Hearthpwn

Quote from iandakar >>

Survival of the fittest isn't a Darwin line.  That came later and people really messed up what natural selection is about thanks to it.

Nature isn't trying to find the 'strongest, best' creature.  It simply asks this question "Can you figure out a way to survive?"  If yes then you're in. If not, you die out. This is why you can have creatures that are absolutely weaker than others yet still flourish, because they found a niche to survive in.  Many animals better than the Sloth are going extinct because they have lost their niche while the Sloth remains steady (well most of them, a few species not so well :/)

In any case, I'm not sure if HS decks really work under such things, because 'survival' isn't just based on niche or strength but popularity.  There's many decks that CAN survive in the meta but no one wants to play it so it doesn't see play.  

I prefer the adoption curve in regards to HS decks.  Decks get created by innovators, then early adopters change it, then the majority find it and follow suit (the dreaded 'netdeckers!!!!!') until everyone is using it.  

 

 Ahh okay, thx for correcting me. And for the input

Quote from RavenSunHP >>

Well, the evolutionary principle already applies to HS, whether we want it or not.

It's what you describe. What we call 'meta decks' are those that passed the survival of the fittest test.

HOWEVER, as with anything human, the meta is not only shaped by Darwinism, but by Trend as well. Is Trend something detached from Dawrinism, or just a collateral phenomenon?

We have many decks, in both Standard and Wild, that actually have a high wr, so they pass the survival of the fittest. Yet they stay Off-Meta, because they are never involved into the mainstream.

And i'm not just talking of convoluted, hard to play decks.

Now, one could answer the principle of Trend with the very Darwinism: a deck fails to reach mainstream if it cannot keep up with its high wr, if played in large numbers. But is it the whole story?

 

 Wow great insight

this recently got me thinking. Disclaimer: this is not a salt thread and also, please, i don't want to start a belief discussion. And i don't mean to harm anyone who beliefs in something else then the evolution theory, or convince them to belief this. This thread is also not meant to cry out to nerf certain decks/cards. Thx for your understanding. Peace and enjoy reading :-)))

Darwins evolution theory is mainly about "the survival of the fittest" and the other main idea is "creatures will adapt to their surroundings." The evolution also learns us that mutations cause evolution and in this thread i compare decks with the creatures in darwins work. 

the new decks are first made creative people who discovered a new combo or mechanic. Several other people will then also start to play the decks, but sometimes with some mutations, that can either come out positive, or negative. Only the strongest version will be played the most (survival of the fittest), so new versions of the deck will be based on this list. Also only the strongest decks will see a place in the meta.

this is just a similarity i noticed recently. Maybe we can simulate what happens in evolution to be able to optimize lists better/faster. Tell me what you think about this, i am interested to hear your opinions.

ah okay, thx

by the way, if you don't get PM'ed does that mean you advance to phase III? or is there a list of everyone who advanced?

Quote from Shatterstar1998 >>

Quote from ilja615 >>

Im a bit sad i only got 0 upvotes.. i waited a whole year for this competition. Do you have tips for next time?

 Your class got a decent amount of vote in Phase I, so I think people obviously liked your class idea and Hero Power. I personally think that it is because your Basic cards are disconnected to the flavor of the class. Only 3 of the Basic cards have the Travelling theme of the class. The new flavor seem more like a bunch of Monk cards you reskinned to fit into the class.

 ah thanks, that is a useful advise. good luck in phase III everyone

Im a bit sad i only got 0 upvotes.. i waited a whole year for this competition. Do you have tips for next time?

THE JOURNEYMAN

by ilja615

The Journeyman is a class focussed about placement and movement, because i think that placement is an underused mechanic, and it is very tactical. Many of the cards, and even the custom keyword, will interract with targets adjacent or in front of them, so you have to place them carefully. You can later move minions around if you decide to change plans, and some minions even get bonus effects when moved!

This is how moving minions work: you target the minion you want to move, and that picks him up. Then you drag to where you want to place him down again. You can only move minions when you have 2 or more minions on the field, but don't worry: there are a lot of ways to get extra minions in this class.

Ping Loo is an adventurous pandaren that left the main island together with his companions in order to explore new terrains and learn more about the earth, nature and people from other places. A lot of the cards will be themed in an explorer/traveller/jungle vibe, but some of them will be about the different cultures that the journeymen come across. (And of course cards will be in the theme of the expansion that they are in)

The class also has a custom keyword called "Signal". I explained it in detail in phase I, the link to there is all the way at the end of this post, but i will also have a short reminder here:

The Signal Keyword

There are 2 variants of cards with the Signal keyword: cards that emit a signal, or cards that are able to receive signals. On the card is specified if it will emit or receive, and also there will be further specified when it triggers / what will happen. For example a card could say: "Battlecry: Emit a Signal. " or "Whenever this minion receives a Signal , gain +1/+1."

