As you suggested earlier this week dapperdog, perhaps we should indeed finally have a discussion about why these particular cards were chosen to create a specific and sometimes difficult grindy achievement around which will mostly lead to a horrible user experience. Are these achievements supposed to be fun, challenging or something completely different? Let us not forget to include their weird decision of only attaching XP for the most recent expansion achievements in this discussion which time and time again gets removed a week too early before the next expansion gets launched.
Frantic Hippogryph and Gankster achievement are among the worst ones Ive seen so far. Its not easy to find someone who'd willingly let their minions trade right into a gankster, let alone a value trade. Most of the time they'd either just kill it with AoE or they play a 5 health minion and make me tear part of my scalp out.
Hippogryph is particularly stupid, because it requires you to practically play this card 40 times, since triggering the windfury is hard enough, and no player on earth will let this stick for more than a turn.
Garen being a win con is debatable to say the least sure he can give lot's of rallies but he is vulnerable ( Like many Demacian champs ) to chump blocking. Usually with Garen you just keep getting chump blocked until your opponent find their removal or get his own win con online. If you look at all the meta champs you will notice that they all can deal damage directly to the Nexus either through burn damage or evasive keywords ( preferably with elusive or overwhelm but Impact and Fearsome can also get the job done ) or they buff unit that who have said keywords ( Like Sivir, Poppy and Nami ), but this is just me speaking from purely competitive standpoint. I suppose he works just fine if you play him at more casual level.
Oh how much I would love to see that card used. That would just irritate any and all Aggro decks. Think of the rage quitting that would happen when someone does that after a Solar Eclipse
It's probably the same people who like to ask easily Googled questions on forums instead of using Google, or the people who ask questions in the comments that are literally answered in the first line of the article they are commenting on.
for instance ... I had two 12/12 minions and two 8/8 minions ... instead to finish the party to allow me to keep these big guys to destroy the pinata my "opponent" continued to play low cost minions ...
I am greatful for Anivia buffs, since some of the most fun decks I've played in this game revolved around her. Though you did remind me of how I also liked Fiora Shen. While I doubt she will be reverted, you can try pairing Shen with Garen. Garen demands a bit less resources in terms of protection and still is a good win condition with his constant Rally.
The harsh reality is that the animations can really sometimes limit how much can be done in a turn. Hence why top players tend to find workarounds to extend their natural turn timer. The most common method is to simply play as many cards as possible while the animation is playing, restart the game, and skip the animations altogether. But there's one famous chinese player who managed to use some kind of third party software to speed up the animation, since its all actually played out on our side, not server side.
(Using such software is likely illegal, but its kinda a grey area to me because we've been asking for animation skips for ages and I dont necessarily fault anyone for trying to find loopholes past these dreadfully slow animations)
Bottom line for me is that team5 really should avoid designing decks that tests APM skill because every time one such deck appears the whole argument about animation starts raging and people start noticing that the nicely made, very intricate animations which makes the game a joy to watch is actually a hindrance rather than something to be celebrated.
So the animations in hearthstone have always had a bit of an issue where they can get desynced between the two clients, in fact, they aren't actually forced to be kept in sync at all, they just happen to be the same animations for both players... most of the time...
What you can do to seemingly "cheat" the rope is actually play your cards while other cards are animating, and they will sorta be "queued up". If you successfully drag your fireball onto the opponents face hitbox, the spell will play, waiting until after your current animations are done to animate itself.
In this way, it can be better to draw first if you plan on drawing this turn. Ignoring the already big strategic value of drawing first if you plan on drawing, it also gives you this animation queueing advantage. Basically, if you draw last, your draw spell will have to wait for the rest of your spells animations to actually put the cards in your hand.
And as Avalon has said as well, there's some exploits, most of which are against TOS.
Wailor - As AeroJulwin alluded to, a 1-drop with Divine Shield (or at least 3 Health) will be a pain to remove immediately, allowing you to get Alone in the Woods up (possibly via the Coin if you're going second) and reliably set it off. I'm not sure how often you'll proc the Secret later in the game, but it's that initial opening that'll be problematic. +4/+4 is just too high; IMO it has that "woah that's OP!" initial read that'll put people off.
AeroJulwin - Overkill is a carry-over from Rastakhan's Rumble, so that'll upset some people (like Demon lol). It's a neat card, it just…would not exist in its current form.
