Hello everybody and welcome to another Fan Community Spotlight, this one being on a disastrous plane. It was once a wise Doomsayer that said "the end is coming!", and now we see all of that unfolding on this set, Bringers of Doom, the first of three sets of the Year of the Goat. Bringers of Doom is a set created by KingKuba (now joining our 3-timers club) themed around the end of the world coming near us, and that is perfectly represented with the set mechanic, Doom Clock.
Doom Clock is a mechanic that when activated by cards like Acolyte of Doom, will being a 3-turn countdown. If that number reaches 0, your hero is destroyed and you automatically lose the game. This of course, sounds quite dangerous, but it can be reset back by playing another Acolyte of Doom or a card like Doomer which stops it from ticking while you control it.
Why exactly would you want to have your Doom Clock active at all? Surely it can't just be to have some higher-statted minions. Fortunately, you are rewards for your efforts for keeping your Doom Clock active. Sweet Demise will restore 12 Health to anything if your Doom Clock is active, and there are a number of huge payoff Legendaries like Doomkeeper Raum which stop your Doom Clock entirely (although it will start ticking again if you play another card which sets it) and gives you a huge reward based on how long you kept it active.
This project contains much more than just the set though. The set also contains a Battle Pass, custom Coin, additional cosmetics, and you can obtain a Diamond copy of Iron Helm obtainable through the Premium Pass. The set also contains a significant dosage of content for Duels, Battlegrounds, and Mercenaries, but we won't be covering them in this installment because attempting to do both the main set, and all the content for the other modes would make for an article that would be way too bloated. You may have noticed in the title that this is the first part of a multi-segmented installment. This particular article will focus only on the main 135-card expansion, and a future part will cover the content for the other modes. A mini-set is also in the works, which will be covered in another installment. If that makes it sound like a very huge project, that's because it absolutely is.
For now we're going to talk to KingKuba about how the main set came to be what it is.
What exactly is this set about? What is the inspiration for the set theme?
KingKuba: "First off, as always - hello readers! Hope you have a great day! You're looking at my biggest custom Hearthstone project right now which we will go in-depth into it in many parts. Grab a snack, have a good read and remember to to leave any of your feedback down below! I'd love to know what you think.
Coming back to your question - Main theme of Bringers of Doom are undoubtedly the Doomsayers; Citizens of huge capitals (And certainly NOT dreadlords in disguise) who proudly declare that the world is coming to an end - whatever that means. Doomsayer is also an iconic Classic card, so as a Hearthstone player there is a good chance you heard that legendary "THE END IS COMING!" at least once.
But have you ever wondered... what exactly would happen if all of the Doomsayers were actually right? This set answers that question! The prophecy has fortold the group known as Bringers of Doom - ten powerful inividuals who joined forces to destroy literally EVERYTHING. Azeroth is in absolute chaos while Doomsayers celebrate their catastrophic dreams coming true. Above it all stands Mal'Ganis, iconic Warcraft villain. This time, his plans are beyond our understanding - he seeks true immortality through annihilation of the universe. The only hope from now on is in form of The Justicekeepers - Azeroth's strongest heroes united under one dungeon party. But are those four weirdos enough to stop the INEVITABLE?
Everything sounds pretty bizzare and edgy, right? That's what I was going for! And it all started as a simple question as I mentioned earlier. The end is NOT coming. The end HAS COME."
What is your inspiration for Doom Clock?
KingKuba: "This one may surprise you - the idea came from playing a small, less known deckbuilding mobile RPG called Titan Slayer, where I encountered the "Death" status. It stays on you for a couple of turns, but once it goes down to 0, you simply die. Despite the drawback, stacking your Death status was a great way to play, as those same card packages offered you super powerful effects as long as you had it. The thrill of winning or losing was also something really fun! Quickly after, I turned the same concept into Hearthstone's Doom Clock. It's a dangerous playstyle that may sometimes ruin your plans, but many times can put you in a game-winning situation once you get to the sweet payoff in form of either Legendary Bringers or Mal'Ganis, the Inevitable himself (Alongside Mister Bizzarious, he's one of the free Legendaries of the set)."
