Hearthpwn

The contest is over! Thank you for all the wonderful entries and to all those who voted!

Welcome to the Grand Finale!

For more info on each Class (including keyword explanations and all existing card sets),
click on their Hero Portrait, which will link you to their individual Finalist Topics.

THE NINJA By McF4rtson	THE PRIMALIST By Klipce	THE NYMPH By Anatomy_of_Time	THE MONK By Ravennos

Alrighty! I am done. I'll crank out the final voting thread tomorrow.

Once again, a round of applause for all entries. This contest, while not perfect, is a success in my books.

(In case Mvon missed the note at the bottom of my entry, the 40k reference is "Markerlight")

 The Ninja Class

Upgraded Hero Power:

Colour Chart entry:

Karin Shadestep is the Ninja: She is a practitioner of martial arts shrouded in utmost secrecy from the rest of Azeroth. She is but one of the many unseen heroes righting what is wrong, and making sure the order of the world as we know it is upheld.

For a development timeline of the Ninja, refer to the below spoiler:

• • The Basic Set provides the framework for this class, introducing the most core of mechanics, flavours, and playstyles. This set introduces weapons, a limited degree of tokens, powerful transformations, a faster playstyle in the form of continual chip damage, and value generation through copying your own cards.. 
  • The Grasshopper (Initiate) cards build up and outwards from the Basic Set. The Reprise keyword is first seen here, formalizing the Ninja's identity of copying their own cards in order to defeat their opponents. Kunais are also seen en masse in this set, adding onto the Ninja's class fantasy. 
  • Like Demon Hunter, Ninja arrives in the middle of Hearthstone's history. Rise of Shadows is when Ninja drops, and they are on the side of the League of Explorers. They have determined that the League of E.V.I.L. are victorious based on future events and have sent operatives back in time to aid the Explorers! They bring with them powerful spell manipulation as well as a splash of Discover shenanigans.

Showcase Cards

Tokens

Note: Goya's Invoice was designed by Jengus. Markerlight is the "oddball tribe" Challenge card. Furthermore, The Transient Knife was a weapon as Jengus wanted a Legendary weapon. (Markerlight is the 40k reference, Mvon.)

Grasshopper (Initate) Set

Tokens

Basic Set

Tokens

A hearty thanks to all of the contestants and voters in the contest. While not without its faults, this contest was a success!

On mobile so I cannot do a multi quote, or I'd be spending 10 mins snipping each blockquote.

To clarify Blacktalon: It is a 7 mana 4/4 flik/vilespine if you haven't played it before. Anytime after that, if you draw it, it is a free 4/4 and you draw a card. 

People are correct. It is debatably a negative reprise, which was what I was going for, as I did that with the 6 mana spell last week and it was received positively. I figured I could explore the limits of my keyword a bit. However, anatomy said it was extremely weak, and I don't really see what they mean. First time, it's a worse flik, but I mean, flik is busted. Blacktalon is still a massively discounted assassinate. As for a free 4/4, true, control decks handle it, but 4/4 spiders used to be very threatening. That being said, this card isn't designed to swarm. 

Since this is Jengus' card, I have relayed all you guys' concernst him, but I am using this reply to clarify the card as I think there has been some misunderstanding.

Alright, finally got to get some of my ROS set done.

This was the first image I found: 

This was amazing since it had the Kirin Tor symbol, perfect for Twinspells I need for ROS. Problem is... it's very sci fi. I'm going out on a limb here, and giving some of my Ninja set the "time-travelling" flavour. This manifests in manipulating spells (mostly).

I have two distinct archetypes, one being "rewinding time", and the other being Reprise manipulation (which is hinted at by Jengus' card, my card, and by another card I've created in Week Three)

For Blacktalon Agent, Jengus tried to experiment with Reprise in the same way Choose One was changed significantly with "Choose a Deathrattle (Secretly)". Is the extra drawn card implied clearly with "Reprise (When Drawn)", or is the safe move to keep "draw a card"?

Then we have some other general cards:

(I wonder who will get the 40k reference)

Yup, updated it to reflect that one day we used to finalize the finalists. 13-20th.

