Hearthstone Players!

Having fun on the Wild Ladder (to Rank 14, natch) with this Shaman concoction:



I link it here as well: www.hearthpwn.com/decks/715641-jade-man-wild

You make dumb totems and Jade Golems and then your Things From Below are cheap and your Golems are cheap (but have a high cost) and you BLAMMO Evolve them into magic! It is one card off Standard Legal (Loatheb) and that can easily be swapped out--but it has NO CHANCE on the Standard Ladder. None. I was playing without Brann, without Loatheb, without Aya--the idea is there with just generic Jade stuff and Evolves.

Guys, I gotta say... Wild is where it's at for me right now. The Standard Ladder is so boring. There are some amazing decks: Pirate Warrior, Jade Shaman, Reno....anything. But they aren't super fun to just see over and over again and to lose to if you dare set foot "outside the meta." In Wild, from Ranks 25-14 (so far) there is no meta at all. Every deck I see is different and interesting. Hunters are there! Paladins! Like twice! Folks still trying to get Tempo Mage working! Come to flavor country. Come to Wild.

I agree standard is just that rank 15-5. Upper and lower may have more cariety. I would play wild were it not for Dr. Boom. I have a fear that even if he is not in every deck. I would encounter him far more frequently than I wish. I play janky deck ideas on casual to sate my appetite for variety. It's scary you are burnt out on the meta so soon into new card release.

I played a match against Reynad the other day. Can't be 100% sure it was THE Reynad other than the name. He played a basic Hunter build. I was rogue. He won. He got off 4 or so secrets into Highmane.

I am kinda trying to get some more golden heros with 500 wins. Only made Rogue so far. But Warrior Druid Paladin are within reach.

Anyone have a good Grimy Paladin build? I made a Grimy Dragon Reno Paladin. It can go the distance with most decks but doesn't have a solid win condition to knock anyone out after we have gotten 20 cards into our decks. Most Grimy Paladins are too slow and you die turn 7.

Having some fun with J4ckie Chan egg Druid. You can beat dumb people with it turn 6. The smart ones realize they only have to keep you off the board even if it means over killing a 1/1. You get soul of the forest into 3 or 4 minions and the deck is 90% win rate.

I am at the point where I feel I have crossed the hump on collecting/ having the necessary cards. I have lots of legendaries from the recent set and can screw around with most of the fun stuff you can make except the Druid 10 mana guy. I don't have Fandral either so I don't make too many greedy Druid builds.

I keep thinking I am going to build something like Reno Raza Kazakus Priest and play it until I feel I have mastered it, but I wind up playing variety.

The meta is just that—the meta. I know how they play and I know whether or not I will lose pretty early depending on what I am playing. Here's what's out there:

• Pirate Warrior
• Jade Shaman
• Miracle Rogue
• Dragon Priest
• Renolock

These will be probably 70% of your games. Then there is a smattering of

• Reno Priest
• Kun Druid
• Desperate Paladins
• Truly Dedicated Tempo Mages

That's it. I can win. I can lose. The games are games. But there just isn't enough variety to keep me interested. You see the same in Standard Casual, sadly. Wild though, like I mentioned, is all over the place. And I think newer players have figured this out because I see far less Dr. Boom than I should. I think this is where new players hide and rank.

Egg Druid is a fun time. Man alive, you can eat shit against Shamans though. Just a big old mouthful of hot buttered dung. You gotta craft Fandral, man. MattDP crafted Fandral and he doesn't even like HEARTHSTONE. Fandral opens your eyes to all kinds of crazy shenanigans. Wrath for 4 and draw a card? Seems good. late game 5/5 and three more Idols for 1? Seems like a solid play. 4/6 Taunt Charge for 5? Reasonable. I am partial to the turn 7 Innervate, Fandral, Nourish, draw 3 cards and get two mana crystals, but you might prefer something else.

The Buff Paladin build that probably gets the most wins is that Murloc one I note earlier in the thread. The one I have been playing uses Secrets and MYSTERIOUS MOTHERFUCKING CHALLENGER (1-of, but two might be better). Between MC and Small-Time Recruits your late-game picks are just sick as hell. I really wish Secretkeeper triggered off MC secrets, but alas, we can't have everything.





//edit

Asked for and got comments from Hotform on the Jade/Evolve Shaman deck above. He said to remove Lava Shocks and Flame Elemental/Jade Chieftain for a suite of Spirit Claws and Azure Drakes

I dunno. Casual you don't see many aggro Warrior Shaman like ladder. I must have played 5 Reno priests one day.

