Hearthpwn

 

It is probably worth mentioning that the origin of this class comes from a top-down design. Originally, the class was supposed to revolve around a League of Legends character, no less, but I was mildly aware of having to scrap that for the actual competition. It changes nothing about the class's identity as a fast and reckless class.

What helps sell that is the Hero Power. It has gone through many iterations over those three years, only arriving at its current form now, partially thanks to Demon Hunter introducing a 1-Cost Hero Power. At first, the Hero Power interacted with a keyword I'd refer to as Reload, which effectively just refreshed the Hero Power, which dealt damage. From this stemmed the idea of having a Hero Power that would deal considerable damage but only every other cast, or a Hero Power that would store 2-damage charges, and could be charged by itself or via certain class cards. This idea generally came to a halt when it came to considering under what circumstances Hero Powers refresh themselves, though. An alternative path for this Hero Power began with "Deal 1 damage to a target and both heroes", so effectively Mage's Hero Power with extra burn. This is the one that eventually led to Bombs Away! as it is today.

Originally, there was a keyword in development, called Fuse (X). A card's Fuse would count down every turn, and if it reaches zero, the card explodes in your hand and, in its most basic form, you draw a new one. The biggest trouble with this keyword was that there was a very narrow space between numbers low enough that players would only run those cards and hold onto them for the free cycle, and numbers too high to evoke the sense of urgency that the Bomber exudes with its burn through deck and hero Health. Spare a moment of Silence for the two cards in the original Initiate/Boot Camp set which featured this keyword spelled out. Thus, the class itself features no keywords, but it sports a pair of mechanics (well, one is only a token) mostly unique to itself, as far as Core sets are concerned.

Rockets

Rockets are the very simple token that Bombers utilize throughout combat. Weak on their own, they mostly work add extra damage to other, bigger sources. They can also be combined with Spell Damage to provide strong bursts of damage to whittle down your opponent. Originally, the Initiate/Boot Camp set featured various ways to power up Rockets beyond that, but I believe that with the necessity to keep the Core set rather simple, empowering Rockets should be the job of various expansions.

The wording of cards that generate Rockets has been changed. So far, it was the norm for them to spell out that Rockets deal 1 damage. With Core, however, the text changes to parentheses for Core cards: (that deal 1 damage), meaning that expansion cards can do away without this explanation.

Temporary Armor

Easily the biggest head-tilter from the whole class. Gameplay-wise, of course, the numbers are bloated, but Armor in Bomber serves double duty as a defense against your opponent's damage, but your own, too -- and if you choose to break your own Armor with self-damage effects, at least you know it's not going to waste! Of course, the real issue that may come to mind is floatiness and interaction with regular Armor. It's a valid question, but often I feel like people approach it with the worst possible execution in mind.

For starters, every instance of Temporary Armor says "for 1 turn". This wording is deliberate not because the number can be treated as a tweakable variable, but instead to mimic the wording of Rastakhan Rumble's Spirit minions' "Stealth for 1 turn". With this precedent, this Armor then breaks at the start of your turn. Then, due to the lack of regular Armor in Bomber, in 99 % of cases, if enemy Bomber has Armor up, it'll go away at the start of their next turn.

In the odd case of a stack of regular and temporary Armor, temporary Armor would break first before the regular one, similarly to how regular Armor covers Health. It's up to debate whether these niche cases would require visual indication. Something as minor as recoloring the digits of the indicator would probably do the job.

Enough of that. Time to get back to the Core set.

New Cards

These are the three brand new cards introduced into the Core set. Fully Loaded is a general purpose card meant to support various Bomber decks by providing extra cards from relevant categories or doubling as a Rocket generator. Foundry Giant is an Armor-related Epic mech that replaces Gigantabot, which required too much Armor gain cards to function. Its synergy wasn't very welcome in a Core set. Similarly, Shanna Sparkfizz replaces Siegecrafter Blackfuse, whose presence warranted too much of a Rocket generation. Somewhat fitting for his assistant to replace him (actual boss encounter nonwithstanding), and she instead provides a real handful of Rockets on demand, instead of relying on several cards over the course of the game.

Redone Card

Reload is the one card undergoing a major change, similar to Hunter's Tracking. The incentive behind this change is to put the spell down to 1 Mana as oppoosed to the original price tag of (2). However, to theoretically maintain the amount of Mana saved by fulfilling the condition, the reduction has moved onto the drawn spell. This spell is included to fuel general spell and Fire spell decks. In the Bomber class, Fire synergy is boosted by the Rocket tokens.

