Hearthpwn

Hearthstone Puzzle #2

Forum user HSRorix posted another puzzle for everyone to complete. The goal is to figure out how to win the game on your turn given the current board. Put your Hearthstone knowledge to the test and complete the first challenge. Good luck to everyone who attempts the second Hearthstone Puzzle; Divine Sacrifice. If you didn't catch the first puzzle, check out Mad Warrior Skills.

Blue Posts - General

CM Zeriyah promised us some info last night and I regret to inform you, we are not all getting ponies. It isn't the first time Blizzard fans aren't getting ponies, but we do have a bunch of Blues for everyone to digest. With that said, on with the show!

Big announcement TODAY!

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

I'll be answering questions on the forums today - if there is any sort of big announcement, we would be sure to post in multiple channels where it is much more visible and not just Twitter.

Blue Posts - Mechanics

The Consistency of Rules

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

While we're sort of on the subject of targeting our own minions, there was a thread a couple days ago about the ability to attack our own minions (just a normal basic attack). We know we can target our own minions with Hero Powers and spells, but do basic attacks work the same way? Can our Hero attack our minions? Can minions attack friendly minions?

Heroes and minions can attack any opposing character, be it minion or hero. Friendly minions cannot attack each other, but may target each other with Battlecry effects as long as the ability does not specify friendly or opposing.

But while you're here Zeriyah, Goddess of Rule Clearifications, there is one that's be bothering me. Battlecrys, do they HAVE to happen if there is a valid target? Since there is no "You may" in Hearthstone it's a bit harder to judge.

Battlecry effects only need to have a valid target if one if available. Minions with Battlecry can NOT target themselves. If there is no valid target in play, the minion will enter the battlefield with no effect. In the case of Knife Juggler and Ironbeak Owl, you would have to silence your Knife Juggler.

Once you buff your friendly minion(who has stealth) with a spell does that remove stealth?

No, it does not.

I am specifically talking about Faerie Dragon.
Can he be also targeted with friendly spells and his description must also be changed, or is he exception to "stealth minions" just like Lord Jaraxxus to battlecrys?

Faerie Dragon and Laughing Sister cannot be targeted by spells and effects that specifically target a minion, friendly or enemy. These minions are still able to be affected by Secrets if they meet the correct requirement for activating it, such as Snipe. Playing either of these minions (Faerie Dragon or Laughing Sister) while your opponent has a Snipe in play will result with these minions receiving 4 damage. Spells that can randomly hit minions and AOE spells are not spells that target - Therefore, these minions can be on the receiving end of these spells as well.

Fatigue

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Can we have a proper explanation for how Fatigue works? Aside from the small preview we get of the mechanic in the Fireside Duel, there is little actual information as to how it works. I have a couple of questions:1.) If I play a minion or an ability that causes me to draw more cards than I have in my deck, will I take Fatigue damage for each extra card I am supposed to draw?

Yup! Each draw is a separate attempt to draw a card from your deck so Fatigue will trigger for each one.

2.) Does Fatigue damage increase by 1 every time I am supposed to draw or is there a different multiplier?

For each additional draw attempt, 1 additional damage is added. 

3.) Do I take Fatigue damage every time I am supposed to draw? Meaning if I have Mana Tide Totem in play and I am out of cards in my deck, would I still take Fatigue damage?

Even if your hand is full, Fatigue triggers for each card draw attempt. So even if the card cannot be added to your hand, you still take Fatigue damage.

4.) I have Gadgetzan Auctioneer in play. My opponent has 3 health, I have 1 health and no cards left in my deck. If I cast Sinister Strike on my opponent, will the game end in a draw, will I take Fatigue damage first or will my opponent die before I am supposed to draw?

The 3 damage will be dealt to the opponent and Gadgetzan Auctioneer will trigger, drawing a card and dealing fatal damage to you. This will result in a loss for both players.

Adding to this, does fatigue ignore Armour?

Fatigue does not ignore armor. It is considered damage.

