I've been playing Hearthstone for a couple of months now, basically focused on Warlock. I haven't had much luck with packs, try as I might, and my arena runs are less than stellar. Despite all of this, I think I have a good feel for how Hearthstone works, as well as for how cards should be balanced. I also used to play WoW about... well, about 10 years ago or more. It's been a while. But I've kept up with the lore, and I've seen how some of the cards used by Warlocks are very heavily related to the abilities they have, and the demons that exist in WoW lore. To that effect, I decided I would mock up an expansion pack to the Warlock class, focused pretty much completely on lore-ifying the class and making it more nostalgic.
So here it is:
Call of the Void
"Over 200% more demon blood per card!"
IMPORTANT STIPULATION:
This wouldn't be a GvG style expansion where you get these cards in separate packs. Instead, they would be added to the Classic Pack repertoire, with the option to just outright buy the whole set as a "Card Book" that would be worth I dunno, 10 bucks max. Excessive monetization is a disincentive for people to buy this stuff anyway, (Blizz please make packs etc. cheaper, more people will buy, you'll get a slightly higher profit margin by appealing to a larger audience).
New Mechanic: Turns Active
When you play a turns active card, it starts a counter that ticks over each time "Your Turn" appears, and lasts as long as the card specifies. As it stands, I've only applied this mechanic to spells, due to minion end/start of turn effects being more visible and easy to understand. The way turns active is expressed is as follows: You have your spell card, with a name and an effect, including:
Turns Active: (x)
Where x is any positive number. The way this operates is similar to secrets in a way, in that they remain active until something happens: For secrets, it is when their trigger condition happens. For Turns Active spells, it is when their counter runs out that they go out of play. In the time before the counter runs out, they will apply their effect every time you start a turn. An example can be seen in the mockup below:
As you can see, much like a buffed minion, your hero gets some nice golden stars floating above their hero portrait (animated of course). When you mouse over your hero, you can see all turns active spells that are in effect. If there are a lot, they would spread out on either side and in front of your hero portrait to allow you to survey all the effects. The three 'pills' underneath the card are like the enchantments on minions, but kind of for your hero. Once a turn has passed, one of them fills up. It's supposed to look a bit like the common gem. After the counter fills up the card goes out of play.
Because of this new ability for heroes to be enchanted, I think another card effect should be changed. For most instances of Silence, the effect should be "Silence a character" instead of a minion. It is important to note that silencing a hero under the effects of Mal'Ganis won't work, as the immunity comes from the minion, not the hero. Armor is not subject to silencing, and since silencing only happens on your turn, it won't work for Attack or weapons. Just these Turns Active spells!
This also opens up some possibilities for Silence to be used in different capacities. i.e. Silence a character is a more powerful effect than Silence a minion, maybe worth half a balance point.
Also this expansion would also include legendary spells (for the first time!)
Metamorphosis: Another Hero
So we all know about Lord Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion, "INFERNO!!!", etc. etc. But what if I told you you could replace your hero with ANOTHER different hero? Well now you can!
Metamorphosis turns your hero into 'Demonic Form', with a 10 health boost, a random hero power each turn the spell is active, and "Demon Claws" as an equipped weapon. These hero powers cost 3 mana, and as such due to the Turns Active system, can only be used twice before Metamorphosis wears off and you return to your old form. When you exit Metamorphosis, your demon claws automatically break and all your armour breaks as well. Your hero's health in normal and demonic form are the same. While in demonic form, you have a purple-black enchantment animation that is an inversion of the one I mentioned above. Pray to RNGsus that you obtain the Hero Power you need.
Mechanics and Discussion:
Hero Power Combos: Double Leap: If you don't immediately attack with your demon claws and get Leap next turn, you can deal 8 damage in a turn and take 6 (plus other damage sources). If you get Leap again, you can do another 12 damage and take 6. (4/3 --> 4/1. Next turn: 6/2 --> broken). This totals out to 20 damage, take 12. Plus other sources. If you manage this, you might be able to lethal your opponent.
Double Chaos Wave: You can board clear with this quite nicely, with no special downside apart from using up 6 mana and taking two turns.
Double Immolate: You probably just killed everything including your own board. But maybe not - maybe you're up against a board of shit and you've got one big creature. This is a very effective combo in that case, as long as you can bolster your board with high-health minions.
Double Nether Plating: Gain 10 armour. If you're in a spot of bother, you can make your opponent miss lethal! Like Ice Barrier but it takes two turns, isn't a secret, costs 3 more, and gives you 2 more armour. And it isn't permanent armour either.
Double Doom: Clarification: When you cast doom you specify two targets! Revolutionary. Now you can add 4 soul shards to your deck, and board clear by the time you're back as normal Gul'dan.
Double Touch of Chaos: Bam. Bam. Kind of Fireball. Better than Shadow Bolt! Slightly.
NOTE: You can equip a new weapon while in Metamorphosis, and it will not break when you exit.
(plus neutral cards)
Card explanations:
Wrathguard:
Summon: "BURN for the Legion!"
Attack: "On Guard!"
Death: "Freedom..."
This card is essentially removal against higher threat targets with a body attached. The battlecry animation would be like Elven Archer's: An ethereal sword would strike the board either side of this minion and then a fiery path would start to make its way towards the target, getting faster and faster until it reaches it. This animation would take max. 2 seconds.
Agony:
First proper example of a Turns Active spell. When you cast this spell, it doesn't do anything, but on your next turn it deals 1 damage. And then 2, then 3, then 4, 5, 6, etc... This effectively puts a timer on an enemy minion, (v. slow corruption?). Could be used as synergy with some cards that are also included in this expansion...
Potent Afflictions:
Another one! This is good synergy for Malylock methinks. I think the time limit and lack of a body justifies the +2 spell damage.
Fel Orc:
Summon: "Blood! BLOOD!"
Attack: "AHAHAHAHA!!"
Death: "*death grunt*"
A less shit wolf rider. I've decided this should be uncollectible.
Smothering Malaise:
Not so much removal as Darkbomb, better than Mortal Coil, acts like Ironbeak Owl, but only on one turn. Synergy with Caged Soul!
Soulwell:
LORE FRIENDLY. There's some cards in this expansion that make health loss a bit too much for poor old Gul'dan to bear, so I figured a healthy alternative to Summoning Portal. Warlocks as I remember them are able to make Soulwells that give party members Healthstones.
Healthstone: The second part of this is very important, and balances the card. If you don't use it on the turn you get it, you limit the benefit you get from Soulwell. If you don't use it, you DO receive a second one, but it immediately discards in a sort of Druid-y green fashion.
Voidling:
Summon: "Hello...?"
Attack: "Really?"
Death: "Void!"
Literally Target Dummy, but with demon synergy. Is slightly higher pitched than voidwalkers.
Zealous Shivarra:
Summon: "Rally to me, fools!"
Attack: "The legion is eternal!"
Kind of Timber Wolf, but only one turn. There's too many demon buffs to justify board buffing your demons on an ongoing basis (Mal'Ganis is an exception...)
Jadefire Satyr/Satyrnaar Warrior:
Summon:"For Jadefire!"/"For Satyrnaar!"
Effect Trigger:"In Sargeras' name!"
Attack:"*maniacal laughter*"
A new racial. Not thinking this will be class exclusive, but satyrs will be pretty integral for warlocks, as they're part of the Burning Legion. Similar to Drakonid Crusher, but with more synergy with Satyrs and Satyr legendaries like Xavius, and the Satyrnaar Warrior has the Gladiator's Longboweffect.
Caged Soul:
Summon: "Help me!"
Attack: "What am I doing!?"
Pop Smothering Malaise on this bad boy and you can attack with it without losing its effects as long as it survives damage. Then can use some classic warlock removal on it.
Arcane Giant:
I think this one is pretty much a given, and could be used in pretty much every deck by everybody? I dunno, maybe it's a bit "Everybody's gonna use this"...
(and tokens)
Card explanations:
Drain Soul:
Class ability! I loved soul shards in WoW, and I still do, despite what Blizz may have done with them. Mark a target and when they die, you get...
Soul Shard:
Kind of a late game card that seems like it's an early game card. In a pinch, you can use one a bit like Preparation. But the combo potential with 3 of these is ridiculous/pretty good. Imagine a turn ten play where you Pit Lord with three of these in hand. You cast one and give the Pit Lord charge. Play the rest so you've done 4-3-2-1. If you've got any Demonfire, Power Overwhelming, Drain Life, Darkbomb, Demonwrath, you can cast all of them without any repercussions. Basically a win condition if you've got ALL the right stuff.
Wrath Hound:
Uses similar sounds to Core Hound/Core Rager. Except fel. The 1 damage animations should be like the Savage Roar/Unleash the Hounds "bite" animation, except green and one after the other appearing over the damaged minions.
Eye of Kilrogg:
I think this is a fair card. 2-mana 0/2 with stealth, can't really be buffed because it has Stealth, but is subject to board clear. Take a peak at your opponents hand!
Summoning Ritual:
Summoning Portal is a bad card, really. It's a 4-mana 0/4 and dies to a lot of stuff. Turn 5-ing it is basically useless, so I figured using a new mechanic to make it useful would help bring it back into decks. Also a Warlock thing in WoW to portal raid members back into a fight! Cast this on turn 1, then wait until 4 and then you have a free summoning portal. Keep in mind you can now be silenced while this is in play, like an 'interruption'. Takes the wind out of your turn 4, given you risked turn 1 tempo on this.
