The Burning Legion has grown weary of attacking Azeroth and is now launching an assault on Outland! Illidan Stormrage, ruler of Outland, calls Azeroth's greatest heroes to the shattered world's aid, promising rewards and glory beyond measure! However, the Legion is also interested in their allegiance... will you valiantly fight to defend Outland from destruction or will you be seduced by the Legion's overwhelming power (and die at the end of your turn)?
Hey guys, this is a project of mine I've been thinking of starting for a while now. My goal is to submit new cards to this thread at least once a week, until I've created a roughly 100 custom cards set, all thematically fitting the premise: the battle of the forces of Azeroth and Outland combined versus the might of the Burning Legion, along with some traitors. Bearing a similarity to Whispers of the Old Gods, some classes will be fighting for Outland, others- for the Legion.
But now, without further adue, the cards. First up, the ruler of Outland himself, Illidan Stormrage! Info on balance and why I chose this effect in the spoiler below the card.
Besides Arthas, no Warcraft character is more iconic than Illidan, however Illidan Stormrage the card is certainly lacking in epicness. This is why I decided to create a playable version of him. The logic behind his effect is the following: Illidan is constantly fighting the forces of the Legion, in order to repell them from Outland. Upon defeat, he retreats. However, once he has detected the presence of more demons, he will return to fight them again. I purposefully made him weaker than Sherazin, Corpse Flower, since his revival condition is easier to meet and besides, he's neutral.
Races, contaminated by the seducing power of fel magic, will join the Legion in its conquest of Draenor.The Fel empowers them, but at a terrible cost.
Fel Orc: The effect of this minion reflects the terrible toll Fel Magic has on its users. The Fel Orc is way more powerful than most minions of the same cost, but this Aggro minion comes at the price of about a third of your health, which may cost you the game against another Aggro or Midrange deck, which is the reason I believe it to be balanced.
Fel Ogre Magi: I'll admit I miss Azure Drake :D, which is why I created this card. It has the stats of a 3-drop+ spell damage and discover instead of card draw, making it balanced, if not even a bit underpowered, bearing the current Warlock spell roster in mind. However, in this set I'm also adding some new Warlock spells, which I think any class will be happy to discover.
Additionaly, Gul' Dan will also side with the demons, therefore his cards will all be either the demonic minions of the Burning Legion or spells related to its powerful Fel Magic. Gul' Dan's service to the Legion is reflected in the class's Legendary, a Quest (this set will have only 1 Legendary per class, some classes will get quests, other minions).
Burn isn't a mechanic new to Hearthstone, as anybody who has ever faced Mill Rogue or played Fel Reaver can confirm. In my opinion, it can be used as a powerful downside to cards that would otherwise be OP, while also being somewhat more controllable than discard, as cards in your hand are safe.
The quest already has synergy with Life Tap, all you need to do is fill up your hand and then draw some more cards. The set will also include other cards using this mechanic, facilitating the quest's completion.
Now, regarding the quest itself: some of you might think it's just a worse version of an already bad card, Lakkari Sacrifice, as it essentially requires you to destroy a third of your deck. However, the reward makes all the difference here: instead of getting a portal and relying on its value to win you the game, which can often be denied by removal and freeze effects, you clear the board and refuel your thinned deck with Demons, which are likely to synergise with eachother.
Here are some other Warlock cards demonstrating the terrible power of the Legion, some also featuring the burn mechanic and supporting the quest.
Infernal Device: Value engine (literally) for Burnlock. A good card to play in the mid-game, spawning hard to remove minions that will soon ensure board dominance. In order not to be OP, it burns 2 cards at the end of each turn. Besides, it's fragile.
Man'ari Envoy: Even though Burn is more controllable than discard, burning 10 cards means that in most games you will burn a card you need, perhaps even one that is crucial for the matchup. The Man'ari Envoy enables you to get it back- but at the cost of another card burnt.
EDIT: Grammar
EDIT 2: Rebalanced Sargeras.
EDIT 3: Reduced the health of Infernal Device to make it easier to deal with.
This expansion will include a lot of demons, some of them- neutrals. Here's a card that can enable demon synergies in non- Warlock decks as well (since in this set other classes will get demons too). Featured in the Weakly Card Design Competition.
The extreme tempo swings this card enables are offset by the large amount of damage your hero takes because of its effect.
You are really gonna have to think that Sargeras over. If you are making an adventure that would actually fit into the real game then 'destroy an enemy' isn't a good option in any means, doesn't matter what cost or size it comes in. Also, Illidan seems underpowered (to me atleast), playing 3 demons in a turn is no joke, id much rather play my Flame Imps or Voidwalkers in early game, rather than wait for my illidan. Most demons cost around midrangey mana so reviving him is going to be difficult.
You misunderstood Illidan's effect, it doesn't require the demons to be played in the same turn, it just requires them to be played. One demon at a turn can be played and revive Illidan over the course of three turns.
Regarding Sargeras, I think you have a point, I should perhaps tone him down a bit. Then I'll perhaps tone down the requirement as well.
EDIT: How is the new version of Sargeras to your liking?
Hello guys, time for a new batch of cards! This time I'll be creating cards for Illidan's allies, the naga and the blood elves (Akama and the draenei coming very soon as well!). We'll start with the naga. First up is a priest epic that would be great in Silence Priest, more detailed info in the spoiler below the card.
The lore tells us that female naga are skilled sorceresses and this is why I've decided that all the cards featuring female nagas will have something to do with spells.
The card is both versatile and restricting; sometimes you'll have to sacrifice the effect of a friendly minion to get a spell, but should you put it in the right deck (Silence Priest), the results could be amazing. Imagine T2 Ancient Watcher followed up by T3 this. Not only do you trade favourably, but you also get a spell to kick off the Lyra the Sunshard chain later in the game. Of course, that's the best case scenario; most of the time the swings won't be so extreme.
Next up are the male nagas, famed for their fighting skills. They will stop at nothing to repell the forces of the Legion from their home, Zangarmarsh.
Naga Spearbearer- a spin on Disciple of C'Thun, instead of buffing C'Thun you get a buff, should your target survive. The survival condition makes it so that you don't get too much of an advantage by using this card during the early game and destroying the enemy's turn 2 play.
Ironscale Captain- the "opposite minion" mechanic in Karazhan's chess event was very interesting, but sadly didn't appear in any of the playable cards. Here I'm implementing it as a way for both the player and the opponent to control to some extent which minion (or minions, if the captain is between 2 enemy minions) the Deathrattle will hit. It isn't unbalanced, as your opponent can slam a 1/1 on the board and then trigger the effect. It also rewards proper positioning.
Bloodscale Assailant- right now Paladin is the murloc class, even though shaman also has good tools to build such a deck, even the class quest is related to Murlocs. Therefore, I thought it proper to give shaman a good boost. This card won't guarantee your murlocs aren't all destroyed by some AoE, but at least they are all yours to play again (great synergy with Unite the Murlocs). However, the card is understatted and overloads you, restricting your ability to re-flood the board next turn.
Of course, some of the more notable naga are also fighting for Illidan and their homeland.
Both naga legendaries are severely understatted and not cards you would just play for their stats, but for their powerful battlecries that clear the enemy board and give you an amazing card advantage.
High Warlord Najentus- Explosive Shot on a stick, but restricted to opposite minions only, meaning a clever positioning by your opponent will prevent you from destroying his more valuable minions. However, should they be careless, this classic raid boss will make quick work of their board presence.
Lady Vashj- A board clear for spell-heavy decks and Yogg-Saron's more predictable version. Mind you, against any half-decent board Vashj is useless if you have cast 5 or less spells this game, as you can't guarantee her shots will land on more valuable targets. Should you cast 7, 8 or even 10 however... now we're talking.
The other faction siding with Illidan are the blood elves. Many of them will join the ranks of the heroes of Azeroth to aid them in their conquest of the Burning Legion.
Bloodguard Protector- A good non-murloc early game for Paladin that can get quite annoying when cheap spells get involved. However, a 2/3 with Divine Shield isn't that hard to take care of, and nobody is going to pop the shield and leave the minion alive anyways.
Maiden of the Wild- Leokk and Huffer would enable tempo swings, however Misha is near useless as a 1/1. Nonetheless, this card may be more balanced as a 1/2, tell me what you think about it in the comments below.
Sin'dorei Mage- the blood elves being the skilled sorcerers they are makes such a card extremely fitting for their theme. This card is a godsend in spell-heavy decks, however even spell-heavy decks aren't only spells and board presence can't be won by spells (barring the portals), making the drawback relevant.
