I agree with LyraSilvertongue. Especially "The more diverse cards/strats/interactions the more varied and interesting the game will be" and "I am wholeheartedly against the concept of there never being matches that force pure 'stall' control decks from actually trying to kill you with pressure or a finisher".
I also like Combo / OTK / Mill decks. But still, I also think such decks shouldn't be the main part of the meta.
Blizzard can introduce some cards to fight back against Mill decks. It's not impossible to create cards with interactions against Mill. It might be for example interaction with Graveyard in HS... which can also help against Resurrect Priest in the long run :)
I think I read on Reddit some weeks ago, before holidays, Mike Donais or some other dev - that they are coming back at 5. January...
So... I don't expect the fix this week.
The best we can hope for is a compensation in a week or 2, just as it happened during November when there was a Brawliseum problem, and Daily Quest problems...
It is annoying as hell, that we can pretty much feel ignored now. It was easier for them to just flip the "Brawl switch" off...
Short clarification. You can continue playing with rewards... but with lower rewards. It wasn't clearly stated in the video, but look again at 4:30 (4 minutes 30 seconds), above the "Open Play" button. I quote:
"or continue playing as many trials as you'd like for free (but with limited rewards)".
Positive thing is, that they try to do something new. But that's it in my opinion.
At first glance it looked like a really low effort, because practically all interface and cards - are reused.
After watching about 3-4 hours of Kripparian stream... my opinion got only worse.
Long story short - I think Battlegrounds will not have enough variety. Which means - low replayability, so probably it will not last long. It is not possible to survive without Blizzard support.
It's nice to try something new, especially before next year Standard rotation, that's it. I hate to be this negative, but that's what I feel.
We can really expect more effort from Blizzard. Personally I hoped they announce Auto Chess, but... based on Heroes of the Storm characters. They have so many nice characters there... (I play HotS casually sometimes).
In case of HS, I wait for some interesting new modes. For example I so much want to play Sealed format. I hope they can introduce new mode next year.
Well of course they would reuse the cards/interface. This is not a new game, it is a new game mode. Which means that you are still playing Hearthstone, and you are still playing with Hearthstone cards, but in a new way.
Arena exists as a 'sealed' format, so I am not sure why you bring that up as though it hasn't been a thing for ever.
Arena is not exactly 'sealed'. But both of those are so called "limited" true. Sealed emphasises more on deck costruction phase.
Anyway, I could argue that Battlegrounds is more of a Tavern Brawl mode, because it is so similar to regular Hearthstone. Then why does it need another button hidden in the menu?
This mode, I feel, would be perfectly fine as a month-long Tavern Brawl for some mid-expansion Event.
The little optimism out of this is - as they see player numbers going down, slowly but steadily - they will be pushed more and more to improve player experiences, and new game modes are good for that. That's why I think - they introduced Battlegrounds in the first place, as an easy way to introduce something new.
Unless they are incompetent or do not care about game existence :)
Positive thing is, that they try to do something new. But that's it in my opinion.
At first glance it looked like a really low effort, because practically all interface and cards - are reused.
After watching about 3-4 hours of Kripparian stream... my opinion got only worse.
Long story short - I think Battlegrounds will not have enough variety. Which means - low replayability, so probably it will not last long. It is not possible to survive without Blizzard support.
It's nice to try something new, especially before next year Standard rotation, that's it. I hate to be this negative, but that's what I feel.
We can really expect more effort from Blizzard. Personally I hoped they announce Auto Chess, but... based on Heroes of the Storm characters. They have so many nice characters there... (I play HotS casually sometimes).
In case of HS, I wait for some interesting new modes. For example I so much want to play Sealed format. I hope they can introduce new mode next year.
"Players who have an active Arena run when this begins will have their current run ended and will receive an Arena Ticket as compensation." - from news about new event, under Dual-Class Arenas.
Aggro Warrior or Highlander Aggro Warrior are both super strong at the moment.
I piloted Highlander Aggro Warrior from Rank 10 up to Legend (my 1st Legend, yay!).
