Dislaimer : I've chose to put all of it under spoilers to avoid the massive wall of text overwhelming aspect, might be a little annoying to resume clicking everytime but that's also a way to sting your curiosity. Also, please be mindful that i'm not imposing my view on the subject, i would be glad to discuss and question anything i said here. As long as this is kept civilized, i'm fine !
Introduction
Overload is a mechanism existing since the beginning of Hearthstone. It allows us to play cards at a reduced cost upon playing them but then getting overloaded crystals as a penalty translating into paying the rest of the initial cost and/or the ability to play it sooner than intended. Properly used, this feature should allow the Shaman to have the edge over his opponent.
In this thread, i will display the different problematics and give my opinion on the matter.
Problematic #1 : Is overload outdated ?
Overload seems to be more and more unadapted to the how the game has evolved. In fact, it is barely efficient in general : against aggro, you can for exemple use Feral Spirit to block them but on the following turn you will resume the beating with a worse outcome because of the constant onslaught aggro decks are capable of. On the other extreme, you will suffer from playing Overload cards because it will leave you with less mana to play than your opponent meaning less potent plays, i think Shadowreaper Anduin is a good exemple to explain how critical it can be to be restricted in mana actions when keen usage of it is key to win that kind of matchups.
Problematic #2 : An hindering complexity.
Blizzard's intent is to maintain simplicity when it comes to the core of the game. This intent is, for exemple, the reason why Innervate has been changed this way rather than another, they want to let every players know what is the identity of a said class and how it works. But how to keep this mechanic as such while conserving the simplicity factor ?
By nature, the overload system is complex because it naturally comes with an immediate punishement thus requiring a sharp sense of plannification. Using an overload card usually means you will play your turn by making a burst of tempo and then enter on mana cooldown on the next turn.
I took the exemple of Innervate because Druid have in common with Shaman the ability to manipulate the mana curve. Druid's ability to manipulate the curve is not as punishing and even when they reach 10 mana they can still do interesting plays like we all know of and get access to the excess mana mechanic to cycle those cards. However, Shaman are punished on top not having any longevity to their attempt at manipulating mana, playing an overload card is a one-time action and while it can last throughout the game, it could also be denied unlike Druid, once the mana is gained the effect is permanent. The only "long term" upside of Overload lies in Snowfury Giant.
Problematic #3 : Value and tempo.
Overload cards for some offers value and some don't, some will have value if played on curve but will lose it if played later on, some offers the ability to save card slots in your deck. The best exemple is Drakkari Defender which has 11 stat points (2 atk, 11 hp, 1 taunt) for a total cost of 6 mana (3 + 3 overload), if we submit this card to the "Vanilla test", it fails it because you'd want 12 stat points or more for a 6 mana card. However, it is playable 3 turns sooner than intended so unless your opponent has a tragical answer to it (like Shadow Word: Pain), it can be very efficient.
If we "deconstruct" this card compared to the affected curve turns (3 and 4), we can see that on Turn 3 we should be getting an average 6 stats point minion so we have 5 extra stats point according to the Vanilla test and on turn 4, we will have 1 mana so let's say we play a Mistress of Mixtures. This means we have 5 + 4 stats points which contributes to sort of passes the Vanilla test since we'd want to have a 8 mana stats worth of minions for that turn. In this scenario, we theorically didn't really lose anything.
Now, let's take Feral Spirit. Easily comparable to our fellow troll above, yet this is very different. Here we have a 3 mana spell with 2 overload that summons two 2/3 minions with taunt. If we calculate the stats points, that gives 6 points each for a total of 5 mana. Unlike the Drakkari, we have 2 minions so we have to treat them separately. 6 Stats points makes then ideal as 3 mana minions but since it costs 5 mana to get two, the second one only costs 2 mana. Finally, summoning two minions at the cost of one card is exceptionnal, we are limited in card slots when building a deck so being able to save a slot is great. Again, if we redo the "desconstruct" thing, we have 6 extra stat points on turn 4 so we only need a minions with 2 stats point on turn 4 to make it worth. Moreover, it would take two SW:Pain to take them down or a Shadow Word: Horror to get rid of them.
That's for the value part, we can now establish that Feral spirit is better for tempo. The Drakkari Defender will be deemed incapacitating at later stages of the game. Feral spirit however, while not ideal is will efficient. Imagine a fatigue war, ennemy has only Deathwing, you will be happy to have 2 tokens to stop him but most importantly you pay less mana for the Feral spirit's bodies than the Drakkari and on a the next turn, the difference between 7 and 8 mana can be game changing.