(Author's Note: Along with Mister Bizzarious comes "Bizzarious Day" celebrated on the 7th of every month. During Bizzarious Day, you can get 1500XP by playing 3 games with Mister Bizzarious in your deck)
What challenges did the set present and how did you overcome them?
KingKuba: "Earlier mentioned Doom Clock was one of the biggest challenges as well. You don't typically see such a crazy effect as a common Hearthstone mechanic. Yet, I tried my best for the keyword to nicely fit into every class and every mode. At first, Doom Clock minions made your Doom Clock go for +3 turns on Battlecry, but that was dismissed and changed into settting it on 3 turns, because playing two minions back then would pretty much ensure your safety (You got 6 turns already!) and playing overstatted minions would be a no-brainer. Now, the most optimal way is always playing a Doom Clock activator every 1 or 2 turns, making it more challenging and thrilling.
Bringer Legendaries were just as hard to balance out, but ultimately I feel like they're mostly in a good spot.
Doing Legendary Secrets was more of a design challenge - Hearthstone has never done that, so I was the one to take the responsibility for making those as unique and original as they can be. I think I handled all four of them pretty well."
Are there any other cards you wish to point out for any reason?
KingKuba: "Sure! Here are my favourite cards out of each class!
Warrior - Hammer of Dargul
Also known as Hammer of Khaz'goroth. You can essentially merge two weapons into one, like Zombeasts. Supreme generator of value and terrifying potential for future damage!
Shaman - Cauldron of Misery
Another awesome Legendary weapon which takes Shaman's transforming to another level. The possibilities are endless, from a pseudo-Polymorph to a turn 5 Deathwing! It reminds me of Skull of the Man'ari in a way.
Rogue - Encapsulate
Rogue got a really fun "Casts When Drawn" package this expansion. This card is my favourite out of those. It works like Druid really old card called Recycle, but costs (1) less and shuffles a minion in the Special Capsule token, which is a Casts When Drawn that resummons it on your side. Extremely powerful removal with many synergies!
Paladin - The Resumption
My favourite Legendary Secret. What's so special about it is that its trigger condition progresses between turns, unlike any other Secret in the game! Fits really well as a final refill when you consistantly put those 1-Cost surprises on your head.
Hunter - Warsong Bloodseeker
We all know how broken this effect is!
Druid - Manapotamus
Because of the name. Yep. That's it.
Warlock - Abandoned Garrison and Late Prophecy
Here I'll actually mention two cards. Abandoned Garrison is my favourite as well as probably the best Abandoned Location - those are spells which all affect some numbers for the rest of the game. The other one I wanted to mention with a shoutout to TheArcanist! The card was based on his idea and was a perfect fit for my expansion.
Mage - Doomsage Arkaan
It's not like it's my favourite Mage card, but I'm putting him here for a reason. You'll know what's up one day, but what this dude does is for sure pretty titanic.
Priest - Half-dead Lifelover
I love how this card turned out for its effect and hillarious flavour. Bascially this man just woke up from his coffin at the time of the apocalypse and now decided he really doesn't want to die. Tells a lot about our society lmao
Demon Huinter - Immortal Shivarra
The Big Demon DH package in Bringers of Doom is absolutely awesome overall, but this one feels like it might be the overall best card out of it. Good body with Rush, potential to go infinite in value and defends you against Fatigue. I'll take this card into account the most while making future support for Big Demons for sure!
Neutral - Ragnacock
I just needed to showcase it XD This alternate win condition is propably the funniest and craziest card I've ever made. If you have a good deck idea for this card, share it! I'll be looking into it 100%!
Of course, there's much more really interesting cards in this set and I encourage you to check them out!"
Do you have anything behind the scenes you want to share with us?
KingKuba: "Here's a little bit of art editing I did for this project. Maybe it will serve as an inspiration to someone. Expansion's logo is also something I made myself.