I have mixed feelings about this. I love Highlander Aggro Warrior deck, and with 23 Wild cards coming into the Standard meta (until the end of this expansion - mentioned by Blizzard CC) - the meta can change completely...
I like meta changes but... man it really is a "Feels Bad - moment" - when you just master your favourite deck, there would be 2 more months of the meta to enjoy it... but instead it is about to change, probably in a big way.
I wouldn't be too worried. I don't see Aggro Warrior getting any weaker. At worst N'zoth decks become popular and you're gonna lose games that you can't close out before turn 10, but that's just regular aggro problems anyways
Well... I am more worried about Flamewaker coming back into the meta. I think this card by itself - can change the meta.
Some Aggro and/or Tempo Mage can appear, and Flamewaker can help to push other aggressive decks out of the board...
We can't be sure, because they nerfed Mana Wyrm some time ago. But I still think Flamewaker can reshape - what aggressive decks are at the top.
Aggro Warrior or Highlander Aggro Warrior are both super strong at the moment.
I piloted Highlander Aggro Warrior from Rank 10 up to Legend (my 1st Legend, yay!).
I have mixed feelings about this. I love Highlander Aggro Warrior deck, and with 23 Wild cards coming into the Standard meta (until the end of this expansion - mentioned by Blizzard CC) - the meta can change completely...
I like meta changes but... man it really is a "Feels Bad - moment" - when you just master your favourite deck, there would be 2 more months of the meta to enjoy it... but instead it is about to change, probably in a big way.
I was playing Highlander Warrior very extensively over the September, and at the end of August. My experience - it's very strong, as strong as stats show.
I reached a Legend with it for the 1st time of mine :) from Rank 2 (0 stars) up to Legend with... 11 wins in a row :) my overall winrate so far is about 65-66%.
My overall results so far are 103-54 (wins-losses). Played it from Rank 10 up to Legend in September.
I used slightly different list. Comparing to deck you listed from VS:
Octosari - I would say this card isn't necessarily needed, but it certainly increases winrate by few %. Sometimes it is risky to play, against possible Hex, Sap. Or if opponent has silence and it can deny the card refill.
Zephrys. My experience is that it's more efficient to play it in the mid-game or late-game when needed (dealing big burst damage - even if not lethal, getting Tirion Fordring on curve, getting Mass Dispel to silence multiple taunts...). I had 1 game against Control Warrior where I used Zephrys to get Pyroblast and finish him at the next turn... Total satisfaction :D
Of course - having Zephrys in hand means you have to constantly evaluate possible lethal scenarios - it's best use for this card really (feels totally unfair).
You have to know, how to use it in a given matchup. For example - versus Murloc Paladin you should use Zephrys to get some AoE spell like Lightning Storm against their board refills. Against combo Priest you should use it to kill or silence their big threats - either - big buffed minion or to kill Northshire Cleric in the early-game.
However, playing Zephrys on turn 2 is sometimes necessary. For example if you had unlucky draw and otherwise you would have no other turn 2 and turn 3 plays. If you have other plays - use them, because Zephrys is best if you use it at important moments (few examples above).
Siamat - if you are ahead on board and opponent has no minions... Playing it on turn 7 versus Quest Druid is game winning, and versus Control Warrior it's super strong too (can win you the game too, or make them play removals inefficiently).
In those 2 scenarios above - choose Divine Shield and Windfury. And look at them sweating while thinking if they can even remove it. Because if they don't - you can buff it with Inner Rage or Cruel Taskmaster or play Zephrys and get some buff for it...
I love this deck and I am little sad that meta game is about to change completely because of upcoming 23 Wild cards coming into Standard mode :( (hard to say how it can shake up things).
Can I just say something that might help those that are not getting packs.
You might just be unlucky which is very possible, I personally only got two packs but I learned something that helped.
If you have the volume muted (so there is an X over the volume button) you are not counted as a viewer on Twitch and therefore not eligible for packs. I say this as I know there are lots of people (including myself in the past) that had a tab open and muted just so I was 'watching' the stream.