I been playing awhile, I am pretty sure I understand the benefits of Fandral. I also know he is rotating out in a few months. I spent the dust on Raza while I pondered Fanny.
I like standard so I can stay relevant and relate to whatever current gossip news tourney stuff is going on in the scene. At least standard changes a couple of times a year. I am ok with that.
Maybe next month I will get into wild. I can make 8 in standard pretty easily lately. It feels competitive. It's nice when I need to scratch that itch. I play as much casual when I wanna have fun and mess around with control Shaman builds and whatnot

Since that last post I figured I would give Wild a shot to see what it was all about.
I made it from rank 25 straight to rank 14 without a single loss. Maybe that is highly improbable???? But half the games people were not playing well. I brought aggro pirate dragon warrior. Was too lazy to retool it for this experiment, it's all standard cards. Maybe one match went to turn 8. I don't get that win rate or anything close in standard. I think I lost my way straight from 11 back to 14 in standard without a single win.

So ya. Winning is fun. I have no idea if they are playing different decks. A couple of people were trying Cthun I guess. But they didn't play enough cards to see whether they had some fresh deck ideas. It hasn't satisfied me yet on variety, just satisfied my ego that I am a Hearthstone god among plebes. I am sure if I get into lower ranks of wild it will get harder.

But in standard I think most of the people I am playing are closer to my level of collection ( you do need cards to make decent decks) and ability. I like that the card pool is reduced in standard because you can put a person on a certain build after they have played a few cards and then use your knowledge of the game to try and predict what they will tempo out turn 5 or what removal they may have. I am sure I could relearn ALL the cards and try and do the same for wild but seems like that would be very difficult. I guess I cheated by using a fast aggro deck. It didn't matter what thy had. I was 75% smorc-ing no matter what they did.

Do I get rewards at the end of the month from wild and standard? Or whichever is lower?

Edit: oh Jeb, you were totally right! I did not see a single Dr Boom
Now rank 11 undefeated. Now I know how the hot knife feels when confronted with butter.

Whichever rank is better is the reward you get, not both.

However, you are placed in each next season based on your previous rank.

You guys are crazy!

I'm well aware that i don't have the cards or (probably) the skill to compete at the same level as you, but playing in Wild has changed a lot lately. I used to go there to test out new ideas or when I had a class-specific quest to fulfill. I'd get a few wins, but I didn't really try to go up in the ladder, so it was always right around the high teens Lately, I can barely get out of level 20! My Standard deck is at 14 (pretty high for me), but I just get absolutely *slaughtered* in Wild now. And I want to be clear-- I don't mind getting creamed at the higher levels. But I hate getting pummeled at level 20. What magic RNG is pitting me against all the guys with awesome decks at that level?

I really should quit this game because I don't spend the money, time, or effort to learn the game or equip my deck as well as the majority of players. But, God help me, I just like playing. I try to be positive and learn from the matches I lose, but I get frustrated by opponents who are so far above me and yet ranked at 20. Sigh. Thanks for letting me rant.

On a side note, I really wish there were a button for "Instant rematch." Even make it "Double or nothing." Ignoring the blow-outs, there are so many games that I could have won if the cards had just fallen in my favor. I would love the chance to replay the last opponent just to prove that I'm not a total chump. The majority of my losses I would lose no matter what, but every now and then you just want a chance to redeem yourself.

Gregarius wrote: You guys are crazy!

I'm well aware that i don't have the cards or (probably) the skill to compete at the same level as you, but playing in Wild has changed a lot lately. I used to go there to test out new ideas or when I had a class-specific quest to fulfill. I'd get a few wins, but I didn't really try to go up in the ladder, so it was always right around the high teens Lately, I can barely get out of level 20! My Standard deck is at 14 (pretty high for me), but I just get absolutely *slaughtered* in Wild now. And I want to be clear-- I don't mind getting creamed at the higher levels. But I hate getting pummeled at level 20. What magic RNG is pitting me against all the guys with awesome decks at that level?

That is rotten luck, honestly. Me, I am stuck 20-18 in Standard! I'm not playing absolute trash or anything, but I am not playing a Tier 1, Reynad-approved, Hearthpwn-Front-Page deck either, so I get rocked by decks like that sometimes. Mostly, I want to not have Turn 6 or earlier decide the game. If they are a Rogue, and Turn 6 is Gadgetzan Auctioneer, Counterfeit Coin, Prep, Fan of Knives, Conceal—I am not going to win this game. Warrior might just up and kill me Turn 6 with Arcanite Reaper, Upgrade and those Pirates they curved out all damn game. Is it turn 8? Are they making 6/6 Jade Golems? Yeah, hang it up.

