I'll tell you what doesn't work (and I have seen it more than once) is druids playing Embiggen and then wondering why Guardian Animals doesn't work. Makes me giggle :)
The puke shaman is very aggressive, wouldn't want a beefed up Vulpera Scoundrel to stop it from cycling faster. I could see it getting good use in Midrange or Control decks.
I have opened 198 Packs + 5 Golden and I am still missing 7 Legendarys to complete the set (although I have dust for two and I haven't disenchanted the golden extras yet).
I grade my Schoolomancy packs a C. I would say it was average. 6 legendaries out of 132 packs = 22 packs per legendary (about average); 38 epics out of 132 packs = 3.47 packs per epic (excellent). The 5 golden packs contained 18 commons, 6 rares, 1 epic, 0 legendaries (average).
The great: The epic count was great and I got most of what i wanted here. Free golden Legendary High Abbess Alura
The good: Instructor Fireheart, Jandice Barov (I like this kind of RNG), and free regular legendary [Hearthstone Card (Dr. Krastinov) Not Found]
The meh: The golden packs (I wasn't expecting a legendary, but was certainly hoping for another epic), the legendary rate, Speaker Gidra, and the other free golden legendary Turalyon, the Tenured.
The bad: Lord Barov, and [Hearthstone Card (Infiltrtor Lilian) Not Found] ( I don't think these cards will ever be good)
The ugly: Archwitch Willow, only getting 4 out of 9 legendaries I really wanted, and the real stinger; no neutral Leagendaries (ouch)!
I am speaking from a Wild pov, but I guess what is not broken here is fine in Standard too.
Secret Passage is an ok card. It looks busted but it isn't. Because you need a pretty low curve to abuse a 5-card window in 1-turn. Low curve means hyper-Aggro or Kingsbane. Both of these can be contained pretty efficiently, with some techs in case of Weapons. Actually Aggro can be contained both by Control and refined Tempo decks. Because low curve in Rogue is badly statted minions (unlike Warlock, Shaman, DH, and other classes with good early bodies). Compare with The Soularium, which became a serious card only when further synergy was provided (bare draw was not enough). Remember that hyper-Aggro looks always busted on new release.
For similar reasons, I think Glide can be saved, BUT only as long as other DH cards are nerfed (see below). Btw nerfing glide to (5) might be the death of Wild at the hands of Odd DH (which is already solid strong with just minimal card draw). If it needs a nerf, it must be to (6) (and it would be fine, because we don't need these kind of cards in the game, if it is made unplayable, it's just a good thing.
Now, as much as I don't like the existence of Lightning Bloom, I am baffled at the idea of nerfing it, without making it a worse version of Innervate for Druid. Probably nobody would complain, but it'd be silly. I'd take that, if that's gonna be the case. I'm all in against Combo-OTK happening too soon.
Now, for my nerf candidates:
Trueaim Crescent because it generates extra free attacks (as if minions were using Warglaives of Azzinoth) other than a ridiculously efficient comeback opportunity against other Aggro/Tempo. The card needs to cost (2). Nerfing durability stats would be of no help.
Ace Hunter Kreen similar as above. Actually their synergy is monstruous. He needs to cost (4). Nerfing body stats would be of no help.
Mindrender Illucia is just no fun. Having key cards stripped away from hand is just abominable, and doing it for (2) is dirty cheap. This card should cost (3) or even (4).
Sorcerer's Apprentice because the card is far above any standards of efficiency. It should include a "but not below (1)" clause, but since I doubt it's going to happen, I'd be happy enough with just a nerf to (3), to delay bonkers swing turns with Small Spells (I hope this is going to become apparent in Standard to, so as to enforce the need for a nerf).
Lightning Bloom no idea how to nerf it (see above) but yes please nerf.
Soul Fragment: No, not at all! I think it's balanced the way it is, 2 health to face is an incredibly meager effect (Regenerate saw no play outside combo), the mechanic itself is staggered, inconsistent and neither Warlock nor DH variant seems overpowered. And I doubt any serious decks would run Pit Lord because of these small heals, against Aggro it's too dangerous and not worth it.
Glide: It sure is annoying, but we'll have to see how DH fares and if they even run it (4 mana is a lot).
Lightning Bloom: Yes, a nerf for sure, but not this card! Both Token and Kael'thas Druid seem OP at the moment, swingy and tilting. Although nerfing THIS card is impossible without either adressing real issues (adding more overload) or making it a worse Innervate (your suggestion). I think they'll nerf Gibberling for Token and either Kael'thas Sunstrider or Survival of the Fittest.
