I took feedback from both of you in consideration and reworked Anub'arak to be a sort of self-healing Taunt similar to Cariel Roame, with the twist that it it can deal some damage, both passive and AoE. To compensate this, he cannot protect the same turn he heals, unlike Cariel. His final stats are a bit similar to hers, with a statline of 9/76.
I also wanted to incorporate a reference to HotS as linkblade suggested, so I replaced Crypt Lord Claws (which was redundant with the new Spiked Carapace) with Cocoon. This way, he can still slow down enemies in a more original and useful way.
Main issue now is that Infest doesn't feel inline with the rest of his playstyle, but he needs a way to Attack anyways, so I guess it's not a big deal.
I'll probably update stats of levels 15 and 30 tomorrow and rework Impale a little.
About Locust Swarm, I probably made it worse than it should've been because I feared AoE + healing was too much. Maybe 2-5-8-9-10 (like Samuro's AoE) would be more balanced?
I recently discovered there's a Mercenary tab in Hearthcards, and, since I've been playing Mercs recently, I wanted to create a custom character. It's mainly based on the Crypt Lord from Warcraft 3.
Skins
Stats at levels 1, 15 and 30.
The first skin is the default one.
Abilities
Infest
Improvements of every Infest level:
Infest 2: The Nerubian is a 6/6.
Infest 3: The Nerubian is a 8/8.
Infest 4: The Nerubian is a 10/10.
Infest 5: The Nerubian is a 12/12
Locust Swarm
Improvements of every Locus Swarm level:
Locust Swarm 2: Deals 4 damage.
Locust Swarm 3: Deals 6 damage.
Locust Swarm 4: Deals 7 damage.
Locust Swarm 5: Deals 8 damage.
Spiked Carapace
Improvements of every Spiked Carapace level:
Spiked Carapace 2: Bleed (2).
Spiked Carapace 3: Bleed (3).
Spiked Carapace 4: Bleed (4).
Spiked Carapace 5: Bleed (5).
Equipment
Spider Ring
Improvements of every Spider Ring level:
Spider Ring 2: Gives +4 Attack and Rush.
Spider Ring 3: Gives +6 Attack and Rush.
Spider Ring 4: Gives +8 Attack and Rush.
Cocoon
Improvements of every Cocoon level:
Cocoon 2: Reduce Speed by (2).
Cocoon 3: Reduce Speed by (3).
Cocoon 4: Reduce Speed by (4).
Carrion Talisman
Carrion Talisman cannot be upgraded, since it starts at level 4.
It's a card that might be interesting if it ever existed, but the way it works is pretty unintuitive, so I'd try something else.
linkblade91
I don't dislike the fact that the two forms are very distinct from one another, but maybe the Corrupted HP could have more to do with a Control playstyle. Maybe dealing damage to a minion? I don't know.
BasilAnguis
I think two turns of Immune are too dangerous, since you could buff the Forest Maiden on the first turn it can attack, especially since Druid has a good number of buff effects (probably the third class on this regard after Pally and Priest). I think 1 Dormant (and Immune) turn is enough.
Besides that, the idea is quite original, but a bit strange.
R
I don't mind bending class identity a little bit in this comp, but this is too much IMO. That effect screams Warlock to me.
AeroJulwin
Probably my favorite card so far. The effect just feels like a twisted version of Druid mechanics, which I think is the most interesting way to go for this comp.
I agree with Demon's criticism, so I decided to go for a new idea.
If regular Druid is about gaining Mana, evil Druid punishes your opponent for using theirs.
The first version is like Time Out!, in that you spend 3 Mana to prevent (or discourage) your opponent from doing something.
The legendary feels appropriate for this effect, but maybe it's too polarizing depending on whether your opponent can remove it cleanly or not, but I guess that can be said about a lot of cards.
I used "after" instead of "whenever" so that your enemy can still heal or gain Armor, but maybe the core idea is too toxic in itself. I don't know, it's a bit tricky, I think.
If I'm not mistaken, Satyrs are basically corrupted Night Elves, so I thought about implementing this mechanically. I put it in the mini set because the Corrupted version is a non-Warlock/DH Demon, which was kind of an Outlands only thing.
New iteration of my card. Since the effect requires you to perform a miracle turn to make it worthwhile, I figured out a 1 mana minion will be better.