However, not all blood elves are fighting on Illidan's side... a certain friend-gone-foe has returned to fight for his master Kil'Jaeden and defeat his former ally and the forces of Outland and Azeroth. Enter the Sunstrider!
The prince of the blood elves seems like a natural fit in many Mage, Shaman and Rogue decks and on first sight might even seem OP. However, one should bear in mind that unlike Lyra the Sunshard and Archmage Antonidas, the value he generates is delayed; you have to draw your spells to use them, which excluding Miracle shenanigans doesn't happen often, meaning that in the most common scenario you lost some tempo by playing a 6 mana 3/8 spell damage to hopefully gain it back by getting some extra removal/card draw to use later in the game.
Overall, I think he's pretty balanced, but if you disagree, let me know in the comments.
Next time: Once again cards for the Legion side of the conflict+ the Warrior legendary!
EDIT: Typos
EDIT 2:Balancing
1) Just realised Vashj's stats are awful for her effect, compared to Kalimos, Primal Lord. Therefore, I increased them so that she's more of a threat even without her effect.
2) Same for Kael'Thas, as a 4/5 he would rarely survive your enemy's turn and therefore the spells you could get off him would be limited, also limiting the value and making the card pointless. Now, as a 3/8, he's more likely to survive and continue netting you pure value during your next turn.
3) Bloodguard Protector- I managed to powercreep both Frostwolf Grunt and Shielded Minibot with a single card. Wow, and I thought I knew more about balance xD. Anyways, removed taunt from the card so that paladins don't autowin vs aggro in the early game.
Here's the Warrior legendary I promised! Certain fel orc servants of Illidan are unhappy now that he can't provide them with fel blood to fuel their power and have defected to the Legion's side. Among them is none other than Kargath Bladefist, once jailor of Magtheridon, now fighting for a new master- the dark titan Sargeras.
A powerful addition to Quest Warrior to be sure, but not one that would make the deck OP. Compared to Baron Geddon, the card has about the same stats ( a 4/7 taunt is equal in value to a 7/5, seeing as taunt is worth one stat) and a similar effect. However, even though Kargath's effect combined with his taunt makes him extremely powerful, unlike Geddon's, it requires activators to proc of your own volition. Besides, it only affects damaged minions, which makes it balanced IMO.
Not only Gul'Dan and Garrosh are joining the Legion in the conflict, however... the demons have found an unexpected ally in Malfurion Stormrage, who has been fooled by agents of Kil'Jaeden to believe Illidan's plea for help to be nothing more than a trap , a way for Illidan to return to Azeroth and establish his rule there. Blinded by his rage, the druid will do anything, even side with the enemies he fought so hard to repel from his own world, to finally put an end to his brother.
Malfurion's betrayal is an integral card of this expansion's druid cards. His minions are all servants of the Legion and his spells have been corrupted by fel magic. First, let's take a look at his common cards.
Most cards for Druid will have the combined Beast and Demon synergy, seeing as while Malfurion has gone down a dark path, he still hasn't abandoned his old druid ways, hence commanding both Beasts and Demons.
Rabid Imp- a good 1 drop reminiscent of Living Roots, except here the 2 damage is replaced by a combination of both effects- 1 damage and 1 minion. The tribe tag is also important, since it means that unlike Living Roots, the token option won't be useless in the late game, as the 2 imps would benefit from demon synergy.
Dark Tribalist- an effect similar to the Maiden of the Wild I posted last time, however on the condition that you control a Beast or a Demon. The bonus is you get to choose what effect the 1/1 will have by targeting the minion with a passive/deathrattle effect. In emergency situations like an aggro matchup it can also be used simply as a 2/2 that spawns a 1/1 to contest the board.
Nether Energy- Innervate made inconsistent but with a potentially giant upside, should you have a bunch of demons or beasts on your board. Can be used to cheat out mid-sized demons/beasts earlier in the game and force your opponent to waste removal on them, leaving your late game uncontested.
Next up, the rares:
Tree Cutter 3000- a token engine for Aggro Druid, but also a good addition to any Demon Druid decks. Of course, you can't buff the Imps during your turn, meaning they, along with the Tree Cutter, can easily be AoEd or traded into by your opponent. Most of the time you'll be paying 3 mana for a 2/2 with an added Lost in the Jungle on top, which isn't too bad. Besides, if the Imps survive, they can be buffed by the next card.
Fallen Nymph- a tool to turn those imps into 2/3s to control your opponent's board with. I doubt it can see any play in Aggro Druid, 4 mana is too slow with a tribe restriction on top, meaning only demon druids would utilise it.
Druid of the Fel- a card that presents you with an interesting choice: should you test your luck and hope for a Doomguard (and sometimes get Malchezaar's Imp)? Or should you play it safe, get a 6/6 Infernal, but put your opponent way ahead of you in mana? If a similar card was to ever make it into the game, I would be interested which option would be prefered by most players: the RNG or the consistent one with a drawback?
The epic cards are probably the main reason Malfurion joined the Legion (xD), seeing as they cover two of the class's major weaknesses: hard removal and AoE.
Decompose- Mulch is gone and Naturalise is bad. So how do Druids deal with big minions? With some help from the Burning Legion, of course! Some might say this card is a straight up worse Assassinate, but as Shatterstar1998 pointed out, Druid has better tools for a control deck like ramp and healing, meaning his hard removal has to be slightly worse than Rogue's. Nonetheless, the card's drawback is only relevant for minions with strong effects, destroying something like a jade golem comes basically free of charge.
Felfire Ancient- Flamestrike and Abyssal Enforcer's child. This card would allow druids to play late-game decks and not only aggro as they currently do, since with this card in their decks they could be sure they could reset the board their opponent has built in the midgame and start retaking the advantage. The obvious drawback is you also nuke your own board and also take some face damage, which can be fatal against any decks with reach (midrange hunter for an example).
Option 2 allows this card to also be solid on an empty board and gives the druid another minion to buff, trade etc.
Druid's new legendary, a quest, is also based on his new dual identity. What better ally to fight your treacherous brother with than his old enemy, revived by the magic of Sargeras? And a giant pit lord with immense power to boot!
This quest has a difficult to meet requirement- summoning 9 minions with specific tribes is in no way easy. However, the other druid cards revealed so far certainly help. Seeing as almost all of them summon a demon or two of some kind, by the late game you should have already met that part of the requirement. Regarding the other- well, it's druid after all, summoning two beasts should be a breeze.
The reward is certainly worth it though. Magtheridon would be a nightmare to deal with, since he can easily turn a weak board presence into a force to be reckoned with. What's even worse, the card has enormous snowball potential, as with every following turn he'll continue to spawn new buffed demons, meaning that just like with Emperor Thaurissan, if you don't answer it during your first turn you'll probably lose.
Nonetheless, the card also has drawbacks. Unlike the rest of druid's cards, this doesn't synergise with Beasts, meaning that if your board doesn't contain any demons, Magtheridon will have less of an impact. Additionally, there's always the possibility to roll low on the summoned demons and get Malchezaar's Imp. However, Magtheridon's most fatal flaw is silence. Silence sets your demons back to their original stats and stops the pit lord from summoning any more.
I'll follow this up with some neutral demon minions, featuring one of the Burning Legion's commanders.
EDIT: Typos and some text simplifications.
EDIT 2: Per suggestion from Shatterstar1998 I rebalanced the epics.
The Druid Epic are too strong in my opinion. Compare Decompose with Vilespine Slayer, who has the Combo requirement and not the Choose One option. Increase the cost to 6 if you don't want to tone it down. Felfire Ancient second option also need to be toned down. A 10/9 minion with Taunt and Demon synergy is blatantly overpower compare with Ancient of War and Twin Emperor Vek'lor.
The Druid Epic are too strong in my opinion. Compare Decompose with Vilespine Slayer, who has the Combo requirement and not the Choose One option. Increase the cost to 6 if you don't want to tone it down. Felfire Ancient second option also need to be toned down. A 10/9 minion with Taunt and Demon synergy is blatantly overpower compare with Ancient of War and Twin Emperor Vek'lor.
First of all, thanks for the feedback! I think you have a point, but only to some extent. Decompose is in no way unbalanced, as it costs the same as Assassinate. You should take into account that vilespine slayer also leaves behind a 3/4 body, while with decompose you spend the same mana and get no body.
