This is the Submission Topic. The Discussion Topic is here.
Welcome back everyone! I'd congratulate you on making it through to Phase II, but we decided on letting (almost) everyone through, so I'll be honest and simply not. You won't find that leniency in this Phase, however - people will be dropped, so make sure your Basic set is up to scratch!
Now, what's different about this Phase compared to Phase I? Well, for a start...
Challenges! (Trials? Whatever theming you prefer)
Challenges have returned! You'll have to keep them in mind when designing your class, because violating any of them is grounds for disqualification. I wouldn't worry about them too much in your initial design - try and come up with a Basic set that you like, and then look to the challenges to see if you meet them all. The challenges this time around are designed to try and push you towards creating a better Hearthstone class, so if you know what you're doing, you should be able to meet the requirements without even trying.
Standard Format! (No, not that one)
One complaint we've had in previous competitions is that some competitors have an unfair advantage over others by being better at formatting their submission to look appealing. This is meant to be a card design competition after all, not a graphic design one. As such, we've implemented a template which we expect all entries to follow. You can find this template here (or by navigating to the second post in the Discussion Topic, if that link doesn't work). Hopefully you shouldn't find this too restrictive, and perhaps even find it helpful by being able to simply copy-and-paste the formatting over when you're looking to submit. If you have any doubts about the formatting, or if something in our rules seems to contradict it (I haven't changed the General Rules at all, I don't remember what it says about formatting in there), feel free to shoot me a message and I'll answer as quickly as possible.
That's all the bullet points for this Phase. I don't even know what I'll have to list in the next Phase, there's not much more to talk about. Maybe I'll just give you helpful hints, or show you pictures of my pets.
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. A single banner or border, to introduce the class, is allowed. 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. How should you size your cards? Well...
Adjust cards to a width of 250 , and you should be able to get three in a row!
Adjust cards to a width of 180 , and you should be able to get four in a row!
Adjust cards to a width of 150 , and you should be able to get five in a row!
* "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.
PHASE II: The Basic Set
In this Phase, you will each construct your class's Basic Set . Here are the requirements for your Class Creation Competition Phase II Entry (And these may vary due to certain challenges)
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.
Note that it is okay if you've decided to make some minor alteration to your Hero Power since Phase I.
EXAMPLE BASIC CARDS We do not want to see your Class's entire Basic Set out in the open.
You are allowed up to five (5) example Basic 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.
As these are Basic cards, they should have no expansion watermark and no rarity gem.
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.).
There are many keywords that do not appear on any existing Basic Card, and they may not appear on any of your Basic Cards either: Counter , Deathrattle , Enrage , Immune , Secret , Silence , Stealth , and any other keyword that has been introduced in future expansions (e.g. Adapt ). In addition, there are many general mechanics that did not appear either, so you must avoid expansion-specific mechanics like Spellstones and C'Thun synergy, and so on. Other such mechanics like Elemental and Dragon synergy aren't disallowed per se shouldn't be used unless your class is specifically themed around Elemental or Dragons.
Just as Choose One , Combo , and Overload do not appear on any Basic cards, neither may any of your class's unique keywords appear on any of its Basic cards.
REMAINING BASIC SET The remaining five (5) cards of your class's Basic Set 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.
FORMATTING The standard template which your submission must follow can be found here (or by navigating to the second post in the Discussion Topic, if that link doesn't work).
Huh, that banner looks familiar. Yeah, sue me, I couldn't be bothered making a new one so you're getting our delightful rainbow one again. I like it, at least.
Ooh, that orphan still annoys me. Ah well, I guess it makes sense with the Challenge. Basic cards are exactly what the name implies - Basic. As such, we want you to make sure that at least 7 of your cards have 2 lines of card text (or less). This is actually true of almost every class in Hearthstone - Warlock is the odd one out here.
Basic sets introduce you to the fantastic world of spells and weapons that are available to classes (and not in the Neutral set). You should make sure you equip your class well, so you're restricted to only 2 minions in your Basic set. Some classes don't even need minions - Rogue didn't bother with any at all!
Spells that summon minions don't count against this restriction, so feel free to Animal Companion away!
What's a generic keyword you ask? That's any non-class-specific keyword which already appears on a Basic card: Freeze, Taunt, Charge, Windfury, Spell Damage +1 and Divine Shield. Note that we're not including Battlecry in this - you can use that freely if you wish. You can use your two keywords on as many cards as you like - all 10 cards can have Freeze and Taunt (though I wouldn't recommend it).
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...
NOTE: All stages of the competition begin and end at 22:00 UTC. ALSO NOTE: This timetable is subject to change at any time, even after the competition begins, if it seems like too many folks are struggling.
* 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, Cogito_Ergo_Sum, 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 (ShadowsOfSense, PupleMD, Phoenixfeather, ThisOtherGuyTox, Cogito_Ergo_Sum, Otovent, linkblade91) 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 challenges will remain a secret , but I'm happy to tell you the general submission requirements.
PHASE III: The Classic Set
In this Phase, you will each construct your class's Classic Set . Here are the requirements for your Class Creation Competition Phase III 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 CLASSIC CARDS We do not want to see your Class's entire Classic Set out in the open.
You are allowed up to five (5) example Classic 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.
As these are Classic cards, they should have the Classic watermark, and you should include 6 Common cards, 5 Rare cards, 3 Epic cards, and 1 Legendary minion.
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.).
There are many keywords that do not appear on any existing Classic Card, and they may not appear on any of your Basic Cards either: Discover , Adapt , Lifesteal , Recruit , or any other keyword that has been introduced in future expansions. In addition, there are many general mechanics that did not appear either, so you must avoid expansion-specific mechanics like Spellstone and C'Thun synergy, and so on. Other such mechanics like Elemental and Dragon synergy aren't disallowed per se shouldn't be used unless your class is specifically themed around Elementals or Dragons.
REMAINING CLASSIC SET The remaining ten (10) cards of your class's Basic Set 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 SET You should include your completed Basic Set from Phase II 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 Classic Set material. It is fine if these cards have undergone some minor modification since the end of Phase II, but thy must still adhere to all of Phase II's requirements.
PHASE IV: Journey to Un'Goro + Knights of the Frozen Throne
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 Journey to Un'Goro and Knights of the Frozen Throne 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 JUG & KFT CARDS We do not want to see your Class's entire JUG and KFT Sets out in the open.
You are allowed up to five (5) 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.
You should also have 3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 2 Epic cards, and 1 Legendary minion, and 1 Legendary Quest with the Journey to Un'Goro watermark. These may not have Lifesteal , Death Knight cards, or other mechanics that did not exist until later expansions.
3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 2 Epic cards, and 1 Legendary minion, and 1 Legendary Hero card with the Knights of the Frozen Throne watermark. These may not have Recruit , Spellstone Upgrades, 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 JUG & KFT CARDS The remaining seven (7) cards of your class's JUG and KFT 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.
PHASE V: Kobolds & Catacombs + The Witchwood
Congratulations on being a semi-finalist! With positively received Whispers of the Old Gods and One Night in Karazhan 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 Mean Streets of Gadgetzan and Journey to Un'Goro 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 KnC & WW CARDS We do not want to see your Class's entire KnC and WW Sets out in the open.
You are allowed up to five (5) 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.
3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 2 Epic cards, and 1 Legendary minion, and 1 Legendary Weapon with the Kobolds and Catacombs watermark. These may not have Echo, Rush, or other mechanics that did not exist until later expansions.
You should also have 3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 2 Epic cards, and 2 Legendary cards with the Witchwood watermark. These may not have Magnetic, Overkill, 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 KnC & WW CARDS The remaining cards of your class's KnC and WW 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, JUG, and KFT SETS You should include your completed Basic, Classic, JUG, and KFT 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: The Boomsday Project + Rastakhan's Rumble
Here we are, finalists! In the last phase of our competition, you'll be giving us your class's Knights of the Frozen Throne and Kobolds & Catacombs 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.
BOOM & RR CARDS In addition to including the required material from all previous phases, you must add the following:
3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 2 Epic cards, and 2 Legendary cards with the Boomsday Project watermark. These may not have Overkill or other mechanics that did not exist until later expansions.
3 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 2 Epic cards, and 2 Legendary cards with the Rastakhan's Rumble watermark.
EXAMPLE CARDS These don't need to be part of your Finale Topic, but by the end of the Submission Phase, you should send ShadowsOfSense 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 7 competition themed around their winning class!
ARCHIVES
Want to see how things went during our first four 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.
The Occultist is a class based on Eldritch Gods and the C'Thulhu mythos, or the C'Thun mythos, in this case. A class with damage synergies, boardclears, lots of draw, and power at a cost. Tentacles too, if you're into that...
Example Cards
Wicked Devotee : A card that synergizes well with the Hero Power, granting early game board presence.
Madman's Knowledge : One example of the Power at a Cost cards in Occultist, granting early game draw at the cost of a friendly minion.
Call of the Deep : Another kind of power at a cost in the class, this time relying on your hero's health to provide extra value, but also giving you Taunts to protect your face, and a bunch of tokens you can sacrifice. Tentacles!
Wrath of the Occult : A very powerful boardclear that depicts Eldritch gods coming and wrecking everyone! How lovely.
Ire of the Primordial : A powerful spell that probably removes two random enemy minions, unless they're really big. Why would you even play the game when you can just call down upon an Old One to do the job for you, anyways?
Remaining Cards
Bloody Blow : A boardclear that makes you pay with your health, or your blood in this case. Powerful in the early game, but the 4 damage is a big price to pay.
Ancient Power : A powerful enough buff, that enables the Occultist to have a little more of an early game presence.
Mind Flay : Deal 2 and draw 2, for 4. Isn't it pretty? Reliable card draw that you don't even need to kill your minions for!
Ancient Blood : Relying on your Hero Power for all the healing wouldn't be a very reliable strategy, would it? A big heal for a big mana cost. Fair enough, i would say.
Lesser Old One : If the Lesser Old One is an 8/8, imagine how big the real Old Ones are! Another card that synergizes fairly well with the hero power, while mostly being a way for the Occultist to heal himself, eating the nice Eldritch meat that gets cut off out of Mr. Old One here. Madness, honestly.
The Godborn is a class that focuses on earning the gods' Favor to unleash devastating effects upon his enemies, as well as controling the board via powerful boardclears of by flooding it with servants and acolytes.
Hyperion Sunborn is the son of Ra, the sun god of the egyptian pantheon, that making him a godborn . His life in the realm of the gods was a blessing, until a cunning and deceiving conspiracy set our hero on a path of doom. Exiled from the high sky for a thing he hadn't comitted, Hyperion was left to suffer on the planet of Azeroth in his desperate attempt to regain the trust of his brethren.
The Favor keyword won't be present in the basic set because our hero is not yet strong enough to earn the gods' acceptance. However, the 0-1 produced by the hero power can be used in other ways by the weakened godborn, either by buffing or by sacrifing it for a greater cause.
The Basic Set
This set follows our hero's first steps into the world of Azeroth, more precisely in the Tanaris Desert. Being weakened by his skyfall, our hero is ready to begin a journey in an attempt to clear his name, conjuring the power of his father to tame the dunes and the heat surrounding him.
Poisonous Bite is a cheap spell that allows you to draw a card if played correctly. The class has an arsenal of 1 health minions and related effects that will make this card a powerful draw engine and a core card for every deck. Sadly, there is no antidote.
Sandclaw Scorpion is a powerful removal tool whose lethal sting can take down the mightiest enemies. Combined with a Poisoned Bite , your opponent's minions won't be safe from the creatures of the desert, unless you have Divine shield .
Blessing of Gods allows you to ascend a minion and make it stronger and godlier, being perfect for a 'fair' trade.
Journey is an interesting card. As you are wondering through the big, hot and dangerous desert you need every help you can get: a means of transport, a weapon and a nice drink to heal your burning throat.
Rise! does what it knows best. It makes the earth tremble as mighty soldiers arise from beneath the sands, flooding the board like a rather dangerous army. Just remember, they melt, fast ( Flamestrike ).
Here are some tokens:
Remaining Cards
Eclipse is a single target medium damage spell that will allow you to either anihilate weaker enemies or prepare stronger ones to be finished by your little army of exotic desert dwellers. Don't forget your sunglasses.
Sandstorm will unleash the fury of the sands upon your smallest enemies, leaving them breathless before your opponent can level the playing field ( Level Up! ).
Mummify is the answer to your burning questions. The bandages are 100% ignition free so you won't be a sad mummy after all.
Oasis is a refuge for the thirsty, acting as an impenetrable sanctuary where you can't be harmed. Well, you can be harmed but you won't die from the pain.
