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I've seen Seth recently explain that commons are hard to design because they need to be mechanic-light and have very basic stats, while also introducing "something that the game is missing". So I wanted to design a few ideas that would fill those criteria. I came up with four of them.
- Minion Guards
The skies have no beefy swarms, while the ground has things like Barbs and Guards. Minions and Minion Horde are fragile. A shielded air swarm would introduce this niche to the game, and decks that want a defensive flying card that doesn't die so easily can opt for this one.
Character design: I was thinking of it as being like the skeletons of minions, having some patched fabric around their wings to allow them to fly, and holding shields. Kinda like Minions and Guards fused together!
Description: "Four bone brothers that rule the skies and throw rocks at foes. Destroy their shields to get to the squishy cores!"
Stats: 4-elixir, spawns four flying minion guards. They have regular 200 HP shields and 110 additional hit points when those shields are taken down. They deal 75 damage per attack and hit every 1.4sec at a long melee range. Their movement speed is medium.
Strategy: I don't think these would be very interesting strategically, they would just be a basic card in decks similar to Minions or Guards. They will deal less damage but survive longer and even resist all arrows. I'd expect them to be primarily defensive. They would finally bring a little more variety in the skies.
- Cannoneer
One of the simplest things this game lacks is a simple short-range attacker. We have a lot of units in the ≤2 and a lot in the ≥5 range, but hardly any between these. Namely, there are the two spirits at 2 and 2.5, the three dragons at 3.5, Executioner and Hunter at 4, Zappies at 4.5, there isn't even a simple point attacker.
Character design: I imagined him as being a fairly armored guy, like the Musketeer, carrying a big cannon.
Description: "The Cannoneer is a heavily armored unit. His weapon can't attack far, but you will want to pray for anyone who gets close!"
Stats: 4 elixir, 880 hitpoints, 300 damage per attack, 1.5sec hit speed. He has a 3.5 tiles range and a medium movement speed.
Strategy: This post explains defense interactions of short-ranged cards, which would be relevant for a troop like this. He would have most of the quirks of ranged troops, but also some that resemble melee troops such as being easy to kite.
- Stone Spirit
A knockback-based spirit! Such a card would be very control-based so it would probably spawn only one character. We already have Giant Snowball, so I'd imagine such a card costing 1 elixir. The spirit would run into an enemy and instantly explode, damaging in an area and knocking back.
\"Spawns a furious stone spirit to knock ground units back. Knocks even harder when on a roll.\"
Stats: I came up with an iteration that gives him a charge mechanic, but it doesn't need to be so complicated. The spirit is bulkier than the other two. It rolls at a Medium speed, then charges similarly to the princes and the rams (3.5 distance before charging) and rolls at a Very Fast speed. Stuns and knockbacks reset the charge. The spirit doesn't jump, instead, he needs to get right next to his enemies to explode. Since he explodes, this makes him the center of the area damage, unlike the other spirits. When not charged, it would deal the same damage as a skeleton in a 1.5 tiles radius, as well as a small knockback (1 tile, same as Bowler). When charged, it would deal double the damage in a 2 tiles radius, as well as a big knockback (2 tiles, bigger than Fireball). If it is killed, there is no death explosion.
- Magma Golem
The next thing I feel is missing is a basic card with strong death damage. We have the expensive Giant Skeleton, but we don't have a cheaper, more multi-purpose card with this mechanic. I discussed it and came up with two versions.
Stats: Both versions are slow, building-targeting cards. When the Magma Golem dies he explodes, creating a puddle of hot magma with the same radius as a fireball, that lingers for 3 seconds and only damages ground.
v1: Costs 3 elixir, 1100 hitpoints, 110 damage, 2sec hitspeed, the magma puddle deals 3 pulses of damage (110 x3)
v2: Costs 4 elixir, 1400 hitpoints, 160 damage, 2sec hitspeed, the magma puddle deals 3 pulses of damage (160 x3)
- In case the last one didn't feel basic enough: Spears
A basic 1-elixir spell that resembles the old arrows, but deals super low damage within a smaller radius. I asked some people to balance the card and they had dramatically different responses, so I just left the art here with no stats. I am unsure about whether the card would be healthy because it counters Skeleton Army so hard, but I think that it can be balanced out with a low projectile speed.
\"Launches a swarm of spears to damage enemies in a small area. Reduced damage to crown towers.\"
I made the card art first, then u/ChiteadoCR made it digital (the one I showed on top). I think it's sweet - resembling of arrows, but not too much.
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