Frankly, I am surprised you reckon the first option of Decompose to be broken, as when I was designing the card I was more worried the second one would be deemed more unfair. However, even it is priced accordingly, as you pay 3 mana for 4 damage to a minion (warlock's shadowbolt) and 2 mana for a discover effect. Overall, I think decompose is balanced.
However, I agree with what you have to say on felfire ancient, I'll probably replace the token. By the way, is option one balanced in your opinion? Once again, thank you for taking your time to leave a comment!
The Druid Epic are too strong in my opinion. Compare Decompose with Vilespine Slayer, who has the Combo requirement and not the Choose One option. Increase the cost to 6 if you don't want to tone it down. Felfire Ancient second option also need to be toned down. A 10/9 minion with Taunt and Demon synergy is blatantly overpower compare with Ancient of War and Twin Emperor Vek'lor.
First of all, thanks for the feedback! I think you have a point, but only to some extent. Decompose is in no way unbalanced, as it costs the same as Assassinate. You should take into account that vilespine slayer also leaves behind a 3/4 body, while with decompose you spend the same mana and get no body.
Frankly, I am surprised you reckon the first option of Decompose to be broken, as when I was designing the card I was more worried the second one would be deemed more unfair. However, even it is priced accordingly, as you pay 3 mana for 4 damage to a minion (warlock's shadowbolt) and 2 mana for a discover effect. Overall, I think decompose is balanced.
However, I agree with what you have to say on felfire ancient, I'll probably replace the token. By the way, is option one balanced in your opinion? Once again, thank you for taking your time to leave a comment!
You aren't taking into account that by Hearthstone rule, Druid has to have average-to-bad removal compare to Rogue since they have mana ramp, good minions and healing. Decompose will have to atleast have a condition into its removal effect or increase the cost by 1 to compensate being a really good removal along with a Choose One option. You can increase the damage deal to compensate.
Felfire Ancient's 1st option is one of the thing you have to actually use to see if it's too strong. Druid has bad board clear, so a good one is hard to value. However, I think you should be caution not to dilute Druid this expansion too much that turns them into a bad Warlock.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Click here to visit my Timestream Tracking Finalist Year of the Dragon in collaboration with Demonxz95
The Druid Epic are too strong in my opinion. Compare Decompose with Vilespine Slayer, who has the Combo requirement and not the Choose One option. Increase the cost to 6 if you don't want to tone it down. Felfire Ancient second option also need to be toned down. A 10/9 minion with Taunt and Demon synergy is blatantly overpower compare with Ancient of War and Twin Emperor Vek'lor.
First of all, thanks for the feedback! I think you have a point, but only to some extent. Decompose is in no way unbalanced, as it costs the same as Assassinate. You should take into account that vilespine slayer also leaves behind a 3/4 body, while with decompose you spend the same mana and get no body.
Frankly, I am surprised you reckon the first option of Decompose to be broken, as when I was designing the card I was more worried the second one would be deemed more unfair. However, even it is priced accordingly, as you pay 3 mana for 4 damage to a minion (warlock's shadowbolt) and 2 mana for a discover effect. Overall, I think decompose is balanced.
However, I agree with what you have to say on felfire ancient, I'll probably replace the token. By the way, is option one balanced in your opinion? Once again, thank you for taking your time to leave a comment!
You aren't taking into account that by Hearthstone rule, Druid has to have average-to-bad removal compare to Rogue since they have mana ramp, good minions and healing. Decompose will have to atleast have a condition into its removal effect or increase the cost by 1 to compensate being a really good removal along with a Choose One option. You can increase the damage deal to compensate.
Felfire Ancient's 1st option is one of the thing you have to actually use to see if it's too strong. Druid has bad board clear, so a good one is hard to value. However, I think you should be caution not to dilute Druid this expansion too much that turns them into a bad Warlock.
Hmm, I didn't consider druid's other strengths when designing. You're right, in no way do I want druid becoming straight up better than rogue. I'll pay closer attention to inherent class weaknesses in the future when designing. I think a "destroy one of your mana crystals" would make decompose's first option balanced, as it negates your ramp. Additionally, I'll buff option 2 by 1 damage, as you suggested. Would those changes make the card balanced?
Regarding druid getting dilluted: I can see where you're coming from with this, I just tried to push a whole class archetype with a single expansion. Now I see why Blizzard doesn't do it this way; you rely on one archetype to push the class and if it fails, the class becomes irrelevant, handbuff hunter and paly pre-Ungoro style. However, i had to give him that many demon buff cards, as otherwise the archetype wouldn't take off.
Additionaly, I could simply think of no other way to portray Malfurion's defection to the Legion with other cards. I realised that if I didn't give him demons, his "corrupt" cards would end up being too similar thematically to his old gods cards, since they were also "corrupt", just by the old gods and not the legion.
This is why I chose to give him demon synergy to set those cards apart. Besides, most of the cards wouldn't be dead in other archetypes as well. All strictly synnergistic cards buff beasts as well, so they could fit in that beast deck. Other cards, such as the imp and the fel druid, could see play regardless of synergy, just as a good flexible 1 drop (imp) or a good on-curve play and value in ramp (fel druid).
Overall, I'd say I tried my best to both add a new archetype and make sure the cards could see play in other decks as well, so I doubt such an expansion would restrict druid to being just a worse warlock.
Thank you for your continued interest in this thread! I'll adjust the epics tomorrow. Along with that I'll add a fresh batch of cards. Will be glad to hear your opinion on them as well!
It's time for the neutral demons I promised. As a bonus I've also designed the rest of Warlock's cards for the expansion. We'll start with the neutrals though. As always, info on the cards is in the spoilers.
Aggressive Felhound- I really like Swamp King Dred's mechanic, as it gives you the initiative on your opponent's turn. However, the effect is wasted on an expensive minion in hunter of all classes, so I decided to do a cheaper alternative. Notice how Dred's effect gets him +2/+2 over normal stats, but this minion only has 1 extra health. That's because a 4/4 body would be too strong in the early game and make short work of your opponent's early game. As a 2/4 however, it isn't that troublesome.
Archimonde's Bodyguard- demon decks's Twilight Guardian/Nesting Roc. The card is balanced the same way as those two, and since they were balanced (if sometimes tilting when you couldn't take care of the Guardian), this card is, too.
Shivarra Priestess- a heal for demon decks, that nonetheless requires you to have at least 2 demons to get a decent heal out of it. Getting a big heal is unlikely, given that demon decks are usually midrange and don't swarm the board as aggro decks do. Maybe except some zooish Demonlocks, but such decks wouldn't run a heal anyways.
Chained Abyssal- again was inspired by Sherazin to create demon decks's own Twilight Summoner that will probably see exactly as much play. Even though the Abyssal is a 6/6, the card is slow. Even if you summon a demon on turn 5, you won't be able to use the abyssal up to turn 6, and a 6/6 on turn 6 isn't scary for your enemy.
Gnomish Warlock- a way to keep summoning more and more demons. However, it is both understatted and with a requirement. That is the price you have to pay for the demon pool getting quite better with this expansion.
Violent Observer- Ship's Cannon for demons that is trickier to use. Unike pirates, demons don't come cheap and you'll likely be unable to use the effect more than once a turn, probably even once at all, as your enemy will do all in his might to remove the minion.
And now we come to the last epic and of course the legendary!
Giant Satyr- as we all know giants are useless if not cheap enough, and you'd have to play about 10-12 demons for the price of the satyr to sink low enough. I think it is big enough of a requirement.
Kazzak- sorry guys, no Kil'Jaeden yet, instead you get his right hand! Kazzak is reminiscent of Prince Malchezaar, however I believe his effect to be better, which is why I gave him worse statts. Random Demons are almost always better than random Legendaries. Besides, there's a slim chance they synergise. However, you can still get useless stuff like the next demon I'm about to show you.
Every expansion needs its fun card and this bad mannered imp is the one for Return to Outland. With this card not only do you get the infinite value of Wisp xD, but you also get to use a long-forgotten emote and raise your sarcasm to a new level. Also, it's an indirect nerf to Kazzak. Annnd... if you're lucky and run 2 along with N'Zoth the Corruptor, you might just replace all of your emotes with Sorry!
And now, the Warlock cards:
Felbot- obviously an opener for Burn Questlock, but can also be used as a good 1-drop for control decks, its stats being good for early game board control. Of course, aggro decks would rather use Flame Imp.