AeroJulwin
I quite like this card. I guess it only shuffles one copy of each duplicate, right? For instance, if you have two Frostbolt, you'd get one extra (and not two).
R
I find the name a bit too descriptive, if that makes sense. Other than that, pretty cool effect.
anchorm4n
I find the effects a bit too strong, considering you don't need to pay any mana to get them. Besides that, the names don't seem appropriate for legendary cards. I would come up with fancy names that are still related to their respective element. Something like Flamus and Glacius but less lame lol
Thanks, everyone. I'll probably submit Swift Assassin, since it has had a better reception. I also like it better (even if the art from the other card is much cooler)
More feedback:
R
I like Wild Flame, but I don't think adjacent minions need to take double damage. Just 4 damage to 3 minions seems quite strong for 4.
I'd also change the name since the current one is too similar to Wildfire
Nirast
I agree Hail Storm is your better card. The Fire Combo part is a nice touch. My main issue is that the artwork isn't very good.
linkblade91
I really like the version that reveals a card. I could see it winning the comp.
My main issue is that it probably shouldn't be a Beast, since Astral Tiger isn't.
anchorm4n
Honestly, the cost reduction doesn't worry me as much as the fact that you can generate extra Fireballs with this card. With this two cards plus the regular Fireballs you can put in your deck, that's 24 face damage.
Demonxz95
The fact that it only targets cheap minions is a bit weird, but I guess it's necessary so that the card isn't broken. Other than that, seems fine.
I've had several ideas for this prompt, but none of them is particularly good. To avoid overloading this thread, I'll post the two I like the most.
Swift Assassin can be played without the Combo to clean small minions or with the combo to take on a big one. Nature spells in Rogue tend to be Poisons, so there's that.
Archmage's Scribe can potentially gain Spell Damage +3, but in order to do so, you need to play a lot of spells before it, which goes against what you want to do with a Spell Damage card, so you need to plan properly before playing it. The ideal scenario would be to play non-damaging spells like Arcane Intellect or Hot Streak before it. It also has synergy with Sorcerer's Gambit.
Feedback:
Me0203
Welcome to this subforum! It's always nice to see new faces.
Shadowfin Soulmancer is a bit tricky, since Soul Fragments are a thing from the Year of the Phoenix, before spell schools were introduced. Some people here tend to dislike this sort of inconsistencies, so I'd discard this idea. It's a shame, because it was quite solid otherwise.
Virulent Voidmancer is a bit on the bland side, but it seems quite balanced.
Finally, whether you decide to go with one card of another, you should definetly put an expansion watermark. If you have doubts about how to do this, you can ask for help :)
linkblade91
I would refrain from using uncommon class and school combinations. They're too hard to evaluate, since we lack context about the expansion they would be in.
That said, I think both have potential:
Nightmare Lord could easily be a Neutral card, since Shadow is the most wide-spread school (Warlock, Priest, DH and Rogue have access to it). If you decide to go with this route, I'd reduce the damage output to 2 and make the card cost 3.
Nightmare Servant is very cool and fitting for Druid, somewhat reminiscent of Gibberling. I'd change the spell school to Nature (while making the minion a Treant or something) or to Arcane (and the minion could be an astral animal, like the scout owl Tyrande used in Warcraft 3).
AeroJulwin
I really like Protector's Grace. Quite usable even without activating the Holy combo.
BasilAnguis
I like both of them, the usage of several schools fits both Mage and Priest.
I like how Kirin Tor Prodigy's effects are all very fitting of their spell school. I agree with Aerojulwin that it's a bit too strong, especially the Arcane Combo part.
Equilibrium, while simpler, also has a very flavorful baseline. I appreciate its yin-yang theme, in that the Shadow Combo gives a Holy spell and vice-versa. If you decide to go with it, an easy solution would be to make it a minion. Something like a 3 Mana 3/3 would be balanced, I think.
I excluded Monster Hunter, Rastakhan and Dalaran Heist because I didn't remember them having a lot of story, which is mostly what I'm evaluating here.
Besides that, I agree with you in most of what you said about TbFF and DoD. In fact, I put them at the bottom of the non-WoW raid Adventures (which I think are less interesting by the mere nature of them)
I've been recently playing the three latest installments of Hearthstone's Solo Adventures. While playing them, I found myself enjoying the story much more than I thought, since they usually tend to be pretty back-bones. So, I thought I could make a little ranking just for fun. Yeah, it's ranking, not a tier list. Sorry for the clickbait.
