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[Acerac]

I will probably drop some money on an adventure since they look fun, the question is which one haha.



How would one get comfortable drafting a deck?

Get the latest adventure first, it'll stick around in all formats for a very long time and has a ton of great cards included. Granted, all adventures are full of great cards so they're all strong investments if you want to spend money, but the older they are the sooner they will only be playable in one format.

At this point getting in to arena can be rather difficult if you're not practiced at CCGs, but heartharena.com can serve as a strong guide.

 

[jgminto]

How would one get comfortable drafting a deck?

There are sites you can use to see card ratings in arena, I'd also recommend watching the better Arena players on YouTube or Twitch draft their games, it'll give you a good idea of what a good arena curve looks like and tips like why choosing the most powerful card/high cost card isn't always the right pick (e.g. Zombie Chow is often picked by people over almost everything else even though it's a 1 Drop).

 

[KuroNeeko]

Azure Drake, Saraad, two Silver Hand Recruits on the board. Saraad gives me Everyfin is Awesome. Druid has to use FoN + SRx2 just to clear my board.

Fuckin love Saraad so much. Just going to shove it in all my decks once Standard rolls around.

I saw you tooling around in the deck menu earlier today (it's morning here.) Now I wish I'd asked to spectate your game. That would have been awesome to see.

Saraad is one of those cards that I think SHOULD see more play, but doesn't. Maybe in Standard? He's one of the few TGT legendaries I want (too bad I got stuck with sorry-arse Icehowl last night.)

 

[Triz]

Drafted a mage Arena, first three games Im down to below 5 health with opponent at +20 and I beat all of them. Feels good man.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Can't wait til next week when Blizzard finally kills off Freeze Mage.

 

[Drkirby]

Can't wait til next week when Blizzard finally kills off Freeze Mage.

The best you are going to get is Alex being nerfed, and even then current Freeze Mage decks don't even rely heavily on it.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

The best you are going to get is Alex being nerfed, and even then current Freeze Mage decks don't even rely heavily on it.

No chance Ice Block survives.

 

[Karsticles]

No chance Ice Block survives.

What could even happen to it?

If they make it only work for one turn, the card will become garbage.

 

[Officerrob]

No chance Ice Block survives.

Honestly, I don't think it gets touched

 

[Drkirby]

Alright, bought 2 TgT packs on a whim, got 2 Epics and a Legendary. Got a ShadowFiend, Dark Bargen, and Chill Maw.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Honestly, I don't think it gets touched

If not Ice Block then something else. Brode has already said a few times that Freeze Mage is "less fun" to lose to and compared it to Warsong Commander. I'd be shocked if they left the deck alone.

 

[Karsticles]

If not Ice Block then something else. Brode has already said a few times that Freeze Mage is "less fun" to lose to and compared it to Warsong Commander. I'd be shocked if they left the deck alone.

I think most people expect an Alex nerf. No more Mad Scientist in Standard. I am not sure what else they could change that is actually unfair or poorly balanced.

 

[TheSadRanger]

/shrug, freeze mage is already going to be gimped in standard with healbot and duplicate gone.

 

[Dahbomb]

/shrug, freeze mage is already going to be gimped in standard with healbot and duplicate gone.

Freeze Mage doesn't use Duplicate.

Freeze Mage works just fine without Healbot and Mad Scientist. Less effective but still has the same playstyle and win condition.


The core components of Freeze Mage are the freeze AOEs, Antonidas, Ice Bock and Alex along with some burns. They are never taking away the Mage burn, they aren't taking away the freezes either.. that pretty much means the Legendaries and Ice Block. Alex has been a problem in the game for a long time, it always manages to make some broken deck work. Antonidas IMO wouldn't be as bad if Mage could set the opponent's HP to 15.. getting a couple of extra Fireballs from Antonidas isn't that hard so this usually seals the deal. Ice Block allows all of this to happen otherwise these are both very expensive plays and you would die before that happened.

You can pretty much kill Freeze Mage by nerfing any of these.


In any case I do not expect Freeze Mage to survive in Standard at all.

