As far as stats and cost goes, I wasn't really sure what to do with this idea. All I knew was that I wanted a card that allowed you to use multiple hero powers without having to pay more than 2 mana. So I came up with this. It's a bit strange considering the anti-synergy between Warlock/Warrior and Mage/Priest, but the end result of activating the Hero Power is:
Gain 1 armor (net armor gain from Druid + Warrior - Warlock)
Draw a card
Deal 1 damage to a target, then heal it by 2 (since HS doesn't do multi-targeting)
Gain 1 attack this turn
Equip a 1/2 weapon
Summon a random basic totem and a Silver Hand Recruit
Deal 2 damage to the enemy hero
All for 2 mana. That's why I felt this card had to be a 10 mana poorly statted minion. Have you guys ever had ideas like this? Please tell me what you think and feel free to post similar Hero Power related cards you've made.
I think I agree with you. Like I said, I wasn't sure how to balance it. I was more looking for feedback on the fun factor of the effect. Even if it were something like "Your Hero Power becomes 'Activate 6 random basic Hero Powers'." Would it be balanced then?
A 10 mana 5/6 that doesn't use it's strength on the same turn is not overpowered. At 8 mana, this card would still not be overpowered if you look at the competition for that deckslot.
A 10 mana 5/6 that doesn't use it's strength on the same turn is not overpowered. At 8 mana, this card would still not be overpowered if you look at the competition for that deckslot.
I would make this an 8 mana card. Digging it
I'm trying to compare it to Justicar Trueheart for balancing purposes. Justicar has bad stats, but provides you with what is sometimes a game-winning hero power. The hero power that Xuen gives you is a strange one, but I think it surpasses any Justicar hero power, and he has better stats. That being said, after rethinking it, 8 mana might be fair. I could always just make the stats a bit worse to balance him more if 8 mana proves to be too good. Or make it 9 mana, that way you can't play Xuen and hero power in the same turn.
I did have some concerns about the card though:
Since it is part Warlock, you cannot use the hero power when nearing fatigue.
It can push a lot of face damage. 2 from Hunter, 1 from Druid, and 1 from Rogue every turn for only 2 mana. It also gives a chance for spell power and taunt totems, in addition to providing tokens for buffing. Seems like it might be too good as an aggressive midrange finisher.
This card is WAY too weak. Compare it to Jaraxxus and Ysera... If you are paying 9+ for a minion that won't win you the game right away you need it to be insane on following turns. healing for 1 and drawing a card while summoning crap totems each turn is not remotely strong! Sometimes you want to damage an enemy minion and not draw cards, or u want to draw but not summon crappy things that take board space. I think it's safe to put this card as a low cost minion... Keep in mind hero powering early in the game would be still weaker than playing actual good cards. I'd make this a 3 mana 3/4 with the effect. Brann would still probably be considered stronger.
Think of it this way: would a warrior play this card? probably no. Because he would gain only 1 armor, instead of 2, and if he targets himself he deals 1 damage, removing that 1 armor and healing for 2, which does nothing at full health. He would overwrite his own weapon for a 1/2 dagger and have almost useless totems and 1/1s on the board.... They dont need card draw, generaly, and sometimes it hurts them in long match ups. So i see this effect as a WORSE hero power than Armor up alone. Now for the other classes, the effect is not significant enough! The only decks i see it being somewhat usable are face decks that run out of steam and still want to draw cards, threat some board asap and still do chipping face damage. But in that case the card is unplayable if it costs 5 or more.
I have a better idea. Why not "Battlecry: Discover a hero power. Add its effects to your current hero power." Then you get 2 for the price of 1. Still powerful without being broken, and it will replace Justicar Trueheart when she rotates out.
I just can't imagine it as a cheap (3-5 mana) minion. It feels like the hero power that this card gives you is one of the strongest in the game, with only Jaraxxus and Majordomo providing stronger ones. Tank Up could also be considered better given the great synergy it has with warrior cards. Comparing Xuen to Jaraxxus, I know that Xuen is weaker as far as a control finisher goes, however there is no downside to playing Xuen, while with Jaraxxus your health is capped at 15, which can be a really big hindrance.