Felhunter:
Iconic warlock pet. Known for silencing spellcasters/draining mana. I think this may be underpowered? I dunno. It's like a better Dalaran Mage.
Health Funnel:
Targeted spell on one specific demon to be clear. Basically a delayed 6-heal/6-hero damage on a minion. Improved demon stickiness! Also a warlock ability in WoW. If the targeted minion dies while this is active, the spell 'dies' too.
Void Slip:
There are two cases: You cast this on a big friendly minion in trouble and then you wait... You really need proper tempo for this to not just be a misplay. Maybe a 7/1 Dr. Balanced needs a little respite, so you pop this on him. If the token lives, you can actually attack with the 7/1, potentially getting lethal. OR: You transform an enemy minion, drop a couple of mad bombers, or a Hellfire, and see what happens. I guess maybe this should cost more?
Void Imp: Uncollectible. Untargetable. No damage. Can be killed with board clear. Pretty simple!
Dark Bargain:
Mal'Ganis hero effect for one turn. On 7 health and feeling threatened? Want to stall for time? This is the card for you. Then next turn you're on 2 health. What then? It all depends on the 10 mana that you managed to save yourself.
Xavian Spellcaster:
Summon: "For Xavius!"
Weaker Piloted Shredder? Sort of but not really. Has Satyr and Demon synergy. The 1-drops it can summon are Blood Imp, Flame Imp, and Voidwalker.
Card explanations:
Dreadsteed:
Working on balancing this.
Voidlord:
Summon: "YOU DARE CALL?"
Attack: "AS YOU WISH."
Void lords are in WoW - specifically Dimensius, a very powerful Voidlord. I figured they should act a bit like Void Terrors. If you have two Voidwalkers and you pop this, you get a 6/12 with Taunt for 8 effectively. Pretty reasonable I think, especially because you won't usually have those void walkers on the board.
Warp Stalker:
OP FOR NOW (Burning Legion used them as mounts!)
Mannoroth's Blood:
On the one hand this seems broken. On the other it seems equivalent to Force of Nature.
In the Dark:
This is a cool one though. A similar animation to "Twisting Nether" Where a black void opens up in front of you and then the cards come out of it into your hand. 8 mana for a 0/2, a 1/3, and a cannibalizing 4/6. That makes 5/11 for 8! Or 8/8 for 8. Reasonable!
Soul Link:
Kind of like the opposite of Health Funnel.
Dark Regeneration:
8 health for 5 mana. Seems like Antique Healbot would be more useful? You might be right, but it's still a cool card for warlocks that don't run it.
Satyr Bloodfiend:
Could be a useful shield against fatal damage. You're on the ropes and your opponent goes face - then they have to contend with a 1/1 Taunt. if they attack the minion they've lost some potential damage.
Summon: "*laughing noises*"
Attack: "Die!"
Spellcast: "*more laughing noises*
Death: "*death gurgle*"
Satyr: uncollectible. 1/1 with Taunt or 3/3. These are generic satyrs summoned from other cards.
Summon: "I serve."
Attack: "Die, mortal!"
Satyr Necromancer:
Summon/Battlecry: "Rise for the legion once more!"
Attack: "E-E-EVIL!!"
Like the resurrect priest spell! However, you'll need to be quite zoo-ey with a deck that includes this, as summoning 1/1 token imps from Imp-losion will be a liability when trying to RNG out a good creature.
Metamorphosis:
See top of page
Nether Ray:
Finally Twisting Nether can be good. A removal spell that clears the board but renders you basically incompetent? Well, no longer. If you have Summoning Portals out or have Emperor Thaurissan'd this, you can play 2 of them before you cast Twisting Nether and you'll end up with two 4/5 creatures. Noice!
Void Giant:
This was originally a grayscale concept art from (I believe) Blizzcon, and I recoloured and souped it up so I could use it, as such this is one of the most heavily edited pieces of card art in this expansion. This was supposed to be a mob in Warlords I think? But I haven't seen it so far, and with the other cards I've added I like the idea of a Void-centered deck. "Voidlock", perhaps. 2x Voidling, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Voidlord, 2x In the Dark, 2x Void Giant? If you manage to summon all of them you get 0-cost 8/8s.
Summon: "I am the void..."
Attack: "Obliterate..."
Death: "Dimensius beckons..."
This minion would have a very gravely, low, slow voiceover. Very 'gigantic' if you know what I mean.
Card Explanations:
Collidus the Warp-Watcher:
I've had trouble balancing this legendary. However, now I've decided on a good balance. This was originally a more RNG based card but it's now more self-contained. Whenever this card creates a Floating Watcher, it plays a sort of
Summon: "I watch the warp."
Effect Trigger: "YE-E-E-S!"
Eye of Sargeras:
Representative of how fatal Guldan's raid of the Tomb of Sargeras was. This kills you if you use it all - in fact, it can kill you in less than 6 turns if you attack big minions. But there is an upside to this: Using this is a really great way to trigger Floating Watchers or Collidus. You take damage from attacking, but you also take damage from the weapon. Plus you deal AOE when you use it. This is how you set up for an OTK using watchers - hopefully more viable 'Bloodlock' decks can be made using this. Took a long time to edit this together as no good images of the Eye seem to exist.
Mannoroth:
Essentially a counter for Grommash Hellscream, the Warrior legendary. He dies to Grommash, but puts him within range of Mannoroth's Blood, and next turn you can deal extra damage.
Voice is of a modified Pit Lord - more volume.
Summon: "You think you can defeat me?"
Attack: "PERISH, MORTAL!"
Death: "NOOOOOOO!"
Hekar the Houndmaster:
Originally "Hakkar", but too similar to "Hakkar the Soulflayer", which is a much more recognizable WoW character to most people, thus I sort of fiddled with the name. To be played in a Malylock deck - improves spell damage and can get out of hand quickly unless it's removed fast. Moar demon synergy. This was the first demon to emerge from the Dark Portal during the War of the Ancients, and had a seemingly infinite number of Felhounds at his command.
Summon: "FIRST!"
Attack: "Nya-haHAHA!"
Effect Trigger: "GO ON MY PRETTIES"
Death: "*death gurgle*"
The summoning animation is a Dark Portal appearing, facing upwards on the board, and this minion comes out of it, a bit like Rag.
Xavius:
The original Satyr: Similar racial effects to Mal'Ganis except you won't usually have a lot of Satyrs.
Summon: "SECOND!"
Death: "I have faltered..."
Dirk of the Beast: This weapon breaks after you've used it - and can be used either on big or small minions to give you a 3/3 body. If you have a Satyr Bloodfiend, this can really snowball into lots of Satyrs. Imagine turn 8 Satyr Bloodfiend, Life Tap and a Jadefire Satyr. Then turn 9 you can Life Tap again, Xavius. Turn 10 summon more Satyrs and hit a minion with your 1/1 dirk, giving you at least 5 Satyrs. That is if your opponent isn't dealing with them as they come.
Soulstone:
I think Kripparian made a video about legendary spells and suggested this. I guess I've prettied it up a little. This would be the only Warlock Secret - so your opponent will know exactly what it is. It's pretty powerful, but you almost waste a turn using it, and will probably give you another couple of turns to live. Perhaps you can set up lethal in that time, or use it to spring a Jaraxxus on your opponent.
Changed Card Discussion:
Silence Cards:
Obvious changes! Not all silence cards have been changed.
Felguard:
Felguard used to be completely useless. You could literally substitute it with Sen'jin Shieldmasta' with no downside. The mana setback was not worth it. Now it is, maybe!
Corruption:
Corruption sucks. Now you can get a soul shard out of it, but not immediately!
New Deck Types:
Voidlock:
Core Mechanic: Void minion synergy and demon synergy
Core Cards: 2x Voidling, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Voidlord, 2x In the Dark, 2x Void Giant
Similar to Demonlock. The goal is to keep yourself protected with your Void creatures, buffing them when you can, using spells as you can to decrease the cost of Arcane Giant and using your Hero Power to draw cards you need. Eventually you could pull out Mal'Ganis and keep yourself protected while the rest of your demons are buffed and you can finish off your opponent with the big minions you've pulled out for free on turn 10 or whatever.
The goal of this deck is to ramp up your life-loss in the late game, making sure you keep control of your health using cards like Soulwell and trying to protect yourself all the while using cards like Satyr Bloodfiend. Eventually you want to be able to 2TK your opponent by pushing out Floating Watchers, Life Tapping, buffing them, using Elven Archer on yourself, and using Health Funnel to constantly buff them while keeping them alive. If you find yourself soon to die you might want to Soulstone early and waste a turn, hoping that your board doesn't get wiped. You can use Void Slip if you need to make one of your minions 'disappear' in the interim. You can also use Metamorphosis if you're worried you don't have enough damage sources to your hero. If you end up with Leap as a hero power, you can get 4 buffs in one turn from just attacking minions.
