@OldManSanns, I took my first dive into LoR before the nerfs in HS and just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to you for the super helpful 7 tips article! I have all my regions at Lvl 4, a few at Lvl 8, and just got my first Lvl 13 weekly chest :)
Personally, I've found the gameplay refreshing and challenging as it reminds me of MtG which I haven't played for about 25 years (in terms of blocking, burst spells, etc.). I've mainly been playing Labs as I learn all the different keywords (thx to Challenge Mode), but I've been impressed so far. And the card artwork on mobile looks awesome so it's got that going for it too, which is nice :D
Rang in response to your concern that people will dodge matches when it isn't their deck that faces itself the solution is simple: if they do that they would automatically be matched again facing someone else's deck until they play it out and it goes back to 50-50.
I agree that this would incentize folks to not concede when they don't get their deck, though it could also turn some folks off to the mode entirely if/when they hit a string of bad coin flips and don't get to play their deck for many games in a row. Obviously a pity timer or something could be implemented to counteract this scenario, but I'd prefer your later suggestion of having a longer queue which guarantees the ability to play your deck.
Regardless of the minutiae, I'd definitely be on board with trying out this mode as a Tavern Brawl to gauge its popularity. They claim that their devs monitor the official Hearthstone forums for ideas, so maybe outline the mode there and see if you get some traction amongst the community!
I also went back and re-read that old list of community suggestions I linked and was surprised at how many had been implemented in some form or another (weekly quests, a new class, more deck slots, etc.). At the bottom I mentioned that Firebat suggested a Tavern Brawl Arcade to play past brawls and I could definitely see Mirror Mode being part of that system. Having access to all brawls may not be feasible in terms of splitting up the playerbase and having long queue times, but having a rotating set of 6 weekly or something like that seems realistic. Or maybe 6 random ones and 3 additional that stick around all month as voted on by the players or determined by their play rate over the past X number of weeks.
OP - I understand the sentiment underlying your suggestion and tried to argue a long time ago for a "Free Play" mode that gave you no Gold (now Experience) and couldn't progress Quests so the only reason to play was for pure enjoyment. Of course trolls and folks wanting a self-esteem boost would still bring meta decks there, but the idea was to increase the chance of running into a homebrew as even tanking your MMR in the current Casual system just leads to mostly facing less-than-optimal aggro decks (from my experience).
That was a long way of saying that I'm someone who agrees with your mission, but I'm not sure this is my favorite way of achieving it. In particular, going into this mode I really wouldn't want to play someone else's deck so it'd feel bad to lose the coinflip and I might concede until I get mine which isn't ideal for the mode. You also have the awkwardness of the originator being at a pretty big advantage going into the mirror because they know what's coming and how to navigate it (update - didn't see the part where you mentioned having a decklist on the side which I like, though as a mobile player I'm curious how that'd look on the screen). Icyfoe88 also brings up the point of trolls forcing you into playing a meta deck which, to me, is even worse than the current Casual system. However, I could see match-making prioritizing matching you with someone whose deck has a similar winrate in Casual or something like that.
Personally, I'd just like to see them test out options for allowing homebrewers to play each other and would be curious to see your system in action. Additional systems that come to mind could be:
A simple change of allowing players to click a box that says "I'm playing a homebrew" in Casual and then splitting the matchmaking up into 2 pools using current Player MMR in each pool. Obviously there would be people exploiting this system to troll or farm wins, but I'd like to see how rampant that problem would be and whether it'd still be an improvement over the current system (which is really the goal). Allegedly, many people play meta decks in Casual to learn how to navigate those decks so they should prefer not to match homebrews as stomping a meme deck teaches you nothing about whether you're ladder-ready.
The other thing I'd like to see them experiment with is some form of Deck MMR matchmaking like I mentioned earlier. My thinking is that they currently have data on something like the played winrate of certain cards or groups of cards because the updated auto-complete deck algorithm pulls from this to give you the most competitive build from your collection. So why not experiment with matching players based on the percentage of cards in their deck that are NOT included on the list of meta options they're internally monitoring? I'm envisioning a 2-step matching process where first players are put in buckets according to the % of their deck that's off-meta, and then players are matched within buckets according to the current Player MMR system which reflects their general skill at navigating any type of deck, off-meta or otherwise.
You obviously wouldn't want to subject the entire playbase to these experiments in Casual, but a self-selected "Casual Labs" mode or something could attract willing particiants like myself. And before people crap all over these ideas, I'm clearly not a game developer so I have no idea how hard these things would be to implement and whether the player population is large enough to accommodate more modes. It's also been a long time since I thought about this issue so these are more half-baked ideas in pursuit of fun discussion rather than serious requests that I feel strongly about.
