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Keyword Katastrophe - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread

Competition Theme: Keyword Katastrophe

Bold flavors. Fortune favors the bold. To boldly go where no one has gone before. Do you see what we're gettin' at?

  • You must create a card that contains only keywords in its text box.
    • You can use periods and commas, of course, but no other words!

It's a catastrophe! R's kitchen is covered in cards crafted to contain a concoction of keywords. Somebody ought to clean this up!

As always, we can be reached through Discord or here on the site via PM if you have any issues to report.

Competition Phases

Here are the phases of this card design competition

  • Submission Phase: Starts on Mon, Jan 16 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Sat, Jan 21 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
  • Voting Phase: Starts on Sat, Jan 21 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Sun, Jan 22 16:00 EST (GMT -0500)
  • Finalist Phase: Starts on Sun, Jan 22 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Mon, Jan 23 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
  • Winner Selected: After finalist voting concludes and we validate votes.

Discussion Thread Rules

No thread rules were added to this season. Please populate and manually edit this thread with them.

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  • Competition Theme: Keyword Katastrophe

    Bold flavors. Fortune favors the bold. To boldly go where no one has gone before. Do you see what we're gettin' at?

    • You must create a card that contains only keywords in its text box.
      • You can use periods and commas, of course, but no other words!

    It's a catastrophe! R's kitchen is covered in cards crafted to contain a concoction of keywords. Somebody ought to clean this up!

    As always, we can be reached through Discord or here on the site via PM if you have any issues to report.

    Competition Phases

    Here are the phases of this card design competition

    • Submission Phase: Starts on Mon, Jan 16 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Sat, Jan 21 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
    • Voting Phase: Starts on Sat, Jan 21 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Sun, Jan 22 16:00 EST (GMT -0500)
    • Finalist Phase: Starts on Sun, Jan 22 17:00 EST (GMT -0500). Runs until Mon, Jan 23 17:00 EST (GMT -0500)
    • Winner Selected: After finalist voting concludes and we validate votes.

    Discussion Thread Rules

    No thread rules were added to this season. Please populate and manually edit this thread with them.

    Friendly Staff

  • I'm pretty sure I made the prompt post, so it's weird that it shows Demon. Anyway, Demon and I were debating whether or not one could pull off a Colossal in this comp, so I made one :) I don't think I'm gonna submit this, unless people are sufficiently amused to warrant it lol.

    Friendly

  • I can concur that Link did in fact organize the competition and not me, so I don't know what's up with that.

    "But Demon, you always tell us not to use two different expansion-specific keywords on the same card". Yes, I realize that, but please lower your pitchforks and let me explain. This competition is quite limited, so liberties need to be taken. In a sea of what will likely result in a lot of Legendaries bloated with many keywords, a simple and elegant design like Moltenclaw Raptor may appreciated by the group. Additionally, since Death Knight brought back Reborn, there is some precedence for returning keywords. That doesn't mean that you can still just put any keywords on any one card willy-nilly, but it does mean that I guess there's some rules about returning keywords that we have to fine-tune. I will be willing to be a bit more lenient about this, especially in this competition, where options are few, but there are still rules about this that I will point out where I see fit.

    Windlord Thunderaan is a simple one. Super-Windfury is the stage in-between Windfury and Mega-Windfury. Basically, it can attack 3 times per turn. Making a new keyword might set a bad precedence for future competitions, which is something that we all seemed to agree with, but since it's a deritivie of an existing keyword, I figured "fuck it", I'll try it anyway and see how you guys feel. This is basically the same thing as "Double Divine Shield" which some people try, or even "[school] Spell Damage +[Y]" which actually exists.

    So, uh. That was a long description for design over cards which have two lines of text. *insert nervous face here*

    Friendly Staff

  • 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.

    • Quote From Wailor

      Are numbers allowed? For instance, for keywords like Overload or Manathirst.

      Yes, certainly, if they're a part of the keyword.

      @ Me0203 "Re: Wailor's Typhoon, a mechanical question - will back-to-back Dredges invalidate the first card Dredged or place it second in your deck?"