Touched-up Cards

Powder Monkey now follows other (1) 3/1 minions in the game with its +1 Attack buff, adding some damage to aggressive decks that wish to utilize Rockets as a source of face damage. Handheld Zapper's Armor gain has been bumped up from 3 to 5 to better reflect the game's new power levels and find its place in weapon decks as more than just a weapon to trigger synergies. It goes similarly for Hand Cannon, but its +1 Attack buff also increases the class's mid- to late-game threat, packing a higher potential damage output than a Doomhammer.

Both Iron Star and Special Delivery have had their Costs cut down by (1) to ensure they can come out earlier in more aggressive metas, following the buffs done to cards such as Flamestirke and Assassinate.

Unchanged Cards

To support Bomber's fast-paced gameplay, Burning Up is printed, virtually without a downside if you're willing to take that damage, or block it with your Armor. Speaking of which, Evasive Maneuvers fulfills a similar niche if you find yourself in a pinch for Armor. Finally, Zapcrafter is brought back. Originally, this minion was considered for a small buff, perhaps an extra point of Spell Damage. However, she is kept as she was to support the countless Rockets and other damaging spells.

As an all-around card, Goblin Shredder comes in to support Mechs, self-damage and aggresive archetypes at once. Control decks get, in turn, Landmine, unchanged, now comparing a little closer to Assassinate, but still cheaper at dealing with a majority of targets.

Finally, a pair of cards to help out weapon-centric decks, both hailing from The Boomsday Poject set. Recuperator fulfills a role similar to Reload! pictured above, offering cycling useful for such decks. Then, Ion Ray, a solid midrange weapon with effectively Armor on demand.

Fire spells

The Ranked spell for Bomber is Firecraft (Rank 1), a cheap Fire spell that may or may not have powerful applications come turn 10. Unfortunately, while I've managed to scrounge up three somewhat related pictures, I could not make it about the Mercenary (shown below). Still works, though.

Two more useful Fire spells in Bomber's roster: Collateral Damage to keep aggressive boards at bay, and Suppressive Fire as a catch-up tool in case there's a board to deal with but you're willing to soak some extra damage. Then, one of the two cards synergizing with Fire spells, Bacon Burner, best served with rations of Fire spells for a particularly crispy damage output.

While Gavis Turboflame, Bomber's Mercenary, may not bring about the same long-term spell school investment payoff as Stormwind's Jace Darkweaver, a good application can generate quite some value for you -- after all, aren't so many Fire spells simple area of effect cards? And if you're feeling extra creative, there may be a Rocket combo hiding at the tail end of a Gavis coupled with Spell Damage.

Mechs

Two Common Mechs make up for the base of a Mech Bomber: Ratchet Sentry, doubling as a control play similar to an Annoy-O-Tron, helping the hero pull through any aggression following the protection in the form of Taunt getitng destroyed. Then, there is the Coal Roller, Bomber's only Frenzy card, taking that one extra Rocket you're holding onto and turning it into a random nuke into your opponent's lines. Or you could always Hero Power. Your call. There's an extra use to Barrens Bombardier, which generates said Fire spells while still being a solid Mech to put down.

Helping out a Mech deck, there is Scrap Heap. Originally, it was supposed to summon the Mech with an imposed Attack reduction, but the design ended up being scary in any implementation. Good finds include the aforementioned Barrens Bombardier. And, finally, any cheap Taunt and Rush Mech is worth bringing back with the one and only Founder Gazlowe (not a Mech, notably, just like his GvG counterpart), who's ready to defend his Ratchet colony with a veritable army of Mechs.

 

COMMON

RARE

EPIC

LEGENDARY INVENTION

LEGENDARY INVENTOR

Pick up your Arcane Charge, or both of them, to boost your spells even further, and Rockets, too! If you wish to focus on those alone, contact Aerial Support to put some more kick into your Rockets. Careful not to begin Burning Up! while you have Arcane Charges out, because it might get a little messy. If you burn yourself, call upon a Sword Gnome to clear the air and leave behind the Shield Gnome to hold your ground.

Many, many of Bomber's equipment items sport a Short Fuse. Sometimes, it might be best to leave it to burn up. Same with the Unstable Chugger, which can be a force to be reckoned with, or a very effective supply drop. Finally, don't forget to Reload! inbetween slinging your Fire spells to maintain your tempo.

