Hearthstone

[Manjuice Nutella]

I'm thinking about disenchanting this Al'Akir and crafting a Giant for my Handlock. I already got 1 Molten Giant and 1 Mountain Giant for free, from packs. Also all relevant Warlock class spells. Good idea or not?

Then I would miss only one giant out of four, but 400 dust is a matter of time. No Alexstrasza but Ragnaros is very often more than enough to save the day.

Dunno which one. I have sentiment for Molten, and could help out in a dire situation, but 8/8 Mountain Giant in Turn 4 is an amazing troll.

 

[J1M]

I wouldn't throw away 1200 dust.

 

[Grinolf]

Al'Akir is a good legendary. Not a must have one and could be replaced by other cards like Bloodlust or Leeroy. It is interesting that all Shamans deck are look very similiar to each other and differ mostly in a way they preffer to kill their enemies. Still most Shamans, that I met, run Al'Akir, probably because he is a less situational card than other ones. And I wouldn't disenchant legendary or epic that I consider good.

Point about Alexstrasza in a Handlock decks, that it not much an offensive card, like Ragnaros, but a defensive one. And it is a very rare, that Warlock enemy would have more than half HP by the turn it was played, so in the most cases they use it in order to heal themselves. Which is a very usefull since they need to lose their HP first in order to play Giants. 15 HP doesn't look like much, but it makes it ineffective to slowly reduce their health to 0, because they could easily eliminate all the progress. Also 15 HP is enough to survive Druids and Control Warriors combos, Pyroblast, Al'Akir with one rockbiter and more other nasty things, so it is a pretty vital card. Rogues, Shamans and Mages still could do more than 15 damage with 10 mana, but it is less likely. Also Warlock has an ability to heal himself even more with Farseers and Siphon Souls.
Also Handlock isn't just Alexstrasza and Giants. They also run Jaraxxus and Leeroy and I laso saw them with Thalnos and Sylvanes. Not everything at once, but at least two of them. So it is aclually one of them most expensive decks out there.

 

[Metro]

Only legendaries I'd dust to make other cards is crap like Millhouse (although I have it and still refuse to dust it) and Cho. N-e-ways, the current meta is so retarded I stick to Arena exclusively. I managed to improve enough to be able to average about four or five wins unless I get a terrible draft... which I actually had on a druid just now: 0 swipes, 1 starfall, decent curve but no game-winning cards. Obviously no removal, either. Probably be lucky to get two wins there.

 

[Grinolf]

Cho, actually, looks pretty good against Miracle. Not sure why he isn't used against them. Maybe because trade off against other decks isn't worth it. He also requires a very minion focused (even by Hearthstone standards) decks, because you don't want to give them even more spells, especially a cheap ones. This also limits his usability.
Also I was wrong, when I said that Druids couldn't do 15 damage in one turn. FoN + SR + Inn + Hero Power = 15 damage for 9 mana. FoN + SR + Claw = 16 damage for 10 one. And with 4 of this cards they could deal 17 damage for 10 mana. Still drawing and saving 3 or 4 cards is far less likely, than 2, that have a single purpose to finish an enemy.

 

[Jozoz]

Al'Akir is a good legendary. Not a must have one and could be replaced by other cards like Bloodlust or Leeroy. It is interesting that all Shamans deck are look very similiar to each other and differ mostly in a way they preffer to kill their enemies. Still most Shamans, that I met, run Al'Akir, probably because he is a less situational card than other ones. And I wouldn't disenchant legendary or epic that I consider good.

Point about Alexstrasza in a Handlock decks, that it not much an offensive card, like Ragnaros, but a defensive one. And it is a very rare, that Warlock enemy would have more than half HP by the turn it was played, so in the most cases they use it in order to heal themselves. Which is a very usefull since they need to lose their HP first in order to play Giants. 15 HP doesn't look like much, but it makes it ineffective to slowly reduce their health to 0, because they could easily eliminate all the progress. Also 15 HP is enough to survive Druids and Control Warriors combos, Pyroblast, Al'Akir with one rockbiter and more other nasty things, so it is a pretty vital card. Rogues, Shamans and Mages still could do more than 15 damage with 10 mana, but it is less likely. Also Warlock has an ability to heal himself even more with Farseers and Siphon Souls.
Also Handlock isn't just Alexstrasza and Giants. They also run Jaraxxus and Leeroy and I laso saw them with Thalnos and Sylvanes. Not everything at once, but at least two of them. So it is aclually one of them most expensive decks out there.

Wouldn't Jaraxxus be better for this though? He has an immediate impact on the board with his weapon. You don't a strong minion though.

 

[Grinolf]

Wouldn't Jaraxxus be better for this though? He has an immediate impact on the board with his weapon. You don't a strong minion though.