But yeah, I do understand what you're saying about the hero power doing too many things. You may not want to draw, or you may instead want more armor instead of 2 token and some face damage. My vision for this card would be as a good midrange finisher. I think for an 8 mana 5/6, this card would be quite good in decks like hunter, rogue, shaman, mage, warlock, paladin, and especially druid. In popular control classes like warrior and priest, I see Xuen being a lot less useful.
I have a better idea. Why not "Battlecry: Discover a hero power. Add its effects to your current hero power." Then you get 2 for the price of 1. Still powerful without being broken, and it will replace Justicar Trueheart when she rotates out.
I would agree with you here. If you could combine two basic hero powers together that would make some interesting combos. It would also mean the card could cost less mana too to play.
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My Entry for this week's Card Design Competition - Season 8.16:
I have a better idea. Why not "Battlecry: Discover a hero power. Add its effects to your current hero power." Then you get 2 for the price of 1. Still powerful without being broken, and it will replace Justicar Trueheart when she rotates out.
I definitely like this idea and have thought of ways to do it well quite a bit. This effect could probably be attached to a premium stat 5 or 6 drop and be balanced.
I realize that my original idea, Xuen, is probably not good enough to cost 10 mana. Probably 7 mana could be balanced. So, I tried to come up with a similar idea that merits a very high mana cost. Here it is:
It might limit design space. Cards like Justicar Trueheart add so much value to the hero power that this card would become unplayable in standard, however in Wild it's only going to get stronger and stronger.
My intention is that the hero powers activate in a random order and behave similarly to Yogg-Saron, Hope's End, where it shows an animation for each hero power. I don't think you should be able to target your own tokens though, because Yogg goes against the rules of the game when he targets himself (technically he isn't on the board yet when his battlecry is triggering). Similarly, your tokens aren't on the board yet when you activate the hero power, so the targetable hero powers could only hit things that were already on the board.
The net effect would be:
Summon 6 tokens and a 6/6
Deal 10 randomly split damage, plus 8 sent to your opponent's side
Gain 9 armor
Heal 6 randomly
Gain 4-5 attack this turn (depending which dagger is equipped last)
Draw two cards and take 2 damage
Deal 5 damage to the enemy hero
I think this is balanced because it takes two full turns to use and is only a one-time use. What do you guys think? Too weak, too strong? Is it a lot of damage, but it's random. This card might feel too much like Yogg in the RNG department.
I realize that my original idea, Xuen, is probably not good enough to cost 10 mana. Probably 7 mana could be balanced. So, I tried to come up with a similar idea that merits a very high mana cost. Here it is:
It might limit design space. Cards like Justicar Trueheart add so much value to the hero power that this card would become unplayable in standard, however in Wild it's only going to get stronger and stronger.
My intention is that the hero powers activate in a random order and behave similarly to Yogg-Saron, Hope's End, where it shows an animation for each hero power. I don't think you should be able to target your own tokens though, because Yogg goes against the rules of the game when he targets himself (technically he isn't on the board yet when his battlecry is triggering). Similarly, your tokens aren't on the board yet when you activate the hero power, so the targetable hero powers could only hit things that were already on the board.
The net effect would be to flood your board with tokens and a 6/6, deal damage to the enemy hero, heal your hero with armor and possibly healing, draw 2 cards, and clean up the board. I think this is balanced because it takes two full turns to use and is only a one-time use. What do you guys think? Too weak, too strong?
What do you guys think of a card like this?
As far as stats and cost goes, I wasn't really sure what to do with this idea. All I knew was that I wanted a card that allowed you to use multiple hero powers without having to pay more than 2 mana. So I came up with this. It's a bit strange considering the anti-synergy between Warlock/Warrior and Mage/Priest, but the end result of activating the Hero Power is:
All for 2 mana. That's why I felt this card had to be a 10 mana poorly statted minion. Have you guys ever had ideas like this? Please tell me what you think and feel free to post similar Hero Power related cards you've made.
