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Christina Sims

Today in our R&D Blog, members of our R&D Team answer some questions posed to us by our Champions of the Black Flame.

Do you think there would have been as many issues with Edwin if he were a rare as opposed to an epic?

Patrick Sullivan: Without going into a lengthy explanation about this, there were significantly more “issues” with the game when none of the Epics were desirable cards.

How does the process for designing cards for a set work? Are they designed as a whole block or se by set? Do you know that certain cards may be overpowered at first, but then balance them later with the whole design theme around the block?

Ben Stoll: In the initial design stages of the first set of a block, the entire block is taken into consideration and planned for.  Generally speaking though, actual cards are only designed set by set.  Since so much can change during design and development, working TOO far forward can become inefficient.  Sometimes we deliberately aim high or low with power level on a specific design, sometimes we are much more concerned with the design than the power level.  But in either case, as focus of our work begins to transition more from design to development, we work carefully to balance each card to the place we want it (and certainly the current thematics of the block—the new fun stuff that we’re introducing—is a factor in determining power level.  For example, if none of the stash cards from the Cataclysm block had been powerful, we would have been unhappy with our development work).

Drew Walker: We typically design cards set by set, unless we know beforehand that they are going to be part of a cycle or some other story that we are trying to tell. 

Why did Ben Stoll cut his hair?

Patrick: Ben was fluctuating between “The Albert Einstein” and “The Samurai Bun” for a while now, and the ladies found neither option appealing.  

Drew: To mark his rebirth into the world from the womb of the Earthmother.

Ben: …

How does R&D feel about solo decks in the current meta?

Ben: They certainly got some love from Crown of the Heavens.  We are a fan of solo decks representing some percentage of the meta because they offer a unique play pattern for both players.

Except for Paladin, DK and Warrior, card draw seems difficult. Will there be efficient card draw for every class in future sets?

Patrick: I think it’s important for classes to fluctuate over time in how well they draw cards; the plate classes are at a high water mark right now and I think you can expect to see them get a break from it in the upcoming years.  Druid and Mage in particular should be receiving some love in a couple upcoming releases

Can you spoil any cards that may be reprinted in a future set?

Ben: There is a good chance that within the year we will be reprinting a few common allies who have historically seen some high level play.

Will Pandaren and Monks be in the next block of the WoW TCG?

Drew:  You might see a Panda here or there at some point, but there are currently no plans to have Pandaren or Monks be a big theme of the next block. That all could change, of course, but we will likely be waiting until Mists of Pandaria is closer to release before we focus on them.

Will there be an Arena Grand Melee remake?

Drew: I wouldn’t rule it out, but if there is a remake it won’t be for a while.

Thanks for answering the Champion’s questions, guys!