Decided to skip The Blacktongue Thief for the moment and read The Moon is a harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein instead. The language initially turned me off a bit, as the whole book is written the way the protagonist is speaking. Other than that it was a great read, focusing mostly on politics similar to the Ender’s Shadow series by Orson Scott Card. Exciting till the very end, if partly a little predictable. Enjoyable, easy lecture. Last month I got a little bonus at work and I used part of it to treat me with a few sci-fi books. I’ll report back on each of them!
DK is almost dead in Wild. I have recently had some success with Even Rainbow DK (got 11x in August and day 1 legend in September), but if you look at meta reports, there usually isn't a single DK deck to be found on them. The card base just isn't big enough yet to create the hyper synergies you need to survive in Wild sadly. Your only shot is to create something that is good at targetting meta decks (like Even DK is very good at beating board based Aggro [Shadow Priest and Pirate DH]).
Interesting article, thanks for that. I'm leaning towards wanting more double-Runed cards and it would totally make sense to introduce these in the last set of the year. The number of cards for the class can stay the same that way - you dish out a few double-Runed cards and flesh out the decks with the cards from the earlier expansions of the year.
Like, first you build up a collection of single-Runed filler cards that add up to competitve rainbow decks for the time being, then you finish the cycle with double-Runed cards that allow you to branch off into multiple directions. Does that make sense?
Gotta say I like the creativity of option 2 as well! That would probably make the whole system too complicated though. I mean, try to explain that to a new player.
Taking away the whole system would be sad and mean a loss of tons of flavor. Let's hope the devs find a better way to address this!
I can't help myself feeling like this is the beginning of the end. There's a very big increase in expensive cosmetics this year and while I really enjoy some of them (I've spent more €€ in 2024 already than any other year before), that does smell like a last desperate cash grab before the game dies. I really hope I'm wrong.
I'm sorry but I have yet to see a card from this mini set that sparks excitement. Feels like all we get is either boring pack fillers or game breakers. Kinda sad.
Ooooh I've been curious about that one, there haven't been many reports or tests about it when I last looked for them. Is there any game you can compare to it? Most importantly: How would you rate the difficultiy? I've heard some people say it's as hard as a Soulslike which would be an instant no from me as I don't enjoy that kind of game. The devs themselves say it's way easier afaik. Then there are some other people who say the first few hours are easy mode but then it gets very hard pretty quickly. I'd be very happy to read about your experience in detail if you're willing to share it!
On my end a lot of touching grass has happened in August. Nevertheless, there are a few gaming news:
Got some mentoring for Hades and managed to escape with 4 different weapons so far (the shield and the gun are missing). Still enjoying the vibes, having fun exploring new builds and following the story line :-)
Used good old Pirate Rogue to get to Wild legend in Hearthstone this month, then climbed from around 900 all the way to 383 with Even Rainbow DK which i'm very proud of :-)) If i find the time, I'll post the deck here and write a guide.
Doomkin will hopefully get nuked to 8 Mana or get a completely new effect
I'd like to see Secret Passage bumped to 2 Mana, that seems the easiest solution to the problem at hand without nuking the card
Fingers crossed they finally see the light and revert Sorcerer's Apprentice back to 2 Mana and add the "(but not less than 1 Mana)" to her effect
Wildpaw Gnoll could easily have its cost doubled to 10 imo. For all I care make it a Thiefing Giant by setting its cost to 20 and its stats to 8/8.
The big question is how these changes will effect the meta. I expect Pack Rogue to die but I'm not sure what might come up to be the next top dog. Board based aggro still looks strong with Shadow Priest, Pirate Rogue, Pirate Demon Hunter. Reno Priest, Reno Druid, Reno Paladin will try to keep them in check. I recently saw a friend climb to top 100 with Frog Shaman. Magmarager had a winrate of 75% with Warsong Warrior. Last but not least I managed to get to rank 383 with Even Rainbow DK. There's a lot going on in Wild right now and I really like that.
