Short and Sweet
Often in Hearthstone design we are tempted to create cards with complex effects. These can turn out well, however, what makes Hearthstone different from other card games like Magic is that its cards are extremely simple, but can result in interesting interactions. Hence the slogan, "Deceptively Simple, Insanely Fun." While it may seem like the challenge of card design is to make the most original and unique effect possible, sometimes, it boils down to being able to combine simple effects that have been seen before to produce interesting results.
Theme: Make the coolest spell card you can in 9 words or less.
Entry Restrictions:
Your card must be a class spell. Your card's effect must be 9 words or less, not including numbers. See the examples for clarity. Your card may not create or reference cards or tokens that do not currently exist in Hearthstone. Your card may not use vague or one-of-a-kind wording that does not already exist in Hearthstone. [Example: Justicar Trueheart would not be valid for this competition, even if the effect was on a spell, since "A better one" is vague and had never been used before.] Use syntax that is as correct as you can possibly make it. If you're not sure about something, reference existing cards. If you use incorrect syntax to fit your effect within the 9 word limit, whether or not you did it on purpose, your card will suffer. [For example, if you said "Draw 1 card" instead of "Draw a card" in order to count it for 2 words instead of 3, this would be considered as breaking a rule.]
To the Voters: This competition is all about elegance and simplicity. This means that you should consider syntax and wording equally as important as balance, theme, viability, and flavor. If you see someone sacrificing simplicity for a more complex effect, they don't deserve your votes. Conversely, not only should clunky cards be punished, but simple ones should be rewarded. If someone can make a card that makes you say "Nice!" in only a few words, it deserves your votes.
Existing Examples:
Valid Cards:
- Flash Heal It only counts for two words since the "5" doesn't count. This is a great example of a card that does absolutely nothing new, but because of the subtle design behind the exact amount of healing, mana cost, and synergy with other priest cards, it was still a pretty exciting release.
- Muster for Battle this one barely makes it, since "1/1" and "1/4" are numbers, they don't count, and the 1/4 weapon that it references already exists in the game. Notice that the "three" does count even though it technically is a number, since it's spelled out as a word.
- Raven Idol works, totaling exactly 9 words, and is also a great example of a simple card that still offers a lot of interesting gameplay.
Invalid Cards:
- Convert Doesn't work, it's just a bit too long.
- Nerubian Egg Doesn't work, it's a minion, you silly goose!
- Call Pet Doesn't work, because even though the (4) doesn't count, it's still 10 words.
1
Probably just a coincidence, though I think they're different enough anyway. For what it's worth, I also think yours is better, but it probably shouldn't be a Pirate (Ship's Cannon).
8
1
Sooo, it's a Succubus that has to discard 2 cards to be a +1/+1 Succubus? That's...awful?
15
3
I'm sad to see that Grandmaster Imus didn't make it, especially when certain trash cards did. Gold Farmer should have been disqualified.
Narrowing my votes down to three, I'm gonna go with Aluna, Pit Master Petros, and Yao, the Elusive Challenger.
[REVIEW KEYWORDS]
AGGRO: This card seems to cater to aggro decks, which is generally not the kind of thing I want to see.
INANIMATE: This minion is an inanimate object, which I typically do not like.
MEH: Although there's nothing necessarily wrong with this card, I don't find it compelling or interesting enough.
OMNI-RNG: This card involves random cards in some way, which I typically do not like.
REVIEWED: I already reviewed this card, so the following review is copypasta.
Aluna: 5/5. Aggro. Simplicity is the best policy in my book, and this card encapsulates that well. Maybe it's not a huge boon to aggro, but it would most likely only find play in such decks due to its low cost and the nature of the cards it combos with. It's also a Beast, so it's a cheap way to empower Kill Command. Still, I really like this card- it feels authentic, especially for a totally unique effect. As a minor side note, if I'm not mistaken Aluna would also have unexpected interactions with cards like Clockwork Giant, Goblin Sapper, Jeeves and Mountain Giant.
Pit Master Petros: 4/5. While not the most "unique" effect (in the sense that Corruption is sort-of similar), the theme here is brilliant and it's a pretty good card in general, particularly if used on a minion with Divine Shield. Even if that doesn't work out, it's still a 2/4. Not much else to say about it, it's just really solid, smart card design.
Yao, the Elusive Challenger: Reviewed. "4/5 (UPVOTE!). Another truly unique effect. Funnily enough, this would probably combo well with Grandmaster Imus. So, worst case scenario it's a 3/4 for 5, which is bad, but the fact that your opponent doesn't know that means that they may play inefficiently trying to remove it or avoid it, akin to trying to playing around the wrong Secret. In fact, I think that's how I would describe this minion: "Secret Incarnate". Best case scenario it's a 7/8 for 5, which is extremely good, especially if it actually can't be targeted by that aforementioned bullshit 3 mana minon. The only real weakness of this card is that it is unfortunately vulnerable to silence, and a card like this is probably worth burning a silence on. Eh, but I guess there's not much you can do about that either. Some nitpicks about this one; I think "Gain 1-5" should be "Gain +1-5" or maybe even "Gain +1-5/+1-5", Attack and Health aren't properly capitalized, and I think the secondary effect should read as "This minion's stats are hidden from your opponent.". I also personally think the name should be simply "Yao the Elusive", just so it looks less wordy and the text isn't as small. Other than that though, it looks good and it's a really cool concept."