As a quick disclaimer, I'll be just evaluating the storytelling, not the gameplay. Thus, Dungeon Run-likes and Dr. Boom's Puzzles are excluded, since they don't have much story going on (even if some of them have nice character moments). Also, this is obviously just my opinion. If you disagree, I encourage you to give your own opinion in a civil way or even make your own ranking.
Finally, beware, because there will be plenty of spoilers for pretty much every Solo Adventure.
So, let's begin.
#10 - Knights of the Frozen Throne: Icecrown Citadel
Let's get this out of the way. The Adventures which just try to recreate raids from World of Warcraft are all going to be at the bottom of the ranking. In terms of story, they tend to be a boss rush with a small twist in the end, if so.
Out of all of them, I find Icecrown Citadel to be the most basic. Sure, most characters here are iconic, but they're not depicted in an interesting way.
The best thing about this Adventure is the class challenge against The Lich King, but since that's a gameplay element, it doesn't count for this tier list.
#9 - Blackrock Mountain
In terms of pure storytelling, this is probably the most interesting out of all the WoW raid Adventures. I mean, it has the whole betrayal of Victor Nefarius and stuff happens not just at the end of the story.
That said, it hasn't much else going for it. Sure, the Dark Iron Dwarves have a pretty entretaining personality, but that's about it.
#8 - One Night in Karazhan
This might be a bit controversial, since I remember most people hating the party theme of this adventure back in the day, but I really enjoyed it. Hearthstone has a flavor distinct from the rest of the Warcraft universe, and I think this expansion really helped to cement this identity.
I'd highlight the Barnes wing, which was very cool and imaginative.
#7 - Curse of Naxxramas
Hearthstone's debut Adventure makes the top of the raid-inspired story modes. Yeah, it's true, the story is as basic as it gets, but there's one thing that elevates this Adventure.
His Hearthstone personality is just so entretaining and sassy, I couldn't resist to put this on top. This is probably the first tonal departure Hearthstone had compared to the Warcraft universe, so, just like with Karazhan, you have to appreciate that.
#6 - Descent of Dragons: Galakrond's Awakening
I wouldn't be surprised if this was a fan favorite, but I honestly think there's too much going on here. As the conclusion of the experimental Year of the Dragon, this Adventure touches a lot of characters: the League of E.V.I.L., the League of Explorers, Karl and LennyGeorge, Kragg, Galakrond himself...
Sure, the conclusion of several arcs here is very satisfying (Reno and Karl/George come to mind), but I think I would've enjoyed it much more if this whole thing was a bit more focused.
In a way, this is like Hearthstone's Infinity War, a film which I don't personally enjoy as much as most people because of how many things it tries to focus on.
#5 - Ashes of Outlands: Trial by Felfire
In terms of pure storytelling, this is one of the strongest contenders in the whole ranking. Baduu leaving the group and later being brainwashed by the Rusted Legion was a very thrilling event. I also liked Aranna talking shit about her sister Elise, just to embrace her philosophy in the end. Sure, Illidan's final redemption was quite lame, but nobody is perfect.
Besides that, I also loved the flavor of assembling a group of Outcasts who help each other to survive (kinda like Aranna's own League of Explorers), even if the personality of none of them was particularly interesting.
So, why is this Adventure so low in the rank? Yeah, it's obviously the "talking in verse" gimmick. I guess they were trying to go for a shakesperean tragedy feel with this decision, but this whole thing is very optimistic for that. For a story which has its main characters' eyes replaced with demonic fireballs, it has a very feel-good and empathy-driven conclusion lol
In my opinion, this decision would've made way more sense for the Demon Hunter Prologue, since Illidan's story is quite tragic. Speaking of which...
#4 - Ashes of Outlands: Prologue
Even if in a pretty basic way, I think Illidan's fall from grace is pretty well told here. As I said above, this story's chain of misunderstandings has a very Greek/shakespearean tragedy flavor to them, in the sense that all issues are caused its protagonists' fatal flaws. Illidan's pride and power-hunger are obviously a pretty important part, but I like that the story also blames Malfurion's self-righteousness. All in all, pretty cool stuff.
