Dean Ayala: No More Even & Odd Cards for Witchwood
Many players have been worried that there were going to be too many Even and Odd mechanic cards in the set and up until now, all we knew is that not every class would have them. Thanks to Dean for confirming to PC Gamer in an interview that everything we've seen now is it.
Quote from Dean AyalaAre there more even and odd cards we haven't seen?
There's just the four that we revealed in the video plus the two legendaries. That's the totality. We're going to have a lot of Echo and Rush stuff too, which I think are interesting mechanics.
Here are all the currently revealed cards which make use of the mechanics, starting with the most recent.
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More Stat Tracking Isn't Needed
In the same interview with PC Gamer, Dean talks about Stat Tracking in China and why he doesn't think the core game needs it.
Quote from Dean AyalaWe have very minimal stat tracking now. We have your level, what your highest arena key is, total wins… and the reason we have that is because we think it's the right amount. It's super high level stuff and there aren't menus of pages tracking how much damage you do on Tuesdays. I think a lot of players do want more data, but I don't think it's necessary for a large majority of the player base. We take the UI very seriously on Hearthstone, where if we can choose not to add another pane then we don't. One of our UI designers always used the phrase "death by a thousand cuts," where you keep adding one more thing…
WOW REALLY? Totally didnt see that one coming. Lol. The thing is if there shall be no advantage from playing even and odd except like what 4-5 cards then why should we even do it?
Weird that they would only make two even-cost cards, while odd-cost gets four.
I feel like this is going to be a failed mechanic as a whole. Probably only one of these cards sees much play on the ladder after the dust settles (I'm guessing Baku? maybe none).
Just speculation ofc, since this is basically all we've seen of the rest of the set, but still.
Seemed like a neat idea, on par with Highlander or the three prince stuff, but if this is all we get then this is more embarrassing than Inspire.
Highlander only had Reno for a while, and was widely played. The odd/even decks will work if they can include enough good odd/even cards.
True, but Reno was enough to carry the Highlander archetype on his own.
I don't think the same can be said for the even/odd cards; none of them have an effect as powerful as Reno for the drawback.
they won't see play, a mini azure drake is not worth sacrificing Frostbolt AND Fireball, in fact black cat is a terrible card because the two things it wants to support the most are the things it ends up banning from its deck and in a similar fashion getting a 5 mana 4/8 taunt is not worth Sacrificing Ultimate infestationd and Spreading plague, plus ODD isn't even worth it in the first place because reducing the hero power to a 1 mana version does literally nothing to help, we might have to see in even because upgraded hero powers are useful and the only thing that stoppe msot of them being viable back with Justicar was that you had to draw and play her, so starting with an upgraded Mage or Warrior Hp can prove to be really powerful.
well, i did have Baku and greymane mixed up but one point is still clear, Upgrade>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>reduced cost, so upgrade=good, reduced cost= bad, it doesn't make any sense to make an even deck unless you're doing some for fun WIld Inspire mage build, withColdarra Drake , Fallen Hero and maybe even Justicar Trueheart and Dalaran Aspirant/Tournament Medic but that's kinda janky
Except youre forgetting that Death Knight heroes are still a thing. What is the point of crippling your deckbuilding for an upgraded heropower that is still inferior to the DK heropowers that only require a deck slot? Druid Justicar Upgrade vs DK heropower - really easy choice. The only one that might be worth testing is a warrior odds deck, just because Tank Up wars used to be a thing, and could be again. The evens deck might have been playworthy if it carried over like Raza does, but it only reduces your starting basic heropower, not your DK. So that has no potential either.
Honestly, the odds and evens concept should just have been held back until after the DK heroes were rotated out.
Mages are likely to get odd cost spells given that they designed a odds-only deck card. If not this expansion (highly unlikely) but certainly in future expansions. Why give up Frostbolt and Fireball, when you can have both?
Well rumor was that they added even/odd cards only to few classes where they thought there won't be enough experimentation...
ehhh imho Odd is not even worth it except in Wild paladin with access to Quartermaster, Lost in the Jungle and Muster for Battle, reducing any other hero power to 1 Mana is pretty much inconsequential (except maybe hunter's) and even in that type of DUde spammy paladin you are renouncing to Tarim, Stegodon and Call to Arms, and then similarly the decks that get rewarded for sacrificing Even cards are sacrificing the likes frostbolt, fire ball, spreading plague and ultimate infestation..
Even...well, i'm on the fringe with even because starting with an upgraded, warrior, Priest or Mage hero power may be useful.
I just wish they have made 1 odd or even card for each class.