Hearthstone 21: We DO take candle!

[Rodin]

Just cashed in my 9/9. I think the majority of my wins were over Xul, oddly enough. Beat it 4 times, followed by a tie between The Darkness and Vustrasz at 2 wins each. Togwaggle I only beat the once, and I never even met the discard dude.

My mage run against Xul was going badly right up until I got the Scroll of Confusion and I stole a full board of imps. That swing + Aluneth to burn quickly through my deck gave me enough burn to vaporize Xul.

Hardest one to do was definitely Mage, but Priest came close. Rogue was easy once I got a good Cavern's Below deck with double Battlecries.

Full list.

Druid: Big Druid ftw. Didn't fuss with Jades, just got "big minions cost 5" and went to town with Jungle Giants.
Shaman: Double Battlecry Elemental/Jade.
Rogue: Quest Rogue.
Hunter: Double Deathrattle Dinomancy Hunter with Stealthed minions. Yes, this worked. No, I don't know why.
Warrior: Patron Warrior, though for most of the run it was self-damage with +1/+1 minions. Again, I'm surprised this worked.
Paladin: Dudefest - the only time I beat Togwaggle, who apparently doesn't like the Paladin hero power "1 mana, summon 2 2/2 minions"
Mage: Reno Mage, of all things. Extra spellpower and double starting health.
Warlock: Zoolock with buffed minions. Flooding the board with 2/2 Imps was a scarily effective tactic. God I miss Implosion.
Priest: A mish-mash of stuff, which I don't actually recall now as this was my first class to win with. I wound up winning when Xol played a Howlfiend and I was able to force a Quest discard. After that it was easy.

[Rocks_Fall]

I think the majority of my wins were over Xul, oddly enough.

As far as I have seen, it's the most predictable of the final bosses once you understand the different Eye spells it gets. And if you can force Xol to discard Nether Portal, it gets markedly easier since their deck is still full of discard effects.

To date I've never been matched against the Darkness, but have seen Xol and Vustrasz a lot. I'm 7/9 right now, having just finished my Warrior run. Taunt, Quest and Scepter of Summoning carried the day for me. My Level 7 treasure was Wish, which I was able to save to the bitter end against Vustrasz when they were almost to fatigue. Only Paladin and Hunter left!

[ChaosOS]

I'm to 8/9 now, just Warrior left. I've had three good recruit decks, but then I get ruined by the Waxmaster on each of them.

[Destro_Yersul]

Waxmancer Sturmi has ended more of my runs than any other boss. Xul is a close second. I've still got four to go - just had a promising mage run get ended early by, of course, Sturmi.

Of the end bosses, I've yet to even see Vusztraz

EDIT: Has anyone else run into Chronomancer INara? She just ended another pretty good mage run I had, and I'd never seen her before.

[Joran]

Waxmancer Sturmi has ended more of my runs than any other boss. Xul is a close second. I've still got four to go - just had a promising mage run get ended early by, of course, Sturmi.

Of the end bosses, I've yet to even see Vusztraz

EDIT: Has anyone else run into Chronomancer INara? She just ended another pretty good mage run I had, and I'd never seen her before.

Yeah, I had her a couple times. Her hero power's really weird in that she hits 10 mana, destroys three mana crystals and takes another turn. However, she's always had a clear board when she's faced me so she just destroys three mana and ends turn and then starts her turn again with 8 mana.

[Destro_Yersul]

yeah, that was the case most of the time, but the extra turns did end up winning her the game in my case, after she dropped a ragnaros I couldn't kill.

Also, just mage, shaman and Rogue left for me. Just cleared Warlock using a really stupid demon synergy deck and the +1/+1 passive. Final boss was Xul. Again. Didn't manage to discard the quest, but did put off its arrival for long enough that I was smashing face with huge demons by the time it hit. Xul never got the 'steal your stuff' eyebeam, either. Probably would have lost early on, but I had the treasure to take an extra turn for 0 mana, so I played out some stuff, dropped that, and built a board too big for her to easily deal with.

