All Comments

Reddit also said something about the offer-rates being bugged. idk

I feel like maybe it's the variance? It's either a REALLY bad 4 drop in arena or an incredibly busted one (if you manage to get the all paladin thing). So it felt either bad to get, or bad to play against, which seems to be against Blizzards whole thing. Just speculating though.

They probably won't remove it. It seems to be a unique animation as far as I've seen, which means its an intended effect.

Yesterday Scarlatch posted a couple of Promises by Firelight spoilers in the Discord channel. Take a look!

Quote From Ganashal

Quote From Bystekhilcar

I'm apparently in the minority here, but I really dislike the balance strategy of late. I used to admire what a lot of people have whined about previously - back in the vanilla days, Blizzard were very reluctant to perform any direct balance changes.

That, in my opinion, is the desirable state of affairs. It is a source of continual frustration to me that so many cards have been nerfed - and often not because of any actual balance reason, but because people continually whine about them. The biggest example is probably Quest Rogue on release - barely got above a 50% winrate at any time, and yet got nerfed into non-viability just because people were whining about it. And then ate multiple other nerfs over time, too.

The desirable state of affairs in any card game - hell, any game at all - is for players to find their own solutions. I've gotten to Legend multiple times almost entirely off the back of hating on the most popular decks. Let the meta resolve balance issues, don't just nerf anything that looks like it's doing well before players can react to it.

Unfortunately, that state of affairs is not directly conducive of more people playing (and therefore more money being spent), because people like to whine about things that aren't really problems.

So I was beginning to reply and was intending to say something like "I usually agree with you but in this case Galakrond Shaman according to HSReplay has winrates over 60% which is really oppressive", except then I went there to confirm that it was still the case. It is but... it is steadily trending down. 64.61% on launch (which sounds ridiculous), down to 60.02% now. Still crazy high, but a) early season meta is full of all sorts of homebrew and decks that people are trying to make work but are simply terrible (not sure what the current equivalents are, but many times that Blizzard have pushed Discolock for example and people have tried it to no success at all) so a strong deck will feast on those.

So yeah, I agree with you, it's too early and the meta is finding a way it seems.

That said, I have played with it, and I have played against it, and in both cases I'm no sure how I would have beaten it, it seems to be strong all game long. I really REALLY hope they don't take it to the ground though because it's fun. 1/1 rushing dudes on Invoke would be an option but that would feel SO bad. Capping the battlecry minions to 6/6? Might feel fairer but might also take it to the ground. 

The w/r is dropping from 65% to 60% (and right now about 55%) isn't painting the full picture. With the entire metagame designed to stop it, Galakrond Shaman is still at a 57% w/r.

For comparison, Aggro Evolve Shaman (that one we all were sick of and hated) had a 54% w/r as of the last vS report. 

Assuming it continues to drop to be right around 55%, a nerf is still certainly warranted.

That's not true, Justicar Trueheart was staple in Midrange Paladin.

I'm sorry, I misspoke, what I meant to say was that it wasn't the win condition that made any single Paladin deck work (in the way that it did for Control Warrior with Tank Up), and that's because getting an extra 1/1 in the mid to late game is strong, but not in a way that's entirely degenerative to the meta game. Having access to it on turn 1 is the reason Odd Paladin is overpowered, and Justicar Midrange Paladin's hero power was never a game-ruining problem.

Quote From Ganashal

Quote From Bystekhilcar

I'm apparently in the minority here, but I really dislike the balance strategy of late. I used to admire what a lot of people have whined about previously - back in the vanilla days, Blizzard were very reluctant to perform any direct balance changes.

That, in my opinion, is the desirable state of affairs. It is a source of continual frustration to me that so many cards have been nerfed - and often not because of any actual balance reason, but because people continually whine about them. The biggest example is probably Quest Rogue on release - barely got above a 50% winrate at any time, and yet got nerfed into non-viability just because people were whining about it. And then ate multiple other nerfs over time, too.

The desirable state of affairs in any card game - hell, any game at all - is for players to find their own solutions. I've gotten to Legend multiple times almost entirely off the back of hating on the most popular decks. Let the meta resolve balance issues, don't just nerf anything that looks like it's doing well before players can react to it.

Unfortunately, that state of affairs is not directly conducive of more people playing (and therefore more money being spent), because people like to whine about things that aren't really problems.

