How to participate in the contest?
It's extremely simple.
1) Use any card generator webpage to make a card with an "Inspire" effect attached to it
2) Send it to [email protected] as attachment with the subject "Card design contest"
3) ???
4) Profit!
5) The winner, runner-up and bronze medalist will win a Hearthstone pillow, mug and keychain, respectively
Disclaimer: The cards shown in this article are in no way ahead of the competition in terms of scores or chances of winning. They have been subjectively selected to present a small part of the submissions we received during the first week. Enjoy them, get inspired by them, create your own cards and send them to us.
With the coming of The Grand Tournament, we wanted this month's card design competition to fit the theme of Hearthstone's new expansion. For two weeks now, we've been receiving custom card designs featuring the Inspire mechanic and today we highlight but a small part of them.
Inspire and drawbacks
Good card designers will recognize powerful effects and will try to balance them in some way, usually by making them cost just a little bit extra. The three cards below all have a great Inspire trigger but make you really pay for it.
Totem Master is a 1/5 minion for 3 mana which follows the TGT Shaman theme of having lots and strong totems. Every totem summoned from the hero power comes with a +2/+2 buff but it overloads you for (1). Too strong? Perhaps, in the end this means that Shaman can get 2/4 minions infinitely but they now cost 3 spread over two turns. With this effect, you can't afford to be trigger happy on the hero power, as essentially you will always be a turn behind your opponent in terms of mana.
Secondly, we have the wet dream of Face Hunters, Shandris Feathermoon. Shandris is a 4/2 minion for 3 mana which doubles the damage of your hero power, but you have to pay for it with the top 3 cards of your deck. It has a very [card]Fel Reaver[/card]-y effect to it but it is you who controls when the drawback happens. That is, if Shandris ever survives more than one turn ...
Finally, we have the Orcish Wrecking Crew, a mini [card]Ragnaros the Firelord[/card] for Warrior. The Crew can't attack, is a 7/3 minion for 6 mana and deals 7 damage to a random enemy minion. Place it behind a taunt and wreck faces for days.
Inspire and jousting
Another new mechanic which Blizzard introduced during Gamescom is "Joust", though it's not yet keyworded. When you play a card with "Joust", both you and your opponent reveal a minion from your deck at random. If yours costs more, you win the Joust and the Joust card you've played does something extra.
On the left, we have Blacksmith Jack, one of the few cards we received that combines both effects. Jack adds a random Warrior weapon to your hand on Inspire and then triggers a Joust. If the Joust is won, that weapon costs (0). And that's the effect that makes this card brutal. Warriors - especially control ones - are known to run high-mana minions, so winning the Joust is very likely. Add to this the fact that most Warrior weapons are expensive, getting up to 7 mana reduction for a [card]Gorehowl[/card] sounds scary.
Furthermore, if you want 100% guarantee that you'll get a free weapon, combine Jack with Master Jouster here.
1) Play Master Jouster first and keep it alive
2) Play Blacksmith Jack
3) Inspire to trigger Master's effect first and then Blacksmith's
4) ???
5) Profit
Growing in power
[card]Poisoned Blade[/card] is an awful card but one that introduces a very cool concept in Hearthstone: Investment for the sake of growing in power. And while nobody in their right mind would invest time and mana into Poisoned Blade, these two cards could be different.
Coldarra Spellweaver is a high-health 3/6 minion for 5 mana coming with Spell Damage +1. Besides that, she gets +1 more Spell Damage on each Inspire. The word "Coldarra" in the name is there for a reason. Imagine a set-up with Spellweaver and [card]Coldarra Drake[/card] and maybe even [card]Maiden of the Lake[/card], essentially turning the Spellweaver into a mid-range [card]Malygos[/card] and killing your opponent with something as cheap as Frostbolt.
Another interesting card with a unique effect is Archangel Auriel (a bit Diablo themed, but we'll forgive the lore invasion here). A 4/7 minion for 6, Auriel does what no card currently in Hearthstone can - increase your maximum Hero health.
Which card do you like best? Vote in our poll!
Note: These votes will not have any effect on the final official voting coming in the fourth week of August.
