Hearthstone 24: Don't tell the others, but I'm rooting for you!

[zlefin]

Creatureless mage is actually winning some games, I wasn't expecting it to, I was aiming for pure fun, but it actually wins sometimes. Ofc I don't play at a high level, and I'm not sure whether the new ladder ranking systems means I'm facing easier opponents than I used to since I just don't play that much. (in silver something now iirc, in the old system I was around the 18s iirc which was also pretty low).

[The Glyphstone]

He is actually streaming so we can check the logs. You posted an hour and a half ago it seems so let me see.

Afraid it was not him, he was in the middle of a tournament during that time.

My brush with fame was brief, and ephemeral.

[Seerow]

So, Kibler posted a deck to twitter last night, Quest Warrior. I always wanted to see Hack the System work, so I decided to give it a whirl.

It's really fun, and shockingly good. You have weapons, cheap removal, rush minions, and armor to contest aggro. You have absurd value generation between lackeys and your upgraded hero battle to win resource battles against grindier control decks. It really is the ideal midrange deck I've been looking for for a long time. Since last night I climbed from rank 5 to halfway through rank 3. Probably about 15-20 games played so far. In that time I've managed a positive win rate against Demon Hunter, but managed to grind down a resurrect priest (as in did not just zerg him down, he went through both mass resurrects, plague of death, etc, and lost when he ran out of cards in hand while I still had a full hand and board), and took a Reno mage into Fatigue before winning.

Notable losses included a Druid who on turn 4 had 8 mana and played Elise, doubling up Ysera and Zephrys, and immediately after playing Ysera on turn 9, with 21 cards left in deck, he proceeded to hit 2 portals, getting an Alex and the Warlock dragon that summons a 6/6 anytime you take damage. I am not sure anything could have beat that particular draw.

Also lost to a Totem Shaman who managed to snowball faster than I could keep up. I cleared all his totems early game, but mid game he dropped a lackey totem into reflection into +1/+1 to all allies, for a pair of 3/5 lackey totems, of which I was only able to deal with 1. The following turn he reflectioned again, then doubling axed, to have a pair of 5/7 lackey totems. Even then it was still a good back and forth for a while, and I eventually cleared with a brawl, but he managed to take me low enough that I lost to a 3x 0 mana give a totem +2 attack + lava burst to face.



Deck code in case anyone's interested:

AAECAQcKS9ICyAP/A/eoA96tA8e2A/O3A7y5A765AwrUBLulA/WoA/aoA9mtA+iwA6S2A7i5A8C5A/bCAwA=

[The Glyphstone]

Had an entertaining mirror in the Brawl, Spectral Cutlass Rogue. Seesawed back and forth but I had packed some Troggs to supplement my weapon-buffs, and he had to spend swings removing them while I went face.

[Geno9999]

Made it to Diamond 2, I'd say it would be actually possible for me to make the climb to legend if I devoted more time to the game (usually I just do three a day.)

Not amused that I almost hit the Pity Timer for Legendary cards from AoO packs (36! ) Ah well, got Zixor at the very least. Not sure if I'll end up crafting Maiev or Solarian after all though, might just craft Metamorphosis for my Tempo Demon Hunter deck.

[Rodin]

Made it to Diamond 2, I'd say it would be actually possible for me to make the climb to legend if I devoted more time to the game (usually I just do three a day.)

Not amused that I almost hit the Pity Timer for Legendary cards from AoO packs (36! ) Ah well, got Zixor at the very least. Not sure if I'll end up crafting Maiev or Solarian after all though, might just craft Metamorphosis for my Tempo Demon Hunter deck.

Diamond 2 here as well. I actually did try to push for legend once I realized how close I was, but the decks at that point in the season were ridiculously toxic. I played somewhere between 10-15 matches and I didn't meet a single deck that wasn't Face Hunter or Aggro(Tempo?) Demon Hunter. Those same two decks, over and over again.

