Hearthstone 22: Evening the Odds

[Zevox]

Welcome to twenty-second GitP thread for Hearthstone. For anyone who doesn't know, Hearthstone is a video card game from Blizzard, based on the Warcraft series. The game is free to play and available here, so if you're interested, give it a shot. You've got nothing to lose but your free time.

For new players, something to be aware of is that there are a number of hidden "quests" you can complete which will give you free gold, dust, or even a pack. A complete list can be found here. Be aware that not quite all of those are ones you'll be able to complete quickly though.

And here is a list of Playgrounders currently in the game, for both NA and EU servers:

Spoiler: Player List

Show

GitP Username	Battle.net ID (US)
Gandariel	Ciabatta#2958
Geno9999	Geno9999#1674
Gluteus_Maximus	RubiksCube#11427
Hamste	Theorules#1234
Kish	Grazzt#1417
Lord Raziere	Trizap#1729
Nerocite	JoeKage#1852
otakuryoga	Scootaloo#1471
Rodin	Rodin#1811
Seerow	Oshi#1354
TheGlyphstone	Glyphstone#1419
Thranatar	Thrantar#1416
Zevox	Zevox#1522

GitP Username	Battle.net ID (EU)
Gandariel	Ciabatta#2958

Spoiler: Old Lists, include no longer active players.

Show

GitP Username	Battle.net ID (US)
aethernox	ethernox#1948
AgentPaper	AgentPaper#1193
AmberVael	AmberVael#1225
Anarion	Anarion55#1254
Antonok	Antonok#1704
Anxe	GoCorral#1879
Baelot	Baelot#1149
Cogwheel	OmegaNixon#1123
banthesun	banthesun#1782
Dancing Owlbear	Owlbear#1586
Destro Yersul	DestroYersul#1239
D_Lord	Volrock#1367
Duck999	Duck999#1349
Duos	DoctorDapper#1491
Firedaemon33	Firedaemon#1486
flat_footed	Hiigara#1357
Fleeing Coward	Scorch#1432
GAAD	GAAD#1126
Gaelbert	SamHouston#1563
Gamerlord	Gamerlord#1612
Gandariel	Ciabatta#2958
Ganorenas	Ganorenas#1457
Gluteus_Maximus	RubiksCube#11427
Gomipile	Glodd#1784
Gray Mage	GrayMage#1723
Grytorm	Grytorm#1777
Hamste	Theorules#1234
Haruspex_Pariah	HaruspexPari#1254
Hatevah	Hatevah#1405
heronbpv	Avan#1991
Hircine	IllusiveMan#1616
Jaxzan Proditor	Jaxzan#1878
jindra34	JinRia #1770
Johnjimco	JohnJimco#1482
Karoht	Karoht#1505
Kish	Grazzt#1417
Krade	Krade#1266
LegoShrimp	legoshrimp#1722
Landis963	Landis963#1789
Loreweaver15	Loreweaver#1199
Lunix Vandal	LunixVandal#1952
MacGiolla	MacGiolla#1982
MathMage	MathMage#1797
MCerberus	MCerberus#1734
mistformsquirrl	mistformsqrl#1430
moosabi	Moossabi#1325
Mystic Muse	NSFJunkblade#1400
Neon Knight	VultureCrook#1434
Neriractor	neriractor#1483
Nerocite	JoeKage#1852
nhbdy	Nohbdy#1927
Olinser	Olinser#1393
Onionbreath	GiantSquid#1845
OrcusMcP	Orcus#1805
otakuryoga	Scootaloo#1471
Pokonic	pokonic#1166
PsyBomb	PsyBomb#1878
Qwertystop	Qwertystop#1897
r2d2go	r2d2go#1262
Rodin	Rodin#1811
Rosstin	Rosstin#1609
SamBurke	SamBurke#1486
Seerow	Oshi#1354
Shishnarfne	Gruschenka#1375
Sholos	Veebeebee#1383
Stabbity Rabbit	StabityRabit#1362
Techwarrior	Techwarri0r#1572
Temotei	Temotei#1507
Tesla_pasta	teslapasta#1973
Thanatos 51-50	Thanatos5150#1407
TheGlyphstone	Glyphstone#1419
The Hellbug	thehellbug#1216
The_Jackal	TheJackal#1499
Thranatar	Thrantar#1416
Togarth	Asparag#1680
Trouble Brewing	HairyPoppins#1949
UserClone	UserClone #1545
Volatar	Volatar#1750
Yael	Urashima#1810
Yana	Raltis#1807
ZeroNumerous	ZeroNumerous#1913
Zevox	Zevox#1522
Zmek	JadeReaver #1783

