The Ringleader
The Ringleader is a light, fun-loving class that does its best to put on a show for its audience. The class has a lot of strong synergies, buffs, heals, tokens and a focus on miracle play.
Signature is the Ringleader's keyword, and a big part of what makes the Ringleader the Ringleader. Many circuses are famous for their own different acts, one specific act among the entire show that they slap on posters and imprint into the memories of everyone watching. Signature symbolises that. When you begin building a Ringleader deck, everything's as normal, the deckbuilding is just the same as any other. But when you include a Signature card into it, a slot appears at the top, filled with a pair of bananas to keep the seat warm. From there, you can drag any spell in your collection into it.
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These spells appear at the top of the decklist no matter what, in golden text and still taking up the slots in your deck. For a Ringleader, these spells are their, well, Signature , the one they're best known for and the one that puts them apart from the rest. Most Ringleader decks aren't defined fully by their themes, but more specifically by the one specific Signature that ties it all together. Enough talk on thematics though, what does a Signature really mean for a deck? Many Ringleader cards add copies of your Signature to your hand or your deck, and some modify the way it works. Many times, this just means it'll have an extra effect added on top of the spell, both spectacles triggering at the same time, but some change the way the Signature is targeted, repeating every effect on the card onto every new minion it affects.
But then, what of the subtle, overly cautious rogue, or the stoic, overly annoying priest, neither whom pay the same love towards their granduer as the greatest of Ringleaders, who happen upon Signature cards through their burglery and mind-reading? Well, much alike the Worthless Imp s from Sense Demons or the Shadow of Nothing from Mindgames , the Bananas from before will act as the default option. Should they be the type to rely on stealing a lot, they should end up finding a Signature generation card eventually. And by that point they should have built up quite the impressive Banana indeed. And besides, most Signature cards will do something by themselves regardless.
Card Showcase
Star Performance ~ A cheap, targeted, multi-purpose buff and heal card from the basic set. While not the most exciting card on its own in the game, a Ringleader knows that the signature act of their show is their most trained, not their most extravagent. Healing your hero and buffing friendly minions is a big part of Ringleader; be sure to consider basic cards like these when looking through Signature cards.
Circus Supplier ~ A handy little chap that's sure to be of use in any circus - he just radiates enthusiasm. He's a nice and simple way of getting yourself more copies of your Signature across the course of the game. I had two Star Performance s in my deck, but with two of these, I may as well have four. That's a lot of attack boosting and healing, however we're not really doing anything too fancy with it yet. And hey, if another class gets one of these guys, what they get will be amusingly appropriate.
Firedancer ~ Before, we were just setting up, but suddenly, those Star Performances might be looking a little scary to your opponent now. If the Ringleader can establish a small board, an extra 9 damage is gonna be coming right for the opponents face, maybe more. The Firedancer is an exaggerative man, putting on quite an impressive performance, and positively heating up the audience for what's to come next... But wait, those Star Performances also heal, right?
(Pay no heed to the old Ringleader border! The work of trickery, surely!)
Three times the targets, three times the spells. Three buffs, three individual heals that bring you an extra 9 Health. This goes for any targeted card that does more than one thing, though effects that say "Your next Signature " only pertain to one of those casts, of course. While any Ringleader can run any spell, the ones they're using as their Signature will surely feel different from the rest.
Dining Dash ~ Ringleaders also have access to aura spells or turn spells, whatever you want to call them. Think of Lock and Load or perhaps Stampede . These spells work the same way, and of course reward the Ringleader for doing a LOT of things in a single turn. Such as, for example, healing your hero a lot of times in one turn. Hmmmm... I wonder how they could do that? Miracle players need look no further than Ringleader for their source of massive, one turn insanity.
Finale Architect ~ This lady is the one who likes to plan out the final acts of the shows she works on. Works great with aura/turn spells and spells that don't require targets, though the ones that do will just target randomly should their original target die before they cast. Sometimes, things don't go according to plan, and that's just fine. Be sure to write out a little risk assessment form before using her, because she certainly won't be doing that. All she cares about is making sure your next turn is one that leaves an impression, which it certainly will.
Expect a lot more signature generation, healing, buffs, wacky insanity and potential for explosive plays in the future of Ringleader, for these five don't even scratch the surface of its potential.
Art Sources:
Regina ~ Fajareka Setiawan
Announce ~ Maren Marmulla
Performer ~ Jingsketch
Chain Dance ~ Anastasia Bulgakova
Star Performance & Finale Architect ~ Anzka Nguyen (Seriously check her stuff out she's great)
Circus Supplier ~ ALRadeck
Firedancer ~ Cesar Rosolino
Dining Dash ~ Dmitry Bolotov
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Here is a simple card to try and demonstrate how using meditate could be a dynamic decision.