It completely sucked the will to play out of me. I held onto my rank with about a 50% winrate with Spell Mage, but to actually get to legend I'd either have to switch to one of those decks or go back to my Heal/Resurrect Priest and grind out matches. It's just not worth it, and I see no reason to force myself to play a game when it isn't fun just for a shiny.

[Rynjin]

I made it to Diamond 10, which is better than I expected after my 20 game losing streak out of nowhere.

[Joran]

Hit Diamond 1, 1 star on the last day but decided not to push for it. Probably could have hit Legend because I was playing the aforementioned toxic Demon Hunter deck XD

[Seerow]

I stalled out around Diamond 3 with aforementioned Hack the System Warrior for a few days, eventually decided to give up on climbing and went back down to rank 4 before the season ended.

[Tvtyrant]

All of these diamonds and I bottomed out mid platinum. This month is going to be worse because my deck got nerfed and I don't have enough glitter to make another Wild deck for a while. Demon Hunter overpowered? Might as well nerf Mage...

[The Glyphstone]

Don't feel bad. I'm still down in Bronze because I can't bother to do more than my required 5 ranked games/month, otherwise I only Brawl and do single-player.

[Joran]

All of these diamonds and I bottomed out mid platinum. This month is going to be worse because my deck got nerfed and I don't have enough glitter to make another Wild deck for a while. Demon Hunter overpowered? Might as well nerf Mage...

It helped that I started the month with a 10 star multiplier so I just rocketed past all the lower tiers.

[Resileaf]

Gonna be difficult to get back to diamond for me, I feel. Libram paladin doesn't seem to work anymore, and I'm not entirely sure why. I feel like everyone just has too much removal.

[AmberVael]

I struggled some last month and didn't get out of platinum, but with a bit of work I reached Diamond today. I've been using a Galakrond Secret Rogue, which appeals to my love of shenanigans.

[Gandariel]

Yeah, it was an insane play. It's too bad only people who can't capitalize on it will take the types of risks to get that outcome.



As for the best turn
Yogg ties the Millhouse and Malygos play with a hero power Vulgar.

Turn 2 best turn is death wing. Turn 1 you get a tide Hunter, turn 2 you get another tide hunter sell both tokens to get a third tide hunter which triples and the triple gives you a rat pack so your board is a 6/2 murloc and a 4/2 that summons 4 3/1. Worst case ties that Millhouse idea.


Another good turn 2 is Dancing Darryl pick 2 tide hunters, sell the minions with all 8 hitting a vulgar (This brings you up to 5 mana), buy another another tide hunter, sell them with all 4 hats hitting the vulgar. Then pick the Vulgar who is now a 14/16. Against that deathwing start it loses every time but beats that Millhouse start every time.

You could also get a 12/14 vulgar and a 2/3 demon if you instead triple the the tide hunters and get the right choice. It depends on which you think is better. This start can tie the death wing start sometimes though it can never win. I guess it is technically better on turn 2 than the other option as it doesn't always lose to another of the the theoretical best turn 2s.

Thank you for your input! you helped settle a debate (and crushed my previous record :D )

[Hamste]

You are welcome. Now I'm curious if any of those theoretical turn 2 ever happen. The turn 1 obviously have but the odds of some of those happening are minute.

Now with the Millhouse nerf your turn 3 build sadly doesn't work but with Galakrond you can still rush Zerus. No clue what would be good for that though seeing you are limited to 1 other tier 1 minion and either a tidecaller or a cat.

[Geno9999]

So far I've only climbed back to gold despite the initial x9 multiplier, felt like I've been fighting through Demon Hunter hell to pay for last month. Mirror matches I've been dumpstered, Highlander Mage getting dumpstered, the only deck that I can pilot well enough to have a positive win rate has been the no-frills Galakrond Rogue. Even though it has a good matchup so far, it does still feel like trying to pull my own teeth out, and Raging Felscreamer into Priestess of Fury curve is a nightmare to deal with even with Flik in hand.

