Complete expansion proposal: The Shadow's Calling

[razcrux]

Wow awesome! You've earned my respect (whatever that's worth) awesome job! Any chance of a higher resolution image having problems reading on mobile

Thanks man! I do have a larger res, but it's already 2.5mb... maybe you should try and look at this from a computer? It's a very big file...

[N3rd4Christ]

That's probably the issue

[LARKEN]

I would say good effort all round, but on the face of it we have some serious balancing issues along with far to many cards to adopt into a playable system. With out disrespecting the effort you have put in, all you have done is re created the SE world but on a deck of your choosing with some new features and abilities, this isn't an expansion it's a shift to a different style of play....

I'm just being constructive and not trying to come across overly critical but card games of this nature require sub text and synergy on multiple levels, not just action and reaction... I'm going to review in more depth when I have time but for me I would trim it all down to 10 percent of what you put out and focus on the core principles you want to put across that can flow from the existing listings that are out....

If anyone was to launch such a release you would split the game as they could play independtly of each other which is not what expansion play is all about.... Saying that really good job nobody can fault the effort.

[razcrux]

@Larken: this expansion is purely hypothetical, currently Wulven has been releasing in short bursts rather than fewer-large packs of cards.

The cards I came up with were supposed to fill missing niches, or provide solutions for and against existing tactics. For example in the current meta there are very few attachments or ways to deal with them. The new cards I added are supposed to work with existing cards in various ways, not stand independently.

I made a big effort to work the new ones synergisticly with existing cards:

Starting at the top, going right here is some of my thought process:

The very first two cards: meant to work with Death Trap and Net trap, now it's confusing to know what the Hunter is putting on the table.

Precise attack: meant to fill the hole in Hunter's deck as of now, where (shadow) hunters can't counter high hitpoint allies.

Survival Training: meant to work with Careful Planning, now you can "remove" a top card from your deck, that you can see, to get that all important "bow" [or whatever it is you are desperate for]. Survival Training w/o Careful Planning is weak, but together they are strong...

and so forth...

That said, I'm flattered if you think that these cards could stand on their own.

With the current release strategy of Wulven, 10 or so cards seem to be the goal of each release; and balance considerations -- and the introduction of new mechanics -- need to be considered within that framework.

Do keep in mind though that if an "expansion" were to come out, it would imply a different "booster" that you could buy. That booster does need to have a certain minimum number of cards in it, otherwise you would buy 1 booster and get 5 of the same card...
:-)

Love to hear more of your feedback if/when you get a chance. Thanks for taking the time to review them!

[Wtzky]

I would love to see all of these released tomorrow! We can balance later but a 100 card release would be so f$&$ing cool

[razcrux]

update: re-uploaded the image with changes to several cards; most notably wulven got many changes, a new ability "blink" and another weapon.

[Drakkon]

You don't seem to support Solo Play for Wulven. Id like to see that solo deck take a more vicious approach. Rather than stall.

Name: ???
Cost: 4
Wulven Ability
Effect: Ongoing: Both heroes receive an additional 2 damage when being struck with a weapon.

[Wtzky]

One criticism I have is that some of the card art looks cartoonish/amateurish. Having said that, it is a small problem really. I love so many of these cards, they would work in this game instantly and make it so much better.

Cards I love:
Poachers Prize, Nerve dart, precise attack, survival training, resourcefullness (this would fix gravediggers and beetle bow!), extra quiver, countess rasmina, jade of forest (although 2 SE sounds a bit much, maybe 2 res?), esmina spirithawk, disguises (this card is really cool btw, good effect!), from the dark, steal weapon, swift strike, paladin, shadow killer gunther (yes! nice ability!), radiant calm (bit like tidal wave but with attachments, nice), guardian angel, weaken enemy, temporary peace, shadow carrion (although, very OP at 2 cost), elemental familiar, magic monster (more cards like this really are needed for anti mages! Cool. By ability do you also mean burn damage or spells?), Black Market (great card), Amulet of protection (cheap anti-burn? yes please. Once again, by abilities you mean spells as well, not just hero abilities?), sanctuary, bodyguard training (although a bit OP on warriors tbh. Maybe give it to a weaker class?), fortified, blitz, dimensional mirror (very cool idea), spark II (at 0/2 not OP, great card), forged, transmutation, super charge, energy mutation (great with weenie rush zal!), Pandoras Box (finally, a real mill card - bit expensive at 3 SE though no?), taxation, disrupt aura (continue the retreat/misplaced theme), lethargy (you spelled this wrong btw. Nice anti-Logan card), disenchant, disrupt aura, mask of shade, shadow pact (is this ongoing btw?), unstoppable (i love the direction you are taking with wulven - pack animal play. Thank you!), wolf pact, inner blood (so you get no SE basically but unilateral draw? BF still better, but nice idea), lord of beasts, dream dual, invisibility (anti protector card really, good for mages), shatter ice (nice synergy), power channel, charm, mage battle armor, magic-infused plating, eye of the gods (finally dont have to auto-sac my bazaar/research etc), staff of isicus, jungle sound blade (again, nice synergy! Darkclaw with allies is suddenly a really nice deck!), life ripper, fan of blades, the bane of the beast

