Hearthstone 16: Ia Ia! C'thun Fhtagn!

[The Glyphstone]

Well this Brawl is just weird as hell. A Goldfish match?

[Anarion]

For the past month or so, I haven't been able to get past rank 14 in standard, 18 in wild. I've had a lot of really bad arena runs(fewer than 3 wins,) too.

Post your favorite deck list. Several of those archetypes can take you further, but even small variations in the list from the "standard" net deck will affect your match ups. You see close to 50% of your deck in every game of hearthstone even without running card draw, so every card matters.

[Thialfi]

I built a priest deck for this brawl. I got to 242 damage. Holy Champion is an absolute beast here. I would have gotten higher, but I put in two Cabal Shadow Priests, two Stampeding Kodo, and the Black Knight to deal with taunt minions and he summoned one in 19 turns. I also put in two Younthful Brewmasters thinking that I would combo that with Acidic Swamp Ooze or Harrison Jones and that didn't work out with my pulls.

[PsyBomb]

Well this Brawl is just weird as hell. A Goldfish match?

Useful to test things with, but I'm not even sure what's supposed to constitute a victory. Played twice. Got overrun the first time and conceded to get on with it, but the second time I had it at 26 damage when it randomly exploded in the middle of his turn.

EDIT: Figured it out, and it's kinda funny and kinda stupid at the same time. ANY completed game counts as a win, regardless of if you do anything at all to Stormwind. If you have class quests you don't like or a class you need to level, just make a suicide deck and blitz games.

[Hamste]

I wish I had Kel'Thuzad for this brawl. A divine taunt deck with weapon removal, silence and Mal'Ganis may be able to survive till draw.

[The Glyphstone]

My best so far is Priest, scoring 343 damage by turn 33 (Fatigue #9), killing 44 minions along the way.

Had KT out, but then he dropped an Enter The Colliseum and wiped me. So Mal"Ganis+KT probably wont work either.

[Hamste]

Faceless manipulator copies the opponent's card and activates the battle cry again. That could be useful.

[PsyBomb]

Faceless manipulator copies the opponent's card and activates the battle cry again. That could be useful.

Yeah, noticed that the battlecry triggers when they enter the field at all, such as when Resurrect hits them. Coding nightmare trying to get that working when they're only summoned off the Hero Power.

[Hamste]

I also can't wait till someone sets up the infinite damage mage combo (There is sadly still a time limit). Ice block never activates.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

So...I believe Druid may be the fastest "kill yourself" class, beating out even Warlock, which I wasn't expecting.

If you want fast games this Brawl and you can play Druid, stock up on all minion empowerment spells and just cast them on your opponents minions while slamming your face into one as often as possible.

[gomipile]

Post your favorite deck list. Several of those archetypes can take you further, but even small variations in the list from the "standard" net deck will affect your match ups. You see close to 50% of your deck in every game of hearthstone even without running card draw, so every card matters.

Here's the midrange Shaman I've been using:

Shaman cards:
Rockbiter Weapon x2
Tunnel Trogg x2
Flametongue Totem x2
Totem Golem x2
Feral Spirit x2
Hex x2
Lightning Storm x2
Mana Tide Totem x1
Tuskarr Totemic x2
Flamewreathed Faceless x2
Bloodlust x1
Doomhammer x1
Thing From Below x1

Neutral cards:
Argent Squire x2
Flame Juggler x2
Cult Master x1
Azure Drake x2


I think that's everything. I wish there was an easy way to copy it from the game other than a screenshot.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

At first glance, I would swap out Cult Master for another Thing From Below (because it's just that good, and you already have all the card draw you could possibly want). Argent Squire also feels a little out-of-place, just because it's so much faster than the rest of your deck. Maybe swap out 2x of those for double Thunder Bluff Valiant?

I'm also honestly not sold on Doomhammer in non-aggro Shaman, because your burst tends to come from Bloodlust or from simply building up enough board value that you win.

[Rodin]

Here's the midrange Shaman I've been using:

<decklist>

I think that's everything. I wish there was an easy way to copy it from the game other than a screenshot.

Just based off of what I've seen from watching tournaments, the big missing cards there are Thunderbluff Valiant and a second Thing from Below. The cards which you have that aren't normally run are Cult Master and Azure Drake.

I also think that Flamewreathed Faceless are often considered more of an Aggro card due to the killer overload, but I'm less certain on that front as I'm not familiar with all the Midrange variations.

[boomwolf]

My C'thun priest kept going to turn 30 with 453 damage (and 40 kills), and then I had to surrender after a lightbombs took out my board, with no cards left in the deck.
Mind you said board was two 29/29 cthuns plus a 22/22 swordsmen I stole. but the stormwind defenders just kept outgrowing even them, so even without lightbombs I wouldn't have lasted long.

Intresting brawl in an case. probably a test for something in a future adventure.

And apperantly if you concede, you don't get a win.