Quote from ravennos >>

 

It doesn't need to be changed, but if you want to be a perfectionist, don't use Rush in your set since it wasn't introduced yet during WTG. (you could just do Charge, can't attack heroes this turn or something, if the card has enough room for that wordy text.)

So I am going to assume we have reached a consensus?

Also didn't realize someone was in Ungoro. Don't worry...

Because you will get a PeRsOnAl ChAlLeNgE!!!

Alright, for the time being, I'll pause the contest until we reach a consensus.

At this point, this class comp really is the guinea pig for testing what I'd call an ideal contest for the future.

Alright, back home from work. I will continue to stress that I much rather have a clean cut rather than a tallied vote. Here are the reasons why:

1. There were several drop outs, which slightly skews votes.
2. A major factor is Phase One using weighted upvotes instead of polled votes. I can't really add upvotes to poll votes as some of the upvotes were on page 2.
3. Another major factor I realized was allowing people to pass on to each round is not as big of a deal compared to entering the final four. The stakes are much higher in the transition from Week Three to Four. Ignoring the shifting votes from week to week basically ignores how voters prefer the progression of the class as it goes from Basic to Initiate.

Now... Here is your chance to give me your opinions. I won't like it, but if the majority still wants a cumulative vote going into the final four, I'll oblige.

I will absolutely not budge on a cumulative vote for voting for the grand winner though. That must be done in a single poll. 

In the end, I decided to go just purely by votes from phase three to four. Cumulative votes for finaliats do not make much sense to me as there were quite a few dropouts, which skew votes a bit, but the big one was that phase one was weighted upvotes, not a poll. I can't really add upvotes to poll votes so I decided to use cumulative votes as a way to allow as many people progress as far as possible before the final cut.

The Custom Class Competition is back for its sixth iteration! We welcome any newcomers as well as old hands who've run through this grueling gauntlet of card creation before.

The good news is, said gauntlet is much smaller this time around. With the release of Demon Hunter, Blizzard has shown us how they release a custom class midway in the game's lifespan. Therefore, we will simulate this as close as possible. Take the time to read the rules or procedures below.

This is the Discussion Thread! Ask for feedback, return the favour, ask questions, etc. here.

Do NOT post your submission here.

Overview

1. All contestants will create one custom class, following the layout of Demon Hunter.
   1. There will be a total of 45 cards, down from 65+ cards from previous competitions.
2. All contestants will select a past expansion to simulate their class releasing, like how Demon Hunter was released during Ashes of Outland.
3. The contest will run for 4 weeks.
   1. Week One: 10 Basic cards.
   2. Week Two: 10 "Initiate" cards.
   3. Week Three: The other 10 "Initiate" cards.
   4. Week Four: 15 expansion cards.
   5. "Initiate" means the supplemental 20 cards Blizzard printed for Demon Hunter. Yours do not have to be named Initiate set.

Challenges

For the fourth and final phase, the contestants will undergo a battery of three challenges, two of which are influenced by the other 4 Phase Three contestants who didn't make it.

To make this as simple as possible:

• Each of the finalists will be paired up with one of the other four. 
• If they do not help you complete the challenges within 48 hours of Phase Four ending (so, on July 17th), you may skip the challenges requiring your partner's help. If you want to play it safe, you can make cards that take the place of your partner's cards beforehand, in case communication proves difficult.

1. Each of the four finalists must give up a rare card. Their partner creates it for them instead.
2. Demon Hunter had a non-minion, non-quest legendary spell. While this precedent was set during AoO, we will take some creative liberties here. To my knowledge, every finalist has chosen a set with two legendaries. Therefore, one of them must be a minion, while the other must be a spell or a weapon. Your partner decides whether it is a spell or a weapon.
3. At this point, pretty much every class has one minion with an oddball tribe. Mages have a couple of Beasts thrown in there, Demons in Hunter, Murlocs in Warlock and Demon Hunter... The list goes on. One of your minions must have a tribe that is not normally associated with your class.

Klipce's Personal Challenge

Not gonna lie, making personal challenges is kinda fun...

Klipce's set debuts in Ungoro, where he essentially must have a minion and spell (Quest) legendary. So, his partner will instead decide whether the Quest reward is a minion or spell.