#3 - Book of Heroes
I'm kinda surprised it took them so long to make this Adventure, since it's a pretty obvious move. Still, getting to know the background of these heroes we know from some long ago was pretty cool.
As someone whose main knowledge about the Warcraft universe comes from playing Warcraft III and reading the WoW Wiki, this story mode was pretty interesting. The stories told here had some familiarity, but I also discovered a lot of new information about Warcraft lore.
To be honest, this game mode is not without flaws. Some stories were not particularly well fit for being told in this fashion, which led to jarring time skips (ahem, Uther) or crucial character development being dispached with a short line of dialog.
Compared to something similar like the Demon Hunter Prologue, this is told in a more clumsy way, but, since this has more content, I decided to give it the upper hand.
#2 - The League of Explorers
We're the League! The Explorer's League! And we're a League of Explorers!
What's not to love here? Mysterious settings, thrilling adventures, ancient artifacts and memorable characters. All four members of the League and Rafaam are awesome and iconic. Sure, the story is a bit formulaic and mcguffin-y, but it's pretty entretaining (it's also very fitting that it's plot is structured like the first Indiana Jones movie).
This was the very first Hearthstone original story, which focused on (mostly) Hearthstone original characters. In a way, this is also the first expansion that feels like modern Hearthstone, so that alone makes it very important for the game as a whole.
But most crucially, it still holds up to this day as one of Hearthstone's best Adventures, at least in terms of story and characters.
#1 - Book of Mercenaries
I know this game mode isn't finished by now, but my god! The Stormwind battle, with Tamsin and Cariel's chapters is easily the most endearing story Hearthstone has ever told. Their relationship is so well done not just for Hearthstone, but for Warcraft in general. Cornelius' characterization as a strict father, just to end up like he does, and the way Cariel reacts to it. Awesome stuff.
I'll admit that I was pretty disapointed by the first two episodes (especially Rokara's), but the overarching story keeps ramping in a very well crafted way. Honestly, the final Alterac segment would need to flop incredibly hard for me to put this on second place.
And this was my ranking. I'd like to know your opinions or even your own personal rankings.
Two variations of a new idea (which I like much more than my previous cards):
It's a bit of a foreshadowing of Honorable Kill in the previous expansion, since it encourages you to not waste excess damage.
I'd like to know if you think cost and damage are well ajusted and whether you prefer it to affect your whole hand or a single card. Not sure if the wording is 100% right, either.
Feedback time:
Demon
First of all, sorry for publishing a new card right after you gave feedback on my first batch heh
About your cards, I think Nashura the Breeder is your best one. I appreciate her design, similar to Kirin Tor Tricaster, and her strong flavor.
Skull Golem is quite elegant, but I'm afraid it's too clunky. Even with the Taunt, it's works kinda similarly to Forbidden Ancient, which wasn't very good.
Finally, Clock Tower Guard is too similar Mana Wraith, which wasn't a very interesting card from a gameplay perspective.
Basil
I think it's too complex. I might not be the sharpest tool in the box, but I had to read the text a couple times to know what it does.
R
I really like the callback to Justicar Trueheart, but the effect is way too strong. I'd either make her effect a Battlecry, make the cost increase permanent or nerf her stats. I'd probably go with the two later approaches at the same time.
anchor
I really enjoy the crazy concept and the flavor. Maybe some people will find this too crazy, but I like it nonetheless.
All 10 artworks are superb, but I specially appreciate the one with the Demon Hunter burning the pizza.
I wish Blizzard started doing this sort of flavor for the class more often, because, so far, they have had a very straightforward DH theming with not much relation to the featured expansion. Biggest outlier here would be Darkmoon, which had a nice acrobatics theme going on.
The wording is a bit too convoluted, but the effect itself is interesting and very fitting for Warlock. I guess the statline is alright, because the effect is pretty hard to make use of effectively and can be quite damaging to yourself in certain situations.
linkblade91
It's nice, but a bit too complex and has a bit of a flavor problem (as it stands right now, it's hard not to think about undeads instead of Elementals). I'd probably drop the statline part and make the tokens fixed 2/3 or 3/3, which would probably fix both problems.
Aerojulwin
I really like both. Fierce Cub is very simple and elegant, but Charon is also very cool. It might be that I'm a sucker for Hero Power Mage, but I'd say I prefer Charon.
grumpymonk
Vendetta shares its name with an existing card (Vendetta), but it's otherwise your best idea. I really like how it makes you think if you want to activate the Combo or not. Very interesting design choice indeed.
