Hearthpwn

Interesting week! And, I'm happy that most of the finalists don't have purely positive start-of-game effects, the only exception being "One, Two, Combo!". I think my favorites, though, are going to be... Lorekeeper Nordu, Il'gynoth, Gelbin the Corrupted, and Plate Specialization.

My favorites here would be Il'gynoth and Gelbin, the Corrupted. So far all Discover minions are on Battlecry, so seeing one that's non-Battlecry but still functional is very cool and interesting.

What kinda sucks though is that my card was only one or two spots away from getting here. :(

The thing about Deathwing,Worldbreaker is its just a vanilla 10M 12/12 that clogs up your deck/hand in many many matchups. Against control and even some aggro and midrange decks, it will have little to no effect. Pirate Warrior rarely has more than 5 minions out at a time and can kill people by turn 4. Its a tech card in a Zoo/token dominated meta but is too slow and unimpactiful when included otherwise.

For Alex, "Burrowing" was missing and Ancient Curse may have been a better fit but it's cute.

Even though my card (One, Two, Combo!) is the only one with a strictly positive effect, I honestly think it's balanced. Yes, it thins your deck, that's the point. It's not a good spell if you have it in your starting hand, but Patches the Pirate is still alright if it's in your starting hand (though not optimal, I know. It still has the pirate tag after all).

Gadgetzan Auctioneer and miracle is getting a big nerf with Conceal getting moved to wild, so I don't think it'll be overpowered. Honestly, I don't think it was either way. It's a great card, I'm very aware of that, but I don't think it's overpowered.

The thing about including a certain minion in a certain archetype deck, well... yeah? There are spells you'd ALWAYS see in a certain archetypes, even spells you'll see whenever you see that class (Fireball, Execute, Swipe just to name a few). One, Two, Combo! fits in miracle, and it might even create a new archetype in a combo-rogue. I can't really see the problem with that.

Wow, I made it! I was afraid I wouldn't because I was on a page with tons of votes.

Lorekeeper Nordu : 3/5. Its effect resembles Prince Malchezaar in the sense that it could either help you or screw you, but you're still globally advantaged by this since you know you have to mulligan cards you DON'T want while your opponent doesn't which can be very frustrating. I don't see this being played, except in fun decks.

One, two, combo! : 4/5. I was afraid of this one! It's not only free fuel for Questing or Van Cleff of Auctioneer but helps the Rogue class in general (by being a combo trigger). I'm still a bit afraid about balance. If Rogue ever gets a broken OTK again, this will definitely help it.

Il'gynoth : 9999/5. Best card in the set.

Talented Spellcaster : 1/5. What does this card do when the 1-cost spell has a target? Is it randomly chosen? If so I think the card should say it. Apart from that, the card is very weak. Most of the time you'll get only 1 inspire trigger. Is there cases when it is worth playing what is practically a 5-mana 1/4 ? I don't think so, especially when you're not even guaranteed to get the spell you need.

Mallory the Maniacal : 3/5. It could bring interesting mulligan decisions for control decks. Which cards are the most interesting to copy? This would also force your opponent to keep an eye on your hand to see which cards have been duplicated. More often that not, it's impact won't be very big though. Mostly because control vs. control matchups are rare and generally not worth teching for.

Jacus, relentless trainer : 2/5. The upside generally doesn't seem to compensate for the downside, I doubt this would see play.

Fimdeeflonk Overmaster : 0/5. Exactly the kind of card Asylum warned us about. +1/+1 to everything is absolutely broken in zoolock. Well, it's broken period. Not to mention this applies the effect to itself as well given the wording so it's a 4-mana 4/5 when played... Also wtf is a fimdeeflonk ?  Nevermind, I didn't see the minus for the Health stat. I still think it would be broken in zoo though. Also what would happen to 1-Health minions ? Would they instantly die when played?

Gelbin, the Corrupted : 2/5. The card isn't functional as worded since one player would have to discover a card during his opponent's turn which goes against the "no action during opponent's turn" philosophy of HS. Apart from that, I'm afraid it would make midrange/curvestone decks too consistent. A cool card, but nothing more.

Plate Specialization : 4/5. This would definitely make Control Paladin good, or at least conceivable. Flavor is also off the charts. It's a bit too good though. I would have made it give only 3 Armor instead.

