Hearthpwn

So here is my submission. Just wondering what people think I should use as my final example card? Also any final reviews or spellchecks would be appreciated!

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

Classic Set:

Basic Set:

Quote from Turkeybag >>

So here is my submission. Just wondering what people think I should use as my final example card? Also any final reviews or spellchecks would be appreciated!

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:

 

@The_Odinson

I'm torn between him since it reinforces the synergy as you said, and Elixir of Luck or Bottled Dragonfire as I kinda want to at least show off one potion since the class is an alchemist. Though I guess all the zombies kinda show off the scourge and experimenting side of things and Manifested Fumes is kinda a potion in a weird way so I guess he'll do!

@FunPolice749

Dragon Howl seems really weak. You don't get the dragons for ages and they may be lackluster so the effect isn't worth much. I think it'd be fine at 4 mana given Death's Bites effect is arguably better.

Protege hard to judge but I think he can get a buff looking at Alarm-o-Bot. This is usually gonna end up being a best case alarm-o-bot and you don't need another card so that's gotta be worth at least a mana, the extra stats are also worth about 1.5 mana so I think he'd be fair at 5.

@McF4rtson

From the card text I have absolutely no idea what it even does so I probably wouldn't use it as an example as you don't get to give a description and that'd just confuse people.

Quote from McF4rtson >>

I've one last question before submitting. Last time around, I didn't choose the best cards to showcase, so I want to double check if this particular card is too strange to showcase (though it is fun and flashy). I actually PM'ed this to Asylum and he did say it was far too difficult to understand from a passing glance, but I do want to try and drive home the merging aspect for my showcase. 

Whatever health she has is converted to armor, and attack is converted to that weapon. Temporary buffs like Abusive Sarge *DO* carry over upon testing with similar cards like Mana Tide Totem, so 1 copy of Sarge could be used to further the "Narik" combo. I hope someone gets the joke I made in this card.

 

Quote from McF4rtson >>

Quote from The_Odinson >>

Quote from McF4rtson >>

I've one last question before submitting. Last time around, I didn't choose the best cards to showcase, so I want to double check if this particular card is too strange to showcase (though it is fun and flashy). I actually PM'ed this to Asylum and he did say it was far too difficult to understand from a passing glance, but I do want to try and drive home the merging aspect for my showcase. 

Whatever health she has is converted to armor, and attack is converted to that weapon. Temporary buffs like Abusive Sarge *DO* carry over upon testing with similar cards like Mana Tide Totem, so 1 copy of Sarge could be used to further the "Narik" combo. I hope someone gets the joke I made in this card.

 

 So, for me the issue is that you're using "merge" here to shorten an effect that is too long otherwise. I think this whole card is definitely a mess. After you explain it, sure I now know what is going one, but on the surface you would never know. After explaining it, I still don't know why from a flavor or mechanics standpoint this gives Armor and a Weapon. The way merging works atm you destroy the two original things and make a new one. That means at some point in all this your hero should be destroyed and you should lose the game. I do understand some of what you're aiming for. But I'm not even sure it works as a card. It also just seems fairly weak, at least on its own. Without multiple spells and almost definitely something like Abusive Sergeant there is just no way this is good. But then when you do have 1 or 2 cheap attack buffs its grows exponentially fast. 

Jaraxxus explicitly says "destroy" and you don't lose, so that's one of your points gone. And you're saying Blizzard doesn't shorten words? So Ysera's effect? They would be messes by your standards, then. Jaraxxus would be fairly long too if spelled out. This is why I was very hesitant to showcase it yeah? And Jaraxxus from a "flavour" standpoint shouldn't give you a weapon, as Warlock don't even have weapons. This frustrates me; many people throw around the word flavour and call it a day. No. This is a mechanical issue. Flavour is the theme of the card, it's art, etc. 

It's meant to be weak on it's own. Isn't Vancleef and Questing Adventurer weak? And yet we see 6/6 and 8/8 of them played regularly, easy. In addition, Ninja has no cheap buff spells, though does have a lot of cheap cards. In addition, this card doesn't grow "exponentially". It grows 1 by 1. That's just math. And if you manage to get two sarge buffs on this card, then you should deserve to win the game, just as Jaraxxus almost certainly wins you the game; Narik will also almost certainly win you the game with your huge weapon.

 

I have one more issue I'm facing. Feedback on my Scorched Earth card is that it might be kinda weak. Here are three versions of it:

The one on the left is the original. I thought it was balanced, trying to be conservative about power level. Is the middle one more balanced? It seems kinda powerful if they wanted to play more than one card. I also came up with the one on the right, because I'd really like to keep it at 6 mana to preserve my class' mana distribution. This effect is stronger, but they can get around it by playing spells or weapons. But it addresses the problem wherein you clear the board and your opponent just plays more minions on the next turn.

Quote from McF4rtson >>

Quote from The_Odinson >>

Quote from McF4rtson >>

Quote from The_Odinson >>

Quote from McF4rtson >>

I've one last question before submitting. Last time around, I didn't choose the best cards to showcase, so I want to double check if this particular card is too strange to showcase (though it is fun and flashy). I actually PM'ed this to Asylum and he did say it was far too difficult to understand from a passing glance, but I do want to try and drive home the merging aspect for my showcase. 

