Really I think Control Warlock is just a couple cards away from being playable, but without those cards its just awful. I miss Defile so much.
I don't want to stomp all over your post, but there are probably a lot of people who disagree with your nostalgia for Defile. You're right, though, Warlock has been cut down to pretty much nothing and it isn't very nice. The best you can do is hope for a brighter Warlock future. I also enjoy using the Warlock class. Having played the game enough, I have also learned that it doesn't hurt to try out some of the other classes because eventually, the rotation comes, and it stomps all over your favorite deck. I do indeed recall how playing that Defile card destroyed any hope of the opponent winning the match, especially when I could cheat out some Void Lords after that, or maybe slap out a Hellfire and then some Void Lords. And then let them kill my Void Lords and other things with the Demon tag and subsequently slap out the Death Knight card and resummon all the Void Lords. Etc. It was good fun for me when I got the nuts
There's always Wild, though. According to what I've seen, Control Warlock is chugging away quite nicely on the Wild side. Also, over there, Gul'dan has access to all kinds of broken cards to create a horrendously intimidating and defiling control deck that can wipe the board on every turn with the right draw.
I think you're seeing Warriors and Mech Hunters because Mech Hunter is a hard counter to Warrior. So, you could put together a Mech Hunter with bombs (I like to call it Bomb Hunter). You could also go for Mech Paladin. Mage with Conjurer's Calling is also competititive against Warrior. Bomb Hunter is a pretty cheap deck to put together and you don't need Boom Master Flark. Zilliax and Leeroy Jenkins, though, make a big difference.
Another option would be to use Secret Hunter. It's not as successful against warrior as Bomb Hunter, but it has a better chance against Rogue than Bomb Hunter has.
Thank you, bananaMurloc, for the tips on where to look for people talking about the game. I don't have a Reddit account but maybe now I have a reason to sign up. The legends-decks site is interesting, yes, I found that one on my own. It lacks depth, but it has interesting deck lists. Also, thanks a lot for tips on the solo adventures. One of the things I've enjoyed about TESL is that the AI is actually a little smarter than expected and makes game play interesting. I have been enjoying, for example, the versus AI Arena, which is a different kind of concept that is not as easy as you might expect. I've had experiences where versus human arena actually seemed easier
I don't think this is just for those two cards. I think this is to start a trend. They already broke with many of their old ways by buffing cards and HoFing outside of rotation. I'm thinking they will be doing A LOT more of this stuff as we go on, and some of those changes will not be explainable by It's OP/not fun/messes with design.
Mind Blast was aimed at for a HoF already. They flat out said last time they were going to hit it and just barely decided to just not do it this year. Vanish was the surprise though. If it was a design decision, they would've said so as you suggest as they've done it before. If it was due to future cards, they've just done that earlier with Hex. The literally have no reason to make some fakey excuse when they've already used many of the other reasons for doing this without audience madness.
I do not mean that I believe the description of classes is ONLY to justify removing the two cards. What I mean is that I think it's one reason, kind of a "just in case people like Vanish and Mind Blast" type of write-up. I don't disagree with you, it definitely is a way to plan for the future. My main idea is in agreement with the other poster: they have unintentionally admitted (once again) that Wild is not really part of planning for the game. Class identity is for Standard only. Wild is being treated like a dumpster and the company is admitting to this by removing the cards from Standard, defining the classes, and "dumping them" in Wild, where the classes will not have the same identity since they have access to all the cards ever made.
Everything a company does is "corporate" and everything writtten and posted to the internet in one way or another is a type of marketing. Just about everything is done in exchange for some kind of money. Video game companies do not produce things out of the goodness of their hearts. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying that it's that way.
The descriptions of the classes, as the OP might suggest, are lop-sided. Or, as I'd prefer to call it, "poorly thought out." Whenever I judge something that is written by a video game company, I always remember that the people or person writing the thing posted to the Internet has some kind of college education. I would judge this writing as poorly produced and the content is kind of silly. They could have done a better job with their descriptions or they could have not bothered to do it until they thought a little more about what they were going to publish (this last option is the better one, really.)
Yes. They wrote such a lengthy explanation (full of obvious well known facts and partial lies) just to justify them removing mind blast and vanish. Two wonderful, perfect fitting cards that they obviously can't balance.The hilarious thing is that the cards are going into wild (standard's dumpster) where apparently all this class identity importance does not apply :)
That's my take on it. They just wanted to justify the decision to smack those two cards. As Agon says, this description of the classes along with their strengths and weaknesses, if we truly are talking about "class identity," should apply to the entire game, not just in Standard. Also, they basically affirmed that they treat Wild like a dumpster where all the broken stuff goes. If they had been smarter about it, they would have just said, "We're removing these cards from Standard because we want to develop other cards for Priest and Rogue" and not bothered with the class description nonsense.
