Hearthstone 21: We DO take candle!

[Joran]

Ah, alright. Well, there is exactly such a card, from the last expansion: Eternal Servitude. 4 mana, discover a friendly minion that died this game and summon it. It's currently a key card in Big Priest and tends to be in Raza Priest as well, and those are two of the best decks in the meta. Or at least, were before the new expansion hit - we're still too early in that to say for sure what the meta will be, although at least at the moment it doesn't seem like Raza Priest is going anywhere.

Eternal Servitude is assuredly not in Raza Priest. Raza Priest usually doesn't play big minions and has a bunch of small minions you wouldn't want to resurrect (Gnomish Inventor, Novice Engineer, Acolyte of Pain, Northshire Cleric, etc). At best you may get a Obsidian Statue (which tends to be too slow for Raza Priest), but the discover isn't guaranteed and you'd need to actually play the Obsidian Statue for full cost.

A lot of Eternal Servitudes power is tied up in being able to cheat out a big minion using Barnes or Shadow Essence and then resurrecting it the next turn.

That's sometimes true, sometimes not. But the thing that surprises me the most is that it's still week 1 of the expansion - I expect this to be the experimental phase, where just about everyone is running something that's heavy on the new cards, even if it's not a totally new archetype. Seems strange to run into so many that aren't.

Also forgot one other match I had, but that was just a Zoolock that overran me very fast. Didn't see any new cards from him, but I was dead by turn 5 anyway, so that doesn't necessarily mean they weren't there.

I'm still in the "wait for people to figure out the good decks, then copy them so I can save my dust" phase. Jade Druid still works.

So far, the new decks I've played against have been Spell Hunter, Dragon Priest (not much seen last expansion), Aggro Paladin (not murlocs) and Control Warlock with the Recruit a Demon and the Voidlord. I also haven't played much ladder.

[Cespenar]

I take back what I said earlier about it not being fun, but it doesn't change that some of the classes are an uphill battle. It took me AGES to win with rogue.

Yep, Rogue is proving rather tough for me as well. Only 4 tries with it so far, but it still seems pretty weak compared to the other broken combos you can pull with the other classes.

Oh, also a moment of shame: I lost to freakin' A. F. Kay with a Mage.

[ChaosOS]

Up to 7/9 - Shaman I beat with double battlecries and a ton of jades, and Warlock I beat with the Scepter of Summoning + Permanent Stealth + Giants

[The Glyphstone]

7/9. Beat The Darkness on my first try with a hybrid Spell/Dragon Priest - rolling Alexstraza off my Bone Drake was the game-winning hilarity move. Also had a lot of fun with Gutmook; my Lyra Sunshard went down before Gutmook dropped Millhouse Manastorm, and I proceeded to mill his entire deck in a single turn while spawning a full board of 5/5s off Dragon Soul.

[Sholos]

Beat The Darkness with Druid, double flag and the hilt of the sword. Was a long fight that went to fatigue because of how much freaking removal Darkness packs. Still pulled the win, though. My double battlecry Jade Druid was sadly stopped short by the boss who recruits minions for both players. And then got Avina off of Rotface. That game didn't go well.

[Cespenar]

Are everyone else's last two classes are Rogue and Warrior as well?

[otakuryoga]

i am slacking...still only beaten it with 2(priest and shaman)

[Beelzebub1111]

I've only beatn with paladin and Warlock. The candle is great if you have a lot of card draw.

[Seerow]

Are everyone else's last two classes are Rogue and Warrior as well?

Rogue was pretty easy if you're lucky enough to be offered lots of Jade.

For warrior, lots of people seem to have trouble with it, my winning run was with a taunt warrior. If you get offered the quest early, you will likely be in a strong spot.

[Cespenar]

Rogue was pretty easy if you're lucky enough to be offered lots of Jade.

For warrior, lots of people seem to have trouble with it, my winning run was with a taunt warrior. If you get offered the quest early, you will likely be in a strong spot.

Haven't even been offered a single jade option in Rogue yet. For warrior, I'm trying a big taunts with quest right now. Couldn't get much out of the treasure room, but let's see how I'll do with the end boss.

[The Glyphstone]

Rogue was my first win, warrior my third. I just started at the top and methodically worked down the list. All i have left is Mage, after beating Xol with Big Demonlock and Scepter of Summoning. Candlebeard was harder than she was, I chained three Jaraxxuses (Jaraxxi?) back to back to stay alive before killing him.

[Cespenar]

Rogue was my first win, warrior my third. I just started at the top and methodically worked down the list. All i have left is Mage, after beating Xol with Big Demonlock and Scepter of Summoning. Candlebeard was harder than she was, I chained three Jaraxxuses (Jaraxxi?) back to back to stay alive before killing him.

Improved Candlebeard is actually harder than some end bosses, yes. Every time I go cloak of invisibility without a health buff, and this guy shows up to utterly destroy me.

