I'd like to see you make over a dozen balance changes w/ no feedback and have all of them be good. Seriously. Just cause its the anonymous internet doesn't mean you have to be an a-hole.
At least comment why you disagree with a specific one.
I have to admit, I disagree with a lot of your suggestions, but i do think the general idea of buffing terrible cards to make them a little more playable or buff cards that didn't work out the way they hoped is something Blizzard should atleast experiment with. I think the best way to do this is make small changes that don't make the card strong but might help the card find a place in some niche decks or make it a better option for newer players. Here are some of my personal suggestions:
Silverback Patriarch: Change its stats to 2/4 or 1/5. 1/5 is probably more desirable because otherwise Squirming Tentacle would be almost the same but slightly worse because it isn't a beast.
Warsong Commander: I would make it a 3/3 or 2/4. This won't make the card anywhere near good enough to see competitive play, but a 3/3 or 2/4 body is good enough to use for new players.
Arcane Golem: Another card that was nerfed way too much. I think making it a 4/5 or maybe even a 5/5 could make it a niche option for budget aggressive decks.
Alarm-o-Bot: This is a dangerous card to make too strong, but I think it would be interesting to see how much stronger it would be if it would be a 0/4 for example.
Tauren Warrior: Why not make the effect give it +4 or +5 attack? This is another buff focused on making it more playable for newer players, makining the effect more rewarding might make this card more worthwile to play.
Arena Patron: I get that they want it to have the same stats and cost as Grim Patron, but 5 mana is just waaay too much for this. I think changing it to 4 mana should atleast make it somewhat playable.
I don't have time right now to think of more changes but I might add some more later, let me know what you think :)
Edit: I forgot to explain why I disagree with most of your suggestions so here's why:
1. A lot of the cards you're suggesting buffs for are actually not that bad. You have to keep in mind that the strength of a card depends a lot on the meta and also on other cards that synergize with it. A great example is Hadronox. It used to be pretty bad when it was first released, but when Carnivorous Cube and Witching Hour were later released, it became the center piece of pretty good deck (not sure how strong it really was but I think it was at the very least tier 2).
2. I think buffs shouldn't change the general idea of a card and how it works. This is something Blizzard also tries to preserve when nerfing cards. If you're going to change how a card works, you might as well just make a completely different card.
3. It's okay for bad cards to exist. If you try to make every card playable, you'll just end up buffing cards again and again (or nerfing cards you previously buffed) and that makes balancing the game too difficult. Like I said in argument 1, the powerlevel of cards partially depends on what other cards are in the game. If you try to make every card have an equal powerlevel, some cards will still end up much stronger because they have more synergies available to them. Furthermore, bad cards can be a lot more satisfying than good cards if you manage to make them work
The real idiots here are the ones condemning OP's suggestions without offering any constructive feedback.
I haven't seen anyone personally attacking him. What's wrong with condemning bad ideas? Do we really need to make a huge writeup just because some people want to tell the person that its a bad suggestion? There are people who offered the insight he needs, why ask for everyone else to repeat it?
Should we act like condescending parents and make him believe that he had a good idea when he didnt? Put it on the fridge? That doesn't help anyone online, especially not him. If you get praise for bad ideas, you'll settle for bad ideas, and you'll never work toward making good ones, because you don't have to.
If the mild reactions that he received are enough to discourage him from ever attempting to balance or design cards, then I guess he isn't cut out for it and that would make suggestions bogus. It's even worse if he just gives up or disregard the negative feedback because of "the haters" without ever thinking about why people didnt like it, then he's never going to improve.
I'd like to see you make over a dozen balance changes w/ no feedback and have all of them be good. Seriously. Just cause its the anonymous internet doesn't mean you have to be an a-hole.
At least comment why you disagree with a specific one.
The real idiots here are the ones condemning OP's suggestions without offering any constructive feedback.
You both are no different from who you talk about, since you come here, claim something (insulting, a thing that no one else has done here) and go away without "any constructive feedback".
In order to satiate your paternalistic thirst, I'll do what most people think it's obvious: critique his buff and introduce some others as a correct example. I'll spend half an hour doing this pointless job, but then you won't be able to shout judgements anymore.
DeathwingBurn your Deck instead of Discarding your hand
He is ok the way it is
Cenarius5/5 instead of 5/8, change to Summon 4 2/2s or 1 5/5 with Taunt
You want to encourage Big Druid by reducing a card cost from 9 to 5? What? Moreover, 5 mana worth 10/10 or even 9/9 without drawback is extremely overpowered and for this reason an autoinclude in every deck, which is not what a game designer should aim to.
GOLDEN RULE: The fact that a card doesn't see tons of play now doesn't mean that he won't see play in the future (see Nourish, whose overuse led to its nerf)
The fact that the are stronger (and overpowered, which should never exist) hero cards doesn't mean you should raise the power level of those existing to a point where a single card can decide you a game. Jaraxxus can potentially heal you for 14 and immediately gives you a 3/8 weapon, so you get a good immediate impact on the board. You don't summon a board of demons? Your demons don't get Lifesteal? Those are the cards in the wrong place, not our Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion.
Ozruk change to Summon a copy of this minion for each Elemental ...
"Health just doesn't matter after a peak". False statement, nothing to add. Moreover, imagine playing 4 elementals in the previous turn: 9 mana 20/20 worth of stats. Not fair at all. Finally, no one wants infinite Shudderwock back, but that's material for another (useless) discussion.
The Runespear6 Mana instead of 8, change to After attack, Discover a spell you've played
You change its mana cost by 1 from the initial suggestion but it doesn't change the fact that your buff makes the card too powerful. Imagine this scenario (and it's not just a scenario, it's what will happen in ladder if you make the card like this): you build a Shaman deck full of minions, with this weapon and only 3 different spells (Volcano, Rain of Toads and Bloodlust): you play your normal game, then you equip your weapon and swing every time you need an AoE, a Taunt wall or a finisher. Quite strong, huh? Designers have to be careful when they release tutor-like cards because of what people can do if they push them to the limit (see BarnesY'Shaarj, Rage Unbound or even Big Priest itself). A proper change should be reducing its cost from 8 to 6 without changing the effect.
Flark's Boom-Zooka6 Mana instead of 8, random targets instead of enemy minions
Spiteful isn't the only reason to play big spells. Moreover, they introduced Call of the Wild, which makes this card perfect as it is
Akali, the Rhino4/3 instead of 5/5, change to Overkill: summon a Rush minion from hand and give it the same Overkill
Yeah, let's reduce the attack of an Overkill minion, making its effect even difficult to trigger. 8 mana for 10 stats is good just because of the buff effect, and you took it away and made it almost impossible to trigger. Akali is ok the way it is.
Do you really think this card is shit? This minion is actually good, but he lacks support, and buffing him this way will lead to anything (you want him to die for his effect, so what's the point of making him stronger in stats?)
[card]Abominable Bowman[/card] 8/2/5 but change to Battlecry and Deathrattle: ...
There's already Kathrena Winterwisp, a Legendary card, with a similar effect. No one needs 5 King Krush in a single match. The card is ok the way it is
Armor has been a big problem for Druid until a month ago, so why giving him even more? To be honest, I would simply make the card the way it was pre-nerf or, at least, a 6/6 with "Draw a card - Restore 5 Health"
Most of Shaman spells are cheap; moreover, the effect is really powerful, since it allows you to basically draw your entire deck in certain conditions. It's statted in a way that he can endure a couple of hits without dying, so it's ok the way it is
"I know Blizzard is probably worried that Even Paladin could be too strong if it's 6 but I highly doubt that". You highly doubt that. Blizzard doesn't, and almost every people playing HS agrees with not making Giggles even costed. I'd do 7 man 3/2, in order to make the card better statted that before and to guarantee a little more survivability.