Satyrlock:
Core Mechanic: Satyr synergy and Taunts
Core Cards: 1x Xavius, 1x Dirk of the Beast, 2x Satyr Necromancer, 2x Jadefire Satyr, 2x Satyrnaar Warrior, 2x Xavian Spellcaster, 2x Power Overwhelming
Other Cards: 2x Defender of Argus, 2x Sunfury Protector, 2x Metamorphosis, 2x Warp Stalker, 2x Dreadsteed, 2x Wrath Hound, 2x Demonfire, 1x Lord Jaraxxus, some combination of other cards.
The goal of this deck is essentially Satyr synergy. There's some Taunt-givers included so you could get quite zoo-ey with this deck. Use your zooey creatures in the early to mid game, then break out some of your Satyrs and buff them with Xavius.
The goal of this deck is to control your opponent's board using creatures, spells and buffs until you can hit a magic OTK combo using some of your Demon-oriented cards, as well as using Caged Soul, Corruption and Drain Soul to put Soul Shards in your hand. Using Metamorphosis you can hopefully get quadruple corruption going on, shuffling 4 soul shards into your deck. Using one of your low cost creatures, then casting 3 soul shards in a row with your now 0-cost buffs can make a massive creature that can easily finish off your opponent on turn 10. Some assembly required.
The goal of this deck is getting out a bunch of Spell damage late in the game in order to spam direct damage spells at your opponent, killing them instantly. If you can protect yourself well enough in the early game, you might be able to set up the perfect finisher.
The goal of this deck is to survive as long as possible and deal as much damage as possible. The dream is to Voidcaller into Mal'Ganis, then cast Metamorphosis and start owning everything in sight. If you get hurt too bad, you can always pull out Soulstone or Jaraxxus, and if you need bodies you can put Mannoroth down and some Satyr Bloodfiends and taunt them up. Eventually you want to be using a combination of big and small minions to protect your hero, with the smaller minions protecting the bigger ones (Satyr Bloodfiend into Dread Infernal gives a 1/1 body to protect your 6/6).
ART CREDITS:
Will be done! Takes time to track down some of the art sources. Quite a bit of art came from aiDen's art gallery.
So that's it for now! I'll be updating this thread with new ideas and mockups. I'm thinking of doing this for each class! So if you've got any ideas, drop me a line, because I really want to get someone from the dev team to at least consider some of these ideas for new cards. With the new expansion/adventure coming up, I'm sure there's not much time to change anything, but perhaps for the next expansion cycle!
Please leave feedback!
EDIT (August 8, 2017): Revamped Cards:
Commons
Comments:
Wrathful Wrathguard: Since the introduction of Wrathguard in TGT, this card's name was taken, and that's no good. With the original 2/4 statline it didn't feel aggressive or contesting enough to do much good in a viable Warlock deck— as a 4/3, it is more aggressive but also punishes high-health and high-Attack minions.
Soulwell: At a 3 mana 0/4, Soulwell was very easily contested and could be gotten rid of with few problems. With 7 Health it provides survivability for the effect, with less of a soft-Taunt effect than Doomsayer.
Zealous Shivarra: At 3 mana this card seemed unplayable, but the text also made it a 4/2 on the turn it was played, which was useless as it did nothing because it couldn't attack. This makes it more viable for a Wild token Warlock/zoo deck.
Shielded Outcast: The original card actually didn't do anything much, as it couldn't attack, and when given Immune couldn't act as a Taunt— the only reason for it to be used was if you stockpiled buff cards like Power Overwhelming and used them all on one turn after silencing this minion. Statline changed from a 1/3 to a 1/5. The effect has been altered to a nigh-uninterruptible Violet Illusionist for when you wish to preserve your life total when using Life Tap. Synergies with Sacrificial Pact.
Unending Resolve: The original card gave you Armor, which doesn't really fit for Warlock (apart perhaps from Hero Cards), but also discarded two cards for that, making it objectively worse than double Iron Hide. The new effect is comparable to Drain Soul and Soulfire. It may seem worse than Soulfire for discarding an extra card for one extra mana, but it does provide Lifesteal. Fits Warlock more.
Rares (and associated tokens)
Comments:
Eye of Kilrogg: At 2 mana this card didn't do much anyway, so bringing it down to Blood Imp levels seems reasonable, given that it lacks the Demon tag.
Soul Harvest: Can't have Drain Soul anymore now that Drain Soul exists. This card is powercreep on the original, but the original was extremely slow and didn't do anything on its own for 3 mana. Similar to Bane of Doom and Mortal Coil, but the difference is that it's when it dies, rather than if it dies.
Soul Shard: The original version was too complicated and situational, and drawing it when it was shuffled into your deck made it a dead draw. The new version helps a Zoo deck to empty a higher-tempo hand and then use their myriad card draw techniques to refill.
Eradication: Wording fiddled with to reflect Ghastly Conjuror, and Cost changed to reflect what Corrupting Mist is worth. Wording it like Corrupting Mist is bad though, because Corrupting Mist really should have just been worded like Lucifron.
Wrath Hound: As a 3/5 for 5 that dealt two split damage, this was pretty overcosted. As a 4/6 for 5, it has more survivability and evades Priest hard removal.
Malefic Grasp and Xavian Gladiator: When Dark Bargain was released I was robbed of the name for the former, and the art for the latter. As such I had to search for new names and new art. Malefic Grasp costs 1 extra mana for the un-interactive effect, but reduces the damage dealt from 5 to 4. Xavian Gladiator was Xavian Spellcaster— the original was a 2 mana 0/3 that summoned one, whereas this is a 3 mana 1/2 that summons two. Good in token and zoo decks, I think.
Epics (and associated tokens)
Comments:
Dreadful Dreadsteed: When Dreadsteed was released, the old card couldn't exist anymore. Thus, adjective added. This card is a reversal of Dreadsteed in a sense, because instead of a 4 mana 1/1 it's a 1 mana 4/4. Now that OG Dreadsteed is getting nerfed, this one feels like it should be better. This card really shines when you can buff it up and get in enough favorable trades to gain board control. It has +1/+2 on Flame Imp with the downside that it deals 5 extra damage to you.
Dark Regeneration: Since Binding Heal and Flash Heal, the effect of heals in healing classes makes a card like this overcosted at 3 mana. Thus, down to 1. 8 Health over 4 turns, mitigates Life Tap damage for that long.
Nether Ray: This, I think, is the card that was lost from the OP. The original card explanation let me figure out what it did, but I think the original one only figured Twisting Nether specifically. By 'directly destroyed' I mean Crush, Mulch, Naturalize, Assassinate, Twisting Nether, and DOOM! as examples.
In the Dark: The original version was way too slow, given Cabalist's Tome is of similar power level. I've decided to bold Void as an easier way to specify what demons (specifically demons) are available. Those available in Wild would be: Voidling, Voidwalker Voidlord, Voidcaller, Void Crusher, Void Terror, and Void Giant. This makes the pool of available targets much more diverse than the original.
Voidlord: Wording changed to reflect the mechanic, good for targeting Voidcaller to pull out a Doomguard. Stats changed from 4/6 to 6/6 as it's pretty balanced anyway.
Void Giant: Wording changed to reflect the mechanic. Now is okay as a giant because Snowfury Giant exists.
Legendaries (and associated tokens)
Comments:
Xavius: I don't know why I didn't indicate that Dirk of the Beast should've been a token, but it obviously should've been. The old version included Xavius as a target of his own buff, which immediately made him a 7 mana 8/8 taunt. No longer. The effect on this one is more comparable to Mal'Ganis, instead of immunity it grants a 3/3 mind control effect and a greater buff on a more limited pool of cards.
Hakkar the Houndmaster: As a 6 mana 4/4, the start of turn effect was too easily countered. Now he has immediate board impact with two 1/4 Demons with "Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers. Spell Damage +1."
Soulstone: Simply changed to get the legendary dragon on the spell card. Effect otherwise identical.
Cataclysm: One of the things about Soulstone is that I had listed it as 'the only Warlock secret, so you know what it is'. Well that sucks, because what's the point of it being a secret then. The intent of these new secrets was to counter specific decks and to change things in a pretty major way if you're behind— this one acts as an isolated Twisting Nether on your opponent's board, but it happens twice, in case there are any Deathrattle minions that summon any more minions. Also to send a message.
Shadowfury: Really mess with your opponent's deck now we've got Gnomeferatu. Lull your opponent into a false sense of board control and then destroy a bunch of their good cards when they try to use their full board to trade with your big minions.
Fatal Echoes: This one is a bit of a meme. Basically discourages extended BM and things like putting Blessed Champion on Tirion Fordring to kill you, as it will force your opponent into a draw (that is unless you have Soulstone up, as that will trigger before this does. The other 'fatal damage' secret will also trigger this).
Stolen Power: Also a bit of a meme, specifically countering Exodia Mage and Miracle Rogue. Also very useful if your opponent gets greedy with casting spells (RIP Mage).
I really like it. I used to play a shit ton of warlock, mainly because it was good at the current meta. But I get bored of the same old shit. Haven't played with it in a while. This would get me back into it with something new for sure!
It seems nice for its novelty, but it would be impossible to implement into the game due to balancing between the other classes.
That's why I'm also going to try and make expansions for other classes (Shaman is in desperate need of better cards I think). Paladin/priest next! For now, I've just added some cards that I've changed, and later today I'll add the epic cards (and an interesting new card!)