Scene out of the Cinematic:
Diamond Iron Helm (Is the helm Iron or Diamond now?):
Doomsayer Bob Battlegrounds Skin:"
Do you have anything else you want to share with us? We'll be covering other modes next time, so do you want to hype something up?
KingKuba: "Well, maybe not about this set in particular, but... I might have left some clues in some places as to where the story might be going in the next expansion :) Search for it!
As of sharing stuff:
- Here's the entire Hearthcards post with ALL the content there is for Bringers of Doom (including what we didn't cover yet, if you want some spoilers);
- Here's all 135 cards put nicely into one place;
- Here's the Bringers of Doom pack opening if you want to have some fun with it;
- And here are my old interviews: Remastered Rastakhan's Rumble up to current card power level standards (+Added Demon Hunter) and my previous biggest custom expansion, Escape from Elwynn!
Thank you so much for reading through this invterview and see you in other upcoming parts, where we'll showcase changes to all other modes. Remember to leave your thoughts in the comments below! Once again, thank you!"
WE HAVE REACHED THE END..... of this article. It however is not the end of Bringers of Doom. As mentioned, you can view the entire set and KingKuba's other projects in the links above, and we will come back to this project to discuss the Duels, Battlegrounds, and Mercenaries content.
Comments
Found this expansion through the second installment of the series. Overall I love the flavor of the set and how the risk and reward Doom Clock mechanic works. I looked through the entire 135 card set since I was interested to see the full set and scope of the project (in terms of Constructed mode) and I believe the themes and playstyles blend very well across each class and the expansion as a whole. While I won't go into a full and thorough critique and card review, I at least wanted to cover some specific cases and cards that were "pain points" for me while I was soaking in this expansion.
Firstly covering two pain points of the main and major mechanic of the expansion, Doom Clock.
Currently the Keyword tooltip box reads, "Once you activate it, it counts turns towards your inevitable death. Keep resetting it or stop it to survive it."
A few things about this description look and feel too wordy or longwinded to make it seem like it would fit and exist in Hearthstone. Now I understand that Hearthstone has been reaching a point where the devs are beginning to try more unique and ambitious designs in the game. But look at Murder at Castle Nathria's keywords/designs just revealed. Infuse's description is incredibly concise, clear, and to the point.
So in my view and opinion as a semi-experienced game dev (currently in college for game design and have worked on teams for multiple course's game projects), I believe the Doom Clock keyword should be condensed to this: "Counts down X number of turns. Upon reaching 0, your Hero is destroyed."
This version of the description is much more concise and clear how it operates. Since cards utilizing the keywords set, pause, or stop the Doom Clock themselves, the only information the actual keyword needs to provide is what is happening (the turn countdown) and what happens when the countdown reaches 0 (you die/lose). Any extra information is either unneeded or can be experienced and learned from in-game or via gameplay footage the devs create for marketing.
The second aspect of the Doom Clock keyword that stood out as a pain point to me is that any card that references setting the clock reads "Set your Doom Clock on X turns." The word usage of "on" here looks and feels very odd to me. Why doesn't the effect just read, "Set your Doom Clock to 3." This wording of the description keeps the completely same effect and even cuts off the word "turn" at the end which can (and should) make text formatting on more advanced cards easier and cleaner. And setting your Doom Clock to a number makes it easy and obvious to connect to the keyword because you can then hover over the card and see that the number being set is the "X" in the description.
Secondly, on to some specific cards that stood out to me.
