If you read downthread, you'll see that other people had the same idea regarding Drakkari Enchanter during previous editions, and it didn't work back then either.
There might be a bug in this edition (February 2022). Opponent conceded on turn 7 and I got my pack, but my daily and weekly quests weren't credited (play mage; win 5 arenas/battlegrounds/brawls)!
The old suggested decks are no longer applicable, because most of the cards have rotated out. Here's a version for the current Brawl (February 2022) -- Guardian Animals Druid:
### Brawl Deck # Class: Druid # Format: Standard # Year of the Gryphon # # 2x (0) Innervate # 2x (0) Lightning Bloom # 2x (0) Pounce # 2x (1) Guidance # 2x (1) Nature Studies # 2x (3) Frostwolf Kennels # 2x (5) Glowfly Swarm # 2x (5) Lake Thresher # 2x (5) Teacher's Pet # 2x (5) Twilight Runner # 2x (6) Best in Shell # 2x (6) Nourish # 2x (8) Cenarion Ward # 2x (8) Guardian Animals # 2x (10) Survival of the Fittest # AAECAaCtBAAP77oDks0Dm84DutADvNADk9ED3tED8NQDpOEDiuQDpPYDrp8E2p8EuaAEuL4EAA== # # To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone
I'll comment on the Mercenaries section, since that's the mode I play most often nowadays:
- I'm pleasantly surprised that they're adding content mid-expansion. After the launch, I really expected to only see new mercenaries and new zones when the Standard card pool was expanded (in other words, during major expansions and mini-sets only).
- Two of the mercs have abilities in multiple spell schools, which is a great way to efficiently build up options for the various synergy groupings.
- Similarly, dragons finally get a fighter, and fire/frost hybrid teams come closer to being a viable approach with an elemental that has access to both effects.
- Not too sure about the utility of the Training Grounds. Levelling mercs was already the easiest thing to achieve, so making it even easier seems somewhat unnecessary. At least building them won't break the bank. :)
I'm generally excited by all this new content for Mercenaries; I didn't expect it would get updates so frequently!
The only concern I have is with Training Grounds -- it's really only relevant to brand new players, and even then, they'll probably outgrow the need for this feature after a week or two.
Also, don't be surprised if Bloodsail Deckhand doesn't show up in your search; as a card from the Core set, you got it for free, and is therefore ineligible for a refund.
Congratulations to posesi for an exciting finale! This really cements Japan as the premier region in Hearthstone right now, maybe for all card games (the current Magic: the Gathering world champion is also Japanese, and their testing team placed FOUR players in the top 8).
We don't know yet how Grandmasters will be replaced. They're simply tweaking it a little for its final year in 2022 -- which is why it looks similar to its current form --, and I assume a brand new system will be implemented in 2023.
Season 1, running this February and March, will consist of all 48 Grandmasters competing in a truncated four-week season.
That means that it will occur before rotation, which is unprecedented. Up to now, the first 4 months of the year were essentially dead in terms of competitive Hearthstone, the only event of note being a Masters Tour weekend (there was also this one year where Worlds took place in late January).
I hope this -- along with the 'democratization' initiative mentioned by Abar -- signals a willingness to spread competitive events throughout the year instead of concentrating them in the spring and summer.
My dream would be integrating the various Hearthstone modes into top Standard tournaments. Not all six of them simultaneously, of course -- that would just be confusing --, but have two or three of them throughout the year, including the World Championship. In effect, Hearthstone tournaments would become like "triathlons" that showcase the best overall players.
The addition of Battlegrounds to competitive play is a good first step, but it's still separate from the main tournaments, and therefore easy to dismiss.
On a completely unrelated note, I believe the YouTube esports deal is set to expire at the beginning of 2023, so having a brand new competitive structure implemented at the same time as a return to Twitch would be welcome by many.
Your best strategy is to mulligan for multiple copies of the same minion, hopefully in the 4-7 mana range. Basically, you want to get on the board early with chunky minions and overwhelm your opponent.
