Hearthstone Players!

I am upset about this change to Priest. Mind Blast was, honestly, one of the few reliable ways for Priests to win games. The strengths they label for Priest and my comments on them:
Healing : Delays losses, doesn't win games
Narrow But Powerful Spells : Not sure what this means if it doesn't mean things like Mind Blast. Looking at the Basic cards, it must mean Shadow Word: Pain. Yes, the 2-mana spell to kill creatures with 3 power or less is indeed narrow and powerful. Wow. Much narrow. So Power.
Copying : Great in games where Tempo doesn't matter. Nothing helps you win a game faster than making minions the turn after they exist on the board. Or maybe lucking into some decent cards the opponent hopefully plays.
Single-Minion Buffs/Deathrattle : grouping these last two together because Spellbreaker exists.

There you go, folks. Priest's strengths. Which of those is going to get you that "W"?

Not to mention it utterly neuters Prophet Velen. Does Blizzard think Priest's go-to plan is healing for 4 with that Velen out? Maybe the opponent will be gracious and allow me as Priest to play Velen, apply a Single-Minion-Buff (+2/+2!), and Copy him, so I can attack for 18 and heal for 8 in a couple of turns. Sweet.

I have since been told by the Internets that Priest wins like this:
Inner Fire
Nomi
Large Taunts Being Resurrected

jeb wrote: I have since been told by the Internets that Priest wins like this:
Inner Fire
Nomi
Large Taunts Being Resurrected

So, in reverse order, Wall Priest (Tier Almost-4 deck), Nomi (Tier Not Possible to Gauge deck), and a 1 mana gimmick that you usually use to kill one of the opposing Mage's Mountain Giants to keep yourself alive for another turn (see: healing.) Yeah.

jeb wrote: I have since been told by the Internets that Priest wins like this:
Inner Fire
Nomi
Large Taunts Being Resurrected

Oh, and I've been informed that Righteousness is utterly awful because it costs more than 1 random effect on Maul, which gave you a 2/2 weapon, plus the shields. You know, from the most OP set ever created. And which you'd only get 25% of the time.

Don't disagree with any of your points about priest... however as an aside. Made rank 5 in wild for the first time in a long time with Big Priest. Which, as you may already know, is the most despised deck in all of Hearthstone. It requires very little skill to play and high rolls fun out of opposing players games. Vargoth made the deck stupid good. I would almost rather have Vargoth on curve than Barnes. I play the deck when I am A. stressed out B. Have ladder vertigo in standard...which is when i get a high enough rank that losing games triggers me. Anyhow it's a pretty oppressive deck in wild and if I wasn't playing it against hapless chumps, I would be complaining about how I am a hapless chump in wild. I think the only other really viable decks are super aggro odd pally, even shaman, some weapon rogue... odd or Kingsbane.

I don't like playing against Big Priest in Wild, but I do really like BEATING Big Priest in Wild. I play a watered-down version of Dane's Big Rogue and had two Saps today, and put two copies of Barnes into their pool. They still made a couple of The Lich King, but I had a Carnivorous Cube of Devilsaurs and Necrium nonsense. It was unfair in equal measure, roughly.

I can beat them with Tempo Mage too, but I think that's probably vying for the "Most Despised" title, so no big feat there.

I just made it to Rank 5 in wild with Warlock. I’m playing Mal’ganis and Malygos — most people are expecting Mecacthun, so it usually surprises people when I kill them with soulfire and darkbomb in one turn

Took me awhile to get it right. Basically all removal (spellstone, twisting nether, defile, soul siphon, hellfire, mortal coil), plus some demons and the spells above.

I made it to R11 in Wild and R9 in Standard last season. Wild was mostly with Tempo Mage, which is just stupid, but I would mix in Deathrattle Rogue for good times here and there. That's just a big fun deck. I'll post a list.

### DR
# Class: Rogue
# Format: Wild
#
# 2x (0) Preparation
# 1x (2) Cavern Shinyfinder
# 2x (2) Sap
# 1x (3) Fan of Knives
# 1x (3) Kaboom Bot
# 2x (3) Necrium Blade
# 1x (3) Shadow Strike
# 1x (4) Blightnozzle Crawler
# 2x (4) Kobold Illusionist
# 1x (4) Spiritsinger Umbra
# 1x (5) Antique Healbot
# 2x (5) Carnivorous Cube
# 2x (5) Necrium Vial
# 1x (5) Sludge Belcher
# 1x (5) Zilliax
# 1x (6) Sylvanas Windrunner
# 2x (7) Silver Vanguard
# 1x (8) Charged Devilsaur
# 2x (8) Deranged Doctor
# 1x (8) Kel'Thuzad
# 1x (8) The Lich King
# 1x (10) N'Zoth, the Corruptor
#
AAEBAYO6Ag6bBbkNgQ6CDvUP4KwCsq0CxsICycICws4C5dECoIAD/4AD0YEDCM0DhgmL4QLn4QLw5gLA7ALe+gLs/AIA



In Standard, I climbed with Mech Hunter and Mage, like everyone else. But once I got through 10 I switched over to Asmo-style Controlly Shaman. Definitely not the Control Shaman list that shows up on hsreplay. A lot more weird small game, and al kinds of Lackey interactions to set up full hands and neat effects off Shudderwock in the late-game. Also Mutate is a solid card in a deck that runs Gepetto. Get the little guys, play them for battlecry effects and Mutate them into something huge.