You can have the volume right down to just above the minimum and that still works. I don't know whether muting the tab (in Chrome) works or not, it should but I've not tried it.
Muting the tab in Chrome - works well.
I do it this way - volume on Twitch player set on minimum possible (just so there's no "X" icon), video quality set on minimum (160p).
And then right click on Twitch tab in Chrome - "mute site". That's it. You don't have to be active, just make sure the stream is playing in the background. Setting video quality on lowest possible value lets you use less CPU / internet resources as well (well, if you care about that).
I collected 7 packs this way so far. Week 1 -> 4 packs. Week 2 -> 3 packs :)
I got super lucky and received 4 packs this past weekend. 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. I was "watching" for about 27-30 hours (overall, over 3 days).
Well "watching" = I muted a tab with Twitch in my browser, because my PC was on at those hours anyways.
This was the most lucky Twitch drop weekend for me so far. Usually in previous ones I received 1 pack on avg, but sometimes I got 0.
I feel a little bad, because I understand, that for one such lucky person, there are 2-3 who received 0 packs. And some of them actually actively watch the e-sports. RNG man...
Man, Barnes nerf, after all those years of ignoring it, feels like an atom bomb almost... It probably won't kill Big Priest, but that was probably their intention too. I am happy that they did it anyway. There's still no counterplay or interaction against Resurrect mechanics... maybe one day.
They could have done the nerfs differently, sure. But at least its about 2-3 weeks into expansion, so nerfs arrive REALLY quickly this time. Probably 1 week quicker than in RoS i think. So +1 to Blizzard for that :)
No counter play, except for literally any transform effect. Well, except Conjurors calling maybe, but that card doesn't need any more utility. But Plague of Murlocs, Tinkmaster (I mean, I know he's terrible now, but he would affect res mechanics), Poly, Hex, devolve, etc etc etc. All of these just destroy your res pool. Anything to summon minions for the opponent (Leeroy?? For a single example), all of these increase the chance of a whiff, and if you can do the transform before they load their res pool in the first place, then you're home and dry.
Not saying it's auto win every time, but I'm responding to the 'no counter play' comment; that's the counter play.
Sure it is an interaction, of course. I should have said it more clearly - I said "no counterplay" because in my mind, the counterplay options are extremely limited at this point.
We could see more interaction. I am annoyed at this point, that after 5 years in, there's still no mechanic, which can interact with Graveyard in some interesting ways.
I like the idea. And I always had a similar idea, even more so when we first saw the "At the start of the game" effect.
I like it, because it eliminates the "did I draw my important CARD?" effect.
And it also incentivizes people to create interesting and new decks (the way you said it is an example).
However, for this effect to not be annoying, Hero Power has to be not too strong... I mean, it has to be SYNERGISTIC in some way, to fit your deck.
And then they should balance it just like cards. Hero Powers can cost more than 2 mana. How about ODD Paladin 4-mana - summon 2x 1/1 Silver Hand Recruits.
Obviously very weak... However, the synergies in your deck, can make it strong. See, this way, your CARDS actually matter more than Hero Power...
You could use it every turn, but without synergies, your opponent can easily defeat you.
Man, Barnes nerf, after all those years of ignoring it, feels like an atom bomb almost... It probably won't kill Big Priest, but that was probably their intention too. I am happy that they did it anyway. There's still no counterplay or interaction against Resurrect mechanics... maybe one day.
They could have done the nerfs differently, sure. But at least its about 2-3 weeks into expansion, so nerfs arrive REALLY quickly this time. Probably 1 week quicker than in RoS i think. So +1 to Blizzard for that :)
Agree man, it's not like Warrior will have some good plays alongside 9-mana Boom (yes, Shield Slam, but that's it). If it would cost 10-mana it would be practically the same.
I personally don't dust ANY cards until they are in Standard (well, unless they are almost impossibly bad, like 5-mana 0/5 - Desert Obelisk in current set).
