What if you played this without taking advantage of the 20 mana thing? A 5 mana Shield Block and Wild Growth in one card seems pretty good for decks such as CA Druid or Clown Druid.
Don't worry, you'll be able to get a golden copy of the card after completing the legendary quests once the expansion launches. Eventually you'll have both cards, just that you'll only be able to play with Vanndar way later.
I feel quite let down that what appears to be Hearthstone's first pirate-themed expansion doesn't have that many pirates.
They could just be there because that's the environment of the set, like how K&C had a bunch of Kobolds but no Kobold synergy, but I would have liked some Pirate Rogue action.
The meta does feel relatively well balanced, just that people are really frustrated with the number of Mages and Druids (60% of my matches are against Mage).
Why are you so enraged at something that's completely optional? You and nobody else has any obligation to complete these puzzles, you are free to play constructed or battlegrounds or whatever you enjoy. And besides, these types of puzzles are not designed for an individual to complete, although it's entirely possible (Trump completed the Barrens puzzles on his own).
I feel like saying making cards after developers to acknowledge their work a narcissistic practice is like saying putting your name in a movie's credits is also narcissistic.
Just an update, Thijs and Trump (possibly others, but I know at least these guys) confirmed that both the card dump and theorycrafting streams will be happening in just a few hours, presumably at 9 am PDT.
Iksar confirmed that the expansion will not be delayed, and turns out there wasn't a gag order or any legal department shutting them up (although ironically it's entirely possible that it's a legal department telling him to say that /s). I guess all we have to do is just be patient for about 5 and a half hours.
I guarantee you that Hearthstone employees were simply told to shut up until they were allowed to speak, not because they didn't want to speak.
There are many things that go on behind the scenes that we have no idea about. There are many repercussions to both going through with and cancelling the stream, all of which is managed by Blizzard's legal department. If you've worked in a company that has had such scandals (I personally have not, but I know someone who has), then you will know that employees will receive strict gag orders not allowing them to reveal any information about the situation, lest the company would fire them and take further legal actions against them. Therefore, it's not that they don't choose to talk, they're simply not allowed to talk until the legal department decides on what they want to do moving forward.
It's also entirely possible that nobody on Team 5 knew what was going to happen to the livestream before we did. The reveal livestream isn't something employees post on their personal social media accounts because they're just that: personal. They're not making official statements as Blizzard employees, which is what the reveal livestream would fall under.
If you want to hate Blizzard for whatever justifiable reason, then I'm not stopping you. All I'm saying is that stop saying that Team 5's silence is "unprofessional". Please don't jump to conclusions and blame people who likely have nothing to do with it whatsoever.
You can read this Reddit thread that goes into more detail by someone who's more credible than me. I just did my own research after reading this on Google and from people I know that went through the same situation.
I just want to mention that I thought Thijs' reveal video was one of the funniest reveals since Toast's Hooktusk reveal video.
That aside, drawing 4 cards in a turn isn't too difficult for DH. Drawing 5 is quite a bit harder, and then drawing 6 is a lot harder. But if you've managed to complete the questline, you've already drawn 20 cards and you don't have many left in your deck. The only way I think this is quest will see play is if you run Glide or if you play the OTK DH deck that draws a million cards anyways.
From watching his stream, it looks like Thijs will be revealing his card in about two hours from now. Like you said, hopefully this doesn't attract an angry mob of people to Thijs' channel.
Interesting how they're taking this deathrattle archetype recently. Before it was all about getting a whole bunch of generally big minions, but now it feels like it's all about getting smallish midrange minions and using their stickiness to gain tempo. Not sure which style will be more successful.
I understand that legendaries don't need to have flashy effects all the time (e.g. Aya Blackpaw, Infiltrator Lilian, and our lord and saviour Zilliax), but for a character as influential as Anetheron who led the Scourge in the Battle of Mount Hyjal, it's pretty underwhelming. The effect can potentially be very strong based on how quickly a Warlock can fill their hand, but it really feels like a Mountain Giant substitute for Standard.
My guess as to what happened during development was this was an epic or something, but they weren't able to balance it properly while allowing two copies of it to be run in a Warlock deck, so they made it legendary and slapped some canonically significant Nathrezim as a name.