If the original Rocket generation cards aren't enough to satisfy your pyromania, you may also want to get your hands on some more via the time-tested act of Jury-Rigging some more. After two of these and the original cards, you can generate up to twelve Rockets, and buff them up. You might want to hold onto those. And those weapons? Maintain a strong sidearm inbetween bombarding your opponent with cannon fire by holding onto a Backup Blaster to grab inbetween your stronger pieces.

Finally, the devious inventor himself. So, remember how you have been told to hold onto your Rockets? Suppose you hold onto six, improve them with Aerial Support, and then maybe again, and then... you get the gist. A well-prepared Siegecrafter Blackfuse CAN and WILL blow your opponents sky high when provided with the right materials!

On two opposite sides of the Control spectrum, you have Ring of Fire and Fortify. For the former, you might want to up the ante with Zapcrafter, but try to make sure she doesn't get into the way of the flames! That said, there's plenty more Fire spells for her to boost, and you might want to hold onto her until you get those Rockets from Powder Monkey to amp up your damage output. And if one Rocket isn't enough, wait for a bit-

Well, there's those Gnomes again. Are they hiding inside the Gnomish Ray? Anyway, you might find you wish to forgo the body a Spell Damage bonus might be attached to in favor of a complete wipe of your opponent's side of the battlefield -- few better ways than by channeling your Destructive Tendencies and pulling it off with gusto. Finally, if you ever find that you could use slightly more Rockets than necessary, how about a veritable Rocket Pack? Heard that Rockets sell particuarly well with Gadgetzan Auctioneers...

Remember that Armor that only sticks around for a bit? It's only fair that you get a little extra before slamming it onto a minion with Shock Barrier. Best served after some other Armor gain. However, don't throw it all out at once, not if you wish to unlock the full potential of the Gigantabot! Who knows, perhaps that Armor is there to protect you from it, but... on second thought, that applies for a lot of tools in your repertoire.

Behold, the mighty hand cannon known as the Nerubian Conqueror. Each of its two (wait, only two?) slugs coated with potent poison so that they only need to scrape your foe before the toxins do the rest. Its range ensues you're safe from most of the dangers stemming from engaging a powerful foe, too.

This keyword would center around a simple 1-Cost "Deal 1 damage" token spell to pad any mana you'd float. Can be messed with using other cards.

But there's three ways to go around this token:

Possible Legendary card: "Fire all your Rockets at random enemies. Draw a card for each."

The Fuse keyword is heavy on flavor, and is meant to add a sense of urgency befitting the hectic Bomber gameplay.

 

It's fairly difficult, however, to find a nice balance between an urgent card and a free cycle (which a Fuse: 1 card would usually be, making up for a <30 cards deck).

An alternative is a keyword in the same vein as Combo or Outcast, which would limit the window during which the effect activates:

Armor:

Bomber's (currently) only own form of damage mitigation is via Armor for 1 turn, which will mostly come in handy to soften the impact of attacking as well as the various effects that damage your hero (including the Hero Power). With the exception of Special Delivery, a Bomber is expected to lose their temporary Armor on the same turn they gain it.

Drawback cards:

Bomber's main drawback, tanking a lot of damage, can be converted back into value via the Goblin Flanker. In terms of damaging your own hero, outside the Hero Power, you may want to play the Goblin Shredder to accelerate the game for yourself, or trade taking a face full of your opponent's swarmed board for just some meager burns coming from handling the Iron Star, a powerful goblin siege explosive. Hey, looks like goblins have really got a grip on this whole recklessness business.

Control cards:

Alongside Special Delivery and Iron Star, Bombers boast two more Fire spells that ensure that the only damage they are taking is from their own cards. Landmine specifically mitigates the damage a minion could dish out by attacking, but will not remove those pesky folk that your opponent will gladly pass up on attacking with if it means they get to keep their Emperor Thaurissan alive. Air Strike serves to knock out medium-sized threats, with the extra ping from your Hero Power serving to clean up the remainders.

Damage output:

Right, so you've been dutifully following safety regulations to mitigate damage to your own hero, now, the question is, how are you going to damage your opponent? Perhaps borrow a perk from the dwarven Mortar Team, their Imbued Gunpowder, ready to put an extra oomph into a minion's swing. Or fit yourself with the powerful Hand Cannon and begin making dents in your opponent's defenses, skull and dreams. And perhaps once you complete the Bomber's Training Camp, you might find more tools to spice up your gunplay with.