This is the Submission Topic, which will be open until Monday, February 20th, at 20:00 UTC. The Discussion Topic is here.
The following users' entries have advanced to Phase IV of the competition. You are not allowed to post in this topic unless you are one of the users listed below. However, you are still perfectly allowed to participate in the discussion topic. =)
PHASE IV: Blackrock Mountain and The Grand Tournament
By having your class's Classic Set approved of, you've shown that you can make a completely functional class. But functional isn't good enough. Your class must also have room to grow beyond that. For this phase, you'll be proving that it can by giving your class Blackrock Mountain and Grand Tournament cards. Here are the requirements for your Class Creation Competition Phase IV Entry:
CLASS, HERO, AND HERO POWER There are just a few elements of your class that you will repeat from your Phase I entry, to remind us who and what we're dealing with. If you'd like to repeat anything from your class's introductory explanation, including its flavor or whatever you believe makes it interesting or unique mechanically, that's fine, but try to keep it brief.
EXAMPLE BRM & TGT CARDS We do not want to see your Class's entire BRM and TGT Sets out in the open.
You are allowed up to four (4) example cards out in the open. You may, below these cards, give brief explanations of them, why you decided to showcase them, how they exemplify what makes your class unique, and so on.
For this phase, you should have 1 Common card and 1 Rare card with the Blackrock Mountain watermark. These may not have Inspire, Joust, Discover, C'Thun synergy, etc., as those mechanics did not exist until later expansions.
You should also have 3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, and 2 Epic cards with the Grand Tournament watermark. These may not have Discover, C'Thun synergy, etc., as those mechanics did not exist until later expansions.
You must also have 1 upgraded Justicar Trueheart version of your Hero Power.
"No Grand Tournament Legendary minion?" you may be wondering? Actually, because Hunters broke the mold by having two TGT Legendary minions, we're going to let you break the mold too. If you wish, instead of 1 standard Legendary minion, you can have a pair of Legendaries, a Legendary Spell or Weapon, or even no Legendary card at all, with maybe an extra card of another rarity in its stead. Don't go crazy and have like a dozen Legendary cards, but feel free to try something new and different, and we'll do our best to discuss and accommodate it fairly.
If your example cards produce any unique token cards, those must be put behind a spoiler (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.).
REMAINING BRM & TGT CARDS The remaining cards of your class's BRM and TGT Sets must be presented behind a Spoiler Block (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.). These cards must obey the same rules are your examples cards with regards to expansion watermarks, rarity gems, and what keywords you may not use.
BASIC AND CLASSIC SETS You should include your completed Basic and Classic Sets from Phases II and III behind a Spoiler (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.) either before or after your Phase IV material. It is fine if these cards have undergone some minor modification, but they must still adhere to all of their original Phase requirements.
CHALLENGES!
Hero Powers have played an interesting role in all three Class Creation Competitions so far. Because they're one of the first things "solidified" about a class during Phase I concept submissions, there's pressure to make them very outstanding and unique, and some folks end up focusing on them a little too much to the point where their class concept and mechanical innovations arguably revolve around their hero power entirely. That's not to say that having a considerable Hero Power central to your class is a bad thing! It is only to say that it can't and shouldn't be the only thing.
TGT was the expansion of Hero Power synergy, so I know it's super tempting to go all out with that here, but we've spent three phases already seeing your Hero powers, and I want to see more beyond that. Therefore, none of your example cards may interact with your Hero Power or its token specifically. Examples of banned example cards might be Fallen Hero or Quartermaster. Cards that interact with your hero power or its token incidentally are still allowed, like Deadly Poison or Thing from Below. You are also, of course, still allowed to do whatever you want with your non-example cards. Also, Inspire effects are still allowed for example cards because those are universal, doing the exact same thing no matter what your Hero Power is (remember, if an Inspire effect doesn't work for all Hero Powers, it's a bad inspire effect and will not be allowed).
Of note, due to this challenge, I am removing the option to have the Justicar Trueheart version of your Hero Power serve in place of an example card. It must be behind a spoiler with the rest of your non-example TGT material.
Finally, I know that some of you have class-specific keywords that directly reference (and do not function without) your Hero Power or the token it produces. I am sympathetic to this, so if you have a class-specific keyword of this nature, I will allow one of your five example cards to use your keyword without incurring penalty.
"Wait, five example cards?"
It has by this point become a fairly common trope for new cards to produce existing cards from past sets. Perhaps my favorite examples are Rhonin and Ball of Spiders. One of your example BRM or TGT cards must do the same. It must produce a collectible card from your class's Basic set or a collectible Common card from your class's Classic set. How you produce the card is up to you: you can summon one of your minions, add one of your spells to your hand, shuffle something into your deck, whatever.
Why am I limiting it to only Basic and Common? Because those cards should be simpler and more reasonable to produce if you've done your job right as a designer. That being the case, while normally some minor adjustments to past sets are allowed from phase to phase, for this phase you may not alter the rarity of any past card to Basic or Common for the purpose of this challenge. What you have to work with it what you have to work with.
Finally, that Basic or Classic Common card will be included as a fifth example card. Remember back during Phase II when I let y'all show future cards? Well, this is the opposite. You have 16 options to pick from, so the challenge is to weight which of those is both (a) simple enough for another card to believably produce and (b) interesting enough itself to show off to voters. And then, of course, the new card that produces it also has to be interesting. Good luck!
My disappointment with the Grand Tournament expansion is well-documented. One of your example cards must be a Grand Tournament minion that addresses this issue to my satisfaction. Note that, while challenge cards were allowed to be combined last phase, they are not allowed to be combined this phase; you must have separate cards for Challenges #2 and #3.
This is the Grand Tournament expansion, after all, right? And what's a Tournament without a prize? For every competition phase so far, the three Fan Creation mods have each had a Wild Card we can use to advance a class to the next phase that normally wouldn't have made it. We will not be doing that at the end of this phase. You will.
The top three entries at the end of this phase will each be awarded a Wild Card that they can use to advance an entry of their choice to Phase V.
All of the normal Wild Card rules apply. That is, you cannot Wild Card a moderator, and you cannot Wild Card somebody that has benefited from a Wild Card before during this competition. Use of your Wild Card is also totally optional. You may choose to advance an entry that you believe really deserves another chance, or you can decide not to use it at all, improving your own chances by cutting down on the number of other classes you'll have to compete against in Phase V.
We expect you all to be good sports about this, just as your are when us mods are holding the Wild Cards. That is, no begging people to award you a Wild Card and no getting upset if you don't get one.
Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!
OTHER STUFF
These are just the General Rules, Competition Schedule and Process, Rewards, and Archives. You probably already went through them during Phase I. I still want to include them here, but I'm just going to put them all behind one big spoiler. Any change to them since Phase I has been noted above.
GENERAL RULES
Even if you're already a veteran of our competitions here on the Fan Creation Forum, you should read the general rules before you get started. This competition does introduce new rules, like image limitations and formatting requirements.
* The Submission Topic is for submissions only. If you want to discuss your entry, another entry, ask questions about the competition rules or process, or anything else, you can find a link to the Discussion Topic at the top of this thread. Plenty of folks there will be happy to help you out. * You are allowed only one submission, consisting of the materials specified by each competition phase. These materials must, of course, be of your own creation. If you'd like, you may collaborate with another user on a single submission, but this must be specified during Phase I. * You may make only minor edits to your entry once you have submitted it. Minor changes are things like correcting typos or making balance changes that do not alter the spirit of your entry as determined by we the moderators. If you want to make any changes and have any doubts as to their legality, ask us first. * You may not delete any posts you make in this topic. No, not even if you post here by mistake or accidentally double-post or something. Deleted posts screw with the system we use to help us calculate up-vote scores, so don't do that. If you to post here by mistake or accidentally double-post or something, simply edit your post to just say "REMOVED" and leave it at that. * You may not create your own topics on this forum for competition-related material. If everybody goes off and creates their own topics for specific discussion of their entries, this board will be flooded with nothing but, and so competition material must remain restricted to official competition topics. If you want to enter the competition with a class that you already have a topic about on this forum, then your topic will be locked in the interest of fairness to the other competitors. Not deleted, just locked, and it can be unlocked after your entry gets knocked out of the competition. You also may not reference or link to your topic in official competition topics.
* You must host your card somewhere other than Hearthcards. We encourage you to create your entry material using Hearthcards.net, but please remember that, although HearthCards is awesome, it has a limited server space and will purge cards after a few days, and nobody wants your cards disappearing part-way through the competition. After you create it, save and upload it to Imgur, Photobucket, or some other similar site. We understand that there are some Hearthcards memberships that will allow you to save your card there for longer (and you should totally get one of those just for general fan creation purposes, by the way), but we don't know who has those memberships and we can't tell from the URLs. * You may not submit any Gold cards or animated cards, nor may you include any images in your post other than the requested submission materials, like banners or borders. We get it, everybody wants their entry to stand out, but our pages are going to be heavy enough as it is without everybody heading their submissions with animated banners. * You must insert your images into your post using this icon on the bar above the post text editor: . Just click that button and put in the URL of your image. We realize that it's also possible to upload and attach images to your post. Don't do that, though. We know from experience that, because those images are much smaller and require more work to view, entries that enter their images that way just don't do as well, so this is for your own good. * Format your entry concisely by sizing your cards appropriately and placing them beside one another rather than in a column or completely separate. The first example below is acceptable while the second is not. Entries that unnecessarily inflate the size of the submission topic and make it more difficult to get through will be disqualified. Adjust cards to a width of 250, and you should be able to get three in a row.
Hey, look! Some cards!
Soul of the Forest: Look at how nice this is. Hammer of Twilight: All neat, organized, and concise. Twilight Summoner: What a great post.
Wait, what are you doing?
Seriously, please don't.
This is painful. Why are you doing this?
You are a monster.
* "Troll" entries will be disqualified. Fun and even humorous entries are perfectly allowed (this is Hearthstone after all), but if you're worried that your entry may be misinterpreted as a troll entry, contact a moderator before you submit.
Finally, know that manipulating votes in any way is strictly forbidden. Any violators will receive an official warning, and will be banned from this and all future HearthPwn Card Design Competitions.
COMPETITION SCHEDULE AND PROCESS
How long do you have to work on your submission? How will advancement to Phase II of the competition be determined? The answers to these questions and more can be found below...
PHASE V: League of Explorers + Whispers of the Old Gods Preview: 22/February - 23/February Submission: 23/February - 2/March Poll: 2/March - 3/March
PHASE VI: One Night in Karazhan + Mean Streets of Gadgetzan Submission: 3/March - 14/March Poll: 14/March - 17/March
NOTE: All stages of the competition begin and end at 20:00 UTC. ALSO NOTE: I know that a couple of these submissions windows might see tight, especially because the secret challenges make it difficult to plan ahead. That being the case, this timetable is subject to change at my discretion, even after the competition begins, if it seems like too many folks are struggling.
* During Preview stages, both a Submission Topic and a Discussion Topic will go up, but the Submission Topic will be locked until the end of the Preview stage. The Submission Topic will reveal the Phase's unique challenges, so take this time to discuss them, ask for clarifications, and so on. * During Submission stages, Submission Topics will be unlocked and (remaining) participants may submit their entries. During Phases I-II, you may also use this time to go ahead and up-vote submissions that you like. * During Up-Voting stages for Phases I-II, Submission Topics will be locked. Use this time to up-vote submissions that you like. Note that advancement during these Phases depends entirely on up-votes. * During Polling stages for Phases III-VI, Submission Topics will be locked, and all eligible remaining participants will have their submission material included in a separate Poll Topic to determine advancement. Phases III-IV include two Poll Topics because I anticipate we will have enough participants remaining that we will not be able to fit everybody in one Poll Topic. Note that up-votes in the Submission Topics are irrelevant to advancement during these Phases.
How will eliminations be done, and how many competitors will advance from each phase to the next?
I'm glad you asked! We will be taking a equal proportion of competitors from each Phase of the competition to the next, and we will be ending with exactly four finalists. That being the case and their being five total eliminations before the final round, that proportion can be found by solving for x: [# of valid Phase I entries] * x^5 = 4 The higher the number of valid Phase I entries, the lower that proportion becomes. Just so you have an idea, the proportion hits 50% when we hit 128 entries, which is likely, but it only hits 33.3% when we hit 972 entries, which is less likely.
As mentioned above, advancement to Phases II and III will be determined by up-votes only. However, these up-votes are weighted using a formula identical to the process used by our Weekly Card Design Competitions: (ab) / (c) = x (Where a is the total number of up-votes that your submission received, b is the total number of valid submissions on the same page as your submission, c is the total number of up-votes on valid submissions on the same page as your submission, and x is your submission's final weighted up-vote score.) Why bother with this formula rather than just taking each submissions up-votes directly? Because earlier pages simply get a lot more views that later pages do, and we do not want rushed, early submissions to have an advantage over later submissions that took more time to get their entries just right. The formula basically measures which submissions stood out the most, with the necessary assumption that each page is about equal in overall submission quality. The bottom line is that, although entries on the earlier pages of the Submission Topic are much more visible and thus receive many more up-votes than entries on later pages, you don't actually have to rush to get your entry in as soon as possible, because the up-votes end up being weighted by what page your entry ends up on in order to determine its final score.
As mentioned above, advancement to Phases IV, V, and VI will be determined by polls. These polls will be multi-choice, meaning that voters can vote for every entry that they like. Whenever we have to split a Phase's poll into two to make it more manageable for voters, advancement will be determined by looking at each class's final percentage scores, not by looking at the direct number of votes they received, since we can't guarantee that the same number of voters will vote each day. Poll results will always be hidden until the poll has concluded, and for polls split in two, this does also mean that the results of the first poll will not be revealed until the second poll has concluded as well.
The winner of Phase VI, and thus the entire competition, will be determined by a poll much like the ones before, except that it will be single-choice, requiring voters to pick their single favorite class, and will have a much longer polling phase than usual to give us plenty of opportunity for promotion and such.
In the event of a tie during Phases I-IV for the last possible advancing position, all entries involved in the tie will be allowed to advance; the more the merrier, I say. We will absolutely not have more than four finalists, however, and so in the event of a tie during Phase V, the three Fan Creation Forum moderators (that is, myself, ShadowsOfSense, and PupleMD) will vote to break the tie. In the event of a tie during Phase VI to determine the competition's winner, the title will simply be shared unless both finalists request and agree to a tie-breaking round.
But wait, there's more! During Phases I-IV of the Competition, each Fan Creation Forum moderator (that is, myself, ShadowsOfSense, and PupleMD) will have a Wild Card, which we may (though are not required to) use to advance to the next Phase any one entry that we feel was initially overlooked or under-appreciated, regardless of its performance with voters. No entry may be awarded a Wild Card more than once, and it should also go without saying that, while some moderators are allowed to participate in the competitions, they are never allowed to benefit from Wild Cards. Wild Cards are our way of spicing things up a bit, but please don't ask to be given one or be upset if you aren't given one. These are just supposed to be fun.
Are you curious what will be required for future phases of the competition? The three challenges will remain a secret, but I'm happy to tell you the general submission requirements.
PHASE V: League of Explorers and Whispers of the Old Gods
Congratulations on being a semi-finalist! With positively received Blackrock Mountain and Grand Tournament sets, you've proven that your class's concept and mechanics have room for expansion. Now, there's only one last thing to do: narrow down the best of the best. For this phase, you'll be giving your class League of Explorers and Whispers of the Old Gods cards. Here are the requirements for your Class Creation Competition Phase V Entry:
CLASS, HERO, AND HERO POWER There are just a few elements of your class that you will repeat from your Phase I entry, to remind us who and what we're dealing with. If you'd like to repeat anything from your class's introductory explanation, including its flavor or whatever you believe makes it interesting or unique mechanically, that's fine, but try to keep it brief.
EXAMPLE LOE & WOTOG CARDS We do not want to see your Class's entire LoE and WotOG Sets out in the open.
You are allowed up to four (4) example cards out in the open. You may, below these cards, give brief explanations of them, why you decided to showcase them, how they exemplify what makes your class unique, and so on.
For this phase, you should have 2 Common cards and 1 Rare card with the League of Explorers watermark. These may not have C'Thun synergy, tri-class cards, or other mechanics that did not exist until later expansions.
You should also have 3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 2 Epic cards, and 1 Legendary minion with the Whispers of the Old Gods watermark. These may not have tri-class cards or other mechanics that did not exist until later expansions.
If your example cards produce any unique token cards, those must be put behind a spoiler (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.).
REMAINING LOE & WOTOG CARDS The remaining eight (8) cards of your class's LoE and WotOG Sets must be presented behind a Spoiler Block (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.). These cards must obey the same rules are your examples cards with regards to expansion watermarks, rarity gems, and what keywords you may not use.
BASIC, CLASSIC, BRM, and TGT SETS You should include your completed Basic, Classic, BRM, and TGT Sets from Phases II-IV behind a Spoiler (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.) either before or after your Phase V material. It is fine if these cards have undergone some minor modification, but they must still adhere to all of their original Phase requirements.
PHASE VI: One Night in Karazhan and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan
Here we are, finalists! In the last phase of our competition, you'll be giving us your class's One Night in Karazhan and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan sets, as well as constructing your own custom Finale Topics:
FINALE TOPIC There will be no Submission Topic for the competition Finale. Instead, you will create your own Finalist Topics. All that you have to do is create a normal topic here on the Fan Creation Forum and title it as such: [Class Competition Finalist] TURTLE (Replace TURTLE with your own class's name, of course.) Then, bring it to our attention, and we'll link to it from this topic. That's it. How you format and present your final product is entirely up to you. You've put in a lot of work to come this far, so you've earned the right to show us your completed original Class however you think is best.
ONIK & MSOG CARDS In addition to including the required material from all previous phases, you must add the following:
2 Common cards and 1 Rare card with the One Night in Karazhan watermark. These may not have tri-class cards, or other mechanics that did not exist until later expansions.
3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 2 Epic cards, and 1 Legendary minion with the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan watermark.
Your class must belong to a crime family, but it is up to you to determine how you want to go about that. You may have it join one of the existing crime families (Grimy Goons, Kabal, or Jade Lotus), or you may invent an entirely new crime family, with its own unique mechanical gimmick(s) and comprised of your class and two other classes from any of our current or previous Class Creation Competition finalists (so, in addition to your three fellow finalists, that includes previous winners the Bard, Merchant, and Twilight's Hammer, as well as previous finalists the Agent, Nightmare, Pokemon Trainer, Demon Hunter, and Lich); you would then need to create 3 tri-class cards for this new crime family (1 Common minion, 1 Rare minion, and 1 Legendary minion) , and like the existing crime families, your family's Rare minion should just have the card text "Battlecry: Discover a ______, ______, or ______ card.". To be clear, you would not need to make any class-specific cards for the other two classes you select to be in your class's crime family if you choose to go that route.
EXAMPLE CARDS These don't need to be part of your Finale Topic, but by the end of the Submission Phase, you should send me 8 example cards from your completed collection, preferably via PM, to be included in the Final Poll Topic. The Final Poll topic will look very similar to this one from our first CCC, except that no token cards will be included.
REWARDS
In addition to truly epic bragging rights, ALL finalists will receive a special Forum Title and Avatar Border, similar to those given to winners of our forum's Weekly Card Design Competitions, as shown below:
Furthermore, the winning contestant will have a Season 5 competition themed around their winning class!
ARCHIVES
Want to see how things went during our first two Class Creation Competitions? Want to see what the winners and other finalists did during each phase? Then check out the links below!
Note, that some competition rules, especially formatting rules, may have been different for past competition.
Long ago King Nafaron and his followers were banished to the Firelands. In the Firelands King Nafaron swore allegiance to Ragnaros. In return the Firelord gave them the power to Wield the Flame. But such power does not come without a price. In the depths of the Firelands they deformed and one by one they became monsters and beasts.
NOTES: 1. According to Ben Brode at twitter, when you shuffle a card into your deck, the entire deck gets shuffled. 2. Unstable Ritual works like Holy Wrath. You select a target before knowing the result.
Introduction
TGT was an expansion where Blizzard brings new deck archetypes to existing classes: Taunt Warrior, Lock and Load Hunter, Discard Warlock, Totem Shaman, etc. The class of Alchemist also receives a new feature in the TGT expansion, which is DECK ORDER as shown above. Up to now, the class cards of Alchemist have 5 features, which are:
1. Alchemy Potions
Here in the spoiler are the Alchemy Potion related cards of Alchemist class:
Alchemy Potions are cards that you shuffle into your deck and their effects trigger when drawn. There are 3 Basic Alchemy Potions and 1 new Alchemy Potion in each expansion other than Classic.
The new Alchemy Potion in TGT (NONCOLLECTABLE TOKEN):
Three basic Alchemy Potions (NONCOLLECTABLE TOKENS):
BRM and TGT cards related to Alchemy Potions:
Upgraded Hero Power created by Trueheart:
NOTE: This creates basic Alchemy Potions only (see Totemic Slam)
Basic and Classic cards related to Alchemy Potions:
2. Deck Order
Here in the spoiler are the deck order related cards of Alchemist class:
Although there was one deck order related card in the classic set of Alchemist class, it is not until the TGT expansion does it become one of the main features of the class. There are mainly two kinds of cards in this section: cards that allows you to know or change the order of your deck, and cards that benefit from your knowledge of which card you'll draw in future.