So I was beginning to reply and was intending to say something like "I usually agree with you but in this case Galakrond Shaman according to HSReplay has winrates over 60% which is really oppressive", except then I went there to confirm that it was still the case. It is but... it is steadily trending down. 64.61% on launch (which sounds ridiculous), down to 60.02% now. Still crazy high, but a) early season meta is full of all sorts of homebrew and decks that people are trying to make work but are simply terrible (not sure what the current equivalents are, but many times that Blizzard have pushed Discolock for example and people have tried it to no success at all) so a strong deck will feast on those.

So yeah, I agree with you, it's too early and the meta is finding a way it seems.

That said, I have played with it, and I have played against it, and in both cases I'm no sure how I would have beaten it, it seems to be strong all game long. I really REALLY hope they don't take it to the ground though because it's fun. 1/1 rushing dudes on Invoke would be an option but that would feel SO bad. Capping the battlecry minions to 6/6? Might feel fairer but might also take it to the ground. 

I'm entirely unable to find this 60% winrate you've claimed. The best version of this on HS replay has a current average winrate of ~63%, and while it has been trending down, a lot of that is due to mirror matches. Its winrate against most classes is at or above 65% - sometimes dramatically so.

Moreover, you've entirely ignored the play data around Faceless Corruptor. It's super powerful, sees play in a majority of decks today, and forces the meta into a state where everyone has to play a board-centric game with it in order to succeed. Sure, it's a neutral card, but no class is as good as Shaman at supporting its play style right now, and typical tempo-oriented contenders like Hunter and Rogue don't have the AOE they'd need to compete with a late game Galakrond, the Tempest, leaving Shaman the undisputed king of the metagame.

On a sidenote: how retarded is Faceless Corruptor?

It's not a card. It's a brainfart.

A completely unnecessary one too.

Now this archetype basically is a complete meme for priest, but it works a little better now. Honestly this is pretty much a Test Subject Grave Rune deck just for fun. Just load up the test subject with anything you got rinse and repeat over and over...until it get silenced. I have not found any success with wall style gala decks for priest nothing seems consistent. Combo priest pretty much got better as far as I can tell the Invoke adds some beef to your Mid Game if you get cleared early, but honestly in that situation with Combo priest I usually die. Though lately I can recover with a bit of RnG, and Divine Spirit Inner Fire action. There may be some use to this idea, but I don't know what to cut. Since everything having a death rattle is pretty important you have to go hard for face.

Combo Lacky Priest

Wild · Aggro Priest · by Millergram · 6 years, 9 months ago

• 0 Whispers of EVIL x 2
• 1 Disciple of Galakrond x 2
• 1 Inner Fire x 2
• 1 Test Subject x 2
• 2 Divine Spirit x 2
• 2 EVIL Cable Rat x 2
• 2 EVIL Conscripter x 2
• 2 Grandmummy x 2
• 3 Mindflayer Kaahrj x 1
• 3 SN1P-SN4P x 1
• 4 Grave Rune x 2
• 4 High Priest Amet x 1
• 4 Psychopomp x 2
• 5 Power Word: Replicate x 2
• 5 Shield of Galakrond x 2
• 5 Time Rip x 2
• 7 Galakrond, the Unspeakable x 1

9,240 Dust 955 0 Copy Deck Code

Add Sea Giants. They are very easy to summon.

This is a good new! Shaman feels too much powerful right now; it's strong versus everything but shirvallah paladin and the mirror matches are decided by the first player that play Galakrond.

After the first few hours of release was already boring

hay do we know if you can get the legendaries from the first 4 packs of sets that are wild

asking because you can now buy wild packs and i started with saviors of undum and am hoping i can get legendaries and dust

Ok, so I tested both decks:

1. Shaman:

Galakrond Overload

Wild · Overload Shaman · by AleMental · 6 years, 9 months ago

• 0 Zap! x 1
• 1 Invocation of Frost x 2
• 1 Sludge Slurper x 2
• 1 Storm's Wrath x 2
• 1 Surging Tempest x 2
• 1 Voltaic Burst x 2
• 2 Earthen Might x 2
• 2 Elementary Reaction x 2
• 2 Sandstorm Elemental x 2
• 4 Devoted Maniac x 2
• 4 Thunderhead x 2
• 4 Vessina x 1
• 5 Corrupt Elementalist x 2
• 5 Cumulo-Maximus x 2
• 5 Dragon's Pack x 2
• 6 Kronx Dragonhoof x 1
• 7 Galakrond, the Tempest x 1

8,640 Dust 1,197 0 Copy Deck Code

Ended up adding full Galakrond package as it's op and complementary with ele/overload package. Deck is faster then traditional Gala shaman decks, it's possible to get ahead at start and keep lead to the end, Vessina can be really good.

