Mike Donais Talks Elementals, and Reveals FOUR New Cards!
In a blog today featuring discussion on Elementals, Mike Donais revealed four new cards!
As usual, you can find discussion threads for all the new cards below, but we've also got a special Elemental Tribe Discussion Thread.
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Announcement
Quote from BlizzardWhen venturing into Un’goro, be on your guard—the crater is home to huge dinosaurs, challenging Quests and primordial Elementals! Today we’re going to take a closer look at how Elementals were designed and what they do.
But first, check out this brand-new Shaman minion:
When you play an Elemental, their latent energy sticks around and other Elementals can make use of it on the following turn. Many Elementals in Journey to Un’goro get a bonus effect if you played an Elemental on the previous turn. Elementals in your hand will light up with a unique glow when this bonus is active.
There are a bunch of awesome new Elementals coming with Journey to Un’goro, but one Legendary Elemental takes the mechanic of soaking up elemental power to an extreme:
Yes, we have definitely seen this guy reach 30 health.
How did we come up with the Elemental mechanic?
We want each minion type to have its own unique feel and gameplay. When working on the Blackrock Mountain adventure, we decided some cards should get a bonus while you’re holding a Dragon in your hand. This let Dragon decks focus on having large minions, and their mechanic mitigates the downside of holding onto an expensive Dragon while you wait to have enough mana. We knew we had to come up with something unique for Elemental decks that made them feel very different.
During the initial design phase of a set, we explore a lot of ideas—even ones we know won’t work in the end—because iterating on those ideas helps us learn what kinds of things are fun. Maybe we try one mechanic that turns out to be bad, but along the way we discover a certain element of it is entertaining. We can then make a new mechanic that gets right to the heart of the fun.
In Journey to Un’Goro, we knew we wanted to add Elementals, and we tried about 10 different mechanical designs. By playing with each design and discussing them, we narrowed in on the best ones. Eventually, we chose our favorite and adjusted all the Elementals to match the one we liked best.
What other designs for Elementals did we try out?
1. Elementals get a bonus if you cast a spell this turn.
2. Elementals get a bonus if the last card you played was an Elemental.
3. Elementals get a bonus if the last minion you played was an Elemental.
4. Elementals get a bonus if you control another Elemental.
5. Elemental was a minion type and a spell type.
6. Gain Elemental Charges and spend them to power up Elementals.Each of these designs hit us with different problems or challenges, causing us to eventually arrive at the mechanic we shipped with.
Do all the new Elementals have this new mechanic?
No, there are plenty of other Elementals in the set.
Check out the new cards Fire Fly and Flame Geyser - and their token, Flame Elemental:
Both of these cards can help set up big plays by giving you 1-Cost minions you can play to power up your other Elementals.
Previously, we revealed Pyros. Pyros is particularly great because it can help trigger your Elementals when you play each incarnation of him.
Why do we like this mechanic for Elementals?
Elementals are fun because you can plan future turns in advance and get rewarded for it. You end up playing your turn differently because you’re thinking about what you want to do on your next turn …and even the turn after.
Some of the Elemental cards are particularly good in control decks. Notice how Stone Sentinel is a late game card that gives you two Taunt minions? Ozruk, the new Legendary Elemental, is a huge Taunt minion when played in a deck with lots of other small Elementals.
What existing cards became Elementals?
When we created the Elemental minion type, we knew we would want to change some existing cards to become Elementals. We went back and looked at every Hearthstone card one by one and decided which ones to change.
Here are the 18 cards we changed into Elementals:
- Water Elemental
- Anomalus
- Ragnaros Lightlord
- Lightspawn
- Dust Devil
- Unbound Elemental
- Fireguard Destroyer
- Rumbling Elemental
- Earth Elemental
- Fire Elemental
- Neptulon
- Al’Akir the Windlord
- Arcane Anomoly
- Ice Rager
- Magma Rager
- Frost Elemental
- Baron Geddon
- Ragnaros the Firelord
What you should expect from Elementals in Un'Goro
There are about 25 new Elementals in Un’goro. We decided to put them primarily in Shaman and Mage because those are the classes that traditionally use elemental magic and summon things like Water Elementals and Fire Elementals. However, there are a bunch of Elementals in neutral and the other classes, so everyone can dabble in Elementals if they want to.
The elementals are callin’ and if you put them all in, you gon’ be ballin’.
Learn more about Journey to Un'Goro!
Visit our expansion guide to look at all the new cards that have been revealed so far, as well as anything else you want to know about the new expansion!
Eight new cards in one day?! Oh god I'm so horny right now!
Yeah, no reason to play this over Soggoth.
With the same logic all big minions suck because they will get hard removed. Either this guy will get hexed, or i.e. a Tirion.
The issue with Ozruk that it trades so poorly with removal like hex and SW:D that your opponent is way ahead if you spend your turn doing this and they can answer it for only a few mana. All big minions that see play aren't just big fatties they do something else just think of any big minion 7+ that sees plays they aren't just minions you play for their attack/health
So you're gonna save your hard removal on the chance I draw a single legendary, leaving the rest of my big minions uncontested? Sounds good to me!
Ragers buff!!!!
Why not Shadow Rager and Am'gam Rager?
Shadow Rager is a shade (kinda undead, not elemental). And Am'gam Rager is kinda corrupted version of another elemental one.
" You end up playing your turn differently because you’re thinking about what you want to do on your next turn …and even the turn after."
Play the strongest minion on curve (with a shiny new tribal tag). You've played your turn differently how exactly? Curvestone lives.
Make Anomalous great with some crazy synergy we need it!
"Yes, we have definitely seen this guy reach 30 health."
But u didnt add that then it becomes 0/1 frog with 1 health. 9 mana 0/1 taunt is not playable constructed :/
I WISH IT WAS THOE! :D
If this guy gets hexed, something else might not. If something else gets hexed, this big boy wont. Same goes for most decks with lots of dangerous minions
I agree. It seems you will know very early on whither or not your opponent is an elemental deck, and you will know they have Ozruk if they are, so you keep a hard removal for him.
Who upvoted this garbage? If this guy gets hexed, something else might not? That makes this card playable? Jesus christ you people are terrible at this game.
Well it doesnt make it that it sucks. Ancient of war can be removed, Mountain giant can be removed. Are they unplayable? If you get this hexed then an even bigger minion wont get hexed. But since I am terrible at this game I should shut up though =)
We get it, Hex is good against minions. That's still not a valid reason to avoid putting large minions in your deck.
It's a pretty big investment with no immediate impact. Probably on level of Ironbark Protector, and will see similar play.
It's not a reason to avoid large minions in your deck, but, this is a pretty crappy large minion, hex or no hex. Not even that great in Arena, you'd rather the Ironbark in Arena.
Ozruk is a shitty soggoth, Its completely unplayable. 9 mana taunts are way too slow vs aggressive decks and it has no impact vs control decks. You people are always waaaaay too optimistic, and you are always wrong. Hurr durr we can play the antipirate crab in piratedecks and eat our patches.. no you CANT have a UNPLAYABLE 2 drop in your hand when you have good pirates on the board. Omg new Elise is so good she gives so much value.. well you cant play her because the ultimate valuedeck has green statues molesting your winrate. 75% of the people on this website voted that Verdant Longneck (one of the worst druid cards ever created) is playable or VERY GOOD. WHAT????
Seriously Blizzard. You give us Ozruk. One of Therazane's most powerful elemental lords. Isn't it time to give us Therazane?
Shaman legendary HYPE