### Asmo
# Class: Shaman
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Dragon
#
# 2x (0) Mutate
# 2x (0) Zap!
# 2x (1) Earth Shock
# 2x (1) Lightning Bolt
# 2x (1) Sludge Slurper
# 2x (1) Voltaic Burst
# 2x (2) EVIL Cable Rat
# 2x (2) Likkim
# 2x (2) Underbelly Angler
# 1x (3) SN1P-SN4P
# 2x (4) Thunderhead
# 1x (5) Bloodlust
# 2x (5) Former Champ
# 1x (5) Harrison Jones
# 1x (5) Zilliax
# 1x (6) The Storm Bringer
# 1x (8) Jepetto Joybuzz
# 1x (9) Alexstrasza
# 1x (9) Shudderwock
#
AAECAfe5AgjFBJAHkwnv9wKh+AKggAPanQOftwML+QP/BfbwAo/7Apz/AvaKA6uMA7SRA4yUA7SXA8aZAwA=

Gosh darn it, now I come in as a one upper... of Jeb of all people... who I believe to be one of the best dudes on TWBG. But here it goes.

I made rank 4 in BOTH wild and Standard. First time long time I have played enough wild to drive down below 5... I was angry chicken rank there two months ago until I saw Dog stream Wild Cyclone OTK giant quest mage. Then I had to try that. Which led me to my guilty pleasure that is making people uninstall after getting rekt by Big Priest. I put that 2/7 5 mana infiltrator in mine, took out Kel Thuzad, and the deck is way better. I beat Zoolock yesterday and I pretty much only made infiltrator and Vargoth. They had to kill like a dozen infiltrators. Then at 5 I switched to Darkest Hour warlock. The combo deck where you take some abuse but around turn 5-6 you make a board of imps and then combo Bloodbloom darkest hour pulling board full of fatties usually w Nerubian Unraveller. Insta concede at that point most games. There is another broken wild deck I saw Frozen playing that uses Sn1p Sn4p OTK. W Glinda and mechwarper. It’s big in China apparently.

Standard I made 5 with mech Druid, then to 4 with Pogo rogue again Frozen list. Frozen and Dog are on quite a run in GM and Dog won Vegas. And they play fun decks.

I also completeted Dalaran heist heroic. You get a card back for your troubles. I did each level with a different hero. Last was Paladin. Got the Dragon gives another minion +2 attack and the dragon that doubles its attack every turn. Got 66 damage OTK to kadgar final boss. He is crazy hard to beat because you slowly grind him and drain his hand/resources and he refills.

Awesome, man. One-up all you want. I just want folks to talk to about this game. Congrats on the R4s! I was down at 20 too in Wild at least, hadn't played in a few months, so chugging back to 11 was a good run for me. I finally beat plain-old Dalaran yesterday, I need to start up on Heroic after I unlock some more stuff. I was Shaman with Mutate hero power, actually, and it was solid as a rock. Only threat was that crazy Secrets lady with the short turns. Everything else was a romp.

Bad news about unlocking more stuff for heroic Dalaran. It makes you restart from ground zero with nothing unlocked. I tried to,do each chapter with another hero. Priest3, Shaman4, and then Paladin chapter 5. Don’t remember what others I did.

Jeb, here's a few sample games on that deck:

hsreplay.net/replay/WDJQhMP56isCCuUQUwNVSd

This guy is either Conjurer's or straight control Mage. I kept Rhyssa to kill Apprentices and kept the only Secret I had to activate Blade and Spy. I was OK making a Dude on turn 2 because Mages will usually ping them rather than drop a minion to attack, so I felt safe getting Matrix on Rhyssa, rather than just a Dude. Luckily, I had Blade in hand to deal with Doomsayer #1. Rhyssa drew out a Fireball, which was cool. I dropped the Farseer along with the Spy just to keep tempo. I considered using Wrath to get rid of Doomsayer #2 and save my board, but getting half of it on one target is risky, but topdecking Warmage meant I didn't have to worry. (Skillz!) Hidden Wisdom, as it often does, encouraged the concede.

hsreplay.net/replay/GdLFWvPKwbS7YEAQKAQuAF

The advantage against Secret Hunter is that it's kind of a control deck. Like the previous game, I could afford to be aggressive, because my midrange deck arcs more toward aggro. I didn't know he was control at that point, but he'd gotten off to a slow start for any kind of Hunter and they don't heal well, so I figured I was fine beating face with the Blade. The aggravating thing about both Hunter's Mark and Equality is that they resolve after Never Surrender goes off, making that Secret useless against those two spells. It's great against the rest, though. Casting Kings on the Spy runs the risk of Deadly Shot but, again, they can't heal, so I'll get the hits in while I can. Not sure about his Clockwork tech but, again, tempo Earthseer and Warmage push the win.

hsreplay.net/replay/dmtaJ4iozn2f3RHpmfLKHX

I hold Rhyssa and Spy in my opening hand because if I get one of my 7 Secrets or Desperate Measures, I have both of them "activated." As it is, I get the perfect curve (1, 2, 3, 4 and then draw the 5, right on cue) and Redemption is excellent for all three minions. The Spy two-fers my opponent, as a result. Beast Hunter is a little more complicated because of their Rush minions that make my Secrets go off at less than optimal times, occasionally. But they also use a lot of spells, which is good for me. I Coin the No Surrender to back up Rhyssa for a Marked Shot, which she'll then survive. Didn't expect the Owl, though. Whatevs. Again, Farseer, for as mundane a card as it is, constantly becomes useful by letting me clear and heal with my mid-sized minions. She ends up surviving the Marked Shot, as planned. I don't have a Secret for the Blade, so I optimize mana and get aggressive with the Warmage. My opponent's almost at half health, I have total control of the board, and I'm untouched against a Hunter on turn 6. I have the option of playing the Tiger, but I stay on offense, put up a Hidden Wisdom in case he tries a comeback, activate the Blade, and bring him to lethal next turn. And there's Kings (Skillz!) for the end.

Those were my three Fire Festival games. 200G in about 20 minutes. Not bad.

Rhyssa is actually really good against Mage now, even at 4/3 because they are very stingy with removal in the early game. They are counting on 7/8 Taunts to carry the day defensively (ain't even wrong).

Those games against Hunter were weird. The Hunters I faced with this deck just utterly dominated the board. Deadly Shot, Snake Traps, Unleash (2) with Hyena of course, both ends of the 5/5. I could not keep anything on the table and got rolled.

This is the other deck I was talking about. It's Plot Twist Betrug, but with Dollmaster Dorian. I had, thankfully, held on to my Dorian from Witchwood so I only had to forge Dr. Morrigan to build this:

### Doll Bet
# 2x (1) Mortal Coil
# 2x (2) Plot Twist
# 2x (3) Augmented Elekk
# 1x (3) Shadow Bolt
# 1x (3) SN1P-SN4P
# 2x (4) Hellfire
# 1x (4) Shadowflame
# 1x (4) Spellbreaker
# 1x (5) Dollmaster Dorian
# 2x (5) Rotten Applebaum
# 1x (5) Zilliax
# 2x (6) Aranasi Broodmother
# 1x (6) Dr. Morrigan
# 2x (6) Mechanical Whelp
# 2x (6) Safeguard
# 1x (6) Siphon Soul
# 1x (7) Lord Godfrey
# 1x (8) Deranged Doctor
# 1x (8) Fel Lord Betrug
# 1x (8) Twisting Nether
# 2x (12) Mountain Giant
#
AAECAf0GDJMB8gXbBpIHzAjA7ALC8QKc+ALN/AKggAOJnQOftwMJtgfhB8QIxfMCtPYC9YAD2pYDwJgD2psDAA==

You're like: "You spent 1500 dust on Morrigan?!" Yes. Because she's amazing. 8 cost 5/5? No. 6 cost 5/5? Believe it or not, yes. Especially if you can dump multiple copies of her in your deck with the Elekks and/or Dorian. She's a neverending 5/5 that just keeps doing stuff.

This deck is mostly control, but with a mild 10 mana combo (Bet, Twist) that will almost always win you the game. If you've had the opportunity to stack your deck with the Elekks, even better. The really amusing moments are when Dorian is out when you do a Twist and he pulls a 1/1 Betrug, who then proceeds to activate and do his usual thing. If he sticks around, every time you draw something, you get the full strength Rusher and a 1/1 copy. You can always Silence the copies with your own Spellbreaker to bring them back up to their usual stats, too. It's hilariously fun in the late game, which kinda makes up for the pedantic early game, where you're just tapping until you can drop a Giant or play an Applebaum or Broodmother or Safeguard to, well, save you from further punishment. You will also occasionally find yourself sitting on 9 cards in hand and passing, because you don't want to burn anything next turn.

hsreplay.net/replay/zYJmLbFVH3uJM3vRxCknvV

This game was against the Secret Mech variation. I don't like that one because it's too inconsistent, as it was for this guy. He got a solid Secret start, but his one Mech threat got Silenced and then he decided it wasn't worth trying to rebuild after a Hellfire with one card in hand.

hsreplay.net/replay/RtXm4dWFHgVWJSVesg3KLo

This was a pretty suboptimal version of Conjurer's. I guess the Dragon stuff is interesting, but I think it lacked focus. Any deck that lacks focus is going to die horribly to Twist Bet.

I was playing with a version of this (I think I have a GOLLLLDEENNN Butrug, so I gotta use that). It is fun as hell, no denying it. My version was more top heavy and really counted on some crazy shit with Deranged Doctors and what not to come back if I could survive long enough to get to the mana I would need to do all this cool shit.

I moved the Secretariat deck a little bit, adding in a sprinkling of Eggs/Zill/Annoy to leverage Kangor's Endless Army as another big spell.