Yeah, this is being a very slow week. I haven't had as much time as usual, but I managed to finally write some feedback:
Demonxz95
I think I prefer Shadowball, but it's only by a small margin. I really like how Echo and Overkill interact and I don't mind the powercreep too much, especially since this mini set is supposed to be launched in the present time (and the two cards aren't for the same class).
Dungeoneer Casori is also very cool, especially considering the fact you also upgrade her. It's funny, I also made a Rogue legendary that burgled legendary spells in my Boomsday miniset.
Overall, both cards are very solid in terms of mechanics and I'd probably rate them with 5 stars (or 4 if there are too many cards I really like).
linkblade91
I like Twilight Shepherd a quite a lot, the way you buff him is very creative and really fits DK. You also made the right choice with the mana Cost. The only nitpick I have is the Shepherd part of the name (it's not a Priest card, even if he belongs to a cult), but maybe I'm missing something.
Monica Dreadguard is also fine, but I don't like her as much as your other card (despite sharing her name with my fiancee lol). I like that her Inspire effect is so tied to the Warlock HP, but that makes me wonder what would happen if another class randomly generated her (I guess she'd be a vanilla minion). Finally, I think she would work better as a non legendary minion, because her effect isn't too flashy.
BasilAnguis
Unidentified Mummy was my favorite card, but it cannot participate because of the token limit Demon mentioned.
That leaves us with The Worgen Curse. I'd like to suggest it should be a legendary because of flavor reasons, but that would make it less consistent, so I don't know.
Finally, you should use the the mini-set watermark, which can be found in the "custom" part of Hearthcards. It's at the bottom of the watermarks, bc they were the first to be added.
cydonianknight
The base idea is cool and the artwork makes the card very neat. However, its a bit boring as is.
To make it more nuanced, I'd suggest giving it Rush and making one of the following things:
Making the cost discount a Combo effect.
Keeping the discount as a Battlecry but making the Echo part a Combo effect.
Rising its cost to 4.
Neoguli
Bonedrake Ritual is my favorite card, but it can't participate because it's from a set that already has a miniset.
About the others, I think I prefer Flameguard Protector, but I'm not sure if everyone will appreciate its gimmick.
Suffocating Lullaby is cool too, but it should either be a pure class card (I'd go for Priest) or use the Scholomance watermark.
Alfi
Not a huge fan, honestly. It doesn't fit TGT in terms of flavor and it's only tangencially related mechanically. Also, the effect is probably detrimental most of the time, as you're removing cheap cards from your opponent's deck, making their draws better on average.
BloodMefist
Aethas Sunreaver is probably my favorite, but you should listen to other people who are better at balancing than me if the card isn't too dangerous in some way.
EVIL Propagandist is good too, although it doesn't push the Lackey mechanic in unexpected ways, like minisets often do. If you go with it, keep in mind the word "hero" shouldn't be capitalized. I'd also recommend making it Rise of Shadows mini set, as the name makes more sense in a city than in a desert.
The Cambrian is a geological period when biodiversity really exploded and complex organisms started to thrive. I figured out a mini-set based on other extinct animals would make sense. The reward is based on the dunkleosteus, a huge predator fish (which lived in a posterior period, but whatever).
In terms of mechanics, it provides a Neutral Quest (just like Throne of the Tides had Neutral Colossals) and uses the new keyword Adaption, which complements Adapt.
I think this might be a bit too weak, so I might change it so that all summoned minions get the Adaption; or that it gives other minions the two Adaption you didn't pick instead of the one you picked; or both.
This competition can be a bit of a strange, but I think there are several ways to make an interesting card:
Combine expansion-exclusive mechanics and themes with classes and evergreen keywords that didn't exist back then. How would a Portal spell from ONiK look in Death Knight? Is there an interesting idea that combines Rush and Spare Parts?
Expand the design space of expansion exclusive mechanics. You can even create complementary keywords, just like The Deadmines created Trade to complement Tradable (as in Blackwater Cutlass).
Combine mechanics from several expansions in the same year, in case you're designing a card for the last set of the year.