GitP Username	Battle.net ID (EU)
Adumbration	Adumbration#2419
Aran Thule	AranThule#2780
Avaris	Avaris#2378
Avilan the Grey	Beardedgeek#2355
Beelzebub1111	SirArthurIV#1244
boomwolf	BoomWolf#1169
Dada	Scrattlebear#2863
D-naras	Dinos #2811
Epinephrine_Syn	SilverSeraph #2931
Fleeing Coward	Scorch#1432
Frog Dragon	Vasemmasti#2618
FyreByrd	FyreByrd#2962
Gandariel	Ciabatta#2958
GolemsVoice	CrazyCat#29897
Hewhosaysfish	HeWhoSezFish#2503
Hippie_Viking	HippieViking#2866
Infernally Clay	Winny#1904
Jormengand	Trianna#2529
Lionheart	Lionheart#2440
Mr.Silver	SilverSmiles#2462
Murmaider	Murmaider#2273
Posca	Mazura#2636
Raddish	Raddish#2730
ScionoftheVoid	JayPsi#2775
ShinyRocks	MoodyTuskarr#2790
Sian	Sian#2690
Silfir	Silfir#2863
SlyGuyMcFly	SlGuyMcFly#2562
Tokay	Tokay#2518
Tome	Taejix#2836
Volthawk	Volthawk#1214
Weimann	Weimann#2716
Wraith	Illusionist#2224
Xiander	Xiander#2814

[Gluteus_Maximus]

Add me to the NA list, if you please- RubiksCube #11427.

[Zevox]

Add me to the NA list, if you please- RubiksCube #11427.

Taken care of.

[Lord Raziere]

Aaaaaaaaw, most boring title. I preferred pretty much all the others.

oh well. time to see what Brawl is going on this week.

[Zevox]

Aaaaaaaaw, most boring title. I preferred pretty much all the others.

oh well. time to see what Brawl is going on this week.

*shrug* I preferred a Shudderwock reference myself. But this one got the most votes.

And it's a terrible one. Your spells cost health. The game ends on turn 2, with the way the Druid deck people have put together for it goes.

[Lord Raziere]

*shrug* I preferred a Shudderwock reference myself. But this one got the most votes.

And it's a terrible one. Your spells cost health. The game ends on turn 2, with the way the Druid deck people have put together for it goes.

I managed to win with a mage deck....ironically by it functioning as an aggro deck, never drawing any of my big spells and the rogue conceding because they didn't use any spells

the second one I tried I faced a golden mage guy with legend backs. so. I got beaten.

its a weird brawl where you only win if you use spells right: use them too much and you lose, don't use them at all and you lose.....yeah its horrible.

[Zevox]

I managed to win with a mage deck....ironically by it functioning as an aggro deck, never drawing any of my big spells and the rogue conceding because they didn't use any spells

the second one I tried I faced a golden mage guy with legend backs. so. I got beaten.

its a weird brawl where you only win if you use spells right: use them too much and you lose, don't use them at all and you lose.....yeah its horrible.

Ah, you didn't face one of the Druids. Lucky. They basically win by a combination of spells that draw cards (Nourish, UI, Starfire, Choose the Path) and cards that both deal damage and give armor (Bite, Gnash, Claw). Or they can play the Hand-Druid card that fills their board with Wisps + Soul of the Forest to set up for Savage Roar the next turn, demanding two board wipes out of you to prevent it. Both of the ones I faced killed me on turn 2. My win came from a Priest whose strategy I couldn't figure out - don't think he knew what he was doing. Though to be fair, neither did I, I just threw a Mage deck together with damaging spells and some minions that synergize with spells.

[Lord Raziere]

Ah, you didn't face one of the Druids. Lucky. They basically win by a combination of spells that draw cards (Nourish, UI, Starfire, Choose the Path) and cards that both deal damage and give armor (Bite, Gnash, Claw). Or they can play the Hand-Druid card that fills their board with Wisps + Soul of the Forest to set up for Savage Roar the next turn, demanding two board wipes out of you to prevent it. Both of the ones I faced killed me on turn 2. My win came from a Priest whose strategy I couldn't figure out - don't think he knew what he was doing. Though to be fair, neither did I, I just threw a Mage deck together with damaging spells and some minions that synergize with spells.

