Since I've long past the point of finding card backs being interesting in their own right (I currently have a full expansion of them at 135!), I think the 'best' one is simply the one that best suits the deck I'm attaching it to. That can even make icky ones that nobody really likes the best (I'm looking at you Unholy Knight).
More generally, 2 really stand out: the Random one and Pandaria, which is the HS equivalent of me carving "AngryShuckie was 'ere 2014" into a tree stump.
@anchorm4n I recently read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars too and it's probably my favourite book of all time. The level of depth is just amazing. I can't wait for Paoloni's next book :)
If so, then I'd suggest Blacksad, one of the most successful european comics of the last two decades. It's a classic noir series: 1940s/50s America, private detective, and all that good old crime stuff. Juan Diaz Canales' writing is pretty good, but the real reason you'd want these books are Juanjo Guarnido's illustrations. His characters are just so full of life and expression, and he's a master at painting with watercolor!
Nice list, though I'm surprised some classic card backs didn't make it. Here's my top 10, I like them simple and clean, not too colorful. I've always believed that having more than three colors in a design is too much lol.
1) Ragnaros 2) Ironforge 3) Frostwolf 4) Candle King 5) Lightforged 6) Naxxramas 7) N'Zoth 8) Eyes of C'Thun 9) Card of Shadows 10) Tomb Invader
If every other player I ran into didn't have blood of hakkar it would 100% be my favorite card back. I'm just too big of a sucker for exclusive cosmetics.
The Ender's Shadow series by Orson Scott Card was a great read, thank you for your suggestion, linkblade! For everyone interested, linkblade's summary of "political sci-fi thrillers" fits like a glove.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Paolini is one monster of a book. I'm grateful they didn't decide to split it up in several volumes, even though the 900+ pages were hard to handle sometimes. I've very much enjoyed the book, it's of similar quality as Eragon was back in the day but with a Sci-Fi setting. There's at least one direct crossover gem included and several patterns Paolini revisits in a different style.
I'm currently about 200 pages deep into the First Law trilogy by Abercrombie which I like very much. Thanks for the recommendation, Alfi!
The newest additons to my wishlist are The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, a classic by Robert A. Heinlein and The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins which sounds a bit crazy.
Any news from your side? What was your last book? Did you like it? Is there anything coming up you're looking forward to?
This is superb, thanks for the read! I love that he learned English by reading comic books. That's a great origin story in its own right, in terms of transforming him into this beast of artist - so much incredible work!
In standard those Imprisoned Phoenixes can never truly make an OTK deck tier 1-2 simply because Cult Neophyte exist. If it turns out that freeze mage is turning up everywhere again, all it takes is to slot one of these bad girls in and suddenly your OTK is now limited to 20 damage. And since freeze mage doesnt pressure with minions, its nearly impossible to kill without slotting in pyroblast and praying.
In wild it gets worse with the best card in the game Loatheb being so good.
I dont have much experience in wild, but I think the current auctioneer build for mozaki is perhaps the better OTK deck out there, at least in standard. At times it can seem impossible to stop, and since in wild we can have two ice blocks, it may well be impossible without secret eaters.
But of course in wild, is there any reason not to just play quest mage to fill your OTK quota for the day?
With the arrival of Darkmoon Races, we might have gotten the final pieces to revive the old Freeze Mage archetype!
Erodos' Imprisoned Phoenix OTK deck was the first list I've come across. The goal of this deck is to stall and draw until you've got your combo pieces together, a task Mage is really good at. The major difference between this deck and older lists is that you can't play around the Imprisoned Phoenixs. A really cool side effect is that you're able to mill unsuspecting opponents. In my own experience, you usually have to go to turn 10 to pull off the combo. It's certainly possible to do it earlier if you gamble to draw missing combo pieces during the 2 turns the Phoenixes need to prepare.
RavenSunHS uses a more flexible combo, built around Mozaki, Master Duelist. This deck also makes good use of two new cards from Darkmoon Races: Imprisoned Phoenix again and Conjure Mana Biscuit. This list looks to finish earlier, but I haven't tried it yet.
All in all, I have high hopes for a return of the Freeze Mage archetype. Both of them don't look like Tier 1 decks to me, but Tier 2 or 3 seems possible (Secret Mage is a bad matchup and Odd Warrior is insta-concede). Have you tried those decks yet? Do you think they will end up being permanently viable? And if so, is that a good thing?
I must say I thoroughly enjoy these articles that focus on other things than actual gameplay and patch notes etc. Wether it be art (my favorite), history lessons and background of certain characters, random facts or just fun trivia from the devs on good ol' Hearthstone. I read them all.