BRM and TGT cards related to deck order:
Basic and Classic cards related to deck order:
P.S. Fortuneteller was the Pokemon Challenge card from Phase II
3. Fatigue
Here in the spoiler are the card draws and Fatigue related cards of Alchemist class:
It's obvious that, in order to trigger all those Alchemy Potions shuffled into your deck, Alchemists need more card draws than other classes; this also makes Alchemist a class that reaches fatigue quite often. But don't worry - there will be cards in the Classic set and further expansions that benefit from your reaching fatigue. By the way, since Alchemist has a huge amount of card draws, I ensure this class will have no access to any OTK combos at all, so that drawing so many cards wouldn't make the class as 'fun and interactive' as the pre-nerf Patron Warrior.
BRM and TGT cards related to card draws and Fatigue:
Basic and Classic cards related to card draws and Fatigue:
4. Debuff
Here in the spoiler are the debuff related cards of Alchemist class:
As we know, every class has their own way of removals. For Mage, it's transform and damage; for Priest, it's taking control and destroy according to Attack of a minion; for Alchemist, it's debuff. While buff cards give a minion +X/+X, debuff cards give it -X/-X. There are two things worth mentioning with this mechanic. First, when a minion's Health becomes 0 or less with a debuff, it dies. Second, when you debuff a damaged minion, both its current Health and maximum Health are reduced.
BRM and TGT cards related to debuff:
Basic and Classic cards related to debuff:
5. Swap
Here in the spoiler are the swap related cards in the Alchemist class:
You may have noticed that, 'swap Attack and Health' is an alchemist-themed effect in the current Hearthstone(see Crazed Alchemist and Kooky Chemist), and thus I also include 'swap' as one of the main features of my Alchemist class. But there are only 11 class cards Alchemist can receive from BRM+TGT, which left me no space to develop this archetype in this phase. This part will be explored further in other expansions.
Basic and Classic cards related to swap:
Further Materials
Remarkable combos:
1. Fortuneteller + Wizard of the East/Unstable Ritual
Both Wizard of the East and Unstable Ritual care about which card is the top card of your deck - with different cards topdecked, you should use them on different targets. Fortuneteller gives you a chance to decide the order of your deck, which helps you decide the outcome of those effects.
Novice Apothecary seems to be a weak minion at first glance, comparing with Boneguard Lieutenant or Tiny Knight of Evil. If you also hold this opinion, I recommend you try its synergy with Darkmoon Cabalist and Distillation (in arena, maybe).
3. Whirling Ash + Unstable Ritual
Unstable Ritual is a card designed for the situation when you know the order of your deck. But what if I have no idea what's on top of my deck? Don't worry. With Whirling Ash on board, you can play Unstable Ritual on your own face and either of the outcomes becomes acceptable.
4. Alchemy of Lightning + Fortuneteller + Azure Drake:
Since Explosive Trap benefits from spell damage, it will also be the case for Lightning Potion. With the help of Fortuneteller, you can now decide when to draw those Lightning Potions - and if you draw it via Azure Drake's battlecry, it will deal 2 damage to all enemy minions.
Other combos within Basic and Classic sets:
1. Midas Touch + Darkmoon Cabalist/Distillation
Notice that the Alchemy Potions all have an extra 'draw a card' effect apart from their own functions. So when you play Darkmoon Cabalist or Distillation after Midas Touch, you'll both trigger the Alchemy Potions AND get some legendary minions.
Only very few minions in the current Hearthstone have an attack of 8 or more. So when you play Fetter, minions' attack is often reduced to 0. Then, if you play Twisted Fane and choose a friendly minion, all minions but the one you choose will be destroyed. You can also play Doomsayer after Fetter, just like the Frost Nova + Doomsayer combo played in freeze mage.
3. Careless Chemist + Any Card Draw + Soul Kitchen
While summoning dozens of 5/5 Demons could create a very strong board, the requirement of Soul Kitchen's effect to trigger is that your deck must be empty. Since it takes quite many turns to draw all cards from your deck, Careless Chemist offers you another choice to reach Fatigue faster.
4. Fetter/Decrepify + Stone of Purification
Purify is not a good card for Priest because you don't want your own minions to be worse. But for a class with lots of 'AOE' debuffs, it will be absolutely different. Fetter + Stone of Purification offers you a chance to trade the minions for free; Decrepify + Stone of Purification clears the board and restore your big minions to full health. And there'll be more combos with Stone of Purification in future expansions.
5. Grand Apothecary Putress + Distillation
As I've mentioned above, Distillation not only triggers the main effect of Alchemy Potions but also lets you draw 3 extra cards (due to the 'draw a card' effect on Alchemy Potions). Thus, when you have Grand Apothecary Putress on board, Distillation will draw altogether 6 cards and therefore grants you 6 mana crystals. This 10 mana combo is absolutely game-changing. (By the way, I may nerf Grand Apothecary Putress by increasing its cost in future expansions. But consider how broken those meta decks are nowadays... I feel that such a 10 mana combo is quite acceptable comparing with them...)
Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Mirage Raceway. Prepare yourself for a day of fast and furious action. NOW, RACERS START!! YOUR!! ENGINES!!!!
Hero & Power
Commencing countdown! Engines on! I'm coming off the line when the light turns green! Give me fuel! Give me fire! Give me that which I desire! One foot on the break and one on the gas! Engines pumping and thumping in time! There a voice in my head that drives my heel! 100+ through Black and White! I just can't wait to get back on that road again!
Class and Keyword Explanation.
So, here we have it, The Racer. Madcap, maniacal, motor-loving madmen, and women, who can't get enough of putting their engineering and driving skills to the test. The inspiration for all of this was Mario Kart, or any sort of game in that genre, on top of all the good time I had in Vanilla WoW hanging out watching those weird scripted races while I farmed cooking and skinning mats. I wanted to take something that isn't even part of WoW anymore, and merge it with one of the other things I've had a blast playing with my friends, and that led me to the racer. I was never a huge Racing fan otherwise, but my step-dad was, and for about 10 years my brother worked for Lowe's, and so I just kind of off-handedly learned a bunch of racing terms.
Chase is a host body for our Keyword, Draft. Draft is a very powerful and dynamic mechanic, however it has takeaways. Draft only affects cards in you hand, never your deck. It triggers are part of the casting of the spell, like Overload, and only lasts until the end of your turn. Its not Emperor Thaurissan. You can't slowly snowball down the cost of very card. You have to set up turns and make the most of it. Still when I thought of it I initially dismissed. I can't let my class just lower the cost of its cards can I? Combo decks are already a thing, and if I just give my class the ability to reduce the cost of its cards, won't it just be the best combo class? Well, what if we designed a class around that, away from combo pieces and OP interactions, and instead we focus on tempo. Right now tempo is a huge thing in HS. Going first is a huge factor in many games and having a good curve and not floating mana is a big key to not only winning games, but even being able to participate. This is what I wanted to look at. What if I could turn those turns where you just hero power into part of a larger tempo swing? The ability to take off a turn or 2 or even play a bit off curve because of what you're dealt, but still have potential to get back in the game. That's what Draft is about to me. coming from behind and turning the game back around in your favor.
You'll notice as you look through my cards that Draft doesn't appear on that many cards. Far fewer times actually than most other classes keyword, but there's a pretty big difference in my class than most, and that's in the fact that the keyword is built into my hero power, and something as powerful as massive hand discounts can't just be put on every card. In fact, you'll also notice this keyword shows up toward the high end of the curve, that's because its not about having an explosive early game. We don't need to dump our whole hand on turn 2-3 through perfect Drafting. In fact that would just as easily lead to issue as throwing in tons of face damage and card draw. Instead Draft appears on slower later cards because it allows you to fit in extra plays on those later turns. Sneaking in 1 or 2 drops along side your midgame plays to regain some tempo. I hope this helped you understand some of the design restrictions and choices I've had to make, as well as my philosophy and approach to the class moving forward.
How to train your Dragon, and win more prizes.
Duh, I pick Ride. He always rides bear back. No, yeah I wanted him eat my other mount....
Nothing can stop me now! They once cheered for a tumbleweed.
Token
Preview Explanations
Preview focus - I couldn't fit both themes into one preview considering the challenge requirements. I decided to focus on one aspect and let the other ride in the spoilers. So, our main focus is Dragon and value cards here, with our "cost (0)" being hidden away.
Ride or Die - This is the first ever Dragon Spell. Its also a good example as to why Blizzard hasn't really done this. The wording gets a bit long, even if its fairly simple. I still really like the card and I think it could really have opened up a few more fun things with "Dragon" decks.
Bear Rider - This card is here as another small seed actually. Its a nice midrange value minion, kind of a step of from the super Basic, Desirable Mechanic. He's here to either give you a more consistent Draft experience or just give you that value. I felt like the Black War Bear having Charge meant less since it was just as likely for it to come out on your opponents turn, negating the effect.
Compliant Proto-Drake - Ok, so my entire reason for designing this was 2-fold. First I wanted to do something different with Dragon synergy. Second I wanted to make a legitimately playable late game minion. I think its pretty lame that pretty much every Dragon since BRM has not been good unless its specifically a Dragon deck. I think that's a lame design choice. Second, I think its stupid that there are a bunch of 1 mana 3/2s and growing 1/3s and crazy 2 drops that decide games, and 4 mana 7/7s. The average value of a 6+ cost minion is awful. Unless you're the cream of the crop you're just unplayable. You have to have instant dramatic effect or insane value. I think that metric needs to be pushed. I've kind of done that with other cards, this is by far the most pushed of those. I do think this card is on the very high end of power level. I think that its a very very playable 7 cost minion, and I think that's a great thing. I adjusted the power level slightly by giving it Ignores Draft, making it harder to have insane turns when you play this, something that has to come up on occasion to keep things fair.
Prepared to Win - I know this card has to look absurd. Its got a large health buff because I already have a large attack buff in classic. I also have a balanced buff in Basic, referenced here actually. So this closes out the trinity. Plus I mean come on, she's wearing a horse floaty for protection, its great. We get to hit a ton of different themes and really open our class up.
Crowd's Favor - The crowd is a big factor in any sporting event, and this is my representation of that. Being the guy(s) or girl(s) getting the cheers and really boost performance. Giving the underdog that advantage to beat the big favorite. It can also lead that Fan Favorite to a dominating victory. I decided to go with a very high cost on this to prevent easy abuse of Drifting to lead to major OTK potential.
BRM and TGT
BRM
TGT
Token and Justicar Trueheart Hero Power
Expansion Explanations
Expansion Approach - My goal moving forward was to shift things in a new direction. Even though we never showed off Naxx and GVG I still created those cards for myself and started building an identity pushed heavily on the "less Health than opponent" comebacks and Mech synergy. Leaving GvG I wanted to move toward a new push. Therefore we started pushing Dragon, and "cost (0)" to open up new deck concepts. This our Dragon approach I went more toward midrange/control and with our other cards we hit some heavy Aggro/Tempo notes. We still have a nice beefy value legendary, and funky new removal spell at the high end to give us play against other control decks.
Goof-off Technician - This card is a bit of a crossover between our two new focus points. Its also where I decided to give my class a serious Dragon push. This didn't really happen in BRM and for that reason Dragon decks didn't really come into being until TGT, and really they still didn't have enough oomph to make a major meta impact. That lead Blizzard to continue creating cards for the mechanic with each expansion, but that also means classes end up in weird places with Standard rotations. I also felt like every successful Dragon deck had to have a good low cost minion to keep in play with tempo. Therefore I created this guy.
Ride or Die - This is the first ever Dragon Spell. Its also a good example as to why Blizzard hasn't really done this. The wording gets a bit long, even if its fairly simple. I still really like the card and I think it could really have opened up a few more fun things with "Dragon" decks.
Runaway Aspirant - I hate the scaling 1 drop, so I took the Druid route to things and went with the 1 mana 2/2. I adding a bit of bonus to push the "cost (0)" mechanic.
Wrench Sergeant - Other forces may use Drill Sergeants to train people, but the racers use Wrenches instead. Honestly this is one of the first TGT cards I came up with. Simple, flavorful. It touches Inspire without going too far into it. This was a huge part of TGT and I wouldn't dream of leaving it out.
Bear Rider - This card is here as another small seed actually. Its a nice midrange value minion, kind of a step of from the super Basic, Desirable Mechanic. He's here to either give you a more consistent Draft experience or just give you that value. I felt like the Black War Bear having Charge meant less since it was just as likely for it to come out on your opponents turn, negating the effect.
Prepared to Win - I know this card has to look absurd. Its got a large health buff because I already have a large attack buff in classic. I also have a balanced buff in Basic, referenced here actually. So this closes out the trinity. Plus I mean come on, she's wearing a horse floaty for protection, its great. We get to hit a ton of different themes and really open our class up.
Bitter Rivalry - I know this card is going to freak people out. I spent a very long time trying to decide if I could make this card. And I came to the decision it was possible. My class has no face damaging spells, charge minions that can go face, or weapons. My hero power doesn't deal damage or heal/gain armor. You have to win with minions, this just lets you prevent your opponent from killing your face for awhile. It happens to shut down your minions from killing there face for a bit of parity. And worst case almost any opponent can use removal on one of their own minions if you've somehow locked them out of the game and actually set yourself up to win by fatigue.
Compliant Proto-Drake - Ok, so my entire reason for designing this was 2-fold. First I wanted to do something different with Dragon synergy. Second I wanted to make a legitimately playable late game minion. I think its pretty lame that pretty much every Dragon since BRM has not been good unless its specifically a Dragon deck. I think that's a lame design choice. Second, I think its stupid that there are a bunch of 1 mana 3/2s and growing 1/3s and crazy 2 drops that decide games, and 4 mana 7/7s. The average value of a 6+ cost minion is awful. Unless you're the cream of the crop you're just unplayable. You have to have instant dramatic effect or insane value. I think that metric needs to be pushed. I've kind of done that with other cards, this is by far the most pushed of those. I do think this card is on the very high end of power level. I think that its a very very playable 7 cost minion, and I think that's a great thing. I adjusted the power level slightly by giving it Ignores Draft, making it harder to have insane turns when you play this, something that has to come up on occasion to keep things fair.
Big-time Promoter - This is my nod to bringing the Races to the Tournament. Cross promotion and good times. If he feels like he's behind and needs to catch up, he brings in his muslce, "Tiny" the Ogre. This is kind of medium risk/high reward, and I only say high reward because the card is abysmal without the bonus, and that's intentional. I feel like these are the sorts of cards that show up on occasion at epic and either work or don't, but the power is here if you make it work.
The Bigger One - This is a card I had been thinking about for awhile and didn't want to put into this set, but after not being able to consolidate one of my other cards this got the nod. This is a card that I think might look scarier than it is, and I think there is a chance this could cost 6 mana, but I'm being conservative. This obviously has no effect on Legendaries and only gets the second copy of a minion if that copy is in the deck, it will never force someone to discard. So while it might accelerate fatigue or gain a bit of extra value, that situation isn't really that common. I kind of balanced it aroundEntomb. But instead of adding a resource to your deck for sure it might remove one from your opponent.
Dr. Autto, Octo-Engineer - The main idea for me is he hates spiders! Those bastard Nerubians will all be crushed by the true king of the eight-legged freaks. I had a few thoughts to do a combo of multiple legendaries or something else, but really this felt right to me for the expansion. Its big and beefy on its own but summons nice value minions. Its kind of like a reverse Confessor Paletress, without the variance.
Justicar Trueheart"Better" Hero Power - I feel like Justicar doesn't have any major bonuses for me if I do anything traditional. I could have taken the route of making it bad for me, as blizzard did with Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, kind of Druid, and in that regard kind of everyone but Warrior and maybe Paladin. Now I know adding Draw a card is a huge change. But honestly, I think my hero power is very very weak in many situations. Its not versatile. It has no value, only tempo. The class is built on and around tempo, but I think the Justicar side of things should allow me to gain value. Maybe this is too much value, but I think anything else wouldn't make sense. Tempo can only be taken so far without value.
Basic Set
Basic Explanations
Fall Back - Here we are. First card in and its already familiar but different. One of the big aspects I put emphasis on is wide or aoe buffs. But ones not so tied into boosting stats, but more so in adding abilities to my racers. From a flavor standpoint Fall Back, is about letting yourself appear weak at some point in the race to get ahead later. I've represented that by giving all my minions Taunt, as they are now more viable and visible opponents.
Last Ditch Effort - Removal. Its something we all know, but I needed to find a way to make cheap removal that didn't deal damage to the opponent. That led me down many paths and this was just the first. Last Ditch Effort is that point where to stay in the race you just launch off everything. You do whatever it takes, you might even just ram the other driver off the road. And the bigger and badder they are the harder they hit you back.
Caution - Every race still wants to keep its racers safe, so when things get too wild, we pump the breaks. But its not just one person we're trying to keep safe, its everyone, and so we have protection for everyone. This helps reinforce our AoE buff theme, and provides an even more unique take on it by hitting all minions, friendly or otherwise.
Clumsy Mechanic - For every good driver, you have to have a car, and who else but the Mechanics do we have to thank for that. This gal may not be the most graceful, but she's still one hell of a mechanic, and she's not just going to roll over and give up. She represent, along side Last Ditch Effort, part of our self damaging sub theme. This is put into play because those comebacks can't happen if we aren't getting behind in some way. So we might take a bit of damage, but that's ok, we can always make a Pit Stop and get some repairs and get back out there.
Start Your Engines! - Our last AoE buff, this one hits a nice icon race moment, that point where the race is really about to start. Obviously this is just Charge, in AoE form, but like many of our other effects, we've made it iconically our own.
Speed Freak - This is a minion many people told me didn't make sense. It didn't have any abilities, it was just this weird vanilla minion. But its not just some weird vanilla minion. Its our minion. Its got a statline we'll likely never see on an Neutral minion. Its something different. Its part of our class identity. How? Well, we are already going wide with out buffs. We can pass out Taunt, Divine Shield and Charge. If we spend a bunch of time putting all these abilities on our minions we close off part of our unique design and so by not doing that we instead open up even more unique design. Dynamic statlines. Here we have out first example, the high attack low health minion. But we're getting a full 10 stat points for just 4 mana. Who needs abilities when you've got great stat value? Ok, maybe the distribution isn't great, but that's the point as well. Not every card is great. We have to fill out set and I could make a bunch of awesome cards to show you how many great ideas I have, but I think it takes just as much effort to design mediocre to bad cards. I'll obviously try to avoid downright awful cards, but I think we all know that not every card is, and more so shouldn't be, great.
Tactical Maneuver - So, we are almost definitely going to have to do a few damage spells, we just have to avoid the ability to BURN THE DOME!!!! Oh, sorry, my winner's instinct kicked in for a second there. This card represents our first look at the "comeback" trigger. Being behind on life won't be a super huge thing, because let's be honest, we don't always want to play from behind, but I think its nice to have a few cards that make that feel better. This lets us take and enemy out, and if we got lucky and that was the guy just ahead of us in the race, we eek out that extra advantage.
Crowd's Favor - The crowd is a big factor in any sporting event, and this is my representation of that. Being the guy(s) or girl(s) getting the cheers and really boost performance. Giving the underdog that advantage to beat the big favorite. It can also lead that Fan Favorite to a dominating victory. I decided to go with a very high cost on this to prevent easy abuse of Drifting to lead to major OTK potential.
Eliminate the Competition - Every once in awhile you have to thin the pack. That's when a nice rocket barrage can be a huge help. Taking out a group of weaker drivers let's you get back in the race and go for the win! Plus, every class needs some AoE.
Fan Favorite - Oh, here he is. That big dog we were talking about earlier. He's won more races than you, hell he's won more than anyone in recent memory. He's cool, he's collected, and he's a serious threat to anyone else winning the race. At least that's how I justified a big beefy Taunt minion to myself when I designed this guy. I think the Fonzie style is a great nod as well.
Classic Set
Tokens
Classic Explanations
No Magic Zone - "Mirage Raceway would like to inform you that this is a No Magic Zone. We are here to test engineering and driving prowess, not who's fireballs are the biggest." - Fobeed and Zuzubeed, race annoucners. If that's not enough, I don't know how else to get the point across. The other reason I added this was to keep things going. Wide, AoE style effects. This hits both sides of the board, and while we do have AoE buffs, we also don't have too many powerful persistent effect or powerful deathrattles. In fact our only deathrattle is actually a drawback. That gives us a bit of fun play with the Self Silence mechanic that never really worked out for Priest. Flavor Text "Also, no outside food or drinks."
Smoke Screen - When racing is war, sometimes defense is the best offense. A well placed Smoke Screen can help you stay in the race long enough to pull ahead. I though this twist on Divine Shield was a cool one. Doesn't work on Spells, but hell your opponent isn't supposed to be bringing those to the track anyway! Flavor Text: "Did you know Smoke Bomb™ is under trademark by the SI:7?"
Upstart Mechanic - Oh, this young fella, well young for a gnome, thinks he has all the knowledge and skill anyone could ever need, until this Old-Timer gives him whatfor. You gotta learn from the best, not just from some book! This gives us a nice tempo minion and also gives us a touch of Self Damage and healing play. Working all those themes into a 2-drop. Flavor Text: "If he was as smart as he is stupid we'd win every race." - Old-Timer
Quick Fix - Sometimes you take a big shot, your rides almost toast, you're sucking in smoke and you can't see out of one eye. If you just pull over and slap some duct tape on it you can, drink some coolant, (don't worry, its safe, the Speed Freaks drink it all the time), you can get back on the track in no time. Quick fix plays into our healing. Healing might seem out of place, but that's only when you think about it as some sort of divine intervention or holy light, and not a bit of wrench work and some Croc-ade® (patent pending). Then it kind of makes sense. Just because you take a hit doesn't mean you're out of the race! This is our first Draft effect. Draft is something we have to be somewhat conservative with because of our hero power, and here its tacked on for both flavor and effect. Flavor Text: "Is this one the coolant or the Croc-ade®? Eh, same difference"
Desirable Mechanic - Ah, you know you love a nice piece of eye candy! What I'm talking about that flying machine you pervert! This fine little piece of tail...pipe is our.... Oh who am I kidding, she's hot right? And she's one of the most brilliant mechanics I've ever seen! Its like very motor she touches runs that much faster. Seriously though, this card probably seems super simple, but that's the beauty of it. Its a fine on curve body with upside. What more do you really need. Flavor Text: "She really revs your engine."