      Dredge places the card on top of your deck, and does not shuffle it. Dredging again should leave the deck alone and place the second card on top of the first one.

      Friendly

  • It's not very exciting. Is this too simple even for this comp?

    Early Feedback

    linkblade
    Making use of Colossal +X is a cool idea, although a proper Colossal minion should always have a direct synergy with its limbs. I think it'll probably still do well.

    Demon
    I like Moltenclaw Raptor best.

    Wailor
    I personally quite like Living Typhoon. For Calia Menethil, you shouldn't put an enter after every keyword. And bonus points if you make her an Annoy-o-card instead. Divine Shield, Taunt AND Reborn is something else, but it is the obvious next step if they ever want to print another one. If you go with a different idea, I might make one…

  • Last week I caught the caboose, so the simplicity of this competition is appreciated! I've got two cute ideas for this week.

    Nutty Buddy is my favorite; he feels on flavor for Shaman around GvG, next to Totem Golem, Flamewreathed Faceless, and others. Maybe he could be a 3-3 with Overload (3)?

    Inlet Scavenger fills out the assorted Murlocs that fell around Voyage to the Sunken City - I remember wanting a vanilla 1-mana Murloc to work with Azsharan Scroll, Anchored Totem, Amalgam of the Deep, et cetera.

    To Wailor's question about Overload and Manathirst numbers, surely they must be alright, since the Spell Damage numbers are acceptable? That said, I don't know why one is bolded in-game and the other isn't. Typical Hearthstone.

    Early Feedback

    Show Spoiler

    Al'Akir the Sweetlord is fantastic. I see why you don't want to submit him, because of the flavor and Aero's well-founded comment, but… the variety of Spell Damage is on point with Shaman's current flavor. Uncannily so.

    Re: Wailor's Typhoon, a mechanical question - will back-to-back Dredges invalidate the first card Dredged or place it second in your deck? If it's the latter, I love the flavor of it, a whirling typhoon dragging flotsam from the depths. It seems like a solid card that would feel good to play and set you up for better things. Calia is an interesting card lore-wise. I could see an Undead Death Knight using her, maybe, but if she were a good card I think she'd be a frustratingly ubiquitous card, a la Zilliax. The Typhoon is more purposeful.

    Demon's Moltenclaw is a crunchy, useful card. For the Windlord, while I don't mind the added Keyword, I think it creates unnecessary confusion and the card runs the same issue of Wailor's Calia - a neutral legendary good enough to see play in most decks feels bad. The specificity of the Moltenclaw is more enjoyable. That's just how I feel, though!

    I don't know what you mean, Aero, any card that costs 0 gets the ole blood pumping. There are only six minions that cost 0, and only one has text - Target Dummy! I instantly had to check whether Rogue has any Arcane spells. Just one, and it doesn't deal damage :c But Druid or Mage would probably LOVE your card, given the right circumstances. What those circumstances are… I don't know, and the difficulty of knowing whether it'd be a dud or a massive combo-enabler might affect the votes you get, much as I love the card's simplicity.

  • From my submission:

    "Cheap Naga to boost some of Fel Warlock's spells.
    Felfire in the Hole suddenly deals at minimum 4, Full Blown Evil can deal up to 27 damage split cause it's repeatable (on turn 10) and Demonic Assault actually does good damage.

    Not only that, but it's a 1 1/3 Dredger with the Naga Tribe, so it's way more versatile than an ONLY Fel Warlock type of card."

    Fel Naga Card

  • What about this? It's not Al'Akir anymore, but Su-Gar, Confection Lord!

    "Fire Lifesteal" is what it sounds like: Your Fire spells have Lifesteal. While technically a new keyword combination, I'd argue it's no different than Bru'kan saying "Nature Spell Damage +3" instead of "Your Nature spells have Spell Damage +3" despite being the first card ever to do that.

