Hearthpwn

Greetings, Hearthpwn!

Hello again! As I stated in the first poll, we've reached the end of Phase IV, and it's once again time for you to help us determine who will advance to the next phase by voting for your favorite fan-created classes! Four phases in, competitors have proven their classes worthy by having their Basic and Classic sets approved by voters. Now, it's time for them to prove their classes are capable of expansion, and so for Phase IV they've added their Blackrock Mountain and Grand Tournament sets. Check out the new classes below, represented by their Hero, Hero Power, any class-exclusive keywords, and four example cards from their BRM and TGT sets, as well as one additional example card from an earlier competition phase.

If what you see here piques your interest, click on any class's name to be directed to their post in the Phase IV Submission Topic, where you can see their full Basic, Classic, BRM, and TGT sets, as well as deeper explanations of their classes. Also, remember to check out the spoilers below each entry for any relevant tokens.

Because we have so many competitors still remaining, this phase's poll was split in two. The first poll began yesterday, ran for 24 hours, and has now concluded, so now it's time for the second poll for the second half of the competition entries. Check 'em out!

THE CHRONOMANCER by thepowrofcheese (post #12)

THE DRAGON KNIGHT by FunPolice749 (post #17)

THE ALCHEMIST by Turkeybag (post #7)

THE STORYTELLER by aaro54 (post #19)

THE CULT LEADER by OBoily (post #6)

THE FLAME WIELDER by SanderNightsite (post #3)

THE KING by maxlot (post #10)

THE STARGAZER by freddoccino (post #13)

Again to all competitors, please alert me at once if I have made any mistakes with your example material. =)
And again to all voters, please go check out the full classes if or when you have the chance. The competition participants have been working really hard on their classes, and it'd be impossible to include everything in this poll topic worthy of showing off. =)

Quote from Dxiled >>

I know I'm not a competitor anymore, but the Chronomancer seems to be missing the Echo token for Send Back. 

THE CHRONOMANCER by thepowrofcheese: A great variety in this showcase. We have Destined Champion who will help out your joust cards, Time Keeper with a very menacing effect as if that thing keeps triggering the damage is gonna build up fast, Run Out the Clock postpones your opponents combos as there is no way they can do everything in 20 seconds, and finally Time-Lost Proto-Drake who I think is a bit lacklaster since it's a tempo card that gives your opponent a super strong tempo card to counter it. Still cool none the less! Good showcase!

 THE DRAGON KNIGHT by FunPolice749: First up Drakkanoid Champion which is a cool approach to making joust better while keeping to a dragon theme, we have Awakening that is a more versatile Hex as it's worse against enemy minions but can also be useful on yours, Dragon's Howl is a great way to pull dragons, and Mounted Knight is a rather interesting but all over the show Joust card that doesn't really seem to know what it wants to be. Decent showcase!

THE ALCHEMIST by Turkeybag: My class! I'll use this space to add a few explanations. Failed Experiments is an excellent way to almost guarantee you'll win jousts. Check the token as these guys get destroyed after use so each Unseen Zombie will only give you a single joust win and if your opponent draws them you might be fooled into thinking you'll win the joust when you wont so be careful! This card is great with The Skeleton Knight, turning him from useless into a win condition. Manifested Fumes is great with this as well, allowing you to pull extra skeletons for the skeletal army (or maybe even a firelord if your lucky!). Epidemus, Flesh Shaper has quite the trade off as an 8 mana 8/9 is terrible for tempo or aggro decks so control suits him best but as this class has a heal hero power, some big heal cards, and a really good draw card attached to a heal you'll have to really make sure you want this guy. If the game goes on long enough, he'll end up being a liability as you could've healed yourself for more than he gave you. He would work wonders at countering the pirate decks of today though so we could see him come in and out of play based on how aggressive the meta is. Subject X is a versatile transform card that isn't too oppressive like Hex as he costs 7. He can transform enemy minions or your own if you need the defense. I was aiming for a good all round showcase and hopefully it worked out :)