[AmberVael]

I've been making occasional pushes through the ranks the past few days. Managed to hit Diamond 5, then 3. Today, I got to Legend, despite a horde of Demon Hunters and regular Hunters.
Not my first time to achieve the rank, but still feels good to get.

[Tvtyrant]

I've been making occasional pushes through the ranks the past few days. Managed to hit Diamond 5, then 3. Today, I got to Legend, despite a horde of Demon Hunters and regular Hunters.
Not my first time to achieve the rank, but still feels good to get.

Congrats! That is extremely impressive :)

[Gandariel]

Speaking of achievements, I've finally reached 8500 MMR in Battlegrounds, without the perks (which are objectively huge).

I'm finding myself going murloc somewhat more often. You don't really need the full Divine shield poison thing, but Brann is an absolute must.

I feel the worst tribe right now is Mech, because it's not really a tribe. There's no actual synergy, there's no payoff for having 5+ mechs in your team.
Junkbot and iron sensei are weak at their star rating (though they'd be bonkers if lowered), Bomb is OK for a while, Security rover I never quite end up making it work well, and frankly there's not much left. The mech "comp" is one Deflect-o-bot and one egg, and then you keep buffing just those two.

Eventually yes you reach rivendare+Kangor's apprentice, but until then there is literally no reason to keep more than those two mechs. Every other tribe has very clear reasons to fully commit to them, whenever I play mech I often end up with Menagerie instead

[Thomas Cardew]

So started playing again today after taking the last 3 weeks ish off. Crafted Hanar to update my Galakrond Rogue deck. Took me about a day to burn through the bonus and hit Diamond 10 but I haven't started slogging my way up from there.

I'm enjoying the secrets, there's been a couple of games where I get to stop 6 or more secrets off hanar and it's just great. Something feels... off though, I don't really feel like I get good Galokrond's now. He mostly hits a few cheap cards which is nice but not game winning.

The sole exception being a game against value priest that I knew would go long. I grabbed togswaggle scheme T3 from a lackey and held onto Kronx hoping to invoke/ draw Galakeond. I ended up having to play Kronx to draw it, but I immediately shuffled 11 more into my deck. 2 free Kronx's the next turn felt pretty good.

[Joran]

So started playing again today after taking the last 3 weeks ish off. Crafted Hanar to update my Galakrond Rogue deck. Took me about a day to burn through the bonus and hit Diamond 10 but I haven't started slogging my way up from there.

I'm enjoying the secrets, there's been a couple of games where I get to stop 6 or more secrets off hanar and it's just great. Something feels... off though, I don't really feel like I get good Galokrond's now. He mostly hits a few cheap cards which is nice but not game winning.

The sole exception being a game against value priest that I knew would go long. I grabbed togswaggle scheme T3 from a lackey and held onto Kronx hoping to invoke/ draw Galakeond. I ended up having to play Kronx to draw it, but I immediately shuffled 11 more into my deck. 2 free Kronx's the next turn felt pretty good.

Hanar is deceptively annoying to kill. I think he's going to be my next Legendary craft.

[AmberVael]

Hanar is super fun, and surprisingly effectively in the early game even if you don't have a secret to play. And when you do have a secret... Hanar has single handedly won games for me. I absolutely recommend Hanar and the secret package if you like playing Rogue.

I agree that Galakrond can whiff a bit in the secret version of the deck, but he's still a pretty effective power spike most of the time.

[Rynjin]

Hell, I don't even usually like playing Rogue, but I've been having great success with Galakrond Secret Rogue. Hanar is an absolute powerhouse. Don't be afraid to just play it as a 2 mana 1/5 vanilla minion either. That on its own is annoying for most people to deal with before turn 4.

Once I get back to Diamond (I'm currently floating at Platinum 2; I hit another losing streak at Platinum 1 and 3 stars again this season -.-) I might try another deck, but so far Gala ROgue is just...reliable. I don't feel like I utterly dominate as many matches as with Totem Shaman or Dragon Murloc Paladin, but I'm also not getting absolutely shut out of the game by multiple decks either; the only deck I feel like I don't have an at least 50/50 shot against is Face Hunter, which a back to back string of defeats against was the source of my most recent losing streak.

