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Sprint even at 7 mana is still very useful considering how fast you burn through cards and stuff you draw from Espionage is 1 mana. So even at 7 mana you can possibly play 3 cards after if you're at 10 mana.
With prep it is only 4 mana, so you can end up playing 6 cards after.
Not having Hallucination isn't really a gamebreaker. It's just to have something to play at 1 mana and synergize with your deck. Besides it's only 40 dust to craft.
Here are some synergies/mulligans/tips you might find useful
Prep + Espionage = 1 mana, turn 1. That feeling of getting a DK to play on turn 2 for 1 mana is amazing.
If you have Prep, Espionage, Elekk in your opener, I usually wait till turn 4 to play all 3. If you're coining out, make sure to use it before you prep.
If you have Elekk + Espionage and no prep, I usually play Elekk turn 3 and Espionage turn 4. Playing Elekk on turn 3 makes your opponent panic usually trying to get it off the board. It's not the end of the world if they do since you have another one in your deck.
If you play Tess as another class' DK, you end up replaying all your rogue cards. Could be great as you get another dosage of Espionage, Sprint and Vanish. If you played those.
I run 1 lab recruiter and usually save it for 3 more copies of Tess. I only put it on the board otherwise if its absolutely necessary. (i.e combos, or impending loss). Unless you come across an amazing 1 mana card.
Double Espionage as Valeera for 8 mana instead of playing Elekk so you get a better variety of cards. Elekk puts copies into your deck.
Spectral Cutlass can be a lifesaver with the lifesteal if you can keep it alive and play double deadly poison on it.
This deck is definitely more to have fun than to be a tryhard winner so don't get too stressed and just enjoy yourself.
Good luck!
I really appreciate the write-up from everyone. Thanks again for all the help.
The prep, es, elekk, is such a great synergy that I constantly am looking for it. That or Myra, Prep, Esp, with Elekk on the board. That is a killer as all the cards are 1.
And I realize the benefit of Sprint with Prep after the above discussions.
Honestly, it's so weird that in casual I get all the great synergy and cards, but I move to ladder and get absolutely fucked that I swear the game is sentient and sticking it to me.
It is a fun deck but the swings, 1/12 games tonight--the RNG hates me with a passion--makes it a frustrating experience. There are better decks without so much random crap. Though as we are so close to rotation, I am not crafting shit until April.
The prep, es, elekk, is such a great synergy that I constantly am looking for it. That or Myra, Prep, Esp, with Elekk on the board. That is a killer as all the cards are 1.
And I realize the benefit of Sprint with Prep after the above discussions.
Honestly, it's so weird that in casual I get all the great synergy and cards, but I move to ladder and get absolutely fucked that I swear the game is sentient and sticking it to me.
It is a fun deck but the swings, 1/12 games tonight--the RNG hates me with a passion--makes it a frustrating experience. There are better decks without so much random crap. Though as we are so close to rotation, I am not crafting shit until April.
I think so, as it might have been a reboot. Frodan/TJ/Admirable/Sottle are still there; there was a new female caster who is really, really good too. And Blizz just hired a new guy to direct the team (forgot his name) who seems to know what he is doing.
HCT is in a few weeks and Worlds in a few months...we'll have a better picture after that. But I don't think this is a HotS situation. Maybe some else here has a different opinion?
This year will def be a test year. Hearthstone streaming isn't as popular anymore and as a result I expect we will see less viewership on tournament streams. If the trend continues I could see them discontinuing a lot of stuff next year. They won't get rid of it permanently -- I mean WoW still has esports, but downsizing it's importance makes sense.
I always thought that a healthy esports community drove HS to it's highs -- in total player count as well as viewership. With that on the downswing I don't really know what to expect from the game anymore.
I always thought that a healthy esports community drove HS to it's highs -- in total player count as well as viewership. With that on the downswing I don't really know what to expect from the game anymore.
Stagnation. I just want to play the game many years in the future. It would be a shame if they pulled the plug.
And an even worse shame if it's still profitable but not profitable ENOUGH. (Fuck shareholders.)
I really don't think that will happen (pull the plug), this game is among the most profitable among blizz (if not the most) precisely because of the low investment the have to make to develop for it, this is a goldmine for blizz, they can't afford to lose it.
