Hearthpwn

So, what does everyone think my Class the Astromancer? It doesn't have as much votes as it could have because of its "control RNG" aspect is already taken up by Tox (which I want to make it clear that I did not look at when I was submitting). Objectively, how good is it and how can I improve it going forward? I don't know if I'm going to keep both the Marks (atleast those that interact with your opponent) and the Secret mechanic going forward because they function too similar.

Here's the post:

Quote from linkblade91 >>

While we're on the subject of self-reflection, I wouldn't mind some of my own, if you're willing.

Quote from linkblade91 >>

Greetings, interlopers! For your consideration, I bring you...me, Kel'Thuzad !

The Lich

Master of the cold dark, I bring death to the living and the dead back to life! My touch can Freeze the blood in your veins, and my magic will rip the soul from your body, all to be used for...later purposes. Together, we will bring the might of the endless Scourge down upon our foes!

Strengths + Themes

• ( Freeze ) The frozen corpses of my enemies decorate the halls of Naxxramas like statues. I have room for more!
• ( Deathrattles , "if it dies" effects ) My time spent practicing necromancy has taught me much in the ways of the dead and dying. Let me show you...
• ( Reviving minions , healing , "if it survives" effects ) With power over death itself, I can bring my warriors back to life...or something close.
• ( Late-game fuel ) With each body that falls, the Scourge grows larger. The resources of the living dwindle, while ours return manifold!

Weaknesses Rumored Shortcomings

• ( Slow archetypes ) The Scourge may be endless, but putting those bodies back together is a time-consuming process. Sometimes they come to me alive first and then it becomes a whole thing. It would be tiresome if I was still alive and needed rest.
• ( Freeze doesn't kill ) Freezing people alive is always entertaining...except occasionally they thaw and resume charging. There are days where I just want them to give up and die already!
• ( Lacking card draw ) I encourage all of my underlings to recycle those dead bodies in the blue bin. That being said, it would be nice to see some new skeletons now and then...

Example Cards

• Dark Resurgence - A surge of necrotic energy will end the life of an enemy. A surge of greater power will heal a fallen warrior. It makes sense if you don't think about it...
• Unnatural Selector - After a member of the Scourge falls, we can rebuild them! We have the technology magic: they will come back stronger, faster, better than ever!
• Skeletal Frostguard - It was their idea: "we'll create a wall in front of you, and you Freeze us in place." I thought they were crazy, but turns out it's a rather effective tactic.

• Onyxia, Fallen Matriarch - With the remains of Onyxia under my control, I will create an undying army of dragons for the Scourge! Which would you rather have: a skeleton, or a skeletal dragon ?
• Baroness Anastari - A banshee's cry is said to drive their loved ones insane. While amusing, I'd rather they were driven dead. Those slain by the cry of Anastari will return to haunt the living!

Thank you for your consideration and upvotes, in bringing me into Hearthstone! " Kel'Thuzad is already in the game," you say? I have never seen that powerful and handsome card before, although "Curse of Naxxramas" sounds like a great addition to the game. An expansion, all about me; if you don't like it, I'll resurrect a body who will!

 Personally not sold on the Kel'Thuzad "roleplay", and I feel like my descriptions are lacking.

 

I feel like your class is basically just "KotFT 2". It's fine that your class is based around an expansion, but you can't just literally copy every mechanics featured in that expansion into your class.

Quote from Klipce >>

Hey everyone, I see many people want a review of their class but unfortunatly I don't have much time for this. What I can do however is share my general impression of Phase 1.

Let's first talk about the good, shall we ? Their is a lot of diversity, cool class themes, interesting mecanics, lovely art and great flavor. I hope to see most of the classes fully fleshed out during Phase 2 since 5 cards is not much. It also seems like most people are eager to get and give feedback in order to improve as much as possible, which is a very cool design philosophy in my opinion. I look forward to seeing the rest of the competition unfold.

Now onto what can be improved. Not gonna mention any entry in particular, I just want to draw everyone's attention to common problems :

Hero Powers: In my opinion, Hero Powers are the hardest to design since they have to be very simple and straight forward. I also think that most people are not used to making Hero Powers which can lead to many mistakes. It's a shame because a bad HP really hurts a class regardless of the cards... The main problems I see are : 1) Weak or conditional effects, making the HP not always a good option (which it should be) ; 2) Keywords use and/or complicated effects (while it's great to have a HP with depth, making it to complex turns it into a huge gateway for new players) ; 3) No immediate effect, often adding card to the hand (this one is more my personal taste but I think such HPs are quite weak). I don't know how helpful this is since HP is often build around the class's theme but maybe some minor changes should be considered.

