That would be a one-sided Baron Geddon, except that you can't BGH or Fireball him to death. Probably way too strong. Current version looks pretty good, though.
this is actually a very good idea but it should cost 8 mana and have 8 lifepoints. And it isnt a baron geddon... you dont deal it to everybody only to a random enemy
compare it to Fearsome Doomguard this card has better stats + effect than fearsome.. thats not quite balanced
I meant if he went for the "deal to all" option, which would be kinda busted, especially if you pulled him out of a Voidcaller. As for the comparison to Fearsome Doomguard, yeah, it has better stats than a card that absolutely nobody runs (because it's terrible). I'm not too worried about that. I'm a little more worried about how hard this guy is to remove. You can't BGH him, his health is really, really high... 6/9 is pretty awkward to remove for most classes. 7/9 would actually be much more balanced IMO. Weird how that works, huh?
imo you should never compare a legendary to a common card. Legendaries are legendaries for a reason. Comparing this card to Fearsome Doomguard is like comparing Dr. Boom to War Golem. It just doesnt make sense. In my opinion this is balanced. I think it should be compared to Foe Reaper, in that for this cards effect to be useful, you need to take damage, just like for Foe Reapers effect to be useful, it needs to take damage itself, and Foe Reapers effect is far stronger than this ones. I think this is balanced the way it is. My reasoning for this is that, while Foe Reapers effect is stronger, it needs to take damage, thus reducing board control. Whereas here the hero needs to take damage, but that doesnt reduce board control. And this effect is random. And you need to pay 2 mana (generally, for life tap) for the effect to be useful. So yeah
tl;dr: Compare the card and its effects to Foe Reaper, similar stats, fairly similar effect
This wouldnt do anything with those 3 legendaries, since when those are in play or have been played (in the case of justicar), the hero doesnt actually take damage.
What I think would be cool for this minion is if the card text was changed to "When your hero power would take damage on your turn, instead deal this damage to a random enemy minion."
I think this would make it see more use, although its card stats may need a rebalance such as lowered health, maybe 6/7 or 6/8. I think this would be better because otherwise its pretty much just an inspire: deal 2 damage to a random enemy, with some occasional additional damage from Flame Imp or Wrathguard. Having it like this may actually make Wrathguard see play
Regarding Fearsome Doomguard, I didn't really think of the comparison. Fearsome Doomguard, when I first saw it, I knew would be unplayable and it needs a buff. That's a discussion for another time. Regarding Comparison to almost any other card of similar cost, I am pretty sure Balnazzar would be balanced: It's not that it's a better version of Fearsome Doomguard (while still being unintentionally true), it's that Fearsome Doomguard is absolutely dreadful and should be improved.
Regarding alternative versions, such as being cheaper. I think the only way to go with the cost of this effect is upwards, while making the effect stronger. Hear me out, making it a lower cost minion would let Life Tap be a better way of triggering the effect, but in terms of how much actual use you get out of a card, it's more important that the effect (which is situational at best) doesn't completely overshadow the overall value of the card. Flamewaker would be significantly stronger than this card given the same stats, because many things that damage your hero also damage your own minions (See: Dread Infernal and Hellfire. Also, Mad Bomber (and his cousin), even Abomination), and as such being 2/4 would let it die before you even get many uses out of it. In most cases, I would even go as far as to say that this effect is worth less than Floating Watcher's, since it is less reliable. These reasons are why the card needs to have good stats and have a relatively high cost.
Wrathguard can also be a good trigger for the effect if you didn't draw it early on.
The comparison to Foe Reaper 4000 is apt. They share similar usefulness, thank you for that.
Comparing to North Sea Kraken: You only get the effect of North Sea Kraken once, but Balnazzar can trigger on multiple turns from multiple events, not really a fair comparison. Additionally, the stats are very different, and Balnazzar also benefits from Demon synergy.
The thing about Fearsome Doomguard is that it is a common. It is not supposed to have spectacular stats with a spectacular effect. It is amongst the huge amount of common cards that will just about never see play due to their uselessness. At least rare cards generally have a unique effect which, though they may not be useful now, may be useful in a later meta or in very specific decks. So Fearsome Doomguard hardly needs to be improved, because its just a cheap option for new players, which is fair enough.