 

[Karsticles]

Anyone have hopes and dreams for this set, Standard, and what will be viable? Here are the things I really want, per class:
Warlock: Handlock to still be viable, Dreadlock to become viable.
Warrior: Grim Patron to still be viable.
Hunter: For them to revamp the hero power...lol. :-/ Actually, this applies to Warrior, too. Owl as a class card, intact.
Mage: Freeze Mage to still be viable, but with a more active, less OTK gameplan.
Priest: Shadowform viability...please. Fatigue style dies.
Rogue: Anub'arak to be a viable idea/strategy.
Shaman: Control Shaman, Earth Elemental to be the king of taunts, feared by all.
Paladins: To get something that makes the class interesting beyond tempo play.
Druid: See Paladin. Something beyond Ramp Druid; C'thun Druid looks good so far, but it's basically Ramp C'thun Druid with how you would play it.

/shrug, freeze mage is already going to be gimped in standard with healbot and duplicate gone.

We still have a whole half of the set yet. Don't be too sure!

It's a shame Grinder Mage is leaving, though. I really liked that deck concept. Right up my alley for playstyle.

 

[The Adder]

Just had a Control Warrior v. Control Warrior match that went to fatigue. My Ysera proc'd something like 5 Dreams, which won me the game when I stole his Elise with my Sylvanas and played her 3 times.

My deck's a Reno/Dragon hybrid running Nexus Champion Saraad for card advantage in the late game. He seemed to be playing a standard control warrior. Never got to play Reno because I had to Golden Monkey it into something else.

 

[Tarazet]

In any case I do not expect Freeze Mage to survive in Standard at all.

It will survive until Thaurissan rotates out with BRM. A slower meta that depends on slobbing huge piles of beef onto the board plays into Freeze Mage's tactics of damage stall followed by a burst combo. Right now, the deck is way too good against certain decklists and completely worthless against others. I expect that it will still have its strong matchups and it will still have its foils, but maybe it will have a couple more of the latter.

 

[KuroNeeko]

No chance Ice Block survives.

I don't know, mayne.
I don't think Ice Block is...on the block...

 

[thepotatoman]

Anyone have hopes and dreams for this set, Standard, and what will be viable? Here are the things I really want, per class:
Warlock: Handlock to still be viable, Dreadlock to become viable.
Warrior: Grim Patron to still be viable.
Hunter: For them to revamp the hero power...lol. :-/ Actually, this applies to Warrior, too. Owl as a class card, intact.
Mage: Freeze Mage to still be viable, but with a more active, less OTK gameplan.
Priest: Shadowform viability...please. Fatigue style dies.
Rogue: Anub'arak to be a viable idea/strategy.
Shaman: Control Shaman, Earth Elemental to be the king of taunts, feared by all.
Paladins: To get something that makes the class interesting beyond tempo play.
Druid: See Paladin. Something beyond Ramp Druid; C'thun Druid looks good so far, but it's basically Ramp C'thun Druid with how you would play it.


We still have a whole half of the set yet. Don't be too sure!

It's a shame Grinder Mage is leaving, though. I really liked that deck concept. Right up my alley for playstyle.

Warlock: Sorry, but Giants neft gots to come along with BGH nerf
Warrior: Sorry, but a lot of good patron matchups are going away, and Death's Bite was very important.
Hunter:lol indeed
Mage:Sadly, I wouldn't be too surprised if feeze mage lived
Priest: Shadowform might actually be somewhat decent still. Priest as a whole seems like a potentially under powered class though.
Rogue:Maybe Anub'arak viable after BGH nerf, though It's still vulnerable to Hex, Polymorph, and Entomb, and I expect to see a ton of Hex in the new meta
Shaman: Probably more midrangy than full control, but a viable slower than aggro Shaman deck is coming your way for sure.
Palidan: Control Healadin is maybe a thing, but hard to say for sure.
Druid: Beasts are getting buffed but I'm guessing ramp is the primer deck for ramp. I don't know which class is gonna be the premier C'thun class but I somehow doubt it's gonna be druid.