Gonk, the Raptor3/6 but change to Your Hero always has as much Attack as the minion
Mark of the Loa + Mark of the Loa + Innervate + Prince Taldaram. No thanks. Rastakhan's package was supposed to be clunky and we don't want to give Druid invincible tool, cause otherwise people will complain about the good ol' interaction factor.
Maybe Blizzard wants to HoF Preparations and so they're printing Big Rogue cards? I don't know, however this card has been available for a month and most of the cards of Rastakhan are not seeing play right now. I suggest to wait before asking for a buff like this.
Furnacefire Colossus change to Gain all the stats from the weapons you've broken
The point of the effect is to give you an advantage (bouncing bake a Vilespine?). Although this card doesn't see play, 7/4 are too much stats of a class that can use Cold Blood
Rogue has a lot of cheap spells and ways to cheat mana cost, so make it 4 mana isn't game-wise. The card is okay-ish the way it is, unless you want to make it unfair. The least you can do is making it 5 mana 4/5 but nothing else in mu opinion.
It's 3 because of the fear of Sonya Shadowdancer or Shadowstep shenanigans. Right now it's quite unplayable, but there's not a lot you can do to make it better
Reducing the cost of the card doesn't make it better. Blizzard will print a card in the future that will have synergy with this one, so let's just wait.
Destroying a minions by just attacking it should have a downside, which in this case is damage withstood and mana cost. The card is ok the way it is, it's just the whole archetype that sucks.
Now, examples of cards that SHOULD be buffed and HOW it should be done
I totally understand the difficulty of balancing cards in hearthstone, it's insane. But there are just A LOT of good ideas that were buried because just because it would lose to UI or Zombeast or whatever. Just ask yourself, have played these cards on rank? So here are some of my personal suggestions. I tried to consider both the flavor and fun of the card as well as balance. Feel free to leave your suggestions too.
Quick start, Zombeasts are too strong as it is and UI was indirectly nerfed. Thus the idea that we need to buff cards to make them viable to these cards isn't a good thing from the start. We need less power, not more. This is important as it will color a lot of what I say here.
DeathwingBurn your Deck instead of Discarding your hand
Deathwing should be the signature desperation-super-mega-turnover card, but it's far from that. Discarding your hand isn't just not good enough it doesn't even feel good. Burning your deck 1. fit thematically 2. fit the all-out-last-ultimatum idea 3. it balances your hand resource with fatigue 4. give you the situation to strategically win with your limited resource.
You just turned Deathwing from a last ditch all-or-nothing final blast to an extremely powerful combo setup. The card now can be played at any time that your key cards are found in your hand. Just draw most of your deck, throw a Deathwing to combine an absolute full clear with a 12/12, then just calmly finish your combo.
He's now a VERY viable combo start up. Remember that combo decks are MORE than willing to gut their deck for an advantage. Rogues are willing to go to fatigue just for a few extra cards. Decks like Malydruid or Mechathun decks would be more than willing to either nuke the few cards they have left or instantly put them into range to finish their combo respectively. This in itself isn't BAD.
You do know that Blizzard is trying to NOT have classic cards develop entire archetypes, right? It's why we all assume that Malygos will be HoFed. Decks should be defined by their expansion cards. Thus having a card that enables an entire style of deck, like this, would be a HoF target. This is a card you should see in expansions.
So no, not because the card is bad but because it's a card that should belong with expansions.
Valeera the HollowGive Stealth to all friendly characters instead of just Hero
This could open up much more possibility of utility for this one of least played Hero cards. Plus, it's still 9 mana so it wouldn't make consistent OTKs.
Makes the card worse. Rogue has a lot more problems keeping themselves alive rather than keeping their minions alive. Removing the ability to survive for a turn when you don't have a health recovery next turn is just asking to simply die.
Also giving minions stealth, if the card becomes viable, turns into a major nightmare. Note that we took out a lot of stealth giving effects because of how nasty it can get.
So no, card becomes worse, and risks turning broken if it did work.
Cenarius5/5 instead of 5/8, change to Summon 4 2/2s or 1 5/5 with Taunt
I think anyone can agree a late game board buff is just super unnecessary. This change 1. still encourage the token archetype 2. puts you in a strategic situation where you'll have to think which choice is the opponent not gonna be able to handle with 3. also encourage the dead Big Druid archetype
A 9 mana 5/5 that makes a 5/5 is not a good card at all. Neither is a 9 mana fill the board of 2/2s. It's just not a good siutation there.
Also note that the only time Cenarius actually became viable was specifically because of his buffing abilities.
So no, because it actually makes the card less usable.
It's 9 obviously because Blizzard didn't want you to use the hero power on the same turn, but comparing to other cards it's not even that much of a deal, without direct impact it's just a win-more card.
The card flat out wins if it can stabilize at all. making a 6/6 every turn with all of your other cards is the original infinite win condition.
Yes, he's overshadowed by the death knights. But as above, the problem is the Death Knights being too strong, not Jaraxxus being too weak.
And again, we don't want an autoinclude card in standard. So no.
Ozruk change to Summon a copy of this minion for each Elemental ...
Health just doesn't matter after a peak. Not only is this change more impactful and stronger, but it also keeps the flavor of making you decide how to balance up your turns for the Ozruk turn. It may sound like you can create a board full of 5/5 taunts but remember playing elementals also takes board spaces. Most IMPORTANTLY, it brings back Shudderwock in a limited and balanced way, you may still pull off a crazy turn and tons of Shudderwock, but it isn't really infinite and it's gonna be harder.
I was actually considering this as a possible option for the card. Then you stated that it's partially to bring back the very combo that Blizzard worked to eliminate. The nerf just proved that Brode was accurate when he said the only reason why the combo was even allowed is because he didn't catch it before release. We don't need a harder version of a broken combo. We don't need the broken combo at all.
(If you bring up a certain Mean Streets card, if Shudderwock EVER gets viable enough to matter in Wild I'd be for nerfing THAT card as well)
Though that's fixable by "summon another Ozruk" . With that... I'm actually ok with this. It makes the card meme status as you are basically going to have to hoard a batch of cheap elementals in your hand, play them in mass, somehow not die to any of that, and you get a mass of 5/5 taunts. I can see people playing a bit with that. Though it'll be useless in the end anyway :P.
The Runespear6 Mana instead of 8, change to After attack, Discover a spell you've played
Having a shitty weapon is funny I get it, but Shaman is already too shitty for this shit. 8 is just ridiculous. I think 5 is pretty reasonable by taking away the immediate casting of the spell. Shaman really just depends on that one UnstableE or Volcano or Bloodlust, and it just feels good to be able to have an extra. This also adds a strategic flavor to Deck building and when to play the card. 6 mana prevents using the new Bloodlust or Vocalno on the same turn.
We already have this effect, effectively, with the Frog in a much more balanced way. Which is one of the other issues with 'buffing' cards. Why make me have ot double back and craft a card that's going to be around for 5 more months when I can just get a new card that comes with additional synergies of an entire set? ($)#$)( you can just give shaman that weapon next expansion as well. Though with all of their burning abilities already, I REALLLLYYY don't want to give them even more access to reviving more spells.
Flark's Boom-Zooka6 Mana instead of 8, random targets instead of enemy minions
Again, 8 is just ridiculous, plus you won't play Spiteful with this too. This also adds more fun, balances it, and chances are you won't have many other valuable minions on the field as Big Hunter.
Random targets... so you not only lose your big minions, but they could just hit themselves?!
That's just STUPID. No!
Akali, the Rhino4/3 instead of 5/5, change to Overkill: summon a Rush minion from hand and give it the same Overkill
This card just straight up sucks and is boring. This change is balanced, strategic, feels powerful, and most importantly fun. Remember, rush minions aren't that much and it also limits you to only bring bigger ones or you'd have to play out your weaker ones before the turn.
Warrior isn't going to be sitting around holding a large batch of rush minions. At least with Akali it draws a card.
Thus you've made the card even harder to use and offer even less of an impact.
It's just not as powerful as its idea. 10 to make sure you can't buff it. 8 damage for 10 also isn't that crazy.
You just nerfed the card. Al'Akir is currently used in tournaments right now. It's a VERY viable and useful shaman finisher. 10 *#$)#*() mana for him makes him impossible to use outside of burst and ONLY if you already have the board.
That you think 8 damage for 10 is something you think might be OP and needed defending means you forgot King Crush A card people play now ONLY because they never EVER actually pay the 9 mana cost to it. 8 mana charge for 10 is a bad card.
So no, because Al'Akir is tournament worthy already and you are seeking to nerf it.
So no point in making a change to it. 7 mana worthless is still worthless. The card could be 5 mana before you can even THINK about using it. And good thing since the thing is one of those "I can break the game if you could use me just right, but I suck otherwise" cards. See Barnes.
I just don't get it, why make it so shit. The deathrattle isn't even that consistent nor strong, especially on turn 8
Because recruit is extremely powerful and can break games if it's not carefully managed. See Hunter.
Though making it either of those numbers won't matter at all. I've tried to make that card work. The problem isn't so much the original stats so much as the fact that there's no two 4 drops you could put into your deck that'll save you.
So no simply beacuse it won't change anything, and there's no point to buffing a card if the end result is the same as before.
It's a really cool idea too but only one is just not impactful enough, even with deathrattle activators the opportunities are still very limited. This change could make it almost as good as Kathrena but having to make your big beasts already summoned and died is actually pretty hard.
So let me get this strait. Hunter already has the ability to draw out 7/7 chargers via Kathrena, and copy them to make more 7/7 chargers.
And if you Ever DARE kill them all, you want to give them the ability to RESUMMON THEM through battlecry WITH a big minion that summons ANOTHER ONE when it dies.
And you know the stupid thing about this is? Bowman came out before Kathrena, so I can fully see someone making this suggestion at that time and us going "Oh that's strong but it sounds cool." So we make the change, play with Bowman, realize he doesn't work and is meme. Then Kobolds comes in, Recruit hunter is made, and we all uninstall the game and murder puppies.
You also probably would've buffed Hadronox when IT came out too wouldn't you?
I heard that it was op before some nerf a very long time ago, but it's still an epic and it's just weird and confusing especially to new players to have shitty epics. This change I think isn't a total game changer but would still be playable in some control.
Epics aren't made to be strong. They are made to be ..well.. wierd. Epics tend to be more unusual than rares but not strong enough to warrant being 1-ofs. Thus they become WEIRD.
And honestly you made AoL not only back to it's autoinclude OP status but made it even STRONGER by making it armor. AND gave druid a permanent way of getting lots of armor when a big complaint is that druid should NOT be gaining more armor than warriors.
AAAANNND again we don't want Classic cards, that never EVER go away, autoinclude build around cards you have to have in EVERY SINGLE DECK.
Note that if the HoF existed, AoL probably wouldn't even exist in Classic. It was nerfed only because Blizzard never thought of the idea of moving Classic cards to Wild. That's not speculation: they flat out said that when HoF was made.
I think it was supposed to combo with Hagatha, but it's just way to expansive to pull off the draw combo. Plus a drawing combo would actually be more helpful in earlier games.
Bogshaper is a card that would've been FAR too strong with Hagetha if it was at all reasonable. Hyper Card draw is a very dangerous thing to give, especially to burst heavy decks like shaman. Blizzard knew what they were doing when they made Bogshaper exist to make people drool over him but weak enough to keep him at meme status.
Bad cards we WANT to break the game with are good things. They are fun cards that spark creative deck building. That's why surrender to Madness exists. But you want to keep them bad because they WILL break the game if they aren't. See Yogg.
I know Blizzard is probably worried that Even Paladin could be too strong if it's 6 but I highly doubt that. 7 just entirely killed the card and I really don't see it necessary to kill such an interesting card.
Blizzard said that they tried a 6 mana version and found it still too strong and not just for Even Paladin. They don't normally put 2 mana as a nerf, normally it's 1. Thus they must have saw something to make them believe it. You have not. YOU believe that Al'akir is a bad card and that making it 10 mana would make it good. I'll trust their actual testing.
And I'm pretty sure the community wouldn't mind seeing the card flat out deleted for the game.
Gonk, the Raptor3/6 but change to Your Hero always has as much Attack as the minion
I saw this somewhere I forgot, credits to the creator of this suggestion. Not only does this make it straight up more viable, but it also brings some pointless buff cards in Druid to life and actually even a finisher if you have a dope combo, which is this weird Hero Attack archetype lacks I think (the Floop combo is just too hard to pull off)
Right now Gonk has a VERY interesting combo to it, to the point where people HAVE brought it to tournament decks. It actually only stopped because druid got gutted. It involves making multiple copies and the druid going MEGAENDLESSWINDfURY on everything. Even if it fails at staying tournament viable, it's an absolutely perfect meme card.
You not only removed that entire interaction, but you replaced it with...what a +2 base attack to your hero, and making ALL of those +attack to your hero cards worthless while using it. So it's boring and, at BEST, you can drop this, buff it a bunch, and you're now some really bad looking version of Kingsbane Rogue. Except how do you drop a 7 mana 3/6 and expect to hyper buff it with druid cards AND have 2 more mana for the hero power? Or are you expecting a 3/6 to survive at turn 8?
This card could've made some really interesting RNG, but there's just no point to make it so big, especially in Rogue. (yeah I know it's to balance it but the battlecry isn't even that good, plus it's an epic)
A card that's bad normally but occasionally can give you a 1 mana Deathwing.
I lived through GvG. I KNOW about that type of RNG. We're DONE with that type of RNG being tournament viable. WE ARE DONE.
NO! Keep it a meme, and a bad one.
Furnacefire Colossus change to Gain all the stats from the weapons you've broken
Not only does this still keep the weapon burning or eating flavor, but although it may seem stronger, you almost always wouldn't play it immediately, and it could be even worse if you just don't draw your weapons, plus you'd have to use them up which also takes time.
Too strong. The thing turns into cheaper deathwing sized minions quickly with aggro warriors and Tempo Paladins. Kingsbane Rogue would LOVE it. It would have to start off much cheaper, and you would have to carefully balance it with the cards we get from the set. And if you are doing that you CAN put such a card in a new set and balance the weapons with it, so we can have more than 5 months to use it.
(which gets to two trends you may notice in these reviews: You can't really buff last year's cards because they are about to leave standard, and you can't really buff Classic cards because they aren't meant to be big must have cards. Thus a lot of these ideas can't even be done even if they did work since they'd be better off as NEW cards that get full 2 year lifespans and an entire set balanced around them.)
I pretty sure Illidan was a pretty dope character in wow, but it's just straight up shit here. 3/1 I think isn't too crazy, is pretty scary, and keeps the aggressive style of stat.
Illidan's problem isn't his attack. It's his low health, high cost, and 1 health flames. And the fact that if he WAS viable that he would be a must-have for every single token deck or aggro deck out there given how easily he can flood the board. Which would make him an interesting, though possibly OP expansion card, but a HoF Classic.
Again, why a shitty epic to in Classic set?! 6 Mana is already quite hard to Combo, but cheaper would make it kinda scary since it could be a sap with a body which is some pretty good tempo. 7/4 I think isn't too scary on turn 6 and it keeps the scary Kidnapper flavor.
See illidan, except his problem is "you want to combo using a 6 mana card? HA!"
Moorabi4/2/3 instead of 6/4/4, Whenever "A" Minion instead of Another Minion
The Legend. I just don't get it, Blizzard. Why make such a cool, interesting, new archetype so shit that it's just straight up unplayable and ruins a whole class for the set. 6 Mana is just way too much to make any meaningful combo. The "A" change is super significant cuz it allows you to copy Moorabi itself too. It could sound a little crazy but remember freezing cards aren't actually that much so it's actually not Infinite resource. But this "almost infinite" resource most importantly gives the archetype kinda a win condition, FINALLY.
Blizzard knows when they put out a weak archetype. They do it to test he water. If it looks like it could be fun, they expand on it until it goes viable. See Spell hunter, Taunt druid, Dragon decks, and so on.
When you see an archetype made, then ignored, it's because there's a problem that goes beyond 'not strong enough' that made Blizzard stop bothering. In Freeze shaman's case, it's probably the fact that it's...well.. freeze. Locking people from being able to play their cards while you play yours. A lot of people don't like that, which is why Blue is so hated in MTG and why so many cheered the end of Freeze mage over here. The idea of giving shamans an archetype built around freezing everything and getting stronger from it just doesn't sound appealing to most players.
To some. There are SOME blue players around. The #($)#()*$ers.
(yes I'm joking, though I learned through MTGA that I'm more of a green or White player)
In any case, that's probably why the archetype stays dead, which means Moorabi stays dead.
I don't get it, another just straight up dead card. Yeah I know somebody actually pulled off some insane OTK with it and it's an "interesting challenge" but that's just memes, not even viable memes. I'm pretty sure you still can't pull off a viable OTK with 6 Mana with this but at least it can probably be a decent finisher for perhaps Miracle decks or just a cool tempo play.
I've actually seen a rogue make this card work.
I'm glad it's a dead card.
Rogues don't need more burst finishers. We've had burst finisher Rogues for YEARS. They already have burst finisher decks.
3 is just crazy, and plus the spellstone has to be in your hand. The effect isn't even that good, and Rogue already lacks board control and board clear enough.
Deathrattle rogue is actually a very viable and dangerous deck. It doesn't use or need the spellstone. The spellstone that viable would make them insanely oppressive and would probably end up causing the card to be nerfed.
I don't get it. Blizzard if you wanna push Damage Warrior so bad then why make those cards so shit? You don't make a good archetype with tons of shit cards, you make GOOD CARDS.
Because it's better to start low in a new archetype and add more cards to power it up than to go too strong and be forced to nerf. No one cries if Enrage Warrior takes another expansion to materialize. Everyone cries when Enrage Warrior ruins the meta and we need to nerf it a month later.
Again see Hadronox which slowly got more taunts and cards until it 'caught on' in Witchwood, when we were VERY happy with how expensive and otherwise weak Haddy itself is.
Note btw, that +2/+2 wouldn't matter as you just can't get enough minions on the board, damage them, THEN drop another minion without rush/charge to really make a difference. I honestly think +3/3 wouldn't change anything.
Again, I don't get it, I remember they even used it in the reveal like "Woah look how cool this new set is, it has a shitty unplayable Moth!" I'm pretty sure it isn't even that easy to build a huge scary board with Odd Priest.
We don't need yet another deck worshiping under the Church of Genn/Baku. Those two ended up being a whole lot of trouble overall, and priest is one of the few classes not devoted to them. Rather not change that.
Though not sure this would matter. Glitter's effect is basically the Inner Fire combo. But we have a spell that does the same thing and isn't as deck limiting so there's no real point to giving up a spell for a more expensive (even slightly) minion and a lot of flexibility.
The only viable odd Druid I've seen is Aggro and Hadronox, but clearly, this isn't for aggro. This change could be interesting cuz it's also pretty powerful when you play it but when it's revived you only get the protection but not the aggression, which balances the Hadronox.
If a 4/8 can't get people to use odd druid, a 3/9 sounds worse as it can't fight off much of the midgame threats out there. And again, we don't need more Genn/Baku worship around these parts.
So no.
Gral, the Shark6/1/1 but change to Deathrattle: Shuffle it (the eaten card) and the minion into the deck
It is a pretty good meme but this, in my opinion, would be so much more fun. It kinda keeps the flavor plus it adds the flavor of an endless swimming shark and fits the shuffling theme in Rogue.
it's weaker and you don't get the card draw, but instead you have get said weaker card back to draw it later AND it MAY turn worthless if it ends up at the end of the deck.
Also I don't get why 'endless swimming' would make sense. A shark that eats something that you then find in it's belly when it dies makes more lore sense. And, again, card draw is more functional. Besides, it's a meme card that MAY be usable later.
So no.
Myra Rotspring change to Deathrattle: Discover a Deathrattle Minion. Gains its Deathrattle and 2 other random ones
It's just way too boring and basic and weak for a Legendary, especially for a shitty archetype that you Blizzard wants to push for whatever reason. Discovering a Deathrattle minion is inconsistent and boring. This would add some RNG fun which fits the theme of Rogue and also the Chemist concept of the card.
There's deathrattles you REALLY don't want actually. There IS a deathrattle that will do 5 damage to all of your friendly minions. Myra NEEdS to not be random to be at all viable.
If you are going the meme route.. still a lot of times it would just find 3 bad deathrattles. or just get silenced.
So not really as it can easily make the card less usable and it's not that much more fun.
Windshear Stormcaller10/1/1 instead of 5/5/5, change to Battlecry: ..., turn all your totems into Al'Akir the Windlord
10/1/1 to prevent OTKs or op combos, and it's a pretty funny stat thematically. Having all 4 on the board is just not that easy, it may seem possible occasionally now cuz people won't play around this card. This change would just make it so much cooler and interesting. It would probably still be a meme, but it'd be a much more interesting meme.
From almost impossible to utterly impossible. But I see what you are going for and.. yeah I can dig it.
Que "the problem with buffing last year's Cards"
que "just make a new card that does similar"
Astral Tiger4/5 instead of 3/5 OR just have StealthorTaunt or both
The card is a super interesting idea, if it works, like why would you need infinite 3/5s when there's like an 8/12 lifesteal zombeast on the other side.
No more infinite THINGS. That's been a major problem. It's not even one that takes planning. It just 'does it'.
Again the ability to make infinite 8/12 lifesteal zombeasts are a PROBLEM, and not solved by making things just as strong.
Deathaxe PunisherAll Lifesteal minions in your hand or All ... on your battlefield or both instead of one random in hand
Oh that will just make Lifesteal so much more interesting. Maybe even Lifesteal archetypes. The Druid's 4/2/3 for taunts is theoretically stronger than this but it's rarely played so I'm pretty sure this'd be fine.
Wouldn't help it. We've tried the handbuffing things. It doesn't work out even when set to 'all'.
Oh ho ho that will just make things so much more interesting. (but not too crazy or devastating cuz it's only one at a time)
Don't see how that changes things. You already get the effect once on using it. Decks that use it are already happy with it. You aren't going to see anything new come from getting it again.
No because it doesn't change anything.
Griftah5/3/3 instead of 4/4/5, change to Discover a card in your opponent's hand, give your opponent a random one you didn't pick
This could change this from a wtf shit card into a really interesting and strategic card to play and play around with. You now see 3 cards in your opponents and got one, but you also risk giving your opponent extra value.
OH #()$#* NO!
Your opponent made thier deck to synergize with itself. The LAST #)(*# thing you need is to give ANY of those cards as a double to your opponent. In return you get a card that may not even work well with your strategy as it's NOT your card.
At least with it as is the card stays with your class, which means it has a better chance of synergizing with your deck rather than theirs. I..e A paladin getting a choice between Level Up and Tirion, and get Tirion and feel safe that you gave a crap card to your opponent.
Fighting a Rogue and choosing between Vilespring and Cold Blood sounds UGLY.
No because you nerfed the card.
Prince Valanar Just adding a Divine Shield or Poisonous or whatever would make it so much more playable.
I don't think anyone wants to see any more princes in general.
Well , an idea that I had, possibly bad, is to have after X turns buff.
For example, after you play this minion, give the first minion that you play after 3 turns +2/+2 , or divine shield, or an effect that requires some planning ahead and not just throwing your resources mindlessly on the board. Or on contrary, you could have a minion that has a battlecry text "The first minion that your opponent plays after X turns has its Atk and Health minimized by 2.
I don't know if that's too bad, or if it proves to be broken, but I had this idea and wanted to share it. You can now unleash hell on me :P
I like what OP is doing, but I feel most of changes are just what he personally want to buff, how about I buff my favorite cards too? So here are mine:
I feel this card has become a true trash tier after Leper Gnome has been nerfed, should I also say that it has to be one of the worst legendaries out there too? Sadly I think it is, and it's one of my few favorite legendary minions out there because of a unique effect that snowballs well during GvG time. This change would NOT make it competitive, but will look alright least, rather than get indirectly nerfed.
Clockwork Knight effect that gives mech a buff from +1/+1 to +1/+2.
Clockwork knight seems to be overshadowed by Wargear and Faithful Lumi at the same time, to make this mech more unique and playable, give it +1/+2 instead, little buff would make a great difference.
Animated Armor mana cost and stat changed from 4 mana 4/4 to 5 mana 4/6
Mage is well known to not have great minions in early game, but I really want Animated Armor to be a thing. I was also thinking about buffing it to 3 mana, but it will be annoying to deal with it. So 5 mana seems a nice slot for mage and 4/6 stat is incredibly good with great effect. Playing this guy as 4 mana 4/4 feels incredibly bad than playing water elemental.
I'm thinking about making another buff, but I would gladly like to see those changes into Hearthstone.
Well , an idea that I had, possibly bad, is to have after X turns buff.
For example, after you play this minion, give the first minion that you play after 3 turns +2/+2 , or divine shield, or an effect that requires some planning ahead and not just throwing your resources mindlessly on the board. Or on contrary, you could have a minion that has a battlecry text "The first minion that your opponent plays after X turns has its Atk and Health minimized by 2.
I don't know if that's too bad, or if it proves to be broken, but I had this idea and wanted to share it. You can now unleash hell on me :P
Firstly what you're proposing isn't a buff to old cards. It's a new mechanic, which is best put into a new expansion. So it doesn't really 'fit' here.
Which is a good thing given that I'm basically saying "All this negative stuff going on here, nothing to do withyou."
THAT SAID.. it's a cool idea and probably easier to make work than handbuffing as you can throw it out, say, at turn 1, even if you have no cards you want to buff then have it buff the card at turn 4. You can even do crazier things like have a legendary that "gives the card you play 6 turns later Echo". It becomes a setup for an OTK, but something your opponent can plan as they know when it would come.
A slight alteration I would consider is to have the keyword simply set the 'delay'. Thus you can do things like have it affect ALL minions or ALL spells, or 'the second spell'. I'd also force it to be ONLY on that turn, so if you dont' play anything on the turn it's set for you just lose it.
So yeah, overall a VERY interesting mechanic. I'd honestly would suggest sending it to Blizzard via Twitter (I would recommend reddit but i'm not sure if the Hearthstone reddit is a good environment anymore for that sort of thing..they seem...odd).
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One does not simply walk into Mordor,
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To everyone who just insulted OP and left:
I'd like to see you make over a dozen balance changes w/ no feedback and have all of them be good. Seriously. Just cause its the anonymous internet doesn't mean you have to be an a-hole.
At least comment why you disagree with a specific one.
Unpopular opinion: Rogue is OP
I have to admit, I disagree with a lot of your suggestions, but i do think the general idea of buffing terrible cards to make them a little more playable or buff cards that didn't work out the way they hoped is something Blizzard should atleast experiment with. I think the best way to do this is make small changes that don't make the card strong but might help the card find a place in some niche decks or make it a better option for newer players. Here are some of my personal suggestions:
Silverback Patriarch: Change its stats to 2/4 or 1/5. 1/5 is probably more desirable because otherwise Squirming Tentacle would be almost the same but slightly worse because it isn't a beast.
Warsong Commander: I would make it a 3/3 or 2/4. This won't make the card anywhere near good enough to see competitive play, but a 3/3 or 2/4 body is good enough to use for new players.
Arcane Golem: Another card that was nerfed way too much. I think making it a 4/5 or maybe even a 5/5 could make it a niche option for budget aggressive decks.
Alarm-o-Bot: This is a dangerous card to make too strong, but I think it would be interesting to see how much stronger it would be if it would be a 0/4 for example.
Tauren Warrior: Why not make the effect give it +4 or +5 attack? This is another buff focused on making it more playable for newer players, makining the effect more rewarding might make this card more worthwile to play.
Arena Patron: I get that they want it to have the same stats and cost as Grim Patron, but 5 mana is just waaay too much for this. I think changing it to 4 mana should atleast make it somewhat playable.
I don't have time right now to think of more changes but I might add some more later, let me know what you think :)
Edit: I forgot to explain why I disagree with most of your suggestions so here's why:
1. A lot of the cards you're suggesting buffs for are actually not that bad. You have to keep in mind that the strength of a card depends a lot on the meta and also on other cards that synergize with it. A great example is Hadronox. It used to be pretty bad when it was first released, but when Carnivorous Cube and Witching Hour were later released, it became the center piece of pretty good deck (not sure how strong it really was but I think it was at the very least tier 2).
2. I think buffs shouldn't change the general idea of a card and how it works. This is something Blizzard also tries to preserve when nerfing cards. If you're going to change how a card works, you might as well just make a completely different card.
3. It's okay for bad cards to exist. If you try to make every card playable, you'll just end up buffing cards again and again (or nerfing cards you previously buffed) and that makes balancing the game too difficult. Like I said in argument 1, the powerlevel of cards partially depends on what other cards are in the game. If you try to make every card have an equal powerlevel, some cards will still end up much stronger because they have more synergies available to them. Furthermore, bad cards can be a lot more satisfying than good cards if you manage to make them work
The real idiots here are the ones condemning OP's suggestions without offering any constructive feedback.
I haven't seen anyone personally attacking him. What's wrong with condemning bad ideas? Do we really need to make a huge writeup just because some people want to tell the person that its a bad suggestion? There are people who offered the insight he needs, why ask for everyone else to repeat it?
Should we act like condescending parents and make him believe that he had a good idea when he didnt? Put it on the fridge? That doesn't help anyone online, especially not him. If you get praise for bad ideas, you'll settle for bad ideas, and you'll never work toward making good ones, because you don't have to.
If the mild reactions that he received are enough to discourage him from ever attempting to balance or design cards, then I guess he isn't cut out for it and that would make suggestions bogus. It's even worse if he just gives up or disregard the negative feedback because of "the haters" without ever thinking about why people didnt like it, then he's never going to improve.
You both are no different from who you talk about, since you come here, claim something (insulting, a thing that no one else has done here) and go away without "any constructive feedback".
In order to satiate your paternalistic thirst, I'll do what most people think it's obvious: critique his buff and introduce some others as a correct example. I'll spend half an hour doing this pointless job, but then you won't be able to shout judgements anymore.
Deathwing Burn your Deck instead of Discarding your hand
He is ok the way it is
Cenarius 5/5 instead of 5/8, change to Summon 4 2/2s or 1 5/5 with Taunt
You want to encourage Big Druid by reducing a card cost from 9 to 5? What? Moreover, 5 mana worth 10/10 or even 9/9 without drawback is extremely overpowered and for this reason an autoinclude in every deck, which is not what a game designer should aim to.
GOLDEN RULE: The fact that a card doesn't see tons of play now doesn't mean that he won't see play in the future (see Nourish, whose overuse led to its nerf)
Lord Jaraxxus 8 Mana instead 9
The fact that the are stronger (and overpowered, which should never exist) hero cards doesn't mean you should raise the power level of those existing to a point where a single card can decide you a game. Jaraxxus can potentially heal you for 14 and immediately gives you a 3/8 weapon, so you get a good immediate impact on the board. You don't summon a board of demons? Your demons don't get Lifesteal? Those are the cards in the wrong place, not our Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion.
Ozruk change to Summon a copy of this minion for each Elemental ...
"Health just doesn't matter after a peak". False statement, nothing to add. Moreover, imagine playing 4 elementals in the previous turn: 9 mana 20/20 worth of stats. Not fair at all. Finally, no one wants infinite Shudderwock back, but that's material for another (useless) discussion.
The Runespear 6 Mana instead of 8, change to After attack, Discover a spell you've played
You change its mana cost by 1 from the initial suggestion but it doesn't change the fact that your buff makes the card too powerful. Imagine this scenario (and it's not just a scenario, it's what will happen in ladder if you make the card like this): you build a Shaman deck full of minions, with this weapon and only 3 different spells (Volcano, Rain of Toads and Bloodlust): you play your normal game, then you equip your weapon and swing every time you need an AoE, a Taunt wall or a finisher. Quite strong, huh? Designers have to be careful when they release tutor-like cards because of what people can do if they push them to the limit (see Barnes Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound or even Big Priest itself). A proper change should be reducing its cost from 8 to 6 without changing the effect.
Flark's Boom-Zooka 6 Mana instead of 8, random targets instead of enemy minions
Spiteful isn't the only reason to play big spells. Moreover, they introduced Call of the Wild, which makes this card perfect as it is
Akali, the Rhino 4/3 instead of 5/5, change to Overkill: summon a Rush minion from hand and give it the same Overkill
Yeah, let's reduce the attack of an Overkill minion, making its effect even difficult to trigger. 8 mana for 10 stats is good just because of the buff effect, and you took it away and made it almost impossible to trigger. Akali is ok the way it is.
Al'Akir the Windlord 10/4/5 instead of 8/3/5
The card is super ok the way it is. Al'Akir sees competitive play in every single non-odd Shaman deck, so you miss the purpose of a buff
Dr. Morrigan 7 Mana instead of 8
"It's basically a dead card" until now. Mana cheating has to be taken with care. However, you made this card cost 5 before, so 7 is more reasonable
Grizzled Guardian 4/6 or 5/5 instead of 3/5
Do you really think this card is shit? This minion is actually good, but he lacks support, and buffing him this way will lead to anything (you want him to die for his effect, so what's the point of making him stronger in stats?)
[card]Abominable Bowman[/card] 8/2/5 but change to Battlecry and Deathrattle: ...
There's already Kathrena Winterwisp, a Legendary card, with a similar effect. No one needs 5 King Krush in a single match. The card is ok the way it is
Ancient of Lore 4/4 but change to Draw 2 or Gain 7 armor
Armor has been a big problem for Druid until a month ago, so why giving him even more? To be honest, I would simply make the card the way it was pre-nerf or, at least, a 6/6 with "Draw a card - Restore 5 Health"
Bogshaper 5/5/5 or just somehow smaller
Most of Shaman spells are cheap; moreover, the effect is really powerful, since it allows you to basically draw your entire deck in certain conditions. It's statted in a way that he can endure a couple of hits without dying, so it's ok the way it is
Giggling Inventor 6/1/1 instead of 7/2/1
"I know Blizzard is probably worried that Even Paladin could be too strong if it's 6 but I highly doubt that". You highly doubt that. Blizzard doesn't, and almost every people playing HS agrees with not making Giggles even costed. I'd do 7 man 3/2, in order to make the card better statted that before and to guarantee a little more survivability.
Gonk, the Raptor 3/6 but change to Your Hero always has as much Attack as the minion
Mark of the Loa + Mark of the Loa + Innervate + Prince Taldaram. No thanks. Rastakhan's package was supposed to be clunky and we don't want to give Druid invincible tool, cause otherwise people will complain about the good ol' interaction factor.
Gurubashi Hypemon just somehow smaller
Maybe Blizzard wants to HoF Preparations and so they're printing Big Rogue cards? I don't know, however this card has been available for a month and most of the cards of Rastakhan are not seeing play right now. I suggest to wait before asking for a buff like this.
Furnacefire Colossus change to Gain all the stats from the weapons you've broken
Let's break 4 Kingsbane. Simply no.
Illidan Stormrage 7/7/5 but 3/1 Flames instead of 2/1
Illidan needs a reprint, not just a change. Nothing to add. A normal card with a glorious and undeserved name put on it.
Kidnapper 6/7/4 instead of 6/5/3
The point of the effect is to give you an advantage (bouncing bake a Vilespine?). Although this card doesn't see play, 7/4 are too much stats of a class that can use Cold Blood
Spectral Pillager 4/3/3 instead of 6/5/5
Rogue has a lot of cheap spells and ways to cheat mana cost, so make it 4 mana isn't game-wise. The card is okay-ish the way it is, unless you want to make it unfair. The least you can do is making it 5 mana 4/5 but nothing else in mu opinion.
Lesser Onyx Spellstone upgrade with 2 or 1 Deathrattle cards played instead of 3
It's 3 because of the fear of Sonya Shadowdancer or Shadowstep shenanigans. Right now it's quite unplayable, but there's not a lot you can do to make it better
Death Revenant +2/+2 instead of +1/+1
4 minions damaged on the board means 5 mana 11/11. Unbalanced.
Glitter Moth 3/1/1 or just anything smaller
Reducing the cost of the card doesn't make it better. Blizzard will print a card in the future that will have synergy with this one, so let's just wait.
Gloom Stag 2/7 and +1/+2 instead of 2/6 and +2/+2
No, because the effect should reward you playing Odd druid. +1/+2 isn't enough.
Gral, the Shark 6/1/1 but change to Deathrattle: Shuffle it (the eaten card) and the minion into the deck
You are taking away this card's ability to cycle through your deck. Moreover, we don't want Even Rogue to be busted.
Myra Rotspring change to Deathrattle: Discover a Deathrattle Minion. Gains its Deathrattle and 2 other random ones
The "2 other random ones" part make the effect even more unreliable
Windshear Stormcaller 10/1/1 instead of 5/5/5, change to Battlecry: ..., turn all your totems into Al'Akir the Windlord
Ahahahahah NO.
Astral Tiger 4/5 instead of 3/5 OR just have Stealth or Taunt or both
The card is ok the way it is.
Deathaxe Punisher All Lifesteal minions in your hand or All ... on your battlefield or both instead of one random in hand
Too busted.
Griftah 5/3/3 instead of 4/4/5, change to Discover a card in your opponent's hand, give your opponent a random one you didn't pick
No. Messing with your opponent's hand is a big matter. Griftah is ok the way it is (and it is underestimated by the most)
Ice Breaker 2 or 1 Mana instead of 3
Destroying a minions by just attacking it should have a downside, which in this case is damage withstood and mana cost. The card is ok the way it is, it's just the whole archetype that sucks.
Now, examples of cards that SHOULD be buffed and HOW it should be done
Arcane Golem - add Rush
Temporus - Add Taunt and reduce attack to 5
Force of Nature - Return it to 6 mana and add Rush to the Treants, which will die at the end of the turn
Warsong Commander - "Whenever you summon a minion with 3 or less attack, give it Rush".
Now I hope all the solons up here will be satisfied.
Jaraxxus is fine, saw play in nearly every meta until it got replaced with Gul dan. Alakir is fine. The griftah change looks like a nerf to me
i did not understand at all what the griftah buff was.
Rejoice, for even in death, you have become children of Thanos.
Quick start, Zombeasts are too strong as it is and UI was indirectly nerfed. Thus the idea that we need to buff cards to make them viable to these cards isn't a good thing from the start. We need less power, not more. This is important as it will color a lot of what I say here.
You just turned Deathwing from a last ditch all-or-nothing final blast to an extremely powerful combo setup. The card now can be played at any time that your key cards are found in your hand. Just draw most of your deck, throw a Deathwing to combine an absolute full clear with a 12/12, then just calmly finish your combo.
