Wishing you the best, Link. Warm thoughts and cozy relaxation. The world is better for your unique perspective. Be well - as well as you can be, at least!
Hearthstone, for me. I've played 1000+ hours of Shadowverse and several hundred each of Krosmaga, Faeria, MTG Arena, and Elder Scrolls: Legends. I've tried Runescape Chronicles, Runeterra, Solforge, Mythgard, Infinity Wars, Eternal, and Duelyst.
I keep coming back to Hearthstone, though. It requires just the right amount of thought to be interesting yet playable while watching a show, and for that it is irreplaceable . . . much as I think Krosmaga is the best card game ever designed.
Last week I caught the caboose, so the simplicity of this competition is appreciated! I've got two cute ideas for this week.
Nutty Buddy is my favorite; he feels on flavor for Shaman around GvG, next to Totem Golem, Flamewreathed Faceless, and others. Maybe he could be a 3-3 with Overload (3)?
Inlet Scavenger fills out the assorted Murlocs that fell around Voyage to the Sunken City - I remember wanting a vanilla 1-mana Murloc to work with Azsharan Scroll, Anchored Totem, Amalgam of the Deep, et cetera.
To Wailor's question about Overload and Manathirst numbers, surely they must be alright, since the Spell Damage numbers are acceptable? That said, I don't know why one is bolded in-game and the other isn't. Typical Hearthstone.
Early Feedback
Show Spoiler
Al'Akir the Sweetlord is fantastic. I see why you don't want to submit him, because of the flavor and Aero's well-founded comment, but… the variety of Spell Damage is on point with Shaman's current flavor. Uncannily so.
Re: Wailor's Typhoon, a mechanical question - will back-to-back Dredges invalidate the first card Dredged or place it second in your deck? If it's the latter, I love the flavor of it, a whirling typhoon dragging flotsam from the depths. It seems like a solid card that would feel good to play and set you up for better things. Calia is an interesting card lore-wise. I could see an Undead Death Knight using her, maybe, but if she were a good card I think she'd be a frustratingly ubiquitous card, a la Zilliax. The Typhoon is more purposeful.
Demon's Moltenclaw is a crunchy, useful card. For the Windlord, while I don't mind the added Keyword, I think it creates unnecessary confusion and the card runs the same issue of Wailor's Calia - a neutral legendary good enough to see play in most decks feels bad. The specificity of the Moltenclaw is more enjoyable. That's just how I feel, though!
I don't know what you mean, Aero, any card that costs 0 gets the ole blood pumping. There are only six minions that cost 0, and only one has text - Target Dummy! I instantly had to check whether Rogue has any Arcane spells. Just one, and it doesn't deal damage :c But Druid or Mage would probably LOVE your card, given the right circumstances. What those circumstances are… I don't know, and the difficulty of knowing whether it'd be a dud or a massive combo-enabler might affect the votes you get, much as I love the card's simplicity.
Thanks to all who gave me feedback, especially Wailor - I've yet to dredge up much more elegant than your idea. With some shame, I've used a close neighbor to it for my submission. Thank you!
I hope these two fellows fit the rules; they both interact with two specific minion types (if you consider 'Amalgam' a type - I mean, if 'Imp' is a type... I'm not still salty about how vague that is).
Both cards aim to enable tribal decks by making buffs that target minion types, like Dragon Speaker, more consistent. Experiment is a Darkmoon card and Tur'ribe is a Sunken City card. (the first should be an epic and the second should have a Battlecry:, I'll add that for submission)
Feedback:
Show Spoiler
Linkblade: I'd bump him up to 5 mana, for future balancing reasons. Having a 3-mana Mech with Deathrattle die and summon King Krush on turn 3 feels bad, and could be a possibility as is. At 5 mana, that's still a possibility, but feels… well, bad, but in line with current large minion cheats, at least. Flavorwise, setwise, otherwise, it's a fantastic and interesting card. I'd love to play with it.