That Hungry Crab clip reminds me of the Witchwood reveal stream when Day9 pulled a Hungry Crab off Jeweled Macaw against a Nightmare Amalgam. Ben Brode's reaction could cure cancer.
My friend got one of these, and I passed on it because I didn't think there would be much beyond what is seen in the card frames in Hearthstone. And boy, was I wrong. It's actually insane how much more there is to the art in Heartstone's cards than is actually seen in game.
While we're on the topic of art that isn't seen very well in game, it's a real shame that you can't see card backs with that much detail, especially because a lot of them look really nice. I wish the deck-holder thing was slightly different so that you could actually see a player's cardback a bit clearer, maybe similar to what Runeterra has.
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
Since I've long past the point of finding card backs being interesting in their own right (I currently have a full expansion of them at 135!), I think the 'best' one is simply the one that best suits the deck I'm attaching it to. That can even make icky ones that nobody really likes the best (I'm looking at you Unholy Knight).
More generally, 2 really stand out: the Random one and Pandaria, which is the HS equivalent of me carving "AngryShuckie was 'ere 2014" into a tree stump.
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
I'm partial to the Ironforge cardback that just recently came out.
Books
@anchorm4n I recently read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars too and it's probably my favourite book of all time. The level of depth is just amazing. I can't wait for Paoloni's next book :)
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
Then theres the legend card back used not for its cosmetic value since they have none but for its status
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
What? No [Hearthstone Card (Pizza Stone) Not Found] and [Hearthstone Card (Lemonade) Not Found] cardbacks? For shame!
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
AHEM.
Don't you think you're missing one??
Books
Do comic books count?
If so, then I'd suggest Blacksad, one of the most successful european comics of the last two decades. It's a classic noir series: 1940s/50s America, private detective, and all that good old crime stuff. Juan Diaz Canales' writing is pretty good, but the real reason you'd want these books are Juanjo Guarnido's illustrations. His characters are just so full of life and expression, and he's a master at painting with watercolor!
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
You have my favorite number 1. It's great.
I'm rocking the recent Ironforge one at the minute though because in gaming Dwarfs are my thing.
Others I like:
Raise the Roof (April 2018).
Frostfire (January 2018)
Legion (September 2016)
Ragnaros (Fire festival 2019)
The Shattering (Descent of Dragons preorder)
Galaxy (Samsung promotional)
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
Nice list, though I'm surprised some classic card backs didn't make it. Here's my top 10, I like them simple and clean, not too colorful. I've always believed that having more than three colors in a design is too much lol.
1) Ragnaros
2) Ironforge
3) Frostwolf
4) Candle King
5) Lightforged
6) Naxxramas
7) N'Zoth
8) Eyes of C'Thun
9) Card of Shadows
10) Tomb Invader
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
"The 10 Best Card Backs AVAILABLE in Hearthstone" most of these card backs are not currently available in hearthstone though...
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
My favourite always has been Black Temple.
First cardback I miss (unable to play that month) and always complain about missing it instead other ones that I didn't like at all.
Just see it, it's perfect. Meteor at the back falling down, that fel aura, the cathedral style that remains me a little bit Diablo III.
They should bring it back to shop and keep it there forever.
The 10 Best Card Backs Available in Hearthstone That You Definitely Can't Disagree With
If every other player I ran into didn't have blood of hakkar it would 100% be my favorite card back. I'm just too big of a sucker for exclusive cosmetics.
Spell Damage Shaman Budget Deck List & Guide - Budget Deck Breakdown
Perfect deck to grind the new Landslide achievement - thanks sule!
Ice Flow Mozaki Mage
Yeah I also went further with incanter's flow, and also trying with Research Project. I think 1x Research is good, 2x might be too much.
Artist Alex Horley Reflects on 15 Years of Working with Blizzard and Hearthstone
Definitely one of my favourite artists, his style is so epic. Hoping to see more of his work in-game for years to come.
Books
Short update:
The Ender's Shadow series by Orson Scott Card was a great read, thank you for your suggestion, linkblade! For everyone interested, linkblade's summary of "political sci-fi thrillers" fits like a glove.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Paolini is one monster of a book. I'm grateful they didn't decide to split it up in several volumes, even though the 900+ pages were hard to handle sometimes. I've very much enjoyed the book, it's of similar quality as Eragon was back in the day but with a Sci-Fi setting. There's at least one direct crossover gem included and several patterns Paolini revisits in a different style.