In terms of flavor, you can try something that differs just a little from the main expansion, like Nathria went from a whodunnit in Revendreth to a judicial drama in the Maw. You can also barely change the flavor (like Throne of the Tides) or change it a lot (like Onyxia's Lair), but I think the sweet spot lies in the middle.
I'll try to post my first ideas tomorrow, but I wanted to share these general advices first.
I'll finally go with Living Typhoon, as people seemed to prefer it over Calia unanimously.
I'm still not sure about balance, though. It seems very weak right now, but giving it stat points seems too much. Maybe a 4/4 statline is okay? It would help to trigger Overkill and I don't want to go for Honorable Kill because it doesn't fit the flavor as much.
Feedback:
linkblade91
I see you already submitted. Very cool card, which also has a good shot at winning.
Demonxz95
Both are solid cards.
If you go for Thunderaan, I'd make it simply use Mega-Windfury and maybe make it cost 6 (you can also give it +1 Health if you do this). Also, maybe it should be a Shaman card?
With this change, I'd prefer Thunderaan, but if you're not comfortable using Mega-Windfury, Raptor is also good (even if I'm a bit triggered to see a Raptor that doesn't use the 3/2 statline lol).
Aerojulwin
I like its simplicity, but it's too much as a Neutral card. For instance, Druid can pull 10 damage for 0 Mana using this and Moonfire. Remember Malygos Druid was a thing for many years, and two Arcane Lilies are almost as strong as him but cost no Mana.
I'd recommend either reducing its Spell Damage to 1 or making it a Mage card, as this class doesn't have too many Arcane spells that can go face.
Me0203
I'd go with Nutty Buddy for sure, even if I'm not a huge fan of its name. I'd love Blizzard to experiment with Overload conditions a bit more, as all existing cards trigger when the card is played.
machadogps
I see you already submitted, but this card is too strong. Spell Damage +2 is too much for a 1 drop, especially one with premium stats and another effect on top.
R
Your comment made my day xD
I'd say it needs the word "Gain". Maybe Choose One is debatable, but even then I'm inclined to say it needs the word.
BasilAnguis
I didn't realize Choose Twice didn't use the word "or" like Choose One does. Good call! Even then, I'm not sure if its wording is consistent, as it probably needs the word "Gain".
If it is allowed, however, I really enjoy its concept, but I'd do a couple things to improve it:
Make it a legendary as you said.
Correct a minor spelling error: you should end the text with a full stop (.) instead of a semicolon (;).
Get rid of the "Spellburst: Adapt" part. It adds needless complexity and the card is strong enough without it. Also, doing this would leave Echo as the only cross-expansion keyword (which will probably become evergreen sooner or later, now that there's precedent for it).
Are numbers allowed? For instance, for keywords like Overload or Manathirst.
Unrelated to this question, here's my card:
Calia Menethil is Arthas' young sister and a particular type of Undead: instead of being resurrected with dark magic, she did it using her faith in the Light. I don't remember much else about her, but I'll make sure to read her Wiki page if I end up submitting her.
Edit: Inspired by Demon's ideas, here's Living Typhoon. Not sure about the right way to balance it, though.
I've submitted considering all feedback you guys gave. That said, some feedback of my own:
Me0203
As many people have pointed out, your cards don't qualify. However, I think you could combine both ideas in a Amalgam Legendary with the following text:
Battlecry: If your deck contains exactly two minion types, give both types to all minions in your hand, deck and battlefield.
It should have vanilla stats, as it's not a very strong effect. Alternatively, you can make it so that it also gives +1/+1.
BasilAnguis
The new artwork looks much better. The textbox is too crammed, but I don't think you can write this effect in a less wordy way (I tried).
New idea. Still not 100% sold on it, but I think it's better than my previous ones.
Feedback:
linkblade91
I think the effect is the most interesting and "neat" so far; and the flavor works is on point for the tribes involved.
Regarding balance, my initial feeling is that it's too cheap, but you need a lot of preparation for it to work, and power level nowadays is a lot higher than when I used to play. So I guess it's fine? Dunno, listen to other people in this regard.