Croaky Conceroad : 2/5. I assume this was made for Control Shaman but this would actually be completely broken in aggro/midrange Shaman because no other class profits from board control as much as Shaman does (except maybe druid). Flametongue Totem, Bloodlust... the card and potential card that could make this broken are too numerious and the downside is negligible for aggro/midrange shaman. Not to mention this doubles as an excellent defensive tools since Frogs have taunt. Wisps of the Old Gods costs 7, this costs 1... Balance aside, the base concept is good and flavor is off the charts.

Alex the Unlucky : 3/5. I admit, it's pretty funny. Useless, but funny.

Deathwing, Worldbreaker : 3/5. People say it's unfun because it screws swarms decks. But those are not very popular and there are already cards that could screw up specific playstyles (Ice Block anyone?). A tech card, but nothing more.

Highlord Mograine : 2/5. Like Malchezaar, this is too unreliable to be put in a deck. I like the flavor though.

Don't take those comments personnaly. I'm just commenting on specific cards!

Quote from CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkey >>

Fimdeeflonk Overmaster : 0/5. Exactly the kind of card Asylum warned us about. +1/+1 to everything is absolutely broken in zoolock.

Lorekeeper Nordu: I'm not a big fan as I fear this is just gonna help the first player win more due to always getting their perfect crazy start.

One, Two, Combo!: Not a fan as a card that does something for literally free, no mater how small, will become staple in every deck that can use it.

Il'gynoth: Not sure how I feel on this guy. The effect is definitely cool but it makes your hero power basically do nothing if you don't draw C'thun and when you do it just OTKs. Hard to tell how this guy would plan out.

Talented Spellcaster: Not really a fan as I feel he'd have made a lot more sense reveling the card when you play him. It seems bizarre to have a start of game effect that has no effect until you draw and play the card.

Mallory the Maniacal: This card is pretty sweet, if you want an extra super strong legendary you have to get stuck with it in your hand in the early game while if you get your perfect curvestone hand those cards will likely suck being shuffled back into the deck. Adds some extra thinking to what you keep in your opening hand.

Jacus, Relentless Trainer is the embodiment of my dream to play Fool's Bane with Upgrade! and Heroic Strike so I can swing at a horde of giants to my hearts content! He works great for it as doing crazy hero trades is the only way to make up for the 10 health you lose. By himself he'd create some new deck types and the best part is none of them would be aggro!

Fimdeeflonk Overmaster: Really cool and unique effect but I feel in practice he wouldn't see play as you couldn't play anything with 1 health, your 2 health minions can now be pinged by mage/rogue/druid, and most importantly health tends to be worth more than attack so he kinda hurts your deck. I could just be overthinking him though, the effect is still awesome either way.

Gelbin, The Corrupted: Seems fair but I feel the effect is misplaced as it doesn't really do a whole lot and given start of game effects take time at the start of the game (this guy much more so than others), there can't be many of them so having a very minor effect on one seems a waste.

Plate Specialization: Very cool and unique. Doubt it'd take away from warrior as they still benefit from armor better but if Paladin decks ended up being better with this and it become somewhat stable it'd take away from Paladin. On the one hand the effect is awesome and brings in new options for Paladin, but on the other hand having 2 classes with the same hero power seems kinda lame. I think the benefits outway the negatives so this card is still awesome!

Croaky Concertoad: A super powerful card that gives your opponent a card they may not want or find useful against your deck. Plus if you run two of these you completely screw over reno decks. Not my thing.

Alex the Lucky: Also known as RNG simulator 2017. If someone draws an Ambush! on turn one they probably auto lose. Not a fan.

Deathwing, Worldbreaker: Much like One, Two, Combo!, this gives you something for nothing. In this case that something is only relevant against specific decks and this card would only really end up in control decks so you can argue having to play this card in mirror matches where you'll likely draw him eventually is the drawback so it does balance out there. I'm still not a fan though as it just limits peoples options and that's no fun.

Highlord Mograine: Very unique and all over the show effect though my biggest problem is Baron Rivendare. If you get him and play this guy on turn 4 you basically win as you get a basically 15 damage battlecry.

Anyway those are just my thoughts, good luck to everyone!