[Zevox]

So, the game broke on me in Dungeon Run:

Fighting against King Togwaggle, he wound up with a Lynessa Sunsorrow in his hand thanks to the 6/6 that turns his hand into random Legendaries. He played her on a turn when he had used the treasure that reduces his minions' cost to 0 for the turn.

And the second spell she cast on herself was the Xaril potion that is basically 1 mana Shadowstep.

Yeah, the end result: he keeps playing her, she keeps returning to his hand, repeat literally ad infinitum because there's no turn timer on single-player parts of the game.

*sigh* And I thought I was actually going to win that one...

[Joran]

So, the game broke on me in Dungeon Run:

Fighting against King Togwaggle, he wound up with a Lynessa Sunsorrow in his hand thanks to the 6/6 that turns his hand into random Legendaries. He played her on a turn when he had used the treasure that reduces his minions' cost to 0 for the turn.

And the second spell she cast on herself was the Xaril potion that is basically 1 mana Shadowstep.

Yeah, the end result: he keeps playing her, she keeps returning to his hand, repeat literally ad infinitum because there's no turn timer on single-player parts of the game.

*sigh* And I thought I was actually going to win that one...

Never thought I'd see a Filibuster in Hearthstone.

[The Glyphstone]

And Mage makes 9/9. Cloak of Invisibility + Animated Armor is hax. Adding in Coldarra Drake and Mukla's Champion just makes it unfair, poor Azari didn't stand a chance.

Not impressed with the reward card back, it is very bland.

[Destro_Yersul]

Just finished Dungeon Run with warrior, so my scouting runs were 3/9 finished. Had a very strange game against King Togwaggle. I almost lost to his Embers of Ragnaros, but one of them hit my stealthed shielded minibot, (Geosculptor Yip and Invisibility Cloak) and one hit another random inconsequential minion. I kept building my health back up, and he had an archmage's staff that kept giving him mage spells. Eventually the game got to the point where he just... stopped doing things. His hand was full, he kept burning stuff from his deck, but he stopped playing cards. I'm guessing his hand had just been filled with targetted removal from the staff and his hero power, and since he couldn't hit minions he just had nothing he could do.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Nothing's more irritating than a "Wins" daily with a class that you haven't locked down yet (Druid, in my case), which tends to be the situation early in an expansion, and doubly so if you're waiting for the meta to stabilize and are being stingy with dust.

Eventually I just dropped all the way to rank 19 and lucked out. Not an ideal way to win 60 gold. And then today I got For Azeroth! Which is what I get for complaining I guess*.

*Play 75 Battlecry cards, 100 gold.

[Nerocite]

Are everyone else's last two classes are Rogue and Warrior as well?

Priest took the most attempts for me, finally beat it with a Reno deck+ Wax Rager.

[Rodin]

I managed Warrior pretty easy - I went for a self-damage deck with +1/+1 to all and then lucked into Patrons. The dragon boss was an exciting race - could I beat him down with infinite Patrons before his chests got Whirlwinded down far enough for him to nuke all the Patrons at once?

Rogue continues to escape me, though I've gotten close. I nearly had Hunter with double-Deathrattles until I drew a hand full of 6-8-drops against the final boss.

The one that I've just never had a hope with is Mage. The card selection has always been trash, and it seems really difficult to build a deck that synergizes rather than a random collection of cards. It feels like you need a broken deck to stand a chance.

[Rocks_Fall]

I managed Warrior pretty easy - I went for a self-damage deck with +1/+1 to all and then lucked into Patrons. The dragon boss was an exciting race - could I beat him down with infinite Patrons before his chests got Whirlwinded down far enough for him to nuke all the Patrons at once?

Rogue continues to escape me, though I've gotten close. I nearly had Hunter with double-Deathrattles until I drew a hand full of 6-8-drops against the final boss.

The one that I've just never had a hope with is Mage. The card selection has always been trash, and it seems really difficult to build a deck that synergizes rather than a random collection of cards. It feels like you need a broken deck to stand a chance.

I was able to get through mage with a lot of card generation effects, inspire and secrets. Ended up selecting cheap big minions, upgraded hero power and draw extra cards at the start. Multiple Nexus Champion, Ragnaros and other inspire abuse carried the day for me.

[Destro_Yersul]

Up to 4/9 clear. After a couple stalled warlock runs, the first of which was really good and I only barely lost, I decided to try hunter. Got +1/+1 for everything, Double Health, and a bunch of stuff with deathrattle: summon stuff. Also picked up Deathstalker Rexxar. Zombeasts that come out with +1/+1 are even more hax, and are the entire reason I was able to turn around the game against round 7 Blackseed. I was losing hard until I topdecked Rexxar, and then the never-ending parade of zombeasts turned the tide with me down to 14HP/90. Next game was against Azari the Devourer. Horn of Cenarius on turn 2 pulled Two kindly grandmothers and a scavenging hyena. It was a curbstomp from there, and I won on turn 6.

