Weekly Card Design Competition #4.19 - FINAL POLL
Poll: For for your favorite "Keyword Kerfuffle" entries!
Ended Nov 23, 2016
Ended Nov 23, 2016
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This Week's Finalists
Competition-Specific Restrictions:
We have whittled down ~160 valid entries to just 17 of the community's favorites.
Check out all the finalists below and vote in our poll (vote for as many or as few as you like) to help decide the winner and be sure to check back after the poll finishes for the announcement of the winner and the start of a new theme!
NOTE: This week was very unusual! Because submissions required multiple elements and in many cases required significant explanation, the final is formatted much differently than usual. Not only do all elements, both a keyword tool-tip box and three example cards, all appear together, but spoilers have been included after each entry that include all of an entry's explanatory text from the submission topic.
When you add an Insight card to your deck in the deck builder, the relevant class tab(s) will appear and let you select the relevant card(s) to add to your deck. If you remove the Insight card from your deck, cards in your deck that would be illegal without it will also automatically be removed, of course. There's really not much explanation necessary beyond that, I don't think. It's simplicity and straightforwardness is part of what I think makes it fit in really well into Hearthstone. Let's take a look at some examples...
As you can see, the keyword is very versatile. It can allow for specifically named cards or some category of cards, it can allow for access to one class or multiple classes, it can allow multiple cards or only one (though putting two copies of an Insight card in your deck would indeed allow you to benefit twice), and on more powerful or complex cards like Aegwynn, it can even allow for modifications to the Insight-granted cards!
Imagine the possibilities! A Druid card with "Insight: Two different Beasts." A Warlock card with "Insight: Rogue Weapons." (an unlimited number!). A Warrior card with "Insight: One non-Legendary Taunt minion." A Shaman card with "Insight: One 1-cost card. It has Overload: (1)." It can be a tough thing to balance just right, especially for Neutral cards, but I think that the innovative possibilities for new deck-building strategies are well worth it.
Inspire is my least favourite keyword, so I thought it could be more interesting by flipping it the other way around; dissuading the enemy from using their hero power. The enemy will think twice before summoning totems, getting armour, dealing damage, etc.
Dwarven Researcher: An example of how Echo cards can combo with each other by creating more than one copy of cards for you to use.
Multiplython: One of the most basic ways Echo could be implemented.
Wetland Wildcaller: An example of how some Echo cards could return or create copies of themselves to keep a chain of Echo effects going.
I made a powerful key word this week, have a look at it!
Notably, new belief will replace the old one.
And here is some cards.
Take Raw Recruit for example, you can make a 2/5 with a Divine Strength on Turn 3, which is acceptable for a 2-card combo.
It just occur to me that, with this new key word, it would be amusing to be faced with the same class : )
Hope you have fun!
The idea here is a sort of controlled random effect, which can be influenced by how you play. The card can be both your own and your opponent's. I don't really think I need to explain the flavour behind this, but essentially, it's like you're digging up an ancient artefact. It allows you to make use of specific cards more than you normally would be able to.
The Arcane Archivist is a rather basic example of what Unearth can be used for. An alternative to Ethereal Conjurer that gives you access to spells you have already put in your deck, as well as spells your opponent has cast. Flavour being that he's been studying ancient scrolls and learning their secrets, giving you access to the spells.
Elana Starseeker is Elise Starseeker's long-lost sister, who has turned to the path of archaeology over that of exploration. She's a late-game card that can help you refill your hand (without drawing from your deck, which is pretty significant in fatigue wars), and will keep providing you with resources until she is removed. Note that you can often guarantee which weapon you get, since they aren't exactly commonplace. Need a Gorehowl? She'll dig it up for you.
Undersea Expedition is a little something for one of my favourite decks - N'zoth Rogue. If you use a lot of deathrattle minions, you can significantly increase your chances of getting value from this card, which draws you a maximum of four cards that have already died, allowing you to make use of Cairne Bloodhoof and Sylvanas Windrunner a second time. The flavour being that the expedition is trying to collect specimens, and stops once they find a faulty one/they run out of space in the submarine.