I'm currently about 200 pages deep into the First Law trilogy by Abercrombie which I like very much. Thanks for the recommendation, Alfi!
The newest additons to my wishlist are The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, a classic by Robert A. Heinlein and The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins which sounds a bit crazy.
Any news from your side? What was your last book? Did you like it? Is there anything coming up you're looking forward to?
Artist Alex Horley Reflects on 15 Years of Working with Blizzard and Hearthstone
This is superb, thanks for the read! I love that he learned English by reading comic books. That's a great origin story in its own right, in terms of transforming him into this beast of artist - so much incredible work!
The return of Freeze Mage?
In standard those Imprisoned Phoenixes can never truly make an OTK deck tier 1-2 simply because Cult Neophyte exist. If it turns out that freeze mage is turning up everywhere again, all it takes is to slot one of these bad girls in and suddenly your OTK is now limited to 20 damage. And since freeze mage doesnt pressure with minions, its nearly impossible to kill without slotting in pyroblast and praying.
In wild it gets worse with the best card in the game Loatheb being so good.
I dont have much experience in wild, but I think the current auctioneer build for mozaki is perhaps the better OTK deck out there, at least in standard. At times it can seem impossible to stop, and since in wild we can have two ice blocks, it may well be impossible without secret eaters.
But of course in wild, is there any reason not to just play quest mage to fill your OTK quota for the day?
The return of Freeze Mage?
With the arrival of Darkmoon Races, we might have gotten the final pieces to revive the old Freeze Mage archetype!
Erodos' Imprisoned Phoenix OTK deck was the first list I've come across. The goal of this deck is to stall and draw until you've got your combo pieces together, a task Mage is really good at. The major difference between this deck and older lists is that you can't play around the Imprisoned Phoenixs. A really cool side effect is that you're able to mill unsuspecting opponents. In my own experience, you usually have to go to turn 10 to pull off the combo. It's certainly possible to do it earlier if you gamble to draw missing combo pieces during the 2 turns the Phoenixes need to prepare.
Bonus tip: Don't play Doomsayer the turn before your Imprisoned Phoenixes wake up :D
Wild · Freeze Mage · by Erodos · 5 years, 8 months ago
RavenSunHS uses a more flexible combo, built around Mozaki, Master Duelist. This deck also makes good use of two new cards from Darkmoon Races: Imprisoned Phoenix again and Conjure Mana Biscuit. This list looks to finish earlier, but I haven't tried it yet.
Wild · Miracle Mage · by RavenSunHS · 5 years, 8 months ago
All in all, I have high hopes for a return of the Freeze Mage archetype. Both of them don't look like Tier 1 decks to me, but Tier 2 or 3 seems possible (Secret Mage is a bad matchup and Odd Warrior is insta-concede). Have you tried those decks yet? Do you think they will end up being permanently viable? And if so, is that a good thing?
Snowpocalypse
Alright everyone, things are getting serious: Alleria stole my crown! Bring on them snowballs, I need ammunition!!!
Artist Alex Horley Reflects on 15 Years of Working with Blizzard and Hearthstone
15 years, damn. Some good pieces from this artist, but Wild Pyromancer for life! 🤟🔥🔥🔥
Artist Alex Horley Reflects on 15 Years of Working with Blizzard and Hearthstone
I must say I thoroughly enjoy these articles that focus on other things than actual gameplay and patch notes etc. Wether it be art (my favorite), history lessons and background of certain characters, random facts or just fun trivia from the devs on good ol' Hearthstone. I read them all.
Keep it up, great work!
8 Educational Hearthstone Facts You May Not Know to Celebrate World Education Day
That Hungry Crab clip reminds me of the Witchwood reveal stream when Day9 pulled a Hungry Crab off Jeweled Macaw against a Nightmare Amalgam. Ben Brode's reaction could cure cancer.
Here's the link, it's a 44:36.
Hearthstone is Getting a New Art Book Dedicated to the Year of the Dragon
My friend got one of these, and I passed on it because I didn't think there would be much beyond what is seen in the card frames in Hearthstone. And boy, was I wrong. It's actually insane how much more there is to the art in Heartstone's cards than is actually seen in game.
While we're on the topic of art that isn't seen very well in game, it's a real shame that you can't see card backs with that much detail, especially because a lot of them look really nice. I wish the deck-holder thing was slightly different so that you could actually see a player's cardback a bit clearer, maybe similar to what Runeterra has.
Mech Warrior
Cheers man! Gonna give this a whirl now, I've stopped trying in ranked till the nerds come out, bored of wasting time again moronic tiller decks.