Hearthstone 15: The Doctor has Left the Building.

[PsyBomb]

I can also vouch for the Twin Emperors being grossly powerful. Coming from Zoo, my normal attack values peak at 5, which means each copy takes actual resources to bring down. Same is true of most aggressive decks (Shaman and Hunter, notably). When used properly it's more than a speed bump, it creates a 3-4 for one trade on its own.

EDIT: And consider me a sixth vote for "Ia Ia C'thun Fhtagn"

[Qwertystop]

Hearthstone 16: Ia Ia C'Thun Fhtagn!

I know it's a bit late, but given the general tone of Hearthstone I would advise writing it out phonetically (keeping in mind that the original is be "Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"): "Yay! Yay! C'Thun Fhtagn!"

[Gray Mage]

So, not sure if someone posted that already, but fun fact. If you Entomb C'Thul and the opponent plays C'Thun buffs, it buffs him in your deck.

[Infernally Clay]

Renounce Darkness summed up:

Play Renounce Darkness, get Rogue. Get Sinister Strike x3, Shadowstep, Pit Snake, Shady Dealer with no other Pirates...etc etc. Get curbstomped.

Play Renounce Darkness, get Paladin. Get Tyrion into Ragnaros Lightlord x2, finish with Seal of Champions + Divine Might for a 22/8 Ragnaros with divine shield. Stompy stompy.

--------

It's like playing a freaking Randomium Tavern Brawl every game. It's hilarious and scarily effective - won 10, lost 4, in the 15-rank range that is a match to my skill level normally.

That Rogue one is the first where the Renounce itself lost me the match. The other 3 were lost because I simply never drew it, and a 30 Warlock-card deck just can't compete into the lategame.

I guess it makes sense. Rogue isn't the sort of class that benefits all that much from a mana discount but something like Druid or Paladin definitely would.

[Legoshrimp]

I guess it makes sense. Rogue isn't the sort of class that benefits all that much from a mana discount but something like Druid or Paladin definitely would.

I think it was more that he got terrible rogue cards, not rogue. Although rogue might have more terrible cards then other classes.

[PsyBomb]

I guess it makes sense. Rogue isn't the sort of class that benefits all that much from a mana discount but something like Druid or Paladin definitely would.

I don't know, if you end up with a fist full of combo cards that discount could get vicious. It's like getting a free tick of Thaurissan on everything. Malygos is generic, though, so you aren't going to get it randomly.

EDIT: I'm discovering the big secret to beating C'thun Warrior/Priest/Druid as aggro/zoo is really just an emphasis on the old style. You HAVE to keep them off the board at all costs. Just before their turn 10, flood out the field to soak the blast and pray they don't have another AoE waiting (or else just run sticky minions, accept no substitutes for Horserider). If it drops, so be it, you need to have gotten them low enough to be within a turn or two of kill post-C'thun and just freaking blitz past it. Couple of small taunts do just as much work as a big one, just need to delay it long enough to kill. Sudden burst really is your best friend as well.

[neriractor]

EDIT: I'm discovering the big secret to beating C'thun Warrior/Priest/Druid as aggro/zoo is really just an emphasis on the old style. You HAVE to keep them off the board at all costs. Just before their turn 10, flood out the field to soak the blast and pray they don't have another AoE waiting (or else just run sticky minions, accept no substitutes for Horserider). If it drops, so be it, you need to have gotten them low enough to be within a turn or two of kill post-C'thun and just freaking blitz past it. Couple of small taunts do just as much work as a big one, just need to delay it long enough to kill. Sudden burst really is your best friend as well.

you and every other zoolock apparently, my c´thun priest seems strong against most classes (especially against other c´thun decks where thoughtsteal becomes really good) but every zoolock I´ve found has crushed me easily, the rest of the aggro decks I´ve no problem dealing with but zoolock is too good at maintaining a board and killing every minion before I can develop mine.

[PsyBomb]

you and every other zoolock apparently, my c´thun priest seems strong against most classes (especially against other c´thun decks where thoughtsteal becomes really good) but every zoolock I´ve found has crushed me easily, the rest of the aggro decks I´ve no problem dealing with but zoolock is too good at maintaining a board and killing every minion before I can develop mine.

Worshipper, Twin Emperors, and similar are the keys to killing Zoo. If you drop an Emperor that clones and I don't already have you completely dead to rights, you probably won. Disciple of C'thun and Excavated Evil are also disproportionately effective, since Zoo fields (other than Doomguard) are going to have low toughness. Also, for the purpose of assessing risk in the end-game, assume every second card they have after a Tap can add 4 damage (PO/SF).

[Joran]

I guess it makes sense. Rogue isn't the sort of class that benefits all that much from a mana discount but something like Druid or Paladin definitely would.

Unless you get this set of cards from Renounce Darkness. (Made its rounds on Reddit)

http://i.imgur.com/PPdX5tO.jpg

[Rosstin]

I feel pretty confident that Zoo will be the "deck to beat" for at least a couple weeks.

[Mando Knight]

Apparently when you have Fandral on the board, Dark Wispers (the GvG card) can buff your face. Which makes your face a 5/35 Taunt.

[PsyBomb]

I feel pretty confident that Zoo will be the "deck to beat" for at least a couple weeks.

And here I was assuming Midrange C'thun Druid and Aggro Shaman.