The buffs look interesting, let's hope they aren't only Mana discounts. Hunter desperately needs something meaningful to do. Big Warrior is a huge gamble imo because that deck should never be competitive, you only want it to be good enough to not be completely miserable. You don't want a Big Priest era in Standard. Thief Rogue will stay trash no matter how much you tune it, but I hope the buffs will help people have some more fun with it. Not sure about Big Spell Mage honestly, that one has a dangerous feeling for me... if it gets too good, we'll end up with one of these oppressive decks that you have very little agency against. Between a buffed DJ Manastorm, King Tide, The Galactic Projection Orb, Sunset Volley and Tsunami something might be coming together. Finally big hopes for Ci'Cigi to have her effect changed to a Battlecry!
Honestly I've never understood why one would want to get a PS Pro. The difference between the base model and the Pro is usually not that big and you know you're already halfway to the next gen.
At least Sony seems to know how to do their business: Releasing the thing in November is a clever move as they can profit from the Christmas hype (if there are enough units available). I wish Nintendo would do the same. Sigh.
I've finished Jedi: Fallen Order sometime last week. I did like the whole light sabre fighting thing but the story was pretty shallow and the way I was forced to run around the maps was not for me. Still tempted to get Jedi: Survivor because the graphics look super cool and the light sabre stuff got improved as well as far as I can tell from the trailers.
Game time is limited so I've never come around to trying Hollow Knight unfortunately. There are several people who have recommended it to me though, so it definitely stays on the list! Thanks for the reminder <3
My Hades adventure started yesterday night and I have to admit that I was a bit sceptical about it because I've basically never played a game of that genre before - but I instantly liked it! The music, the scenery, the characters, the mix up in builds every run, it's just super cool. I had a little help from my step daughter who has played it on PC so I've managed to beat Meg during my first playing session and reach the second level. Got stomped by the Medusa like creature that petrifies you to drop huge stones on your head though :D I was advised to use the bow and am learning the timing for that one and the best boons for it, what's your preferred build?
Nothing to add to my initial thoughts about The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins: A very entertaining and exciting story with some very cool twists. I honestly don't know which genre lable to apply here as it looks like Fantasy on the surface, but lore-wise it's probably closer to Science-Fiction? Anyway, it was a fun read.
Next came a real gem, a book that I'd call one of the best Science-Fiction pieces I've ever read: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (the guy who also wrote The Martian). It has an incredibly dense atmosphere, amazing suspense, a super likeable protagonist, lots of nerdy science stuff, a good bit of humour and emotion, ... it was a real page turner. Most nights I went to bed speculating how the story might progress and super impatient to continue. Big big big recommendation to all of you Sci-Fi people!
I've made a habit of taking a short break between books to cool down and digest the story I've just finished before commiting to another. Guess that means I'll finally start playing Hades this weekend. The next book I'll read already sits on my nightstand though. It's another shot at fantasy: The Blacktongue Thief by Chistopher Buehlman. The sequel should have come out this month so no waiting time for the story to continue in case I like it.
Generally speaking though, I'm finding myself falling out of love with Fantasy unfortunately. Maybe I'm just another victim of modern times killing my attention span, but I find it harder and harder to enjoy epic fantasy series like The Stormlight Archives (I have book 4 waiting for me for months now and I kind of avoid it...) in favor of one-volume Science-Fiction that focuses on storytelling and nerd stuff instead of character studies. Not too happy about that, but it is what it is and life is too short to read books you don't enjoy imo. Maybe the Thrill will come back one day or I just haven't read the right stuff lately.
What are you guys and gals up to these days book-wise?
Very beautiful signature art. I don’t expect many Druid decks to feature this, they have better stuff to do than spend their Mana on Taunts. Warrior likes this a lot though. Hamm, Zilliax, maybe even a mech package… there are quite a few juicy targets for this in Garrosh’s arsenal.
Yet another card that Warrior will be very happy about. It curves into Hamm and that’s basically reason enough to run this. If you happen to hit Zilliax or another Taunt minion you’ve chosen to put into your deck that doesn’t sound half bad either.
Not sure what Druid thinks about this one but Warrior definitely wants it. You can enable Hamm or Zilliax turns with this and do all kind of shenanigans a little earlier than you’re supposed to. Neat.
Very strong Ramp payoff. It feels really unfair in my opinion - Druid will reach 10 Mana way before you more often than not and then they get a discount on their powerful cards on top of that? Come on Blizzard!
Lots of potential for this one, even if you ignore the tourist part. You can ramp, draw, gain armor and do all that other stuff you want to do anyway and get it repeated for the meager price of skipping turn 5. Let’s hope Aggro punishes Druid hard enough for that or we’re in trouble.
Very versatile card but I’m not sure it’s as strong as it looks. 7 Mana is a lot after all. On the other hand it’s a 1 Mana draw 2 at worst so yeah, probably ends up being broken.
Got another one :)
Decided to skip The Blacktongue Thief for the moment and read The Moon is a harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein instead. The language initially turned me off a bit, as the whole book is written the way the protagonist is speaking. Other than that it was a great read, focusing mostly on politics similar to the Ender’s Shadow series by Orson Scott Card. Exciting till the very end, if partly a little predictable. Enjoyable, easy lecture.
Last month I got a little bonus at work and I used part of it to treat me with a few sci-fi books. I’ll report back on each of them!
DK is almost dead in Wild. I have recently had some success with Even Rainbow DK (got 11x in August and day 1 legend in September), but if you look at meta reports, there usually isn't a single DK deck to be found on them. The card base just isn't big enough yet to create the hyper synergies you need to survive in Wild sadly. Your only shot is to create something that is good at targetting meta decks (like Even DK is very good at beating board based Aggro [Shadow Priest and Pirate DH]).
Interesting article, thanks for that. I'm leaning towards wanting more double-Runed cards and it would totally make sense to introduce these in the last set of the year. The number of cards for the class can stay the same that way - you dish out a few double-Runed cards and flesh out the decks with the cards from the earlier expansions of the year.
Like, first you build up a collection of single-Runed filler cards that add up to competitve rainbow decks for the time being, then you finish the cycle with double-Runed cards that allow you to branch off into multiple directions. Does that make sense?
Gotta say I like the creativity of option 2 as well! That would probably make the whole system too complicated though. I mean, try to explain that to a new player.
Taking away the whole system would be sad and mean a loss of tons of flavor. Let's hope the devs find a better way to address this!
I can't help myself feeling like this is the beginning of the end. There's a very big increase in expensive cosmetics this year and while I really enjoy some of them (I've spent more €€ in 2024 already than any other year before), that does smell like a last desperate cash grab before the game dies. I really hope I'm wrong.
I'm sorry but I have yet to see a card from this mini set that sparks excitement. Feels like all we get is either boring pack fillers or game breakers. Kinda sad.
Ooooh I've been curious about that one, there haven't been many reports or tests about it when I last looked for them. Is there any game you can compare to it? Most importantly: How would you rate the difficultiy? I've heard some people say it's as hard as a Soulslike which would be an instant no from me as I don't enjoy that kind of game. The devs themselves say it's way easier afaik. Then there are some other people who say the first few hours are easy mode but then it gets very hard pretty quickly. I'd be very happy to read about your experience in detail if you're willing to share it!
On my end a lot of touching grass has happened in August. Nevertheless, there are a few gaming news:
I like the overall approach here. Most of the nerfs seem kinda easy to predict:
The big question is how these changes will effect the meta. I expect Pack Rogue to die but I'm not sure what might come up to be the next top dog. Board based aggro still looks strong with Shadow Priest, Pirate Rogue, Pirate Demon Hunter. Reno Priest, Reno Druid, Reno Paladin will try to keep them in check. I recently saw a friend climb to top 100 with Frog Shaman. Magmarager had a winrate of 75% with Warsong Warrior. Last but not least I managed to get to rank 383 with Even Rainbow DK. There's a lot going on in Wild right now and I really like that.
The buffs look interesting, let's hope they aren't only Mana discounts. Hunter desperately needs something meaningful to do. Big Warrior is a huge gamble imo because that deck should never be competitive, you only want it to be good enough to not be completely miserable. You don't want a Big Priest era in Standard. Thief Rogue will stay trash no matter how much you tune it, but I hope the buffs will help people have some more fun with it. Not sure about Big Spell Mage honestly, that one has a dangerous feeling for me... if it gets too good, we'll end up with one of these oppressive decks that you have very little agency against. Between a buffed DJ Manastorm, King Tide, The Galactic Projection Orb, Sunset Volley and Tsunami something might be coming together. Finally big hopes for Ci'Cigi to have her effect changed to a Battlecry!
Honestly I've never understood why one would want to get a PS Pro. The difference between the base model and the Pro is usually not that big and you know you're already halfway to the next gen.
At least Sony seems to know how to do their business: Releasing the thing in November is a clever move as they can profit from the Christmas hype (if there are enough units available). I wish Nintendo would do the same. Sigh.
Test
Nice timing of that question!
I've finished Jedi: Fallen Order sometime last week. I did like the whole light sabre fighting thing but the story was pretty shallow and the way I was forced to run around the maps was not for me. Still tempted to get Jedi: Survivor because the graphics look super cool and the light sabre stuff got improved as well as far as I can tell from the trailers.
Game time is limited so I've never come around to trying Hollow Knight unfortunately. There are several people who have recommended it to me though, so it definitely stays on the list! Thanks for the reminder <3
My Hades adventure started yesterday night and I have to admit that I was a bit sceptical about it because I've basically never played a game of that genre before - but I instantly liked it! The music, the scenery, the characters, the mix up in builds every run, it's just super cool. I had a little help from my step daughter who has played it on PC so I've managed to beat Meg during my first playing session and reach the second level. Got stomped by the Medusa like creature that petrifies you to drop huge stones on your head though :D I was advised to use the bow and am learning the timing for that one and the best boons for it, what's your preferred build?
Nothing to add to my initial thoughts about The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins: A very entertaining and exciting story with some very cool twists. I honestly don't know which genre lable to apply here as it looks like Fantasy on the surface, but lore-wise it's probably closer to Science-Fiction? Anyway, it was a fun read.
Next came a real gem, a book that I'd call one of the best Science-Fiction pieces I've ever read: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (the guy who also wrote The Martian). It has an incredibly dense atmosphere, amazing suspense, a super likeable protagonist, lots of nerdy science stuff, a good bit of humour and emotion, ... it was a real page turner. Most nights I went to bed speculating how the story might progress and super impatient to continue. Big big big recommendation to all of you Sci-Fi people!
I've made a habit of taking a short break between books to cool down and digest the story I've just finished before commiting to another. Guess that means I'll finally start playing Hades this weekend. The next book I'll read already sits on my nightstand though. It's another shot at fantasy: The Blacktongue Thief by Chistopher Buehlman. The sequel should have come out this month so no waiting time for the story to continue in case I like it.
Generally speaking though, I'm finding myself falling out of love with Fantasy unfortunately. Maybe I'm just another victim of modern times killing my attention span, but I find it harder and harder to enjoy epic fantasy series like The Stormlight Archives (I have book 4 waiting for me for months now and I kind of avoid it...) in favor of one-volume Science-Fiction that focuses on storytelling and nerd stuff instead of character studies. Not too happy about that, but it is what it is and life is too short to read books you don't enjoy imo. Maybe the Thrill will come back one day or I just haven't read the right stuff lately.
What are you guys and gals up to these days book-wise?
There is no new game board for this expansion. The official Twitter account has announced they'll address that next week.
That’s a lot of stats for 5 mana. Great stalling tool. Might also find a home in Warrior since it has the Dragon tribe. All around solid card.
Very beautiful signature art. I don’t expect many Druid decks to feature this, they have better stuff to do than spend their Mana on Taunts. Warrior likes this a lot though. Hamm, Zilliax, maybe even a mech package… there are quite a few juicy targets for this in Garrosh’s arsenal.
Yet another card that Warrior will be very happy about. It curves into Hamm and that’s basically reason enough to run this. If you happen to hit Zilliax or another Taunt minion you’ve chosen to put into your deck that doesn’t sound half bad either.
Not sure what Druid thinks about this one but Warrior definitely wants it. You can enable Hamm or Zilliax turns with this and do all kind of shenanigans a little earlier than you’re supposed to. Neat.
Very strong Ramp payoff. It feels really unfair in my opinion - Druid will reach 10 Mana way before you more often than not and then they get a discount on their powerful cards on top of that? Come on Blizzard!
Lots of potential for this one, even if you ignore the tourist part. You can ramp, draw, gain armor and do all that other stuff you want to do anyway and get it repeated for the meager price of skipping turn 5. Let’s hope Aggro punishes Druid hard enough for that or we’re in trouble.
Very versatile card but I’m not sure it’s as strong as it looks. 7 Mana is a lot after all. On the other hand it’s a 1 Mana draw 2 at worst so yeah, probably ends up being broken.