Imperious Sphinx is not your usual kind of teacher. You come with a question and he offers you 3 answers. Choose wisely.
Where is my mummy?
There you are. Good boy....or girl.....or whatever you are!
I am very happy with how this set turned out and I hope you will give me a chance to show you future sets and how the character evolves throughout the competition. Have a good day!
The Witchdoctor is back! This time with basic cards. I tried to go into a few directions with them, exploring themes that will later on appear on more complex cards while also laying some solid groundwork for the class with some weaknesses as well.
Keyword: Shadow Realm
My classes keyword is called
Shadow Realm
and it acts like a "bank" which can be used to store cards in it and use them through specific interactions. It is hard to explain without examples so i would recommend looking up my entry from the first Phase to get a clearer understranding.
VERY IMPORTANT:
Cards keep ANY enchantments when they enter the Shadow Realm, so e.g. the Hero Power cost reduction is still apllied while in it or when the card gets back into your hand.
Example Cards
I had to change the wording of many cards I previously created very heavily and some I even had to completely scrap since their effects were simply impossible to get into such few words, but in the end I think they came out better than before because of the challenges. Fun stuff!
So here they are:
Void Vision
: This is a card showcasing a reocurring mechanic of the class: Effects that trigger if you have no more Mana left. These are naturally supported by the Hero Power making it possible to trigger multiple of these in the same turn. The buildup is pretty steep though, so watch out to not get killed!
Stoke the Fire
: Kind of a randomized pseudo-ramp. This started out at 3 mana, but with our current knowledge about hero powers having a card like this in an odd-deck could be really oppressing. I didn't want to limit my own design space for the upgraded Hero Power so this might be on the weaker side, but still quite useable I think.
Deathcaller
: Conditional card draw on a slightly understatted 5-drop. Could be pretty strong, but I would consider it on a healthy strong powerlevel. I orientied myself mostly around
Azure Drake
and
Fire Elemental
. What this card showcases is the classes janky card draw. There will be very few cards that only draw cards without having a requirement or some interaction with the draw for the Witchdoctor.
Darkblight:
A delayed 1 damage AoE that repeats itself on the minions that were on the board when cast. It's low tempo the first turn, but if you manage to do some clever trading, it might really pay off on the 2nd or 3rd trigger.
Abduction:
Late game minion removal combined with some value generation. Probably not too strong, certainly depending on the meta, but the second you gain control of a minion or add it to your hand it is way easier to get it into your
Shadow Realm
, so that is something to consider.
Remaining Cards
So here is the rest. Standard single target removal in
Gutspike
, and a strong board clear in
Soulburst
.
Skullswinger
probably still doesn't make a lot of sense, but I guess more than at the very beginning
(I included it in the first Phase as one of my example cards)
considering all these 2 cost spells which, keep in mind, can all be reduced to 0 with the single use of a Hero Power.
Blend Forces
was a tricky one to balance but I think I got it right. Burst card draw in this class could be really dangerous since with a bit of luck and skill it could be cast very cheaply. So to balance this out, I made the card worsen itself the more likely you are to hit it with your Hero Power. The fewer cards are in your hand, the less powerful it gets.
Last off,
Gloomhydra Blood
is a flexible buff which can be used to kill minions, protect your own ones or do both if you are good, so it should be used wisely, I actually think it would be kind of powerful. Of course the anti-synergy isn't a mistake, it rather turns this into a kind of
Choose-One
card (also, there might already be a pretty good synergy to spot with it, just saying ;)).
So, one thing the Witchdoctor doesn't really excel in is early game removal. Each class has to have some weaknesses, at least in their basic card package, so thats the one I chose. The Witchdoctor mostly has to rely on discounting their cards to create big tempo swings by letting the opponent play some stuff and then slamming a cheap board clear followed by a (hopefully) well statted minion. If that doesn't happen however, you could get into big trouble.
Was there ever a time when you were playing mage and you thought to yourself "Hang on, this class has like, almost no weapons"? Do you want to be edgy and different from other classes (and people), playing cards but like, not in their boring original form? Do you want to play as yet another unnecessarily scantily clad female character created by Blizzard Entertainment? Look no further. As the Enchanter, you can make your opponent really annoyed with your excoriating night-elf-but-not-night-elf emotes, hit your opponent in the face with a magic stick, or cast spells that break your stick because they're
too OP
. All that and more after the break.
Class Keyword [preview]
The Phase keyword isn't in the basic set, but can be found in the classic set on minions and spells. Weapons can also have the keyword. If a
Phase
card is played a) with a cost reduction, b) in the case of a minion or weapon, a stats buff, and c) in the case of spells, empowered by Spell Damage, it gains a bonus effect. For example, equipping a
Leyline Staff
from your hero power activates Phase on spells, as their text changes.
Example Cards
Leyline Control
is a handbuff card for empowering your spells, but it has to land on a playable minion. This helps you to set up combos for later in the game.
Invigorate
can be used as removal, when paired with
Mystic Flux
, for a 2-card, 7 mana combo of "Deal 4 damage to a 4-Health minion. Draw 2 cards." That will usually kill it!
Scroll of Divination
is a good tutor card and one of the Enchanter's essential draw tools.
Astral Fire
is like
Pyroblast
when paired with your hero power, but is more flexible and is more powerful the greater your spell damage is.
Remaining Cards
With a moderate number of damaging spells in the Enchanter's basic set, your Hero Power and
Inscribing Slate
can be used to amp up the damage. You can also set up a swing turn by playing
Leyline Control
into a cheap damaging spell + establishing board presence. Enchanter essentially works as a 'Choose One' class for its damaging spells: You can spend 2 mana on
Mana Beam
to deal 2 to a minion and the enemy minion, or spend 4 mana to deal 3 (a much more reasonable version of
Cobra Shot
). This same logic applies to
Astral Fire
, whereby you can deal 8 damage for 8 or 10 damage for 10 (
Pyroblast
).
Mystic Flux
isn't too strong when compared with
Hammer of Wrath
, acts as removal when paired with
Invigorate
(7 mana 'destroy' a minion, draw 2 cards).
Immolate
is a scaled up version of
Consecration
, but another kind of
Flamestrike
for 8 mana. You get the gist.
Enchanted Figures
and
Ley Walker
are the introduction to the buff-related aspect of the class. The classic set will focus on whether cards have something changed from their original state—whether in hand or on the board.
My theme of the class is all Ocean/Sea based (Not just Sea animals.) Featuring Mermaid Fionalle Aqua as the main Hero. Her Hero Power, Sea Song, gives minions a boost in stats on board. If you want more detail, please scroll to the bottom for a link to my Phase I post.
Keyword
Brief Description:
Aqualocation uses board advantage to its benefit, using a strategic timing on when to play who at what point in the game, However it won't be featured in this Phase. (for obvious reasons.) More information in my link below.
Basic Card Examples:
Explanations:
Whirlpool: Very similar to Warlock's Twisting Nether , however, it comes with just playing the class. I think it's necessary to make this a free card since the lack of AoE spells in the class itself. Flavor Text: It's like a highspeed Merry Go Round.
New Shore: A cool mechanic that helps keep Sea Creatures stabilized, by keeping your board strong. This works into Sea Creatures because it shows off the classes ability to buff other minions, and keep board presence there. Flavor Text: Captain, I think we've might've gone in a circle...
Ocean Runner: Brings back the charge mechanic, in a way where it isn't crazy overpowered but can still do a reasonable amount of damage. (It isn't a battlecry, his attack changes depending on how many minions are on the board while it is still alive. If there are 3 minions when it's played, it'll be a 3/6 if there are 5 minions on your next turn, it'll be a 5/6.) Flavor Text: Run like the waves, Nyeh like the jetskis.
Hearty Trumpet: Very simple, but shows the classes healing mechanics and it's recovery ability. Flavor Text: Incredibly good at playing the trumpet, but no one knows how she made her seashell into one.
Crabapocalypse: Demonstrates the minion presence mechanic, and how the class is good at spawning minions. Even though the total value is 8/8 for 6 mana, it takes board space and 2/2's aren't to hard to clear, so it evens out. Flavor Text: Like zombies, except they have claws. Very sharp claws. Remaining Cards
Flavor Text: Crashing Waves: Just when you sank, you get sunked. Hidden Treasure: Yarrharr! There be a fortune mateys! Octopus Mayhem: Octokid is going through many changes right now. Pirate Parade : The Yo to my Ho. Sir Finless: He adopted this name from the fact that he never takes his hat off.
INSECTS! I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU ABOUT MY CLASS! DID YOU SERIOUSLY FORGET? FINE! I WILL REPEAT MYSELF, BUT ONLY TO REINFORCE JUST HOW AWESOME I AM! FIRELORD HAS LOTS OF EXPENSIVE CARDS TO CRUSH BUGS LIKE YOU! THE CLASS HAS MANY EFFECTS THAT DEAL DAMAGE, BOTH DIRECTLY AND AS BOARD CLEARS. ALSO, THEY LIKE TO BURN THINGS- A LOT! SO MUCH, IN FACT, THAT BURN IS FIRELORD'S CLASS-SPECIFIC KEYWORD!
SOOO HOT! BURN IS JUST ONE WAY THE FIRELORD CLASS MANIPULATES THEIR DECK, IN ADDITION TO DRAWING AND SHUFFLING CARDS! CAN YOUR PATHETIC CLASS DO THAT , INSECT? NOW, BEHOLD- THE BASIC SET!
SHOWCASE CARDS
I WILL NOW ALLOW ONE OF MY UNDERLINGS TO FINISH PRESENTING THE CLASS! THERE ARE FAR MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS WHICH REQUIRE MY ATTENTION. FOR INSTANCE, SOME IMBECILE LOWERED THE TEMPERATURE IN SULFURON KEEP- BY A WHOLE DEGREE! I SUSPECT AHUNE... WE SHALL SPEAK AGAIN SOON, INSECT!
Firelands Terror: Solid mid-game card. Has a good statline and a useful keyword. A lot of classes struggle for good 5-Cost minions. Firelord will likely have an easier time than them.
Pesticide: Ragnaros's specialty move. Guranteed to destroy any insect- but not necessarily the one you want. Encourages controlling the board to guarantee the target of this effect.
Rock Out: It's not all fire and flames- Rock Out is a powerful late game card that can put your opponent in a tight spot if they don't have a strong board presence or an AoE effect.
Warm Up: Drawing cards is one of Firelord's strengths, and this powerful card surely proves this. Comparable to Arcane Intellect, Nourish, and Shield Block, this card fits right in with some of the staples from Hearthstone's history.
Flaming Son: This basic card helps establish the self-harm theme which will become more prevalent in future sets. It can provide a powerful tempo boost if you play it on curve. You can strategically kill off a small minion of yours to avoid experiencing the full downside.
One more! Have you ever just wanted to punch your opponent in the face? How about their minions' faces? Their spells' faces? Weapons'? Well this might be the class for you. With the Fist Fighter, EVERYTHING will be punched in the face, sometimes multiple times, at high speeds.
This class has many things to offer in basic; skilled techniques and tactics, eager pandas, and powerful moves that will make the ground shake and your enemies EXPLODE! AHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Example Cards
Distraction: A simple draw card that also has protection with it. With all the faces you'll be punching, you are going to want to protect your own face. These idiots will be punching rocks! What a bunch of dummies!
Lesson Training: With such skillful moves you will have tons of people wanting to learn from you. Welcome them with open arms and you might just be able to benefit by overpowering your opponent on the board.
Towel Boy: Every great fighter needs a guy who can help you keep refreshed and this guy can handle it! Just look at all those towels. He can even help your fighting squad if they need to freshen up too.
Pumped Trainer: This guy keeps you in shape. You can't be slacking when some zero mana 1/1 penguins need to be taught a lesson. You will always be ready to attack when this guy is around, plus your other moves get a benefit just by having him around for some moral support. :)
Rip and Tear: When your opponent is just so stupid, it starts to get to your head. It makes you want to just... RIP AND TEAR. RIP AND TEAR. RIP AND TEAR RIP AND TEAR RIPANDTEAR !
The Windwalker Student token generated by Lesson Training
Remaining Cards
These cards were already shown off in Phase I (and you can read about them there if you wish) or are just some pretty simple (yet necessary) support cards. Not much more to explain!
A gambler can be many things, a man who bets money on games, a fisherman that is fishing without bait, or just a simple risktaker. One thing they all have in common, is that they play the odds, and hope the luck turns in their favor. So does the Gambler class. For this reason the Gambler will include a fair amount of RNG elements. But the Gambler, unlike most other classes, have a tendency to be able to stack their odds in their favor, making the odds just the slighest better to turn in their favor than their opponent's.