In my opinion, this is one of the worst Brawls, because there's very little space for player skill. One of the players usually ends up with a hand of garbage legendaries and promptly loses. On the good side, matches are short.
Note: the stats mentioned are for normal mode. On heroic, the Corrupted Ancient is now a 20/400 which spawns a 6/6 treant when damaged, improving by +2/+2 every subsequent instance of damage.
It has three abilities:
Deal 12 damage, repeated for every treant killed this turn.
Attack twice.
Heal itself for 50.
You therefore want to avoid AoE and multiple attacks (combo'ed Baron Geddon or Guff Runetotem, for example), otherwise you'll just get overwhelmed by the treants directly and indirectly.
The most consistent strategy is to bring buffers that don't attack, and consistent healing or taunts. Just build up your team slowly, heal the damage you take, and make a few short bursts of damage when the time is right. Personally, I like Cariel Roame (with Tome of Judgement or Light) + Tirion Fordring (with King's Helm), and either Brightwing (for the mass healing) or Tamsin Roame (for the healing denial + recurrent taunters).
This is basically an aggro matchup. Whoever goes first has a huge advantage, since removal -- especially mass removal -- is scarce. You also have many more murlocs with impactful effects nowadays (rush, battlecry for ping 1 or 2, etc.), so as long as you're on the board and are curving out, you will win.
Because of the way Mercenaries packs work (this video by Old Guardian is a good summary), once you have a nearly complete collection, you're better off holding on to extra packs until new mercenaries are offered, because you'll then have a higher chance of getting the new mercs in them.
Otherwise, the best way to communicate your opinion on the pricing strategy for Mercenaries is to only buy deals if they are worth it to you -- in other words, "vote with your wallet".
I thought the interaction between the 2 hosts, and between the hosts and the chat members, added a lot. For example, when Redbeard erroneously mentioned the possibility of getting Cairne off Reconnaissance, dreads and chat were quickly able to correct that statement and provide valid outcomes.
I also liked that they gave Arena specialists the chance to reveal cards that are relevant to their format of choice -- gives them a chance to shine with cards that would have been buried in the final dump anyways.
Captain Galvangar will be a challenging prospect, because 15 armor by turn 6 isn't easy to do for most tempo decks, which is probably where this card slots in the most. Probably in control quest warrior if anything else, but of course we haven't seen the rokara hero yet, so there's still that. Still, thats 9 damage out of nowhere.
Very easy, actually, because of Frozen Buckler that's in this expansion. Still, you're usually pretty busy on turns 2-5, so you might have to wait until turn 7-8 to get the full effect on Galvangar. That's on track with highlander hunter Brann, and a few turns earlier than King Krush or an activated Grommash.
That being said, the quest package seems more consistent and effective, so I don't think it will be replaced by these new cards.
During the semifinals, Darroch and Jia mentioned that there would be an official announcement about the tournament structure for 2022 during the World Championship (December 18-19).
Speaking as a fan and viewer, I would love it if the following elements were included in official Hearthstone esports:
Integration of non-Standard modes: There are now 5 modes to play outside of constructed ladder: Arena, Battlegrounds, Classic, Mercenaries, and Wild. I think it would be interesting if at least some of these modes would show up regularly in top-tier tournaments. For example, during a Grandmaster season of 8 weeks, you could have 2 weeks dedicated to Battlegrounds or Arena. This would also be reflected in the World Championship (e.g. the first two rounds would be one of the modes used during Grandmasters).
Better synchronization between Masters Tour, set releases, and Grandmasters seasons: It looks like the game has settled to 3 sets and 3 mini-sets per year. There are also 6 Masters Tour tournaments per year -- what a coincidence! It would be great if each Masters Tour tournament would take place soon (1-2 weeks) after a release. That gives every fan the chance to see what the pros are doing with the new cards while everyone is trying to adapt to the new environment. Grandmasters seasons would occur after the Masters Tour for a 'big' set for those interested in seeing how that environment is evolving.