No, I did, the two ones before that were a druid that basically used the 5555 plague card costs ten a bunch of other cards to gain more armor and health than he was losing so I condeded, and a priest that got free from amber and other such spells early and had like, a taunt mammoth and an Alextrasza on the board on like turn 1 or 2. I was just sharing the one where I actually won first.

[otakuryoga]

rog is BS in this since they can cast as many spell as they want while immune from their weapon

[Gluteus_Maximus]

Sound the bells is op'd in this brawl, play a stonetusk boar and a few healing spells and you've got lethal turn 1

[Seerow]

rog is BS in this since they can cast as many spell as they want while immune from their weapon

Rogue really doesn't have a lot in the way of power spells here though. You'd have to get to turn 3 (to play the weapon), and have 1-2 sprints pretty early in your deck for it to have any chance of working, and even then I'm not sure it could OTK.

The real problem is Druids just stomp all over everyone. Their spell selection is basically ideally tailored for this sort of brawl.


Edit: Also I am not in the player list Oshi#1354

[Spore]

Hearthstone is pretty boring and annoying to me these days. I like a relaxed game in Standard ladder. Somehow I tend to always play around/into the wrong things because the meta game is extremely varied. Which is a nice thing for streamers and people heavily into the game, but not for me (at least anymore). Also at first I liked the ladder changes. But somehow I miss beating up others with a quick laddering deck. And people tend to run more control oriented styles now that they dont have to rush through 20+ ranks.

[Psyren]

If you want a fast aggro deck to rush you up the ladder, then Odd Paladin/Hunter, Tempo Mage and Quest Rogue have you covered. Yes you'll lose to the control and combo decks that have great mulligans, but that's a good thing, just concede and re-queue.

[Gluteus_Maximus]

I've been having fun between ranks 10 and 7 messing around with Healing Zoo, Combo Priest, and Overload Shaman.

[Rynjin]

Bopping around rank 20 because I only play 1-2 ranked matches a week. Seems everybody is playing some variant of Taunt druid, which annoys my Cult of Azari Warlock deck immensely. Had to swap in silences just for them.

Speaking of, on a scale of 1 to bad, how bad is this deck?

Spoiler: Cult of Azari

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# Class: Warlock
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Raven

# 2x (1) Dark Pact
# 2x (1) Kobold Librarian
# 1x (1) Mortal Coil
# 2x (1) Voidwalker
# 1x (2) Defile
# 2x (2) Vulgar Homunculus
# 1x (3) Shrieking Shroom
# 1x (3) Unwilling Sacrifice
# 1x (3) Voodoo Doll
# 1x (4) Grim Necromancer
# 1x (4) Hellfire
# 2x (4) Lesser Amethyst Spellstone
# 2x (4) Saronite Chain Gang
# 2x (4) Spellbreaker
# 1x (5) Bane of Doom
# 1x (5) Carnivorous Cube
# 1x (5) Despicable Dreadlord
# 1x (6) Rin, the First Disciple
# 1x (7) Lord Godfrey
# 1x (9) Lord Jaraxxus
# 2x (9) Voidlord
# 1x (10) Sea Giant

I've been fiddling with it off and on for months and avoiding net decking, but I think it's okay...I just struggle with it against a lot of stuff. I have Odd Pally and Spellhunter (my main deck, I love it so much) for tryharding, but I feel like this one COULD be good.

[Psyren]

It's a control deck right? One with Rin and Jaraxxus as win conditions. I wonder if you might be dividing your focus a bit too much between things like Shrieking Shroom and Grim Necromancer, which only seem to be there so you can try to set up an early-ish Sea Giant, but you only have one. You might benefit from focusing more on your endgame instead, having more board clears like a second Defile, a second Despicable Dreadlord, maybe even a Twisting Nether. You should also look into a Hooked Reaver to help you stabilize against aggro.

[Rynjin]

The Necromancer and Shroom are also there as easy targets for Unwilling Sacrifice or Dark Pact, though post-nerf on the latter it seems less worthwhile.

The idea was more a toolbox deck, but you're right thatmaking it more control oriented might be better; there's only so much tools alone will do for you in HS it seems.