The Draft Pack - Every generation has an icon group of winners, except this bunch of losers. The only person they ever beat is each other. I took a big inspiration from the Summit, more popularly known as the Rat Pack, a supergroup of singers including Frank Sinatra (Old Blue Eyes), Dean Martin (the King of Cool), and Sammy Davis Jr. (Mister Show Business). This group was actually the second iteration and would later be the inspiration for the Brat Pack and the Frat Pack, as well as the movie, The Rat Pack. I thought it was a great nod to some classic crooners and a bit of fun at the same time. Lil' Blue Eyes, Baron of Cool and Mister Go Business are the three tokens, and each is that little bit different from the other. I think I found some decent art to bring the concept to life and I hope you have a much fun seeing it as I did coming up with it. Flavor Text "They want to be called the Draft Pack? Like they ever won something, just a bunch of filthy rats if you ask me." - Fizzle Brassbolts, Gnome Team Racing President.
Magne-TNT - What better way to take out a group of tightly packed competitors in their fancy cars than a piece of dynamite and a magnet? Just set it and forget it! I wanted my second AoE to have a very unique feel, and so I came up with Magne-TNT. It seems like some sort of crazy thing someone would invent and use, and it gave me a cool twist. Half single target removal, half AoE. Flavor Text: "Just gotta make sure I throw it past my own...uh oh."
Pit Crew Chief - A pit crew is only as good as its best man, and luckily this guys pretty good. Typically taking a Pit Stop at the right time is important, and this guy knows how to make that call. Making you look out of the race when you're secretly about to make a big comeback. Another small subtheme is what I call Full Drift. Pushing a card to 0 mana. This means you've gained enough advantage from good "driving" that you reap special rewards. This one may not seem like much but on those potentially large tempo turns being able to add a Taunt all is a pretty sweet bonus. Flavor Text: "I said "Stop It" not "Pit Stop" you idiot, keep going!"
Pit Stop - This is it, one of the biggest moments in any race. Get in and out of the Pit fast and you're sure to be in position to win. Making a good pit stop when you're behind is even more important. You have to refuel the car, but you might even get in a few repairs and maybe even chase the leader out of the pit! Here again, we play into a lot of things in one card. Its probably a touch wordy, a touch cluttered, but its hits those flavor notes and nothing feels out of place to me. Flavor Text: "Can't we just change cars?"
Just A Bit Further - Sometimes you're out. You've taken too many hits and the wheels are coming off. You've lost your mirrors and your bumpers are blown to bits, but you know if you just hold onto the steering wheel and pray maybe there's just enough momentum to get you across the line. Hey, look the shield generators back online, and we've got one more rocket left, and its just a quarter mile to the finish line. WE CAN DO THIS! This card was inspired more by the art than most. Most of the time I found art to fit cards, here I found this art and couldn't help but make it into a card. Ignores Draft is something that we have to use to keep just a few cards from being very dangerous. Here it keeps this large protective buff in check.
Hellbound Speedster - He's on a Highway to Hell, and he's going dooooowwooown. And he's probably taking you with him. No, I felt like I couldn't use the same card for both the music and high cost common theme, so I created this card as an homage to AC/DC. I live in Australia after all. This may not be super obvious, but I felt like it still hit the right note.... I'll stop now. This also reinforces our Dynamic statline and self damage themes and helps give No Magic Zone more of an in-game use and not just a flavor one. Flavor Text: "He's got Season Tickets on a one way ride."
Careless Rocket Jockey - Ah, the most out of place low mana card ever. This card seems beyond weird I'm sure. And honestly, we already have a 1 mana removal in our basic set, so what made me put this one there? Well, that actually part of it. We already have a 1 mana removal, and that's already going to be floating around Arena, we don't need to have a bunch of running around. Plus this has some other interesting things going on that I felt pushed it toward a special slot. Its a minion that is actually meant to be removal, similar to Force of Nature, which ended up being a combo piece until its nerfing. So I felt like in a lot of ways I was paying Homage to a nerfed Force of Nature. I love this card and I think it makes a great epic, especially if you look at Blizzards track record with epics. Flavor Text: "Look at what I can do." - Stuart, former Goblin Rocket Jockey
Rocket Fuel Tech - Our second Full Draft card. One of my original previews and one of the first cards I designed. It hasn't changed a bit since then and its still a great example of flavor and substance. Flavor Text: "This stuff will take you to the moon and back. Oh, you're here for fuel?"
Qualified - Our second Ignore Draft card, and our biggest potential hair puller. Some times you think you're winning the race, but it turns out its just for a chance at the real prize. I tried to cost this in such a way that makes it playable, but not great. And in a way that typically makes the second copy much worse than the first. Back in the classic days I think more games against aggro went past turn 7 but now it seems like they don't. Flavor Text: "I blew him off the track, how did he qualify?"
ToGny Starkwrench - Ah, we all need a good legendary, and who better to help us build amazing machines and sick weapons then warmongering, egotistical, millionaire, playboy, ToGny Starkwrench. Yeah, so he got kidnapped by Goblins in held in the desert, but he's still alive. What do you mean he stopped making weapons? Renewable energy? Well I'm already paying him, so let's just hope he's got something helpful against those goblins. I really am going to make every legendary comic book subthemed so just get used to it. We get to play off ToGny's ingenuity and off his skill. We get both designer and creator in one go. I hope this guy feels cool and fun, that's what I'm aiming for most. Flavor Text: "I told you I don't want to join your super secret boy-band." - ToGny Starkwrench.
«Ah, the Grand Tournament. Joyful supporters, proud knights, lovely princesses, travelers from far away. The streets have been cleaned, the mounts tended to. Everyone looks happy and cheerful. Well, almost everybody is excited towards this most spectacular event. Some people are slightly less enthusiastic.
Look at this squire, aspiring to a better life. And this gladiator - "he will fight until his death" I hear him say - whose true battle lies elsewhere. Good recruits in need of some guidance I say. Let's do our job and go spread our message.»
Keyword and Upgraded Hero Power
Cult: When you build your deck, you may include up to 4 copies of a card with the keyword Cult. Two new Cult cards appear in the BRM and TGT sets; Ember Jet and Paranoid Cultist.
Convince: Cultists are efficient minions, and shuffling two of them into your deck at a time is certainly good. Shuffling cards into your deck and Increasing your deck size will reinforce some cards, like the new Succumb and Envious Squire.
Example Cards
«At the stables, he mixes up the different mounts.»
«I will fight 'til my death!»
«He got disqualified once for summoning Ysera.»
«Cultists don't read Gadgetzan Times. They have some weird literary tastes.»
Blackrock Set
Ember Jet: It starts slow and calm, and like a wild fire, increases in intensity and becomes destructive! Prolong the game, copy Ember Jet and burn everything in your way.
Inner Flame Adept:Inner Flame Adept fills your curve like Jeweled Scarab, provides card advantage like Mana Tide Totem, and supports a Dragon-strategy. A superb minion that you will want to protect at all costs!
Tireless Gladiator: A good follow-up to Envious Squire, and a good target for Occult Jouster, Tireless Gladiator valiantly protects your most valuable minions. If he sticks on the board, that's for the best.
Master of the Dark Arts: The Inspire minion for the class, Master of Dark Arts will keep the board clear and tidy. Be aware that she doesn't distinguish foes from friends.
Rares
Paranoid Cultist: «I won't go alone. There are... things lurking in the darkness.» Paranoid Cultist is a solid threat for a Cult-based strategy. Have you thought cheating this minion into play with Occult Jouster?
Dusty Compendium: Gain some card advantage, enhance your hand, copy the cards you value the most and voilà.
Succumb: Deck size is still a relevant mechanic of the Cult Leader class, being represented here by Succumb. This straightforward spell comes with a triggered discount, ensuring that you have access to a good and versatile removal spell early on. Excellent against tempo-oriented decks.
Epics and Legendary
Occult Jouster: Your hero power shuffles Cultists into your deck, your cards shuffle Cultists into your deck, Cult minions have a low cost... That's kind of a problem if you want to use the Joust mechanic. Don't worry, Occult Jouster is specifically made for the Cult Leader class, and will bring his squire along to the fight.
Lose All Hope: «I must forfeit to my opponent, and abandon all hope of winning.» Lose All Hope is a spell similar to Brawl. However, it lets you choose which enemy minion stays alive. Thus, if you need to kill something big (like a Flamewreathed Faceless among a bunch of totems), you are assured that your main target won't survive.
Zargha the Shapeless: «The tailor has a hard time making him a suit.» You love Inspire, or you would if it was a stronger mechanic? Not only does Zargha strengthen your Hero Power, making it more viable, it also acts as an excellent recurrent threat. If control decks pose a problem, bring Zargha into your deck and appreciate its strength.
Classic Set
Basic Set
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to The_Odinson (Racer), Aelxer (Bronze Guardian), nurgling13 (Worgen) and freddoccino (Stargazer) for their comprehensive reviews and comments, and to every supporter. (And to the people who were motivated enough to start a discussion on the hero power.)
Frustrated with the limitations of traditional alchemy, Wulfrum abandoned his training in Stormwind and begin his own experiments. He joined the scourge as an acolyte to gain access to corpses, diseases, and many other ingrediants that would have disgusted his old teacher. His affiliation with the scourge soon became a lot more permanent after one of his experiments resulted in his death. He was resurrected to serve once more in the armies of the Lich King. Now with all the time in the world, Wulfrum decided to see just how far he could go with alchemy. A terrifying concept to those who have seen his vile work and fear there's no line he wont cross.
Centuries ago, the Lords of Winter’s Fall fell victim to the Worgen curse. The exact circumstances are shrowded in mystery, but the lord who brought the curse upon his family was a renowned mage. A small, secluded principality in the Alterac Mountains, Winter’s Fall was completely cut off from the outside world after this calamity, to hide their lord’s embarassment. In time, the lords learned to control their Worgen curse, shapeshifting at will between human and wolf form, but the curse was never lifted, nor could they remain as humans for long, and so their kingdom’s long isolation continued. Recently, the new lord of Winter’s Fall, Howe Hark, has learned that a new kingdom of Worgen, Gilneas. With the threat posed by the Forsaken, he has ended his seclusion and brought his forces to the aid of Gilneas and the alliance. The Young Wolf, as he is known, is known for both his brilliant military strategy and savagery on the field of battle. Mastery of his Worgen form means he is alternately rallying his loyal men into battle and tearing out the hearts of his enemies.
Reminder about how the class works:
The Worgen class centers around shifting between Worgen and Human form. Using the Worgen Form hero power (which you start the game with) gives you +1 Attack that turn and transforms you into a Worgen. This changes your hero power to Human Form, but you can’t use it until the next turn. When Human Form is used, your Hero heals 2 health and transforms into a human. The unique keywords of the class are Worgen and Human, shown in the tooltip.
Cards with these keywords trigger an extra effect if you play them while you're in that form. Human/Worgen keyword cards are inefficient if played in the wrong form and extra efficient if played while in the right form. One of the key mechanics of the class is switching between forms at the right times to efficiently play cards. Also note that other classes are always considered to be in Human form, so they can always use cards they acquire with the Human keyword.
There is a binary theme to the class, based on the two forms you switch between. Howe Hark has cards that focus on the savagery of his Worgen form, dealing damage or buffing attack, similar to Druid shapeshift-themed cards, and also cards that focus on supporting or buffing his minions, representing how he inspires and leads his men while in human form. There are also several secondary themes. The class has cards themed to snowy Alterac homeland of Howe Hark (including Freeze cards). There are also going to be cards that focus on class cards, representing the solidarity of Worgen.
Because of the hero power and binary theme, the class is well-suited for hybrid playstyles, and lots of cards will be versatile. If the hero power is used effectively, Worgen excels at tempo, since Human/Worgen cards are mana efficient when in the right form. This is also a weapon class, and both cards and your hero power buff your attack and restore health, so it is good at controlling the board, as well. Some of these control tools could be repurposed for Aggro, as well, especially in a Pirate deck.
Example Cards
(Explanations in Spoilers)
Heated Brawler - This is essentially an AOE minion. It does it damage normally when it's attacked, or when you go face with it. When you attack an enemy minion, it takes damage from that minion, but it's damage is split evenly among all enemies, including the enemy hero. This makes it difficult to kill individual minions with it, but good against multiple smaller minions. The damage is rounded up so that it's never zero. This effect works best with buffs, like Champion of Azeroth from my Basic set.
Scorched Earth - One of the problems with a big AOE is that you use up your turn clearing the board and your opponent can just fill it up again next turn. This card addresses that problem by making enemy minions cost more after you clear the board. It is expensive for the amount of damage it does to compensate. Your opponent can bypass the effect by playing just spells or weapons, but that plays into the goal of not having them fill up the board.
Grizzled Weaponmaster - This would be a very powerful effect with high durability weapons like Doomhammer, but Worgen has only a 3/2, a 5/2, and either a 4/2 or a 6/1. you can get more value out of your weapon this way. A 4/2 becomes a 3/4 (when played in Worgen form), dealing 50% more damage overall. This is also meant to be a tech card against Aggro, where a 2/4 might be more useful than a 4/2. Overall, it's a quirky effect you could develop a combo around that plays into the Worgen theme of attacking a lot with your hero.
Winter Hunt - This is a card that supports your minions, another theme of the Worgen class, by Freezing the enemy. The Alpine Wolves you summon are Immune to Freeze, however, which gives them free reign to attack whatever they want next turn. This combos well with Worgen buff cards from the Classic set like Inspiration and Rally, and it also works well with Flank from TGT.
Blackrock Mountain:
The Grand Tournament:
Justicar Trueheart Hero Power:
Expert Set:
Basic Set:
Hunted - This is one removal option for Worgen, similar to Hunter's Mark. You play this and follow it up with another source of damage that normally would not have killed your target. The effect is permanent, so all damage from then on is doubled for that minion.
Alpine Wolf - With Champion of Alterac, it’s important that there’s a 1-Cost class minion as a potential target. This is basically just the same as Enchanted Raven. “Cannot be Frozen” is not worth anything, because it’s almost never relevant. There will be at least one source of Freezing allies in later sets, so it will have some relevance.
Grievous Wounds - This is the Basic direct removal card. It’s a cheap card, but with a very restrictive limitation. While Execute can be paired with any source of damage, and it is often paired with spell damage or minion AOEs, you can only play this after attacking a minion. Execute was too strong at 1, but this would not be. It does combine well with the Worgen Form hero power.
Champion of Alterac - This card is reflective of the Worgen class’ support side, which represents Howe Hark’s human side. It’s a mana-efficient buff spell, but you can only cast it on a class minion. That’s more restrictive than you might initially think. The only way to play it on turn 2 is if you played Alpine Wolf on Turn 1. I don’t plan on making any other 1-Cost minions.
Gilnean Reinforcements - This is Worgen’s card draw. A number of classes have variations of this spell (Arcane Intellect, Ancestral Knowledge, Burgle, Thoughtsteal). This take reflects Worgen’s focus on class cards. This makes the spell both more restrictive, since it can only draw certain cards in your deck, and is useless if you have too few class cards, and more reliable, since you have a better idea of what it will give you.
Icy Shortsword - Worgen is a weapon class. Howe Hark is not just all about tearing things up with his claws. I mean, he doesn’t have any when he’s in human form, anyway. Weapons will not be as strong a focus as in Warrior. It will be more like in Shaman. You can see that here, as this is not as strong a weapon as Fiery War Axe, but it has more utility in being able to Freeze, which is a secondary theme of the class, based on Howe Hark’s Alterac homeland.
Krennan’s Potion - Worgen focuses on using their Hero Power to switch forms regularly, so they need some support for that. This card can both help you recover health, which you may lose from attacking minions, and switch forms more easily, either on this turn or the next.
Leap - This represents leaping into the midst of the enemy's ranks to attack, so they are forced to attack you. Direct damage spells are going to be very limited for Worgen, since the class focuses more on dealing damage with weapons and buffing your hero’s attack. This card can be used both for removal, and to protect your minions. When you play this, your hero has Taunt during your opponent’s next turn, which means your minions can’t be attacked. It’s like half of a Conceal, because your minions can still be targeted by spells and Battlecries.
Winter Has Come - This is Worgen’s AOE option. It’s pretty efficient for its cost, because it will damage any neutral minions you have in play. This also reflects Worgen’s focus on class minions. It represents the hardiness of your Worgen and Alterac followers.
Worgen Assassin - With the lack of direct damage spells, Worgen needs a card like this. Similar to Fire Elemental, you can play this later in the game as a removal option, although it lacks Fire Elemental’s ability as a finisher. There was a lot of debate about this card, and I think we reached the consensus that, in its current form, it is as powerful as Fire Elemental. It’s a strong card, but Worgen needs this as a substitute for damage spells.
Even in Fireheart, on a remote, far away island, the Grand Tournament is considered to be unmissable. Boetius Bannister has decided to return, to relish in the competitions, the food, and the many races of people that the event has to offer. Not that he cares for much besides the competitions, but hey, Tuskarr's are pretty cool.
Example Card Explanations:
Ambitious Grunt: A deceptively simple minion. It's really just a conditional buff attached to an inspire, but its condition requires a little preparation to be relevant. And you want to trigger that effect, else it's a 1 mana Wisp. It can be played cheaply for tempo, but it's hard to resist a 4 mana 4/4 that gains +4/+4 every turn. This will however require 3 promote effects to hit it before you hero power though, but if it goes unanswered, it's an effective win condition. It's also a very good example of rarity effects.
Dragon Harbinger: Since dragon king isn't really going to be a thing, this guy allows a different kind of "Dragon" deck to exist. One that will only likely be running 2-4 dragons. This card synergises well with Malygos, but not too well, as the King has not got any face targetting damage spells or aoe spells below 5 mana. It can bring some incredible value though. It also synergises with Chromaggus, with you having enough mana to use a Celebrations card or two, getting your Harbinger to be an 8/7 and getting 4 promoted cards in your hand. Don't forget about Ysera too! And in the Whispers of the Old Gods, you get Deathwing, Dragonlord.... Unreliable, but potentially terrifying.
Tuskarr Spearman: Epic king is a archetype that functions as something like a mix between Jade Druid and Control. Basically, between this and Pompous Noble, you have access to a pair of potentially huge heals, and a pair of potentially huge minions. They gain strength proportional to how many epics you've played, but are less oppressive towards control than jade golems yet and are more functional against aggro.
Robin, Military Strategist: This card is a step up from Squad Leader. Squad Leader is a card that summons a little squad if you promote it. This card summons a squad leader if you hero power. He can start a small army developing if you just keep it going for long enough, but that isn't too easy to do. Think of him as a potential second hero. When you command him to, he'll play squad leaders so you can keep enemies at bay and generate immense value. He can be easily shot down by a Fireball or a Hex, so he's a bit of a risk reward card.
Blackrock Mountain and The Grand Tournament:
Blackrock Mountain:
The Grand Tournament:
Justicar Hero Power:
Classic Set:
Basic Set:
Tokens:
Militiaman - Token of Squad Leader Castle Archer - Token of Hail of Arrows Determined Participant - Token of Spear of Glory
As a member of the Bronze Dragonflight, Moradormi has extensive knowledge about the future. She knows exactly what is meant to happen, and what isn't. Or so she thought. Discovering the ultimate fate of her flight, their corruption into the Infinite Dragonflight, turned the once optimist dragon into a full-on cynic. Still, she strives to make the future a better place, perhaps trying to atone for deeds not yet commited.
Class Keyword:
Example Cards:
Explanations:
Bronze Watcher: Much like Mana Wyrm and Tunnel Trogg, this 1 mana 1/3 grows in power thanks to one of the class' main themes: card draw. It will grow passively at the start of each turn without any additional intervention, but both the Hero Power as well as other class cards can accelerate the process.
Wormhole Technician and Unstable Wormhole: Cannot deny the artwork was awfully convenient when trying to tackle this challenge. Wormhole Technician is an expert on Wormholes of all kinds, and will make sure Unstable Wormhole actually remains stable for longer than expected, as well as being able to easily create more as needed.
Azure Ally: The dragonflights might now always get along too well, but that doesn't mean there's always conflict. The blue dragons are masters of the arcane, and this one is particular is always ready to lend a hand.
Kairoz: A 4/4 body for 3, no strings attached, is always a tempting prospect early on when you're fighting for the board. An Arcane Intellect that shuffles itself back into the deck is great for the long game, but also when you need answers. Neither of them is anything to scoff at, and only justified because of the legendary status, which will ensure you always think it twice before deciding which part of Kairoz you want: the body or the effect?
Born into a poor farming family, Erin stood apart from her peers due to her latent magical ability. So great was her power that she drew the attention of the Bronze Dragonflight. Under the tutelage of Chromie, Erin was brought to the Caverns of Time to learn how to safely use her magic and keep safe the world's timelines. But even here Erin stands apart, as she does not share the dragons' belief of predetermination, that one's fate is already written. With both a will to make her own destiny and the power to do so, Erin Fatespan now seeks to protect the past and future of Azeroth.
