Any Hearthstone players 'round here?

[Esquilax]

I'd rather play a card game where the monsters don't need a special ability to keep my opponents from just bypassing them. I got into it a bit, and it definitely looks fun, but in my opinion it has a significant flaw.

I used to feel that way too, just as I was starting to learn the game; wouldn't constant access to my opponent's health pool just lead to everyone ignoring the monsters and going for the face? There are decks designed to do just that, which is why I hate fighting the Hunter class, which is specced to do constant damage to the player every turn, but for the most part it's less of a concern and more of a balancing act. You have to find a sweet spot between keeping up your own damage capacity, and limiting your opponent's; that one turn cooldown upon playing most monsters means that an opponent with a few good removal cards and a cheap monster of their own can keep your board entirely clear, while leaving theirs free to attack, if you're focused on just dealing face damage. It's sort of a crippling flaw, if your main strategy can be foiled by a spell card you can play on turn two. You play a really close game, if you're both expecting and playing face damage decks, it's not a worthwhile investment.

Nowadays the game focuses around favorable trading, where you play monsters that can take down two or more other monsters before getting killed itself, in one form or another. My Paladin character accomplishes this through midrange creatures with offensive special abilities that trigger when I have a dragon in my hand, my Rogue rushes the opponent with cheap mechs while buffing them with a specific monster that only does that, my Mage keeps the opposing board clear with removal cards while doing scratch damage with a few cheap monsters before paving the way for the big guns by the end game, and my Warlock... well, I haven't figured out Warlock too well yet. But the taunt mechanic is less of a weakness than you'd think.