Hearthpwn

This Week's Finalists

Restrictions:

• Your card ​must do something based on either the amount of mana you have or on the amount of mana you have spent (on something or over some period). The theme creator offers as a theoretical example a 2/2 minion but that costs (0) but that can only be played after you've spent 7 mana this game.

We have whittled down ~150 valid entries to just 22 of the community's favorites. 
Check out all the finalists below and vote in our poll (vote for as many or as few as you like) to help decide the winner and be sure to check back after the poll finishes for the announcement of the winner and the start of a new theme! 

NOTE: Cards with a black border have additional material, like explanations or unique tokens, located in a spoiler at the bottom of the finalist gallery. They are listed in order of position in the final poll.

by Zukuu
by Crawsushi
by Adamaxes
by Sneaky_Raptor
by waterwaIker
by Crucinel
by freddoccino
by riddlearmy
by Shadow_Dcord
by Mechahunter
by Elementalkin
by Restless_Soul
by CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkey
by crasyherbz
by Lathy
by The_Edel_Bernal
by binza
by FusilierDude
by Sword
by Papamiah
by Shadicar
by ShadowsOfSense

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Oh my! My card here! That was unexpected... I should also mention Congratulations! General Vezax and Goblin Artillery are my favorite this week.

Traveling Merchant 4/5: This card ensures that you curve out nicely the next turn. Because of that it can be a little strong when you can anticipate your next card draw if you only have a card with unique mana cost in your deck (Example: Reno Jackson is your only 6 cost card in your deck. Play this on turn 5 to draw Reno Jackson the next turn). Nonetheless good concept.

Rak'Nai Soulburn 1/5: I don't like this card. Seems deliberate to fit in to this week's theme and the effect is too OP. 1 mana for 1 Demon up to possibly 6 Demons on turn 10 does not seem like a fair trade for your opponent. No for me.

Alexstrasza's Gift 2/5: Good concept but I'm afraid this is quite OP. Say in a scenario where you lost all your armor but you used Shield Block + Hero Power on turn 5, you're granted 7 mana worth of tempo minions in exchange for 7 armor? Quite an unfair deal for your opponent. And this can repeat again because of the second copy. 1 mana cost of minion =/= 1 armor. Not mentioning what happens when you accumulate 30 Armor.

Heavy Goblin Artillery 4/5: This is quite an interesting card. So if you play this on turn 7, it's a 0/12; turn 10, it can be a 3/12. Seems slow and hence balanced. If not removed by your opponent, its high Attack can pose a huge threat to your opponent the next turn. To me, this has an interesting effect and stats-wise it is quite fair.

Clara Roft 3/5: Compared with 'Traveling Merchant', although both have similar effect, 'Traveling Merchant' is preferred because 1) Battlecry effects are guaranteed while minion effects are only granted when the minion is alive; 2) 'Traveling Merchant' costs much cheaper which makes it easier to fit in the mana curve (and also 'Traveling Merchant' uses better wording).

General Vezax 4/5: Normally I don't like effects that directly sabotage your opponent but this one is fine. Because 1) Effect applies to both players; 2) Your opponent can react to this minion and also prevent the adverse effect from happening by utilizing all his mana crystals. Stats-wise this is quite balanced (and manageable) for a 8-mana minion. Good concept.

Demon Blood 2/5: This card seems a little OP. Effect that provides such a huge benefit like this one needs to be designed with more caution (such as by having a huge drawback) in order to balance it. 1 mana for 2 hero health still seems to be too good a deal. Besides, you can synergize this with Molten Giant and then Reno Jackson. In matches where health is a plentiful resource for you, being able to generate a 10 mana worth of tempo on turn 5 or 15-20 mana worth of tempo on turn 10 seems too powerful.

Mana Lock 0/5: Instantly NO for me. Directly sabotaging your opponent is not a favorable card design for me. This card may ABSOLUTELY lock out your opponent for one turn. One may say "but you are 'sabotaging' yourself also". Not true when you are building a control deck to disrupt your opponent's tempo. Compared with Doomsayer, Doomsayer at least allows an interaction with it but this card doesn't.

Kael'Thas Sunstrider 2/5: Dangerous and very close to an OP card. When synergized with Emperor Thaurissan, it can be a disaster for your opponent. Turn 10 play this for 5 mana after the emperor discount (spell damage +5) followed by all your burn spells. It'll be a cheaper version of Malygos.

Arcane Anomaly 1/5: Simply OP. The 'drawback' is almost irrelevant. 2 mana 4/4 cannot exist like that (look at Millhouse Manastorm).