For the first time ever I decided to put a bit of money into the game. And I've gotta say, I was far from unsatisfied...
From 135 + 2 legendary quest packs I got:
All commons and rares, obviously; I only miss the 2 copies of the new DH/Hunter weapon (trueaim something?) and one Educated Elekk for epics; and excluding "free" legendaries (2 golden from bundles + 1 from logging in) I got 9 other legendaries; AND like 3700 dust from all the extras, and that is without goldens and eventual nerfed cards in the mix.
I always thought it was a bit of a waste of money, but with the new non-duplicate rules I'd honestly recommend it if you can afford and if the expansion looks nice, because I'm having SUCH a blast with all the different decks and classes I can use, more than I've had in years!
For most of us, we have opened our pack and started playing some of the pre-fab decks and experimenting with the new cards. As always, the new mechanics are running rampant and "working" really well and showing some awesome power. As with every expansion, we can anticipate nerfs coming, Ashes of Outland came on a bit quicker than anticipated though.
With that in mind, I can see the potential nerfs because people will be barking about it pretty loud:
4) Soul Fragment - The reason I think people will complain about this is that it is an automatic "cast" that gives the Warlock and Demon Hunter health and another card. For Suicide Warlock, this is allowing them to actually use some bigger minions like Pit Lord that normally wouldn't see play and gives Demon Hunter some health back after attacking everything under the sun. I would predict that there will be a nerf to either the number of Soul Fragments that get added per card, or it will change to a (1) mana cost card. Either way it would really hinder the mechanic of the cards.
3) Glide - Manipulating the cards in your hand to take advantage of Outcast is something that Demon Hunter can do pretty well. The fact that this card ALSO manipulates your opponent's hand will have people barking about how unfair it is that you build a control deck only to have an aggro deck run this card to refill their hand and mess with yours. My prediction would be that they either remove the Outcast aspect or increase the mana to (5)
2) Lightning Bloom - The fact that you can bust this out and potentially get Kael'thas Sunstrider out WAY faster and start going off is going to have people up in arms. Even though that would require the "God hand", it was the same situation with Aviana druid decks. It requires a lot of set up, but once you had it, you went off. I'm thinking that they will nerf this to cost (1).
1) Secret Passage - Now for the crown jewel of the new Rogue arsenal... This card is so impressively abusive in both Standard and Wild formats. I have seen players drop this on turn 3, fire off 4 of the cards they drew, eliminate my side of the board beef up their newly drawn weapon, and come back with their original hand... and then do it again a couple of turns later. Honestly, it is such a great card and super fun to use, how could it NOT get targeted by nerfs. I imagine that they will need to balance out this card, since it can be activated with The Coin and you get 2 cards played which will help trigger any combo cards as well, to update it's mana cost to (2). Doing this will make it less likely to abuse the crap out of it right out the gate, but still show a lot of value.
What are everyone else's thoughts on these as well as other cards you can see people being irritated about enough to have Blizzard kill the cards?
Great write up~ I predicted very similar picks for Arena with a lot of these cards. Specifically ones that generate another minion as a deathrattle. Those are sooooooo good.
I've had a ton of success with highlander mage featuring some of the new cards as the neutral weapon (incredibly good in this deck), new 1 1/3, new 3 3/4 spell burst deal 4, 1 1/2 combo, new 3 mana removal... With all this new cheap cards early turns doesn't feel awkward anymore and this deck crushes druid so hard. I won 9/10 games against druid and the game I lost I had a terrible hand. So bad against aggro decks as always in mage.
Also tried spell damage mage hybridyzed with dragons in order to include malygos and 1 mana spell. I had relative success but have to try out in depth.
Tried super aggro rogue and also crushes druid and to me it seems incredibly strong. It's a shame I don't like super aggro decks.
Also tried galakrond warlock with soul fragments and had a ton of success against druid, paladin and aggro decks in general. Even I won vs quest lock with zero new cards. So, to me that's the direction of warlock.
My recollection is that that was the previous system. I think the rarities (except Legendary) are mixed, but there are no buckets anymore.
Edit: But Boozor of course is correct in that frequency of card appearance will depend on rarity, so a common is much more likely to appear than an epic.
Dude....this deck is actually pretty damn strong. I like the idea of making the only Outcast cards be the hand disruption ones. Solid idea and a lot of fun to play. I'd suggest taking out the Scorpid, Demon Companion and Scoundrel. Maybe play the Murloc for trade damage? Look at a couple of early game minions to slide in the slot for the other two.
