I've been working on a new idea for the Hunter class. While I wanted to wait and release 12-14 cards as an "expansion", I know I have quite a few and wanted to upload them for feedback.
The general idea for these new Hunter cards is to add other cards to your hand via a battlecry or a deathrattle. For example:
'Now you see me, now you don't.'
As you can see, the theme here doesn't aim to push "Face Hunter" into a new level, but rather create cards a new type of Hunter would like to use. In my opinion, Hunters do two things. They hunt their pray, and they track it. Hunting is quick, painful, and sometimes risky. But the tracking? It's long, tedious, and you need to survive on your own wit. But I've rambled enough, here's what else I have for you all!
'Do you know how hard it is to tame something? Well, not that hard if you have enough traps.'
'Tracking is a job that requires patience. Obviously, Rexxar hired someone to do it for him.'
'Goblins generally don't have the patience to hunt things. Even this one blows up the occasional squirrel.'
That's it, four cards. What do you all think? Are they balanced? Would you use them if they were released? And, most importantly: Do you want to see more? If you've read this far, thank you so much for your time! Please, leave a comment! It means more to me than you can imagine.
As to the other cards, they're fairly good, except I find putting a single trap in your hand kinda goes against the whole idea of secrets, as it readily tells your opponent what it is. Sure, there are only two options at most for a given deck you face ( Aggro mostly has explosive, tempo runs Mirror + another ) but at least there's some possibility it's another. But there, there's litterally 0% chance it's something else.
I originally thought the same thing about 'Tame the Wild', but I posted that card a while back and was told it was relatively 'balanced'. The reason is that it will not help you at all if you're losing, as the bears won't be able to soak up enough damage to help (If you're even still alive.) At the same time, it sets up for next turn. Compare it to Sprint, which draws four cards. These cards are in your deck for a reason, and usually you'll find what you want. However, 'Tame the Wild''s traps are a little more situational. I'd argue that it could cost 9, but that it's not horribly broken where it is.
Also, as a more controlling hunter, maybe you want to run some other cards. Snipe, Dart Trap, and Steamweedle Sniper can be examples. So while you're opponent knows what you might have, maybe you played another secret you had before? It's the same as Mad Scientist, as soon as the secret enters the field, you know it's either Freezing, Explosive, or Bear. Yes, it makes your deck a bit more predictable, but as a tradeoff you can run more unexpected cards.
Also, this mechanic works against Mad Scientist. Hooray for stealth nerfs!
The obvious solution for "Tame the Wild" is to change it to "discover a trap". That way, the opponent won't know what's coming. All in all, that card is just too expensive. 8 mana, other classes play a Tirion for that, all you have is a better Feral Spirit. 5 mana, 2 3/3 bears and one trap card sounds about right for an A-tier constructed card, as an alternative to Sludge Belcher.
Camouflage master should do something with stealth instead, no? At the very least, it shouldn't announce the secret to your opponent immediately, so this should also be random or via discover.
Goblin Hunter is just a terrible version of Mad Scientist. Why would I pay 3 extra mana for +1 attack and a little more control over when the secret goes into play? (Yes, Mad Scientist is broken good. But unless it ever gets a nerf, your card won't see play.)
Tracker... Is this really worth it? Two cards for 5 mana is pretty expensive, even if you get a free 1/3 with it. It gets better if combined with Lock & Load and possibly Auctioneer. I guess it's good because hunter really lacks card draw right now, a main draw back for any attempt at control play. On the other hand, if you are really trying to play control with this then milling yourself for 6 cards is a problem if you get near fatigue.
I originally thought the same thing about 'Tame the Wild', but I posted that card a while back and was told it was relatively 'balanced'. The reason is that it will not help you at all if you're losing, as the bears won't be able to soak up enough damage to help (If you're even still alive.) At the same time, it sets up for next turn. Compare it to Sprint, which draws four cards. These cards are in your deck for a reason, and usually you'll find what you want. However, 'Tame the Wild''s traps are a little more situational. I'd argue that it could cost 9, but that it's not horribly broken where it is.
Also, as a more controlling hunter, maybe you want to run some other cards. Snipe, Dart Trap, and Steamweedle Sniper can be examples. So while you're opponent knows what you might have, maybe you played another secret you had before? It's the same as Mad Scientist, as soon as the secret enters the field, you know it's either Freezing, Explosive, or Bear. Yes, it makes your deck a bit more predictable, but as a tradeoff you can run more unexpected cards.
