Hearthstone 23: The Evil League of EVIL

[Rynjin]

I certainly haven't played it - I wouldn't want to, nor could I if I did, since it's a Hunter deck, and I disenchant all Hunter cards that I open. As for playing against it, I think I have, but only once. I recall one instance of facing someone who got Malygos off a Jepetto, had the weapon that gives spell damage from that one legendary already equipped, and suddenly killed me with a series of Rapid Fires and some other burst card (maybe Kill Command? Can't recall at this point).

That's a vastly different variant from what I'm playing, looks like.

My list:

Spoiler: ### *HONK INTENSIFIES*

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# Class: Hunter
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Dragon
#
# 1x (1) Arcane Shot
# 1x (1) Rapid Fire
# 1x (2) Bomb Toss
# 1x (2) Explosive Trap
# 1x (2) Freezing Trap
# 1x (2) Pressure Plate
# 1x (2) Rat Trap
# 1x (2) Zephrys the Great
# 1x (3) Animal Companion
# 1x (3) Deadly Shot
# 1x (3) Desert Spear
# 1x (3) Eaglehorn Bow
# 1x (3) Hunter's Pack
# 1x (3) Kill Command
# 1x (3) Master's Call
# 1x (3) Unleash the Hounds
# 1x (4) Marked Shot
# 1x (4) Multi-Shot
# 1x (4) Wing Blast
# 1x (5) Baited Arrow
# 1x (5) Explosive Shot
# 1x (5) Faceless Manipulator
# 1x (6) Emperor Thaurissan
# 1x (6) Swarm of Locusts
# 1x (6) Unleash the Beast
# 1x (7) Dinotamer Brann
# 1x (8) Jepetto Joybuzz
# 1x (8) Ragnaros the Firelord
# 1x (9) Call of the Wild
# 1x (9) Malygos
#
AAECAR8epAKoAooDtAO1A4cEkwTJBO0GxQjbCf4M3O4CmPAC4P UCpIgDoooD5pYD7JYD+ZYD2p0D/KMD5KQD5aQDn6UDpqUDmKkD29ID5dID59IDAAA=
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

Shaman, Priest, and Druid have been the majority of my experience of standard on the rare occasions that I've played this month, with the Druids usually being the combo decks (4 mana Malygos via Floop + Swipe + a lot of Moonfires, copied a bunch of times with Elise).


If I find myself burning cards because my opponent isn't giving me targets for removal, it means we're in a Control mirror and have both drawn mostly or entirely our removal cards. Which is slightly annoying RNG for such a match, but far preferable to playing against a combo deck. At least then we're actually playing a resource management game, even if an odd one.

Combo decks also manage resources; handsize, primarily. Card draw is of utmost importance, and they usually need a ton of open hand slots for the combo pieces.

Druid combo decks are basically just Control decks with an actual win condition.

[Zevox]

That's a vastly different variant from what I'm playing, looks like.

My list:

Spoiler: ### *HONK INTENSIFIES*

Show

# Class: Hunter
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Dragon
#
# 1x (1) Arcane Shot
# 1x (1) Rapid Fire
# 1x (2) Bomb Toss
# 1x (2) Explosive Trap
# 1x (2) Freezing Trap
# 1x (2) Pressure Plate
# 1x (2) Rat Trap
# 1x (2) Zephrys the Great
# 1x (3) Animal Companion
# 1x (3) Deadly Shot
# 1x (3) Desert Spear
# 1x (3) Eaglehorn Bow
# 1x (3) Hunter's Pack
# 1x (3) Kill Command
# 1x (3) Master's Call
# 1x (3) Unleash the Hounds
# 1x (4) Marked Shot
# 1x (4) Multi-Shot
# 1x (4) Wing Blast
# 1x (5) Baited Arrow
# 1x (5) Explosive Shot
# 1x (5) Faceless Manipulator
# 1x (6) Emperor Thaurissan
# 1x (6) Swarm of Locusts
# 1x (6) Unleash the Beast
# 1x (7) Dinotamer Brann
# 1x (8) Jepetto Joybuzz
# 1x (8) Ragnaros the Firelord
# 1x (9) Call of the Wild
# 1x (9) Malygos
#
AAECAR8epAKoAooDtAO1A4cEkwTJBO0GxQjbCf4M3O4CmPAC4P UCpIgDoooD5pYD7JYD+ZYD2p0D/KMD5KQD5aQDn6UDpqUDmKkD29ID5dID59IDAAA=
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

Highlander Malygos? Weird. Seems like a wonky hybrid in between a combo deck and a normal, midrangey Highlander deck. I would think that would be too inconsistent to be usable, but eh.

