Hi, there. Allow me to have the honors of offering my critique to the entirety of your Death Knight class, sir or ma'am. Please do not take any offense as I want you to create awesome and unique cards. I know you have fabulous ideas, you just need to adjust a part of balancing mindset. :)
First off, your class is severely underpowered. I'm not sure if you were too afraid that your cards were OP or not. However, it's not good to be too safe when making your cards. It just ends up being weak in the end. It's better to make something as close to OP, but balanced at the same time. Even if it's OP, you can always adjust things and the experience of making cards just becomes fun in that way.
I'm not sure if I agree if the Hero Power should be randomly permanent, it should be strictly a singular hero power. Sure it offers a different game each time, but it's unpredictable on what you get. It could ultimately decide the game from the start, which isn't great design. Also, I really adore the idea of an interchangeable Hero Power, but seemingly the idea hasn't been executed well in this set yet,
The Hero Power should be Blood Rune or Unholy Rune instead. Choose between one of them. Personally, I like Blood Rune as it affects the board right away instead of Unholy Rune. Frost Rune is bad. It should be +1 Attack this turn, but even then it's underpowered, because Druid's is better. Plus you don't always reliably gain a weapon all the time like Rogue.
The Decay status effect is VERY underpowered. It takes too long for it to matter in the long-run and damage over time isn't great without potential synergy or more to go with it. In your case, you have almost little to no synergy involving your Decay status effect.
Deathbringer Saurfang has a unique concept. However, it is quite bad with this card. It has miserable stats for a (10) mana card, is weak to all kinds of removal and control cards, it is SUPER bad if you get it at the start, too slow to play, and takes too long to give it value. Gahz'rilla ends up being 3x better than this card because it's at (7) mana, has better stats at 6/9, and is a Beast that Hunters can use to great effect. Conversely, you can make this card, a (7) Mana creature if you want to keep the effect. It's only good being in Decay, but even then it's kinda subpar.
Stormwind Death Knight, remove the Taunt and it's fine. Having Taunt is a little OP.
Darkhand, I like the card, good job with this card. It offers synergy with some stuff as well.
Necropolis Quartermaster, it is all right. I don't think it deserves to be a rare, because the effect isn't really that good and sometimes situational. It should also have 2/3 instead of 3/2. You could even make the card have 2/4 stats even.
Gargoyle, it's a bad card. I'm sorry. It needs to be at least 5/6, even then, it's still bad. Not to mention, it's not really all that interesting. I don't really like it that much.
Deathcaller, I really like the flavor of this card and I think it's awesome. Really good card. You could probably make it a 2/3 or 3/2 too.
Ghoulmaster, spectacular design for this card. It's similar to a Harvest Golem, but it's also good and not as good as Harvest Golem, because it has 3 Health and Ghoulmaster has 2. I really like this card.
Army of the Dead, really situational card, but it's decent in what it provides. It's like an opposite Soul of the Forest.
However, in that sense, this card is really bad though, it could be (4) or even (3) Mana.
Outbreak, this card is all right, It doesn't remove any present state of the board because it doesn't do any damage until the end of the turn. It's more of a delay card like Mage's Frost Nova combined with the Paladin's Consecration technically. It's decent, but it's not great. I prefer the Priest's Light Bomb over this card imo.
Mind Freeze, this is what it would be like Loatheb was converted into a spell. Really good card. I'm unsure if it's OP, but I think it's fine. A part of me likes it and the other is trying to figure it out.
Unholy Presence, um... it's not a remarkable card that's for sure. In fact, I'd rather you make a class-specific weapon that inflicts Decay instead of a card that applies it to a weapon. Especially since most ways your Death Knight class gets weapons are from minions. This card could be (0) or (1) Mana, because it doesn't really do anything too significant or if any.
Blood Presence, just like Unholy Presence, I'd rather have a weapon that has this ability instead. I like the idea of a class that uses enchantments to improve a weapon, but ultimately the class has to be focused entirely on weapons to be any good like Rogue does.
Dark Transformation, this card could be a basic Death Knight card in my opinion. It's very underwhelming at the moment. I know it's only (0) Mana, but the effect is too situational to matter and requires that you have at least 2 minions. +2/+2 could be done instead. Choosing a minion is also a good way to the buff the card too.