I could talk about every single overload card, like the Jinyu Waterspeaker who fails the Vanilla test for its 5 total mana cost but his battlecry is worth 2 mana and like Feral Spirit you also save a card slot. Paying 5 mana for 1 card instead of 6 in 2 cards is huge especially since the battlecry is almost impossible to counter (Auchenai Soulpriest or full board are the only ways to deny its battle cry).
Problematic #4 : Overload's stalemate over expansions.
Ever since the infamous Shamanstone era where overload was so efficient thanks to Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem, Blizzard is fearing to undergo strong card designing around the overload mechanic and that is problematic since it forced them to deploy new mechanics such as evolve, jade, elementals and lately freeze. It's not healthy to have a class being treated like a guinea pig. There is little interactions between the overload mechanic which has built their identity since the very beginning of Hearthstone and the mechanics stated previously. Evolve has not direct overload ties, in fact you want to avoid Overload minions since they have greater body stats than their cost so evolving them could get you lesser minions and you still retain the overload crystals. Same goes for Freeze which has no direct synergy unless if you make a combination of the two. Elementals with overload are only those that existed before Journey to Un'goro when the Elemental tribe wa instaured. We only get a small direct interraction with Jade thanks to Jade Claws.
As of today (11/22/17), two cards have been revealed for the upcoming Kobolds and Catacombs expansion. I totally understand the meaning of this expansion which is a massive wink to D&D's whole questing, mystery delving and that D20 shennigans with critical fail or success. We first discovered Lesser Sapphire Spellstone, this card was clearly identified as a win more card because playing it on curve is almost impossible because if even if you mana to overload 6 crystals you also need to have a proper target. In the end, you are almost forced to get behind and eventually make an explosive yet situationnal play to get away with this.
Upnext is The Runespear, a weapon born after Medhiv and Yoggy went into intercourse. This will reinforce the evolve aspect of Shaman by adding a spell dimension. Sadly the Evolve archetype will suffer in 2018 with the departure of WotOG's Evolve and Master of Evolution let alone the fact that the weapon is highly debatle if it should be played or not already.
Conclusion :
Shaman is a great class but as i said, was considered for too long as Blizzard's guinea pig in attempt to give them an identity to work with in the future. While interesting concept came to life, there is still what i consider to be the remnants of shaman's origins being the overload mechanic.
In my humble opinion, i think Blizzard should go back to what they intended to make out of shaman in the first place and fully embrace it or atleast use overload as a core for every new dimension they want to stew for Thrall and Morgl instead of just distant interractions with it.
The creative part : Overload cards.
I know most of these card will be perceived as OP with Lava Shock and Eternal Sentinel the former is already in Wild and the later will join it soon enough. I also realised i submitted deathrattle overloard card...
A first attempt at reworking The Runespear with a strong relation to the overload mechanic. For this version, i imagined a weapon that would help the shaman harness the power of the elements. That way, this weapon would make him capable of great prowess but will harshly suffer upon losing the weapon.
About the card text, "absorb all overload effects" means that this weapon will unlock any currently and soon to be overloaded crystals and prevent any further crystals to be overloaded until the weapon is destroyed. That also means that the weapon will prevent Overload from granting related effects (see Unbound Elemental, Snowfury Giant) when an overload card is played. Instead, everything will be reported accordingly when the weapon is destroyed. For exemple, if you have an Unbound Elemental on board and you play an Earth Elemental, the Unbound Elemental won't get +1/+1 when the Earth Elemental comes in. Instead, it will get +2/+2 when the weapon is destroyed because of the previously played Earth Elemental and the Weapon itself while not having a specifc amount of Overload will still count as an overload card.
I've also came up with another version, a far more impressive one. I got the idea when i was making the parelel with Druid about the ability to manipulate mana. The reasonning is the same as the previous version i've submitted : gain a phenomenal power by channeling the power through a weapon and get "exhausted" when losing it. It's also a good way to represent the overload mechanic according to how i see it, by that i mean making a big action until that point when you have to go on cooldown to recover from it. Having twice the maximum mana allows player to freely endure the drawback of overloaded crystals while being able to deliver much more action. Plus, you are not forced to play the whole overload stuff and it's different from the well known Thaurissan archetype to set combos on top of being playable in standard.