He's now a VERY viable combo start up. Remember that combo decks are MORE than willing to gut their deck for an advantage. Rogues are willing to go to fatigue just for a few extra cards. Decks like Malydruid or Mechathun decks would be more than willing to either nuke the few cards they have left or instantly put them into range to finish their combo respectively. This in itself isn't BAD.
You do know that Blizzard is trying to NOT have classic cards develop entire archetypes, right? It's why we all assume that Malygos will be HoFed. Decks should be defined by their expansion cards. Thus having a card that enables an entire style of deck, like this, would be a HoF target. This is a card you should see in expansions.
So no, not because the card is bad but because it's a card that should belong with expansions.
Makes the card worse. Rogue has a lot more problems keeping themselves alive rather than keeping their minions alive. Removing the ability to survive for a turn when you don't have a health recovery next turn is just asking to simply die.
Also giving minions stealth, if the card becomes viable, turns into a major nightmare. Note that we took out a lot of stealth giving effects because of how nasty it can get.
So no, card becomes worse, and risks turning broken if it did work.
A 9 mana 5/5 that makes a 5/5 is not a good card at all. Neither is a 9 mana fill the board of 2/2s. It's just not a good siutation there.
Also note that the only time Cenarius actually became viable was specifically because of his buffing abilities.
So no, because it actually makes the card less usable.
The card flat out wins if it can stabilize at all. making a 6/6 every turn with all of your other cards is the original infinite win condition.
Yes, he's overshadowed by the death knights. But as above, the problem is the Death Knights being too strong, not Jaraxxus being too weak.
And again, we don't want an autoinclude card in standard. So no.
I was actually considering this as a possible option for the card. Then you stated that it's partially to bring back the very combo that Blizzard worked to eliminate. The nerf just proved that Brode was accurate when he said the only reason why the combo was even allowed is because he didn't catch it before release. We don't need a harder version of a broken combo. We don't need the broken combo at all.
(If you bring up a certain Mean Streets card, if Shudderwock EVER gets viable enough to matter in Wild I'd be for nerfing THAT card as well)
Though that's fixable by "summon another Ozruk" . With that... I'm actually ok with this. It makes the card meme status as you are basically going to have to hoard a batch of cheap elementals in your hand, play them in mass, somehow not die to any of that, and you get a mass of 5/5 taunts. I can see people playing a bit with that. Though it'll be useless in the end anyway :P.
We already have this effect, effectively, with the Frog in a much more balanced way. Which is one of the other issues with 'buffing' cards. Why make me have ot double back and craft a card that's going to be around for 5 more months when I can just get a new card that comes with additional synergies of an entire set? ($)#$)( you can just give shaman that weapon next expansion as well. Though with all of their burning abilities already, I REALLLLYYY don't want to give them even more access to reviving more spells.
Random targets... so you not only lose your big minions, but they could just hit themselves?!
That's just STUPID. No!
Warrior isn't going to be sitting around holding a large batch of rush minions. At least with Akali it draws a card.
Thus you've made the card even harder to use and offer even less of an impact.
No because this is a nerf, not a buff.
You just nerfed the card. Al'Akir is currently used in tournaments right now. It's a VERY viable and useful shaman finisher. 10 *#$)#*() mana for him makes him impossible to use outside of burst and ONLY if you already have the board.
That you think 8 damage for 10 is something you think might be OP and needed defending means you forgot King Crush A card people play now ONLY because they never EVER actually pay the 9 mana cost to it. 8 mana charge for 10 is a bad card.
So no, because Al'Akir is tournament worthy already and you are seeking to nerf it.
So no point in making a change to it. 7 mana worthless is still worthless. The card could be 5 mana before you can even THINK about using it. And good thing since the thing is one of those "I can break the game if you could use me just right, but I suck otherwise" cards. See Barnes.
Because recruit is extremely powerful and can break games if it's not carefully managed. See Hunter.
Though making it either of those numbers won't matter at all. I've tried to make that card work. The problem isn't so much the original stats so much as the fact that there's no two 4 drops you could put into your deck that'll save you.
So no simply beacuse it won't change anything, and there's no point to buffing a card if the end result is the same as before.
So let me get this strait. Hunter already has the ability to draw out 7/7 chargers via Kathrena, and copy them to make more 7/7 chargers.
And if you Ever DARE kill them all, you want to give them the ability to RESUMMON THEM through battlecry WITH a big minion that summons ANOTHER ONE when it dies.
And you know the stupid thing about this is? Bowman came out before Kathrena, so I can fully see someone making this suggestion at that time and us going "Oh that's strong but it sounds cool." So we make the change, play with Bowman, realize he doesn't work and is meme. Then Kobolds comes in, Recruit hunter is made, and we all uninstall the game and murder puppies.
You also probably would've buffed Hadronox when IT came out too wouldn't you?
Epics aren't made to be strong. They are made to be ..well.. wierd. Epics tend to be more unusual than rares but not strong enough to warrant being 1-ofs. Thus they become WEIRD.
And honestly you made AoL not only back to it's autoinclude OP status but made it even STRONGER by making it armor. AND gave druid a permanent way of getting lots of armor when a big complaint is that druid should NOT be gaining more armor than warriors.
AAAANNND again we don't want Classic cards, that never EVER go away, autoinclude build around cards you have to have in EVERY SINGLE DECK.
Note that if the HoF existed, AoL probably wouldn't even exist in Classic. It was nerfed only because Blizzard never thought of the idea of moving Classic cards to Wild. That's not speculation: they flat out said that when HoF was made.
So.. no.
Bogshaper is a card that would've been FAR too strong with Hagetha if it was at all reasonable. Hyper Card draw is a very dangerous thing to give, especially to burst heavy decks like shaman. Blizzard knew what they were doing when they made Bogshaper exist to make people drool over him but weak enough to keep him at meme status.
Bad cards we WANT to break the game with are good things. They are fun cards that spark creative deck building. That's why surrender to Madness exists. But you want to keep them bad because they WILL break the game if they aren't. See Yogg.
So no.
Blizzard said that they tried a 6 mana version and found it still too strong and not just for Even Paladin. They don't normally put 2 mana as a nerf, normally it's 1. Thus they must have saw something to make them believe it. You have not. YOU believe that Al'akir is a bad card and that making it 10 mana would make it good. I'll trust their actual testing.
And I'm pretty sure the community wouldn't mind seeing the card flat out deleted for the game.
Right now Gonk has a VERY interesting combo to it, to the point where people HAVE brought it to tournament decks. It actually only stopped because druid got gutted. It involves making multiple copies and the druid going MEGAENDLESSWINDfURY on everything. Even if it fails at staying tournament viable, it's an absolutely perfect meme card.
You not only removed that entire interaction, but you replaced it with...what a +2 base attack to your hero, and making ALL of those +attack to your hero cards worthless while using it. So it's boring and, at BEST, you can drop this, buff it a bunch, and you're now some really bad looking version of Kingsbane Rogue. Except how do you drop a 7 mana 3/6 and expect to hyper buff it with druid cards AND have 2 more mana for the hero power? Or are you expecting a 3/6 to survive at turn 8?
You made the card boring, and less useful. No.
A card that's bad normally but occasionally can give you a 1 mana Deathwing.
I lived through GvG. I KNOW about that type of RNG. We're DONE with that type of RNG being tournament viable. WE ARE DONE.
NO! Keep it a meme, and a bad one.
Too strong. The thing turns into cheaper deathwing sized minions quickly with aggro warriors and Tempo Paladins. Kingsbane Rogue would LOVE it. It would have to start off much cheaper, and you would have to carefully balance it with the cards we get from the set. And if you are doing that you CAN put such a card in a new set and balance the weapons with it, so we can have more than 5 months to use it.
(which gets to two trends you may notice in these reviews: You can't really buff last year's cards because they are about to leave standard, and you can't really buff Classic cards because they aren't meant to be big must have cards. Thus a lot of these ideas can't even be done even if they did work since they'd be better off as NEW cards that get full 2 year lifespans and an entire set balanced around them.)