Example Cards
Low Roll: Like Priest with its Shadow Words, then the Gambler have rolls. Low roll will help you with dealing with either a singleton minion, which can be useful both in the early game and the lategame.
High Roll: On the other end of the spectrum you have High Roll, which is often "destroy your opponents best creature", although it lack the flexibility of choosing whatever you want to kill, which is why it is removal at a premium.
Winner's Spoils: As a Gambler, he'll sometime be on the winning side of a gamble, which will result in profits. Coins will be a recurring theme for the Gambler, which they will help generate. This was intentionally made a strong card.
Elven Waitress: Usuually you'll see that Gambler spells are in general stronger than Gambler minions, because the class is primairly spell focused. As such, this act as a decent arena card, but as nothing more than that. It was intentionally made a weak card.
Full Hand: The Gambler is primarily a value-based class, which this helps with tremendously, but adding a high amount of random cards to your hand, that combined will help you out-value your opponent.
Remaining Cards
Toast for Victory: Another Gambler cycle includes the "Toasts", which have effects that benefit both player's, although they won't have to be symmetrically for both players.
Wild Cards: The Gambler can't be a Gambler without a bit of RNG. And this is the only planned "unhealthy" RNG card for the Gambler. It acts as early game removal, alongside as a bit of burst in specific situations.
Flip a Coin: The trick to using this card, is to use it in situations where both effects will be useful, or as an emergency card. The card can't just be held till you have next to no Health like Healing Rain nor used to draw at any point in the game like Arcane Intellect , but it can function as both sort of, if you plan wisely.
Background Musician: As you probaly can see at this point, the Gambler is a control class, and will have anti-Combo based effects, to support it. This card currently works a way to mitigate minion attack based combos, and as a way to survive just one turn more.
Frustration: Gambler angry. Gambler Smash! A simple aoe for the Gambler, so it stands a chance at winning against tempo decks.
Your right is your opponent's right as well. Otherwise stuff like the Dorothee Brawl wouldn't work. You may think an enemy Battlemage Hero Power will hit your
left
-most minion, but this isn't the case.
If your opponent has no minions, the Hero Power will hit their hero. If they have one minion, it will hit that minion.
In other fantasy games and forms of media, Battlemages are people who specialize in forms of armed combat with weapons, and magic. Battlemage specializes in spells, weapons, and armor. In many ways, Battlemage can be thought of as a combination of Mage and Warrior. That's not to say there's no room for originality in this class because there certainly is.
Unlike most other classes in this competition, Battlemage does not have its own keyword. You don't need a fancy keyword to create a new class (although it's more than welcome if you do). Not that it could use it in this Phase anyway, because this is the Basic set.
Speaking of Basic Set, here is 5 cards from the Battlemage's Basic set.
Example cards
Freeze in place! (Cryoball) -
Cryoball
gives Battlemage a very simple cantrip card for the Basic set to showcase Freeze as a Battlemage theme. Kind of like
Shiv
, but for Freezing
Armor Up! (Horde Hatchet) -
Horde Hatchet
is a very basic weapon (no pun intended), essentially Battlemage's
Fiery War Axe
. Although not as strong as pre-nerf
Fiery War Axe
, it fits the job dealing with 2-Health minions played on your opponent's turn 1 or 2. The 2 Armor it gives may be used immediately to kill your opponent's 2-drop, but then there's also Armor synergy.
Weapons AND Spells (Ember Seeker) -
Mages get spell synergy. Warriors get weapon and Armor synergy. Battlemages get all of the above, even combining them into one card.
Ember Seeker
in particular is Armor and spell synergy all in one card. Although gaining 2 Armor for one spell isn't much, cast a bunch of spells and suddenly you're set to go.
Minion Position Matters (Violent Slash) -
But Battlemage is not just simply a combination of Mage and Warrior. It gets some things to set it apart from all of the other classes. The importance of minion position for both players is one of these thing. Against Battlemage, you will need to think about where you play your minions. The Hero Power is one example and deals 1 damage, but
Violent Slash
will outright kill it. Perhaps it may be a good idea to play your biggest minions in the center.
Intense Combat (Phalanx) -
Battlemage does not get any self-damage synergy that Warrior does, but its Warrior side is showcased in other ways, through intense combat tactics. Raise your shield and your burning spear, remove small/weakened threats and gain some defense at the same time.
A few days after the bad men made her mother disappear, Camilla knew she wasn't coming back. Impulsed by her feelings of fear and loneliness she decided to break the rules for the first time and enter her mother's special room. There she found the cause for this and the knowledge to never be alone, ever again.
Camilla is a witch, a novice one, but a witch nonetheless and she bringing to the table all the classic witchery one might expect: curses, potions, familiars, hexes, poisoned apples and a lot more fun stuff!
Her Hero Power is
Grant Life
which gives you little 2/2 pal to help you take control of the battlefield. It trades a immediate presence on the board for a far beefier body.
The key themes of the class are going to be:
Brewing a variety of potions and elixirs!
Synergising with small minions! (1/2 Attack/Cost)
Casting curses on your enemies! (secrets)
Divining and observing your future! (looking at the top card of your deck)
Annoying your opponent, destroying their hopes and dreams! (Yay!)
And controlling cute critters! (mostly)
Example Cards
Curious Fairy:
The last seven flowers were awful, but I have high hopes for this one!.
A simple tutor balanced around
Novice Engineer
, A handy addition to any aggressive deck and an obvious synergie with one of the showcased cards.
Strength of the Meek:
While the cat is here, the mice will make it go away.
Another addition to any aggressive Witch deck, because of the ease which you can make tokens to buff this card costs one mana more than
Mark of the Lotus
Enchanter's Apprentice:
Someday he hopes to be just like you.
Balanced around
Raid Leader
and
Addled Grizzly
, you will have a permanent buff as long as you summon your minions after the young enchanter.
Precognition:
I know what are you going to do next summer.
Similar to
Arcane Intellect
, you trade the extra option for an extra copie of the top card of your deck, for some classes that would be a problem but not for the Witch and her tools to see the future!
Potion of Colossus:
Uh, it tasted purple.
A giant buff that unchecked will allow your smallest Homunculus to become a enormous threat and even close out the game.
Remaining Cards
With the remaining Basic cards I can also showcase the Witch's weakness
Weak or situational hard removal, mostly directed to small minions
Below average AoE
Hard times to get back on the board with out having already minions on it
When the people of Azeroth are sleeping or fighting, astromancers study the stars, the sun, the moon and the planets surrounding their sky. With this knowledge, astromancers try their best to make prediction to the future based on the pattern. Unfortunately, their prediction backfires to the people of Azeroth as often as it helps them.
That isn't to say that astromancers are completely wrong. With a little more patient, set up and studying intensely, their prediction have more chance of being useful!
Class Keyword
Astromancer is a high RNG class that this keyword allows them to reduce the RNG (atleast temporarily) and plan their turn as well as considering their risk / reward ratio accordingly when they don't draw or can't afford to play the Gaze cards.
How do you know and keep track of which characters are Gazed ? Any character that is Gazed will have an eye symbol with blue aura surrounding them when you hover over. Here's an example (thanks to the brilliant NoahMcGrath):
List of available cards in the Basic and Classic set that will be effected by this keyword:
High token spawning : As long as there is one star in the sky, the Astromancers will be able to summon out the Astral Spirit that represent the soul of those stars to fight for them.
High burst spell damage / finisher : Astromancers can command down comets and meteors from the night sky to hit their foe. Not only that but the Astral Spirits when buffs up can become formidable allies
Decent healing : Each Astral Spirits not only allows for board presence, each of them are gentle and helpful beings who heal you and your allies/minions over time by 2 Health if they are injured.
Decent removal: When not falling into your opponent's face, the comets and meteor conjured by the Astromancers can instead annihilate the enemy minions.
Decent card draw : With so many random effects and the need to combine with their class keyword Gaze in order for them to be effective, Astromancers will boast a decent amount of card draw in order for them to afford to play the Gaze and the random effect in combination
High disruption : The stars and the sky not only protect you in your turn, but in your opponent's turn as well. In addition to being a Secret class (that will be showncased in the Classic sets) and their class mechanic Gaze activates during your opponent's turn, a lot of their minions and spells also carry disruption effects that will cause your opponent to have to think twice before making any moves as well as creating interactive games from both sides.
Weakness:
Unreliable random effects: The power of the celestials are powerful but unstable. Astromancer is a class built from the ground up to be a high variant class. This is especially prevalent in their Basic cards and Hero Power. If your hand is filled with random effects with no effective way to make them more consistent, the RNG can easily screw you over.
Jack-of-all-trade, Master of None : Astromancer's class card has everything but not as best as a particular something. It's both a curse in that they will be harder to clearly pinpoint a best deck while a blessing in that it allows them to be flexible and incorporating many elements in their decks.
Buffs focus on giving minions Health and utility, not offensive power : Most of the Astromancer buffs are focusing on keeping the minions on the field, not finishing off your opponent. Thus you have to contend with grind them out and draw into your burst as well as trading and dealing chip damage carefully.
Healing tied to spawning minions : The class has very few healing outside of spawning the Astral Spirits . Thus you need to keep them alive if you want the healing to you and your minions provided by them. They also have no natural Armor gain, so they are vulnerable to 30 or more burst damage.
Weak board clear : The power of the stars are unreliable when forcing them to target multiple enemies. Most of the Astromancer's board clear are either unreliable (aka random), symmetrical or inefficient in term of damage to their cost.
Their Basic cards aim to establish the mechanic, flavor, strength and weakness of the class while also provide tools for them to play a variety of playstyle: Aggressive, Token based, Mid-range or Control.
Example Cards
Solar Eclipse : Ancient time has the belief that Solar Eclipses will cause bad luck happens to people who looks at them. With the Basic set filled with random effect, new players of this class will be grateful for this card. An introduction for the class's main flavor of control random effects as well as foreshadowing the Gaze mechanic in the Classic set. This card can also serve in more advanced decks as a combo piece since it allows you to preserve the Gaze effects already on the character.
Astral Intellect : An example of the class's extremely powerful but also high variant random effects. Most of the other cards will not as swingy as this effect, but this card is also the most powerful when assisted by Gaze or Solar Eclipse. Of course, you can also use this card offensively in control or combo match ups to mill important cards from your opponent or get them to fatigue faster. An example of the great disruption mechanic this class have.
Celestial Bow : Astromancers also employ a variety of tools in forms of weapon to aid their research and self-protectection in a world as hostile as Azeroth. Celestial Bow is a card that support this class's playstyle of spawning tokens as well as an example of how Astromancers will use their weapons: Most of the Astroamancer's weapons will be used for tempo or supporting their other cards similar to Paladin and Shaman rather than being a main focus like Rogue or Warrior.
Astral Touch : An example of the decent removal this class have. While the token doesn't immediately impact the board like Polymorph or Hex token, you will likely want to take care of it since the healing it provide can hit your opponent's face or minions.
Supernova : An example of the less than stellar board clear the class will have. The utility of healing and board presence provide by it is nice but you will either wipe out everything else on your board, leave some minions your opponent survive, both or, worse, died before reaching 7 mana.
Token:
Remaining Cards
Fiery Comet : An example of the great burst damage this class will have. It low cost allows it to combo with Malygos with a little bit of set up like with another Gaze or Solar Eclipse. Or can use as a removal.
Blessing of the Stars : A card that foreshadow that kind of buffs that this class will receive. Most of their buffs will focus on keeping their minions alive on the board and provide extra utility, not bursting down their opponent.
Starcaller : A minion that served many purpose: A very sticky and threatening 4 drop for mid-range decks, a token spawning machine that allow to you spawn atleast 1-2 Astral Spirits that will most likely heal her back when she hit another minion, a great source of healing or a card will force your opponent to play inefficiently because they will likely not want you to create and the buff up the Spirits. She also another example of the great disruption mechanic the class have.
Astral Wrath : A card that showcase the weakness of the class has in term of AoE. The damage is extremely weak for its cost. The draw is a little utility.
Knight of the Eclipse : A card that support more mid-range Astromancers deck. The statline is excellent for its cost and if you give him Taunt by cards like Sunfury Protector and hide him behind a bunch of Astral Spirits , he will protect them while they will heal back the damage he took. He is also an example of the disruption mechanic this class naturally has in its card set and how cards with Gaze effects will be given vanilla efficient stat to cost ratio since his effect is basically non-factor if you and your opponent don't have random effects. Or can even be beneficial to the Deadly Shot your opponent cast.