What I like about Wild is that can happen, though it's rarer, or ... anything could happen. I got totally ROLLLLLLLED by a Taunt Warrior. Just... rolled. Holy shit. Some kind of Mech Warlock thing was happening with Anima Golems and that cannony guy that shoots non-mechs? A Face Hunter! Crazy stuff. I saw someone play an Undertaker and a Leper Gnome on purpose!

I really should quit this game because I don't spend the money, time, or effort to learn the game or equip my deck as well as the majority of players. But, God help me, I just like playing. I try to be positive and learn from the matches I lose, but I get frustrated by opponents who are so far above me and yet ranked at 20. Sigh. Thanks for letting me rant.

Same same. This is HS Rant Central. Let it out. I am on Greetings --> Insta-Squelch because I interpret every Emote in the worst possible way and it tilts me. I feel like I need to think on my turns, and their dumb emotes are distracting. Here's some quick words of advice on playing smarter. The game is about managing resources: cards, mana, and life. You draw the same number of cards as the opponent, you gain mana at the same rate. Anything you can do to break these symmetries in your favor will win you the game as they add up. That's it. Here's an example:
Can I kill their guy "for cheap"? I.e., at a cost lower than what it cost them to play it? Imagine you are a Mage. You kept a Frostbolt. The opponent plays Turn 1 Voidwalker (the 1/3 Taunt Demon for 1). Should you Frostbolt it? No. They paid 1 for it, it's not a huge threat (deals 1, who cares?), and Frostbolt can kill something much bigger, and/or freeze something even bigger so you can kill it (Frostbolt deals 3 to little stuff and it kind of deals 5 to big stuff, as you FB, ping, ping over a couple of turns.) let the Voidwalker do its thing. You'll make a Loot Hoarder or something that will put it into Ping range, or you can wait until Flamestrike shows up or whatever. Hold on to that Frostbolt.

On a side note, I really wish there were a button for "Instant rematch." Even make it "Double or nothing." Ignoring the blow-outs, there are so many games that I could have won if the cards had just fallen in my favor. I would love the chance to replay the last opponent just to prove that I'm not a total chump. The majority of my losses I would lose no matter what, but every now and then you just want a chance to redeem yourself.

YES. Exactly. Sometimes they draw the nuts. I had an opponent cast Thoughtsteal against me and get Jade Spirit, which was super helpful in that moment and Master of Evolution from me, to turn the Jade Spirit into SLUDGE BELCHER! Cripes. I was pissed. What can I do though? It's not like I got outplayed. He got really lucky.

I do realize my assault on the wild ranks has been lots of luck. I would say full Pirate warrior is the number one deck I have faced there... Ships Cannon. Dragons fuck up pirates though. Unless they smorc me down in 6 turns they are toast. I wish Wild was more different than standard. 75% of what I have faced is either Smorc warrior, Reno anything with Dr. Boom teched in, Or the aggro Shaman that plays faceless. I wish it was more true that Wild has some other meta, but so far I am not seeing it much. I am just going to roll with PIrate warrior this month and play control decks in standard for variety. Next month I may reverse it and run Renolock in wild. I guess I will bounce back and forth between them and stop playing casual. As long as I can have a place to try and push for low levels and rewards and have another place to mess around I am good. I found resistance at level 8 in wild where it's all Reno and Pirates. I am currently mid 6. I won't bore you with the details of my trip but I have most of the month to push to legend. Doubt I get there, the journey is the prize.

Anyone face a Beardo Combo Priest yet? I can't imagine the disciple it takes to play that deck. You have to get Beardo, Embrace and a whole hand full of cheap spells down after you Raza'd and Justicar'd.
Somebody got the combo off on me though, Felt bad man.

jeb wrote: Mostly, I want to not have Turn 6 or earlier decide the game.

No shit. I like a fast game, and don't really enjoy anything that goes all the way to Fatigue, but this expansion has everything on super-speed.

I've mostly hung up playing, because I can't really find a deck I like and I'm tired of losing in a few turns based on my draws.

I find all the winning decks to be super annoying to play against right now as well, so I'm tired of playing a game that's not fun.

Not Sure wrote:

jeb wrote: Mostly, I want to not have Turn 6 or earlier decide the game.

