Hearthstone 23: The Evil League of EVIL

[Tvtyrant]

Yeah, have to say, from what I've seen of Tombs of Terror in videos and what people have said here, I'm very glad I'm not bothering with it. The Plague Lords being designed to take multiple runs to beat most of the time looks and sounds like a nightmare of tedium to me.

I rather enjoy it. You can always game the system by losing early if you don't get a broken power.

[The Glyphstone]

I've just decided that there are 3 final bosses in each wing, with 100 health each, and you have to beat them in succession.

[otakuryoga]

its absolutely a ramp up from dalaran heist

you can actually lose to the first two bosses

[Rodin]

its absolutely a ramp up from dalaran heist

you can actually lose to the first two bosses

I lose to the first two bosses all the time in heroic Dalaran Heist. It all depends on who you get. People like Marei Loom and Alchemist Wendy are generally easy enough - although I have lost to Wendy by her stealing all my best cards and giving me trash in return.

If you get Linzi Redgrin though...hold on to your hat. When she isn't just exploding onto the board and killing you before you can react, she's making use of her hero power to control you out of the game. Linzi has taken me to fatigue more than once. Moon Priestess Nici likes to Auchenei + Flash Heal your face for 10 damage. Chomper is another that can just wreck you by killing everything with his hero power and flooding the board.

[Stevesciguy]

Just played against a big priest with blatant decoy. Pretty bizarre, but not the worst tech choice I've seen. Fortunately he 'only' got my Mecha'thun, so I managed to pull out a win. Somehow, despite having 12 treants dumped into his rez pool, he only resurrected 2 the whole game, which went to fatigue on both sides

Edit so no double post:

Apparently they're temporarily bringing some wild cards back into Standard. 23 cards, only 2 revealed so far are N'zoth and Ragnaros. They're also going to give everyone free copies of all the cards, which can't be disenchanted. It is not yet clear whether we'll get to keep the cards, or if They'll go away after the event ends. Disappointing

[Geno9999]

Apparently they're temporarily bringing some wild cards back into Standard. 23 cards, only 2 revealed so far are N'zoth and Ragnaros. They're also going to give everyone free copies of all the cards, which can't be disenchanted. It is not yet clear whether we'll get to keep the cards, or if They'll go away after the event ends. Disappointing

I'm excited for this, temporary or not, it's a great chance to try out Wild Cards without needing to invest the dust. Particularly I'm expecting N'zoth to show up in Quest Paladin, resummoning Mechano Eggs, Mechanical Whelps, and Khartut Defenders all at once would be a better I Win button than Dah Undatakah I'd wager.

[Stevesciguy]

I'm excited for this, temporary or not, it's a great chance to try out Wild Cards without needing to invest the dust. Particularly I'm expecting N'zoth to show up in Quest Paladin, resummoning Mechano Eggs, Mechanical Whelps, and Khartut Defenders all at once would be a better I Win button than Dah Undatakah I'd wager.

Oh, I'm excited for it, too(slightly less so, though, since I'm a wild player). I just got my hopes up when I shouldn't have, is all

[Zevox]

Edit so no double post:

Apparently they're temporarily bringing some wild cards back into Standard. 23 cards, only 2 revealed so far are N'zoth and Ragnaros. They're also going to give everyone free copies of all the cards, which can't be disenchanted. It is not yet clear whether we'll get to keep the cards, or if They'll go away after the event ends. Disappointing

Really? Well that is fascinating. I'm not sure what current standard deck would just run Ragnaros off the top of my head - Control Warrior at the moment has its real late-game power in Doctor Boom and his Mech cards and synergies, plus Omega Assembly for fuel, so I don't think it wants just a simple big-hitter type like him anymore - but it will be cool if someone can come up with one. And N'zoth is always an interesting one that could find various decks that want him - Warlock might be an interesting one right now, with Rotten Applebaum and Khartut Defender around to give Control Warlock staying power and make a big, defensive but still threatening board when resurrected.

Looking at the announcement for this, they're apparently also adding special hero portraits that you get for having 1,000 ranked wins with each class. So, I may have one like seven years from now, going by my current rate where I'm still like 70 wins away from even a single golden hero. I do not know how people play so much that that looks realistic, personally, but good for those who do I guess, they do look kind of cool. Though I'm not sure if they're alternates of the base heroes or different characters altogether. The one on the left does look like Anduin to me, but could maybe be a Paladin rather than a Priest I suppose; but the Mage girl has white hair which doesn't fit with Jaina, but for all I know there could be some explanation for her hair color changing; and the Orc... gotta be honest, I don't think I could ever tell two Orcs apart with the Warcraft art style, so I don't know if that's supposed to be Thrall, Gul'dan (he's supposed to be an Orc, right?), or someone else entirely.

[LaZodiac]

Those are all the same characters in their most modern attire, by my eyes. Jaina's look is awful but great at the same time, like always. And if the orc has red eyes it's Gul'dan, basically always. Thrull is basically a big dumb hero idiot so he wouldn't have spooky eyes, and Rexar/Warcrimes McHellscream are orange and one is wearing a bear at all times so they're easy to tell apart.

