Hearthstone Players!

My quest today was to throw 40 spells and it was going pretty slow. Then I drafted a janky paladin deck for tavern brawl that was all paladin spells and about 6-8 minions. Played a priest that hammered himself twice then tried to keep within 3 or so but his random minions weren't the greatest and I ended up killing him. And getting my quest down in the process.

I complained to Jeb the other day about warrior grim patron, charge chick, frothing berserker, and the spell that makes their minion minimum 1 health point

I made a push with my Warlock deck last night and got it up from rank 15 to rank 10. Now I am hovering between 10 and 11. I am noticing that I just have a huge defiict in terms of legendary cards that almost all of my opponents seem to play every game.

Playing Zoo(ish) you don't need much, if any. MAYBE Loatheb or Dr. Boom. For the most part it's just board board board and then you kill their face with Doomguard and Fist of Jaraxxus.

I don't really feel like the Legendaries of others bother me. Dr. Boom did. That guy is a stinker. But once I joined the (Dr)k side, there isn't anything else that makes me grimace. Ragnaros, Sylvanas, Grommash, Antonidas--meh. Part of the game. I might go upside their head with Vol'jin. If I was strictly free-to-play, I would be way more ticked at cards from the expansions. Some of those can just RUIN decks that don't have access to them.

I'm with ya Brew. That leper gnome can go straight to hell. I get irked by legendaries too but then I think; if you've got access to every card in the game and you are playing me on level 20, even if you win you still suck.

I was looking at the app store about two weeks ago on my phone and thought, "Oh yeah, Hearthstone. That's a thing."

I had watched my friends play it a bunch. We used to throw it up on the big screen and make moves by committee on route to a few 12 win Arena runs (way back before all of the expansions).

And now I've jumped in with both feet.

At first I just did a bunch of Arenas and tried to complete quests. My best Arena run so far was 8 with a Rogue, but most have been 5 or 3 wins, and even a couple of 2's. I don't think i've won exactly 4 yet.

When I started to come up short on gold my friends told me that to get a lot of decent cards I'd have to do the adventures. Luckily I happened to have $50 in iTunes gift cards. So I did that for a couple evenings. Then I looked online at some of the strong deck lists. There was one deck that was:

1) Considered very strong
2) Took very little dust (it actually has zero epics in most builds, and the only Legendary, Emperor Thaurissan, is from BRM).
3) Actually pretty difficult to play at the highest levels

Patron Warrior.* Home of some really stupid turns but with a lot of potential to screw up or get run over early.

So I played it a bit. Then I talked to my friends again, and they said that there were some good streamers out there who had played it. So I looked up some Youtube videos. Between watching them and playing a bit, I've learned a number of things:

1) You want a weapon early. (Fiery War Axe and Death's Bite are in the deck).
2) Get some card draw going. Inner Rage your own Acolytes of Pain or get a 2-3 card Battle Rage ASAP. Thaurissan isn't very good on an empty hand.
3) You don't have to wait until turn 8 to try to play Grim Patrons. Play them on turn 5 or 6, and save the crazy Warsong turns for Frothing Berserkers.

I'm Rank 13 now with the goal of maybe getting to rank 10 before the season ends in a few days. I think I have a problem. There was a reason I avoided this game for awhile...

*
2x Inner Rage
2x Execute
2x Fiery War Axe
2x Battle Rage
2x Slam
2x Armorsmith
1x Cruel Taskmaster
2x Unstable Ghoul
1x Shield Block
2x Acolyte of Pain
2x Frothing Berserker
2x Warsong Commander
2x Death's Bite
1x Gnomish Engineer
2x Grim Patron
L Emperor Thaurissan

Not so sure about Shield Block. Seems like Dread Corsair is pretty good here, especially with Death's Bite.

Shield Block is better when the games are running slower (i.e., less Aggro). It digs you deeper into your deck to set up the combo. Dread Corsair is really good, and can be part of the combo, but he's mostly defensive to hold off Zoo Warlocks and Face Hunters while you set up. I've seen folks drop to one Execute, one Armorsmith, go two Cruel Taskmasters over two Inner Rage, and so forth. There's wiggle room--not a lot, but you can move a card here or there and still be the best deck in Hearthstone.

As for streamers (I usually watch on twitch.tv), depending on what you're after, you have lots of options. Just ignore the chat though, it is universally awful. These are my thoughts:

• Best Warrior -- Sjow
• Best Druid -- (any big name streamer playing Druid is fine)
• Best Mage -- Reynad
• Best Hunter -- Xixo
• Best Priest -- Zetalot
• Best Shaman -- Firebat
• Best Rogue -- MrYagut or purpledrank_HS
• Best Warlock -- Eloise
• Best Paladin -- StrifeCro
• Best at Having Fun -- Day9tv or Noxious (well-known quote, "It's like he's sucking God's dick!")
• Best Arena -- Ratsmah or itsHafu (who's really good, but doesn't talk about why the plays are good) or ADWCTA
• Best Weird Shit -- bmkibler or lolNostam

The legendary thing isn't too big of a deal --- just can be frustrating when they keep plopping out 4 or 5 in a row.

