Hearthpwn

For those unaware, Punter is slang for someone who will make bets or gamble on a whim.

Flavor Text: "Hobbies: Gambling, Betting, and kicking around miniature tournaments."

Quote from rdeegan jump

Quote from ChekhovsGnu jump

Since I had to look it up, I'll let people know that a punter is someone who places bets.

The idea behind this is he's a goblin who bets on jousts- and he bets on your side winning. So whenever you use your hero power, you can get a huge reward, but you have to pay him each turn so he can place those bets! I like it lore and mechanic wise... but is it balanced?

If you play this with hero power on turn 5 and win the joust you've already gotten back the mana you spent back, but you can't get much more than that. It seems balanced when I compare it to other joust cards, though, like murloc knight? Maybe? Should the stats be changed to be weaker? Should it cost more to play and not given much more health to compensate? Should it be more 'middle of the road' like a 2/4 or 1/4 so it's easier to kill ASAP? 

Assuming that you win jousts half the time, which is about what they are balanced for, then the inspire effect balances the salary. Hence you are left with a 3 mana 1/5 which is sub-par. And remember you have to inspire in order to get any benefit each turn. Considering the salary somtimes won't be used as a bet, I think it would be better as a 4/4 or perhaps 4 mana 5/5 or something.

The name. I like the use of punter myself, but it's British slang, and so a lot of people might not understand what it really means (though being a punter really fits in well in the whimsical nature of hs). I would prefer something like "Tournament punter" though and Joust Punter seems too blunt.

The artwork doesn't fit the card at all. A punter isn't just someone who places a bet, they place bets on a whim - they'll bet on something just to have a go. Punters aren't malicious gamblers, they are amateur betters and the artwork should convey this. Try to get artwork of a person having fun if you're going to use the term punter.

Overall, I like the card, it's really good thematically and though combining three effects is sometimes a bit too much, it works well here. Good Job.

I'll think more about the stats. Just the super swingy effect that can come from it (one hero power click sometimes giving you three coins) makes me feel like it should be maybe a 5/4 or 4/5. Of least that means I think I'm in the ball park. 

I agree that Tournament Punter is a way better name than Joust Punter, thanks for that suggestion.

On the art, I realize it didn't quite fit, I just wanted to find something that would work and get it out for critique ASAP. It was hard to find working art, as I wanted a goblin that fitted as a Punter... turns out there wasn't much. I did, however, choose to take this guy from the TGT trailers where he was one of the orc judges. I think he's pretty good art for this card, I just wish I could find one that better conveyed the idea of betting.

Thanks for the compliment on the card, I was worried it might be too much to put on one card but was hoping the thematic strength would outweigh that.

I'll maybe spend 30 minutes mulling this over before making the submission, thank you~

Quote from MvonTzeskagrad jump

I thought that these would fit nice into the respective decks.

Shaman of the Black: These are mobs in Twilight Highlands, who sacrificed Wild Hammer Dwarves to an artifact of the Old Gods able to grant visions to those who feed it with blood. As a card, they empower the disturbing mechanic of a Twilight's Hammer affecting also the opponent's hero power. It's worth advertising that this effect stacks, with this and with Saboteur, and also that applying this with a Maiden of the Lake on the opponent's board make the hero power cost (3) instead of (4). Don't know if I should apply a bonus or nerf to something, I would prefer that it were to the stats, because the effect is oppressive, but bearable, in my opinion.

Plagiarism: Any merchant knows that you have to look at your competitor to be able to outsmart it. And sometimes the key lies in copying its own work. Plagiarism makes you copy the last card your opponent plays... and rewards you with a Coin, because everybody knows that, unless you get cought, plagiarism is rewarding over the hard process of thinking an idea and making it succeed. Thought that I could make it give you two Coins instead of one, but it would have been much better than the merchant card Interest, and it's not the thing to make a better version of a class card in the same class. Note: This secret does not trigger if your hand is full.

 EDIT: Applied the Tournament Mark and changed some wording.

The Twilight Hammer card is interesting, but when would you play it? On turn 4 it's just a 4/4, on turn 6 you get a 4/4 and an effect best compared to Saboteur, only slightly weaker. In order to actually be a viable card it would probably need to be 5/4 or even 4/5, because the effect just doesn't seem that strong? I could be wrong, but I can't think of a meta or time where I would want this card over another one, even in a meta full of people who hero power every turn Saboteur seems like something I would always choose first. 

I like the second card a lot more. In the original custom card set you have a 3 mana spell that gives you two coins, and from other classes we know drawing two cards with worth 4 mana (even from another secret, duplicate). Here we have a middle-ground, although I think just a 3 mana 'draw a card, put a coin into your hand' would be way more viable since a card from an opponents deck will usually be worse than a card from your deck. However, as a secret it can change how your opponent plays his cards due to both it's existence AND other secrets the Merchant has, like 'I Found It!'. I think I like this card for that reason, it would be better as a non-secret but can be used to bluff and make your opponent take unfavorable turns, which feels very merchant-y.

Since I had to look it up, I'll let people know that a punter is someone who places bets.

The idea behind this is he's a goblin who bets on jousts- and he bets on your side winning. So whenever you use your hero power, you can get a huge reward, but you have to pay him each turn so he can place those bets! I like it lore and mechanic wise... but is it balanced?

If you play this with hero power on turn 5 and win the joust you've already gotten back the mana you spent back, but you can't get much more than that. It seems balanced when I compare it to other joust cards, though, like murloc knight? Maybe? Should the stats be changed to be weaker? Should it cost more to play and not given much more health to compensate? Should it be more 'middle of the road' like a 2/4 or 1/4 so it's easier to kill ASAP?

Best comparison to this card is corruption, with the added benefit that you actually get the minion.

Why would this exist or see play when corruption exists? Well, I think that a spell like corruption would be much more likely to see play in a class like priest. Secondly, you can play it on something large and even if they trade you still will have an amazing creature you can heal up. It's kind of like a mind control you can play sooner, but that is just delayed a turn. Would this see play? Should the mana cost be decreased to 2, or is it way stronger than I think?

"Come to the light side, we have cupcakes."

Quote from Thespectre83 jump

wow look at the t*ts on that!!

I can't stop laughing. Just the idea of someone posting a 'leaked' hearthstone card for the new expansion, with a very suspicious draw engine for Warlock, and somewhere, someone's reaction is just 'DAMN LOOK AT THOSE TITTIES'.

The world is a wonderful place.

With the little Korean knowledge I have, and the help of a translation dictionary, it's definitely 'silver hand' something, and I find it hard to believe it would not be silver hand recruit.

Can confirm, was shown on Korean Blizzard's stream, I saw the reveal.

and yes, it is a neutral card that summons silver hand recruits. So it's made neutral so other classes maybe have a chance at getting an inspire ability just to get some tokens, while Paladins get even more from it due to quartermaster synergy- or of least I assume that's the reasoning behind it.