Whatever health she has is converted to armor, and attack is converted to that weapon. Temporary buffs like Abusive Sarge *DO* carry over upon testing with similar cards like Mana Tide Totem, so 1 copy of Sarge could be used to further the "Narik" combo. I hope someone gets the joke I made in this card.

 

 So, for me the issue is that you're using "merge" here to shorten an effect that is too long otherwise. I think this whole card is definitely a mess. After you explain it, sure I now know what is going one, but on the surface you would never know. After explaining it, I still don't know why from a flavor or mechanics standpoint this gives Armor and a Weapon. The way merging works atm you destroy the two original things and make a new one. That means at some point in all this your hero should be destroyed and you should lose the game. I do understand some of what you're aiming for. But I'm not even sure it works as a card. It also just seems fairly weak, at least on its own. Without multiple spells and almost definitely something like Abusive Sergeant there is just no way this is good. But then when you do have 1 or 2 cheap attack buffs its grows exponentially fast. 

Jaraxxus explicitly says "destroy" and you don't lose, so that's one of your points gone. And you're saying Blizzard doesn't shorten words? So Ysera's effect? They would be messes by your standards, then. Jaraxxus would be fairly long too if spelled out. This is why I was very hesitant to showcase it yeah? And Jaraxxus from a "flavour" standpoint shouldn't give you a weapon, as Warlock don't even have weapons. This frustrates me; many people throw around the word flavour and call it a day. No. This is a mechanical issue. Flavour is the theme of the card, it's art, etc. 

It's meant to be weak on it's own. Isn't Vancleef and Questing Adventurer weak? And yet we see 6/6 and 8/8 of them played regularly, easy. In addition, Ninja has no cheap buff spells, though does have a lot of cheap cards. In addition, this card doesn't grow "exponentially". It grows 1 by 1. That's just math. And if you manage to get two sarge buffs on this card, then you should deserve to win the game, just as Jaraxxus almost certainly wins you the game; Narik will also almost certainly win you the game with your huge weapon.

 

 Man, you really seemed to take offense to some of the things I said. I wasn't trying to antagonise you.  So, you bring up Jaraxxus. Does this in any way change your hero? Or do you stay the same hero with bonus armor and a weapon? If we're keeping with the mechanics. Also, on its own yes this card isn't super strong, but its never bad. At its worst its 5 mana gain 10 and a 1/3 weapon, so its roughly 1 mana over cost without any changes. Each card is worth fairly small amounts of Armor, but 3 additional damage, effectively giving you around 2 mana worth of value per card you play. If those cards specifically buff Attack or Health the gains skyrocket. Which is a pretty major effect considering its armor, meaning you can stack yourself out of combo range at full health, and the weapons attack grows and not its durability, meaning you can kill over a shorter number of turns or kill larger minions. Also, I only meant it grew exponentially with attack buffs. As I can read it only gains +1/+1 per card, but that's not as strictly linear as it looks on the card. 

As far as flavor goes, its not all in the art or name of a card. Effects and abilities can be flavorful as well. Or else classes wouldn't have specific keywords tied to them. Also, you mention cards like Edwin VanCleef and Questing Adventurer for growing effects. Its worth noting that cards like Edwin and Questing are vulnerable to removal and other minions. Your weapon is only vulnerable to weapon removal, and Armor is obviously only removable by damage. Those cards can come out early and strong, but they have more out.

I think the card is pretty cool, and I certainly am not telling you to scrap it. Its definitely complicated, and not something pretty much anyone would understand without explanation, even with tokens for it in a spoiler. 

I only brought up Jaraxxus as you said you'd instantly lose when your hero is destroyed. Narik gives you armor and you stay the same hero and you equip the weapon. 10 Armor is worth 4 mana, seeing as Greater Healing Potion heals for 12 for 4 mana. And I feel as though it's a very poor card later on if you have nothing to combo it with, as it will only heal you for 10. And the point of this card is indeed to accrue weapon damage as you only have three shots. Therein lies another weakness; simply play taunts. 

Coming out early and strong is precisely Edwin's and Adventurer's strong points. You also have up to three copies of them, while Narik can only be played once. Not to mention they can be comboed with Conceal.

Though I do agree that effects can be flavourful, wouldn't this effect have at least some ninja flavour then, seeing as it does merge? Furthermore, I wholeheartedly agree that this card would be far too complicated to show without a full explanation.

 

Quote from McF4rtson >>

Quote from The_Odinson >>

Quote from McF4rtson >>

Quote from The_Odinson >>

Quote from McF4rtson >>

Quote from The_Odinson >>

Quote from McF4rtson >>

I've one last question before submitting. Last time around, I didn't choose the best cards to showcase, so I want to double check if this particular card is too strange to showcase (though it is fun and flashy). I actually PM'ed this to Asylum and he did say it was far too difficult to understand from a passing glance, but I do want to try and drive home the merging aspect for my showcase. 