Mal'Ganis the Inevitable: Unless you have been able to set up some form of card testing environment to feel out how Doom Clock plays out in fairly representative games, the Immune part of this card's effect seems far too strong and accessible to be balanced for the game. The Immune keyword in Hearthstone has always been either temporary or in some way interactable with. In the case of the currently existing Mal'Ganis in Hearthstone, he only provides your Hero Immune while he is alive on the board. If your opponent can kill him off, they can then start interacting with your Hero again. As it stands with this card's current design, if you get him down on the board with the Battlecry trigger, you'll have a permanent 9/7 on board for the rest of the game. NOTHING would be able to destroy or interact with it. I tried to come up with an alternative design or keyword to take the place of Immune but honestly it would change the card too much if you are trying to keep its design a callback to the old Mal'Ganis. This is also why I believe the Hearthstone devs themselves have not created a retrain of Mal'Ganis yet, because whatever they would design for a new version of him would have to be something completely new or different than what his existing version does and is themed around (Demons and Hero Immunity).
Doomer: I feel like the aura effect, "Your Doom Clock is paused." makes more sense than the current description, because the current description's word choice of "move" could be misconstrued as a physical action rather than temporal action, especially across card translations throughout the world. Pausing a clock makes more sense anyway, and the aura effect remains the same of preventing the Doom Clock's countdown from increasing or lowering. Also, a paused clock can be stopped (which the Bringer legendaries do) whereas it is unclear if an unmovable clock can or can't be stopped.
Future Memories: Currently this card's effect is incredibly confusing and unclear to the average player, as well as not accounting for / being worded correctly to make sense on both the player's turn and the opponent's turn. A more clear and understandable version of this effect, which retains the same outcome/goal of the card and can still be formatted well should read, "Secret: When your hero takes fatal damage, prevent it, become Immune, and restart that turn (Without this Secret)."
Doomsage Arkaan: Overall the majority of the Bringer legendaries' effects are worded in ways that are clear and understandable enough to make sense to the average player. However this card's effect is the exception and actually made me do a double take on it since the wording didn't make total sense to me when you described the card as super powerful/impactful. It made me realize that these Bringer legendaries would really benefit if they utilized the "(Upgrades when X.)" wording instead of a frontloaded effect. Here is my rewording of the effect that retains the same outcome/goal and makes it more clear and understandable: "Battlecry: Stop your Doom Clock. The next three spells you cast cost (1) less. (Upgrades each active Doom Clock turn.)".
Overall I hope my feedback and criticisms help and improve your custom card designs in the future. I firmly believe that you're a great card designer and would work greatly on the Hearthstone (or another card game) development team if that's your goal down the line. However I do believe that there is some wording and grammar aspects of card design that you need to work on and improve since there was a handful of other cards I didn't cover in this expansion set that had clarity or word choice issues. I'm not saying this to try to be rude or belittle you, it's just the only aspect of your card design that stands out to me as something that can be improved and learned from as you create more custom cards. Have a great rest of your day!
Thank you for your this entire comment!
Besides custom Hearthstone, I am actually a card game passionate with a couple of homemade projects and currently a volunteer committee member taking a part in decision making in Collective Card Game. So you, as someone studying game dev and having potentially more experience appreciating my work really means a lot to me, because I often don't have the confidence needed to consistently chase my dreams. So once again thank you for your kind words. It further inspires me.
And with the wording - I'll keep it as it is for this expansion, but I'll revisit your feedback when doing another one.
Have a great rest of your day as well!
Interesting mechanic, the Doom Clock. And it shows how much effort you put into it, all the art, flavor and effects. Really good job 👌
So guys, what do you think? :D
Man, how I missed seeing those big fan expansions here with lots of extra content , the Doomclock mechanic is super creative and interesting, by seeing all this put together, you actually inspired me to go back to my old abondoned project, the Year of the Wolf. Congrats and thanks Kuba, can't wait to see the rest of it.
Great idea, but it should definitely have a reward track shown, because the entire mechanic seems to revolve around those Legendaries that can stop the clock.
Demonzx could've included the entire Rewards Track list but he didn't >:c It's pinned in the comments on the Hearthcards post HERE
Basically, there's nothing to worry about. You get Mal'Ganis, the Inevitable for FREE at the start of the Rewards Track, so you can already try to largely benefit from the Doom Clock with this one :D
Quick update: He now has put this card near Mister Bizzarious