This new card can have a lot of synergies in various situations. Obvious ones include:
Balnazzar + Tap
Balnazzar + Warlock minion or spell that does damage to your hero
This card can allow for removal of just about any useful taunt in the game through an attack from Jaraxxus. Even Tirion Fordring wont be able to live through it due to the 6 damage that will be dealt to him by Balnazzar once Jaraxxus attacks with his weapon
Say you did do as I suggested in a previous post and make it so that the damage is reflected rather than received and then dealt, this could allow for some cool combos with cards like Brann Bronzebeard + Flame Imp or Dread Infernal. These combos are still possible as it is, but Flame Imp will deal a fireball worth of damage to your hero :P
I know Dr. Boom is a little on the strong side, but it still goes to proving my point. You really shouldnt compare a legendary to any card other than a legendary, least of all a common
No, I disagree. Legendaries should not be strictly more powerful than any card, even commons. Rarity should increase complexity, not power.
My point about Fearsome Doomguard is that it's beyond bad and it's never been good. It's almost like it was made to be unplayable. If Fearsome Doomguard had 10 health I don't think many people would be upset about it. War Golem, on the other hand, was still a little bit playable in arena so it was never completely disowned until after Dr. Boom came along.
However, this argument does lead me closer to increasing the card's cost and making the effect slightly stronger.
Let's be reasonable, though: Kel'Thuzad's effect is tonnes more powerful that this one (even if Balnazzar has 1 more health), and Balnazzar is a class card (mind you, I think Blizzard seems to the think that being a demon immediately outweighs the bonus a card should have from being a class card), so being cheaper than Kelthuzad is probably more fair. The effect is in a good spot right now, anyway. Changing the stats is probably a better way to go.
I agree that the Warlock's class cards tend to be weaker due to having the best hero power, but (at least, to me) it seems like this applies to spells much more than minions (See: Darkbomb, Shadow Bolt, Drain Life).
Really, buffing Fearsome Doomguard is probably a better thing to do that nerfing this one. If someone comes up with a good way of improving the ability that warrants a cost increase, I'd gladly do that, but having to wait one more turn when self-damage is a limited resource doesn't help with this card.
The thing about increasing complexity as you increase rarity is true, but the whole point of legendaries being more powerful than other cards is that you can only include one in your deck. For example, Bloodmage Thalnos is not that complex. It has 2 abilities that can be found on other cards. Its basically a combination of Kobold Geomancer and Loot Hoarder, but it is a legendary because it is stronger since it has an effect while on the board, as well as having an effect when it dies. Admittedly it is unique in that it is the only card that has this combination, but Azure Drake is extremely similar in its effects. So its not unique. its just strong in a variety of situations.
I do agree that a lot of legendaries are legendaries because of their unique abilities, and this is the case for a vast majority of legendaries, but ceratainly not for all of them
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On Turn 9, you can deal some damage or you can combo with other cards like Flame Imp to deal quite a lot.
I also had the thought of making it cost 8, and deal the damage to all enemies. Or maybe just all minions?
Looking for feedback, anyway. I think Floating Watcher has a concept that is largely unexplored, despite having a lot of potential.
That would be a one-sided Baron Geddon, except that you can't BGH or Fireball him to death. Probably way too strong. Current version looks pretty good, though.
Cool, seems balanced, but still not so strong to be playable in constructed.
imo you should never compare a legendary to a common card. Legendaries are legendaries for a reason. Comparing this card to Fearsome Doomguard is like comparing Dr. Boom to War Golem. It just doesnt make sense. In my opinion this is balanced. I think it should be compared to Foe Reaper, in that for this cards effect to be useful, you need to take damage, just like for Foe Reapers effect to be useful, it needs to take damage itself, and Foe Reapers effect is far stronger than this ones. I think this is balanced the way it is. My reasoning for this is that, while Foe Reapers effect is stronger, it needs to take damage, thus reducing board control. Whereas here the hero needs to take damage, but that doesnt reduce board control. And this effect is random. And you need to pay 2 mana (generally, for life tap) for the effect to be useful. So yeah
tl;dr: Compare the card and its effects to Foe Reaper, similar stats, fairly similar effect
This wouldnt do anything with those 3 legendaries, since when those are in play or have been played (in the case of justicar), the hero doesnt actually take damage.
What I think would be cool for this minion is if the card text was changed to "When your hero power would take damage on your turn, instead deal this damage to a random enemy minion."
I think this would make it see more use, although its card stats may need a rebalance such as lowered health, maybe 6/7 or 6/8. I think this would be better because otherwise its pretty much just an inspire: deal 2 damage to a random enemy, with some occasional additional damage from Flame Imp or Wrathguard. Having it like this may actually make Wrathguard see play
Regarding Fearsome Doomguard, I didn't really think of the comparison. Fearsome Doomguard, when I first saw it, I knew would be unplayable and it needs a buff. That's a discussion for another time. Regarding Comparison to almost any other card of similar cost, I am pretty sure Balnazzar would be balanced: It's not that it's a better version of Fearsome Doomguard (while still being unintentionally true), it's that Fearsome Doomguard is absolutely dreadful and should be improved.
