechanic building bots, thought of DK Rexxar and it made sense. It's just as broken as DK Rexxar.
Karazhan is pretty fair I feel, HEAVY RNG of course but you could constantly just get spells that don't help the current situation.
Consuming Flame plays with an idea I wish HS would implement and that's more dead draws/dead cards in hand. A great reward for a high price.
I can easily see Call Canceled actually be printed.
Paladin: Gathios The Shatterer is a better Obsidian Statue and I feel that it's fair considering it's a legendary.
Hand-buff Paladin never works right? Maybe Sanctum of Light can fix that, or maybe it'll give you 400 hundred more dust to craft a better card.
I'm pretty sure Platoon Sergeant exists already in another set but I can't exactly remember which one.
Priest: Alonsus Faol was designed just to be a better, class specific version of Reno Jackson.
I always enjoyed the idea of Priests using your own cards against you, I use Archbishop Benedictus in every Wild Priest deck I make because it's just simply fun. So I wanted to make a card that appealed to that style of gameplay.
I have no idea where I was going with Writings of the End.
Shadow Word: Void, because it was needed.
Rogue: Arantir the Tea Drinker is pretty much a high-roll Legendary and I felt that it fit well with Rogues.
Hall of Shadows is just more Thief-Rogue shenanigans.
Poison the well is Probably the most unfair, unfun, broken card in the Rogue set. But hey, it beats combo.
I have no idea what I was trying to accomplish with Hostage Taker. I kind of have a clue but 5 lines of text isn't enough.
Shaman: I think Muln Earthfury most likely will fit into a niche deck or just be a drop that sees benefits if it survives long enough on board.
The Maelstrom is OP (what isn't in this set?) because I mean hell, it takes away the drawback of overload cards. At the same time it makes Shamans use their resources more liberally so they might tun out of cards in hand before they steam-roll their opponent.
Thundercaller will overload you if you don't have The Maelstrom.
Aftershock definitely only needs to target minions.
Warlock: Blidross Nullvoid, I don't even know where to start with this. It was a fun idea. The Warlock general showing up, summoning a portal that brought forth beasts is what I thought when I made him. But it's broken as hell, but I still love it.
Dreadscar Rift can be really weak depending on what's in standard, and in Wild the chances of getting what you want is extremely low.
Corrosive Blast is to deal with that pesky Warrior armor, and now the Linecracker Druid in Wild.
Cursed Demon is strong as a Battlecry, hell it's even strong as a random summon.
Warrior: Broxigar Saurfang is the true highlander, your deck cannot have duplicate at the start of the game and cannot have duplicates from cards like Dead Man's Hand.
Skyhold can create that famous taunt wall every Warrior dreams of with the formidable minions it generates. Sweeping Strike is Flamestrike for Warrior.
Banner Carrier can be dangerous if in opening hand or drawn on curve.
Neutral:
Gallywix's Pride is the game ender of the set. Similar to Yogg-Saron, Hope's End and a little inspired by Hakkar, the Soulflayer. Just the idea of constant mounting pressure just feels really nice. Also, the typo in the tool tip is from Hearthcards, it bothers me too.
Sylvanas, seems I made a better version of Plague of Death, cool.
Anduin is probably best with Deathrattle minions.
Apparently I still need to make the neutral rares and commons for the set.
This is my first set and I had fun making it, if you draw any inspiration from any of the cards, please use it.
I would have waited for OoC to build their custom card/set functions on the site but I wanted to get it out there.
Thanks for reading and most likely, leaving feedback talking about how all over the place the power level is.
Most likely not. They introduced Zayle, Shadow Cloak in the first expansion of the year. They are probably trying to set some sort of trend to allow themselves to release these types of cards at least once a year.
If they were evergreened, that would basically mean fewer packs sales because players are getting free, okayish decks to play with
What do people normally use to create custom cards? Like software wise.
Is there a guide somewhere
We go to http://hearthcards.net/ ...for now, anyway. We'd like to see our own card creator here at Out of Cards eventually.
When OoC gets their own, eventually, I'd like it to be WAY more organised and user friendly than what Hearthcards has. It's a literal headache to look at
I ask because I enjoy creating a deck from scratch. I notice some people only say they "enjoy" the game when they're able to play the most meta deck at the time. You said you were bored of the expansion on the first day of playing it, so I thought I'd try to get some more info from you as to why that is.
I would say that during the dry seasons of HS, when the meta is figured out and the card changes have already happened, to go back into older expansions and do some digging on those. I never got to raid Naxxramas, Karazhan, or Blackrock Mountain in my WoW days so it'd be nice to get some refreshers on sets of the past.
I'm surprised they haven't incorporated it into a "Boomlabs" type mode where you and a buddy could do a bunch of challenges together.
If you all browse the sub-reddit on a regular basis I'm sure you've seen numerous posts where people are asking, begging, pleading for new game modes/formats. Funny thing is, they just shout them at the devs without any explanation as to what they really want and never get down to the nitty gritty of what they're actually asking for. Since we just had WoW classic launch and some card nerfs I think it would be a good time to elaborate on some ideas that I think could potentially be implemented into the game without much change to how the game itself functions.
