While I really do not care about this mode and will probably never invest any time or ressources into it beyond trying it out on Launch I'm somewhat interested in getting Anacondra and all the Beast stuff together and see where that takes me. Whether that is even possible without dumping gold on packs I don't know, but I'll try it anyways
It's still very rough around the edges and there's probably a bunch of minions that can be replaced or improved upon. I'm actually considering Circus Medic for healing + lategame burst.
Seeing how the buffs targetted Beast Hunter specifically and they said the kept them subtle in anticipation of the mini set I have high hopes (since Wailing Caverns was a complete disappointment in that regard)
The thing that surprised me the most is how aggressively pinging face is actually quite a legitimate win strategy, especially if you keep your opponent busy with Neophytes and Watchposts.
Cornnelius Roame isn't actually bad in this meta, it's just that most decks don't actually need him or can't use him due to deckbuilding restrictions (Quest Shaman would really appreciate him, but due to the overload shenanigans it's hard to actuallly get him out on the field). He's not essential to the deck anyways, but provides critical mass for card draw
So in case anybody cares, I built a Hero Power Mage deck yesterday to kind of get a feel what it's weaknesses currently are and how the buffs would make a difference, and I have to say it's actually not looking too bad.
One of the biggest weaknesses of the deck currently is how awkward it is to get Wildfire online due to its cost. There weree many instances where I either had Wildfire in the mulligan with nothing to do on ^1-mana , or be in a situation where I needed to Wildfire, but was 1-mana off.
Also, MOrdresh at 8 will be huge. There were several instances where I was at 8-mana and being able to play MOrdresh would have either won me the game or allowed me to stabilize. Not to mention that getting Wildfire earlier makes him haring him so much easier.
Sidenote: Cornelius Roame is actually pretty good in this deck because you really need the draw. Also Spicebread Baker works a lot better than expected and gets rid of the need to rely on Cultist for heal.
Honestly, the biggest thing holding Hero POwer Mage back as of now is the fact that you're kinda forced into a no-spell deck so you can tutor with Starscryer. If they printed some form of Tutor (either one that draws a Fire Spell or one that draws a 1-cost Spell) that allowed you to include other spell the deck could really pop off since the Hero Power package is only 5 cards total.
that would just make it ridiculous in Control matchups (if those ever happen again). You get to dump their ressources and they can'T do anything about it.
The whole point of the swap originally was so your opponent had some counterplay and could waste some of your ressources.
Man, I really regret prematurely dusting all my extra Brutes at the start of the expansion because Quest demon hunter looked like a complete meme. New rule: if a card can cost 0 at any point, it's probably going to get nerfed.
The Illucia rework should have come with an unnerf to her mana cost. If it's just supposed to be a one time "I'll use your ressources instead" then it needs to actually let you play something instead of eating most of your mana. Then again, it's not like this effect will ever see play anyways because we're not exactly in a value meta.
Perpetual Flame change is probably irrelevant outside of some very specific situations where you need the mana efficiency. I doubt it's gonna make Shaman's matchup against board ccentric decks any worse. At least it can't randomly show up form Wandmaker anymore.
The change to the Quest is a much bigger deal in my opinion. i've been playing the deck quite a bit lately and while I consider it to be somewhat overrated there's no doubt that it just wins hard the sooner you jam Bru'kan. It draws like absolute shit though, so just a single card more makes a massive difference. I wouldn't be surprised it it just disappears completely (assuming Warlock still remains playable in some way). I'll take that refund gladly though.
I honestly did not expect Demon Seed to be nerfed at all, but it does make a lot of sense. Having to take 3-more damage probably requires you to run more self-damaging cards. 8 is also the most awkward number to smoothly get to if you have to weave in the many 3-damage spells. Not to mention it slows down Flesh Giants considerably, which is huge.
Hard to evaluate the rod change at this point. The card is still stupidly good, but playing it on curve is so much more awkward now. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just too slow into the tempo matchups to matter. Then again, I performed quite well before adopting Rod, so maybe it won't be missed after all.
The buffs are really interesting and somewhat surprising in a few cases.
Leatherworking kit buff is huge. I've played around with it in a gimmicky midrange list and it performed quite well (even though I only ended up running 1 because I only actually ran 3 different beasts) but the biggest issue was finding to time to actually play it without losing tempo. At 1-mana it's so much more convenient to squeeze in. Not sure if it does anything for Rat Hunter but it sets up Beast Midrange for the future.
Selective Breeder is the most unexpected buff, but it makes sense. As a 1/1 it would have never been playable. Would have preferred a 2/2 personally, but at least it's no longer a liability and actually gives Beast Hunter some proactive early game.