Now this one, i like the spirit of it. It's no more than a Bloodbloom that could allow explosive combos. You first play one Fire Plume Harbinger to discount Al'Akir the Windlord from 8 to 7 mana and then manage to get your Greater Sapphire Spellstone and unleash 4 Al'akirs on Turn 10 for 24 damages. You also could manage to discount your Snowfury Giant to 0 and then unleash the two of them, cast Ascendance on Greater Sapphire Spellstone and ice it with a nice Spirit Echo to get 5 giants on board with the effect on gaining 5 of them back and do that combo once again but be careful, that would be 8 giants for a 7 slots board !
Last but not least, the almighty Energized Geode. Basically an improved Unbound Elemental because this time it won't get +1/+1 for each overload card but for each overloaded crystal which means playing an Earth Elemental while this is on board will grant it +3/+3. Note that it has some crazy synergies with The Runespear versions and Ascendance spell i've submitted.
Overload is indeed a mechanic that is strangling Shaman not because it's bad, but because Team5 doesn't know what they want to do with it. The idea of an explosive turn with the drawback of massive tempo losses the next is a very fun and engaging idea for both sides as long as it's handled correctly, and it's exactly why Shaman is my favorite class in this game.
Your two Runespears are hilariously broken, and I feel like Energized Geode goes against what Shaman should be capable of doing (Overload as a drawback), but Ascendance is a card that should have been printed yesterday.
It really pains me that Shaman has a ton of potential in it's base mechanics (totems, Overload, and now elementals) but we're stuck with Freeze, Murloc, and Evolve. You have no idea how pissed I was at Unite the Murlocs being our quest instead of something to do with any of those. Hell, even in Shaman's hey-day it was still a grab bag of whatever sounded nice. Hell, Right after our debut as the Elemental Class, the next expansion gave us.... one elemental. That had more synergy with Overload than anything else.
It's just painful seeing such potential go to waste.
Overload is indeed a mechanic that is strangling Shaman not because it's bad, but because Team5 doesn't know what they want to do with it. The idea of an explosive turn with the drawback of massive tempo losses the next is a very fun and engaging idea for both sides as long as it's handled correctly, and it's exactly why Shaman is my favorite class in this game.
Your two Runespears are hilariously broken, and I feel like Energized Geode goes against what Shaman should be capable of doing (Overload as a drawback), but Ascendance is a card that should have been printed yesterday.
It really pains me that Shaman has a ton of potential in it's base mechanics (totems, Overload, and now elementals) but we're stuck with Freeze, Murloc, and Evolve. You have no idea how pissed I was at Unite the Murlocs being our quest instead of something to do with any of those. Hell, even in Shaman's hey-day it was still a grab bag of whatever sounded nice. Hell, Right after our debut as the Elemental Class, the next expansion gave us.... one elemental. That had more synergy with Overload than anything else.
It's just painful seeing such potential go to waste.
No pun intented, these are merely concept cards. Translation of ideas i had, mostly reshaping the typical A > B scheme of the current overload functionning because maybe this is the lead to take to continue developping individual overload cards you can pile up altogether. At least i wanted that for the runespears and this is why i came up with the deathrattles but not as minions because your opponent would have both more trouble and more ease denying it.
Ascendance kinda follow the same reasonning when it comes to print overload cards, this card would allow them to build another archetype that could support overload thanks to this. Kinda like Jade/Elemental, we would have Freeze/Overload (don't freak out guys it's only an exemple).
I admit Geode is somewhat off but when i was thinking of the syngergies with my other cards i've thought about Unbound Ele and i realised this one wasn't getting +X/+X overload but +1/+1 per overload card so i was meh and ashamed i didn't know about that because i never played it seriously.
It is very difficult to argue with you OP because you are simply SO on point and well spoken. Good job!
Could you try ? That's the point but if there nothing screaming to you that's fine too. I'm always assuming that since we're different in our thinking and all that stuff, we always have some discrepancies when it comes to arguing. For exemple there was that new mage card Arcane Artificer and how it would go if you use Defile with it and the whole Deathspeaker and Necrotic Geist. I got downvoted hard because i didn't explain the whole process just "What would happen with Defile ?".
They have no Idea about how to use and what to do with the mechanic, once in awhile someone at T5 remembers that it exist and says "this card has blue borders" and then it adds Overload:(1).
