So there are under performing cards, slightly bad stats, pack filler, and all sorts of sub-optimal cards every expansion. Honestly more bad cards then good are released. That's the CCG model. There's at least some fun with those cards because of the random mechanics in HS.
However, some cards are just tremendously bad designed. What's worse is that some of the most terrible cards come from fun and innovative ideas. Here are a few of my worst cards ever printed. Feel free to add your own and why you think so.
Poisoned Blade: Let's start with the good here. The card was pretty innovative and had a cool idea for taking advantage of using the rogue hero power every turn. This may have been a pretty cool card... except for the stats. 4 mana for a 1/3 weapon. You get only 3 attacks out of it (barring some sort of Greenskin type buff) and you have to repeatedly buff it with 2 mana every turn. To get some sort of win condition card out of this you need to draw it early, buff it every turn, control the board without attacking too much, and pray your opponent doesn't ooze it when you finally get it reasonable. This might have been a great card for 1 mana, just look at Kingsbane. But at 4 mana Blizzard just made something terrible and frustrating to play with.
Windshear Stormcaller: Fan made cards have loved the idea of a card that has some sort of exodia type interaction for getting out all your totems. So Blizzard finally printed a card with that idea in mind, and it was terrible. Let's look at the Paladin DK. How many times have you seen the win game condition go off? Exodia decks pull it off occasionally but that required an entire deck constructed around getting a 10+ mana combo to work. In terms of board space, you need 4 of your 7 minion slots full of totems. This happens so rarely it's laughable. Then you need to drop the stormcaller to summon Al'Akir. That means you need 6 of your 7 minion slots to make this happen. You can only have 1 other minion not involved in the combo. So it's tough to even protect these totems because you can't have board presence to do so. Even with the totem support cards made by blizzard you can get multiple of the same totem, but you need all 4 different totems. And the reward? You've cheated out an 8 cost minion that's rarely ever played. Fun idea, terrible design.
Deadly Arsenal: I know people are going to call me out for picking a card that hasn't been released or tested yet, but come on! It's a bad design. It's a horrible version of Dragon's Fury. You need to build a deck around this card to make it functional, and you can only use a few cards in the game to make use out of it. It mirrors it effect on your side of the board, so your creatures are getting wiped out too. However there is no good deck that involves multiple big warrior weapons. Closest thing was pirate warrior running 2x Arcanite and you don't really want to be wiping your board. The only possible synergy I see is the Bladed Gauntlet if it has the attack power in your deck. Dead Man's Hand is only viable as a Mill Deck, and this might have been ok in there. But with Oracle gone it's a deck with no win condition. And if you want to wipe the board, warrior has so many better options available right now. I'm calling it right here that this will be one of the worst cards of the expansion and without some sort of weird weapon support it will never see legit play.
the worst designed card in hearthstone isn't any of those, the worst designed cards in hearthstone is anything that has charge printed on the text box except maybe for Charged Devilsaur which is technically a rush minion that can sometimes get charge after some shenanigans.
Lakkari Sacrifice wasn't a bad design. It just didn't have the support cards to make it work. Remember, some people thought it was going to be one of the best quests when revealed. The entire quest and archetype was a failed design, but the card itself was fine. Could have been redeemed with the right discard cards.
Cursed Blade is a good design. Early tempo with a severe drawback. Just because a card isn't used doesn't mean it's a bad design (note that I have seen it used in Pirate Warrior). The only thing stupid about Cursed Blade was when it caused the game to be lost when pulled from Blingatron 3000.
Worst Designed card of the game : Barnes / Jade Idol are arguably the worst designed cards of the game IMO,
Im fine with some bad cards or cards that you need to build around. Your wrong with the assumption that you cant play DMH without Coldlight thought. Its basically just a tech vs warlock there but the deck doesnt neccessary need it, N`zoth versions f.e. dont use it.
I think at first glance it has super strong potential and I realy dont get why it should be bad design to have a condition. AOE is much stronger in warrior than in other classes especially in DMH.