No shit. I like a fast game, and don't really enjoy anything that goes all the way to Fatigue, but this expansion has everything on super-speed.

I know I keep banging this drum, but the problem is at both ends. Super fast and fatigue games are now the norm. It's the middle ground that's dead. This is what's killing the game currently although I don't see any sign Blizzard are moving to address it with any speed. I'm still doing my daily quests and as long as you, I and millions of others keep doing the same I doubt they're that bothered.

I got my next Legendary (Aya Blackpaw), so now I am back in horde mode for gold. 500 and counting. I have a lot of dust, but with Kazakus, Aya, and Patches, I don't feel too stressed about getting anything else. I would get Kun if I had Aviana. I might get Raza, but that means playing a certain kind of deck for one Hero, and I don't like the numbers there on deckbuilding ideas. Maybe White Eyes? I do love the whole Reincarnate thing....

Anyway, I'm with you folks. The game is too quick in this especially weird way right now. Turn 6 or 7 and it's over. It might not be the end of the game--it might be like, 20 life to 15 life--but it's over. They or you did something really sick and there won't be enough time to recover. You can keep on playing and all, but it doesn't matter. At least the Undertaker Hunter games had the decency to actually end.

jeb wrote: I got my next Legendary (Aya Blackpaw), so now I am back in horde mode for gold. 500 and counting.

Since I now own everything I want with dust to spare, I've gone back to playing arena runs instead. This is soul destroying because I'm really bad at arena but it's about the most interesting thing to do right now. Fingers crossed the endless losses will either make me a better player or make me quit.

I might have to make a White Eyes deck, I keep forgetting I have him...

I just hate how, for the most part, a bunch of the legendaries lend themselves to certain deck archetypes and that's it. I don't think we need to go back to the days where Dr. Boom was in 90% of decks, but does anyone run Kun without Aviana? Aya in a non-Jade deck? I might craft Kazakus but the rest leave me apathetic.

Plus, I have little to no interest in several of the competitive archetypes. I've never had an interest in Dragon Priest in any incarnation, I don't like pirates, I'm not going to spend 3200 dust to play a Ramp Druid (like Jeb), and I can't stand how the only decent Paladin deck uses Murlocs, and even then they're not that good.

Is Shaman the only decent midrange deck right now? I miss midrange Hunter and Paladin...

I've been fooling around with a non-Kun/Aviana, non-Astral Communion Ramp Druid with C'thun. It's...interesting. It can surprise people with some of the goofy, non-meta inclusions (Kraken, Starfall, etc.) but I'm still tinkering with it and I can't get it out of Rank 20. Right now I'm having the most fun in Wild Casual with my pre-MSG Thief Rogue and N'Zoth/Resurrect Priest decks.

In re: Midrange...

• Shaman is the really good Midrange deck right now.
• RenoMage can also be built for Midrange, actually. It can just burn you out if it needs to "go Aggro," which it does against Jade Druid.
• Warrior is in a weird spot. the Aggro deck (Pirates) is VERY STRONG. So it pulls players in that direction. The Control build can beat that, and everything else, really, except Jade Druid, which is has ZERO chance of beating. So you just autolose x% of games. The Dragon build is essentially a Midrange build in this meta. It will kill you quick if you miss, but it can win a long game with big butt dragons if it has to.
• Dragon Priest is a slower Midrange build, but it's kind of boring, as you note.
• You can make a case that Miracle Rogue is Midrange, in that it can win in different ways. Early game 10/10s can go ham on Druids, and Concealed, Cold-Blooded, Auctioneers, or your own cards they stole from you might do the job later.

There are options at Midrange. Are they better than Jade/Midrange Shaman? Nope. But you don't need to feel bored if you don't want to.

Ben Brode is also sad about Standard. So, we're not alone. He's soliciting input on rotating some cards away to Wild (read: Gadgetzan Auctioneer), or looking very critically at the Classic set, because Team 5's goal is that Standard feel different with each rotation. That "Ramp-Druid-Except-Now-With-X" is a deck we will see forever is an irritant to them. Same goes for "Miracle-Rogue-Except-Now-This-Kills-You." They have done some good work here. Control Warrior is basically gone from Standard. Face Hunter is not a thing to be concerned about. Oil Rogue is literally not possible. They need to work on this. It's a tough goal. I don't think they helped themselves with releasing MSoG in Dec 2016, avoiding a rotation, but c'est la guerre.