I'm enjoying this Aggro/Tempo Paladin deck, I went 15-3 with it (7-0 against Druids, the class that seems to be dominating the meta right now). High Abbess Alura is the real MVP, with the potential to become an unanswerable 11/14 by turn 4:
Druids fear this deck so much that they concede at the sight of the mighty Young Dragonhawk:
You can find lethals out of nowhere, but you lose the board too easily, and Reno decks can Control you pretty well. I'm afraid the good ol' Oil/Miracle days are over, forever.
I think the same goes for generic hyper-Aggro.
I'm sure good players can churn some extra winrates from Aggro Rogue, but in general it's too easy to out-Tempo.
PS: Kingsbane rogue is not really dead. You can probably reach legend thanks to the new cards. But it's basically a YOLO deck, very hard to pilot, and very vulnerable to both swarm and Control. I'll eat a shoe™ if it turns out to be any better than t3 in the average meta.
Here's a possible build:
### Reader Kingsbane#
#Class: Rogue
# Format: Wild # # 2x (0) Preparation # 2x (1) Buccaneer # 2x (1) Deadly Poison # 1x (1) Kingsbane # 2x (1) Secret Passage # 2x (1) Southsea Deckhand # 2x (2) Cavern Shinyfinder # 2x (2) Eviscerate # 2x (2) Parachute Brigand # 2x (2) Sap # 2x (2) Voracious Reader # 2x (3) Raiding Party # 2x (4) Dread Corsair # 2x (4) Tinker's Sharpsword Oil # 1x (5) Captain Greenskin # 2x (5) Cutting Class # AAEBAaIHAsgDu+8CDssDzQPUBe4GiAeGCa8QmxXl0QLVjAPpsAOqywPG0QP31AMA # # To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone
Day 1: What works and what doesn't?
I'll tell you what doesn't work (and I have seen it more than once) is druids playing Embiggen and then wondering why Guardian Animals doesn't work. Makes me giggle :)
Awesome Scholomance Academy Launch Decks from Hearthstone's Top Players and Streamers
The puke shaman is very aggressive, wouldn't want a beefed up Vulpera Scoundrel to stop it from cycling faster. I could see it getting good use in Midrange or Control decks.
Pack opening story and analysis
I have opened 198 Packs + 5 Golden and I am still missing 7 Legendarys to complete the set (although I have dust for two and I haven't disenchanted the golden extras yet).
Expensive game! :)
Day 1: What works and what doesn't?
Umbra + Vectus doesn't work. really sad :(
Alliestrasza's Prime Mage - Scholomance Day 1 Deck
so this is a combo mage?
Pack opening story and analysis
I grade my Schoolomancy packs a C. I would say it was average. 6 legendaries out of 132 packs = 22 packs per legendary (about average); 38 epics out of 132 packs = 3.47 packs per epic (excellent). The 5 golden packs contained 18 commons, 6 rares, 1 epic, 0 legendaries (average).
The great: The epic count was great and I got most of what i wanted here. Free golden Legendary High Abbess Alura
The good: Instructor Fireheart, Jandice Barov (I like this kind of RNG), and free regular legendary [Hearthstone Card (Dr. Krastinov) Not Found]
The meh: The golden packs (I wasn't expecting a legendary, but was certainly hoping for another epic), the legendary rate, Speaker Gidra, and the other free golden legendary Turalyon, the Tenured.
The bad: Lord Barov, and [Hearthstone Card (Infiltrtor Lilian) Not Found] ( I don't think these cards will ever be good)
The ugly: Archwitch Willow, only getting 4 out of 9 legendaries I really wanted, and the real stinger; no neutral Leagendaries (ouch)!
My account preferences keep getting reset
Nope, every time I go in to fix it (like I had to do today) the drop-down menus are reset.
Scholomance pack opening results
Very good results this time.
Out of 93 packs I got the following (starting first with my 5 golden packs)
Also got Ace Hunter Kreen for my free non-golden legendary and Archwitch Willow for my free golden legendary
Awesome Scholomance Academy Launch Decks from Hearthstone's Top Players and Streamers
Matteo29 has an even better aggro DH deck, if that’s your thing ;
Most Insane Mr. Bigglesworth Game I've Ever Had - Four Kalecgos in 1 turn
My account preferences keep getting reset
I can confirm as well. However, I think it keeps the setting. This is just a display issue in setting.. AFAIK
Nerf Predictions for Scholomance Academy
I am speaking from a Wild pov, but I guess what is not broken here is fine in Standard too.