Basically, several other decks I've tried have much higher highs, but significantly lower lows as well. Gala Rogue is just...good. Almost always. Even if you think you got a crap draw, you still have a good chance to win.

[Geno9999]

Climbed to Diamond, and I figured I'd go back over my meta predictions from last month, and see if I am a certified Doomsayer.

Demon Hunter: Everyone plays him, and with the Basic and Initiate set for free, there's a lot to experiment with. Unfortunately, the only memorable thing about Demon Hunter is whatever Aggro/Face deck that rises to the top, and no one will appreciate the Big Demon variants.

Well, while the deck is called Tempo Demon Hunter, I'd say it's pretty aggressive. Right off the bat; Skull of Gul'dan, Imprisoned Antaen, Eye Beam, and Aldrachi Warblades had to be nerfed, then a week later Battlefiend, Altruis, and Glaivebound Adept got nerfed as well. Despite all this, Demon Hunter is THE class to beat. And nobody plays Big Demon Hunter so it goes unappreciated.
2/2

Druid: Spell Token experimented, but ultimately plays second fiddle to Embiggen Druid. Embiggen Druid gains little from AoO, but Marsh Hydra is a terrifying high roll and Embiggen Druid didn't need to improve that much in the first place. Combo Druid tries to make Imprisoned Satyr work, but turns out even Dreampetal Florist's ability to make your opponent waste tempo or removal with the threat of further discounts was key, as Aggro Decks will gladly take the "3 mana do nothing this turn and the next turn" play to set up lethal before Malygos/Kael'thas combo connects.

Well, sort of called the archetypes right, but got them backward: Spell Druid has been the main deck, while Embiggen Druid, despite seeing some experimentation, fell by the wayside. I had envisioned that Spell Token Druid would rely more on the value of Keeper Stalladris with Rising Winds and the like, but it turns out Kael'thas with Forest's Aid, Overflow, or Glowfly Swarm (even Glowfly Swarm by itself has been a game-winning card) was the best variant. Haven't seen any other form of Combo Druid though, especially not one with Imprisoned Satyr.
0.5/2

Hunter: Whatever fun Handbuff/Deathrattle Beast deck AoO Hunter tries to make, gets stampeded to death by Face Hunter and Dragon Hunter losing basically nothing. If anything, those two decks become scarier with Pack Tactics, easily replacing Snake Trap. That said, the Handbuff/Deathrattle package does find a home in Highlander builds.

Hello Face Hunter, my old friend... I've come to concede again...
Face and Dragon Hunters are still around, if anything bolstered by Scavenger's Ingenuity fetching Phase Stalker and Stonetusk Boar. Face Hunter experimented with Augmented Porcupine and Mok'nathal Lion, but doesn't work out. Pack Tactics shows up here and there, but doesn't appear to be the easy replacement for Snake Trap I'd thought it'd be.
Highlander Hunter doesn't use the Deathrattle package, but does use Scavenger's Ingenuity, though I wouldn't really say that it uses the Handbuff package since they don't include Scrap Shot or Helboar.
1/2

Mage: It's Highlander or bust, and Spells Only Mage is a major bust. Even then, Highlander Mage has to contend with not one, but two Hunters, being Illidan and Rexxar, and gets dunked into Tier 4 without Zilliax to bail them out. The Secret Package only gets used in Wild.