Keyword: While many Keywords are very intersting, I think some have very limited design space or to complicated effects. Some of them seem like every card needs a lot of support/synergie to work which is not great, especially for basic cards. Also, it seems like some people have 2 keywords insteed of 1. Not only does it seem to be against the rules, it makes the class much more complicated than it needs to be and force odd design choices so I would recommand to Choose One. Finally, some keywords are interesting but they feel disconected from Hearthstone, using mecanics that are not built in the game. It's not necesserly bad but be careful with those because they are some time conter intuitive are have wierd interactions. Once again, it might be a bit late to change completly your keyword but minor reworks for the sake of clarity and flow of the game would be good. Also making a unique keyword is optional (it's a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, but you don't have to do it) so if nothing works maybe consider not having a keyword at all.

Cards : So many great mecanics and ideas all over the place feels great. Still, I think some effects would benefit from adjustments in order to be right. The only mecanic that really bugs me is the "-X Health" (it show up very often, mostly in "-X/-X effects). It's just not something that Hearthstone does. I know it's not exactly the same but I think that switching it for "deal X damage" would work just fine and be more in line with the mecanics that already exist in the game. Other than that, I only see some minor corrections to make here and there : 1) Wording can be to complicated or to vague some times ; 2) Mecanics and keywords are sometimes used in sets were they didn't exist (it just feels wierd...) ; 3) Watermarks have meaning and should be used to convey information and flavor, not just look good.

I can't possibly go over every card or class but I'd be happy to do so should one (or more) of you be willing to do so. As I already said, their is a lot of good and the bad can surely be improved so I'm very optimistic about the rest of the competition.

I do have a class of my own that I would love to get feedback on. Here comes THE VOODOO :

Quote from Klipce >>

Ok so since their is no competition per se this time around and I kinda rushed my entry because of time issues, I would love some feedback on the cards and class in general :

Hero and Hero Power

So racial variety is always good, right ? Well I made this character up since I didn't have much time, don't know much about Warcraft and found this beautifull artwork. The name means "Good blood" in ancient greek (didn't really knew which language I should have borrowed from but I quite happy with this name). The Hero Power was designed as somewhat weaker than other basic hero powers but with some interesting interactions and flexibility.

 Unique Keyword

Always loved Enrage and aura effects in general. I like it tho it might not be the most flexible keyword. I think I'll use it mostly in the basic and classic sets and then maybe one or two cards each expansion and it should be interesting.

 Cards

The class will be pretty minion-heavy, focusing on taking the board and keeping it. I like the selection and the effects but maybe the wording or balance are off since I made these quickly.

 If your looking for more details and/or lore, go to the submission pool (and maybe drop a like, I would very much appreciate it) where it explained all of it with some flavor text mixed in.

Very happy to go to the next Phase, hope to do my best in this competition.

Happy CCC to everyone !

 

 Happy CCC to everyone !

 

 

 Soul Crusher is way too complicated for the Basic set. What if the minion targeted is odd attack?

The name of your class is also a problem. Voodoo is a school of magic, as oppose to referring to a person like the 9 classes already in the game.

Quote from SunnoxPL >>

Hi !

I saw that people post submissions, and I also would like to do this. My class got 3 upvotes (ik now it doesn't matter but still) so I would appreciate the feedback. YES, I know that this might happen (and probably did) because I used art not connected with HS, but is that the only reason ? I really want to hear your opinion. Thanks and good luck in phase II !

Class:

The Bug

Let me introduce you to The Bug class. The Bug is... well, a bug. But do not underestimate it ! It is able to trade some small minions with Hero Power, defend with various taunt minions and easily swarm the board. Oh, and don’t forget about weapons, the easiest activators for…

The Bug introduces a new keyword called Fury, which activates whenever your hero kills a minion (I told you weapons are useful) . This effect can trigger multiple times, thus giving your hero attack is something common for The Bug.

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EXAMPLE CARDS

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EXPLANATION

Armored Baldur – This minion represents one of the core mechanics of The Bug – exchanging Armor for other benefits. This is one of the main archetypes for this class. In this example, if you have 5 Armor (which is important – otherwise card will not work) you can play this and exchange your 5 Armor points for a 5/5 minion. You should be careful when you play cards with this mechanic, because sometimes that Armor could be more beneficial than a 5/5 minion.

