Hearthstone

[Phage]

Yeah, I'm sure you could Sser, I'm sure you could.


Edit: To elaborate - I get that theoretically, when played on an empty board, this guy should dole out 4 damage over two turns. I also get that if coupled with a buff it can be better. The problem is wolfrider has 33% more reach, as it's 3 damage out of the gate, which is what's important for face. On an empty board wolfrider can be dealing 6 points of damage if unanswered - so ultimately WR is just better for that role. (and golem is better than wolfrider usually)

 

[sser]

The reason I say it is because I'm seeing more of those shielded minions being sprinkled into the face decks precisely for their staying power/avoiding removals. In a couple of the recent tournaments I've seen Argent Squire instead of Worgen Infiltrator (or both), for example. The WR almost never survives the turn after it's used, but the shielded dude might, which means he's another target for Abusive Sergeant/Glaivezooka/Blessing of Might/etc. and a possible tempo gain or just a sticky asshole who won't go away.

 

[Grubba]

Ya this set looks pretty underwhelming so far but this is a good point to remind ourselves that:

- best reveals are yet to come, most likely
- there were plenty of cases in GvG and BRM where people completely whiffed on ranking the reveals.

 

[Phage]

It's not beating a dead horse - we're discussing the only thing worth discussing about the game right now.

 

[Metro]

- best reveals are yet to come, most likely

Probably not. I'd expect them to be of the same quality percentage-wise. Here's a link to the last half (60ish) of the GvG reveals. Maybe 15-20 see regular play in constructed.

- there were plenty of cases in GvG and BRM where people completely whiffed on ranking the reveals.

Skimmed through Trump's GvG evaluation and he was right on 90% or so of the cards. Dunno about BRM and it's mostly pointless since all the dragon shit was heavily interdependent thus worthless unless you ran a dragon deck.

Going to be 30% or so playable cards again. Not a shocker. I doubt it'll take many packs to get all the good ones. I think I only got around 20 packs when GvG launched and then bought mostly GvG packs for another couple of months before switching back to classic. Excluding legendaries the only consistently played GvG cards I'm missing are Echo of Medivh, an additional Quartermaster, Lightbomb, and Piloted Sky Golem. Legendary-wise: Vol'jin, Neptulon, and Mal'ganis. And I have 5k dust so I could craft them if I wanted but I'm waiting to see what the rest of TGT brings. If it's similarly bad I'll probably go back and craft some missing classic set legendaries like Tirion, Jarraxus, etc.

 

[Andhaira]

Ya this set looks pretty underwhelming so far but this is a good point to remind ourselves that:

- best reveals are yet to come, most likely
- there were plenty of cases in GvG and BRM where people completely whiffed on ranking the reveals.

Nevar forget

http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hea...on/22541-new-card-piloted-shredder-discussion

 

[Phage]

I didn't play much constructed at all last month aside from some daily quests when Arena didn't offer them - ended up at rank 12, which means nothing - but I was greeted with a pretty hilarious message

"Your rank of 12 puts you in the top 15% of ranked players for July"

Really?

Is the hearthstone community really this full of terrible players?

I suppose that's a rhetorical question - we have empirical data that it is... but it really puts a lot of things into perspective. I'm not trying to stroke my ego (surprise, I know) here, what I'm really emphasizing is how easy it is to hit Rank 12. Plenty of budget decks requiring very little dust can do it - and there are a handful of high-power low-dust decks out there (ebola paladin, face hunter, traditional zoo, and even patron require relatively little dust).

I guess my question is why are hearthstone players so bad, and what repercussions do you think it might have for the competitive scene of the game?

 

[Phage]

Nevar forget

http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hea...on/22541-new-card-piloted-shredder-discussion

Also in this thread there's a 2 page debate between MHC and I were he tried to tell me that chillwind yeti > shredder, and I screamed at him that's not the case.

 

[sser]

I don't really play ranked much at all, but I've had some time lately so I threw in my lot on the last day and got to 16. It said that was "top 40%." Faced mostly warlocks with very... interesting decks. Even ran into a mech-warrior which was cool (spoiler: it sucked; still cool, though). My own deck was pretty much horrible, but I didn't ever feel the least bit threatened by anyone. IMO, the biggest difference is whether or not you netdeck. I don't say that disparagingly, either. Netdecking is just the best way to make a competent, coherent deck. If I were to guess, most people are probably like me where they dick around and just get to 20 for the cardback.