THE STORYTELLER by aaro54: Some pretty sweet cards and concepts going on here but things are on the strong side a bit too much. Famed Barbarian seems OP to me as he's a trading god who would slaughter zoo decks, and only pays a single stat for that. Zaren, the Legend is menacing as he basically gives you infinite value unless silenced and he doesn't pay much in stats for that effect but at least it's somewhat delayed. Record Keeper is a really cool card that is usually going to act as a Consecration that ignores minions the opponent played on their last turn but he comes with a 2/3 so that is pretty damn strong. Heroes' Armory is going to cause absolute mayhem in deathrattle decks. Great concepts but the cards are just too strong.

THE CULT LEADER by OBoily (post #6): Mixed bag here. Envious Squire is pretty generic seeing as it's a 1 mana 1/3 that scales it's attack similar to things like Mana Wyrm and Tunnel Trogg. Tireless Gladiator is really cool but there is a bit of a name miss-match for me as I wouldn't expect a Tireless Gladiator to flee after getting hit. Occult Jouster is a rather cool and unique take on joust, Dusty Compendium seems rather interesting but I imagine people are just gonna run the Leatherbound Journal itself if they want that effect.

THE FLAME WIELDER by SanderNightsite: Solid cards, Cataclysmic Rage is awesome and will have people thinking about how many minions is best to play, Dragons for Arms is really cool since it scales to the number of dragons your holding, Kindled Berserker and Firelands Guardian are decent but not the most exiting to me.

THE KING by maxlot: Ambitious Grunt is the Reliquary Seeker of this class and you definitely need to be ambitious to use him, great name! Dragon Harbinger is pretty sweet but also kinda scary given Ysera and Malygos are things, Tuskarr Spearman is pretty cool and a great example of the king building decks around rarity adding an extra dynamic to the cards you use. I am not really a fan of Robin, Military Strategist as he summons a card that summons more cards and that kinda feels a bit allover the place and more in line with yugioh than hearthstone. Solid showcase none the less!

THE STARGAZER by freddoccino (post #13): Moonstone is pretty cool as if you want the spell damage your gonna need to make sure your minion has taken a real beating, North Sea Pilot is fair but lackluster for a showcase card of this phase, Dreamweave is awesome being another card that can get Dream Cards. Quarter seems weird to me as there is no real mechanical relationship between it and Set the Course and I feel using one makes the other irrelevant.

Anyway those are just my thoughts, good luck everyone!

Gonna quickly give my thoughts on the classes because, why not? Remember, these are all my opinions, and though I may be making statements, rather than saying "I think" or "In my opinion" every 3 seconds, they're just the thoughts of some guy on the internet who is maybe/potentially/almostdefinately wrong. Anyway...

Chronomancer: I'm not as interested in this class as I have been in previous phases. None of the cards are as interesting as cards that were in other sets, Destined Champion doesn't really have much of a cost for running it, you can just passively guarentee your jousts hitting a big target until you draw both of them, in which the punishment is having a slightly below average 6 drop? I don't like it. And run out the clock is such an annoying card. Especially when you introduce it in the set with jousting, which takes like 5 or so seconds, it's really just gaining an advantage out of your opponents cards having fancy long animations, which shouldn't be a mechanic.

Dragon Knight: I like the class itself... But the cards that have been presented in BRM and TGT seem less impressive than I remember the class being. Awakening seems mediocre regardless of what situation you use it in, Drakkanoid Champion is paying in stats for an effect which doesn't have an advantage outside of jousting, as Dragon training is written, it's a gang up that's limited to dragons, only shuffles 3 copies conditionally, and it actually shuffles the card in rather than a copy of it. These cards look to have almost been rushed a little.