As a Chronomancer, Erin uses time itself to confuse and disable her enemies while protecting her allies. Her Hero Power allows her to Bend Time, borrowing energy from other timelines to make her minions and spells more efficient, more powerful. Her's is a class with the ability to ramp, create combos, play control, and endure fatigue. Many of her cards involve bouncing minions, replaying cards, and high card draw. She does not have weapons, secrets, or a unique keyword. Instead, she takes existing rules and flips them on their head, changing the board and her hand to better secure victory.
To balance out these themes, the Chronomancer lacks healing or significant face damage. This prevents the player from making broken Malygos combos, or looping and replaying heal effects over and over without significant time investment. Cards like Temporal Barrier, Erode, Sand Scourer, and Hindsight allows the Chronomancer to attack enemies and prevent or repair damaged without opening the door to some truly broken combos.
With BRM and TGT, the Chronomancer takes a big swing towards board presence. Strong minions, minions buffs, predictability, and disruption help you take the game by force. These work with the various stall and copy effects from the previous sets to create a powerful set. Future expansions will add more card draw and more unique, dynamic experiences.
Example Cards:
Explanations
Destined Champion -Despite his memory loss, Lo'Gosh knew he was meant for more than the gladiator's life. Joust is an interesting mechanic. If you win, you get some useful effect above what you paid for the minion. If you lose, the minion was over-costed and your opponent gives their (sarcastic) condolences. So why not make it more predictable? What good is a Chronomancer who can't predict the future and put the right minion where it needs to be? You could still lose, of course. But you have a more predictable ramp effect via Joust.
Time Keeper -She's supposed to watch the clock during jousting matches, but she gets distracted by all the strong, muscular contestants. When this class was first presented, one theme I wanted to explore was Fatigue. And not in the traditional way. Time Keeper allows you to deal some extra face damage that can snowball very quickly. If the game does last into Fatigue, your opponent has a significant head start! WotOG will add 1-2 more cards to play off this theme.
Run Out the Clock -Time waits for no one. "Except me." - Erin Fatespan An interesting take on disruption. Played wrong, this card will do nothing. But play it at the right time, and you can really screw up your opponent's turn. Best used when your opponent has a big combo or a full board.
Time-Lost Proto-Drake -This rare and beautiful beast flies the treacherous Storm Peaks. Or it would if it weren't for adventurers trying to tame and mount it. A big, early game minion is a great way to take control of the game. Giving your opponent a Send Back creates an interesting tactical decision. Does your opponent remove your Proto-Drake, giving you a 2/2 and letting you play the Proto-Drake next turn? Or do they save it for another minion, or even use it on their own?
The Rest of the Cards!
The Grand Tournament
Justicar - Upgraded Hero Power
Timewalker's Oath -"To guard the timelines. To protect both dragons and mortals. To stop using the word "mortals" as a derogatory term." Time Keeper -She's supposed to watch the clock during jousting matches, but she gets distracted by all the strong, muscular contestants. Bronze Drake -He's a big drake now!
Timewalker Valiant - He's not actually summoning time-displaced copies of himself. He just has a lot of brothers. Time-Lost Proto-Drake -This rare and beautiful beast flies the treacherous Storm Peaks. Or it would if it weren't for adventurers trying to tame and mount it. Destined Champion -Despite his memory loss, Lo'Gosh knew he was meant for more than the gladiator's life.
Run Out the Clock -Time waits for no one. "Except me." - Erin Fatespan Divergence -"Perhaps in another timeline you are safe. Free. But here, now, you are mine." Soridormi -Prime consort of Nozdormu the Timeless. Loving, caring, but ever nagging her mate for always being late.
Send Back is a Classic card and is generated by TIme-Lost Proto-Drake.
Blackrock Mountain
Perpetual Flame -The Firelord's presence will always scar this land. Chromatic Prototype -Nefarian is trying to combine the five dragonflights to create ultimate warriors. This Prototype is not one such example.
The Classic Set
Send Back -"No, don't send me back! Have you seen what people used to wear back then!?" Eternal Vigilance -"The first ten thousand years were the worst. And the second ten thousand years, they were the worst too. The third ten thousand years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline." Temporal Barrier -"Quick, raise the shield! Aaaaaaaaand it's gone."
Sand Scourer -Removes 99.9% of temporal anomalies! Bronze Warden -The Bronze Wardens have it rough. It's not their fault that every visitor to the Caverns can just fly over them. Infinite Summoner -... a corrupt dragonkin, filled with darkness and pride, attempts to summon...
Avert - Chromie once averted a future in which Gadgetzhan outlawed tacos. Timestream Meddler -He's a Scooby-Doo villian's worst nightmare. Time in a Bottle -You don't mess around with this stuff.
Erode - High stress time management can really wear you down. Lost in Time -This spell is typically how people become their own ancestors. Echomancer -"Pyroblast... Pyroblast... Pyroblast..."
Anachronism - "Uhg, what time is it?...TOO SOON! YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME TOO SOON, EXECUTUS!" Past and Future, Present -"For this job, there's only two people I can trust." Chromie -Past Chromie is mad at Future Chromie for helping adventurers and forgetting their birthday.
Echo is the token generated by Send Back and Lost in Time.
The Basic Set
Bronze Whelp -I know this looks like a Black Whelp, but his scales will turn gold as he gets older. Really! Forthwith -Somehow, being able to manipulate time hasn't made Erin any more patient. Suspend -Students learn quick not to cause a ruckus when Chromie is teaching.
Sand Breath -Be sure to avoid Bronze Dragons with allergies. Wither -Youth is wasted on the young. Doomed Future -Its not so bad if you have 4 Health.
Paradox -Minions you summon with this spell always have a wicked mustache. Even Harvest Golem. Hindsight -Dragons hate puns. Timewalker Elite -The Timewalker's retirement plan is pretty good. Then again, they already know if you will collect it.
Sandstorm -Powerful, magical sandstorms often sweep through Tanaris. If you get caught up in one, you won't know where or even when you'll end up.
The Stargazer is a class prepared for the late game. There's a good focus on controlling the board in order to end up getting value out of your Hero Power by increasing your deck size while not disrupting your draw. Constellation and other class synergies can then work to get use out of the null tokens.
Constellation counts for each original card with the keyword. So, if you had two of the same Constellation card in your deck, you could end up playing four in a game, two copies for each card.
In Northrend, Ulduar holds the greatest connection to the Titans. Azeroth rests under the watch of power cosmic beings. For the Grand Tournament, people from all continents travel north. For seafarers, there is no better guide than the stars themselves. Those born for the sea put their trust into the night sky to find their way around uncharted territory. There are always the native inhabitants who can lend a hand, too!
Swarmlord, your second favorite class based around bugs
ALL THAT HAS COME BEFORE (Basic, Classic, Previews)
Common
And now for something completely different
Attack from Below: This class suffers from an inundation of strong hero Attack abilities and few ways to abuse them, but never fear! For a limited time you may now attack yet again! I've designed the card in a way such that it can be used to clear a total of three minions with your hero in one turn (1 Attack with Power, 3 Attack, 5 Attack) and come out on top. This can be nicely combo-ed with the many, MANY choices you have for eating enemy faces off, and notably makes It's a Wrap and Prey on the Weak into massive tempo swings. here's a list of all the cards that benefit or can benefit from Attack from Below, balancing out it's generally weak damage output...
Ravager Valiant: One of the big issues I encountered with the class was both making it stand out lategame and incentizing use of Hero Attack when it only has one attack per turn. Say hello to both the beefcake and the solution! A 4/4 taunt is statted fine but not optimally, but once you can optimize damage output you've got your own mini Emperor Vek'lor AND a clear. Hallelujah!
Whorlclaw Scorpid: I love Flame Leviathan, but I always felt the effect underutilized. There's very few times I want a 7/6 turn 2 when the aggro decks are at my gate. Survivability is key here and this big bug's got your back. Admittedly, a 7/6 body for 6 is slow, but it has potential as a good body for buffs lategame while still providing survivability early game.
Burning Pheromones: The range for this card is pretty decent I think. Earlier game you can trade off for lower cost minions to refill your hand, while lategame you can finish off a big drake for a better chance at a finisher. Fun fact, Burning Pheromones was waken from one of the two worms movepools. Ya know... Dreadscale and Acidmaw.
There are some more bugs in the system
BRM:
TGT:
Subterranean Horrors: I couldn't resist. Swarmlord will forever swarm, and place 4/4's into the opponent decks. It's balanced against the unlikely possibility it'll honestly be played before turn three. There will be more bugs to come though, mark my words.
Vicious Charge:Arcane Shot, but it gets minion buffs and not spell damage.
Token:
Cannon Wasp: A class that intends to attack using it's hero needs all the survivability it can muster, and Cannon Wasp put's in a good hand to keep you alive early game while you're trading out.
Un'goro Lancer: I'm ashamed I'd missed this pun up until now! Here's a good removal that also threatens any deck with heavy draw. For a more aggro themed deck, you now have a better chance to stabilize if you run out of board and draw.
Anub'rekhan: 4/4's shall haunt you. A cross between Malorne and Anub'arak, he's not a threatening body in it of itself but provides long term value and makes lategame more interesting for your opponent.
Swarm Reave: the Justicar power. You now have even better removal chances, so trade where you can.
Thanks go out to Broeck1, McF4rtson and AsylumRhapsody!
This hero power is similar to the paladin but instead of directly summoning a 1/1 to the board you delay the affect by several rounds for a 2/2 along with that several cards as you'll see below are affected by having a certain number of Whelps in your deck. As a side note the Whelps act just like the cards made from Beneath the Grounds.
However you may be asking yourself if the hero power is so slow then how in the world will you survive against aggressive decks to get value out of it? It's quite simple actually, this class uses armor! That's right we have a second class to relies on/interacts with armor to survive. He has several cards that grant armor in order to live long enough for the hero power to start taking affect.
The Dragon Knight founding and lore:
The Dragon Knight
Throughout all recorded history dragons have been the image of power in the eyes of all races. Their massive bodies covered in thick armored scales, the strength to tear a man in half with ease, and to top it all off a breath of flame that can melt the strongest of metals. For these reasons many have looked to slaying a dragon as their greatest achievement by overcoming the flaming behemoths. However for some the dragons are seen as the way to take their growing power to new, previously unreachable levels. They have through unknown means found a way to transforminto a mighty dragon themselves. With this new technique under their belt they have come to call themselves Dragon Knights and have gained a reputation of being ruthless in their quest for ever growing power. After some time several Dragon Knights came together to form the Dragon Order and with it they managed to hide the secrets of transforming into a Dragon. Due to the secrets of becoming a dragon being so hidden to those outside the Order many have come to suspect the Knights gained their power through dark places such as the Old Gods or the Burning Legion. However most knights are veterans from wars fighting to contain the Old Gods and wars to drive back the Burning Legion and many seem to defiant towards both groups and as such their goals and motives are still largely unknown.
Yvon and his tale:
Yvon was young when he became fascinated with dragons and throughout his life has sought to harness their power for his own. Through still largely unknown methods Yvon managed to Transform himself into a dragon and would become the first dragon knight in existence. He would move on to recruit and teach others to become Dragon Knights and would eventually become the founder and ruler of the Dragon Order. Naming himself the Dragon Master he moved to extend his influence and power but would suddenly disappear after The Shattering and the death of Deathwing. However with the return of the Legion Yvon has returned with immense new powers and an entire army of dragons seemingly to continue where he left off so long ago.
As Yvon returned with a massive army of dragons and he showed that he had mastered the breeding and growth of dragons that allowed him to quickly grow an endless army of Whelps to fight for him and he has used it to lead an endless assault wherever there are enemies of the Dragon Knights.
Example Cards:
Note: Smaller sized cards mean they are tokens to the card to their left.
BRM:
TGT:
Tokens:
Bronze Drake:
Mounted Knight:
Awakening
Sitora, the Dragon Mother:
Justicar Upgraded Hero Power:
Basic Set:
Dragonscale Greatsword: A big weapon that heals like Truesilver Champion but only when used to kill minions so it encourages using the weapon as removal instead of pounding the opponents face in.
Corrupted Flame: This mostly works like Soulfire but discards a Whelp which is important to this deck and class many cards have effects for things like gaining armor based on Whelps. However as a trade off for the Whelp you get a discounted Flame Lance which is strong in a control deck. This is also the first of many cards that removes Whelps and as you'll see in the classic set (if I get there) many cards will follow this pattern in removing Whelps to discount the card or the effect of the card.
Dragonstrike Commander: A big late game minion that not only puts a big minion on the board but also shuffles some Whelps into the deck in order to keep activating cards that rely on Whelps being in the deck. This is very important since many cards in the coming sets will either remove Whelps from your deck by out right destroying them or maybe just drawing them but there will be more of those then of the cards that shuffle Whelps into your deck making a card like Dragonstrike Commander a very valuable asset to this class.
Dragon's Flight: Basic core card that gets some Whelps into the deck to help activate cards. Simple but effective.
Plated Dragon Armor: A strong card that does 2 things in 1. Stabilizing the board with a high health tauntand 2. Stabilizing your health with some armor to help survive vs spells or burst which many aggro decks run and this card is great at stopping or at least slowing both the board and your loss of life via spells.
Dull Claws: A incredible flexible card that early on can be used as removal for those pesky 2 health minions and if left until later grows into a powerful 4/2 weapon makes it a solid play at every stage of the game although it is best saved for later into the game when it's battlecry can activate.
Scorched Earth: A cheap and very powerful aoe that has downsides in hurting your own board and also damages you in order to justify the power of a 4 mana aoe. Now I made it deal 5 to your hero based on the fact that I want this to be a powerful anti aggro tool by killing their board (which is everything to 90% of aggro decks btw) but it still weakens you as to give them a chance to still win where otherwise it might be to anti aggro and make it op vs every deck pretty much.
Searing Strike: Every class has a 1 mana spell and this is the Dragon Knights. It offers a ping and some armor gain and is very similar to Mortal Coil but offers different pings for a different but still strong effect and can be paired up with weapons to almost guarantee you activate this cards benefits.
Armored Wyvern: Very basic minion that offers some armor gain on a decent 4 drop. Like Dragon's Flight this is just a basic minion that helps push the Dragons and Armor usage of this class.
Scales of Gold: Strong draw that with certain cards that generate armor rapidly is very powerful but generally would only draw maybe 1 or 2 cards which if it draws 2 is still a discounted Arcane Intellect. However you still have the chance of drawing more in slower matches which might be important to get those answers you need like Corrupted Flame to kill something like Ragnaros the Firelord which can mean the difference between a win and a loss.
Considered to be a lot art among most races on Azeroth, Ninjitsu was rediscovered once the Alliance and Horde arrived on Pandaria. Shinobi and kunoichi are still an uncommon sight to this day, however. Despite this, townsfolk across the lands have sworn till their dying breath they have seen a blur of shadow, or a whiff of smoke, too fast to be a rogue bit with none of a warlock's malice.
'Twas the wind, they say. There should be a funny quote here. But there isn't. It may or may not have smokescreened away. If it did, that really befits a ninja quote. So I guess this is the funny quote. But it's not that funny. Whatever. -Karin
Example Cards
He never was the sharpest knife, honestly. It's no wonder he didn't make the cut at the academy. He was a knife guy, but you get the point.
"Look over here!" works just as well, apparently.
Not the daughter of Sargeras. That would be awkward.
"Abusive Sergeant's got nothing on me." - Personal Trainer
May or may not result in: Blanket memory loss, migraines, nosebleeds, and a mild tummyaches.
A Cut Above explained:
Here's my entry for Challenge #2. A Cut Above is a very niche draw power. While drawing 2 for 3 mana is just an Arcane Intellect, most people will see the three Frontstabs that get added to your deck as a liability, and in most cases they're not wrong. In fact, I was extremely hesitant to peg this card as a common as it might show up to often in Arena. That being said, A Cut Above is a key card in Malygos-Ninja. With just one Emperor Thaurissian tick on Shuriken Storm, an epic card in the Classic set, you can pull off huge amounts of damage.
Blue Exorcist explained:
Blue Exorcist is a slightly larger version of Westwind Shinobi, a common minion in the Classic set. Though they essentially have the exact same effect, I chose to have Blue Exorcist as a rare since the rare gem is blue, and 4-mana minion are much more common. Other than that, she is fairly self-explanatory. I also think the 8-mana cost of the Spirit (since merging two 4-Cost minions get you 8 :P) is quite a big hike so it can lead to very powerful combos earlier on.
Personal Trainer explained:
Here's my entry for Challenge +3. And don't you dare say he's not beefy, sumo wrestlers are jacked.
I tried to put a spin on the Joust mechanic. Instead of using it for a requirement, I thought I could use it for the effect itself. Though you will lose the card if you win the joust, you still get a minion to play and you thinned your deck. It could potential screw you over or save you. (So, basically, Hearthstone in a nutshell.) The 5/5 body is also quite strong for a minion that draws, so you could trade well with it.
Butterfly Effect explained:
A very complex card, one that definitely earns its epic rarity. When you unmerge a minion, it will give you back the minions used to make them and then give you +1/+2 on both, resulting in a very efficient buff. This could support a faster, more aggresive Ninja deck. Mechanically, this card is a bit iffy as Hearthstone does not track merging. However, it *does* track minions that have died. Merging is not actually a transform mechanic, it destroys the component minions and resummons something new. As such, Butterfly Effect might actually work with the current Hearthstone system.
The Grand Tournament
Commons
Wandering Isle Disciple's flavour text:He doesn't actually wander, but he could very well be looking for love. Shado-Pan Vanguard's flavour text:"Icecrown is cold." - Shado-Pan Vanguard to Shado-Pan Rider.
Note: Ninjas rarely ride on horseback, though they were very proficient in anti-horseman fighting. They would use special spears, the naginata, to do so. This explains the art choice for the Valiant/Aspirant for this class.
Rares
Vashj'ir Lurker's flavour text:Murloc Ninjas. What a novel concept. Hopefully they haven't infested some big city in the desert yet.
Epics
Mortal Combat's flavour text:Finish them.
The Legendary
Narik's flavour text: "Who am I? Someone... you might know." - Narik
This minion will require an explanation. Much like Lord Jaraxxus, Narik (which is an anagram of Karin) will directly interact with your hero. As I've said before "merging" does destroy your component minions. Jaraxxus destroys your hero as well. In addition, his Attack is converted into a weapon, and Narik will follow this. The main part is the Health. Narik *merges*, and does not replace. As such, whatever Health she has will be converted to Armor.
Narik presents the Ninja with a powerful late-game finisher. Unlike Jaraxxus who summons a legion of Infernals, Narik gives you a potentially powerful weapon that you can use to crush your opponent with.
In addition, through testing with card like Mana Tide Totem which also has an end-of-turn effect, temporary buffs like Abusive Sergeant WILL persist before your end of turn. As such, Narik keeps the attack buff, transferring it to her Katana.
It's a complex minion, but I feel that when watching it in play just once, it should be intuitive enough, much like Jaraxxus or Majordomo.
Blackrock Mountain
The Common & Rare
Shimada Handmaiden's flavour text: The dragon becomes me! Pieces of You's flavour text: This trick is actually a blast at parties. Just be sure to aim at the pinata.
Note: Shimada refers to Hanzo and Genji, two Overwatch heroes that have somewhat draconic powers.
Classic Set
Commons
Feral Ninken's flavour text:Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are! Good magical ninja doggy! Hammerspace's flavour text:Does this mean your katanas and shurikens are blunt? Awkward.
Westwind Shinobi's flavour text:He definitely had a tiger mother. Spiritual Visage's flavour text:Turns out most people view themselves as a flying goat. Who knew? Imperial Summoner's flavour text:Baron Geddon is not pleased with his sudden summer excursion to Pandaria, though he does admit the weather is rather nice and balmy.
Tokens
Rares
Be Water's flavour text:It's always funny seeing Deathwing becoming the cup. He hates that. Eastwind Informant's flavour text:He brings tidings of the ever-elusive Tauren rogue.
Man's Best Friends's flavour text: Somewhat akin to handling a bunch of baby pugs, minus the cute factor. Undercity Ronin's flavour text:For... Doomspinner? Undercity Ronin's flavour text:Even his inner demons are big-boned.
Tokens
Epics
Marked For Death's flavour text: Marked FOUR death! Hah, get it? ...I thought it was funny. Shuriken Storm's flavour text:"Guaranteed to make a mess out of your enemy's face." - Malygos ...Ninjas Do It Better's flavour text:Pirates can do it too, they just need a little weapon synergy.
The Legendary
Mistress Splinter's flavour text:Secretly, Ms. Splinter wants to settle down with her pet turtles and lead a quiet life. None of this fancy assassination business. She also likes to read a good romance novel from time to time. But if you tell a soul, she will hunt you down.
Tokens
Basic Cards
Frontstab's flavour text: "Look over here!" works just as well, apparently. Twinbolt Shuriken's flavour text:"We deal two damage here, we deal two damage there, it all blows over." - Madam Goya Sakura Shower's flavour text: Pretty pink petals Come fluttering gently down They foretell your doom.
Double Trouble's flavour text: Something about cauldrons, wands, and magical spells. Meaning of Life's flavour text:"Cheese biscuits." - Anonymous Ghost Iron Shuriken's flavour text: Somehow, ghost iron has something to do with drawing cards. We're not sure what, but that's how it is.