Q & A
So, is Solar Eclipse is basically just Gaze with different wording? NO! They are similar in fuction and use the same animation, yes, but will have completely different interaction. Solar Eclipse will override any previous Gazes you stack on top of the character, which mean that you can preserve your Gaze for the next random effect you cast. Solar Eclipse also will not benefit from any Gaze synergy that will be printed.
Will Astral Intellect interact with Gaze / Solar Eclipse on minions? No. Astral Intellect will only be affected by Gaze / Solar Eclipse on Hero.
Metamorphers are warriors who use the 3 fundamental forces of nature - Storm, Earth and Fire - as armor and weapons to crush their enemies. For some lore on the representative of the class, Brion, open the spoiler bellow.
Brion Fireheart is a simple soldier of a kingdom whose name was lost to time. During the First War, fearing that the invading orcs would overwhelm their city, Brion's king ordered his mages to find find a way to strengthen his people to survive the Horde. What they came up with was the ability to tap into the Elemental forces of the world and use it to their advantage. However, those who would gain such power would become more stone and fire than flesh and bones.
Brion, volunteered to be the first to undergo the procedure. He wanted to serve his king right and this power was just the means to do it. However, something went wrong. While his body accepted the powers of the Storm and the Earth, when the mages tried to give him the Fire, Ragnaros felt it. And he didn't like what he felt. "YOU WOULD DARE TRY AND USE MY POWER, INSECTS!?" Brion heard in his mind. "YOU WILL ALL BURN! "
By the time he came out of the rage inflicted upon him by the Firelord, it was too late. Brion's kingdom was nothing more than ash and rubble. The people he swore to protect , turned to nothing by his own hand. He couldn't even join them in death, for he body was no longer mortal, and it would regenerate every stab and slash he inflicted upon him. Perhaps it was better this way. A monster such as himself did not deserve the sweet embrace of death, not after what he had done. This would be his eternal punishment...
No. NO! He will not stand by while those who were also responsible for his kingdom's death walked Azeroth! He will find them, and deliver righteous justice! To Ragnaros, who made him loose control and destroy his brethren! To the Horde, without whom he wouldn't have had to turn into this abomination! And to any others who would dare stand in his way!
For he is POWER! He is JUSTICE! HE. IS . FIREHEART!
Strengths:
Good board presence and control.
Good defensive tools.
Minion buffing.
Weaknesses:
Weak single target removal, requires use of additional resources.
Weak AoE.
Weak early game:
Unique aspects:
Big focus on adjacent minions, thus board positioning.
Manipulation of the top card or cards in your deck.
Weapons with weird or exotic effects (not present in the basic set).
Example Cards
Splitting Fireball: The kind of direct damage you can expect from the class. Good against wide boards, not so good against enemies that play a small number of minions.
Mountainize: Hmm, double the Attack or double the Health? Why not both?! Great card for making really big minions, but you need at least 7/7 worth of stats to get back the investment.
Earthquake: The class's resident AoE damage. You get a lot less damage form the cost than Hellfire , but the Metamorpher is weak in this regard, and this card shows it.
Frozen Warden: A big health pool and an effect that will force the enemy to think what they'll play last. Basically what would happen if Oasis Snapjaw got hungry, but later discovered it din't like the food :P
Trial by Fire: The basic card draw of the class, and a reverse Tracking .
Remaining Cards
Turn to Stone: A removal that doesn't actually remove. Good against big minions that you don't have answer to at the time. Can also be used on your own stuff for a quick taunt.
Icy Rain: REEEEALY slow Frost Nova for a third of the price. It's mostly good for deterring your opponent from playing anythin on the board, similar to Doomsayer . Unlike him, you can still flood the board with minions and not loose them.
Stone Shell: Cheaper Shield Block that gives you less Armor. Not much else to say.
Molten Golem: Chillwind Yety 's hotter cousin. Good as a tech in Freeze -heavy metas, or you can use it to keep your minions warm in a self-freeze stile deck.
Turn to dust: The main single target removal spell of the class, and sort of a backwards Execute .
You are a foolish mortal, you know that? You dare to come before the great
Archlich
Kel'Thuzad
, keeper of the cold and deliverer of death? I should turn you into an icicle, a statue frozen in time to remain a symbol for what happens to my enemies! ...oh? You've come to learn the ways of the dead and dying? You are bold, but I approve. Come, my new apprentice, come and see the power of the
Lich
! The might of the Scourge can be yours, and more, if you but lay down your life and serve me...in death!
Example Cards
Rise Again
- If you want to be a competent necromancer, bringing minions back from the dead is step one. Obviously. Minions freshly killed are the easiest to resummon, rewarding them for a job well done after trading into enemy forces or defending you from attack.
Detonate Mana
- Ah, a classic spell. Why simply blow up an enemy when you cause
them
to blow up their friends, then watch in satisfaction as guilt tears them down? They already think you're the evil one; might as well enjoy it.
Freezing Wind
- Occasionally the mortals attack in large groups; you'll need to be ready for these "raids" on your inner sanctum. Thankfully they tend not to dress for the weather: a cold gust of air and they'll be frozen solid.
Skeletal Guard
- Steven the Skeleton has always been there for me. Strong and sturdy, he makes for a fine guardian...although, given how many times I've revived him, I'm starting to wonder if he resents the position.
Frozen Soul
- When we Freeze our enemies, the heat escapes and must go somewhere. We capture it and...I'm just messing with you, the healing comes from magic.
Dark
magic.
Other Cards
Frost Orb
- I haven't yet determined how the Orb actually Freezes people. Is it so cold they turn to ice when it touches them, or do they lose their minds staring into the Orb itself? Either way, it works for me.
Shattering Blast
- If I kept every statue of a wannabe-crusader that came through my doorstep, I wouldn't have any room to move. I make the interns sweep up after I've taken my day out on the icicles. It's just like popping bubble-wrap.
Shadow Fissure
- It never ceases to amaze me how often the fools don't bother to look down. They're too busy attacking you, so they fail to notice the spell charging beneath their feet. Endlessly entertaining.
Dark Binding
- Look, it's a lot easier to just patch up the forces you have instead of constantly trying to revive the fallen. Duct tape will keep a skeleton together, but it won't rip a soul back to the realm of the living.
Frost Armor
- Sometimes Steven is not enough, talented though he may be. Apply a bit of the old Frost Armor on a minion, and they too can stand in the way of an oncoming enemy. Your sacrifice will be acknowledged, peon whose name I have forgotten!
Behold, foolish interlopers! I am commanding this mortal to spread the will of the Scourge throughout the interwebs, encouraging you to seek out me, Archlich Kel'Thuzad! Now coming to you as the tenth class of Hearthstone!
I am a finalist in this Class Creation Competition, so if you could give it a look I would be greatly appreciative <3
Being a Ringmaster means being responsible for the wellbeing of your performers, animals and the circus itself, but they all come second to entertaining your audience and putting on a show. The Ringmaster is a class that has a lot of small themes that you, as the player can choose between to focus your deck on. They've got tokens, card draw, healing, buffs and many other themes to be explored in basic, through classic and then through later expansions. The biggest focus, in the end, tends to come down to individuality and deckbuilding. Any spell could be your archetype and you have to figure out how to use it in a way that wows the world.
Keyword
Circuses typically have a
Signature
act, the one that they're first to slap on posters, the one saved up until the finale of the show, the performance perfected to bring in the money. Not all do, of course, and some utilise theirs more than others, but which Signature you have and which cards you include to combine with it often plays a major role in individualising the deck. Expect this to be elaborated on in Classic, or look at my Phase 1 post below.
Example Cards
Initial Act ~
A small, simple and potent token generation card and hand filler. It's simply two uses of your hero power really, but it can play a major role in multiple archetypes. It's generally good enough to be included in a lot of early game decks, a lot of Ringleaders token synergies come from "Whenever/After you play a minion" triggers, and it's good for getting yourself a large board after a short while collecting. Every audience could do with a warm up act to get them ready for a larger performance down the line.
[Art by Cathleen McAllister]
Raw Talent ~
A similarly small buff with a lot of potential. Similar to cards like
Blessing of Might
and
Divine Strength
, this card always has the potential to be used for an extra 2 damage while providing some actual sturdiness to the minion unlike Might. Those in the circus can be quite well toned you know, many performers are unexpectedly athletic. Don't underestimate them.
[Art by Will Harris]
Star Performance ~
Another buff, yet it's also attached to a heal. This is a solid card for midrangey archetypes, represents Ringleaders buff and heal themes and has a lot of potential
Signature
synergies. Cards that are targeted and have an extra effect work quite interestingly when they're made to target more cards, as seen in phase 1. For the most part though, it should provide decent healing while also allowing you to take a minion off the board or apply pressure. It's rarely useless.
[Art by Anzka Nguyen]
Fantastical Play ~
Simple draw, but to be seen later, draw can be utilised in more ways than just drawing cards. As the standard card advantage card for Ringmasters basic, it'll show up frequently. Keep cards like it in mind should we get to classic though.
[Art by Trent Kaniuga]
Captivate ~
Likely to have costed 6-7 back in the day, this is the hardest of Ringmaster hard removal... Which they have little of. However, of course, this can be a terrifying card, utilising the benefit of
Mind Control
at a reduced cost... Though that attack reduction can mean a whole lot.
[Art by Gabriel Rubio]
Remaining Cards
Assistant Tumbler ~
Ringmasters only basic minion, she's got a performers statline with the added bonus of restoring a decent chunk of health to your hero. Most of Ringmasters healing heals the hero, and that's where the main synergies lie. Even if you're compassionate about those working under you, your job is to keep the show running and audience happy first and foremost.
[Art by Red Pencil Art]
Stage Fright ~
Everyone gets scared from time to time. Ringmasters have some solid spot removal, though a lot of it's soft, and
Stage Fright
's definitely one of them. Expect to see synergies with 1 Attack minions in future, but just use it to cycle cards while keeping enemies off your back for now.
[Art by Glenn Melenhorst]
Prestidigitation ~
A simple magic trick, for circuses do often have magicians in their tents. The scorpion it summons may not be real, but it'll definitely feel real to the people it's attacking. This is one of Ringmasters only sources of burn, should you wish to use it that way, and it's got good value for the cost.
[Art by Titania Kirgetova]
Blazing Display ~
It's very impressive, the audience loves this one. It's one of Ringmasters main sources of true AoE. They don't struggle with AoE quite like a druid does, but a lot of their AoE comes in the form of conal effects like
Powershot
and
Explosive Shot
. For dealing with a whole board full of minions, this is your best bet, and it's rather efficient.
[Art by Mushk Rizvi]
Jaunty Tune ~
Calls a group of cats over to you, captivated by your performance. Cats are quite affectionate creatures and you shouldn't expect your opponents to be able to get a hit in on you during the performance. It's a solid token summoning spell that can be used offensively or defensively, and though it lacks the on play synergies
Initial Act
has, it's still definitely just as useful with buffs.
[Art by Titania Kirgetova]
Tokens:
Captivated Cats art is by Crazy JN, can't find the artist behind Thrilling Image.
Archaeologist is a weapon focus class which focuses on board control, and sticky minions. The basic set will mostly be about controlling the board, and survivability through armor and taunt.
Keyword Section
Decay is a fairly self-explanatory keyword. It will not appear on any basic cards, but in Classic onward, it will go on mostly weapons as a way to implement aura weapons.
Example Cards
These cards show the various strengths and weaknesses of Archaeologist, showing that Archaeologist has decent draw, removal, AoE, and good armor gain and heal.
Sword in Stone shows what the class cares most about, again, weapons. It's a cheap cycle that can tutor good weapons, but it benefits from having more weapons in your deck. It is balanced around Forge of Souls .
Uncover shows a unique aspect of the class - unique token generation. The tokens (in the spoiler below) are all 4-Cost overstatted minions that you have to pay an early cost for. It's kinda similar to Animal Companion , which is what it was balanced around, however the minions are added to your hand, and are 4-Cost minions.
Skeletal Cast is the strange card of the Archaeologist's basic set, following in the footsteps of Tracking and Sacrificial Pact . Not only does it draw 3, it can duplicate cards, and let you know which next three cards you're going to draw. In the future, Archaeologist will care about the top and bottom of your deck, and this is a good starting point.
Earthshake is good AoE, and good draw. It's a fairly simple card which can provide a board clear and a refill at once, like a twice as large Fan of Knives .
Cavern Crash is the biggest card of the set, providing a large tempo swing and an extra 10 armor for your hero. The idea is that you wear the rocks as Armor!
