Harpy | Harpy

[Daxx]

Did... did you delete my earlier post?

Thread's dead, baby. Thread's dead. (In other words I deleted the old thread and started again because the first two comments were about how there was already a card called Mind Flayer, and weren't about the actual idea.)

Yes, vrt mentioned Harpy, so that may be the card's eventual name. We'll have to see what his art looks like.

[Drobbit]

actually there are many possible names:
Imp, succubus, lich or even as simple as ghost.

[Kamietsu]

I like this card. This + my Hoarder card +nightmare = big damage

[vrt]

Considering Harpies were sent as a punishment for greed in Greek mythology, I think they'd be quite suited for this card. Artwork is on its way!

[Daxx]

I can't thank you enough for the art, vrt!

Does anyone else have any ideas for improvements that could be made to the card? Have I got the cost right?

[Scaredgirl]

I think that Harpy is a perfect theme for this card. With some good art, I see this idea going far.

My initial reaction to the cost was that it's maybe too low. I would go with 5 or lower it's HP. Latter would fit the theme better because Harpies sound soft to me. You could probably go with 1 or 2 HP and it still wouldn't be weak.

[EmeraldTiger]

OldTrees is good at determining cost, perhaps his opinion would help.

[Daxx]

Hmm. How about 2HP unupped and 3 upped? That way they'd get caught in RoFs easily enough.

[Drobbit]

The attack goes from 0 to 7, so 3 or 4 will be the average attack. Lets say 4 so you can play as a 4/4 creature with a cost of 4 . I don't think that you have to pay for this ability since it can low the attack of your creature and it doesn't depend on you (as long as you play this card alone, without combos). I mean, the final attack depens on the luck or the ability of your opponent, or extra cards (in this case is payed by the cost of that cards).

The upped card is also fine as it is. Or it could have the same 4 hp but X+1 attack points to make the difference.

Does the eclipse affect this creature? With eclipse it will get X+2?

[Hyroen]

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,14206.html

Glad the forums are thinking in the same direction.

[OldTrees]

I heard my name? 

This is a good card. Fits darkness;s parasitic/symbiotic effect nicely. Harpy would fit the effect well indeed.

Anyways balance:

Skill:
Assuming the statistics Crow took on cards in hand is accurate then the average cards in hand is 3.25
Assuming this were in a deck then Nightmare would be as well. Over the course of a game the opponent's hand would fill up with more unplayable creatures and thus add to this creature's attack.
Estimated average = 4 (subject to playtesting in a nightmare deck)
Hence estimated value for the skill is 4

Upgrade:
4HP -> 5HP is way too small of an upgrade.
4HP -> 6HP is acceptable.
0|4 [N|4] -> 1|4 [N+1|4] would work
0|4 for 4 -> 0|4 for 3 would work as well.

This is a well balanced card.

[Daxx]

6HP might be the best for the upgrade. That would take it out of Shockwave/Rage Pot/Lightning range. I'm against the n+1 idea that a few people have suggested on the grounds that the mechanic is not particularly clean, so I'd prefer to play with the HP to balance the card.

I will revise the stats after the art is done.