They are even increasing 20% the devs on this game this year, that might help a lot
Agreed, but sometimes CEO decisions don't make sense. Though, the 20% increase (3 people?) is a good sign, I guess.
I would love if they'd add an in-game deck tracker. Not sure there's much demand for it but I mostly play on iOS and with certain decks it feels like it'd help a ton (playing Malygos Rogue right now and wishing I had it).
It's a bummer how few features they add to the game, at least the content comes at a steady drip.
EDIT: Was just one damage off lethal against an Odd Warrior. He had exact lethal on board for his turn. I need to tell myself I didn't miss any hits with dagger at the start... but I know the truth. Still felt cool doing 70 damage in one turn. If only I had an extra turn to create some razor petals.
It's a bummer how few features they add to the game, at least the content comes at a steady drip.
EDIT: Was just one damage off lethal against an Odd Warrior. He had exact lethal on board for his turn. I need to tell myself I didn't miss any hits with dagger at the start... but I know the truth. Still felt cool doing 70 damage in one turn. If only I had an extra turn to create some razor petals.
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at this point give me whatever mode you think about, the game is so stale, and it's getting stale faster with each expansion.
I like the idea too IF they'll put just a bit more effort in the balance. Like, how in the world is the Shaman shrine 2hp, while Warlock's OP one is 4. Are they directly taken from the PvE or something? Still haven't played it.
Word. Ayala posted today asking people "what would bring you back?" I hope they're developing things and not just thinking about them.
I actually suspect Blizzard will storm out on all fronts at BlizzCon this year after last year's chilly reception to most of their properties. Here's hoping a new mode, expansion and better QOL updates are all announced for HS.
Not sure if this blizzcon, but probably soon, they are expanding all of the dev teams of the games alive from blizz, something must get out of that dev increase.
I just hope that what ayala asked (i answered to him as well) is directly as a response to make HS better.
Las year's "In the Works" blog post is still fresh in my mind, basically they told us thet were working on nothing nore than expansions, by now they must know that isn't enough.
I think we'll see some improvements for sure. One of the things I think would help is rolling out QOL features even if they can't/won't be ready for iOS. The majority of competitive play happens on PC, so they would prioritize things like an in-game deck tracker for PC even if it won't be ready for other platforms right away.
I hesitate to say this since this is more personal experience maybe rather than anything else but I also personally think that at this point they need to make it easier to get cards in order to get people to start playing again. It's very easy to 'fall behind' and lose inertia in HS (any CCG, really) and once that happens it becomes much easier to not come back. I haven't experienced this as much because I've kept up, sorta, but I know the second I get off the treadmill I'm very unlikely to come back to the game. If I missed an expansion, for example, for me that would incentivize me never playing again, because I would be so far behind on the card count that I wouldn't bother. The same thing happened to me and plenty of people I know who used to play games like WoW -- as soon as I fell behind I quit for good.
Hearthstone is especially bad for this since the game tries to encourage you to play multiple decks from different classes. Games like Magic (at least when I played) were more based around perfecting one or two decks that you played. HS wants you to play every class and that makes it so that you need a bigger percentage of relevant cards.
That is to say, if Hearthstone is a treadmill to get all cards then stepping off the treadmill makes it really easy for you to not get back on. They need to find a solution to that. I'm not sure how to do that -- I mean, I've got suggestions but they all involve pissing off people who paid for those sets so I don't think they are the best solutions.
I hesitate to say this since this is more personal experience maybe rather than anything else but I also personally think that at this point they need to make it easier to get cards in order to get people to start playing again. It's very easy to 'fall behind' and lose inertia in HS (any CCG, really) and once that happens it becomes much easier to not come back. I haven't experienced this as much because I've kept up, sorta, but I know the second I get off the treadmill I'm very unlikely to come back to the game. If I missed an expansion, for example, for me that would incentivize me never playing again, because I would be so far behind on the card count that I wouldn't bother. The same thing happened to me and plenty of people I know who used to play games like WoW -- as soon as I fell behind I quit for good.
