THE BLOOD MAGE
A Blood Mage is an adept caster capable of casting devastating spells from afar. Once part of the Alliance long ago, they turned to what appeared to be darker magics of fire, some becoming outright warlocks. They were once led by the mighty Kael'thas Sunstrider who succumbed to visions of grandeur. While he is gone, he remains the most famous, or infamous, rather, Blood Mage of Azeroth.
Cauterize was a difficult Hero Power to develop but it embodies the Blood Mage well both mechanically and lore-wise. It can be viewed as "Destroy a minion with 2 health or less." In a sense, it's a bit like Mortal Coil , always a strong card when you can get it off. Furthermore, it helps support the class' core identity, triggering on damage revenge effects, an in-game example being Acolyte of Pain .
The Blood Mage is bit of a mixed bag class, like Shaman. They excel in dealing direct damage and racking up Spell Damage like a Mage, but also exhibit a tendency for making sacrifices for power, much like Warlock or Warrior. Yet, at the same time, they have access to more than serviceable healing and even some completely new playstyles.
KEYWORD: IMMOLATE
I really wanted a negative keyword this time around, a bit of a departure from most of my classes. It's also very straightforward and acts in a way much like overload, to balance out some extra stats or a cheaper cost. There are some cases where Immolate is used in odd ways to show that a simple keyword such as this does have creative depth to it.
Example Cards
Burning Embers: Burning Embers is a key resource that Warlocks in World of Warcraft stack and utilize for a variety of other skills. True to its form, in Hearthstone, it is a simple cycling card that requires some setup but helps dig further into your deck, allowing you to play your other cards quicker, a somewhat analogous function.
Pyroclasm: This is the hard removal of the Basic set for Blood Mage. It is slightly harder to pull off compared to Hunter's Mark and Execute, but Blood Mages are centered around spells as is evident from the rest of their Basic Set.
Vengeful Sin'dorei: This is the first look at a Blood Mage minion. The core concept of Blood Mage is 'revenge', and this aptly-named minion couldn't be a better example of this playstyle. Synergizes swimmingly with your Hero, and even by itself, it is a huge hassle to deal with in the early game. Though a bit slow (as it cannot deal with boards by itself without other cards to help it along), this card is a premier 3-drop for Blood Mages.
Rain of Fire: Rain of Fire can be a bit of a gamble, but it is important to note that since friendly minions are safe, it is far more likely to hit an enemy than your own face. This kind of card also begs to be part of some ridiculous on-trigger effect combo, much like Healing Rain and Lightwarden are just silly together. Unlike Healing Rain, this card has more utility and is in the Basic Set, foreshadowing strong synergies to come in future sets.
Deadwind Scythe: To round off the showcase cards, this simple weapon shows that Blood Mages are indeed a weapon class. A scythe might look out of place, but Warlocks use scythes regularly and Blood Mages are no strangers to fel magic. This weapon in particular serves as an excellent mid-game tempo play and can find itself a home in slower decks and decks that fight for board control early on.
Remaining Cards
Token:
5
2
:3
Even though I knew the theme since last week I haven't thought about it yet. Here's what I have so far:
28
In WC3 TFT, Crypt Fiends have an ability called Burrow , which allows them to hide underground, regenerate, and strike back. I wanted to put this flavor into the card.
Synergy with Rogue's various bounce effects ( Vanish , Waggle Pick , etc...).
1
Thanks! Sexual innuendos ftw lel
As for Eavesdropper, another issue with the card is that a card with the same name and almost the same effect once won a season.
27
23
Rafaam's evil plan: making people die of cringe.
4
S H I R V A L L A H !
1
http://hearthcards.net/cards/2be35fbc.png
Is it too racy for a WCDC? It's my most upvoted card on hcards.net
7
4/9 heroes are Rogue heroes. This is fitting I guess
2