Hand Clansman's flavour text: Watch out for the Head Clansman. Onion-cutting Ninjas' flavour text:*This flavour text is soaked and blurred beyond legibility*
Venerated Sensei's flavour text: Venerated he may be, but he still cannot guarantee the results of his harsh training. No refunds, period. Undercity Ronin's flavour text:Call the next Jinyu you see a herring. I dare you.
Basically how this works, is that after you cast a card with Fate, the next card will have the card text or extra stats stated in the card with fate. So if you have a card that says "Fate: +2/+2" and then play a minion, that minion has +2/+2 extra stats that can be silenced. This is applied before battlecry. If it adds a keyword like Deathrattle or Battlecry, it's worded like "Fate (Battlecry):" and that effect is added to the card text. When minion gives a fate, it's given when you summon the minion, as if it was a battlecry.
Lore: Behind every famous hero or villain of Azeroth, there are countless storytellers spreading their name and telling stories of their deeds, like old Theodore here. He's one of the most well-known storytellers in the world, travelling across the world telling stories to whoever wants to listen and also collecting and writing new ones. Some say that while he speaks, the characters and worlds from his stories almost seem to appear out of thin air...
Some themes: Buff cards, Fates and Fate synergy, conditional/possible to play around AoE and removal, tokens.
Thematically, flavor is that the Storyteller writes stories and creates characters to fight for him instead of fighting mostly by himself. A lot of the cards are books doing different kinds of effects, storytelling tropes or summoning characters from stories to fight for you.
Example Cards:
Blackrock Mountain and The Grand Tournament:
BRM:
TGT Commons:
TGT Rares:
TGT Epics:
Justicar Hero Power:
Basic Set:
and it's token and it's token
Classic Set:
Heroes of Azeroth tokens:
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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This is the Submission Topic, which will be open until
Monday, February 20th, at 20:00 UTC. The Discussion Topic is here.
The following users' entries have advanced to Phase IV of the competition. You are not allowed to post in this topic unless you are one of the users listed below. However, you are still perfectly allowed to participate in the discussion topic. =)
>*39.0% nobravery*
>*36.7% thepowrofcheese*
>*36.2% nurgling13*
>*27.1% FunPolice749*
>*25.8% Broeck1*
>*21.2% Turkeybag*
>*20.9% Aelxer*
>*20.4% aaro54*
>*20.4% Giz4Gamer*
>*19.6% OBoily*
>*17.5% McF4rtson*
>*17.5% SanderNightsite*
>*16.9% The_Odinson*
>*16.9% maxlot*
>*15.8% SgtFailure*
Wild Cards: Zanywoop & freddoccino
PHASE IV: Blackrock Mountain and The Grand Tournament
By having your class's Classic Set approved of, you've shown that you can make a completely functional class. But functional isn't good enough. Your class must also have room to grow beyond that. For this phase, you'll be proving that it can by giving your class Blackrock Mountain and Grand Tournament cards. Here are the requirements for your Class Creation Competition Phase IV Entry:
There are just a few elements of your class that you will repeat from your Phase I entry, to remind us who and what we're dealing with. If you'd like to repeat anything from your class's introductory explanation, including its flavor or whatever you believe makes it interesting or unique mechanically, that's fine, but try to keep it brief.
We do not want to see your Class's entire BRM and TGT Sets out in the open.
The remaining cards of your class's BRM and TGT Sets must be presented behind a Spoiler Block (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.). These cards must obey the same rules are your examples cards with regards to expansion watermarks, rarity gems, and what keywords you may not use.
You should include your completed Basic and Classic Sets from Phases II and III behind a Spoiler (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.) either before or after your Phase IV material. It is fine if these cards have undergone some minor modification, but they must still adhere to all of their original Phase requirements.
CHALLENGES!
OTHER STUFF
These are just the General Rules, Competition Schedule and Process, Rewards, and Archives. You probably already went through them during Phase I. I still want to include them here, but I'm just going to put them all behind one big spoiler. Any change to them since Phase I has been noted above.
GENERAL RULES
Even if you're already a veteran of our competitions here on the Fan Creation Forum, you should read the general rules before you get started. This competition does introduce new rules, like image limitations and formatting requirements.
* The Submission Topic is for submissions only. If you want to discuss your entry, another entry, ask questions about the competition rules or process, or anything else, you can find a link to the Discussion Topic at the top of this thread. Plenty of folks there will be happy to help you out.
* You are allowed only one submission, consisting of the materials specified by each competition phase. These materials must, of course, be of your own creation. If you'd like, you may collaborate with another user on a single submission, but this must be specified during Phase I.
* You may make only minor edits to your entry once you have submitted it. Minor changes are things like correcting typos or making balance changes that do not alter the spirit of your entry as determined by we the moderators. If you want to make any changes and have any doubts as to their legality, ask us first.
* You may not delete any posts you make in this topic. No, not even if you post here by mistake or accidentally double-post or something. Deleted posts screw with the system we use to help us calculate up-vote scores, so don't do that. If you to post here by mistake or accidentally double-post or something, simply edit your post to just say "REMOVED" and leave it at that.
* You may not create your own topics on this forum for competition-related material. If everybody goes off and creates their own topics for specific discussion of their entries, this board will be flooded with nothing but, and so competition material must remain restricted to official competition topics. If you want to enter the competition with a class that you already have a topic about on this forum, then your topic will be locked in the interest of fairness to the other competitors. Not deleted, just locked, and it can be unlocked after your entry gets knocked out of the competition. You also may not reference or link to your topic in official competition topics.
* You must host your card somewhere other than Hearthcards. We encourage you to create your entry material using Hearthcards.net, but please remember that, although HearthCards is awesome, it has a limited server space and will purge cards after a few days, and nobody wants your cards disappearing part-way through the competition. After you create it, save and upload it to Imgur, Photobucket, or some other similar site. We understand that there are some Hearthcards memberships that will allow you to save your card there for longer (and you should totally get one of those just for general fan creation purposes, by the way), but we don't know who has those memberships and we can't tell from the URLs.
* You may not submit any Gold cards or animated cards, nor may you include any images in your post other than the requested submission materials, like banners or borders. We get it, everybody wants their entry to stand out, but our pages are going to be heavy enough as it is without everybody heading their submissions with animated banners.
* You must insert your images into your post using this icon on the bar above the post text editor: . Just click that button and put in the URL of your image. We realize that it's also possible to upload and attach images to your post. Don't do that, though. We know from experience that, because those images are much smaller and require more work to view, entries that enter their images that way just don't do as well, so this is for your own good.
* Format your entry concisely by sizing your cards appropriately and placing them beside one another rather than in a column or completely separate. The first example below is acceptable while the second is not. Entries that unnecessarily inflate the size of the submission topic and make it more difficult to get through will be disqualified. Adjust cards to a width of 250, and you should be able to get three in a row.
Hey, look! Some cards!
Soul of the Forest: Look at how nice this is.
Hammer of Twilight: All neat, organized, and concise.
Twilight Summoner: What a great post.
Wait, what are you doing?
Seriously, please don't.
This is painful. Why are you doing this?
You are a monster.
* "Troll" entries will be disqualified. Fun and even humorous entries are perfectly allowed (this is Hearthstone after all), but if you're worried that your entry may be misinterpreted as a troll entry, contact a moderator before you submit.
Finally, know that manipulating votes in any way is strictly forbidden. Any violators will receive an official warning, and will be banned from this and all future HearthPwn Card Design Competitions.
COMPETITION SCHEDULE AND PROCESS
How long do you have to work on your submission? How will advancement to Phase II of the competition be determined? The answers to these questions and more can be found below...
PHASE IV: Blackrock Mountain + The Grand Tournament
Preview: 9/February - 10/February
Submission: 10/February - 20/February
Poll #1: 20/February - 21/February
Poll #2: 21/February - 22/February
PHASE V: League of Explorers + Whispers of the Old Gods
Preview: 22/February - 23/February
Submission: 23/February - 2/March
Poll: 2/March - 3/March
PHASE VI: One Night in Karazhan + Mean Streets of Gadgetzan
Submission: 3/March - 14/March
Poll: 14/March - 17/March
NOTE: All stages of the competition begin and end at 20:00 UTC.
ALSO NOTE: I know that a couple of these submissions windows might see tight, especially because the secret challenges make it difficult to plan ahead. That being the case, this timetable is subject to change at my discretion, even after the competition begins, if it seems like too many folks are struggling.
* During Preview stages, both a Submission Topic and a Discussion Topic will go up, but the Submission Topic will be locked until the end of the Preview stage. The Submission Topic will reveal the Phase's unique challenges, so take this time to discuss them, ask for clarifications, and so on.
* During Submission stages, Submission Topics will be unlocked and (remaining) participants may submit their entries. During Phases I-II, you may also use this time to go ahead and up-vote submissions that you like.
* During Up-Voting stages for Phases I-II, Submission Topics will be locked. Use this time to up-vote submissions that you like. Note that advancement during these Phases depends entirely on up-votes.
* During Polling stages for Phases III-VI, Submission Topics will be locked, and all eligible remaining participants will have their submission material included in a separate Poll Topic to determine advancement. Phases III-IV include two Poll Topics because I anticipate we will have enough participants remaining that we will not be able to fit everybody in one Poll Topic. Note that up-votes in the Submission Topics are irrelevant to advancement during these Phases.
How will eliminations be done, and how many competitors will advance from each phase to the next?
I'm glad you asked! We will be taking a equal proportion of competitors from each Phase of the competition to the next, and we will be ending with exactly four finalists. That being the case and their being five total eliminations before the final round, that proportion can be found by solving for x:
[# of valid Phase I entries] * x^5 = 4
The higher the number of valid Phase I entries, the lower that proportion becomes. Just so you have an idea, the proportion hits 50% when we hit 128 entries, which is likely, but it only hits 33.3% when we hit 972 entries, which is less likely.
As mentioned above, advancement to Phases II and III will be determined by up-votes only. However, these up-votes are weighted using a formula identical to the process used by our Weekly Card Design Competitions:
(ab) / (c) = x
(Where a is the total number of up-votes that your submission received, b is the total number of valid submissions on the same page as your submission, c is the total number of up-votes on valid submissions on the same page as your submission, and x is your submission's final weighted up-vote score.)
Why bother with this formula rather than just taking each submissions up-votes directly? Because earlier pages simply get a lot more views that later pages do, and we do not want rushed, early submissions to have an advantage over later submissions that took more time to get their entries just right. The formula basically measures which submissions stood out the most, with the necessary assumption that each page is about equal in overall submission quality.
The bottom line is that, although entries on the earlier pages of the Submission Topic are much more visible and thus receive many more up-votes than entries on later pages, you don't actually have to rush to get your entry in as soon as possible, because the up-votes end up being weighted by what page your entry ends up on in order to determine its final score.
As mentioned above, advancement to Phases IV, V, and VI will be determined by polls. These polls will be multi-choice, meaning that voters can vote for every entry that they like. Whenever we have to split a Phase's poll into two to make it more manageable for voters, advancement will be determined by looking at each class's final percentage scores, not by looking at the direct number of votes they received, since we can't guarantee that the same number of voters will vote each day. Poll results will always be hidden until the poll has concluded, and for polls split in two, this does also mean that the results of the first poll will not be revealed until the second poll has concluded as well.
The winner of Phase VI, and thus the entire competition, will be determined by a poll much like the ones before, except that it will be single-choice, requiring voters to pick their single favorite class, and will have a much longer polling phase than usual to give us plenty of opportunity for promotion and such.
In the event of a tie during Phases I-IV for the last possible advancing position, all entries involved in the tie will be allowed to advance; the more the merrier, I say. We will absolutely not have more than four finalists, however, and so in the event of a tie during Phase V, the three Fan Creation Forum moderators (that is, myself, ShadowsOfSense, and PupleMD) will vote to break the tie. In the event of a tie during Phase VI to determine the competition's winner, the title will simply be shared unless both finalists request and agree to a tie-breaking round.
But wait, there's more! During Phases I-IV of the Competition, each Fan Creation Forum moderator (that is, myself, ShadowsOfSense, and PupleMD) will have a Wild Card, which we may (though are not required to) use to advance to the next Phase any one entry that we feel was initially overlooked or under-appreciated, regardless of its performance with voters. No entry may be awarded a Wild Card more than once, and it should also go without saying that, while some moderators are allowed to participate in the competitions, they are never allowed to benefit from Wild Cards. Wild Cards are our way of spicing things up a bit, but please don't ask to be given one or be upset if you aren't given one. These are just supposed to be fun.
Are you curious what will be required for future phases of the competition? The three challenges will remain a secret, but I'm happy to tell you the general submission requirements.
PHASE V: League of Explorers and Whispers of the Old Gods
Congratulations on being a semi-finalist! With positively received Blackrock Mountain and Grand Tournament sets, you've proven that your class's concept and mechanics have room for expansion. Now, there's only one last thing to do: narrow down the best of the best. For this phase, you'll be giving your class League of Explorers and Whispers of the Old Gods cards. Here are the requirements for your Class Creation Competition Phase V Entry:
There are just a few elements of your class that you will repeat from your Phase I entry, to remind us who and what we're dealing with. If you'd like to repeat anything from your class's introductory explanation, including its flavor or whatever you believe makes it interesting or unique mechanically, that's fine, but try to keep it brief.
We do not want to see your Class's entire LoE and WotOG Sets out in the open.
The remaining eight (8) cards of your class's LoE and WotOG Sets must be presented behind a Spoiler Block (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.). These cards must obey the same rules are your examples cards with regards to expansion watermarks, rarity gems, and what keywords you may not use.
You should include your completed Basic, Classic, BRM, and TGT Sets from Phases II-IV behind a Spoiler (Inserting a Spoiler can be done by clicking the ! symbol on the top bar of the text editor.) either before or after your Phase V material. It is fine if these cards have undergone some minor modification, but they must still adhere to all of their original Phase requirements.
PHASE VI: One Night in Karazhan and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan
Here we are, finalists! In the last phase of our competition, you'll be giving us your class's One Night in Karazhan and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan sets, as well as constructing your own custom Finale Topics:
There will be no Submission Topic for the competition Finale. Instead, you will create your own Finalist Topics. All that you have to do is create a normal topic here on the Fan Creation Forum and title it as such:
[Class Competition Finalist] TURTLE
(Replace TURTLE with your own class's name, of course.)
Then, bring it to our attention, and we'll link to it from this topic. That's it. How you format and present your final product is entirely up to you. You've put in a lot of work to come this far, so you've earned the right to show us your completed original Class however you think is best.
In addition to including the required material from all previous phases, you must add the following:
These don't need to be part of your Finale Topic, but by the end of the Submission Phase, you should send me 8 example cards from your completed collection, preferably via PM, to be included in the Final Poll Topic. The Final Poll topic will look very similar to this one from our first CCC, except that no token cards will be included.
REWARDS
In addition to truly epic bragging rights, ALL finalists will receive a special Forum Title and Avatar Border, similar to those given to winners of our forum's Weekly Card Design Competitions, as shown below:
Furthermore, the winning contestant will have a Season 5 competition themed around their winning class!
ARCHIVES
Want to see how things went during our first two Class Creation Competitions? Want to see what the winners and other finalists did during each phase? Then check out the links below!
Note, that some competition rules, especially formatting rules, may have been different for past competition.
Class Creation Competition #1
Phase I Submission (Merchant, Twilight's Hammer, Demon Hunter, Lich), Phase I Discussion
Phase II Submission (Merchant, Twilight's Hammer, Demon Hunter, Lich), Phase II Discussion, Phase II Poll
Phase III Submission (Merchant, Twilight's Hammer, Demon Hunter, Lich), Phase III Discussion, Phase III Poll
Phase IV Discussion (Merchant, Twilight's Hammer, Demon Hunter, Lich), Phase IV Poll
Class Creation Competition #2 - Worlds Beyond Warcraft
Phase I Submission (Bard, Agent, Nightmare, Pokemon Trainer), Phase I Discussion
Phase II Submission (Bard, Agent, Nightmare, Pokemon Trainer), Phase II Discussion
Phase III Submission (Bard, Agent, Nightmare, Pokemon Trainer), Phase III Discussion, Phase III Polls (1 & 2)
Phase IV Submission (Bard, Agent, Nightmare, Pokemon Trainer), Phase IV Discussion, Phase IV Poll
Phase V Discussion (Bard, Agent, Nightmare, Pokemon Trainer), Phase V Poll
Class: Flame Wielder
Long ago King Nafaron and his followers were banished to the Firelands.
In the Firelands King Nafaron swore allegiance to Ragnaros.
In return the Firelord gave them the power to Wield the Flame.
But such power does not come without a price.
In the depths of the Firelands they deformed
and one by one they became monsters and beasts.
Example Cards:
Rest of BrM and TGT:
Upgraded Hero Power:
Classic Set:
Basic Set:
I didn't have a signature so Flux added one for me.
Alchemist
NOTES:
1. According to Ben Brode at twitter, when you shuffle a card into your deck, the entire deck gets shuffled.
2. Unstable Ritual works like Holy Wrath. You select a target before knowing the result.
Introduction
TGT was an expansion where Blizzard brings new deck archetypes to existing classes: Taunt Warrior, Lock and Load Hunter, Discard Warlock, Totem Shaman, etc. The class of Alchemist also receives a new feature in the TGT expansion, which is DECK ORDER as shown above. Up to now, the class cards of Alchemist have 5 features, which are:
1. Alchemy Potions
Here in the spoiler are the Alchemy Potion related cards of Alchemist class:
Alchemy Potions are cards that you shuffle into your deck and their effects trigger when drawn. There are 3 Basic Alchemy Potions and 1 new Alchemy Potion in each expansion other than Classic.
The new Alchemy Potion in TGT (NONCOLLECTABLE TOKEN):
Three basic Alchemy Potions (NONCOLLECTABLE TOKENS):
BRM and TGT cards related to Alchemy Potions:
Upgraded Hero Power created by Trueheart:
NOTE: This creates basic Alchemy Potions only (see Totemic Slam)
Basic and Classic cards related to Alchemy Potions:
2. Deck Order
Here in the spoiler are the deck order related cards of Alchemist class:
Although there was one deck order related card in the classic set of Alchemist class, it is not until the TGT expansion does it become one of the main features of the class. There are mainly two kinds of cards in this section: cards that allows you to know or change the order of your deck, and cards that benefit from your knowledge of which card you'll draw in future.
BRM and TGT cards related to deck order:
Basic and Classic cards related to deck order:
P.S. Fortuneteller was the Pokemon Challenge card from Phase II
3. Fatigue
Here in the spoiler are the card draws and Fatigue related cards of Alchemist class:
It's obvious that, in order to trigger all those Alchemy Potions shuffled into your deck, Alchemists need more card draws than other classes; this also makes Alchemist a class that reaches fatigue quite often. But don't worry - there will be cards in the Classic set and further expansions that benefit from your reaching fatigue. By the way, since Alchemist has a huge amount of card draws, I ensure this class will have no access to any OTK combos at all, so that drawing so many cards wouldn't make the class as 'fun and interactive' as the pre-nerf Patron Warrior.
BRM and TGT cards related to card draws and Fatigue:
Basic and Classic cards related to card draws and Fatigue:
4. Debuff
Here in the spoiler are the debuff related cards of Alchemist class:
As we know, every class has their own way of removals. For Mage, it's transform and damage; for Priest, it's taking control and destroy according to Attack of a minion; for Alchemist, it's debuff. While buff cards give a minion +X/+X, debuff cards give it -X/-X.
There are two things worth mentioning with this mechanic. First, when a minion's Health becomes 0 or less with a debuff, it dies. Second, when you debuff a damaged minion, both its current Health and maximum Health are reduced.
BRM and TGT cards related to debuff:
Basic and Classic cards related to debuff:
5. Swap
Here in the spoiler are the swap related cards in the Alchemist class:
You may have noticed that, 'swap Attack and Health' is an alchemist-themed effect in the current Hearthstone(see Crazed Alchemist and Kooky Chemist), and thus I also include 'swap' as one of the main features of my Alchemist class. But there are only 11 class cards Alchemist can receive from BRM+TGT, which left me no space to develop this archetype in this phase. This part will be explored further in other expansions.
Basic and Classic cards related to swap:
Further Materials
Remarkable combos:
1. Fortuneteller + Wizard of the East/Unstable Ritual
Both Wizard of the East and Unstable Ritual care about which card is the top card of your deck - with different cards topdecked, you should use them on different targets. Fortuneteller gives you a chance to decide the order of your deck, which helps you decide the outcome of those effects.
2. Novice Apothecary + Darkmoon Cabalist/Distillation
Novice Apothecary seems to be a weak minion at first glance, comparing with Boneguard Lieutenant or Tiny Knight of Evil. If you also hold this opinion, I recommend you try its synergy with Darkmoon Cabalist and Distillation (in arena, maybe).
3. Whirling Ash + Unstable Ritual
Unstable Ritual is a card designed for the situation when you know the order of your deck. But what if I have no idea what's on top of my deck? Don't worry. With Whirling Ash on board, you can play Unstable Ritual on your own face and either of the outcomes becomes acceptable.
4. Alchemy of Lightning + Fortuneteller + Azure Drake:
Since Explosive Trap benefits from spell damage, it will also be the case for Lightning Potion. With the help of Fortuneteller, you can now decide when to draw those Lightning Potions - and if you draw it via Azure Drake's battlecry, it will deal 2 damage to all enemy minions.
Other combos within Basic and Classic sets:
1. Midas Touch + Darkmoon Cabalist/Distillation
Notice that the Alchemy Potions all have an extra 'draw a card' effect apart from their own functions. So when you play Darkmoon Cabalist or Distillation after Midas Touch, you'll both trigger the Alchemy Potions AND get some legendary minions.
