While browsing through the legendary cards, I sometimes come across Golemagg:
I remember playing him in the 1st brawl, and he was quite fun. He's of course not available to us as a collectible minion to be included in our own decks... but why? What if he could be? I thought the pros & cons for a bit:
Playable through Aviana or Naga Sea Witch on turn 10. Earlier if Innervate'd or Emperor Thaurissan'ed. Late game to pull this off, and with two dead cards sitting in your hand in the meantime. If not played with either Aviana or Naga, he automatically becomes completely unplayable, unless summoned by an Alarm-o-Bot (very unlikely since everyone kills it immediately).
Playable through a random summoning by Confessor Paletress or Sneed's Old Shredder. Very small chance due to the large and increasing pool of legendaries - 92 when the final LoE wing gets released.
Unplayable if obtained from Unstable Portal or from some new Discover technique.
So quite balanced, hard to play and counter-able, but a fun card nevertheless, like so many other low tier legendaries that are left unplayed nowadays. But impressive and an interesting way to spice up the game without any game-destroying combos. The only thing to watch out for the design team would be future game mechanics.
So what do you think? Aside from the sheer competitive side of things, many people are playing the game just for fun, and would play him in gimmick decks. Even though mostly useless, would you be interested in having him in your collection? I certainly would...
As he is the most powerful Molten Giant, he works like them, and that's why Moltens have to be played while in the danger zone of low hp. If you're healed, hero-changed or even Reno Jackson-ed, they automatically become unplayable again.
But it would be indeed very interesting if they changed the description and the total damage would count. Then, if included in a Reno deck, he would be playable after Reno-ing. If you Reno around 5 hp without healing at all before him, you go up to 30 but you've suffered 25 hp. So his price would then be 25. He becomes playable at 10 mana or less, so you need to take another 15 hp from 30, therefore with your life around 15 hp or less. Sounds good as a very late game threat while keeping him balanced as a dead card in your hand, playable only under rare circumstances.
Taunt or no taunt he will be focused on, that's for sure. I don't think taunt would do much since if he's not immediately taken care of, next turn there will be a nuke coming down on the opponent's face, unless he's able to kill you first - in which case having a taunt would help, but just for one turn due to the imminent threat.
Ancestor's Call would be another way of playing him, sure... but all the usual counters for big guys apply, plus you have to thin out your hand in such a way for him to come out that you lose tempo - and in this meta you're toast, especially with Shaman who can't afford to sit back. And I don't think there would be any other way for Shaman to play him.
About Golemagg being played from a Warrior that has shielded up, with total damage taken per game as the card description... Well, he costs 50 and he needs to come down to 10 or less, so 40 damage, which means let's say 4 shield taps for 2 (8 effective hp) and another 3 Justicar'ed for 4 (12 effective hp), so 8+12=20, plus an extra damage of 20 hp. A very unlikely scenario without Reno - with Reno he might be an option. So not mathematically impossible to pull off, but still a remote possibility.
The thing is that while almost completely useless, I don't see how it would hurt to include him in the game as a regular card... it would only spice the game up with some remote, yet very funny possibilities.
So you essentially want a card with insane requirements and even after managing to somehow meet them the pay-off wouldn't be that great?
There was one duel in Yu-GI-Oh! series where there was a card with such insane requirement and tons of people had it. However only one team built a deck around it as they were poor. The Sleeping Giant.
Now Golemagg in Hearthstone, it would need some serious buffing to be even a gimmick victory condition. Like being immune against damage and spells etc. Even that wouldn't make me to put him to my serious deck with a current card pool.
That card was pretty bad even under use of Ragnaros tavern brawl hero which it was designed for.
All I'm saying is that it's an interesting card with some ways to play it, as explained above, and with enough drawbacks to make it not only balanced but an occasional gimmick. It won't hurt to have it in our card pool, and certainly not when you have the majority of the HS cards not played at all. On top of that, some small changes could be made to make it more playable, but seeing everything through the "competitive" lens is not something I agree with at all.
You have a point, and I agree that as a minion he would need some buffing to make him playable. But the thing is that with a taunt ability of 20 hp, the opponent will never go through to your face, except of course with spell damage. I don't know - it seems to me that giving him taunt would make little difference.
It would only work if it said "Reduce the cost of this minion by 1 for each damage your hero has taken this game"
Even then you would have to take 40 damage or more for it to be playable at all. And a minion that does 20 damage without being buffed by spells is just ridiculous lol. I think Molten Giant is good enough in this vein. Golemagg is just a beefed up Molten Giant to fit in tavern brawl in the ragnaros deck. Because nefarian is a dick and deserves 20 damage to his face.
I'd love to pull him out on the battle field with Varian Wrynn.
The math on the card mechanic doesn't add up in a normal 30 health hero without the help of a Reno Jackson or a ton of healing from other cards. If you took 30 damage you'd be dead and that card would still cost you 20 mana to play it.
I think that condition to get this out should be spell or something and make the actual minion to be token.
Then it could be introduced "as it" outside of not being a playable card by itself.
Could involve of destroy all Molten Giants on your side of the field or something.
That's a good idea... I think he would need some extra conditions to be playable instead of Trolden video highlights. But it's a card I would like to see, and his insane stats are clearly balanced by so many drawbacks. It's a shame though to see other cards so incredibly drawback-free, and fun ideas like these being cursed to belong in the trash can. That would be my challenge if I was working for the design team.
Big Game Hunter might have been a mistake after all. I completely understand the need to counter big guys (especially Boom) and stop them from melting your face, but it's a curse for almost every high mana minion investment you decide to include in your deck. You are committing to it, expect it to work, at least for a while... and bang - a lost turn and a lost high-value card.
I think that condition to get this out should be spell or something and make the actual minion to be token.
Then it could be introduced "as it" outside of not being a playable card by itself.
Could involve of destroy all Molten Giants on your side of the field or something.
That's a good idea... I think he would need some extra conditions to be playable instead of Trolden video highlights. But it's a card I would like to see, and his insane stats are clearly balanced by so many drawbacks. It's a shame though to see other cards so incredibly drawback-free, and fun ideas like these being cursed to belong in the trash can. That would be my challenge if I was working for the design team - to bring back value to high cost minions outside arena.
Big Game Hunter might have been a mistake after all. I completely understand the need to counter big guys (especially Boom) and stop them from melting your face, but he's a curse & punishment for almost every high mana minion investment you decide to include in your deck. You are committing to it, expect it to work, at least for a while... and bang - a lost turn and a lost high-value card. You're punished for playing it. No wonder most people are playing quick aggro.
I'd love to pull him out on the battle field with Varian Wrynn.
Yes, I forgot about Varian... but besides what I wrote in the first post, the only way to play Golemagg would be to have him drawn - and you can't really plan for that. If you have no other way to introduce the minion, he's going to stay as a dead card for the remainder of the game.
While browsing through the legendary cards, I sometimes come across Golemagg:
I remember playing him in the 1st brawl, and he was quite fun. He's of course not available to us as a collectible minion to be included in our own decks... but why? What if he could be? I thought the pros & cons for a bit:
Playable through Aviana or Naga Sea Witch on turn 10. Earlier if Innervate'd or Emperor Thaurissan'ed. Late game to pull this off, and with two dead cards sitting in your hand in the meantime. If not played with either Aviana or Naga, he automatically becomes completely unplayable, unless summoned by an Alarm-o-Bot (very unlikely since everyone kills it immediately).
Playable through a random summoning by Confessor Paletress or Sneed's Old Shredder. Very small chance due to the large and increasing pool of legendaries - 92 when the final LoE wing gets released.
Unplayable if obtained from Unstable Portal or from some new Discover technique.
Big Game Hunter-able, hard-removable (Brawl, Lightbomb, Shadow Word: Death, Polymorph, Hex etc), and in an emergency stopped by a (puny) taunt.
So quite balanced, hard to play and counter-able, but a fun card nevertheless, like so many other low tier legendaries that are left unplayed nowadays. But impressive and an interesting way to spice up the game without any game-destroying combos. The only thing to watch out for the design team would be future game mechanics.
So what do you think? Aside from the sheer competitive side of things, many people are playing the game just for fun, and would play him in gimmick decks. Even though mostly useless, would you be interested in having him in your collection? I certainly would...
As he is the most powerful Molten Giant, he works like them, and that's why Moltens have to be played while in the danger zone of low hp. If you're healed, hero-changed or even Reno Jackson-ed, they automatically become unplayable again.
But it would be indeed very interesting if they changed the description and the total damage would count. Then, if included in a Reno deck, he would be playable after Reno-ing. If you Reno around 5 hp without healing at all before him, you go up to 30 but you've suffered 25 hp. So his price would then be 25. He becomes playable at 10 mana or less, so you need to take another 15 hp from 30, therefore with your life around 15 hp or less. Sounds good as a very late game threat while keeping him balanced as a dead card in your hand, playable only under rare circumstances.
Taunt or no taunt he will be focused on, that's for sure. I don't think taunt would do much since if he's not immediately taken care of, next turn there will be a nuke coming down on the opponent's face, unless he's able to kill you first - in which case having a taunt would help, but just for one turn due to the imminent threat.
Confessor Paletress and Sneed's Old Shredder buff!
Ancestors Call much?
Warrior Golemagg Charge deck possibly? If armor being damaged counted towards him, at least.
Ancestor's Call would be another way of playing him, sure... but all the usual counters for big guys apply, plus you have to thin out your hand in such a way for him to come out that you lose tempo - and in this meta you're toast, especially with Shaman who can't afford to sit back. And I don't think there would be any other way for Shaman to play him.
About Golemagg being played from a Warrior that has shielded up, with total damage taken per game as the card description... Well, he costs 50 and he needs to come down to 10 or less, so 40 damage, which means let's say 4 shield taps for 2 (8 effective hp) and another 3 Justicar'ed for 4 (12 effective hp), so 8+12=20, plus an extra damage of 20 hp. A very unlikely scenario without Reno - with Reno he might be an option. So not mathematically impossible to pull off, but still a remote possibility.
The thing is that while almost completely useless, I don't see how it would hurt to include him in the game as a regular card... it would only spice the game up with some remote, yet very funny possibilities.
So you essentially want a card with insane requirements and even after managing to somehow meet them the pay-off wouldn't be that great?
There was one duel in Yu-GI-Oh! series where there was a card with such insane requirement and tons of people had it. However only one team built a deck around it as they were poor. The Sleeping Giant.
Now Golemagg in Hearthstone, it would need some serious buffing to be even a gimmick victory condition. Like being immune against damage and spells etc. Even that wouldn't make me to put him to my serious deck with a current card pool.
That card was pretty bad even under use of Ragnaros tavern brawl hero which it was designed for.
All I'm saying is that it's an interesting card with some ways to play it, as explained above, and with enough drawbacks to make it not only balanced but an occasional gimmick. It won't hurt to have it in our card pool, and certainly not when you have the majority of the HS cards not played at all. On top of that, some small changes could be made to make it more playable, but seeing everything through the "competitive" lens is not something I agree with at all.
You have a point, and I agree that as a minion he would need some buffing to make him playable. But the thing is that with a taunt ability of 20 hp, the opponent will never go through to your face, except of course with spell damage. I don't know - it seems to me that giving him taunt would make little difference.
It would only work if it said "Reduce the cost of this minion by 1 for each damage your hero has taken this game"
Even then you would have to take 40 damage or more for it to be playable at all. And a minion that does 20 damage without being buffed by spells is just ridiculous lol. I think Molten Giant is good enough in this vein. Golemagg is just a beefed up Molten Giant to fit in tavern brawl in the ragnaros deck. Because nefarian is a dick and deserves 20 damage to his face.
I think that condition to get this out should be spell or something and make the actual minion to be token.
Then it could be introduced "as it" outside of not being a playable card by itself.
Could involve of destroy all Molten Giants on your side of the field or something.
I'll like to see it.
My legendary count excluding adventure legendaries, dupes and old murk eye: 40
$$$ spent on this game: 0
Check out my card collection: http://www.hearthpwn.com/members/MCFUser175154/collection
Then one-day Blizzard releases a patch that nerfs Big Game Hunter only work against the beasts.
I'm just joking but you know that it could happen this year. They sometimes have bizarre reasons to nerf something. ;)
I'd love to pull him out on the battle field with Varian Wrynn.
The math on the card mechanic doesn't add up in a normal 30 health hero without the help of a Reno Jackson or a ton of healing from other cards. If you took 30 damage you'd be dead and that card would still cost you 20 mana to play it.