Devoted Voidwalker- now that's a perfect servant! He protects you and your minions, while allowing you to neglect the drawback of your hero power while the voidwalker is alive. I believe inspire still has some potential, if balanced correctly and not put on underpowered cards like most of tgt.
Like I promised in the beginning, this expansion includes (finally) some good spells for warlock.
Imp-rovement- some people might get Haunted Creeper flashbacks when seeing this card, but don't worry- it's a lot fairer. It isn't sticky like it, as the Imps get summoned immediately. Mana-wise, the cost certainly fits, as you get Lost in the Jungle+ Divine Strength inverted for 2 mana. However, the 1 health is often irrelevant on anything beside a 1 health minion, meaning the value of this card steadily drops in the mid- through lategame.
Nether Lightning- another card that is basically Pyroblast split in three cards. However, the second two parts have to be drawn first. It is also similar to Forgotten Torch, but a bit weaker, as you get 2 overcosted spells instead of 1 overcosted.
Condense Darkness- another way for Questlock to refuel besides the Man'ari Envoy. Should you not have enough cards burnt, you'll get the same spell you get from Nether Lightning.
That was all for this time. Next time- more nagas with opposite minions effects+ some more warrior cards.
You have a few really good cards here, apparently Hearthcards shows that to, i'm seeing a TON of your cards popping up atm in the gallery (which i assume arn't copied) with the most recent one being the jesting imp with a 4 star rating.
Keep up the good cards and good luck with the rest of the expansion
You have a few really good cards here, apparently Hearthcards shows that to, i'm seeing a TON of your cards popping up atm in the gallery (which i assume arn't copied) with the most recent one being the jesting imp with a 4 star rating.
Keep up the good cards and good luck with the rest of the expansion
Wow! I didn't know that many of my cards had appeared on the actual gallery (passing the approval stage), I only saw the Devoted Voidwalker there, so I didn't think I did that great. Could you remember what other cards beside the imp and the voidwalker appeared there, I have some trouble viewing them, perhaps it doesn't reveal them to the author IP adress or something. I would be very grateful if you could tell me!
Wow! I didn't know that many of my cards had appeared on the actual gallery (passing the approval stage), I only saw the Devoted Voidwalker there, so I didn't think I did that great. Could you remember what other cards beside the imp and the voidwalker appeared there, I have some trouble viewing them, perhaps it doesn't reveal them to the author IP adress or something. I would be very grateful if you could tell me!
i can't remember all of them but i at least saw Kael'Thas with 3.6 star rating just like the jesting imp, you should make a Hearthcards account so you can see your cards and see what their rating is
Time for more nagas! You'll also get the king of a very popular tech card at the moment!
Mystic of the Depths- as I mentioned previously, female nagas are all about spells. However, not all of their effects have to be complicated like Lady Vashj's- some will be simple like this one, an alternative to Kabal Courier
Hungry Naga- a taunt with horrible stats that relies on your opponent to buff it. Assuming your opponent has a minion and ignoring silence for a second, the card's stats can't sink lower than 2/4, making it on par with the 2/4 taunt tentacle from WotOG. However, if your opponent doesn't pay attention to his positioning and make sure there's only one minion opposite this, they'll have to deal with a 2/6 taunt.
Coldlight Lurker- don't worry, it isn't Sludge Belcher, the murlocs haven't got taunt. It's more similar to Infested Tauren, except the tokens aren't as useful as the 2/2 slime.
Naga Berserker- Enrage Warrior anyone? Blizzard has hardly pushed this archetype ever since classic, so why not? The card allows you to take control of the board with ease, but as with most opposite minion cards, the effect can also be controlled by your opponent.
Oceanic Protector- a cheaper Grimestreet Protector, which however also buffs your enemies. Nonetheless, it has improved stats for every enemy affected, so you could make use of that by buffing, let's say, some useless enemy Imps (why not even a Jesting Imp xD) and bringing the stats of this card up to 4/6, a good body to trade with.
Temptress of the Seas- I know it looks incredibly OP, Mind Control with a body for 1 mana less, but hear me out first. Priests aren't exactly the guys that swarm the board with minions (except silence, but this has no place in such a deck), meaning that this minion will usually land somewhere about the center, meaning it can only take control of minions in the center of the enemy board. A smart enemy can take advantage of this by summoning his strong minions on the sides of the board and filling the middle with weak ones. In short, this card is not overpowered as it may seem.
P.S.: I realize some decks play their minions one at a time, but they can still easily combat Priest by adding some token spawners to their decks as a tech.
And now some spells using the same mechanic:
Protect the Maw- a slightly better Betrayal that you can control somewhat more. The card would be great in Paladin, a class with many huge minions. I'm not sure whether or not I should raise its cost a bit, so let me know what you think about it.
High Tide- a very conditional mass removal that requires you to have a big board and also damages it, but may just take care of your enemy's even larger board. Can't be used as burst damage since it only affects minions, not heroes.
Some more spells:
Will of Vashj- 1 mana discover something seem to be a type of cards that has appeared in many expansions now, so I also made one for Mage. From this card you could get more burn, removal or AoE if necessary.
Treacherous Depths- clarification: the Kraken gets summoned in the same spot as the dead minion.
This can really throw a wrench in your opponent's gameplan if he has a middle sized board and you only have a single minion that gets killed, as the kraken may end up paralyzing his more important minions. Should the kraken survive the turn (unlikely against bigger enemy boards), you can adjust its position by playing more minions and stop the enemy dead in his tracks by paralyzing a high attack minion. However, it's vulnerable, so should be protected by taunt/ can't be targeted adapt from Crackling Razormaw ASAP.
And here are the last nagas for now.
Silent Slitherer- another tool for Silence Priest that simultaneously strengthens your board and weakens your opponent's. A silence effect usually costs 0.5 mana, the maximum targets are 4, meaning the effect costs about 2 mana. It being attached to a 2/2 body makes it balanced at 4 mana.
Shaman of the Abyss- not including the typical naga mechanic, but totems need some love too. A simple card that might enable some unexpected efficient trades and grant you a board advantage early in the game.
Some more warrior cards come next:
Warrior hardly needs more board clears when they have Brawl, but I decided to create some alternatives that perhaps fit some decks' playstyle better.
Battle Chaos- interesting card, but requires to be comboed with a whirlwind effect to really work. Besides, if your opponent has a large board you can't guarantee the efficiency of the trade and might just end up trading all of your weak minions into a big guy and leaving it at 1 health. However, against smaller boards it could work quite well.
Cull the Weak- a more straightforward boardclear. King Mosh's effect but with no body. Is a bit more reliable thn Brawl (thus more expensive), but given that all whirlwind effects are symmetrical, you would also nuke your own board by comboing them with this. Of course, if you play control you probably don't have a board.
Mo'arg Mechanic- a pure control card. Who needs a winaxe when you can decimate your opponent's early game with a circular saw instead? The weapon is certainly powerful, which is why the body is awful for the cost.
And finally, the legendary I promised! Meet the king of all crabs, Krax!
I hope you didn't expect I'd fill an expansion with demon synergy that would probably make it in many decks and run rampant without releasing some tech cards as well. The thought certainly came to my mind while designing, which is why the set also contains the ultimate tech card. Demons, Beasts, Dragons, Murlocs, Pirates- all stand no chance against this mighty crab. I believe it could easily turn out to be the strongest card of the set, it is a Black Knight with far greater utility that would probably shape all the decks in the meta if it were ever released.
Because of this card's enormal potential its stats are abysmal when its effect doesn't trigger, unlike the Black Knight. No 4/5 for 6 mana if you fail to destroy a minion, you instead waste 5 mana on a measly 1/3. And yet... imagine the possibilities.
That will be all for the next day or two, will be afk for a while.
EDIT: Balanced Shaman of the Abyss and Krax.
EDIT 2: Silly me, I made 4 commons for rogue this expansion instead of 3, like for all other classes. Butcher is now Protect the Maw, a paladin card with the same cost and effect.
Temptress of the Sea: I really like this card's effect and the restriction you added. However, I feel like this is something of a Legendary effect.
Shaman of the Abyss is disgustingly powerful with Tunnel Trogg - Totem Golem opening. I think that it either need to nerfed to only 0-attack or Basic Totems.
Kraken: Missing rarity and while I like the effect, it's really doesn't fit Hunter at all. They don't have enough tools to play another playstyle other than aggressive and this card will be useless most of the time since it will either be taken care of by another aggressive deck or be hard-removed/efficiently traded by a slower deck. I think it should be changed to Priest and save the slot for a more aggressive Hunter cards. Granted, I haven't seen the rest of the Hunter set so you might know something that I don't
I really like how you made Cornered Sentry a much better card this expansion. Great design!