DestroyerR
Since Blizzard said they will be recycling old keywords in the future, I don't think your card is too problematic. In fact, I think the way it uses both keywords is quite smart.
That said, it's a bit too weak right now. I'd either give it Rush or reduce the cost to 3 Mana.
I took feedback from both of you in consideration and reworked Anub'arak to be a sort of self-healing Taunt similar to Cariel Roame, with the twist that it it can deal some damage, both passive and AoE. To compensate this, he cannot protect the same turn he heals, unlike Cariel. His final stats are a bit similar to hers, with a statline of 9/76.
I also wanted to incorporate a reference to HotS as linkblade suggested, so I replaced Crypt Lord Claws (which was redundant with the new Spiked Carapace) with Cocoon. This way, he can still slow down enemies in a more original and useful way.
Main issue now is that Infest doesn't feel inline with the rest of his playstyle, but he needs a way to Attack anyways, so I guess it's not a big deal.
Thanks for your feedback.
I'll probably update stats of levels 15 and 30 tomorrow and rework Impale a little.
About Locust Swarm, I probably made it worse than it should've been because I feared AoE + healing was too much. Maybe 2-5-8-9-10 (like Samuro's AoE) would be more balanced?
I recently discovered there's a Mercenary tab in Hearthcards, and, since I've been playing Mercs recently, I wanted to create a custom character. It's mainly based on the Crypt Lord from Warcraft 3.
Skins
Stats at levels 1, 15 and 30.
The first skin is the default one.
Abilities
Equipment
I also prefer the previous version.
Feedback, as promised.
Besides that, the idea is quite original, but a bit strange.
I agree with Demon's criticism, so I decided to go for a new idea.
If regular Druid is about gaining Mana, evil Druid punishes your opponent for using theirs.
The first version is like Time Out!, in that you spend 3 Mana to prevent (or discourage) your opponent from doing something.
The legendary feels appropriate for this effect, but maybe it's too polarizing depending on whether your opponent can remove it cleanly or not, but I guess that can be said about a lot of cards.
I used "after" instead of "whenever" so that your enemy can still heal or gain Armor, but maybe the core idea is too toxic in itself. I don't know, it's a bit tricky, I think.
I'll try giving feedback later.
Congrats, Mefist! Very cool card.
(Btw, I have lost count of the times I've been the runner up this season XD)
If I'm not mistaken, Satyrs are basically corrupted Night Elves, so I thought about implementing this mechanically. I put it in the mini set because the Corrupted version is a non-Warlock/DH Demon, which was kind of an Outlands only thing.
New iteration of my card. Since the effect requires you to perform a miracle turn to make it worthwhile, I figured out a 1 mana minion will be better.
Thanks, everyone. I'll probably submit Swift Assassin, since it has had a better reception. I also like it better (even if the art from the other card is much cooler)
More feedback:
I'd also change the name since the current one is too similar to Wildfire
My main issue is that it probably shouldn't be a Beast, since Astral Tiger isn't.
The flavor connection between Cast When Drawn and unwrapping gifts is solid enough, right?
I've had several ideas for this prompt, but none of them is particularly good. To avoid overloading this thread, I'll post the two I like the most.
Swift Assassin can be played without the Combo to clean small minions or with the combo to take on a big one. Nature spells in Rogue tend to be Poisons, so there's that.
Archmage's Scribe can potentially gain Spell Damage +3, but in order to do so, you need to play a lot of spells before it, which goes against what you want to do with a Spell Damage card, so you need to plan properly before playing it. The ideal scenario would be to play non-damaging spells like Arcane Intellect or Hot Streak before it. It also has synergy with Sorcerer's Gambit.
Feedback:
Shadowfin Soulmancer is a bit tricky, since Soul Fragments are a thing from the Year of the Phoenix, before spell schools were introduced. Some people here tend to dislike this sort of inconsistencies, so I'd discard this idea. It's a shame, because it was quite solid otherwise.
Virulent Voidmancer is a bit on the bland side, but it seems quite balanced.
Finally, whether you decide to go with one card of another, you should definetly put an expansion watermark. If you have doubts about how to do this, you can ask for help :)
That said, I think both have potential:
I like how Kirin Tor Prodigy's effects are all very fitting of their spell school. I agree with Aerojulwin that it's a bit too strong, especially the Arcane Combo part.
