It needs novelty but that novelty has to be brought by players and not by blizzard.
Yes, blizzard has a role there but their role is to commit to help the players and to not utterly destroy anything that goes against what they did design.
Also to think before implement mechanics that are clearly outdated like starships.
We always talk about get the game more engaging but the momment a card challenges what people know the rain of complaints start and that when said card not enter the game already almost unplayable due to blizzard not wanting to hurt someone feelings.
I kinda changed my opnion those last days about how to bring novelty. If the novelty has to be brought by nerfing something that is balanced i would rather not see that novelty.
It is a bad method and hurts in the long run.
As noted there are edge cases (0 mana card getting -1) that will need exceptions/clarifications on how it’ll work.
What will likely happen is that a handful of cheap cards (probably 2 mana or less) keeps on being the most played simply because they are easier to see play. They’ll sort of rotate between each other.
Like say these 3 neutral 1 drops: snake oil dude, murmy, scarab keychain. If one week snake oil costs 1 more, people drop him and run the other two. Next week murmy costs more, and people go back to snake oil dude.
The other end, it’ll likely be some expensive card, but because there are more expensive cards that don’t see play, you won’t see as much of them rotating back and forth between the same cards. Sometimes I can picture an expensive card getting a discount allows for some degenerate combo, and maybe that card will shoot up in play rate for that one week, but that would mean the combo will disappear the next week.
That last bit would probably do more damage to the meta than helping it. Remember those constructed tavern brawls where the rules could enable certain degenerate combos? Yeah you’re gonna invite that sorta thing into standard.
If they were supposed to cost -1 after discount, they cost 0, but their Real cost is set to -1 (it takes a stomper to make it cost 1, neophyte won’t do it)
I disagree with your hatred of Renathal (I am the one who thought him up I think BTW) and like him very much so please do not listen to this man Blizzard.