Nirast - I'm okay with it being 3-mana, as a "tax" for the flexibility the card has. You're either using it against the enemy Subdue-style, or buffing something small like with Dark Conviction; they both cost 2, but the ability to have both options should make it cost 3. Choose One is a good example of this: the Druid often pays a convenience tax for being allowed a choice.
Demonxz95 - I understand why you pre-nerfed Magatha, however that decision also makes her rather boring if I'm being honest. You've flooded the board with random Totems, which is nice for buffing, but unless they were all the one with Taunt you haven't impacted the enemy's board or its ability to go face. The art is great; if you can find a more impactful/interesting effect this could be a winning combination.
YES! Welcome back, Swizard! And great article as always! I play mostly Standard, but whenever I feel like trying the Wild side, I look for one of your decks!
So we finally get a look at what the devs think needs to be improved from an archetype perspective.
The big winner is control...vengeance is 6 mana this one mana difference is game changing. It's actually possible to pass pass into like a Zigs kill if your hand is super heavy.
Freijord changes to anivia and and trundle again I'm like not the biggest fan of this deck but it should punish infinite value Bandle decks and Heimer, Zoe etc. So thats great. The deck also has an actual identity and unique play flavor and I'm all about that.
Kindred goes down to 4 mana and Xerath gets a point of health big buffs to the I just want you to stick to the board Champs. I have said before that in skilled hands Xerath has no skill ceiling and now that he's that much harder clear he's a real threat.
Mono shurima now gets to auto play its landmark and again 6 mana instead of 7 mana to auto level its Champs to tier 3. Hey look Riot is putting the fun back in there game...great stuff I'd like to see more of this.
Reminds me of when they buffed braum he was basically unplayable before and now he's at least a little scary as like a hard counter. I could almost see Fiora and Shen having their nerfs reverted because again we want these champs playable, for the sake of fun.
I think Riots getting that so a few more buff passes like this one and I think the game will be in a much more "unbalanced" but funner (not a real word) state.
I drastically cut my time spent on Mercenaries after the update to lvl 30 heroic bounty rewards* because it made me realise just how unrewarding the whole process was and still is. I am hopeful that Blizzard will improve the game but I don't know which direction they will take so for now I'm avoiding any form of grind - no lvl 30 heroic bounty runs, no task farming. Furthermore, on the off chance they introduce some form of maxed coin protection, I've also decided not to complete any more tasks (except for Toki's daily) or open any more packs.
* Side note: Old Guardian has done some analysis on the post-update drop rates of legendary coins on lvl 30 heroic bounty runs, and his initial findings are disappointing to say the least. See his Reddit post and YouTube video. The average number of coins you can get from the guaranteed legendary coin pile was reduced along with the probability of legendary coins appearing in the other two bounty coin piles. More data is needed but it appears this change is at best a side-grade ie. same legendary coin drop rate on average. For those intent on farming for legendary coins, heroic quilboars still present the best value for your time.
Sometimes, animations take longer than the time you actually need to play cards: casting multiple spells one after another increases this difference in time - therefore, there might be occasions in which it seems like your opponent's turn lasts more than yours, but it's just animations resolving.
However, some players have been using some simple yet effective trick to speed up in-game animations and therefore do more stuff in a single turn: casting more Ignites, for example. While I am not saying the opponent you met was a cheater, there are people who actively exploit this method, which (just in case someone who reads this comment think it's worth trying out) is totally against ToS and will get you banned sooner or later.
It's basically the same thing that happened a couple years ago with SN1P-SN4P Warlock.
How to Complete Alterac Valley's Neutral Achievements for Rewards Track Experience - Great Deck Lists!
As you suggested earlier this week dapperdog, perhaps we should indeed finally have a discussion about why these particular cards were chosen to create a specific and sometimes difficult grindy achievement around which will mostly lead to a horrible user experience. Are these achievements supposed to be fun, challenging or something completely different? Let us not forget to include their weird decision of only attaching XP for the most recent expansion achievements in this discussion which time and time again gets removed a week too early before the next expansion gets launched.
How to Complete Alterac Valley's Neutral Achievements for Rewards Track Experience - Great Deck Lists!
For Frostwolf Warmaster, play in wild as rogue with Vanish and potion of Illusions. You can rapidly fork out warmasters so fast its not even funny. Same for Stormpike Marshal
Frantic Hippogryph and Gankster achievement are among the worst ones Ive seen so far. Its not easy to find someone who'd willingly let their minions trade right into a gankster, let alone a value trade. Most of the time they'd either just kill it with AoE or they play a 5 health minion and make me tear part of my scalp out.
