One thing you can say about awakening is that it successfully shook up the play patterns and deck building requirements to such an extent I basically didn't know how to play or recognize LOR anymore.

And while I stand by the statement that some of the new additions are pretty strong as a dedicated control player, as in play and respond not just jam put card advantage till you win.

I didnt know what to do and I felt the new set was to blame, so let me share my findings on what works great if you don't want to play Ionia or Shurima, cuz I really don't:

1. 3 minimorphs feel pretty much required, Lee Sin, machine gun Aussie, Viego, all backed by 4 mana denys, so guess what burst removal can't be denied so run 3.

2. 1 mana equipment removal, I feel like silence and surpess and quietus are low key necessary as a 3 of no mater what.

3. Now you get to build the rest of your deck including pings, vengences/concerted strikes, draw, cycling creatures etc.

4. Synergy and turbo level pkg

5. Play slow play smart, generally speaking meta decks are just insane at tempo and infinite value, and turboing and just all sorts of crazy **** but once you recognize the new patters you're good here's a few examples

- snap kill monkey!

- only remove equipment that is providing additional value to the opponent appropriately judging this action takes a lot of games

- gently devalue open attack spam, this is huge for how I play control where you incentive a linear play style in the opponent that luls them into a false security that they are winning 3 dmg here or there, meanwhile they are essentially doing nothing while you for example burst level Lux or double darkness, or set up overwhelm swings etc.

- finally big take away in a 6 deny meta don't play ramp, don't play deep, these were strong picks last meta I really would not recommend right now, but lurk seems good.

So yeah back to big winstreaks in Plat one week after the expansion, my brews are doing well, but a lot of my old decks are unplayable now Awakening was a huge shift but overall a fun one, so good job Riot maybe hahaha.

Forge is very good, again scaling without a great number of adequate answers is scary.

And much like attach you get your buffed piece of equipment back.

I feel bad for darkness you had 1 month again in the spotlight buddy oh well.

Grandma bunny was my first craft because memes, and truthfully her kit is kinda bad but she's kinda good. So feels like a runeterra champ minus the inflexible deck building restriction.

My first deck is a simple yordal tribal build with her and it seems good but not broken compared to how many forge and equipment decks well see day 1 and in the meta overall.

Honestly, equipment cards need to go on the stack period full stop. 

It essentially 100% fixes the control into equipment matchup which is currently impossible.

Fisher girl goes down on 2, her equipment goes on the stack, you vile feast, her equipment now goes into hand.

On curve creature, equivalent on curve answer.

You play treasure of the sands on akshan, you respond with mystic he is not equipped yet so 1 mana burst only provides 1 life, so you can potentially ping again.

This is 100% the most likely fix for the mechanic to increase interactivity for re-active players without demanding everyone play Ionia.

So yes stackable equipment at slow speed but not counterable, this is how it should have been designed at the onset in a game about passing turn priority.

Its like if Undirs buffs literally just didn't show up on the stack, and were the equivalent of burst, he'd be the best champion in the game 

So Riot beyond the normal range of balance fixes this patch demands please make equipment intractable by treating it like a slow speed uncounterable spell.

https://youtu.be/QcoRqLCSXhA

Says it in the first sentence, new Champs bad (aka) the fun and central mechanic of your game.

New cards however are so strong they now cary entire archetypes, aka broken.

Majin Bae may not be as vocal as me about why this is problematic but even a blind man can see the light, even if he doesn't recognize where it comming from.

Aka why this is ******* awful for the game.

So this should really surprise no one but the highest winrate card post expansion isn't a champion like bard or Annie.

Its a 1 mana follower.

Simon wind is a 2 mana cycle on paper this balanced.

Zoe cycles at 2 mana right? 

Wrong she cycles at 4 because dog costs 2

So monkey is a better Zoe.

This is really bad, like really really bad.

Like we've seen cards like shadow assassin break the format and she costs 3 freaking mana.

Because when card advantage costs too little tempo, like say 1 mana, then 2 mana at burst over and over you essentially negate tempo loss with Dragonling and can just bounce and stun everything else.

Idk it's a head scratcher it's like if the 1 mana cycle in bilgewater could go infinite by design.

Like its not a question of if nerfed to 2 mana plus 2 mana to put under par with Zoe (buffed to a 2/1 to compensate) but when.

But like I just dont get it Riot like ask any card game player hey should we print an Infinite cycle at 1 mana at the equivalent of a common card, you would say plz God God plz God no.

You would say 2 mana plus 2 mana with the spell proc is fair plz maths oh God I'm having an aneurysm. So to sum up Riot less stupids more card counting plz go ask a blackjack player.

Hello guys !

After a long time, I came back to MTG Arena (again) and even though I couldn't had time to write and staying around in the site because of my irl stuff, I was following here everyday for news and such.

Yesterday, I downloaded MTG:Arena again and wanted to check Outofcards' MTG:Arena Side and i was surprised when i saw the last thread which is 1 month's ago and comments surprised me more because the nearest is almost 2 years old and it is new expansion time for the game.

So I wondered it is about the site's support or the game itself. Is it the game that has the rough times or did just outofcards stop supporting it ?

Can someone light a candle for me ? :)

So similar to world waker when it first came out ladder is basically a complete mess.

Not sure if internal testing basically doesn't exist at Riot anymore.

But its getting a little tiring having to wait 3 months for a new set to get balanced just so I can climb to diamond.

Things like concurrent timelines, the infinite amount of Ionia running around, equipment decks everywhere, basically makes the game unplayable.

So here we go wake me up for the next major game fixing patch and I'll see you guys in diamond.

Zzzzzzz

Hi, this might seem like a weird question but honestly what do you do on this great HS community site? I see like 886 pages of members (roughly 22K users) and on the first few pages it seems like there is a lot of activity going on, but it does not seem to translate directly to a lot of new posts being created when I look at the recent forum threads, articles or deck comments.

I will start off with myself, I visit OoC daily multiple times:

• to check on new announcements about HS obviously and participate in the discussion
• to post in a few dedicated forum threads (reward track progress and such)
• when I hit legend in a season to post my deck and if anyone is interested discuss about it
• sometimes I also participate in the fan creation competitions

What about you? 😅

Why all the feels bad to play aggainst cards are from this region?

So I was playing against a Mage and they were playing Suspicious Alchemist + Smothering Starfish. Interestingly, I did not get the choice of picking a card, although Suspicious Alchemist's effect is supposedly a battlecry entirely.

Do you have any idea why Starfish should nullify the effect of Alchemist? Is it some kind of aura? Usually Battlecries should not be silenced when they affect cards or game interactions that are not board-based...

Hi all Snappers,

I have been playing my so called rubbish deck:

It's core is debbri and the two goblins. Goal is to flood your opponents board as quick as possible while you use the power of the rocks with nova/kazar and Mr fantastic. I also added quake to the mix which messes with your opponent planned locations.

What do you think any suggestions/remarks? And if you decide to play it: did you have as much fun as me?

I just lost a game versus a priest, where I had stolen Xyrella, the Devout via Theotar, the Mad Duke. I had played Abyssal Wave earlier, and played Lady Darkvein which I triggered with a Defile, killing everything on the board, including the Shadow Manifestation.

Later, when my opponent had a big board, I played Xyrella and it only triggered the Shadowborn deathrattle, and left out the 2 Shadow Manifestation which should have cast 2 x Abyssal Wave and cleared the board and probably have won me the game, since it would have been my 7th and 8th curse that game.

Is it me reading that hero card wrong? It says every friendly minion this game, but perhaps the manifestations are counted as part of Lady Darkvein?

anyways, just a bit salty...

/chrisroed

Competition Theme: Dawn Of The Dead

Demon Hunter was added to the game so smoothly with no issues at all - surely adding another class will be easy enough?

• You must create a Legendary for a hypothetical Death Knight Initiate Set
  • Death Knight has been added to the game, and it's up to you to come up with a killer Legendary for them!
• Your Legendary cannot use a new Keyword
  • We're focusing on Death Knight design in this competition - adding new Keywords would just muddy the waters!

This time linkblade91 wants us to imagine a world in which the Death Knight is added to the game. I wonder why...?

As always, I can be reached through Discord or here on the site via PM if you have any issues to report.

Competition Phases

Here are the phases of this card design competition

• Submission Phase: Starts on Mon, Aug 22 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Sat, Aug 27 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
• Voting Phase: Starts on Sat, Aug 27 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Sun, Aug 28 16:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
• Finalist Phase: Starts on Sun, Aug 28 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400). Runs until Mon, Aug 29 17:00 EDT (GMT -0400)
• Winner Selected: After finalist voting concludes and we validate votes.

Discussion Thread Rules

No thread rules were added to this season. Please populate and manually edit this thread with them.

A new Rare Shadow Isles Spell, Utter Devastation, has been revealed!

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A new Epic Shurima Equipment, The Darkin Bloodletters, has been revealed!

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A new Rare Targon Spell, Celestial Impact, has been revealed!

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A new Rare Bilgewater Spell, Heavy Metal, has been revealed!

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Typically in these new sets I go card by card and try to weigh in on what's competitive for existing archetypes.

But the genius of Awakening is now every region gets to play like Hearthstone warrior if it wants to, or Flesh and Blood a more recent card game released that seems to cough cough provide a little inspiration.

Honestly all 3 new Champs Master Ip, Forge Master, and Weapon Master all look exceptionally viable.

