Spoiler season has begun! Can't wait for my sleep schedule to shift awkwardly as I try to be awake for as many reveals as possible, that's always fun. I wonder if we'll see any cards that people have submitted to a previous competition show up? It's only a matter of time, right?

This week we congratulate two people and look at two class reworks!

Absolutely Divine

Our first step is to congratulate the winner of the latest WCDC! Well done to FrostyFeet and their Vindicator Maraad!

We look forward to seeing their theme for next week!

Calling All The Monsters

Of course, that wasn't the only competition running last week. We also had a special Hallowe'en competition, which was won by MathU with Shifting Nethergate! Congrats!

More Core

The Fan Community Spotlight returns its attention to Negouli's Core Set Reworks, taking a look at the final two classes - Shaman and Priest.

These classes featured some heavy editing, which is especially interesting when we consider that Priest just recently received an official overhaul from Blizzard. Neoguli takes the view that this rework wasn't enough (and in fact was in some ways reductive), stripping the class of some of the underutilised cards and bolstering other identities in the process.

Windspeaker Card Image Dust Devil Card Image Psychic Conjurer Card Image Radiance Card Image

A small sample of the 23 cards removed in the reworks.

I must admit, seeing so many cards removed - especially iconic ones like Lightning Storm or Cabal Shadow Priest - made me balk a bit, instinctively against such a radical shift in the card pools of two classes. Reading through the explanations and design philosophies definitely helped, along with seeing the new sets (Shaman / Priest), but it does raise a good question - how far can a Core Set rework go before it isn't a rework anymore, but something entirely new? At what point have we stopped fixing the ship and started building a new one?

There is of course something to be said for just scrapping everything and starting over - some people have even suggested a rotating core set somewhat similar to MtG, though naturally any emulation would be superficial since as a digital game compensating players for massive changes in Standard is easier, allowing for more interesting shake-ups and experiments (should they feel the need).

Make sure you check out the article and the full sets; I'll leave you with my two favourite new Priest cards from the rework, because unfortunately I am that player.

The Gang's All Here

Finally, we have our WCDC! This week we're looking for minions that can bring some friends to the party - click the banner below to find out more!