Uncover Tokens:
Remaining Cards
Slapdagger is the typical Archaeologist weapon. Super high durability gives the class a ping for up to six turns, and it synergises well with cards that care about your weapon's durability.
Splinter is the class's direct damage card. Along with many other Archaeologist cards, it gains Armor, but this can be used to remove an early threat as well.
Shelter is another example of what the class values - sticky minions. This will help a minion survive an additional 6 damage, and it also cycles.
Shielding Smasher is a solid taunt, with prime stats and a midrange-y cost. It's use is obvious - as a slightly bigger Shieldmasta, it can defend your hero.
Safeguard is an amped up version of the hero power, and the biggest recovery of the basic set. It can restore a third of your health, or help out a minion by fully healing it.
A Botanist is not a Druid, but a scholar fascinated by plant life. While the Druids are a protectors of the wild, a Botanist is focused on the research of their secrets. They study, catalogue, culture and experiment on different kind of plants, tapping into their life force
in order to unlock their hidden power. A Botanist seek out the rarest flora and carefully harvest the helpful and potent herbs found throughout the world(s), which can be transformed in powerful reagents.
Cultivation
is the
Hero Power
of this class which will allow you to summon Seedling with the new keyword:
Evergrowth
.
N.B. The Hero Power has been balanced since Phase I to be more "basic". Instead of shuffling the minions into the deck and been summon once drawn, it now summon the minion straight away on the board.
The Botanist is a tempo class, he needs time to build up his strategy and he does that thanks to his
Taunt
arsenal and his knowledge as a magister, boosting his
Spell Damage
to get rid of any offence. Winning condition could be to set up a good amount of minions with overgrowth on the board, or collect enough Spell Damage to blast the opponent with the flower power!
About Freywinn
Tempest Keep was merely a setback.
Freywinn was in charge of the experiments the blood elves were conducting on the plants in the Botanica. After the destruction of Tempest Keep he managed to survive returning to the simple life of a scholar, growing his knowledge and discovering the secrets behind the Evergrowth.
Keyword: Evergrowth
Pretty easy to understand: The more minions on the board with Evergrowth, the more +1+1. I decided to change a bit the keyword from the last phase to make it less similar and annoying as the Jade golem mechanic. In this way you won't have more than +7+7 (good luck getting there, it will only require 7 minions on the board with Evergrowth and usually they are pretty weak by themselves).
N.B. The Keyword has been nerfed since Phase I. Now it only counts the minions on the board with Evergrowth instead of all the minions summoned. I did that to make the possible gameplay more enjoyable and different than the Jade Golem mechanic.
New Tribe: Herbs
I thought it might be a good idea for this kind of class to have a special tribe:
Herbs
. Originally i wanted to add to this new tribe some existing in-game cards but then I opted for a class specific family.
Botanist Example Cards
Apprentice Herbalist:
As a starter herbalist you won’t have the chance to harvest a lot of herbs but only the basic one. Special mention to the Bloodthistle if you live nearby Quel’Thalas. This card will summon a random basic Herb on the board giving the botanist a nice passive buff with their presence (check spoiler for tokens)
Garden Shovel:
They said that no special tools are required to gather herbs but who won’t like a garden shovel? The plant will like this little add-on. Boost to Health for all friendly minions, make sure you have some Herbs on the board.
Delicate Touch:
Once upon a time there was this little tauren that levelled up to the top only picking up herbs and flower. They said that he didn’t spill any blood...or maybe he did. Anyway if you are a pacifist make sure you are not taking Bloodthistle or your pat won’t be as delicate.
Find Herbs:
Herbalist use their potent sense for the growth to locate herbs on their map. Send this little guy into your deck and start the search. It might takes a lot, or maybe just a couple of turns...who knows? It's not easy to get rid of this passion once you got it.
Bloodthistle Pigment:
Lord Saltheril keep saying that this is for the Inscription trainer in Silvermoon. I still don’t understand why is offering it to his party guests tho. Can you imagine its effect on a guest?
BASIC HERB
Cards generated by Apprentice Herbalist
Peacebloom:
Very. VERY common flower. It’s a delicate white flower with yellow at the center and long stems with several long leaves around its base.
They reminds me of the chamomile flowers. Great for tea and infusion and somehow to relax your mind, unlocking your inner power.
Bloodthistle:
You will find a lot of them in Quel’thalas. Bright green leaves with a soft, flexible spine at the tip and a bright red flower, the color of blood. Fun fact, it requires magical energy in order to grow, so yeah, it’s a magic plant! A bit addictive, excessive use is discouraged (specially if you are a Blood Elf)
Silverleaf:
Mostly prevalent in northern Kalimdor, the Silveleaf is growing in shade, particularly in woodlands around the base of trees. It provides a catalyst property that increases its medicinal properties.
So yeah, a general boost to the morale of the group!
Earthroot:
Common across Kalimdor and the Eastern Kindomg, the Earthroot has sparse, tiny evergreen leaves, but more of value is the thick, woody root that typically protrudes above ground. The plant can be difficult to pull away…can you imagine a Botanist hiding behind one of them
Remaining Cards
Lifegiving Seed:
Not easy to find on Azeroth but those seeds can change someone to be like a plant, a basic Herb to be clear (Pacebloom, Silverleaf, Earthroot & Bloodthistle). I still don't understand why we didn't throw one of them to Deathwing back in Cataclysm. It's actually a removal spell.
Briarthorns Wall:
Oh now thing are getting interesting. Have you ever saw a Botanist watching you behind a wall of thorns?
Peacebloom Honey:
That's a spoiler for what's coming next. Have you ever wondered how the Botanist is growing all these kind of different herbs in his greenhouse? Pollination and a lot of Bees. And where are bees there is honey. A very special one here.
Peacefull Levelling:
Can you imagine how boring would that be to level up to 120 only by gathering resources? It's a long story, it can actually kill you all.
Lifeblood:
Feeling nostalgic now? Here you go, quick heal and a card to boost your haste in game.
Token Briarthorn's Wall
Briarthorn:
A shrub that grows in thorn-covered vines with a thick bark. Appropriate protective equipment should be worn prior to harvesting, as the spines are extremely sharp. These roots spread too quickly and will overrun your garden.
An Oracle watches from her temple perch, listening to the pleas of all people, peasants and kings, children and immortals, mages and paladins, alike, all begging for her blessing on the days to come. She listens, curiously, seemingly ignorant, as she chooses the path for others to walk. The future weaves itself into perfection for those she has deemed worthy.
An Oracle wanders the grimy streets of a crowded city. Civilians glare in disgust at his ragged clothing and maddened look. But filth matters not, for he knows the truth. The Impending Doom is coming. The gods have forsaken the world... and if only the people would listen. He continues his mad chant, stumbling over his own words and feet, crying for his enlightened voice to be heard.
An Oracle rides at the head of an amassing army. A shining crown is perched atop his head, signaling his power. He sings of victory. He speaks of the Countdown of fate that is unending, forever ticking onward, to a certainly predictable outcome. He knows their eventual victory is certain. He has foreseen it. It is merely a matter of time.
Class Keyword - Countdown (That ironically can't be shown in this set)
Strengths:
Insane Value, High Card Draw, Effective Removal, Looks Hella Awesome When Things Work
Weaknesses:
Slow, Unresponsive to Threats, Low Healing, High Skill Ceiling
Likely Archetypes:
Control, Combo, Tempo
Does an Oracle predict what happens next or does she spin fate to make sure it does? Nobody really knows for sure. Regardless, something awesome is coming. Just be ready for when it comes to meet you. Introducing, the Oracle's class exclusive keyword:
Countdown
.
A Little More Information About Countdowns
When X reaches 0, the Coundown is destroyed and the icon is removed.
Like Quests (and unlike Secrets), Countdowns are played revealed.
Countdowns are only for spells . Some minions may have synergy or have effects that cast Countdowns.
This takes the place off a Secret/Quest slot, so no more than 5 (in any combination) can be simultaneously active. In addition, some cards may have effects that occur when a Countdown is cast (ex. Wonder)
Like Secrets and Quests, you may not have multiple copies of the same Cooldown active at the same time.
Example Cards
Young Clairvoyant:
The Oracle trains others to see as he does. This is a quick one-drop that can propel you forward into the game. It doesn't have the same damage potential as Mana Wyrm (rip) or Tunnel Trogg, but aggressively commands control of the game all the same.
Timekeeper:
The Oracle must not only predict the future, but manipulate it into her favor. A friendly Timekeeper can let you take an extra turn, cutting down the speed of countdowns and triggering Start and End of Turn effects. Most of the time, you're simply drawing a card and ramping a Mana Crystal. Edit: After numerous "You stole my Time Traveler!" accusations, the card art and effect has been slightly tinkered.
Past:
The Oracle sees the endless mysteries of the Past. This is a good removal spell that synergizes with your Hero Power. At worst case, it's an overpriced
Corruption
. Best case? A three mana
Assassinate
. Just another way that
Present
The Oracle sees the truth of the world. In Canada, milk comes in bags.
Future:
The Oracle sees the rippling timestreams of the future. Just another way Oracles "get cool stuff later on". With a little effort (and maybe a deck tracker and a
Baleful Banker
), you can get the perfect card the buff you need.
Remaining Cards
Foretell:
The Oracle knows the future. Foretell is a simple card with a lot of synergy.
Scry:
The Oracle sees all, and knows all. By looking into her crystal ball, she can make a card cost... nothing. This will often synergize with the Oracle's Hero Power, allowing you to play a card for free next turn!
Blind With Power:
The Oracle can manipulate mind and matter. This card gives two powerful opportunities, the ability to buff a minion to deal a little extra burst damage, or to clear a pesky minion with less than 4 Health.
Seance:
The Oracle sees all, and knows all. To commune with those of the past is a simple task. Use a Seance to break your opponent's combos, or create your own. Those pesky ghost know no bounds to their meddling.
Destined Victory:
The Oracle knows she will win before the battle even before it begins. I wanted to heavily stress early on that the Oracle's ability to generate incredible value and power, only given the time to do so. This, combined with Seance, is a combo that can win you the game.
Previous Phase
Look, there is a previous phase thing somewhere, but I'm really lazy and can't get myself to produce the effort of finding it. Oh yeah, Oracles get daily sacrifices of Oreos and Mountain Dew. Oracle best class. K, bye.
Their is a fine line between life an death, sickness and health, weakness and strength . Hexers are masters of this faint limit, able to tap into both worlds and shift the balance to their advantage . The Hexer is an expert of concoctions , either curative or poisonous, sometimes both. This is represented by the hero power, a drug that heals the strong and kills the weak. At first glance, it looks like a simple " Restore 1 Health ", which it is in most cases, but it has other uses as well. Targets at 1 Health , ideally bruised enemy minions or even Hero, will be killed by it. But it can also be put to great use with " whenever this minion takes damage " and " whenever this minion is healed " effects, like those of Acolyte of Pain or Lightwarden . The Hexer is a class that loves simple effects with many different interactions . Most cards can be used without thinking but planning ahead will lead to better results .
Optional Keyword Section
Fresh is a keyword exclusive to The Hexer class, which grants additional strength to undamaged minions (think Enrage but the opposite). Fresh represents the idea that only the strong and healthy can prevail in a fight. It ties into the healing abilities of the Hexer. This keyword will not appear in basic cards but you will see it in the classic set along side the helving mecanic showcased in Phase 1.
Example Cards
For basic cards, I wanted to emphasize the double nature of the Hexer , both a master of blessings and curses. You will find buffs, debuffs, conditional healing and damage . The class has a strong focus on taking and keeping the board . It should however lack value generators and game ending effects.
Flask of Mojo is a simple yet effect buff that will increase the power of your board and spells alike . Spell Damage is a natural fit for the class which can call upon spirits or choose the right ingredients to bolster their spells.
Curse of the Spirits is quite the opposite : debuffing enemy minions in order to limit their use of spells and make them want to trade their cursed minion. Do note that like with cost reduction, the damage of a spell can never be lower than 0 .
Lurking Witchdoctor gives the class an easy access to healing abilities (when some sacrifices are made). It enables many trades , allowing the Hexer to impose their presence on the board.
Figurine Carving is another tool for coming back on board , giving the Hexer access to board clear as well as token generation . Making as many Voodoo Figurines (a token that should come up here and their) will allow the Hexer to land their buffs more reliably. It will also greatly benefit from Spell Damage .
Wild Healing Mix is one of the many brews available to the Hexer (note that I avoid the term "Potion" since it is a Gadgetzan mecanic). It provides damage or healing depending on the target (targets at or bellow 6 Health will be killed) and has the same interesting interaction that the Hero Power . It could even benefit from negative Spell Damage ...