Neoguli
Flavor isn't very lore-appropriate. My main suggestion would be to drop the Naga tag, similar to how [Hearthstone Card (Dragonsnap) Not Found] is classified as just Beast (and not Naga-Beast). Not a fan of the art, either.
Demonxz95
Hey, I uploaded that watermark to Hearthcards! I love seeing it used!
I like the effect of triggering Battlecries from your hand and I think 7 Mana is quite appropriate, given how strong the effect can be. That said, it makes me wonder a couple things:
Do effects that target the user (like Twilight Guardian's) taget Constellos instead?
If you're only holding a single Dragon and it has a "hold a Dragon" requirement (again, like Twilight Guardian), does it count itself and always triggers?
I'm guessing the answer for these is yes in both cases, but I wanted to know.
Aerojulwin
Not a fan of Eversong Reanimater, as it's very similar to Scourge Tamer and I like that one better. However, if you decide to go with it I'd change the artwork. MotLK depicts a clash between the high elves and the undead, so it's weird to have an elf character who sinergizes with Undead.
Regarding Captain Shivers, I think it's your better card and I like it quite a lot. I like how it can be used with just Pirates or just Undead, but it's much better if you combine both (what I tried with Deadmoon Raider, but much better executed).
moondreamer
Definetly the most flavorful card of the bunch and good candidate for winning. I think you could probably increase the buff to +3/+3, as that's the baseline for buff cards like Blessing of Kings. The art should probably depict a Dragon eating an animal or something (I like this one, and it fits Hearthstone artstyle quite well, even if it's not 100%)
anchorm4n
The effect is cool, but I have no idea what the flavor could be. Maybe a name contrasting nature and artificial stuff? I don't know.
BasilAnguis
The artwork isn't the best, as it looks like a WoW screenshot, but the effect has very interesting gameplay. I like how the first Dragon you infuse has its effect guaranteed by virtue of Raszagethbeing an Elemental, but you need to keep playing Elementals to maintain the effect.
I think 3 damage isn't too much, as you need to do a lot of heavy lifting to maintain the chain going. Plus, 2 damage AoE is very weak at turn 6, even if you can potentially go infinite.
@linkblade91 I totally get that and, yeah, it might be a good thing. Sorry if I was too negative. It's awesome you're trying new things.
About Deadmoon Raider, I wanted it to be a discount Restless Mummy if you had the two tribes, but I didn't realize you could go infinite. I guess I'm a bit rusty, since it's the first (ish) comp of the season 😅 I know I could achieve this effect if I make the Rush passive and the Reborn a Battlecry, but it feels very unintuitive this way.
I'm gonna say I don't particularly like the idea of giving a prize, physical or otherwise. I think it makes the whole thing more competitive and the best thing of this comps is how casual they feel, despite the excellent general quality of the cards.
Anyways, here's my first ideas for this comp:
Don't know if Amethos should only count unique Totems instead of all copies like it currently does.
Deadmoon Raidermight be better as a Neutral, as I'm not sure if the effect fits Rogue, even if the tribes do.
Edit: changed Deadmoon Raider to a Battlecry instead of a passive effect according to linkblade's feedback.
I'd love to have a new comp season, but of course the personal life of the organizers comes first.
Regarding the changes to the voting system, I think I'd prefer to wait only if the halt for this reason isn't too long. I'd also like to join Aero in their question about doing a season while the new system is being developed. I guess this should be possible as long as there are different people involved in both development and comp organizing, as it would probably take too much time otherwise (and as I said, personal time always comes first).
Finally, I don't care too much about big comps, but I'd probably participate if there's ever one.
I haven't read the full article, but I really hope they bring back the old Death Knight card border. The current one is just a recolor of the Warrior one, which is not great for colorblind people.
I like how experimental some of the cards are, especially Mirage Magician and Gaze of the Shadows and Hand of Defiance.
There are some minor spelling mistakes and a card that doesn't feel like it belongs to its class (Living Pyramid; maybe if it had Reborn instead of Divine Shield it would be less glaring?), but very good job overall.