Lakkari Sacrifice isn't too bad. It's not the most powerful card out there and probably could have been done with 'discard 5 cards' instead of 6. I've still seen it go off plenty of times and the effect floods the board nicely.
I think my problem with the Arsenal is you have to build a deck around getting a one time board clear to work. I will say that I think there is room with the Arsenal for growth, unlike the other I listed. If they had something like 3 mana weapon 4/2, only able to attack minions, then this card could be really good. It's a bit better in wild with 4 mana axe, but it's still a weird deck to make a subpar card work. I want to be wrong so I hope it's better than I give it credit for, but I don't see it happening.
Lakkari Sacrifice isn't too bad. It's not the most powerful card out there and probably could have been done with 'discard 5 cards' instead of 6. I've still seen it go off plenty of times and the effect floods the board nicely.
I think my problem with the Arsenal is you have to build a deck around getting a one time board clear to work. I will say that I think there is room with the Arsenal for growth, unlike the other I listed. If they had something like 3 mana weapon 4/2, only able to attack minions, then this card could be really good. It's a bit better in wild with 4 mana axe, but it's still a weird deck to make a subpar card work. I want to be wrong so I hope it's better than I give it credit for, but I don't see it happening.
Man, I've tried to make it work so many times. Completing the quest ain't even the problem. The problem is that discard is insanely bad and will make you lose control match-ups (being 6 cards down in control v control is bad) regardless of the endless 3/2's (which aren't even good) . It's unbelievable how little those 3/2 imps actually do for you.
Also, I'm pretty sure Control Warriors would not mind running Gorehowl at all; you'd only have to run 1 with Dead Man's Hand.
Man, I've tried to make it work so many times. Completing the quest ain't even the problem. The problem is that discard is insanely bad and will make you lose control match-ups (being 6 cards down in control v control is bad) regardless of the endless 3/2's (which aren't even good) . It's unbelievable how little those 3/2 imps actually do for you.
Also, I'm pretty sure Control Warriors would not mind running Gorehowl at all; you'd only have to run 1 with Dead Man's Hand.
All IMO of course.
Think the power creep made those imps worse than they were. I mean on the same turn (if you are super lucky) that you cast the portal your opponent casts Spiteful and gets a 10 mana creature. Or paladins have you already dead and flooding the boards. Your 3/2's are both running into a 1/1 divine shield taunt. Like you said, it's a fun deck but the discard mechanic just too random to work as a top tier deck.
The trouble with Gorehowl in this situation is you can't equip it until you cast the Arsenal or now you have a dead card in your hand. And let's say you have both in hand, now you just shuffled another Deadly Arsenal into your deck that will be dead in hand unless you draw it before that gorehowl. It's just a very roundabout way to make a single card work just for the sake of making the card work.
Joust is just awful. Inspire would come close behind but recent cards have made it okay. Charge has, all around, been a very problematic keyword just because of how powerless the second player is when it isn't his turn.
Mind Control Tech, and this is from someone who despises Arena, is just dumb.
Don Han'Cho, given Bonemare was in the making already, was also a waste of space for a legendary (of which I unpacked three) but I wouldn't call it bad design as much as just pointless.
Non-Paladin Handbuffs and Discards are also terrible just because they can always just target the wrong card unless you are out of alternatives.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Start of Year: Provoke the failure of 3 expansions, force nerfs on otherwise balanced cards, bring deckbuilding to an all-time low and get rotated one year earlier for being such a threat to the game's health. - Genn and Baku's historical entry on the White Book of Shit Design, shortly before retiring unpunished
Bolf was the worst ever. Such a wasted opportunity. Could have easily been a super taunt, forcing all targetable effects to hit him (reverse Noggenfogger).
Or even just giving him a normal taunt as was said earlier to prevent it from being a 0/9.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Anger is the punishment we give ourselves for someone else's mistake.