Pairings

1. Klipce and SideItem
2. McF4rtson and Jengus
3. Anatomy_Of_Time and MvonTzeskagrad
4. Ravennos and Artimex723

Submission Format

The Final Phase is different from the previous phases!

• Contestants are required to create their own custom class thread.
• However, a few restrictions still apply in the thread:
  • A maximum of two banners.
  • No golden cards, or any other form of decoration for your cards.
  • You are allowed six showcase cards. However, three must be from Phase Four, and the other three must be from previous phases.
• Your thread will be titled: "[Class Competition Finalist] >your class name here<"

F.A.Q.

• How is the Initiate set split in half?
  • There are 8 commons, 6 rares, 4 epics, and 2 legionaries. That makes splitting the Initiate set in half rather easy.
  • For Week Three, contestants will create 4 commons, 3 rares, 2 epics, and 1 legendary.
• What expansions can I choose from?
  • You may select from any expansion except Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. This is due to the nature of tri-class cards.
• Uh oh spaghettios, class cycles.
  • As I briefly touched upon in a reply in the preliminary thread, when the fourth week rolls around and you have to choose an expansion to slot your class into, you must have at least one all-class cycle. All-class, in this context, means both a cycle shared between all 9 classes, and a cycle that the League of EVIL classes or Explorers classes share.
  • While, at first, it seems to make sense that your custom class should adhere to all all-class cycles in a given expansion, Demon Hunter did not have a Prime legendary. However, it is recommended that you include all all-class cycles in your custom class. Some all-class cycles hinge on other cycles within the expansion. Use common sense when choosing which cycles to use and to not use. (ex. You do not have a Loa, but instead choose to have a Loa shrine)
  • To clarify, here are the all-class cycles you may choose from:
    • GvG: A class mech.
    • TGT: There is no theme shared between all classes.
    • WOTOG: There is no theme shared between all classes.
    • KOTFT: Death Knight heroes.
    • KAC: Legendary weapon, spellstone.
    • WW: There is no theme shared between all classes.
    • Boomsday: Legendary scientist, legendary science spell.
    • RR: Legendary Loa, thematically supporting legendary minion, Loa Spirit card with a 0/3 statline
    • RoS: EITHER One Lackey generation card + One Scheme spell OR Two Twinspells
      • Furthermore, each of the EVIL members have a "callback" to the expansions they were  first introduced in. However, you do not need to do this as your custom class is being introduced and has nothing to callback.
    • SoU: EITHER A Plague spell OR A singleton legendary, a Quest that changes your Hero Power as a reward.
    • DoD: EITHER Galakrond + a Galakrond support card OR a Dragon Explorer minion + Two Sidequests, a Legendary Dragon.
    • AoO: There is no theme shared between all classes.
      • 9/10 classes have a Prime legendary, 9/10 classes have a Dormant minion.
• What about card cycles not shared between all nine classes, like Omega cards, or Aspirant cards?
  • You may pick and choose from those.
• What about Hero Cards like Hagatha, Dr. Boom?
  • After much thought, I have decided to, for now, disallow Hero Cards in your expansion set unless it is a Galakrond hero. While I am aware Warlock came with Jaraxxus in their Classic set, I feel as though a new class receiving a massive power spike in the form of a Hero Card while other classes did not in that expansion will create an even worse problem DH did upon arrival.
• Can I rename the "Initiate" set to whatever I want?
  • Yes.
• What watermarks do I use?
  • For the "Initiate" set, you can use whatever watermark you think makes the most sense.
• Do I have to follow the rarity distribution of the Demon Hunter Initiate set?
  
  • Yes.
  • You may not introduce a Legendary spell or Hero in the Initiate set as there are none in the current Demon Hunter example we've been given.
• Do I need to adhere to Warcraft lore?
  • The short answer: no.
  • The long answer: Try your best to do so. Even if your Hero is not a character found in Warcraft, you can still achieve a general feel of Warcraftiness by using in-game place names and references. Put in the work and use some elbow grease. Do your research on WoWwiki.
• Do I need class-exclusive keyword?
  • No.

Competition Process

Week Four: July 13th - July 20th

I'll have the final discussion thread up tomorrow morning. Heads up, all round of 8 contestants will need to make at least one card.

It appears we have our four finalists!