Raindrop Valkyrie

Emberly scooped up the little pup from the floor. "Okay Whisper, it's time to put you in your ball for a bit. I don't want you to get scared with all those people around and light something on fire by accident. I'm pretty sure the facility wouldn't be too happy with that if it happened." She touched the ball ever so slightly to the pup's nose. She always allowed Whisper the choice to go back in her ball or not. She didn't really want to force it on her, so she always held the ball right in front of her nose allowing Whisper to choose whether or not to push the button. Whisper looked down at the floor, which indicated that she wanted to stay outside of it. "Oh? You're going to be brave today?" Drake said a sly smile on her face. "Well, you best be on your best behavior, no fire you hear?" Drake said in a silly tone. Clearly she was joking around with the little dog. She pet her head as she put away the Pokeball. She then hoisted her back off the bed where she had sat her down back into her arms again. "Come on cute stuff, we got places to be, and people to met. Hopefully you don't singe these ones." She headed toward the Contest Hall, the place the meeting was. She didn't really think to stop to check on her roomate, and figured that Addy would find her way there eventually. She wasn't worried.

So, I know this is a bit late but I figured better latish then never. Pretty sure some are pretty hype for the expansion maybe if not for the cards but for some of the new content and single player challenges. I'm kinda glad they decided to compress the wings this time being 4 instead of 5 and packing more cards into each wing. It's imo, a lot easier to get the stuff you're looking for as a result and it cuts down on the cost ((especially the gold one.)) of the Adventure. However... blah blah pricing yadda yadda. That shit's boring so how about some of the cards? Well I think I'll give a few of my impressions on them. I think we still don't know those in the final wing therefore we don't know every single card in the expansion yet. So, of course there will be a caveat later for when we do know them. I will do them in ascending mana cost order, first starting with Neutrals and then moving into Class Cards. Firstly however I need to explain the new mechanic in the set. I will also separate them by Rarity. ((even though rarity only really matters with gold crafting and arena with these cards.)) New Keyword: Discover. When discover is in a card's text it allows the player a tracking like effect from cards not within their deck. It generates three cards from either Neutrals or your current class that meet the requirements. ((so, no pulling a mage card as a warrior etc.)). Basically, while there is some variance this Keyword can be treated almost as if it were "Draw a Card", however you have 3 chances to generate exactly or close enough to the thing you need in that situation. With some of the limiters on some the cards that utilize this Keyword even further narrow the random options making it even easier to pick what you need. So, Discovering does have a slight upside to drawing a card in some situations. All in all, I think it's a really cool new mechanic that's really adds another interesting element to the game. It's another thing that one needs to use to assess their chances etc and possibly pull just the right tool for the moment. Now into the cards!!! Neutral Commons- 7 Murloc Tinyfin: D'aaaaaaaw... it's so cute. ((and so easy to obliterate.)) Basically, no suprise this card is a strictly better wisp. After all, the Murloc tag is actually a pretty good tag as it has a lot of existing synergy. Sadly, there's not really anything else to say of benefit to this card. It's a wisp still after all and it's still will probably be unplayed. I don't even really think Murloc decks will pick it up. ((which is a thing worth saying you'll see later.)) It's also a slight nerf to Murloc Knight, however Murloc Knight summoning a second dude still isn't all that horrible in Mid-Range Pally. I mean that's still a 5/6 for 6, a bit undercosted, but not a total disaster. Huge Toad: R.I.P Bloodfen Raptor in Arena. Jokes aside, a 3/2 isn't too bad vanilla, but most aren't vanilla so what we got? Deathrattle for 1 damage to a random enemy. This card is highly comparable to Flame Juggler ((which did actually see niche use in Constructed.)) as it's effect is largely the same it just comes at a different