    Friendly

  • Early Feedback:

    Show Spoiler

    machadogps - Seems really strong. Blizzard tells us Dredge is a vanilla effect that can afford a conditional bonus next to it on a class card - Trench Surveyor says so - while Spell Damage usually comes with more cost. I could perhaps see it on a more expensive minion, but on a 1-drop Common? Would push Fel Warlock for sure lol

    Me0203 - I like Nutty Buddy - Mech Shaman could've used more love - although two Nuttys (Nutties?) really early could get ugly. I don't see the need for Inlet Scavenger and Tuskarrrr Trawler to exist at the same time.

    AeroJulwin - It costs 0, so at some point during its existence it will cause chaos lol. Requires you to accumulate more pieces in hand to pop off with Vexallus Mage, for example, so there is that. It might be okay if AoEs aren't printed, which has held true for a while. Ironically, the Hunter might use this the most with its new Arcane stuff.

    Wailor - I don't know when she'll be printed, or what she'll entail, but I feel Calia can afford to be more than a keyword-soup card. Living Typhoon is cool, though, so I'd go with that one.

    Demonxz95 - The Raptor is a neat callback to two older keywords. It might be simple, but I like that one more.

    Show Spoiler
    What's with everyone making cool Commons, while I'm making a Legendary? Am I compensating for something? D:

    Friendly

  • What I've done. I came up with this theme, but I didn't prepare the idea for the card in advance. :D
    Is it allowed to use the manathrist keyword like "Manathrist (X): Keyword." without "gain" word?

  • This was a hard prompt. Here's a spell focused druid card with a lot going on which i hope work how i wanted it to work. You can choose Echo and you get a second copy of it in hand but it doesn't have it as default. You can choose echo to get several copies for the Spellburst. You can chose Spell damage for either nature or arcane for some otk. With 3 copies assuming you chose Echo once, you only get +5 spell damage total in a chosen spell school at max so Same as original Malygos. Restricted to 1 spell school, but you have 3 Adapted bodies in the wake.

    Now i realize it should be a legendary most likely.

    Art credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/XnGGa

  • 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).

  • Is fel damage +2 really that strong in current warlock? Look, at first glace it looks absolutely broken, but if you see the pool, it's not actually that good.

  • I would personally like to submit Bonedragon Ritual, but I doubt that including a keyword that needs only one bit of non-bold text would qualify, which leaves me with Chronax as probably my best bet to stand out among the competition.

    • Quote From Neoguli

      I would personally like to submit Bonedragon Ritual, but I doubt that including a keyword that needs only one bit of non-bold text would qualify, which leaves me with Chronax as probably my best bet to stand out among the competition.

      It's unfortunate that Galakrond falls through the cracks on this prompt, but ultimately Yes, a card Invoking Galakrond would get you in trouble :(

      @machadogps

      Show Spoiler

      Fel Damage +2 on a 1-drop with premium stats (and the Dredge) is a lot in my opinion. You'd also have to consider that, if such a card existed, Fel Warlock probably wouldn't see much additional help: with such a strong cheap card waiting in the wings, how much more could they push the archetype without going overboard?

      I think it's a cool card, don't get me wrong; I just think +1 would have been safer.

      @R

      Show Spoiler
      All examples of that Manathirst effect-reward say "Gain (X)", so I would have to say No, your Zilliax doesn't work :(

      Friendly

  • Going to leave this feedback thread here. Speaking of feedback:

    Wailor
    I do definitely prefer Living Typhoon myself, though if you do choose to go with Calia Menethil, I would suggest reorganizing the textbox. I think it would look better if you just strung them all along together (like Zilliax or Al'Akir) rather than give each one a separate line.

    AeroJulwin

    Super simple is just sort of the name of the game in this competition.

    At 0 mana for Spell Damage +1, it will definitely see play at some point. Mage in particular would definitely like this with Arcane Bolts and Vexallus.

    Me0203
    I too prefer Nutty Buddy over Inlet Scavenger. More fun in my opinion.

    Machadogps

    I do agree that the Fel Spell Damage is not as overpowered as it looks like it should be, although it does limit the design of cheap Fel spells for Warlock pretty significantly.

    Little future note here: The best way to use the Discussion Topic is to post your card(s) here first to get relevant feedback and then submit your entry when you're happy with the card in its current form.