[Joran]

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.

I just beat him with my Paladin. Helped that I first picked the 5 mana minion treasure and then just picked really high curve Dragons and Legendaries.

I won by dropping a Deathwing that reset his board; it also helped that didn't abuse his hero power really early.

[Zevox]

EDIT: Has anyone else run into Chronomancer INara? She just ended another pretty good mage run I had, and I'd never seen her before.

I've seen her exactly twice - actually, in two runs in a row, weirdly. Always as boss #7. Beat me the first time, I beat her the second.

I'm at 7/8 (because the card back is nowhere near good enough looking to convince me to play Hunter) myself, just need to win as Warrior. Tried a few times tonight, but kept either getting a boss that hard countered the deck I'd built, a boss where I drew terrible, or, ultimately, an extremely narrow loss to The Darkness in my last attempt.

Gotta say, I wish it would present me with a more generally-good bonus for the first passive more often. It's kind of annoying picking between double battlecries, +3 spell damage, and double health or deathrattles so often. Those are the bonuses I want to see on pick 2, when I have some idea what my deck actually has and what it's strategy is.

[Destro_Yersul]

I'm at 7/8 (because the card back is nowhere near good enough looking to convince me to play Hunter) myself, just need to win as Warrior.

I'm still kind of confused as to how you can hate Hunter so much that you won't even play it in a single-player format where you don't need to own any of the class cards.

[ShinyRocks]

I did a stupid thing, but I couldn't resist. Final boss was V....thingy, the dragon with the treasures. I was Warlock, had taken 'spells costs 1 less' and had Corrupting Mist in my opening hand. I *had* to do it, and destroy all the chests right at the start of the game. I lost, of course, but it took a while, and I still think I might have won if I'd got better treasures.

[Cespenar]

Gotta say, I wish it would present me with a more generally-good bonus for the first passive more often. It's kind of annoying picking between double battlecries, +3 spell damage, and double health or deathrattles so often. Those are the bonuses I want to see on pick 2, when I have some idea what my deck actually has and what it's strategy is.

Double battlecries or deathrattles are useful as 1st picks, though, since you can then judge the packs according to their battlecries/deathrattles and make more informed picks. Vice versa would be impossible: picking all battlecry minions and hoping to get a double battlecry on your second pick.

I did a stupid thing, but I couldn't resist. Final boss was V....thingy, the dragon with the treasures. I was Warlock, had taken 'spells costs 1 less' and had Corrupting Mist in my opening hand. I *had* to do it, and destroy all the chests right at the start of the game. I lost, of course, but it took a while, and I still think I might have won if I'd got better treasures.

Heh, that's fine, I pick Hilt/Blade of Quel'delar every time it pops up, for example, gimping myself in every occasion that I picked those, since it never offered me the second part in the same run.

[The Glyphstone]

I'm still kind of confused as to how you can hate Hunter so much that you won't even play it in a single-player format where you don't need to own any of the class cards.

A Hunter killed his dog, scared his wife, stole his truck, and put his momma in jail?

[Seerow]

A Hunter killed his dog, scared his wife, stole his truck, and put his momma in jail?

Hunter sounds like it would be an awesome country song writer

[Gandariel]

To echo everyone else, most Hunter runs end up having Deathstalker Rexxar as Hero power, so you don't even have that as an argument :D

[CarpeGuitarrem]

To echo everyone else, most Hunter runs end up having Deathstalker Rexxar as Hero power, so you don't even have that as an argument :D

Yeah, SMOrc Hunter is really not viable in this mode, imo.

[Spore]

A Hunter killed his dog, scared his wife, stole his truck, and put his momma in jail?

Yes but hating Hunter is soo 2015.

[Zevox]

I'm still kind of confused as to how you can hate Hunter so much that you won't even play it in a single-player format where you don't need to own any of the class cards.