Ice Crawler – The Bug uses Taunt minions to protect itself from taking more damage after using hero power or attacking with weapons multiple times. This minion has better stats than a normal 4-drop, but the drawback is having your hero Frozen for a turn. It may not look like something painful, but remember, that The Bug bases on attacking with your hero, so this drawback can turn out to be more impactful than you may think.

Protective Weevil – Because The Bug has a lot of Armor synergy, there have to be some cards that generate Armor. This minion is small, but every turn it stays alive it gives you 2 Armor points. Protective Weevil can be used both in the Armor-oriented deck (more control) and in the aggressive or midrange deck. One of the most reliable 2-drops for The Bug, because it fits in to the various decks.

Dream Nail - One of the archetypes avaible fot The Bug is an aggro deck. This weapon suits there well, because you can resummon up to 4 minions that died this game - this means you have some control of what are you summoning. Dream Nail features Fury keyword, so you kill an enemy minion and get one of yours back. Despite having low attack, it can be buffed with various weapon buffs, you can also use your hero power to boost your attack for a turn. Therefore activating Fury should not be something difficult.

Hive Knight Tiso – As I said, The Bug has ability to quickly summon many minions. This is one of the very few cards that have AoE effect, because this class is not good at clearing the board with 1 – 2 cards. This example benefits from having larger board, as Hive Knight Tiso can deal up to 7 damage to all enemy minions. Remember: Hive Knight Tiso does not count for its effect, so if you have no minions on the board, Tiso will deal only 1 damage.

Additional Information:

This class is based on the Hollow Knight game, but don't be scared! Except images (and some flavour) everything is the same as in other classes.

  

 

 I feel like one of the biggest problems your class is that it feels derivative of Warrior and Druid. Like, I can see all of your cards be printed as a card in each of those classes. Maybe this problem will be fixed once you have a more flesh out Basic set.

Quote from thepowrofcheese >>

I’d love some feedback for my Tinker class as well, especially seeing how there are a bunch of similar submissions. I’ll be giving some feedback tonight.

 

The Tinker

Welcome to Blasthammer's Garage! Allow me to introduce myself. Bork Blasthammer, Tinker extraordinaire! Here I- eh? What's a Tinker? Wait, seriously? Then why are you in... ahem. Well, you came to the right place! Let me show you what we Tinkers can do!

We Tinkers are crafty thinkers that make all kinds of wonderful toys. Weapons, mechs, missiles, bombs, anything you could want... and quite a few you don't! We're constantly wracking our brains for the newest ideas, filling our workshops with Scrapbots from all the leftover parts and half-baked plans.

Noise Machine - Like this! This was supposed to be a tool to help mages focus their spells. It, uh, doesn't quite work. So I re-purposed it to break their concentration and weaken their spells! Some of our toys we keep hidden until the right time!

Lab Archivist - Sometimes, our plans and our parts really sync together, and give us something better than we expected! When our last card, or even only card, uses up all our Mana Crystals, it triggers that card's Synchronize effect for a big boost! It's like Combo, but usually you'll only get one on a turn. So you CAN play Lab Archivist on the turn it comes out... but come on, you know better than that! Synchronize effects will give some big value, but the best ones reward you when you played other cards that turn. With our Hero Power and those 1 mana Scrapbots, it's not too tough to trigger an effect right when we need it!

Rocket Strike - We're always bursting with ideas for new inventions! A lot of those end up as Scrapbots. But when you've got a bunch of those, sometimes you can do some really cool things. Some of your cards will be better when you've got a bunch of cards in your hand!

Power Gauntlet - Okay, so now you've got a hand full of Scrapbots. What do you do? Well... you can stick them on other stuff. We've got lots and lots of mechs! Some attack, some protect, and some just annoy people. And uh, heh, I stole a couple of Boom's bots from his lab. He wasn't using them!

Gadgetmaster Gruu - Oh, that picture? That's my mentor, Gruu! He taught me the most important lesson of being a Tinker. You gotta be resourceful! Think outside the box! You see, we Tinkers are a bit... scatterbrained. As you can tell with all the Scrapbots around here. But Gruu, he can take those bots and make them into new tools for when he raids the kobold mines! We got a couple cards that can transform other cards into other other cards! Between that and our inability to NOT make loads of Scrapbots, we're always a threat!