The Kraken is a token from the secret, not a separate minion, this is why there's no rarity. Also, you're right that I have different thing in mind for Hunter, I'll try to do something different than midrange or aggro for hunter with my expansion.
Regarding Shaman of the Abyss: totally forgot about totem golem, you're right, it should be basic.
In some sense the temptress will be a legendary, as I doubt any decks will run more than 1. However, I've got something more interesting in mind for the priest legendary, so the temptress will remain a rare.
I am sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said about cornered sentry. I can't see any of the cards I released so far synergising with it, unless you mean shifting the positions of your opponents' minions with the raprors so your opposite minions effects land on more valuable minions? I'm confused, could you please explain?
Loving the expansion so far, I've got to say. Lot of really nice cards, but I've got one major issue, and that's warlock.
You seem to be attributing way too much of a downside to burn, at least in the cases of Infernal Engine and, to a lesser extent, felbot. Like, let's take fel reaver for example: A card that can easily mill large tracts of your deck, but for an 8/8 of stats. People ran that card in mech decks, and that was before they had a quest for it. Now compare that to your Infernal Engine: 0/7 of stats for 4 mana. Now let's, as a thought, say that it only goes off once: You've just summoned a 6/6 for 4 mana, and two cards off the top, which is already crazy good value, since your hand is untouched. Even more than that, it can do it again, and your board, as it stands, needs a solid 13 damage to clear. So if they only have, say, 7, they can leave a 6/6 on board, or let you replace the 6/6.
That's crazy value, probably to game-breaking extremes. And our downside for this is milling 2 cards per turn until they destroy your engine.
So, back to fel-reaver: This is an extra 2/2 of stats (Let's say 5 mana for a 6/6 accounts for any effects you'd normally have), at the downside that any enemy with cheap cards can easily destroy, let's say 9 cards from your deck. 2/2 of stats, for milling 9 cards. People ran that card.
This card, gives us, let's say, +1/+1 of stats, at the barest minimum, for 2 cards (Still pretty good). And then, if you're lucky enough for your engine to survive, you get +7/+7 of stats (Delayed, admittedly), for 4 cards. And those cards are still quest progress. I'm not 100% sure how to solve this issue, but I guarantee you there is an issue here.
--
Having written all that, Felbot seems pretty normal, if I'm honest, but I'd still suggest making it burn at the end of every turn, granted that it's about +1 of health. (Unless that's actually a buff? Darn Warlocks making weaknesses into strengths, so confusing)
I'd like to reiterate that most of these cards are excellent. Jesting imp is great, and I've been wanting the 'opposite minions' effect in the game, and you've brought that back in a great way. High tide feels like it has really nice flavor, and battle chaos is a perfect meme card, almost on the level of noggenfogger, especially considering that it basically gives all of your minions windfury for minions only. Honestly, it could be a lot of fun if it was all minions, although it's definitely great as it is.
The above is a pretty long explanation of my thoughts on infernal engine, but long story short: A lot of great cards, which are well-balanced, barring one or two (Literally one or two) ones that I find to be kind of broken.
So, when a warrior uses Dead Man's Hand, what does that actually mean in terms of flavor? Is he the dead man? Does he cut off his own hand? Is that why he has Tentacles for Arms? Does he think that tentacles are actually as good as arms?
These reasons and more are why I think warriors are more mysterious than people give them credit for.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
The Burning Legion has grown weary of attacking Azeroth and is now launching an assault on Outland! Illidan Stormrage, ruler of Outland, calls Azeroth's greatest heroes to the shattered world's aid, promising rewards and glory beyond measure! However, the Legion is also interested in their allegiance... will you valiantly fight to defend Outland from destruction or will you be seduced by the Legion's overwhelming power (and die at the end of your turn)?
Hey guys, this is a project of mine I've been thinking of starting for a while now. My goal is to submit new cards to this thread at least once a week, until I've created a roughly 100 custom cards set, all thematically fitting the premise: the battle of the forces of Azeroth and Outland combined versus the might of the Burning Legion, along with some traitors. Bearing a similarity to Whispers of the Old Gods, some classes will be fighting for Outland, others- for the Legion.
But now, without further adue, the cards. First up, the ruler of Outland himself, Illidan Stormrage! Info on balance and why I chose this effect in the spoiler below the card.
Besides Arthas, no Warcraft character is more iconic than Illidan, however Illidan Stormrage the card is certainly lacking in epicness. This is why I decided to create a playable version of him. The logic behind his effect is the following: Illidan is constantly fighting the forces of the Legion, in order to repell them from Outland. Upon defeat, he retreats. However, once he has detected the presence of more demons, he will return to fight them again. I purposefully made him weaker than Sherazin, Corpse Flower, since his revival condition is easier to meet and besides, he's neutral.
More to come soon!
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
Races, contaminated by the seducing power of fel magic, will join the Legion in its conquest of Draenor.The Fel empowers them, but at a terrible cost.
Fel Orc: The effect of this minion reflects the terrible toll Fel Magic has on its users. The Fel Orc is way more powerful than most minions of the same cost, but this Aggro minion comes at the price of about a third of your health, which may cost you the game against another Aggro or Midrange deck, which is the reason I believe it to be balanced.
Fel Ogre Magi: I'll admit I miss Azure Drake :D, which is why I created this card. It has the stats of a 3-drop+ spell damage and discover instead of card draw, making it balanced, if not even a bit underpowered, bearing the current Warlock spell roster in mind. However, in this set I'm also adding some new Warlock spells, which I think any class will be happy to discover.
Additionaly, Gul' Dan will also side with the demons, therefore his cards will all be either the demonic minions of the Burning Legion or spells related to its powerful Fel Magic. Gul' Dan's service to the Legion is reflected in the class's Legendary, a Quest (this set will have only 1 Legendary per class, some classes will get quests, other minions).
Burn isn't a mechanic new to Hearthstone, as anybody who has ever faced Mill Rogue or played Fel Reaver can confirm. In my opinion, it can be used as a powerful downside to cards that would otherwise be OP, while also being somewhat more controllable than discard, as cards in your hand are safe.
The quest already has synergy with Life Tap, all you need to do is fill up your hand and then draw some more cards. The set will also include other cards using this mechanic, facilitating the quest's completion.
Now, regarding the quest itself: some of you might think it's just a worse version of an already bad card, Lakkari Sacrifice, as it essentially requires you to destroy a third of your deck. However, the reward makes all the difference here: instead of getting a portal and relying on its value to win you the game, which can often be denied by removal and freeze effects, you clear the board and refuel your thinned deck with Demons, which are likely to synergise with eachother.
Here are some other Warlock cards demonstrating the terrible power of the Legion, some also featuring the burn mechanic and supporting the quest.
Felflame: Warlock's Fireball, finally a good spell to use with Cho'gall and Bloodbloom.
Infernal Device: Value engine (literally) for Burnlock. A good card to play in the mid-game, spawning hard to remove minions that will soon ensure board dominance. In order not to be OP, it burns 2 cards at the end of each turn. Besides, it's fragile.
Man'ari Envoy: Even though Burn is more controllable than discard, burning 10 cards means that in most games you will burn a card you need, perhaps even one that is crucial for the matchup. The Man'ari Envoy enables you to get it back- but at the cost of another card burnt.
EDIT: Grammar
EDIT 2: Rebalanced Sargeras.
EDIT 3: Reduced the health of Infernal Device to make it easier to deal with.
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
This expansion will include a lot of demons, some of them- neutrals. Here's a card that can enable demon synergies in non- Warlock decks as well (since in this set other classes will get demons too). Featured in the Weakly Card Design Competition.
The extreme tempo swings this card enables are offset by the large amount of damage your hero takes because of its effect.
EDIT: Vocabulary
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
Hello guys, time for a new batch of cards! This time I'll be creating cards for Illidan's allies, the naga and the blood elves (Akama and the draenei coming very soon as well!). We'll start with the naga. First up is a priest epic that would be great in Silence Priest, more detailed info in the spoiler below the card.
The lore tells us that female naga are skilled sorceresses and this is why I've decided that all the cards featuring female nagas will have something to do with spells.