Fortunately, I am wrong about Highlander and Spell Mage, they each are Tier 2 and 3 respectively, though Demon Hunter and Hunter do prove to be problematic classes for Mage to deal with.
Netherwind Portal does get used in Spell Mage, and occasionally shows up in Secret Mage, though Apexis Smuggler currently only shows up in one decklist on HSreplay.
0/2

Paladin: Without Mechs, it's Libram/Pure Paladin and Murlocs. Thanks to Libram of Hope being healing and a Divine Shield Taunt, they don't get stomped to death by Illidan and Rexxar, and only just make it to Tier 2. Everyone keeps calling Imprisoned Sungill a bad card, but they clearly don't understand the sheer power of this amazing curve: T1 Righteous Cause, T2 2xImprisoned Sungill, T3 Underlight Angling Rod (face or trade, this is fine), T4 MY SUNGILLS ARE FREED, NOW WITH +1/+1 TO MY BOARD! BUT THAT'S NOT ALL, I PLAY COLDLIGHT SE- wait what? You played Doomsayer on your T3?... the victory is yours. *Boom*

Welp. Turns out Libram/Pure Paladin doesn't work out. Illidan stomps all over Uther (not surprising given that Illidan stomps all the other classes), and Valeera's Blackjack Stunners knock whatever buffed minions Uther makes out the door, and I'd say those two matchups alone make Tier 2 hard to obtain for Pure Paladin.
Murloc Paladin on the other hand, does make it all the way Tier 1 in Gold League, with Sungill proving to be at least a decent card.
1/2

Priest: Despite Blizzard's attempts at creating a Tempo Priest, no one plays it, and sticks to Resurrect Priest, which has the new annoying tool of Requilary of Souls. Even resurrecting the base form is fine, as it shuffles even more Primes into your deck, but making Requilary Prime along with Khartuts is back breaking for Aggro. And with no one playing Terrorguard Escapee or Zul'drak Ritualist to counter, Resurrect Priest is only countered by Combo Druid.

Well, nobody is playing Tempo Priest, but Resurrect Priest isn't the only deck around. Surprisingly, Galakrond and Highlander Priests have showed up... but HSreplay puts them at Tier 4 in Gold League with Resurrect barely in Tier 3. Requilary of Souls shows up here and there, mostly in the Highlander and Galakrond lists, but isn't integral for any deck.
0.5/2

Rogue: With Galakrond and Highlander Galakrond, Rogue has it good. Secrets get their experimentation, but too many people play their Edwins when their Bamboozle is on the field, and start calling the package bad instead of reassessing their plays and deckbuilding. Stealth package does make it's way into the Galakrond decks, giving it even more card draws, and hard to remove minions to setup surprise lethal turns.

Once again, I call the archetypes, but I didn't call where they'd land in the Tiers correctly: Galakrond Rogues have adapted to the new cards just fine with Galakrond Secret Rogue has proven to be the go-to, largely thanks to Shadowjeweler Hanar I suspect. Stealth is fine, though it only puts the Galakrond Stealth Rogues into top of Tier 3. Bits and pieces of Stealth package has made it to Highlander (namely Spymistress and Akama), but largely follows Galakrond Secret Rogue with the Secret package.
1/2

Shaman: Control Shaman becomes a thing with the new Spells, and the Evolve Package adds an alternative deckbuild to Quest Shaman. However, Control Shaman quickly becomes Galakrond Shaman, with the Spell and Elemental package bolstering it's anti-aggro.

Control/Spell Shaman didn't appear at all, Galakrond Shaman only occasionally putting in Serpentshrine Portals, and Evolve Package went into everything Shaman. Thought Vashj would have a bigger impact (hence the prediction of Spell/Control Shaman) but she hardly shows up at all. Her with Marshspawn and Torrent only show up in the fringe Highlander decks.
Totem Shaman came out of nowhere for me, but it might be a flash in the pan with it barely in Tier 2.
0/2

Warlock: Tries to make Zoo happen, but dies to Illidan and Rexxar. Tries to make Handlock happen, but loses a lot of consistency without Mountain Giant... and dies to Illidan and Rexxar.