That's easy to do. Just don't look at the front page (myself I link to the forum so I have to purposely click there, which I usually forget) and don't watch all of those card reviews that go around which is easy given that those reviewers also put out normal content AND there's 1000000 other videos put up every day to watch instead.
GET READY FOR THE HYPE, TONY! THE HYPE TRAIN IS COMIN'! WOO WOO!
I already ignore it all, I was just hoping maybe there was a possibility that people this time around would get into some other type of hype. I suspect I am not like most players and I don't get into the theorycrafting, mostly because it's all so.... theoretical. I like being able to try things out and experiment with real games. Lots of people, I think, get into both. So, of course, I hope all the theorists have fun theorizing if that's their thing.
And note that we're already getting the first hints of the next expansion, so we can barely get out the first reports of the new meta and discussions of it before it's time to GET ON THE HYPE TRAIN!
Do you think this time around the hype train can maybe derail a little and maybe people can "theorycraft" quietly and alone, isolated from the world
Maybe combine this with Lord Jaraxxus, which means maybe more Warlock decks will have Lord Jaraxxus again. It's a strong taunt and costs a lot, but if you have demons on the board already and you're holding a Lord Jaraxxus and your health is low, you could put this out there one turn, then next turn become Lord Jaraxxus and maybe finish off the opponent in a couple more turns. It looks to me like a way to stall when your warlock is dying and then whip out a can of Jaraxxus.
And here i am enjoying to play mech priest at r10. It's probably worse than most other decks but I can at least play priest this way without getting stomped for 3 matches in a row
That's another good one for a match against a warrior! (not) Priest is really having it rough.
I've stopped taking the Data Reaper Report seriously since they released Rise of Shadows because from one week to the next it's pretty much different. Last week Hunter was obviously very popular, but today all I'm facing are warriors. It's like tug-of-war. Hunter gets popular, then people counter that with Rogue, then people counter that with Warrior, then people counter that with Mage or Hunter again. Bomb Hunter keeps returning because it counters both conjuring mage and warriors but it's weak to Rogue decks. They always say "the meta plays against itself" and that's what's happening, just at a faster, repetitive rate than I've seen before (I haven't been playing the game for more than 2 years, so maybe it's been like this before). So, Monday Warriorstone, Tuesday Hunterstone, Wednesday Roguestone.
I don't want to stomp all over your post, but there are probably a lot of people who disagree with your nostalgia for Defile. You're right, though, Warlock has been cut down to pretty much nothing and it isn't very nice. The best you can do is hope for a brighter Warlock future. I also enjoy using the Warlock class. Having played the game enough, I have also learned that it doesn't hurt to try out some of the other classes because eventually, the rotation comes, and it stomps all over your favorite deck. I do indeed recall how playing that Defile card destroyed any hope of the opponent winning the match, especially when I could cheat out some Void Lords after that, or maybe slap out a Hellfire and then some Void Lords. And then let them kill my Void Lords and other things with the Demon tag and subsequently slap out the Death Knight card and resummon all the Void Lords. Etc. It was good fun for me when I got the nuts
There's always Wild, though. According to what I've seen, Control Warlock is chugging away quite nicely on the Wild side. Also, over there, Gul'dan has access to all kinds of broken cards to create a horrendously intimidating and defiling control deck that can wipe the board on every turn with the right draw.
DOOM!
Destroys all minions.
Hagatha the Witch
A hero card that also has an immediate effect on the board when played (like dealing damage, etc.)
Kalecgos
Reduces cost of next card played.
I really like Bartender Bob's line, "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
Juicy Psychmelon
A spell that draws cards with specific attributes.
I think you're seeing Warriors and Mech Hunters because Mech Hunter is a hard counter to Warrior. So, you could put together a Mech Hunter with bombs (I like to call it Bomb Hunter). You could also go for Mech Paladin. Mage with Conjurer's Calling is also competititive against Warrior. Bomb Hunter is a pretty cheap deck to put together and you don't need Boom Master Flark. Zilliax and Leeroy Jenkins, though, make a big difference.
