Iksar Explains why no Keyword Exists for "Can't be Targeted by Spells or Hero Powers"
Referred to as Elusive unofficially by many community members, this block of card text is a subject that's been brought up in the past and recently hit the front page of reddit again.
- There's now 10 collectible cards in the game with the exact effect or a variation on it.
- This year we've seen 5 cards added to the game with the effect, and an entire keyword that can add it to cards (Adapt).
- Interestingly, a change to a single word could make Deathstalker Rexxar's hero power change as it's shorter text.
Noteworthy historical blue mentions on the card text.
- 2014: Ben Brode stated the team had discussed Shroud, Untargetable, and Ethereal as potential keywords. (Source)
- 2014: Yong Woo stated when they have enough cards with the same effect they may turn it into a keyword. (Source)
Now, here's what Iksar is saying today.
- There isn't a great word for the effect that clues you in to what it does.
- Trying out Elusive or Ethereal ending up being more misleading than helpful.
- The effect isn't going to be used on many cards in the future as having too many of these minions decreases the ability to interact with an opponent.
Blue Posts
Quote from IksarWe've talked about this before but opted to spell it out. A keyword is essentially something we ask you to read and understand, so in the future you can look at a card and quickly understand what it does without having to parse through a bunch of text. Sometimes when we can use the right word, you already have a pretty good idea of what a keyword does without reading the description. Divine Shield does a pretty good job of this. People on the team have different opinions on this subject, but one of the reasons not to keyword it is that there isn't a great word for 'can't be targeted by spells or hero powers' that would clue you in to what it does. It's sort of a strange concept to begin with that something can be targeted by a battlecry or an attack but not by a spell. When we used something like 'elusive' or 'ethereal' or various other words I think it ended up being more misleading rather than increasing the ability to understand it quickly, which is counter to the point of making a keyword in the first place. Lastly, this isn't a concept we plan on using on many cards in the future. It's cool to have one-offs like Shimmering Courser or Soggoth but having too many of these types of minions greatly decreases your ability to interact with your opponent. (Source)
Or, and this is a long shot, but what if a keyword was a descriptive-enough single word that defined itself when you hovered over it.
We often state, then restate, then restate this again.... but trying to keep the game easy to pick up and grasp does not also equal a belief that the playerbase lacks intelligence. It's very rare that one particular thing is so complicated that no one will understand it, it's more that in order to protect against a death by a thousand cuts we have to stay vigilant when accessing all decisions (no matter how minor) to make sure that by adding an increase in complexity we are getting something valuable in return. (Source)
Spellproof
"Wily."
Hire me, Blizzard.
"Arcane Immunity" sounds like just as good or as bad of a keyword as "Divine Shield" but okay...
The problem with that is that it is not immune to spells, just not target-able.
The reasoning offered here by Iksar seems really weak. All of the other keywords have explanations, because they are not actually self explanatory- thats why you can click on them/hover over to see what they do. (I always thought taunt was a weird term, given how it's applied in in the Hearthstone- why is it symbolized with a grey shield?) Also, it's not a good effect, not interactive, should be rare... Yet each expansion includes it some way? So many holes here. Just pick a word and be done with it.
Not to mention there's a keyword called "Counter" (see Counterspell). Yeah, totally not rare at all.
Yes. What Iksar said is pretty much nonsense.
As if anybody knew what "Inspire" does without reading the explanation. Or Overload. Discover. Combo. Adapt.
You don't even know what adaptation does AFTER you read it. So there, the points made here are pretty dumb.
Spells/Hero Power Resistant?
Magic Immune?
Untouchable?
Reflect?
Essentially, it sounds like there is no keyword because Blizzard hasn't found one that makes what it does clear enough for a new player. My problem with this explanation is the fact that a lot of the keywords already in existence aren't clear at all. Keywords such as Charge, Lifesteal, and Deathrattle are easily understandable but if you've never played World of Warcraft, what does Windfury mean? Without ever having played, what does Inspire sound like it does?
Players learn what the keywords do by playing the game and as long as they aren't outright confusing - examples I've seen here such as Spellshield and Untargetable are not good - then keywords should be used whenever possible. There's a reason why MTG has moved away from superfluous card text over the years in favor of keywords and it's even better for a completely digital game such as Hearthstone that can let players quickly reference what those keywords do.
I really like this. Maybe something like Magic Ward to make it even more self-explanatory.
Anti-Magic Shell Give your minions +2/+2 and Magic Ward.
Shimmering Courser Has Magic Ward on your opponent's turn.
Kobold Monk Your hero has Magic Ward.
Wee Spellstopper Adjacent minions have Magic Ward.
Seems to work flawlessly.
Not trying to beat a dead horse here, but kinda surprised it hasn't been suggested yet (that I saw at least). Since one of the earliest cards to have this effect was Faerie Dragon, wouldn't something like Faerie Shield be pretty grokable?
Faerie refers to a realm of existence (elves, pixies, goblins) that don't easily map to Warcraft lore. Using it could either constrain what types of creature are allowed to have the keyword or just make people wonder why a Bearshark is akin to a pixie. So I think that would be rejected.
It offers a counterpoint to keywords
I suggest "deflective" or "hydrophobic"
What does repelling water have to do with heropowers and spells? :D