Hearthstone

[FeelTheRads]

It's "wrong" because I was expecting it would award packs from the new expansion which would have been fine for me.

 

[hivemind]

Yeah.

I think that this is probably better for like newer players who don't have much of the classic collection so the chance to also get a classic pack from arena is beneficial to them.

 

[hivemind]

And ultimately it's probably a better long term solution since in a few months everyone would complain that they are pretty much only getting dust from Arena if it only awarded the new expansion packs

 

[Explorerbc]

It punishes long time and good arena players.

Arena is the most effective way of getting cards. Good players could easily grind an expansion through arena.

Most of us already have most classic and gvg cards. Therefore those packs are usually worthless.

So if you want to get the new packs quickly you only have a 1/3 chance in arena, so you either have to buy them with money or spend 100 gold for each which is a waste.

New players are fucked anyway. With so many expansions and adventures the random packs won't save them. But it makes sense that Blizzard would give the finger to the loyal playerbase for some casual who just discovered this game on his iphone.

 

[hivemind]

Most of us already have most classic and gvg cards.

I don't so I like the change.

 

[FeelTheRads]

On the other hand more new players means easier wins. I wasn't around for the GvG release but I heard it was free wins in Arena for a while.

 

[Explorerbc]

On the other hand more new players means easier wins. I wasn't around for the GvG release but I heard it was free wins in Arena for a while.

What GvG did was change the balance a lot and favor aggro decks. Many good players that used to average 7-8 wins suddenly dropped to 2-3.
There was a lot of discussion and even famous streamers commented on how yolo the arena had become.

Personally, pre-gvg I had reached a point in arena where I was pretty good and could at least get my 150 gold back with most runs.
After gvg my performance was all over the place and even today I still get horrible runs with decks that I consider top tier.

It is gonna be the same with this expansion, there will be a period of experimentation which can lead to unpredictable results in arena.

 

[AMG]

They will have to change it again in the future, with more sets it will get extremely stupid.
Also I'm not really sure if it's that great for new players. GvG is pretty synergistic and this one looks like it will be as well so far, so a new player probably has higher chance of putting together competent deck fast if he gets cards from one set. But it is better for them in the long run. Also this potentially fucks over some people who pay for Arena with money (do such people even exist? probably not if they make such changes).

I just hope that there is a bigger chance of getting new pack, but I doubt it. Well whatever, I don't care about getting cards that much anyway, but it was nice bonus. Human psychology is a weird thing. The only thing this will achieve is just making me play less.

The new card Poisoned Blade seems pretty bad. Rogue doesn't really have a control archetype that just lets you sit there and hero power, and even if it had, someone will just Harrison you and make you cry. Again, could be made better by other cards, but so far shit.

On topic of Shredder, it will be interesting to see if it will get better or worse in this xpansion. So far there is a new juicy 3/4 to make your life more miserable (or awesome I guess).

 

[Metro]

Oh great... guess what the next Tavern Brawl will be...

 

[UglyBastard]

So after actually thinking things over...

Kodo Rider really isn't that good. Would rather just play a Sky Golem. It's not bad though, and there are certain board states where it's a house. Problem is getting to those board states.

The Totem Deck might be a thing. Depends on if there are other strong totems added. Tuskarr Totemic is the real deal. Sure, if he gets an ill-timed spell power or vitality totem he kinda blows, bu consider that he can draw Flame Tongue, Mana Spring, Totem Golem or even just a Stoneclaw Totem he suddenly appears great. I think the idea is you build a huge board of totems then win by buffing them with the Valiant. Problem is a solitary Flamestrike or even Hellfire blows this up - so, it probably won't actually be a thing. I'm not even sure if this deck will be stronger than Mech Shaman. Day 0 of spoiler season prediction: Mech/Midrange Shaman just incorporates cards like Totem Golem and Tuskar.

Effigy is decent but Tempo Mage would have to change some things. For instance, I'm not too sure if running Mirror Image will be viable if you want to run Effigy. Fallen Hero doesn't have a space in constructed. Too slow for tempo/aggro, too unimpactful for control. Strong card for arena though - on curve plays with flexible upsides are great.

Saraad is really... He's really not that great. On turn 5 most constructed decks can handle a 4/5, and if you wait for Turn 7 to pair him with a hero power you're better off just playing a Dr. Boom.