The card is both versatile and restricting; sometimes you'll have to sacrifice the effect of a friendly minion to get a spell, but should you put it in the right deck (Silence Priest), the results could be amazing. Imagine T2 Ancient Watcher followed up by T3 this. Not only do you trade favourably, but you also get a spell to kick off the Lyra the Sunshard chain later in the game. Of course, that's the best case scenario; most of the time the swings won't be so extreme.
Next up are the male nagas, famed for their fighting skills. They will stop at nothing to repell the forces of the Legion from their home, Zangarmarsh.
Naga Spearbearer- a spin on Disciple of C'Thun, instead of buffing C'Thun you get a buff, should your target survive. The survival condition makes it so that you don't get too much of an advantage by using this card during the early game and destroying the enemy's turn 2 play.
Ironscale Captain- the "opposite minion" mechanic in Karazhan's chess event was very interesting, but sadly didn't appear in any of the playable cards. Here I'm implementing it as a way for both the player and the opponent to control to some extent which minion (or minions, if the captain is between 2 enemy minions) the Deathrattle will hit. It isn't unbalanced, as your opponent can slam a 1/1 on the board and then trigger the effect. It also rewards proper positioning.
Bloodscale Assailant- right now Paladin is the murloc class, even though shaman also has good tools to build such a deck, even the class quest is related to Murlocs. Therefore, I thought it proper to give shaman a good boost. This card won't guarantee your murlocs aren't all destroyed by some AoE, but at least they are all yours to play again (great synergy with Unite the Murlocs). However, the card is understatted and overloads you, restricting your ability to re-flood the board next turn.
Of course, some of the more notable naga are also fighting for Illidan and their homeland.
Both naga legendaries are severely understatted and not cards you would just play for their stats, but for their powerful battlecries that clear the enemy board and give you an amazing card advantage.
High Warlord Najentus- Explosive Shot on a stick, but restricted to opposite minions only, meaning a clever positioning by your opponent will prevent you from destroying his more valuable minions. However, should they be careless, this classic raid boss will make quick work of their board presence.
Lady Vashj- A board clear for spell-heavy decks and Yogg-Saron's more predictable version. Mind you, against any half-decent board Vashj is useless if you have cast 5 or less spells this game, as you can't guarantee her shots will land on more valuable targets. Should you cast 7, 8 or even 10 however... now we're talking.
The other faction siding with Illidan are the blood elves. Many of them will join the ranks of the heroes of Azeroth to aid them in their conquest of the Burning Legion.
Bloodguard Protector- A good non-murloc early game for Paladin that can get quite annoying when cheap spells get involved. However, a 2/3 with Divine Shield isn't that hard to take care of, and nobody is going to pop the shield and leave the minion alive anyways.
Maiden of the Wild- Leokk and Huffer would enable tempo swings, however Misha is near useless as a 1/1. Nonetheless, this card may be more balanced as a 1/2, tell me what you think about it in the comments below.
Sin'dorei Mage- the blood elves being the skilled sorcerers they are makes such a card extremely fitting for their theme. This card is a godsend in spell-heavy decks, however even spell-heavy decks aren't only spells and board presence can't be won by spells (barring the portals), making the drawback relevant.
However, not all blood elves are fighting on Illidan's side... a certain friend-gone-foe has returned to fight for his master Kil'Jaeden and defeat his former ally and the forces of Outland and Azeroth. Enter the Sunstrider!
The prince of the blood elves seems like a natural fit in many Mage, Shaman and Rogue decks and on first sight might even seem OP. However, one should bear in mind that unlike Lyra the Sunshard and Archmage Antonidas, the value he generates is delayed; you have to draw your spells to use them, which excluding Miracle shenanigans doesn't happen often, meaning that in the most common scenario you lost some tempo by playing a 6 mana 3/8 spell damage to hopefully gain it back by getting some extra removal/card draw to use later in the game.
Overall, I think he's pretty balanced, but if you disagree, let me know in the comments.
Next time: Once again cards for the Legion side of the conflict+ the Warrior legendary!
EDIT: Typos
EDIT 2:Balancing
1) Just realised Vashj's stats are awful for her effect, compared to Kalimos, Primal Lord. Therefore, I increased them so that she's more of a threat even without her effect.
2) Same for Kael'Thas, as a 4/5 he would rarely survive your enemy's turn and therefore the spells you could get off him would be limited, also limiting the value and making the card pointless. Now, as a 3/8, he's more likely to survive and continue netting you pure value during your next turn.
3) Bloodguard Protector- I managed to powercreep both Frostwolf Grunt and Shielded Minibot with a single card. Wow, and I thought I knew more about balance xD. Anyways, removed taunt from the card so that paladins don't autowin vs aggro in the early game.
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
Here's the Warrior legendary I promised! Certain fel orc servants of Illidan are unhappy now that he can't provide them with fel blood to fuel their power and have defected to the Legion's side. Among them is none other than Kargath Bladefist, once jailor of Magtheridon, now fighting for a new master- the dark titan Sargeras.
A powerful addition to Quest Warrior to be sure, but not one that would make the deck OP. Compared to Baron Geddon, the card has about the same stats ( a 4/7 taunt is equal in value to a 7/5, seeing as taunt is worth one stat) and a similar effect. However, even though Kargath's effect combined with his taunt makes him extremely powerful, unlike Geddon's, it requires activators to proc of your own volition. Besides, it only affects damaged minions, which makes it balanced IMO.
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
This looks really cool :), liking the cards so far and they're pretty balanced and i like the positioning cards.
Overall this is looking very promising and keep up the good work ;)
Not only Gul'Dan and Garrosh are joining the Legion in the conflict, however... the demons have found an unexpected ally in Malfurion Stormrage, who has been fooled by agents of Kil'Jaeden to believe Illidan's plea for help to be nothing more than a trap , a way for Illidan to return to Azeroth and establish his rule there. Blinded by his rage, the druid will do anything, even side with the enemies he fought so hard to repel from his own world, to finally put an end to his brother.
Malfurion's betrayal is an integral card of this expansion's druid cards. His minions are all servants of the Legion and his spells have been corrupted by fel magic. First, let's take a look at his common cards.
Most cards for Druid will have the combined Beast and Demon synergy, seeing as while Malfurion has gone down a dark path, he still hasn't abandoned his old druid ways, hence commanding both Beasts and Demons.
Rabid Imp- a good 1 drop reminiscent of Living Roots, except here the 2 damage is replaced by a combination of both effects- 1 damage and 1 minion. The tribe tag is also important, since it means that unlike Living Roots, the token option won't be useless in the late game, as the 2 imps would benefit from demon synergy.
Dark Tribalist- an effect similar to the Maiden of the Wild I posted last time, however on the condition that you control a Beast or a Demon. The bonus is you get to choose what effect the 1/1 will have by targeting the minion with a passive/deathrattle effect. In emergency situations like an aggro matchup it can also be used simply as a 2/2 that spawns a 1/1 to contest the board.
Nether Energy- Innervate made inconsistent but with a potentially giant upside, should you have a bunch of demons or beasts on your board. Can be used to cheat out mid-sized demons/beasts earlier in the game and force your opponent to waste removal on them, leaving your late game uncontested.
Next up, the rares:
Tree Cutter 3000- a token engine for Aggro Druid, but also a good addition to any Demon Druid decks. Of course, you can't buff the Imps during your turn, meaning they, along with the Tree Cutter, can easily be AoEd or traded into by your opponent. Most of the time you'll be paying 3 mana for a 2/2 with an added Lost in the Jungle on top, which isn't too bad. Besides, if the Imps survive, they can be buffed by the next card.
Fallen Nymph- a tool to turn those imps into 2/3s to control your opponent's board with. I doubt it can see any play in Aggro Druid, 4 mana is too slow with a tribe restriction on top, meaning only demon druids would utilise it.
Druid of the Fel- a card that presents you with an interesting choice: should you test your luck and hope for a Doomguard (and sometimes get Malchezaar's Imp)? Or should you play it safe, get a 6/6 Infernal, but put your opponent way ahead of you in mana? If a similar card was to ever make it into the game, I would be interested which option would be prefered by most players: the RNG or the consistent one with a drawback?
The epic cards are probably the main reason Malfurion joined the Legion (xD), seeing as they cover two of the class's major weaknesses: hard removal and AoE.
Decompose- Mulch is gone and Naturalise is bad. So how do Druids deal with big minions? With some help from the Burning Legion, of course! Some might say this card is a straight up worse Assassinate, but as Shatterstar1998 pointed out, Druid has better tools for a control deck like ramp and healing, meaning his hard removal has to be slightly worse than Rogue's. Nonetheless, the card's drawback is only relevant for minions with strong effects, destroying something like a jade golem comes basically free of charge.