 

[Dahbomb]

My hopes:

*Hunter can play something that isn't an aggressive/tempo deck.
*Shaman can play something that isn't an aggressive/tempo deck (likely but not holding my breath).
*Paladin can play something that isn't an aggressive/tempo deck (that's probably very likely I think).
*Secrets somehow still find a way to get played outside of Mysterious Challenger deck.
*Meta slows down enough that you don't lose the game for missing a 2 drop or an answer to a 2 drop.
*Warriors and Priest can play an aggressive style deck.
*No combo is figured out that kills someone with no board above 15 HP with a couple of cards (unlikely, this stuff always seeps through).
*Warlock gets some solid Midrange minions with no severe drawback and not be shafted on that front due to hero power design limitations.
*BGH gets nerfed so people don't get punished for using 7+ attack minions.
*Rogue can play a deck that isn't combo based.
*Hopefully Blizzard has the foresight to check decks like Handlock and Aggro Shaman in advance because otherwise they would destroy whatever is made in Old Gods.
*Druid gets an actual board clear for once.

 

[fertygo]

Can Malygos replace alex in freeze mage? would've more reliance to ice lance combo, but eh

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Loatheb and Healbot leaving is also a pretty big boon for freeze Mage.

I don't think the deck will be impacted too much by just an Alex nerf. Thaurissan offers limitless possibilities for burst.

 

[Drkirby]

Can Malygos replace alex in freeze mage? would've more reliance to ice lance combo, but eh

Really, I think Freeze Mage would just put in a second Pyro Blast if Alex got nerfed too hard.

The lack of Mad Scientist is going to make the deck a lot weaker in Standard though. It may end up being a wild only deck.

 

[toddhunter]

My hopes: Mage is a little OP but not broken in arena. That would be a nice balance.

Constructed? That I'll still be able to build a bullshit aggro deck or two to clear quests quickly.

 

[Shiver]

Something that is a bit interesting, Ben Brode said in his Twitch Stream he doesn't feel Ironbeak Owl and BGH need to be nerfed, but they should not be in classic/evergreen. I wonder if that means they will actually add them to some 'banned list'.

That would be amazing.

Can't wait for the nerfs to hit.

 

[Karsticles]

Warlock: Sorry, but Giants neft gots to come along with BGH nerf
Warrior: Sorry, but a lot of good patron matchups are going away, and Death's Bite was very important.
Hunter:lol indeed
Mage:Sadly, I wouldn't be too surprised if feeze mage lived
Priest: Shadowform might actually be somewhat decent still. Priest as a whole seems like a potentially under powered class though.
Rogue:Maybe Anub'arak viable after BGH nerf, though It's still vulnerable to Hex, Polymorph, and Entomb, and I expect to see a ton of Hex in the new meta
Shaman: Probably more midrangy than full control, but a viable slower than aggro Shaman deck is coming your way for sure.
Palidan: Control Healadin is maybe a thing, but hard to say for sure.
Druid: Beasts are getting buffed but I'm guessing ramp is the primer deck for ramp. I don't know which class is gonna be the premier C'thun class but I somehow doubt it's gonna be druid.

I'm cool with Giants getting nerfed, but they should still be playable, and thus Handlock should still be playable.

 

[Acerac]

Yesterday I rerolled a Tavern Brawl quest and today I got another one.

I thought that wasn't a thing that happened.

 

[KuroNeeko]

My hopes:

Hunter: more tribal support, viable control deck
Shaman: more ways to exploit / interact with Overload, elemental tribal
Paladin: dragon paladin, hero avatar that doesn't require WoW
Rogue: more interesting weapons, viable control archtype (we're close!)
Rogue 2: More interesting ways to interact with weapon. Discover opponent card
Rogue 3: More cards like Cutpurse. Dmg-procs (Ophidian / Hypno Spec from MTG)
Warriors: alternate portrait, dragon warrior, more shield-interaction, non-patron midrange
Priest: more push / pull interaction between shadow / light forms
Priest 2: Tyrande. Hurry the fock up.
Priest 3: Something I can play on turns 2 ~ 3
Warlock: Steeper costs for playing Giants. More meaningful demon synergy. new portrait
Mage: I actually like mage. I guess a way to keep the grinder deck viable. Tempo alternative without Antonidas. More secrets.
Druid: More beast synergy, more cards that offer choices, hawt chick portrait
Druid: Nerf combo
No BGH or nerf it so people can play other legendaries.
No Handlock**. Screw those guys.
Awakened / Corrupted form of Ysera
More special encounter interactions.
More alternative methods of summoning creatures (Voltron)