Secret Passage is an ok card. It looks busted but it isn't. Because you need a pretty low curve to abuse a 5-card window in 1-turn. Low curve means hyper-Aggro or Kingsbane. Both of these can be contained pretty efficiently, with some techs in case of Weapons. Actually Aggro can be contained both by Control and refined Tempo decks. Because low curve in Rogue is badly statted minions (unlike Warlock, Shaman, DH, and other classes with good early bodies). Compare with The Soularium, which became a serious card only when further synergy was provided (bare draw was not enough). Remember that hyper-Aggro looks always busted on new release.
For similar reasons, I think Glide can be saved, BUT only as long as other DH cards are nerfed (see below). Btw nerfing glide to (5) might be the death of Wild at the hands of Odd DH (which is already solid strong with just minimal card draw). If it needs a nerf, it must be to (6) (and it would be fine, because we don't need these kind of cards in the game, if it is made unplayable, it's just a good thing.
Now, as much as I don't like the existence of Lightning Bloom, I am baffled at the idea of nerfing it, without making it a worse version of Innervate for Druid. Probably nobody would complain, but it'd be silly. I'd take that, if that's gonna be the case. I'm all in against Combo-OTK happening too soon.
Now, for my nerf candidates:
That's my list for now.
Boozor's Top 10 Hearthstone Arena Impact Cards From Scholomance Academy - Advice from an Arena Legend
They have mixed rarity, but the appearance rate of the rarities are different (commons > rare < epic)
Nerf Predictions for Scholomance Academy
Soul Fragment: No, not at all! I think it's balanced the way it is, 2 health to face is an incredibly meager effect (Regenerate saw no play outside combo), the mechanic itself is staggered, inconsistent and neither Warlock nor DH variant seems overpowered. And I doubt any serious decks would run Pit Lord because of these small heals, against Aggro it's too dangerous and not worth it.
Glide: It sure is annoying, but we'll have to see how DH fares and if they even run it (4 mana is a lot).
Lightning Bloom: Yes, a nerf for sure, but not this card! Both Token and Kael'thas Druid seem OP at the moment, swingy and tilting. Although nerfing THIS card is impossible without either adressing real issues (adding more overload) or making it a worse Innervate (your suggestion). I think they'll nerf Gibberling for Token and either Kael'thas Sunstrider or Survival of the Fittest.
Secret Passage: No doubt, broken effect.
Also, I'd add High Abbess Alura, cost to (5), for too much mana cheating.
Reminder: New Expansion on Aug 26
Still have to wait until august 28th?
My hype has already pretty died out this week with all the waiting think they really should have teased at least small bits already.
Pack opening story and analysis
For the first time ever I decided to put a bit of money into the game. And I've gotta say, I was far from unsatisfied...
From 135 + 2 legendary quest packs I got:
All commons and rares, obviously; I only miss the 2 copies of the new DH/Hunter weapon (trueaim something?) and one Educated Elekk for epics; and excluding "free" legendaries (2 golden from bundles + 1 from logging in) I got 9 other legendaries; AND like 3700 dust from all the extras, and that is without goldens and eventual nerfed cards in the mix.
I always thought it was a bit of a waste of money, but with the new non-duplicate rules I'd honestly recommend it if you can afford and if the expansion looks nice, because I'm having SUCH a blast with all the different decks and classes I can use, more than I've had in years!
Nerf Predictions for Scholomance Academy
For most of us, we have opened our pack and started playing some of the pre-fab decks and experimenting with the new cards. As always, the new mechanics are running rampant and "working" really well and showing some awesome power. As with every expansion, we can anticipate nerfs coming, Ashes of Outland came on a bit quicker than anticipated though.
With that in mind, I can see the potential nerfs because people will be barking about it pretty loud:
4) Soul Fragment - The reason I think people will complain about this is that it is an automatic "cast" that gives the Warlock and Demon Hunter health and another card. For Suicide Warlock, this is allowing them to actually use some bigger minions like Pit Lord that normally wouldn't see play and gives Demon Hunter some health back after attacking everything under the sun. I would predict that there will be a nerf to either the number of Soul Fragments that get added per card, or it will change to a (1) mana cost card. Either way it would really hinder the mechanic of the cards.
3) Glide - Manipulating the cards in your hand to take advantage of Outcast is something that Demon Hunter can do pretty well. The fact that this card ALSO manipulates your opponent's hand will have people barking about how unfair it is that you build a control deck only to have an aggro deck run this card to refill their hand and mess with yours. My prediction would be that they either remove the Outcast aspect or increase the mana to (5)
2) Lightning Bloom - The fact that you can bust this out and potentially get Kael'thas Sunstrider out WAY faster and start going off is going to have people up in arms. Even though that would require the "God hand", it was the same situation with Aviana druid decks. It requires a lot of set up, but once you had it, you went off. I'm thinking that they will nerf this to cost (1).