Hippogryph is particularly stupid, because it requires you to practically play this card 40 times, since triggering the windfury is hard enough, and no player on earth will let this stick for more than a turn.
Patch Notes - Big Buffs Finally
Garen being a win con is debatable to say the least sure he can give lot's of rallies but he is vulnerable ( Like many Demacian champs ) to chump blocking. Usually with Garen you just keep getting chump blocked until your opponent find their removal or get his own win con online. If you look at all the meta champs you will notice that they all can deal damage directly to the Nexus either through burn damage or evasive keywords ( preferably with elusive or overwhelm but Impact and Fearsome can also get the job done ) or they buff unit that who have said keywords ( Like Sivir, Poppy and Nami ), but this is just me speaking from purely competitive standpoint. I suppose he works just fine if you play him at more casual level.
Card Design Conversation - Numerical Advantage
Oh how much I would love to see that card used. That would just irritate any and all Aggro decks. Think of the rage quitting that would happen when someone does that after a Solar Eclipse
Today’s Class Will Be Outside - A Full Guide To Midrange Beast Druid on the Wildest of Wednesdays
I love seeing cards like Knight of the Wild finally finding a home. Looks like a lot of fun. Just got Mulvrick the other day too.
Ignite rope
Video by Zeddy on the topic
Alterac Libram Pally
Still better with Trogg, even after the nerf.
A New Year Bash
It's probably the same people who like to ask easily Googled questions on forums instead of using Google, or the people who ask questions in the comments that are literally answered in the first line of the article they are commenting on.
A New Year Bash
I'd understand this if Corrupt were not still in Standard, but ... wow.
A New Year Bash
fixed that for ya
Patch Notes - Big Buffs Finally
I am greatful for Anivia buffs, since some of the most fun decks I've played in this game revolved around her. Though you did remind me of how I also liked Fiora Shen. While I doubt she will be reverted, you can try pairing Shen with Garen. Garen demands a bit less resources in terms of protection and still is a good win condition with his constant Rally.
Ignite rope
The harsh reality is that the animations can really sometimes limit how much can be done in a turn. Hence why top players tend to find workarounds to extend their natural turn timer. The most common method is to simply play as many cards as possible while the animation is playing, restart the game, and skip the animations altogether. But there's one famous chinese player who managed to use some kind of third party software to speed up the animation, since its all actually played out on our side, not server side.
(Using such software is likely illegal, but its kinda a grey area to me because we've been asking for animation skips for ages and I dont necessarily fault anyone for trying to find loopholes past these dreadfully slow animations)
Bottom line for me is that team5 really should avoid designing decks that tests APM skill because every time one such deck appears the whole argument about animation starts raging and people start noticing that the nicely made, very intricate animations which makes the game a joy to watch is actually a hindrance rather than something to be celebrated.
Counting On You - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
My new, very stupid idea. Go big or go home!
Ignite rope
So the animations in hearthstone have always had a bit of an issue where they can get desynced between the two clients, in fact, they aren't actually forced to be kept in sync at all, they just happen to be the same animations for both players... most of the time...
What you can do to seemingly "cheat" the rope is actually play your cards while other cards are animating, and they will sorta be "queued up". If you successfully drag your fireball onto the opponents face hitbox, the spell will play, waiting until after your current animations are done to animate itself.
In this way, it can be better to draw first if you plan on drawing this turn. Ignoring the already big strategic value of drawing first if you plan on drawing, it also gives you this animation queueing advantage. Basically, if you draw last, your draw spell will have to wait for the rest of your spells animations to actually put the cards in your hand.
And as Avalon has said as well, there's some exploits, most of which are against TOS.
Counting On You - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Feedback, as promised:
Wailor - As AeroJulwin alluded to, a 1-drop with Divine Shield (or at least 3 Health) will be a pain to remove immediately, allowing you to get Alone in the Woods up (possibly via the Coin if you're going second) and reliably set it off. I'm not sure how often you'll proc the Secret later in the game, but it's that initial opening that'll be problematic. +4/+4 is just too high; IMO it has that "woah that's OP!" initial read that'll put people off.
AeroJulwin - Overkill is a carry-over from Rastakhan's Rumble, so that'll upset some people (like Demon lol). It's a neat card, it just…would not exist in its current form.
Nirast - I'm okay with it being 3-mana, as a "tax" for the flexibility the card has. You're either using it against the enemy Subdue-style, or buffing something small like with Dark Conviction; they both cost 2, but the ability to have both options should make it cost 3. Choose One is a good example of this: the Druid often pays a convenience tax for being allowed a choice.
Demonxz95 - I understand why you pre-nerfed Magatha, however that decision also makes her rather boring if I'm being honest. You've flooded the board with random Totems, which is nice for buffing, but unless they were all the one with Taunt you haven't impacted the enemy's board or its ability to go face. The art is great; if you can find a more impactful/interesting effect this could be a winning combination.
anchorm4n - As the others noted, it's Belligerent Gnome crossed with Cyclopian Horror; that's okay, but not very interesting. Don't give up :(
Blizzard Sent Me an Alterac Valley Care Package - Thanks Hearthstone Team for the Gift
Ewer*
Sir Finley's Original Name in Hearthstone Was Going to Be "Blargh the Wet Explorer"
No.
Today’s Class Will Be Outside - A Full Guide To Midrange Beast Druid on the Wildest of Wednesdays
YES! Welcome back, Swizard! And great article as always! I play mostly Standard, but whenever I feel like trying the Wild side, I look for one of your decks!
Patch Notes - Big Buffs Finally
So we finally get a look at what the devs think needs to be improved from an archetype perspective.
The big winner is control...vengeance is 6 mana this one mana difference is game changing. It's actually possible to pass pass into like a Zigs kill if your hand is super heavy.
Freijord changes to anivia and and trundle again I'm like not the biggest fan of this deck but it should punish infinite value Bandle decks and Heimer, Zoe etc. So thats great. The deck also has an actual identity and unique play flavor and I'm all about that.
Kindred goes down to 4 mana and Xerath gets a point of health big buffs to the I just want you to stick to the board Champs. I have said before that in skilled hands Xerath has no skill ceiling and now that he's that much harder clear he's a real threat.
Mono shurima now gets to auto play its landmark and again 6 mana instead of 7 mana to auto level its Champs to tier 3. Hey look Riot is putting the fun back in there game...great stuff I'd like to see more of this.
Reminds me of when they buffed braum he was basically unplayable before and now he's at least a little scary as like a hard counter. I could almost see Fiora and Shen having their nerfs reverted because again we want these champs playable, for the sake of fun.
I think Riots getting that so a few more buff passes like this one and I think the game will be in a much more "unbalanced" but funner (not a real word) state.
Blizzard Sent Me an Alterac Valley Care Package - Thanks Hearthstone Team for the Gift
carafe*
Blizzard Sent Me an Alterac Valley Care Package - Thanks Hearthstone Team for the Gift
The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Extended Edition spoiler
Can we talk about Mercenaries?
I drastically cut my time spent on Mercenaries after the update to lvl 30 heroic bounty rewards* because it made me realise just how unrewarding the whole process was and still is. I am hopeful that Blizzard will improve the game but I don't know which direction they will take so for now I'm avoiding any form of grind - no lvl 30 heroic bounty runs, no task farming. Furthermore, on the off chance they introduce some form of maxed coin protection, I've also decided not to complete any more tasks (except for Toki's daily) or open any more packs.
* Side note: Old Guardian has done some analysis on the post-update drop rates of legendary coins on lvl 30 heroic bounty runs, and his initial findings are disappointing to say the least. See his Reddit post and YouTube video. The average number of coins you can get from the guaranteed legendary coin pile was reduced along with the probability of legendary coins appearing in the other two bounty coin piles. More data is needed but it appears this change is at best a side-grade ie. same legendary coin drop rate on average. For those intent on farming for legendary coins, heroic quilboars still present the best value for your time.
Quest Trading - Play A Friend!
Battletag: WarNerve#1478
Region: NA
Trade Only?: Yes
I still have the quest
Midrange Beast Druid
Either Dire Frostwolf or Twilight Runner.
Ignite rope
Sometimes, animations take longer than the time you actually need to play cards: casting multiple spells one after another increases this difference in time - therefore, there might be occasions in which it seems like your opponent's turn lasts more than yours, but it's just animations resolving.
However, some players have been using some simple yet effective trick to speed up in-game animations and therefore do more stuff in a single turn: casting more Ignites, for example. While I am not saying the opponent you met was a cheater, there are people who actively exploit this method, which (just in case someone who reads this comment think it's worth trying out) is totally against ToS and will get you banned sooner or later.
It's basically the same thing that happened a couple years ago with SN1P-SN4P Warlock.