I've come up with an idea that was already discussed by Lathy & Telefonkabel - since they are no longer pursuing it, I feel free to go on and make the best out of my (our) idea:
Effect:
The blue "Divine Shield" could be seen on the battlefield only, of course
Balance:
- You pay overall 1 mana for 1 health (bad) but with possible ongoing value (good)
Explanation:
- It works on your turn as well as on your opponent's (so you could save some unspent mana if you want)
- When the Mana Shield breaks it won't come back (like Divine Shield)
- In contrast to Divine Shield, excess damage is dealt to the minion
- The Mana Shield will be active after playing the card, even when you have no unspent mana, but it will break instantly by damage
- Divine & Mana Shield: last cast first serve
Consequences:
- The Mana Shield "regenerates" if your mana regenerates
- Mana Shield minions would be a bad play on curve
- Therefore f.e. Arcane Protection won't be a actual 0-cost-spell, since you invest your unspent mana (so it will be a "6-cost"-spell on turn 6 (if you do nothing further) for 6 more health on your opponents turn (with the possibility to last longer))
Cards:
Lady Vashy is a neutral hero in wc3 with exactly these abilities
Spell Taunt! Protect your face against Skill Commands, Skillblasts and Skillfires! Protect important minions from removal! Also be mean to buff decks as an added bonus.
It should only work if it is a natural eligible target for the spell though.
Cards with Meditate have to take into account that you're all but guaranteed one round of Meditate (barring Snipe or something similar).
As for an anti-meditate card, anything that forces enemy minions to attack would work but, since it didn't have the keyword on it, I didn't submit something like that.
To clarify, the effect lasts from when you play the card, until the end of the turn X of your opponent.
Orgrimmar works as an enabler of your Enrage minions, Frothing Berserkers, Armorsmiths etc., and deals with weaker minions your opponent plays.
Thunder Bluff might be a bit on the strong side, but I felt drawing a card or only buffing Totems was a bit too weak on its own so...
Darnassus is not all that impressive, but might be a handy heal tool for Druids :)
'The first time', because if you heal your hero above 7hp, it won't trigger any Last Stand. Sorry Priests, Reno and other healers.
Time Traveller: May buy you another turn, if your opponent doesn't have enough resources to take care of this minion first. Vanilla stats, because it's totally useless if it arrives too early or too late.
Agatha the Val'Kyr: A free 6/6 with Taunt (take that, Shamans!) but it won't save you from spells. And it's a bit expensive if you want to summon it yourself.
Fel Priestess: The keyword can also be used as a drawback. It will only kill you if it's on the board when your hero drops to 7hp or less though, so the stats are not stellar (just trade it, silence it or taunt it and you are in a good spot!)
The possibilities are endless, and even though it was excruciating to narrow it down to three examples, it was very fun to imagine all kind of cards that would give Last Stand to minions in hand, that would summon taunts that died this game, that would destroy everything in a feast of flames, and so on. Hope you enjoy :D
The opposite of Battlecry, will work with every effect that places the minion directly on the battlefield, for example Ancestor's Call, Barnes, or any Deathrattle effects (Piloted Shredder, Moat Lurker.
A card with Infuse gains some extra effect when played with more mana than it's base cost (they become infused by the power of extra mana crystals). Infuse will trigger every time you have extra mana crystals available so it's not something that you can choose.
Righteous Protector: Let's you choose if you need to play that taunt NOW or if you want to wait one more turn so that it would also get Divine Shield. Simple.
Aimed Shot: A flexible removal that can deal 5 or 7 damage. A good example how Infuse would work with spells.
Furious Felhound: A choice between taking some face damage and getting a big early game minion or playing it later and getting a vanilla 4/5. I'm not sure whether this card would be unplayable or broken but it shows what kind of tactical choices Infuse would bring.
Infuse, Meditate, Defend and Echo are my picks for this week's competition, ordered in the manner that I liked them. Definitely mechanics that I can see being used by Blizzard in the future!
Finals once again!
As always, good luck to everyone.
I wish I could vote for Yuvalito's Library keyword he introduced over here. Too bad he didn't submit it...
*The Library- Dalaran’s Magic biggest mechanic. It works kind of like a sideboard. While building a deck, the moment you put a card that interacts with your Library in some way into your decklist, you are requested to assemble yourLibrary-a sideboard that consists of at least 5 cards, with at least 1 being a minion and 1 being a spell. Your library is built by you, using the cards in your collection, and is unique for each deck that you make, meaning Each deck you make can have its own 5 card library.
An example of a possible warrior library:
As you can see, the library consists of 5 cards- at least 1 is a minion, and at least 1 is a spell.