A lot of these cards like Coldarra Drake, Poisoned Blade, Ball of Spiders, Frost Giant, Lowly Squire... they're fucking terrible. If you think those cards are good you need to go back to Trump Teachings, watch some Ratsmah full drafts and reevaluate the game as a whole. I really don't know why Blizzard showed them off other than maybe the obvious Coldarra + Maiden of the Lake Synergy. I think a lot of people are going to overvalue Inspire because of MotL and in reality she's a worse Oasis Snapjaw (an almost unplayable card) with a marginal benefit.

I will say that Lock and Load is either going to be unbelievably powerful or complete shit. Either a "miracle hunter" deck will emerge that uses L+L to combo out a win on turn 6, or it will just be too inconsistent to even consider. I'm prone to lean towards shit. You're gunking up your deck with an overabundance of Arcane Shot, Hunter's Mark, Tracking, etc just to cycle for entirely random cards.

It's easy to write off Kragg, but do keep in mind that the Grand Tournament site mentions how "lol pirates can be knights!! we're so quirky XDDD" so if we get something ridiculous like Muster for Pirates then this guy could be a neutral doomguard. Just imagine, Turn 2 Ship's Cannon, Turn 3 Muster for Pirates, Turn 4 Kragg. Dream world scenario requiring a card that doesn't exist, but, yeah.

But hey, we've seen 16 out of 130 cards. I'm sure there will be plenty of OP bullshit that we need to dump money/dust on to be competitive day one. I'm just really perplexed why they chose such schlocky shit cards to start off the spoiler season with.

Most assessments are good.

I don't think Effigy functions in Tempo Mage, the deck plays too many dinky cheapo minions for it to be valuable and they are needed. It getting value in this deck is too circumstantial. I see it as a thing in decks that also could play Duplicate, Effigy is basically a lower value/higher tempo variant of Duplicate. As such it seems a decent playable card with a role in some control decks but not a meta breaker (just like Duplicate).

I really don't want to write off Coldara Drake just yet. I think it is a decent card. It has a solid body for its mana cost, a decent upside and the Dragon tag which might make Blackwing Corrupter available for Mage. I'm also slightly intrigued by the Mage hero power combo deck, the combo seems very clunky but it depends on the support cards that will be released. This is a very nice 6drop dragon that can act as a combo piece, it certainly has potential.

Same goes for Fallen Hero. It doesn't really fit into current archetypes but we haven't seen many inspire cards yet and if the combo deck has a place, it will run Fallen Hero.

Maiden of the Lake is a 100% combo card, so it rises and falls with the strength of the combo deck.

Saraad doesn't seem too bad, I'd certainly give him a chance. Probably too random for high level constructed though (or not aggressively priced enough to make up for randoomness). Reminds me a bit about Gazlowe, which didn't cut it either.

I think Lock and Load is certainly complete shit, it's a lategame "value" card for Hunter that doesn't even draw from your deck (which would make it way better), Feign Death tier right here.


Tuskarr Totemic is just fucking retarded. Worst RNG design all over again. Aggressively priced RNG that ranges from "mediocre" to "instant win", I'm getting horrible Unstable Portal and Imp-losion flashbacks, we will see a lot of games decided on the Tuskarr roll (rolling Totem Golem or Manatide will be ridiculous).

Kragg is shit without the ominous "Muster for Pirates", so I'll just go with just shit right here.

I definitely agree on the Frost Giant being unplayable garbage. At Hearthpwn there are a lot of people who are pretty hyped about it. Some even say it's great for Handlock, lel.


So I mostly disagree on Coldarra Drake, which is placed at "shit tier" in this evaluation while being a decent standalone 6drop with both combo and dragon synergy. Very strong in Arena and maybe strong enough for constructed depending on the other new cards.

 

[FeelTheRads]

What GvG did was change the balance a lot and favor aggro decks. Many good players that used to average 7-8 wins suddenly dropped to 2-3.
There was a lot of discussion and even famous streamers commented on how yolo the arena had become.

Ah yes, that too, I guess. But I mean, supposedly new expansions bring new players and arena was full of noobs for a while after the GvG release. Or so go the stories I heard, I have no idea.

 

[Jozoz]

My arena win rate plummeted after GvG. I just had to get used to tempo being 10 times more important than value.

 

[Andhaira]

If Coldara Drake is played when your Mage hero is transformed into Ragnaros via Majordomo do you get multiple uses of Die Insect?

It would be pretty lulzy if so.

 

[UglyBastard]

If Coldara Drake is played when your Mage hero is transformed into Ragnaros via Majordomo do you get multiple uses of Die Insect?

It would be pretty lulzy if so.

Yes, that was already confirmed on Twitter by a CM.
Works with Jaraxxus as well (if you portal him in).