Yeah, I've seen it 🥲 I guess I'll go with one card from my Boomsday miniset, but it's kinda annoying.
EDIT: I ended going with Learning Machine.
Yeah, this is being a very slow week. I haven't had as much time as usual, but I managed to finally write some feedback:
Dungeoneer Casori is also very cool, especially considering the fact you also upgrade her. It's funny, I also made a Rogue legendary that burgled legendary spells in my Boomsday miniset.
Overall, both cards are very solid in terms of mechanics and I'd probably rate them with 5 stars (or 4 if there are too many cards I really like).
Monica Dreadguard is also fine, but I don't like her as much as your other card (despite sharing her name with my fiancee lol). I like that her Inspire effect is so tied to the Warlock HP, but that makes me wonder what would happen if another class randomly generated her (I guess she'd be a vanilla minion). Finally, I think she would work better as a non legendary minion, because her effect isn't too flashy.
That leaves us with The Worgen Curse. I'd like to suggest it should be a legendary because of flavor reasons, but that would make it less consistent, so I don't know.
Finally, you should use the the mini-set watermark, which can be found in the "custom" part of Hearthcards. It's at the bottom of the watermarks, bc they were the first to be added.
To make it more nuanced, I'd suggest giving it Rush and making one of the following things:
About the others, I think I prefer Flameguard Protector, but I'm not sure if everyone will appreciate its gimmick.
Suffocating Lullaby is cool too, but it should either be a pure class card (I'd go for Priest) or use the Scholomance watermark.
EVIL Propagandist is good too, although it doesn't push the Lackey mechanic in unexpected ways, like minisets often do. If you go with it, keep in mind the word "hero" shouldn't be capitalized. I'd also recommend making it Rise of Shadows mini set, as the name makes more sense in a city than in a desert.
Here's my first idea.
The Cambrian is a geological period when biodiversity really exploded and complex organisms started to thrive. I figured out a mini-set based on other extinct animals would make sense. The reward is based on the dunkleosteus, a huge predator fish (which lived in a posterior period, but whatever).
In terms of mechanics, it provides a Neutral Quest (just like Throne of the Tides had Neutral Colossals) and uses the new keyword Adaption, which complements Adapt.
I think this might be a bit too weak, so I might change it so that all summoned minions get the Adaption; or that it gives other minions the two Adaption you didn't pick instead of the one you picked; or both.
Congrats!
(I finally understood Nutty Buddy was a triple pun lol)
This competition can be a bit of a strange, but I think there are several ways to make an interesting card:
In terms of flavor, you can try something that differs just a little from the main expansion, like Nathria went from a whodunnit in Revendreth to a judicial drama in the Maw. You can also barely change the flavor (like Throne of the Tides) or change it a lot (like Onyxia's Lair), but I think the sweet spot lies in the middle.
I'll try to post my first ideas tomorrow, but I wanted to share these general advices first.
I'll finally go with Living Typhoon, as people seemed to prefer it over Calia unanimously.
I'm still not sure about balance, though. It seems very weak right now, but giving it stat points seems too much. Maybe a 4/4 statline is okay? It would help to trigger Overkill and I don't want to go for Honorable Kill because it doesn't fit the flavor as much.
Feedback:
If you go for Thunderaan, I'd make it simply use Mega-Windfury and maybe make it cost 6 (you can also give it +1 Health if you do this). Also, maybe it should be a Shaman card?
With this change, I'd prefer Thunderaan, but if you're not comfortable using Mega-Windfury, Raptor is also good (even if I'm a bit triggered to see a Raptor that doesn't use the 3/2 statline lol).
I'd recommend either reducing its Spell Damage to 1 or making it a Mage card, as this class doesn't have too many Arcane spells that can go face.
I'd say it needs the word "Gain". Maybe Choose One is debatable, but even then I'm inclined to say it needs the word.
If it is allowed, however, I really enjoy its concept, but I'd do a couple things to improve it:
I didn't expect to win. Thanks!
And congrats to Nobudy! Very cool card!
Are numbers allowed? For instance, for keywords like Overload or Manathirst.