Nether Maiden 2/5: I presume 'Mana Crystals' mentioned in the card refer to the total mana crystals (whether spent or unspent) that player has? If that's the case, wouldn't the effect be determined by who goes first/second in the game? Seems to be a little off the theme for me. Or is "Mana Crystals" referring to the remaining ones? Need clearer wordings. Though the stats are pretty ok.

Incubus 3/5: 7 mana 2/7 is weak but quite balanced with the strong effect it has. I won't see this get played. But if it does and survives a turn, you can create a huge tempo swing if synergized with attack buffs from Abusive Sergeant or Power Overwhelming.

Darkshore Moonkin 2/5: Again, is this 'Mana Crystals' referring to the total or remaining mana crystals? If it's the latter, it feels a little weak because playing this on turn 5 will be a 0/5.

Lightning Giant 2/5: Effect in conjunction with its mana cost is balanced I guess but Sea Giant will still be the preferred pick. (And sorry those designs that revolve around 'Cost (1) less for...' become such a boredom for me)

Drain Mana 3/5: Nice concept. Balance-wise I think it steers slightly towards the OP side but still within the acceptable range. Reason being it is an inconsistent Innervate; can do nothing or provides insane tempo if your opponent passes a turn.

Fel Lord 1/5: This seems completely OP. A 4 mana 5/7 is already breaking the balance, not to mention it still has a taunt. To be honest, the drawback (1 mana upkeep each turn) is quite insignificant compared with its stats. And if you are likely to do a 1-for-2 trade with this. This contests all the 3-cost and below minions and most of the 4- and 5-cost minions. Stats need to be re-adjusted for balance.

Ursoc the Mighty 3/5: Basically requires you to keep The Coin until turn 10 or Innervate until turn 9 to play a 5/5 and draw a card for free. Might be a little strong but I think it is reasonable since the conditions are so specific to pull the combo.

Sunwell Guardian 4/5: On first sight, this card seems weak to me (I was going to give it 2/5). But the longer I thought about it, the more I like this card. 4 mana 2/5 Taunt is a reasonable standard. If you see this card effect as a bonus rather than a must-have effect, this card doesn't seem that bad. The thing I realized later is: You do not have to deliberately skip a few mana crystals but if you happen to have one to spare, it can heal 1 health for free. (Though the words that protrude out of the border do disturb my viewing pleasure)

Omen of Clarity 4/5: Quite an interesting card. First of all I presume the weird wording is to fit the texts into 4 lines? Other than that, I think this effect fits quite well to this week's theme.

Desperate Hunt 4/5: I think this might be an underestimated card. Though it seems bad to just draw a card and play it randomly with your mana spent, the fact that this can repeat until you run out of mana if you have built a low-curve deck, is quite strong. Under normal circumstances, this is still a solid card draw. Good and original concept.

Deal Striker 3/5: This card immediately reminded me of Blackwater Pirate. But Blackwater Pirate's stats are terrible. This card's effect. on the other hand, is a Battlecry and its stats are much better for a 5 mana minion. Okay design but not too creative.

Vessel of Light 4/5: I see this as a much slower 3 mana Forbidden Healing with a 2/4 body. It is not meant to be played on turn 3 unless you desperately need a body to fight for the board. To me Forbidden Healing is still better because the effect happens instantly when you need it but it's good to have an alternate source of healing from this card too. This card can be played as a 'threat' in the late game where you heal a little when your opponent kills it but if your opponent doesn't, you heal for insane amount the next turn after trading it into another enemy minion. Quite a cool card.

I voted for cards that are 4/5 or 5/5! =D

I can't wait to see the winners. This week was a really interesting theme, the way it looks by from the postings lots of people like the Heavy Goblin Artillery card, which I predict will win.

Congrats to everyone (myself included) for making it to the finalist stage! Great cards this week.

Also, a quick question... Do those who receive any other 'place' other than 1st receive a prize, like the custom border? :p  

First time I make it to the finals, quite unexpected! Considering I made the card on the spot with only the theme in mind, and that it is in fact quite OP (Arcane Anomaly). Still, thanks for the votes!

I like Traveling Merchant and Demon Blood a lot, and I like the idea of the Heavy Goblin Artillery. Good luck to everyone!

Damn, didn't expect my entry to make it to the finals. It's even more of a surprise now that I've seen Traveling Merchant; both are so similar, and mine was submitted so much later.

It's funny how I have to agree with most people when they point out how the Merchant would be a better card (simply 'cus of it's cost, which would make it much more flexible), though I have to disagree with someone who said my wording is worse, 'cus the text in Merchant is ambiguous (one could assume the card you draw changes its cost to match the amount of Mana you have).