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Hearthstone Players!

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12 Mar 2018 13:00 #265420 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Hearthstone Players!
Totally agree, Matt. Those streaks are a huge deal. You should still be able to advance. I think more folks than normal are "tryhard" this month because of the change, but by mid-month they should filter up and you can start real progress. That was my experience at least when I was playing untuned decks on the Ladder heretofore. I would start around R19, maybe make it to R15 by mid-month, and would start to see a lot more wins in the last ten days to finish at R10 or so. I am shooting for Rank 8 this month, and am almost there with Wild (R9.2) and stuck at R11 in Standard so far (one win away from R10 if my streak kept up, alas). Playing the really defined Laddering decks is always tougher for me because it means I can't make any mistakes. A knowledgeable opponent will know all my options and I need to outplay them. I really benefit from hidden knowledge advantages inherent to playing a less-popular deck.

In Wild I am playing a rock-solid deck. In Standard, Hunter was a good call last month with Warlocks/Priests ascendant, but now it's bad; so I am trying to force a Mage build that probably doesn't work. I might not get there.
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12 Mar 2018 13:28 #265430 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Hearthstone Players!
www.hearthpwn.com/news/4439-the-witchwoo...tones-next-expansion

The Witchwood. Prince Malchezaar, Unstable Evolution, and Charged Devilsaur mechanics added to the game. Not particularly impressed by any of the first reveals, except Phantom Militia, which addresses the "useless draw" situation late in the game for control decks. Presumably there will be similar ones for aggro. They're going to do everything in their power to keep from printing deck manipulation cards like MTG's Brainstorm. I like the theme, though.
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12 Mar 2018 13:30 #265433 by Matt Thrower
Replied by Matt Thrower on topic Hearthstone Players!

jeb wrote: I really benefit from hidden knowledge advantages inherent to playing a less-popular deck.


Yeah, I've been thinking about this a lot. The idea of running an "n-tier" deck is now so hardwired into the game that breaking the mould can throw a massive curveball at your opponent.

More than once I've lost a game to someone who clearly doesn't know what they're doing and/or doesn't have a big card pool simply because I couldn't predict what was coming. That OTK Priest deck I was whinging is a great example: I was playing Cubelock and, turn 3, he had two wounded Northshire Clerics on the board and - rather than heal them for massive card draw, which his deck relied on, he played a Radiant Elemental instead. That's a straight-up bad play because, of course, I Hellfired the lot of them next turn. But he still won because I had no idea how his deck worked, so I didn't know to crank up the offense before he put all the combo pieces together.

Played another one today, a really bizarre Highlander Mage deck. Was playing Zoolock this time, presumed it was Secret Mage, and burned through my cards too fast. By the time I realised it wasn't, it was too late and he'd Blizzarded and Flamestriked my board to oblivion. Frost Lich Jaina sealed it, even though he was on one health, I had nothing to hit back at it with. I don't think it was even a very good deck - it didn't seem to have a central kill combo other than maybe Alex, Inkmaster and Pyroblast.

I should probably try to be more inventive and see where it gets me. But I don't really have time to think about making my own decks, and whenever I try, I get nervy about it. Like, I can't tell whether it's losing because I'm unlucky or because it's a bad deck. So I lose confidence and go back to net-decking.

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12 Mar 2018 14:15 - 12 Mar 2018 14:15 #265448 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Hearthstone Players!
Baku the Mooneater...


Odd cost cards... Warlock Hero Power wouldn't cause 2 dmg (the Justicar upgrade)...
Dark Pact: 1
Voidlord: 9
Doomguard: 5
Carnivorous Cube: 5
Demonic Lackey: 5
Skull of the Man'ari: 5
Kobold Librarian: 1

Loses a lot of clears/removal. Hellfire is 4, Nether is 8, Siphon Soul is 6, Spellstone is 4. Guldan is 10, so that's out too. Hmm.
Last edit: 12 Mar 2018 14:15 by jeb.

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12 Mar 2018 14:28 #265451 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Hearthstone Players!

MattDP wrote: Played another one today, a really bizarre Highlander Mage deck. Was playing Zoolock this time, presumed it was Secret Mage, and burned through my cards too fast. By the time I realised it wasn't, it was too late and he'd Blizzarded and Flamestriked my board to oblivion. Frost Lich Jaina sealed it, even though he was on one health, I had nothing to hit back at it with. I don't think it was even a very good deck - it didn't seem to have a central kill combo other than maybe Alex, Inkmaster and Pyroblast.


Ha! That sounds like Kibler's deck. He's played his way into top 100 on the NA server with it. I don't think he runs Pyroblast, but it's a Mage Kazakus deck with Alex and Inkmaster. Win conditions are basically Alex, Jaina, and Kazakus potions.

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12 Mar 2018 14:31 #265453 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Hearthstone Players!

MattDP wrote:

jeb wrote: I really benefit from hidden knowledge advantages inherent to playing a less-popular deck.


Yeah, I've been thinking about this a lot. The idea of running an "n-tier" deck is now so hardwired into the game that breaking the mould can throw a massive curveball at your opponent.

