Hearthpwn

Quote from Bluelights >>

Quote from ThisOtherGuyTox >>

I mean, every single class will lose significant amounts of their core sets, because the rotation takes out the most powerful sets in Hearthstone history. The only class that will sort of survive this, with a semi-realistic deck still, will be Paladin, whose Odd-Paladin and Even-Paladin certainly will be able to survive the onslaught.

 You forgot Odd Warrior, most of it's core cards are from this years sets. 

 Well. It does lose Reckless Flurry, Stonehill Defender and Direhorn Hatchling, which i would consider key cards for the deck.

I mean, every single class will lose significant amounts of their core sets, because the rotation takes out the most powerful sets in Hearthstone history. The only class that will sort of survive this, with a semi-realistic deck still, will be Paladin, whose Odd-Paladin and Even-Paladin certainly will be able to survive the onslaught.

I guess that depends on how you look at it.

It would currently be my favorite game, based on replayability, although it wouldn't be the best coming from the first-hand experience. Hearthstone can be played in extremely high doses without feeling much less tiring. Try playing any game that are story-based, more than 2 or 3 times, and you'll see the games through different lenses.

Still, nothing is ever going to compare to the first time i stepped into the World of Warcraft. Experiencing that vast world for the first time ever is something that probably never will be beaten.

Introducing...
The Gambler class!

 

PRESENTATION

A gambler can be many things, a man who bets money on games, a fisherman that is fishing without bait, or just a simple risktaker. One thing they all have in common, is that they play the odds, and hope the luck turns in their favor. So does the Gambler class.
For this reason the Gambler will include a fair amount of RNG elements. But the Gambler, unlike most other classes, have a tendency to be able to stack their odds in their favor, making the odds just the slighest better to turn in their favor than their opponent's.

The Showcase Cards

Forlorn Scrambler: No matter the situation, this will turn out as a way for the Gambler to get ahead. If Taunt emerges, the Gambler can go defensive, whilst it can be more aggresive, should Rush be the example. Should Stealth be the thing for this card, the Gambler will be able to decide just the right moment to swing with it and turn the board into his favor.

On the House: A gambler will take anything that comes their way, and will for this reason never pass up a free drink! Use this card to fill out your curve, and use it strategically, if you want to search up specific Gambler cards! (There will be a 0-Cost Gambler card for this to work with.)

Blavon Felshine: With the use of his Hero Power, and other card generating cards, Hand-Gambler is a logical choice. This further helps promote that, by generating both value and Tempo for the class alike. It should be noted that a random minion is on average about a 3-Cost minion.

Eccentric Noble: Sometimes the cards you obtain won't always be wanted, and will fill you hand with things you'll never want to play. Cards such as this one helps mitigate that, to create a more fluid and consistent experience for all players alike.

A Fresh Start: Lastly, a Gambler is not afraid of trying out new things, and will risk it all for ultimate victory. With the card-generating Hero Power, you can get back on your feet in a matter of turns, for this powerful, but extremely dangerous effect.

I hope you all will enjoy the Gambler class as much as i enjoyed creating it. The primary goal idea for the class is creating (hopefully) healthy RNG, in a way that it doesn't just blow the opponent out of the waters, but instead creates interesting dilemmas for the Gambler to take advantage of, to help make every single game with the Gambler class an enjoyable experience!

I don't think speculation is a bad idea inheirently. Hunter is currently seeing an awful lot of play, and these nerfs does seem to negate some of th cards that makes Hunter so powerful.

It's unlikely they're gonna touch Animal Companion, but the Deathstalker Rexxar and Lesser Emerald Spellstone nerfs seems reasonable.

I've been called both a fanboy, and a hater at one and the same time, and the conclusion is that people just don't like it, when someone disagrees with one's opinion. Naga Sea Witch decks as your example was in my eyes not as problematic as several other decks, like Kingsbane Rogue and Resurrect Priest. People are allowed to like the Dungeon Run as well. I personally didn't fancy it, but I know several people who really liked the extra layer of pure and clean POWER. All in all we all have different opinions on specific cards and modes.

I'm personally tired of seeing people call out people as "fanboys" and "haters", as both parts are equally stupid. The haters will say that a thing is objectively bad because they don't like it, whereas a fanboy will say it's objectively good because they do like it. The fact of the matter is that some people can like things that other people don't.