[Gandariel]

9/9!

Fun experience!
Reward is pretty bad, I don't think I'll use it, but it was overall pretty fun, even for someone who doesn't like PvE like me.

Hardest was probably Hunter. The Darkness took me down to 4 hp before my 5-mana zombeasts let me stabilise and fatigue him down. It's the only one where I ended up with more than 20 defeated bosses.

In short:
Mage: spell damage, stealth, and lots of burn
Druid: ez jades
Shaman: ez jades
Rogue: lots of "thief" stuff, Wish card won me the last games
Paladin: Justicar and +1/+1 to all.
Warlock: zoo with progressively bigger demons and +1/+1 to all
Priest: don't remember. I think dragons?
Warrior: took double life and ALL the legendaries (sadly no cost reduction), outvalued everyone. Basically like normal control warrior
Hunter: beasts, "5+ minions cost 5", Rexxar.

[Joran]

9/9!

Fun experience!
Reward is pretty bad, I don't think I'll use it, but it was overall pretty fun, even for someone who doesn't like PvE like me.

Hardest was probably Hunter. The Darkness took me down to 4 hp before my 5-mana zombeasts let me stabilise and fatigue him down. It's the only one where I ended up with more than 20 defeated bosses.

In short:
Mage: spell damage, stealth, and lots of burn
Druid: ez jades
Shaman: ez jades
Rogue: lots of "thief" stuff, Wish card won me the last games
Paladin: Justicar and +1/+1 to all.
Warlock: zoo with progressively bigger demons and +1/+1 to all
Priest: don't remember. I think dragons?
Warrior: took double life and ALL the legendaries (sadly no cost reduction), outvalued everyone. Basically like normal control warrior
Hunter: beasts, "5+ minions cost 5", Rexxar.

5-mana Zombeasts was surprisingly powerful; I started drafting every large minion/DK Rexxar I could get. I think I've been undervaluing the 5-mana big minion treasure. I'm 3/9 on the Dungeon Run, with Hunter being my first one and done.

I talked my wife through a really strong Mage draft. She had the upgraded Hero power, then drafted 3 Coldara Drakes, so if one stuck, she'd have a stupid amount of burn. Against the last boss (the mill demon), she kept the Horn of Cenarius (recruit 3 random minions), dodged the Doomsayer in her deck, got a Coldara Drake and the rest was cake.

Edit: Just one and done with a Warlock deck. Lots of Demon synergy with 2 Voidcallers, 2 Doomguards, 2 Abyssal Enforcers, a 3/9, and top end of Gul'dan and the Warlock legendary weapon. Funniest moment was the boss and I both having 2 minions on board, he swapped the minions around and they all landed on their original side.

[Destro_Yersul]

Shaman is proving to be the trickiest for me so far. No matter what I do, the starting deck is so bad and overload is so punishing and all of the card packs on offer are so awful that I can't manage to get past boss 6 or so.

[Rocks_Fall]

Yeah, if you get bad picks there’s not much you can do.

I just cleared my Shaman with Jade carrying me through 1-6, and Wax Rager soloing 7 and 8. Managed to snag 2x death rattle and hard mulliganed for the rager every time.

[Destro_Yersul]

Also, Xul remains the worst final boss. Think I've only managed to beat Xul once.

[Cespenar]

Just cleared Rogue with the classic Stealth + Double Health gimmick. I'll probably try other builds later on, since this was too cookie cutter of a win. It's funny how Togwaggle can lock himself out by so many ways, especially when you're playing stealth. In my last game the guy filled the board with doom bots, and since they couldn't blow at all (read: stealth), he wasn't able to play anything else.

In another game he turned his hand into legendaries, and immediately turned that hand into copies of a silly 3-cost minion. And then still beat me. BMing much?

Shaman is proving to be the trickiest for me so far. No matter what I do, the starting deck is so bad and overload is so punishing and all of the card packs on offer are so awful that I can't manage to get past boss 6 or so.

Just try to get Jades and/or double battlecries. If not, then try to get stealth + double health for a cheese kill. That said, of course, if the picks are too bad, there's little you can do.

[Rodin]

I think the scariest boss isn't one of the final ones, but actually Blackseed when he appears as the 7th boss. 1 Mana Triple Evolve is just utterly back-breaking, and I've never come close to beating him. You can't even keep his board clear since his Hero power is so cheap - he just plays below curve to make sure he can use it. Turn 5 Rattling Rascal + Evolve to give him a random 7-drop and a 5/5? Seems fair.

[Hamste]

I agree, I have never beaten 1 mana evolve 3 person. Just too mana efficient for me to beat I find unless I get extremely lucky. I haven't faced trap room yet though (I hear not doing anything is a good counter though).

[Destro_Yersul]

I beat round 7 blackseed with Deathstalker Rexxar. His stuff is super efficient, but he doesn't have efficient ways to deal with the zombeast haxx. It was super close, though.