Ozzie Mejia of Shacknews had a chance to sit down with Mike Donais to discuss the Hall of Fame and why certain cards weren't included.

  • The two primary factors for cards being sent to the Hall of Fame are card power level and class identity.
  • Really powerful cards that consistently show up and have a large impact on the meta are good candidates.
  • Doomguard was replaced because of its powerful impact and they can re place with with another card in the future.
  • Druids are more about mana creation, not removal. That's why Naturalize was sent to pasture.
  • They talk about Malygos moving every year but decided against it again because of the decks he creates.
  • Mind Blast's One Turn Kill (OTK) potentially is reduced thanks to the rotation of Shadow Visions. The card remains on the short list.

Want to learn more about the Year of the Dragon and the cards that are rotating to the Hall of Fame? Check out the Year of the Dragon announcement.

Mike Donais on Malygos and Mind Blast

Quote From Mike Donais

Donais: There's lots of other candidates. We talked about cards like Malygos, which we talk about every year. We decided not to go with Malygos again, because of all the new decks that he creates. An important thing in card games is to have different types of decks. Not every type of deck should be medium-sized minions fighting. There needs to be small minions, big minions, and there needs to be some Malygos decks and other tricky decks that have different game plans. That's what makes card games interesting.

Donais: I think the Mind Blast problem will be temporarily improved because of Shadow Visions leaving, but I don't think that's a hard solve. Mind Blast is also on our list, both because it doesn't match Priest class identity. They're not supposed to be the face damage class. And it's also pretty powerful in the right decks. It has had a big design impact on us with the resurrection decks especially. You're seeing people resurrect and do Mind Blast.