Played another one today, a really bizarre Highlander Mage deck. Was playing Zoolock this time, presumed it was Secret Mage, and burned through my cards too fast. By the time I realised it wasn't, it was too late and he'd Blizzarded and Flamestriked my board to oblivion. Frost Lich Jaina sealed it, even though he was on one health, I had nothing to hit back at it with. I don't think it was even a very good deck - it didn't seem to have a central kill combo other than maybe Alex, Inkmaster and Pyroblast.

I should probably try to be more inventive and see where it gets me. But I don't really have time to think about making my own decks, and whenever I try, I get nervy about it. Like, I can't tell whether it's losing because I'm unlucky or because it's a bad deck. So I lose confidence and go back to net-decking.

I think the win condition for Frostlich decks is boredom. They more than any other in Standard go to fatigue. They can't really do anything other than live longer than you. It's really hard to know if/when to quit. Not my favorite way to play. At least the Dead Man's Hand decks can demonstrate the infinite Brawl or something, so you know you have no chance. Against Frostlich you end up doing all this bad math to figure out how to keep them from pinging into another Lifesteal 3/6. Blearg.

As for being inventive, I say go for it. I lose a LOT of games. As long as I have a good time (muscle memory Squelch can help), it was worth it. I got rolllllllled by a Kingsbane Rogue today, but it was a good time with Elementals and Frosty Axes and other bad Shaman cards. The deck I am trying to climb Ladder with is Secret Mage, but tuned higher, with a shot at Control. No Aluneth was my motivator here, but you get the gist. Working with what I got, can I make a deck that might win? Look for cards that are good, but underrepresented. Priest has lots of options for Silence effects, but why use a 5/5 one? Kabal Songstealer lets you Silence the Cobalt Scalebane and trade with it the next turn ideally, because all your Potions don't do shit against that Dragon. Losing to weenies in trades? Throw Defender of Argus in the mix. Tons of Area of Effect removal? Lob some Eggs in the deck and see them think a lot harder about that Duskbreaker on turn 4. It's okay to have pet cards. I like Curious Glimmeroot WAY more than I should. I literally make decks worse because that's how I want to play. I like choices and doing the best with what I got. It also assuages my ego about losing. I can always pack a little blame for losses on my bad deck rather than my bad decisions.
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12 Mar 2018 15:21 #265472 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Hearthstone Players!
So, hey, what is this Freeze Shaman list? I tried a couple variations and gave up in disgust.

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12 Mar 2018 16:30 #265483 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Hearthstone Players!

So, hey, what is this Freeze Shaman list?


It's so bad, man. Don't... don't do this to yourself. Friends don't let friends play Freeze Shaman.

Here's my thinking: Brrloc is good. I like Brrloc. Freezing stuff could be neat, if I can kill it with Super Ice Axe or whatever it's called. Brrloc is only two cards, and Frost Shock is bad, so what else freezes? Little Elemental guy, hey, Shaman has good Elementals, and there you go. I need heals because I hurt my face on the frozen stuff.

So it's a pile of Elementals (another card I like more than it deserves: Servant of Kalimos), with the ability to Freeze and clear stuff quickly. It wins with Bloodlust (sigh) or.. it... loses? It mostly just loses.

BUT HEY, I was thinking, you have Unstable Evolution. I figure that must be able to get cheap Arcane Giants out, no? Here's what I would play if I had the cards....

Freezy Stuff
2@ Brrloc
2@ Glacial Shard (*also Elemental)
1@ Ice Breaker

Elemental Stuff
2@ Murmuring Elemental
2@ Jade Spirit
2@ Servant of Kalimos
2@ Tar Creeper

Good Stuff
2@ Unstable Evolution
2@ Jade Claws
2@ Maelstrom Portal
2@ Healing Rain
1@ Stonehill Defender
1@ Jade Lightning
2@ Hex
1@ Bloodlust
L@ Deathseer Thrall
L@ Aya Blackpaw
2@ Arcane Giant

Is that 30? I think it is. No Unstable here though, sadly.
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12 Mar 2018 17:30 #265489 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Hearthstone Players!
I have Unstable. It ain't all that. It's basically an excuse to fill in whenever you have spare mana and basically nothing else to do. This is why they're putting Echo on decent cards in the next set because they're trying to give people options to do something when you're at turn 8 staring down a Cube and another DG and all you have to play is Argent Squire. Problem with Unstable is that you're rolling the dice every time, so it's often just an exercise in seeing how many big bodies you can put out there that your opponent just runs past as he kills you. If Shaman had any good cards to go with it, maybe it'd be great. But you've already used your Jade Claws and Jade Spirits earlier, so you got nothing but totems and probably only six or so mana left. Yes, you can drop a free Arcane whenever you draw one...

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12 Mar 2018 21:27 - 12 Mar 2018 21:33 #265516 by MacDirk Diggler
The way I play HS. I once in blue moon try and concoct a deck from scratch. Like when I got Moorabi. I tried freeze shaman. It might work if attacking frozen minions didn’t damage your hero. But usually I get inspired to try a deck if I see someone stream it first. Especially if it’s Firebat or someone that talks thru plays and mulligan decisions. I saw a new streamer pitch Duskbreaker vs Mage and new enough to chastise him for that in his chat. So I netdeck something that I think should work and usually start out with mixed results. I have finally learned that my meta is not legend meta. I need to adjust the deck accordingly. Right now for me it’s all about being able to beat dudes. A quarter of my games are vs dude paladin this past week. So I took that Paper Ninja Priest. Then added some Firebat stuff which adds inner fire and swaps in Talon Priest over Glimmeroot. Then I added a Voidripper and second divine spirit. I also took out 2x priest of feast and added primordial drake and greater healing potion. So now the deck is hybrid of control Priest and combo priest. I just made Rank 5,finally, today. I say finally because I was close a week ago and have been bouncing.

I saw RDU this am at breakfast and he was close to making 5 NA started at 19 few hours before I started watching. He was in combo priest and went 19-6 with 3 losses. That deck is nuts if you draw AOE enough for Paladin and don’t queue into many mages, it runs no heal. I kinda have to give myself a little credit here for saying maybe around Christmas that Sintolol made finals or won a tourney with combo priest and that it looked super op. Now it is regarded as one of the top decks, at high ranks anyhow. So what I am saying is Priest is good for climbing. I love getting Cubelock match.

As far new cards go. The legendaries that make your hero power better or cheaper hmmm. Rogue can’t use. Don’t think warlock needs. Priest and Warrior should find good degenerate uses. I like the one you need even cards because you will be able to play a card and hero power on the odd turns. The one you need odd cards seems like you are going to be floating mana all the time unless you have value cards in the deck that give you even spells. They look like fun though.
Last edit: 12 Mar 2018 21:33 by MacDirk Diggler.

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15 Mar 2018 13:29 #265776 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Hearthstone Players!
They're really stroking this odd-even thing: www.hearthpwn.com/news/4453-hearthside-c...-dean-ayala-four-new

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15 Mar 2018 14:34 #265780 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Hearthstone Players!
Reserving judgment until I hear more. I am not super-enthused by this idea at first glance, but I will let them sell me.

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15 Mar 2018 15:15 #265781 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Hearthstone Players!
Same. Glitter Moth sounds pretty cool, but you're giving up a lot of options (SWP, Radiant Elemental, etc.) in order to play it. Oh, you're also giving up Divine Spirit, which means that your ability to take advantage of super-durable minions is almost entirely based on the Moth. (Kabal Talonpriest is, sadly, departing.) It does push a Priest player toward playing things like Unidentified Elixir.

But the Shaman one just seems like too much of a price to pay. Granted, the majority of usable Shamans cards ARE even, but you're giving up options like Healing Rain, Volcano, Lightning Bolt, Mana Tide Totem(!) for the ability of one minion to do 2 damage. Or you could just play Fire Plume Phoenix and play whatever cards you want. Oh, but you can totem for 1! Yay.

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16 Mar 2018 13:59 #265841 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Hearthstone Players!
Watched Asmo with a Shaman build last night that I really liked. I am not sure of the exact deck, but I got the gist. Heavy Jade. HEAVY. Like, Jade-Chieftain-heavy. Kobald-Rummager-to-get-Jade-Claws-back-heavy. The "reloads" are tremendous. The draws are Coldlight-based—this is a real last hurrah type of deck for Year of the Mammoth. You can use a Murmuring Elemental to juice those Coldlights or the Jades and mill greedy opponents a lot or build a juicy board.

### AsmoShaman
# Class: Shaman
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Mammoth
#
# 2x (2) Devolve
# 2x (2) Jade Claws
# 2x (2) Maelstrom Portal
# 2x (2) Murmuring Elemental
# 2x (3) Coldlight Oracle
# 2x (3) Feral Spirit
# 2x (3) Healing Rain
# 2x (3) Lightning Storm
# 1x (3) Rummaging Kobold
# 2x (4) Hex
# 2x (4) Jade Lightning
# 2x (4) Jade Spirit
# 1x (4) Jinyu Waterspeaker
# 1x (5) Thrall, Deathseer
# 2x (5) Volcano
# 1x (6) Aya Blackpaw
# 1x (6) Skulking Geist
# 1x (7) Jade Chieftain
#
AAECAfe5AgbdugLmuwKUvQKgzgLrzwKI6AIM7gH1BP4F+AegtgKHvALPvALRvAL2vQLHwQLz5wLg6gIA

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16 Mar 2018 14:27 #265844 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Hearthstone Players!
Yeah. Kibler was playing it a while back and I've been playing a version for a couple weeks. I finished my Play 10 Weapons deck in two games because of it, since I kept Murmuring the Rummaging battlecries and then doing the same with the Claws themselves. It's OK. There's a lot of opportunity to misfire, though. I have two Rummaging and only one Lightning Storm in mine, plus a Thalnos in place of the Geist.
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