Felfire Ancient- Flamestrike and Abyssal Enforcer's child. This card would allow druids to play late-game decks and not only aggro as they currently do, since with this card in their decks they could be sure they could reset the board their opponent has built in the midgame and start retaking the advantage. The obvious drawback is you also nuke your own board and also take some face damage, which can be fatal against any decks with reach (midrange hunter for an example).
Option 2 allows this card to also be solid on an empty board and gives the druid another minion to buff, trade etc.
Druid's new legendary, a quest, is also based on his new dual identity. What better ally to fight your treacherous brother with than his old enemy, revived by the magic of Sargeras? And a giant pit lord with immense power to boot!
This quest has a difficult to meet requirement- summoning 9 minions with specific tribes is in no way easy. However, the other druid cards revealed so far certainly help. Seeing as almost all of them summon a demon or two of some kind, by the late game you should have already met that part of the requirement. Regarding the other- well, it's druid after all, summoning two beasts should be a breeze.
The reward is certainly worth it though. Magtheridon would be a nightmare to deal with, since he can easily turn a weak board presence into a force to be reckoned with. What's even worse, the card has enormous snowball potential, as with every following turn he'll continue to spawn new buffed demons, meaning that just like with Emperor Thaurissan, if you don't answer it during your first turn you'll probably lose.
Nonetheless, the card also has drawbacks. Unlike the rest of druid's cards, this doesn't synergise with Beasts, meaning that if your board doesn't contain any demons, Magtheridon will have less of an impact. Additionally, there's always the possibility to roll low on the summoned demons and get Malchezaar's Imp. However, Magtheridon's most fatal flaw is silence. Silence sets your demons back to their original stats and stops the pit lord from summoning any more.
I'll follow this up with some neutral demon minions, featuring one of the Burning Legion's commanders.
EDIT: Typos and some text simplifications.
EDIT 2: Per suggestion from Shatterstar1998 I rebalanced the epics.
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
The Druid Epic are too strong in my opinion. Compare Decompose with Vilespine Slayer, who has the Combo requirement and not the Choose One option. Increase the cost to 6 if you don't want to tone it down. Felfire Ancient second option also need to be toned down. A 10/9 minion with Taunt and Demon synergy is blatantly overpower compare with Ancient of War and Twin Emperor Vek'lor.
Click here to visit my Timestream Tracking Finalist Year of the Dragon in collaboration with Demonxz95
Class Creation Finalist: The Astromancer
Best cards vote by community:
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
Click here to visit my Timestream Tracking Finalist Year of the Dragon in collaboration with Demonxz95
Class Creation Finalist: The Astromancer
Best cards vote by community:
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
It's time for the neutral demons I promised. As a bonus I've also designed the rest of Warlock's cards for the expansion. We'll start with the neutrals though. As always, info on the cards is in the spoilers.
Aggressive Felhound- I really like Swamp King Dred's mechanic, as it gives you the initiative on your opponent's turn. However, the effect is wasted on an expensive minion in hunter of all classes, so I decided to do a cheaper alternative. Notice how Dred's effect gets him +2/+2 over normal stats, but this minion only has 1 extra health. That's because a 4/4 body would be too strong in the early game and make short work of your opponent's early game. As a 2/4 however, it isn't that troublesome.
Archimonde's Bodyguard- demon decks's Twilight Guardian/Nesting Roc. The card is balanced the same way as those two, and since they were balanced (if sometimes tilting when you couldn't take care of the Guardian), this card is, too.
Shivarra Priestess- a heal for demon decks, that nonetheless requires you to have at least 2 demons to get a decent heal out of it. Getting a big heal is unlikely, given that demon decks are usually midrange and don't swarm the board as aggro decks do. Maybe except some zooish Demonlocks, but such decks wouldn't run a heal anyways.
Chained Abyssal- again was inspired by Sherazin to create demon decks's own Twilight Summoner that will probably see exactly as much play. Even though the Abyssal is a 6/6, the card is slow. Even if you summon a demon on turn 5, you won't be able to use the abyssal up to turn 6, and a 6/6 on turn 6 isn't scary for your enemy.
Gnomish Warlock- a way to keep summoning more and more demons. However, it is both understatted and with a requirement. That is the price you have to pay for the demon pool getting quite better with this expansion.
Violent Observer- Ship's Cannon for demons that is trickier to use. Unike pirates, demons don't come cheap and you'll likely be unable to use the effect more than once a turn, probably even once at all, as your enemy will do all in his might to remove the minion.
And now we come to the last epic and of course the legendary!
Giant Satyr- as we all know giants are useless if not cheap enough, and you'd have to play about 10-12 demons for the price of the satyr to sink low enough. I think it is big enough of a requirement.
Kazzak- sorry guys, no Kil'Jaeden yet, instead you get his right hand! Kazzak is reminiscent of Prince Malchezaar, however I believe his effect to be better, which is why I gave him worse statts. Random Demons are almost always better than random Legendaries. Besides, there's a slim chance they synergise. However, you can still get useless stuff like the next demon I'm about to show you.
Every expansion needs its fun card and this bad mannered imp is the one for Return to Outland. With this card not only do you get the infinite value of Wisp xD, but you also get to use a long-forgotten emote and raise your sarcasm to a new level. Also, it's an indirect nerf to Kazzak. Annnd... if you're lucky and run 2 along with N'Zoth the Corruptor, you might just replace all of your emotes with Sorry!
And now, the Warlock cards:
Felbot- obviously an opener for Burn Questlock, but can also be used as a good 1-drop for control decks, its stats being good for early game board control. Of course, aggro decks would rather use Flame Imp.
Devoted Voidwalker- now that's a perfect servant! He protects you and your minions, while allowing you to neglect the drawback of your hero power while the voidwalker is alive. I believe inspire still has some potential, if balanced correctly and not put on underpowered cards like most of tgt.
Like I promised in the beginning, this expansion includes (finally) some good spells for warlock.
Imp-rovement- some people might get Haunted Creeper flashbacks when seeing this card, but don't worry- it's a lot fairer. It isn't sticky like it, as the Imps get summoned immediately. Mana-wise, the cost certainly fits, as you get Lost in the Jungle+ Divine Strength inverted for 2 mana. However, the 1 health is often irrelevant on anything beside a 1 health minion, meaning the value of this card steadily drops in the mid- through lategame.
Nether Lightning- another card that is basically Pyroblast split in three cards. However, the second two parts have to be drawn first. It is also similar to Forgotten Torch, but a bit weaker, as you get 2 overcosted spells instead of 1 overcosted.
Condense Darkness- another way for Questlock to refuel besides the Man'ari Envoy. Should you not have enough cards burnt, you'll get the same spell you get from Nether Lightning.
That was all for this time. Next time- more nagas with opposite minions effects+ some more warrior cards.
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
You have a few really good cards here, apparently Hearthcards shows that to, i'm seeing a TON of your cards popping up atm in the gallery (which i assume arn't copied) with the most recent one being the jesting imp with a 4 star rating.
Keep up the good cards and good luck with the rest of the expansion
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
Time for more nagas! You'll also get the king of a very popular tech card at the moment!
Mystic of the Depths- as I mentioned previously, female nagas are all about spells. However, not all of their effects have to be complicated like Lady Vashj's- some will be simple like this one, an alternative to Kabal Courier
Hungry Naga- a taunt with horrible stats that relies on your opponent to buff it. Assuming your opponent has a minion and ignoring silence for a second, the card's stats can't sink lower than 2/4, making it on par with the 2/4 taunt tentacle from WotOG. However, if your opponent doesn't pay attention to his positioning and make sure there's only one minion opposite this, they'll have to deal with a 2/6 taunt.
Coldlight Lurker- don't worry, it isn't Sludge Belcher, the murlocs haven't got taunt. It's more similar to Infested Tauren, except the tokens aren't as useful as the 2/2 slime.
Naga Berserker- Enrage Warrior anyone? Blizzard has hardly pushed this archetype ever since classic, so why not? The card allows you to take control of the board with ease, but as with most opposite minion cards, the effect can also be controlled by your opponent.
Oceanic Protector- a cheaper Grimestreet Protector, which however also buffs your enemies. Nonetheless, it has improved stats for every enemy affected, so you could make use of that by buffing, let's say, some useless enemy Imps (why not even a Jesting Imp xD) and bringing the stats of this card up to 4/6, a good body to trade with.