Reviews For the Rest:
Rhovanchon the Wise: 3/5. This effect is really strong, particularly in certain situations. However, personally I don't like the idea of undermining the dilemma of the Choose One mechanic, and I'm not entirely sure how this would work with the Transform minions anyway. Does Druid of the Claw turn into a special bear/cat hybrid looking minion? Or does the base druid just gain +2 Health, Taunt, and Charge? If so, would the health bonus be able to be Silenced?
Dumbtongue the Cursed: 3/5. For a murloc, it's actually not a terrible minion, and the effect, while kind of silly, is, well, silly!
Bryla Bloodsight: 3/5. Nitpicks abound with this one, but I like the core idea. The effect is really cool, it's just maybe a bit overpriced? The longer it takes to get this out, the less you're actually able to use it, since you're killing yourself in the process. Like, a 6/6 for 7 would be just a strong, but could maybe come into play just a bit earlier, dodge that freaking dwarf, and still be a threatening minion in its own right. I also think this could have been worded more uniquely, like "Your spells cost Health instead of Mana".
Pyrobert Manastorm: 2/5. Aggro. Marginally better than Millhouse Manastorm, assuming your opponent never draws into that Pyroblast.
Baronor Badmouth: 1/5.
So, this is effectively unplayable because your opponent would squelch you immediately, making it a 3/3 at best. That's not even considering the additional drawback of having to deal with an asymetrical Nozdormu effect.Ugh, this feels like a borderline troll entry that slipped through because it looked cool. I would honestly give this a 0 if not for the spectacular card art. I'm sorry, but something like Grandmaster Imus should have been here, not this garbage.Correction, squelching your opponent does not disable their ability to use emotes.
The Stabfish: 2/5. Meh. Cute, but why does it have 4 damage? Does the orc it's attached to punch you in the face when you try to pull it off? I guess that makes sense.
Faceless Overlord: 2/5. Interesting idea, but I don't like the look of it. I also think maybe it could have benefited from an infinity symbol or something as the Race, for flavor.
Theo' The Bravest: 1/5. An ugly card through and through, I can't find anything I like about this one.
Captain Noskin: 2/5. Why did you label it Undead, which isn't a thing, instead of Pirate, which IS a thing and is just as accurate? I am frustrated by this more than perhaps I should be, but it just makes no sense.
Grimtooth Manabomb: 3/5. Aggro. I think I upvoted this one, but now that I look at it again, I'm not as fond of it. It's flexible to a fault.
Maleira Mana-Cursed: 3/5. Meh.
Inspire Sensei Hwan: 3/5. Meh.
Talia Shroudstepper: 3/5. A really nifty effect, though it's so disruptive to the game board that it might be too "strong". A card I reviewed this week had a similar idea of making all other minions "invisible", and I compared that to Yao, the Elusive Challenger, which I liked. I feel that the same comparison can be made here, in that Yao's effect is centered on itself, making it far less overwhelming. I appreciate the added effort into making this idea come to life with examples, explanations, and a fair amount of back story, but ultimately it's just so disorientating to the game that I think it would be un-fun to deal with, for both players.
Oto Jagger: 2/5. Aggro, Meh.
Yrad Negel: 2/5. Meh.
Gold Farmer: 0/5. Oh boy, the salt. I'm not gonna waste my time reviewing this, but I have to ask why this wasn't disqualified. It does not meet the requirements of being an original character, as it's not A character (even if it was, it's a generic character and not a specific one). At least it's not Arcane Butterfly.
Flameslider Aya: 3/5. Stellar card art, but I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the effect, even after reading the explanation. Does each instance of random damage deal bonus damage, or do you get additional instances of damage that deal base damage? Maybe it's me, but the effect here just seems very unintuitive.
1
The problem with Gold Farmer isn't its effect, it's that it just flat out doesn't qualify. Despite this, not only was it selected as a finalist, it was upvoted by a moderator of the competition.
1
Cool to see such a big minion. King Krush isn't run because it's too slow for aggro, and control hunter isn't a thing. As a neutral though, and with +2/+2, that's a different story entirely.
3
I just don't get why it's a 1/1. It's a demonic horse. Do you know how strong a normal horse is, let alone one that was born in the fires of hell?
1
Myzrael is a preexisting character, I don't think making it her "avatar" makes any difference. As far as the effect goes, I think it should read "Battlecry: Transform each spell in your hand into a 'Flash of Light'.". Remove the Goddess tag as well, since Cenarius and Aviana don't use such.
1
The name of this really irks the hell out of me, like was it really so hard for them to just call it Fist of Archimonde or something for continuity sake? I just don't freaking get it, is it because they want to play into the Jaraxxus meme? Pfft.