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Uh meditate won?
Kind of interesting mechanic I guess. but the card submission were pretty meh. Pretty much versions of regular cards already in game. Gnomish Inventor & Stalking Tiger or Lotus Assassin. a generic 4/3 for 3? theres been plenty of 4/3s that actually have abilities. who doesnt want to attack with a 4/3 to have 5/3 replace it next turn. I doubt that would see any play at all. They are all kind of uninspired if you ask me.
If we analyze the mechanic too were giving up the ability to attack for effect. That is basically minus the minions power in value. Minions main value is the ability to attack. In that sense I feel like the mana evaluations are all messed on these submissions. gaining stealth, +1 attack, draw a card, these are worth 1-2 mana. attacking for 2+ damage is usually worth more then that. Especially in a game where creatures rarely stay on board for multiple turns. I think you would need to see abilities with larger impact or more impacting decision implications (to attack or not?) to truly showcase this ability. It really could be much more dynamic.
Feel like we missed the boat here with so many other great submissions available.
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Ton of good submissions. I gonna vote for a lot of things this week.
Think Insight might be my top pick because its something I never really considered before. The the cards submitted showcase it well. I like that it creates an interesting dynamic in deck building where you are including cards in pods of 2-3.
My other votes; Dissuade makes sense. Last Stand great ability but I dont like it being locked to 7. However its paired great card submissions. Time Traveler might be my favorite card of the week. Share is interesting but could use more dynamic application. I think it should be considered a disadvantage in mana evaluation. Meditate has potential too but the submitted cards seem under cost to me. They are basically under cost versions of cards that already exist.
Deception deserves a mention too. It would be a ton of fun for a player like me but I think its way to complex for the target audience of hearthstone.
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Favs so far
Deception, top notch, but going to need some serious tact to be implemented properly. Hope real HS does something like this down the line. However Id wager its a tad too complex for the game's target audience.
Mulligan, the game needs this mechanic in some form. Not sure its keyword worthy tho. Also saturation of this effect might make otk/combo decks too strong.
Evasion, one of the more clever ideas so far. Might not be the most exciting ability but its fair and simple. A keyword I think the game could benefit from.
Prepare, Another interesting concept. Simple and direct, tho your wording could probably be improved. Think this one will come down to what you submit.
Advantage, Another interesting theme. Delicate in away because I think it would depend hugely on implementation or it could be rather mundane. I also think it would most interesting in a set with the reverse ability. One problem I see is it would often It would occur accidentally or rather just via the nature of the match up. which isnt very exciting. So the supporting cards of the set would make or break this one for me.
Last Stand, simple threshold mechanic. These already exist in the game yet would probably benefit from being a keyword. You could also broaden its application with an x value suffix. ie, Revenge Deal 1 damage to all minions. Last Stand 12, deal 3 damage instead.
Curve, You know I really like this one too. Simple, reinforces good deck building practices which is great for new & learning players. Wide range of power you could apply. Good for it. Tho I think the wording should rely on mana crystals and not turns to avoid confusion. This might be my fav actually because it could really fit HS today.
Drain, interesting embodiment of the Forbidden cycle from old gods. I could see it. Clarify what happens with multiple drain minions in play. Also I think your examples could use some work and balance tuning.
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The foot soldiers. They just keep piling in.
Thats +1/+1 once for each of the three factions up to +3/+3 so a 1/1 up to 4/4 for 1 mana. 1/1 for 1 is obviously bad but is some times valuable anyways or triggers Combo etc. 2/2 for 1 I believe this is the most common stat line you'll receive. either playing it after another minion or if your lucking your opponent is jade lotus. Because it is a conditional I believe it less powerful then say Enchanted Raven but still potent. 3/3 will be less common but achievable and the desirable out come. It require you to be able to generate other class cards; ie, rouge, your opponent is Jade lotus, or some other random HS shenanagans. Because of the set up required, it should be rare to see this early game. 4/4 this is where it has the most broken potential but most set up.
Lastly as of now most ways to get other class cards are random so by its nature building around that mechanic is unreliable. I dont think this card would be easy to abuse consistently. Its more of a can I pull it off trick that really is not too OP when its done.I think it could be a valued piece to class card rouge deck. Or a potential 1 mana 2/2 for certain class card heavy tempo/agro decks. With the upside it is occasionally a 3/3 (when your opponent is jade).
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I voted for Hakkar and Cujo
I think both card are quite interesting and clever takes on the week's theme.
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Video is private... his channel doesnt have it either. guessing he released it too soon.
anyone have copy by chance?
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