Hearthpwn

The Aristocrat - A Class Proposal

Darius is the example hero for the Aristocrat class. The Aristocrat is largely a class designed for minion-based control, kinda like Zoo Warlock, but with a tendency to play bigger minions that a Zoolock. The hero power reflects this: Inheritance provides the player with healing, "ramp", and interaction with the class-specific keyword: Affluent. This keyword only applies to minions which are currently on the board and basically serve as activators for regular minion effects. Due to this extra requirement, minions with affluent tend to have large stats or powerful effects compared to the mana cost.

Hired Guard
It's hard to find servants with high Attack these days.

Hired Guard, from the Classic set, is the perfect example for an Affluent minion. A 3/6 Taunt minion for 4 mana is quite powerful, but due to the Coin requirement it is weakened in a lot of situations. But with a coin in hand, he's better than a Sen'jin Shieldmasta for sure.

Royal Banquet
Just don't count the calories, it's not worth it.

Royal Banquet is the One Night in Karazan Aristocrat spell. No matter what happens, you can count on the healing ability of this card, but potentially this is a cheaper Wisps of the Old Gods , if you have played 7 Coins throughout this game. The Stewards are the same as the ones summoned by Moroes .

Gadgetzan Mixer
He's a Goblin drink, he's an Orcish drink. He's a rich man's drink, he's a swindler's drink.

Gadgetzan Mixer, from Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, is a good example of how Aristocrats love to use their minions. A decent buff minion and some fun shenanigans fit the Aristocrat play style perfectly.

Aggressor Vekaxaj
He's so... aggressive.

Aggressor Vekaxaj is the Aristocrat legendary for Whispers of the Old Gods. He's big, he's bulky, and with a Coin in hand he's like a mixture of Ragnaros the Firelord and Anub'arak . That way he has immediate board impact, while also being far less oppressive than his fiery fellow servant of the Old Gods.

Glimmerscale Drake
These golden dragons have nearly been hunted to extinction by people who think golden scale armor is a good idea.

Un'Goro needed more dragons than just Primordial Drake , and the effect of this card is of course reminiscent of North Sea Kraken . Perfect to clean up boards!

My Hearthstone 2018 wishlist:

1) a Druid hero skin, ideally Hamuul Runetotem.
2) a continued trend towards pro-player events in the lead-up and the launch of expansions
3) a minor nerf for Bone Mare
4) rewards for 1000 wins, but nothing big (like only a cardback or a flair)
5) the introduction of flairs & the ability to buy historic cardbacks

The first three are the most important to me xD

You need a lot of milk and cookies if you want to deliver loads of gifts every Winter Veil.

Blood of The Ancient One synergy? xD Seriously, this is a fun one. It does have real applications (e.g. imagine a turn 10 play where you play this guy and then two Stranglthorn Tigers), but this card will definitely allow for some nice highlight clips.

Also: Leeroy is only 5 mana, so Druid now has a 10 mana, two legendary combo for 12 damage.

Comparing this to the two neutral 4 mana "Draw a card" minions (Gnomish Inventor and Polluted Hoarder), you get one less stat point (5 instead of 6), but you can draw two cards... If you fulfill the relatively low prerequisite. Seems very solid, especially good for decks with a low minion count (where it's effectively a tutor) or minion-based aggressive decks. Will definitely see play

Very, very strong effect and decent statline. Probably gonna define Rogue until K&K will rotate out of Standard, I reckon...

This guy sacrifices 3 stat points for the potential to cost zero mana... Probably not good enough to see a lot of play, at best it'd fit into a Medivh deck OR into Warlock decks that run both DOOM! and Twisting Nether in order to replenish the board after blowing it up.

Wow, even on small minions this secret is great. It kills pretty much everything that costs 5 mana or less instantly, and if your opponent plays a small minion into it, they're gonna get hit by 4 or 5 damage. Great card, a nice boost for secret-using Mage decks.

The stats are poor, but the potential to get a powerful weapon, especially one of the DK or KaK weapons, back to your hand is an appealing proposition. Pretty bad for Rogues and Pirate Warriors, but I'm pretty sure nobody will mind that ^^

Horatio Snailbrain has a history of teaching alchemy. He counts such illustrious names as The Half-Elf Prince, Kazakus, and The Boy Who Didn't Die among his favorite students.

And for those who need a reminder for the list of Potions:

Bone:

How about this solution:

Let the Gibbering Commence!

A Secret that punishes people for cycling through their deck, "gifting" them with a lovely Cursed Blade . Cards like Arcane Intellect , Malchezaar's Imp , and Ultimate Infestation can all set off the Secret well enough. It's not as readily usable by Mill Rogue, though, without a card like Nat, the Darkfisher to forcibly proc the Secret on your opponent's turn.