With these tools in hand, the Hexer is ready to fight for the glory of their tribe ! I'm having a lot of fun making this class and hope to be able to keep doing it as the competition advances. Do take a look at the rest of the set if you want to see more and give me a like if you, well, like the class !
This is the Submission Topic. The Discussion Topic is here.
Welcome back everyone! I'd congratulate you on making it through to Phase II, but we decided on letting (almost) everyone through, so I'll be honest and simply not. You won't find that leniency in this Phase, however - people will be dropped, so make sure your Basic set is up to scratch!
Now, what's different about this Phase compared to Phase I? Well, for a start...
Challenges! (Trials? Whatever theming you prefer)
Challenges have returned! You'll have to keep them in mind when designing your class, because violating any of them is grounds for disqualification. I wouldn't worry about them too much in your initial design - try and come up with a Basic set that you like, and then look to the challenges to see if you meet them all. The challenges this time around are designed to try and push you towards creating a better Hearthstone class, so if you know what you're doing, you should be able to meet the requirements without even trying.Standard Format! (No, not that one)
One complaint we've had in previous competitions is that some competitors have an unfair advantage over others by being better at formatting their submission to look appealing. This is meant to be a card design competition after all, not a graphic design one. As such, we've implemented a template which we expect all entries to follow. You can find this template here (or by navigating to the second post in the Discussion Topic, if that link doesn't work). Hopefully you shouldn't find this too restrictive, and perhaps even find it helpful by being able to simply copy-and-paste the formatting over when you're looking to submit. If you have any doubts about the formatting, or if something in our rules seems to contradict it (I haven't changed the General Rules at all, I don't remember what it says about formatting in there), feel free to shoot me a message and I'll answer as quickly as possible.That's all the bullet points for this Phase. I don't even know what I'll have to list in the next Phase, there's not much more to talk about. Maybe I'll just give you helpful hints, or show you pictures of my pets.
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. A single banner or border, to introduce the class, is allowed. 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. How should you size your cards? Well...
Hey, look! Some cards!
Open the Waygate : Look at how nice this is.
Frost Lich Jaina : All neat, organized, and concise.
Aluneth : 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.
PHASE II: The Basic Set
In this Phase, you will each construct your class's Basic Set . Here are the requirements for your Class Creation Competition Phase II Entry (And these may vary due to certain challenges)
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 Basic Set out in the open.
The remaining five (5) cards of your class's Basic Set 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.
The standard template which your submission must follow can be found here (or by navigating to the second post in the Discussion Topic, if that link doesn't work).
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 I: CLASS CONCEPT
Submission: 9/January - 20/January
Up-Voting: 20/January - 23/January
PHASE II: BASIC SET
Submission: 23/January - 10/February
Up-Voting: 10/February - 13/February
PHASE III: CLASSIC SET
Submission: 13/February - 2/March
Poll #1: 2/March - 4/March
Poll #2: 4/March - 6/March
PHASE IV: Journey to Un'Goro + Knights of the Frozen Throne
Submission: 6/March - 30/March
Poll #1: 30/March - 1/April
Poll #2: 1/April - 3/April
PHASE V: Kobolds & Catacombs + The Witchwood
Submission: 3/April - 28/April
Poll: 28/April - 1/May
PHASE VI: The Boomsday Project + Rastakhan's Rumble
Submission: 1/May - 26/May
Poll: 26/May - 29/May
NOTE: All stages of the competition begin and end at 22:00 UTC.
ALSO NOTE: This timetable is subject to change at any time, even after the competition begins, if it seems like too many folks are struggling.
* 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, Cogito_Ergo_Sum, 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 (ShadowsOfSense, PupleMD, Phoenixfeather, ThisOtherGuyTox, Cogito_Ergo_Sum, Otovent, linkblade91) 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 challenges will remain a secret , but I'm happy to tell you the general submission requirements.
PHASE III: The Classic Set
In this Phase, you will each construct your class's Classic Set . Here are the requirements for your Class Creation Competition Phase III 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 Classic Set out in the open.
The remaining ten (10) cards of your class's Basic Set 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 Set from Phase II 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 Classic Set material. It is fine if these cards have undergone some minor modification since the end of Phase II, but thy must still adhere to all of Phase II's requirements.
PHASE IV: Journey to Un'Goro + Knights of the Frozen Throne
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 Journey to Un'Goro and Knights of the Frozen Throne 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 JUG and KFT Sets out in the open.
The remaining seven (7) cards of your class's JUG and KFT 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.
PHASE V: Kobolds & Catacombs + The Witchwood
Congratulations on being a semi-finalist! With positively received Whispers of the Old Gods and One Night in Karazhan 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 Mean Streets of Gadgetzan and Journey to Un'Goro 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 KnC and WW Sets out in the open.
The remaining cards of your class's KnC and WW 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, JUG, and KFT 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: The Boomsday Project + Rastakhan's Rumble
Here we are, finalists! In the last phase of our competition, you'll be giving us your class's Knights of the Frozen Throne and Kobolds & Catacombs 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 ShadowsOfSense 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 7 competition themed around their winning class!
ARCHIVES
Want to see how things went during our first four 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 - Class Design Competition
Phase I: Submission ( Merchant , Twilight's Hammer , Demon Hunter , Lich ), Discussion
Phase II: Submission ( Merchant , Twilight's Hammer , Demon Hunter , Lich ), Discussion , Poll
Phase III : Submission ( Merchant , Twilight's Hammer , Demon Hunter , Lich ), Discussion , Poll
Phase IV: Discussion ( Merchant , Twilight's Hammer , Demon Hunter , Lich ), Final Poll
Class Creation Competition #2 - Worlds Beyond Warcraft
Phase I: Submission ( Bard , Agent , Nightmare , Pokemon Trainer ), Discussion
Phase II: Submission ( Bard , Agent , Nightmare , Pokemon Trainer ), Discussion
Phase III: Submission ( Bard , Agent , Nightmare , Pokemon Trainer ), Discussion , Poll 1 , Poll 2
Phase IV: Submission ( Bard , Agent , Nightmare , Pokemon Trainer ), Discussion , Poll
Phase V: Discussion ( Bard , Agent , Nightmare , Pokemon Trainer ), Final Poll
Class Creation Competition #3 - Asylum's Gauntlet
Phase I: Submission ( Worgen , Chronomancer , Flame Wielder , Alchemist ), Discussion
Phase II: Submission ( Worgen , Chronomancer , Flame Wielder , Alchemist ), Discussion
Phase III: Submission ( Worgen , Chronomancer , Flame Wielder , Alchemist ), Discussion , Poll 1 , Poll 2
Phase IV: Submission ( Worgen , Chronomancer , Flame Wielder , Alchemist ), Discussion , Poll 1 , Poll 2
Phase V: Submission ( Worgen , Chronomancer , Flame Wielder , Alchemist ), Discussion , Poll
Grand Finale: Discussion ( Worgen , Chronomancer , Flame Wielder , Alchemist ), Final Poll
Class Creation Competition #4 - Deathwing Needs A Friendwing
Phase I: Challenges, Submission, (Chef, Necromancer, Sea Witch, Summoner), Discussion
Phase II: Challenges, Submission, (Chef, Necromancer, Sea Witch, Summoner), Discussion
Phase III: Challenges, Submission, (Chef, Necromancer, Sea Witch, Summoner), Discussion, Poll 1, Poll 2
Phase IV: Challenges, Submission, (Chef, Necromancer, Sea Witch, Summoner), Discussion, Poll
Phase V: Challenges, Submission, (Chef, Necromancer, Sea Witch, Summoner), Discussion, Poll
Grand Finale: Challenges, (Chef, Necromancer, Sea Witch, Summoner), Discussion, Final Poll
You can find me here! Good luck everyone!
THE OCCULIST
The Occultist is a class based on Eldritch Gods and the C'Thulhu mythos, or the C'Thun mythos, in this case.
A class with damage synergies, boardclears, lots of draw, and power at a cost. Tentacles too, if you're into that...
Example Cards
Wicked Devotee : A card that synergizes well with the Hero Power, granting early game board presence.
Madman's Knowledge : One example of the Power at a Cost cards in Occultist, granting early game draw at the cost of a friendly minion.
Call of the Deep : Another kind of power at a cost in the class, this time relying on your hero's health to provide extra value, but also giving you Taunts to protect your face, and a bunch of tokens you can sacrifice. Tentacles!
Wrath of the Occult : A very powerful boardclear that depicts Eldritch gods coming and wrecking everyone!
How lovely.
Ire of the Primordial : A powerful spell that probably removes two random enemy minions, unless they're really big. Why would you even play the game when you can just call down upon an Old One to do the job for you, anyways?
Remaining Cards
Bloody Blow : A boardclear that makes you pay with your health, or your blood in this case. Powerful in the early game, but the 4 damage is a big price to pay.
Ancient Power : A powerful enough buff, that enables the Occultist to have a little more of an early game presence.
Mind Flay : Deal 2 and draw 2, for 4. Isn't it pretty? Reliable card draw that you don't even need to kill your minions for!
Ancient Blood : Relying on your Hero Power for all the healing wouldn't be a very reliable strategy, would it?
A big heal for a big mana cost. Fair enough, i would say.
Lesser Old One : If the Lesser Old One is an 8/8, imagine how big the real Old Ones are! Another card that synergizes fairly well with the hero power, while mostly being a way for the Occultist to heal himself, eating the nice Eldritch meat that gets cut off out of Mr. Old One here. Madness, honestly.
Previous Phases
Phase 1 - Introduction Phase:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/fan-creations/228747-trials-and-errors-class-creation-competition-5?comment=56
Henlo.
The Godborn
The Godborn is a class that focuses on earning the gods' Favor to unleash devastating effects upon his enemies, as well as controling the board via powerful boardclears of by flooding it with servants and acolytes.
Hyperion Sunborn is the son of Ra, the sun god of the egyptian pantheon, that making him a godborn . His life in the realm of the gods was a blessing, until a cunning and deceiving conspiracy set our hero on a path of doom. Exiled from the high sky for a thing he hadn't comitted, Hyperion was left to suffer on the planet of Azeroth in his desperate attempt to regain the trust of his brethren.
The Favor keyword won't be present in the basic set because our hero is not yet strong enough to earn the gods' acceptance. However, the 0-1 produced by the hero power can be used in other ways by the weakened godborn, either by buffing or by sacrifing it for a greater cause.
The Basic Set
This set follows our hero's first steps into the world of Azeroth, more precisely in the Tanaris Desert. Being weakened by his skyfall, our hero is ready to begin a journey in an attempt to clear his name, conjuring the power of his father to tame the dunes and the heat surrounding him.
Poisonous Bite is a cheap spell that allows you to draw a card if played correctly. The class has an arsenal of 1 health minions and related effects that will make this card a powerful draw engine and a core card for every deck. Sadly, there is no antidote.
Sandclaw Scorpion is a powerful removal tool whose lethal sting can take down the mightiest enemies. Combined with a Poisoned Bite , your opponent's minions won't be safe from the creatures of the desert, unless you have Divine shield .
Blessing of Gods allows you to ascend a minion and make it stronger and godlier, being perfect for a 'fair' trade.
Journey is an interesting card. As you are wondering through the big, hot and dangerous desert you need every help you can get: a means of transport, a weapon and a nice drink to heal your burning throat.
Rise! does what it knows best. It makes the earth tremble as mighty soldiers arise from beneath the sands, flooding the board like a rather dangerous army. Just remember, they melt, fast ( Flamestrike ).
Here are some tokens:
Remaining Cards
Eclipse is a single target medium damage spell that will allow you to either anihilate weaker enemies or prepare stronger ones to be finished by your little army of exotic desert dwellers. Don't forget your sunglasses.
Sandstorm will unleash the fury of the sands upon your smallest enemies, leaving them breathless before your opponent can level the playing field ( Level Up! ).
Mummify is the answer to your burning questions. The bandages are 100% ignition free so you won't be a sad mummy after all.
Oasis is a refuge for the thirsty, acting as an impenetrable sanctuary where you can't be harmed. Well, you can be harmed but you won't die from the pain.
Imperious Sphinx is not your usual kind of teacher. You come with a question and he offers you 3 answers. Choose wisely.
Where is my mummy?
There you are. Good boy....or girl.....or whatever you are!
Previous phases
Phase I
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/fan-creations/228747-trials-and-errors-class-creation-competition-5?comment=44
Thank you!
I am very happy with how this set turned out and I hope you will give me a chance to show you future sets and how the character evolves throughout the competition. Have a good day!