I loved, LOVED Druid from beta to MSoG (and will love them once more once Jade Idol is removed) but as a former MtG player, pre-nerf Innervate existing at any point will always be a sign to me that someone HIGH up on the design team has no idea what they are doing and their continued presence is a hindrance to the game's longevity.
Worst Designed card of the game : Barnes / Jade Idol are arguably the worst designed cards of the game IMO,
Im fine with some bad cards or cards that you need to build around. Your wrong with the assumption that you cant play DMH without Coldlight thought. Its basically just a tech vs warlock there but the deck doesnt neccessary need it, N`zoth versions f.e. dont use it.
I think at first glance it has super strong potential and I realy dont get why it should be bad design to have a condition. AOE is much stronger in warrior than in other classes especially in DMH.
So there are under performing cards, slightly bad stats, pack filler, and all sorts of sub-optimal cards every expansion. Honestly more bad cards then good are released. That's the CCG model. There's at least some fun with those cards because of the random mechanics in HS.
However, some cards are just tremendously bad designed. What's worse is that some of the most terrible cards come from fun and innovative ideas. Here are a few of my worst cards ever printed. Feel free to add your own and why you think so.
Poisoned Blade: Let's start with the good here. The card was pretty innovative and had a cool idea for taking advantage of using the rogue hero power every turn. This may have been a pretty cool card... except for the stats. 4 mana for a 1/3 weapon. You get only 3 attacks out of it (barring some sort of Greenskin type buff) and you have to repeatedly buff it with 2 mana every turn. To get some sort of win condition card out of this you need to draw it early, buff it every turn, control the board without attacking too much, and pray your opponent doesn't ooze it when you finally get it reasonable. This might have been a great card for 1 mana, just look at Kingsbane. But at 4 mana Blizzard just made something terrible and frustrating to play with.
Windshear Stormcaller: Fan made cards have loved the idea of a card that has some sort of exodia type interaction for getting out all your totems. So Blizzard finally printed a card with that idea in mind, and it was terrible. Let's look at the Paladin DK. How many times have you seen the win game condition go off? Exodia decks pull it off occasionally but that required an entire deck constructed around getting a 10+ mana combo to work. In terms of board space, you need 4 of your 7 minion slots full of totems. This happens so rarely it's laughable. Then you need to drop the stormcaller to summon Al'Akir. That means you need 6 of your 7 minion slots to make this happen. You can only have 1 other minion not involved in the combo. So it's tough to even protect these totems because you can't have board presence to do so. Even with the totem support cards made by blizzard you can get multiple of the same totem, but you need all 4 different totems. And the reward? You've cheated out an 8 cost minion that's rarely ever played. Fun idea, terrible design.
Deadly Arsenal: I know people are going to call me out for picking a card that hasn't been released or tested yet, but come on! It's a bad design. It's a horrible version of Dragon's Fury. You need to build a deck around this card to make it functional, and you can only use a few cards in the game to make use out of it. It mirrors it effect on your side of the board, so your creatures are getting wiped out too. However there is no good deck that involves multiple big warrior weapons. Closest thing was pirate warrior running 2x Arcanite and you don't really want to be wiping your board. The only possible synergy I see is the Bladed Gauntlet if it has the attack power in your deck. Dead Man's Hand is only viable as a Mill Deck, and this might have been ok in there. But with Oracle gone it's a deck with no win condition. And if you want to wipe the board, warrior has so many better options available right now. I'm calling it right here that this will be one of the worst cards of the expansion and without some sort of weird weapon support it will never see legit play.
mmmm not too sure about Deadly Arsenal because its quite powerful with 2 Gorehowls in a Dead Man's Hand deck...
I agree with all your other picks though.
My personal worst designed card is Lakkari Sacrifice.
Dinomancy was an interesting idea as a card, but the tempo loss is way too big in hunter.
Its hard to beat Lakkari Sacrifice, but perhaps Cursed Blade was worse.
If you are in your first year of playing please read this post.