So manny cards would be playable if they had lower cost and some overload. For example:
The Mistcaller was a terrible card at 6 mana because of the tempo lost, but if you made it a 4 mana 4/4 Overload:(2), it would be more playable, sure you only have 3 mana on turn 5 but with The Mistcaller buffing your shit you could get the tempo back.
Charged Hammer was useless as a 4 mana 2/4 weapon, if you made that cost 2 or 3 mana and put the rest on Overload, it would be an actually good weapon the 2 Attack it's way more important on turn 2 and 3 and you want to spend the charges as fast as posible to get the new hero power, so playing it earlier makes the weapon a million times better.
Those are some examples from the top of my head of course they are not perfect, but I don't buy that bullshit of 1 Overload= 0.5 mana,sorry but I don't have 0.5 less mana next turn.
When they want to make an Overload card playable they just make it broken otherwise Overload cards are unplayable trash.It feels like they don't even want to try diferent version of the cards or that creating Overload cards it's a pain in the ass for them.
Or that nobody on T5 plays shaman (KotFT and CoK made my suspusious of this greater).
Dislaimer : I've chose to put all of it under spoilers to avoid the massive wall of text overwhelming aspect, might be a little annoying to resume clicking everytime but that's also a way to sting your curiosity. Also, please be mindful that i'm not imposing my view on the subject, i would be glad to discuss and question anything i said here. As long as this is kept civilized, i'm fine !
Introduction
Overload is a mechanism existing since the beginning of Hearthstone. It allows us to play cards at a reduced cost upon playing them but then getting overloaded crystals as a penalty translating into paying the rest of the initial cost and/or the ability to play it sooner than intended. Properly used, this feature should allow the Shaman to have the edge over his opponent.
In this thread, i will display the different problematics and give my opinion on the matter.
Problematic #1 : Is overload outdated ?
Overload seems to be more and more unadapted to the how the game has evolved. In fact, it is barely efficient in general : against aggro, you can for exemple use Feral Spirit to block them but on the following turn you will resume the beating with a worse outcome because of the constant onslaught aggro decks are capable of. On the other extreme, you will suffer from playing Overload cards because it will leave you with less mana to play than your opponent meaning less potent plays, i think Shadowreaper Anduin is a good exemple to explain how critical it can be to be restricted in mana actions when keen usage of it is key to win that kind of matchups.
Problematic #2 : An hindering complexity.
Blizzard's intent is to maintain simplicity when it comes to the core of the game. This intent is, for exemple, the reason why Innervate has been changed this way rather than another, they want to let every players know what is the identity of a said class and how it works. But how to keep this mechanic as such while conserving the simplicity factor ?
By nature, the overload system is complex because it naturally comes with an immediate punishement thus requiring a sharp sense of plannification. Using an overload card usually means you will play your turn by making a burst of tempo and then enter on mana cooldown on the next turn.
I took the exemple of Innervate because Druid have in common with Shaman the ability to manipulate the mana curve. Druid's ability to manipulate the curve is not as punishing and even when they reach 10 mana they can still do interesting plays like we all know of and get access to the excess mana mechanic to cycle those cards. However, Shaman are punished on top not having any longevity to their attempt at manipulating mana, playing an overload card is a one-time action and while it can last throughout the game, it could also be denied unlike Druid, once the mana is gained the effect is permanent. The only "long term" upside of Overload lies in Snowfury Giant.
Problematic #3 : Value and tempo.
Overload cards for some offers value and some don't, some will have value if played on curve but will lose it if played later on, some offers the ability to save card slots in your deck. The best exemple is Drakkari Defender which has 11 stat points (2 atk, 11 hp, 1 taunt) for a total cost of 6 mana (3 + 3 overload), if we submit this card to the "Vanilla test", it fails it because you'd want 12 stat points or more for a 6 mana card. However, it is playable 3 turns sooner than intended so unless your opponent has a tragical answer to it (like Shadow Word: Pain), it can be very efficient.
If we "deconstruct" this card compared to the affected curve turns (3 and 4), we can see that on Turn 3 we should be getting an average 6 stats point minion so we have 5 extra stats point according to the Vanilla test and on turn 4, we will have 1 mana so let's say we play a Mistress of Mixtures. This means we have 5 + 4 stats points which contributes to sort of passes the Vanilla test since we'd want to have a 8 mana stats worth of minions for that turn. In this scenario, we theorically didn't really lose anything.