The Cursed Witchdoctor
The Witchdoctor is back! This time with basic cards. I tried to go into a few directions with them, exploring themes that will later on appear on more complex cards while also laying some solid groundwork for the class with some weaknesses as well.
Keyword: Shadow Realm
My classes keyword is called Shadow Realm and it acts like a "bank" which can be used to store cards in it and use them through specific interactions. It is hard to explain without examples so i would recommend looking up my entry from the first Phase to get a clearer understranding.
VERY IMPORTANT:
Cards keep ANY enchantments when they enter the Shadow Realm, so e.g. the Hero Power cost reduction is still apllied while in it or when the card gets back into your hand.
Example Cards
I had to change the wording of many cards I previously created very heavily and some I even had to completely scrap since their effects were simply impossible to get into such few words, but in the end I think they came out better than before because of the challenges. Fun stuff!
So here they are:
Remaining Cards
So here is the rest. Standard single target removal in Gutspike , and a strong board clear in Soulburst .
Skullswinger probably still doesn't make a lot of sense, but I guess more than at the very beginning (I included it in the first Phase as one of my example cards) considering all these 2 cost spells which, keep in mind, can all be reduced to 0 with the single use of a Hero Power.
Blend Forces was a tricky one to balance but I think I got it right. Burst card draw in this class could be really dangerous since with a bit of luck and skill it could be cast very cheaply. So to balance this out, I made the card worsen itself the more likely you are to hit it with your Hero Power. The fewer cards are in your hand, the less powerful it gets.
Last off, Gloomhydra Blood is a flexible buff which can be used to kill minions, protect your own ones or do both if you are good, so it should be used wisely, I actually think it would be kind of powerful. Of course the anti-synergy isn't a mistake, it rather turns this into a kind of Choose-One card (also, there might already be a pretty good synergy to spot with it, just saying ;)).
So, one thing the Witchdoctor doesn't really excel in is early game removal. Each class has to have some weaknesses, at least in their basic card package, so thats the one I chose. The Witchdoctor mostly has to rely on discounting their cards to create big tempo swings by letting the opponent play some stuff and then slamming a cheap board clear followed by a (hopefully) well statted minion. If that doesn't happen however, you could get into big trouble.
Previous Phase
http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/fan-creations/228747-trials-and-errors-class-creation-competition-5?comment=12
THE ENCHANTER
Was there ever a time when you were playing mage and you thought to yourself "Hang on, this class has like, almost no weapons"? Do you want to be edgy and different from other classes (and people), playing cards but like, not in their boring original form? Do you want to play as yet another unnecessarily scantily clad female character created by Blizzard Entertainment? Look no further. As the Enchanter, you can make your opponent really annoyed with your excoriating night-elf-but-not-night-elf emotes, hit your opponent in the face with a magic stick, or cast spells that break your stick because they're too OP . All that and more after the break.
Class Keyword [preview]
The Phase keyword isn't in the basic set, but can be found in the classic set on minions and spells. Weapons can also have the keyword. If a Phase card is played a) with a cost reduction, b) in the case of a minion or weapon, a stats buff, and c) in the case of spells, empowered by Spell Damage, it gains a bonus effect. For example, equipping a Leyline Staff from your hero power activates Phase on spells, as their text changes.
Example Cards
Remaining Cards
With a moderate number of damaging spells in the Enchanter's basic set, your Hero Power and Inscribing Slate can be used to amp up the damage. You can also set up a swing turn by playing Leyline Control into a cheap damaging spell + establishing board presence. Enchanter essentially works as a 'Choose One' class for its damaging spells: You can spend 2 mana on Mana Beam to deal 2 to a minion and the enemy minion, or spend 4 mana to deal 3 (a much more reasonable version of Cobra Shot ). This same logic applies to Astral Fire , whereby you can deal 8 damage for 8 or 10 damage for 10 ( Pyroblast ). Mystic Flux isn't too strong when compared with Hammer of Wrath , acts as removal when paired with Invigorate (7 mana 'destroy' a minion, draw 2 cards). Immolate is a scaled up version of Consecration , but another kind of Flamestrike for 8 mana. You get the gist. Enchanted Figures and Ley Walker are the introduction to the buff-related aspect of the class. The classic set will focus on whether cards have something changed from their original state—whether in hand or on the board.
Previous Phase
Here's my Phase I post, with some more details about how the class works.
please consider voting for my custom class in the fan creations competition :]
• TRIALS IN AUCHINDOUN - A Custom Hearthstone Adventure (4th Wing!) • New and Interesting Hearthstone Mechanics (by me!) •
Sea Creatures
Hero Face and Power
Brief Description:
My theme of the class is all Ocean/Sea based (Not just Sea animals.) Featuring Mermaid Fionalle Aqua as the main Hero. Her Hero Power, Sea Song, gives minions a boost in stats on board. If you want more detail, please scroll to the bottom for a link to my Phase I post.
Keyword
Brief Description:
Aqualocation uses board advantage to its benefit, using a strategic timing on when to play who at what point in the game, However it won't be featured in this Phase. (for obvious reasons.) More information in my link below.
Basic Card Examples:
Explanations:
Whirlpool: Very similar to Warlock's Twisting Nether , however, it comes with just playing the class. I think it's necessary to make this a free card since the lack of AoE spells in the class itself.
Flavor Text: It's like a highspeed Merry Go Round.
New Shore: A cool mechanic that helps keep Sea Creatures stabilized, by keeping your board strong. This works into Sea Creatures because it shows off the classes ability to buff other minions, and keep board presence there.
Flavor Text: Captain, I think we've might've gone in a circle...
Ocean Runner: Brings back the charge mechanic, in a way where it isn't crazy overpowered but can still do a reasonable amount of damage. (It isn't a battlecry, his attack changes depending on how many minions are on the board while it is still alive. If there are 3 minions when it's played, it'll be a 3/6 if there are 5 minions on your next turn, it'll be a 5/6.)
Flavor Text: Run like the waves, Nyeh like the jetskis.
Hearty Trumpet: Very simple, but shows the classes healing mechanics and it's recovery ability.
Flavor Text: Incredibly good at playing the trumpet, but no one knows how she made her seashell into one.
Crabapocalypse: Demonstrates the minion presence mechanic, and how the class is good at spawning minions. Even though the total value is 8/8 for 6 mana, it takes board space and 2/2's aren't to hard to clear, so it evens out.
Flavor Text: Like zombies, except they have claws. Very sharp claws.
Remaining Cards
Flavor Text:
Crashing Waves: Just when you sank, you get sunked.
Hidden Treasure: Yarrharr! There be a fortune mateys!
Octopus Mayhem: Octokid is going through many changes right now.
Pirate Parade : The Yo to my Ho.
Sir Finless: He adopted this name from the fact that he never takes his hat off.
Tokens
Link to my previous post. (Phase I)
THE FIRELORD
INSECTS! I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU ABOUT MY CLASS! DID YOU SERIOUSLY FORGET? FINE! I WILL REPEAT MYSELF, BUT ONLY TO REINFORCE JUST HOW AWESOME I AM! FIRELORD HAS LOTS OF EXPENSIVE CARDS TO CRUSH BUGS LIKE YOU! THE CLASS HAS MANY EFFECTS THAT DEAL DAMAGE, BOTH DIRECTLY AND AS BOARD CLEARS. ALSO, THEY LIKE TO BURN THINGS- A LOT! SO MUCH, IN FACT, THAT BURN IS FIRELORD'S CLASS-SPECIFIC KEYWORD!
SOOO HOT! BURN IS JUST ONE WAY THE FIRELORD CLASS MANIPULATES THEIR DECK, IN ADDITION TO DRAWING AND SHUFFLING CARDS! CAN YOUR PATHETIC CLASS DO THAT , INSECT? NOW, BEHOLD- THE BASIC SET!
SHOWCASE CARDS
I WILL NOW ALLOW ONE OF MY UNDERLINGS TO FINISH PRESENTING THE CLASS! THERE ARE FAR MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS WHICH REQUIRE MY ATTENTION. FOR INSTANCE, SOME IMBECILE LOWERED THE TEMPERATURE IN SULFURON KEEP- BY A WHOLE DEGREE! I SUSPECT AHUNE... WE SHALL SPEAK AGAIN SOON, INSECT!
Rock Out 's token minion.
REMAINING CARDS
PREVIOUS PHASE
Here's the introductory post for the Firelord class.
THE FIST FIGHTER
One more! Have you ever just wanted to punch your opponent in the face? How about their minions' faces? Their spells' faces? Weapons'? Well this might be the class for you. With the Fist Fighter, EVERYTHING will be punched in the face, sometimes multiple times, at high speeds.
This class has many things to offer in basic; skilled techniques and tactics, eager pandas, and powerful moves that will make the ground shake and your enemies EXPLODE! AHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Example Cards
The Windwalker Student token generated by Lesson Training
Remaining Cards
These cards were already shown off in Phase I (and you can read about them there if you wish) or are just some pretty simple (yet necessary) support cards. Not much more to explain!
Previous Phase
Phase I Submission
Vote for the Fist Fighter https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/fan-creations/229960-trials-and-errors-class-creation-competition-5?comment=3 😎🤜
THE GAMBLER
A gambler can be many things, a man who bets money on games, a fisherman that is fishing without bait, or just a simple risktaker. One thing they all have in common, is that they play the odds, and hope the luck turns in their favor. So does the Gambler class.
For this reason the Gambler will include a fair amount of RNG elements. But the Gambler, unlike most other classes, have a tendency to be able to stack their odds in their favor, making the odds just the slighest better to turn in their favor than their opponent's.
Example Cards
Remaining Cards
Previous Phase
If you want to see some of things that will come in later sets for the Gambler, you can click here for the phase 1 submission.
I want a new title, but Flux won't let me have one,
THE BATTLEMAGE
Notes:
In other fantasy games and forms of media, Battlemages are people who specialize in forms of armed combat with weapons, and magic. Battlemage specializes in spells, weapons, and armor. In many ways, Battlemage can be thought of as a combination of Mage and Warrior. That's not to say there's no room for originality in this class because there certainly is.
Unlike most other classes in this competition, Battlemage does not have its own keyword. You don't need a fancy keyword to create a new class (although it's more than welcome if you do). Not that it could use it in this Phase anyway, because this is the Basic set.
Speaking of Basic Set, here is 5 cards from the Battlemage's Basic set.
Example cards
But there are 5 more cards to look at:
Remaining cards
Click here to go to my Phase I post.
Click the image to go to my custom Time Traveler class.
The Pint-sized Witch
Some little backstory/lore
A few days after the bad men made her mother disappear, Camilla knew she wasn't coming back. Impulsed by her feelings of fear and loneliness she decided to break the rules for the first time and enter her mother's special room. There she found the cause for this and the knowledge to never be alone, ever again.
Camilla is a witch, a novice one, but a witch nonetheless and she bringing to the table all the classic witchery one might expect: curses, potions, familiars, hexes, poisoned apples and a lot more fun stuff!
Her Hero Power is Grant Life which gives you little 2/2 pal to help you take control of the battlefield. It trades a immediate presence on the board for a far beefier body.
The key themes of the class are going to be:
Example Cards
Curious Fairy: The last seven flowers were awful, but I have high hopes for this one!. A simple tutor balanced around Novice Engineer , A handy addition to any aggressive deck and an obvious synergie with one of the showcased cards.
Remaining Cards
With the remaining Basic cards I can also showcase the Witch's weakness
Previous Phase
If you wanna check out what is yet to come, check the Phase I post.
The Astromancer
When the people of Azeroth are sleeping or fighting, astromancers study the stars, the sun, the moon and the planets surrounding their sky. With this knowledge, astromancers try their best to make prediction to the future based on the pattern. Unfortunately, their prediction backfires to the people of Azeroth as often as it helps them.
That isn't to say that astromancers are completely wrong. With a little more patient, set up and studying intensely, their prediction have more chance of being useful!
Class Keyword
Astromancer is a high RNG class that this keyword allows them to reduce the RNG (atleast temporarily) and plan their turn as well as considering their risk / reward ratio accordingly when they don't draw or can't afford to play the Gaze cards.
