Was thinking around the idea that everyone is having a great time slamming back brews but next day, all hell will break loose. A full board buff for both you and your opponent that pays dividends for both players. If the Warlock isn't finishing them this turn, your opponent gets to take advantage of the buffs. Then the party comes to a crash the next turn when everyone realizes the party is over and now have to deal with the hangover.
Thank you OP as I wasn't even thinking about the pity timers for these new packs. Opened 3 Standard and got Kiri, Chosen of Elune and then opened one Wild pack and got Anomalus. May not be the greatest legendary cards to pull but for only 400 gold, getting two was a sweet payoff.
Dire Frenzy seems like it will be important for this new era of Hunters (value based builds) and being able to shuffle in 3 cheap Rush minions with +3/+3 is great. Toss in cards like Selective Breeder to find those buffed versions or Barak Kodobane to draw the spell in the first place, I like the way the new Beast Hunter can be played.
<Edit> Tokens posted and unfortunately they increase as well as the attack. Not as excited as I was for the scenario above but still think the card is strong on its own.
Overlord Runthak is a neutral way to buff hand but classes that have spells for buffing (Rogue w/ Cold Blood seems super fun) can make this card even more nuts. Love the design and expect to see him in a lot of decks.
If I'm reading this correctly, wouldn't Circle of Healing become a 0 mana +2 Health to the board? Wouldn't be the horrible but this could be a card that may not see play but there could be cool synergies down the line.
Taunt + Immune has the same interaction as Taunt + Stealth. A minion with Taunt that gains Immune loses Taunt while it has Immune, meaning that Benediction granting Taunt is meaningless since it's also granting Immune, which turns the Taunt off.
Strike the Weak is kinda cool, but Paladins are typically not supposed to get cards which deal damage, and the few that do exist are mostly from very early sets in the game. Flavorfully, "striking the weak" is also the opposite of what Paladins are supposed to do. They're supposed to be honorable warriors and help those who can't defend themselves.
Couldn't remember if it worked that way or not for Immune + Taunt so that idea is out unless I write it out that the minion can't die.
If I changed up the second card to the below, would it work better with Paladins not getting face damage but still working with the theme of the card:
Two different ideas came to mind, both for Paladin.
Benediction - Wanted to try something that worked for Buff Paladin archetype but also tied in a theme from the past with a pseudo-Time Out!. The minion would act as a stall for a turn unless your opponent can go over the top. The drawback for the player is that a minion on board is required due to the mana cost as well as the minion will only last one turn. However, it would allow the player to maybe draw into that board clear that is needed to regain the board or the healing from something like Libram of Hope.
Strike the Weak - Also tying into the Buff Paladin archetype but this is more of a finisher-esque card. The idea was taking two iconic Paladin cards (Blessing of Kings and Consecration) and mashing them together into one strong board clear. Went with the Shadowflame wording but also hitting face. After creating it thought maybe it would fit more with Paladins if it was the buff and then that minion had ultra-cleave when it attacked.
Thought the idea fit the idea of a siren luring its victim to its death. One thing I'm worried about is its a neutral [Hearthstone Card (Vilespine Slayer[/b] but with a 3/2 body after the trade instead of needing the combo activator. Is it too strong for a neutral or is it balanced out?
Simple design that helps progress Weapon Rogue archetype. May be too simple but seems simple does well in these competitions.
Feedback
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Demonxz95: Love the idea. Don't think it's too strong since Priest lost their burn cards like Mind Blast.
Linkblade91: I like the epic version and think it's fine with the Taunt. In my mind, it's a pseudo Frost Nova attached to a body but they can decide how to use that one attack. I don't think it needs much tweaking mana wise or stats wise.
Valor1204: Like previously stated, doesn't feel like a Mage card. Also, since this is a bank for latter design, can play this on 3 to have a a sticky 4 drop like Escaped Manasaber stick
My other idea wasn't going over well so decided to go back to the drawing board. Came up with the below:
You can think of it like a precursor to Zephrys the Great but this comes from your deck instead of a resource generation. Need that Brawl really bad? Play this with 5 remaining mana crystals to try and grab it (obviously still can whiff if you have multiple cards in your deck of that certain amount but that is to be expected).
First idea that came to my mind. Druids don't have single target removal but felt like having a delayed removal that your opponent could determine what would be sacrificed is a fair trade off. Is the stats gain too much considering single removal is supposed to be a Druid weakness? Can I increase the base stats to a 3/3 and it would still be ok?
Works like Lightning Breath in Shaman, this would help give a board buff for Priest.
Couldn't decide if I needed to increase the mana cost but wanted to keep it in line with power of something like Apotheosis when requirement wasn't met. I guess with deck building, you wouldn't run this with neutral cards so I guess I would increase the mana to 4. Does that seem more in line with the power of the card?
Not like Druids lack card draw. Seems like this could be a 5 star card for combo Druid.
Not sure if you run this in other versions of Druid. Big Druid doesn't want to play a 6 mana 5/4 (would be great to get off Strength in Numbers to reset your mana but that seems to be niche use). Spell Druid could use it to reset mana with Exotic Mountseller but that deck already has enough mana due to the 0 cost spells to fill your board.
I think some people are overlooking this lowers in cost anytime you target a friendly character. So this will also get lowered for Priest with stuff like Renew on your hero.
Was thinking around the idea that everyone is having a great time slamming back brews but next day, all hell will break loose. A full board buff for both you and your opponent that pays dividends for both players. If the Warlock isn't finishing them this turn, your opponent gets to take advantage of the buffs. Then the party comes to a crash the next turn when everyone realizes the party is over and now have to deal with the hangover.
The artwork looks like comedian Paul F. Tompkins.
