The reason you see complaints is because the brawl is polarizing, and most people come to forums to complain, not compliment. If you liked the brawl passingly, would you have even commented on it? Probably not.
I also firmly believe the outright haters are the minority, where most people are either neutral on it or like it. I mean, why would Blizzard reprise this brawl every year if it wasn't liked? It's the same reason Crossroads and Randomonium get reprised so often - those are two of the most played brawls (as confirmed by Blizzard's internal statistics), and I suspect this is up there too.
Actual hated brawls are things like Banana Brawl or Unidentifibrawl, which have only been used once.
We had Captain Blackheart's Treasure a little under a month ago, which is basically a simplified version of this. That one you had a deck full of Pirates and Discovered cards instead of drawing. This brawl you have an ever-growing deck where everything in your hand and every card you play is shuffled into your deck and you redraw your hand every turn.
I said this before, but I honestly will give Blizz the benefit of the doubt when it comes to DH's initial balance. They legitimately did not expect them to have so much tempo, because of the hero power. For the better part of their development, until three months before the announcement, their hero was 2 mana "Give your hero +1 Attack this. Can be used twice each turn." Giving them a hero power with basically the same effect at half the cost suddenly pushed their tempo through the roof, and most of the cards were probably already past initial design.
Five mana Skull makes sense in a world where the deck was too heavy to guarantee the Outcast. Three durability Aldrachi makes sense when you were probably only swinging for two. 2/2 Battlefiend makes sense when you were paying twice the mana to give it +1 Attack. Five mana 10/10 Imprisoned Antaen (which it was during the streamer summit) makes sense when that was the big finisher.
I agree that the current hero power is more fun, unique, and useful than what they had before. They just strangled themselves with the deadline. Clearly, the class needed more than a year to design properly.
I will say, my solution for Outcast in heavier decks is simple. Make them too slow for aggro decks to use. Four of the cards are card draw, three of them literally say "Outcast: Draw a card", and the other two are instant damage to minions. Give Outcast to card generation effects, big demons, stuff like that. It really shouldn't be on anything cheaper than five mana, at least for a little bit.
It's a card that's overly specific and not that rewarding when it's pulled off. That's what makes it bad. Germination doesn't see very much play, and it's Soul Split without restrictions with an upside, in a class that literally loves cheating out big minions.
The crazy thing about Demon Hunter is that, aside from Soul Split, those aren't bad cards. They're just not supported enough or in the wrong meta. I lost to a guy that played Fel Summoner. I was playing Regis' dumb 'Literally No Minions' Demon Hunter, and I just had no way to remove it. I couldn't hit it with my face and still tank whatever came out. He just beat me to death with an 8/3.
I wasn't excited by getting a new class, I was more excited by seeing what a new class could get, if that makes sense. I knew the initial launch would be boring, but seeing how the class evolves is going to be extremely cool.
I'm of the opinion that DH's hero power was a large reason the class was so broken. Not because the effect is overpowered, but because they weren't designed around it. In an early interview, they literally said they settled on a 1 mana hero power three months before the announcement. The hero power they had for ages before then, probably during most of the card finalization, was 2 mana "Give your hero +1 Attack. Can be used twice each turn."
When Blizzard said they expected the original Skull of Gul'dan to be used in slower decks, they meant it. Same for every other insane card. They were testing the card in decks with a slower, methodical hero power. The class' power level wasn't properly adjusted for the sudden tempo shift halving their hero power's cost gave them.
I opened this brawl with a Big Priest that had Soothe (-2 Attack to a minion until your next turn 1 mana) and Stargazing, so I could lock down the opponent's early game and curve into my Rez stuff. I thought I seriously lucked out into one of the stronger combos. I actually won my first 3 games.
Then I ran into a Mage with Khadgar's hero power and all his spells costing health instead of mana. He coined the elemental and I lost on turn 1.
The only fight I lost even once was Mother Sharaz. It sounds like I just got somewhat lucky, but I'm still disappointed in how much of a cakewalk it was. I get that it's hard to design challenging AI fights now that cards are so powerful (I did Heroic Naxx recently and blew right through it), but this was particularly weak.