Let's bring out a controversial opinion that I have for this sake. I don't personally believe you should be allowed to dust more than 2 of the same card after a nerf for a full dust refund. There is no gameplay reason for this sort of thing, and it slows down progression in the game, as people are hoarding more and more cards. This also makes it more appealing for Blizzard to actually nerf cards, as there won't be people getting an entire year's worth of dust, from a single rounds of nerfs. I've also never felt that i've heard a good argument for why it should remain like this in the game, except for personal greed.

Is this an objectively wrong opinion? Some of you might say it is. But as all other opinions, it's a subjective one, and can therefore not be seen as objectively anything. I personally respect it, if you disagree with this opinion, for whatever reasoning you have, as long as you don't call me out, because you have a different opinion.

Quote from CriticalBastard >>

Quote from ThisOtherGuyTox >>

I personally believe the nerf to ramp, including Wild Growth was good for the longevity of the game. 

 

No early game Warrior weapon could really be viable, as long as Waraxe existed. 

I agree with both of these statements. But the timing of the Wild Growth nerf? And where are our Warrior weapons since that support aggro/tempo archetypes? Do you really have faith that they can fill the void of Wild Growth to create a healthy class with varied viable archetypes?

I think we all recognize the problems, the issue is removing them without having solutions. 

I believe the timing for the Wild Growth nerf were Horrific, but still needed. I'm obviously no fortuneteller, but of what I've seen lately, i feel like Team 5 have begun to listen more to the community, than what they have previously. Never before have we seen nerfs this soon, and the nerfs that came were good. Had they hit Rexxar aswell, i would even have considered them wonderful. I agree that of all the times to nerf Wild Growth, this is the silliest point. As Druid, unlike in Boomsday, didn't have several Tier 1 decks.

Sometimes solutions shouldn't come in the form of direct replacements for previous nerfs, as that would just slightly lower the power level of a certain deck, without creating new decks. Warriors don't need to have a cheap weapon, that can/should be played in every single warrior deck you can think of. Personally, I'd like to see more focused early game Warrior weapons like Bladed Gauntlet, over universally strong early game Weapons.

I don't see a sensible way to fix Druid at current moment, although i do hope they'll introduce new and powerful alternative power cards for Druid in the next Hearthstone year, that changes the way we play Druid.

I do agree the timing wasn't optimal, but I'd still like to stress that i believe the changes were great. I'd way rather have the nerfs than not have the nerfs.

Druid has not for a single meta in the entirety of Hearthstones life (with the exception of right now) not had either a high tier 2 or a tier 1 deck. At the end of Boomsday, 4 out of 5 total tier 1 decks were Druid decks. I personally believe the nerf to ramp, including Wild Growth was good for the longevity of the game. This is mostly because Druid decks, in general, have been rather monotone over its Hearthstone lifetime, because of this extremely strong core.

I had said it before the nerfs, and i will say it again here. Most of the Druid cards were NOT overpowered, had it not been for Druid's ramp. Including Ultimate Infestation Branching Paths and even Spreading Plague. These cards wouldn't have been anywhere near as strong in any other class, than specifically druid, because of their ramp capabilities.

The nerfs makes it possible for Druid to receive actual top tier cards, that makes it possible for a new array of druid decks to emerge. If that means that we will have to wait a few expansions for Druid to be Tier 1 or 2 again, then it will be perfectly fine, considering how long it have been in the spotlight as arguably the most consistently overpowered class, alongside Paladin.

I agree that not nerfing either Emerald Spellstone or Deathstalker Rexxar was a mistake on Blizzard's behalf. Both bring too much and too polarised power for the decks they're included in. Hunter as of current moment is too powerful, compared to the remaining classes, although it's not as oppresive nor polarizing as most previous top tier decks, which personally makes it less of a nuisance compared to these previous top tier decks.

Having Basic/Classic cards that are more or less forced into your deck creates monotone types of gameplay, and subdues a lot of cards. No other early game Warrior weapon could really be viable, as long as Waraxe existed. And for the same reason, Combo/Control Druid was always strong, because they had the ability to ignore certain parts of the game. This is fine for a period of a few years, but unhealthy for the entirety of the game.

Indeed. What Setesh said.

If you really want to craft any legendaries to play competitively, Baku and especially Genn are prime cards that can carry an entire deck almost alone. Even Paladin with nothing but basic cards and Genn is already in itself a sort of respectable deck.

Taunt and Immune doesn't work together. A minion with Immune and Taunt will act like it doesn't have Taunt.