Quote from arayaHS
I really like it. I used to play a shit ton of warlock, mainly because it was good at the current meta. But I get bored of the same old shit. Haven't played with it in a while. This would get me back into it with something new for sure!
Thanks! Yeah, I'm hoping that new cards will reinvigorate the game for some people...
Quick note: Most of these cards have been in the works for at least a month. Balancing/editing cards is tough when you have to consider how they synergize together.
That's why I'm also going to try and make expansions for other classes (Shaman is in desperate need of better cards I think). Paladin/priest next! For now, I've just added some cards that I've changed, and later today I'll add the epic cards (and an interesting new card!)
It would still be incredibly difficult to incorporate an expansion like this into the game because either one class becomes super OP for one week or one month or Blizzard has to release 9 expansions all at once. I really like the idea of classes having massive expansions, but I just cannot see how it could be implemented.
Potent Afflictions: +2 spell damage for 3 mana, one card is already too strong. Add to that the fact that it is not a minion and therefore cannot be removed except with silences (few in game) and guaranteed for 3 turns, and this card breaks the game.
Dreadsteed: This card is crazy strong. it's one mana cheaper than leeroy and its downside is meaningless. You will play this card to finish you opponent off, so its deathrattle will never happen. You can even combo with void slip to keep it alive another turn if u wanted.
Warp Stalker: This card is op without stealth. With stealth it is off the charts. Aggro is strong enough in this meta, and it only gets a huge boost with this card. A zoo player whose Warp stalker gets killed won't care about the one card he discards, his cards are cheap and easy to get more. 5 damage for 3 mana is huge!
Potent Afflictions: +2 spell damage for 3 mana, one card is already too strong. Add to that the fact that it is not a minion and therefore cannot be removed except with silences (few in game) and guaranteed for 3 turns, and this card breaks the game.
Dreadsteed: This card is crazy strong. it's one mana cheaper than leeroy and its downside is meaningless. You will play this card to finish you opponent off, so its deathrattle will never happen. You can even combo with void slip to keep it alive another turn if u wanted.
Warp Stalker: This card is op without stealth. With stealth it is off the charts. Aggro is strong enough in this meta, and it only gets a huge boost with this card. A zoo player whose Warp stalker gets killed won't care about the one card he discards, his cards are cheap and easy to get more. 5 damage for 3 mana is huge!
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try rebalancing... In a pinch:
Rebalanced cards in original post, too much HTML makes page load slowly.
I think I nerfed Warp Stalker too much? Now it's just Succubus with less synergy. I dunno. This is hard! :P
Very nice work. I like the flavor of this set. The only thing I would change would be to have drain soul target only enemy minions to reflect how in WoW you couldn't target your own minion with it.
I think you nerfed these cards too much. Warp Stalker was actually nerfed the least. Dreadstead should be 3 mana. Potent Afflicions should be back for 3 turns but 1 spell damage. Warp stalker is quite on par with succubus with these stats. The stealth makes up for the -1 attack. In fact I would say stealth is worth more than 1 attack. But everyone know that succubus sucks. So go back to the deathrattle, but keep the stats and mana cost.
What is an OP? would love to see your new material!
It would be cool to try these cards in the game. It would be awesome if Blizzard made some mode for that. Perhaps something like that in their new expansion this month? It's worth hoping for!
I think you nerfed these cards too much. Warp Stalker was actually nerfed the least. Dreadstead should be 3 mana. Potent Afflicions should be back for 3 turns but 1 spell damage. Warp stalker is quite on par with succubus with these stats. The stealth makes up for the -1 attack. In fact I would say stealth is worth more than 1 attack. But everyone know that succubus sucks. So go back to the deathrattle, but keep the stats and mana cost.
What is an OP? would love to see your new material!
It would be cool to try these cards in the game. It would be awesome if Blizzard made some mode for that. Perhaps something like that in their new expansion this month? It's worth hoping for!
Thanks! OP stands for 'original post' up at the top. I'll rebalance those cards now and edit the OP with them. What's new is Metamorphosis, with an explanation of what it does and how it works. :)
I'm really hoping for that too. An in-house built "Testing Grounds" that you could play against friends or the AI which allowed you to make custom cards would be sick. I really think that would bring a lot more attention to Hearthstone than there already is - I mean millions of people are playing it, but if you release that kind of tool you'll just get millions more...
"I mean millions of people are playing it, but if you release that kind of tool you'll just get millions more..." - Exactly! It would give the game endless replayability and attract tons of new people!
I think metamorphosis is weak. It cost 8 mana, which is basically your whole turn and does nothing the turn you play it. At least with Jaraxus, you immediately go to 15 health. Most people play Jaraxus for this reason (to get out of lethal range). Also, it is unreliable because you don't know which hero power you will get. I would have it give you 10 armour and the hero power costs 2. Everything else can stay the same.
When do the turns active counters get removed? At the start or end of your turn?
Wait, how is Satyr Bloodfiend even a good card? It's literally Violet Teacher as it doesn't have a race it's adhered to and is an epic making it harder to obtain. Did you create this card so people could have 4 Violet Teachers in their deck?
"I mean millions of people are playing it, but if you release that kind of tool you'll just get millions more..." - Exactly! It would give the game endless replayability and attract tons of new people!
I think metamorphosis is weak. It cost 8 mana, which is basically your whole turn and does nothing the turn you play it. At least with Jaraxus, you immediately go to 15 health. Most people play Jaraxus for this reason (to get out of lethal range). Also, it is unreliable because you don't know which hero power you will get. I would have it give you 10 armour and the hero power costs 2. Everything else can stay the same.
When do the turns active counters get removed? At the start or end of your turn?
All noted. I've decreased the cost of Metamorphosis to 7, so your new hero power can be used. Also it gives you 5 armour now. Not sure if 10 armour is balanced given how powerful the hero powers are.
The turns active counters are removed at the end of the turn on which they count to zero - say if you have Potent Afflictions active, it will give you Spell Damage +1 on the turn you cast it, the turn after that, and the turn after that. At the end of the last turn it 'dispels'.
Wait, how is Satyr Bloodfiend even a good card? It's literally Violet Teacher as it doesn't have a race it's adhered to and is an epic making it harder to obtain. Did you create this card so people could have 4 Violet Teachers in their deck?
I totally forgot about Violet Teacher to be honest. I was still exploring the concept of Satyrs while I was making this, and now I've changed it to reflect that. I've also added quite a few new cards.
The classic: hearthcards.net. However, some of the other graphics like the banners, the screenshots, and the "Card Logo" were done with a combination of hearthcards and Adobe Photoshop.
NEW CARDS: Void Giant, Jadefire Satyr, Satyr Necromancer, Satyr Bloodfiend, two token Satyrs, Satynaar Warrior, Xavian Spellcaster.
I have several problems with Collidus. First, I either do not understand what you were trying to convey in your explanation of him or you forgot to mention something: does he come in as a 2/4 or a 12/14? Second, the Battlecry effect does not trigger on minions summoned by spells, so the "destroy all other friendly minions" will not occur. Third, he seems too OP with Deathrattle minions that summon other minions like Piloted Shredder or Haunted Creeper. Just my observations of the card.
I have several problems with Collidus. First, I either do not understand what you were trying to convey in your explanation of him or you forgot to mention something: does he come in as a 2/4 or a 12/14? Second, the Battlecry effect does not trigger on minions summoned by spells, so the "destroy all other friendly minions" will not occur. Third, he seems too OP with Deathrattle minions that summon other minions like Piloted Shredder or Haunted Creeper. Just my observations of the card.
Well, the intention was that you summon a minion (Collidus), that destroys all other minions, then 5 damage is split randomly between it and your hero. It gains +2/+2 for each damage your hero takes, so if you manage to take 5 damage and Collidus takes none, he becomes a 12/14. If he takes 2 damage and you take 3, you get an 8/8. It all depends on how the damage is split, so you're gambling on the outcome. I will try and make it easier to understand, and possibly change it.
Although, do you have any other comments on any of the other cards? i.e. Void Giant, Xavius, Eye of Sargeras? Also I made a list of possible new decks at the bottom of the original post; it's in the spoiler marked "New Deck Types".
Well, the intention was that you summon a minion (Collidus), that destroys all other minions, then 5 damage is split randomly between it and your hero. It gains +2/+2 for each damage your hero takes, so if you manage to take 5 damage and Collidus takes none, he becomes a 12/14. If he takes 2 damage and you take 3, you get an 8/8. It all depends on how the damage is split, so you're gambling on the outcome. I will try and make it easier to understand, and possibly change it.
Although, do you have any other comments on any of the other cards? i.e. Void Giant, Xavius, Eye of Sargeras? Also I made a list of possible new decks at the bottom of the original post; it's in the spoiler marked "New Deck Types".
Ok, thank you very much for clearing up that part about Collidus becoming a 12/14. However, you might have to have some text in the spell itself saying something like "destroy all friendly minions" or "destroy all other friendly minions". Now he's starting to seem like a cool card.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
That'll do, Huffer. That'll do.