Fill out the dead months: Currently, there is a big 4-month period after Worlds where there is practically no high-level tournament (there is a Masters Tour in late January-early February, but that's it). To tie in my first two points, how about having a Grandmasters "off-season" that works differently from the rest of the year? It could be a team event, or dedicated to a non-Standard mode (or both!)
To coincide with these new bundles focused on Edwin, I also got the following offers in the Mercenaries shop (not the main shop) to replace the previous ones. I indicated the rarity in brackets, as I assume the specific mercenary that will be offered will vary based on your collection:
Thrall [legendary] Starter Set (25 CAD): Mercenary card and 200 coins for Thrall.
Tirion [epic] coins (6.25 CAD): 300 Tirion coins.
Legendary Mercenary Bundle (19 CAD): Random legendary mercenary you don't already own, and 15 packs.
Legendary Coin Purse (9.49 CAD): 250 coins for 3 random legendary mercenaries.
That third bundle is quite attractive, as 15 packs are normally 25 CAD. So you get a 6 CAD discount, on top of a guaranteed legendary you don't have.
If you read downthread, you'll see that other people had the same idea regarding Drakkari Enchanter during previous editions, and it didn't work back then either.
A few more details:
There might be a bug in this edition (February 2022). Opponent conceded on turn 7 and I got my pack, but my daily and weekly quests weren't credited (play mage; win 5 arenas/battlegrounds/brawls)!
The old suggested decks are no longer applicable, because most of the cards have rotated out. Here's a version for the current Brawl (February 2022) -- Guardian Animals Druid:
### Brawl Deck
# Class: Druid
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Gryphon
#
# 2x (0) Innervate
# 2x (0) Lightning Bloom
# 2x (0) Pounce
# 2x (1) Guidance
# 2x (1) Nature Studies
# 2x (3) Frostwolf Kennels
# 2x (5) Glowfly Swarm
# 2x (5) Lake Thresher
# 2x (5) Teacher's Pet
# 2x (5) Twilight Runner
# 2x (6) Best in Shell
# 2x (6) Nourish
# 2x (8) Cenarion Ward
# 2x (8) Guardian Animals
# 2x (10) Survival of the Fittest
#
AAECAaCtBAAP77oDks0Dm84DutADvNADk9ED3tED8NQDpOEDiuQDpPYDrp8E2p8EuaAEuL4EAA==
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone
I'll comment on the Mercenaries section, since that's the mode I play most often nowadays:
- I'm pleasantly surprised that they're adding content mid-expansion. After the launch, I really expected to only see new mercenaries and new zones when the Standard card pool was expanded (in other words, during major expansions and mini-sets only).
- Two of the mercs have abilities in multiple spell schools, which is a great way to efficiently build up options for the various synergy groupings.
- Similarly, dragons finally get a fighter, and fire/frost hybrid teams come closer to being a viable approach with an elemental that has access to both effects.
- Not too sure about the utility of the Training Grounds. Levelling mercs was already the easiest thing to achieve, so making it even easier seems somewhat unnecessary. At least building them won't break the bank. :)
I'm generally excited by all this new content for Mercenaries; I didn't expect it would get updates so frequently!
The only concern I have is with Training Grounds -- it's really only relevant to brand new players, and even then, they'll probably outgrow the need for this feature after a week or two.
Also, don't be surprised if Bloodsail Deckhand doesn't show up in your search; as a card from the Core set, you got it for free, and is therefore ineligible for a refund.
Congratulations to posesi for an exciting finale! This really cements Japan as the premier region in Hearthstone right now, maybe for all card games (the current Magic: the Gathering world champion is also Japanese, and their testing team placed FOUR players in the top 8).
We don't know yet how Grandmasters will be replaced. They're simply tweaking it a little for its final year in 2022 -- which is why it looks similar to its current form --, and I assume a brand new system will be implemented in 2023.
I just realized something:
That means that it will occur before rotation, which is unprecedented. Up to now, the first 4 months of the year were essentially dead in terms of competitive Hearthstone, the only event of note being a Masters Tour weekend (there was also this one year where Worlds took place in late January).