[Zevox]

Those are all the same characters in their most modern attire, by my eyes. Jaina's look is awful but great at the same time, like always. And if the orc has red eyes it's Gul'dan, basically always. Thrull is basically a big dumb hero idiot so he wouldn't have spooky eyes, and Rexar/Warcrimes McHellscream are orange and one is wearing a bear at all times so they're easy to tell apart.

Oh geez, that's right, Rexxar and Garrosh are Orcs too. I honestly forgot about that.

...almost half of the base heroes in the game are Orcs. That seems odd. Though perhaps that's just because I'm not a Warcraft fan, so I'm used to Orcs being what they are in Tolkien and D&D. Also, the rest are four humans and only one Elf, and it's one of those weird not-dark Elves, rather than a more traditional one. Also feels odd now that I've realized it. (Not the humans being so numerous, the low count of Elves, and total lack of Dwarves.)

[Rynjin]

Oh geez, that's right, Rexxar and Garrosh are Orcs too. I honestly forgot about that.

Rexxar is half-Orc/half-Ogre as I recall, which is why he looks so darn weird.

...almost half of the base heroes in the game are Orcs. That seems odd. Though perhaps that's just because I'm not a Warcraft fan, so I'm used to Orcs being what they are in Tolkien and D&D. Also, the rest are four humans and only one Elf, and it's one of those weird not-dark Elves, rather than a more traditional one. Also feels odd now that I've realized it. (Not the humans being so numerous, the low count of Elves, and total lack of Dwarves.)

It's because they went with pretty much the most iconic variant to each class and slightly by story relevance to my knowledge.

So there are 3 Orcs (Gul'dan, Thrall, and Garrosh), a half-Orc (Rexxar), 3 Humans (Anduin, Uther, and Jaina), and 2 elves (Malfurion and Valeera; the former Night and the latter Blood).

[Rodin]

Also, the more traditional elves don't really do a lot in the pre-WoW canon. The only one of note that I can recall is Alleria, and she predates the series getting a proper in-game story as she was introduced in Warcraft 2 and wasn't around for Warcraft 3. Oh, and Sylvanas I guess, but she's mainly famous for being undead.

For that matter, have the High Elves done anything of note even IN WoW? I'm not counting the Blood Elves here as they're basically their own thing at this point. The High Elf story is pretty much "fight on the side of the Alliance in the second war, then get wrecked by Arthas, then get further wrecked by the aftermath of the Scourge, then become Blood Elves". They don't spend a lot of time being your hippie Tolkien elves.

[The Glyphstone]

Alternates are 3 humans, 4 elves, 1 dwarf, 1 gnome, 1 murloc, 2 trolls, 2 mechs, 1 dyad, and 1 mogu. Still zero Tauren, draenai, goblins, or worgen ( unless you count Genn in the solo adventure).

[Zevox]

Rexxar is half-Orc/half-Ogre as I recall, which is why he looks so darn weird.



It's because they went with pretty much the most iconic variant to each class and slightly by story relevance to my knowledge.

So there are 3 Orcs (Gul'dan, Thrall, and Garrosh), a half-Orc (Rexxar), 3 Humans (Anduin, Uther, and Jaina), and 2 elves (Malfurion and Valeera; the former Night and the latter Blood).

Valeera's an Elf? Huh. Doesn't really strike me as such, but okay, I'll take your word for it.

Guess none of this has ever really occurred to me to think about before because, well, I don't really think of any of them as characters, just portraits, since as mentioned I only play Hearthstone, not any Warcraft games (briefly played WoW to get Liadrin's portrait during that promo, didn't like it; have never played the others). The League of Explorers and various adventure villains I think of as characters since they've had in-game stories in Hearthstone, but Jaina and the other eight (and most of the alternates) have never had anything like that.

[LaZodiac]

Valeera's an Elf? Huh. Doesn't really strike me as such, but okay, I'll take your word for it.

Guess none of this has ever really occurred to me to think about before because, well, I don't really think of any of them as characters, just portraits, since as mentioned I only play Hearthstone, not any Warcraft games (briefly played WoW to get Liadrin's portrait during that promo, didn't like it; have never played the others). The League of Explorers and various adventure villains I think of as characters since they've had in-game stories in Hearthstone, but Jaina and the other eight (and most of the alternates) have never had anything like that.

It's hard to see but she's got the stereotypical "oh you have a fetish don't you" big ass elf ears poking out of her fancy hat.

And I mean yeah, that's 100% fair. These characters definitely exist in some capacity butt not in Hearthstone, beyond the quippy lines.

[Nerocite]

Alternates are 3 humans, 4 elves, 1 dwarf, 1 gnome, 1 murloc, 2 trolls, 2 mechs, 1 dryad, and 1 mogu. Still zero Tauren, draenai, goblins, or worgen ( unless you count Genn in the solo adventure).

I'd love to see the characters from the Dalaran Heist as portraits, or some from the older brawls (Cow King when?).