So then, what can we Tinkers do? Well we got tokens that fill our hands and our boards. We got Secrets that disrupt our opponents. We got strong weapons, tech, and mechs to strengthen our side of the field. And when things aren't going our way, we can switch our cards into others and take control back!

So, what do you say, kid? Are you in?

 I think your class design is fine, except for the fact that you don't have a win condition. Are you supposed to win through board control? Burst? Wacky combo? Most of your cards are just value generators.

Quote from Klipce >>

Quote from Shatterstar1998>>

Quote from Klipce>>

Hey everyone, I see many people want a review of their class but unfortunatly I don't have much time for this. What I can do however is share my general impression of Phase 1.

Let's first talk about the good, shall we ? Their is a lot of diversity, cool class themes, interesting mecanics, lovely art and great flavor. I hope to see most of the classes fully fleshed out during Phase 2 since 5 cards is not much. It also seems like most people are eager to get and give feedback in order to improve as much as possible, which is a very cool design philosophy in my opinion. I look forward to seeing the rest of the competition unfold.

Now onto what can be improved. Not gonna mention any entry in particular, I just want to draw everyone's attention to common problems :

Hero Powers: In my opinion, Hero Powers are the hardest to design since they have to be very simple and straight forward. I also think that most people are not used to making Hero Powers which can lead to many mistakes. It's a shame because a bad HP really hurts a class regardless of the cards... The main problems I see are : 1) Weak or conditional effects, making the HP not always a good option (which it should be) ; 2) Keywords use and/or complicated effects (while it's great to have a HP with depth, making it to complex turns it into a huge gateway for new players) ; 3) No immediate effect, often adding card to the hand (this one is more my personal taste but I think such HPs are quite weak). I don't know how helpful this is since HP is often build around the class's theme but maybe some minor changes should be considered.

Keyword: While many Keywords are very intersting, I think some have very limited design space or to complicated effects. Some of them seem like every card needs a lot of support/synergie to work which is not great, especially for basic cards. Also, it seems like some people have 2 keywords insteed of 1. Not only does it seem to be against the rules, it makes the class much more complicated than it needs to be and force odd design choices so I would recommand to Choose One. Finally, some keywords are interesting but they feel disconected from Hearthstone, using mecanics that are not built in the game. It's not necesserly bad but be careful with those because they are some time conter intuitive are have wierd interactions. Once again, it might be a bit late to change completly your keyword but minor reworks for the sake of clarity and flow of the game would be good. Also making a unique keyword is optional (it's a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, but you don't have to do it) so if nothing works maybe consider not having a keyword at all.

Cards : So many great mecanics and ideas all over the place feels great. Still, I think some effects would benefit from adjustments in order to be right. The only mecanic that really bugs me is the "-X Health" (it show up very often, mostly in "-X/-X effects). It's just not something that Hearthstone does. I know it's not exactly the same but I think that switching it for "deal X damage" would work just fine and be more in line with the mecanics that already exist in the game. Other than that, I only see some minor corrections to make here and there : 1) Wording can be to complicated or to vague some times ; 2) Mecanics and keywords are sometimes used in sets were they didn't exist (it just feels wierd...) ; 3) Watermarks have meaning and should be used to convey information and flavor, not just look good.

I can't possibly go over every card or class but I'd be happy to do so should one (or more) of you be willing to do so. As I already said, their is a lot of good and the bad can surely be improved so I'm very optimistic about the rest of the competition.

I do have a class of my own that I would love to get feedback on. Here comes THE VOODOO :

Quote from Klipce>>

Ok so since their is no competition per se this time around and I kinda rushed my entry because of time issues, I would love some feedback on the cards and class in general :

Hero and Hero Power

So racial variety is always good, right ? Well I made this character up since I didn't have much time, don't know much about Warcraft and found this beautifull artwork. The name means "Good blood" in ancient greek (didn't really knew which language I should have borrowed from but I quite happy with this name). The Hero Power was designed as somewhat weaker than other basic hero powers but with some interesting interactions and flexibility.

Unique Keyword

Always loved Enrage and aura effects in general. I like it tho it might not be the most flexible keyword. I think I'll use it mostly in the basic and classic sets and then maybe one or two cards each expansion and it should be interesting.

Cards

The class will be pretty minion-heavy, focusing on taking the board and keeping it. I like the selection and the effects but maybe the wording or balance are off since I made these quickly.

 If your looking for more details and/or lore, go to the submission pool (and maybe drop a like, I would very much appreciate it) where it explained all of it with some flavor text mixed in.

Very happy to go to the next Phase, hope to do my best in this competition.

