It makes sense, but still... Demon Hunter has strong enough cards to dominate Arena regardless of sets they could put in. Before Blizzard over-nerfed class cards frequency in DH Draft, the class was on 1st place by winrates. Even in Wild constructed, DH is strong enough.
And about new game mode, I think you are right. I hope for some limited mode instead, but I think it will use player's collection as you mentioned. We can buy Wild sets with gold since December 2019, so that way we could easily spend our gold... and the new mode. Which would also be good for Blizz, we would have to buy newer sets with cash and not gold :P
Anyways, can't wait for the new mode, whatever it happens to be :)
So far the Dormant minions look preeety bad. The way is see "Dormant for 2 turns":
- we play a minion on turn X,
- minion can't attack on turn X + 1,
- minion can't attack on turn X + 2 (it just woke up, therefore it can't attack),
- minion can finally attack on turn X + 3...
Therefore I think IF Dormant minions are played at all (quite a big IF) - then we will play them for EFFECTS on them and not for stats. Like Imprisoned Satyr - could be ok for Combo decks... But played on turn 3, it will attack on turn 6...
Imprisoned Vilefiend is little different. Rush effect means it can probably attack when it wakes up (X + 2). So, played on 2, its 3/5 Rush on turn 4. Seems average, so I think it's not good enough.
The biggest problem is - if you play them later than "on curve" (the first turn you can play them on), you can only pray to survive, to ever see the effect. So they are probably too slow...
But If you build whole deck around it, like Imprisoned Satyr in a Combo - it can work.
Even if Dormant looks bad at first, I still like that they experiment with it. Those Dormant cards revealed so far, can be build-around or support cards, this way they can be decent I think.
I feel you man. I hate evolve mechanic. I think everyone who played while they re-introduced 1-mana Evolve into Standard can understand why.
First, it can get "little" oppressive.. And secondly - it's constant dice rolling. You can't predict it, you can't plan for it and, probably most important - you can't play around it.
So yes - Evolve can be fun if you play it, but it's not fun to play against, because opponent can highroll so much, that you instantly lose (and feel hopeless).
- animations of Heroes who level up (yes, they look nice.. but after seeing them few times they annoy me more and more... and I can't disable them... I would prefer just a small animation happening on the board),
- only 1 small icon indicating what faction it is in (hard to differentiate card faction),
- after playing a card it is "frozen" in the air for a split second (in HS playing cards feels soooo smooth...),
- UI isn't good enough, especially the main menu.
Still LoR is quite polished, the gameplay loop feels really good. I think that's enough to keep the game enjoyable for most players. All the graphic issues can be fixed easily. It's not like Artifact, where gameplay felt just bad, so no wonder that people just left so fast.
It's interesting, but I think it might be enough. Just because there's NO good demons on 4, so usually it was better to stay at 3 few turns, to skip through Tavern 4 as fast as possible.
And now... you have to get to 4, Floating Watcher is key component and "build-enabler" for Demons (yes, you can also play Soul Juggler build too). At least it isn't "over-nerf", so we shall see what happens.
Generally after Year of the Mammoth rotated (Un'Goro, Frozen Throne and Kobolds and Catacombs) - there was a BIG drop in card power level...
Low power level cards started at Witchwood, Boomsday got many impactful cards (but not OP cards in my opinion... maybe outside of pre-nerf 7-mana Dr. Boom - Hero card...)... And then we have Rastakhan's Rumble (summary - lol, what a joke expansion... super-low power level and whole concept of Spirit cards (Totem-like minions) FAILED).
So now... My opinion is, current year - Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum, Descent of Dragons - seems to me - just as impactful as Un'Goro, Frozen Throne and Kobolds were... Indeed - Witchwood, Boomsday and Rumble - rotating out - feels like not a big deal.
My personal opinion is - people got bored of oldest expansions (2018 - Witchwood)... and low power level further ensures, we are playing mostly 2019 expansions. Players who like standard, always like NEW cards more :) (unless we have something blatantly OP, remember Guldan - Death-Knight Hero card ?)
I am wondering now, where they take us next. As in which way they take now:
1) Kobolds into Witchwood way (BIG drop in power level),
2) continuing with SIMILAR power level like in Year of the Dragon (but NOT stronger than Dragons; Dragons as a highest point of power level),
3) continuing with Descent of Dragons power level... or slightly higher (which might mean, Classic set can become way less impactful than ever before).
I just hope it's not 3), as further ramping up power level can mean, Standard becomes... well, "slightly" crazy? (it might also be a annoying clown-fiesta...)
Anyways, I am also becoming more of a Wild fan - the longer I play. I don't dust old cards (maybe some useless ones).
Seeing as Blizzard became FASTER with reacting to Standard meta, this year can be interesting. I am REALLY awaiting next Standard Year announcement and Hall of Fame cards (?) and... maybe Classic Set redesign ? (yes, I feel naive when I say this).