The Illidan fight was especially disappointing. He got me down to ~5, but I actually managed to stabilize with some lifesteal. Just as I was comfortably turning the fight around on my own... it just ended. What a lame anti-climax.
Here's hoping the challenge bosses are more interesting and, well, challenging.
I'm mostly interested to see what they do with Outcast. It's a neat mechanic, but it's lame that 4/6 cards that use it are literally just card draw.
Also, I love the identity of drawing lots of cards (it really gets the "agile" fantasy), but it dooms them to never having a value deck. I'd like something in the future to semi-reliably restock their deck, or just any slow value generation tool.
I love this brawl. I'm also always happy to see Demon Hunter available to play, 'cause that's the only way I'm getting my golden DH cards until they make an actual Control deck for them.
I hope the event doesn't push the next set announcement too far back. I'm hoping it's on the 8th. Saviors of Uldum's was right on July 1st (I watched that trailer during the Canada Day parade). I know AoO was pushed back and there is that little quarantine thing happening... but I like cards, okay?
Blizzard's form is correct. It's not past tense, it's a present tense condition referring to something in the past. I can have made a grammar mistake in a previous sentence, but I can't cast the spell unless I make a grammar mistake in a previous sentence (for example).
@MurlocAggroB, Very cool card, but I would tone down the Hero Power a little bit to be less powerful. Maybe get rid of the 4 health, or make it summon a 2/2 taunt and 3 health?
The hero power needs to be strong, since you're only using it 4 or less times, similar to how Demon Hunters are allowed to have 1 mana deal 5 twice. If it becomes meta, weapon removal is always a strong counter.
EDIT: Man, I wish this forum would just let me edit the HTML directly. The thing I'm trying to quote is hidden by a spoiler tag in the OP, so it's rendered invisible despite no text in my post denoting it.
The hero power is granted via an aura, so it lasts as long as the weapon does. Normal rules for hero power refreshing still apply. You have the choice to swing with a strong weapon, or hold it for more uses of the hero power.
The reason you see complaints is because the brawl is polarizing, and most people come to forums to complain, not compliment. If you liked the brawl passingly, would you have even commented on it? Probably not.
I also firmly believe the outright haters are the minority, where most people are either neutral on it or like it. I mean, why would Blizzard reprise this brawl every year if it wasn't liked? It's the same reason Crossroads and Randomonium get reprised so often - those are two of the most played brawls (as confirmed by Blizzard's internal statistics), and I suspect this is up there too.
Actual hated brawls are things like Banana Brawl or Unidentifibrawl, which have only been used once.
We had Captain Blackheart's Treasure a little under a month ago, which is basically a simplified version of this. That one you had a deck full of Pirates and Discovered cards instead of drawing. This brawl you have an ever-growing deck where everything in your hand and every card you play is shuffled into your deck and you redraw your hand every turn.
I said this before, but I honestly will give Blizz the benefit of the doubt when it comes to DH's initial balance. They legitimately did not expect them to have so much tempo, because of the hero power. For the better part of their development, until three months before the announcement, their hero was 2 mana "Give your hero +1 Attack this. Can be used twice each turn." Giving them a hero power with basically the same effect at half the cost suddenly pushed their tempo through the roof, and most of the cards were probably already past initial design.
Five mana Skull makes sense in a world where the deck was too heavy to guarantee the Outcast. Three durability Aldrachi makes sense when you were probably only swinging for two. 2/2 Battlefiend makes sense when you were paying twice the mana to give it +1 Attack. Five mana 10/10 Imprisoned Antaen (which it was during the streamer summit) makes sense when that was the big finisher.
I agree that the current hero power is more fun, unique, and useful than what they had before. They just strangled themselves with the deadline. Clearly, the class needed more than a year to design properly.
I will say, my solution for Outcast in heavier decks is simple. Make them too slow for aggro decks to use. Four of the cards are card draw, three of them literally say "Outcast: Draw a card", and the other two are instant damage to minions. Give Outcast to card generation effects, big demons, stuff like that. It really shouldn't be on anything cheaper than five mana, at least for a little bit.
It's a card that's overly specific and not that rewarding when it's pulled off. That's what makes it bad. Germination doesn't see very much play, and it's Soul Split without restrictions with an upside, in a class that literally loves cheating out big minions.
The crazy thing about Demon Hunter is that, aside from Soul Split, those aren't bad cards. They're just not supported enough or in the wrong meta. I lost to a guy that played Fel Summoner. I was playing Regis' dumb 'Literally No Minions' Demon Hunter, and I just had no way to remove it. I couldn't hit it with my face and still tank whatever came out. He just beat me to death with an 8/3.
I wasn't excited by getting a new class, I was more excited by seeing what a new class could get, if that makes sense. I knew the initial launch would be boring, but seeing how the class evolves is going to be extremely cool.
I'm of the opinion that DH's hero power was a large reason the class was so broken. Not because the effect is overpowered, but because they weren't designed around it. In an early interview, they literally said they settled on a 1 mana hero power three months before the announcement. The hero power they had for ages before then, probably during most of the card finalization, was 2 mana "Give your hero +1 Attack. Can be used twice each turn."
When Blizzard said they expected the original Skull of Gul'dan to be used in slower decks, they meant it. Same for every other insane card. They were testing the card in decks with a slower, methodical hero power. The class' power level wasn't properly adjusted for the sudden tempo shift halving their hero power's cost gave them.
I opened this brawl with a Big Priest that had Soothe (-2 Attack to a minion until your next turn 1 mana) and Stargazing, so I could lock down the opponent's early game and curve into my Rez stuff. I thought I seriously lucked out into one of the stronger combos. I actually won my first 3 games.
Then I ran into a Mage with Khadgar's hero power and all his spells costing health instead of mana. He coined the elemental and I lost on turn 1.
The only fight I lost even once was Mother Sharaz. It sounds like I just got somewhat lucky, but I'm still disappointed in how much of a cakewalk it was. I get that it's hard to design challenging AI fights now that cards are so powerful (I did Heroic Naxx recently and blew right through it), but this was particularly weak.
The Illidan fight was especially disappointing. He got me down to ~5, but I actually managed to stabilize with some lifesteal. Just as I was comfortably turning the fight around on my own... it just ended. What a lame anti-climax.
Here's hoping the challenge bosses are more interesting and, well, challenging.
You have the wrong list for Demon Hunters. They use Demon Crushers but the decklist you have is Classic Demon Hunter.
I'm mostly interested to see what they do with Outcast. It's a neat mechanic, but it's lame that 4/6 cards that use it are literally just card draw.
Also, I love the identity of drawing lots of cards (it really gets the "agile" fantasy), but it dooms them to never having a value deck. I'd like something in the future to semi-reliably restock their deck, or just any slow value generation tool.
Wow, this one is absolutely gorgeous. Big thumbs up.
I love this brawl. I'm also always happy to see Demon Hunter available to play, 'cause that's the only way I'm getting my golden DH cards until they make an actual Control deck for them.
I hope the event doesn't push the next set announcement too far back. I'm hoping it's on the 8th. Saviors of Uldum's was right on July 1st (I watched that trailer during the Canada Day parade). I know AoO was pushed back and there is that little quarantine thing happening... but I like cards, okay?
And then Alls*.
Blizzard's form is correct. It's not past tense, it's a present tense condition referring to something in the past. I can have made a grammar mistake in a previous sentence, but I can't cast the spell unless I make a grammar mistake in a previous sentence (for example).
I even had mine with single quotes originally, then I looked at Metamorphosis to double-check. Good job, Blizz.
The hero power needs to be strong, since you're only using it 4 or less times, similar to how Demon Hunters are allowed to have 1 mana deal 5 twice. If it becomes meta, weapon removal is always a strong counter.
EDIT: Man, I wish this forum would just let me edit the HTML directly. The thing I'm trying to quote is hidden by a spoiler tag in the OP, so it's rendered invisible despite no text in my post denoting it.
The hero power is granted via an aura, so it lasts as long as the weapon does. Normal rules for hero power refreshing still apply. You have the choice to swing with a strong weapon, or hold it for more uses of the hero power.
You've made a terrible mistake.