Now, let's take Feral Spirit. Easily comparable to our fellow troll above, yet this is very different. Here we have a 3 mana spell with 2 overload that summons two 2/3 minions with taunt. If we calculate the stats points, that gives 6 points each for a total of 5 mana. Unlike the Drakkari, we have 2 minions so we have to treat them separately. 6 Stats points makes then ideal as 3 mana minions but since it costs 5 mana to get two, the second one only costs 2 mana. Finally, summoning two minions at the cost of one card is exceptionnal, we are limited in card slots when building a deck so being able to save a slot is great. Again, if we redo the "desconstruct" thing, we have 6 extra stat points on turn 4 so we only need a minions with 2 stats point on turn 4 to make it worth. Moreover, it would take two SW:Pain to take them down or a Shadow Word: Horror to get rid of them.
That's for the value part, we can now establish that Feral spirit is better for tempo. The Drakkari Defender will be deemed incapacitating at later stages of the game. Feral spirit however, while not ideal is will efficient. Imagine a fatigue war, ennemy has only Deathwing, you will be happy to have 2 tokens to stop him but most importantly you pay less mana for the Feral spirit's bodies than the Drakkari and on a the next turn, the difference between 7 and 8 mana can be game changing.
I could talk about every single overload card, like the Jinyu Waterspeaker who fails the Vanilla test for its 5 total mana cost but his battlecry is worth 2 mana and like Feral Spirit you also save a card slot. Paying 5 mana for 1 card instead of 6 in 2 cards is huge especially since the battlecry is almost impossible to counter (Auchenai Soulpriest or full board are the only ways to deny its battle cry).
Problematic #4 : Overload's stalemate over expansions.
Ever since the infamous Shamanstone era where overload was so efficient thanks to Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem, Blizzard is fearing to undergo strong card designing around the overload mechanic and that is problematic since it forced them to deploy new mechanics such as evolve, jade, elementals and lately freeze. It's not healthy to have a class being treated like a guinea pig. There is little interactions between the overload mechanic which has built their identity since the very beginning of Hearthstone and the mechanics stated previously. Evolve has not direct overload ties, in fact you want to avoid Overload minions since they have greater body stats than their cost so evolving them could get you lesser minions and you still retain the overload crystals. Same goes for Freeze which has no direct synergy unless if you make a combination of the two. Elementals with overload are only those that existed before Journey to Un'goro when the Elemental tribe wa instaured. We only get a small direct interraction with Jade thanks to Jade Claws.
As of today (11/22/17), two cards have been revealed for the upcoming Kobolds and Catacombs expansion. I totally understand the meaning of this expansion which is a massive wink to D&D's whole questing, mystery delving and that D20 shennigans with critical fail or success. We first discovered Lesser Sapphire Spellstone, this card was clearly identified as a win more card because playing it on curve is almost impossible because if even if you mana to overload 6 crystals you also need to have a proper target. In the end, you are almost forced to get behind and eventually make an explosive yet situationnal play to get away with this.
Upnext is The Runespear, a weapon born after Medhiv and Yoggy went into intercourse. This will reinforce the evolve aspect of Shaman by adding a spell dimension. Sadly the Evolve archetype will suffer in 2018 with the departure of WotOG's Evolve and Master of Evolution let alone the fact that the weapon is highly debatle if it should be played or not already.
Conclusion :
Shaman is a great class but as i said, was considered for too long as Blizzard's guinea pig in attempt to give them an identity to work with in the future. While interesting concept came to life, there is still what i consider to be the remnants of shaman's origins being the overload mechanic.
In my humble opinion, i think Blizzard should go back to what they intended to make out of shaman in the first place and fully embrace it or atleast use overload as a core for every new dimension they want to stew for Thrall and Morgl instead of just distant interractions with it.
The creative part : Overload cards.
I know most of these card will be perceived as OP with Lava Shock and Eternal Sentinel the former is already in Wild and the later will join it soon enough. I also realised i submitted deathrattle overloard card...
A first attempt at reworking The Runespear with a strong relation to the overload mechanic. For this version, i imagined a weapon that would help the shaman harness the power of the elements. That way, this weapon would make him capable of great prowess but will harshly suffer upon losing the weapon.