And yes, Hearthstone doesn't have to be an accurate representation of WoW's universe (which is actually what makes the game's storytelling element more interesting in my opinion), but this card could literally have been any important bad guy. It completely fails to reflect his influence and his abilities in WoW.
Being across the planet from California has allowed me to catch the card as soon as it's been revealed! It feels about as good as commenting "first" on a Youtube video: completely unsatisfying and providing no addition to the discussion other than indication of my meaningless superiority over all the other forum members.
Oh I guess Jace is pretty cool too. I'm not good at rating cards.
To my understanding, I think you have to play 3 different 1-costs 3 times, meaning if you play Argent Squire, Righteous Protector and Knight of Anointment to satisfy the first part of the sidequest, you can use those minions again to satisfy the second part.
I really like the Book of Heroes since it allows some of the lore developed in World of Warcraft to be put into Hearthstone, bringing the two universes closer together. Another fringe benefit is that by understanding the flavour behind the classes, custom content becomes better. It's a pet peeve of mine to see people attaching the "evil" stereotype to Death Knight or Demon Hunter custom cards since neither class is actually inherently evil. In fact, most people that become Demon Hunters are actually very noble, who then turn into vigilantes.
Something else I enjoy is that within my friend circle that plays Hearthstone, I'm the only one that is also invested in WoW and its lore. Nobody believed me when I told them that Gul'dan is actually dead, which is why Demon Hunter gets his skull as a spell, and also why he says "alas, poor Warlock". That moment of reveal when they finally realised that not only Gul'dan, but Garrosh and Uther are also canonically dead was the best "I told you so" feeling I've had in a while. Yeah it's petty, but I take pride in my relatively poor knowledge of the WoW canon.
Quest Warrior, Deathrattle DH, Face Hunter, Quest Rogue, Aggro Druid, Libram Paladin, Secret Paladin, Libram and Secret Paladin, Shadow Priest, Zoolock and Elemental Shaman just don't exist then, I suppose?
What if you played this without taking advantage of the 20 mana thing? A 5 mana Shield Block and Wild Growth in one card seems pretty good for decks such as CA Druid or Clown Druid.
Don't worry, you'll be able to get a golden copy of the card after completing the legendary quests once the expansion launches. Eventually you'll have both cards, just that you'll only be able to play with Vanndar way later.
Keep in mind there's going to be a core set rotation next year; there's a decent chance Freeze Shaman synergy rotates back into standard from KotFT.
I feel quite let down that what appears to be Hearthstone's first pirate-themed expansion doesn't have that many pirates.
They could just be there because that's the environment of the set, like how K&C had a bunch of Kobolds but no Kobold synergy, but I would have liked some Pirate Rogue action.
The meta does feel relatively well balanced, just that people are really frustrated with the number of Mages and Druids (60% of my matches are against Mage).
Why are you so enraged at something that's completely optional? You and nobody else has any obligation to complete these puzzles, you are free to play constructed or battlegrounds or whatever you enjoy. And besides, these types of puzzles are not designed for an individual to complete, although it's entirely possible (Trump completed the Barrens puzzles on his own).
I feel like saying making cards after developers to acknowledge their work a narcissistic practice is like saying putting your name in a movie's credits is also narcissistic.
Vilespine Slayer with 90% less leaves
Just an update, Thijs and Trump (possibly others, but I know at least these guys) confirmed that both the card dump and theorycrafting streams will be happening in just a few hours, presumably at 9 am PDT.
Iksar confirmed that the expansion will not be delayed, and turns out there wasn't a gag order or any legal department shutting them up (although ironically it's entirely possible that it's a legal department telling him to say that /s). I guess all we have to do is just be patient for about 5 and a half hours.
I guarantee you that Hearthstone employees were simply told to shut up until they were allowed to speak, not because they didn't want to speak.
There are many things that go on behind the scenes that we have no idea about. There are many repercussions to both going through with and cancelling the stream, all of which is managed by Blizzard's legal department. If you've worked in a company that has had such scandals (I personally have not, but I know someone who has), then you will know that employees will receive strict gag orders not allowing them to reveal any information about the situation, lest the company would fire them and take further legal actions against them. Therefore, it's not that they don't choose to talk, they're simply not allowed to talk until the legal department decides on what they want to do moving forward.