Well. After finishing with moving homes and some other stuff I got the time to finish the post at least! Thanks for your responses too! Really enjoyed reading through them!
Congratulations on the succesful move and on finishing your list! It reminded me of many cool cards and metas that I hadn't thought about in awhile :)
Quote From sinti
Baron Geddon became a cool card again, when he got the Elemental tag and DK Jaina gave him Lifesteal :)
I also rediscovered my appreciation for him when Toxic Arrow released and I finally had access to a (admittedly clunky) board clear ;D
Kaladin - Like many others, I understand your frustration as trying to find a fun deck for my playstyle has been a challenge this expansion...like to the point where I downloaded LoR for the first time after getting tilted from randomly generated outs for the umpteenth time.
However, things have felt better after the nerfs and I went from running like 4 to 5 tech cards to running a couple, if any (still like keeping Shadow Hunter Vol'jin just for the odd chance of punishing Warlocks). FWIW, I've been having a lot of fun with the Deathrattle Hunter deck in my signature in the lower ranks (D10 atm), although Maxima Blastenheimer does a lot of the heavy lifting and probably isn't worth crafting if you don't have it already. OTK Hunter also looks pretty fun/viable but I haven't tried it out yet as I'm still trying to get a Handbuff Hunter and a Kolkar Pack Runner + Blood Herald Hunter off the ground ;D
Wishing you good luck and better match-ups moving forward!
Oh man, this is one heck of an undertaking! Good on you for going through them all and adding your own flavor. I tried to narrow my list to just my top legendary from each expansion with a few honorable mentions thrown in when multiple cards stood out.
Full disclosure - My list is biased towards Neutrals and Hunter legendaries given where I've invested most of my dust over the years. I also only started playing when One Night in Karazhan released so my experience with Naxx and GvG is limited.
Legacy/Classic
Ragnaros the Firelord - probably my 3rd favorite card when I started and I used him in most decks including a Spell Hunter that only had him and Barnes for the ridiculous highroll.
Sylvanas also felt like a must-craft at the time, but second place for me goes to Ysera because she was a viable win condition (at least against noobs like me and the people I faced at the start) and I was thrilled when I had enough dust to craft her.
Naxxramas
Loatheb - Unity, Precision, and Perfection before there was a word for it. I didn't get to play Loatheb in its prime, but I enjoyed the Adventure and will still throw it into Tavern Brawls when allowed.
Goblins vs Gnomes
Gahz'rilla - another one I missed in standard, but I still play the big fella for the modern-day OTK shenanigans in Wild.
Emperor Thaurissan - the enabler of so many memes that would otherwise be dreams! If memory serves me right you could get him from the first wing of the adventure and I saved up Gold to purchase it early in my HS journey; no regrets!
Grand Tournament
Dreadscale - I didn't invest much Gold into this expansion, so Dreadscale sticks out in memory more for his utility as a build-a-beast from DK Rexxar.
League of Explorers
Reno Jackson - Highlander decks are love, highlander decks are life, and the original is still the best! Reno was my favorite card when I started and I bought the adventure almost immediately after playing against him a few times. So many good memories that I still go back to Wild just to play him.
Old Gods
Yogg-Saron, Hope's End - My 2nd favorite card when starting out and totally worth crafting in standard even after the nerf. There was so much outrage at losing to randomly generated spells, but apparently if you constantly generate/discover them via multiple cards it's cool ;P
Karazhan
Barnes - I enjoyed him when he was in Standard, but the nerf in Wild was long overdue!
Gadgetzan
Kazakus - the card that actually got me into playing Mage for a time and I'll still dip into Wild to play this card.
Ungoro
The Marsh Queen - I loved the introduction of Quests and played a lot of Quest Hunter back in the day.
Elise the Trailblazer - a close 2nd and I had decks that would try to get 3 or 4 copies of her for the value parade.
Frozen Throne
Deathstalker Rexxar - an obvious choice as it's possibly the greatest Hunter card ever made and building beasts is a ton of fun.
Sky Gen'ral Kragg - a staple in my Quest Hunter decks for both the value and quest progression; really appreciated that he didn't require the quest to be active when played!
Demon Hunter's Initiate
Nethrandamus - I don't often play DH, but when I do it's Control DH centered around Nethrandamus and 1/1s with rush.
Professor Slate - a close second that helps Control Hunters (almost) reach viability.
Darmoon Faire
Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate - I still praise him even though it feels like the current iteration gives me the worst outcome way more often than the others (i.e. the fill both boards with minions and yours have rush outcome).
Darkmoon Races
Moonfang - should be on the Mount Rushmore of beasts! Very cool addition to the family.
Core 2021
Deathwing the Destroyer - a kinder, gentler Deathwing that still fits in well with my Deathrattle decks.
Barrens
Kazakus, Golem Shaper - I love versatile cards that can give access to tools outside of your class identity (lifesteal, poison, etc.) while also being a potential win condition depending on when you draw it (e.g. two 10/10 golems with stealth).
Looking forward to seeing what other folks choose as their favorites!
Haha, I'd support the Nozdormu the Eternal segment! I've yet to run into a fellow speedster, but am hopeful that when we reach some lulls in the meta people will start mixing him in more.
I'll also add that so far I haven't been impressed by Tavish Stormpike so I don't think you're missing out on much. Obviously it's still early and I'm not a great deckbuilder, but it just feels like an awkward card in most situations: hard to get beasts to stick a turn early, hard to have a consistent beast cascade that's still in your deck by the time you draw/can play Tavish, the Trueaim Crescent target will often die before all of your beasts can attack, the late game swing of a Turn 8 Tavish + Trampling Rhino isn't that strong compared to other T8 plays, etc.
And thanks for the article as I agree there are a few different ways to build out Beast Hunter atm and this is great food-for-thought. I like the consistency of your build (I probably include too many tech cards in my memes) and need to consider Dancing Cobra more often. I also appreciated your discussion of Resizing Pouch because I hadn't considered how it might be better now given the smaller pools to draw from. Hmm, maybe I'll go full greed and include it in a Leoroxx + King Krush deck to fish for more copies of Krush!
My own Beast Hunter has more of a beasty 1-5 curve because I wanted to try out Tavish Stormpike and liked the potential of rushing beasts with Trueaim Crescent (or Animated Broomstick in the budget build). However, the early results have been pretty rough to the point that I included Nozdormu the Eternal and mainly play it when I'm hopeful for a meme match-up in Casual, haha. Might be time to give another Beast deck a try so thanks again for sharing this :)
Just wondering if there were any news items I missed about Oh My Yogg! being a known issue for the HS devs?
I had a game recently where it turned my Scrap Shot into Dunk Tank but Dunk Tank never cast. Instead, the animation hung over my character for the rest of the game and Yogg delighted in my misery :(
A quick search on this site suggests there have been Yogg bugs dating back a few months so I was just curious if it's ever been addressed by Iksar/the team.
I really appreciate all the work you and the team put into the site and just wanted to report a minor bug.
I created a new deck and clicked on the "Theorycraft" tag and that does indeed show up in a box under the deck's name (alongside a box for the deck's archetype and one for the format played in). However, sometimes when I edit the guide or cards I get a warning message that says I need to select a tag even though my previous entry is still active.
I didn't think much of this because if you just click the tag off and back on you don't get the message. But now I've noticed that when I go to "My Hearthstone Decks" the "Deck Type" column is blank even though the tag still shows up when I click on it and look at the boxes under the name. Obviously, this is a super minor issue but I just wanted to bring it to your attention.
This deck is amazing! I only played 5 rounds but it already feels really strong. Finally a chance to include Poor Professor Slate.
The best thing are the different win-conditions (Zixxor, Clowns, Yogg and the Quest + hounds
Oh snaps, someone actually played it! Haha, I'm glad you gave it a go and am happy to hear you had some success :)
Aggro match-ups (Stealth Rogue, Token Druid, Zoo Warlock, etc.) can be tough because of the tempo we lose on Turn 1 so feel free to drop the Kael'thas combo - Kael'thas + 2x Licensed Adventurer and possibly even a Nagrand Slam - to fit in survivability in the form of weapon removal, secrets, Doomsayer, Dwarven Sharpshooter, etc. Running an extra Jewel of N'Zoth is another possibility as bringing back 2 Khartut Defenders has caused many an aggro deck to quit.
Personally, I keep Kael'thas in simply because I doubt Hunter will be getting 0-mana spells next season so I don't think I'll be using him after Quests rotate. But I'd be curious to hear what works well for others so please let me know if you find success with any changes!
I run it in a few Control Hunter decks for reasons similar to KANSAS:
Gives access to 2 wide board clears that my class doesn't do very well
Has synergy with cards I already want to run like Professor Slate and reduces the number of spells I need to include to consistently activate Yogg
Provides an extra win condition in some Control matches (e.g., I like to hold onto the 4th spell against Warlock to punish the 2nd (or 3rd) Tickatus that empties my deck)
So I don't run it with the expectation of playing C'Thun himself, but rather I like getting 4 useful tools for the price of 1 card that can also be a finisher. Admittedly, those extra cards can sometimes get in the way of drawing your win condition, but Tracking or a tutor like Scavenger's Ingenuity help counteract that. However, I'm sure if you pressed me enough I'd confess that I'm still just nostalgic for the Old Gods ;D
Edit: There's also the minor benefit in that the pieces are never offered in the mulligan phase so you have slightly better odds of finding crucial cards like Zephyrs.
Hmm, I just made a lengthy reply with a bunch of links but it showed up in a Red Box when I tried to post and then disappeared when I refreshed the page :(
Not sure what happened, but in short (without links), check out BloodMeFist and Sule's articles on here + FrostyFeet for Wild ideas and compilations built around specific cards (e.g. Vol'jin). I'd also look at the decks posted by MarkMcKz on here and Youtube. For other sites, I used to check HearthstoneTopDecks and you can filter by top rated fun decks by pro players for viable off-meta builds.
Our spam filter got angry, probably due to the amount of links. The post has now been restored.
Ahh, sorry about that, never hit the limit before! Thanks for restoring it and thanks for all of your articles :)
In general, I think it would help to know where on the ladder you hope to play these decks. For instance, I'm proof that with average skill you can navigate to Diamond 10 consistently with memes, but if you want to hit Diamond 5 or Legend it may take more skill or something closer to a Tier 2 or Tier 3 deck (or just a lot patience to grind with a 51% winrate). Although I guess this also depends on how you define a "meme" deck as you can throw a few meme cards into a competitive archetype and still win a lot of games on the back of the meta cards alone.
Back on topic, I feel like we gotta start with OOC's resources.
And then there's the budget series by Sule which always includes ways to improve on the meme if you can afford epic and legendary cards
FrostyFeet also regularly compiles deck ideas for Wild as well as Standard decks built around specific cards (e.g. Vol'jin)
I'd also give a shout out to MarkMcKz who posts decks here and on other sites. I've gotten inspiration from a number of his builds and they'll often have a YouTube video where you can hear his mulligan strategy and the like.
I'd also check out the deck search feature as you can specify an archetype or even specific cards that you want included. For meme decks I'd probably filter by those that include guides so you can learn how to play them and there will sometimes be info on how successful they've found the deck to be against the meta. To ensure you're seeing memes you could filter the Type by "Just for Fun" or "Theorycraft" although sticking to "Ranked" decks will give you ones that the author thinks are ladder-viable.
As for other sites, back in the day I used to check HearthstoneTopDecks and it looks like it's still going strong. You can search for decks uploaded based on Streamers who play fun but viable builds (e.g. Kibler) or you can filter something like Top Rated (Month) + Fun (Type) + Pro Players/Community Players to see what people have voted on as being fun and viable.
Had the most satisfying win in awhile and pulled off my first C'Thun finisher!
I was memeing in the Platinum ranks with an Old God Highlander Hunter and ran into a Pure Paladin who was BMing like crazy (rope Turn 1, emote spam every turn, touching cards and tapping my hero power constantly, etc.). Things quieted down when I had him on the ropes in the midgame as he tried to kill my windfury Siamat with a High Exarch Yrel but played into Freezing Trap. I played a Darkmoon Tonk on Turn 9 and he was at 10 health after clearing both via a discounted Libram of Justice + Consecration. I had lethal in hand from Brann + Hero Power, but he was running Air Raid for some reason (Alura activator?) and was able to get that out on T9 due to the discount on Justice.
I finished C'Thun but hadn't drawn it and my health was slowly depleting thanks to Hammer of the Naaru (can't remember if he ran that or got it off Lightforged Crusader). When that weapon was done I was at 4 HP and he buffed a small minion a bunch and then copied him with Argent Braggart. The BM was at an all-time high but with 11 cards left I top decked Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate who heard my cries and instantly gobbled up both minions to become a 28-attack monstrosity. Unfortunately, another Libram of Justice + Consecration negated poor Yogg and left me at 1 HP while he played a 0-cost Devout Pupil and added 2 Libram buffs. He roped in satisfaction and once again I thought I'd have to rely on a lucky dragon from Alex. However, who should I top deck with a 10% chance, none other than C'Thun, the Shattered who killed off the Pupil and his remaining 18 HP!! And with that I began my first emotes of the match ;D
Ahh, no worries and no pressure! Life definitely takes precedence and there are so many possibilities with Wild cards allowed that it can be overwhelming. I made a quick mechrattle Hunter for the pack but haven't played much else.
@OldManSanns, I took my first dive into LoR before the nerfs in HS and just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to you for the super helpful 7 tips article! I have all my regions at Lvl 4, a few at Lvl 8, and just got my first Lvl 13 weekly chest :)
Personally, I've found the gameplay refreshing and challenging as it reminds me of MtG which I haven't played for about 25 years (in terms of blocking, burst spells, etc.). I've mainly been playing Labs as I learn all the different keywords (thx to Challenge Mode), but I've been impressed so far. And the card artwork on mobile looks awesome so it's got that going for it too, which is nice :D
I agree that this would incentize folks to not concede when they don't get their deck, though it could also turn some folks off to the mode entirely if/when they hit a string of bad coin flips and don't get to play their deck for many games in a row. Obviously a pity timer or something could be implemented to counteract this scenario, but I'd prefer your later suggestion of having a longer queue which guarantees the ability to play your deck.
Regardless of the minutiae, I'd definitely be on board with trying out this mode as a Tavern Brawl to gauge its popularity. They claim that their devs monitor the official Hearthstone forums for ideas, so maybe outline the mode there and see if you get some traction amongst the community!
I also went back and re-read that old list of community suggestions I linked and was surprised at how many had been implemented in some form or another (weekly quests, a new class, more deck slots, etc.). At the bottom I mentioned that Firebat suggested a Tavern Brawl Arcade to play past brawls and I could definitely see Mirror Mode being part of that system. Having access to all brawls may not be feasible in terms of splitting up the playerbase and having long queue times, but having a rotating set of 6 weekly or something like that seems realistic. Or maybe 6 random ones and 3 additional that stick around all month as voted on by the players or determined by their play rate over the past X number of weeks.
OP - I understand the sentiment underlying your suggestion and tried to argue a long time ago for a "Free Play" mode that gave you no Gold (now Experience) and couldn't progress Quests so the only reason to play was for pure enjoyment. Of course trolls and folks wanting a self-esteem boost would still bring meta decks there, but the idea was to increase the chance of running into a homebrew as even tanking your MMR in the current Casual system just leads to mostly facing less-than-optimal aggro decks (from my experience).
That was a long way of saying that I'm someone who agrees with your mission, but I'm not sure this is my favorite way of achieving it. In particular, going into this mode I really wouldn't want to play someone else's deck so it'd feel bad to lose the coinflip and I might concede until I get mine which isn't ideal for the mode. You also have the awkwardness of the originator being at a pretty big advantage going into the mirror because they know what's coming and how to navigate it (update - didn't see the part where you mentioned having a decklist on the side which I like, though as a mobile player I'm curious how that'd look on the screen). Icyfoe88 also brings up the point of trolls forcing you into playing a meta deck which, to me, is even worse than the current Casual system. However, I could see match-making prioritizing matching you with someone whose deck has a similar winrate in Casual or something like that.
Personally, I'd just like to see them test out options for allowing homebrewers to play each other and would be curious to see your system in action. Additional systems that come to mind could be:
You obviously wouldn't want to subject the entire playbase to these experiments in Casual, but a self-selected "Casual Labs" mode or something could attract willing particiants like myself. And before people crap all over these ideas, I'm clearly not a game developer so I have no idea how hard these things would be to implement and whether the player population is large enough to accommodate more modes. It's also been a long time since I thought about this issue so these are more half-baked ideas in pursuit of fun discussion rather than serious requests that I feel strongly about.
Congratulations on the succesful move and on finishing your list! It reminded me of many cool cards and metas that I hadn't thought about in awhile :)
I also rediscovered my appreciation for him when Toxic Arrow released and I finally had access to a (admittedly clunky) board clear ;D
Kaladin - Like many others, I understand your frustration as trying to find a fun deck for my playstyle has been a challenge this expansion...like to the point where I downloaded LoR for the first time after getting tilted from randomly generated outs for the umpteenth time.
However, things have felt better after the nerfs and I went from running like 4 to 5 tech cards to running a couple, if any (still like keeping Shadow Hunter Vol'jin just for the odd chance of punishing Warlocks). FWIW, I've been having a lot of fun with the Deathrattle Hunter deck in my signature in the lower ranks (D10 atm), although Maxima Blastenheimer does a lot of the heavy lifting and probably isn't worth crafting if you don't have it already. OTK Hunter also looks pretty fun/viable but I haven't tried it out yet as I'm still trying to get a Handbuff Hunter and a Kolkar Pack Runner + Blood Herald Hunter off the ground ;D
Wishing you good luck and better match-ups moving forward!
Oh man, this is one heck of an undertaking! Good on you for going through them all and adding your own flavor. I tried to narrow my list to just my top legendary from each expansion with a few honorable mentions thrown in when multiple cards stood out.
Full disclosure - My list is biased towards Neutrals and Hunter legendaries given where I've invested most of my dust over the years. I also only started playing when One Night in Karazhan released so my experience with Naxx and GvG is limited.
Legacy/Classic
Ragnaros the Firelord - probably my 3rd favorite card when I started and I used him in most decks including a Spell Hunter that only had him and Barnes for the ridiculous highroll.
Sylvanas also felt like a must-craft at the time, but second place for me goes to Ysera because she was a viable win condition (at least against noobs like me and the people I faced at the start) and I was thrilled when I had enough dust to craft her.
Naxxramas
Loatheb - Unity, Precision, and Perfection before there was a word for it. I didn't get to play Loatheb in its prime, but I enjoyed the Adventure and will still throw it into Tavern Brawls when allowed.
Goblins vs Gnomes
Gahz'rilla - another one I missed in standard, but I still play the big fella for the modern-day OTK shenanigans in Wild.
Sneed's Old Shredder - a close 2nd for the wild deathrattle deck synergy.
Blackrock Mountain
Emperor Thaurissan - the enabler of so many memes that would otherwise be dreams! If memory serves me right you could get him from the first wing of the adventure and I saved up Gold to purchase it early in my HS journey; no regrets!
Grand Tournament
Dreadscale - I didn't invest much Gold into this expansion, so Dreadscale sticks out in memory more for his utility as a build-a-beast from DK Rexxar.
League of Explorers
Reno Jackson - Highlander decks are love, highlander decks are life, and the original is still the best! Reno was my favorite card when I started and I bought the adventure almost immediately after playing against him a few times. So many good memories that I still go back to Wild just to play him.
Old Gods
Yogg-Saron, Hope's End - My 2nd favorite card when starting out and totally worth crafting in standard even after the nerf. There was so much outrage at losing to randomly generated spells, but apparently if you constantly generate/discover them via multiple cards it's cool ;P
Karazhan
Barnes - I enjoyed him when he was in Standard, but the nerf in Wild was long overdue!
Gadgetzan
Kazakus - the card that actually got me into playing Mage for a time and I'll still dip into Wild to play this card.
Ungoro
The Marsh Queen - I loved the introduction of Quests and played a lot of Quest Hunter back in the day.
Elise the Trailblazer - a close 2nd and I had decks that would try to get 3 or 4 copies of her for the value parade.
Frozen Throne
Deathstalker Rexxar - an obvious choice as it's possibly the greatest Hunter card ever made and building beasts is a ton of fun.
Frost Lich Jaina, The Lich King, and Prince Keleseth were also all fun (if not slightly broken) cards I played regularly at the time.
Kobolds and Catacombs
Zola the Gorgon - my absolute favorite card of the set and I included it everywhere.
Rhok'delar and Kathrena Winterwisp are close seconds as I really enjoyed the Spell Hunter and Big Hunter archetypes at the time.
Witchwood
Shudderwock and Hagatha the Witch got me into playing more Shaman so they have to share the first place title.
Houndmaster Shaw - an honorable mention just because he was an auto-include in so many decks.
Azalina Soulthief - my favorite card that I never got to use as much as I wanted, haha.
Boomsday
Zilliax by a mile although there were some useful niche legendaries for Hunter.
2nd favorite was probably The Storm Bringer as you could generate it off of Witch's Cauldron and let the shenanigans begin.
Rumble
There were a lot of fun meme cards like Da Undatakah and Oondasta, but Zul'jin was my favorite by far as that swing turn was a sight to behold.
Rise of Shadows
Jepetto Joybuzz takes the number one spot due to enabling so many memes.
Kalecgos and Archmage Vargoth are fighting for 2nd place.
Saviors of Uldum
So many great cards in this expansion that it's tough to pick between them...
I loved the re-introduction of Quests such as Unseal the Vault as well as the return of highlander decks with Zephrys the Great, Siamat, and Dinotamer Brann.
In terms of pure memes, I tried to use King Phaoris as often as possible and even had a couple decks built around cheating out Colossus of the Moon.
Descent of Dragons
Dragonqueen Alexstrasza was the definitive favorite, although Frizz Kindleroost and Veranus helped power the Dragon Hunter archetype and for that I'll always be thankful.
Galakrond's Awakening
Sky Gen'ral Kragg - a staple in my Quest Hunter decks for both the value and quest progression; really appreciated that he didn't require the quest to be active when played!
Demon Hunter's Initiate
Nethrandamus - I don't often play DH, but when I do it's Control DH centered around Nethrandamus and 1/1s with rush.
Ashes of Outland
Kael'thas Sunstrider - I tried to make it work in every nerfed iteration and found out how strong an early Nagrand Slam could be way before Deck of Lunacy came around ;D
Scholomance
Sphere of Sapience - A dream for my Jepetto Joybuzz combo decks.
Professor Slate - a close second that helps Control Hunters (almost) reach viability.
Darmoon Faire
Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate - I still praise him even though it feels like the current iteration gives me the worst outcome way more often than the others (i.e. the fill both boards with minions and yours have rush outcome).
Darkmoon Races
Moonfang - should be on the Mount Rushmore of beasts! Very cool addition to the family.
Core 2021
Deathwing the Destroyer - a kinder, gentler Deathwing that still fits in well with my Deathrattle decks.
Barrens
Kazakus, Golem Shaper - I love versatile cards that can give access to tools outside of your class identity (lifesteal, poison, etc.) while also being a potential win condition depending on when you draw it (e.g. two 10/10 golems with stealth).
Looking forward to seeing what other folks choose as their favorites!
Good points about the on-curve corruption synergy! And thanks again for the guide and this discussion :)
Haha, I'd support the Nozdormu the Eternal segment! I've yet to run into a fellow speedster, but am hopeful that when we reach some lulls in the meta people will start mixing him in more.
I'll also add that so far I haven't been impressed by Tavish Stormpike so I don't think you're missing out on much. Obviously it's still early and I'm not a great deckbuilder, but it just feels like an awkward card in most situations: hard to get beasts to stick a turn early, hard to have a consistent beast cascade that's still in your deck by the time you draw/can play Tavish, the Trueaim Crescent target will often die before all of your beasts can attack, the late game swing of a Turn 8 Tavish + Trampling Rhino isn't that strong compared to other T8 plays, etc.
I've similarly been underwhelmed by Pack Kodo so far and was curious to hear what your experience has been with him. I've found myself replacing him with more draw in the form of Voracious Reader, Taelan Fordring, Sphere of Sapience, etc. but these don't feel great either. I really miss Diving Gryphon and Novice Engineer :\
That deck name alone gets my upvote, haha :D
And thanks for the article as I agree there are a few different ways to build out Beast Hunter atm and this is great food-for-thought. I like the consistency of your build (I probably include too many tech cards in my memes) and need to consider Dancing Cobra more often. I also appreciated your discussion of Resizing Pouch because I hadn't considered how it might be better now given the smaller pools to draw from. Hmm, maybe I'll go full greed and include it in a Leoroxx + King Krush deck to fish for more copies of Krush!
My own Beast Hunter has more of a beasty 1-5 curve because I wanted to try out Tavish Stormpike and liked the potential of rushing beasts with Trueaim Crescent (or Animated Broomstick in the budget build). However, the early results have been pretty rough to the point that I included Nozdormu the Eternal and mainly play it when I'm hopeful for a meme match-up in Casual, haha. Might be time to give another Beast deck a try so thanks again for sharing this :)
Just wondering if there were any news items I missed about Oh My Yogg! being a known issue for the HS devs?
I had a game recently where it turned my Scrap Shot into Dunk Tank but Dunk Tank never cast. Instead, the animation hung over my character for the rest of the game and Yogg delighted in my misery :(
A quick search on this site suggests there have been Yogg bugs dating back a few months so I was just curious if it's ever been addressed by Iksar/the team.
Thanks!
Sounds great, thanks Flux! :D
Hi Flux,
I really appreciate all the work you and the team put into the site and just wanted to report a minor bug.
I created a new deck and clicked on the "Theorycraft" tag and that does indeed show up in a box under the deck's name (alongside a box for the deck's archetype and one for the format played in). However, sometimes when I edit the guide or cards I get a warning message that says I need to select a tag even though my previous entry is still active.
I didn't think much of this because if you just click the tag off and back on you don't get the message. But now I've noticed that when I go to "My Hearthstone Decks" the "Deck Type" column is blank even though the tag still shows up when I click on it and look at the boxes under the name. Obviously, this is a super minor issue but I just wanted to bring it to your attention.
Thanks again!
Worked for me too; thanks aposteljoe!
Some said it couldn't be done, some said it shouldn't be done, but ladies and gentlemen we have reached peak sule!
I shall shamefully run Recurring Villian for my first time this evening piloting one of these decks. Thanks for all of your work!
Oh snaps, someone actually played it! Haha, I'm glad you gave it a go and am happy to hear you had some success :)
Aggro match-ups (Stealth Rogue, Token Druid, Zoo Warlock, etc.) can be tough because of the tempo we lose on Turn 1 so feel free to drop the Kael'thas combo - Kael'thas + 2x Licensed Adventurer and possibly even a Nagrand Slam - to fit in survivability in the form of weapon removal, secrets, Doomsayer, Dwarven Sharpshooter, etc. Running an extra Jewel of N'Zoth is another possibility as bringing back 2 Khartut Defenders has caused many an aggro deck to quit.
Personally, I keep Kael'thas in simply because I doubt Hunter will be getting 0-mana spells next season so I don't think I'll be using him after Quests rotate. But I'd be curious to hear what works well for others so please let me know if you find success with any changes!
I run it in a few Control Hunter decks for reasons similar to KANSAS:
So I don't run it with the expectation of playing C'Thun himself, but rather I like getting 4 useful tools for the price of 1 card that can also be a finisher. Admittedly, those extra cards can sometimes get in the way of drawing your win condition, but Tracking or a tutor like Scavenger's Ingenuity help counteract that. However, I'm sure if you pressed me enough I'd confess that I'm still just nostalgic for the Old Gods ;D
Edit: There's also the minor benefit in that the pieces are never offered in the mulligan phase so you have slightly better odds of finding crucial cards like Zephyrs.
Ahh, sorry about that, never hit the limit before! Thanks for restoring it and thanks for all of your articles :)
Always appreciate a fellow meme-seeker!
In general, I think it would help to know where on the ladder you hope to play these decks. For instance, I'm proof that with average skill you can navigate to Diamond 10 consistently with memes, but if you want to hit Diamond 5 or Legend it may take more skill or something closer to a Tier 2 or Tier 3 deck (or just a lot patience to grind with a 51% winrate). Although I guess this also depends on how you define a "meme" deck as you can throw a few meme cards into a competitive archetype and still win a lot of games on the back of the meta cards alone.
Back on topic, I feel like we gotta start with OOC's resources.
As for other sites, back in the day I used to check HearthstoneTopDecks and it looks like it's still going strong. You can search for decks uploaded based on Streamers who play fun but viable builds (e.g. Kibler) or you can filter something like Top Rated (Month) + Fun (Type) + Pro Players/Community Players to see what people have voted on as being fun and viable.
Had the most satisfying win in awhile and pulled off my first C'Thun finisher!
I was memeing in the Platinum ranks with an Old God Highlander Hunter and ran into a Pure Paladin who was BMing like crazy (rope Turn 1, emote spam every turn, touching cards and tapping my hero power constantly, etc.). Things quieted down when I had him on the ropes in the midgame as he tried to kill my windfury Siamat with a High Exarch Yrel but played into Freezing Trap. I played a Darkmoon Tonk on Turn 9 and he was at 10 health after clearing both via a discounted Libram of Justice + Consecration. I had lethal in hand from Brann + Hero Power, but he was running Air Raid for some reason (Alura activator?) and was able to get that out on T9 due to the discount on Justice.
From there he stabilized via 2x Libram of Hope + Yrel and the BM came back in full force. I managed to clear a number of big boards thanks to Zeph, Professor Slate, and C'Thun cards, but couldn't get ahead on board to drop Dragonqueen Alexstrasza or N'Zoth, God of the Deep without opening myself up to a Lady Liadrin lethal.
I finished C'Thun but hadn't drawn it and my health was slowly depleting thanks to Hammer of the Naaru (can't remember if he ran that or got it off Lightforged Crusader). When that weapon was done I was at 4 HP and he buffed a small minion a bunch and then copied him with Argent Braggart. The BM was at an all-time high but with 11 cards left I top decked Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate who heard my cries and instantly gobbled up both minions to become a 28-attack monstrosity. Unfortunately, another Libram of Justice + Consecration negated poor Yogg and left me at 1 HP while he played a 0-cost Devout Pupil and added 2 Libram buffs. He roped in satisfaction and once again I thought I'd have to rely on a lucky dragon from Alex. However, who should I top deck with a 10% chance, none other than C'Thun, the Shattered who killed off the Pupil and his remaining 18 HP!! And with that I began my first emotes of the match ;D
Ahh, no worries and no pressure! Life definitely takes precedence and there are so many possibilities with Wild cards allowed that it can be overwhelming. I made a quick mechrattle Hunter for the pack but haven't played much else.