Whatever health she has is converted to armor, and attack is converted to that weapon. Temporary buffs like Abusive Sarge *DO* carry over upon testing with similar cards like Mana Tide Totem, so 1 copy of Sarge could be used to further the "Narik" combo. I hope someone gets the joke I made in this card.

 

 So, for me the issue is that you're using "merge" here to shorten an effect that is too long otherwise. I think this whole card is definitely a mess. After you explain it, sure I now know what is going one, but on the surface you would never know. After explaining it, I still don't know why from a flavor or mechanics standpoint this gives Armor and a Weapon. The way merging works atm you destroy the two original things and make a new one. That means at some point in all this your hero should be destroyed and you should lose the game. I do understand some of what you're aiming for. But I'm not even sure it works as a card. It also just seems fairly weak, at least on its own. Without multiple spells and almost definitely something like Abusive Sergeant there is just no way this is good. But then when you do have 1 or 2 cheap attack buffs its grows exponentially fast. 

Jaraxxus explicitly says "destroy" and you don't lose, so that's one of your points gone. And you're saying Blizzard doesn't shorten words? So Ysera's effect? They would be messes by your standards, then. Jaraxxus would be fairly long too if spelled out. This is why I was very hesitant to showcase it yeah? And Jaraxxus from a "flavour" standpoint shouldn't give you a weapon, as Warlock don't even have weapons. This frustrates me; many people throw around the word flavour and call it a day. No. This is a mechanical issue. Flavour is the theme of the card, it's art, etc. 

It's meant to be weak on it's own. Isn't Vancleef and Questing Adventurer weak? And yet we see 6/6 and 8/8 of them played regularly, easy. In addition, Ninja has no cheap buff spells, though does have a lot of cheap cards. In addition, this card doesn't grow "exponentially". It grows 1 by 1. That's just math. And if you manage to get two sarge buffs on this card, then you should deserve to win the game, just as Jaraxxus almost certainly wins you the game; Narik will also almost certainly win you the game with your huge weapon.

 

 Man, you really seemed to take offense to some of the things I said. I wasn't trying to antagonise you.  So, you bring up Jaraxxus. Does this in any way change your hero? Or do you stay the same hero with bonus armor and a weapon? If we're keeping with the mechanics. Also, on its own yes this card isn't super strong, but its never bad. At its worst its 5 mana gain 10 and a 1/3 weapon, so its roughly 1 mana over cost without any changes. Each card is worth fairly small amounts of Armor, but 3 additional damage, effectively giving you around 2 mana worth of value per card you play. If those cards specifically buff Attack or Health the gains skyrocket. Which is a pretty major effect considering its armor, meaning you can stack yourself out of combo range at full health, and the weapons attack grows and not its durability, meaning you can kill over a shorter number of turns or kill larger minions. Also, I only meant it grew exponentially with attack buffs. As I can read it only gains +1/+1 per card, but that's not as strictly linear as it looks on the card. 

As far as flavor goes, its not all in the art or name of a card. Effects and abilities can be flavorful as well. Or else classes wouldn't have specific keywords tied to them. Also, you mention cards like Edwin VanCleef and Questing Adventurer for growing effects. Its worth noting that cards like Edwin and Questing are vulnerable to removal and other minions. Your weapon is only vulnerable to weapon removal, and Armor is obviously only removable by damage. Those cards can come out early and strong, but they have more out.

I think the card is pretty cool, and I certainly am not telling you to scrap it. Its definitely complicated, and not something pretty much anyone would understand without explanation, even with tokens for it in a spoiler. 

I only brought up Jaraxxus as you said you'd instantly lose when your hero is destroyed. Narik gives you armor and you stay the same hero and you equip the weapon. 10 Armor is worth 4 mana, seeing as Greater Healing Potion heals for 12 for 4 mana. And I feel as though it's a very poor card later on if you have nothing to combo it with, as it will only heal you for 10. And the point of this card is indeed to accrue weapon damage as you only have three shots. Therein lies another weakness; simply play taunts. 

Coming out early and strong is precisely Edwin's and Adventurer's strong points. You also have up to three copies of them, while Narik can only be played once. Not to mention they can be comboed with Conceal.

Though I do agree that effects can be flavourful, wouldn't this effect have at least some ninja flavour then, seeing as it does merge? Furthermore, I wholeheartedly agree that this card would be far too complicated to show without a full explanation.

 

 Yeah, I just didn't get the flavor of gaining a bunch of armor, and I don't understand any inside "jokes" or whatever about the name of the minion or weapon that make it make sense that it merges with you. That said, that's probably more of a personal issue.

N, a, r, i, k.
K, a, r, i, n.

Weapon doesn't have any particular reference.

@nurgling13

Third one is my favorite just because of all the added flavor with it only increasing minions costs, that also make more sense mechanically seeing as it's a bored clear that slows their ability to re-flood the bored. As for it's power level, if they play a single minion this card gets it's moneys worth, if they play or would have played two then you get value! So it seems easy to get value out of this but that's fair given it's kinda weak due to coming out on turn 6 so it has some room to be strong in return.

In short, I really like the third option :P It's awesome!