Dust does not burn a hole in the jar. Be careful what you craft, especially before and right after a rotation.
I always like making my own minions worse back in Karazhan, when priest was struggling a lot and they got this stupid card as a slap to the face
but seriously, if I had some time, I would make a whole list of bad designed and, logically, under-performing cards
Bolf Ramshield: Why this didn’t have taunt is beyond me. Effectively a 6 mana heal yourself 9, or a 6 mana 0/9 to look another way at it.
The Boogeymonster: When a card is strictly worse than a classic that sees no play (Gruul)
the worst designed card in hearthstone isn't any of those, the worst designed cards in hearthstone is anything that has charge printed on the text box except maybe for Charged Devilsaur which is technically a rush minion that can sometimes get charge after some shenanigans.
Worst Designed card of the game : Barnes / Jade Idol are arguably the worst designed cards of the game IMO,
Im fine with some bad cards or cards that you need to build around. Your wrong with the assumption that you cant play DMH without Coldlight thought. Its basically just a tech vs warlock there but the deck doesnt neccessary need it, N`zoth versions f.e. dont use it.
I think at first glance it has super strong potential and I realy dont get why it should be bad design to have a condition. AOE is much stronger in warrior than in other classes especially in DMH.
Master Jouster
Lakkari Sacrifice isn't too bad. It's not the most powerful card out there and probably could have been done with 'discard 5 cards' instead of 6. I've still seen it go off plenty of times and the effect floods the board nicely.
I think my problem with the Arsenal is you have to build a deck around getting a one time board clear to work. I will say that I think there is room with the Arsenal for growth, unlike the other I listed. If they had something like 3 mana weapon 4/2, only able to attack minions, then this card could be really good. It's a bit better in wild with 4 mana axe, but it's still a weird deck to make a subpar card work. I want to be wrong so I hope it's better than I give it credit for, but I don't see it happening.
the forgotten epics
Junkbot Frost Giant Luckydo Buccaneer Sea Reaver Darkspeaker Mini-Mage Blubber Baron Captain's Parrot Magnataur Alpha
The trouble with Gorehowl in this situation is you can't equip it until you cast the Arsenal or now you have a dead card in your hand. And let's say you have both in hand, now you just shuffled another Deadly Arsenal into your deck that will be dead in hand unless you draw it before that gorehowl. It's just a very roundabout way to make a single card work just for the sake of making the card work.
Joust is just awful. Inspire would come close behind but recent cards have made it okay. Charge has, all around, been a very problematic keyword just because of how powerless the second player is when it isn't his turn.
The design on Barnes is atrocious.
Divine Favor, in its core, is a mistake.
Mind Control Tech, and this is from someone who despises Arena, is just dumb.
Don Han'Cho, given Bonemare was in the making already, was also a waste of space for a legendary (of which I unpacked three) but I wouldn't call it bad design as much as just pointless.
Non-Paladin Handbuffs and Discards are also terrible just because they can always just target the wrong card unless you are out of alternatives.
Start of Year: Provoke the failure of 3 expansions, force nerfs on otherwise balanced cards, bring deckbuilding to an all-time low and get rotated one year earlier for being such a threat to the game's health.
- Genn and Baku's historical entry on the White Book of Shit Design, shortly before retiring unpunished
Bolf was the worst ever. Such a wasted opportunity. Could have easily been a super taunt, forcing all targetable effects to hit him (reverse Noggenfogger).
Or even just giving him a normal taunt as was said earlier to prevent it from being a 0/9.
Anger is the punishment we give ourselves for someone else's mistake.
I loved, LOVED Druid from beta to MSoG (and will love them once more once Jade Idol is removed) but as a former MtG player, pre-nerf Innervate existing at any point will always be a sign to me that someone HIGH up on the design team has no idea what they are doing and their continued presence is a hindrance to the game's longevity.
Definitely Barnes. The fact that realized how it could completely decide a game at turn 4 when it was designed is beyond me.
I tried having fun once. It was awful.