Hearthstone

[Zeriel]

I don't see how arena is better than that.

"Ah, this feels so good, the games are being determined by my enemy having 6 flamestrikes and me having 0 spells!"

The biggest issue with constructed in conventional TCGs like M:TG is that you are spending real money to get all the cards you need. When you get them for free, it ain't that bad.

I'm having a hard time imagining aggro stand up to a mage deck loaded down with aoe. Between blizzard and arcane explosion and arcane missiles and cone of cold and fireballs and polymorphs, the enemy is pretty much certain to run out of cards before you, no? I stopped watching streams once I got the game though, so I have no idea what people play in masters these days. I'm a few hundred cards away from having a shot there. Still haven't gotten a legendary, and my epics are all shitty ones, scattered between classes to boot, no neutral ones.

This is why warlock is one of the more popular aggro archetypes. You can always draw more cards using your hero power.

Fully kitted out murloc is kind of ridiculous though, mage is a good "counter" but it can still be overwhelmed by the sheer power of 20-28 damage by turn 4 or 5. Imps increase health, getting around the fatal weakness of murlocs.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Blood imps definitely need to be toned down. If you get 2 on the field along with something to buff them like a shattered sun cleric or defender of whatever, they're there to stay against most decks, and giving everything you drop +2 health is just an overwhelming advantage. They also let you do stupid cheesy shit with alchemists.

Anyways, who needs masters to get beaten by aggro decks when you can just get your ass handed to you in unranked by a warrior that kills on turn 6 with his perfectly curved enrage/weapons/charge/self damage bullshit. GAH.

 

[Zeriel]

Unranked uses the same MMR as Ranked, so there's little difference in the people you face. It's just better to pick if you are trying a new/bad deck and don't want to sink your medal progress, that's about it.

Makes some daily quests really annoying, having to play every random deck at the top level.

 

[Zed]

it's funny how my druid deck has become my best deck by far.
I mean even when I lose it feels like a better game.

 

[Gragt]

Dr00d kinda annoys me. I can see the flexibility and the potential but I just can't manage it yet. The easy way out is to think I need better cards (I started the game less than a week ago) but I suspect I need to rethink my strategy/playstyle.

 

[Zed]

here's my druid build.

it's my third iteration or so and my next improvement would be to replace ironbark protector with ancient of war. that's because I think a 5/10 taunt for 7 mana (with the possibility for 10/5 if the situation calls for it) is better and more versatile than 8/8 taunt for 8 mana. too bad it's an epic and costs so much to craft.
you may notice: no silence, no soul of the forest, no wild growth, only one taunt mob.
silence is overrated, soul of the forest is good but doesn't work very well with this deck, wild growth is a waste of a card, and I get taunt for my two buff cards. that said I don't really need taunt either.
this deck is about never letting the opponent's minions stay on board for more than one turn. it's also about being heavy in card draws without the need for Nourish.

 

[DakaSha]

actually it sounds like: Blizzard needs to fix the balance and options available

 

[Gragt]

Heh, last druid attempt, my opponent managed to deal 4 damage to my ironbark protector but he conceded as soon as he saw me drop another one next turn.

Judging by your deck, there are some druid cards I feel that I sorely miss.

 

[Zed]

mana wraith is fucking hilarious in arena

almost as fun as cho

edit:
of course, mana wraith means I had to desperately pick 2 mana cards because the draft was shift.

 

[Zeriel]

Taunts are pretty overrated. I mean there are specific situations where they counter things, but overall you shouldn't run very many of them as devoted creatures. That's what makes Defender of Argus so good, taunt buffing + stat buffing + creature in one.

 

[Brother None]

A druid deck with no Druid of the Claw? o_O

 

[Gragt]

Oh, I'd love to get me some druid of the claw cards.

 

[Zed]

A druid deck with no Druid of the Claw? o_O

argent commander is much better, and I got plenty of direct damage spells.

 

[Brother None]

argent commander is much better.