** Unless I can burn them down with heals when they Durr-axxis.

 

[Karsticles]

My hopes:

Hunter: more tribal support, viable control deck
Shaman: more ways to exploit / interact with Overload, elemental tribal
Paladin: dragon paladin, hero avatar that doesn't require WoW
Rogue: more interesting weapons, viable control archtype (we're close!)
Rogue 2: More interesting ways to interact with weapon. Discover opponent card
Rogue 3: More cards like Cutpurse. Dmg-procs (Ophidian / Hypno Spec from MTG)
Warriors: alternate portrait, dragon warrior, more shield-interaction, non-patron midrange
Priest: more push / pull interaction between shadow / light forms
Priest 2: Tyrande. Hurry the fock up.
Priest 3: Something I can play on turns 2 ~ 3
Warlock: Steeper costs for playing Giants. More meaningful demon synergy. new portrait
Mage: I actually like mage. I guess a way to keep the grinder deck viable. Tempo alternative without Antonidas. More secrets.
Druid: More beast synergy, more cards that offer choices, hawt chick portrait
Druid: Nerf combo
No BGH or nerf it so people can play other legendaries.
No Handlock**. Screw those guys.
Awakened / Corrupted form of Ysera
More special encounter interactions.
More alternative methods of summoning creatures (Voltron)

** Unless I can burn them down with heals when they Durr-axxis.

Agreed on the Shaman points, though I don't know what kinds of tribal powers they would share. It would be nice/cool if Frost Elemental was moved to Shaman and its cost was reduced by 1.

Hypnotic Specter...yeah, that's never happening in this game, haha. There would be too much salt. I believe Nirolak cited Ben as saying that discard effects are "not fun", anyway. Of course, they're obviously fun when they're random discards from your own hand.

 

[Moonlight]

What could even happen to it?

If they make it only work for one turn, the card will become garbage.

I think this change is likely: block lethal damage, your hero can only take 1 damage at a time for the rest of your turn. Punishes not setting your opponent at 1 HP before popping it and pretty much nothing else.

Animated Armor is the only playable card in the game that applies the effect (which they bothered to apply a visual distinction for) so I'm thinking it's maybe something they'll fit under the Mage 'identity'.

edit: I really want more secret synergies and cards that interact with secrets proactively. I don't mean cheat-cards like Challenger or Mad Scientist that just fish them. I mean more stuff that rewards keeping them in play or directly benefits from getting them activated.

 

[KuroNeeko]

I think this change is likely: block lethal damage, your hero can only take 1 damage at a time for the rest of your turn. Punishes not setting your opponent at 1 HP before popping it and pretty much nothing else.

Animated Armor is the only playable card in the game that applies the effect (which they bothered to apply a visual distinction for) so I'm thinking it's maybe something they'll fit under the Mage 'identity'.

edit: I really want more secret synergies and cards that interact with secrets proactively. I don't mean cheat-cards like Challenger or Mad Scientist that just fish them. I mean more stuff that rewards keeping them in play or directly benefits from getting them activated.

I don't remember frost mage pre-Naxx, but I think the loss of Mad Scientist is already a pretty big hit since they have to hard cast their secrets now.

Further nerfage just seems like overkill when you can no longer pull / play it from your deck. I''d be down with more Secret stuff though. I like Mage's secrets and think they're a great part of that spell arsenal. Would be cool if say, rogues, got secrets as well. Not sure why Pallys got them.

 

[V-Faction]

Agreed on the Shaman points, though I don't know what kinds of tribal powers they would share. It would be nice/cool if Frost Elemental was moved to Shaman and its cost was reduced by 1.

It's one of my hopes for an Elemental Shaman. What holds me back is the fear that the class juggles too many different aspects of tribe synergy already that adding one more will hinder instead of help. To get around that, I've contemplated they could tie the wording strictly to cards (like Hammer of Twilight) and spell effects instead of a new category of minion.