Alchemist: Unique use of the classic card being brought back, turning it into a removal card. Epidemus is fairly balanced, seeing as you have a healing hero power. Failed Experiments is very cool. I have no qualms with any of your cards and they're all interesting and balanced in their own ways. Definately getting my vote.

Storyteller: Some of the cards seem to require you to pay attention to every little thing that happens, the legendary has a mechanic that provides maybe a little too much value against control... Plot armour may have given me a chuckle when I first saw it, but Heroes Armory seems notably less interesting, in terms of both flavour and use. Other than that, you've got some interesting cards, some less interesting. Hidden Power seems really snowbally for such a stupidly low cost, and is excellent as soon as you trigger inspire once. I did find Dark Iron Historian and Glorious Victory to be cool though.

Cult Leader: This class has lots of interesting cards that are easy to understand and simple, flavourful and balanced. Though I'm uncertain about the inclusion of two overstatted 2 drops with negative conditions in the same set, pretty much every card introduced fits into the general idea of the class. They also are excellently balanced, promote skilled play and knowledge of your deck, whilst still being simple cards. I like everything you've made. Definately getting a vote.

Flame Wielder: Ideally, at its base, a class should be simple conceptually and have simple cards. That said, I think this class could be made a little bit more interesting. Dragons for arms is ridiculous, and doesn't seem to be keeping Malygos in mind. When an otk literally just requires Dragons for Arms and Malygos and 5 dragons of any kind in hand, I think there might be a problem, and that's before even thinking about Thaurissan. Anti-aggro seems cool, but Magma rager synergy just has lost its comedic value that it had during the first phase. So I'm glad that all that was given to it this expansion is a 2 mana Totemic Might. Champion of the flame is 2 strictly better neutral cards, one of which used to actually be a big of the meta before it was nerfed to 2 health... With that in mind, making a strictly better version of it's pre-nerf form doesn't seem great in my eyes. Every other card is strong and good cards, but they're, in my eyes, kinda boring.

Stargazer: I never really enjoyed the idea of a class which has a hero power that makes it immune to fatigue. Moonstone seems... Almost cool. The thing is, it's a significantly worse flash heal, and it's second condition is not only EXTREMELY hard to pull off, but has minimal reward. The other cards are pretty meh, but Set the Course has some obvious balance concerns, while Quarter seems redundant because you might as well just include the basic card in your deck rather than it, seeing as Quarter is so overcosted.

Look, although I had mostly negative things to say, I really don't want any of you to take offense, this is meant to be constructive criticism, and I'm aware my class has likely got many many flaws itself. Regardless of what happens here, good luck to every person competing.

My reviews are not only based on these cards, but the class as a whole. If you haven't gone to the submission thread and checked things out properly, you're likely misjudging almost everyone and doing yourself a disservice.

The Chronomancer - thepowrofcheese: With a Hero Power similar to my own, I know what its like to put that level of design constraint on yourself. There are some really cool cards here as well, but I worry about the classes overall balance. There are some very very powerful minions floating around here and some very powerful spells, even if damage spells aren't really among them. The flavor is very well held together, 

The Dragon Knight - FunPolice749: This class was very popular last round, but I have a feeling it may not do as well this time. FunPolice749 rushed this set together and you can tell by reading some of the cards. There are wording mistakes, and massive balance issues. The preview hides most of these. Also, I think the major issue of what happens when BRM and then TGT happen to this class. Because its so one note. You're now a Dragon deck forever. All those BRM and TGT Dragons are just class minions that you can easily play the best ones of. As the other few powerful dragon related cards get added later the just easily fit into very deck. When standard rotates and cards like Deathwing Dragonlord, Netherspite Historian, Book Wyrm and Wrathion are no longer playable for everyone else, guess what, you still get to easily play them. There aren't really many new directions either. Even the Whelp stuff has fallen by the wayside at this point. There are lots of cool looking cards and the class isn't really lacking flavorful art or card names, but its missing cohesion. 