Wildfire change is huge, but it might be too late. Maybe there's some Fire support in the miniset that helps, but right now the only option to play the deck is to go full minions with Spell tutors, but Mage just doesn't have good enough minions. At least it now shows up from Wandmaker and is less awkward to play in the early game to set up for later turns. Would have loved to have this last expansion.
Mordresh change is unacceptable. He was a 10-mana 10/10 dealing 10 damage after pinging 10 times. He was perfect. And you ruined him. Jokes aside, this might be enough to make the Hero Power deck become "playable", but I doubt that a deck without efficient draw that relies on getting a single spell early enough for the rest of its deck to work is ever going to make it. Small upside: Warlock should be slow enough that you can now drop Mordresh on curve to wipe their lategame boards.
The Warrior buffs are nice, but I'm not sure they'll make a difference. The deck's minions were decent already, it just lacks some actual powerplays. It still won't beat Warlock or Shaman.
Frog Thrall is amazing, but I'm not gonna fork out money if I don't care about the other ones. Oh well, might become available seperately or for gold in the future.
The Demon Seed gets banned for Wild, that much is a no-brainer.
Mindrender Illucia gets reworked, although it's unclear to what. Copying your opponent's hand was already done through Azalina Soulthief, so I doubt they're just going to copy the effect.
5 Nerfs is quite a lot. Runed Mithril Rod is probably on the list, as is Perpetual Flame. Maybe they're also looking at Canal Slogger, but I doubt it at this point. I'M assuming there'S at least one other nerf to Warlock, but I'm not sure what it would be. Perhaps [Hearthstone Card (Bloodshard Bristleback?) Not Found]. There's also a possibility that they'll nerf the Shaman Quest in some way, to slow down its progression. Really lost on what they could possibly touch in Demon Hunter though. I doubt they can nerf Il'gynoth a second time without just straight up reworking it. Does Irebound Brute actually get hit? And if so, how?
7 Buffs are also quite the amount and the fact that we know who's getting them makes things very interesting. I wonder if they include Barrens when they talk about recent archetypes. I'm guessing Quest Hunter might get some sort of nudge (although hopefully not too much, that deck is not weak by any means once it gets rolling and I don't want it to just become the next Quest Mage). Maybe they do the Lock and Load change that makes it only give spells. Maybe something about the Rats too. Warrior is difficult too evaluate because their biggest issue is just not having enough good cards to make the Quest work, despite the Quest itself being quite good (as evidenced by Wild). Maybe some of the Pirates get better stats, but that would be an indirect buff to Wild as well I think. Was there even a new Warrior archetype in Barrens other than Rush Warrior? Not sure what Mage buffs would look like at this point. Hoping for some love for Hero Power mage, and part of me is still holding out for some late help for Secret or Spell Power Mage.
End of the month. If you really want that bonus (which is quite nice to have, reaching Legend never felt this easy) you should just camp at that spot...although that's really boring and I wouldn't recommend it.
Unless you plan on playing garbage decks for the rest of the month it shouldn't be too hard to maintain your current rank until the end.
It hasn't moved fully because plenty of people still brought the Giants build, because it's a lot more consistent. The Fatigue version is just better against all the other fast combo decks that are often favored in tournaments.
I'm not sure if you even can master it. There's just so many immensly important decisions you have to make every turn while effectively guessing your coming turns because you can't influence draw RNG. The amount of time you'd need to properly evaluate every single turn is just too much for even veterans.
I'm also pretty sure the deck would have to be hotfix nerfed instantly if it was any easier because it can pretty much demolish any deck with very little counterplay other than slamming face and hoping they draw poorly.
because 100% data means nothing in terms of actual quality.
Everyone knows that at the lower ranks really bad decks can be viable because people either play bad decks themselves or are just bad at the game.
If we went by collective data then both Control Priest and LIfesteal DH would have had to be buffed last expansion because the total winrate would be far below 50%. The reason they pick top 1% is because that is were the most refined decklists piloteed by the most competent players are, which eventually trickles down and shapes the meta on the ranks where people have no idea how to build functional decks.
IN other words, 100% data is completely useless and probably would promote really bad decks (this is evident from whenever you check out Hsreplay without premium and see a bunch of bizarre decks like Big Demon Hunter with 50%+ winrate in Gold despite being objectively awful decks)
I don't know, to me it's always a red flag when games offer you the option NOT to play them.
While I really do not care about this mode and will probably never invest any time or ressources into it beyond trying it out on Launch I'm somewhat interested in getting Anacondra and all the Beast stuff together and see where that takes me. Whether that is even possible without dumping gold on packs I don't know, but I'll try it anyways
I cannot be held responsible for any catastrophic failures that might ensue.