Horn of Winter, once again, very situational when Death Knight has a difficult time acquiring weapons at appropriate times, underwhelming, and bad card. Also, try not to use another class's mechanics, using the Druid's Choose One is specific to only him in the Warcraft universe (at least so far that is). You should also make this card be: "Give your weapon +2/+1."
Anti-Magic Shell, I like the idea of this card. It's very different from the other ideas that other Death Knight class set idea uses. I love it. :)
Death & Decay, I think this card could reasonably cost (4) instead, as Decay is not really that great. Heck, it could probably be even (3) Mana. The problem with Decay is that while it will eventually kill the minion, suiciding/trading their minion into yours will most likely occur first, therefore, it's not really viable.
Frost Presence, I LOVE the idea behind the card. However, it's difficult to judge the balance of this card in my opinion. It's like having a 0/10 Mega-Taunt minion on your field for (4) Mana, which is kinda bad and good. It's a powerful way of being able to make your opponent unable to trade with your minions for only 4 Mana. I think it's OK though. I'm probably leaning it to being (5) Mana though.
Raise Ally, it's not good. Simply 'cause it takes a card slot in your deck and doesn't really offer much else. It's better to just add a (2) Mana minion instead to your deck. However, if the effect was like, "Return a random friendly minion that died this turn to the battlefield." then it would be pretty cool.
Death Grip is an even worse version of the Spare Part - Rusty Horn which gives any minion Taunt for 1 Mana and worse than Druid's Mark of the Wild which gives +2/+2 as well as Taunt. This card seriously needs to have an entirely different effect. It doesn't feel like a grip neither. something like, "Giving a minion, 'Can't Attack.'" would be better, even if it's uncreative.
Death Coil is albeit seemingly OP, but at the same time, it's not? However, it is one of the best cards and maybe even balanced I think.
Blood Plague is giving a minion Decay for a Mana Cost, which is extremely bad. Even at (0) Mana, it's hard to say if even that is useful. Warlock's Corruption is better than this card and it's for (1) Mana.
Runeforge, I'd rather this card be a minion that has something like, "Battlecry: Transform your Hero Power into another random Rune." or "At the end of your turn, your Hero Power permanently becomes a random Rune." As a spell, it has no practical uses and serves as no change to the present board unless you have (4) or more Mana.
Rune Blade, It's just OK. That's about all it is. That said, the weapon being at (4) Mana severely hinders the situational synergies it has with stuff like Necropolis Quartermaster.
Runed Soulblade, good card design. I love it. More cards like this one. :)
Frost Greataxe, hm... 6/1, eh? Uh... sure. It works! I think it's a nice weapon, it's like a finisher.
Plague Tank is pretty interesting. However, it's another card that has no sustaining or present board change effect. I think the effect should be more constant like, "Your opponent's minions are Decaying." and give some threatening stats at least 1/10 or 2/10. Or if we want to get major, maybe something like 5/6. Even then it feels more of an Epic-type minion then a Legendary.
Icy Touch is pretty cool, no pun intended. But once again, it should be something that's given via weapon or minion to increase its usefulness. The problem is that it requires a minion to survive. Otherwise, change it to (1) if you're keen on it.
Plague Strike - There's finally a card with some synergy involved with using Decayed minion. Problem is that it only deals its damage to the hero. I think it should be an enemy character. That way it provides a lot more uses than being a weaker or stronger Mind Blast.
The Contraption - I think the card has a lot of alluring flavor. I love this card, however, even with the random Attack changes, I still think the card needs to be (5) Mana simply because of its chance of dealing 18 damage for (4) Mana and provides a Spare Part.
Gutbuster - Pretty good weapon actually. Or rather I think it's fine, but I don't know. It's kinda similar to an Eaglehorn Bow, but you have to kill something with it instead of activating a Secret.
Diseased Murloc - I like the card. It's got good vanilla stats and has a neat flavorful effect.
