What aspect of custom card design do you think draws people in most often? Obviously we all have a love of the game, but there are so many different ways to interact with it and so many different reasons to pick each one. Is it an outlet for creativity? A desire to work on card or videogame design professionally, for which it could be a stepping stone or practice point? A want to fix or change some aspect of the game, for which custom design is a great illustrative tool? A combination of things, or none of these at all? Whatever the reason, I hope everyone finds it as fun as I do to create and view what others create.

Conversation this week is shifting and changing as we speak - quick, read it before it vanishes completely!

Top Form

Congratulations are in order for ChickyChick, who won the latest WCDC with Zerus the Shapemaster!

They'll be in charge of next week's theme, so look forward to that!

Inevitable Doom

THE END IS COMING! Or at least, it will be if KingKuba has anything to say about it thanks to their custom "Bringers of Doom" Hearthstone expansion featured in the latest Fan Community Spotlight. There's something to be said for committing to an unusual theme, and this expansion definitely delivers on that front.

What's a Doom Clock? Read the article to find out!

One aspect of creating a custom set that I haven't talked about much before is the initial concepting stage. It's different for everyone, naturally - sometimes you come up with a mechanic you really love and end up wanting to build an expansion around it, or you really liked a particular aspect of World of Warcraft and would love to see it translated over to Hearthstone. Sometimes it's all about paying homage to a completely different property, even!

In this case, KingKuba brings a strong premise to the table - What if the Doomsayers were right? - and absolutely delivers on that hypothetical in spades. Both mechanically and flavourfully, so many cards in this set give you a great idea about the story of the set. You can almost imagine what some of the Legendary minions might be up to in a Book of Heroes equivalent.

Of course, that's not to say it's all Doom and Gloom, there's plenty of Hearthstone charm embedded into it too.

I think that's possibly what helps sell the set even more, and something worth considering when designing your own sets in the future. Remember - as much as you are delivering on whatever initial spark you had to create a custom set, it is a custom Hearthstone set, and you should try and weave in a couple references or mood lightening cards if you can. I mean, this is a set about the end of the world, and yet it has that fun Hearthstone feel to it.

Make sure you click the link above to see the full interview, as well as getting a link to the full 135 card set (and many supplemental materials, including a very cleverly presented pseudo-trailer for the expansion).

Level Headed

We're cooling off in the Competition this week - or heating up? Click the banner below to blow off some steam while you decide!