The card is too strong
A 10 mana 5/6 that doesn't use it's strength on the same turn is not overpowered. At 8 mana, this card would still not be overpowered if you look at the competition for that deckslot.
I would make this an 8 mana card. Digging it
This card is WAY too weak. Compare it to Jaraxxus and Ysera... If you are paying 9+ for a minion that won't win you the game right away you need it to be insane on following turns. healing for 1 and drawing a card while summoning crap totems each turn is not remotely strong! Sometimes you want to damage an enemy minion and not draw cards, or u want to draw but not summon crappy things that take board space. I think it's safe to put this card as a low cost minion... Keep in mind hero powering early in the game would be still weaker than playing actual good cards. I'd make this a 3 mana 3/4 with the effect. Brann would still probably be considered stronger.
Think of it this way: would a warrior play this card? probably no. Because he would gain only 1 armor, instead of 2, and if he targets himself he deals 1 damage, removing that 1 armor and healing for 2, which does nothing at full health. He would overwrite his own weapon for a 1/2 dagger and have almost useless totems and 1/1s on the board.... They dont need card draw, generaly, and sometimes it hurts them in long match ups. So i see this effect as a WORSE hero power than Armor up alone. Now for the other classes, the effect is not significant enough! The only decks i see it being somewhat usable are face decks that run out of steam and still want to draw cards, threat some board asap and still do chipping face damage. But in that case the card is unplayable if it costs 5 or more.
I have a better idea. Why not "Battlecry: Discover a hero power. Add its effects to your current hero power." Then you get 2 for the price of 1. Still powerful without being broken, and it will replace Justicar Trueheart when she rotates out.
RedneckBudha
I just can't imagine it as a cheap (3-5 mana) minion. It feels like the hero power that this card gives you is one of the strongest in the game, with only Jaraxxus and Majordomo providing stronger ones. Tank Up could also be considered better given the great synergy it has with warrior cards. Comparing Xuen to Jaraxxus, I know that Xuen is weaker as far as a control finisher goes, however there is no downside to playing Xuen, while with Jaraxxus your health is capped at 15, which can be a really big hindrance.
But yeah, I do understand what you're saying about the hero power doing too many things. You may not want to draw, or you may instead want more armor instead of 2 token and some face damage. My vision for this card would be as a good midrange finisher. I think for an 8 mana 5/6, this card would be quite good in decks like hunter, rogue, shaman, mage, warlock, paladin, and especially druid. In popular control classes like warrior and priest, I see Xuen being a lot less useful.
Very cool idea, the mage + priest anti-synergy makes it a little less op.
Oh, and what happens if you ping a target with 1 hp (and at least 2 max hp)? Does it die or gets it health set at 2 (or 3?) ?
My Entry for this week's Card Design Competition - Season 8.16:
I realize that my original idea, Xuen, is probably not good enough to cost 10 mana. Probably 7 mana could be balanced. So, I tried to come up with a similar idea that merits a very high mana cost. Here it is:
This would activate every hero power in the game. This includes Shapeshift, Steady Shot, Fireblast, Reinforce, Lesser Heal, Dagger Mastery, Life Tap, Armor Up!, Inferno!, Mind Spike, Mind Shatter, DIE, INSECT!, Lightning Jolt, The Tidal Hand, Dire Shapeshift, Ballista Shot, Fireblast Rank 2, The Silver Hand, Heal, Poisoned Daggers, Totemic Slam, Soul Tap, and Tank Up!.
Here are my thoughts:
The net effect would be:
I think this is balanced because it takes two full turns to use and is only a one-time use. What do you guys think? Too weak, too strong? Is it a lot of damage, but it's random. This card might feel too much like Yogg in the RNG department.
Yeah, I edited it because I thought of that myself lol. Probably too much RNG, but it does take 2 full turns to use.