Unrelated to this question, here's my card:
Calia Menethil is Arthas' young sister and a particular type of Undead: instead of being resurrected with dark magic, she did it using her faith in the Light. I don't remember much else about her, but I'll make sure to read her Wiki page if I end up submitting her.
Edit: Inspired by Demon's ideas, here's Living Typhoon. Not sure about the right way to balance it, though.
I've submitted considering all feedback you guys gave. That said, some feedback of my own:
Battlecry: If your deck contains exactly two minion types, give both types to all minions in your hand, deck and battlefield.
It should have vanilla stats, as it's not a very strong effect. Alternatively, you can make it so that it also gives +1/+1.
New idea. Still not 100% sold on it, but I think it's better than my previous ones.
Feedback:
Regarding balance, my initial feeling is that it's too cheap, but you need a lot of preparation for it to work, and power level nowadays is a lot higher than when I used to play. So I guess it's fine? Dunno, listen to other people in this regard.
I like the effect of triggering Battlecries from your hand and I think 7 Mana is quite appropriate, given how strong the effect can be. That said, it makes me wonder a couple things:
I'm guessing the answer for these is yes in both cases, but I wanted to know.
Regarding Captain Shivers, I think it's your better card and I like it quite a lot. I like how it can be used with just Pirates or just Undead, but it's much better if you combine both (what I tried with Deadmoon Raider, but much better executed).
I think 3 damage isn't too much, as you need to do a lot of heavy lifting to maintain the chain going. Plus, 2 damage AoE is very weak at turn 6, even if you can potentially go infinite.
@linkblade91 I totally get that and, yeah, it might be a good thing. Sorry if I was too negative. It's awesome you're trying new things.
About Deadmoon Raider, I wanted it to be a discount Restless Mummy if you had the two tribes, but I didn't realize you could go infinite. I guess I'm a bit rusty, since it's the first (ish) comp of the season 😅 I know I could achieve this effect if I make the Rush passive and the Reborn a Battlecry, but it feels very unintuitive this way.
I'm gonna say I don't particularly like the idea of giving a prize, physical or otherwise. I think it makes the whole thing more competitive and the best thing of this comps is how casual they feel, despite the excellent general quality of the cards.
Anyways, here's my first ideas for this comp:
Don't know if Amethos should only count unique Totems instead of all copies like it currently does.
Deadmoon Raider might be better as a Neutral, as I'm not sure if the effect fits Rogue, even if the tribes do.
Edit: changed Deadmoon Raider to a Battlecry instead of a passive effect according to linkblade's feedback.
Glad to see this return, although I almost missed it!
I don't think I'll have time to give or receive feedback, so I've already submitted a card I made a little while ago.
Good luck, everyone!
Happy new year, everyone!
I'd love to have a new comp season, but of course the personal life of the organizers comes first.
Regarding the changes to the voting system, I think I'd prefer to wait only if the halt for this reason isn't too long. I'd also like to join Aero in their question about doing a season while the new system is being developed. I guess this should be possible as long as there are different people involved in both development and comp organizing, as it would probably take too much time otherwise (and as I said, personal time always comes first).
Finally, I don't care too much about big comps, but I'd probably participate if there's ever one.
Cool. We had an interaction a couple weeks ago about your space themed set :)
Hey! You're u/CivilerKobold on Reddit, right?
Noice
I haven't read the full article, but I really hope they bring back the old Death Knight card border. The current one is just a recolor of the Warrior one, which is not great for colorblind people.
(Also, the previous one was very cool)
Very cool mini-set!
I like how experimental some of the cards are, especially Mirage Magician and Gaze of the Shadows and Hand of Defiance.
There are some minor spelling mistakes and a card that doesn't feel like it belongs to its class (Living Pyramid; maybe if it had Reborn instead of Divine Shield it would be less glaring?), but very good job overall.
My Cryptographer has the same effect and wording as the new Tight-Lipped Witness. I just missed the stat distribution a little bit.
This kind of things always make one feel validated as a designer :)
(Also, I'm an IT guy and my girlfriend is a lawyer, so this situation is kinda funny considering the theme of both Mini Sets)