Combo decks also manage resources; handsize, primarily. Card draw is of utmost importance, and they usually need a ton of open hand slots for the combo pieces.

That's a different kind of resource management from what I'm talking about. They're not trying to make the most efficient use of every card in their deck, they're just trying to get to their combo without dying or overdrawing a crucial piece. And it actually ceases to matter how well they managed anything compared to their opponent after a certain point, just as long as they assembled their combo. It's why the term "solitaire" was thrown around when people got sick of such decks in the past.

[Rynjin]

Highlander Malygos? Weird. Seems like a wonky hybrid in between a combo deck and a normal, midrangey Highlander deck. I would think that would be too inconsistent to be usable, but eh.

I thought so too at first, but I went on something like a 20 game win streak with it until I stopped playing Ranked for a couple of weeks and then lost 9 games in a row because everybody is playing Aggro Shaman or Rogue now apparently. It eats midrange decks alive, and functions well against late game decks like N'Zoth Priest.

The key is that it has 3 different combo finishers in it (Double Malygos, Double Krush, Double Ragnaros) and even if you "draw Patches" by getting all of your 6 minions in hand before endgame, you have enough resources to pressure the opponent and burst them a little at the end (if Thaurissan hits Malygos, Arcane Shot, and Rapid Fire you can still deal 20 from hand, or Brann, or even Ragnaros if you're in a real pinch).

That's a different kind of resource management from what I'm talking about. They're not trying to make the most efficient use of every card in their deck, they're just trying to get to their combo without dying or overdrawing a crucial piece. And it actually ceases to matter how well they managed anything compared to their opponent after a certain point, just as long as they assembled their combo. It's why the term "solitaire" was thrown around when people got sick of such decks in the past.

Yeah, but the current decks and meta are way different from pre-rotation. Druids can't play Triple Threat 3-wind condition combo decks and gain 100 armor at the same time any more, so they have to worry about the board now.

[Zevox]

Huh, I might have underestimated Sindragosa in Battlegrounds at first glance. That hero power is actually fairly potent in the early game - you freeze whatever you don't buy the first two turns, then double-buy two things buffed with +2/+2 on turn 3 (selling a token if you got one, whatever you bought turn 1 otherwise). Definitely helps make surviving the early game without taking much, if any, damage easier. Which seems to be fairly helpful, since it gives you more room to have bad luck or a weak round in the later game while building your final army. And while later on the benefit isn't that big and is situational, it isn't nothing, and it costs no gold.

He's probably not Curator or Nefarian level strong, but I could see him being a good one. Upper half of the hero picks, perhaps, or at least close to it.

Yeah, but the current decks and meta are way different from pre-rotation. Druids can't play Triple Threat 3-wind condition combo decks and gain 100 armor at the same time any more, so they have to worry about the board now.

Just because the power level is lower than it was a year ago doesn't mean that the same dynamic to how the decks work doesn't exist.

[Destro_Yersul]

I've only tried Brann and Finley, of the new heroes for Battlegrounds. Brann is really strong, and the game I played with him I crushed everything and took 1st. Finley feels like Worse Brann.

[Stevesciguy]

We've got caaaards:

Spoiler

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Envoy of Lazul: 2/2/2, Battlecry: Look at three cards. Guess which one is in your opponent's hand to get a copy of it.

Shu'ma: 7/1/7, At the end of your turn, fill your board with 1/1 tentacles.

Dragonrider Talritha: 3/3/3, Deathrattle: Give a Dragon in your hand +3/+3 and this Deathrattle.

Incoming Dragon Quest Paladin

[Tvtyrant]

We've got caaaards:

Spoiler

Show

Envoy of Lazul: 2/2/2, Battlecry: Look at three cards. Guess which one is in your opponent's hand to get a copy of it.