I simply dislike how the class plays and decided I just wouldn't play it a long time ago, and the reward for doing so in this mode doesn't interest me in the slightest, so I see no reason to change that now.

Double battlecries or deathrattles are useful as 1st picks, though, since you can then judge the packs according to their battlecries/deathrattles and make more informed picks. Vice versa would be impossible: picking all battlecry minions and hoping to get a double battlecry on your second pick.

But taking it as the first pick carries the distinct risk of not getting many, or even any, good cards of that type offered to you as go on. I've had several runs suffer from that problem. What you really want with those is to have already drafted some good ones - say, have a couple of Jade picks and another good battlecry or two, then get offered the double battlecries as your second passive. Much better to take something generally good, like the Flag, perma-stealth, or the backpack on pick 1.

Heh, that's fine, I pick Hilt/Blade of Quel'delar every time it pops up, for example, gimping myself in every occasion that I picked those, since it never offered me the second part in the same run.

What do those do, might I ask? I've never been offered either of them that I can recall.

[Hamste]

They aren't bad cards but they aren't game winning by themselves and are a bit weaker than most treasure (You were probably offered them but never picked them). If you get both though in one draft you get an amazing weapon that is absolutely ridiculously strong. I have never managed to actually get it (I got both pieces offered in one pick once)

[Mando Knight]

What do those do, might I ask? I've never been offered either of them that I can recall.

They aren't bad cards but they aren't game winning by themselves and are a bit weaker than most treasure (You were probably offered them but never picked them). If you get both though in one draft you get an amazing weapon that is absolutely ridiculously strong. I have never managed to actually get it (I got both pieces offered in one pick once)

Specifically, the Blade is a 1 mana 3/3 weapon and the Hilt is a 1 mana spell that gives +3/+3 to a minion. Combined, Quel'dalar is a 1 mana 6/6 weapon that deals 6 damage to all enemies after your hero attacks... and appears in your starting hand. The only weapon that comes close to the amount of power of Quel'dalar is Val'anyr summoned off of the Portable Weapon Forge treasure, with the double deathrattle totem active.

[Zevox]

Specifically, the Blade is a 1 mana 3/3 weapon and the Hilt is a 1 mana spell that gives +3/+3 to a minion. Combined, Quel'dalar is a 1 mana 6/6 weapon that deals 6 damage to all enemies after your hero attacks... and appears in your starting hand. The only weapon that comes close to the amount of power of Quel'dalar is Val'anyr summoned off of the Portable Weapon Forge treasure, with the double deathrattle totem active.

Ah, alright, I have seem them - I just never remembered what those cards were called or the artwork, since they always struck me as mediocre by comparison to the other options. I guess it's good to know that they become so good if you get both though.

[Destro_Yersul]

I simply dislike how the class plays and decided I just wouldn't play it a long time ago, and the reward for doing so in this mode doesn't interest me in the slightest, so I see no reason to change that now.

The way the class plays now, and especially in this mode, is really different from how it used to play. Deathstalker Rexxar is just so much damn fun.

[ChaosOS]

I won my hunter run with SMORC hunter - Vicious Fledgeling + Cloak of Invisibility is a pretty good combination. I also got a bit lucky with bosses I faced, but that's not important. Final boss was Azari.

[Epinephrine_Syn]

Okay so what I think this brawl was "supposed" to be was less cheesy presents brawl, where it's minions discounted by 3 instead of OP spells discounted by 5, and by making the death rattle specifically give your enemy the gift, not whoever destroys it.

What this brawl actually devolved into was "both players have 4 0 atk minions at the start. Build your deck accordingly".

[Mando Knight]

Okay so what I think this brawl was "supposed" to be was less cheesy presents brawl, where it's minions discounted by 3 instead of OP spells discounted by 5, and by making the death rattle specifically give your enemy the gift, not whoever destroys it.

What this brawl actually devolved into was "both players have 4 0 atk minions at the start. Build your deck accordingly".

And Shaman is "Mulligan hard for Evolve to deny your opponent any presents on the first round and get an aggressive lead at the same time".