I hope this -- along with the 'democratization' initiative mentioned by Abar -- signals a willingness to spread competitive events throughout the year instead of concentrating them in the spring and summer.
My dream would be integrating the various Hearthstone modes into top Standard tournaments. Not all six of them simultaneously, of course -- that would just be confusing --, but have two or three of them throughout the year, including the World Championship. In effect, Hearthstone tournaments would become like "triathlons" that showcase the best overall players.
The addition of Battlegrounds to competitive play is a good first step, but it's still separate from the main tournaments, and therefore easy to dismiss.
On a completely unrelated note, I believe the YouTube esports deal is set to expire at the beginning of 2023, so having a brand new competitive structure implemented at the same time as a return to Twitch would be welcome by many.
Your best strategy is to mulligan for multiple copies of the same minion, hopefully in the 4-7 mana range. Basically, you want to get on the board early with chunky minions and overwhelm your opponent.
In my opinion, this is one of the worst Brawls, because there's very little space for player skill. One of the players usually ends up with a hand of garbage legendaries and promptly loses. On the good side, matches are short.
Note: the stats mentioned are for normal mode. On heroic, the Corrupted Ancient is now a 20/400 which spawns a 6/6 treant when damaged, improving by +2/+2 every subsequent instance of damage.
It has three abilities:
You therefore want to avoid AoE and multiple attacks (combo'ed Baron Geddon or Guff Runetotem, for example), otherwise you'll just get overwhelmed by the treants directly and indirectly.
The most consistent strategy is to bring buffers that don't attack, and consistent healing or taunts. Just build up your team slowly, heal the damage you take, and make a few short bursts of damage when the time is right. Personally, I like Cariel Roame (with Tome of Judgement or Light) + Tirion Fordring (with King's Helm), and either Brightwing (for the mass healing) or Tamsin Roame (for the healing denial + recurrent taunters).
This is basically an aggro matchup. Whoever goes first has a huge advantage, since removal -- especially mass removal -- is scarce. You also have many more murlocs with impactful effects nowadays (rush, battlecry for ping 1 or 2, etc.), so as long as you're on the board and are curving out, you will win.
Because of the way Mercenaries packs work (this video by Old Guardian is a good summary), once you have a nearly complete collection, you're better off holding on to extra packs until new mercenaries are offered, because you'll then have a higher chance of getting the new mercs in them.
Otherwise, the best way to communicate your opinion on the pricing strategy for Mercenaries is to only buy deals if they are worth it to you -- in other words, "vote with your wallet".
The obvious broken choice is rogue with Pogo-Hopper and some card draw (Novice Engineer or Shiv).
I thought the interaction between the 2 hosts, and between the hosts and the chat members, added a lot. For example, when Redbeard erroneously mentioned the possibility of getting Cairne off Reconnaissance, dreads and chat were quickly able to correct that statement and provide valid outcomes.
I also liked that they gave Arena specialists the chance to reveal cards that are relevant to their format of choice -- gives them a chance to shine with cards that would have been buried in the final dump anyways.
Very easy, actually, because of Frozen Buckler that's in this expansion. Still, you're usually pretty busy on turns 2-5, so you might have to wait until turn 7-8 to get the full effect on Galvangar. That's on track with highlander hunter Brann, and a few turns earlier than King Krush or an activated Grommash.
That being said, the quest package seems more consistent and effective, so I don't think it will be replaced by these new cards.
During the semifinals, Darroch and Jia mentioned that there would be an official announcement about the tournament structure for 2022 during the World Championship (December 18-19).
Speaking as a fan and viewer, I would love it if the following elements were included in official Hearthstone esports:
To coincide with these new bundles focused on Edwin, I also got the following offers in the Mercenaries shop (not the main shop) to replace the previous ones. I indicated the rarity in brackets, as I assume the specific mercenary that will be offered will vary based on your collection:
That third bundle is quite attractive, as 15 packs are normally 25 CAD. So you get a 6 CAD discount, on top of a guaranteed legendary you don't have.