Dancing Rune Weapon, I think this card can be (3) Mana imo. It's a only 2/2 weapon which is already 2 Mana. The ability to summon a 2/2 from an effect can range from 1 to 2 Mana, but since it's only a 2/2 with no effect. It's OK to have be the +1 Mana Cost of the weapon instead of +2.
Acherus Defender - Really underpowered. 1/5 is OK for this minion. But I still think the card needs a reworking elsewhere like the ability.
Triton the Sacrilegious is one of those cards that's hard to judge if it's OP or not. I really like this card though because it really fits. It's got passable stats and has a cool effect. It's good in a control deck so you can finish off your opponent slowly but surely in the late-game. It's quite OP if you were to play it again via Youthful Brewmaster, but that is situational, so again it's difficult to say.
Reaping is a really slow card in itself and Death Rune Hero Power is actually really bad. You should probably reread that again, because what it is is, "Give yourself -1 Mana Crystal this turn." The cost of using the Hero Power overrides the Innervate power it's supposed to give. It needs to be, "Gain 4 Mana Crystals this turn."
Bloody Grip is situational and is even worse than Rogue's Tinker's Sharpsword Oil. It does have the interchangeable Hero Power thing which is neat to see though.
Pestilence, good board clear, I think it's appropriately costed. It's very situational to Decay minions sometimes, but with some of the changes I suggested, it would probably have to cost (5) Mana. But it's fine the way it is. Good card.
Lv. 55 Death Knight, what an interesting type of summoning minion. I think it's OP at (4) Mana though. 2 Mana gets you a 1/4 and 3 Mana gets you 3/4, so in theory this should cost (5) Mana even if it's a Class card. If you want to keep it with Taunt, the Ghoul Mook should be 1/2 or 1/3 instead.
Crippling Strike, wait now you have Secrets? xD But yeah, anyway this card is really nice. Good work. 2 Mana is good for this type of Secret. I'm not sure if it that's useful though. Although, combined with Decay, it's decent.
Coldheart, I like the fact that it changes your Hero Power with this card, I think this card is pretty cool but it's also bad. Once again the Frost Rune Hero Power is really situational. It's essentially a (7) Mana 4/4, "Give your weapon +1 Attack."
Shield of Distortion, I think this card should be reworked, I think it shouldn't even be a Secret, it should be just give a minion or minion(s), "Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers."
Razuvious' Former Student, lol. I think it's OK? This is a funny card. :)
Shadows of Death, wow this is actually OP, the destroy effect part is fine since you need to Decay a minion, but that 3 damage to the enemy hero is OP. This is power creep over Sinister Strike.
Corpse Explosion, I really like this card, but I think it's a tad bit underpowered compared to Explosive Trap.
Overall, I had fun reading and critiquing your class. I hope you'll like my suggestions and I would love to talk to you more with the class and adjustments, if you would. :)
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Yeah, I'm seeing I probably should've changed Nespirah's hero power to "Must remain on board, otherwise you lose." lol That was honestly, truly my intent - I just worded it poorly.
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That's it. A 155 or so cards.
I need help. ;_;
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NEUTRAL COMMONS
1
MAGE
Legendary
Epic
Rare
Common
1
HUNTER
Legendary
Epic
Rare
Common
1
DEATH KNIGHT
Legendary
Epic
Rare
Common
1
DRUID
Legendary
Epic
Rare
Common
1
So, like.....lore-wise, how in the hell does this make any remote sense? Anyone else have any weird moments to share from BRM?
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This is going to be without a doubt the biggest post from a single on this forum, which is why it will be split into ten different posts (indexed here). While you COULD call this obsessive lol, in truth I only made a few cards a day and some have been recycled from earlier stuff I posted (because I liked them :) ).
In any case, this expansion doesn't really have a "theme", but rather I wanted to play around with some "established class rules" the game's played by so far. As a result, you'll see certain minion types in classes they might seem like they don't belong, certain perks and abilities mixed up, and other such doodads.
And I've also invented a brand new type of card (TYPE - as in, minion, spell and weapon) - Locations, neutral spells which have a permanent effect for both players.
In any case, here be the index - just click on it to be taken to the post with the cards at hand:
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It's been a while since I posted anything. Just a tiny set that emphasizes Stealth and continuous chip damage pressure.