Hearthpwn

Bad card, worst art.

Tamsin Roame

Yup! Funny how the different expansions intertwine with each other!

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How the fvck did they put Missandei in Hearthstone, and give her as much Health as one of Daenarys Dragons ?!?!?

... you know there’s a lot of black women with afros right? Kind of weird man. It’s like seeing a bald white man and saying how the hell they gonna put Jesse the Body Ventura in here?

Guys if you think Paladin is bad watch this clip...and consider Blessing of Authority being cast on this card. If this card sticks (and its whole design is obviously centered on it sticking so it can be buffed...even against Priest) and you blessing of kings or authority it and smash for 8 or 12 with lifesteal you might sing a different tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k0WEcG6nIA

Regarding the art..... We aren't used to seeing black people in Hearthstone and it's a weird thing to deal with overall because fantasy stories generally are based on medieval Europe and almost everyone was white there because that was before technology made it possible for widespread travel, etc. Medieval people encountered people that looked different through the Crusades but that's about it. 

Azeroth's humans are basically medieval Europeans. There are other races but they're not human. (So an actual other race.) I don't know...are there other areas in Azeroth where the humans developed to look African or Asian, etc? I think that's one of the reasons diversity feels contrived in fantasy settings sometimes...because of the medieval setting where that's not natural. But it is if the person is actually from another place. But there's not always the lore to back that up. Probably in WoW lore there isn't that other place so it feels like immersion breaking foisting of representation.

Even if it is contrived it's good though. Representation has awkward political overtones and can be jarring in fantasy settings if it breaks the lore....but there just should be some black people in Hearthstone one way or another. And some Asian and so on. Azeroth humans are medieval white Europeans and that is what it is but Hearthstone humans should reflect Earth humans to some extent as well. That feels right to me and probably feels kinda good to the people with their "color" being represented.

Anyways...also I feel like the hair here might be a bit jarring to people because it feels very contemporary in style, which projects even more the political overtones and breaks immersion...but hey people could have that hairstyle at any time in history if they wanted so I'm just gonna say this is a hairstyle that exists in Azeroth. Why not?

I'm pretty sure they didn't have zeppelins, heavy industry or engine driven machines during the medieval times..

As with all the other black cards it was a purely neo-liberal move that retconned the lore for the sake of political pandering. My quarrel is not that blacks exist in the game per say (they technically always did with the voodoo Jamaican trolls), it's how they were quite late of the hour were ham fisted in for the sake of "diversity".

Why does Paladin want this card?  It's big and slow, has lifesteal but low attack.

Fix the Paladin class, Blizzard, instead of spitting in its face.

4 attack with high health helps the card stick and not be removed by priest. Paladin has some powerful buffs, including new ones, along with lots of weapons for absorbing damage with face, so with this card having lifesteal it is a great buff target. If the opponent expends resources to take down 9 health from a 6 mana lifesteal minion you're ok with that. If they leave it up you buff it and smash. I think it's deceptively good.

filler card

Packfiller

I don't like (or want) to bring race into video games. I just wanted to point out what some people are noticing, one of the first black people in hearthstone (I think there have been others but still) looks the same as Missandei, which faced a huge backlash for racist overtones

I really don't know if that was Blizzard's intention, but the coincidence is something... One of the reddit hearthstone mods is removing any posts that discuss some of the reaction relating to race and the printing of this bad card.

They really love to troll the paladin class.

another day at blizzard hq:

employee 1: ah shit ah shit ah shit

employee 2: what??

employee 1: we forgot to make a paladin card and the reveal is in 10 minutes!

employee 2: um let me think of something umm just throw something together...

employee 1: I GOT IT. a 4/9 minion with lifesteal that costs 6 

employee 2: doesn't that seem a little bor-

employee 1: this is a paladin card, remember?

employee 2: oh, you're right. sounds good then.

Aaaah yess, the perfect card to give paladin after A New Challenger... has rotated.

I feel bad for paladin players.