So let's weigh in on portal girl, I think she is strong if you have enough viable ways to slow down the game. So it'll be up to you if you want Freijord, Shadow or Ionia.

5 drop scythe dude looks like the worst of the bunch only because we are playing a game where 5 drops come down as 6/6's with quick attack, and endless keywords that machine gun your board. He looks like thresh which is hard to play these days.

Overall Awakening is positioned to hard shuffle the tier list because non of the released cards belong in existing archetypes and thats a good thing we don't want another bard situation.

A new Epic Freljord Unit, Wrought Colossus, has been revealed!

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A new Rare Freljord Landmark, Ornn's Forge, has been revealed!

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A new Rare Freljord Spell, Bellows Breath, has been revealed!

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A new Champion Freljord Unit, Ornn, has been revealed!

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Hello! I've been working on a custom expansion for fun and I thought I'd share it here.

The expansion is called Holidays at Un'Gol Island and is themed around the idea that both Azeroth's heroes and villains really need a vacation after the countless world-saving missions and evil world-domination schemes they've been up to in the last years. Both new and familiar faces decide to go to Un'Gol island to either embark in fun new adventures or to finally relax for a while.

And since our favorite heroes and villains need some time to recover, which keyword would be more fitting than Recoverable?

Holidays at Un'Gol Island introduces the new keyword Recoverable which allows you to spend 1 Mana to add back to your hand a card you've played. This effect can happen at two different times. Cards with Recoverable have their effect triggered at the start of your next turn. Cards that say "You may Recover a..." instantly offer you the prompt without having to wait until the start of your next turn. It's easier in practice. Let's see an example:

This is a simple exampe of a Recoverable card. If you played Un'Golian Warrior on turn three, at the start of your next turn you would have to choose between Recovering your card or not. If you decide to Recover the minion, you'll start turn four with three mana. You may play Un'Golian Warrior again and, if you wanted to do so, you may Recover it again next turn.    If you decide you don't want to pay the mana cost, the card is gone forever.

Finally, Holidays at Un'Gol Island reintroduces a keyword from the past in the form of Tradeable. Many heroes, villains and lackeys have decided to dedicate some of their time to trading, shopping and gambling, so this seemed only fitting.

We are done with introductions. Let's see what each class has been up to, shall we?

• ROGUE
  
• ARCHETYPES: Cannon Rogue, Miracle
  
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Tinkering, trading and commerce
  

Rogues have decided to spend their holidays in two ways: some have decided to spend their time engineering and tinkering with nautical contraptions,  some have decided to dedicate themselves to trading, bartering, investing... and maybe do a little stealing.

Our engineering friends, lead by the indomable Hooktusk, Sea Queen have partnered with Pirates and introduce a brand new archetype: Cannons. This is their core package, along with a few relevant Neutral cards:

Rogue who prefer to dabble in some trading may be interested in what the greedy Gallywix, the Hoarder has to offer. Just don't ask what's in the cargo. This package of cards support previously existing Miracle archetypes and introduces a new way to pontentially close games as Rogue.

• HUNTER
• ARCHETYPES: Deathrattle Mechs, Poisonous
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Preparing the fireworks display, caring for exotic pets

Hunters did not think twice before volunteering themselves for the preparation of the firework display. As the other classes are eagerly awaiting the big fireworks night, I'm beginning to think they haven't been told that Sparkmaster Flark would be organizing the "firework" display... This is an attempt at creating a new form of Deathrattle Mech Hunter that uses 0-Attack Deathrattle mechs like Goblin Bomb, Naval Mine and the new Kadoom Bot.

Hunters that just want to spend some time with animals will be happy to meet Un'Gol's fauna. Lead by the eccentric Kren, Master Smuggler Poisonous Hunter makes a return for this expansion, this time with a possible new win condition

• WARLOCK
• ARCHETYPES: Mana Destruction, Shadow Spells, Summon minions that cost X+1
  
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Completely owning the disco floor
  

Not everyone enjoyes the sun. Warlocks looking for some fun in Un'Gol will be happy to know that the island is very well known for its active nightlife. Introduced by the queen of the dance floor herself, Tamsin, Unlife of the Party brings back an old Warlock archetype: strong cards that destroy your own Mana Crystals. In the modern age of Hearthstone big stats are often no longer enough, so this package introduces a brand new way to win in style.

Warlocks that might be a bit timorous of the dance floor can always join the spellcasting (and very hungry) Nemsy, Buffet Nightmare in her mission to devour as many sweets as possible. These are the cards for the Shadow package and the Summon a minion that costs X+1 package:

• SHAMAN
• ARTCHETYPES: Spell-oriented Murlocs, Single-target Buffs
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Fishing and cooking a delicious dinner for everyone

Shamans have convoked the most illustrious Murloc chefs from the entirety of Azeroth to prepare some meals to remember. Most of Shaman's cards from Holidays at Un'Gol Island are centered around a new way to build the old, reliable Murloc decks by adding some new Murlocs that generate strong single-target buffing spells. The two new legendaries allow the player to either go tall, using Athisse, Sea Witch or to go wide using Cookie, Master Chef.