The library has no immediate effect on the game, but the cards that you put in there can come into play with certain Dalarn’s Magic cards. It acts like a sideboard- for example, if a lot of Truesilver Champion's rule the meta, you can put Harrison Jones in your library, while not wasting a deck slot in your regular decklist. If you did not understand this idea fully please comment me below and I will try to explain it in greater detail.
Here are Yuvalito's examples:
It embodies perfectly what a new keyword should do, like Discover. Discover is not very simple compared to the Basic Keywords like Deathrattle and Windfury. It requires, like, a paragraph of explanation to understand it fully. It introduces new UI, and it's something that's complex enough that people hadn't thought of it before, unlike a lot of the simple keywords people typically come up with. And why do people like Discover so much? It's clear that they do, since Blizzard has continued using it in new expansions, unlike Inspire. It was innovative, like I said, for one. But it also is a good way to get more cards for your deck. Because you get to choose which card you get, it's versatile. The versatility, as well as the limited choice, also means that you can use cards that you normally wouldn't include in a deck. This brings lesser-used choices more relevance, which is also probably why Blizzard likes to keep using it.
Library would accomplish something similar. It's very innovative and requires new UI. I've never seen any idea like it so far. The sideboard you create would allow more use for specialized cards, but the way Yuvalito incorporates them gives this a more Hearthstone-y feel, rather than the precise, calculated approach to sideboards in other games.
Yuvalito didn't enter the competition though, so you can't vote for Library. But you should judge the keywords using a similar metric. A new Keyword shouldn't be like Deathrattle or Windfury, in my opinion. It should have more complexity to it, introducing strategy in a way that hasn't been seen in the game before.
Come Play Make the Keyword!!!
Check out my Worgen Class in the Class Competition
Come Play Make the Keyword!!!
Check out my Worgen Class in the Class Competition
Voted for Deception, Vortex, Unearth and Echo. Seems like quite cool mechanics, that would be fun to try. Vortex is 'good' keyword with usability, but aint that 'fun', while Deception and Echo are 'fun' keywords, but I'm not really sure about the usability - pretty hard to judge when you haven't tried them. Unearth is in a limbo in between. That said, well done! Even though very unspecific, "A random 4-cost neutral, non-battlecry minion" just sounds so crazy.... specific :P
Felt like I was so close this week, not sure though. Should probably have went with my "Prepare" mechanic which was exactly the same as Meditate - looks like it'll do well! Why am I not voting for it then? I find the cards a bit too boring to be honest.
I really like the stronghold keyword, as I think having a board-wide effect and setting is something that would be a fantastic addition to the game, which will really bring out new synergistic decks. Its something present in a few card games like Yugioh with Field spells that I think Hearthstone is lacking now.
Gentle Reminder:
This is the second-to-last main-series competition of this season. That means the winner here will be the one that gets to decide the first competition theme of season 5!
My Entry for this week's Card Design Competition - Season 8.16:
Come Play Make the Keyword!!!
Check out my Worgen Class in the Class Competition
Gotta vote Request since it is the more elegant version of my very Johnny-leaning Quest. I may have gotten a little lost while trying to recreate the flavour and mechanics of WoW quests in Hearthstone. (Lady of (Quest)Chains --- so much for clever. Back to basics next round...)
I am.
I entered 2 out of 3 last competitions and got into the finals both times, not too shabby :'D thanks everyone :)
This time, I like quite a few entries, still deciding which ones to give my votes to, but here are some of my thoughts:
Deception: Information is very important, so this is quite strong. It would be good imho if it were limited in quantity, so you could at least predict what the disguised minion might be (like Secrets are, even if they're strong, you can deduct correctly which one it is quite often, since there are like 4-5 of them from each class that has them). Any more than 5-ish minions with this keyword would be quite difficult to counter. Like the art and effects of all, and I like Surprise Sentry the most.
Defend: There was a 100% probability someone will come up with this so not really creative - however, it's a good mechanic, I especially like the Raging Elemental!
Request: Why isn't it simply called Quest? :D This one I like very much, some effects are easier, some harder to complete, and it would create a interesting dynamic between you and your opponent; do you spend additional resources to protect your minion; do you let him have his rewards, or do you spend additional resources to destroy the minion with Request?