It's also entirely possible that nobody on Team 5 knew what was going to happen to the livestream before we did. The reveal livestream isn't something employees post on their personal social media accounts because they're just that: personal. They're not making official statements as Blizzard employees, which is what the reveal livestream would fall under.
If you want to hate Blizzard for whatever justifiable reason, then I'm not stopping you. All I'm saying is that stop saying that Team 5's silence is "unprofessional". Please don't jump to conclusions and blame people who likely have nothing to do with it whatsoever.
You can read this Reddit thread that goes into more detail by someone who's more credible than me. I just did my own research after reading this on Google and from people I know that went through the same situation.
I just want to mention that I thought Thijs' reveal video was one of the funniest reveals since Toast's Hooktusk reveal video.
That aside, drawing 4 cards in a turn isn't too difficult for DH. Drawing 5 is quite a bit harder, and then drawing 6 is a lot harder. But if you've managed to complete the questline, you've already drawn 20 cards and you don't have many left in your deck. The only way I think this is quest will see play is if you run Glide or if you play the OTK DH deck that draws a million cards anyways.
From watching his stream, it looks like Thijs will be revealing his card in about two hours from now. Like you said, hopefully this doesn't attract an angry mob of people to Thijs' channel.
Interesting how they're taking this deathrattle archetype recently. Before it was all about getting a whole bunch of generally big minions, but now it feels like it's all about getting smallish midrange minions and using their stickiness to gain tempo. Not sure which style will be more successful.
I understand that legendaries don't need to have flashy effects all the time (e.g. Aya Blackpaw, Infiltrator Lilian, and our lord and saviour Zilliax), but for a character as influential as Anetheron who led the Scourge in the Battle of Mount Hyjal, it's pretty underwhelming. The effect can potentially be very strong based on how quickly a Warlock can fill their hand, but it really feels like a Mountain Giant substitute for Standard.
My guess as to what happened during development was this was an epic or something, but they weren't able to balance it properly while allowing two copies of it to be run in a Warlock deck, so they made it legendary and slapped some canonically significant Nathrezim as a name.
And yes, Hearthstone doesn't have to be an accurate representation of WoW's universe (which is actually what makes the game's storytelling element more interesting in my opinion), but this card could literally have been any important bad guy. It completely fails to reflect his influence and his abilities in WoW.
I like to imagine the token generated by Jace, Mirror Mage is actually Jace Darkweaver but he's so good at illusions that you can't tell.
Being across the planet from California has allowed me to catch the card as soon as it's been revealed! It feels about as good as commenting "first" on a Youtube video: completely unsatisfying and providing no addition to the discussion other than indication of my meaningless superiority over all the other forum members.
Oh I guess Jace is pretty cool too. I'm not good at rating cards.
To my understanding, I think you have to play 3 different 1-costs 3 times, meaning if you play Argent Squire, Righteous Protector and Knight of Anointment to satisfy the first part of the sidequest, you can use those minions again to satisfy the second part.
I really like the Book of Heroes since it allows some of the lore developed in World of Warcraft to be put into Hearthstone, bringing the two universes closer together. Another fringe benefit is that by understanding the flavour behind the classes, custom content becomes better. It's a pet peeve of mine to see people attaching the "evil" stereotype to Death Knight or Demon Hunter custom cards since neither class is actually inherently evil. In fact, most people that become Demon Hunters are actually very noble, who then turn into vigilantes.
Something else I enjoy is that within my friend circle that plays Hearthstone, I'm the only one that is also invested in WoW and its lore. Nobody believed me when I told them that Gul'dan is actually dead, which is why Demon Hunter gets his skull as a spell, and also why he says "alas, poor Warlock". That moment of reveal when they finally realised that not only Gul'dan, but Garrosh and Uther are also canonically dead was the best "I told you so" feeling I've had in a while. Yeah it's petty, but I take pride in my relatively poor knowledge of the WoW canon.