Thank you OP as I wasn't even thinking about the pity timers for these new packs. Opened 3 Standard and got Kiri, Chosen of Elune and then opened one Wild pack and got Anomalus. May not be the greatest legendary cards to pull but for only 400 gold, getting two was a sweet payoff.
<Edit> Got caught up on not using Druid, didn't realize it was class specific challenge. Updated artwork that looks more Warlock.
Hopefully the token beast off this is 2 mana.
Dire Frenzy seems like it will be important for this new era of Hunters (value based builds) and being able to shuffle in 3 cheap Rush minions with +3/+3 is great. Toss in cards like Selective Breeder to find those buffed versions or Barak Kodobane to draw the spell in the first place, I like the way the new Beast Hunter can be played.
<Edit> Tokens posted and unfortunately they increase as well as the attack. Not as excited as I was for the scenario above but still think the card is strong on its own.
Secrets we know will be there from last year and Core set:
Avenge - Great card even not in a Secret Paladin build
Noble Sacrifice - Always felt it was a decent stall, especially against big decks that have only one or two minions on board at a time.
Oh My Yogg! - Can easily see this card see more play if Secrets get more support.
Reckoning - Seems like one of the best new cards being added to Core set.
Feel like with one, maybe two more Secrets, we can finally see a Secret Paladin existed in some capacity.
Overlord Runthak is a neutral way to buff hand but classes that have spells for buffing (Rogue w/ Cold Blood seems super fun) can make this card even more nuts. Love the design and expect to see him in a lot of decks.
If I'm reading this correctly, wouldn't Circle of Healing become a 0 mana +2 Health to the board? Wouldn't be the horrible but this could be a card that may not see play but there could be cool synergies down the line.
Couldn't remember if it worked that way or not for Immune + Taunt so that idea is out unless I write it out that the minion can't die.
If I changed up the second card to the below, would it work better with Paladins not getting face damage but still working with the theme of the card:
Two different ideas came to mind, both for Paladin.
Benediction - Wanted to try something that worked for Buff Paladin archetype but also tied in a theme from the past with a pseudo-Time Out!. The minion would act as a stall for a turn unless your opponent can go over the top. The drawback for the player is that a minion on board is required due to the mana cost as well as the minion will only last one turn. However, it would allow the player to maybe draw into that board clear that is needed to regain the board or the healing from something like Libram of Hope.
Strike the Weak - Also tying into the Buff Paladin archetype but this is more of a finisher-esque card. The idea was taking two iconic Paladin cards (Blessing of Kings and Consecration) and mashing them together into one strong board clear. Went with the Shadowflame wording but also hitting face. After creating it thought maybe it would fit more with Paladins if it was the buff and then that minion had ultra-cleave when it attacked.
Thought the idea fit the idea of a siren luring its victim to its death. One thing I'm worried about is its a neutral [Hearthstone Card (Vilespine Slayer[/b] but with a 3/2 body after the trade instead of needing the combo activator. Is it too strong for a neutral or is it balanced out?
) Not Found]Simple design that helps progress Weapon Rogue archetype. May be too simple but seems simple does well in these competitions.
Feedback
Demonxz95: Love the idea. Don't think it's too strong since Priest lost their burn cards like Mind Blast.
Linkblade91: I like the epic version and think it's fine with the Taunt. In my mind, it's a pseudo Frost Nova attached to a body but they can decide how to use that one attack. I don't think it needs much tweaking mana wise or stats wise.
Valor1204: Like previously stated, doesn't feel like a Mage card. Also, since this is a bank for latter design, can play this on 3 to have a a sticky 4 drop like Escaped Manasaber stick
My other idea wasn't going over well so decided to go back to the drawing board. Came up with the below:
You can think of it like a precursor to Zephrys the Great but this comes from your deck instead of a resource generation. Need that Brawl really bad? Play this with 5 remaining mana crystals to try and grab it (obviously still can whiff if you have multiple cards in your deck of that certain amount but that is to be expected).
First idea that came to my mind. Druids don't have single target removal but felt like having a delayed removal that your opponent could determine what would be sacrificed is a fair trade off. Is the stats gain too much considering single removal is supposed to be a Druid weakness? Can I increase the base stats to a 3/3 and it would still be ok?
First idea that came to my mind:
Works like Lightning Breath in Shaman, this would help give a board buff for Priest.
Couldn't decide if I needed to increase the mana cost but wanted to keep it in line with power of something like Apotheosis when requirement wasn't met. I guess with deck building, you wouldn't run this with neutral cards so I guess I would increase the mana to 4. Does that seem more in line with the power of the card?
Obvious synergy with Flesh Giant but can also work in Quest Warlock to fetch the Malygos or other top end of your deck.
Totem Shaman
Libram Paladin
Beast Spell Druid
Tempo Priest
Spell Damage Mage
I mean...that's a card. Seems really easy to have a combo deck with this discounted with Imprisoned Satyr.
Discount Forest Warden Omu to 1 mana or Malygos to 4 mana.
Turn 10, play Omu + Malygos + Moonfire x2 + Swipe x2 + for 30 damage.
Not like Druids lack card draw. Seems like this could be a 5 star card for combo Druid.
Not sure if you run this in other versions of Druid. Big Druid doesn't want to play a 6 mana 5/4 (would be great to get off Strength in Numbers to reset your mana but that seems to be niche use). Spell Druid could use it to reset mana with Exotic Mountseller but that deck already has enough mana due to the 0 cost spells to fill your board.
I think some people are overlooking this lowers in cost anytime you target a friendly character. So this will also get lowered for Priest with stuff like Renew on your hero.
Was hoping to see more support for Libram Paladin and here is the first big one. Easily becomes a 0-mana Sunwalker for Paladin.