 

[Andhaira]

If Coldara Drake is played when your Mage hero is transformed into Ragnaros via Majordomo do you get multiple uses of Die Insect?

It would be pretty lulzy if so.

Yes, that was already confirmed on Twitter by a CM.
Works with Jaraxxus as well (if you portal him in).

Sweet, this will be a lulzy deck to troll people/have fun with. Hero power mage: Coldarra, Maiden, *increase hero pwr damage card*, Majordomo, Flamewalkers, Blastmage, and so on.

 

[Jozoz]

UHHHNHNNNNNNNGGNNGNNNNNGN

 

[Explorerbc]

Ah yes, that too, I guess. But I mean, supposedly new expansions bring new players and arena was full of noobs for a while after the GvG release. Or so go the stories I heard, I have no idea.

I think expansions mostly bring in old players that lost interest due to the stale meta.

Also if I remember correctly GvG was released the same time the android version was, so that might have something to do with all the noobs.

 

[Phage]

Here's a test - do you think these cards are actually good?

http://www.hearthpwn.com/news/952-two-new-cards-garrison-commander-silver-hand

(hint:

Spoiler

they aren't

.)

Also, interesting how now theoretically anyone can get dudes.

 

[Zed]

the silverhand recruit one could be alright for a quartermaster paladin, I guess.
garrison commander is not very good, but obviously better than a vanilla 2/2/3.

 

[Phage]

The problem is you don't want to spend turn 4 doing hero power + 2 drop in order to trigger your Regent, and on turn 5 you don't want to play Regent + Hero Power instead of a Belcher / Drake / Brother Bear / Loatheb, etc

 

[Zed]

I don't know. 2x totems could potentially be useful, although I have strong doubts. not as a straight up mana curve move as you describe it, but maybe as a way to re-take board position after a wipe, mid-late game.

 

[UglyBastard]

Both are not spectacular, but very decent Arena cards and maybe possible support for more powerful inspire mechanics or recruit interactions (yet to be revealed), so I wouldn't completely write them off.

Turn 4 2drop + 2 recruits actually sounds like value to me, depending on the state of the game. Don't forget that they MUST be removed if you don't want to get blown out by quartermaster.

 

[Phage]

Ah yes, that too, I guess. But I mean, supposedly new expansions bring new players and arena was full of noobs for a while after the GvG release. Or so go the stories I heard, I have no idea.

My arena win rate plummeted after GvG. I just had to get used to tempo being 10 times more important than value.

There's more to it than that. Arena became harder straight out. Overall skill level increased as people played more often and resources like decent tier lists became widespread.

Aggro / tempo was always more effective than value. Hafu (according to blizzard) had one of the highest pre-GVG winrates and she was notorious for playing extremely aggressively.

GVG introduced sticker minions which reduced how effortlessly AOEs allows you to come back into the game. AOEs are still ridiculously strong top-tier picks, but they're no longer autowin.

Overall Arena is actually healthier now with the exception of cards like Piloted Shredder, Shielded Mini and Imp Gang Boss being obscene - but even still, it's better than 2x consecration or flamestrike actually meaning you auto-win if you draw them.

tl;dr Arena is higher skill post GVG on multiple levels and if you're struggling you need to actually git gud.

 

[Phage]

I don't know. 2x totems could potentially be useful, although I have strong doubts. not as a straight up mana curve move as you describe it, but maybe as a way to re-take board position after a wipe, mid-late game.

You'd be spending your turn 4 making two totems instead of just playing a piloted shredder - presuming your vanilla 2/3 lived that long. Even with the totem synergy that isn't particularly impressive.

Both are not spectacular, but very decent Arena cards and maybe possible support for more powerful inspire mechanics or recruit interactions (yet to be revealed), so I wouldn't completely write them off.

Turn 4 2drop + 2 recruits actually sounds like value to me, depending on the state of the game. Don't forget that they MUST be removed if you don't want to get blown out by quartermaster.

Well yeah, they're fine for arena. The 2/3 moreso than the 3/3. Of course they're going to be average picks since you're always going to prefer something like shielded minibot/totem golem or a spider tank.

 

[Zed]

I don't know. 2x totems could potentially be useful, although I have strong doubts. not as a straight up mana curve move as you describe it, but maybe as a way to re-take board position after a wipe, mid-late game.

You'd be spending your turn 4 making two totems instead of just playing a piloted shredder - presuming your vanilla 2/3 lived that long. Even with the totem synergy that isn't particularly impressive.

we don't know the full extent of the upcoming totem synergy, hence "could potentially".