Illidan's problem isn't his attack. It's his low health, high cost, and 1 health flames. And the fact that if he WAS viable that he would be a must-have for every single token deck or aggro deck out there given how easily he can flood the board. Which would make him an interesting, though possibly OP expansion card, but a HoF Classic.
See illidan, except his problem is "you want to combo using a 6 mana card? HA!"
Blizzard knows when they put out a weak archetype. They do it to test he water. If it looks like it could be fun, they expand on it until it goes viable. See Spell hunter, Taunt druid, Dragon decks, and so on.
When you see an archetype made, then ignored, it's because there's a problem that goes beyond 'not strong enough' that made Blizzard stop bothering. In Freeze shaman's case, it's probably the fact that it's...well.. freeze. Locking people from being able to play their cards while you play yours. A lot of people don't like that, which is why Blue is so hated in MTG and why so many cheered the end of Freeze mage over here. The idea of giving shamans an archetype built around freezing everything and getting stronger from it just doesn't sound appealing to most players.
To some. There are SOME blue players around. The #($)#()*$ers.
(yes I'm joking, though I learned through MTGA that I'm more of a green or White player)
In any case, that's probably why the archetype stays dead, which means Moorabi stays dead.
I've actually seen a rogue make this card work.
I'm glad it's a dead card.
Rogues don't need more burst finishers. We've had burst finisher Rogues for YEARS. They already have burst finisher decks.
Deathrattle rogue is actually a very viable and dangerous deck. It doesn't use or need the spellstone. The spellstone that viable would make them insanely oppressive and would probably end up causing the card to be nerfed.
So no.
Because it's better to start low in a new archetype and add more cards to power it up than to go too strong and be forced to nerf. No one cries if Enrage Warrior takes another expansion to materialize. Everyone cries when Enrage Warrior ruins the meta and we need to nerf it a month later.
Again see Hadronox which slowly got more taunts and cards until it 'caught on' in Witchwood, when we were VERY happy with how expensive and otherwise weak Haddy itself is.
Note btw, that +2/+2 wouldn't matter as you just can't get enough minions on the board, damage them, THEN drop another minion without rush/charge to really make a difference. I honestly think +3/3 wouldn't change anything.
So no because it wouldn't make a difference.
We don't need yet another deck worshiping under the Church of Genn/Baku. Those two ended up being a whole lot of trouble overall, and priest is one of the few classes not devoted to them. Rather not change that.
Though not sure this would matter. Glitter's effect is basically the Inner Fire combo. But we have a spell that does the same thing and isn't as deck limiting so there's no real point to giving up a spell for a more expensive (even slightly) minion and a lot of flexibility.
So no.
If a 4/8 can't get people to use odd druid, a 3/9 sounds worse as it can't fight off much of the midgame threats out there. And again, we don't need more Genn/Baku worship around these parts.
So no.
it's weaker and you don't get the card draw, but instead you have get said weaker card back to draw it later AND it MAY turn worthless if it ends up at the end of the deck.
Also I don't get why 'endless swimming' would make sense. A shark that eats something that you then find in it's belly when it dies makes more lore sense. And, again, card draw is more functional. Besides, it's a meme card that MAY be usable later.
So no.
There's deathrattles you REALLY don't want actually. There IS a deathrattle that will do 5 damage to all of your friendly minions. Myra NEEdS to not be random to be at all viable.
If you are going the meme route.. still a lot of times it would just find 3 bad deathrattles. or just get silenced.
So not really as it can easily make the card less usable and it's not that much more fun.
From almost impossible to utterly impossible. But I see what you are going for and.. yeah I can dig it.
Que "the problem with buffing last year's Cards"
que "just make a new card that does similar"
No more infinite THINGS. That's been a major problem. It's not even one that takes planning. It just 'does it'.
Again the ability to make infinite 8/12 lifesteal zombeasts are a PROBLEM, and not solved by making things just as strong.
Wouldn't help it. We've tried the handbuffing things. It doesn't work out even when set to 'all'.
So no simply because it wouldn't change anything.
Don't see how that changes things. You already get the effect once on using it. Decks that use it are already happy with it. You aren't going to see anything new come from getting it again.
No because it doesn't change anything.
OH #()$#* NO!
Your opponent made thier deck to synergize with itself. The LAST #)(*# thing you need is to give ANY of those cards as a double to your opponent. In return you get a card that may not even work well with your strategy as it's NOT your card.
At least with it as is the card stays with your class, which means it has a better chance of synergizing with your deck rather than theirs. I..e A paladin getting a choice between Level Up and Tirion, and get Tirion and feel safe that you gave a crap card to your opponent.
Fighting a Rogue and choosing between Vilespring and Cold Blood sounds UGLY.
No because you nerfed the card.
I don't think anyone wants to see any more princes in general.
Also See "issue swith buffing last year's cards"
See "why did Freeze Shaman die"
One does not simply walk into Mordor,
unless they want to be the best they can be.
Well , an idea that I had, possibly bad, is to have after X turns buff.
For example, after you play this minion, give the first minion that you play after 3 turns +2/+2 , or divine shield, or an effect that requires some planning ahead and not just throwing your resources mindlessly on the board. Or on contrary, you could have a minion that has a battlecry text "The first minion that your opponent plays after X turns has its Atk and Health minimized by 2.
I don't know if that's too bad, or if it proves to be broken, but I had this idea and wanted to share it. You can now unleash hell on me :P
I like what OP is doing, but I feel most of changes are just what he personally want to buff, how about I buff my favorite cards too? So here are mine:
Mekgineer Thermaplugg minions summoned from 1/1 Leper Gnome to 2/2 Leper Gnome.
I feel this card has become a true trash tier after Leper Gnome has been nerfed, should I also say that it has to be one of the worst legendaries out there too? Sadly I think it is, and it's one of my few favorite legendary minions out there because of a unique effect that snowballs well during GvG time. This change would NOT make it competitive, but will look alright least, rather than get indirectly nerfed.
Clockwork Knight effect that gives mech a buff from +1/+1 to +1/+2.
Clockwork knight seems to be overshadowed by Wargear and Faithful Lumi at the same time, to make this mech more unique and playable, give it +1/+2 instead, little buff would make a great difference.
Animated Armor mana cost and stat changed from 4 mana 4/4 to 5 mana 4/6
Mage is well known to not have great minions in early game, but I really want Animated Armor to be a thing. I was also thinking about buffing it to 3 mana, but it will be annoying to deal with it. So 5 mana seems a nice slot for mage and 4/6 stat is incredibly good with great effect. Playing this guy as 4 mana 4/4 feels incredibly bad than playing water elemental.
I'm thinking about making another buff, but I would gladly like to see those changes into Hearthstone.
I like elementals and totems.
Firstly what you're proposing isn't a buff to old cards. It's a new mechanic, which is best put into a new expansion. So it doesn't really 'fit' here.
Which is a good thing given that I'm basically saying "All this negative stuff going on here, nothing to do withyou."
THAT SAID.. it's a cool idea and probably easier to make work than handbuffing as you can throw it out, say, at turn 1, even if you have no cards you want to buff then have it buff the card at turn 4. You can even do crazier things like have a legendary that "gives the card you play 6 turns later Echo". It becomes a setup for an OTK, but something your opponent can plan as they know when it would come.
A slight alteration I would consider is to have the keyword simply set the 'delay'. Thus you can do things like have it affect ALL minions or ALL spells, or 'the second spell'. I'd also force it to be ONLY on that turn, so if you dont' play anything on the turn it's set for you just lose it.
So yeah, overall a VERY interesting mechanic. I'd honestly would suggest sending it to Blizzard via Twitter (I would recommend reddit but i'm not sure if the Hearthstone reddit is a good environment anymore for that sort of thing..they seem...odd).
One does not simply walk into Mordor,
unless they want to be the best they can be.