We needed a new game mode for a long time now. And/or more effort put into current game modes. And I would gladly play some other limited game mode. But seeing that they back off to revert Arena - I worry it means "We, Team5, don't want to put any more effort into ANY new (limited) game modes" ... Which is VERY sad to say the least.
I want to be wrong on that... but I set my "expectation bar" very low for Team 5. Like... do they even care about anything that isn't Standard ??? :(
I think they are just unable to balance it well enough which is a damn shame. If they would put some more effort into it, improve bucketing and make it to adjust faster, it could be fine.
Instead, they don't want to put more effort, revert it, and want to depend on micro-adjusts... btw. they should call it correctly, its more of a MACRO-adjusts...
My first thought when I first saw this card in a card dump after stream "WTF, why wasn't this showcased in the livestream?".
Unique and actually cool effect.
I would bet the "Mystery Choice!" choice is actually a 4th card to choose from. Blizzard occasionally releases cards with "Discover-like" but with 4 cards to choose from. For example Kalimos, Primal Lord.
Discover usually proposes 3 cards, but they always were a collectible cards (cards you can get from packs). "Mystery Choice!" isn't collectible.
If you want to see the "Mystery Choice!" card art, go to:
I agree with LyraSilvertongue. Especially "The more diverse cards/strats/interactions the more varied and interesting the game will be" and "I am wholeheartedly against the concept of there never being matches that force pure 'stall' control decks from actually trying to kill you with pressure or a finisher".
I also like Combo / OTK / Mill decks. But still, I also think such decks shouldn't be the main part of the meta.
Blizzard can introduce some cards to fight back against Mill decks. It's not impossible to create cards with interactions against Mill. It might be for example interaction with Graveyard in HS... which can also help against Resurrect Priest in the long run :)
I think I read on Reddit some weeks ago, before holidays, Mike Donais or some other dev - that they are coming back at 5. January...
So... I don't expect the fix this week.
The best we can hope for is a compensation in a week or 2, just as it happened during November when there was a Brawliseum problem, and Daily Quest problems...
It is annoying as hell, that we can pretty much feel ignored now. It was easier for them to just flip the "Brawl switch" off...
Short clarification. You can continue playing with rewards... but with lower rewards. It wasn't clearly stated in the video, but look again at 4:30 (4 minutes 30 seconds), above the "Open Play" button. I quote:
"or continue playing as many trials as you'd like for free (but with limited rewards)".
Arena is not exactly 'sealed'. But both of those are so called "limited" true. Sealed emphasises more on deck costruction phase.
Anyway, I could argue that Battlegrounds is more of a Tavern Brawl mode, because it is so similar to regular Hearthstone. Then why does it need another button hidden in the menu?
This mode, I feel, would be perfectly fine as a month-long Tavern Brawl for some mid-expansion Event.
The little optimism out of this is - as they see player numbers going down, slowly but steadily - they will be pushed more and more to improve player experiences, and new game modes are good for that. That's why I think - they introduced Battlegrounds in the first place, as an easy way to introduce something new.
Unless they are incompetent or do not care about game existence :)
Positive thing is, that they try to do something new. But that's it in my opinion.
At first glance it looked like a really low effort, because practically all interface and cards - are reused.
After watching about 3-4 hours of Kripparian stream... my opinion got only worse.
Long story short - I think Battlegrounds will not have enough variety. Which means - low replayability, so probably it will not last long. It is not possible to survive without Blizzard support.
It's nice to try something new, especially before next year Standard rotation, that's it. I hate to be this negative, but that's what I feel.
We can really expect more effort from Blizzard. Personally I hoped they announce Auto Chess, but... based on Heroes of the Storm characters. They have so many nice characters there... (I play HotS casually sometimes).
In case of HS, I wait for some interesting new modes. For example I so much want to play Sealed format. I hope they can introduce new mode next year.
"Players who have an active Arena run when this begins will have their current run ended and will receive an Arena Ticket as compensation." - from news about new event, under Dual-Class Arenas.
Well... I am more worried about Flamewaker coming back into the meta. I think this card by itself - can change the meta.