[The Glyphstone]

I'd love to see the characters from the Dalaran Heist as portraits, or some from the older brawls (Cow King when?).

Madame Lazul (the Troll Priest) was available as an alternate Priest if you bought the Rise of Shadows mega-bundle pre-order. But that's no longer available anyways.

[Nerocite]

Madame Lazul (the Troll Priest) was available as an alternate Priest if you bought the Rise of Shadows mega-bundle pre-order. But that's no longer available anyways.

I was thinking more of these guys.

[Stevesciguy]

I've successfully climbed to rank 10 from rank 18 using Linecracker Druid, with a 65% win rate. Pretty good so far for a meme deck.

[Zevox]

It's hard to see but she's got the stereotypical "oh you have a fetish don't you" big ass elf ears poking out of her fancy hat.

And I mean yeah, that's 100% fair. These characters definitely exist in some capacity butt not in Hearthstone, beyond the quippy lines.

Huh, so she does. They really kind of blend in with the ridiculous shoulder spikes on her outfit for some reason.

Madame Lazul (the Troll Priest)

Wait, Lazul's a Troll? I've been assuming she was like, a Hag, or just a very classic witch-style Human. Odd, I'd assume Trolls would be bigger.

I've successfully climbed to rank 10 from rank 18 using Linecracker Druid, with a 65% win rate. Pretty good so far for a meme deck.

I'm kind of hovering around rank 8 in Wild lately. Feels very hard to get a read on the meta honestly, there's just so many different decks around in Wild that I can never figure out what to tech for or which deck I might want to switch to in order to have better success. Fortunately I got to rank 5 in Standard anyway, because I wanted to play Quest Druid after I got the dust to craft that Quest and there's not really much reason I could find to play a Wild version of that. Still want to get up to 5 in Wild though if I can, but time's running out fast this month.

[Rynjin]

WoW trolls are really tall and lanky. Zul'Jin is a troll, for example. Basically anything with "Jin" in its name is a troll, and almost all trolls have a "Jin" somewhere in either their name or clan affiliation, from what I can tell. It's kinda weird.

[Stevesciguy]

I'm kind of hovering around rank 8 in Wild lately. Feels very hard to get a read on the meta honestly, there's just so many different decks around in Wild that I can never figure out what to tech for or which deck I might want to switch to in order to have better success. Fortunately I got to rank 5 in Standard anyway, because I wanted to play Quest Druid after I got the dust to craft that Quest and there's not really much reason I could find to play a Wild version of that. Still want to get up to 5 in Wild though if I can, but time's running out fast this month.

Yeah, out of the 45 games I have recorded for this deck on my tracker, I don't think I've played against the same deck more than two or three times.

[Zevox]

*ques a Wild match as Resurrect Priest, gets paired with a Rogue*

*Rogue drops a Deathlord on turn 3*

Huh. I guess I win.

(Mill Rogue. Still, that is the worst possible card to play against a Priest in Wild until you're absolutely sure it's a different kind of Priest.)

[Kish]

Wait, Lazul's a Troll? I've been assuming she was like, a Hag, or just a very classic witch-style Human. Odd, I'd assume Trolls would be bigger.

Warcraft doesn't have Hags. Trolls are the same size as humans or elves, and elves evolved from them.

[Zevox]

Warcraft doesn't have Hags. Trolls are the same size as humans or elves, and elves evolved from them.

What is Hagatha, then? Another Troll?

[Rynjin]

What is Hagatha, then? Another Troll?

She's an Orc.

[Nerocite]

What is Hagatha, then? Another Troll?

Green skin=Orc, Trolls are usually blue.

[Stevesciguy]

Ugh, just played against a handbuff paladin. Probably the least enjoyable game I've played since I got back into Hearthstone

[Zevox]

Hagatha's... an Orc. Wow, that's a weird one to me. She seems like such an archetypal D&D Green Hag.

Ugh, just played against a handbuff paladin. Probably the least enjoyable game I've played since I got back into Hearthstone

You mean the Mech one? Yeah, that's pretty miserable. Seen them a few times, and good gods, they just get off to such ridiculous starts that if you don't have exactly the best possible answers right away, you die.

Just ran into a couple of crazy combo Shudderwock decks with my Odd Warrior too, that was utter misery to play against. Ugh, but I've had terrible luck with Hearthstone today. Never got paired against something the deck I was choosing to play would have a decent time against, it was just things that countered me. Crazy aggro with ridiculous starts against my Resurrect Priest, stupid combo decks against my Odd Warrior - just blech. The game just decided I was not allowed to have fun today.

[Stevesciguy]

You mean the Mech one? Yeah, that's pretty miserable. Seen them a few times, and good gods, they just get off to such ridiculous starts that if you don't have exactly the best possible answers right away, you die.

Yes, that one precisely. Managed to hold out against it for 13 turns, but had to make some pretty gross plays to do so. I dunno, maybe I could've had a chance if I'd played better. Mostly just salty that it ended my 9 win winstreak