Well, both Zoo and Galakrond Control Warlocks were things. The latter was even pretty good against Demon Hunter up until Sacrificial Pact nerf. They both have poor matchups against Illidan and Rexxars, but they're still/were competitive.
1/2

Warrior: Pirate and Galakrond Warrior fight over Tier 1 with Corsair Cache making Ancharr on Turn 3 super consistent, and Galakrond Warrior also appreciates Corsair Cache making their weapon consistent, especially for the latter not having Acolyte or Town Crier to draw their other key cards. However, Galakrond also uses Bonechewer Raider, Warmaul Challenger, and of course Kargath Bladefist, probably winning out in the end over Pirate.

Pirates? Nowhere. Galakrond? Dead. Warrior is doing fine though, with Corsair Cache for Ancharr and Livewire Lance proving to be a core card in Nohands/Egg/Enrage/Tempo/Pick-A-Name-Already Warrior, said deck being a consistent answer to Demon Hunters.
0/2

Final total:
7 out of 20, a Doomsayer who was played into an unfrozen lethal board.

[Thomas Cardew]

I just had a trolden moment that makes me wished I recorded. Mirror Rogue going first, although I suspect he was highlander. T1, I pass. Opponent T1 plays Dragon's hoard. T2 I play Dirty Tricks as I don't have anything low cost. Opponent T2 plays Underbelly Fence. T3 I play Seal fate get faceless lackey. Opponent T3, coin Nozdromu the timeless. Blink. Ok, my T4, play my Faceless Lackey, get the dormant demon give your hand +2/2, play Togwaggle, pick the crown, get two Colussus of the Moon... His T4 plays Flik, eviscrate, and uses underbelly to clear one of them, runs his Nozdromu into my Togwaggle to kill it. My T5 I Seal fate Flik, play Evil Miscreant, pick up Kobold and Draconic lackey. Use the kobold and faceless lackey to kill his Nozdromu, hero power to kill Flik, play draconic lackey to get Alexstrza. His T5 he can't clear, plays a couple generators and spell/faceless lackeys looking for an out but doesn't get anything and concedes.

EDIT: And hit D5 the game after that. Probably take a break for a couple days before/if I try to push for legend.

[AmberVael]

Tinkering around in the new tavern brawl: pick four cards, your opponent bans one of them.
After experiencing it, Demon Hunter decks are the only option I've found convincing. Fill it up with the cheapest, most effective cards and its unstoppable. Crimson Sigil Runner is my MVP.

[Joran]

Tinkering around in the new tavern brawl: pick four cards, your opponent bans one of them.
After experiencing it, Demon Hunter decks are the only option I've found convincing. Fill it up with the cheapest, most effective cards and its unstoppable. Crimson Sigil Runner is my MVP.

I'm 6-0 with 2 decks, although I faced unrefined ones.

Rogue: Bloodsail Flybooter, Ship's Cannon, Parachute Brigand, Southsea Captain. Lots of people ban Ship's Cannon, but I normally get something like a 1/1 and 2 2/2s on the board by turn 1.

Warlock: Malchezar's Imp, Fist of Jaraxxus, The Soularium, Soulfire. The old goodie. Just cycle through your deck and Soulfire their face. Everybody banned Fist of Jaraxxus.

Edit: BTW, Nemsy is available for free now. I had to drive 45 minutes into another state to get her, so enjoy everybody ;)

Edit 2: Theorycrafting, you beat any limited burst/small minion deck with Risky Skipper, Eternium Rover, Armorsmith, and something like Whirlwind (or another low cost AoE). You'd bore everyone to death.

[Thomas Cardew]

One and done for me. I did radiant elemental, shadow visions, mind blast, questing adventurer. Although I went against some mage trying evocation, learn draconic, sorcerer's apprentice and something else. I banned apprentice and because of evocation I couldn't tell you what the 4th card was.

[AmberVael]

The deck I've been running with for the brawl is this: Battlefiend, Crimson Sigil Runner, Umberwing, Ur'zul Horror. It's incredibly fast and yet I've rarely run out of cards with it. It isn't unbeatable, but it can power through a lot of answers while rapidly overwhelming slower decks.