How do you know and keep track of which characters are Gazed ? Any character that is Gazed will have an eye symbol with blue aura surrounding them when you hover over. Here's an example (thanks to the brilliant NoahMcGrath):
List of available cards in the Basic and Classic set that will be effected by this keyword:
Arcane Missiles
Cleave
Mind Vision
Multi-Shot
Any effect that says "Discard a random card": Soulfire, Succubus, Doomguard
Deadly Shot
Mad Bomber
Thoughtsteal
Forked Lightning
Blood Imp
Alarm-o-Bot
Demolisher
Knife Juggler
Lightwell
Master Swordsmith
Mind Control Tech
Stampeding Kodo
Young Priestess
Avenging Wrath
Brawl
Mindgames
Sylvanas Windrunner (before HoF)
Ragnaros the Firelord (before HoF)
Tinkmaster Overspark
Strength and Weakness:
Strength:
Weakness:
Their Basic cards aim to establish the mechanic, flavor, strength and weakness of the class while also provide tools for them to play a variety of playstyle: Aggressive, Token based, Mid-range or Control.
Example Cards
Token:
Remaining Cards
Q & A
Previous Phase:
Phase I Post
Click here to visit my Timestream Tracking Finalist Year of the Dragon in collaboration with Demonxz95
Class Creation Finalist: The Astromancer
Best cards vote by community:
REMOVED
Weaknesses:
Unique aspects:
Example Cards
Remaining Cards
Previous Phase
Click here for what was and what may be.
The Lich
You are a foolish mortal, you know that? You dare to come before the great Archlich Kel'Thuzad , keeper of the cold and deliverer of death? I should turn you into an icicle, a statue frozen in time to remain a symbol for what happens to my enemies! ...oh? You've come to learn the ways of the dead and dying? You are bold, but I approve. Come, my new apprentice, come and see the power of the Lich ! The might of the Scourge can be yours, and more, if you but lay down your life and serve me...in death!
Example Cards
Other Cards
Previous Phase
If you would like to know more about the power of the Lich, check out my original spiel...interloper!
Behold, foolish interlopers! I am commanding this mortal to spread the will of the Scourge throughout the interwebs, encouraging you to seek out me, Archlich Kel'Thuzad! Now coming to you as the tenth class of Hearthstone!
I am a finalist in this Class Creation Competition, so if you could give it a look I would be greatly appreciative <3
THE RINGMASTER
Being a Ringmaster means being responsible for the wellbeing of your performers, animals and the circus itself, but they all come second to entertaining your audience and putting on a show. The Ringmaster is a class that has a lot of small themes that you, as the player can choose between to focus your deck on. They've got tokens, card draw, healing, buffs and many other themes to be explored in basic, through classic and then through later expansions. The biggest focus, in the end, tends to come down to individuality and deckbuilding. Any spell could be your archetype and you have to figure out how to use it in a way that wows the world.
Keyword
Circuses typically have a Signature act, the one that they're first to slap on posters, the one saved up until the finale of the show, the performance perfected to bring in the money. Not all do, of course, and some utilise theirs more than others, but which Signature you have and which cards you include to combine with it often plays a major role in individualising the deck. Expect this to be elaborated on in Classic, or look at my Phase 1 post below.
Example Cards
Remaining Cards
Tokens:
Captivated Cats art is by Crazy JN, can't find the artist behind Thrilling Image.
Previous Phase
Here's the first phase submission. Feel free to get a better idea on the class and Signature here.
The Archaeologist
Archaeologist is a weapon focus class which focuses on board control, and sticky minions. The basic set will mostly be about controlling the board, and survivability through armor and taunt.
Keyword Section
Decay is a fairly self-explanatory keyword. It will not appear on any basic cards, but in Classic onward, it will go on mostly weapons as a way to implement aura weapons.
Example Cards
These cards show the various strengths and weaknesses of Archaeologist, showing that Archaeologist has decent draw, removal, AoE, and good armor gain and heal.
Uncover Tokens:
Remaining Cards
Previous Phase
Phase 1 Post
THE BOTANIST
A Botanist is not a Druid, but a scholar fascinated by plant life. While the Druids are a protectors of the wild, a Botanist is focused on the research of their secrets. They study, catalogue, culture and experiment on different kind of plants, tapping into their life force in order to unlock their hidden power. A Botanist seek out the rarest flora and carefully harvest the helpful and potent herbs found throughout the world(s), which can be transformed in powerful reagents. Cultivation is the Hero Power of this class which will allow you to summon Seedling with the new keyword: Evergrowth .
N.B. The Hero Power has been balanced since Phase I to be more "basic". Instead of shuffling the minions into the deck and been summon once drawn, it now summon the minion straight away on the board.
The Botanist is a tempo class, he needs time to build up his strategy and he does that thanks to his Taunt arsenal and his knowledge as a magister, boosting his Spell Damage to get rid of any offence. Winning condition could be to set up a good amount of minions with overgrowth on the board, or collect enough Spell Damage to blast the opponent with the flower power!
About Freywinn
Tempest Keep was merely a setback. Freywinn was in charge of the experiments the blood elves were conducting on the plants in the Botanica. After the destruction of Tempest Keep he managed to survive returning to the simple life of a scholar, growing his knowledge and discovering the secrets behind the Evergrowth.
Keyword: Evergrowth
Pretty easy to understand: The more minions on the board with Evergrowth, the more +1+1. I decided to change a bit the keyword from the last phase to make it less similar and annoying as the Jade golem mechanic. In this way you won't have more than +7+7 (good luck getting there, it will only require 7 minions on the board with Evergrowth and usually they are pretty weak by themselves).
N.B. The Keyword has been nerfed since Phase I. Now it only counts the minions on the board with Evergrowth instead of all the minions summoned. I did that to make the possible gameplay more enjoyable and different than the Jade Golem mechanic.
New Tribe: Herbs
I thought it might be a good idea for this kind of class to have a special tribe: Herbs . Originally i wanted to add to this new tribe some existing in-game cards but then I opted for a class specific family.
Botanist Example Cards
Apprentice Herbalist: As a starter herbalist you won’t have the chance to harvest a lot of herbs but only the basic one. Special mention to the Bloodthistle if you live nearby Quel’Thalas. This card will summon a random basic Herb on the board giving the botanist a nice passive buff with their presence (check spoiler for tokens)
Garden Shovel: They said that no special tools are required to gather herbs but who won’t like a garden shovel? The plant will like this little add-on. Boost to Health for all friendly minions, make sure you have some Herbs on the board.
Delicate Touch: Once upon a time there was this little tauren that levelled up to the top only picking up herbs and flower. They said that he didn’t spill any blood...or maybe he did. Anyway if you are a pacifist make sure you are not taking Bloodthistle or your pat won’t be as delicate.
Find Herbs: Herbalist use their potent sense for the growth to locate herbs on their map. Send this little guy into your deck and start the search. It might takes a lot, or maybe just a couple of turns...who knows? It's not easy to get rid of this passion once you got it.
Bloodthistle Pigment: Lord Saltheril keep saying that this is for the Inscription trainer in Silvermoon. I still don’t understand why is offering it to his party guests tho. Can you imagine its effect on a guest?
BASIC HERB
Cards generated by Apprentice Herbalist
Silverleaf: Mostly prevalent in northern Kalimdor, the Silveleaf is growing in shade, particularly in woodlands around the base of trees. It provides a catalyst property that increases its medicinal properties. So yeah, a general boost to the morale of the group!
Earthroot: Common across Kalimdor and the Eastern Kindomg, the Earthroot has sparse, tiny evergreen leaves, but more of value is the thick, woody root that typically protrudes above ground. The plant can be difficult to pull away…can you imagine a Botanist hiding behind one of them
Remaining Cards
Token Briarthorn's Wall
Briarthorn: A shrub that grows in thorn-covered vines with a thick bark. Appropriate protective equipment should be worn prior to harvesting, as the spines are extremely sharp. These roots spread too quickly and will overrun your garden.
Previous Phase
Botanist - Phase I
PLAGUEBRINGER | Finalist Entry
BASIC SET - HARVESTER SET I - HARVESTER SET II - PRE CORE SET (SoU) - CORE SET & POST CORE (UiS)
Margrave Stradama serving Hearthstone pandemic global realness
An Oracle watches from her temple perch, listening to the pleas of all people, peasants and kings, children and immortals, mages and paladins, alike, all begging for her blessing on the days to come. She listens, curiously, seemingly ignorant, as she chooses the path for others to walk. The future weaves itself into perfection for those she has deemed worthy.
An Oracle wanders the grimy streets of a crowded city. Civilians glare in disgust at his ragged clothing and maddened look. But filth matters not, for he knows the truth. The Impending Doom is coming. The gods have forsaken the world... and if only the people would listen. He continues his mad chant, stumbling over his own words and feet, crying for his enlightened voice to be heard.
An Oracle rides at the head of an amassing army. A shining crown is perched atop his head, signaling his power. He sings of victory. He speaks of the Countdown of fate that is unending, forever ticking onward, to a certainly predictable outcome. He knows their eventual victory is certain. He has foreseen it. It is merely a matter of time.
Class Keyword - Countdown (That ironically can't be shown in this set)
Strengths: Insane Value, High Card Draw, Effective Removal, Looks Hella Awesome When Things Work
Weaknesses: Slow, Unresponsive to Threats, Low Healing, High Skill Ceiling
Likely Archetypes: Control, Combo, Tempo
Does an Oracle predict what happens next or does she spin fate to make sure it does? Nobody really knows for sure. Regardless, something awesome is coming. Just be ready for when it comes to meet you. Introducing, the Oracle's class exclusive keyword: Countdown .
A Little More Information About Countdowns
When X reaches 0, the Coundown is destroyed and the icon is removed.
Like Quests (and unlike Secrets), Countdowns are played revealed.
Countdowns are only for spells . Some minions may have synergy or have effects that cast Countdowns.
This takes the place off a Secret/Quest slot, so no more than 5 (in any combination) can be simultaneously active. In addition, some cards may have effects that occur when a Countdown is cast (ex. Wonder)
Like Secrets and Quests, you may not have multiple copies of the same Cooldown active at the same time.
Example Cards
Remaining Cards
Foretell: The Oracle knows the future. Foretell is a simple card with a lot of synergy.
Scry: The Oracle sees all, and knows all. By looking into her crystal ball, she can make a card cost... nothing. This will often synergize with the Oracle's Hero Power, allowing you to play a card for free next turn!
Blind With Power: The Oracle can manipulate mind and matter. This card gives two powerful opportunities, the ability to buff a minion to deal a little extra burst damage, or to clear a pesky minion with less than 4 Health.
Seance: The Oracle sees all, and knows all. To commune with those of the past is a simple task. Use a Seance to break your opponent's combos, or create your own. Those pesky ghost know no bounds to their meddling.
Destined Victory: The Oracle knows she will win before the battle even before it begins. I wanted to heavily stress early on that the Oracle's ability to generate incredible value and power, only given the time to do so. This, combined with Seance, is a combo that can win you the game.
Previous Phase
Look, there is a previous phase thing somewhere, but I'm really lazy and can't get myself to produce the effort of finding it. Oh yeah, Oracles get daily sacrifices of Oreos and Mountain Dew. Oracle best class. K, bye.
Wished to be pink.
Then did.
Then fired myself.
Then did again.
THE HEXER
Their is a fine line between life an death, sickness and health, weakness and strength . Hexers are masters of this faint limit, able to tap into both worlds and shift the balance to their advantage . The Hexer is an expert of concoctions , either curative or poisonous, sometimes both. This is represented by the hero power, a drug that heals the strong and kills the weak. At first glance, it looks like a simple " Restore 1 Health ", which it is in most cases, but it has other uses as well. Targets at 1 Health , ideally bruised enemy minions or even Hero, will be killed by it. But it can also be put to great use with " whenever this minion takes damage " and " whenever this minion is healed " effects, like those of Acolyte of Pain or Lightwarden . The Hexer is a class that loves simple effects with many different interactions . Most cards can be used without thinking but planning ahead will lead to better results .
Optional Keyword Section
Fresh is a keyword exclusive to The Hexer class, which grants additional strength to undamaged minions (think Enrage but the opposite). Fresh represents the idea that only the strong and healthy can prevail in a fight. It ties into the healing abilities of the Hexer. This keyword will not appear in basic cards but you will see it in the classic set along side the helving mecanic showcased in Phase 1.
Example Cards
For basic cards, I wanted to emphasize the double nature of the Hexer , both a master of blessings and curses. You will find buffs, debuffs, conditional healing and damage . The class has a strong focus on taking and keeping the board . It should however lack value generators and game ending effects.
With these tools in hand, the Hexer is ready to fight for the glory of their tribe ! I'm having a lot of fun making this class and hope to be able to keep doing it as the competition advances. Do take a look at the rest of the set if you want to see more and give me a like if you, well, like the class !
Remaining Cards
Previous Phase
Phase 1 : https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/fan-creations/228747-trials-and-errors-class-creation-competition-5?comment=28