Much better than I thought it was going to be. At first I figured it was going to be 18 cards on the battle field lol. That would just turn into all attacks on 7 winning the game.
But it is fun and a nice change of pace for sure!
As far as the Ladder aspect goes... it can stay there, but no one serious in ladder will use it. I tried it once and lost 1600 DP lol!! It is waay too imbalanced and lucky for serious Ladder. As far as someone throwing a dual dagger / heals / frost traps out. If you are not prepared on that match up for those it can murder you. which is exactly what happened to me. But yes, it is cool, just a little time consuming is all.
Also, why not coin bet for Hardcore?? I don't see why this wouldn't be an option. We need some sort of gain for spending 5 minutes picking and fighting!