Big thanks for the reminder. I dusted cards just yesterday, so nearly forgot it. But I am sure this helps many more people than you can imagine :) Please, make such news in the future too, it really helps.
If you don't dust cards just after nerfs happen, it's so easy to forget it later on...
2019 best moment - personal best, reaching Legend for the first time ever (being mostly casual at HS), with a deck (so called by me) - Octo-Reno-Aggro Warrior, or Highlander Aggro Warrior.
(OCTO - because Octosari in the deck, RENO - because it's singleton Zephrys, AGGRO - because it's based on Blood Mercenary Aggro Warrior).
2020 - I am hoping for... NEW game modes OR some BIG changes in existing modes (like total redesign of Ranked system and rewards, Arena changes along with rewards).
PS. man, it was hard to choose 1 best moment of 2019. Was also thinking of Wild packs for GOLD in shop, VKLiooon winning Global HS Championship (as a first woman ever) and her speech, and FINALLY new game mode release - Battlegrounds (even tho it's not my favourite mode).
My guess is - they want to have some space, where they can change / reconsider how the current system works and whether (and how) they want to improve on it. It also conveniently lands with holidays, and it is a big holiday time for all employees... I don't know if 2 seasons is enough, but 1 season last year definitely seemed not enough.
All changes seem positive, so we can hope it's good.
It makes sense, but still... Demon Hunter has strong enough cards to dominate Arena regardless of sets they could put in. Before Blizzard over-nerfed class cards frequency in DH Draft, the class was on 1st place by winrates. Even in Wild constructed, DH is strong enough.
And about new game mode, I think you are right. I hope for some limited mode instead, but I think it will use player's collection as you mentioned. We can buy Wild sets with gold since December 2019, so that way we could easily spend our gold... and the new mode. Which would also be good for Blizz, we would have to buy newer sets with cash and not gold :P
Anyways, can't wait for the new mode, whatever it happens to be :)
Did I miss something or Arena got completely ignored? No info on new mid-set rotation?
The closer we get to mid-year "new game mode" announcement, the more I suspect, they will remove Arena, and replace it with "Arena-like" game mode...
A Combo card, I like it. I'm curious what people can build around it :)
9-mana might be limiting factor, but with Imprisoned Satyr coming to Standard, hm...
2x Imprisoned Satyr + Malygos + 2x Germination + 2x Moonfire = 32 damage OTK :)
EDIT - fixed, 32 damage to be exact. I'm sure there's more combo's than Maly, but I was too excited to see this fun card :D
So far the Dormant minions look preeety bad. The way is see "Dormant for 2 turns":
- we play a minion on turn X,
- minion can't attack on turn X + 1,
- minion can't attack on turn X + 2 (it just woke up, therefore it can't attack),
- minion can finally attack on turn X + 3...
Therefore I think IF Dormant minions are played at all (quite a big IF) - then we will play them for EFFECTS on them and not for stats. Like Imprisoned Satyr - could be ok for Combo decks... But played on turn 3, it will attack on turn 6...
Imprisoned Vilefiend is little different. Rush effect means it can probably attack when it wakes up (X + 2). So, played on 2, its 3/5 Rush on turn 4. Seems average, so I think it's not good enough.
The biggest problem is - if you play them later than "on curve" (the first turn you can play them on), you can only pray to survive, to ever see the effect. So they are probably too slow...
But If you build whole deck around it, like Imprisoned Satyr in a Combo - it can work.
Even if Dormant looks bad at first, I still like that they experiment with it. Those Dormant cards revealed so far, can be build-around or support cards, this way they can be decent I think.
I love new interesting archetypes, and Secret-Tempo Rogue can be something fun :)
1/5 stats mean that there's a chance it can see some play. If it would be 3-mana 1/5, I would say it's crap :P
Not sure if this replaces Oasis Surger. Oasis Surger is really flexible card and it scales very well with Embiggen.
Leeroy Jenkins and Zilliax rotate out, so Embiggen Druid will search for replacements... and Marsh Hydra might just fill that Mid-turn void.
I feel you man. I hate evolve mechanic. I think everyone who played while they re-introduced 1-mana Evolve into Standard can understand why.
First, it can get "little" oppressive.. And secondly - it's constant dice rolling. You can't predict it, you can't plan for it and, probably most important - you can't play around it.
So yes - Evolve can be fun if you play it, but it's not fun to play against, because opponent can highroll so much, that you instantly lose (and feel hopeless).
Not on OOC (yet ?). But on official HS website - yes, there is reveal schedule.
Go into official HS website, click Cards -> Card Library. There you have it. Probably displayed in your local time, at least it works that way for me.
I fixed the minus vote.
And yes, the single most important feature of this brawl is, that we can play with decks of champions, and cards in their unnerfed form. Strange.