As far as Warlock decks, I generally don't like zoo type of decks. I'm still hovering around Level 10.

I don't have much in the way of cards; basics, a few packs, and the first two wings of Naxx, and I can't seem to get past level 17 yet. I'll get within a couple of wins of breaking through but seem to hit a wall and get pushed back down. My best coverage card wise is probably druid but I seem to have more luck with mage, priest, and paladin. Haven't played much with the other melee classes yet.

If you can get to 17, you can get to 12+. I would guess you are losing to the transition from Rank 20ish ranks frothy aggro insanity to longer more controlly decks that appear around 17. You need to re-tool the deck a little. You don't need a big exchange or anything, but you can drop some cheap taunts for card draw, you can move the curve up a peg, &c. Assume 60% or more games will get to Turn 10 or higher. There's a lot more game to play when you aren't at 15 life by turn 3.

New season! I am going to ladder with Dragon Warlock. The games are slow, but pretty consistent. I have taken out a Grim Patron Hunter, a Midrange Shaman, and a Tempo Mage so far. Just poking early threats, getting my big butted 4-drops down (Twilight Drake is ~4/8 or so, and Twilight Guardian is 3/6 Taunt), then the deck turns on with access to Blackwing Corrupter, Harrison Jones, Sylvanas Windrunner, Emperor Thaurissan and clears like Hellfire, Shadowflame. Finisher is Ysera if needed.

I don't like this week's Tavern Brawl at all (Boombot vs Annoy-o-tron). I have a high tolerance for RNG, but this is too much for me. I think I can handle high RNG if I can make my own deck, but not if they stick me with shit like Bolster and Ogre Warmaul. Got my pack and GTFO.

I am thoroughly happy with midrange pally, a version with 2x peacekeepers and 1x stampeding kodo. I don't play much constructed so I hope to get to 10 in a month.

I recently gave up on pulling any of the Paladin epics so I crafted a Quartermaster and Coghammer for my Paladin deck. So of course after I drop 800 dust the grind of my Paladin deck got to me and I dropped it for Shaman. Now, I'm not the best deck-builder - I want to put everything in so I end up with too many 1x's that kill my deck's consistency - so I looked up a highly-ranked HS player's TGT deck that matched a lot of what I have in my collection. It's this midrange totem shaman deck, with a couple changes since I don't have all the cards.

First, I agree with Jackwraith about Thunderbluff Valiant. I'm not that impressed with it; it costs too much at 5 mana, has too little attack, and it requires too much setup. Instead I've been using 2x Draenei Totemcarver and it's been an all-star for me so far. I've not summoned it at anything less than a 6/6 in my last 3 games and a 5/5 and a totem for 6 mana isn't bad, either. It's been an amazing finishing card in the late game for me if I've been filling my board with hero power totems and haven't drawn any of my big guys yet. It also negates some of Shaman's RNG problem; it doesn't matter what the totems are and you don't lose any tempo by playing DT because it doesn't require additional mana and it's a permanent, instant buff.

The other change is that I don't have Al'Akir the Windlord so I replaced him with Justicar Trueheart. I tried Mist Caller but I'm not crazy about the 4/4 body despite the +1/+1 global buff. With Justicar I don't expect her to live through a turn but she usually eats an attack or spell and she's nearly a super taunt with her 6 attack. I play her as soon as I can and she's another card that helps solve the RNG problem. I love being able to throw down a Stoneclaw Totem at will, or even a healing totem if I'm clearing the board with some of my big guys.

I'm also high on this deck because I curb-stomped a couple Priests and a Hunter tonight and, c'mon, fuck those guys.

Earth Shock x1
Rockbiter Weapon x2
Zombie Chow x2
Flametongue Totem x2
Haunted Creeper x2
Totem Golem x2
Hex x2
Lightning Storm x2
Mana Tide Totem x1
Tuskarr Totemic x2
Defender of Argus x1
Draenei Totemcarver x2
Piloted Shredder x2
Bloodlust x1
Azure Drake x2
Fire Elemental x2
Justicar Trueheart xL
Dr. Boom xL