Regarding alternative versions, such as being cheaper. I think the only way to go with the cost of this effect is upwards, while making the effect stronger. Hear me out, making it a lower cost minion would let Life Tap be a better way of triggering the effect, but in terms of how much actual use you get out of a card, it's more important that the effect (which is situational at best) doesn't completely overshadow the overall value of the card. Flamewaker would be significantly stronger than this card given the same stats, because many things that damage your hero also damage your own minions (See: Dread Infernal and Hellfire. Also, Mad Bomber (and his cousin), even Abomination), and as such being 2/4 would let it die before you even get many uses out of it. In most cases, I would even go as far as to say that this effect is worth less than Floating Watcher's, since it is less reliable. These reasons are why the card needs to have good stats and have a relatively high cost.
Wrathguard can also be a good trigger for the effect if you didn't draw it early on.
The comparison to Foe Reaper 4000 is apt. They share similar usefulness, thank you for that.
Comparing to North Sea Kraken: You only get the effect of North Sea Kraken once, but Balnazzar can trigger on multiple turns from multiple events, not really a fair comparison. Additionally, the stats are very different, and Balnazzar also benefits from Demon synergy.
The thing about Fearsome Doomguard is that it is a common. It is not supposed to have spectacular stats with a spectacular effect. It is amongst the huge amount of common cards that will just about never see play due to their uselessness. At least rare cards generally have a unique effect which, though they may not be useful now, may be useful in a later meta or in very specific decks. So Fearsome Doomguard hardly needs to be improved, because its just a cheap option for new players, which is fair enough.
This new card can have a lot of synergies in various situations. Obvious ones include:
This card can allow for removal of just about any useful taunt in the game through an attack from Jaraxxus. Even Tirion Fordring wont be able to live through it due to the 6 damage that will be dealt to him by Balnazzar once Jaraxxus attacks with his weapon
Also just another thought I had.
Say you did do as I suggested in a previous post and make it so that the damage is reflected rather than received and then dealt, this could allow for some cool combos with cards like Brann Bronzebeard + Flame Imp or Dread Infernal. These combos are still possible as it is, but Flame Imp will deal a fireball worth of damage to your hero :P
Theres a lot of cool possibilities to play around with
I know Dr. Boom is a little on the strong side, but it still goes to proving my point. You really shouldnt compare a legendary to any card other than a legendary, least of all a common
No, I disagree. Legendaries should not be strictly more powerful than any card, even commons. Rarity should increase complexity, not power.
My point about Fearsome Doomguard is that it's beyond bad and it's never been good. It's almost like it was made to be unplayable. If Fearsome Doomguard had 10 health I don't think many people would be upset about it. War Golem, on the other hand, was still a little bit playable in arena so it was never completely disowned until after Dr. Boom came along.
However, this argument does lead me closer to increasing the card's cost and making the effect slightly stronger.
Let's be reasonable, though: Kel'Thuzad's effect is tonnes more powerful that this one (even if Balnazzar has 1 more health), and Balnazzar is a class card (mind you, I think Blizzard seems to the think that being a demon immediately outweighs the bonus a card should have from being a class card), so being cheaper than Kelthuzad is probably more fair. The effect is in a good spot right now, anyway. Changing the stats is probably a better way to go.
I agree that the Warlock's class cards tend to be weaker due to having the best hero power, but (at least, to me) it seems like this applies to spells much more than minions (See: Darkbomb, Shadow Bolt, Drain Life).
Really, buffing Fearsome Doomguard is probably a better thing to do that nerfing this one. If someone comes up with a good way of improving the ability that warrants a cost increase, I'd gladly do that, but having to wait one more turn when self-damage is a limited resource doesn't help with this card.
The thing about increasing complexity as you increase rarity is true, but the whole point of legendaries being more powerful than other cards is that you can only include one in your deck. For example, Bloodmage Thalnos is not that complex. It has 2 abilities that can be found on other cards. Its basically a combination of Kobold Geomancer and Loot Hoarder, but it is a legendary because it is stronger since it has an effect while on the board, as well as having an effect when it dies. Admittedly it is unique in that it is the only card that has this combination, but Azure Drake is extremely similar in its effects. So its not unique. its just strong in a variety of situations.
I do agree that a lot of legendaries are legendaries because of their unique abilities, and this is the case for a vast majority of legendaries, but ceratainly not for all of them