Cards I dont like:

- molten beast (too cheap for that amount of durability loss)
- templar (really dont like the art either I'm afraid)
- Lady of dragon (does this effect mean lose two resources permanently? Who would use that - at turn 5 if you cast this you then go back to 3 resources?)
- World Eater (pretty overpowered on anyone with ability to use haste - portal users for example)
- Burning knowledge (maybe this should be discard 3 piles from both heroes deck - as is it is a bit confusing, I mill myself?)

As you can see, I love way more cards than I don't like here. Great job

[razcrux]

One criticism I have is that some of the card art looks cartoonish/amateurish. Having said that, it is a small problem really. I love so many of these cards, they would work in this game instantly and make it so much better.

The art is temporary, an artist would have to render all these cards before they could be used. You can't use any of this art.

shadow carrion (although, very OP at 2 cost)

Could indeed be 3-cost.

magic monster (more cards like this really are needed for anti mages! Cool. By ability do you also mean burn damage or spells?)
Amulet of protection (cheap anti-burn? yes please. Once again, by abilities you mean spells as well, not just hero abilities?)

Absolutely.

bodyguard training (although a bit OP on warriors tbh. Maybe give it to a weaker class?)

if its OP then a negative could be added to effect. Or cost 6 or 7?? Sounds ridiculously expensive then.

spark II (at 0/2 not OP, great card)

my thought is it would be good for elemtalist decks, spark I and II work together [if that wasn't obvious] so you can end up wioth 8 on the table [eeik gad!], also helps the Power Shard card +3/1 health indirectly [that card which kinda died recently]

Pandoras Box (finally, a real mill card - bit expensive at 3 SE though no?)

True, I was debating if it should be 2. Note that you gain resources though, so in theory you could drop the card, then next turn pump yourself with 1 resource at the start of your turn, plus 1 resource from this card and go from 4 resources last turn to 6 resources this turn, and drop a big card in a single turn! that seems very powerful to me, hence the 3SE cost. It could be used for milling, but that's a secondary feature.

shadow pact (is this ongoing btw?)

yes, its an item.

wolf pact, inner blood (so you get no SE basically but unilateral draw? BF still better, but nice idea)

yes, but consider it when used with Soul Trap, neither hero can use their Shadow energy anymore... Also you can get extra cards, then remove it later with your own Disenchant, ok you take 2 damage, but you can heal easily too... right? There are many new combinations possible due to all the new cards.

Cards I dont like:
- molten beast (too cheap for that amount of durability loss)

yeah, I think the "ignore armor" should be removed. But I'd like to keep it as doing +1 endurance loss on armor. It's a very situational card, you need a combo to pull it off, or the enemy has to have only played armor with nothing else in play when you have a couple of these in your hand... seems like a fair counter-counter?

- Lady of dragon (does this effect mean lose two resources permanently? Who would use that - at turn 5 if you cast this you then go back to 3 resources?)

could be reduced to lose 1 resource instead of 2. The idea was strong synergy with healing, especially Zhanna, but all those other existing "heal this for that" cards that humans have but are not using... now if you can keep this royal card happy, you get extra cards for it -- definitely a mid/late game card.

- World Eater (pretty overpowered on anyone with ability to use haste - portal users for example)

Yes, it could indeed be very OP... I've already nerfed it 2 times but it may need a strong negative. Perhaps both players take 6 damage and enemy loses an item?

- Burning knowledge (maybe this should be discard 3 piles from both heroes deck - as is it is a bit confusing, I mill myself?)

One word: Gravedigger. Turn 4, mill your deck, put a cost 5 or 6 ally into play...... if you are lucky. Might actually be too powerful.

As you can see, I love way more cards than I don't like here. Great job

Big smiles, Thank you!

[Warr Byrd]

One word: Gravedigger. Turn 4, mill your deck, put a cost 5 or 6 ally into play...... if you are lucky. Might actually be too powerful.

That would be resourcing the cards, not discarding them.