Enrage

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

So, I haven't seen any answer on this, at least not in months, So to clarify, for enrage does it stack? If the minion is healed to full, does the enrage get removed? Any other quirks I should know about?

Enrage does not stack. Enrage works like a light switch: If the minion is damaged at all, his Enrage ability is active. If the minion is healed, the Enrage ability is no longer active. Just like a light switch, it can be turned on and off with damage and heals.

Silence on Buffed Minions

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

If a minion with buffed health takes it's original life in damage first and then gets silenced, does it die from silence?

Buffed minions affected by Silence turn into a vanilla version of themselves. Say you have a Wisp affected by Blessing of Kings, so his stats are 5 attack and 5 health. If you deal any amount of damage to this minion, then Silence it, it will return to its original 1 attack, 1 health form.

Wait so the damage was also removed and it returned to a 1/1 or the buff was removed making it 1/1 and then it died from the damage on it?

Everything is removed, returning it to a 1/1. It does not die. If a stat buff is being removed, it'll remove the instances of damage. Consider it like a reset on the minion's stats. Silencing a minions with no stat modifications will do nothing - the damage will remain.

Are Secrets Spells?

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Are secrets considered spells or are the another subset of cards?
Would a card that is immune to spell be also immune to secrets? Would it even trigger secrets in the first place?

Secrets are indeed spells. However, only the initial card is considered the spell. When a secret is played from a players hand, this is when it can be effected by Counterspell. Once the secret is in play, it is considered active (appearing as a little question mark above the hero), and will no longer trigger effects that relate to spells, like Gadgetzan Auctioneer. Secrets are not considered to target. They activate when a specific condition is met. So yes, they are effective against minions such as Faerie Dragon and Stealthed minions.

SO even something like snipe which targets the summoned minion doesnt actually "target" it for the purposes of stealth and the like?

If the condition of the Secret is met, it will trigger regardless of the status of the minion.

Minion Transformations (Polymorph, Hex)

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

I would like a blues post on this. Hopefully Zeriyah will catch this before she logs off.

When a minion is transformed by a spell like Polymorph or Hex can these be reversed in any way?

Currently we are treating cards and effects like these as "transformations" and therefore permanent.

Can you get your initial minion back by throwing a silence on it or by bouncing it back into your hand and replaying it?

Baaaaaaaa

Polymorph or Hex cannot be reversed in any way. Transformation effects are permanent for the rest of the game. Returning a polymorphed/hexed minion back to your hand returns a 1/1 Sheep that you can replay for 0 Mana.

Buff Retention

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Do minions keep their buff when they return to hand? (e.g.: Divine Spirit)

No. Minions returned to a player's hand no longer retain any buffs or damage. Returning a minion to a player's hand works like a reset button for that minion.

Blue Posts - Card Clarifications

Ancestral Spirit

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Does silence remove Ancestral Spirit?

Yup. Silence removes all abilities on the target. Keep in mind, if a minion is resurrected by Ancestral Spirit, it is no longer affected by the card. So Silencing would not destroy a minion brought back by Ancestral Spirit.

Auchenai Soulpriest

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

I have a few questions I've been meaning to ask:
Will my healing spells affected by Auchenai Soulpriest benefit from spellpower?

They sure do. Once the Auchenai Soulpriest is in play, healing spells become damage spells and are now affected by Spell Power. 

Blade Flurry

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Would + spell power count towards blade Flurrys damage?
Destroy your weapon and deal its damage to all enemies.
The text leads me to think no. But I could understand why + spell would work. Since it couldn't know the weapon it can't list a number directly on the card and might be implying deal X damage, then spell power would make it X damage + (sp amount)

Even though the damage is based on the attack of your weapon, it is still originating from a spell. Therefore, it will increase with spell power.

Counterspell

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Does a Counterspelled spell still trigger overload or count towards rogue combo?