2. Mage:

Elemental Tempo

Wild · Tempo Mage · by AleMental · 6 years, 9 months ago

• 0 Elemental Evocation x 2
• 1 Elemental Allies x 2
• 1 Magic Trick x 2
• 1 Mirror Image x 2
• 1 Ray of Frost x 2
• 1 Shooting Star x 2
• 1 Violet Spellwing x 2
• 2 Celestial Emissary x 1
• 2 Mana Cyclone x 2
• 2 Mana Reservoir x 2
• 2 Sorcerer's Apprentice x 2
• 3 Chenvaala x 1
• 3 Stargazer Luna x 1
• 4 Water Elemental x 2
• 5 Bonfire Elemental x 2
• 7 Archmage Antonidas x 1
• 8 Mana Giant x 2

7,580 Dust 1,090 0 Copy Deck Code

Trying both eles and dragons doesn't work. This list is pure ele with a lot of cheap spells, abusing Chenvaala and sidequest is the key, it's based on Regis Killbin list - I only changed 2x A Missiles for Luna and Antonidas. It's quite fun to play with a lot of options all the time.

Battletag: metalsquid#6524

Region: NA

Trade Only?: Yes, you go first.

I like the idea of flooding your deck with Kronx Dragonhoof as it can be so strong in late game, even mid-game, so I wanted to give the deck a try.

I tried the deck for many games and found it too slow to be resistant enough against aggro.

Waxadred and Necrium Apothecary are way too slow IMO, and opponent can too quickly take control of the board.

I got rid of Devoted Maniac which I find too expensive and has little impact on board for its cost.
I also don't like Bloodsail Flybooter so much

So I tried replacing those (including Rotten Applebaum and Bloodmage Thalnos as they became irrelevant) with :

• 2 x SI:7 Agent
• 2 x Blink Fox (< ^ both these for curve and value)
• 2 x  EVIL Cable Rat for toggwaggle synergy and curve
• 1 x Sap
• 2 x Fan of Knives
• 1 x Sprint for drawing Galakrond and/or Kronxx ... just in case of bad luck ...

Pretty happy with results so far but still a bit weak against actual most favored DD deck, ... Galakrond's battlecry Shaman.
Maybe I could go -1x Scheme and add Zilliax, as suggested below ...

Thanks for sharing anyway !

I think the problem with battlegrounds right now is how much more adaptable murlocs are in lategame thanks to poisonous and divine shield. Of the three keywords that are game breaking, murlocs have access to two of them, on all murlocs(the third being swipe-attack). Not only that, unlike a lot of other buffs, most of the murloc stuff affects the whole board. I think Bagurgle was an outright mistake, murloc would've already been one of the stronger classes with just the nerfs to beast and mech. Toxfin also definitely should be T5, because poisonous is OP, doubly so if you can give the minion divine shield.

I also wouldn't mind seeing useless minions like The Beast and Sated Threshadon removed. When you upgrade Soul Juggler, it should deal 2 instances of 3 damage per demon instead of 6, which is a strict downgrade. Lastly, I think they should add minions that can buff minions that don't have a tribe. A large portion of the available creatures is essentially unplayable lategame because all of the scaling mechanisms revolve around tribes.

I had the same thought as well.

Any possible change for Flik till i have the dust to craft him?

The speed of it makes me suspect they released the set expecting shaman to be a problem, but thought they'd let the player-base confirm it first.

They should probably make Galakrond summon 1/1s, then 2/2s, then 4/4s. That way, the design of the Battlecry stays in line with the other Galakronds, but it's less busted.

Are you Confused? You will be!

Next week we will be introducing new cards for the Cleric that utilize the Confuse status effect. A confused character will deal 2 damage to a random ally at the end of its turn. Just target a high power enemy, and let them do the work for you! There might even be an enemy that brings the confusion.

Steam Keys? Livestream? Steam Keys!

Between Christmas and New Years we'll be doing a livestream to show off the game, and chat with you all about it. During this event, we'll be handing out a bunch of steam keys. If you missed it the first time around, this could be your chance!

Game Client Updated to v0.1.2

- Introduced Confuse status effect to the code base.
- The menu screen, and how to play section, are now available during item selection between battles.
- Esc button will open and close the menu.
- Unstable keyword has an updated description in the how to play section.
- Hero Mp that goes into double digits displays properly.
- Protect and slow now apply modifiers after power.
- Fixed some issues with the end turn button.
- More robust debug logging to help with other bugs.

I actually modified it quite a bit and made changes like you suggested since release. Unfortunately Druid is just in a tough spot and Embiggen hasn't been great.