Insight: Very nice, it would allow you to build your deck with other classes cards but with some structure, unlike Renounce Darkness. I like all the cards, Reliable Informant is so flexible since it allows you to use any classes Secrets, Sword and Board is very well balanced and it would allow Paladin some good targeted removal or draw. Magna Aegwynn is also great, who wouldn't want a 8 mana Flamestrike sometimes? :D
Dissuade: Ok, so I like this idea, and the card's effects, buuut...the card names should have both words capitalized :/ ...This is one of those times when there are so many good entries, something like this will make me not vote for your card/s, sry :( (I especially like Naaru Well*, a very nice card.)
Echo: Quite interesting, Dwarven Researcher is a great card. Multiplython, lulz
X Belief: This one I didn't like quite so much, a wording error in the Tooltip (it should be "Cards belonging to Class X have double effect on X Belief cards.") and the keyword looks kinda weird to me, Paladin Belief :S I felt something like Imbue X (Imbue Paladin) or Empower X would be better :S Imo, Benedictus is also kinda too strong? Play Velen and 1 Mind Blast after him for 20 damage to the face, with only two cards :/
Unearth: I like it, but still feel Elana Starseeker might be a tad too strong. I like Arcane Archivist very much tho.
Mana Shield: First of all, additional points for the extra effort in showing the Mana shield...I actually made a card Mana Shield once, but it didn't go a long way in design before I scrapped it. This would probably be sick in Arena topdeck wars. One minor complaint, Lady Vashy is actually Lady Vashj if I remember correctly, with a J not Y :P
Vortex: A nice idea, something I considered for my cards (in wording) when I thought about making them minions instead of spells - but I scrapped it because of possible Priest steals etc. Simple and clean, I like General Turalyon very much, pally ftw <3
Meditate: It's an okay idea, probably wouldn't fare well in this meta but we can dream about going in a more controllish direction...like Careful Learner the most.
Last Stand: Uh-oh, probably balanced enough, Time Traveller would prevent a Mage from Fireballing you twice ftw in one turn (even though I kinda dislike messing with opponent's turns), while Agatha the Val'Kyr would prevent Charge minions from finishing you but not spells...I feel Fel Priestess could've been a bit stronger, like a point of Health..
Ambush: This one might be my favourite this week, a very interesting and useful mechanic and I like all the cards - except maybe the "Pirate Ninja" name, could've been something better.
Share: A fine mechanic, a competitor from my page I thought was gonna come ahead of me but didn't in the end...some minus points (again, because of a high number of very good submissions, something must differentiate them) this time because of the text crossing the Attack box on the Debt Collector (it could've been written without "to him" to look cleaner imo :/)
Infiltrate: Hmm, this one seems too...infiltrating xD I don't like to have my board messed around by Priests, and this would be a lot worse probably. Life Sapper for example, if you play him on an empty board (your side) on turn 3, and then play one Coldlight + Naturalize or something, you can do 15 damage on turn 4 to the enemy hero (3 from the guaranteed draw on the start of their turn, and 12 more from 4 cards you draw them + you can kill any other minion they might play)...
Infuse: X: This is nice, it's always good to have more options; if you, for example, need 5 damage now, you can use it, but if you want to, you can spend more to get something more or different. Infuse is fine, but I again feel something like Empower would be a better sounding keyword here too.
A very interesting week this time imo; NHF to anyone whose cards I didn't quite like, glhf to everyone and thanks in advance to everyone giving their vote to me! :)
You can't stop the signal.
Infuse, Echo, and Insight seem like mechanics that are fun to play while simultanously not too gimicky or complex to pull off.
Really love Infuse because all of us have those moments when we have unspent mana crystals left to the wayside. Also sometimes we want to hold on to some cards in our hand so we'll only drop something at one time. This helps fill those gaps. and for an added bonus, you don't need to have the full effect and spend less mana on it instead. Only issue is that it automatically uses the crystals, meaning playing order is super important to use this to your liking.
Echo! Ah! I think its my favorite. It promotes running duplicates! The complete opposite of what Blizz is doing right now! xD. But really, I love the added effects it can have for you during a match, because it helps your late game become that much stronger, which helps win games. The cards used to depict it were pretty good (Although Wetland Wildcaller seems broken to me... Buff that thing with other murlocs and you got yourself a trading machine... Probs why Anub'arak is 9 mana with bad stat distribution and a Rogue card lol).
Insight is a really cool idea. In a realistic sense this very thing can happen, as Blizz has already done a similar concept with the Cart Crash at the Crossroads brawl. Utilizing cards from another class automatically can really help you make your deck type stronger, without having to rely on a method of stealing cards from any other class. Simple and good.
