Definitely don't go with the second one, it is way too powerful. This mechanic is way better than the "Destroy anything damaged by this mechanic" because Medusa can't be killed while attacking. That makes it easy to get a snowball effect if you get this behind a Taunt or something. Every turn, Medusa can attack and neutralize anything the opponent puts out. If you have the advantage with her, it is hard to lose it if your opponent can't kill her with a spell. If you want it to be a 5/3, it should cost 5 and be a Legendary. This effect is too powerful to have on a non-Legendary.
I agree. Didn't think of that, forgot she wouldn't take damage.
The first version would probably be fine if it received a cost reduction to 5 or 4 mana since it has low stats and wouldn't be too much of a threat considering the low health, so it'd still be pretty well balanced, even with stealth. I like both of these versions though.
Thanks for the comments. I was actively trying to think of board control ideas that we haven't seen. I didn't just want to throw some version of Lightning Storm out there for my board control I wanted some 2 for 1 cards instead.
The latest version of Medusa feels very good to me. It's a 5/3 that only has the effect when it attacks. If you can protect it then it's a beast, if not most 2cost spells or minions can dispatch it. So, you'll need to set things up well to get the value. I'm liking it, I think it'll stick. Maybe it could even be 5/4.
I like your creative approach to board control, there's only so much that can be done following Hearthstone's current cards as examples, so introducing new methods of board control like this is a fantastic idea. I also like the art you chose for your cards, I feel that they fit the artistic style of Hearthstone more than the art used in some of the other submissions I've seen. I always think very critically of art both in my own card creations as well as others but you seemed to have made some great choices in artwork here.
I'm testing out some board control ideas. Let me know what you think of them.
In D&D you can charm a minion and it will become your friend, even defending you from attacks, but it won't attack your enemies for you.
Simple to deal with with spells or weapons, heck even hero power in a pinch, but, minons are powerless. IF your opponent has no answers for this it's gg. The idea here is that Medusa turns your minion to stone.
It will wipe a board..... eventually.
Charm: Looks good to me, although it might be better off costing 9 mana. It's essentially a Mind Control + Rusty Horn (11 mana combo), with the downside that the minion can't attack. Can't attack on Ancient Watcher is worth a 2 mana reduction (he has the stats of a Chillwind Yeti, but costs 2 less) so I'd say making it cost 9 would be a good decision and prevent it from being overpowered. Really like the idea and the execution though, very well done. The wording however should read "Take control of an enemy minion. It gains "Taunt. Can't Attack.". That wording would make it more consistent with other cards in the game.
Medusa: I also really like the way you executed this design. While it has the stats of a 3-4 mana minion, the cost of its effect is tricky to determine because I haven't noticed anything like that in Hearthstone. The card it is most comparable to is Eadric the Pure but even that's a stretch. I think it's pretty well balanced though, it's one of those things that, since it isn't really present in Hearthstone at the moment, it would require playtesting and thus it's difficult to determine what would make it balanced. I'm also unsure about the wording but I think it's correct since there aren't any other cards with the same exact effect. One question though: does she reduce minions' attack when she attacks them and when she is attacked by them? Or just one? The text seems to imply that it occurs in both situations (which is perfectly fine) but I was just unsure if that was intentional or not.
Burning Hands: Another one of those cards that's not really comparable to anything in the game at the moment. I like this one a lot as well though, I feel like it's very well designed and could make for some interesting matches. The wording may/may not be correct, I think it should read "Give all enemy minions "At the start of each turn, take 1 damage" or "At the start of each turn, deal 1 damage to this minion." A quick question though - with Spell Damage, does this card's damage increase? Or no? And would it be affected by both players' spell damage or just the caster/controller of the minions?
Overall I really like your concepts and can't wait to see more.
I've seen some people doing actual playtesting of their cards. Can someone explain me how it can be done? It would help me (and others) a lot in designing new cards as they are often hard to balance without testing.
I remember a custom Monk class explaining how to do that here on the forums somewhere. It used a program that was sort of like a game engine. If I find it I'll let you know!
We actually briefly discussed allowing all (valid) submissions to move on to Phase II, but the problem is that it's just not logistically viable. Phase II consists of Basic cards, so each person would have to submit 10, in addition to re-showing their Hero and Hero Power. Phase II will work off of example cards again, yes, with folks being allowed to show 3 out in the open and needing to submit the other 7 behind a spoiler block, but even still the number of cards, coupled with the fact that Basic cards have a lot of restrictions (like not including deathrattles, silences, secrets, or class-exclusive keywords), means that we'd just have too much going on with such a narrower design space and the Phase would end up a clustercuss to wade through. >_<
While that would've been great, I completely understand it not being possible. That would definitely be a lot of work. I honestly didn't even expect you guys to allow close to one-third of all valid entries considering that even just one-third is still a lot of work to do. It's definitely appreciated though! I'm looking forward to seeing all of the designs in the next phase even more so now than before.
Well, I've dropped back into 2nd place on the voting on my page. I need a push.
You probably do not. This is not like our WCDCs where only the top 10% or 5% get to move onto the finals. At least a good third of you will move onto Phase II.
Oh, that makes me happy. There are SO MANY good entries. I've been extremely impressed so far with the quality and scope. Be a shame to cut too many folks.
I agree. I think it's a good idea to allow most submissions to move onto the second phase since only such a small amount of their work could be shown in the first phase. Looking forward to the next phase!
I see somebody just posted a Seer class in the submission topic.
I wish them great luck.
*sips tea*
So this happened when I quoted you:
You might have caught right between edits. XD I was hoping the "*sips tea*" would make it more clear I'm just joking and not actually throwing shade. =)
Yeah that's what I thought. I read that as throwing salad XD
Mother of Dragons by Vultrea. Hero Power = OP. Storm Dragon -= OP. Breath of fire = OP. Dragon egg - OP. Grade = F. The fact it has 6 votes makes me want to puke. I hate the voting system.
Vultrae*
Sorry, I had to. Just wanted to let you know that a lot of those cards were just concepts. They weren't even close to being in their final stages. It was just meant to give an idea of what to expect regarding the synergies and focuses of the class (the mana costs and stats were not supposed to be representative of the final result, but rather, placeholders while I work on balancing.) Thanks for the feedback though and if my class makes it to the next Phase of the competition, I can guarantee you won't want to puke:P
But giving a friendly character +1 Attack for only one turn is basically a worse version of the Mage hero power, unless you have windfury or something. There's no difference between attacking with a 4 attack minion, and attacking with a 3 attack minion and dealing 1 damage.
By the way what do you think of the cards themselves?
But there really is. There's minion attack synergy. Windfury as well, like you said. Hero powers don't benefit from that. It's similar, but not exactly the same.
Daenerys Targaryen by Ethylbenzene. One of the only spell centric entries we've seen. Unfortunately, I think I need to see more cards to judge the power. Everything seems a bit underwhelming at the moment. Well, teh 3/4 minion is strong. I think with the right support spells this could be a very interesting class. Grade Incomplete
I just realized that someone else has used Daenerys Targaryen as a hero. Apparently we used the same art as well. Woops:/
@Vultrae Hero Power is way too strong, a better version of paladin + dragon tribe. Could be 1/1 even though it "lacks originality" but imo if you make it work with other cards to differ from what paladin offer, it can be just as good/creative.
Storm Dragon is a decent stat minion with a forked lightning as an ability without the overload factor, too strong.
Yeah it's definitely too strong. I'm working on new designs. Thank you for your input! I'll put it to good use as I work on the class some more:)
This is my idea for a class, I really need criticism and maybe help with art, it's based around cthulhu mythos with themes of dark rituals and sacrifice.
The Mad Prophet: Abdul Alhazred
Abdul Alhazred, the man who wrote the Necronomicon , the Mad Arab.
Hero Power
The hero power and the token it generates, too OP? too UP? An archetype of the class revolves around sacrificing your own minions so at least its viable
Example Cards
Here we see the first "monster" of the class, female Deep Ones mate with humans to procreate, usually with cultists, this card reresents that (mating with a Deep One would be dangerous , potentially deadly in my opinion), huge tempo if you have a Cultist, maybe make it a 3/2? maybe 4 mana?
This is a look to the human component of the class also cultists need to be killed off more easily
The first spell, the minion might attack as normal, but at the end of the turn it will attack another friendly minion or even the hero
I saw you ask for help with art and thought I might give you some suggestions:
Here is a cultist from Skyrim (does not have a white background like the other art)
Not sure if this really fits your theme but here's another piece of artwork
and lastly here is one I thought fit your theme pretty well but wasn't sure if you would like it or not
Medusa: I also really like the way you executed this design. While it has the stats of a 3-4 mana minion, the cost of its effect is tricky to determine because I haven't noticed anything like that in Hearthstone. The card it is most comparable to is Eadric the Pure but even that's a stretch. I think it's pretty well balanced though, it's one of those things that, since it isn't really present in Hearthstone at the moment, it would require playtesting and thus it's difficult to determine what would make it balanced. I'm also unsure about the wording but I think it's correct since there aren't any other cards with the same exact effect. One question though: does she reduce minions' attack when she attacks them and when she is attacked by them? Or just one? The text seems to imply that it occurs in both situations (which is perfectly fine) but I was just unsure if that was intentional or not.
Burning Hands: Another one of those cards that's not really comparable to anything in the game at the moment. I like this one a lot as well though, I feel like it's very well designed and could make for some interesting matches. The wording may/may not be correct, I think it should read "Give all enemy minions "At the start of each turn, take 1 damage" or "At the start of each turn, deal 1 damage to this minion." A quick question though - with Spell Damage, does this card's damage increase? Or no? And would it be affected by both players' spell damage or just the caster/controller of the minions?
Overall I really like your concepts and can't wait to see more.
Is anyone seeing the doge class on the last page? I'm dying lol XD
Not sure if this really fits your theme but here's another piece of artwork
and lastly here is one I thought fit your theme pretty well but wasn't sure if you would like it or not