The way these formats are structured is that the higher on the list the format is, the more deck restrictions that exist. The further down, more deck freedom.
The Formats are:
Grandmaster
Standard
Tables
Pyramid
Brawl Block
Wild
Grandmaster:
-The most strict format, it is designed for the players who are at the absolute top of HS.
-Uses Standard cards
-Ranks 50-1 do not exist.
-You must play 25 matches before getting your placement number, then you proceed to climbing like you would the regular ladder.
--Pretty much placement matches to see where you are in relation to the other players you face.
--The number will change while you are offline.
---You beat opponents A and B but lost to opponent C. Opponent C beats opponents A and B while you were offline and climbs higher than you.
---Prevents people from just sitting at a rank.
-This format exists so Team 5 can selectively remove cards from the format in case of them being over powered. See Dr. Boom, Mad Genius, Conjurer's Calling, and Luna's Pocket Galaxy.
--Team 5 can also selectively ban cards that just simply see too much play.
--Team 5 can also ban cards that cause an OTK, or an overpowered combo that can't be played against.
-As to whether or not this format grants eligibility for Blizzard events/tournaments should be considered. I would like for this to be the replacement for the current Standard Tournament format we have now.
Standard:
-Should be left unchanged and left the way players are familiar with.
-If the Grandmaster format is implemented, the Standard format will most likely never be used for tournaments.
Tables:
-Play with sets during a Standard year.
-Classic and Basic sets will be legal at all tables.
-Playing at the Kraken Table means that you are playing cards that were Standard legal in the Year of the Kraken.
--So on and so forth with every other year.
--"Launch year" will be used for the table that has Naxx, GVG, BRM, TGT, and LOE
-Undecided if this should rotate monthly or have all Tables present all year long.
-Table doesn't exist until the standard year has ended.
-Obviously shouldn't have a tournament presence.
-Legend Ranks within those Tables.
Pyramid:
-Undecided if Wild cards should be used for this format.
-Restarts at the Standard rotation every year.
-At the end of every month, the top %10 of cards included into decks (not win percentage based) are banned.
-Beginning of the year and when expansions release are very unbalanced but should level out within 1-2 months after.
-New cards are only added when the mode resets at the start of the standard year.
-Possible for fun tournament setting for Blizzard to host similar to The Wild Open.
-Has Legend Rank.
Brawl Block:
-If you've played the Brawl you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't go look it up really quick.
-Rotates monthly.
-Has Legend Rank.
-Tournaments unlikely, due to monthly rotation.
Wild:
-Yep, It's Wild.
These formats wouldn't require too much work for Blizzard to do and I think it would be healthy not only for the players being able to play their old cards, but for Team 5 to sell old packs sounds like a win-win.
If you have anything else to add don't hesitate.
Edit 10NOV: Bonus 7th format made by this guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3q4lss8mWE&list=LLxAejYPRSehTkS2VzxbXn9A&index=2&t=42s
Made these cards a while ago, was a noob to card creating then
Here's some things from my custom expansion, they are WAY OP but hey, it might help out.
So I made this expansion a while back, I think it was right before RoS and I was kind of fatigued of the game that moment, which explains why alot of these cards are just WAY OP. But at the same time I didn't entirely make this expansion with an inkling that most of these cards would be reasonable, I wanted to try something with a high power level to shake up a theoretical end-of-year Standard meta and obviously the Wild meta to make things a bit more fun. All the cards fall into the classes three talent tress in some way. Armaments of Azeroth is about each class strutting it's stuff to prove which is more dominant. I'll give brief descriptions of cards I want to highlight here and there.
So some ground rules with this set, each class has a Building, they are straight up, non-interactable, non-destructible, non-targetable cards, after I released the set and thought about it, I realized how absolutely broken these cards are, so hey there's something to learn from. Another thing, each class has is a General, super powerful cards that can turn the tide of the battle. There is one Neutral Building and several Neutral Generals, but a deck can only contain one of either. Meaning there is not possible way to mix and match these Legendary cards. You are either on the defensive, or offensive.
Druid:
So fun things with Druid, Broll draws from the power of all the dead and currently alive minions which allows him to gain a copy of whatever enchantments have been played this game.
Teldrassil has a chance for a "Choose Both" card to be generated since it does count for a beast form.
As you can see in the Druid set one of my mistakes was, unintentionally, punishing a player for not owning a copy of Teldrassil. The player could have the cards that it supports but not the legendary itself, my way of thinking at the time was more along the lines of "save resources until you can get the maximum benefit out them". Also Pulverize was made before Team 5 said that Druid shouldn't have strong single target removal.
Hunter:
With Vareesa Windrunner I thought that Hunter would need a new board clear since Deathstalker Rexxar was rotating out and Unleash the Hounds or Explosive Trap could help the class out a bit. I think most of Hunter's other cards are of course either really OP or just unplayable in typical HS fashion.
Trueshot Lodge was fun, it's a constant value generator, much like every other building in this set, and always keeps your opponent guessing.
Mage:
First off, yes, Nessy is pretty much a mirror of Deathstalker Rexxar with an arguably better Battlecry. Build-a-Bot functions the exact same way as Build-a-Beast. I had this idea of a Gnome mechanic building bots, thought of DK Rexxar and it made sense. It's just as broken as DK Rexxar.
Karazhan is pretty fair I feel, HEAVY RNG of course but you could constantly just get spells that don't help the current situation.
Consuming Flame plays with an idea I wish HS would implement and that's more dead draws/dead cards in hand. A great reward for a high price.
I can easily see Call Canceled actually be printed.
Paladin:
Gathios The Shatterer is a better Obsidian Statue and I feel that it's fair considering it's a legendary.
Hand-buff Paladin never works right? Maybe Sanctum of Light can fix that, or maybe it'll give you 400 hundred more dust to craft a better card.
I'm pretty sure Platoon Sergeant exists already in another set but I can't exactly remember which one.
Priest:
Alonsus Faol was designed just to be a better, class specific version of Reno Jackson.
I always enjoyed the idea of Priests using your own cards against you, I use Archbishop Benedictus in every Wild Priest deck I make because it's just simply fun. So I wanted to make a card that appealed to that style of gameplay.
I have no idea where I was going with Writings of the End.
Shadow Word: Void, because it was needed.
Rogue:
Arantir the Tea Drinker is pretty much a high-roll Legendary and I felt that it fit well with Rogues.
Hall of Shadows is just more Thief-Rogue shenanigans.
Poison the well is Probably the most unfair, unfun, broken card in the Rogue set. But hey, it beats combo.
I have no idea what I was trying to accomplish with Hostage Taker. I kind of have a clue but 5 lines of text isn't enough.
Shaman:
I think Muln Earthfury most likely will fit into a niche deck or just be a drop that sees benefits if it survives long enough on board.
The Maelstrom is OP (what isn't in this set?) because I mean hell, it takes away the drawback of overload cards. At the same time it makes Shamans use their resources more liberally so they might tun out of cards in hand before they steam-roll their opponent.
Thundercaller will overload you if you don't have The Maelstrom.
Aftershock definitely only needs to target minions.
Warlock:
Blidross Nullvoid, I don't even know where to start with this. It was a fun idea. The Warlock general showing up, summoning a portal that brought forth beasts is what I thought when I made him. But it's broken as hell, but I still love it.
Dreadscar Rift can be really weak depending on what's in standard, and in Wild the chances of getting what you want is extremely low.
Corrosive Blast is to deal with that pesky Warrior armor, and now the Linecracker Druid in Wild.
Cursed Demon is strong as a Battlecry, hell it's even strong as a random summon.
Warrior:
Broxigar Saurfang is the true highlander, your deck cannot have duplicate at the start of the game and cannot have duplicates from cards like Dead Man's Hand.
Skyhold can create that famous taunt wall every Warrior dreams of with the formidable minions it generates. Sweeping Strike is Flamestrike for Warrior.
Banner Carrier can be dangerous if in opening hand or drawn on curve.
Neutral:
Gallywix's Pride is the game ender of the set. Similar to Yogg-Saron, Hope's End and a little inspired by Hakkar, the Soulflayer. Just the idea of constant mounting pressure just feels really nice. Also, the typo in the tool tip is from Hearthcards, it bothers me too.
Sylvanas, seems I made a better version of Plague of Death, cool.
Anduin is probably best with Deathrattle minions.
Apparently I still need to make the neutral rares and commons for the set.
This is my first set and I had fun making it, if you draw any inspiration from any of the cards, please use it.
I would have waited for OoC to build their custom card/set functions on the site but I wanted to get it out there.
Thanks for reading and most likely, leaving feedback talking about how all over the place the power level is.
I think all of these are good for the current standard meta. It’ll allow for other cards and decks to shine.
As for the Barnes nerf, only time will tell how effective it is
Most likely not. They introduced Zayle, Shadow Cloak in the first expansion of the year. They are probably trying to set some sort of trend to allow themselves to release these types of cards at least once a year.
If they were evergreened, that would basically mean fewer packs sales because players are getting free, okayish decks to play with
So when are we going to see functionality on this site to save our cards here. Because hearthcards doesn’t save your cards unless you pay money
Damn we need a new Warrior Hero.
For the Master Race.
Favorite Card back.
Use it with your demon-lock, great aesthetic.
Go ahead and use it with your Mech Decks.
When OoC gets their own, eventually, I'd like it to be WAY more organised and user friendly than what Hearthcards has. It's a literal headache to look at
Really glad to see an OoC article featured by HS itself! This site will pick up speed in to time.
I ask because I enjoy creating a deck from scratch. I notice some people only say they "enjoy" the game when they're able to play the most meta deck at the time. You said you were bored of the expansion on the first day of playing it, so I thought I'd try to get some more info from you as to why that is.
I would say that during the dry seasons of HS, when the meta is figured out and the card changes have already happened, to go back into older expansions and do some digging on those. I never got to raid Naxxramas, Karazhan, or Blackrock Mountain in my WoW days so it'd be nice to get some refreshers on sets of the past.
One question: Do you net deck?
Man, we really do need another dragon expansion though
Great theory, but it’s most likely just left over art from other expansions