Shu'ma: 7/1/7, At the end of your turn, fill your board with 1/1 tentacles.

Dragonrider Talritha: 3/3/3, Deathrattle: Give a Dragon in your hand +3/+3 and this Deathrattle.

Incoming Dragon Quest Paladin

Spoiler

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What dragons are cheap enough I want to chain this with them? The only one I can think of is the one that gives you two 4/4 dragons when it dies.

[Hamste]

Spoiler

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What dragons are cheap enough I want to chain this with them? The only one I can think of is the one that gives you two 4/4 dragons when it dies.

Faerie dragon is pretty good when buffed. Other than that not sure.

[Zevox]

Envoy of Lazul: Pretty good value card for Priest, reminiscent of the old 3/3. Question is, will a Control/Value Priest deck that wants this be a thing? Without something happening to the current aggro Priest deck, I kind of doubt that, but we'll see what else the archetype gets. The Priest Galakrond fits in it, but also seems sadly like the weakest Galakrond of the three we know of, so still iffy there.

Dragonrider Talritha: ..."and this deathrattle?" Holy cow, that's a permanent bouncing buff as long as you've always got another Dragon in your hand. That could be good enough to give Dragon Paladin a serious push. I just hope that it being a buff on a cheap card doesn't mean it pushes an aggro Dragon Paladin rather than the more controlling or midrangey deck it's wanted to be in the past.

Shu'ma: Eh... I don't know. Strikes me as weak at a first glance, but technically it is 7/13 worth of stats for 7 on an empty board (and I assume you want to put it in Control decks that will frequently have those), with the potential for more. And, annoyingly enough, could be something a deck like Token Druid or an aggro Shaman might want - one-card instant board for Savage Roar/Bloodlust if not removed.

[Rynjin]

Spoiler

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What dragons are cheap enough I want to chain this with them? The only one I can think of is the one that gives you two 4/4 dragons when it dies.

Bronze Herald, Faerie Dragon, Brightwing, Nightsmare Amalgam, Twilight Drake (perhaps the most likely; Hand paladin has already been a thing), and Dragonmaw Scorcher are all solid candidates of the current standard cards.

Of those Bronze Herald, Twilight Drake, and Faerie Dragon are probably the best options.

I expect quite a few more to be printed. Swear to gawd if they don't give Paladin a single working deck this year I'll...I dunno, give Hearthstone a bad review on the Google Play store or something. That'll show 'em.

[Tvtyrant]

Bronze Herald, Faerie Dragon, Brightwing, Nightsmare Amalgam, Twilight Drake (perhaps the most likely; Hand paladin has already been a thing), and Dragonmaw Scorcher are all solid candidates of the current standard cards.

Of those Bronze Herald, Twilight Drake, and Faerie Dragon are probably the best options.

I expect quite a few more to be printed. Swear to gawd if they don't give Paladin a single working deck this year I'll...I dunno, give Hearthstone a bad review on the Google Play store or something. That'll show 'em.

I fully expect Faerie Dragon to get Hall of Famed just to ensure new players have to buy packs for Dragon Faerie, the new 2/2 hexproof dragon replacement.

[Geno9999]

We've got caaaards:

Spoiler

Show

Envoy of Lazul: 2/2/2, Battlecry: Look at three cards. Guess which one is in your opponent's hand to get a copy of it.

Shu'ma: 7/1/7, At the end of your turn, fill your board with 1/1 tentacles.

Dragonrider Talritha: 3/3/3, Deathrattle: Give a Dragon in your hand +3/+3 and this Deathrattle.

Incoming Dragon Quest Paladin

Spoiler: Thought of the Cards

Show

Envoy of Lazul: Neat, but probably only sees play because of Priest Galakrond's Hero Power, and that's also assuming that Priest Galakrond will be a deck. The problem is that Thief Priest doesn't really have a win condition; no Benedictus to inflate your deck to stall out Fatigue, no Mind Blast to surprise finish, is Blizzard seriously expecting Thief Priest to simply out value their opponents to victory? However, the middling stats on Lazul and her Envoy probably will leave them out of any Tempo oriented deck, especially any that looks like the current Combo Priest.