The Alchemist - Turkeybag: Our other Alchemist. The old bag of giblets. This is a very very different take that I've enjoyed. There are many reasonably clear themes that can lead you in many directions. There are a variety of flavorful things happening and its all a lot of fun. There are some powerful cards, but balance seems fairly well checked. Good stuff all around. One of my favorite classes.

The Storyteller - aaro54: Another rushed mess of a class. The stuff that was happening in the initial phases when there was time being devoted was really cool, but there is some OP nonsense happening now. Zaren being the key offender. Considering that Plot Armor is a card you can get a lot of, it seems super easy to get between 2 and 4 Zarens, an infinite stream of 4/5s. Record Keeper may be the most punishing Tempo AoE I've ever seen. And there are some big hitters outside of the preview. 

The Cult Leader - OBoily: Another class I really like. I feel like the Cultist keyword got a bit shorted this time around, but that's not all bad. There are still some great flavor notes, and I think some people are clearly missing the idea behind Tireless Gladiator. He comes out, wins his fight, and goes back waiting to be called back out for his next fight. Until he's finally defeated and dies. I think its a cool card. The change the hero power was a decent fix to something I hated, which was that ability to avoid fatigue. The class still has some very strong tools to avoid it but not its not tied into the Hero Power anymore. Envious Squire is one of the "safest" scaling 1/3s I've seen, but its still one of those things I don't like. Especially since people feel like they should make them though really only a couple classes have these, and they are constantly problematic when talking about aggro. That said, I love the flavor and the unique takes on things, and the fixed Hero Power really brought this on up for me.

The Flame Wielder - SandersNightsite: We actually got to discuss some cards in this round for the first time and that was interesting. The Flame Wielder was very one note up until now, and while there is still just a hint of Magma Rager left. But we finally see something else. That said, there isn't much else to see. The Fiery theme is going roaring hot but its also kind of one note. The cards have a lot of internal flavor, and that lets them relate well to BRM, but they lack some of that TGT flavor. I mean the names are there, but I don't feel like anything happening in the class knows or cares about TGT haha. Luckily Dragon gets a big push. so if you're tired of Raging all day you can get your fire from a more exciting source. I do kind of wish SandersNightsite had pushed for Elemental to be a Race so we could have explored even more themes to make the class feel a bit more exciting. Regrettably I've cooled a bit on this class. 

The King - maxlot: The experiment continues! Rarity Matters is a tough sell. But there are some great things going on here. Now that there are more cards Epic King has a lot more presence and Common King got some great new tools to help keep it rolling. Regrettably Rare King isn't meant to be a thing, and so Rares are more like filler cards, but that does leave design room space open to separate deck styles between Common Aggro, Common Control, and Epic Control. The overall HS flavor is a missing a bit, being so heavily Human with only the very slightest touches of other races makes this class feel a bit removed, but the internal flavor holds up fairly well.

The Stargazer - freddoccino: Poor freddoccino was working on this up to the last minute. Balance and flavor were really fighting each other and I know the challenges this round really put a damper on the direction of things. I too was stumped and frustrated for a while, but not as long as fred. This led to a very lackluster preview and a bit of lost direction on the whole for this round. That said, I still think the class is very cool, even if I'm not a fan of Hero Powers that negate Fatigue. 

Quote from StarkgaryenEU >>

Worgen/human had the most compensated and versatile hero power imo
The remaining classes are very cool though, good luck!

Quote from lebabob >>

I dont get the stargazer class at all.... I really love the flavor, really cool arts as well. but what´s up with this constellation mechanic, In wanna see a card, that has this keyword, if you introduce it...

Sorry, by the way, to every in the second half of the poll for not getting to do some more individual critiques like I did a couple of days ago for the first poll, but I had an exam I had to do last night that took me a couple more hours than expected. ;_;

Only one hour left until Phase V! Get those votes in! =D

Results for both polls are now revealed, and Phase V will be up shortly.

wow, last place in poll one....feels bad man