2. Fetter + Twisted Fane/Doomsayer
Only very few minions in the current Hearthstone have an attack of 8 or more. So when you play Fetter, minions' attack is often reduced to 0. Then, if you play Twisted Fane and choose a friendly minion, all minions but the one you choose will be destroyed. You can also play Doomsayer after Fetter, just like the Frost Nova + Doomsayer combo played in freeze mage.
3. Careless Chemist + Any Card Draw + Soul Kitchen
While summoning dozens of 5/5 Demons could create a very strong board, the requirement of Soul Kitchen's effect to trigger is that your deck must be empty. Since it takes quite many turns to draw all cards from your deck, Careless Chemist offers you another choice to reach Fatigue faster.
4. Fetter/Decrepify + Stone of Purification
Purify is not a good card for Priest because you don't want your own minions to be worse. But for a class with lots of 'AOE' debuffs, it will be absolutely different. Fetter + Stone of Purification offers you a chance to trade the minions for free; Decrepify + Stone of Purification clears the board and restore your big minions to full health. And there'll be more combos with Stone of Purification in future expansions.
5. Grand Apothecary Putress + Distillation
As I've mentioned above, Distillation not only triggers the main effect of Alchemy Potions but also lets you draw 3 extra cards (due to the 'draw a card' effect on Alchemy Potions). Thus, when you have Grand Apothecary Putress on board, Distillation will draw altogether 6 cards and therefore grants you 6 mana crystals. This 10 mana combo is absolutely game-changing. (By the way, I may nerf Grand Apothecary Putress by increasing its cost in future expansions. But consider how broken those meta decks are nowadays... I feel that such a 10 mana combo is quite acceptable comparing with them...)
Deck Recipes:
Knowing the Future
1 Telekinesis
1 Midas Touch
1 Basic Alchemy *2
2 Doomsayer *2
2 Novice Apothecary *2
3 Weaken *2
3 Alchemy of Lightning *2
3 Scour the Laboratory *2
3 Enthusiastic Prophet *2
4 Fortuneteller *2
4 Wizard of the East *2
4 Unstable Ritual *2
5 Decrepify *2
5 Azure Drake *2
6 Mezzik Darkspark
6 Darkmoon Cabalist *2
8 Ragnaros the Firelord
Classic Alchemist
1 Alchemy of Mana *2
1 Basic Alchemy *2
1 Midas Touch *2
2 Doomsayer *2
2 Twisted Fane *2
2 Loot Hoarder *2
3 Weaken *2
3 Fetter *2
3 Acolyte of Pain
4 Fortuneteller *2
4 Soul Kitchen *2
5 Distillation *2
5 Decrepify *2
5 Grand Apothecary Putress
6 Darkmoon Cabalist *2
7 Fanatic Researcher *2
Imgur Album:
BRM and TGT
Classic Set
Basic Set
[Not a native speaker. Forgive me for the possible grammar mistakes and typos. I hope you like my invention!]
-nobravery
THERE IS NO GAME.
Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Mirage Raceway.
Prepare yourself for a day of fast and furious action.
NOW, RACERS START!! YOUR!! ENGINES!!!!
Hero & Power
Commencing countdown! Engines on!
I'm coming off the line when the light turns green!
Give me fuel! Give me fire! Give me that which I desire!
One foot on the break and one on the gas!
Engines pumping and thumping in time!
There a voice in my head that drives my heel!
100+ through Black and White!
I just can't wait to get back on that road again!
Class and Keyword Explanation.
So, here we have it, The Racer. Madcap, maniacal, motor-loving madmen, and women, who can't get enough of putting their engineering and driving skills to the test. The inspiration for all of this was Mario Kart, or any sort of game in that genre, on top of all the good time I had in Vanilla WoW hanging out watching those weird scripted races while I farmed cooking and skinning mats. I wanted to take something that isn't even part of WoW anymore, and merge it with one of the other things I've had a blast playing with my friends, and that led me to the racer. I was never a huge Racing fan otherwise, but my step-dad was, and for about 10 years my brother worked for Lowe's, and so I just kind of off-handedly learned a bunch of racing terms.
Chase is a host body for our Keyword, Draft. Draft is a very powerful and dynamic mechanic, however it has takeaways. Draft only affects cards in you hand, never your deck. It triggers are part of the casting of the spell, like Overload, and only lasts until the end of your turn. Its not Emperor Thaurissan. You can't slowly snowball down the cost of very card. You have to set up turns and make the most of it. Still when I thought of it I initially dismissed. I can't let my class just lower the cost of its cards can I? Combo decks are already a thing, and if I just give my class the ability to reduce the cost of its cards, won't it just be the best combo class? Well, what if we designed a class around that, away from combo pieces and OP interactions, and instead we focus on tempo. Right now tempo is a huge thing in HS. Going first is a huge factor in many games and having a good curve and not floating mana is a big key to not only winning games, but even being able to participate. This is what I wanted to look at. What if I could turn those turns where you just hero power into part of a larger tempo swing? The ability to take off a turn or 2 or even play a bit off curve because of what you're dealt, but still have potential to get back in the game. That's what Draft is about to me. coming from behind and turning the game back around in your favor.
You'll notice as you look through my cards that Draft doesn't appear on that many cards. Far fewer times actually than most other classes keyword, but there's a pretty big difference in my class than most, and that's in the fact that the keyword is built into my hero power, and something as powerful as massive hand discounts can't just be put on every card. In fact, you'll also notice this keyword shows up toward the high end of the curve, that's because its not about having an explosive early game. We don't need to dump our whole hand on turn 2-3 through perfect Drafting. In fact that would just as easily lead to issue as throwing in tons of face damage and card draw. Instead Draft appears on slower later cards because it allows you to fit in extra plays on those later turns. Sneaking in 1 or 2 drops along side your midgame plays to regain some tempo. I hope this helped you understand some of the design restrictions and choices I've had to make, as well as my philosophy and approach to the class moving forward.
How to train your Dragon, and win more prizes.
Duh, I pick Ride. He always rides bear back. No, yeah I wanted him
eat my other mount....
Nothing can stop me now! They once cheered for
a tumbleweed.
Token
Preview Explanations
Preview focus - I couldn't fit both themes into one preview considering the challenge requirements. I decided to focus on one aspect and let the other ride in the spoilers. So, our main focus is Dragon and value cards here, with our "cost (0)" being hidden away.
Ride or Die - This is the first ever Dragon Spell. Its also a good example as to why Blizzard hasn't really done this. The wording gets a bit long, even if its fairly simple. I still really like the card and I think it could really have opened up a few more fun things with "Dragon" decks.
Bear Rider - This card is here as another small seed actually. Its a nice midrange value minion, kind of a step of from the super Basic, Desirable Mechanic. He's here to either give you a more consistent Draft experience or just give you that value. I felt like the Black War Bear having Charge meant less since it was just as likely for it to come out on your opponents turn, negating the effect.
Compliant Proto-Drake - Ok, so my entire reason for designing this was 2-fold. First I wanted to do something different with Dragon synergy. Second I wanted to make a legitimately playable late game minion. I think its pretty lame that pretty much every Dragon since BRM has not been good unless its specifically a Dragon deck. I think that's a lame design choice. Second, I think its stupid that there are a bunch of 1 mana 3/2s and growing 1/3s and crazy 2 drops that decide games, and 4 mana 7/7s. The average value of a 6+ cost minion is awful. Unless you're the cream of the crop you're just unplayable. You have to have instant dramatic effect or insane value. I think that metric needs to be pushed. I've kind of done that with other cards, this is by far the most pushed of those. I do think this card is on the very high end of power level. I think that its a very very playable 7 cost minion, and I think that's a great thing. I adjusted the power level slightly by giving it Ignores Draft, making it harder to have insane turns when you play this, something that has to come up on occasion to keep things fair.
Prepared to Win - I know this card has to look absurd. Its got a large health buff because I already have a large attack buff in classic. I also have a balanced buff in Basic, referenced here actually. So this closes out the trinity. Plus I mean come on, she's wearing a horse floaty for protection, its great. We get to hit a ton of different themes and really open our class up.
Crowd's Favor - The crowd is a big factor in any sporting event, and this is my representation of that. Being the guy(s) or girl(s) getting the cheers and really boost performance. Giving the underdog that advantage to beat the big favorite. It can also lead that Fan Favorite to a dominating victory. I decided to go with a very high cost on this to prevent easy abuse of Drifting to lead to major OTK potential.
BRM and TGT
BRM
TGT
Token and Justicar Trueheart Hero Power
Expansion Explanations
Expansion Approach - My goal moving forward was to shift things in a new direction. Even though we never showed off Naxx and GVG I still created those cards for myself and started building an identity pushed heavily on the "less Health than opponent" comebacks and Mech synergy. Leaving GvG I wanted to move toward a new push. Therefore we started pushing Dragon, and "cost (0)" to open up new deck concepts. This our Dragon approach I went more toward midrange/control and with our other cards we hit some heavy Aggro/Tempo notes. We still have a nice beefy value legendary, and funky new removal spell at the high end to give us play against other control decks.
Goof-off Technician - This card is a bit of a crossover between our two new focus points. Its also where I decided to give my class a serious Dragon push. This didn't really happen in BRM and for that reason Dragon decks didn't really come into being until TGT, and really they still didn't have enough oomph to make a major meta impact. That lead Blizzard to continue creating cards for the mechanic with each expansion, but that also means classes end up in weird places with Standard rotations. I also felt like every successful Dragon deck had to have a good low cost minion to keep in play with tempo. Therefore I created this guy.
Ride or Die - This is the first ever Dragon Spell. Its also a good example as to why Blizzard hasn't really done this. The wording gets a bit long, even if its fairly simple. I still really like the card and I think it could really have opened up a few more fun things with "Dragon" decks.
Runaway Aspirant - I hate the scaling 1 drop, so I took the Druid route to things and went with the 1 mana 2/2. I adding a bit of bonus to push the "cost (0)" mechanic.
Wrench Sergeant - Other forces may use Drill Sergeants to train people, but the racers use Wrenches instead. Honestly this is one of the first TGT cards I came up with. Simple, flavorful. It touches Inspire without going too far into it. This was a huge part of TGT and I wouldn't dream of leaving it out.
Bear Rider - This card is here as another small seed actually. Its a nice midrange value minion, kind of a step of from the super Basic, Desirable Mechanic. He's here to either give you a more consistent Draft experience or just give you that value. I felt like the Black War Bear having Charge meant less since it was just as likely for it to come out on your opponents turn, negating the effect.
Prepared to Win - I know this card has to look absurd. Its got a large health buff because I already have a large attack buff in classic. I also have a balanced buff in Basic, referenced here actually. So this closes out the trinity. Plus I mean come on, she's wearing a horse floaty for protection, its great. We get to hit a ton of different themes and really open our class up.
Bitter Rivalry - I know this card is going to freak people out. I spent a very long time trying to decide if I could make this card. And I came to the decision it was possible. My class has no face damaging spells, charge minions that can go face, or weapons. My hero power doesn't deal damage or heal/gain armor. You have to win with minions, this just lets you prevent your opponent from killing your face for awhile. It happens to shut down your minions from killing there face for a bit of parity. And worst case almost any opponent can use removal on one of their own minions if you've somehow locked them out of the game and actually set yourself up to win by fatigue.
Compliant Proto-Drake - Ok, so my entire reason for designing this was 2-fold. First I wanted to do something different with Dragon synergy. Second I wanted to make a legitimately playable late game minion. I think its pretty lame that pretty much every Dragon since BRM has not been good unless its specifically a Dragon deck. I think that's a lame design choice. Second, I think its stupid that there are a bunch of 1 mana 3/2s and growing 1/3s and crazy 2 drops that decide games, and 4 mana 7/7s. The average value of a 6+ cost minion is awful. Unless you're the cream of the crop you're just unplayable. You have to have instant dramatic effect or insane value. I think that metric needs to be pushed. I've kind of done that with other cards, this is by far the most pushed of those. I do think this card is on the very high end of power level. I think that its a very very playable 7 cost minion, and I think that's a great thing. I adjusted the power level slightly by giving it Ignores Draft, making it harder to have insane turns when you play this, something that has to come up on occasion to keep things fair.
Big-time Promoter - This is my nod to bringing the Races to the Tournament. Cross promotion and good times. If he feels like he's behind and needs to catch up, he brings in his muslce, "Tiny" the Ogre. This is kind of medium risk/high reward, and I only say high reward because the card is abysmal without the bonus, and that's intentional. I feel like these are the sorts of cards that show up on occasion at epic and either work or don't, but the power is here if you make it work.
The Bigger One - This is a card I had been thinking about for awhile and didn't want to put into this set, but after not being able to consolidate one of my other cards this got the nod. This is a card that I think might look scarier than it is, and I think there is a chance this could cost 6 mana, but I'm being conservative. This obviously has no effect on Legendaries and only gets the second copy of a minion if that copy is in the deck, it will never force someone to discard. So while it might accelerate fatigue or gain a bit of extra value, that situation isn't really that common. I kind of balanced it aroundEntomb. But instead of adding a resource to your deck for sure it might remove one from your opponent.
Dr. Autto, Octo-Engineer - The main idea for me is he hates spiders! Those bastard Nerubians will all be crushed by the true king of the eight-legged freaks. I had a few thoughts to do a combo of multiple legendaries or something else, but really this felt right to me for the expansion. Its big and beefy on its own but summons nice value minions. Its kind of like a reverse Confessor Paletress, without the variance.
Justicar Trueheart "Better" Hero Power - I feel like Justicar doesn't have any major bonuses for me if I do anything traditional. I could have taken the route of making it bad for me, as blizzard did with Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, kind of Druid, and in that regard kind of everyone but Warrior and maybe Paladin. Now I know adding Draw a card is a huge change. But honestly, I think my hero power is very very weak in many situations. Its not versatile. It has no value, only tempo. The class is built on and around tempo, but I think the Justicar side of things should allow me to gain value. Maybe this is too much value, but I think anything else wouldn't make sense. Tempo can only be taken so far without value.
Basic Set
Basic Explanations
Fall Back - Here we are. First card in and its already familiar but different. One of the big aspects I put emphasis on is wide or aoe buffs. But ones not so tied into boosting stats, but more so in adding abilities to my racers. From a flavor standpoint Fall Back, is about letting yourself appear weak at some point in the race to get ahead later. I've represented that by giving all my minions Taunt, as they are now more viable and visible opponents.
Last Ditch Effort - Removal. Its something we all know, but I needed to find a way to make cheap removal that didn't deal damage to the opponent. That led me down many paths and this was just the first. Last Ditch Effort is that point where to stay in the race you just launch off everything. You do whatever it takes, you might even just ram the other driver off the road. And the bigger and badder they are the harder they hit you back.
Caution - Every race still wants to keep its racers safe, so when things get too wild, we pump the breaks. But its not just one person we're trying to keep safe, its everyone, and so we have protection for everyone. This helps reinforce our AoE buff theme, and provides an even more unique take on it by hitting all minions, friendly or otherwise.
Clumsy Mechanic - For every good driver, you have to have a car, and who else but the Mechanics do we have to thank for that. This gal may not be the most graceful, but she's still one hell of a mechanic, and she's not just going to roll over and give up. She represent, along side Last Ditch Effort, part of our self damaging sub theme. This is put into play because those comebacks can't happen if we aren't getting behind in some way. So we might take a bit of damage, but that's ok, we can always make a Pit Stop and get some repairs and get back out there.
Start Your Engines! - Our last AoE buff, this one hits a nice icon race moment, that point where the race is really about to start. Obviously this is just Charge, in AoE form, but like many of our other effects, we've made it iconically our own.
Speed Freak - This is a minion many people told me didn't make sense. It didn't have any abilities, it was just this weird vanilla minion. But its not just some weird vanilla minion. Its our minion. Its got a statline we'll likely never see on an Neutral minion. Its something different. Its part of our class identity. How? Well, we are already going wide with out buffs. We can pass out Taunt, Divine Shield and Charge. If we spend a bunch of time putting all these abilities on our minions we close off part of our unique design and so by not doing that we instead open up even more unique design. Dynamic statlines. Here we have out first example, the high attack low health minion. But we're getting a full 10 stat points for just 4 mana. Who needs abilities when you've got great stat value? Ok, maybe the distribution isn't great, but that's the point as well. Not every card is great. We have to fill out set and I could make a bunch of awesome cards to show you how many great ideas I have, but I think it takes just as much effort to design mediocre to bad cards. I'll obviously try to avoid downright awful cards, but I think we all know that not every card is, and more so shouldn't be, great.
Tactical Maneuver - So, we are almost definitely going to have to do a few damage spells, we just have to avoid the ability to BURN THE DOME!!!! Oh, sorry, my winner's instinct kicked in for a second there. This card represents our first look at the "comeback" trigger. Being behind on life won't be a super huge thing, because let's be honest, we don't always want to play from behind, but I think its nice to have a few cards that make that feel better. This lets us take and enemy out, and if we got lucky and that was the guy just ahead of us in the race, we eek out that extra advantage.
Crowd's Favor - The crowd is a big factor in any sporting event, and this is my representation of that. Being the guy(s) or girl(s) getting the cheers and really boost performance. Giving the underdog that advantage to beat the big favorite. It can also lead that Fan Favorite to a dominating victory. I decided to go with a very high cost on this to prevent easy abuse of Drifting to lead to major OTK potential.
Eliminate the Competition - Every once in awhile you have to thin the pack. That's when a nice rocket barrage can be a huge help. Taking out a group of weaker drivers let's you get back in the race and go for the win! Plus, every class needs some AoE.
Fan Favorite - Oh, here he is. That big dog we were talking about earlier. He's won more races than you, hell he's won more than anyone in recent memory. He's cool, he's collected, and he's a serious threat to anyone else winning the race. At least that's how I justified a big beefy Taunt minion to myself when I designed this guy. I think the Fonzie style is a great nod as well.
Classic Set
Tokens
Classic Explanations
No Magic Zone - "Mirage Raceway would like to inform you that this is a No Magic Zone. We are here to test engineering and driving prowess, not who's fireballs are the biggest." - Fobeed and Zuzubeed, race annoucners. If that's not enough, I don't know how else to get the point across. The other reason I added this was to keep things going. Wide, AoE style effects. This hits both sides of the board, and while we do have AoE buffs, we also don't have too many powerful persistent effect or powerful deathrattles. In fact our only deathrattle is actually a drawback. That gives us a bit of fun play with the Self Silence mechanic that never really worked out for Priest. Flavor Text "Also, no outside food or drinks."
Smoke Screen - When racing is war, sometimes defense is the best offense. A well placed Smoke Screen can help you stay in the race long enough to pull ahead. I though this twist on Divine Shield was a cool one. Doesn't work on Spells, but hell your opponent isn't supposed to be bringing those to the track anyway! Flavor Text: "Did you know Smoke Bomb™ is under trademark by the SI:7?"
Upstart Mechanic - Oh, this young fella, well young for a gnome, thinks he has all the knowledge and skill anyone could ever need, until this Old-Timer gives him whatfor. You gotta learn from the best, not just from some book! This gives us a nice tempo minion and also gives us a touch of Self Damage and healing play. Working all those themes into a 2-drop. Flavor Text: "If he was as smart as he is stupid we'd win every race." - Old-Timer
Quick Fix - Sometimes you take a big shot, your rides almost toast, you're sucking in smoke and you can't see out of one eye. If you just pull over and slap some duct tape on it you can, drink some coolant, (don't worry, its safe, the Speed Freaks drink it all the time), you can get back on the track in no time. Quick fix plays into our healing. Healing might seem out of place, but that's only when you think about it as some sort of divine intervention or holy light, and not a bit of wrench work and some Croc-ade® (patent pending). Then it kind of makes sense. Just because you take a hit doesn't mean you're out of the race! This is our first Draft effect. Draft is something we have to be somewhat conservative with because of our hero power, and here its tacked on for both flavor and effect. Flavor Text: "Is this one the coolant or the Croc-ade®? Eh, same difference"
Desirable Mechanic - Ah, you know you love a nice piece of eye candy! What I'm talking about that flying machine you pervert! This fine little piece of tail...pipe is our.... Oh who am I kidding, she's hot right? And she's one of the most brilliant mechanics I've ever seen! Its like very motor she touches runs that much faster. Seriously though, this card probably seems super simple, but that's the beauty of it. Its a fine on curve body with upside. What more do you really need. Flavor Text: "She really revs your engine."
The Draft Pack - Every generation has an icon group of winners, except this bunch of losers. The only person they ever beat is each other. I took a big inspiration from the Summit, more popularly known as the Rat Pack, a supergroup of singers including Frank Sinatra (Old Blue Eyes), Dean Martin (the King of Cool), and Sammy Davis Jr. (Mister Show Business). This group was actually the second iteration and would later be the inspiration for the Brat Pack and the Frat Pack, as well as the movie, The Rat Pack. I thought it was a great nod to some classic crooners and a bit of fun at the same time. Lil' Blue Eyes, Baron of Cool and Mister Go Business are the three tokens, and each is that little bit different from the other. I think I found some decent art to bring the concept to life and I hope you have a much fun seeing it as I did coming up with it. Flavor Text "They want to be called the Draft Pack? Like they ever won something, just a bunch of filthy rats if you ask me." - Fizzle Brassbolts, Gnome Team Racing President.
Magne-TNT - What better way to take out a group of tightly packed competitors in their fancy cars than a piece of dynamite and a magnet? Just set it and forget it! I wanted my second AoE to have a very unique feel, and so I came up with Magne-TNT. It seems like some sort of crazy thing someone would invent and use, and it gave me a cool twist. Half single target removal, half AoE. Flavor Text: "Just gotta make sure I throw it past my own...uh oh."
Pit Crew Chief - A pit crew is only as good as its best man, and luckily this guys pretty good. Typically taking a Pit Stop at the right time is important, and this guy knows how to make that call. Making you look out of the race when you're secretly about to make a big comeback. Another small subtheme is what I call Full Drift. Pushing a card to 0 mana. This means you've gained enough advantage from good "driving" that you reap special rewards. This one may not seem like much but on those potentially large tempo turns being able to add a Taunt all is a pretty sweet bonus. Flavor Text: "I said "Stop It" not "Pit Stop" you idiot, keep going!"
Pit Stop - This is it, one of the biggest moments in any race. Get in and out of the Pit fast and you're sure to be in position to win. Making a good pit stop when you're behind is even more important. You have to refuel the car, but you might even get in a few repairs and maybe even chase the leader out of the pit! Here again, we play into a lot of things in one card. Its probably a touch wordy, a touch cluttered, but its hits those flavor notes and nothing feels out of place to me. Flavor Text: "Can't we just change cars?"
Just A Bit Further - Sometimes you're out. You've taken too many hits and the wheels are coming off. You've lost your mirrors and your bumpers are blown to bits, but you know if you just hold onto the steering wheel and pray maybe there's just enough momentum to get you across the line. Hey, look the shield generators back online, and we've got one more rocket left, and its just a quarter mile to the finish line. WE CAN DO THIS! This card was inspired more by the art than most. Most of the time I found art to fit cards, here I found this art and couldn't help but make it into a card. Ignores Draft is something that we have to use to keep just a few cards from being very dangerous. Here it keeps this large protective buff in check.
Hellbound Speedster - He's on a Highway to Hell, and he's going dooooowwooown. And he's probably taking you with him. No, I felt like I couldn't use the same card for both the music and high cost common theme, so I created this card as an homage to AC/DC. I live in Australia after all. This may not be super obvious, but I felt like it still hit the right note.... I'll stop now. This also reinforces our Dynamic statline and self damage themes and helps give No Magic Zone more of an in-game use and not just a flavor one. Flavor Text: "He's got Season Tickets on a one way ride."
Careless Rocket Jockey - Ah, the most out of place low mana card ever. This card seems beyond weird I'm sure. And honestly, we already have a 1 mana removal in our basic set, so what made me put this one there? Well, that actually part of it. We already have a 1 mana removal, and that's already going to be floating around Arena, we don't need to have a bunch of running around. Plus this has some other interesting things going on that I felt pushed it toward a special slot. Its a minion that is actually meant to be removal, similar to Force of Nature, which ended up being a combo piece until its nerfing. So I felt like in a lot of ways I was paying Homage to a nerfed Force of Nature. I love this card and I think it makes a great epic, especially if you look at Blizzards track record with epics. Flavor Text: "Look at what I can do." - Stuart, former Goblin Rocket Jockey
Rocket Fuel Tech - Our second Full Draft card. One of my original previews and one of the first cards I designed. It hasn't changed a bit since then and its still a great example of flavor and substance. Flavor Text: "This stuff will take you to the moon and back. Oh, you're here for fuel?"
Qualified - Our second Ignore Draft card, and our biggest potential hair puller. Some times you think you're winning the race, but it turns out its just for a chance at the real prize. I tried to cost this in such a way that makes it playable, but not great. And in a way that typically makes the second copy much worse than the first. Back in the classic days I think more games against aggro went past turn 7 but now it seems like they don't. Flavor Text: "I blew him off the track, how did he qualify?"
ToGny Starkwrench - Ah, we all need a good legendary, and who better to help us build amazing machines and sick weapons then warmongering, egotistical, millionaire, playboy, ToGny Starkwrench. Yeah, so he got kidnapped by Goblins in held in the desert, but he's still alive. What do you mean he stopped making weapons? Renewable energy? Well I'm already paying him, so let's just hope he's got something helpful against those goblins. I really am going to make every legendary comic book subthemed so just get used to it. We get to play off ToGny's ingenuity and off his skill. We get both designer and creator in one go. I hope this guy feels cool and fun, that's what I'm aiming for most. Flavor Text: "I told you I don't want to join your super secret boy-band." - ToGny Starkwrench.
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
Isabella Darkraven - The Cult Leader
«May the Faith in the Cult protects us.»
«Ah, the Grand Tournament. Joyful supporters, proud knights, lovely princesses, travelers from far away. The streets have been cleaned, the mounts tended to. Everyone looks happy and cheerful. Well, almost everybody is excited towards this most spectacular event. Some people are slightly less enthusiastic.
Look at this squire, aspiring to a better life. And this gladiator - "he will fight until his death" I hear him say - whose true battle lies elsewhere. Good recruits in need of some guidance I say. Let's do our job and go spread our message.»
Keyword and Upgraded Hero Power
Cult: When you build your deck, you may include up to 4 copies of a card with the keyword Cult. Two new Cult cards appear in the BRM and TGT sets; Ember Jet and Paranoid Cultist.
Convince: Cultists are efficient minions, and shuffling two of them into your deck at a time is certainly good. Shuffling cards into your deck and Increasing your deck size will reinforce some cards, like the new Succumb and Envious Squire.
Example Cards
«At the stables, he mixes up the different mounts.»
«I will fight 'til my death!»
«He got disqualified once for summoning Ysera.»
«Cultists don't read Gadgetzan Times. They have some weird literary tastes.»
Blackrock Set
Ember Jet: It starts slow and calm, and like a wild fire, increases in intensity and becomes destructive! Prolong the game, copy Ember Jet and burn everything in your way.
Inner Flame Adept: Inner Flame Adept fills your curve like Jeweled Scarab, provides card advantage like Mana Tide Totem, and supports a Dragon-strategy. A superb minion that you will want to protect at all costs!
Tournament Set
Commons
Envious Squire: The Cult Leader's Mana Wyrm.
Tireless Gladiator: A good follow-up to Envious Squire, and a good target for Occult Jouster, Tireless Gladiator valiantly protects your most valuable minions. If he sticks on the board, that's for the best.
Master of the Dark Arts: The Inspire minion for the class, Master of Dark Arts will keep the board clear and tidy. Be aware that she doesn't distinguish foes from friends.
Rares
Paranoid Cultist: «I won't go alone. There are... things lurking in the darkness.» Paranoid Cultist is a solid threat for a Cult-based strategy. Have you thought cheating this minion into play with Occult Jouster?
Dusty Compendium: Gain some card advantage, enhance your hand, copy the cards you value the most and voilà.
Succumb: Deck size is still a relevant mechanic of the Cult Leader class, being represented here by Succumb. This straightforward spell comes with a triggered discount, ensuring that you have access to a good and versatile removal spell early on. Excellent against tempo-oriented decks.
Epics and Legendary
Occult Jouster: Your hero power shuffles Cultists into your deck, your cards shuffle Cultists into your deck, Cult minions have a low cost... That's kind of a problem if you want to use the Joust mechanic. Don't worry, Occult Jouster is specifically made for the Cult Leader class, and will bring his squire along to the fight.
Lose All Hope: «I must forfeit to my opponent, and abandon all hope of winning.» Lose All Hope is a spell similar to Brawl. However, it lets you choose which enemy minion stays alive. Thus, if you need to kill something big (like a Flamewreathed Faceless among a bunch of totems), you are assured that your main target won't survive.
Zargha the Shapeless: «The tailor has a hard time making him a suit.» You love Inspire, or you would if it was a stronger mechanic? Not only does Zargha strengthen your Hero Power, making it more viable, it also acts as an excellent recurrent threat. If control decks pose a problem, bring Zargha into your deck and appreciate its strength.
Classic Set
Basic Set
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to The_Odinson (Racer), Aelxer (Bronze Guardian), nurgling13 (Worgen) and freddoccino (Stargazer) for their comprehensive reviews and comments, and to every supporter. (And to the people who were motivated enough to start a discussion on the hero power.)
Class: Alchemist
Frustrated with the limitations of traditional alchemy, Wulfrum
abandoned his training in Stormwind and begin his own experiments.
He joined the scourge as an acolyte to gain access to corpses, diseases, and many other ingrediants
that would have disgusted his old teacher. His affiliation with the scourge soon became a lot more
permanent after one of his experiments resulted in his death. He was resurrected to serve once more
in the armies of the Lich King. Now with all the time in the world, Wulfrum decided to see just how far
he could go with alchemy. A terrifying concept to those who have seen his vile work
and fear there's no line he wont cross.
Example Cards:
BrM and TgT
Tokens:
Justicar Hero Power:
Classic Set:
Tokens:
Basic Set:
Check out my Custom Classes (Scribe, Alchemist, and Battlemage)!
Example Cards:
Blackrock Mountain & The Grand Tournament:
Tokens & Justicar Trueheart Hero Power:
Classic:
Tokens:
Basic:
Tokens:
The Worgen Class
Lore:
Centuries ago, the Lords of Winter’s Fall fell victim to the Worgen curse. The exact circumstances are shrowded in mystery, but the lord who brought the curse upon his family was a renowned mage. A small, secluded principality in the Alterac Mountains, Winter’s Fall was completely cut off from the outside world after this calamity, to hide their lord’s embarassment. In time, the lords learned to control their Worgen curse, shapeshifting at will between human and wolf form, but the curse was never lifted, nor could they remain as humans for long, and so their kingdom’s long isolation continued. Recently, the new lord of Winter’s Fall, Howe Hark, has learned that a new kingdom of Worgen, Gilneas. With the threat posed by the Forsaken, he has ended his seclusion and brought his forces to the aid of Gilneas and the alliance. The Young Wolf, as he is known, is known for both his brilliant military strategy and savagery on the field of battle. Mastery of his Worgen form means he is alternately rallying his loyal men into battle and tearing out the hearts of his enemies.
Reminder about how the class works:
The Worgen class centers around shifting between Worgen and Human form. Using the Worgen Form hero power (which you start the game with) gives you +1 Attack that turn and transforms you into a Worgen. This changes your hero power to Human Form, but you can’t use it until the next turn. When Human Form is used, your Hero heals 2 health and transforms into a human. The unique keywords of the class are Worgen and Human, shown in the tooltip.
Cards with these keywords trigger an extra effect if you play them while you're in that form. Human/Worgen keyword cards are inefficient if played in the wrong form and extra efficient if played while in the right form. One of the key mechanics of the class is switching between forms at the right times to efficiently play cards. Also note that other classes are always considered to be in Human form, so they can always use cards they acquire with the Human keyword.
There is a binary theme to the class, based on the two forms you switch between. Howe Hark has cards that focus on the savagery of his Worgen form, dealing damage or buffing attack, similar to Druid shapeshift-themed cards, and also cards that focus on supporting or buffing his minions, representing how he inspires and leads his men while in human form. There are also several secondary themes. The class has cards themed to snowy Alterac homeland of Howe Hark (including Freeze cards). There are also going to be cards that focus on class cards, representing the solidarity of Worgen.
Because of the hero power and binary theme, the class is well-suited for hybrid playstyles, and lots of cards will be versatile. If the hero power is used effectively, Worgen excels at tempo, since Human/Worgen cards are mana efficient when in the right form. This is also a weapon class, and both cards and your hero power buff your attack and restore health, so it is good at controlling the board, as well. Some of these control tools could be repurposed for Aggro, as well, especially in a Pirate deck.
Example Cards
(Explanations in Spoilers)
Heated Brawler - This is essentially an AOE minion. It does it damage normally when it's attacked, or when you go face with it. When you attack an enemy minion, it takes damage from that minion, but it's damage is split evenly among all enemies, including the enemy hero. This makes it difficult to kill individual minions with it, but good against multiple smaller minions. The damage is rounded up so that it's never zero. This effect works best with buffs, like Champion of Azeroth from my Basic set.
Scorched Earth - One of the problems with a big AOE is that you use up your turn clearing the board and your opponent can just fill it up again next turn. This card addresses that problem by making enemy minions cost more after you clear the board. It is expensive for the amount of damage it does to compensate. Your opponent can bypass the effect by playing just spells or weapons, but that plays into the goal of not having them fill up the board.
Grizzled Weaponmaster - This would be a very powerful effect with high durability weapons like Doomhammer, but Worgen has only a 3/2, a 5/2, and either a 4/2 or a 6/1. you can get more value out of your weapon this way. A 4/2 becomes a 3/4 (when played in Worgen form), dealing 50% more damage overall. This is also meant to be a tech card against Aggro, where a 2/4 might be more useful than a 4/2. Overall, it's a quirky effect you could develop a combo around that plays into the Worgen theme of attacking a lot with your hero.
Winter Hunt - This is a card that supports your minions, another theme of the Worgen class, by Freezing the enemy. The Alpine Wolves you summon are Immune to Freeze, however, which gives them free reign to attack whatever they want next turn. This combos well with Worgen buff cards from the Classic set like Inspiration and Rally, and it also works well with Flank from TGT.
Blackrock Mountain:
The Grand Tournament:
Justicar Trueheart Hero Power:
Expert Set:
Basic Set:
Hunted - This is one removal option for Worgen, similar to Hunter's Mark. You play this and follow it up with another source of damage that normally would not have killed your target. The effect is permanent, so all damage from then on is doubled for that minion.
Alpine Wolf - With Champion of Alterac, it’s important that there’s a 1-Cost class minion as a potential target. This is basically just the same as Enchanted Raven. “Cannot be Frozen” is not worth anything, because it’s almost never relevant. There will be at least one source of Freezing allies in later sets, so it will have some relevance.
Grievous Wounds - This is the Basic direct removal card. It’s a cheap card, but with a very restrictive limitation. While Execute can be paired with any source of damage, and it is often paired with spell damage or minion AOEs, you can only play this after attacking a minion. Execute was too strong at 1, but this would not be. It does combine well with the Worgen Form hero power.
Champion of Alterac - This card is reflective of the Worgen class’ support side, which represents Howe Hark’s human side. It’s a mana-efficient buff spell, but you can only cast it on a class minion. That’s more restrictive than you might initially think. The only way to play it on turn 2 is if you played Alpine Wolf on Turn 1. I don’t plan on making any other 1-Cost minions.
Gilnean Reinforcements - This is Worgen’s card draw. A number of classes have variations of this spell (Arcane Intellect, Ancestral Knowledge, Burgle, Thoughtsteal). This take reflects Worgen’s focus on class cards. This makes the spell both more restrictive, since it can only draw certain cards in your deck, and is useless if you have too few class cards, and more reliable, since you have a better idea of what it will give you.
Icy Shortsword - Worgen is a weapon class. Howe Hark is not just all about tearing things up with his claws. I mean, he doesn’t have any when he’s in human form, anyway. Weapons will not be as strong a focus as in Warrior. It will be more like in Shaman. You can see that here, as this is not as strong a weapon as Fiery War Axe, but it has more utility in being able to Freeze, which is a secondary theme of the class, based on Howe Hark’s Alterac homeland.
Krennan’s Potion - Worgen focuses on using their Hero Power to switch forms regularly, so they need some support for that. This card can both help you recover health, which you may lose from attacking minions, and switch forms more easily, either on this turn or the next.
Leap - This represents leaping into the midst of the enemy's ranks to attack, so they are forced to attack you. Direct damage spells are going to be very limited for Worgen, since the class focuses more on dealing damage with weapons and buffing your hero’s attack. This card can be used both for removal, and to protect your minions. When you play this, your hero has Taunt during your opponent’s next turn, which means your minions can’t be attacked. It’s like half of a Conceal, because your minions can still be targeted by spells and Battlecries.
Winter Has Come - This is Worgen’s AOE option. It’s pretty efficient for its cost, because it will damage any neutral minions you have in play. This also reflects Worgen’s focus on class minions. It represents the hardiness of your Worgen and Alterac followers.
Worgen Assassin - With the lack of direct damage spells, Worgen needs a card like this. Similar to Fire Elemental, you can play this later in the game as a removal option, although it lacks Fire Elemental’s ability as a finisher. There was a lot of debate about this card, and I think we reached the consensus that, in its current form, it is as powerful as Fire Elemental. It’s a strong card, but Worgen needs this as a substitute for damage spells.
Come Play Make the Keyword!!!
Check out my Worgen Class in the Class Competition
The King!
Even in Fireheart, on a remote, far away island, the Grand Tournament is considered to be unmissable.
Boetius Bannister has decided to return, to relish in the competitions, the food, and the many races of people that the event has to offer. Not that he cares for much besides the competitions, but hey, Tuskarr's are pretty cool.
Example Card Explanations:
Ambitious Grunt: A deceptively simple minion. It's really just a conditional buff attached to an inspire, but its condition requires a little preparation to be relevant. And you want to trigger that effect, else it's a 1 mana Wisp. It can be played cheaply for tempo, but it's hard to resist a 4 mana 4/4 that gains +4/+4 every turn. This will however require 3 promote effects to hit it before you hero power though, but if it goes unanswered, it's an effective win condition. It's also a very good example of rarity effects.
Dragon Harbinger: Since dragon king isn't really going to be a thing, this guy allows a different kind of "Dragon" deck to exist. One that will only likely be running 2-4 dragons. This card synergises well with Malygos, but not too well, as the King has not got any face targetting damage spells or aoe spells below 5 mana. It can bring some incredible value though. It also synergises with Chromaggus, with you having enough mana to use a Celebrations card or two, getting your Harbinger to be an 8/7 and getting 4 promoted cards in your hand. Don't forget about Ysera too! And in the Whispers of the Old Gods, you get Deathwing, Dragonlord.... Unreliable, but potentially terrifying.
Tuskarr Spearman: Epic king is a archetype that functions as something like a mix between Jade Druid and Control. Basically, between this and Pompous Noble, you have access to a pair of potentially huge heals, and a pair of potentially huge minions. They gain strength proportional to how many epics you've played, but are less oppressive towards control than jade golems yet and are more functional against aggro.
Robin, Military Strategist: This card is a step up from Squad Leader. Squad Leader is a card that summons a little squad if you promote it. This card summons a squad leader if you hero power. He can start a small army developing if you just keep it going for long enough, but that isn't too easy to do. Think of him as a potential second hero. When you command him to, he'll play squad leaders so you can keep enemies at bay and generate immense value. He can be easily shot down by a Fireball or a Hex, so he's a bit of a risk reward card.
Blackrock Mountain and The Grand Tournament:
Blackrock Mountain:
The Grand Tournament:
Justicar Hero Power:
Classic Set:
Basic Set:
Tokens:
Militiaman - Token of Squad Leader
Castle Archer - Token of Hail of Arrows
Determined Participant - Token of Spear of Glory
The Bronze Guardian
As a member of the Bronze Dragonflight, Moradormi has extensive knowledge about the future. She knows exactly what is meant to happen, and what isn't. Or so she thought. Discovering the ultimate fate of her flight, their corruption into the Infinite Dragonflight, turned the once optimist dragon into a full-on cynic. Still, she strives to make the future a better place, perhaps trying to atone for deeds not yet commited.
Class Keyword:
Example Cards:
Explanations:
Bronze Watcher: Much like Mana Wyrm and Tunnel Trogg, this 1 mana 1/3 grows in power thanks to one of the class' main themes: card draw. It will grow passively at the start of each turn without any additional intervention, but both the Hero Power as well as other class cards can accelerate the process.
Wormhole Technician and Unstable Wormhole: Cannot deny the artwork was awfully convenient when trying to tackle this challenge. Wormhole Technician is an expert on Wormholes of all kinds, and will make sure Unstable Wormhole actually remains stable for longer than expected, as well as being able to easily create more as needed.
Azure Ally: The dragonflights might now always get along too well, but that doesn't mean there's always conflict. The blue dragons are masters of the arcane, and this one is particular is always ready to lend a hand.
Kairoz: A 4/4 body for 3, no strings attached, is always a tempting prospect early on when you're fighting for the board. An Arcane Intellect that shuffles itself back into the deck is great for the long game, but also when you need answers. Neither of them is anything to scoff at, and only justified because of the legendary status, which will ensure you always think it twice before deciding which part of Kairoz you want: the body or the effect?
BRM:
TGT:
Justicar Hero Power:
Classic Set:
Basic Set:
The Chronomancer
Lore and Themes
Born into a poor farming family, Erin stood apart from her peers due to her latent magical ability. So great was her power that she drew the attention of the Bronze Dragonflight. Under the tutelage of Chromie, Erin was brought to the Caverns of Time to learn how to safely use her magic and keep safe the world's timelines. But even here Erin stands apart, as she does not share the dragons' belief of predetermination, that one's fate is already written. With both a will to make her own destiny and the power to do so, Erin Fatespan now seeks to protect the past and future of Azeroth.
As a Chronomancer, Erin uses time itself to confuse and disable her enemies while protecting her allies. Her Hero Power allows her to Bend Time, borrowing energy from other timelines to make her minions and spells more efficient, more powerful. Her's is a class with the ability to ramp, create combos, play control, and endure fatigue. Many of her cards involve bouncing minions, replaying cards, and high card draw. She does not have weapons, secrets, or a unique keyword. Instead, she takes existing rules and flips them on their head, changing the board and her hand to better secure victory.
To balance out these themes, the Chronomancer lacks healing or significant face damage. This prevents the player from making broken Malygos combos, or looping and replaying heal effects over and over without significant time investment. Cards like Temporal Barrier, Erode, Sand Scourer, and Hindsight allows the Chronomancer to attack enemies and prevent or repair damaged without opening the door to some truly broken combos.