[Cespenar]

But taking it as the first pick carries the distinct risk of not getting many, or even any, good cards of that type offered to you as go on. I've had several runs suffer from that problem. What you really want with those is to have already drafted some good ones - say, have a couple of Jade picks and another good battlecry or two, then get offered the double battlecries as your second passive. Much better to take something generally good, like the Flag, perma-stealth, or the backpack on pick 1.

Flag and perma-stealth are almost always OP picks anyway. But sometimes you just get handed battlecry and two other sub par choices. Case in point: I actually haven't been offered Flag in 10-15 consecutive matches right now. Then you should try picking Battlecry first and just commit to it. Considering which class it is too, of course. Jade picks, for example, have the extra bonus of synergizing with each other as well as with double battlecry, so it's especially easy to do it with Shaman or Druid. Other classes, you can pick double battlecry all day and not get offered even a handful of fitting cards. I've personally had not a great double BC experience with Warrior, Rogue or Mage, for example.

The way the class plays now, and especially in this mode, is really different from how it used to play. Deathstalker Rexxar is just so much damn fun.

DS Rexxar is arguably the most fun card in the game right now. Kazakus is similarly fun as well, but Rexxar can do it every frickin' turn. In some earlier games I've even lost because I was having too much fun with the Zombeasts and not thinking enough of the actual usages/economy of the resultant creature.

I won my hunter run with SMORC hunter - Vicious Fledgeling + Cloak of Invisibility is a pretty good combination. I also got a bit lucky with bosses I faced, but that's not important. Final boss was Azari.

Cloak is very good, but you can lose some matches to the improved versions of the aggro decks, like the "Whip it good" guy or the "Chaaaaarge" guy. With Vicious Fledgeling, though, it must have been fun.

[Epinephrine_Syn]

And Shaman is "Mulligan hard for Evolve to deny your opponent any presents on the first round and get an aggressive lead at the same time".

Yeah, my first two matches went:

Round 1
Shaman (Me): t1, Evolve
Hunter: t1, Concede

Round 2
Rogue: t1, Pass
Shaman: t1, coin Sea Giant
Rogue: t2, Doomsayer
Shaman: t2, Flametongue, Sea Giant
Rogue: t3, Concede

[Beelzebub1111]

Opponent: t2 corruptiong mist
Me: t3 Coin: Wailing Soul
Opponent: t3
"Well Played" Surrender.

[otakuryoga]

up to 5 of 9 on dungeon now
(in order)priest
shaman
mage
druid
paladin

1st treasure was double health
wax rager was 2nd and was absolutely 1,000,000% my mvp
3rd was flag
4th was candle

6th boss was 1 mana and evolve a minion 3 levels guy
wax rager came out on turn 3 and was able to keep his population of big guys low while I slowly built up the rest of my board

7th boss was the Devo guy(whip it good)
again..wax rager came out swinging from turn 3 to get rid of his big attack guys

final boss was the dragon
again wax rager made a turn 3 appearance and started hitting face with occasional big guy removal

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Flag and perma-stealth are almost always OP picks anyway. But sometimes you just get handed battlecry and two other sub par choices. Case in point: I actually haven't been offered Flag in 10-15 consecutive matches right now. Then you should try picking Battlecry first and just commit to it. Considering which class it is too, of course. Jade picks, for example, have the extra bonus of synergizing with each other as well as with double battlecry, so it's especially easy to do it with Shaman or Druid. Other classes, you can pick double battlecry all day and not get offered even a handful of fitting cards. I've personally had not a great double BC experience with Warrior, Rogue or Mage, for example.

I felt really bad about passing up the BC buff as Shaman, then getting offered a ton of Jade Spirit and three Aya. And getting flag.

[Hamste]

If you want to talk about feeling bad I had battlecry and deathrattle buff with 4 Aya (I got 3 from one pick) then lost anyways because I faced all charge guy and didn't have any taunts.