Equilibrium, while simpler, also has a very flavorful baseline. I appreciate its yin-yang theme, in that the Shadow Combo gives a Holy spell and vice-versa. If you decide to go with it, an easy solution would be to make it a minion. Something like a 3 Mana 3/3 would be balanced, I think.
I excluded Monster Hunter, Rastakhan and Dalaran Heist because I didn't remember them having a lot of story, which is mostly what I'm evaluating here.
Besides that, I agree with you in most of what you said about TbFF and DoD. In fact, I put them at the bottom of the non-WoW raid Adventures (which I think are less interesting by the mere nature of them)
Greetings, travelers.
I've been recently playing the three latest installments of Hearthstone's Solo Adventures. While playing them, I found myself enjoying the story much more than I thought, since they usually tend to be pretty back-bones. So, I thought I could make a little ranking just for fun. Yeah, it's ranking, not a tier list. Sorry for the clickbait.
As a quick disclaimer, I'll be just evaluating the storytelling, not the gameplay. Thus, Dungeon Run-likes and Dr. Boom's Puzzles are excluded, since they don't have much story going on (even if some of them have nice character moments). Also, this is obviously just my opinion. If you disagree, I encourage you to give your own opinion in a civil way or even make your own ranking.
Finally, beware, because there will be plenty of spoilers for pretty much every Solo Adventure.
So, let's begin.
#10 - Knights of the Frozen Throne: Icecrown Citadel
Let's get this out of the way. The Adventures which just try to recreate raids from World of Warcraft are all going to be at the bottom of the ranking. In terms of story, they tend to be a boss rush with a small twist in the end, if so.
Out of all of them, I find Icecrown Citadel to be the most basic. Sure, most characters here are iconic, but they're not depicted in an interesting way.
The best thing about this Adventure is the class challenge against The Lich King, but since that's a gameplay element, it doesn't count for this tier list.
#9 - Blackrock Mountain
In terms of pure storytelling, this is probably the most interesting out of all the WoW raid Adventures. I mean, it has the whole betrayal of Victor Nefarius and stuff happens not just at the end of the story.
That said, it hasn't much else going for it. Sure, the Dark Iron Dwarves have a pretty entretaining personality, but that's about it.
#8 - One Night in Karazhan
This might be a bit controversial, since I remember most people hating the party theme of this adventure back in the day, but I really enjoyed it. Hearthstone has a flavor distinct from the rest of the Warcraft universe, and I think this expansion really helped to cement this identity.
I'd highlight the Barnes wing, which was very cool and imaginative.
#7 - Curse of Naxxramas
Hearthstone's debut Adventure makes the top of the raid-inspired story modes. Yeah, it's true, the story is as basic as it gets, but there's one thing that elevates this Adventure.
Yeah, it's obviously Kel'Thuzad.
His Hearthstone personality is just so entretaining and sassy, I couldn't resist to put this on top. This is probably the first tonal departure Hearthstone had compared to the Warcraft universe, so, just like with Karazhan, you have to appreciate that.
#6 - Descent of Dragons: Galakrond's Awakening
I wouldn't be surprised if this was a fan favorite, but I honestly think there's too much going on here. As the conclusion of the experimental Year of the Dragon, this Adventure touches a lot of characters: the League of E.V.I.L., the League of Explorers, Karl and Lenny George, Kragg, Galakrond himself...
Sure, the conclusion of several arcs here is very satisfying (Reno and Karl/George come to mind), but I think I would've enjoyed it much more if this whole thing was a bit more focused.
In a way, this is like Hearthstone's Infinity War, a film which I don't personally enjoy as much as most people because of how many things it tries to focus on.
#5 - Ashes of Outlands: Trial by Felfire
In terms of pure storytelling, this is one of the strongest contenders in the whole ranking. Baduu leaving the group and later being brainwashed by the Rusted Legion was a very thrilling event. I also liked Aranna talking shit about her sister Elise, just to embrace her philosophy in the end. Sure, Illidan's final redemption was quite lame, but nobody is perfect.
Besides that, I also loved the flavor of assembling a group of Outcasts who help each other to survive (kinda like Aranna's own League of Explorers), even if the personality of none of them was particularly interesting.