Combo and Overload take effect under different conditions. Combo is based on a condition being met. So even if the card is countered, you still played it. So Combo will still be triggered. Overload acts as part of the effect of the card not an additional cost to play the card. “An effect happens, Overload 2”. So if the card is countered, Overload will NOT come into effect.

Crazed Alchemist

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

That is the core of the question, do temporary heath/attack buffs persist with Crazed Alchemist?

Crazed Alchemist will swap the stats of a minion based on what they are when the Alchemist is played. So if a buff such as Rockbiter Weapon is played on a Wisp setting him at 4 attack and 1 health, then a Crazed Alchemist is played targeting the Wisp, that minion will become a permanent 1 attack/ 4 health.

I agree with Ezmod on this, it opens a huge variation of strats and ideas.
Zeriyah, would you mind clarifying something for me please?
Your post is pretty clear about the buffs being made permanent when Crazed Alchemist's Battlecry procs.
I have a question for you dealing with Power Overwhelming, Silences and Crazed Alchemist.
If I had a 3/2 Flame Imp on the board I could throw a Power Overwhelming on him to make him a 7/6. Could I then use Crazed Alchemist to make the buff permanent and then throw out an Inronbeak Owl or Spellbreaker to silence him thus removing the "then it dies horribly" part of Power Overwhelming?

The effects of Crazed Alchemist are still considered a buff, so after all that resolves you'd end up with a blank 3/2 Flame Imp that won't die horribly at the end of your turn.

If a Mana Addict is the target of a friendly Crazed Alchemist after being buffed by spells is the increased health permanent?

Yes it is. Crazed Alchemist takes effect on whatever a minions stats are when it is played. Once swapped, the effect is permanent.

Divine Spirit

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

When I buff a Sen'jin Shieldmasta that has taken 1 dmg with Divine Spirit does he become a minion with 10 maximum health with 2 dmg taken (8 current health) or 8 maximum health?

Divine Spirit will double the current health of the minion, but not the damage. The damage will remain the same. Using your example here, If the Sen'jin Shieldmasta has 1 damage applied when his health is doubled, he would become a 3/8 with 1 damage dealt. So total health would be 9.

Doomsayer

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Is he part of the "ALL" minions that are killed when he activates at the start of the turn or just all of the other minions??

Correct, Doomsayer would destroy himself as well.

Shadow Madness

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

If I Shadow Madness a deathrattle minion and smash it to it's death, whose benefit does the deathrattle effect trigger?

Deathrattle triggers for the player controlling the card at the time it triggers. 

Spellbender

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

If Spellbender triggers on Execute what happens, since the Spellbender wasn't damaged?

Execute will resolve as it was originally intended and destroy the Spellbender.

If Spellbender triggers on Power Overwhelming, when does it die?

Power Overwhelming resolves exactly as it would normally and the minion is destroyed at the end of the turn of the player that played it.

Thoughtsteal

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Can I copy the same card twice with the same Thoughtsteal?

Thoughtsteal reads: “Copy 2 cards from your opponent’s deck and put them into your hand.” They will need to be 2 separate cards. However, if your opponent has 2 copies of a card in their deck, it is possible to copy each one giving you 2 of the same card.

Totemic Call

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Do the totems summoned from Totemic Call spawn in a fixed location outside our control (e.g. the far right of the board)?

The Shaman Hero Power totem will spawn to the right of your minions on the board. Players are not able to control where a Shaman's Hero Power totem will spawn into play. 

Vanish

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

What order does Vanish make minions return to hand (in case there isn't enough room and some will be discarded?

Minions will return to a players hand based on the order they were played. The oldest minion on the battlefield will be returned first and so on. If a player’s hand is full, any additional minions will be destroyed.

Water Elemental

Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

If a windfury minion takes retaliation from Water Elemental on his first attack is it frozen before it can attack again and is it still frozen his next turn?

The ability of Water Elemental takes effect immediately when damage is done. The Windfury minion would be frozen and unable to attack an additional time. The freeze effect only lasts until the end of the turn.