And rouge is rather good at getting itself killed.

[Kish]

Winning three Brawl matches doesn't seem to get me 10 gold. Pity.

[Yael]

So, is there a tribal tag left that I didn't know about?

Mrrghrlrhrlhrlhr

[boomwolf]

Well, seems to go into the same deck the curator wants to do.

A deck that has a bit of every tribe, rather than a focused deck.

Doubt it will actually happen though.

[gomipile]

Oops, I accidentally wrote x1 next to Thing From Below instead of x2. There were 2 in the deck, and the above list is only 29 cards.

So, now I've got:

[QUOTE=gomipile;21067577]Here's the midrange Shaman I've been using:

Shaman cards:
Rockbiter Weapon x2
Tunnel Trogg x2
Flametongue Totem x2
Totem Golem x2
Feral Spirit x2
Hex x2
Lightning Storm x2
Mana Tide Totem x1
Tuskarr Totemic x2
Flamewreathed Faceless x2
Bloodlust x1
Doomhammer x1
Thunder Bluff Valiant x2
Thing From Below x2

Neutral cards:
Flame Juggler x2
Cult Master x1
Azure Drake x2

If the Azure Drake and Cult Master should go, what would be better in their place? It's already curved a bit heavier than most midrange decks I've played since season 1.

[The Glyphstone]

Do you think they're setting up for multi-tribed cards? A Murloc Mech, or Dragon Beast?

[Anarion]

Here's the midrange Shaman I've been using:

Shaman cards:
Rockbiter Weapon x2
Tunnel Trogg x2
Flametongue Totem x2
Totem Golem x2
Feral Spirit x2
Hex x2
Lightning Storm x2
Mana Tide Totem x1
Tuskarr Totemic x2
Flamewreathed Faceless x2
Bloodlust x1
Doomhammer x1
Thing From Below x1

Neutral cards:
Argent Squire x2
Flame Juggler x2
Cult Master x1
Azure Drake x2


I think that's everything. I wish there was an easy way to copy it from the game other than a screenshot.

Let's compare. Here's a net deck version.

You'll note that the net deck there is fairly heavily teched, I think that's because midrange has actually been doing poorly recently and needs to go more top-end heavy with cards like Al'Akir and fire elemental as well as the thunder bluff valiants you're missing and the second Thing from Below. There's a fair amount of cheap stuff you could cut like the squires and flame jugglers (the deck keeps one squire to provide early control in combination with flametongue totem).

I'd actually suggest that you switch tactics though and move your deck towards aggro shaman, since it's both cheaper to craft and a bit more consistent in its draws. Playing a midrange shaman right now is a very difficult deck and success requires knowing how to use your tech cards to best value based on the matchup.

Aggro shaman looks like this

You'll note that it's actually closer to your current shell than midrange is in many ways, the main thing being to cut some of the control stuff like lightning storm and hex for offense like lava burst and lightning bolt. You would also cut the cult master and the bloodlust for more consistent top end like the second doomhammer and thing from below. And then the azure drakes get cut for abusive sergeant to boost the aggro part of the deck.

edit: By the by, your list only adds up to 29 cards at the moment, so you're missing something. Oh you fixed that. So yeah, 2nd thing from below is great. I'd definitely urge focusing the deck on aggro and cutting your miscellaneous stuff to get the consistent double doomhammer and early aggro cards that will let you play the strong net deck version. Learn to play that well and how it wins games, then you can start varying it.

[gomipile]

Let's compare. Here's a net deck version.

You'll note that the net deck there is fairly heavily teched, I think that's because midrange has actually been doing poorly recently and needs to go more top-end heavy with cards like Al'Akir and fire elemental as well as the thunder bluff valiants you're missing and the second Thing from Below. There's a fair amount of cheap stuff you could cut like the squires and flame jugglers (the deck keeps one squire to provide early control in combination with flametongue totem).

I'd actually suggest that you switch tactics though and move your deck towards aggro shaman, since it's both cheaper to craft and a bit more consistent in its draws. Playing a midrange shaman right now is a very difficult deck and success requires knowing how to use your tech cards to best value based on the matchup.

Aggro shaman looks like this

You'll note that it's actually closer to your current shell than midrange is in many ways, the main thing being to cut some of the control stuff like lightning storm and hex for offense like lava burst and lightning bolt. You would also cut the cult master and the bloodlust for more consistent top end like the second doomhammer and thing from below. And then the azure drakes get cut for abusive sergeant to boost the aggro part of the deck.

By the by, your list only adds up to 29 cards at the moment, so you're missing something.

It was a second Thing From Below, as I commented in an edit just now.

So, throwing out my list entirely, are there some improvements to be made to the Tempo Storm midrange list?

[Kish]

Do you think they're setting up for multi-tribed cards? A Murloc Mech, or Dragon Beast?

It seems contraindicated by the new cards, not suggested by them. If you're planning for the Curator to draw a specific Murloc, Dragon, and Beast out of your deck, it could ruin your deck for the Curator to randomly decide the one you were counting on being drawn as a Dragon is a Beast instead.

[Rodin]

Zoobot seems kinda bad just because it requires you have a board already. If you just have one of the minions, it's just a worse Shattered Sun Cleric. So, to make it worthwhile, you would need at least two out of 3 of Dragon/Murloc/Beast...on turn 3, if you hope to get it out on curve. That seems hopelessly optimistic, especially if the deck is a known type. See: Beasts getting nuked in Hunter to prevent a Houndmaster turn 4.

Sure, you can play it later, but even then the bonus is kinda underwhelming. Again assuming 2 out of 3 for most decks, the effect is similar to Defender of Argus - +2/+2 in stats on hitting the board, with the benefit of being 1 mana cheaper but with the downside of the minions lacking taunt.

I'm very doubtful that it's good enough except for in a deck built around it and Curator...in which case, you would actually need a deck built around that to be viable in the first place. Personally, I'm not seeing it.

[PsyBomb]

So, is there a tribal tag left that I didn't know about?

Mrrghrlrhrlhrlhr

That's worth casting if it hits one. It's good if it hits two. It's INCREDIBLE if it gets all three. Better than Shattered Sun Cleric in a deck where this can happen reliably.

[Anarion]

It was a second Thing From Below, as I commented in an edit just now.

So, throwing out my list entirely, are there some improvements to be made to the Tempo Storm midrange list?

Their suggestion is that you might cut a thunder bluff valiant for a flame juggler if you're seeing a lot of aggro. I'd be pretty hesitant to make that cut unless I was seeing tremendous amounts of zoo, specifically.

As far as cards that could go, I'd say thunder bluff and fire elemental on the top side could each have 1 copy potentially cut, and that the squire, the horserider, and the stormcrack are all potential cuts on the low side. I think the stormcrack is better than second lightning bolt though. You could consider cutting the squire for ancestral knowledge if the meta slows down, or any of those cards for a copy of flamewreathed faceless if you want something a bit more mid-range. The singelton bloodlust might also fit over the stormcrack if you're not feeling the need for early removal and you want a finisher.

If you're looking to improve your play and you're committed to the archetype, I'd suggest you make the exact net deck first, though. Play some games and learn how the deck plays (ranked is better than normals, but expect to lose a lot at first after making a lot of deck changes).

I haven't played that midrange deck myself, but I have some guesses about the use of the cards. If you look at the popular lists, stormcrack is clearly there to kill totem golems in the mirror and Blackwing Corruptors in dragon decks, and, if you get lucky with wrath of air totem, violet teachers or Fandral Staghelm from druid. Dont' waste it early if you don't have to. Squire combos with flametongue, trogg with totem golem. Totem golem is your best starting card (not trogg, golem) always keep it. Rockbiter is best used as early removal against aggro decks, especially warlock zoo, but is best held against midrange and control. Rockbiter offers the most burst in the deck, doomhammer with 2 rockbiters is 16 damage in one turn, which can enable wins out of nowhere against decks like priest and control warrior. Never lay flametongue totem on an empty board, it's only good if it gets value the turn it's played or if you can lay taunts in the way of it. Taunts, plural, with an S. Thunder bluff valiant is best played, not held (though opinions may vary here), whereas fire elemental is best held, not played. I'm not sure when the best time is to use Al'Akir, usually when it's a surprise win, but there might be value trades with him, I don't really know.

[Nerocite]

Unlike adventure bosses, Sideshow Spelleater works on this brawl, and is super good.

[Hamste]

Unlike adventure bosses, Sideshow Spelleater works on this brawl, and is super good.

:O That makes me wish I didn't disenchant that.

[Zevox]

So, this week's Brawl is single-player? That's confusing. Seems kinda pointless to me. They should've just deployed this as a new practice mode or something, since testing stuff seems like all it would be good for.

One-and-done.

[Yael]

So, this week's Brawl is single-player? That's confusing. Seems kinda pointless to me. They should've just deployed this as a new practice mode or something, since testing stuff seems like all it would be good for.

One-and-done.

Well, it counts for class-misions, and it's relatively easy to achieve those even with classes you don't tend to play, so it's good.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Zoobot seems kinda bad just because it requires you have a board already. If you just have one of the minions, it's just a worse Shattered Sun Cleric. So, to make it worthwhile, you would need at least two out of 3 of Dragon/Murloc/Beast...on turn 3, if you hope to get it out on curve. That seems hopelessly optimistic, especially if the deck is a known type. See: Beasts getting nuked in Hunter to prevent a Houndmaster turn 4.

Uhhhhh it's a 3-mana 3/3 that gives another minion +1/+1. Possibly multiple minions. That's not worse than Shattered Sun Cleric, that's better.