Updated 2: The competition is now over. The winning card can be found here.
Update 1: As noted by eagle-eyed commenters, hearthcards.net doesn't guarantee submissions are saved for longer than three days. We'll be looking at them as they arrive, but we've been inundated already so please be sure to attach your submissions as an attachment to ensure it can always be viewed.
Original story: Last Friday saw Blizzard announce the remaining cards for the One Night in Karazhan adventure, and it’s fair to say the response has not been universally positive. Whilst Mage and Hunter got some cool Secret-themed cards, and Druid got arguably the best class card in Menagerie Warden, Priests were left staring down the barrel of Purify, which looks like one of the worst cards ever printed in Hearthstone. Judging from social media, Priest mains regard Purify as not just unusable, but active trolling on the part of Blizzard’s development team.
Bear in mind Priest already has a 0-Mana Silence card, and a 1-Mana buff card that also draws, and it starts to sink in how bad this is.
Which wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, but for the fact the class is already by far the least played on ladder and in tournaments. A couple of weeks ago our resident Hearthstone expert and caster Sottle made the case for why Priest sucks and what could be done about it here. More recently I interviewed senior game designer Mike Donais, who admitted a smaller expansion like One Night in Karazhan was unlikely to catapult Priest into the top tier. Nonetheless, it’s fair to say most players expected the class to get a little more help than Purify.
Predictably, the subreddit has been aflame with increasingly outraged posts, popular streamers are recording rant videos, and this being 2016 someone has started the inevitable petition. Obviously, we’re not going to argue that Purify is a good card. Silencing your own Ancient Watcher to get a 4-Mana Yeti is basically terrible, and that’s about the best case scenario. But here at PC Gamer, despite recognising that this a matter of substantial import and in no way to be taken lightly, we want to take a slightly more creative approach with our outrage. Specifically, we you to do better.
We want to see the cards you would design to make Priest great. (Well, if not great, at least better than it is now.) Starting today, you can create your own idea using hearthcards.net, and submit them to me via email to: tim.clark@futurenet.com. A week from now, on 15 August, with the help of Sottle we’ll pick the winner. That person will receive enough Battlenet vouchers to buy 60 packs in their chosen territory. Note that this competition isn’t sanctioned by Blizzard, so obviously your card won’t suddenly appear in the game. But I will send them the winning design to see if they’re willing to comment on its balance.
As for tips on what we’re looking for, don’t expect obvious memes like a 4-Mana 7/7 wearing robes to make the cut. Things that help shore up Priest’s disastrous early game without being obnoxiously powerful will be looked on favourably. As will innovative board clear ideas. Just please not another 4-drop, Anduin has enough of those. To kick things off, below you’ll find our idea for the near-mythical good Priest two-Mana minion. Angel of Mercy is an anti-aggro card that could help fight against early Zoo, Shaman and Dragon Warrior boards, and is still decent in the mid-late game. We’re sure you can do better. Usual terms and conditions apply, the winner will be notified by email and announced here.