    R
    Unfortunately, I do think that it needs to use "gain" and thus, would invalidate the card.

    BasilAnguis

    I appreciate the attempt at what you're trying to do, and Echo and Choose are both keywords that would work well together.

    But I feel like the text is bloated too heavily with a lot of bold words and it's actually sort of hard to read. I think you should try something a bit simpler.

    Neoguli

    Chronax is an elegant use of the prompt, but I feel like it might actually be quite powerful since you can stack your first draw with no cost.

    Dragonbone Ritual is unfortunately not valid due to the use of the word "Galakrond".

    Friendly Staff

  • Feedback

    Me0203
    Inlet Scavenger is far too close to Tuskarrrr Trawler. I like Nutty Buddy better, it feels like something they'd actually have printed back then.

    machadogps
    Abyssal Tainted Arcanist feels like it is trying to do two different things at once. The Dredge just feels like a free bonus on an already inexpensive card.

    linkblade
    I see you've already submitted, but I would've liked to see Su-Gar, Confection Lord have overall less attack, similar to Xhilag of the Abyss. Still an amazing use of this prompt.

    BasilAnguis
    I'm sorry to say that I'm not a fan of this card. I'm always a huge fan of Choose Twice effects, but I have multiple gripes with it: As others have mentioned, the "Spellburst: Adapt" is probably a bit too much and it's very inconsistent for not using "Gain". I also believe that the different Spell Damage types defeat the purpose of the Choose keyword. There should always be a situation in which you'd consider taking the other choice, but since I don't think there will be a deck any time soon that focuses both on damaging Nature spells and damaging Arcane spells, this could be two cards, one for each school, and it wouldn't make a difference gameplay-wise.

    Wailor
    I prefer 3/4 or 3/5 over 4/4.

    Neoguli
    Chronax the Visionary probably needs some sort of downside to be balanced. The only way I see that happening is by turning it into a Shaman card that also Overloads you for your first turn, since that is the only other keyword that works in combination with "Start of Game:".

  • Everybody, you've got 24 hours left to submit.

    Friendly Staff

  • Submissions are closed; good luck to everyone in the voting!

    Friendly

  • Well, i can confirm the voting bug is very real, as it happened again. This week i did not vote on any cards pre-voting stage. I went there 15 min before writing this comment and voted on the slideshow one by one from 0 voted cards to "You've seen all the submissions" message. And when i went to check the "My voting page" where it shows all entries in one list, 4 of them were new. Not shown to me on the slideshow page.

    • Quote From BasilAnguis

      Well, i can confirm the voting bug is very real, as it happened again. This week i did not vote on any cards pre-voting stage. I went there 15 min before writing this comment and voted on the slideshow one by one from 0 voted cards to "You've seen all the submissions" message. And when i went to check the "My voting page" where it shows all entries in one list, 4 of them were new. Not shown to me on the slideshow page.

      I've been unable to replicate any issues with this - same with link.

      For the next week, I recommend using a browser with no addons and seeing if that makes a difference. We haven't changed any underlying code for the system for over a year and this is the first time we're hearing about this happening.

      • Quote From Fluxflashor
        this is the first time we're hearing about this happening.

        If you need another case like this to confirm it, it happened to me too. Some cards were skipped during the voting. Its was on mobile browser, so I don't have any addons.

      • Maybe it's been like this for over a year and i just now noticed. I'm on firefox and only have 2 addons: the youtube dislike button and kaspersky internet antivirus.

  • Good luck to the finalists!

    Friendly

  • Super busy week at work again so I wasn't able to participate in the discussion here. All the more glad to see all my favorites in the finals though. Good luck everybody! 

  • Congrats to Me0203!

    Friendly

  • It was definitely a very good card.

    Friendly Staff

  • Thanks, y'all! I really didn't expect that, next to the likes of the other cards in the lineup. What a pleasant surprise.

    May all of your buddies be nutty.

  • Congrats to Me0203!

  • Congrats!

    (I finally understood Nutty Buddy was a triple pun lol)