1) Secret Passage - Now for the crown jewel of the new Rogue arsenal... This card is so impressively abusive in both Standard and Wild formats. I have seen players drop this on turn 3, fire off 4 of the cards they drew, eliminate my side of the board beef up their newly drawn weapon, and come back with their original hand... and then do it again a couple of turns later. Honestly, it is such a great card and super fun to use, how could it NOT get targeted by nerfs. I imagine that they will need to balance out this card, since it can be activated with The Coin and you get 2 cards played which will help trigger any combo cards as well, to update it's mana cost to (2). Doing this will make it less likely to abuse the crap out of it right out the gate, but still show a lot of value.
What are everyone else's thoughts on these as well as other cards you can see people being irritated about enough to have Blizzard kill the cards?
That's what I get for linking a deck and description.
Ah yes, some random user links a deck on a website that has roughly 50 LoR users and because of him everyone starts playing it in ranked.
Way to go champ, you solved the meta. Take this virtual pat on the back, you've more than earned it.
Boozor's Top 10 Hearthstone Arena Impact Cards From Scholomance Academy - Advice from an Arena Legend
Great write up~ I predicted very similar picks for Arena with a lot of these cards. Specifically ones that generate another minion as a deathrattle. Those are sooooooo good.
Day 1: What works and what doesn't?
I've had a ton of success with highlander mage featuring some of the new cards as the neutral weapon (incredibly good in this deck), new 1 1/3, new 3 3/4 spell burst deal 4, 1 1/2 combo, new 3 mana removal... With all this new cheap cards early turns doesn't feel awkward anymore and this deck crushes druid so hard. I won 9/10 games against druid and the game I lost I had a terrible hand. So bad against aggro decks as always in mage.
Also tried spell damage mage hybridyzed with dragons in order to include malygos and 1 mana spell. I had relative success but have to try out in depth.
Tried super aggro rogue and also crushes druid and to me it seems incredibly strong. It's a shame I don't like super aggro decks.
Also tried galakrond warlock with soul fragments and had a ton of success against druid, paladin and aggro decks in general. Even I won vs quest lock with zero new cards. So, to me that's the direction of warlock.
Souls Just Wanna Have Fun
I wonder what this would look like in Wild....
Solid deck for Standard though. Only problem I've had so far is the new Warrior deck.
Boozor's Top 10 Hearthstone Arena Impact Cards From Scholomance Academy - Advice from an Arena Legend
My recollection is that that was the previous system. I think the rarities (except Legendary) are mixed, but there are no buckets anymore.
Edit: But Boozor of course is correct in that frequency of card appearance will depend on rarity, so a common is much more likely to appear than an epic.
Souls Just Wanna Have Fun
Dude....this deck is actually pretty damn strong. I like the idea of making the only Outcast cards be the hand disruption ones. Solid idea and a lot of fun to play. I'd suggest taking out the Scorpid, Demon Companion and Scoundrel. Maybe play the Murloc for trade damage? Look at a couple of early game minions to slide in the slot for the other two.
The Pepper Thread - Share Some Good Vibes!
I'm enjoying this Aggro/Tempo Paladin deck, I went 15-3 with it (7-0 against Druids, the class that seems to be dominating the meta right now). High Abbess Alura is the real MVP, with the potential to become an unanswerable 11/14 by turn 4:
Druids fear this deck so much that they concede at the sight of the mighty Young Dragonhawk:
Day 1: What works and what doesn't?
PS: Kingsbane rogue is not really dead. You can probably reach legend thanks to the new cards. But it's basically a YOLO deck, very hard to pilot, and very vulnerable to both swarm and Control. I'll eat a shoe™ if it turns out to be any better than t3 in the average meta.
Here's a possible build:
### Reader Kingsbane#
#Class: Rogue
# Format: Wild
#
# 2x (0) Preparation
# 2x (1) Buccaneer
# 2x (1) Deadly Poison
# 1x (1) Kingsbane
# 2x (1) Secret Passage
# 2x (1) Southsea Deckhand
# 2x (2) Cavern Shinyfinder
# 2x (2) Eviscerate
# 2x (2) Parachute Brigand
# 2x (2) Sap
# 2x (2) Voracious Reader
# 2x (3) Raiding Party
# 2x (4) Dread Corsair
# 2x (4) Tinker's Sharpsword Oil
# 1x (5) Captain Greenskin
# 2x (5) Cutting Class
#
AAEBAaIHAsgDu+8CDssDzQPUBe4GiAeGCa8QmxXl0QLVjAPpsAOqywPG0QP31AMA
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone