The Cursed Witchdoctor
The Witchdoctor is back! This time with basic cards. I tried to go into a few directions with them, exploring themes that will later on appear on more complex cards while also laying some solid groundwork for the class with some weaknesses as well.
Keyword: Shadow Realm
My classes keyword is called
Shadow Realm
and it acts like a "bank" which can be used to store cards in it and use them through specific interactions. It is hard to explain without examples so i would recommend looking up my entry from the first Phase to get a clearer understranding.
VERY IMPORTANT:
Cards keep ANY enchantments when they enter the Shadow Realm, so e.g. the Hero Power cost reduction is still apllied while in it or when the card gets back into your hand.
Example Cards
I had to change the wording of many cards I previously created very heavily and some I even had to completely scrap since their effects were simply impossible to get into such few words, but in the end I think they came out better than before because of the challenges. Fun stuff!
So here they are:
- Void Vision : This is a card showcasing a reocurring mechanic of the class: Effects that trigger if you have no more Mana left. These are naturally supported by the Hero Power making it possible to trigger multiple of these in the same turn. The buildup is pretty steep though, so watch out to not get killed!
- Stoke the Fire : Kind of a randomized pseudo-ramp. This started out at 3 mana, but with our current knowledge about hero powers having a card like this in an odd-deck could be really oppressing. I didn't want to limit my own design space for the upgraded Hero Power so this might be on the weaker side, but still quite useable I think.
- Deathcaller : Conditional card draw on a slightly understatted 5-drop. Could be pretty strong, but I would consider it on a healthy strong powerlevel. I orientied myself mostly around Azure Drake and Fire Elemental . What this card showcases is the classes janky card draw. There will be very few cards that only draw cards without having a requirement or some interaction with the draw for the Witchdoctor.
- Darkblight: A delayed 1 damage AoE that repeats itself on the minions that were on the board when cast. It's low tempo the first turn, but if you manage to do some clever trading, it might really pay off on the 2nd or 3rd trigger.
- Abduction: Late game minion removal combined with some value generation. Probably not too strong, certainly depending on the meta, but the second you gain control of a minion or add it to your hand it is way easier to get it into your Shadow Realm , so that is something to consider.
Remaining Cards
So here is the rest. Standard single target removal in
Gutspike
, and a strong board clear in
Soulburst
.
Skullswinger
probably still doesn't make a lot of sense, but I guess more than at the very beginning
(I included it in the first Phase as one of my example cards)
considering all these 2 cost spells which, keep in mind, can all be reduced to 0 with the single use of a Hero Power.
Blend Forces
was a tricky one to balance but I think I got it right. Burst card draw in this class could be really dangerous since with a bit of luck and skill it could be cast very cheaply. So to balance this out, I made the card worsen itself the more likely you are to hit it with your Hero Power. The fewer cards are in your hand, the less powerful it gets.
Last off,
Gloomhydra Blood
is a flexible buff which can be used to kill minions, protect your own ones or do both if you are good, so it should be used wisely, I actually think it would be kind of powerful. Of course the anti-synergy isn't a mistake, it rather turns this into a kind of
Choose-One
card (also, there might already be a pretty good synergy to spot with it, just saying ;)).
So, one thing the Witchdoctor doesn't really excel in is early game removal. Each class has to have some weaknesses, at least in their basic card package, so thats the one I chose. The Witchdoctor mostly has to rely on discounting their cards to create big tempo swings by letting the opponent play some stuff and then slamming a cheap board clear followed by a (hopefully) well statted minion. If that doesn't happen however, you could get into big trouble.
3
I love unexpected Priest mechanic :D
-6
Posted on both sites :D
2
4
I was always using Chromaggus in Wild in my Jungle Giants deck but the minion cost of the copy was never reduced to 0 :(
4
Buff to Jungle Giants <3
2
Only if that minion got reduced to 0 while being transformed. If Shifter Zerus transformed into Nerubian Prophet and your turn would start or it shifted to Corridor Creeper and minion deaths would reduce its cost, THEN it would stay reduced. But Shifter becoming a Wisp and then Tirion wouldn't make Tirion cost 0.
6
A druid can be a raven too, technically.
-12
Yeah because everyone plays Witchwood Piper for carddraw in every Gul'dan deck...
7
Chess Pieces do nowhere state 'End of Turn'
3
Why no Grumble? Also I don't like Refreshment Vendor since it heals your opponent