Another option would be to use Secret Hunter. It's not as successful against warrior as Bomb Hunter, but it has a better chance against Rogue than Bomb Hunter has.
Ursatron
A minion that draws a card or cards.
They put "understated" not "understatted." Spelling is everything. I chose a small minion. Finley is a wee, understated Murloc.
Leeroy Jenkins is OP on this. You can smack your opponent twice with him, plus whatever else you've got on the board. The fastest Tavern Brawl ever.
Thank you, bananaMurloc, for the tips on where to look for people talking about the game. I don't have a Reddit account but maybe now I have a reason to sign up. The legends-decks site is interesting, yes, I found that one on my own. It lacks depth, but it has interesting deck lists. Also, thanks a lot for tips on the solo adventures. One of the things I've enjoyed about TESL is that the AI is actually a little smarter than expected and makes game play interesting. I have been enjoying, for example, the versus AI Arena, which is a different kind of concept that is not as easy as you might expect. I've had experiences where versus human arena actually seemed easier
Sir Finley Mrrgglton
Legendary Murloc
I do not mean that I believe the description of classes is ONLY to justify removing the two cards. What I mean is that I think it's one reason, kind of a "just in case people like Vanish and Mind Blast" type of write-up. I don't disagree with you, it definitely is a way to plan for the future. My main idea is in agreement with the other poster: they have unintentionally admitted (once again) that Wild is not really part of planning for the game. Class identity is for Standard only. Wild is being treated like a dumpster and the company is admitting to this by removing the cards from Standard, defining the classes, and "dumping them" in Wild, where the classes will not have the same identity since they have access to all the cards ever made.
Everything a company does is "corporate" and everything writtten and posted to the internet in one way or another is a type of marketing. Just about everything is done in exchange for some kind of money. Video game companies do not produce things out of the goodness of their hearts. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying that it's that way.
The descriptions of the classes, as the OP might suggest, are lop-sided. Or, as I'd prefer to call it, "poorly thought out." Whenever I judge something that is written by a video game company, I always remember that the people or person writing the thing posted to the Internet has some kind of college education. I would judge this writing as poorly produced and the content is kind of silly. They could have done a better job with their descriptions or they could have not bothered to do it until they thought a little more about what they were going to publish (this last option is the better one, really.)
That's my take on it. They just wanted to justify the decision to smack those two cards. As Agon says, this description of the classes along with their strengths and weaknesses, if we truly are talking about "class identity," should apply to the entire game, not just in Standard. Also, they basically affirmed that they treat Wild like a dumpster where all the broken stuff goes. If they had been smarter about it, they would have just said, "We're removing these cards from Standard because we want to develop other cards for Priest and Rogue" and not bothered with the class description nonsense.
Orc is not a tag, race, or keyword, in the game, but Blackwing Technician looks like a female orc.
Has Battlecry: If you're holding a dragon
I already ignore it all, I was just hoping maybe there was a possibility that people this time around would get into some other type of hype. I suspect I am not like most players and I don't get into the theorycrafting, mostly because it's all so.... theoretical. I like being able to try things out and experiment with real games. Lots of people, I think, get into both. So, of course, I hope all the theorists have fun theorizing if that's their thing.
Do you think this time around the hype train can maybe derail a little and maybe people can "theorycraft" quietly and alone, isolated from the world
Maybe combine this with Lord Jaraxxus, which means maybe more Warlock decks will have Lord Jaraxxus again. It's a strong taunt and costs a lot, but if you have demons on the board already and you're holding a Lord Jaraxxus and your health is low, you could put this out there one turn, then next turn become Lord Jaraxxus and maybe finish off the opponent in a couple more turns. It looks to me like a way to stall when your warlock is dying and then whip out a can of Jaraxxus.
That's another good one for a match against a warrior! (not) Priest is really having it rough.
I've stopped taking the Data Reaper Report seriously since they released Rise of Shadows because from one week to the next it's pretty much different. Last week Hunter was obviously very popular, but today all I'm facing are warriors. It's like tug-of-war. Hunter gets popular, then people counter that with Rogue, then people counter that with Warrior, then people counter that with Mage or Hunter again. Bomb Hunter keeps returning because it counters both conjuring mage and warriors but it's weak to Rogue decks. They always say "the meta plays against itself" and that's what's happening, just at a faster, repetitive rate than I've seen before (I haven't been playing the game for more than 2 years, so maybe it's been like this before). So, Monday Warriorstone, Tuesday Hunterstone, Wednesday Roguestone.