Deck ID Not Found
It's still very rough around the edges and there's probably a bunch of minions that can be replaced or improved upon. I'm actually considering Circus Medic for healing + lategame burst.
Seeing how the buffs targetted Beast Hunter specifically and they said the kept them subtle in anticipation of the mini set I have high hopes (since Wailing Caverns was a complete disappointment in that regard)
Ironically enough, it'S actually Warlock who was killing the format.
The thing that surprised me the most is how aggressively pinging face is actually quite a legitimate win strategy, especially if you keep your opponent busy with Neophytes and Watchposts.
Cornnelius Roame isn't actually bad in this meta, it's just that most decks don't actually need him or can't use him due to deckbuilding restrictions (Quest Shaman would really appreciate him, but due to the overload shenanigans it's hard to actuallly get him out on the field). He's not essential to the deck anyways, but provides critical mass for card draw
So in case anybody cares, I built a Hero Power Mage deck yesterday to kind of get a feel what it's weaknesses currently are and how the buffs would make a difference, and I have to say it's actually not looking too bad.
One of the biggest weaknesses of the deck currently is how awkward it is to get Wildfire online due to its cost. There weree many instances where I either had Wildfire in the mulligan with nothing to do on ^1-mana , or be in a situation where I needed to Wildfire, but was 1-mana off.
Also, MOrdresh at 8 will be huge. There were several instances where I was at 8-mana and being able to play MOrdresh would have either won me the game or allowed me to stabilize. Not to mention that getting Wildfire earlier makes him haring him so much easier.
Sidenote: Cornelius Roame is actually pretty good in this deck because you really need the draw. Also Spicebread Baker works a lot better than expected and gets rid of the need to rely on Cultist for heal.
Honestly, the biggest thing holding Hero POwer Mage back as of now is the fact that you're kinda forced into a no-spell deck so you can tutor with Starscryer. If they printed some form of Tutor (either one that draws a Fire Spell or one that draws a 1-cost Spell) that allowed you to include other spell the deck could really pop off since the Hero Power package is only 5 cards total.
Oh I know that it's the most likely, but the article made it sound like we had confirmation but I couldn't find anything about that.
that would just make it ridiculous in Control matchups (if those ever happen again). You get to dump their ressources and they can'T do anything about it.
The whole point of the swap originally was so your opponent had some counterplay and could waste some of your ressources.
How do we know it's Deadmines exactly?
Man, I really regret prematurely dusting all my extra Brutes at the start of the expansion because Quest demon hunter looked like a complete meme. New rule: if a card can cost 0 at any point, it's probably going to get nerfed.
The Illucia rework should have come with an unnerf to her mana cost. If it's just supposed to be a one time "I'll use your ressources instead" then it needs to actually let you play something instead of eating most of your mana. Then again, it's not like this effect will ever see play anyways because we're not exactly in a value meta.
Perpetual Flame change is probably irrelevant outside of some very specific situations where you need the mana efficiency. I doubt it's gonna make Shaman's matchup against board ccentric decks any worse. At least it can't randomly show up form Wandmaker anymore.
The change to the Quest is a much bigger deal in my opinion. i've been playing the deck quite a bit lately and while I consider it to be somewhat overrated there's no doubt that it just wins hard the sooner you jam Bru'kan. It draws like absolute shit though, so just a single card more makes a massive difference. I wouldn't be surprised it it just disappears completely (assuming Warlock still remains playable in some way). I'll take that refund gladly though.
I honestly did not expect Demon Seed to be nerfed at all, but it does make a lot of sense. Having to take 3-more damage probably requires you to run more self-damaging cards. 8 is also the most awkward number to smoothly get to if you have to weave in the many 3-damage spells. Not to mention it slows down Flesh Giants considerably, which is huge.
Hard to evaluate the rod change at this point. The card is still stupidly good, but playing it on curve is so much more awkward now. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just too slow into the tempo matchups to matter. Then again, I performed quite well before adopting Rod, so maybe it won't be missed after all.
The buffs are really interesting and somewhat surprising in a few cases.
Leatherworking kit buff is huge. I've played around with it in a gimmicky midrange list and it performed quite well (even though I only ended up running 1 because I only actually ran 3 different beasts) but the biggest issue was finding to time to actually play it without losing tempo. At 1-mana it's so much more convenient to squeeze in. Not sure if it does anything for Rat Hunter but it sets up Beast Midrange for the future.