The keyword won't be used in the basic set so let's move on to the cards that WILL be used in the basic set:

Example Cards

The basic set aims to be not too complicated, while also still being original. The basic set of the journeyman delivers some very useful tools, like card draw, survivablilty, minions to put on the board and control tools. Let's quickly talk about them:

• Barkshield is a very simple yet useful card. It can be used on a high health minion to protect your other minions and your life total.
• Brutal Slash can be used with for example spell damage or cards like Gurubashi Berserker . I don't suspect it to be a core card in a lot of decks but it is a nice mechanic to build around.
• Flying Splice Attack , a combat manouvrer that Ping Loo learned in a country far far away... You can either shrink down high statted threats from your opponent with this card, or if you have a minion with a usefull effect, like Ragnaros the Firelord you can split him into 2 smaller parts to trigger the effect twice! This also synergises with Signal minions, because you can first split your minion and then put a signal-emitting minion in between them.
• Frog Ambush : if you don't have minions on the board, you can't move them. This card is there to avoid those situations and could also be used for token or aggro based decks.
• Yourney Companion is one of the strongest cards of the basic set I think, because your opponent can't easily trade it away the turn after you play it...

The tokens:

Little frog gets summoned by Frog Ambush and Companion's Companion by Journey Companion.

Remaining Cards

Previous Phase

Here is the link to my phase I submission, the keyword is explained there with more detail and you can also see the example cards of minions with the keyword.

TRIALS AND ERRORS (Class Creation Competition #5) - Phase I [Submission Topic]

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed.

Quote from linkblade91 >>

Quote from ilja615 >>

But how do you know if you advanced to  phase II ? Did everyone advance?

 Everyone who was not disqualified advanced automatically. Those who were disqualified were sent a PM telling them; if you did not receive such a PM, you made it to the next round.

 okay! thanks!

But how do you know if you advanced to  phase II ? Did everyone advance?

Im working on a journeyman class with a pandaren as main hero. Already submitted :-))) 

Good luck to all competitors! Its gonna be amazing :—D

I proudly present to you, my custom class for this competition:

The Journeyman

The hero for the journeyman class is a pandaren, called Ping Loo. His job is to travel to all the undiscovered lands. Of course he never travels alone, because he has his minions and companions to help him out. The hero power moves minions, which is a common theme in this class, but he also gives them a small health buff to make the hero power not complete garbage in decks that are NOT centered around moving minions.

The important themes of this class are:

• Moving your minions: This can only be done when you have multiple minions on board. Some minions get extra effects when moved, and some require smart placing but you can move the minions later. Moving a minion picks him up from the field, and you can then drag him to a new place on the board. If you only have one minion, the 'moving' part of the card will just be skipped. So in the hero power's case, you just give your minion +1 health.
• Smart placement: In the journeyman class, you will see a lot of minions that have effects on the minions adjacent to them, or opposing to them. If a minion has 2 other minions opposing to him, he can affect both. (like in the monster hunt from witchwood if you play as cannoneer) smart placement is important, but the hero power allows you to adjust your placement if you want to.
• Card draw: Card draw is important for the class, because of the various small combo's available in this class. Card draw is also important if you want to make a deck that uses this class' own keyword, Signal, which i will explain in a moment.

further more, the class will have control tools and some minor discover synergy in some expansions, but those are not the main strategies. The class also has a lot of synergy with minions, and is not centered around spells (well exept for boomsday but boomsday is crazy anyways). The class might get 2 or 3  weapons but not too many.

Because communication is important when travelling together, he also has a custom keyword, called Signal , which will be introduced in the classic set and also used in later expansions. Signal is an effect just like battlecry and deathrattle but it can be activated multiple times. It allows minions to send signals to the minions adjacent to it, who will then react to it. Thats also why placement is important.

So some minions can Emit a signal, and others can Receive a signal. That is also specified on the card. Basically you need an emitting minion next to a receiving minion.

Now, it's time for the example cards! They will also demonstrate how the keyword and the mechanics of the class work.

Now let's quickly talk about them:

• Desert Cruiser: Nothing really interesting here, but is still a usefull card. Some of the Signal effects are really strong and this card is a great way to trigger them.
• Darkmoon Caster: This card was one of the first cards i made for my class, and since then it has inspired me a lot, and the mechanics all evolved around this card. It requires very carefull placement, because when there are 2 minions in front of this guy, he hits BOTH of them! When there is no minion in front of him, he hits the enemy hero directly! And it is also a 3/2 minion who can attack & defend as normal.
• Experienced Pathfinder: This card lays the foundation to movement based decks and synergises quite nice with the hero power.
• Smoke Signal: An essential card for any Signal based decks, but still a very balanced card.
• Ulla Araviona: A sneak peek to what will come in the Boomsday Project set... She makes your spells basically free, at the cost of giving them random targets, and you can't choose when or if you even want to play the spells.

I really hoped that you enjoyed reading about the journeyman, and also I am already exited to show the rest of this to you all, and even when i get knocked out of the competition I will upload my work in my own thread. Also i wish great luck to all the other competitors. Thanks for reading,

ilja615

 okay so i want to participate in this competition, i have already made cards and uploaded to imgur, but i dont know how to add images to my posts... if anyone would be so kind to help me out, i would be very thankfull

edit: nvm! figured it out!

nah nevermind i will just use firefox for everything from now on

thanks for the name change! i also have trouble logging in because when i press the log in button, i get redirected to home page. to log in i had to download firefox instead of safari but i dont know if you can do something about this

edit after re inlog: yes thank you so much!! it is all back!