Shu'ma: Here's a scary thought; this with High Priest Amet. Just a Mana too much to be done in the same turn, but all the more important to kill Amet when you can. Other than that, this is just another Token Deck card.

Dragonrider Talritha: Interesting Val'anyr minion, though I have to wonder if there'd be enough dragons to smooth out the curve. I was wondering why people were suggesting Quest Paladin, since there's no Reborn Dragons or the like, but then I remembered that the current Quest Paladin builds rely on Magnetic and Deathrattle minions from Boomsday. Might see some play.

[Rynjin]

It may end up being Talanji's time to shine this expansion.

[Stevesciguy]

More cards!

Spoiler

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Druid Card:
Secure the Deck
Sidequest: Attack twice with your hero.
Reward: Add three 'Claw' spells to your hand.

Hunter Card:
Clear the Way
Sidequest: Summon 3 Rush minions.
Reward: Summon a 4/4 Gryphon with Rush

Warrior Hero Card:
Galakrond, the Unbreakable
Battlecry: Draw 1 minion, give it +4/+4.(Upgrades to 2 minions, then 4, like the rest.)
Hero Power: Galakrond's Might. Give your hero +3 attack this turn.

Warrior Hero Card seems pretty solid

[Eurus]

Broke my old personal record for an Annihilan Battlemaster in Battlegrounds, 198 HP. Wish I could've broken 200 though.

[Geno9999]

Spoiler: Thoughts on Cards

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Secure the Deck: Eh, seems a bit late to make Gonk Druid a thing. Easy to activate though, assuming of course that you didn't replace your hero power with the Untapped Potential.

Clear the Way: Okay, that is a good card. There's lots of Rush options, especially in Hunter, I expect this to be a staple card in Midrange Hunter.

Galakrond the Unbreakable: Oh boy, Tempo Warrior has some new toys. Super strong when it hits Rush or Enrage While Damaged Minions. We haven't seen any of Warrior's Invoke cards just yet though, so it's entirely possible that it runs into the same problem with Hack the System where you replace your Survival Hero Power for an Tempo one, but you've spent too much time surrendering the early game to do the Quest/Invoke that you die anyway.

Overall, these ones are looking good.

[Manticoran]

Spoiler: Thoughts on Cards

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Galakrond the Unbreakable: Oh boy, Tempo Warrior has some new toys. Super strong when it hits Rush or Enrage While Damaged Minions. We haven't seen any of Warrior's Invoke cards just yet though, so it's entirely possible that it runs into the same problem with Hack the System where you replace your Survival Hero Power for an Tempo one, but you've spent too much time surrendering the early game to do the Quest/Invoke that you die anyway.

Overall, these ones are looking good.

Spoiler

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My one note here it's that invoking for plus three attack is itself very strong tempo, so I'm not terribly concerned about that.

[Zevox]

Cards thoughts:

Secure the Deck: Seems decent in a vacuum, though I struggle to think of why exactly a Druid deck would want three Claws enough to run this. Especially with the regular Quest is in standard and, after turn 5 or 6, they won't have their hero power to fuel this. As such, I'm not expecting much from it as is.

Clear the Way: Surprised to see a second Side-quest for the same class, I was assuming it'd be one apiece. This one seems much, much better than the other Hunter Side-quest though, I could completely see this getting played in some kind of Midrange Hunter. Maybe even Highlander Hunter, that might have enough Rush cards to make it work.

Galakrond, the Unbreakable: Not bad, but that hero power has nothing on Doctor Boom for a Control deck, so Control Warrior won't be looking to ditch its current style for Galakrond - at least not until rotation, when Boom leaves. Might mean that we don't see this at all until them, though maybe it can work in Tempo Warrior? Not sure there.

Broke my old personal record for an Annihilan Battlemaster in Battlegrounds, 198 HP. Wish I could've broken 200 though.

I've managed that. Golden Annihilan where you played both of the first two copies, and all of them were doubled by Brann. I think that one wound up near 250 health between that and buffs from Lightfang.

[Rynjin]

You are like little baby. Watch this.

[The Glyphstone]

How does a Sidequest differ than a Quest?

[Stevesciguy]

How does a Sidequest differ than a Quest?