So, why is this Adventure so low in the rank? Yeah, it's obviously the "talking in verse" gimmick. I guess they were trying to go for a shakesperean tragedy feel with this decision, but this whole thing is very optimistic for that. For a story which has its main characters' eyes replaced with demonic fireballs, it has a very feel-good and empathy-driven conclusion lol
In my opinion, this decision would've made way more sense for the Demon Hunter Prologue, since Illidan's story is quite tragic. Speaking of which...
#4 - Ashes of Outlands: Prologue
Even if in a pretty basic way, I think Illidan's fall from grace is pretty well told here. As I said above, this story's chain of misunderstandings has a very Greek/shakespearean tragedy flavor to them, in the sense that all issues are caused its protagonists' fatal flaws. Illidan's pride and power-hunger are obviously a pretty important part, but I like that the story also blames Malfurion's self-righteousness. All in all, pretty cool stuff.
#3 - Book of Heroes
I'm kinda surprised it took them so long to make this Adventure, since it's a pretty obvious move. Still, getting to know the background of these heroes we know from some long ago was pretty cool.
As someone whose main knowledge about the Warcraft universe comes from playing Warcraft III and reading the WoW Wiki, this story mode was pretty interesting. The stories told here had some familiarity, but I also discovered a lot of new information about Warcraft lore.
To be honest, this game mode is not without flaws. Some stories were not particularly well fit for being told in this fashion, which led to jarring time skips (ahem, Uther) or crucial character development being dispached with a short line of dialog.
Compared to something similar like the Demon Hunter Prologue, this is told in a more clumsy way, but, since this has more content, I decided to give it the upper hand.
#2 - The League of Explorers
We're the League! The Explorer's League! And we're a League of Explorers!
What's not to love here? Mysterious settings, thrilling adventures, ancient artifacts and memorable characters. All four members of the League and Rafaam are awesome and iconic. Sure, the story is a bit formulaic and mcguffin-y, but it's pretty entretaining (it's also very fitting that it's plot is structured like the first Indiana Jones movie).
This was the very first Hearthstone original story, which focused on (mostly) Hearthstone original characters. In a way, this is also the first expansion that feels like modern Hearthstone, so that alone makes it very important for the game as a whole.
But most crucially, it still holds up to this day as one of Hearthstone's best Adventures, at least in terms of story and characters.
#1 - Book of Mercenaries
I know this game mode isn't finished by now, but my god! The Stormwind battle, with Tamsin and Cariel's chapters is easily the most endearing story Hearthstone has ever told. Their relationship is so well done not just for Hearthstone, but for Warcraft in general. Cornelius' characterization as a strict father, just to end up like he does, and the way Cariel reacts to it. Awesome stuff.
I'll admit that I was pretty disapointed by the first two episodes (especially Rokara's), but the overarching story keeps ramping in a very well crafted way. Honestly, the final Alterac segment would need to flop incredibly hard for me to put this on second place.
And this was my ranking. I'd like to know your opinions or even your own personal rankings.
See you around :)
Two variations of a new idea (which I like much more than my previous cards):
It's a bit of a foreshadowing of Honorable Kill in the previous expansion, since it encourages you to not waste excess damage.
I'd like to know if you think cost and damage are well ajusted and whether you prefer it to affect your whole hand or a single card. Not sure if the wording is 100% right, either.
Feedback time:
About your cards, I think Nashura the Breeder is your best one. I appreciate her design, similar to Kirin Tor Tricaster, and her strong flavor.
Skull Golem is quite elegant, but I'm afraid it's too clunky. Even with the Taunt, it's works kinda similarly to Forbidden Ancient, which wasn't very good.
Finally, Clock Tower Guard is too similar Mana Wraith, which wasn't a very interesting card from a gameplay perspective.
From zero to hero.
A bit of an endgame card for Rise to the Occasion.
Edit: New card.
All 10 artworks are superb, but I specially appreciate the one with the Demon Hunter burning the pizza.
I wish Blizzard started doing this sort of flavor for the class more often, because, so far, they have had a very straightforward DH theming with not much relation to the featured expansion. Biggest outlier here would be Darkmoon, which had a nice acrobatics theme going on.
Feedback:
That said, it's a bit too weak right now. I'd either give it Rush or reduce the cost to 3 Mana.
Congrats, Destroyer!
First couple ideas.