I do love argent commander but I think people may stare themselves blind on his divine-shield-havingness. Removal becomes rather trivial since his health is so low, once the shield is down.

Argent Commander would be better than Druid if Druid was only 4/4 charge with no other options. His flexibility really does balance it out, even if you have marks to turn Argent into a taunt should you need it.

How many cards do you have that are affected by spellpower? Just swipe and starfall? I'd probably dump the Drake for a Druid.

EDIT: oh wait, starfire too. I see what you're getting at with spellpower then, tho I always think spellpower is p meaningless on single-target damage spells, it's boardclear where it matters.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Eh, it makes a big difference on any spell with small damage. Wrath or Mortal Coil or Shiv all benefit immensely.

 

[Zeriel]

Heh, what the hell is up with arena reward cut-offs?

6-3 = 80 gold.

7-3 = 190 gold.

And yes, I'm aware there is some RNG there and you can get lots of dust and be disappointed, but damn, the difference between one win is absurd.

 

[Zed]

argent commander is much better.

I do love argent commander but I think people may stare themselves blind on his divine-shield-havingness. Removal becomes rather trivial since his health is so low, once the shield is down.

Argent Commander would be better than Druid if Druid was only 4/4 charge with no other options. His flexibility really does balance it out, even if you have marks to turn Argent into a taunt should you need it.

How many cards do you have that are affected by spellpower? Just swipe and starfall? I'd probably dump the Drake for a Druid.

EDIT: oh wait, starfire too. I see what you're getting at with spellpower then, tho I always think spellpower is p meaningless on single-target damage spells, it's boardclear where it matters.

that's 2x swipes and a starfall.
but most importantly 2x wrath. it's not unusual to pop a spell power minion (kobold/drake) and wrath in same turn for 4 or 2 (+ card draw!) damage.

I would never dump drake for druid, that would be stupid. drake is not just spell power, but a card draw. you need card draws if you don't have nourish and I don't have nourish.
hence the novice and 2x gnomes as well.
drake is actually a core card for this deck.

argent commander is better than druid. period. I don't need the extra taunt. I see argent commanders as a 4 damage spell. 4 damage with a guaranteed 4/3 minion for next turn (with shield if attacking hero). druid with charge is not guaranteed to survive anything its charging.
druid isn't a bad card at all but argent is better and I have no need for it.

 

[Brother None]

Makes sense.

PS: as to the taunt debate, I would say it is vlauable, but what Blizzard did is flood you with terrible taunt cards (like the grizzly) that trade out badly and you should never take. So with taunt as with other cards; just don't take the bad ones.

 

[Gragt]

Had this priest play his 2 Northshire Clerics on turn 1 and 2. I waited turn 2 to summon a Faerie Dragon and I could see the dude attempt to play card on it but … Faerie Dragon, baby. Come turn 3 he attacks my hero with each cleric for 2 damage total, after which I kill one with Frostbolt and the other with the dragon. That's probably his main draw engine gone and sure enough he lost the game.

Goddamn priests.

 

[Zed]

faerie dragons are awesome. that's why I rock one in my druid win deck. if possible, I always coin/innervate one out asap vs mage/priest, and buff it with my clerics (since battlecries aren't spells).

 

[Gragt]

I'm matched against a priest. I use the "greetings" command and he replies with "threaten". Charming. In the end he got me down to 9 health and he conceded with 10 left.

Fucking priests.

 

[Zed]

gragt you're in europe aren't you? we should do battle!

 

[Gragt]

Not anymore. I live in Mexico now. Isn't Hearthstone global though?

Anyway my B.net account still thinks I'm in Belgium so maybe I play against EU players by default …

 

[Zed]

nope. I tried to play with some US guys and couldn't add their IDs (and they couldn't add mine).
dammit where are all the EU hearthstone players on the codex?

 

[abija]

No idea why hearthstone isn't global, even 1000ms lag should be a non issue.