Selective Breeder is the most unexpected buff, but it makes sense. As a 1/1 it would have never been playable. Would have preferred a 2/2 personally, but at least it's no longer a liability and actually gives Beast Hunter some proactive early game.
Wildfire change is huge, but it might be too late. Maybe there's some Fire support in the miniset that helps, but right now the only option to play the deck is to go full minions with Spell tutors, but Mage just doesn't have good enough minions. At least it now shows up from Wandmaker and is less awkward to play in the early game to set up for later turns. Would have loved to have this last expansion.
Mordresh change is unacceptable. He was a 10-mana 10/10 dealing 10 damage after pinging 10 times. He was perfect. And you ruined him. Jokes aside, this might be enough to make the Hero Power deck become "playable", but I doubt that a deck without efficient draw that relies on getting a single spell early enough for the rest of its deck to work is ever going to make it. Small upside: Warlock should be slow enough that you can now drop Mordresh on curve to wipe their lategame boards.
The Warrior buffs are nice, but I'm not sure they'll make a difference. The deck's minions were decent already, it just lacks some actual powerplays. It still won't beat Warlock or Shaman.
Frog Thrall is amazing, but I'm not gonna fork out money if I don't care about the other ones. Oh well, might become available seperately or for gold in the future.
because it's a sacred tradition that Rogue doesn't get any skins.
The Demon Seed gets banned for Wild, that much is a no-brainer.
Mindrender Illucia gets reworked, although it's unclear to what. Copying your opponent's hand was already done through Azalina Soulthief, so I doubt they're just going to copy the effect.
5 Nerfs is quite a lot. Runed Mithril Rod is probably on the list, as is Perpetual Flame. Maybe they're also looking at Canal Slogger, but I doubt it at this point. I'M assuming there'S at least one other nerf to Warlock, but I'm not sure what it would be. Perhaps [Hearthstone Card (Bloodshard Bristleback?) Not Found]. There's also a possibility that they'll nerf the Shaman Quest in some way, to slow down its progression. Really lost on what they could possibly touch in Demon Hunter though. I doubt they can nerf Il'gynoth a second time without just straight up reworking it. Does Irebound Brute actually get hit? And if so, how?
7 Buffs are also quite the amount and the fact that we know who's getting them makes things very interesting. I wonder if they include Barrens when they talk about recent archetypes. I'm guessing Quest Hunter might get some sort of nudge (although hopefully not too much, that deck is not weak by any means once it gets rolling and I don't want it to just become the next Quest Mage). Maybe they do the Lock and Load change that makes it only give spells. Maybe something about the Rats too. Warrior is difficult too evaluate because their biggest issue is just not having enough good cards to make the Quest work, despite the Quest itself being quite good (as evidenced by Wild). Maybe some of the Pirates get better stats, but that would be an indirect buff to Wild as well I think. Was there even a new Warrior archetype in Barrens other than Rush Warrior? Not sure what Mage buffs would look like at this point. Hoping for some love for Hero Power mage, and part of me is still holding out for some late help for Secret or Spell Power Mage.
End of the month. If you really want that bonus (which is quite nice to have, reaching Legend never felt this easy) you should just camp at that spot...although that's really boring and I wouldn't recommend it.
Unless you plan on playing garbage decks for the rest of the month it shouldn't be too hard to maintain your current rank until the end.
Broke: Playing Nozdormu in Constructed
Woke: Playing Nozdormu in the All-Star Squad Tavern Brawl
It hasn't moved fully because plenty of people still brought the Giants build, because it's a lot more consistent. The Fatigue version is just better against all the other fast combo decks that are often favored in tournaments.
I'm not sure if you even can master it. There's just so many immensly important decisions you have to make every turn while effectively guessing your coming turns because you can't influence draw RNG. The amount of time you'd need to properly evaluate every single turn is just too much for even veterans.
I'm also pretty sure the deck would have to be hotfix nerfed instantly if it was any easier because it can pretty much demolish any deck with very little counterplay other than slamming face and hoping they draw poorly.
because 100% data means nothing in terms of actual quality.
Everyone knows that at the lower ranks really bad decks can be viable because people either play bad decks themselves or are just bad at the game.
If we went by collective data then both Control Priest and LIfesteal DH would have had to be buffed last expansion because the total winrate would be far below 50%. The reason they pick top 1% is because that is were the most refined decklists piloteed by the most competent players are, which eventually trickles down and shapes the meta on the ranks where people have no idea how to build functional decks.
IN other words, 100% data is completely useless and probably would promote really bad decks (this is evident from whenever you check out Hsreplay without premium and see a bunch of bizarre decks like Big Demon Hunter with 50%+ winrate in Gold despite being objectively awful decks)