[Psyren]

Hmm... I personally think Voodoo Doll and Spellstone give you enough spot removal that you shouldn't need Unwilling Sacrifice. It's also a dead draw if you have no board, which you definitely don't want. I'd probably go for something like Siphon if you need more spot removal - but again, your priority (at least imo) should be more clears.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

If you want early Sea Giants and a guaranteed Defile starter, honestly consider Wisp. I'm not even joking. Because it costs 0 mana, it does what you're relying on Shroom and Necro for, but you don't have to play it the turn before; you can drop it immediately. If you have room, also adding Snowflipper Penguin helps consistency.

It's purely a utility card, but with all of Warlock's card draw, you can afford to slot a few "usually unplayable" cards with niche purposes.

Potentially worth experimenting with.

[Mikemical]

Add me on NA server: ChachoPato#1115

Also, got an Emeriss and a Lady in White off a 5-pack bundle I saved up and bought. Any deck ideas or should I dust them?

[ChaosOS]

Both will be around for a while, I wouldn't dust them as it's not hard to imagine either becoming relevant within the next two years even if they're not super playable now. I'm currently using Emeriss in a wild C'thun Hunter deck

[Rynjin]

Emeriss goes into the "Dragon Hunter" archetype which...isn't really a thing. The pre-built is kind of fun, but pretty trash.

Hang onto it in case some baller dragons come out or you want to have fun meme-ing people with a 16/16 King Krush or something.

[Winthur]

If you want early Sea Giants and a guaranteed Defile starter, honestly consider Wisp. I'm not even joking. Because it costs 0 mana, it does what you're relying on Shroom and Necro for, but you don't have to play it the turn before; you can drop it immediately. If you have room, also adding Snowflipper Penguin helps consistency.

It's purely a utility card, but with all of Warlock's card draw, you can afford to slot a few "usually unplayable" cards with niche purposes.

Potentially worth experimenting with.

I'd sooner slam Kobold Geomancer or Bloodmage Thalnos if I were that starved for lowdrops and/or Defile starters.

re: Cult of Azari: as much as I hate to say it, Bloodreaver Guldan is simply superior to Jaraxxus in this meta. You run quite a few demons and BRG is a much better hero. Ofc, I understand if you can't afford it, but if you're into improving this deck, I'd start with that.

I'd cut the Voidwalker, because it doesn't really do that much for you (you have a powerful taunt at 2 mana, Defile, and Hellfire to deal with aggro), instead aiming at some decent value common minion in any of the other mana tiers - with the Grim Necromancers and Chain Gangs, and to preserve the feeling that I'm assuming you're trying to achieve, maybe you could run something like a Cobalt Scalebane. The deck feels more like a Midrange Warlock than Control because it plays value minions every turn, runs two Silences (kinda unnecessary imho in this kinda decklist) to deliver burst easier, etc. It doesn't have enough of that ridiculous Control Lock value that we got in this meta.

As it stands, it looks kinda like it can't decide whether it wants to be Zoo or Cubelock - Sea Giant, Grim Necromancer and perhaps the Spellbreakers feel kinda off here.

Basic / Common / Rare cards I'd consider as replacements (I'm assuming you're not a whale, since the deck does run one-offs of some pretty strong epics, like Cube, and it runs the fairly outdated Jaraxxus) while still preserving the flavor of the deck - I know I could just say "just download Cubelock lmao", but let's try to give you some ideas:
Plated Beetle - the best defensive 2 drop, outside of Doomsayer, ofc.
Shadow Bolt - to counter Odd Rogue's turn 3 (Hench-Clan into dagger stab means an annoying, sticky 4/4) and give you additional board control.
Shroom Brewer - for efficient healing and a decent minion to play on curve
Rotten Applebaum - solid statline on a taunt, and good healing.
Defender of Argus - you run plenty of tokens and are more on the defensive side.

What cards do you have? I think there's some website that lets you post your entire collection. I'd really shift around your curve to include more late-game minions, personally, because I feel like if you're not running full on Zoo, Warlock's early game is in a really good spot and control lists want some immense value generating cards. If you have an LK or an Ysera laying around, or hell, given the Midrange flavor, I'd even slap Cairne into here if I really wanted to, I'd certainly do that.