 

[Phage]

I think ranked needs a major rework with actual incentives honestly.

 

[Metro]

The numbers aren't surprising, it's a casual game with millions playing. I can't think of any incentives that would get me to play more ranked.

 

[Phage]

1 free booster per 5 ranks you earned after 20. 1 at 15, 10, and 5.

That's just a trivially easy idea to implement I came up with in 5 seconds. I'm sure there's a multitude of things that the team of literal paid professionals could come up with.

 

[FeelTheRads]

But there are tons of people already playing ranked. I don't see them being motivated to add other rewards.

 

[hivemind]

I never go above rank 18 because it's easier to farm dailies for arena at low rank.

 

[Grubba]

Moving up the ranked ladder has more to do with time investment than skill, honestly (to a point, probably around rank 5 or so where you have to be good or else you won't advance any further)

 

[Andhaira]

Yeah, that is why they introduced Brawl, to allow another way for newbies to do their quests, play with some cool cards they won't have in their own collection, and have a more even keel where netdecking is not as easy or even possible in many brawls. And also the free pack for newbies to build up their collection to be more competitive. And also the spectator quest with free classic pack. And with TGT Arena will become more nOOb friendly because they benefit from any of the 3 random pack rewards. Veterans can keep grinding ranked for their golden hero.

Ranked does need a major overhaul, and I fell they might do this by december. Last year we had Naxx and GvG, this year we have BRM and now TGT. So we will have something else in december, hopefully a rework of ranked to add more rewards at least.

1 free pack every 5 rank levels won't really cut it. Something more is needed. Extra gold is in my opinion the best way to go about it.

 

[Andhaira]

Amaz revealed his card. It IS called Flame Lance Metro I am waiting delivery of my card packs 'k thx bai

It's better than Dragon's Breath (which is a shit card), but not as good as polymorph. That takes care of deathrattles, and isn't blocked by divine shield.

TBH this should have been in BRM instead of shit dragon breath.

 

[Seari]

What a worthless card. A waste of the cool art.

 

[Metro]

What is the point of that card?

 

[Seari]

Who knows, maybe they'll introduce a lot of new high health low attack cards or something. This reminds me of dragon's breath, another useless card with amazing art.

 

[Metro]

It's good for killing...

I suppose there could be some new moderate attack/high health legendaries or something added but as it stands now that card is only good for killing Kel'Thuzad. Sneed's I guess but that's silly. Anything over 7 attack you'd just use another BGH.

 

[Jozoz]

Polymorph is just better except for killing The Beast I guess.

 

[Phage]

Look, I was the first person to take a massive dump on anyone who dared proclaim Dragon's Breath would be a good card - but DB is actually better than this. At least DB can get discounted and has the flexibility of hitting face. This is just a redundant card that's inferior to poly that will fill in the "I need urgently need more removal" slot for arena decks.

Men. This is the Gehenna of Hearthstone! The power of the cards is thinning. TGT is the thin-bloods!

 

[Metro]

I expect more from a children's card game, MEN!

 

[Phage]

Battlecry: Gain an empty mana crystal

Deathrattle: Destroy a mana crystal


Finally got a card that will likely be played by every druid player with a functioning brain. You hope it sticks in slower matchups, ramping you up to a bigger threat, and it helps stave off aggression early. Doesn't matter if it dies - as long as it helped you get out your Turn 3 Shredder beforehand, and ate a removal in the process, it's good. If it trades with a minion or two versus aggro, that's fine too. Don't know if it's an automatic 2-of, but it's a lot better than the flex slot that's been used for zombie chow/swamp ooze/MCT lately.

So now we're up to this and Tuskarr as the must-crafts. That's, uh, 1/2 rares and 2 commons. Totem Golem (common) Effigy (rare) and L+L (epic) might also be used in tier 1 decks. The angel bitches are good, but they're legendary, and may not even have a home yet. Plus, if you act rationally you don't buy packs to try to obtain a specific legendary. No need to pre-order yet.