time. Instead of immediately like Flame Juggler it's after it dies. Also, it's more aggressively stated being a 3/2 rather than a 2/3. It also gets the best tag which can be relevant. Basically, it's a solid 2 drop, and while I think it's easier for the opponent to play around it's Deathrattle since well, they actually can unlike Flame Juggler... I don't think this makes it too much worse. The aggressive stating helps it trade up more efficiently late game and the Beast Tag does add some value with Beast synergy. It'll definitely be seen in arena and maybe a little in Hunter or possibly Beast Druid if that deck ever becomes viable. Jeweled Scarab: First instance of Discover! Sadly, I think this one is rather weak sadly. While it's cool that if you drop this on turn 2 you'll curve into your turn 3, it's really only decent that turn, and even then... it's a 1/1 body. The body is just so irrelevant and is easily popped by Hero Powers that deal 1 damage, or other early game minions without them dying. It's just not a consequential body, and a 3 mana card while nice, isn't super crazy bonkers. In late game a 3 mana card is even less appealing as the minions at this point are mostly irrelevant. ((it'd depend on class, but they'd mostly be so.)) and it would be 5 mana spent on probably around a 4/5 in the best case scenario. ((if you pulled a 3/4 + the 1/1 body of itself.)) which... is pretty lacklustre. I'm not entirely sure it'll even be played in arena, it's probably average if not a little below. In constructed I doubt we'll see it other than when it pops out of your shredder to give you a big middle... leg? It doesn't really have fingers lol. Tomb Spider: Ah, another Discover card. I think this one has some potential usage as well. a 3/3 body isn't too bad for 4 mana especially considering Gnomish Engineer did see play once ((and sometimes still does in Patron Warrior, though rare.)). It's discover is also narrowed to Beasts which if you got the synergy for it, is really good! I don't see this going in aggro Hunters, but it'll probably be an include in Mid-Range or possibly Control Hunter if that deck ever gets off the ground. It also might see some in Beast Druid ever starts to work. It's good to note that it's plays both turns right before both Ram Wrangler in Hunter, and the Druid of the Fang in Beast Druid. I think if the right decks come around for it, that it'll be used in constructed. In Arena it'll probably be better in Druid and Hunter due to their class beasts but it might see play in other classes as well. After all, a card is a card lol. Gorillabot A-3: Similar to Tomb Spider in that in the right places, it's quite and interesting card. However, the stipulation holds it back a bit in my mind. It's asking a bit of you to have a mech in play to get another. Of course this affords it another stat over Tomb Spider making it's body a slgith bit better, but not sure if the 1 health is worth it in that regard. Either way, this card could see other calsses possibly being able to get into Mech decks by pushing them a bit more to be mid-rangy than the Mech version. It might even fit into Mech Mage as a one of, though it faces fierce competition with Goblin Blast-Mage and Piloted Shredder both being arguably ((and proven as good mind you)) better 4 drops. It really saturates that slot and Mages have many other cards that fit on 4 as well really crowded that slot with excess cards. In arena, it's going to be waaaay too inconstant however. It's statline's at least okay, but you're rarely going to get the card even if you do pick up a few mechs. Anubisath Sentinel: 4/4 for 5... pretty eh... oh wiat it has a Deathrattle! Give 3/3 to another minion? Well then. Sadly, this card probably looks better than it seems. Much like Dark Cultist in the days of yore ((also known as not actually that long ago being Naxx.)) many eventually found that the Deathrattle of + 3 health... rarely actually truly landed. However Dark Cultist at least had fair and good stats for it's mana cost. Anubisath? a 4/4 for 5 just isn't that great. It's effect can also be played around ((unlike the other 4/4 for 5 who always works since he draws you a card.)). It's just to easy to remove the things around Anubisath and then deal with it. A 4/4 isn't too awfully hard to remove at the 5 mana stage. Basically, unless you get to kill off this guy his Deathrattle is probably never going to land in a way it's not easy to