I have never been offered Nguyen once, but I end up facing him all the time. He's practically my nemesis at this point, with how often he foils my plans. I swear he always has the exact passive he needs when facing me! D:
Got Cariel one time and came in first, so there's that at least.
I think banning the usage of certain cards just because you're playing the Questline is a really bad solution. I would much rather find a middle-ground nerf, like sharing the damage as you noted.
"Anyone who purchases (or has purchased since Thursday, July 1,2021) a 6-month subscription before October 19, 2021 or have a 6-month subscription with a future renewal date of Monday, August 31, 2021 is eligible for the 6-Month Subscription rewards."
...
"Your Mercenaries packs will not be visible until the Mercenaries game mode goes live on October 12, 2021."
...
"In addition, if you still have game time on December 1, 2021, you will also get an additional:
15 New Expansion Packs
15 Mercenaries Packs
Next Expansion Tavern and Battleground Perks"
Stole the description from Wowhead. This has to be the reason.
Blink Fox is a weird inclusion; it's the only one without a formal name. You've got these major heroes, villains, and monsters, and then you've got...a blink fox lol
Rathorian is another weird one, as you noted, although that's less because of what he is - a unique mob in WoW - and more that he has no stake in Hearthstone. There's honestly nothing super special about King Krush, Murk-Eye, or Mukla, either, but we happen to know of them because of HS.
Edit: Medivh, ETC, and Lorewalker Cho are in the reveal trailer, but were not shown in the gameplay stream. Perhaps there are more yet to be discovered.
Geez, the flood of negativity for this new game mode is astounding. I'm starting to consider pre-purchasing just to make a statement against the cynicism.
...
And it's not "pay to win" if the matchmaking system works well, either; it's "pay to play against other people who pay.")
Right? If you're paying to improve your PvE experience, then who cares? If you're paying to improve your PvP experience, then you'll be matched against similar people. You won't be - or at least shouldn't be, assuming the system works - beatin' on F2P people (unless they're doing well on their own).
To be honest, even as a defender of Mercenaries at the moment, the packs and "upgrade your village" systems are bugging me. As far as I can tell, they want us to use gold for the packs and buildings, which we really only earn by completing Hearthstone quests and the occasional BG quest. If you want Mercenaries to stand on its own, it can't be reliant on the gold (or you need to up the gold intake to compensate for a whole other game asking for it).
That being said, these things can be hashed out, so I wouldn't consider them deal-breakers.
Not to be "that person", but we've known from the outset that Mercenaries was always intended to be its own game inside of the umbrella that has become Hearthstone. It would not use your Collection; it would be its own thing, just like Battlegrounds is. I know it's not what some people wanted, but it was directly advertised as a new experience :/ I hope you'll at least give it a shot: many people thought BG would be terrible, with a "oh what is this garbage" kind of sentiment, but it turned out to be fun and very popular.
Ultimately I think the driving idea behind "Hearthstone is a platform" is that Hearthstone can be what you want to get out of it. You can play Constructed, be a Duels-main, play Battlegrounds or Mercenaries, or all of the above if you are so inclined. Mercenaries might bring in new players to try it out, only for them to be pulled into the whirlpool that is Hearthstone "proper". I don't have any data, but I imagine at least some percentage of BG-first players went on to try Hearthstone itself and came to enjoy it. That's a win for us all, and it can be again with Mercenaries.
*shrugs* I'm still excited. The economics of the game can be figured out, probably via enough people bitching about it. That doesn't mean much if the core game is terrible, and I think it looks fun. Say what you want about the gacha mechanics and monetization, but it ultimately still is Slay the Spire maps + Pokemon-esque collecting and leveling. That's what I wanted out of it. I'm also happy to see that the PvP is not a mandatory part of the game: I could endlessly grind PvE maps if I wanted to do that, playing PvP only for the occasional daily win-rewards or whatever.
It was a whirlwind of information thrown at us today, but overall I am interested in the product and ready to throw down money if I end up enjoying it. IIRC Battlegrounds had a similar "what the fuck is this shit" reaction to it from the general populace, and look how that turned out.
Under the "Mercenaries Packs" tab. They'll be a lot like regular Hearthstone packs, with a Legendary pity timer and roughly equivalent average drop rate for Epics and Legendaries. You'll always gain a new Mercenary (if you don't own all the ones for that rarity), and then the remaining four items could be more Mercenaries, Mercenary coins (unique to each Merc, spent to craft said Merc or to upgrade their abilities), or Portraits (alternate skins for said Mercs).
From what I could gather, it really does seem like they want you to pull gold away from Hearthstone to upgrade your Merc buildings (and/or buy packs, I assume). For someone like me who wants to play Hearthstone, Battlegrounds, *and* Mercenaries, that is stretching my resources quite thin D:
Still, I am excited for this mode. The economics and whatnot can be sorted out; doesn't mean anything if the base game sucks, but it looks fun to me. Plus I can play mostly by myself and still be rewarded; that's what I want! lol
Not to go "off-topic", but Master of Realities might be great with a Majordomo feeding your left-most Ele +X/+X stats one at a time. That's the only way I see it popping off, but the possibility exists *shrugs*
Nowhere near as good as Garr, though, even if its Attack could end up higher.
Hoggar + Peggy Brittlebone could be great, moreso if you have a hero that can generate their own cards to boot (Mukla, namely). I'm warming up to them the more I think about it, but I still agree with your original assessment.
And not only do Elementals have a Tier-4 Nomi, Nomi still exists lol
The thing about Yordle champs being multi-region is that that makes sense from a flavor perspective: Yordles tend to wander and explore outside their secret city. There's nothing inherently wrong with non-Yordles being multi-region, and there might be some in the future, but it wouldn't make sense for many champions. You would be attaching a new region to a champion who has no ties to said location, purely for the gameplay side of things; possible, certainly, but it would take a meat cleaver to the cohesive flavor and storytelling of the game (and the IP in general).
From this angle, none of the champs you listed would work as multi-region cards. Especially as being part-Bandle City, as BC is hidden away from outsiders.
Ghastcoiler's effectiveness has plummeted now that The Tide Razor and Sneed's Old Shredder are gone. There is little in the way of creating a spawn-chain anymore, and what few high-Tier Deathrattles remain have more niche usage (or you're going full-Beasts, which could be powerful).
Not sold on Avenge: does the countdown carryover between rounds? If so that's broken, if not Tony Two-Tusk is probably terrible. Avenge (5) means most of your board is dead, or you leaned hard into Scallywags; either way, you're not getting much return on your investment at that point, and that's assuming Tony survived that long.
I am saddened at the loss of Mythrax: he was one of the few rewards for going Menagerie, and now he's dead.
And just like that, Maxima returns to the dust bin of history. It was amusing(?) while it lasted.
I have never been offered Nguyen once, but I end up facing him all the time. He's practically my nemesis at this point, with how often he foils my plans. I swear he always has the exact passive he needs when facing me! D:
Got Cariel one time and came in first, so there's that at least.
Pogo-Hopper just as stupid as it always has been lol. Easy win against Guidance, even if he did Devolve my board.
I think banning the usage of certain cards just because you're playing the Questline is a really bad solution. I would much rather find a middle-ground nerf, like sharing the damage as you noted.
You're already ahead of the competition with Mercenaries, and you didn't spend anything additional ;D
"Anyone who purchases (or has purchased since Thursday, July 1,2021) a 6-month subscription before October 19, 2021 or have a 6-month subscription with a future renewal date of Monday, August 31, 2021 is eligible for the 6-Month Subscription rewards."
...
"Your Mercenaries packs will not be visible until the Mercenaries game mode goes live on October 12, 2021."
...
"In addition, if you still have game time on December 1, 2021, you will also get an additional:
Stole the description from Wowhead. This has to be the reason.
I'm honestly excited. Slay the Spire maps + strategic timing-based battles + a Pokemon-esque collect-a-thon could be really fun.
Blink Fox is a weird inclusion; it's the only one without a formal name. You've got these major heroes, villains, and monsters, and then you've got...a blink fox lol
Rathorian is another weird one, as you noted, although that's less because of what he is - a unique mob in WoW - and more that he has no stake in Hearthstone. There's honestly nothing super special about King Krush, Murk-Eye, or Mukla, either, but we happen to know of them because of HS.
Edit: Medivh, ETC, and Lorewalker Cho are in the reveal trailer, but were not shown in the gameplay stream. Perhaps there are more yet to be discovered.
Right? If you're paying to improve your PvE experience, then who cares? If you're paying to improve your PvP experience, then you'll be matched against similar people. You won't be - or at least shouldn't be, assuming the system works - beatin' on F2P people (unless they're doing well on their own).
To be honest, even as a defender of Mercenaries at the moment, the packs and "upgrade your village" systems are bugging me. As far as I can tell, they want us to use gold for the packs and buildings, which we really only earn by completing Hearthstone quests and the occasional BG quest. If you want Mercenaries to stand on its own, it can't be reliant on the gold (or you need to up the gold intake to compensate for a whole other game asking for it).