Temptress of the Seas- I know it looks incredibly OP, Mind Control with a body for 1 mana less, but hear me out first. Priests aren't exactly the guys that swarm the board with minions (except silence, but this has no place in such a deck), meaning that this minion will usually land somewhere about the center, meaning it can only take control of minions in the center of the enemy board. A smart enemy can take advantage of this by summoning his strong minions on the sides of the board and filling the middle with weak ones. In short, this card is not overpowered as it may seem.
P.S.: I realize some decks play their minions one at a time, but they can still easily combat Priest by adding some token spawners to their decks as a tech.
And now some spells using the same mechanic:
Protect the Maw- a slightly better Betrayal that you can control somewhat more. The card would be great in Paladin, a class with many huge minions. I'm not sure whether or not I should raise its cost a bit, so let me know what you think about it.
High Tide- a very conditional mass removal that requires you to have a big board and also damages it, but may just take care of your enemy's even larger board. Can't be used as burst damage since it only affects minions, not heroes.
Some more spells:
Will of Vashj- 1 mana discover something seem to be a type of cards that has appeared in many expansions now, so I also made one for Mage. From this card you could get more burn, removal or AoE if necessary.
Treacherous Depths- clarification: the Kraken gets summoned in the same spot as the dead minion.
This can really throw a wrench in your opponent's gameplan if he has a middle sized board and you only have a single minion that gets killed, as the kraken may end up paralyzing his more important minions. Should the kraken survive the turn (unlikely against bigger enemy boards), you can adjust its position by playing more minions and stop the enemy dead in his tracks by paralyzing a high attack minion. However, it's vulnerable, so should be protected by taunt/ can't be targeted adapt from Crackling Razormaw ASAP.
And here are the last nagas for now.
Silent Slitherer- another tool for Silence Priest that simultaneously strengthens your board and weakens your opponent's. A silence effect usually costs 0.5 mana, the maximum targets are 4, meaning the effect costs about 2 mana. It being attached to a 2/2 body makes it balanced at 4 mana.
Shaman of the Abyss- not including the typical naga mechanic, but totems need some love too. A simple card that might enable some unexpected efficient trades and grant you a board advantage early in the game.
Some more warrior cards come next:
Warrior hardly needs more board clears when they have Brawl, but I decided to create some alternatives that perhaps fit some decks' playstyle better.
Battle Chaos- interesting card, but requires to be comboed with a whirlwind effect to really work. Besides, if your opponent has a large board you can't guarantee the efficiency of the trade and might just end up trading all of your weak minions into a big guy and leaving it at 1 health. However, against smaller boards it could work quite well.
Cull the Weak- a more straightforward boardclear. King Mosh's effect but with no body. Is a bit more reliable thn Brawl (thus more expensive), but given that all whirlwind effects are symmetrical, you would also nuke your own board by comboing them with this. Of course, if you play control you probably don't have a board.
Mo'arg Mechanic- a pure control card. Who needs a winaxe when you can decimate your opponent's early game with a circular saw instead? The weapon is certainly powerful, which is why the body is awful for the cost.
And finally, the legendary I promised! Meet the king of all crabs, Krax!
I hope you didn't expect I'd fill an expansion with demon synergy that would probably make it in many decks and run rampant without releasing some tech cards as well. The thought certainly came to my mind while designing, which is why the set also contains the ultimate tech card. Demons, Beasts, Dragons, Murlocs, Pirates- all stand no chance against this mighty crab. I believe it could easily turn out to be the strongest card of the set, it is a Black Knight with far greater utility that would probably shape all the decks in the meta if it were ever released.
Because of this card's enormal potential its stats are abysmal when its effect doesn't trigger, unlike the Black Knight. No 4/5 for 6 mana if you fail to destroy a minion, you instead waste 5 mana on a measly 1/3. And yet... imagine the possibilities.
That will be all for the next day or two, will be afk for a while.
EDIT: Balanced Shaman of the Abyss and Krax.
EDIT 2: Silly me, I made 4 commons for rogue this expansion instead of 3, like for all other classes. Butcher is now Protect the Maw, a paladin card with the same cost and effect.
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
Temptress of the Sea: I really like this card's effect and the restriction you added. However, I feel like this is something of a Legendary effect.
Shaman of the Abyss is disgustingly powerful with Tunnel Trogg - Totem Golem opening. I think that it either need to nerfed to only 0-attack or Basic Totems.
Kraken: Missing rarity and while I like the effect, it's really doesn't fit Hunter at all. They don't have enough tools to play another playstyle other than aggressive and this card will be useless most of the time since it will either be taken care of by another aggressive deck or be hard-removed/efficiently traded by a slower deck. I think it should be changed to Priest and save the slot for a more aggressive Hunter cards. Granted, I haven't seen the rest of the Hunter set so you might know something that I don't
I really like how you made Cornered Sentry a much better card this expansion. Great design!
Click here to visit my Timestream Tracking Finalist Year of the Dragon in collaboration with Demonxz95
Class Creation Finalist: The Astromancer
Best cards vote by community:
The Kraken is a token from the secret, not a separate minion, this is why there's no rarity. Also, you're right that I have different thing in mind for Hunter, I'll try to do something different than midrange or aggro for hunter with my expansion.
Regarding Shaman of the Abyss: totally forgot about totem golem, you're right, it should be basic.
In some sense the temptress will be a legendary, as I doubt any decks will run more than 1. However, I've got something more interesting in mind for the priest legendary, so the temptress will remain a rare.
I am sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said about cornered sentry. I can't see any of the cards I released so far synergising with it, unless you mean shifting the positions of your opponents' minions with the raprors so your opposite minions effects land on more valuable minions? I'm confused, could you please explain?
My (custom) expansion:
Return to Outland (Black temple + Burning Legion cards)- Complete
Loving the expansion so far, I've got to say. Lot of really nice cards, but I've got one major issue, and that's warlock.
You seem to be attributing way too much of a downside to burn, at least in the cases of Infernal Engine and, to a lesser extent, felbot. Like, let's take fel reaver for example: A card that can easily mill large tracts of your deck, but for an 8/8 of stats. People ran that card in mech decks, and that was before they had a quest for it. Now compare that to your Infernal Engine: 0/7 of stats for 4 mana. Now let's, as a thought, say that it only goes off once: You've just summoned a 6/6 for 4 mana, and two cards off the top, which is already crazy good value, since your hand is untouched. Even more than that, it can do it again, and your board, as it stands, needs a solid 13 damage to clear. So if they only have, say, 7, they can leave a 6/6 on board, or let you replace the 6/6.
That's crazy value, probably to game-breaking extremes. And our downside for this is milling 2 cards per turn until they destroy your engine.
So, back to fel-reaver: This is an extra 2/2 of stats (Let's say 5 mana for a 6/6 accounts for any effects you'd normally have), at the downside that any enemy with cheap cards can easily destroy, let's say 9 cards from your deck. 2/2 of stats, for milling 9 cards. People ran that card.
This card, gives us, let's say, +1/+1 of stats, at the barest minimum, for 2 cards (Still pretty good). And then, if you're lucky enough for your engine to survive, you get +7/+7 of stats (Delayed, admittedly), for 4 cards. And those cards are still quest progress. I'm not 100% sure how to solve this issue, but I guarantee you there is an issue here.
--
Having written all that, Felbot seems pretty normal, if I'm honest, but I'd still suggest making it burn at the end of every turn, granted that it's about +1 of health. (Unless that's actually a buff? Darn Warlocks making weaknesses into strengths, so confusing)
I'd like to reiterate that most of these cards are excellent. Jesting imp is great, and I've been wanting the 'opposite minions' effect in the game, and you've brought that back in a great way. High tide feels like it has really nice flavor, and battle chaos is a perfect meme card, almost on the level of noggenfogger, especially considering that it basically gives all of your minions windfury for minions only. Honestly, it could be a lot of fun if it was all minions, although it's definitely great as it is.
The above is a pretty long explanation of my thoughts on infernal engine, but long story short: A lot of great cards, which are well-balanced, barring one or two (Literally one or two) ones that I find to be kind of broken.
So, when a warrior uses Dead Man's Hand, what does that actually mean in terms of flavor? Is he the dead man? Does he cut off his own hand? Is that why he has Tentacles for Arms? Does he think that tentacles are actually as good as arms?
These reasons and more are why I think warriors are more mysterious than people give them credit for.