deal with. The card's also a bit slow as a result in such a fast meta. I don't see it being too good in this and thus it probalby won't see too much play. Even in Arena I think it's a bit lacklustre though it's probably jsut average and nothing special, but not complete garbage. Fossilized Devilsaur: It's a stipulation based Iron-Bark Protector.. which in Construed isn't played. Therefore neither will this. It also won't be that great in arena either since it will usually just be a bleh big body. This card screams average and is hardly exciting, not much to say really. Neutral Rares - 4 Ancient Shade: This thing probably looks like complete garbage at first, but if you think about it, it may see use in an aggro deck. After all, unless you get suuuuper unlucky and it's on the top of the deck, the "Curse" may never be drawn. And even if you draw it, you're the aggressor so the opponent doesn't have the luxury to take advantage of it. ((it's should also be noted most of these types of effects tend to give you your next draw so they don't deny draw. If it does... well this card gets a lot worse.)). Will it get crazy amounts of play? No, probably not. But don't just count it out since it seems bad in most types of decks. Eerie Statue: Can I just say first I love the design here? It's eerie cause it's alive, and when no ones looking it can attack! It's kinda silly and I love it. Anyway serious time. This is the big cousin to Watcher which saw fringe usage in Handlock and a few other decks that had activators for it. Provided it's the only minion Eerie Statue can attack so it doesn't need to be activated at all ((this... is being a bit to optimistic though since when is that ever going to happen reliably?)). It can also be silenced to always be able to attack or taunted up like it's little brother. I don't think it'll see too much play and am not sure it will even clinch a spot in Handlock ((it might to be a more reliableish Mountain Giant but I doubt it highly. Since... well on it's own it's nowhere near as good.)). "Watch" this card carefully, it might just creep up on ya if you don't. In arena it'll definitely be garbage though since the meta is muuuuch to minion heavy and it can't pull it's own weight in minion based combat since unless silenced it can never attack them. Summoning Stone: Me thinks Blizzard is using us as guinea pigs. What Tavern Brawl will be the next card? Anyway while the effect is suuuuper cool, this card is complete garbage. 5 mana is probably just too much to spend playing a minion that doesn't really do anything. It takes quite a high mana spell ((which there are few of I might add.)) to make it really worth it and you can't even combo those. It's has no attack stat as well meaning it's easy to trade it off for free for your foe. Don't even think about picking it in arena unless you are actually insane. Wobbling Runts: another card where the design is pretty dang funny. The first part representing knocking those Runts over and then them all three attacking you lol. However, this card seems a bit poorly stated. While it's deathrattle is great it has the issue of it only having 2 attack. Most Deathrattle cards are offensives stated for a reason. They get in some quick value and pop their effect. However, Wobbling Runts has the issue that it'll take awhile for it to pop being at least 2 turns. It being pretty non-threatening also means that an opponent is never going to pop it for you and probably just leave it on the board. While it's interesting to see a very different kind of DR card... it makes me wonder if it'll see play. It seem much too slow as of now which isn't good in such a fast meta. That'll be all for now, would like you folks to have some time to digest and not throw everything at you at once. Be a tad rude on my part lol. If you have any thoughts feel free to share them etc... I'm jut spitballin' here and probably not looking at every angle. I will continue with the Epics ((of which there are two...)) and the Legends possibly tomorrow etc... the legends will probably be pretty long since some of them are... pretty strange to say the least and I definitely need time to process them XD. I think they're posts will be pretty long. After that will be the the Class Cards probably the next day. Hope you guys enjoy the post and the read. If you like this format I will definitely continue. If there's anything you think I can improve for the next post lemme know.