Come Play Make the Keyword!!!
Check out my Worgen Class in the Class Competition
Yeah, that's exactly what I meant - if it were that limited and/or specific, it would be easier to counter-play - i.e. balanced. If it had more minions like Faceless Assasin, it would run the risk of becoming, as you said, too crazy.
You can't stop the signal.
Come Play Make the Keyword!!!
Check out my Worgen Class in the Class Competition
My thoughts:
Deception: Very cool mechanic, I particularly like how the cards are disguised as specific other cards as I've always thought of doing similar stuff with random same-cost minions and that'd never work. Balance on faceless assassin probably needs adjusted as 5 health for 4 mana with infinite trading attack is probably too good especially with deception. Also given the shadow words work on it's deception stats, I'm gonna assume if it gets taunt then it has taunt while in deception? The mechanic also has the potential to be the most frustrating mechanic in the game. Hard to judge without actually seeing it.
EDIT: Read your last reply, I see how taunt works with it now.
Defend: I quite like this mechanic but something like this would need to be made very cautiously as it discourages trading, thus encourages face decks and that is not good. Thankfully all these cards are well made, if Danial Soortan buffed himself then that'd be horrible for the game but as he is, he protects other minions with a sudo taunt (and that's cool!). Raging elemental brings in some cool decisions like hitting it to reduce it's attack next turn. I like it all!
Request: Although I like the idea I feel it could be introduced better without a keyword. For example, Gnome Mechanic could read: "If you have 3 unspent mana at the end of your turn, draw 2 cards (can only trigger once)".
Insight: I really like the idea of being able to put other class cards into your deck with limitations to prevent anything too silly. This does that perfectly! It'd add tones of possibility's to the game, make thinking about what your opponent has harder, and most importantly be fun! (I'm voting for this)
Dissuade: Overall not really a fan. It's like inspire but your opponent has the choice to just not use their hero power. One can argue that it adds choice to your opponent but given inspire was rather clunky, I imagine this will be even more so.
Echo: Having Echo cards for the kabel classes in-particular would be a great idea. Giving those classes a power boost in non-highlander decks to make up for all their legendarys being unusable would definitely help in deck variety. Plus someone playing an echo card would give you more decisions to make in terms of playing around things so that'd be pretty sweet.
Belief: This seems like it would limit design space too much and cause very inconsistent decks that are ridiculous when they work and abysmal when they don't. Cards like Dragonkin Sorcerer seem a better fit for heathstone.
Unearth: Seems decent but rather unremarkable.
Mana Shield: Really cool idea. Adds decision making in terms of using a hero power or saving the mana for the shield that your opponent may or may not attack. All around awesome! (I'm voting for this!)
Vortex: Seems like too much of a tech card to be worth a keyword especially since there is room to add the full keyword text onto all the cards.
Meditate: I love the mechanic, it adds complexity and decisions to the game. Choosing between trading or getting the effect would be cool. I would have voted for this however, always getting it on the first turn even when it can't attack seems like a bummer. Could have been cool with charge. I also don't think any of the cards utilized the mechanic to it's full potential. They are all basically existing cards with the potential to repeat effects with meditate.
Stronghold: Like the idea, too clunky for hearthstone.
Last Stand: Seems very specific and unlikely to occur most games (aside from the from hand cards). Doesn't really need a keyword.
Ambush: Seems very hard to get working and when it does it's largely based on RNG. Not my thing.
Share: Cool mechanic! Adds decision making (as you can see that's something I like :P) in the sense you might give them the better of the two cards just because it doesn't combo as well with their deck. A far more interactive discover where you need to think of the implications of the alternative cards. However, it seems rather under powered as is.
Infiltrate: A really cool mechanic that would shape deck building! Would make evolve a decent counter and would be fun overall. I find most the cards shown (aside from Walloping Brute) rather underpowered though but the keyword has a lot of potential so I'm voting for it!
Infuse: Cool idea but All the cards seem overpowered and much like joust, it'll just never work. Either the cards end up like this (good on their own but with the ability to scale somewhat making them better than any non-infuse cards of a similar type), or they would be bad without the infuse effect. Just can't see this finding the right balance in hearthstone. Example: Righteous Protector -> Druid of the Claw ->Sunwalker
Check out my Custom Classes (Scribe, Alchemist, and Battlemage)!