That being said, these things can be hashed out, so I wouldn't consider them deal-breakers.
Not to be "that person", but we've known from the outset that Mercenaries was always intended to be its own game inside of the umbrella that has become Hearthstone. It would not use your Collection; it would be its own thing, just like Battlegrounds is. I know it's not what some people wanted, but it was directly advertised as a new experience :/ I hope you'll at least give it a shot: many people thought BG would be terrible, with a "oh what is this garbage" kind of sentiment, but it turned out to be fun and very popular.
Ultimately I think the driving idea behind "Hearthstone is a platform" is that Hearthstone can be what you want to get out of it. You can play Constructed, be a Duels-main, play Battlegrounds or Mercenaries, or all of the above if you are so inclined. Mercenaries might bring in new players to try it out, only for them to be pulled into the whirlpool that is Hearthstone "proper". I don't have any data, but I imagine at least some percentage of BG-first players went on to try Hearthstone itself and came to enjoy it. That's a win for us all, and it can be again with Mercenaries.
The game is planned to launch with 50+ Mercenaries. I imagine the breakdown is still roughly even, like you suggested.
*shrugs* I'm still excited. The economics of the game can be figured out, probably via enough people bitching about it. That doesn't mean much if the core game is terrible, and I think it looks fun. Say what you want about the gacha mechanics and monetization, but it ultimately still is Slay the Spire maps + Pokemon-esque collecting and leveling. That's what I wanted out of it. I'm also happy to see that the PvP is not a mandatory part of the game: I could endlessly grind PvE maps if I wanted to do that, playing PvP only for the occasional daily win-rewards or whatever.
It was a whirlwind of information thrown at us today, but overall I am interested in the product and ready to throw down money if I end up enjoying it. IIRC Battlegrounds had a similar "what the fuck is this shit" reaction to it from the general populace, and look how that turned out.
This article helped me a ton in understanding how the packs would function: https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/296433
Under the "Mercenaries Packs" tab. They'll be a lot like regular Hearthstone packs, with a Legendary pity timer and roughly equivalent average drop rate for Epics and Legendaries. You'll always gain a new Mercenary (if you don't own all the ones for that rarity), and then the remaining four items could be more Mercenaries, Mercenary coins (unique to each Merc, spent to craft said Merc or to upgrade their abilities), or Portraits (alternate skins for said Mercs).
From what I could gather, it really does seem like they want you to pull gold away from Hearthstone to upgrade your Merc buildings (and/or buy packs, I assume). For someone like me who wants to play Hearthstone, Battlegrounds, *and* Mercenaries, that is stretching my resources quite thin D:
Still, I am excited for this mode. The economics and whatnot can be sorted out; doesn't mean anything if the base game sucks, but it looks fun to me. Plus I can play mostly by myself and still be rewarded; that's what I want! lol
Not to go "off-topic", but Master of Realities might be great with a Majordomo feeding your left-most Ele +X/+X stats one at a time. That's the only way I see it popping off, but the possibility exists *shrugs*
Nowhere near as good as Garr, though, even if its Attack could end up higher.
Hoggar + Peggy Brittlebone could be great, moreso if you have a hero that can generate their own cards to boot (Mukla, namely). I'm warming up to them the more I think about it, but I still agree with your original assessment.
And not only do Elementals have a Tier-4 Nomi, Nomi still exists lol
The thing about Yordle champs being multi-region is that that makes sense from a flavor perspective: Yordles tend to wander and explore outside their secret city. There's nothing inherently wrong with non-Yordles being multi-region, and there might be some in the future, but it wouldn't make sense for many champions. You would be attaching a new region to a champion who has no ties to said location, purely for the gameplay side of things; possible, certainly, but it would take a meat cleaver to the cohesive flavor and storytelling of the game (and the IP in general).
From this angle, none of the champs you listed would work as multi-region cards. Especially as being part-Bandle City, as BC is hidden away from outsiders.
Ghastcoiler's effectiveness has plummeted now that The Tide Razor and Sneed's Old Shredder are gone. There is little in the way of creating a spawn-chain anymore, and what few high-Tier Deathrattles remain have more niche usage (or you're going full-Beasts, which could be powerful).
Not sold on Avenge: does the countdown carryover between rounds? If so that's broken, if not Tony Two-Tusk is probably terrible. Avenge (5) means most of your board is dead, or you leaned hard into Scallywags; either way, you're not getting much return on your investment at that point, and that's assuming Tony survived that long.
I am saddened at the loss of Mythrax: he was one of the few rewards for going Menagerie, and now he's dead.