About the card text, "absorb all overload effects" means that this weapon will unlock any currently and soon to be overloaded crystals and prevent any further crystals to be overloaded until the weapon is destroyed. That also means that the weapon will prevent Overload from granting related effects (see Unbound Elemental, Snowfury Giant) when an overload card is played. Instead, everything will be reported accordingly when the weapon is destroyed. For exemple, if you have an Unbound Elemental on board and you play an Earth Elemental, the Unbound Elemental won't get +1/+1 when the Earth Elemental comes in. Instead, it will get +2/+2 when the weapon is destroyed because of the previously played Earth Elemental and the Weapon itself while not having a specifc amount of Overload will still count as an overload card.
I've also came up with another version, a far more impressive one. I got the idea when i was making the parelel with Druid about the ability to manipulate mana. The reasonning is the same as the previous version i've submitted : gain a phenomenal power by channeling the power through a weapon and get "exhausted" when losing it. It's also a good way to represent the overload mechanic according to how i see it, by that i mean making a big action until that point when you have to go on cooldown to recover from it. Having twice the maximum mana allows player to freely endure the drawback of overloaded crystals while being able to deliver much more action. Plus, you are not forced to play the whole overload stuff and it's different from the well known Thaurissan archetype to set combos on top of being playable in standard.
Now this one, i like the spirit of it. It's no more than a Bloodbloom that could allow explosive combos. You first play one Fire Plume Harbinger to discount Al'Akir the Windlord from 8 to 7 mana and then manage to get your Greater Sapphire Spellstone and unleash 4 Al'akirs on Turn 10 for 24 damages. You also could manage to discount your Snowfury Giant to 0 and then unleash the two of them, cast Ascendance on Greater Sapphire Spellstone and ice it with a nice Spirit Echo to get 5 giants on board with the effect on gaining 5 of them back and do that combo once again but be careful, that would be 8 giants for a 7 slots board !
Last but not least, the almighty Energized Geode. Basically an improved Unbound Elemental because this time it won't get +1/+1 for each overload card but for each overloaded crystal which means playing an Earth Elemental while this is on board will grant it +3/+3. Note that it has some crazy synergies with The Runespear versions and Ascendance spell i've submitted.
Overload is indeed a mechanic that is strangling Shaman not because it's bad, but because Team5 doesn't know what they want to do with it. The idea of an explosive turn with the drawback of massive tempo losses the next is a very fun and engaging idea for both sides as long as it's handled correctly, and it's exactly why Shaman is my favorite class in this game.
Your two Runespears are hilariously broken, and I feel like Energized Geode goes against what Shaman should be capable of doing (Overload as a drawback), but Ascendance is a card that should have been printed yesterday.
It really pains me that Shaman has a ton of potential in it's base mechanics (totems, Overload, and now elementals) but we're stuck with Freeze, Murloc, and Evolve. You have no idea how pissed I was at Unite the Murlocs being our quest instead of something to do with any of those. Hell, even in Shaman's hey-day it was still a grab bag of whatever sounded nice. Hell, Right after our debut as the Elemental Class, the next expansion gave us.... one elemental. That had more synergy with Overload than anything else.
It's just painful seeing such potential go to waste.
It is very difficult to argue with you OP because you are simply SO on point and well spoken. Good job!
Nuff said. This perfectly describes the dilemma that is Shaman nowadays. Good job, OP.
They have no Idea about how to use and what to do with the mechanic, once in awhile someone at T5 remembers that it exist and says "this card has blue borders" and then it adds Overload:(1).
So manny cards would be playable if they had lower cost and some overload.
For example:
The Mistcaller was a terrible card at 6 mana because of the tempo lost, but if you made it a 4 mana 4/4 Overload:(2), it would be more playable, sure you only have 3 mana on turn 5 but with The Mistcaller buffing your shit you could get the tempo back.
Charged Hammer was useless as a 4 mana 2/4 weapon, if you made that cost 2 or 3 mana and put the rest on Overload, it would be an actually good weapon the 2 Attack it's way more important on turn 2 and 3 and you want to spend the charges as fast as posible to get the new hero power, so playing it earlier makes the weapon a million times better.
Those are some examples from the top of my head of course they are not perfect, but I don't buy that bullshit of 1 Overload= 0.5 mana,sorry but I don't have 0.5 less mana next turn.
When they want to make an Overload card playable they just make it broken otherwise Overload cards are unplayable trash.It feels like they don't even want to try diferent version of the cards or that creating Overload cards it's a pain in the ass for them.
Or that nobody on T5 plays shaman (KotFT and CoK made my suspusious of this greater).