Some Aggro and/or Tempo Mage can appear, and Flamewaker can help to push other aggressive decks out of the board...
We can't be sure, because they nerfed Mana Wyrm some time ago. But I still think Flamewaker can reshape - what aggressive decks are at the top.
Aggro Warrior or Highlander Aggro Warrior are both super strong at the moment.
I piloted Highlander Aggro Warrior from Rank 10 up to Legend (my 1st Legend, yay!).
I have mixed feelings about this. I love Highlander Aggro Warrior deck, and with 23 Wild cards coming into the Standard meta (until the end of this expansion - mentioned by Blizzard CC) - the meta can change completely...
I like meta changes but... man it really is a "Feels Bad - moment" - when you just master your favourite deck, there would be 2 more months of the meta to enjoy it... but instead it is about to change, probably in a big way.
I was playing Highlander Warrior very extensively over the September, and at the end of August. My experience - it's very strong, as strong as stats show.
I reached a Legend with it for the 1st time of mine :) from Rank 2 (0 stars) up to Legend with... 11 wins in a row :) my overall winrate so far is about 65-66%.
My overall results so far are 103-54 (wins-losses). Played it from Rank 10 up to Legend in September.
I used slightly different list. Comparing to deck you listed from VS:
-1 Redband Wasp, -1 Raging Worgen, -1 Militia Commander, -1 Darius Crowley (I don't have that card... but it isn't needed);
+1 Upgrade!, +1 Heroic Strike, +1 Injured Blademaster, +1 Bone Wraith;
Other cards I used sometimes (I was switching cards while learning the deck) - Neferset Ritualist, Youthful Brewmaster, Commanding Shout, Phantom Militia.
Octosari - I would say this card isn't necessarily needed, but it certainly increases winrate by few %. Sometimes it is risky to play, against possible Hex, Sap. Or if opponent has silence and it can deny the card refill.
Zephrys. My experience is that it's more efficient to play it in the mid-game or late-game when needed (dealing big burst damage - even if not lethal, getting Tirion Fordring on curve, getting Mass Dispel to silence multiple taunts...). I had 1 game against Control Warrior where I used Zephrys to get Pyroblast and finish him at the next turn... Total satisfaction :D
And my favourite, unexpected by many players - Windfury. Windfury combined with Inner Rage, Cruel Taskmaster or Rampage is totally insane.
Of course - having Zephrys in hand means you have to constantly evaluate possible lethal scenarios - it's best use for this card really (feels totally unfair).
You have to know, how to use it in a given matchup. For example - versus Murloc Paladin you should use Zephrys to get some AoE spell like Lightning Storm against their board refills. Against combo Priest you should use it to kill or silence their big threats - either - big buffed minion or to kill Northshire Cleric in the early-game.
However, playing Zephrys on turn 2 is sometimes necessary. For example if you had unlucky draw and otherwise you would have no other turn 2 and turn 3 plays. If you have other plays - use them, because Zephrys is best if you use it at important moments (few examples above).
Siamat - if you are ahead on board and opponent has no minions... Playing it on turn 7 versus Quest Druid is game winning, and versus Control Warrior it's super strong too (can win you the game too, or make them play removals inefficiently).
In those 2 scenarios above - choose Divine Shield and Windfury. And look at them sweating while thinking if they can even remove it. Because if they don't - you can buff it with Inner Rage or Cruel Taskmaster or play Zephrys and get some buff for it...
Other combo, Leeroy Jenkins + Inner Rage + Bloodsworn Mercenary = 16 dmg to the face, happens especially after opponent killed your Octosari...
I love this deck and I am little sad that meta game is about to change completely because of upcoming 23 Wild cards coming into Standard mode :( (hard to say how it can shake up things).
Muting the tab in Chrome - works well.
I do it this way - volume on Twitch player set on minimum possible (just so there's no "X" icon), video quality set on minimum (160p).
And then right click on Twitch tab in Chrome - "mute site". That's it. You don't have to be active, just make sure the stream is playing in the background. Setting video quality on lowest possible value lets you use less CPU / internet resources as well (well, if you care about that).
