Hearthpwn

For reference, I'll be giving each card a score out of 5. A score of 0 means that I don't think a card like that should ever exist, and any other score is just a sliding scale of bad to good, which I'll do my best to explain in each review.

Time Bomb - 0/5 - I loathe time-based mechanics, and this is a particularly punishing implementation of them.

Curator, Despot of Menagerie - 1/5 - The condition on this card is so restrictive for sake of being a reference, but it doesn't feel fun it just feels clunky and poorly thought out. Could've been much more interesting if it had an effect based on Demon, Pirate or Mech, rather than all three.

Archimonde - 2/5 - Feels a bit bland? I don't know, from what I understand of WoW lore Archimonde is a pretty important character, and while the effect of the card is probably verging on OP territory, it doesn't feel interesting in the way that it probably should.

Killing Spree - 4/5 - A very interesting card, I like the potential it has to be a board clear with Spell Damage. Having said that, I feel like the theme of it is a bit off - I'd have preferred to see some dagger throwing shenanigans than pistols. Fairly balanced, I think.

Sunfire - 3/5 - A good card, certainly, but I can't help but feel I've seen the idea before a few too many times. I'd also have preferred less of a direct reference to Moonfire, personally, just because I'm not a huge fan of cards referring to other cards unless they have a cohesive design, which this doesn't share with Moonfire - it has more in common with Swipe, really.

Utmost Subtlety - 3/5 - A good design, and I think almost balanced (I'd probably have put it at 6 mana), but it falls short thematically. I'm not sure what being subtle has to do with dealing a bunch of damage, I'd have expected a thieving card with that name.

Inaccurate Archer - 4/5 - One of my favourite cards in this final, it unfortunately falls a bit short just because the wording isn't perfect, which causes a lot of issues with interactions - can it damage the enemy hero? What about when it is attacked, as opposed to attacking? An amazing idea nonetheless.

Fissure - 2/5 - Feels weak. A worse Deadly Shot when your opponent has 3 minions out, and can easily be played around by the opponent since as far as I can recall Shaman has no other position matters cards for them to worry about. I also don't really like tacking Overload onto something as an excuse to play it earlier when playing it earlier doesn't matter, as is the case with this card. You want to play it later when the opponent has a board.

Cull Stratholme - 1/5 - I guess it's a fairly balanced card, I just don't understand what Spell Damage synergy is doing in Paladin, really. Feels really thematically out of place. Is there a specific reason to do with Stratholme that I'm missing because I don't know much about WoW?

C'thuns Pyromancer - 0/5 - Ignoring minor text errors, this card is fairly well balanced. I just don't ever want to see any more C'Thun cards in the game - and I don't think we will, because of the Standard rotation. More of a personal gripe, so don't take the 0 as me hating the card's design, because I don't.

Where there's a mill... - 0/5 - Yeah, cards that just straight up call out being Mill cards are dumb, IMO. I feel like a lot of the nuance of a card should be recognising it's potential in whatever archetype, whereas this just screams Mill and would never be used in any other deck, mainly because it's way overcosted (compared to Poison Seeds). And it has to be, because of the Mill potential. Just an overall bad design, I think.

Renegade Cleaver - 3/5 - Cool idea, too OP. Not much more to say, it just needs less stats and it'd be a great card.

Void Eruption - 1/5 - Not a fan of Shadowform-based cards when Shadowform is so underrepresented as a mechanic. It'd be like having a card that, I don't know, specifically doesn't get transformed by Renounce Darkness as its effect (although that'd be worse, since at least Shadowform is evergreen). Ooh, better example - a card that had a specific effect when you were Lord Jaraxxus. The actual card itself is alright, probably balanced fairly enough.

GLOOM! - 0/5 - Another card with a forced reference that doesn't really make sense. Why does destroying all minions and having your opponent draw cards mean gloom? Also, randomly trying to make Mill work in a class that has no basis for it.

Cannon Volley - 4/5 - I'm interested. I really like the concept, but I think it's probably too powerful, just because Rogue has access to Swashburglar and can also obviously run their own Southsea Deckhands, which would mean this card could very quickly spiral out of control. Conceptually great, just maybe not perfectly balanced IMO.

Stitches - 2/5 - Abomination's big brother. Feels a bit bland for a legendary, especially since he can usually be taken out in one go by the time you reach his mana cost. Doesn't help that I've seen much more interesting designs for Stitches cards before, which are probably tipping my judgement.

Shadow Word: Anguish - 0/5 - Reprint Lightbomb, but make it just a little bit different. Or don't.

Healing Flame - 3/5 - Interesting idea, but I think it's too strong at too low a cost. You'll too often be able to kill off the opponent's minions but leave yours alive, which is too good for 2 mana. I'd say 3 mana would be much closer to being balanced.

Harvest Life - 5/5 - Referencing an older card done right. Comparable to Holy Nova for damage dealt, and concentrates the healing where a Warlock would want it instead of spreading it out like a Priest. And the Drain Life comparison is obvious, but still not too blatant.

Coldhearted Doomsayer - 4.5/5 - I so want to love this card. The effect is ingenious and really unique, and the utility of it is so interesting. I just wish the name was better, because it feels tacked on rather than a good reference like it should, and I can't really articulate why.

Dragonfly Swarm - 2/5 - I wasn't super big on the 'attack at random' cards counting this week, personally, so I'm not a super big fan of the design. The combos with Timber Wolf and Scavenging Hyena are obvious, which is cool I guess because those cards aren't used, but my biggest gripe is that the card doesn't feel like it fits well thematically. In the adventure it was a part of - am I remembering that right? - it made more sense because the other cards fit together with the theme, but as a standalone it doesn't really work.