Yes, these cards have a very similar function, so Handlocks run at least one, and sometimes both, which could be a very annoying. But there are some differences.
1. Jaraxxus isn't have a good synergy with Molten Giant, since his max HP is 15. So at 5 HP Molten would cost 10 mana, which makes him almost unplayable.
2. I don't have any experience with Handlock, only against them, so I don't know how flexible Alex is in this deck and how often, if any at all, they use it on enemy Hero. But I could imagine that it has use against someone with an annoying amount of heal, like Paladin. Not that they are common, but still.
3. Weapon aren't that much useful at this point of the game,because you no longer need a card advantage and it is better to avoid losing HP, if it isn't necessary or you felt pretty secure. It is still useful for damaging enemy hero or killing Shaman or Paladin tokens.
4. You can't make use of your Hero Power until the turn after, unless you taunt or Shadowflame it.

So Jaraxxus is a very strong card with some very serious drawbacks, while Alex is more consistent and potentially more flexible. Also you currently can't place Jaraxxus in any other deck, while Alex is used by Warriors and some Mages. So uf choosing what to craft, Alex is preferable.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

I wouldn't throw away 1200 dust.

Well too late, but no biggie, since I play 95% of the time as Warlock anyway. Still, the reactions I see when I drop free 2x Molten Giant and Argus Defender/Sunfury are totally worth it

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

Also Handlock isn't just Alexstrasza and Giants. They also run Jaraxxus and Leeroy and I laso saw them with Thalnos and Sylvanes. Not everything at once, but at least two of them. So it is aclually one of them most expensive decks out there.

Good thing I have most of it for free then.

So now I only need Alexstrasza/Jaraxxus and that 1 missing Giant.

Dunno about the former though. The health reset, well, resets the mana cost on Molten Giants, and by the time I drop them, it's usually rather clear whether I won or lost that battle.

...

Well, I feel kind of sad disenchanting a Legendary I could use, but I don't really like Shaman that much, and it would just sit in my collection. I also have no epics on my Shaman and 95% of what I invest in is Warlock.

Also, like I said, that giant was really worth it. I won good matches with MurLock with Ol' Murk Eye and Leeroy, and with Druid running Thalnos, Cairne with Argus Taunt (ugh) and Cenarius. Wouldn't be possible without it.

BTW, what's the deal with Bloodmage Thalnos? It's such a petty card, I don't know why throw away dust (and possibly lots of money) on this instead of a big game.

 

[Grinolf]

Good thing I have most of it for free then.

So now I only need Alexstrasza/Jaraxxus and that 1 missing Giant.

Dunno about the former though. The health reset, well, resets the mana cost on Molten Giants, and by the time I drop them, it's usually rather clear whether I won or lost that battle.

...

Well, I feel kind of sad disenchanting a Legendary I could use, but I don't really like Shaman that much, and it would just sit in my collection. I also have no epics on my Shaman and 95% of what I invest in is Warlock.

Also, like I said, that giant was really worth it. I won good matches with MurLock with Ol' Murk Eye and Leeroy, and with Druid running Thalnos, Cairne with Argus Taunt (ugh) and Cenarius. Wouldn't be possible without it.

BTW, what's the deal with Bloodmage Thalnos? It's such a petty card, I don't know why throw away dust (and possibly lots of money) on this instead of a big game.

But there isn't clear win as long as your opponent has a decent chance to kill you in one turn, that depends on the number of cards he drawn, cards he already spent, cards that he likely run in his deck and the way he plays the game, and resetting your health in the right time of the game make your chance to loose far less likely against most decks. Especially since you are Handlock and your enemies, at least the ones that know what they are doing, would try to set up a kill in one turn. And especially in the current meta, where everyone run some burst damage. I even saw Priests with Mind Blasts, which makes some sense because no one expert a "pyroblast" from a Priest. Personally I lost quite a few games against Handlocks because they resetting their health one turn before their death.

Thalnos is like 2 mana Azure Drake. And Azure Drake is one of the top cards. And the fact that he costs less makes it possible to play him with some spells even in early game. And having 2 damage Mortal Coil for 3 mana is a ptetty good deal. You could also just play him for an additional card, if your hand isn't that good.

Shamans epics are very situational. In fact I don't like any of them. It is commons and rares, rhat are real Shaman strength.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

OK now I started playing as Shaman and feel like an imbecile for disenchanting Al'Akir I could've abandoned Handlock and would've had Shaman Control Deck by now... if only I knew earlier...

Ah well, I'll craft it if need be.

 

[Metro]

Told you: never DE a legendary. Especially a good one. At least good Shaman decks don't require their class epics since, for the most part, they suck. Unlike Druid where you're usually going to need two pair of the ancients.

 

[Scruffy]

so, if i were to get into this game, would i have to spend a lot of dorrars?

 

[Mastermind]

so, if i were to get into this game, would i have to spend a lot of dorrars?

No. But get into Infinity Wars instead, it's less popamole.

 

[Grinolf]

so, if i were to get into this game, would i have to spend a lot of dorrars?

Depends on what mod you want to play.
Arena could be played for free once in a day if you have 5 wins on average there. And infinity times if you have 7+ average wins. You don't need any cards to play there since game thereyou even cards, that you don't have, but they are random.
Constructed depends on what deck you want to play and how far you want to go. One of the best decks in the game could be acquired after a few weeks of leisure playing, but that deck isn't a very sophisticated, but not as brainless as most of other aggro ones. But for all other decks you should have at least some expensive card for going into a legendary ranks. Could be accomplished with several other decks with a cheap cards only, but much more time consuming and require decent skills and experience. And if you really want to play some expensive deck, like Control Warrior, right from the begining, then it would cost a few hundred $.

 

[Scruffy]

a few hundred $.

oh, that's acceptable
heh, might give it a try, we'll see

 

[damicore]

so, if i were to get into this game, would i have to spend a lot of dorrars?

No. But get into Infinity Wars instead, it's less popamole.

What really sucks about infinity wars is that the art is disastrous and drafting is actually more expensive than HS's. I'd honestly love to give it a try but it is much harder to fo infinite and the art, god the art...

 

[Mastermind]

so, if i were to get into this game, would i have to spend a lot of dorrars?

No. But get into Infinity Wars instead, it's less popamole.

What really sucks about infinity wars is that the art is disastrous and drafting is actually more expensive than HS's. I'd honestly love to give it a try but it is much harder to fo infinite and the art, god the art...

I like IW's art and it got a lot better in Ascension. Drafting there is not just expensive but also hard and the rewards are kinda lackluster. It's still in Beta so hopefully they'll improve on that.

 

[damicore]

so, if i were to get into this game, would i have to spend a lot of dorrars?

No. But get into Infinity Wars instead, it's less popamole.

What really sucks about infinity wars is that the art is disastrous and drafting is actually more expensive than HS's. I'd honestly love to give it a try but it is much harder to fo infinite and the art, god the art...

I like IW's art and it got a lot better in Ascension. Drafting there is not just expensive but also hard and the rewards are kinda lackluster. It's still in Beta so hopefully they'll improve on that.

Don't get me wrong, hearthstone's art is nothing to write home about. It's just professional tier -at least most of it-, as opposed to IW's which shows a lot of common mistakes in its execution that make it look too amateurish. Maybe I'm too picky about it since I am an art enthusiast myself. But it just renders it almost unplayable for me.
The major problem is with the price for drafting and its rewards, though. I play card games to construct decks (constructed or drafted, it doesn't matter), there's where the fun lyes for me. I don't enjoy playing the same deck a million times.

 

[Grinolf]

IW art wouldn't look that bad if it wasn't animated. And I don't see any reason why someone would choose to animate it, when they lack skills and/or resourses to do so. More simple art not only would be cheaper, but also would get a better results.

oh, that's acceptable

Well, that is the most expensive, but I don't actually advise to start with it. And overall expensive decks are require experience with the game in order to run them properly, while cheap ones are pretty straightforward and easy to use right from the start.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

so, if i were to get into this game, would i have to spend a lot of dorrars?

In my experience, if you try to "get into" this game, you'll end up disappointed. It's nice to play casually in short bursts, but doesn't have enough depth, especially in constructed. Limited is quite fun and cheap though.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

Told you: never DE a legendary. Especially a good one. At least good Shaman decks don't require their class epics since, for the most part, they suck. Unlike Druid where you're usually going to need two pair of the ancients.

Well, one of the reasons I was so eager to d/e Al'Akir was the fact that I didn't really enjoy playing as Shaman. Warlocks make for a much funnier games IMO and the fact I got two Giants (and Twilight Drakes and others) for free motivated me to finish this Handlock deck ASAP. But then again I always liked those "quirky" characters, like Yoshimitsu from Tekken/Soul Calibur and whatnot.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

so, if i were to get into this game, would i have to spend a lot of dorrars?

You don't have to spend anything, and I don't mean that it's an utterly masochistic grind. Especially if you i.e. want to invest only in one particular class. Like I said, I disenchanted a legendary card for Shaman class, and I could practically have one of his more "expensive" decks for this class with a little bigger investment.

Handlock is one of the most expensive decks right now, because it requires a lot of Epics and some Legendaries, and I have most of it right now for free as well. That's not to say you can 100% luck out as much as I did; and you can buy 40x Booster packs for $200 and get a lot of shit out of it. But it certainly isn't pay=instant win. Unless you want to pay a lot.

It's a good F2P model.

 

[Grinolf]

Handlock is one of the most expensive decks right now, because it requires a lot of Epics and some Legendaries, and I have most of it right now for free as well. That's not to say you can 100% luck out as much as I did; and you can buy 40x Booster packs for $200 and get a lot of shit out of it. But it certainly isn't pay=instant win. Unless you want to pay a lot.

Even paying a lot wouldn't change the situation, since there is a limit on how much legendaries and epics you could put in the deck before they would get in your way.
More so, such expensive decks like Control Warrior and Handlock are countered by Shamans who are pretty cheap, because these powerful and expensive cards these two decks could place on the board are easily dealt with the spell, that Shaman get fo free in the begining of the game. And it would cost him (in case of Control Warrior) 2,5-3 times less mana, than his enemy spent on placing these creatures on the board. Not to mention Earth Shock, that are 1 mana cost common spell, that makes Cairne/Sylvanas/Drakes a trivial matter.

 

[Metro]

It's more like 'pay-2-catch-up with people who have been playing since beta.' Also Handlock is fucking gay. Don't play gay decks. I find Shaman to be one of the most strategic since they have a wide variety of tools that have synergy both with totems and each other.