Real quick:

I'm hoping for Warlock, Shaman, Rogue, Druid, and Priest hero portraits at some point.
I'm hoping Druid as a class gets back to its roots of naturalism. I'm sick of Feral spec.
I'm also hopeful they nerf combo (TO THE GROUND, BABY).
I'm hoping for a fresh meta. Not just slow decks, but new ones. I'm sick of the same archetypes over and over again.
I'm hoping we see a rebirth of Rogue with Toxin-play, which are the coolest spells revealed in WOG so far. Part of me regrets they weren't in Classic (and thus will eventually be rotated out) as they fit the Rogue theme perfectly.
I'm hoping we see new forms of interaction. The Minion - Weapon - Spell - Hero Power dynamic is great; what would be greater is seeing a new dimension added. Basically, something akin to Secrets, but not actually more Secrets?
I'm hoping Arena gets shaken up hardcore. All signs point to Mage still being the dominate class still.
I'm hoping it isn't too early for Standard/Wild formats. Hearthstone proper (i.e. not the beta) hasn't been out for nearly as long as some would think.
I'm hoping they figure out Silence, because I'm sick of waiting for an answer. And I hope it's a better rebalance than simply more mana.

 

[TheSadRanger]

Azure Drake, Saraad, two Silver Hand Recruits on the board. Saraad gives me Everyfin is Awesome. Druid has to use FoN + SRx2 just to clear my board.

Fuckin love Saraad so much. Just going to shove it in all my decks once Standard rolls around.

I keep telling people that Saraad is super underrated

I can see him getting a lot of play in standard.

 

[Timedog]

Is blizzard not giving out future nerf cards in packs anymore. Haven't seen any of the obvious nerf cards in about 60 packs. If so, shady...

Anyone else gotten nerf cards from packs in the past few days?

 

[FeD.nL]

Is blizzard not giving out future nerf cards in packs anymore. Haven't seen any of the obvious nerf cards in about 60 packs. If so, shady...

Anyone else gotten nerf cards from packs in the past few days?

I got a Molten Giant in a brawl pack last week.

 

[bjaelke]

And I got BGH from Brawl. Golden nonetheless.

 

[georly]

And I got BGH from Brawl. Golden nonetheless.

Aww yeah, dust for full price in 2 weeks.

 

[CJVaughn]

So with the recent reveal of Dark Arakkoa I'm going to guess that not all classes will get C'Thun class cards since Druid now has two. If that is indeed the case the question then is, what classes will get C'Thun support?

 

[The Adder]

Is blizzard not giving out future nerf cards in packs anymore. Haven't seen any of the obvious nerf cards in about 60 packs. If so, shady...

Anyone else gotten nerf cards from packs in the past few days?

I think they GREATLY reduced the drop rate. At least for the common and rare ones. Been cracking classics since standard was announced and I've only gotten 3 of the obvious nerf cards (all epic).

 

[Dahbomb]

Is blizzard not giving out future nerf cards in packs anymore. Haven't seen any of the obvious nerf cards in about 60 packs. If so, shady...

Anyone else gotten nerf cards from packs in the past few days?

I have gotten Keeper of the Grove and Juggler in Tavern Brawl packs.

 

[Apathy]

So with the recent reveal of Dark Arakkoa I'm going to guess that not all classes will get C'Thun class cards since Druid now has two. If that is indeed the case the question then is, what classes will get C'Thun support?

Probably warrior

 

[fertygo]

Watching Kriips vid about nerf history

man I wish we still had that Fade card

 

[Apathy]

can face hunter just die already, fuck

 

[toddhunter]

So with the recent reveal of Dark Arakkoa I'm going to guess that not all classes will get C'Thun class cards since Druid now has two. If that is indeed the case the question then is, what classes will get C'Thun support?

Shaman should get solid C'Thun support.

9 mana 4/4 Pirate. Give your C'Thun 1-3 attack when it is in your hand. Overload (3).

 

[Apathy]

Shaman should get solid C'Thun support.

9 mana 4/4 Pirate. Give your C'Thun 1-3 attack when it is in your hand. Overload (3).

Shaman pretty much already got first or second place so far, they dont also need cthun support

 

[IceMarker]

Got to Rank 4, I don't know how but I did. If I get to Legend, it will be by total accident.