How does a Pig scream electric rat exactly? ((inb4 Zim draws it with all the pikachu features it doesn't have, like stupidly coloured cheeks etc lol.))

Still waiting for Rotom-Blender Electric/Steel. On topic though, na, we not revealing anything about their stats etc, you'll have to learn that as you play. ((or be lame, but... you wouldn't be lame and ruin it by looking at the code would you? I'd silently judge you for all eternity.)). However, try and think of the part where Tomas said it had an ability that it aims to take advantage of it's movepool, think of it's types and try and think of an ability that moves could be based around based on this. Maybe you'll find out something cool. We're still not going to tell you what it is, however, this should be an interesting exercise to see if your right once the game's actually out or at least when you can pick up this little pig and put 'im on your team.

It's cool man, take your time lol. Glad that things are lightening up for ya.

Made him a Rider, it not being tied to weaponry makes it... work a bit better. ((probably allows him to use an Officer's Pistol as well, which is 1 shot, but it's a shot dang it lol.)) But yea I just changed the original profile it should be good now.

I would've he lead a Calvary Unit but he led a Infantry division and that charge was completely on foot. Be a tad strange if he had a horse outta nowhere XD.

Okay screw it, I'll pop a Saber in there just cause I had an interesting idea for it. I won't mind this one actually being put in the pool though since it's not a Berserker XD. This one is more sorta based on the novel interpretation in the Killer Angels. Bit of a different saber since he didn't actually fight with a sword quite like most legends did, however his final act is heavily tied to it as his final charge he placed his hat on his sword and finally broke the line at Gettysburg. I thought it would be interesting as a result. ANd Rider nooooow.

Here, one Berserker for ya. ((inb4 only Berserker...))

I could totally revive my awesome Berskerer I barely got use out of... but I'd rather not play yet another Berserker so soon. Berserkers are freaking hard to write without being able to talk really... so takes a lot out of me to write them lol.

Which I suppose means anyone that wants to react to Johanna just strolling on board walkin' right past ((while, right around I suppose is more accurate?)) can XD. And yea Hiss, no bloomin' clue XD. Good luuuuuuuck Dobbs!

I thought I'd leave it up to Strat if she gets intercepted. She's headed there, and if he leaves it she definitely got there, but I thought I'd leave it open for that if he wanted to then totally solidify that she made it there.

Yea, I was jsut like "Let's get it over with" and jsut made that post the best I could. I'm just going to stay on top of it now as much as I can to not fall behind again and stay relevant. ((which should be easy now since life calmed the hell down for me and I actually want to write a lot again lol.)) So, was that post a tad awkward? Probably, but I'm not going to let it get me down. After all, sometimes asspulls happen. Name a series were there wasn't at least one. I can't really since there's always something that won't work. There's a reason Dues ex Machina is a trope and a well known one. Because sometimes... you can;t avoid those situations. They kinda just happen at times. Nothing to be to ashamed of. It's only truly an issue if it happens every five seconds or it all a certain character ever does.

Of course, Isamu while a warrior... was still a lazy one. It was his rather annoying flaw at times. He was tired from the day of walking and training so, of course he took the time to fly off and get entirely out of the fight rather than stick around. After all in his mind if the others couldn't handle that situation, they had no right to help him at all. He would receive a nice strangling once Steele found him though. She was pretty angry that he decided to bail. She had taken the chance to slip out of the area while the others were occupied and she had a way to slip out unnoticed to find that stupid bird and put him in his place. One didn't run from battle just because they were lazy and knew that others could handle it. They should still fight with all their strength lest the opponent be underestimated. It was irresponsible and could've gotten those others hurt or killed if they weren't careful. As soon as she found him, her anger welled. "You idiot duck... Perhaps I should turn you into a nice soup after all. You're cleeeeeearly useless in a fight" she said with a giant grin on her face. But, not a smile of happiness. It was one of pure unbridled anger and hatred. The Twisted visage of a demon staring at it's prey. Isamu knew this smile much to well. TO the point if he was human he'd have screamed at the top of his lungs as he started to run away. Instead an awkward squawking not fitting of a duck or one who called themselves a warrior to make came from his throat. He turned around about to take flight before a Pokeball collided with the back of his head and pulled him back inside. He knew better than to break out... he'd only make her more angry. He didn't want that, not one bit. It was already bad enough. He was safer in here. So he stayed in there. *** Steele had just walked into the area seeing Nikki's surrender. She didn't really know what was happening, but she didn't really care too much either. It wasn't her business therefore she payed it no mind whatsoever. Her cane tapped on the solid concrete as she didn't really even pay a mind to what was happening, however she did give it a rather large birth not wanting anything to do with it. She just headed for the boat that she was on prior to this whole mess. She sighed and whispered under her breathe "Anymore surprises for today, or can we get this shitshow on the road?" to no one in particular.