Also, this mechanic works against Mad Scientist. Hooray for stealth nerfs!
Except your opponent can keep track of your hand and see if the trap you played was the one you got from the card.
I'm all in favor of mk572's suggestion of discovering traps instead.
As to Tame the Wild, I thought it put into play the 4 secrets, not just drew them, so yeah, misjudged that one.
So I've remade most of the old cards, and I have 3 new ones to show you all! The only card I decided not to remake currently is 'Camouflage Master', but that may change. Here are the remade cards first:
I reduced the cost by 1, and now it discovers a secret instead of just adding an explosive trap to your hand.
Compare to: King's Elekk. Both offer a form of draw, this card is more reliable but doesn't have the beast tag.
This card underwent the most drastic change, and with that change I decided new art was in order. The cost is down from 8, and it still summons two bears, but now it only gives you one secret.
Compare to: Sludge Belcher and Bear Trap.The first costs 1 less mana, and I'd argue is better for taunt value. The second has the same effect as the first half of this card, but now you can choose when the bears enter the field.
Now a 2/4, this card only adds 1 tracking to your hand, which can be used for rounding out some of the later turns or drawing for lethal.
Compare to: Flamewaker and Imp Gang Boss. These cards have the same statline, and incredibly useful or powerful effects. This card is less threatening the turn it's played, but can be useful even after it's dead with the tracking it gives you.
Now, for the new cards!
'You've just activated my trap card!'
'Explosive Traps aren't supposed to explode, and he was this close to fixing it.'
'In a rare twist, all he was guarding was the secret to the Krusty Krab formula.'
I'd word "It's a trap" differently because right now Discovering 2 things can be interpreted somewhat differently ( Do you pick 2 out of the 3 or do you pick one out of three, then discover again ? ), and it's not too long in any way, so "Discover a trap, twice." might be better.
I'm having doubts over Goblin hunter's price drop. King's Elekk was a gift to control hunter to try to make it work ( Blizzard has an habit of giving OP cards to promote otherwise weak deck archetypes ; See Mysterious Challenger, prime example ; Paladin secret never saw play, and then they received one of if not the most OP card in the game ), so the comparison isn't all that great. Plus it allows you to somewhat tailor your choice while retaining a fairly insane consistency ( Over 50% chance of getting a specific trap ). Maybe making it a 3-drop with slightly nerfed stats ( VS a vanilla 3-drop, not VS his current state ) à la Tracker would work better.
Speaking of which, I'd consider buffing Tracker ( For whom you should probably try to find a better name ; It's so generic without even one adjective ) in some way, whether by buffing his stats or nerfing his cost, because Tracking isn't all that great in control decks for which I think this card is made, and you even still have to pay for it. Another option would be making it have the Tracking effect directly as a battlecry which would be nice as it would allow you to curve very nicely ( Kind of a discover, but on your own deck with the trade-off that you'd discard 2 cards).
First: all of my discover cards say 'Discover a secret', not 'Discover a Trap'. While your point is still valid, there are 7 secrets to pick from instead of 5 traps.
Now, I too was worried about Goblin Hunter's price drop, but I decided to drop it now and raise it if need be. Here it is now:
Second, I hadn't considered the ambiguity of discovering two secrets currently. I changed 'It's a Trap' to be worded in a clearer manner, albeit a bit redundant.
Third, I can see your concerns with 'Tracker' (especially its name). So I made the effect a battlecry, but I can't think of a better name currently. Help would be appreciated here.
Finally, thank you all for your ideas and help balancing these cards. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
Goblin Hunter could use a capital on "Secret" ( Might even need to be in bold, not sure how Blizzard works with that ; Compare with Mad Scientist ), but just wait until the next itteration to change that, it's very minor. Otherwise I find the card very nice as it is.
As to It's a Trap, right now one could understand that you can't discover, on the second discover, the same secret as the one you picked the first time. If it's intended, well, fine, it would make sense to force people to pick 2 different secrets and I'd even deem it better, but if it's not you should change it. But yeah there's no real way to word it without any redundancy or ambiguity.
Tracker could be renamed "Bloodscalp Tracker", would be kind of fitting I guess. As to the actual card, the only possibly needed change would be making it a vanilla 3/4 ; Most class 3-drops are either that or have an ongoing, on-board ability ( Flamewaker, Warhorse trainer... ), so I don't think it would make the card over-the-top. It would take some testing to know if its current state is subpar, but hey, we're not Blizzard :p
Thank you for your suggestions again! My goal is to release 12-14 cards on this idea. I'll make the changes you suggested when I upload a few more cards.
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Howdy! (Nat Pagle)
I've been working on a new idea for the Hunter class. While I wanted to wait and release 12-14 cards as an "expansion", I know I have quite a few and wanted to upload them for feedback.
The general idea for these new Hunter cards is to add other cards to your hand via a battlecry or a deathrattle. For example:
'Now you see me, now you don't.'
As you can see, the theme here doesn't aim to push "Face Hunter" into a new level, but rather create cards a new type of Hunter would like to use. In my opinion, Hunters do two things. They hunt their pray, and they track it. Hunting is quick, painful, and sometimes risky. But the tracking? It's long, tedious, and you need to survive on your own wit. But I've rambled enough, here's what else I have for you all!
'Do you know how hard it is to tame something? Well, not that hard if you have enough traps.'
'Tracking is a job that requires patience. Obviously, Rexxar hired someone to do it for him.'
'Goblins generally don't have the patience to hunt things. Even this one blows up the occasional squirrel.'
That's it, four cards. What do you all think? Are they balanced? Would you use them if they were released? And, most importantly: Do you want to see more? If you've read this far, thank you so much for your time! Please, leave a comment! It means more to me than you can imagine.
Tame the Wild looks ridiculously undercosted.
As to the other cards, they're fairly good, except I find putting a single trap in your hand kinda goes against the whole idea of secrets, as it readily tells your opponent what it is. Sure, there are only two options at most for a given deck you face ( Aggro mostly has explosive, tempo runs Mirror + another ) but at least there's some possibility it's another. But there, there's litterally 0% chance it's something else.
I originally thought the same thing about 'Tame the Wild', but I posted that card a while back and was told it was relatively 'balanced'. The reason is that it will not help you at all if you're losing, as the bears won't be able to soak up enough damage to help (If you're even still alive.) At the same time, it sets up for next turn. Compare it to Sprint, which draws four cards. These cards are in your deck for a reason, and usually you'll find what you want. However, 'Tame the Wild''s traps are a little more situational. I'd argue that it could cost 9, but that it's not horribly broken where it is.
Also, as a more controlling hunter, maybe you want to run some other cards. Snipe, Dart Trap, and Steamweedle Sniper can be examples. So while you're opponent knows what you might have, maybe you played another secret you had before? It's the same as Mad Scientist, as soon as the secret enters the field, you know it's either Freezing, Explosive, or Bear. Yes, it makes your deck a bit more predictable, but as a tradeoff you can run more unexpected cards.
Also, this mechanic works against Mad Scientist. Hooray for stealth nerfs!
The obvious solution for "Tame the Wild" is to change it to "discover a trap". That way, the opponent won't know what's coming. All in all, that card is just too expensive. 8 mana, other classes play a Tirion for that, all you have is a better Feral Spirit. 5 mana, 2 3/3 bears and one trap card sounds about right for an A-tier constructed card, as an alternative to Sludge Belcher.
Camouflage master should do something with stealth instead, no? At the very least, it shouldn't announce the secret to your opponent immediately, so this should also be random or via discover.
Goblin Hunter is just a terrible version of Mad Scientist. Why would I pay 3 extra mana for +1 attack and a little more control over when the secret goes into play? (Yes, Mad Scientist is broken good. But unless it ever gets a nerf, your card won't see play.)
Tracker... Is this really worth it? Two cards for 5 mana is pretty expensive, even if you get a free 1/3 with it. It gets better if combined with Lock & Load and possibly Auctioneer. I guess it's good because hunter really lacks card draw right now, a main draw back for any attempt at control play. On the other hand, if you are really trying to play control with this then milling yourself for 6 cards is a problem if you get near fatigue.
Alright! I'll rework the cards and upload discover versions soon.
So I've remade most of the old cards, and I have 3 new ones to show you all! The only card I decided not to remake currently is 'Camouflage Master', but that may change. Here are the remade cards first:
I reduced the cost by 1, and now it discovers a secret instead of just adding an explosive trap to your hand.
Compare to: King's Elekk. Both offer a form of draw, this card is more reliable but doesn't have the beast tag.
This card underwent the most drastic change, and with that change I decided new art was in order. The cost is down from 8, and it still summons two bears, but now it only gives you one secret.
Compare to: Sludge Belcher and Bear Trap.The first costs 1 less mana, and I'd argue is better for taunt value. The second has the same effect as the first half of this card, but now you can choose when the bears enter the field.
Now a 2/4, this card only adds 1 tracking to your hand, which can be used for rounding out some of the later turns or drawing for lethal.
Compare to: Flamewaker and Imp Gang Boss. These cards have the same statline, and incredibly useful or powerful effects. This card is less threatening the turn it's played, but can be useful even after it's dead with the tracking it gives you.
Now, for the new cards!
'You've just activated my trap card!'
'Explosive Traps aren't supposed to explode, and he was this close to fixing it.'
'In a rare twist, all he was guarding was the secret to the Krusty Krab formula.'
I'd word "It's a trap" differently because right now Discovering 2 things can be interpreted somewhat differently ( Do you pick 2 out of the 3 or do you pick one out of three, then discover again ? ), and it's not too long in any way, so "Discover a trap, twice." might be better.
I'm having doubts over Goblin hunter's price drop. King's Elekk was a gift to control hunter to try to make it work ( Blizzard has an habit of giving OP cards to promote otherwise weak deck archetypes ; See Mysterious Challenger, prime example ; Paladin secret never saw play, and then they received one of if not the most OP card in the game ), so the comparison isn't all that great. Plus it allows you to somewhat tailor your choice while retaining a fairly insane consistency ( Over 50% chance of getting a specific trap ). Maybe making it a 3-drop with slightly nerfed stats ( VS a vanilla 3-drop, not VS his current state ) à la Tracker would work better.
Speaking of which, I'd consider buffing Tracker ( For whom you should probably try to find a better name ; It's so generic without even one adjective ) in some way, whether by buffing his stats or nerfing his cost, because Tracking isn't all that great in control decks for which I think this card is made, and you even still have to pay for it. Another option would be making it have the Tracking effect directly as a battlecry which would be nice as it would allow you to curve very nicely ( Kind of a discover, but on your own deck with the trade-off that you'd discard 2 cards).
I think Trap Master needs a buff.
First: all of my discover cards say 'Discover a secret', not 'Discover a Trap'. While your point is still valid, there are 7 secrets to pick from instead of 5 traps.
Now, I too was worried about Goblin Hunter's price drop, but I decided to drop it now and raise it if need be. Here it is now:
Second, I hadn't considered the ambiguity of discovering two secrets currently. I changed 'It's a Trap' to be worded in a clearer manner, albeit a bit redundant.
Third, I can see your concerns with 'Tracker' (especially its name). So I made the effect a battlecry, but I can't think of a better name currently. Help would be appreciated here.
Finally, thank you all for your ideas and help balancing these cards. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
Goblin Hunter could use a capital on "Secret" ( Might even need to be in bold, not sure how Blizzard works with that ; Compare with Mad Scientist ), but just wait until the next itteration to change that, it's very minor. Otherwise I find the card very nice as it is.
As to It's a Trap, right now one could understand that you can't discover, on the second discover, the same secret as the one you picked the first time. If it's intended, well, fine, it would make sense to force people to pick 2 different secrets and I'd even deem it better, but if it's not you should change it. But yeah there's no real way to word it without any redundancy or ambiguity.
Tracker could be renamed "Bloodscalp Tracker", would be kind of fitting I guess. As to the actual card, the only possibly needed change would be making it a vanilla 3/4 ; Most class 3-drops are either that or have an ongoing, on-board ability ( Flamewaker, Warhorse trainer... ), so I don't think it would make the card over-the-top. It would take some testing to know if its current state is subpar, but hey, we're not Blizzard :p
Thank you for your suggestions again! My goal is to release 12-14 cards on this idea. I'll make the changes you suggested when I upload a few more cards.