With BRM and TGT, the Chronomancer takes a big swing towards board presence. Strong minions, minions buffs, predictability, and disruption help you take the game by force. These work with the various stall and copy effects from the previous sets to create a powerful set. Future expansions will add more card draw and more unique, dynamic experiences.
Example Cards:
Explanations
Destined Champion -Despite his memory loss, Lo'Gosh knew he was meant for more than the gladiator's life.
Joust is an interesting mechanic. If you win, you get some useful effect above what you paid for the minion. If you lose, the minion was over-costed and your opponent gives their (sarcastic) condolences. So why not make it more predictable? What good is a Chronomancer who can't predict the future and put the right minion where it needs to be? You could still lose, of course. But you have a more predictable ramp effect via Joust.
Time Keeper - She's supposed to watch the clock during jousting matches, but she gets distracted by all the strong, muscular contestants.
When this class was first presented, one theme I wanted to explore was Fatigue. And not in the traditional way. Time Keeper allows you to deal some extra face damage that can snowball very quickly. If the game does last into Fatigue, your opponent has a significant head start! WotOG will add 1-2 more cards to play off this theme.
Run Out the Clock - Time waits for no one. "Except me." - Erin Fatespan
An interesting take on disruption. Played wrong, this card will do nothing. But play it at the right time, and you can really screw up your opponent's turn. Best used when your opponent has a big combo or a full board.
Time-Lost Proto-Drake - This rare and beautiful beast flies the treacherous Storm Peaks. Or it would if it weren't for adventurers trying to tame and mount it.
A big, early game minion is a great way to take control of the game. Giving your opponent a Send Back creates an interesting tactical decision. Does your opponent remove your Proto-Drake, giving you a 2/2 and letting you play the Proto-Drake next turn? Or do they save it for another minion, or even use it on their own?
The Rest of the Cards!
The Grand Tournament
Justicar - Upgraded Hero Power
Timewalker's Oath - "To guard the timelines. To protect both dragons and mortals. To stop using the word "mortals" as a derogatory term."
Time Keeper - She's supposed to watch the clock during jousting matches, but she gets distracted by all the strong, muscular contestants.
Bronze Drake - He's a big drake now!
Timewalker Valiant - He's not actually summoning time-displaced copies of himself. He just has a lot of brothers.
Time-Lost Proto-Drake - This rare and beautiful beast flies the treacherous Storm Peaks. Or it would if it weren't for adventurers trying to tame and mount it.
Destined Champion - Despite his memory loss, Lo'Gosh knew he was meant for more than the gladiator's life.
Run Out the Clock - Time waits for no one. "Except me." - Erin Fatespan
Divergence - "Perhaps in another timeline you are safe. Free. But here, now, you are mine."
Soridormi - Prime consort of Nozdormu the Timeless. Loving, caring, but ever nagging her mate for always being late.
Send Back is a Classic card and is generated by TIme-Lost Proto-Drake.
Blackrock Mountain
Perpetual Flame - The Firelord's presence will always scar this land.
Chromatic Prototype - Nefarian is trying to combine the five dragonflights to create ultimate warriors. This Prototype is not one such example.
The Classic Set
Send Back - "No, don't send me back! Have you seen what people used to wear back then!?"
Eternal Vigilance - "The first ten thousand years were the worst. And the second ten thousand years, they were the worst too. The third ten thousand years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline."
Temporal Barrier - "Quick, raise the shield! Aaaaaaaaand it's gone."
Sand Scourer - Removes 99.9% of temporal anomalies!
Bronze Warden - The Bronze Wardens have it rough. It's not their fault that every visitor to the Caverns can just fly over them.
Infinite Summoner - ... a corrupt dragonkin, filled with darkness and pride, attempts to summon...
Avert - Chromie once averted a future in which Gadgetzhan outlawed tacos.
Timestream Meddler - He's a Scooby-Doo villian's worst nightmare.
Time in a Bottle - You don't mess around with this stuff.
Erode - High stress time management can really wear you down.
Lost in Time - This spell is typically how people become their own ancestors.
Echomancer - "Pyroblast... Pyroblast... Pyroblast..."
Anachronism - "Uhg, what time is it?...TOO SOON! YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME TOO SOON, EXECUTUS!"
Past and Future, Present - "For this job, there's only two people I can trust."
Chromie - Past Chromie is mad at Future Chromie for helping adventurers and forgetting their birthday.
Echo is the token generated by Send Back and Lost in Time.
The Basic Set
Bronze Whelp - I know this looks like a Black Whelp, but his scales will turn gold as he gets older. Really!
Forthwith - Somehow, being able to manipulate time hasn't made Erin any more patient.
Suspend - Students learn quick not to cause a ruckus when Chromie is teaching.
Sand Breath - Be sure to avoid Bronze Dragons with allergies.
Wither - Youth is wasted on the young.
Doomed Future - Its not so bad if you have 4 Health.
Paradox - Minions you summon with this spell always have a wicked mustache. Even Harvest Golem.
Hindsight - Dragons hate puns.
Timewalker Elite - The Timewalker's retirement plan is pretty good. Then again, they already know if you will collect it.
Sandstorm - Powerful, magical sandstorms often sweep through Tanaris. If you get caught up in one, you won't know where or even when you'll end up.
Currently working on the Tinker! K&C and WW / JUG and KotFT / Classic / Basic / Introduction
My Previous Classes: Apothecary (unfinished) / Chronomancer / Death Knight (old)
My Previous Expansions: Hallow's End
The Stargazer!
The Stargazer is a class prepared for the late game. There's a good focus on controlling the board in order to end up getting value out of your Hero Power by increasing your deck size while not disrupting your draw. Constellation and other class synergies can then work to get use out of the null tokens.
Constellation counts for each original card with the keyword. So, if you had two of the same Constellation card in your deck, you could end up playing four in a game, two copies for each card.
In Northrend, Ulduar holds the greatest connection to the Titans. Azeroth rests under the watch of power cosmic beings. For the Grand Tournament, people from all continents travel north. For seafarers, there is no better guide than the stars themselves. Those born for the sea put their trust into the night sky to find their way around uncharted territory. There are always the native inhabitants who can lend a hand, too!
Example Cards:
Rest of the set and Justicar Hero Power:
The Classic Set!
The Basic Set!
Please, do enjoy!
Swarmlord, your second favorite class based around bugs
ALL THAT HAS COME BEFORE (Basic, Classic, Previews)
Common
And now for something completely different
Attack from Below: This class suffers from an inundation of strong hero Attack abilities and few ways to abuse them, but never fear! For a limited time you may now attack yet again! I've designed the card in a way such that it can be used to clear a total of three minions with your hero in one turn (1 Attack with Power, 3 Attack, 5 Attack) and come out on top. This can be nicely combo-ed with the many, MANY choices you have for eating enemy faces off, and notably makes It's a Wrap and Prey on the Weak into massive tempo swings. here's a list of all the cards that benefit or can benefit from Attack from Below, balancing out it's generally weak damage output...
Ravager Valiant: One of the big issues I encountered with the class was both making it stand out lategame and incentizing use of Hero Attack when it only has one attack per turn. Say hello to both the beefcake and the solution! A 4/4 taunt is statted fine but not optimally, but once you can optimize damage output you've got your own mini Emperor Vek'lor AND a clear. Hallelujah!
Whorlclaw Scorpid: I love Flame Leviathan, but I always felt the effect underutilized. There's very few times I want a 7/6 turn 2 when the aggro decks are at my gate. Survivability is key here and this big bug's got your back. Admittedly, a 7/6 body for 6 is slow, but it has potential as a good body for buffs lategame while still providing survivability early game.
Burning Pheromones: The range for this card is pretty decent I think. Earlier game you can trade off for lower cost minions to refill your hand, while lategame you can finish off a big drake for a better chance at a finisher. Fun fact, Burning Pheromones was waken from one of the two worms movepools. Ya know... Dreadscale and Acidmaw.
There are some more bugs in the system
BRM:
TGT:
Subterranean Horrors: I couldn't resist. Swarmlord will forever swarm, and place 4/4's into the opponent decks. It's balanced against the unlikely possibility it'll honestly be played before turn three. There will be more bugs to come though, mark my words.
Vicious Charge: Arcane Shot, but it gets minion buffs and not spell damage.
Token:
Cannon Wasp: A class that intends to attack using it's hero needs all the survivability it can muster, and Cannon Wasp put's in a good hand to keep you alive early game while you're trading out.
Un'goro Lancer: I'm ashamed I'd missed this pun up until now! Here's a good removal that also threatens any deck with heavy draw. For a more aggro themed deck, you now have a better chance to stabilize if you run out of board and draw.
Anub'rekhan: 4/4's shall haunt you. A cross between Malorne and Anub'arak, he's not a threatening body in it of itself but provides long term value and makes lategame more interesting for your opponent.
Swarm Reave: the Justicar power. You now have even better removal chances, so trade where you can.
Thanks go out to Broeck1, McF4rtson and AsylumRhapsody!
THE DRAGON KNIGHT:
This hero power is similar to the paladin but instead of directly summoning a 1/1 to the board you delay the affect by several rounds for a 2/2 along with that several cards as you'll see below are affected by having a certain number of Whelps in your deck. As a side note the Whelps act just like the cards made from Beneath the Grounds.
However you may be asking yourself if the hero power is so slow then how in the world will you survive against aggressive decks to get value out of it? It's quite simple actually, this class uses armor! That's right we have a second class to relies on/interacts with armor to survive. He has several cards that grant armor in order to live long enough for the hero power to start taking affect.
The Dragon Knight founding and lore:
The Dragon Knight
Throughout all recorded history dragons have been the image of power in the eyes of all races. Their massive bodies covered in thick armored scales, the strength to tear a man in half with ease, and to top it all off a breath of flame that can melt the strongest of metals. For these reasons many have looked to slaying a dragon as their greatest achievement by overcoming the flaming behemoths. However for some the dragons are seen as the way to take their growing power to new, previously unreachable levels. They have through unknown means found a way to transforminto a mighty dragon themselves. With this new technique under their belt they have come to call themselves Dragon Knights and have gained a reputation of being ruthless in their quest for ever growing power. After some time several Dragon Knights came together to form the Dragon Order and with it they managed to hide the secrets of transforming into a Dragon. Due to the secrets of becoming a dragon being so hidden to those outside the Order many have come to suspect the Knights gained their power through dark places such as the Old Gods or the Burning Legion. However most knights are veterans from wars fighting to contain the Old Gods and wars to drive back the Burning Legion and many seem to defiant towards both groups and as such their goals and motives are still largely unknown.
Yvon and his tale:
Yvon was young when he became fascinated with dragons and throughout his life has sought to harness their power for his own. Through still largely unknown methods Yvon managed to Transform himself into a dragon and would become the first dragon knight in existence. He would move on to recruit and teach others to become Dragon Knights and would eventually become the founder and ruler of the Dragon Order. Naming himself the Dragon Master he moved to extend his influence and power but would suddenly disappear after The Shattering and the death of Deathwing. However with the return of the Legion Yvon has returned with immense new powers and an entire army of dragons seemingly to continue where he left off so long ago.
As Yvon returned with a massive army of dragons and he showed that he had mastered the breeding and growth of dragons that allowed him to quickly grow an endless army of Whelps to fight for him and he has used it to lead an endless assault wherever there are enemies of the Dragon Knights.
Example Cards:
Note: Smaller sized cards mean they are tokens to the card to their left.
BRM:
TGT:
Tokens:
Bronze Drake:
Mounted Knight:
Awakening
Sitora, the Dragon Mother:
Justicar Upgraded Hero Power:
Basic Set:
Dragonscale Greatsword: A big weapon that heals like Truesilver Champion but only when used to kill minions so it encourages using the weapon as removal instead of pounding the opponents face in.
Corrupted Flame: This mostly works like Soulfire but discards a Whelp which is important to this deck and class many cards have effects for things like gaining armor based on Whelps. However as a trade off for the Whelp you get a discounted Flame Lance which is strong in a control deck. This is also the first of many cards that removes Whelps and as you'll see in the classic set (if I get there) many cards will follow this pattern in removing Whelps to discount the card or the effect of the card.
Dragonstrike Commander: A big late game minion that not only puts a big minion on the board but also shuffles some Whelps into the deck in order to keep activating cards that rely on Whelps being in the deck. This is very important since many cards in the coming sets will either remove Whelps from your deck by out right destroying them or maybe just drawing them but there will be more of those then of the cards that shuffle Whelps into your deck making a card like Dragonstrike Commander a very valuable asset to this class.
Dragon's Flight: Basic core card that gets some Whelps into the deck to help activate cards. Simple but effective.
Plated Dragon Armor: A strong card that does 2 things in 1. Stabilizing the board with a high health tauntand 2. Stabilizing your health with some armor to help survive vs spells or burst which many aggro decks run and this card is great at stopping or at least slowing both the board and your loss of life via spells.
Dull Claws: A incredible flexible card that early on can be used as removal for those pesky 2 health minions and if left until later grows into a powerful 4/2 weapon makes it a solid play at every stage of the game although it is best saved for later into the game when it's battlecry can activate.
Scorched Earth: A cheap and very powerful aoe that has downsides in hurting your own board and also damages you in order to justify the power of a 4 mana aoe. Now I made it deal 5 to your hero based on the fact that I want this to be a powerful anti aggro tool by killing their board (which is everything to 90% of aggro decks btw) but it still weakens you as to give them a chance to still win where otherwise it might be to anti aggro and make it op vs every deck pretty much.
Searing Strike: Every class has a 1 mana spell and this is the Dragon Knights. It offers a ping and some armor gain and is very similar to Mortal Coil but offers different pings for a different but still strong effect and can be paired up with weapons to almost guarantee you activate this cards benefits.
Armored Wyvern: Very basic minion that offers some armor gain on a decent 4 drop. Like Dragon's Flight this is just a basic minion that helps push the Dragons and Armor usage of this class.
Scales of Gold: Strong draw that with certain cards that generate armor rapidly is very powerful but generally would only draw maybe 1 or 2 cards which if it draws 2 is still a discounted Arcane Intellect. However you still have the chance of drawing more in slower matches which might be important to get those answers you need like Corrupted Flame to kill something like Ragnaros the Firelord which can mean the difference between a win and a loss.
Classic Set:
Tokens:
Justicar's Upgraded Hero Power
Example Cards
A Cut Above explained:
Here's my entry for Challenge #2. A Cut Above is a very niche draw power. While drawing 2 for 3 mana is just an Arcane Intellect, most people will see the three Frontstabs that get added to your deck as a liability, and in most cases they're not wrong. In fact, I was extremely hesitant to peg this card as a common as it might show up to often in Arena. That being said, A Cut Above is a key card in Malygos-Ninja. With just one Emperor Thaurissian tick on Shuriken Storm, an epic card in the Classic set, you can pull off huge amounts of damage.
Blue Exorcist explained:
Blue Exorcist is a slightly larger version of Westwind Shinobi, a common minion in the Classic set. Though they essentially have the exact same effect, I chose to have Blue Exorcist as a rare since the rare gem is blue, and 4-mana minion are much more common. Other than that, she is fairly self-explanatory. I also think the 8-mana cost of the Spirit (since merging two 4-Cost minions get you 8 :P) is quite a big hike so it can lead to very powerful combos earlier on.
Personal Trainer explained:
Here's my entry for Challenge +3. And don't you dare say he's not beefy, sumo wrestlers are jacked.
I tried to put a spin on the Joust mechanic. Instead of using it for a requirement, I thought I could use it for the effect itself. Though you will lose the card if you win the joust, you still get a minion to play and you thinned your deck. It could potential screw you over or save you. (So, basically, Hearthstone in a nutshell.) The 5/5 body is also quite strong for a minion that draws, so you could trade well with it.
Butterfly Effect explained:
The Grand Tournament
Commons
Wandering Isle Disciple's flavour text: He doesn't actually wander, but he could very well be looking for love.
Shado-Pan Vanguard's flavour text: "Icecrown is cold." - Shado-Pan Vanguard to Shado-Pan Rider.
Note: Ninjas rarely ride on horseback, though they were very proficient in anti-horseman fighting.
They would use special spears, the naginata, to do so. This explains the art choice for the Valiant/Aspirant for this class.
Rares
Vashj'ir Lurker's flavour text: Murloc Ninjas. What a novel concept. Hopefully they haven't infested some big city in the desert yet.
Epics
Mortal Combat's flavour text: Finish them.
The Legendary
Narik's flavour text: "Who am I? Someone... you might know." - Narik
This minion will require an explanation. Much like Lord Jaraxxus, Narik (which is an anagram of Karin) will directly interact with your hero. As I've said before "merging" does destroy your component minions. Jaraxxus destroys your hero as well. In addition, his Attack is converted into a weapon, and Narik will follow this. The main part is the Health. Narik *merges*, and does not replace. As such, whatever Health she has will be converted to Armor.
Narik presents the Ninja with a powerful late-game finisher. Unlike Jaraxxus who summons a legion of Infernals, Narik gives you a potentially powerful weapon that you can use to crush your opponent with.
In addition, through testing with card like Mana Tide Totem which also has an end-of-turn effect, temporary buffs like Abusive Sergeant WILL persist before your end of turn. As such, Narik keeps the attack buff, transferring it to her Katana.
It's a complex minion, but I feel that when watching it in play just once, it should be intuitive enough, much like Jaraxxus or Majordomo.
Blackrock Mountain
The Common & Rare
Shimada Handmaiden's flavour text: The dragon becomes me!
Pieces of You's flavour text: This trick is actually a blast at parties. Just be sure to aim at the pinata.
Note: Shimada refers to Hanzo and Genji, two Overwatch heroes that have somewhat draconic powers.
Classic Set
Commons
Feral Ninken's flavour text: Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are! Good magical ninja doggy!
Hammerspace's flavour text: Does this mean your katanas and shurikens are blunt? Awkward.
Westwind Shinobi's flavour text: He definitely had a tiger mother.
Spiritual Visage's flavour text: Turns out most people view themselves as a flying goat. Who knew?
Imperial Summoner's flavour text: Baron Geddon is not pleased with his sudden summer excursion to
Pandaria, though he does admit the weather is rather nice and balmy.
Tokens
Rares
Be Water's flavour text: It's always funny seeing Deathwing becoming the cup. He hates that.
Eastwind Informant's flavour text: He brings tidings of the ever-elusive Tauren rogue.
Man's Best Friends's flavour text: Somewhat akin to handling a bunch of baby pugs, minus the cute factor.
Undercity Ronin's flavour text: For... Doomspinner?
Undercity Ronin's flavour text: Even his inner demons are big-boned.
Tokens
Epics
Marked For Death's flavour text: Marked FOUR death! Hah, get it? ...I thought it was funny.
Shuriken Storm's flavour text: "Guaranteed to make a mess out of your enemy's face." - Malygos
...Ninjas Do It Better's flavour text: Pirates can do it too, they just need a little weapon synergy.
The Legendary
Mistress Splinter's flavour text: Secretly, Ms. Splinter wants to settle down with her pet turtles
and lead a quiet life. None of this fancy assassination business. She also likes to read a good romance novel
from time to time. But if you tell a soul, she will hunt you down.
Tokens
Basic Cards
Frontstab's flavour text: "Look over here!" works just as well, apparently.
Twinbolt Shuriken's flavour text: "We deal two damage here, we deal two damage there, it all blows over." - Madam Goya
Sakura Shower's flavour text:
Pretty pink petals
Come fluttering gently down
They foretell your doom.
Double Trouble's flavour text: Something about cauldrons, wands, and magical spells.
Meaning of Life's flavour text: "Cheese biscuits." - Anonymous
Ghost Iron Shuriken's flavour text: Somehow, ghost iron has something to do with drawing cards.
We're not sure what, but that's how it is.
Hand Clansman's flavour text: Watch out for the Head Clansman.
Onion-cutting Ninjas' flavour text: *This flavour text is soaked and blurred beyond legibility*
Venerated Sensei's flavour text: Venerated he may be, but he still cannot guarantee the
results of his harsh training. No refunds, period.
Undercity Ronin's flavour text: Call the next Jinyu you see a herring. I dare you.
Tokens
Storyteller
Quick Summary:
Basically how this works, is that after you cast a card with Fate, the next card will have the card text or extra stats stated in the card with fate. So if you have a card that says "Fate: +2/+2" and then play a minion, that minion has +2/+2 extra stats that can be silenced. This is applied before battlecry. If it adds a keyword like Deathrattle or Battlecry, it's worded like "Fate (Battlecry):" and that effect is added to the card text. When minion gives a fate, it's given when you summon the minion, as if it was a battlecry.
Lore: Behind every famous hero or villain of Azeroth, there are countless storytellers spreading their name and telling stories of their deeds, like old Theodore here. He's one of the most well-known storytellers in the world, travelling across the world telling stories to whoever wants to listen and also collecting and writing new ones. Some say that while he speaks, the characters and worlds from his stories almost seem to appear out of thin air...
Some themes: Buff cards, Fates and Fate synergy, conditional/possible to play around AoE and removal, tokens.
Thematically, flavor is that the Storyteller writes stories and creates characters to fight for him instead of fighting mostly by himself. A lot of the cards are books doing different kinds of effects, storytelling tropes or summoning characters from stories to fight for you.
Example Cards:
Blackrock Mountain and The Grand Tournament:
BRM:
TGT Commons:
TGT Rares:
TGT Epics:
Justicar Hero Power:
Basic Set:
and it's token and it's token
Classic Set:
Heroes of Azeroth tokens: