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Hearthstone
How Standard Format Affects Hearthstone's Top Decks
Yesterday we took a look at some of
the most impactful cards
that will be cycled out of Hearthstone when
the new Standard format
launches sometime this Spring. Today, we're going to be examining a few off the top archetypes, as selected by
our first Meta Review
, to see exactly which ones will be hit the hardest.
Hearthstone
The Non-Standard Cards You'll Miss the Most
With
the announcement of a Standard gametype
for Hearthstone came the news that Goblins vs. Gnomes and Naxxramas would be among the first sets cut from the block. When the new update launches, it would feasibly be possible for you to never see these cards again assuming you only play Standard.
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #68 & #69: Interviews with Amaz and Frodan!
This week the Angry Chicken crew interviewed Team Archon owner
Amaz
and Tempo Storm's
Frodan
in two episodes of the Angry Chicken podcast. If you're interested in the Frodan interview, where he also discusses the recent events involving MagicAmy, make sure to scroll down to
Episode #69.
Episode #68: Interview with Amaz
The first episode features popular streamer and Team Archon owner
Amaz
! Garrett and Dills talk with Amaz about
Team Archon
, the Pinnacle tournaments and some of the things he's learned from seven years of raiding in World of Warcraft.
On 68th episode of The Angry Chicken, Garrett and Dills sit down with Jason "Amaz" Chan! Amaz runs Team Archon one of the most successful professional Hearthstone teams, puts on The Pinnacle tournament, has a massive following on Twitch, and is just an incredibly positive and pleasant guy to talk to. Amaz also opened up about how much he learned from seven years of raiding in World of Warcraft, the joys of teaching, and what it was like designing his game Scribes Arena.
Episode #69: Interview with Frodan
The second episode features Hearthstone caster
Frodan
in the first half of the show. Garrett, Dills and Jocelyn talked with Frodan about the ESL Legendary Finals, Tempo Storm, the recent MagicAmy drama and more! In the second half of the show, the Angry Chicken crew discuss
upcoming changes to Spectator Mode
, a DemonLock deck and read some emails from their viewers.
On the 69th episode of The Angry Chicken Dan "Frodan" Chou guests for the first half! Frodan came on to talk about the ESL Legendary Series Finals, his career as a caster, Tempo Storm, panicking in line for Transformers, and MagicAmy. Jocelyn, Dills, and Garrett also discussed upcoming changes to Spectator Mode, SilentStorm's DemonLock deck, and emails from listeners Leslie, Rob, and Kris.
Follow us on Twitch.tv/amovetv
and subscribe to the Amove Youtube at
Youtube.com/starcastshow
. You can email the show at
TACpodcast@gmail.com
.
The Angry Chicken is podcast about all things Hearthstone. Garrett, Dills, and Jocelyn cover news, strategies, crazy game stories, and take your emails every week. Jobs done!
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #67: Oiled Up
This week the Angry Chicken crew reviews the
new Goblins vs Gnomes Rogue cards
and talks about
Team 5's upcoming appearance at PAX East
, the
ESL Legendary Series Finals
, and check in on Joce's climb up the ladder.
Also check out the recent news of
spectator mode improvements!
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
Mechanized Alternatives: Mech Shaman Deck
Mech Mages are running rampant in Ranked play right now. Their ability to seize control of the board early on with cheap Mech minions, and finish the game with a few well placed s make them one of the most consistent and popular decks to play. But the time has come for the other classes of Hearthstone to make Mech synergy work. One deck in particular that has recently made it’s way into the spotlight is a Mech Shaman deck that had some
legendary results for Team Archon’s Firebat and PurpleDrank
.
is one of the scariest cards in a Mech Mage deck and it is just as gut-wrenching to play against here. A 2/3 for 2 Mana is a respectable amount of stats, but it’s really in here to allow rapid deployment of the higher end of the Mech curve. This low-attack Mech gets some longer legs in this deck as well thanks to damage-boosting Shaman cards like and .
A lot of the other staple minions of Mech Mage can be found here as well. is a great turn 1 play when you have 2-drop Mech in hand. does its job beautifully here as well, and I would argue does it better since little Mech can got to 3 Attack when placed next to a Flametongue Totem, or go to 4 with a Rockbiter. is wonderful if a Mech is already in play, but there’s only one of him for that same reason. s and s bring the bargain stats. And s bring the Deathrattle value. Read on for more!
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #66: I Believe in You Sniper!
This week the Angry Chicken crew reviews the
new Goblins vs Gnomes Hunter cards
and talks the grind of the ranked ladder, information from
Activision Blizzard's earnings report
, the shifting meta and the rise of
Oil Rogue
, and the
honest Hearthstone trailer
.
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #65: Thralls to the Wall!
This week the Angry Chicken crew reviews the
new Goblins vs Gnomes Shaman cards
, the very welcome
Undertaker nerf
, the Lunar New Year emote replacements in Asia, the
2015 Hearthstone World Championship rule details
being unveiled, and the latest tournament drama!
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #63: I Was Not Programmed to Win...
This week the Angry Chicken crew reviews the
new Goblins vs Gnomes Warrior cards
, discusses some fatigue with grinding out high levels in Ranked Play mode, and the success of their Orlando Fireside Gathering. Garrett and Jocelyn also recorded live at the Fireside gathering, and that video is second below, where they did a Q&A episode. Also check out the
news of the Undertaker nerf and hints at a Lunar New Years event
!
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
Righteous Aggression: Hybrid Paladin
While talking to my friend Iksar (who also happens to be a balance designer on the Hearthstone team) about how to tweak my Paladin, he suggested trying a more aggressive Paladin deck. Now I am generally averse to aggressive play, but there is still a heavy garnish of control in this deck. One of the concepts I have had to get my head around lately is that aggro decks have the potential to control. Since minions can attack other minions in Hearthstone, any deck can flip on the control switch should the situation call for it and start trading to help gain board control.
The entire goal of this deck is to mulligan aggressively for 2 and 3-drops. There are 18 cards in this deck under 4 mana. Excluding both Equality’s, the , and the Big Game Hunter that we would prefer not to have in our opening hand that leaves 14 potentially great cards to open the game with. Exceptions to this are Priests and Warriors. Should you find yourself going up against either Anduin or Garrosh, hold onto Truesilver Champion in your opening hand to help remove their high-health early minions.
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #62: Glowy Antler Bits
This week the Angry Chicken crew reviews the
new Goblins vs Gnomes Druid cards
, talks about the
2015 Hearthstone World Championship qualifier rules
, GameSpot's belated GvG interview and Brode's response to the user upset about it, and the latest changes with tournament players and streamers. Also check out the
Control Warrior Deck
article from Garrett!
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
Control Freak: Control Warrior is Still Here
If my fascination with the Midrange Warlock deck last week was any indication, I do not prefer the popular aggressive decks that are seen so often in Hearthstone. I like adapting to my opponent and feeling like I have options. Don’t get me wrong, I cackle maniacally as much as the next person when I get a perfect opening. But I have always leaned towards control play. Shaman and Paladin were my first loves when it came to control decks. For whatever reason, maybe the crafting cost or what seemed like a boring Hero Power, Warrior was the class that took me the longest time to warm up to. But now, like an album I love or a good sandwich
shop, Control Warrior is a deck I keep coming back to.
Pro players Sjow and Kitkatz are probably the most well known for making Control Warrior popular and innovating upon it. Both players hit #1 Legend rank with pre-GvG Control Warrior decks. The thing that made the deck so good back then was that there really wasn’t a bad matchup for it, and that is still more or less true today. Really the worst thing that could happen to you as a Control Warrior player was to go up against another Control Warrior. Heaven forbid you needed to be somewhere by a certain time, the length of a mirror match up guarantees fashionably late arrival.
Continue Reading for the rest of the article!
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #61: Or Else it Gets the Fel Cannon Again...
This week the Angry Chicken crew talks about the
Hearthstone pack price increase for certain iPad users
, the latest new members to Team Archon and their team house, Hearthstone's GDC Award nominations, and they review the
new Goblins vs Gnomes Warlock cards
! Also check out the
Midrange Warlock Deck
and
Midrange Paladin Deck
articles from Garrett and Dills.
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
To Battle! A Guide to Mid-Range Paladin
Prior to the release of Goblins vs. Gnomes the Paladin class was in a rough spot and considered the worst class on the ladder. The main issue was that there were not enough quality early game cards and even though Paladin had some of the best catch up mechanics in the game it was often to late to stabilize by the time they could be played. Luckily, for all of you Paladin enthusiasts out there, GvG introduced some great cards that added an early game arsenal to the class and have opened up a new viable archetype. Midrange Paladin is seeing a lot of play on the ladder and is actually proving to be successful.
This version of Paladin is also seeing some tournament play with both finalists on the recent
Pinnacle tournament
,
Firebat
and
Xixo
, bringing their takes on the deck. Checkout the deciding game 5 to see a similar deck in action and the sheer amount of pressure it can apply to decks as controlling as Warrior. One of the biggest advantages that the deck has is the ability to have a fast start and still compete with late game control decks as well. For that reason it is a very consistent deck which makes it a fantastic one to play on the ladder.
Let's take a look at the deck and break down each card and how to play it.
Hearthstone
Warlock Goes Midrange
Since I first read what did in early beta, I was drawn to Warlock. Like many others I have spent a lot of time in Hearthstone inciting fury with Zoolock, and balancing on the edge of being killed playing Handlock. Lately however, I have been getting burnt out on these two archetypes. Goblins VS Gnomes was supposed to usher in a massive change in the way we play Hearthstone, yet these two ways of playing Warlock haven’t shown any sign of retirement. But maybe the change in Warlock just has not been discovered yet. This is why I paid a little more attention to a deck that made it to the top of the Hearthstone subreddit than I usually would have.
The Midrange Warlock. Redditor
TeslaEUNE
posted this deck, and I am in love. The first Warlock deck I gravitated towards in the Hearthstone beta was the buff-lock that was very popular in early tournaments. For those who may have missed beta if a minion gave another minions any stats, they were played. , , and were considered required minions in most decks and they were the backbone of this variation of Warlock (and were all nerfed as a result). While this midrange Warlock deck only has the Dark Iron in it, it seems to have captured the feel of ye olde BetaLock.
Continue Reading for more deck strategy!
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #60: A-Mage-ing
The Angry Chicken kicked off the new year with their review of
GvG's new Mage cards
, and talk about Firebat's conquering of The Pinnacle, Tempo Storm's new member MagicAmy, an insane RNG story, and more!
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #59: The One with Brian Kibler
This week The Angry Chicken has special guest Brian Kibler on to talk about Goblins vs Gnomes, the old WoW TCG,
Mech Mage
, and more! They also do their review of the
GvG Priest cards
, and talk about the Good Gaming Tournament issues.
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
A Game of Minions
Goblins VS Gnomes brought a lot of changes to Hearthstone. One of the more noticeable overarching shifts is extremely minion-heavy play. In early vanilla Hearthstone, spells and board clears ruled the roost. Every class had only one class-specific Legendary minion. The sheer number of answers at the disposal of nearly every class made playing powerful minions an exercise in reciting Dirty Harry quotes. But minion-heavy decks are no longer reserved just for the Warlock’s own personal zoo.
Post-GvG every class has two Legendary minions (most of which are seeing Ranked play, sorry Mages,) and there has been a huge uptick in the selection of powerful minions. This means that the game is not decided by one good Flamestrike or Hex. You can play , have him silenced or removed, and still grin as you play on Turn 8 knowing his chances of survival have just drastically improved.
Piloted Shredders are a great Neutral example of GvG’s minion-centric shift. With , , and , there is now the potential for any deck to have five minions that summon other minions upon death spread across the mana curve. Cards like and were so widely played in vanilla Hearthstone because of the insurance they gave players in the face of wrath effects like (honorable mention for Harvest Golem still being amazing and now enjoying Mech synergy.) Now, there are just so many more choices to capitalize on these types of minions.
Class-specific cards received some much needed attention as well on the minion front. Paladin has had it’s issues with early turns ironed out and it’s all minions all the time. is one of the best 2-drops in the game and can throw down with the best of any other class’s early game. ’s tokens are happily disposable if you aren't fortunate enough to have a . Combined with the synergy Bolvar receives for trading away s, Paladin matches are now full of minions trading with other minions instead of relying on well-timed s.
There are also more creative ways to accomplish similar goals using minions. Waiting until Turn 10 to steal a minion as a Priest is old news. Now Priests can gain control of a plethora of minions earlier in the game thanks to the combination of and old favorite . Even the Spare Part spells have made the previously underutilized a rock star.
With many minions that survive board clears, leave other minions behind as a Deathrattle, or come in to play with a posse ( sends his regards), the puzzle of each turn in a game of Hearthstone is becoming more varied and fostering more creative plays. Less and less the correct play is a removal spell. The future of this game is very bright, thanks to the explosive tendencies of Azeroth’s smallest denizens, and the surface has only just been scratched.
Hearthstone
Mage Mech Deck: Popular Mage Mechanics
It has only been a week since Goblins vs. Gnomes was released and, as predicted, the meta blew up. It’s the wild west out there right now, if the wild west consisted of tiny humanoids and crazy gadgets, and people are playing every deck under the sun on the ladder. A few cool decks have already popped up and today we’re going to discuss one that is fairly cheap to create and utilizes the main theme of GvG, mechs.
Let's take a look at
the deck
and break down each card and how to play it.
Hearthstone
The Angry Chicken #58: Reporting for Duty
This week The Angry Chicken dives in to Goblins vs Gnomes card reviews with
the Paladin cards
! They also talk about the
big Reddit AMA
, the
Android tablet release
, the Kinguin Charity Tournament, and more!
Also check out our Battle.net gift card giveaway!
Continue Reading for more show details!
Hearthstone
Summary of Blizzard's Hearthstone Reddit AMA
Yesterday night, several members of the Hearthstone team hosted an AMA on Reddit’s
r/hearthstone
The developers answered questions about many topics including deck slots, upcoming plans and more!During the AMA Zeriyah announced that the Android version of Hearthstone is
now live
in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.The community’s questions were answered by:
bbrode
- Ben Brode - Senior Game Designer
cataclyst78
- Yong Woo - Producer
CM_Zeriyah
- Christina Sims - Community Manager
Squishei
has summarized the AMA highlights, grouping together the important replies by topic! Click on the links to be taken to each question and answer on reddit.
1
2
