Hearthstone Players!

Need more info. How did this happen?

I guess I am the default HS aplogist?

But climbing out of high ranks is possible without spending mucho dinero. Would be boring. But you can likely get to legend with aggro Mage if you took the time and knew what you were doing. Or some other aggro build. Pally hunter rogue.

A classic anecdote which may not be true but I heard it is: Reynad took F2P warrior to legend in a month couple of years ago.

But anyone can go to one of the HS stats sites and find a cheap deck that has high win rate in whatever whenever the current meta.

I hate to say it, because it also reflects poorly on me and my inability to reach legend. But it’s not the deck. It’s the player

Oh, sure. It's possible. Trump has taken 4 classes to legend via F2P new accounts. It just takes a TON of time, which he had because he's a pro streamer and a very good player. It might take less effort now, since you can give up at a certain point in one month and then continue from only a short distance back in the next, but it's still a significant investment of time. My disaffection hasn't had as much to do with a failure to advance, so much as it has just been a level of disinterest in the game, which I've gone through before (a good year-and-a-half that I was playing Heroes pretty much non-stop which, incidentally, I barely play anymore...)

I agree that player skill has a lot to do with it. I also find that I simply get bored doing the same thing over and over. Hearthstone's 30-card decks somehow seem a bit more confining than MTG's 60-card decks, even though the actual variety in cards is pretty similar, since you can go up to 4x in the latter. The HS meta has also gotten stale pretty quickly in previous seasons, but this one, as I noted in the article posted yesterday, has been far better in that respect.

I don't think there's anything massively wrong with the game right now, other than the Witchwood set being kind of unexciting.

In re that above Druid loss, they'd gotten a Charged Devilsaur killed earlier in the game, both actually, well FOUR actually, because they'd already done the whole Carnivorous Cube on the second one played from the hand. Anyway, at some late point in the game, cast Witching Hour (3), make a Devilsaur and attack for 7, then Cube it (5), and Naturalize (1) it for another 14 damage. The inability to attack Heroes is a battlecry, and not triggered by the Witching Hour/Cube summon effects.

Two games later, I lost to ANOTHER Druid build, this one spreading the board Violet Teacher, protecting with Soul of the Forest, then the following turn played Savage Roar x2, and Branching Paths (pick +1 Attack twice) to attack for 9+7+7+7+8+8+4 through my 4/11 and 2/6 Taunts killing me from 24 life.

I lose games to making mistakes, no doubt, but I also lose games like this. Late game, 24 life, behind 17 Health in Taunts (plus some other dudes), my opponent has four cards in hand and a board of 3/5, 1/1, 1/1, 1/1, 2/2, and 2/2. I don't think I misplayed here; other than not playing and drawing Psychic Scream, I guess.

Really good meta-tuned decks win about 65% of games. That's a great win rate. With streaks, you should climb quickly. Once you get to Rank 5, where there are no more streaks, you need to win more than lose, and even at 65% (which won't last, likely, the meta shifts quickly up there), it takes 80±27 games. At 10 minutes per game, that's 13.3 hours of HEARTHSTONE. From Rank 5. At a more realistic 57%, it takes 158±79 ~26.3 hours. A streamer, playing 4 hours a day, takes a week. A grown-ass man, like me, takes a forever.

Druid and Warlock, the problem children. One is because of the best hero power in the game that breaks the essential parameter that all other classes must live by: one card per turn. The other is because its cards have multiple options which can be used to exploit isolated situations so often that they're no longer isolated; again, breaking the rule that all other classes live by: this one card that takes up 1/30 of my deck does this one thing.

Guy made it to quarterfinal Dreamhack , Maybe further, with Quest Priest. It’s banned deck this round. The power of quest priest is finally getting it’s due

Cool. That opens up a question: Many people are objecting to Quest Priest because the games go so long that it becomes kind of a grind to play with and against. I wonder if the ban is coming in pro play because of that or because the longer games start becoming a true skill test? In other words, more turns mean more options means more chances for the really skilled players to make the right decisions to win out, whereas shorter games limit that possibility.

I am certain with the stakes that go with winning a dream hack,which is really the only significant title other than winning a blizzard sponsored tourney, the only reason they ban is because they feel that deck rapes their lineup. Length of games is not a consideration. Historically the most controlling decks any meta make the cut and are brought to tourney by someone.

Longest game I ever saw was finals yesterday. Zalae v Amnesiac token Druid mirror. It’s a staring contest waiting for someone to go wide and then counter with plague + buff. It went to fatigue when Zalae went in with double roar in hand. Amnesiac wasted one on hand size. That was the deciding factor. Then amnesiac swept.

I played Quest Priest in a mirror today and it went to a 45-turn draw. There was no way I could lose, I was 20 cards ahead on Benedictus deck size (I think he Bene'd on turn 7! With no way to save it!) But I couldn't win ether. I think we played a good 6 or 7 Amaras, and I had two more in hand, but she was more important as an 8/8 attacker than lifegain, honestly. But my opponent rolled into at least five Psychic Screams. I couldn't keep any pressure on.

About two-thirds of my games this season have been against Cube Druid. It's tiresome as all fuck, especially the ones who know they've got the right cards off the bat and amuse themselves by teasing you, knowing there's fuck all you can do about their upcoming victory.

I also note that Cubelock has returned.

Normally, I don't like getting too salty about the Hearthstone meta: the maxim the design team hold about letting the deck designers sort themselves out generally works. But I'm starting to think something might need to be done about Cube. Comboing it with a beneficial deathrattle and then a beneficial minion sacrifice to stop it being Silenced is turning the opposite player into a spectator.

Cube is tough stuff. I saw that one off the bat as printed--that is a potent effect. but it's only really done it's thing in decks that have a "sacrifice" effect they can play for 1 (Naturalize in Druid and Pact in Warlock). That those Heroes both seem to have access to _ridiculous_ Deathrattles (Hadronox, Voidlord, Rin), makes me wonder.

There's a good mix of decks around where I am now, Rank 12-10 or so. I am seeing Paladins of all varieties, some Rogues, Frostlich Mage, and a smattering of Warlock, Druids, Shaman, and Hunter. Very little Priest and nary a Warrior in a couple of weeks. I am losing a lot today with Shaman and Hunter, but it was working well last Friday. C'est la guerre.

Arena is a romp right now. There are some crazy good cards thrown into the mix and you get a free ticket. I lost to Pyroblast, Pyroblast, with Ice Block backup (O frabjous day), but I can't complain too much, as I am just _slaying_ fools with Silver Sword.

jeb wrote: Cube is tough stuff. I saw that one off the bat as printed--that is a potent effect. but it's only really done it's thing in decks that have a "sacrifice" effect they can play for 1 (Naturalize in Druid and Pact in Warlock). That those Heroes both seem to have access to _ridiculous_ Deathrattles (Hadronox, Voidlord, Rin), makes me wonder.

This is why Quest Priest doesn't use Cube: no way to get rid of it. It seems insane that the best Deathrattle card since Undertaker isn't useful in a deck based on playing Deathrattle minions but, there it is.

I drafted a Pally deck for my first Arena, too, complete with Silver Sword. Haven't played it yet. I have a Blessing of Aeons, Infinite Murloc, Temporal Anomaly, and Possibility Seeker. Both of my new quests were Play X spells (20 and 35), though, and I only have like 4 in this deck.

I really like these new Quests with the Gold + Dust. I don't buy packs anymore, so the dust is especually precious. I need some Epics here and there and this really helps out. I'm still 4@Epics away from a decent Paladin build, but I'll get there someday.

Playing some looooooong games with Quest Priest now. The win condition is boredom. Around turn 9 or 10 I basically can't lose anymore even though I am at like 18 or 20 life. The rest is just waiting for them to figure it out. Exceptions include Control Druid that runs Togwaggle/Azalina. I can't win if they steal Benedictus. And maybe Spell Hunter if they highroll some cool lifegain Beasts.

Yep. Same thing we've been saying: not a win condition. You just basically sit there and outlast them and Benedictus does a lot of the actual "winning." Much as I love control decks, that's not really what I want out of the game.

Here are those two games I told you about with Big Priest. This is control, to me.

hsreplay.net/replay/zWXzhSpPgkzx8zr26hocv4

hsreplay.net/replay/CbjzLX9mUZe75LnxMcwNCN

Free Golden Pack for logging in today (June 13). Just for the dust, it's worth it. The Tavern Brawl was neat too. Mine was Deathstalker Rexxars duking it out with a free hero power and a deck packed with Zombeasts. Charge is key here, never underestimate Charge.