[Rynjin]

It runs Jaraxxus primarily because I drew it recently. Plus he's fun. I think this is the only deck I have with three Legendaries and none crafted. The Spellbreakers are there specifically because I lost like three consecutive games against some variant of Taunt Druid and being able to silence Hadronox, Cube, or Spiritsinger Umbra (on one occasion) would have turned all three into sure victories. I had...I think Curse of Weakness and Drain Soul instead at the time? Something like that.

I have a decent collection I think, but lack most of the Classic Legendaries. I'll see about hooking it up to that app here in a sec.

Thanks a bunch for the advice so far!

Here.

You can tell I didn't REALLY start playing until K&C came out; I hopped on for thevery first time with Frozen Throne but Dungeon Run is what got me to actually stay and play long term at first.

[Gluteus_Maximus]

I've gotten to Rank 2, 1 star from rank 8, 1 star using Healing Zoolock, with somewhere less than 10 losses, on NA.

Around 5 games have been Odd Paladins where I got insanely lucky, drawing keleseth on 2 and despicable dreadlord on 5.

I'm running a version with 1 Void Ripper and 1 Spellbreaker. Void Ripper does well to find lethal using Voidwalkers and Tar Creepers, killing doomsayers and mana tide totems, and setting up easy trades against low attack taunts.

Spellbreaker silences taunts, the odd slimeling or lackey, and doomsayers.

Spoiler: Deck Code

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### The Veterinarian
# Class: Warlock
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Raven
#
# 2x (1) Flame Imp
# 2x (1) Kobold Librarian
# 2x (1) Lightwarden
# 2x (1) Soulfire
# 2x (1) Voidwalker
# 2x (1) Voodoo Doctor
# 1x (2) Prince Keleseth
# 2x (3) Fungal Enchanter
# 2x (3) Happy Ghoul
# 2x (3) Tar Creeper
# 1x (3) Void Ripper
# 2x (4) Lifedrinker
# 2x (4) Saronite Chain Gang
# 1x (4) Spellbreaker
# 2x (5) Despicable Dreadlord
# 2x (5) Fungalmancer
# 1x (5) Leeroy Jenkins
#
AAECAf0GBK8E8gWc4gL96gINMIQBzgfCCPcMysMCm8sC980Cn8 4C8tAC0eECh+gC7/ECAA==
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

I have at least 10 more games until I hit legend. With this winrate, it'll be more around 15, I would guess based on my winrate.

[Mikemical]

Spoiler: NEW EXPANSION TEASER LEAKED BOYOS

Show

Magnetic feels like a weird choice of keyword. I would've picked Fuse or Assimilate.
Oh yeah, Mechs are back baby, can't wait for new Dr. Turn 7.

[Resileaf]

Magnetic feels like a weird choice of keyword. I would've picked Fuse or Assimilate.
Oh yeah, Mechs are back baby, can't wait for new Dr. Turn 7.

Oh yeah, Boom is definitely a legendary again.
And I suppose they went for magnetic because it only affects mechs and something like fuse assumes that it will work for anything.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

So, Magnetic is functionally a buff spell, but you can drop it as a minion. It can't be counterspelled, though I wonder if it triggers Explosive Runes. Because HS is weird. The tribal requirement is pretty restrictive for some classes, but maybe the cards are just good enough on their own. Spider Bomb is probably playable, it's Deadly Shot with a 2/2 body, though not immediate.

I'm not immediately impressed by Project cards. Every example of a similar mechanic we've seen so far has been mediocre, except for Coldlight being used for mill and aggro.

Omega is an interesting way to seal off long games, working a little like Kicker cards in Magic. Great for topdecking, dominant in Arena.

Shaman legendary seems super powerful. Imagine a doubled Far Sight, Healing Rain, Ancestral Spirit, or Spellstone. In a pinch, you can eat a ton of overload for a huge single target removal. Probably the new Kazakus for Overload Shaman.

[Psyren]

It'll definitely trigger ER if you drop it as a creature. The question is whether it will do that if you drop it as a buff. I'm thinking no but we'll see.

Tribes skewing more towards some classes than others is nothing new. Beasts are more prevalent in Hunter and Druid, Pirates were more prevalent in Warrior and Rogue, Elementals in Mage/Shaman/Priest , Demons in Warlock etc.

[The Glyphstone]

I'm not sure a 2/6 Taunt for 4 is as 'good' as they describe it without the Omega trigger.