Happy CCC to everyone !

 Happy CCC to everyone !

 Soul Crusher is way too complicated for the Basic set. What if the minion targeted is odd attack?

As explained in my submission, halving is the equivalent of "Setting X to half it's current value (rounded up)". The interaction with odd numbers is 100% consistent so I don't think it's to complicated. I will consider making this mecanic exclusive to the Classic set but I feel like it's ok in the Basic set.

The name of your class is also a problem. Voodoo is a school of magic, as oppose to referring to a person like the 9 classes already in the game. 

Well I may be wrong but I think one can call a practitioner of voodoo magic "a Voodoo". Maybe I could go with "Voodooist" but it's kinda wierd...

 Even if that is the case, that only say what religion they are practicing, not how they are practicing that religion or what their job is (which is basically the 9 classes). It would be like calling your class "The Christian" or "The Buddhist".

For those who are worried about their classes, it's because they have one or several of the issues listed below (except for Lich, which I actually like). I don't have time to give more specific feedback sorry.

• No central theme emerges from the showcased cards (#1 issue in many cases)
• Uses mechanics that are already used by several classes
• Keywords are excessively complicated and/or doesn't bring anything new
• The art isn't HS-style and/or of bad quality. It's not an issue for most people but it is for some
• Lack of ergonomy of the submission post
• Cards too wordy/complicated

 I wouldn't mind a review of my class lel

I finally get some time to make the class i was thinking, i will submit it in a couple of hours, but i would like receive some opinions if someone have a little bit a time to see it now.

Quote from Ozymandias >>

I finally get some time to make the class i was thinking, i will submit it in a couple of hours, but i would like receive some opinions if someone have a little bit a time to see it now.

The Gunner

The Gunner is a class based on the militia and the artillery that take part in every war. As you may thinking now, this class is very good in take control on the field and make strategics moves to finally reduce the enemie to ashes, so remenber that when you fight against a gunner EVERY STEP MATTERS.

The mighty gunner can take quickly an advantage of the high number of enemies on the field, but the nature of his most basic weapon are somehow unpredictable.

The class kewyword: Grounded

"Grounded" is keyword that represent how the knowledge on the field and the power of his artillery make the gunner a class that can aproach not only by a reactive way to the enemies attacks, but also an active use of his own abilities to gain a complete control of the battlefield.

The Cards

This 5 cards show how the gunner can go from the very basic and most easy use of his abilities to the most strategic and trickier of those, to both mantaing his own troops alive and decieive the enemies into fall for his plans.

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I keep it very simple on the explanation on purpose.

Things I've noticed:

• Shrapnel Shot is simply just a better Fireblast, which is already considered to be one of the best basic Hero Powers in the game.
• Hollow Shot can't have Grounded because it's a Basic card, which are not supposed to have class-exclusive keywords.
• Two typos in Cannonbull: "left-most" (add the hypen so it's consistent with cards Stargazer Luna, and the "t"), and "attacks".
• First Lane Corporal probably shouldn't be a Classic card as "opposite" mechanics weren't a thing until the Chess Boss in Karazhan. This also presents a problem with your Grounded mechanic.
• Siege Engine uses the exact same name and artwork as the currently existing Siege Engine (mouse over this).
• Hand Cannon has the same wording problem as Cannonbull.

So for the Gunner, here are my thoughts:

• The Hero Power is too powerful, and too unpredictable. I wouldn't recommend having a hero power that's better than the default hero powers. Additionally, the RNG might be too much for new players to work with.
• Grounded is an interesting mechanic when you first look at it, but it becomes more of something your opponent plays around rather than you use to your advantage. It's also only usable on minions, which restricts its use when comparing it to Combo or Choose One or Overload.
• Hollow Shot is a basic card. Basic cards can't have your special keywords!
• "After your opponent plays a minion, your left-most minion attacks it." Aside from that, it's an interesting card. You sure about 1-cost secrets in the class?
• I know what First Lane Corporal does, but the effect seems very complicated when I read it. Double damage to the enemies opposite it—but only when attacking. Seems like more of an epic card. Maybe you could take it a Cave Hydra direction, or even "Grounded. Deals double damage to minions it attacks." 
• Siege Engine is already a card! With the same art! Neat effect though.
• Hand Cannon is fine. I like the left-most idea you're going for, but you might want to reconsider your keyword a bit and then look into whether you want to be so close to warrior in terms of class identity.

Anyhow, anyone got critique for my class?