It looks funny, yes, but we have been getting soooo little information this month that I would not blame Flux.
Even friggin new Hearthstone Year announcement is late if you look at previous years (it always appeared around 28. February or so)... so yeah.
I have similar feelings @KANSAS.
In particular, I don't like:
- animations of Heroes who level up (yes, they look nice.. but after seeing them few times they annoy me more and more... and I can't disable them... I would prefer just a small animation happening on the board),
- only 1 small icon indicating what faction it is in (hard to differentiate card faction),
- after playing a card it is "frozen" in the air for a split second (in HS playing cards feels soooo smooth...),
- UI isn't good enough, especially the main menu.
Still LoR is quite polished, the gameplay loop feels really good. I think that's enough to keep the game enjoyable for most players. All the graphic issues can be fixed easily. It's not like Artifact, where gameplay felt just bad, so no wonder that people just left so fast.
I like the details on the meta.
But anyways.. Arena? no info, really? We can guess that mid-expansion event is coming, but that's it. Arena feels so neglected atm, just sad to see.
I understand, I am amazed how much has this site evolved over the past few months, and it's still very smooth.
Flux is posting news and coding, seriously, this guy is under-appreciated I feel :P
I disabled my ad-blocker some time ago, because the ads are not annoying and help supporting OOC :)
It's interesting, but I think it might be enough. Just because there's NO good demons on 4, so usually it was better to stay at 3 few turns, to skip through Tavern 4 as fast as possible.
And now... you have to get to 4, Floating Watcher is key component and "build-enabler" for Demons (yes, you can also play Soul Juggler build too). At least it isn't "over-nerf", so we shall see what happens.
Not that it matters but... it's February already :)
I get what you are saying.
Generally after Year of the Mammoth rotated (Un'Goro, Frozen Throne and Kobolds and Catacombs) - there was a BIG drop in card power level...
Low power level cards started at Witchwood, Boomsday got many impactful cards (but not OP cards in my opinion... maybe outside of pre-nerf 7-mana Dr. Boom - Hero card...)... And then we have Rastakhan's Rumble (summary - lol, what a joke expansion... super-low power level and whole concept of Spirit cards (Totem-like minions) FAILED).
So now... My opinion is, current year - Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum, Descent of Dragons - seems to me - just as impactful as Un'Goro, Frozen Throne and Kobolds were... Indeed - Witchwood, Boomsday and Rumble - rotating out - feels like not a big deal.
My personal opinion is - people got bored of oldest expansions (2018 - Witchwood)... and low power level further ensures, we are playing mostly 2019 expansions. Players who like standard, always like NEW cards more :) (unless we have something blatantly OP, remember Guldan - Death-Knight Hero card ?)
I am wondering now, where they take us next. As in which way they take now:
1) Kobolds into Witchwood way (BIG drop in power level),
2) continuing with SIMILAR power level like in Year of the Dragon (but NOT stronger than Dragons; Dragons as a highest point of power level),
3) continuing with Descent of Dragons power level... or slightly higher (which might mean, Classic set can become way less impactful than ever before).
I just hope it's not 3), as further ramping up power level can mean, Standard becomes... well, "slightly" crazy? (it might also be a annoying clown-fiesta...)
Anyways, I am also becoming more of a Wild fan - the longer I play. I don't dust old cards (maybe some useless ones).
Seeing as Blizzard became FASTER with reacting to Standard meta, this year can be interesting. I am REALLY awaiting next Standard Year announcement and Hall of Fame cards (?) and... maybe Classic Set redesign ? (yes, I feel naive when I say this).
Big thanks for the reminder. I dusted cards just yesterday, so nearly forgot it. But I am sure this helps many more people than you can imagine :) Please, make such news in the future too, it really helps.
If you don't dust cards just after nerfs happen, it's so easy to forget it later on...
2019 best moment - personal best, reaching Legend for the first time ever (being mostly casual at HS), with a deck (so called by me) - Octo-Reno-Aggro Warrior, or Highlander Aggro Warrior.
(OCTO - because Octosari in the deck, RENO - because it's singleton Zephrys, AGGRO - because it's based on Blood Mercenary Aggro Warrior).
2020 - I am hoping for... NEW game modes OR some BIG changes in existing modes (like total redesign of Ranked system and rewards, Arena changes along with rewards).
PS. man, it was hard to choose 1 best moment of 2019. Was also thinking of Wild packs for GOLD in shop, VKLiooon winning Global HS Championship (as a first woman ever) and her speech, and FINALLY new game mode release - Battlegrounds (even tho it's not my favourite mode).
My guess is - they want to have some space, where they can change / reconsider how the current system works and whether (and how) they want to improve on it. It also conveniently lands with holidays, and it is a big holiday time for all employees... I don't know if 2 seasons is enough, but 1 season last year definitely seemed not enough.
All changes seem positive, so we can hope it's good.