They're non-legendary, so you can run two-ofs, and they don't start in your hand. They're also much easier to complete with correspondingly weaker rewards. I think you can also have multiple sidequests up at once(although not multiple of the same sidequest), but I don't have a source for that

Galakrond, the Unbreakable: Not bad, but that hero power has nothing on Doctor Boom for a Control deck, so Control Warrior won't be looking to ditch its current style for Galakrond - at least not until rotation, when Boom leaves. Might mean that we don't see this at all until them, though maybe it can work in Tempo Warrior? Not sure there.

I think it really depends on what the Warrior Invoke cards look like. If the Invoke cards are aggressive minions, I think we're looking at a finisher for an aggro deck. If they are more tempo oriented, then maybe we will see a Tempo Warrior.

[Zevox]

They're non-legendary, so you can run two-ofs, and they don't start in your hand. They're also much easier to complete with correspondingly weaker rewards. I think you can also have multiple sidequests up at once(although not multiple of the same sidequest), but I don't have a source for that

If there's multiple different sidequests being printed for individual classes, then I certainly hope you can play multiple ones of different types at the same time. It could be very awkward to run four side-quests and be unable to play even the ones that aren't a copy of your first until you finish the first on you put out.

[heronbpv]

Secure the Deck: Seems decent in a vacuum, though I struggle to think of why exactly a Druid deck would want three Claws enough to run this. Especially with the regular Quest is in standard and, after turn 5 or 6, they won't have their hero power to fuel this. As such, I'm not expecting much from it as is.

I can think of one: Gonk Druid. Not a competitive deck by any stretch, but makes for funny highlights on youtube :P

[The Glyphstone]

Too bad. I was hoping Sidequests would be a repeatable reward.

[Rynjin]

Too bad. I was hoping Sidequests would be a repeatable reward.

Well, they kind of are. Every class that gets them has a way to generate random spells or copy spells in hand, so you can keep getting them.

[Geno9999]

Amusing deckbuilding thought: Galakrond Warrior could probably run Armored Goon. Goon himself HAS GOOD STATS FOR THE COST is well-statted, just that the effect was largely limited to weapons you've put in your deck. With Galakrond, it becomes a suped up Druid hero power. With the Neutral Invoke cards so far being just understatted, I think only Warlock will be able to pull off a Aggro Galakrond deck, with all the other Galakronds being midrange decks.

[Rosstin]

Another Wild Legend! I know I'm supposed to be boycotting this game, but I guess this is a testament to how addicted I am. I wonder how long I'll be able to continue to craft Legend-able Wild decks while being F2P.

[Stevesciguy]

Today I witnessed a Reno Mage play Zephrys on turn 2 so he could Backstab my Kobold Librarian. I'm so confused.

I imagine that he regretted that once he figured out I was playing Dinomancer Warlock.

[Geno9999]

Another Wild Legend! I know I'm supposed to be boycotting this game, but I guess this is a testament to how addicted I am. I wonder how long I'll be able to continue to craft Legend-able Wild decks while being F2P.

I had decided that I won't buy any of the Preorders or Adventures, either until the ban gets lifted or expires, though it seems Blizzard isn't gonna pull a surprise complete reversal.

Today I witnessed a Reno Mage play Zephrys on turn 2 so he could Backstab my Kobold Librarian. I'm so confused.

I imagine that he regretted that once he figured out I was playing Dinomancer Warlock.

Probably thought you were a Heal Zoo? Having Zephrys out to trade a following Voodoo Doctor/Potion Seller into Happy Ghoul turn is probably the line of thought, but even then I'd rather hold on the Zephrys for a board clear when the Warlock over commits.

[Stevesciguy]

Probably thought you were a Heal Zoo? Having Zephrys out to trade a following Voodoo Doctor/Potion Seller into Happy Ghoul turn is probably the line of thought, but even then I'd rather hold on the Zephrys for a board clear when the Warlock over commits.

Maybe. I didn't even know that was a thing.

On a different note, it really surprises me how many people don't understand the Dinomancer interaction. I've had games where my opponent would repeatedly use removal on the Dinomancers. The aforementioned Reno Mage flung a Fireball at one, then later tried to hero power them away, even when I had other ping-able minions on board. The other day I played a Rogue who tried to Walk the Plank them. I get that it's not that common, but multiple times in one game?