Zeriyah (Christina Sims) discusses the Silence and Aura buffs mechanics in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. She actually answered a lot of questions not covered below. It’s worth clicking the blizzard icon at the Hearthstone forum to browse through all the entries posted by Zeriyah. Follow the links, and join the discussion at the official forums.
Thon: If a minion has Divine Shield, and gets Polymorphed…does the Sheep have divine shield? Or does divine shield go away because it’s no longer in the card text?
Zeriyah: When a minion is affected by a transform effect such as Polymorph or Hex, everything about the minion is changed and all effects are removed. For example if a minion has Divine Shield, Blessing of Kings, Blessing of Might and +1/+1, when they are polymorphed they lose everything and become a basic 1/1 sheep.
Based one of your posts, I know that you can target Lord Jaraxxus, EREDAR LORD OF THE BURNING LEGION!!! with Sacrificial Pact (formerly Grimoire of Sacrifice), whether he is acting as a minion or a hero.
However, I am unclear as to what happens after he is targeted if he is in the Hero position. It is my assumption that either:
1) Jaraxxus is destroyed, and the player, no longer having a Hero, loses;
2) Jaraxxus is destroyed, and Gul’dan comes back with the same HP he had before summoning Jaraxxus; OR
3) Jaraxxus is destroyed, and Gul’dan comes back with the same HP Jaraxxus had before being destroyed.
Zeriyah: Even as a Hero, Jaraxxus is still a demon. If he is the target of Sacrificial Pact, he will be destroyed and the Jaraxxus player will lose the game.
Zeriyah: First off, let me address some questions people still have regarding Silence and Aura buffs.
Health in Hearthstone works much like it works in World of Warcraft. Imagine a Priest running through Warsong Gulch with 1 Health remaining, only protected by the power of his Power Word: Fortitude.
If a Shaman purges away the PW: Fortitude, the Priest’s maximum Health decreases, but his current Health isn’t affected. He lives to carry the flag another day. This is also true in Hearthstone. Silence effects remove buffs but doesn’t affect current Health, unless the new Max Health is lower than the current Health.
Silence effects are technically not heals but it can remove instances of damage. Let’s look at some in-game examples:
A 3/3 minion is buffed by Blessing of Kings, making it a 7/7. 5 damage is dealt to the minion, then Silence is cast on it. The minion goes from a 7/2 to a 3/2. Four of the instances of damage was removed along with the Blessing of Kings, and one carried over to the minion.
A 3/3 minion is buffed by Blessing of Kings, making it a 7/7. 1 damage is dealt to the minion, then Silence is cast on it. The minion goes from a 7/6 to a 3/3 with no damage on it. The one instance of damage was removed along with the Blessing of Kings.
This 3/3 minion we are picking on is buffed by a +1/+1 non-Aura effect (like Shattered Sun Cleric), turning it into a 4/4. 2 damage is dealt to the minion, then Silence is cast on it. The minion becomes a 3/2 with 1 damage on it. One instance of damage was removed along with the +1/+1 buff, and one remains on the minion.
Aura effects do not remove instances of damage when they are removed, because Aura effects will still persist through Silence unless the origin of the Aura buff is Silenced.
My opponent’s Stormwind Champion is buffing his Murloc Raider, making the Raider a 3/2. I try to Silence the Murloc Raider (ahh why would I ever do that??). The Murloc Raider is still a 3/2 – the Aura is coming from the Champion, and Silencing the Raider won’t accomplish much.
After my terrible misplay, I do one damage to the Murloc Raider, bringing him to a 3/1. Then, I kill the Stormwind Champion, eliminating the +1/+1 buff on the Murloc. That instance of damage is not removed with the Aura and remains on the Murloc, who goes back to being a 2/1 (with one damage on him) and dies. — source
Zeriyah: I can give you the way it currently works, but the way buffs, damage and Silence resolve is something we’re currently working on to make sure it’s concise and intuitive. Since the way it currently works may change, I’d like to come back to this question at a later time. Sorry for the confusion! That’s what we’re trying to avoid. — source
Zeriyah: They are not explicitly called Aura buffs, but they are buffs that affect multiple minions simultaneously. Stormwind Champion, Blood Imp, or other minions that have effects such as “your other minions have…” are considered Aura buffs. — source
Kargaen: Not sure if this has been asked before, but is Animal Companion like the Shaman’s hero power in that it cannot summon something that is already on the board (e.g. I have Misha in play, so is Misha no longer able to be summoned by Animal Companion)?
Zeriyah: Each minion brought into play with Animal Companion has the same chance to be summoned regardless if one has been summoned previously or is currently in play. Is it entirely possible to have two Misha in play. (Mishae? Mishas?)