[tonberrian]

Apparently when you have Fandral on the board, Dark Wispers (the GvG card) can buff your face. Which makes your face a 5/35 Taunt.

Face is buff.

[Grytorm]

I would guess, from your observations and my own experiences. It might be C'thun Midrange Druid and Zoolock.

[Anarion]

Apparently when you have Fandral on the board, Dark Wispers (the GvG card) can buff your face. Which makes your face a 5/35 Taunt.

Hahahahaha! Oh wow that is amazing. Terrible and likely to get fixed, but so amazing.

[Mando Knight]

And here I was assuming Midrange C'thun Druid and Aggro Shaman.

I would guess, from your observations and my own experiences. It might be C'thun Midrange Druid and Zoolock.

Zoolock lost little that it didn't get replacements for (Possessed Villager is half a Haunted Creeper, Forbidden Ritual loses the direct damage aspect to Imp-losion but lets you dial-a-yield the summoning aspect, and while nice the Nerubian Eggs were never the cornerstone of the deck), and gained Darkshire Councilman (which gets crazy when combined with a decent Forbidden Ritual), so it makes sense that it holds its place in the meta, at least for now.

[neriractor]

Worshipper, Twin Emperors, and similar are the keys to killing Zoo. If you drop an Emperor that clones and I don't already have you completely dead to rights, you probably won. Disciple of C'thun and Excavated Evil are also disproportionately effective, since Zoo fields (other than Doomguard) are going to have low toughness. Also, for the purpose of assessing risk in the end-game, assume every second card they have after a Tap can add 4 damage (PO/SF).

thanks for the advice, I´ll try some more decks and then craft the emperor if I feel like playing more c´thun, I think I´ll trade some of the cards I´m running for excavated evil anyway, been considering that one for a while, and is a pretty good boardclear for the deck.

[Joran]

Zoolock lost little that it didn't get replacements for (Possessed Villager is half a Haunted Creeper, Forbidden Ritual loses the direct damage aspect to Imp-losion but lets you dial-a-yield the summoning aspect, and while nice the Nerubian Eggs were never the cornerstone of the deck), and gained Darkshire Councilman (which gets crazy when combined with a decent Forbidden Ritual), so it makes sense that it holds its place in the meta, at least for now.

I agree, though it feels a tad weaker than it was before. The lack of Eggs and Imp-losion means that there are fewer major tempo swings. Before, with egg + PO, Zoo could remove a large minion and also develop a 4/4; the replacement 1/1 than turns into a 5/5 is too slow. Also, I noticed that I don't worry about my 2 health minions against an empty zoo board anymore; they can't Imp-losion it so I'm guaranteed value.

On the flip side, there's fewer BGHs for the Sea Giants that Zoo runs.

[PsyBomb]

I agree, though it feels a tad weaker than it was before. The lack of Eggs and Imp-losion means that there are fewer major tempo swings. Before, with egg + PO, Zoo could remove a large minion and also develop a 4/4; the replacement 1/1 than turns into a 5/5 is too slow. Also, I noticed that I don't worry about my 2 health minions against an empty zoo board anymore; they can't Imp-losion it so I'm guaranteed value.

On the flip side, there's fewer BGHs for the Sea Giants that Zoo runs.

I will say that Ritual Zoo is a different animal than pre-WotOG Zoo. Ton of synergies in Ritual, which makes it much more dangerous if they get set up. Not as explosive, though, I don't see them running much that's good from an empty board.

EDIT: I will note that Zoo is remarkably difficult to keep off the board entirely due to their tempo and resource advantage over most decks, so getting the setup synergy for a Ritual isn't as hard as it may sound. Goes double in the late-game, where I've watched Juggler-Councilman-Ritual go off for major pain.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I guess it makes sense. Rogue isn't the sort of class that benefits all that much from a mana discount but something like Druid or Paladin definitely would.

Rogue would actually love a mana discount, so long as you have minions to play! Rogue's schtick is tempo-efficiency, and a mana reduction just pushes their tempo-efficiency from good to ridiculous.

Speaking of Rogue, turns out that drafting triple Shadow Strike is preeeeeetty good. 4-0 right now. It's easily Rogue's big winner of the entire expansion. It came at the cost of losing their good AoE in the form of Blade Flurry + Tinker's, but it is a fantastic tempo swing (because a lot of 5-health minions cost more than 3 mana), and AoE matters far less in Arena.

[Joran]

I will say that Ritual Zoo is a different animal than pre-WotOG Zoo. Ton of synergies in Ritual, which makes it much more dangerous if they get set up. Not as explosive, though, I don't see them running much that's good from an empty board.

EDIT: I will note that Zoo is remarkably difficult to keep off the board entirely due to their tempo and resource advantage over most decks, so getting the setup synergy for a Ritual isn't as hard as it may sound. Goes double in the late-game, where I've watched Juggler-Councilman-Ritual go off for major pain.

I agree, the difficulty keeping them off the board increased because the removal for 4 health minions was decreased, so Imp Gang Boss and Councilman (5 hp!) are better. Paladins are less plentiful so Truesilvers are gone, Death's Bite and Flamecannons are also gone; Paladins were one of the few classes that could keep Zoo off the board with an even better early game.

P.S. I vote for the Madness one because I don't understand the other one other than knowing it's a reference to Cthulu.

[Zevox]

New thread is up.