 

[thekillermuffin]

So, what day this week do y'all think we're getting that sweet, sweet nerf list? Before the stream on Thursday?

 

[V-Faction]

Shaman should get solid C'Thun support.

9 mana 4/4 Pirate. Give your C'Thun 1-3 attack when it is in your hand. Overload (3).

Holy crap, it's indistinguishable from the real thing. Are you secretly the Shaman card co-designer you crafty fox.

Shaman pretty much already got first or second place so far, they dont also need cthun support

1st or 2nd place remains to be seen. I recall folks' misplaced jealously over the TGT cards and Totems of all things.

Personally: I never wanted C'Thun support in the Shaman play-style, but they absolutely should design C'Thun cards for all classes. Because otherwise... what's the point? Blizzard shouldn't be an authority on who gets their newest gimmick if they're handing out cards to play this gimmick on an account-wide basis.

 

[Karsticles]

I think this change is likely: block lethal damage, your hero can only take 1 damage at a time for the rest of your turn. Punishes not setting your opponent at 1 HP before popping it and pretty much nothing else.

Animated Armor is the only playable card in the game that applies the effect (which they bothered to apply a visual distinction for) so I'm thinking it's maybe something they'll fit under the Mage 'identity'.

edit: I really want more secret synergies and cards that interact with secrets proactively. I don't mean cheat-cards like Challenger or Mad Scientist that just fish them. I mean more stuff that rewards keeping them in play or directly benefits from getting them activated.

I think that's too easy to play around, personally. It would never get used.

Secrets need to be WAY cheaper to play if they're going to be viable. Mage Secrets at 3 mana is ridiculous. I tried making a Secrets Mage deck, and it can't do jack.

It's one of my hopes for an Elemental Shaman. What holds me back is the fear that the class juggles too many different aspects of tribe synergy already that adding one more will hinder instead of help. To get around that, I've contemplated they could tie the wording strictly to cards (like Hammer of Twilight) and spell effects instead of a new category of minion.

Real quick:

I'm hoping for Warlock, Shaman, Rogue, Druid, and Priest hero portraits at some point.
I'm hoping Druid as a class gets back to its roots of naturalism. I'm sick of Feral spec.
I'm also hopeful they nerf combo (TO THE GROUND, BABY).
I'm hoping for a fresh meta. Not just slow decks, but new ones. I'm sick of the same archetypes over and over again.
I'm hoping we see a rebirth of Rogue with Toxin-play, which are the coolest spells revealed in WOG so far. Part of me regrets they weren't in Classic (and thus will eventually be rotated out) as they fit the Rogue theme perfectly.
I'm hoping we see new forms of interaction. The Minion - Weapon - Spell - Hero Power dynamic is great; what would be greater is seeing a new dimension added. Basically, something akin to Secrets, but not actually more Secrets?
I'm hoping Arena gets shaken up hardcore. All signs point to Mage still being the dominate class still.
I'm hoping it isn't too early for Standard/Wild formats. Hearthstone proper (i.e. not the beta) hasn't been out for nearly as long as some would think.
I'm hoping they figure out Silence, because I'm sick of waiting for an answer. And I hope it's a better rebalance than simply more mana.

They should get rid of this whole "Murloc Shaman" business. No one wants that for the class, it already has an in-built tribe. I don't even know why there is a "Murloc Class". It's a generic neutral faction - give every class a class Murloc like dragons, and call it a day. Paladins should have a Soldier tribe.

Re: Portraits. I want some Undead or Demon portraits.

Your comment on Standard is why I am unhappy about this new policy. A lot of these new cards are completing character themes that make them what they are. Rogues finally get poison? Yay! But why would we want Rogue to lose poisons in the future?

Also, where the hell is my Felhunter, Blizzard?!

Is blizzard not giving out future nerf cards in packs anymore. Haven't seen any of the obvious nerf cards in about 60 packs. If so, shady...

Anyone else gotten nerf cards from packs in the past few days?

I've gotten plenty of the to-be-nerfed cards.

 

[Xamtheking]

Do you think they will give full dust for cards rotating out of Standard?
Or is that too much to hope for