'You can't see me!! Oh wait, now you can...'

Alright, i've taken some notes  so this might get a bit long:

Quote from aeson88 >>

Original:

Here's a few ideas, I was focusing more on interesting ways to activate your Elementals than just creating minions.

 

Murlocalypse is supposed to synergise with the new Shaman quest, Unite the Murlocs. The idea is you could use Murlocs for early drops to get the quest rolling and then when you move towards the later half of the game you can start playing your bigger Elementals and have them count towards your quest. You can also use Murlocs as activators or your Elementals.
I really don't know if this is way too crazy or just way too slow to be useful!

With Burning Trickster I was thinking of alternate ways to activate your Elemental effects.
When this card is on the field, your Elementals are always active, regardless of what turn it was played.

Pilot Light is spell that I thought would fit with Mage fairly well.
It's simply designed to give you 3 activators for your Elementals in the form on Tiny Flames... with the flavor of a gas stove =P

Updated:

Still not sure about the wording for this one?
Is it clear what the effect does?

Now Pilot Light gives a you a spell rather than a tiny elemental minion.

Alright, i'll probably do another one of these but this one really took some time ^^'
Let me know, if my feedback was helpful and have a good one you all :)

'The new interns at Sylvanas' army always get picked on. As insiders tell, this one is having a particularly rough time.'
Edit: flavor-text typo correction.

"Lok-tar ogar, brother! Although i'd prefer more Lok-tar and less ogar..."

My thanks go to Toxibrah who was the first one to come up with the name for this card.

"9/10 Ancients of Lore would choose value over tempo. Maybe that's why they walk so slowly."

What if Druids had a Primordial Glyph too? Again a big thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts on the card :)

"Anybody else want this? Nevermind, i'm taking it anyway!"

Do you remember those guys who always want all of the loot for themselves, even if they can't use it? Well, now you can be one of them! Cheers to everyone sharing their thoughts in the discussion topic and helping me with one really tough decision this week.

This week's theme was great. It was really inspiring and led to a whole lot of interesting and creative ideas. The group of finalists also depicts that quite nicely and actually, i don't mind not making it here this week that much - a whole lot of interesting cards with enjoyable effects to pick from.

There are two cards that stick out to me - namely Vindicator Maraad and Show Mercy. These are both cards from the category of "ideas i'd like to have had myself" and will easily grab my vote. There are some strong contestants for my third vote though:

• John Doe: If being bland could ever be a compliment - this would be the time. Also, dat name.
• Loatheb: This really is a choice that demands a certain amount of knowledge and skill. You need to know your own gameplan as well as your opponent's to determine which cards you can afford to give him for free. Less RNG - more chess.
• Menagerie: The same thing i said about Gnomish Explorer last week: clean, simple, fair. For the sake of hollow phrases: Sometimes less is more.

As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan i'm a little sad about Merlock - the effect is amazing but that name is something i like to call "trying too hard". Does every pun with murlocs involved have to contain the sound "Mrrgl" at least three times?

Metamorphosis is also a card that is overdoing it a little in my opinion. The main appeal i get from playing Evolve-Shaman is the mystery of not knowing what exactly you'll get but still trying to make it work somehow. It's a deck that i resort to when i don't want to play competitive, simply for the fun and randomness it provides. Also with the added control through discovering, this actually feels a little too strong to me for 1 mana.

I get the appeal of Battlefront Grunt but for such a random utility card that only might be useful, i feel like it should be smaller to make it flexible. Contrarywise one could argue that you would at least get a respectable body this way - i'm not sure which is better though. Also i can't help it, but the flavor feels a little "derpy" to me (for lack of a better word) - does he actually need to ask the commander what to shout while charging into battle? :D

All in all a pretty enjoyable week. I'm excited for the next one :)

"I see what you did there!" - "Yeah, me too."

"But wait, this is just stealing a card from your opponent with no way of playing around it - is that your  interpretation of fun and interactive?" - Well, let me try to remove those concerns:

Thanks to everyone in the discussion topic and Toxibrah in particular, who provided me with the major amount of input this week :)

"You wouldn't believe how calm good old Deathwing can get, if you just offer to buy him a beer."

Whether you need an enemy minion to lay low for a moment and spare you that one crucial attack, or you really need a minion you recently played to live and see another turn - there is almost no problem that can't be solved with a pint of cold beer.