[PC Game] Hearthstone (Practically Beta)

[figmentPez]

I started playing on the European servers because I made a friend over there who got talked into playing Heartstone. With nothing to start with, I was curious as to just how far I could get without building a deck, just using the basic premade stuff. I've skipped buying packs to start with, and I'm just unlocking wings in Naxrammas. I got the frist wing free, and cleared it pretty easily with the basic decks. I think I won every match my first try, which was pretty lucky in some cases, but it's definitely possible without too much trouble. Once I earned 700 gold, the Plague Quarter gave me only slightly more challenge. I lost only a couple matches, but unlocked those cards pretty handily.

With Haunted Creepers, Webspinners, Maexxna, Loatheb, etc. I could build a pretty good Hunter deck now, without having to craft anything, or get lucky opening packs. I don't think I will, though. I want to see how far I can keep going.

I've been playing ranked, in hopes that I'll get mostly even matches. I'll admit that most of my wins come from misplays on my opponents part, because almost any constructed deck is better than the basic crap. I still run into Golden Warlocks running by-the-book Zoolock decks at rank 19, though. How you rack up 500 wins in ranked play, and still manage to be that low on the ladder astounds me. That was either a terrible player, or they intentionally tanked a lot of games just to feel like a big shot stomping their way back up the ladder.

All in all, I'm finding it a fun challenge to learn to play these crappy decks. So far I've found the most frustration with the basic Hunter deck, which really sucks, but others like the Paladin aren't completely horrible (Pally is what I mostly used to make my way through the Plague Quarter).

 

[Ravenpoe]

Blizzard has issued a temporary ban against thousands of accounts running bots, with the bans in effect until 2015. After that period, any accounts found botting will suffer a perma-ban.

 

[PatrThom]

Well maybe that explains some of the incredibly curious behavior I've seen.

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

Four class legendary cards are rumored to have been leaked from the next expansion:

Priest - Vol'jin
5 mana 6/2
"Battlecry: Swap Health With Another Minion"

Rogue - Trade Prince Gallywix
6 mana 5/8
"Whenever your opponent casts a spell, gain a copy of it and give them a Coin."

Warrior - Iron Juggernaut (Mech type)
6 mana 6/6
"Battlecry: Shuffle a Mine into your opponent's deck. When drawn it explodes for 10 damage."

??? - Flame Leviathan (Mech type)
7 mana 7/7
"When you draw this card, deal 2 damage to all characters."

 

[figmentPez]

As crap as the basic decks are, it's still really satisfying to pull off 16 burst damage with the Shaman deck, as incredibly unlikely as it is. (Reckless Rocketeer, Windfury & Rockbiter; 22 would also be possible, given another Rockbiter.)

Opened up the Military Quarter of Naxxramas on my European account, and promptly beat it using the basic decks. Rasuvious and Haigan both went down on my first attempt, though I'm pretty sure that was lucky. The Four Horsemen gave me my first challenge, but eventually they died to the basic Priest deck.

I doubt that the Construct Quarter will go down as easily. I remember it was the first one where I had to tailor my decks to quickly defeat. Still, I imagine that it can be defeated fairly easily with only basic and Naxx cards, not even commons. So if I fail with the basic decks, I'll give a shot at crafting some decks without using any cards from packs.

 

[figmentPez]

Sometimes it feels like this game is trolling me. Today I opened a pack containing my third golden Lightwarden. At least it means I can dust it and get the rare of my choice.

 

[figmentPez]

New expansion announced: Goblins Vs. Gnomes

 

[figmentPez]

This expansion is going to really shake things up. A lot of these cards look to be a ton of fun to play.

 

[PatrThom]

This expansion is going to really shake things up. A lot of these cards look to be a ton of fun to play.

MEGA-WINDFURY

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

MEGA-WINDFURY

Yeah, pretty easy to see why that's an uncollectable card that only comes out via summon.

 

[PatrThom]

Yeah, pretty easy to see why that's an uncollectable card that only comes out via summon.

...and why Faceless Manipulator costs 5 mana.

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

Out of the cards revealed so far, here are the ones I would most like to play with:

• Blingtron 3000 - randomness!
• Enhance-o Mechano - more randomness!
• Recombobulator - still more randomness!
• Sneed's Old Shredder - legendary amounts of randomness!
• Unstable portal - are you getting the impression I like random?

The cards that I, in my relative ignorance, think are the ones most likely to upset the current meta:

• Clockwork Giant - my first thought was Handlock counter, but a lot of high-end decks end up with large hands. Miracle rogue, most priest decks, control warrior, etc.
• Spider Tank - a neutral 3/4 that has synergy with tons of other cards. I'm pretty sure this will help fuel some creative decks.
• Shrinkmeister - this makes it more dangerous to play 4 attack minions versus a priest. Not only will it allow Shadow Word: Pain, but also Cabal Shadow Priest. With that combo Cairne, Ysera, Sludge Belcher, and a lot more can be stolen.

And the #1 card that made me go WUT?

1. Gnomish Experimenter - seriously, why would you want to draw a card and turn it into a Chicken? Even if this can find a place in a spell-heavy deck, it just might be the new "worst card in arena".

