Iksar Explains why no Keyword Exists for "Can't be Targeted by Spells or Hero Powers"
Referred to as Elusive unofficially by many community members, this block of card text is a subject that's been brought up in the past and recently hit the front page of reddit again.
- There's now 10 collectible cards in the game with the exact effect or a variation on it.
- This year we've seen 5 cards added to the game with the effect, and an entire keyword that can add it to cards (Adapt).
- Interestingly, a change to a single word could make Deathstalker Rexxar's hero power change as it's shorter text.
Noteworthy historical blue mentions on the card text.
- 2014: Ben Brode stated the team had discussed Shroud, Untargetable, and Ethereal as potential keywords. (Source)
- 2014: Yong Woo stated when they have enough cards with the same effect they may turn it into a keyword. (Source)
Now, here's what Iksar is saying today.
- There isn't a great word for the effect that clues you in to what it does.
- Trying out Elusive or Ethereal ending up being more misleading than helpful.
- The effect isn't going to be used on many cards in the future as having too many of these minions decreases the ability to interact with an opponent.
Blue Posts
Quote from IksarWe've talked about this before but opted to spell it out. A keyword is essentially something we ask you to read and understand, so in the future you can look at a card and quickly understand what it does without having to parse through a bunch of text. Sometimes when we can use the right word, you already have a pretty good idea of what a keyword does without reading the description. Divine Shield does a pretty good job of this. People on the team have different opinions on this subject, but one of the reasons not to keyword it is that there isn't a great word for 'can't be targeted by spells or hero powers' that would clue you in to what it does. It's sort of a strange concept to begin with that something can be targeted by a battlecry or an attack but not by a spell. When we used something like 'elusive' or 'ethereal' or various other words I think it ended up being more misleading rather than increasing the ability to understand it quickly, which is counter to the point of making a keyword in the first place. Lastly, this isn't a concept we plan on using on many cards in the future. It's cool to have one-offs like Shimmering Courser or Soggoth but having too many of these types of minions greatly decreases your ability to interact with your opponent. (Source)
Or, and this is a long shot, but what if a keyword was a descriptive-enough single word that defined itself when you hovered over it.
We often state, then restate, then restate this again.... but trying to keep the game easy to pick up and grasp does not also equal a belief that the playerbase lacks intelligence. It's very rare that one particular thing is so complicated that no one will understand it, it's more that in order to protect against a death by a thousand cuts we have to stay vigilant when accessing all decisions (no matter how minor) to make sure that by adding an increase in complexity we are getting something valuable in return. (Source)
How about as a keyword: " Magic Hater " ?
The guy that hates mages Spellbreaker would have a problem with that..
Lol
I could see "Grounded" working?
maybe Resistant or Defiant or Fortified?
Blizzard once again thinking their players are a bunch of slack-jawed half-wits.
This is literally addressed in the quote.
I think its important to remember that people who post and read sites like this and look for net decks and meta snapshots may not be as large of a player percentage that we hope. The whole simple buy complicated thing they go for make choosing keywords difficult. lots of words seems like they would work. I have to keep rethinking my suggestions because I realize they could be interpreted wrongly.
Actually, your opinion is simple-minded and petulant. Why don't YOU just admit it?
I think the hearthstone team already came up with the best keyword for the ability. It is "Anti-magic Shell." They already have a two part keyword in Divine Shield. They used the name on the spell which gives the ability to all your friendly minions. And if you want it to sound slightly less powerful than Anti-magic Shell (since the spell also gives +2/+2) then call it "Anti-magic Charm"
Then Anti-Magic Shell would read: Give your minions +2/+2 and Anti-magic Charm.
Edit: And Shimmering Courser would read: Has Anti-magic Charm during your opponent's turn.
Edit2: Even Magic Charm could work as a keyword.
keyword KappaPride
"untouchable"
I thought this. I even posted it prior to realizing that you had beat me to the punch. But now I realize that would likely make people think that the hero with a weapon could not attack it either.
this is the worst excuse i have ever read
Im starting to hate blizzard for this.
There actually is a keyword for those cards!
But they can not print it on the cards, because it is "unspellable".
Boo!
"Bling"
Spellproof, camouflage, guard, spellshield, ward, hexward, spellward, etc.
It's not particularly hard to find a suitable word that would work on this concept.