Even after the Undertaker nerf, Hunters still seem to be swarming the ladder with their ever-annoying Agro/Rush decks. In part as a "rant" to how much tempo Hunter secrets can give their owner, i've come up with two small changes to Freezing and Explosive Trap. The most annoying part of Hunter traps is that they will always trigger and unless you're running Kezan Mystic you have no way to play around, or remove them from play. Below are how I'd like to see the cards changed.
Freezing Trap now actually does what it says! Rather than being an agueably better version of Sap, now Freezing Trap dosn't cause such a massive tempo loss for the minion it gets triggered by. Yes, you can run a 1 drop minion into it, but that's not always easy considering how many 1 drops Hunters also run, meaning they can just trade away your minions to force a trapped minion to stay in your hand.
I do love the current wording for Freezing Trap, as it's so unique but it's also so prohibitive to the minion that triggers it. Even Mana Wraith (which dosn't see play), dosn't cause that much of a tempo loss.
My subtle change now means that x amount of damage is prevent to the Hunters own health or minions, but still presents a threat for the Hunter to deal with.
The worst thing I hate about Explosive Trap is how much better it is than any other Heros AOE. To get a 2 damage board and Hero AOE all other classes have to pay at least 4-6mana (Consecration, Arcane Explosion + Thalnos, Chain Lightning, Swipe + Thalnos, Holy Nova, Wicked Knife + Deadly Poison + Blade Flurry, Hellfire), with the exception of Warrior who can Thalnos/Kobold + Whirlwind but it also wipes their own board.
The only way to play around Explosive Trap is to not play low health minions which is a challenge during the first 2-3 turns of the game. If you wait longer to play higher health minions then you run into the problems that Explosive and Freezing Trap combined can cause to your own board.
My proposed change now still allows for unique Hunter's Mark plays, but only focuses on a single minion. It still retains it's extra benefit of damage to the enemy Hero so it would still be used in agressive decks, but dosn't allow those decks to also retain board control.
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I'm fully prepared to get flamed to hell for these sugestions, as well as reminded that someone, somewhere has probably already thought of them! Either way, any comments would be greatfull and your thoughts on if you think my changes are "balanced".
Even after the Undertaker nerf, Hunters still seem to be swarming the ladder with their ever-annoying Agro/Rush decks. In part as a "rant" to how much tempo Hunter secrets can give their owner, i've come up with two small changes to Freezing and Explosive Trap. The most annoying part of Hunter traps is that they will always trigger and unless you're running Kezan Mystic you have no way to play around, or remove them from play. Below are how I'd like to see the cards changed.
Freezing Trap now actually does what it says! Rather than being an agueably better version of Sap, now Freezing Trap dosn't cause such a massive tempo loss for the minion it gets triggered by. Yes, you can run a 1 drop minion into it, but that's not always easy considering how many 1 drops Hunters also run, meaning they can just trade away your minions to force a trapped minion to stay in your hand.
I do love the current wording for Freezing Trap, as it's so unique but it's also so prohibitive to the minion that triggers it. Even Mana Wraith (which dosn't see play), dosn't cause that much of a tempo loss.
My subtle change now means that x amount of damage is prevent to the Hunters own health or minions, but still presents a threat for the Hunter to deal with.
The worst thing I hate about Explosive Trap is how much better it is than any other Heros AOE. To get a 2 damage board and Hero AOE all other classes have to pay at least 4-6mana (Consecration, Arcane Explosion + Thalnos, Chain Lightning, Swipe + Thalnos, Holy Nova, Wicked Knife + Deadly Poison + Blade Flurry, Hellfire), with the exception of Warrior who can Thalnos/Kobold + Whirlwind but it also wipes their own board.
The only way to play around Explosive Trap is to not play low health minions which is a challenge during the first 2-3 turns of the game. If you wait longer to play higher health minions then you run into the problems that Explosive and Freezing Trap combined can cause to your own board.
My proposed change now still allows for unique Hunter's Mark plays, but only focuses on a single minion. It still retains it's extra benefit of damage to the enemy Hero so it would still be used in agressive decks, but dosn't allow those decks to also retain board control.
~~~
I'm fully prepared to get flamed to hell for these sugestions, as well as reminded that someone, somewhere has probably already thought of them! Either way, any comments would be greatfull and your thoughts on if you think my changes are "balanced".
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