Hearthstone is especially bad for this since the game tries to encourage you to play multiple decks from different classes. Games like Magic (at least when I played) were more based around perfecting one or two decks that you played. HS wants you to play every class and that makes it so that you need a bigger percentage of relevant cards.
That is to say, if Hearthstone is a treadmill to get all cards then stepping off the treadmill makes it really easy for you to not get back on. They need to find a solution to that. I'm not sure how to do that -- I mean, I've got suggestions but they all involve pissing off people who paid for those sets so I don't think they are the best solutions.
I actually like this new format, on first impression. It seems like something I wouldn't mind competing in.
It also seems like something that could be leading to an in game tournament mode under this format.
It also seems like something that could be leading to an in game tournament mode under this format.
The new format is way better. I think pros will love it. Take someone like Fibonacci, he can just exclusively play warrior now. There is so much more skill to this than conquest and playing rock paper scissors. The tech cards will be valuable now and players can focus on choosing and learning their class rather than playing 3 classes not so well. It will impact set designs for sure too. Now they have to be conscious of hard counters existing in the game and include cards in the set that can be teched for anything. That's what people hate the most right now, not having answers. I expect a lot more wacky cards like Zihi in future.
The one thing I don't like is having to start out with your primary deck. Maybe there are reasons for it, but it kind of hurts the purpose of a sideboard in my opinion.
However, I can see it being useful in that at least you know exactly what deck your opponent is running initially. I wonder if people will still be posting their deck lists before tournaments.
If they ever introduce this to ranked, I think they would have to let you choose any deck before you start, which would be dope.
However, I can see it being useful in that at least you know exactly what deck your opponent is running initially. I wonder if people will still be posting their deck lists before tournaments.
If they ever introduce this to ranked, I think they would have to let you choose any deck before you start, which would be dope.
I think it's really gonna depend on rotation and if they scale back the power levels of decks with the next few expansions. Hopefully they've learned something.
I really enjoy midrange decks but there can still be holes in their gameplans that I don't think could be covered by tech cards. Even if there is, the other player is gonna have tech of their own.
But whether or not this change works out, something needs to change, so why not try it. The game is getting stale as fuck and I welcome fucking anything.
I am INTENSELY skeptical of the Specialist format and predict that it will further exacerbate competitive staleness. When a particular deck emerges as the strongest (as they always do), you will see nothing but variations of that deck. At least with Conquest, we saw multiple classes across one set.
Additionally, while 5 cards is numerically a significant portion of a 30 card deck, the odds of drawing a meaningful quantity of those 5 cards is on the low side. That means that, despite the different cards, it's fairly likely that watching a Secondary or Tertiary deck will be nearly identical to watching a Primary deck (especially when Hero Powers have such a high impact on gameplay right now).
Additionally, while 5 cards is numerically a significant portion of a 30 card deck, the odds of drawing a meaningful quantity of those 5 cards is on the low side. That means that, despite the different cards, it's fairly likely that watching a Secondary or Tertiary deck will be nearly identical to watching a Primary deck (especially when Hero Powers have such a high impact on gameplay right now).
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Have you guys chosen your champion for the Winter Championship yet?
I picked bunnyhoppor just because he recently got his doctorate and because I like to watch him play.
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/esports/tournament/hct-winter-championship-2019
I picked bunnyhoppor just because he recently got his doctorate and because I like to watch him play.
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/esports/tournament/hct-winter-championship-2019
Class variety is overrated. I want to see skilled players making interesting decisions. Conquest really doesn't allow for much of that.
Yeah but you have to think about average viewers. Most viewers won't want to see the same class over and over regardless of how good the match may be.
It's like how most people would feel about watching a Guile mirror in Street Fighter. I can enjoy that because they can be really slow, methodical, and intense, but most viewers see nothing but a couple of guys crouching and throwing sonic booms. Residentsleeper, etc
I actually always saw the staleness as a result of the conquest format. With 2 players having to bring up to 4 decks, you basically get the whole meta in a single series. Each series is the same stuff over and over and over. It's soooo dull.
A more "normal" format might lose a deck here and there, but paces this out a bit better imo. It also makes it easier for player to profile themselves better, which allows for better story lines and such.
Most importly, it acutally forces Blizzard to be pro-active and general better with balancing, since they can't rely on the format to drown major balance issues.
A more "normal" format might lose a deck here and there, but paces this out a bit better imo. It also makes it easier for player to profile themselves better, which allows for better story lines and such.
Most importly, it acutally forces Blizzard to be pro-active and general better with balancing, since they can't rely on the format to drown major balance issues.
When you watch a streamer, they are usually playing one deck for a long time. I don't see an issue.
I picked Viper. He has a strong aggressive lineup into a field that is largely anti control. The dude brought murlocs I got to support that.
I think it's easier to attack one strong deck than an array of 3 decks. This means that the meta should actually be more dynamic.
I think it's easier to attack one strong deck than an array of 3 decks. This means that the meta should actually be more dynamic.
Until chat whines and bitches for them to switch decks lol.
That's an alright point though. I didn't consider that since most of the streamers I watch change their decks pretty frequently.
Decided to play some ranked this month. On a nice little run right now (21-3) from rank 8 to 3 with a slightly modified Secret Odd Mage. Playing it like it's an aggro deck and only making trades when absolutely necessary. Only really has problems with Priests with perfect draws. Great deck!
I have 2700 dust just chilling on my Hunter f2p account made like one month ago with a fully built mid-range list.
If you want to be f2p, create a Gmail account. Then create 9 hearthstone accounts where you add +classname to the end of your Gmail name. Google ignores anything that comes after the plus sign but Blizzard doesn't.
Once you get through the tutorials, you have an extremely viable way to play f2p. You dust everything that sucks or is for another class. You won't likely be able to make multiple expensive variants, but you will take far better advantage of their giveaways with this method.
If you want to be f2p, create a Gmail account. Then create 9 hearthstone accounts where you add +classname to the end of your Gmail name. Google ignores anything that comes after the plus sign but Blizzard doesn't.
Once you get through the tutorials, you have an extremely viable way to play f2p. You dust everything that sucks or is for another class. You won't likely be able to make multiple expensive variants, but you will take far better advantage of their giveaways with this method.
I am playing a wall priest deck right now and secret odd mage is the toughest deck I run up against. If I can survive past turn 8 I will win but surviving early is brutal.
It's definitely one of the better decks this meta and pretty fun to play.
Neat-o. And if it can wipe out Priest decks, I'll probably craft it. Two more months of Odd Rogue will be the death of me.
It's pretty much favored in almost all Priest match ups.
https://hsreplay.net/archetypes/273/secret-odd-mage#tab=matchups
I think it's specifically to punish certain degenerate strategies. By forcing both players to start with the 'midpoint' deck you prioritize making that a strong deck that can generally perform well against the field. Trying to focus on the two decks that can be as many as 10 cards different from each other is a strategy that can put you down 0-1 to start and risk you the series.
There are a bunch of new keywords since LoE. Adapt, Recruit, Overkill, Echo, Magnetic, and Rush. There might be others. They've also made some keywords to simply existing card text, like "Casts when drawn", "Lifesteal," and "Enrage." Elementals are a tribe now.
Hearthpwn's expansion guides are pretty good resources to read about the mechanics that have come in. You don't want to start buying packs right now, because we're about a month or two away from rotation and a new expansion. So the only expansion that will still be in the game will be Witchwood, Boomsday Project, and Rastakhan's Rumble, plus whatever the new expansion is.
They've introduced legendary weapons and legendary spells, and every class now has one or more hero cards that can replace the starting hero. The legendary weapons and most of the heroes are about to rotate out. They also introduced quests, which will rotate out as well.
They've also introduced an odd/even mechanic, which is really driving the meta right now. Basically, if you create a deck of all even cards (and include Genn Greymane), your hero power starts the game costing only 1 mana. If your deck is all odd cards (and you include Baku), you start with an upgraded hero power (it's the same upgraded power from Justicar Trueheart, if you remember that card). This mechanic will stick around for another year.
Apparently a bunch of streamers and pros just went to a Hearthstone summit yesterday, and they're super excited about the "large changes coming" both short and long term.
Reminder that the last time a summit like this happened, Blizzard announced Standard & Wild. Really psyched to hear what's in store.
Reminder that the last time a summit like this happened, Blizzard announced Standard & Wild. Really psyched to hear what's in store.
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