 

[figmentPez]

I'm finding the different reactions to these cards to be fascinating. Trump, Amaz and Noxious have all put out videos talking about the announced cards, and their opinions vary wildly on some of these cards. Take for instance the Piloted Shredder. In Trump's video he said that it might that in arena "You see a shredder, you pick a shredder", and he might even pick one over a Chillwind Yeti, his current top pick. Amaz, however, said that the card might be unplayable (though, Amaz is mainly priest, and the low health of the shredder is a huge drawback for that class.)

 

[Ravenpoe]

I'm finding the different reactions to these cards to be fascinating. Trump, Amaz and Noxious have all put out videos talking about the announced cards, and their opinions vary wildly on some of these cards. Take for instance the Piloted Shredder. In Trump's video he said that it might that in arena "You see a shredder, you pick a shredder", and he might even pick one over a Chillwind Yeti, his current top pick. Amaz, however, said that the card might be unplayable (though, Amaz is mainly priest, and the low health of the shredder is a huge drawback for that class.)

I'd always take their predictions with a grain of salt. The reason they are both good players is their ability to react to the meta as it forms. But that doesn't always mean they're going to be able to -predict- the meta, just that they'll be able to adapt to it.

 

[phil]

Turn one coin mechwarper

Turn two annoy-o-tron Mico machine and cogmaster.

Turn three you have 8 damage represented, with your best hidden behind an admittedly annoying taunt. Then you play your tinker town technician for a 3 mana 4/4 and get your spare part upgrade.

 

[figmentPez]

And this is the reason I play such a silly Shaman deck:

 

[PatrThom]

Wat.

Reincarnate + Ancestral Spirit?

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

Wat.

Reincarnate + Ancestral Spirit?

If I remember the turn order correctly...

Turn 5, I play a Stalagg,
His turn 5 he plays a Gadgetzan, and some spells, but thankfully not conceal.
My turn 6 I play Baron Rivendare and Ancestral Spirit, then I kill his Gadgetzan, leaving me with two Stalaggs and a Rivendare.
His turn 6 Another Gadgetzan and some spells, not able to kill anything, nor conceal.

My turn 7, I play a Feugen, then Reincarnate him. This triggers his deathrattle twice, giving me two Taddius(es, Thaddii?). Then I use one Stalagg to kill his Gadgetzan, which gives me another two 11/11s.

 

[Ravenpoe]

People still play miracle?

 

[figmentPez]

People still play miracle?

I ran into 3 today, I think.

 

[PatrThom]

If I remember the turn order correctly...

Turn 5, I play a Stalagg,
His turn 5 he plays a Gadgetzan, and some spells, but thankfully not conceal.
My turn 6 I play Baron Rivendare and Ancestral Spirit, then I kill his Gadgetzan with my Stalagg, leaving me with two Stalaggs and a Rivendare.
His turn 6 Another Gadgetzan and some spells, not able to kill anything, nor conceal.

My turn 7, I play a Feugen, then Reincarnate him. This triggers his deathrattle twice, giving me two Taddius(es, Thaddii?). Then I use one Stalagg to kill his Gadgetzan, which gives me another two 11/11s.

Until I figured that part, I was very confused.

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

Cards like the Harvest Golem, Alarm-o-bot, Mechanical Dragonling, etc. will be made Mech cards when the expansion is released. As if the Harvest Golem wasn't already good enough.

 

[figmentPez]

This card seems potentially over-powered...

 

[PatrThom]

Well, yeah.
Good thing it can't end up in a Priest deck.
Oh, wait...

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

Can you imagine facing down that on turn 3?

 

[PatrThom]

Cards like BGH and such are probably going to get more popular.
Well, these days it seems you only pump someone just before one hit. Giants are big, but they don't seem to have staying power.

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

Cards like BGH and such are probably going to get more popular.
Well, these days it seems you only pump someone just before one hit. Giants are big, but they don't seem to have staying power.

Yeah, but that card starts under BGH range, and could easily grow to a one-hit-kill in a single turn.
Unlikely series of events:
Hunter turn 2: Call pet, gets Gahz'rilla
turn 3: play Gahz'rilla
turn 4: Dire Wolf Alpha (or Timber Wolf), Arcane Shot, Arcane Shot. Buffs up Gahz'rilla to 31 damage. [ 6 + 1 = 7, 7 *2 +1 = 15, 15 *2 +1 = 31)

 

[Ravenpoe]

Yeah, but that card starts under BGH range, and could easily grow to a one-hit-kill in a single turn.
Unlikely series of events:
Hunter turn 2: Call pet, gets Gahz'rilla
turn 3: play Gahz'rilla
turn 4: Dire Wolf Alpha (or Timber Wolf), Arcane Shot, Arcane Shot. Buffs up Gahz'rilla to 31 damage. [ 6 + 1 = 7, 7 *2 +1 = 15, 15 *2 +1 = 31)

It would be 25 damage, not 31. The 1 extra damage from the wolf wouldn't be doubled, but would instead be applied after the fact. So it would go from 6 damage, to 12 damage, to 24 damage, and then still have the +1 aura effect from the wolf.

 

[figmentPez]

It would be 25 damage, not 31. The 1 extra damage from the wolf wouldn't be doubled, but would instead be applied after the fact. So it would go from 6 damage, to 12 damage, to 24 damage, and then still have the +1 aura effect from the wolf.

Are you sure? Because when doing a health/attack swap (i.e. Crazed Alchemist), the buffed attack is what becomes the new health. And Blessed Champion is reported to all sorts of crazy stuff, but does double the current attack power, buffs and all, at least in some cases.

From what I'm reading on how Blessed Champion tends to work, it seems like the result may actually be somewhere between 25 and 31.

Abusive Sergeant may work better than Dire Wolf Alpha. This example shows that a giant buffed to 10 attack, then doubled, results in 20 attack (which then drops to 18 at the end of the turn).

So: (6 + 2) *2 = 16, 16 *2 = 32, and if that somehow didn't kill your opponent, it would only drop to 30 at the end of the turn, assuming Gahz'rilla's doubling works the same as Blessed Champion.

 

[Ravenpoe]

Abusive sergeant should work, because it gives attack to the creature for the turn, whereas the wolf is an aura that's added after the fact. Crazed alchemist doesn't work in the same way, because it snapshots the stats so that it can flip them.

 

[figmentPez]

And Deathrattles continue to get even stronger...

Feign Death (Hunter, Epic)
2 Mana
Trigger all Deathrattles on your minions.

I can imagine this getting some play in a deatrattle Hunter deck. If you've got a webspinner and one other cheap deathrattle out, it's could be a "2 mana, summon two 1/1 minions and draw a card", if you've got a Highmane out, "2 mana summon two 2/2 minions" is pretty good as well.

But they also get counters:

Lil Exorcist (Neutral, Rare)
3 Mana 2/3
Taunt
Battlecry: Gain +1/+1 for each enemy deathrattle minion.

I very nearly called this one. I thought that the card would destroy deathrattles, but it's got Taunt instead. If there's at least 1 enemy deathrattle on the board, it's a 3/4 with taunt, which is pretty decent, and counters a Harvest Golem nicely. If there's more than one deathrattle, it starts to see even more value.

Scarlet Purifier (Paladin, Rare)
3 Mana 4/3
Battlecry: Deal 2 damage to all minions with deathrattle.

Not sure this one is going to be fantastic. I'd be hesitant to run it in the low level matchups I play, because I'd hate to be breaking open Nerubian eggs, and I don't know what the high level meta is like for Paladins.

 

[PatrThom]

Not sure this one is going to be fantastic. I'd be hesitant to run it in the low level matchups I play, because I'd hate to be breaking open Nerubian eggs, and I don't know what the high level meta is like for Paladins.

Don't forget that it does 2 damage to all deathrattle minions, even your own.

I think what I really see is an increase in the usefulness of Leper Gnome.

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

I like this:

 

[figmentPez]

Continuing on my personal experiment with a Europe account. I gave up on only playing games with basic decks. Near the end of a season it's not too bad playing ranked with such a crappy deck, but earlier in the season it's a tremendous amount of frustration.

As for beating the normal difficulty of Naxxramas with basic decks: Patchwerk fell to the basic Rogue deck, and Grobbulus fell to the basic Druid deck. All of this feels a little pointless with Goblins Vs Gnomes coming out soon, but I'm still curious to see just how much of Naxx can be completed without crafting a deck.

 

[Rovewin]

Continuing on my personal experiment with a Europe account. I gave up on only playing games with basic decks. Near the end of a season it's not too bad playing ranked with such a crappy deck, but earlier in the season it's a tremendous amount of frustration.

As for beating the normal difficulty of Naxxramas with basic decks: Patchwerk fell to the basic Rogue deck, and Grobbulus fell to the basic Druid deck. All of this feels a little pointless with Goblins Vs Gnomes coming out soon, but I'm still curious to see just how much of Naxx can be completed without crafting a deck.

The normal nax bosses you should be able to beat nearly all with basic decks. The one exception is Kel Thuzad. You have to get real lucky with him I feel. I originally tried to beat all normal bosses with a fun pirate warrior deck and he was the only one that I could not do it with. He gave my other basic architect type decks trouble too.

Anyway I am having great fun doing rank right now with a healadin deck. So far I've won 6 of my last 7 games to get me to rank 15. Though I have a quest to deal 100 dmg to enemy heroes, I still havent completed it yet. It's just so fun to see them hope they are getting close kill commanding me or force roaring me only to have me heal 6-12 the following turn and the turn after and a few more the turn after that. Then they just concede or start taking fatigue while I'm just happy building up my board, clearing theirs, healing up and making dudes.

I must say owl is mvp this season. He trades one for one with undertaker which often 2 or 3 for ones me if I dont draw one of my owls. Like my loss the guy had a 5/6 undertaker on his turn 3. I see it as a cheaper questing adventurer in the decks that build for it that can be played before you're able to play your removal on it.