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I've been playing Hearthstone for a couple of months now, basically focused on Warlock. I haven't had much luck with packs, try as I might, and my arena runs are less than stellar. Despite all of this, I think I have a good feel for how Hearthstone works, as well as for how cards should be balanced. I also used to play WoW about... well, about 10 years ago or more. It's been a while. But I've kept up with the lore, and I've seen how some of the cards used by Warlocks are very heavily related to the abilities they have, and the demons that exist in WoW lore. To that effect, I decided I would mock up an expansion pack to the Warlock class, focused pretty much completely on lore-ifying the class and making it more nostalgic.
So here it is:
Call of the Void
"Over 200% more demon blood per card!"
IMPORTANT STIPULATION:
This wouldn't be a GvG style expansion where you get these cards in separate packs. Instead, they would be added to the Classic Pack repertoire, with the option to just outright buy the whole set as a "Card Book" that would be worth I dunno, 10 bucks max. Excessive monetization is a disincentive for people to buy this stuff anyway, (Blizz please make packs etc. cheaper, more people will buy, you'll get a slightly higher profit margin by appealing to a larger audience).
New Mechanic: Turns Active
When you play a turns active card, it starts a counter that ticks over each time "Your Turn" appears, and lasts as long as the card specifies. As it stands, I've only applied this mechanic to spells, due to minion end/start of turn effects being more visible and easy to understand. The way turns active is expressed is as follows: You have your spell card, with a name and an effect, including:
Turns Active: (x)
Where x is any positive number. The way this operates is similar to secrets in a way, in that they remain active until something happens: For secrets, it is when their trigger condition happens. For Turns Active spells, it is when their counter runs out that they go out of play. In the time before the counter runs out, they will apply their effect every time you start a turn. An example can be seen in the mockup below:
As you can see, much like a buffed minion, your hero gets some nice golden stars floating above their hero portrait (animated of course). When you mouse over your hero, you can see all turns active spells that are in effect. If there are a lot, they would spread out on either side and in front of your hero portrait to allow you to survey all the effects. The three 'pills' underneath the card are like the enchantments on minions, but kind of for your hero. Once a turn has passed, one of them fills up. It's supposed to look a bit like the common gem. After the counter fills up the card goes out of play.
Because of this new ability for heroes to be enchanted, I think another card effect should be changed. For most instances of Silence, the effect should be "Silence a character" instead of a minion. It is important to note that silencing a hero under the effects of Mal'Ganis won't work, as the immunity comes from the minion, not the hero. Armor is not subject to silencing, and since silencing only happens on your turn, it won't work for Attack or weapons. Just these Turns Active spells!
This also opens up some possibilities for Silence to be used in different capacities. i.e. Silence a character is a more powerful effect than Silence a minion, maybe worth half a balance point.
Also this expansion would also include legendary spells (for the first time!)
Metamorphosis: Another Hero
So we all know about Lord Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion, "INFERNO!!!", etc. etc. But what if I told you you could replace your hero with ANOTHER different hero? Well now you can!
Metamorphosis turns your hero into 'Demonic Form', with a 10 health boost, a random hero power each turn the spell is active, and "Demon Claws" as an equipped weapon. These hero powers cost 3 mana, and as such due to the Turns Active system, can only be used twice before Metamorphosis wears off and you return to your old form. When you exit Metamorphosis, your demon claws automatically break and all your armour breaks as well. Your hero's health in normal and demonic form are the same. While in demonic form, you have a purple-black enchantment animation that is an inversion of the one I mentioned above. Pray to RNGsus that you obtain the Hero Power you need.
Mechanics and Discussion:
Hero Power Combos: Double Leap: If you don't immediately attack with your demon claws and get Leap next turn, you can deal 8 damage in a turn and take 6 (plus other damage sources). If you get Leap again, you can do another 12 damage and take 6. (4/3 --> 4/1. Next turn: 6/2 --> broken). This totals out to 20 damage, take 12. Plus other sources. If you manage this, you might be able to lethal your opponent.
Double Chaos Wave: You can board clear with this quite nicely, with no special downside apart from using up 6 mana and taking two turns.
Double Immolate: You probably just killed everything including your own board. But maybe not - maybe you're up against a board of shit and you've got one big creature. This is a very effective combo in that case, as long as you can bolster your board with high-health minions.
Double Nether Plating: Gain 10 armour. If you're in a spot of bother, you can make your opponent miss lethal! Like Ice Barrier but it takes two turns, isn't a secret, costs 3 more, and gives you 2 more armour. And it isn't permanent armour either.
Double Doom: Clarification: When you cast doom you specify two targets! Revolutionary. Now you can add 4 soul shards to your deck, and board clear by the time you're back as normal Gul'dan.
Double Touch of Chaos: Bam. Bam. Kind of Fireball. Better than Shadow Bolt! Slightly.
NOTE: You can equip a new weapon while in Metamorphosis, and it will not break when you exit.
(plus neutral cards)
Card explanations:
Wrathguard:
Summon: "BURN for the Legion!"
Attack: "On Guard!"
Death: "Freedom..."
This card is essentially removal against higher threat targets with a body attached. The battlecry animation would be like Elven Archer's: An ethereal sword would strike the board either side of this minion and then a fiery path would start to make its way towards the target, getting faster and faster until it reaches it. This animation would take max. 2 seconds.
Agony:
First proper example of a Turns Active spell. When you cast this spell, it doesn't do anything, but on your next turn it deals 1 damage. And then 2, then 3, then 4, 5, 6, etc... This effectively puts a timer on an enemy minion, (v. slow corruption?). Could be used as synergy with some cards that are also included in this expansion...
Potent Afflictions:
Another one! This is good synergy for Malylock methinks. I think the time limit and lack of a body justifies the +2 spell damage.
Fel Orc:
Summon: "Blood! BLOOD!"
Attack: "AHAHAHAHA!!"
Death: "*death grunt*"
A less shit wolf rider. I've decided this should be uncollectible.
Smothering Malaise:
Not so much removal as Darkbomb, better than Mortal Coil, acts like Ironbeak Owl, but only on one turn. Synergy with Caged Soul!
Soulwell:
LORE FRIENDLY. There's some cards in this expansion that make health loss a bit too much for poor old Gul'dan to bear, so I figured a healthy alternative to Summoning Portal. Warlocks as I remember them are able to make Soulwells that give party members Healthstones.
Healthstone: The second part of this is very important, and balances the card. If you don't use it on the turn you get it, you limit the benefit you get from Soulwell. If you don't use it, you DO receive a second one, but it immediately discards in a sort of Druid-y green fashion.
Voidling:
Summon: "Hello...?"
Attack: "Really?"
Death: "Void!"
Literally Target Dummy, but with demon synergy. Is slightly higher pitched than voidwalkers.
Zealous Shivarra:
Summon: "Rally to me, fools!"
Attack: "The legion is eternal!"
Kind of Timber Wolf, but only one turn. There's too many demon buffs to justify board buffing your demons on an ongoing basis (Mal'Ganis is an exception...)
Jadefire Satyr/Satyrnaar Warrior:
Summon:"For Jadefire!"/"For Satyrnaar!"
Effect Trigger:"In Sargeras' name!"
Attack:"*maniacal laughter*"
A new racial. Not thinking this will be class exclusive, but satyrs will be pretty integral for warlocks, as they're part of the Burning Legion. Similar to Drakonid Crusher, but with more synergy with Satyrs and Satyr legendaries like Xavius, and the Satyrnaar Warrior has the Gladiator's Longboweffect.
Caged Soul:
Summon: "Help me!"
Attack: "What am I doing!?"
Pop Smothering Malaise on this bad boy and you can attack with it without losing its effects as long as it survives damage. Then can use some classic warlock removal on it.
Arcane Giant:
I think this one is pretty much a given, and could be used in pretty much every deck by everybody? I dunno, maybe it's a bit "Everybody's gonna use this"...
(and tokens)
Card explanations:
Drain Soul:
Class ability! I loved soul shards in WoW, and I still do, despite what Blizz may have done with them. Mark a target and when they die, you get...
Soul Shard:
Kind of a late game card that seems like it's an early game card. In a pinch, you can use one a bit like Preparation. But the combo potential with 3 of these is ridiculous/pretty good. Imagine a turn ten play where you Pit Lord with three of these in hand. You cast one and give the Pit Lord charge. Play the rest so you've done 4-3-2-1. If you've got any Demonfire, Power Overwhelming, Drain Life, Darkbomb, Demonwrath, you can cast all of them without any repercussions. Basically a win condition if you've got ALL the right stuff.
Wrath Hound:
Uses similar sounds to Core Hound/Core Rager. Except fel. The 1 damage animations should be like the Savage Roar/Unleash the Hounds "bite" animation, except green and one after the other appearing over the damaged minions.
Eye of Kilrogg:
I think this is a fair card. 2-mana 0/2 with stealth, can't really be buffed because it has Stealth, but is subject to board clear. Take a peak at your opponents hand!
Summoning Ritual:
Summoning Portal is a bad card, really. It's a 4-mana 0/4 and dies to a lot of stuff. Turn 5-ing it is basically useless, so I figured using a new mechanic to make it useful would help bring it back into decks. Also a Warlock thing in WoW to portal raid members back into a fight! Cast this on turn 1, then wait until 4 and then you have a free summoning portal. Keep in mind you can now be silenced while this is in play, like an 'interruption'. Takes the wind out of your turn 4, given you risked turn 1 tempo on this.
Felhunter:
Iconic warlock pet. Known for silencing spellcasters/draining mana. I think this may be underpowered? I dunno. It's like a better Dalaran Mage.
Health Funnel:
Targeted spell on one specific demon to be clear. Basically a delayed 6-heal/6-hero damage on a minion. Improved demon stickiness! Also a warlock ability in WoW. If the targeted minion dies while this is active, the spell 'dies' too.
Void Slip:
There are two cases: You cast this on a big friendly minion in trouble and then you wait... You really need proper tempo for this to not just be a misplay. Maybe a 7/1 Dr. Balanced needs a little respite, so you pop this on him. If the token lives, you can actually attack with the 7/1, potentially getting lethal. OR: You transform an enemy minion, drop a couple of mad bombers, or a Hellfire, and see what happens. I guess maybe this should cost more?
Void Imp: Uncollectible. Untargetable. No damage. Can be killed with board clear. Pretty simple!
Dark Bargain:
Mal'Ganis hero effect for one turn. On 7 health and feeling threatened? Want to stall for time? This is the card for you. Then next turn you're on 2 health. What then? It all depends on the 10 mana that you managed to save yourself.
Xavian Spellcaster:
Summon: "For Xavius!"
Weaker Piloted Shredder? Sort of but not really. Has Satyr and Demon synergy. The 1-drops it can summon are Blood Imp, Flame Imp, and Voidwalker.
Card explanations:
Dreadsteed:
Working on balancing this.
Voidlord:
Summon: "YOU DARE CALL?"
Attack: "AS YOU WISH."
Void lords are in WoW - specifically Dimensius, a very powerful Voidlord. I figured they should act a bit like Void Terrors. If you have two Voidwalkers and you pop this, you get a 6/12 with Taunt for 8 effectively. Pretty reasonable I think, especially because you won't usually have those void walkers on the board.
Warp Stalker:
OP FOR NOW (Burning Legion used them as mounts!)
Mannoroth's Blood:
On the one hand this seems broken. On the other it seems equivalent to Force of Nature.
In the Dark:
This is a cool one though. A similar animation to "Twisting Nether" Where a black void opens up in front of you and then the cards come out of it into your hand. 8 mana for a 0/2, a 1/3, and a cannibalizing 4/6. That makes 5/11 for 8! Or 8/8 for 8. Reasonable!
Soul Link:
Kind of like the opposite of Health Funnel.
Dark Regeneration:
8 health for 5 mana. Seems like Antique Healbot would be more useful? You might be right, but it's still a cool card for warlocks that don't run it.
Satyr Bloodfiend:
Could be a useful shield against fatal damage. You're on the ropes and your opponent goes face - then they have to contend with a 1/1 Taunt. if they attack the minion they've lost some potential damage.
Summon: "*laughing noises*"
Attack: "Die!"
Spellcast: "*more laughing noises*
Death: "*death gurgle*"
Satyr: uncollectible. 1/1 with Taunt or 3/3. These are generic satyrs summoned from other cards.
Summon: "I serve."
Attack: "Die, mortal!"
Satyr Necromancer:
Summon/Battlecry: "Rise for the legion once more!"
Attack: "E-E-EVIL!!"
Like the resurrect priest spell! However, you'll need to be quite zoo-ey with a deck that includes this, as summoning 1/1 token imps from Imp-losion will be a liability when trying to RNG out a good creature.
Metamorphosis:
See top of page
Nether Ray:
Finally Twisting Nether can be good. A removal spell that clears the board but renders you basically incompetent? Well, no longer. If you have Summoning Portals out or have Emperor Thaurissan'd this, you can play 2 of them before you cast Twisting Nether and you'll end up with two 4/5 creatures. Noice!
Void Giant:
This was originally a grayscale concept art from (I believe) Blizzcon, and I recoloured and souped it up so I could use it, as such this is one of the most heavily edited pieces of card art in this expansion. This was supposed to be a mob in Warlords I think? But I haven't seen it so far, and with the other cards I've added I like the idea of a Void-centered deck. "Voidlock", perhaps. 2x Voidling, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Voidlord, 2x In the Dark, 2x Void Giant? If you manage to summon all of them you get 0-cost 8/8s.
Summon: "I am the void..."
Attack: "Obliterate..."
Death: "Dimensius beckons..."
This minion would have a very gravely, low, slow voiceover. Very 'gigantic' if you know what I mean.
Card Explanations:
Collidus the Warp-Watcher:
I've had trouble balancing this legendary. However, now I've decided on a good balance. This was originally a more RNG based card but it's now more self-contained. Whenever this card creates a Floating Watcher, it plays a sort of
Summon: "I watch the warp."
Effect Trigger: "YE-E-E-S!"
Eye of Sargeras:
Representative of how fatal Guldan's raid of the Tomb of Sargeras was. This kills you if you use it all - in fact, it can kill you in less than 6 turns if you attack big minions. But there is an upside to this: Using this is a really great way to trigger Floating Watchers or Collidus. You take damage from attacking, but you also take damage from the weapon. Plus you deal AOE when you use it. This is how you set up for an OTK using watchers - hopefully more viable 'Bloodlock' decks can be made using this. Took a long time to edit this together as no good images of the Eye seem to exist.
Mannoroth:
Essentially a counter for Grommash Hellscream, the Warrior legendary. He dies to Grommash, but puts him within range of Mannoroth's Blood, and next turn you can deal extra damage.
Voice is of a modified Pit Lord - more volume.
Summon: "You think you can defeat me?"
Attack: "PERISH, MORTAL!"
Death: "NOOOOOOO!"
Hekar the Houndmaster:
Originally "Hakkar", but too similar to "Hakkar the Soulflayer", which is a much more recognizable WoW character to most people, thus I sort of fiddled with the name. To be played in a Malylock deck - improves spell damage and can get out of hand quickly unless it's removed fast. Moar demon synergy. This was the first demon to emerge from the Dark Portal during the War of the Ancients, and had a seemingly infinite number of Felhounds at his command.
Summon: "FIRST!"
Attack: "Nya-haHAHA!"
Effect Trigger: "GO ON MY PRETTIES"
Death: "*death gurgle*"
The summoning animation is a Dark Portal appearing, facing upwards on the board, and this minion comes out of it, a bit like Rag.
Xavius:
The original Satyr: Similar racial effects to Mal'Ganis except you won't usually have a lot of Satyrs.
Summon: "SECOND!"
Death: "I have faltered..."
Dirk of the Beast: This weapon breaks after you've used it - and can be used either on big or small minions to give you a 3/3 body. If you have a Satyr Bloodfiend, this can really snowball into lots of Satyrs. Imagine turn 8 Satyr Bloodfiend, Life Tap and a Jadefire Satyr. Then turn 9 you can Life Tap again, Xavius. Turn 10 summon more Satyrs and hit a minion with your 1/1 dirk, giving you at least 5 Satyrs. That is if your opponent isn't dealing with them as they come.
Soulstone:
I think Kripparian made a video about legendary spells and suggested this. I guess I've prettied it up a little. This would be the only Warlock Secret - so your opponent will know exactly what it is. It's pretty powerful, but you almost waste a turn using it, and will probably give you another couple of turns to live. Perhaps you can set up lethal in that time, or use it to spring a Jaraxxus on your opponent.
Changed Card Discussion:
Silence Cards:
Obvious changes! Not all silence cards have been changed.
Felguard:
Felguard used to be completely useless. You could literally substitute it with Sen'jin Shieldmasta' with no downside. The mana setback was not worth it. Now it is, maybe!
Corruption:
Corruption sucks. Now you can get a soul shard out of it, but not immediately!
New Deck Types:
Voidlock:
Core Mechanic: Void minion synergy and demon synergy
Core Cards: 2x Voidling, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Voidlord, 2x In the Dark, 2x Void Giant
Other Cards: 2x Arcane Giant, 2x Xavian Spellcaster, 2x Demonheart, 2x Demonfire, 2x Power Overwhelming, 2x Bane of Doom, 2x Soul Link, 2x Health Funnel, 2x Summoning Ritual, 1x Summoning Portal, 1x Mal'Ganis or some other combination of cards.
Possible Substitutions include: Sense Demons, Voidcaller and Sacrificial Pact if you can't buff your Voidlings.
Similar to Demonlock. The goal is to keep yourself protected with your Void creatures, buffing them when you can, using spells as you can to decrease the cost of Arcane Giant and using your Hero Power to draw cards you need. Eventually you could pull out Mal'Ganis and keep yourself protected while the rest of your demons are buffed and you can finish off your opponent with the big minions you've pulled out for free on turn 10 or whatever.
Bloodlock:
Core Mechanic: Hero damage to buff minions
Core Cards: 2x Floating Watcher, 2x Dread Infernal, 2x Health Funnel, 1x Collidus the Warp-Watcher, 1x Eye of Sargeras
Other Cards: 2x Elven Archer, 2x Satyr Bloodfiend, 2x Demonfire, 2x Demonheart, 2x Mistress of Pain, 2x Shadowflame, 2x Demonwrath, 2x Imp Gang Boss, 2x Soulwell, 2x Defender of Argus/Sunfury Protector, 1x Dark Regeneration, 1x Soulstone or some other combination of cards.
Possible Substitutions include: Void Slip, Antique Healbot, Raging Worgen, Satyr Necromancer, Metamorphosis, Drain Life (use it on yourself to buff without actually taking damage), Void Terror if some of your big minions are low on health, Molten Giant, Pit Lord, Dark Bargain, Lord Jaraxxus.
The goal of this deck is to ramp up your life-loss in the late game, making sure you keep control of your health using cards like Soulwell and trying to protect yourself all the while using cards like Satyr Bloodfiend. Eventually you want to be able to 2TK your opponent by pushing out Floating Watchers, Life Tapping, buffing them, using Elven Archer on yourself, and using Health Funnel to constantly buff them while keeping them alive. If you find yourself soon to die you might want to Soulstone early and waste a turn, hoping that your board doesn't get wiped. You can use Void Slip if you need to make one of your minions 'disappear' in the interim. You can also use Metamorphosis if you're worried you don't have enough damage sources to your hero. If you end up with Leap as a hero power, you can get 4 buffs in one turn from just attacking minions.
Satyrlock:
Core Mechanic: Satyr synergy and Taunts
Core Cards: 1x Xavius, 1x Dirk of the Beast, 2x Satyr Necromancer, 2x Jadefire Satyr, 2x Satyrnaar Warrior, 2x Xavian Spellcaster, 2x Power Overwhelming
Other Cards: 2x Defender of Argus, 2x Sunfury Protector, 2x Metamorphosis, 2x Warp Stalker, 2x Dreadsteed, 2x Wrath Hound, 2x Demonfire, 1x Lord Jaraxxus, some combination of other cards.
The goal of this deck is essentially Satyr synergy. There's some Taunt-givers included so you could get quite zoo-ey with this deck. Use your zooey creatures in the early to mid game, then break out some of your Satyrs and buff them with Xavius.
Soul Warlock:
Core Mechanic: Soul Shards
Core Cards: 2x Corruption, 2x Caged Soul, 2x Drain Soul, 2x Shadow Bolt, 2x Demonfire, 2x Demonwrath, 2x Hellfire, 2x Darkbomb, 2x Power Overwhelming,
Other Cards: Pit Lord, Felguard, Wrathguard, Warp Stalker, Soulwell, Agony, Dreadsteed, Shadowflame, Metamorphosis, Sense Demons, Voidcaller, Mal'Ganis, and some other combination of cards.
Possible Substitutions include: Demonheart, Bane of Doom, Soulfire, Sacrificial Pact
The goal of this deck is to control your opponent's board using creatures, spells and buffs until you can hit a magic OTK combo using some of your Demon-oriented cards, as well as using Caged Soul, Corruption and Drain Soul to put Soul Shards in your hand. Using Metamorphosis you can hopefully get quadruple corruption going on, shuffling 4 soul shards into your deck. Using one of your low cost creatures, then casting 3 soul shards in a row with your now 0-cost buffs can make a massive creature that can easily finish off your opponent on turn 10. Some assembly required.
Malylock:
Core Mechanic: Malygos and Spell Damage synergy
Core Cards: 1x Malygos, 2x Potent Afflictions, 2x Felhunter, 1x Hekar the Houndmaster
Other Cards: 2x Shadow Bolt, 2x Hellfire, 2x Darkbomb, 2x Soulwell, 2x Bane of Doom, 2x Soulfire, 2x Smothering Malaise, 2x Ancient Mage, 2x Azure Drakeand some other combination of cards.
Possible substitutions include: 1x Bloodmage Thalnos
The goal of this deck is getting out a bunch of Spell damage late in the game in order to spam direct damage spells at your opponent, killing them instantly. If you can protect yourself well enough in the early game, you might be able to set up the perfect finisher.
Tanklock:
Core Mechanic: Survivability and big minions
Core Cards: 2x Metamorphosis, 1x Lord Jaraxxus, 1x Soulstone, 2x Dread Infernal, 2x Soulwell, 2x Dark Regeneration, 2x Soul Link, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Voidlord
Other Cards: 1x Mannoroth, 1x Ragnaros the Firelord, 1x Mal'Ganis, 2x Dark Bargain, 2x Void Slip, 2x Voidcaller, 2x Demonfire, 2x Demonheart, and some other combination of cards.
Possible substitutions include: Doomguard, Pit Lord, Felguard, Into the Dark, Defender of Argus, Sunfury Protector, Satyr Bloodfiend, Molten Giant
The goal of this deck is to survive as long as possible and deal as much damage as possible. The dream is to Voidcaller into Mal'Ganis, then cast Metamorphosis and start owning everything in sight. If you get hurt too bad, you can always pull out Soulstone or Jaraxxus, and if you need bodies you can put Mannoroth down and some Satyr Bloodfiends and taunt them up. Eventually you want to be using a combination of big and small minions to protect your hero, with the smaller minions protecting the bigger ones (Satyr Bloodfiend into Dread Infernal gives a 1/1 body to protect your 6/6).
ART CREDITS:
Will be done! Takes time to track down some of the art sources. Quite a bit of art came from aiDen's art gallery.
So that's it for now! I'll be updating this thread with new ideas and mockups. I'm thinking of doing this for each class! So if you've got any ideas, drop me a line, because I really want to get someone from the dev team to at least consider some of these ideas for new cards. With the new expansion/adventure coming up, I'm sure there's not much time to change anything, but perhaps for the next expansion cycle!
Please leave feedback!
EDIT (August 8, 2017): Revamped Cards:
Commons
Comments:
Wrathful Wrathguard: Since the introduction of Wrathguard in TGT, this card's name was taken, and that's no good. With the original 2/4 statline it didn't feel aggressive or contesting enough to do much good in a viable Warlock deck— as a 4/3, it is more aggressive but also punishes high-health and high-Attack minions.
Soulwell: At a 3 mana 0/4, Soulwell was very easily contested and could be gotten rid of with few problems. With 7 Health it provides survivability for the effect, with less of a soft-Taunt effect than Doomsayer.
Zealous Shivarra: At 3 mana this card seemed unplayable, but the text also made it a 4/2 on the turn it was played, which was useless as it did nothing because it couldn't attack. This makes it more viable for a Wild token Warlock/zoo deck.
Shielded Outcast: The original card actually didn't do anything much, as it couldn't attack, and when given Immune couldn't act as a Taunt— the only reason for it to be used was if you stockpiled buff cards like Power Overwhelming and used them all on one turn after silencing this minion. Statline changed from a 1/3 to a 1/5. The effect has been altered to a nigh-uninterruptible Violet Illusionist for when you wish to preserve your life total when using Life Tap. Synergies with Sacrificial Pact.
Unending Resolve: The original card gave you Armor, which doesn't really fit for Warlock (apart perhaps from Hero Cards), but also discarded two cards for that, making it objectively worse than double Iron Hide. The new effect is comparable to Drain Soul and Soulfire. It may seem worse than Soulfire for discarding an extra card for one extra mana, but it does provide Lifesteal. Fits Warlock more.
Rares (and associated tokens)
Comments:
Eye of Kilrogg: At 2 mana this card didn't do much anyway, so bringing it down to Blood Imp levels seems reasonable, given that it lacks the Demon tag.
Soul Harvest: Can't have Drain Soul anymore now that Drain Soul exists. This card is powercreep on the original, but the original was extremely slow and didn't do anything on its own for 3 mana. Similar to Bane of Doom and Mortal Coil, but the difference is that it's when it dies, rather than if it dies.
Soul Shard: The original version was too complicated and situational, and drawing it when it was shuffled into your deck made it a dead draw. The new version helps a Zoo deck to empty a higher-tempo hand and then use their myriad card draw techniques to refill.
Eradication: Wording fiddled with to reflect Ghastly Conjuror, and Cost changed to reflect what Corrupting Mist is worth. Wording it like Corrupting Mist is bad though, because Corrupting Mist really should have just been worded like Lucifron.
Wrath Hound: As a 3/5 for 5 that dealt two split damage, this was pretty overcosted. As a 4/6 for 5, it has more survivability and evades Priest hard removal.
Malefic Grasp and Xavian Gladiator: When Dark Bargain was released I was robbed of the name for the former, and the art for the latter. As such I had to search for new names and new art. Malefic Grasp costs 1 extra mana for the un-interactive effect, but reduces the damage dealt from 5 to 4. Xavian Gladiator was Xavian Spellcaster— the original was a 2 mana 0/3 that summoned one, whereas this is a 3 mana 1/2 that summons two. Good in token and zoo decks, I think.
Epics (and associated tokens)
Comments:
Dreadful Dreadsteed: When Dreadsteed was released, the old card couldn't exist anymore. Thus, adjective added. This card is a reversal of Dreadsteed in a sense, because instead of a 4 mana 1/1 it's a 1 mana 4/4. Now that OG Dreadsteed is getting nerfed, this one feels like it should be better. This card really shines when you can buff it up and get in enough favorable trades to gain board control. It has +1/+2 on Flame Imp with the downside that it deals 5 extra damage to you.
Dark Regeneration: Since Binding Heal and Flash Heal, the effect of heals in healing classes makes a card like this overcosted at 3 mana. Thus, down to 1. 8 Health over 4 turns, mitigates Life Tap damage for that long.
Nether Ray: This, I think, is the card that was lost from the OP. The original card explanation let me figure out what it did, but I think the original one only figured Twisting Nether specifically. By 'directly destroyed' I mean Crush, Mulch, Naturalize, Assassinate, Twisting Nether, and DOOM! as examples.
In the Dark: The original version was way too slow, given Cabalist's Tome is of similar power level. I've decided to bold Void as an easier way to specify what demons (specifically demons) are available. Those available in Wild would be: Voidling, Voidwalker Voidlord, Voidcaller, Void Crusher, Void Terror, and Void Giant. This makes the pool of available targets much more diverse than the original.
Voidlord: Wording changed to reflect the mechanic, good for targeting Voidcaller to pull out a Doomguard. Stats changed from 4/6 to 6/6 as it's pretty balanced anyway.
Void Giant: Wording changed to reflect the mechanic. Now is okay as a giant because Snowfury Giant exists.
Legendaries (and associated tokens)
Comments:
Xavius: I don't know why I didn't indicate that Dirk of the Beast should've been a token, but it obviously should've been. The old version included Xavius as a target of his own buff, which immediately made him a 7 mana 8/8 taunt. No longer. The effect on this one is more comparable to Mal'Ganis, instead of immunity it grants a 3/3 mind control effect and a greater buff on a more limited pool of cards.
Hakkar the Houndmaster: As a 6 mana 4/4, the start of turn effect was too easily countered. Now he has immediate board impact with two 1/4 Demons with "Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers. Spell Damage +1."
Soulstone: Simply changed to get the legendary dragon on the spell card. Effect otherwise identical.
Cataclysm: One of the things about Soulstone is that I had listed it as 'the only Warlock secret, so you know what it is'. Well that sucks, because what's the point of it being a secret then. The intent of these new secrets was to counter specific decks and to change things in a pretty major way if you're behind— this one acts as an isolated Twisting Nether on your opponent's board, but it happens twice, in case there are any Deathrattle minions that summon any more minions. Also to send a message.
Shadowfury: Really mess with your opponent's deck now we've got Gnomeferatu. Lull your opponent into a false sense of board control and then destroy a bunch of their good cards when they try to use their full board to trade with your big minions.
Fatal Echoes: This one is a bit of a meme. Basically discourages extended BM and things like putting Blessed Champion on Tirion Fordring to kill you, as it will force your opponent into a draw (that is unless you have Soulstone up, as that will trigger before this does. The other 'fatal damage' secret will also trigger this).
Stolen Power: Also a bit of a meme, specifically countering Exodia Mage and Miracle Rogue. Also very useful if your opponent gets greedy with casting spells (RIP Mage).
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!) •
I really like it. I used to play a shit ton of warlock, mainly because it was good at the current meta. But I get bored of the same old shit. Haven't played with it in a while. This would get me back into it with something new for sure!
Vote for my card!
It seems nice for its novelty, but it would be impossible to implement into the game due to balancing between the other classes.
That'll do, Huffer. That'll do.
That's why I'm also going to try and make expansions for other classes (Shaman is in desperate need of better cards I think). Paladin/priest next! For now, I've just added some cards that I've changed, and later today I'll add the epic cards (and an interesting new card!)
Thanks! Yeah, I'm hoping that new cards will reinvigorate the game for some people...
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NEW CARDS:
Quick note: Most of these cards have been in the works for at least a month. Balancing/editing cards is tough when you have to consider how they synergize together.
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Nice work! Some of these cards are really nice and I find the Turns Active system very original!
It would still be incredibly difficult to incorporate an expansion like this into the game because either one class becomes super OP for one week or one month or Blizzard has to release 9 expansions all at once. I really like the idea of classes having massive expansions, but I just cannot see how it could be implemented.
That'll do, Huffer. That'll do.
Great work! Those cards are really cool!
Some of them are really unbalanced, though.
Potent Afflictions: +2 spell damage for 3 mana, one card is already too strong. Add to that the fact that it is not a minion and therefore cannot be removed except with silences (few in game) and guaranteed for 3 turns, and this card breaks the game.
Dreadsteed: This card is crazy strong. it's one mana cheaper than leeroy and its downside is meaningless. You will play this card to finish you opponent off, so its deathrattle will never happen. You can even combo with void slip to keep it alive another turn if u wanted.
Warp Stalker: This card is op without stealth. With stealth it is off the charts. Aggro is strong enough in this meta, and it only gets a huge boost with this card. A zoo player whose Warp stalker gets killed won't care about the one card he discards, his cards are cheap and easy to get more. 5 damage for 3 mana is huge!
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try rebalancing... In a pinch:
Rebalanced cards in original post, too much HTML makes page load slowly.
I think I nerfed Warp Stalker too much? Now it's just Succubus with less synergy. I dunno. This is hard! :P
Also check the OP - new material up there!
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Very nice work. I like the flavor of this set. The only thing I would change would be to have drain soul target only enemy minions to reflect how in WoW you couldn't target your own minion with it.
No problem!
I think you nerfed these cards too much. Warp Stalker was actually nerfed the least. Dreadstead should be 3 mana. Potent Afflicions should be back for 3 turns but 1 spell damage. Warp stalker is quite on par with succubus with these stats. The stealth makes up for the -1 attack. In fact I would say stealth is worth more than 1 attack. But everyone know that succubus sucks. So go back to the deathrattle, but keep the stats and mana cost.
What is an OP? would love to see your new material!
It would be cool to try these cards in the game. It would be awesome if Blizzard made some mode for that. Perhaps something like that in their new expansion this month? It's worth hoping for!
Great work buddy. Turns Active system looks very interesting!! Keep it up.
Thanks! OP stands for 'original post' up at the top. I'll rebalance those cards now and edit the OP with them. What's new is Metamorphosis, with an explanation of what it does and how it works. :)
I'm really hoping for that too. An in-house built "Testing Grounds" that you could play against friends or the AI which allowed you to make custom cards would be sick. I really think that would bring a lot more attention to Hearthstone than there already is - I mean millions of people are playing it, but if you release that kind of tool you'll just get millions more...
UPDATE: Changed cards: Drain Soul, Warp Stalker, Dreadsteed, Potent Afflictions
UPCOMING: Legendary cards!
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"I mean millions of people are playing it, but if you release that kind of tool you'll just get millions more..." - Exactly! It would give the game endless replayability and attract tons of new people!
I think metamorphosis is weak. It cost 8 mana, which is basically your whole turn and does nothing the turn you play it. At least with Jaraxus, you immediately go to 15 health. Most people play Jaraxus for this reason (to get out of lethal range). Also, it is unreliable because you don't know which hero power you will get. I would have it give you 10 armour and the hero power costs 2. Everything else can stay the same.
When do the turns active counters get removed? At the start or end of your turn?
Wait, how is Satyr Bloodfiend even a good card? It's literally Violet Teacher as it doesn't have a race it's adhered to and is an epic making it harder to obtain. Did you create this card so people could have 4 Violet Teachers in their deck?
That'll do, Huffer. That'll do.
What website did you use to make these cards?
All noted. I've decreased the cost of Metamorphosis to 7, so your new hero power can be used. Also it gives you 5 armour now. Not sure if 10 armour is balanced given how powerful the hero powers are.
The turns active counters are removed at the end of the turn on which they count to zero - say if you have Potent Afflictions active, it will give you Spell Damage +1 on the turn you cast it, the turn after that, and the turn after that. At the end of the last turn it 'dispels'.
I totally forgot about Violet Teacher to be honest. I was still exploring the concept of Satyrs while I was making this, and now I've changed it to reflect that. I've also added quite a few new cards.
The classic: hearthcards.net. However, some of the other graphics like the banners, the screenshots, and the "Card Logo" were done with a combination of hearthcards and Adobe Photoshop.
NEW CARDS: Void Giant, Jadefire Satyr, Satyr Necromancer, Satyr Bloodfiend, two token Satyrs, Satynaar Warrior, Xavian Spellcaster.
LEGENDARY CARDS ADDED! CHECK ORIGINAL POST!
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I have several problems with Collidus. First, I either do not understand what you were trying to convey in your explanation of him or you forgot to mention something: does he come in as a 2/4 or a 12/14? Second, the Battlecry effect does not trigger on minions summoned by spells, so the "destroy all other friendly minions" will not occur. Third, he seems too OP with Deathrattle minions that summon other minions like Piloted Shredder or Haunted Creeper. Just my observations of the card.
That'll do, Huffer. That'll do.
Well, the intention was that you summon a minion (Collidus), that destroys all other minions, then 5 damage is split randomly between it and your hero. It gains +2/+2 for each damage your hero takes, so if you manage to take 5 damage and Collidus takes none, he becomes a 12/14. If he takes 2 damage and you take 3, you get an 8/8. It all depends on how the damage is split, so you're gambling on the outcome. I will try and make it easier to understand, and possibly change it.
Although, do you have any other comments on any of the other cards? i.e. Void Giant, Xavius, Eye of Sargeras? Also I made a list of possible new decks at the bottom of the original post; it's in the spoiler marked "New Deck Types".
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Ok, thank you very much for clearing up that part about Collidus becoming a 12/14. However, you might have to have some text in the spell itself saying something like "destroy all friendly minions" or "destroy all other friendly minions". Now he's starting to seem like a cool card.
That'll do, Huffer. That'll do.