by JR Cook - 8 years ago     show comments

While a lot of people scream for nerfs when cards feel overpowered, I don’t see many people calling for buffs to long forgotten cards. In my competition-based mind, every non-joke card should at least be a decent fit in a viable deck. Just ignore the fact that some bad cards do have their purpose design-wise, ok? Still, I believe the meta would grow a lot more interesting if a wider array of cards suddenly started seeing play. So without further ado…

Welcome back to Mending Mondays, a weekly feature where I, Dannie “IAmDiR23” Ray will take a look at some of the worst cards in the Hearthstone and evaluate why they are deemed to be horrible, and what could be done to fix them.

You could do a lot worse than the Garrison commander. The problem with the commander isn’t so much that it is completely rubbish, but rather than it looks like an epic card that should be the cornerstone to some interesting deck archetypes. Sadly, Garrison commander really can’t fulfill that role, let’s see why.

Why is it so bad?

Using your Hero Power is often a big tempo loss. For the most parts Hero Powers are something that you are supposed to use when you don’t have anything better to do. There are situations where you can get a pretty good value out of your Hero Power, but that’s not always the case. Generally, the more that you use your hero power, the more behind you get on board. Garrison Commander lets you use your Hero Power more, which isn’t really that good of a thing. In order for the Garrison Commander to be very useful, you need to get more mileage out of your hero power. You either need a good Inspire minion on board, or having a better Hero Power via Justicar Trueheart, or simply get a new one using Lord Jaraxxus or god forbid, Majordomo Executus.

The Problem is that inspire minions are hard to keep alive, because of the threat they represent, and it’s hard to fit Garrison Commander, 2 Hero Powers, and an inspire minion on the same turn. Usually you are dropping a Vanilla minion that sometimes will get the opportunity to do some cool stuff that isn’t really that amazing. That kinda sums it up, Garrison Commander synergies are often more trouble than they are worth.

Summary of Badness:

• Using your Hero Power too often is a big tempo loss
• Requires too many synergies to get full value

Finding this Card’s Heart

Garrison Commander wants you to use your Hero Power twice a turn, that’s like his whole thing. Doesn’t give you much room to tinker around, does it?

Possible Improvements

The first thing we have to answer is a very simple question. Does the Garrison Commander really need a buff? Or does he just need a bigger and better supporting cast? Some would argue that Garrison Commander is fine, and you just need better inspire and Hero Power synergy cards, but I think that boosting this guy would go a long way towards opening up our deck building options.

But how would you tweak him? There’s not much room for switching the stats, and if you make it a later game card you kinda lose out on the combo potential. I mean I guess you could make it a meaty 6-drop that allows you to play him and use Hero Power twice on the same turn, but that might be just too big of a change.

Perhaps a 3/4 for 3 would be a better fit, as you’d have the possibility of curving into double hero power. Still, double Hero Power on turn 4 isn’t a line that’s going to win you many games, is it?

There is another option though, and lets jump straight into it.

The Results

The problem with this card was that using power isn’t that worth it, so allowing a second use per turn isn’t really a helpful ability. But what if you didn’t have to pay the 2-mana again? What if Garrison Commander added value to your Hero Power by having it trigger twice every time you clicked your HP button? You’d still get double inspires and double reduction for your Frost Giants, but this time you’d actually have a play that’s worth his mana. The Garrison Commander would become a really high priority target that would make Inspire Cards really dangerous and valuable.

With this version of the card, putting together combos would be a bit easier, and the card would hold his weight on his own. Of course, you would have to test it out to see how good it is; if it ends up being too strong, you can always dock a stat point.

As a closing thought, how would you word this ability to make it’s interactions more intuitive?

Can’t get enough of Mending Mondays? Check out all past editions here! Want to give your Hearthstone Brain a workout? Maybe try these cool puzzles. Don’t forget to take a look at my Top 5 ranking of Hearthstone Expansions.