The remaining cards for Shaman are quality cards. They synergize with the main package for this expansion but can have other creative uses as well.

• PALADIN
• ARCHETYPES: Pure Handbuff Paladin, Divine Shield, Holy
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Preparing the most divine tea party in the history of Azeroth

Paladins are preparing a tea party to remember. It's well known that Paladins can be quite selective when it comes to who they are willing to accept, so if you plan to show up at the party get ready to pass the vibe chec... vibe judgement. Hosting today's festivities and Pure Paladin package is Yrel, Party Organizer:

The remaining cards for Paladin's set are more usual Holy and Divine Shield cards. After all, Tirion, the Blessed is a man of tradition.

• PRIEST
  
• ARCHETYPES: Shadow Pirates, Guessing
  
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Going on holy crusades, fortune telling
  

Yeah. Pirates in Priest. The majority of Holidays at Un'Gol Island's package for Priest takes inspiration from Defias Leper and, more generally, the United in Stormwind package of cards. Tired of being in the backrow healing incompetent damage dealers and tanks, Priests are rushing to the frontline leaded by the brand new character Vahst, Shadow Captain:

When Lazul the All-Seeing looked into the cards, for once she could only see one thing: a nice vacation. If aggressive Priest variants are not for you, you might enjoy this small fortune telling package:

• DEMON HUNTER
  
• ARCHETYPES: Lifesteal, Outcast, Fel
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Hunting demons for fun, dancing at the masked ball

Demon Hunters are split into two groups. The first one is led by Kazzak, Soulstealer who introduces a brand new way to play Lifesteal minions. Initially introduced with Il'gynoth, this archetype is all about using Lifesteal minions to play for board instead of attempting an OTK strategy.

Demon Hunters that want to take a break from the usual demon hunting business can join Aranna Starseeker at the masked ball. If you think about it, every ball attended by Demon Hunters is a masked one. They all have a bandage on their eyes. This is the Outcast and Fel package:

• DRUID
• ARCHETYPES: 1-Cost Token, Unspent Mana Crystals
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Deep diving and exploring the coral barrier

The majority of Holidays at Un'Gol Island's Druid package is centered around the idea of a token deck with fewer unique tokens that come back stronger and stronger every time. Helped by Omu, Coral Keeper sea critters and persistent troggs will surely overwhelm your opponent.

If you prefer slower Druid strategies, Faelin, Wise Advisor has your back. Check out the Unspent Mana Crystals package:

• MAGE
• ARCHETYPES: Elementals, Freezing, Spell Schools
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Surfing, playing in the water

Mages have decided to spend their time on Un'Gol island surfing. Unfortunately, the sea wasn't very suitable for this activity: it was way too calm. Fortunately, mages had a solutions. Balinda, Eye of the Storm might have conjured a hurricane. Or two. Or several...

The rough sea is a bit too much for you? Join Reno, King of the Party in the pool and get ready to cast some unique spells!

• WARRIOR
• ARCHETYPES: Fire Spells, Enemy Disruption, Menagerie
• FUN ACTIVITIES: Exploring a dangerous volcano

Warriors have been busy exploring the Un'Golian Volcano, a very popular tourist attraction. If you feel up for the hike, you might want to join them. Who knows, you might even meet the scorching Geddon, Volcanic Lord.

Alternatively, Warrior's Holidays at Un'Gol Island package offers a few new pieces for Menagerie strategies. Oh, and Patches, the Captain is back.

• REMAINING NEUTRALS

Finally, these are the remaining Neutral cards that were not showcased in the previous packages.

• EXPANSION LAUNCH

If I could organize everything, I'd pick this as my pre-order skin and free Legendary that's granted before the expansion launch to all players:

If you've taken a look at the post I hope you found at least a few interesting concepts here and there. This was fun. Thanks for reading!

Hey!
I posted my Hearthstone custom set today in the card discussion forum, and unfort,unately all the images had the wrong link, so it didn't work. I started updating them with the right link, and it worked fine this time. But while I was adding the other links, my thread got deleted. It's annoying enough because this is the second time I've tried to post it (I had connection problems the first time), but even though I still have the text in a file, it takes a lot of time to do the formatting, and it's not nice to have all your work killed in 2 minutes.
I want to know if there was a specific reason to delete it, besides the fact that it was not working. I don't want to get upset a third time (if I still dare try again).

A new Common Demacia Equipment, Demacian Steel, has been revealed!

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