Wailor: Lord Amethos makes me think, at least, which I like. But it's not a long think. Any Totem deck with 5-10 Elementals won't rely on Totem synergies, so you'd be choosing Totems like Mana Tide Totem with general effects. In which case, maybe you can get a 4-4 with Taunt that heals 1 and draws a card and gives +1 Attack at turn end and gives +2 attack to neighbors. If it's turn 6 and you're very lucky. Totems are a tough type to build a multi-class card for. They don't play nice with others.
On the flip side, Deadmoon Raider feels solid. It could work. A minion-heavy Pirate Rogue could want it, if such a thing exists. It doesn't feel exciting in an existing-deck-completion or a power-fantasy sort of way, though.
Oop. You posted another one. Blackgill Cultist is the strongest card for sure. The deck he promotes feels real. Creating a gateway between small Murlocs and tall Demons feels very Warlock, very doable. As everyone knows, Team 5 loves to tease us eager boys with big Demons that never see play - any excuse to make that happen sounds good to me!
Neoguli: It's a solid card. Resource generation. Stats. Fits with the themes (though I'd change it to a Dragon, as said above). I'd be more excited about it if a Dragon-Naga deck existed or felt relevant. Is there such a deck out there that I don't know about?
Demon: You put this at 7 mana so I could play it with Drakkari Enchanter, didn't you? Heheeee. I like it. I guess it'd be most powerful in Druid or Shaman, with Bearon Gla'shear or Topior. There isn't a glut of exciting high-cost Elemental battlecries, though. Maybe if it were costed lower and the cards it draws from were mana-capped?
Aero: Captain Shivers is the more straightforward, strong card. Exactly what such a Rogue deck would need, I suppose. Crafting a custom Zombeast is more exciting, though. While the lore doesn't work currently, as noted, I'd enjoy a card that explored that more than a card which explores Pirates and Undead for Rogue. Maybe there's another way to do it. (Note that Reanimator would be spelled with an o, though.)
As an amusing sidenote, the artwork you chose for Shivers deserves an award for most used in fan competitions. Somebody oughta tell the artist.
Moondreamer: As noted, the flavor is on point, but the idea of eating your own minion feels irredeemably bad. Maybe it would feel better if you specified 'original stats' instead, but then why buff the Beast? Maybe there's another way to swing the same flavor, whether through a repeating effect with all Beasts, a minion or weapon that triggers a similar mechanic, or such.
anchorman: I'm not sure. On one hand, it's an exciting swing that can miss and is gated behind the opponent's actions (somewhat), so I'm not calling for a higher mana cost. But it also doesn't promote a specific style of deck. A solid 3 star card for me, since it seems workable but I don't think it promotes a deck or flavor that I enjoy.
Basil: I love it. Wouldn't change a thing besides the artwork and the first blank line of text. Favorite card in this thread, promotes an interesting, new deck and makes me rethink lesser-used minions. Think up some good flavor text for that beastie! I want to see him win.
I know this likely isn't the case, but any chance the 50 free packs also extends to players eligible for those starter decks? I.E. players who haven't logged in in however long it is.
Huh. I'm not sure I'm glad to hear that they'll be animated and colorful. The still, black-and-white Signatures are delightfully campy. They're specific to an expansion's flavor like no other card type is.
I hope that the next expansion's Signatures will be similarly unique, at least. How many ways are there to modify card art? How would you set apart Signatures for Goblins and Gnomes, for instance? Naxxramas cards would obviously be poisonous, green, oozing, but GvG... A mechanical border? A different perspective on the assumedly-smaller characters? Oodles of animated sparks?
I've learned that when Team 5 markets a class's 'fun new archetype', you've got a 50/50 on playable or pure shite. Fire Warrior, Deathrattle Shaman, Freeze Shaman, Deathrattle Rogue (how many times now?), Shuffle Rogue, Attack Druid, etc...
It genuinely confuses me. Do they have data that shows players enjoy putting together these half-baked (and never fully baked) archetypes? I have to believe they purposely set out to design bad cards, because they have months to do so - why is Last Stand not 3 mana? If it would have been overpowered at 3 mana, why is it in the set? Why print a card that would never be included in ANY deck, even the most fundumb crap?
They've gotten somewhat better about this through the years, but still, here we've got a whole expansion themed around Undead minions and by the community's best reckoning, most of the epics and legendaries which interact with them are pretty bad - High Cultist Basaleph, Wither, Elder Nadox, Rotgill, Amorphous Slime. Why?
Anyway, sorry. Rant over. I love this game, but the card design philosophy - without touching disruption and overpowered costly minions - grinds my gears sometimes.
Each viewing endears these cards to me a little more. Having full art on a Hearthstone card is so, so cool. Better art than the original, for almost all of these. Not only are the colors consistent - and much appreciated in comparison to Diamond cards - but they'll change with each expansion. Somehow these are both simple and fantastical.
If I had to field a complaint, I'd ask that rare and uncommon signatures be dropped two-at-once from packs - a regular rare next to a Signature rare in your hand will feel ... ew. The top border is also pretty thicc. I'd prefer to have more art and less border.
All in all, absolutely love these. I was on the fence about the Mega Bundle - no more!
Hooray. I finally got to choose my Level 100 hero. I've been idly trying for the past two weeks, so I chose the wrong one by accident, heh. But, well, only two more to go.
Theoretically, a fair amount of players will have no level 100 heroes left to choose after the next expansion cycle - part of me doubts Blizzard will cook up a replacement, but it'd be neat if they did.
The entry theme songs for the legendaries in this expansion had better be FANTASTIC. My ears are ready!
Will we get a bop to rival Tirion?
And the emo Demon Hunter. I really hope they go all in on the cringe.
Congratulations to Demon, the Jansher Khan of custom cards!
Threw some spaghetti at the wall - feel free to only comment on your favorite.
Naga Spellguard: Inspired by the Fel synergy that [Hearthstone Card (Herald of Chains) Not Found] begins to get towards.
War Council: Shaman never gets draw. Meant to support Wrathspine Enchanter's deck type.
Gorebringer: Statboy eats other boys. Trying out the dual-rune thang they're starting.
Fresh Digs: More boys! Needs better art for the fun name.
Good luck to all!
Wishing you the best, Link. Warm thoughts and cozy relaxation. The world is better for your unique perspective. Be well - as well as you can be, at least!
Thanks, y'all! I really didn't expect that, next to the likes of the other cards in the lineup. What a pleasant surprise.
May all of your buddies be nutty.
Hearthstone, for me. I've played 1000+ hours of Shadowverse and several hundred each of Krosmaga, Faeria, MTG Arena, and Elder Scrolls: Legends. I've tried Runescape Chronicles, Runeterra, Solforge, Mythgard, Infinity Wars, Eternal, and Duelyst.
I keep coming back to Hearthstone, though. It requires just the right amount of thought to be interesting yet playable while watching a show, and for that it is irreplaceable . . . much as I think Krosmaga is the best card game ever designed.
Could you link a few of their tweets for those of us that don't use Twitter?
Last week I caught the caboose, so the simplicity of this competition is appreciated! I've got two cute ideas for this week.
Nutty Buddy is my favorite; he feels on flavor for Shaman around GvG, next to Totem Golem, Flamewreathed Faceless, and others. Maybe he could be a 3-3 with Overload (3)?
Inlet Scavenger fills out the assorted Murlocs that fell around Voyage to the Sunken City - I remember wanting a vanilla 1-mana Murloc to work with Azsharan Scroll, Anchored Totem, Amalgam of the Deep, et cetera.
To Wailor's question about Overload and Manathirst numbers, surely they must be alright, since the Spell Damage numbers are acceptable? That said, I don't know why one is bolded in-game and the other isn't. Typical Hearthstone.
Early Feedback
Al'Akir the Sweetlord is fantastic. I see why you don't want to submit him, because of the flavor and Aero's well-founded comment, but… the variety of Spell Damage is on point with Shaman's current flavor. Uncannily so.
Re: Wailor's Typhoon, a mechanical question - will back-to-back Dredges invalidate the first card Dredged or place it second in your deck? If it's the latter, I love the flavor of it, a whirling typhoon dragging flotsam from the depths. It seems like a solid card that would feel good to play and set you up for better things. Calia is an interesting card lore-wise. I could see an Undead Death Knight using her, maybe, but if she were a good card I think she'd be a frustratingly ubiquitous card, a la Zilliax. The Typhoon is more purposeful.
Demon's Moltenclaw is a crunchy, useful card. For the Windlord, while I don't mind the added Keyword, I think it creates unnecessary confusion and the card runs the same issue of Wailor's Calia - a neutral legendary good enough to see play in most decks feels bad. The specificity of the Moltenclaw is more enjoyable. That's just how I feel, though!
I don't know what you mean, Aero, any card that costs 0 gets the ole blood pumping. There are only six minions that cost 0, and only one has text - Target Dummy! I instantly had to check whether Rogue has any Arcane spells. Just one, and it doesn't deal damage :c But Druid or Mage would probably LOVE your card, given the right circumstances. What those circumstances are… I don't know, and the difficulty of knowing whether it'd be a dud or a massive combo-enabler might affect the votes you get, much as I love the card's simplicity.
Thanks to all who gave me feedback, especially Wailor - I've yet to dredge up much more elegant than your idea. With some shame, I've used a close neighbor to it for my submission. Thank you!
I hope these two fellows fit the rules; they both interact with two specific minion types (if you consider 'Amalgam' a type - I mean, if 'Imp' is a type... I'm not still salty about how vague that is).
Both cards aim to enable tribal decks by making buffs that target minion types, like Dragon Speaker, more consistent. Experiment is a Darkmoon card and Tur'ribe is a Sunken City card. (the first should be an epic and the second should have a Battlecry:, I'll add that for submission)
Feedback:
Linkblade: I'd bump him up to 5 mana, for future balancing reasons. Having a 3-mana Mech with Deathrattle die and summon King Krush on turn 3 feels bad, and could be a possibility as is. At 5 mana, that's still a possibility, but feels… well, bad, but in line with current large minion cheats, at least. Flavorwise, setwise, otherwise, it's a fantastic and interesting card. I'd love to play with it.
Wailor: Lord Amethos makes me think, at least, which I like. But it's not a long think. Any Totem deck with 5-10 Elementals won't rely on Totem synergies, so you'd be choosing Totems like Mana Tide Totem with general effects. In which case, maybe you can get a 4-4 with Taunt that heals 1 and draws a card and gives +1 Attack at turn end and gives +2 attack to neighbors. If it's turn 6 and you're very lucky. Totems are a tough type to build a multi-class card for. They don't play nice with others.
On the flip side, Deadmoon Raider feels solid. It could work. A minion-heavy Pirate Rogue could want it, if such a thing exists. It doesn't feel exciting in an existing-deck-completion or a power-fantasy sort of way, though.
Oop. You posted another one. Blackgill Cultist is the strongest card for sure. The deck he promotes feels real. Creating a gateway between small Murlocs and tall Demons feels very Warlock, very doable. As everyone knows, Team 5 loves to tease us eager boys with big Demons that never see play - any excuse to make that happen sounds good to me!
Neoguli: It's a solid card. Resource generation. Stats. Fits with the themes (though I'd change it to a Dragon, as said above). I'd be more excited about it if a Dragon-Naga deck existed or felt relevant. Is there such a deck out there that I don't know about?
Demon: You put this at 7 mana so I could play it with Drakkari Enchanter, didn't you? Heheeee. I like it. I guess it'd be most powerful in Druid or Shaman, with Bearon Gla'shear or Topior. There isn't a glut of exciting high-cost Elemental battlecries, though. Maybe if it were costed lower and the cards it draws from were mana-capped?