I collected 7 packs this way so far. Week 1 -> 4 packs. Week 2 -> 3 packs :)
I got super lucky and received 4 packs this past weekend. 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. I was "watching" for about 27-30 hours (overall, over 3 days).
Well "watching" = I muted a tab with Twitch in my browser, because my PC was on at those hours anyways.
This was the most lucky Twitch drop weekend for me so far. Usually in previous ones I received 1 pack on avg, but sometimes I got 0.
I feel a little bad, because I understand, that for one such lucky person, there are 2-3 who received 0 packs. And some of them actually actively watch the e-sports. RNG man...
Sure it is an interaction, of course. I should have said it more clearly - I said "no counterplay" because in my mind, the counterplay options are extremely limited at this point.
We could see more interaction. I am annoyed at this point, that after 5 years in, there's still no mechanic, which can interact with Graveyard in some interesting ways.
I like the idea. And I always had a similar idea, even more so when we first saw the "At the start of the game" effect.
I like it, because it eliminates the "did I draw my important CARD?" effect.
And it also incentivizes people to create interesting and new decks (the way you said it is an example).
However, for this effect to not be annoying, Hero Power has to be not too strong... I mean, it has to be SYNERGISTIC in some way, to fit your deck.
And then they should balance it just like cards. Hero Powers can cost more than 2 mana. How about ODD Paladin 4-mana - summon 2x 1/1 Silver Hand Recruits.
Obviously very weak... However, the synergies in your deck, can make it strong. See, this way, your CARDS actually matter more than Hero Power...
You could use it every turn, but without synergies, your opponent can easily defeat you.
Man, Barnes nerf, after all those years of ignoring it, feels like an atom bomb almost... It probably won't kill Big Priest, but that was probably their intention too. I am happy that they did it anyway. There's still no counterplay or interaction against Resurrect mechanics... maybe one day.
They could have done the nerfs differently, sure. But at least its about 2-3 weeks into expansion, so nerfs arrive REALLY quickly this time. Probably 1 week quicker than in RoS i think. So +1 to Blizzard for that :)
Agree man, it's not like Warrior will have some good plays alongside 9-mana Boom (yes, Shield Slam, but that's it). If it would cost 10-mana it would be practically the same.
I personally don't dust ANY cards until they are in Standard (well, unless they are almost impossibly bad, like 5-mana 0/5 - Desert Obelisk in current set).
I don't know why you got -1, I buffed you to 0.
We needed a new game mode for a long time now. And/or more effort put into current game modes. And I would gladly play some other limited game mode. But seeing that they back off to revert Arena - I worry it means "We, Team5, don't want to put any more effort into ANY new (limited) game modes" ... Which is VERY sad to say the least.
I want to be wrong on that... but I set my "expectation bar" very low for Team 5. Like... do they even care about anything that isn't Standard ??? :(
I think they are just unable to balance it well enough which is a damn shame. If they would put some more effort into it, improve bucketing and make it to adjust faster, it could be fine.
Instead, they don't want to put more effort, revert it, and want to depend on micro-adjusts... btw. they should call it correctly, its more of a MACRO-adjusts...
Actually Vulpera Scoundrel gives you 4 card options, I saw it on Regis (Regiskillbin) Twitch stream. Made a short clip for interested people :)
Vulpera Scoundrel in action (Twitch clip)
My first thought when I first saw this card in a card dump after stream "WTF, why wasn't this showcased in the livestream?".
Unique and actually cool effect.
I would bet the "Mystery Choice!" choice is actually a 4th card to choose from. Blizzard occasionally releases cards with "Discover-like" but with 4 cards to choose from. For example Kalimos, Primal Lord.
Discover usually proposes 3 cards, but they always were a collectible cards (cards you can get from packs). "Mystery Choice!" isn't collectible.
If you want to see the "Mystery Choice!" card art, go to:
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/cards/53413-vulpera-scoundrel
And hover over "Mystery Choice!" at the bottom. Or if you are too lazy, I found the art: