Hearthstone: Wofür sind “schlechte” Karten gut?

The Senior Game Designer reveals the benefits of the bad cards from Hearthstone – and why they should not be buffed.

An Extra Portion Time

At more or less regular intervals, Ben Brode, the Senior Game Designer of Hearthstone, talks about the team’s thoughts and the current state of the game. In his latest video, he discussed in detail the phenomenon of “Power Creep” – the situation in which old cards are simply replaced by significantly better “new” cards.

Last time in early September, he clearly stated that it would not be a problem for the team if certain cards are stronger than others. The video sparked quite a discussion, prompting Brode to take another 10 minutes to explain precisely what he actually meant.

The Purpose of Basic Cards

According to Brode, basic cards can be bad for several reasons. On one hand, basic cards should be simple and easy to understand. They usually have very simple abilities, like the Fireball or minions with straightforward texts – Taunt is often as complex as they get.

The reasoning behind this is also relatively easy to understand: These are the first cards new players encounter. On the other hand, all cards from the packs (both classic and GvG and DGT) should feel more powerful and like a tangible improvement.

When beginners join the game for the first time, they should immediately think “These were the starting cards, but there’s a lot more!” The feeling of gaining power should be preserved, which is why – at least for the basic cards – there is no problem if they are occasionally weaker.

The logic is obvious: Bad cards are bad so that good cards feel even better by standing out from the weak ones.

Finally, Brode emphasizes that there are many basic cards that are really good. Fireball from the Mage would be one such example, as would the Argent Commander from the Paladin.

Why Power Creep is not just Power Creep

Another criticism was the Power Creep, which became noticeably significant with the last expansions. Cards like “Dr. Boom” are much better than, for example, the “War Golem” for the same cost. In response, Brode flippantly stated that no one would play the War Golem anyway because it “is a bad card”. Dr. Boom did not replace the War Golem – no one played it anyway. The same applies to Magmaw and Frostwurm – although there are significant differences in power for the same mana, neither card is played.

However, one should not forget that such cards still appear in the game – cards like the “Unstable Portal” can occasionally bring them to light.