Nice. I have an article in the pipeline about Overload whenever Shellie has the time to get to it. I was thinking of doing one about RNG, especially Shaman, and it's telling that the way to make the Shaman power actually functional involves an inefficient (6/3 for 6) legendary card... I'm still not that sold on Totemcarver simply because it doesn't do much to the board state when it arrives and is utterly dependent on that board state to make it worthwhile. Would you pay 6 mana for a vanilla 5/5 normally? No. I don't want to be forced to push the slot machine button on turn 6 solely to make my 4/4 worth more, y'know? But if it's working for you, then it's working for you. I shifted over to a hardcore control deck for a while:

Lightning Bolt x2
Ancestral Knowledge x1
Bloodmage Thalnos xL
Crackle x2
Doomsayer x1
Lava Shock x2
BGH x1
Elemental Destruction x1
Healing Wave x2
Hex x2
Lightning Storm x2
Charged Hammer x1
Defender of Argus x2
Antique Healbot x2
Azure Drake x1
Emperor Thaurissan xL
Fire Elemental x2
Dr. Boom xL
Alexstrasza xL
Molten Giant x2

I wanted to test "Overload to the Max!" I eventually switched out the Thalnos and the Doomsayer for a couple of Master Jousters. Those quickly departed for a couple of Sunwalkers, because if I'm going to pay 6 for a bubbled Taunter, I want a fucking bubbled Taunter, like, all the time. At 4/5, they're still going to require a Fireball after the bubble is pinged off, so there's no sense paying more for an irrelevant point of toughness and sometimes not even getting the bubble. That, in itself, highlights a couple of problems with TGT: they attempted to slow the game down, but perhaps to not make the game a complete lockdown control-fest (an overstated concern), they introduced RNG to those slowing elements (jousting, Healing Wave), which means that it just became a coin flip as to whether you can stop aggro at all with those new cards, so you might as well play the old ones. Thijs, who won the European championships last week, put it succinctly on Reddit the other day: "TGT is a fun expansion, but it's not powerful enough for the competitive scene." He won the tournament with three decks: Midrange Druid, Demon Handlock, Patron Warrior. Collectively, they had one (1) TGT card: a single Darnassus Aspirant. The most popular "new" card on the ladder these days is Fel Reaver. It'll be interesting to see how Blizzard decides to steer the game, as neither obvious path (making more powerful cards that must be bought to be competitive or rotating sets out of competitive play (a la MTG)) is encouraging for an F2P game that's supposed to be accessible to new players.

Of course, it'd be best if all nine classes were actually viable while they made that attempt. Tempostorm, in their latest rankings, has declared Tier 4 (aka non-competitive decks) the Shaman tier...

I still think there are competitive decks "out there" in TGT. The space has not yet been explored. Kibler is on to something with Effigy Mage, there's a really aggressive Cutpurse deck getting attention, and so forth. The tournament scene is dominated by Druid, Patron, Demonlock because they have been playing those decks for a year and are reluctant to mix it up more than a little. I think a switch to a bannable format would get people out of their comfort zones and you'd see a lot more variety and creativity. There's no incentive for folks at the tip top to do anything but stay conservative.

Hearthstone doesn't boot up on my iPad 2 since switching to iOS 9. So avoid that if you are in a similar boat. The game now competes with DESTINY for late-night time and it's losing. I even looked into downgrading, but Apple isn't signing the older version of iOS anymore. Blizzard just says, "go ask Apple." Apple says, "contact the developer." Oh well.

D'oh! Caught between the pointing fingers. Sorry about that. If you have a PC handy, both Heroes of the Storm and the latest patch to D3 have been a blast.

I agree that the top end have little incentive to change what works. My argument is that it's a telling aspect of TGT that all of that old stuff still works, almost exclusively without TGT cards. The only new decks are Secret Paladin and Dragon Priest. That's it. Every other class has passed over the new set without a ripple (except Shaman, which you don't see on the ladder because Shaman has intrinsic problems having little to do with cards.) I've seen the new Cutpurse deck, but that's the only TGT card in what is essentially an Oil deck. It's slightly more aggro because it has to be, since Oil can't compete with the high-end of either aggro or control these days, but the Cutpurse is basically a removal target or a combo enabler that doesn't really change the nature of the deck (and still doesn't propel Rogue out of the lower reaches, as yet.) I think Kibler's Effigy deck will remain an experiment, since Effigy doesn't have the reach that makes Portal a card for Mage. Portal can draw any creature in the game. Effigy only draws one of the same cost. The top end secrets remain Mirror Entity and Counterspell because they actively restrain play in the way that Hunter traps do. Of course, Portal can draw you Wisp as often as it draws you Grommash (although, again, my use of it seems heavily weighted to the latter) and Effigy is superior to awful cards like Lock and Load, since you know that if you lose a 4-drop, you'll at least get another 4-drop, unlike trash like Call Pet. But I think Effigy doesn't have enough immediate effect to go as far as he'd like it to.