Aero: Captain Shivers is the more straightforward, strong card. Exactly what such a Rogue deck would need, I suppose. Crafting a custom Zombeast is more exciting, though. While the lore doesn't work currently, as noted, I'd enjoy a card that explored that more than a card which explores Pirates and Undead for Rogue. Maybe there's another way to do it. (Note that Reanimator would be spelled with an o, though.)
As an amusing sidenote, the artwork you chose for Shivers deserves an award for most used in fan competitions. Somebody oughta tell the artist.
Moondreamer: As noted, the flavor is on point, but the idea of eating your own minion feels irredeemably bad. Maybe it would feel better if you specified 'original stats' instead, but then why buff the Beast? Maybe there's another way to swing the same flavor, whether through a repeating effect with all Beasts, a minion or weapon that triggers a similar mechanic, or such.
anchorman: I'm not sure. On one hand, it's an exciting swing that can miss and is gated behind the opponent's actions (somewhat), so I'm not calling for a higher mana cost. But it also doesn't promote a specific style of deck. A solid 3 star card for me, since it seems workable but I don't think it promotes a deck or flavor that I enjoy.
Basil: I love it. Wouldn't change a thing besides the artwork and the first blank line of text. Favorite card in this thread, promotes an interesting, new deck and makes me rethink lesser-used minions. Think up some good flavor text for that beastie! I want to see him win.
I know this likely isn't the case, but any chance the 50 free packs also extends to players eligible for those starter decks? I.E. players who haven't logged in in however long it is.
Huh. I'm not sure I'm glad to hear that they'll be animated and colorful. The still, black-and-white Signatures are delightfully campy. They're specific to an expansion's flavor like no other card type is.
I hope that the next expansion's Signatures will be similarly unique, at least. How many ways are there to modify card art? How would you set apart Signatures for Goblins and Gnomes, for instance? Naxxramas cards would obviously be poisonous, green, oozing, but GvG... A mechanical border? A different perspective on the assumedly-smaller characters? Oodles of animated sparks?
I've learned that when Team 5 markets a class's 'fun new archetype', you've got a 50/50 on playable or pure shite. Fire Warrior, Deathrattle Shaman, Freeze Shaman, Deathrattle Rogue (how many times now?), Shuffle Rogue, Attack Druid, etc...
It genuinely confuses me. Do they have data that shows players enjoy putting together these half-baked (and never fully baked) archetypes? I have to believe they purposely set out to design bad cards, because they have months to do so - why is Last Stand not 3 mana? If it would have been overpowered at 3 mana, why is it in the set? Why print a card that would never be included in ANY deck, even the most fundumb crap?
They've gotten somewhat better about this through the years, but still, here we've got a whole expansion themed around Undead minions and by the community's best reckoning, most of the epics and legendaries which interact with them are pretty bad - High Cultist Basaleph, Wither, Elder Nadox, Rotgill, Amorphous Slime. Why?
Anyway, sorry. Rant over. I love this game, but the card design philosophy - without touching disruption and overpowered costly minions - grinds my gears sometimes.
So the buckets only give cards from the expansions that you've used in your deck, now?
But when the world needed Garrosh most... he received bad cards for about a year.
Thank you, link! That's good to know.
Each viewing endears these cards to me a little more. Having full art on a Hearthstone card is so, so cool. Better art than the original, for almost all of these. Not only are the colors consistent - and much appreciated in comparison to Diamond cards - but they'll change with each expansion. Somehow these are both simple and fantastical.
If I had to field a complaint, I'd ask that rare and uncommon signatures be dropped two-at-once from packs - a regular rare next to a Signature rare in your hand will feel ... ew. The top border is also pretty thicc. I'd prefer to have more art and less border.
All in all, absolutely love these. I was on the fence about the Mega Bundle - no more!
Good point! I hope that you're right. That would stretch it out another expansion cycle.
Hooray. I finally got to choose my Level 100 hero. I've been idly trying for the past two weeks, so I chose the wrong one by accident, heh. But, well, only two more to go.
Theoretically, a fair amount of players will have no level 100 heroes left to choose after the next expansion cycle - part of me doubts Blizzard will cook up a replacement, but it'd be neat if they did.