I easily would have one of the Defensive stats, probably going with Defense((but really, Health, SpDef and Def are pretty similar mons most of the time, so there's a lot of overlap there.)). I dunno, I just really like defensive strategies and bulky offense is sorta becoming more the style I like to play. Big fellas that can really take a hit ((most pretty well SpDefensively as well.)) Who needs speed when you can just survive their hit taking barely any damage and just pop them in the face, knock them out and continue fighting? It's probably my love of Drain Moves ((Drain Punch, Giga Drain etc...)) that really makes me like this type of mon since they are the best users of them. I really really just dig these moves since nothing is better than doing damage and healing at the same time lol. So, the moves would also complement my style.

That was part of the point in Kill la Kill though... to kinda show that that shit didn't really matter and it didn't necessarily bring down a story. The writing could still be fine and the story could still be meaningful despite it being there. It's pointless to not be pointless... if that makes a sense lol. Like, it was supposed to really show that something like that didn't have to subtract when a lot of the time it does. I honestly don't know enough about the other series being tlaked about here though to truly comment... so... yea I won't talk on those cause I can;t really XD.

The thing is, writing-wise, most of my first characters are the ones you've seen in Graterras if you read it. I just had years where I was working on them, just so much time to really give them spirit and work on them. Orpheus was one of the earliest ones and part of the reason I created Victonari in the world. I dunno, I liked the idea of Draconian however, I noticed they were usually incredibly twisted and evil in most forms if they existed within a world. So, I thought I'd take a different approach. That was the stance I then kinda took on human monsters in general for Graterras. They were races of intelligent creature... why did they all have to be across the board evil? Couldn't there be blurs in the lines and not have it be so dang clear cut? And so I just moved more and more towards that. Making "monsters" the people they really ought to have been, at least... in my eyes. A lot of Graterras really sprang froth from these ideas, those that despite outward appearance, we were very similar. Perhaps out culture was different, perhaps our values etc, but deep down we all really were striving to just live our lives the way we knew how. I kinda liked the idea and let it sorta drive itself a bit, using the fact that normally Monstrous races were now more human. I used that chance to really try and to expand their cultures a bit and make them not just horribly flat bricks that the heros rounded the corner and then they were just lifeless blocks waiting there for that moment. It's what creatures a lot of the time feel like in fantasy, just big old road bumps with nothing else special about them. Dunno, I just always felt there was a bit of an opportunity to expand on creatures and the role they could have instead of just "Whack-a-mole". Maybe this is cheating for this question... but I feel Graterras itself was my first character. It was a world that I shaped and learned how to write and experiment in and to figure out stuff. It was a big ball of nothing once, but I spent more than enough time chiseling away at it, getting it to take the form I wanted. It feels just as alive as any character I've written. D&D-wise, the first character I had was a Dwarven Thief named Quimbly Quickfingers. I believe he was one of the most silly looking dwarves being about 5 ft tall, and weighing somewhere around 500 pounds. ((let's just say he wasn't a brilliant climber.)) I honestly didn't get much opportunity to play him though. It was when my dad was going to teach me about 2nd edition however, my brothers didn't really have any interest at the time. It was kinda just me who did. Campaigns were pretty tough to run with a single character so, just sorta back-burnered the poor guy and never really ended up using him. I do remember his backstory and the way I set him up, even though I didn't continue his characterization I have I feeling I might now where it could've gone. Quimbly was a blacksmith at one point in his life, a maker of tools, horseshoes, general purpose smithing. He didn't make anything fancy like swords or weapons as he was the Blacksmith for only a small village of humans up in the mountains. He worked hard everyday getting absorbed in his work. He hammered things all day and mostly into the late of the night before retiring. It was one night however, that a man came to his shop late in the night. Normally, Customers weren't allowed back in the Workshop and had to wait out in the store front where Quimbly's brother Mordin would take care of them and show them the wares already finished or fill requests for them. However, Mordin usually closed up the front very early in the night. After all, most people didn't come visit a shop in the wee hours of the morning. Quimbly however had forgotten to lock the door to the workshop. The man... in desperate need of something... persisted though he saw the storefront was closed and eventually found the Door to the Workshop and let himself in. A fatal mistake. Quimbly, being absorbed in his work didn't hear the door creak open. He was busy sweating over the forge as he pounded out a couple of replacement horseshoes for one of his neighbor's work horses. It wasn't hard work, actually pretty simple stuff for one of his skill but he gave as much care as he could to everything he did. He never wanted to be complacent and ruin an order thinking he couldn't possibly screw it up. The Man of course snuck up on him. Why... Quimbly doesn't know to this day. However, thinking it an intruder, Quimbly smashed the forge hammer in his hand directly into the man's skull, killing him. At first he wasn't too upset at the occurrence, after all he was defending himself right? But that when he noticed the order slip in his hand. It was one of the slips Mordin issued the customers and usually hung out on the board by the indoor entrance to the Workshop. Even though it was entirely an accident, Quimbly still felt wholly guilty for the occurrence. He couldn't ever feel at home in his workshop again. As a result, his work slowed and fell in quality. It was clear something was the matter with the Dwarf as he'd never allow that to happen ever before. However, the day Mordin finally decided to say something, he found only a small note attached to the Forge. "I don't feel welcome here anymore brother. The people of the village, they say it's not my fault, but it really is. I'm the reason he no longer has a life to cling to. His ghost whether real or not still haunts me in this workshop reminding me of the misdeed I had done. No matter what anyone says, it's still my fault this happened and this workshop only reminds me of that now. Luckily, I'm not just leaving the forge empty, I had trained an apprentice, young lad by the name of Roark. He just hit his manhood, a ripe 18. I'm sure he'll be as great a Smith as I ever was. However, I must leave this town. It's only a memory of the horrible thing I did. So, goodbye Mordin. Maybe one day we'll meet again." and thus, Quimbly become a vagabond wandering the world in search of atonement. He believe that maybe one day he could find it, but it would be a long journey until that happened. I actually tailored the character a lot after this choice, making him super good at lockpicking and trap-making ((which, Dwarves were already good at to be fair.)) due to his blacksmithing roots. While he wasn't entirely familiar he easily picked up metal working and just things of that nature. He of course, became a Rogue out of necessity. After all, a wanderer didn't make much sometimes one had to make ends meet in the more unsavory kind of way. I feel like he'd easily make for a more dour character, one who's mostly given up on the world and everything in it even abandoned his prior values etc and hardly would believe them anymore. He would sorta be mopey and feel a bit too sorry for himself. I'm sure a good party would help him turn around and regain what he had lost. His trust in himself. Certainly a place he could easily regrow as a character. While I didn't really get to play him, he was still my first step in D&D and I'm very happy for that. Maybe one day I'll give him the proper treatment and make him an actual character and play him. I think he deserves that lol.

Yea, I think I'll just plan for that with the rest of tonight and just post tomorrow to make it as little awkward as possible. It's going to be a strange push... but I think I can keep it from being too strange and out of place lol.

I'm actually still struggling to find a way to just scoot in here. Since well stuff keeps happening lol. Hard to justify just slipping back in without it being a biiiiit garbage. I'm not sure if that's okay or not... so... yea trying to not do it.

Some for me possibly. No particular order. If I was that final boss guy of doom... probably this one.. Probably the one I'd pick since it's just the way I think I'd be lol. You wouldn't be defeating me or my awesome pokemon.