It's so interesting to me that Supreme Archaeology is the class quest card from Saviors of Uldum which has had the greatest long-term staying power (and has recently been well above "meme" grade - seeing competitive ladder/tournament play over the past year or so, off an on). Several of the quests from that expansion saw play early after their release, particularly Priest, Shaman, and Druid (even Paladin's reborn quest!). Some have seen very little serious play (looking at you Mage, Warrior). I remember Warlock's quest was dismissed as trash tier for a long time upon release, but gradually saw more and more play as people found ways to exploit its late game value bombs. Now it's the only one other than Priest that I see any time now.
I was never lucky enough to unpack it and I don't have any plans to craft it (because I am stupid stingy with dust), but it always looked like a super fun archetype to me in its different permutations. I think it's a great example of how a "trash" card can eventually become meta viable, and in this case - the sole survivor of the legendary quest cards from 2019.
I'm pretty dang excited about this expansion! The cosmetics in the paid track look great - especially the priest skin and the new DH. I also really like the Horde coin.
It's not original, but I think Odd Demon hunter is arguably the most competitive DH archetype in Wild currently. It's a low-curve list that typically tops out at Leeroy or maybe the three drop that draws a card and gives you 4 attack if you play the drawn card. I haven't played this deck much recently at all.
For fun(!) I recently have been playing a variant of WowHobbs' (streamer) DH list. I found it on D0nkey (website that gathers streamers' decks). I don't have all the cards he uses, but it's sort of a "Big"/memes archetype. His list emphasizes end of turn mechanics with the big DH demons and disruption cards like Glide and Lorewalker Cho. It lacks survivability and gets steamrolled by most meta Wild aggro decks and many meta Wild control decks, too. The deck is classic Hobbs, so it's just for fun - and when you manage to steal a win it feels excellent. Fun for meming at a rank floor (I am hard stuck in the Diamond 4-5 range with this sort of deck), but not great for grinding DH wins if that's your goal.
I took the Pure Prelate list for a spin last night - only had time for one game but it was a wild one (pun possibly intended)! I didn't have all the cards, so I took it in a more Libram oriented direction. I built a huge Lynessa at the endgame (it works as advertised in the deck guide!), but all my prelates got silenced or transformed by my opponent who was an elemental/Reno mage who kept discovering devolving missiles thanks to some "created by" shenanigans. In the end they Brann Bronzebearded out multiple Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk and Ragnaros the Firelord and eventually the fireballs went face.
I am almost done with level 277. I am sitting on a fat pile of 17,600 gold currently, and I will get the pre-orders for FitB. A couple more weeks to go. I might* make it to 300 - depends on how many projects I get put to work on in our yard between now and then :).
I am most excited about the reversions on:Call to Arms and Necrium Apothecary. I love playing versions of Dane's Big Rogue (not the dragon version), and I love(d) Even Paladin.
Congratulations! I am stoked for you! It’s a great feeling to break through into legend for the first time. Great work and enjoy the rewards!
If you’re looking for a great use for your Lorewalker Cho, check out WowHobbs on Twitch. He’s mostly a meme streamer, but he uses Cho in almost every deck. Lots of great shenanigans!
The new system feels great to me AFTER they made their tweaks.
I bought the Tavern Pass on Day 1 of the new system, so I've always had that boost, and I play a lot - but I am at 14,600 gold saved so far in this expansion which is by far a new record for me (even when you factor in the XP boost from the paid pass). Given that the next expansion won't hit for another month, possibly more (Iksar wasn't sure on the timing given the challenges of continued WFH during one of his Twitter AMAs), I will have a good deal more gold.
With the daily quests, I am leveling 1.5-2 levels a day (probably averaging 75 gold a day), sometimes more if I get in a groove and play a bunch in the evening. The weekly quests with the 20% XP boost helped me charge through 6 or 7 levels yesterday.
I just entered level 217 last night after finishing my last weekly quest. I have almost 14,600 gold saved, which is definitely a new record for me for a single expansion. That includes the gift of 500 gold from Blizzard that we got after their revision to the rewards track.
Given that the next expansion won't be here until mid-late March or even April, I know I will have a lot more gold saved by that point. Even when you factor in the 20% XP boost I have enjoyed with the Tavern Pass, I am still exceeding my previous expansion hauls - so it has been "worth it" from that perspective (and will continue to be so for me).
I have spent large portions of the expansion achievement hunting - a week or two ago I finished the Darkmoon Races ones (which were mercifully easy) and I finally got the C'thun "kill your opponent from full health" one around the same time. The only XP granting achievement that I don't have from DMF is the Oh My Yogg! one, and I am not going to bother with that!
That's how I read it too. Definitely seems kinda weird, but that's how I understand the Core mechanic too. I hope they clarify that for us in the coming days.
Hey, just chiming in to wish you the best of luck, and to offer some generic advice that has rung tru(est) for me. I've made legend in standard and wild a few times, and these are some of the things I found most helpful (which I had read many times from various sources before I got to legend the first time).
1) I don't personally use a deck tracker, but it's good to be at least cognizant of your win rate with a deck over the medium to long term. It's good to know if something isn't working, but conversely, it's reassuring to know that a deck is inherently good enough to get to legend. It's been said many times that getting to legend is a grind (and it is, for many) but all you need is enough time invested with a deck that you can pilot with a 50%+ win rate. Knowing that you CAN get there with a given deck is important. Even without the aid of a deck tracker, it's good to keep a mental note of your win-rate.
2) Play a deck you love. When I have made legend, I have known the deck(s) inside and out. Only after playing a ton with something do you learn a) how to mulligan, b) how to beat other decks with it, and c) what your outs are every turn. This leads into a related point:
3) Generally don't switch up decks too much during the climb. Sticking with something reinforces the things you learn/improve upon in point #2.
4) I personally don't get tilted (after all, it's just a game :) ), but lots of wise people suggest taking a break if you go on a losing streak or feel discouraged.
5) (EDIT) I just thought of something else, which helps with point #4 a lot - understand that there are some things in Hearthstone that you can't control. Sometimes your opponent just draws the nuts (or you draw absolute garbage for 6 turns) or someone wins with the top-deck Fireball. Or something bonkers happens off a randomly generated card. Also, some matchups are just unfavorable and probably are lost before much play has occurred (not always the case). Don't be discouraged by things you can't control, just recognize it when it happens and don't let it contribute to frustration.
All the very best in your climb! I will be so happy to hear about your successes in the coming days/weeks. Enjoy the journey!
It's so interesting to me that Supreme Archaeology is the class quest card from Saviors of Uldum which has had the greatest long-term staying power (and has recently been well above "meme" grade - seeing competitive ladder/tournament play over the past year or so, off an on). Several of the quests from that expansion saw play early after their release, particularly Priest, Shaman, and Druid (even Paladin's reborn quest!). Some have seen very little serious play (looking at you Mage, Warrior). I remember Warlock's quest was dismissed as trash tier for a long time upon release, but gradually saw more and more play as people found ways to exploit its late game value bombs. Now it's the only one other than Priest that I see any time now.
I was never lucky enough to unpack it and I don't have any plans to craft it (because I am stupid stingy with dust), but it always looked like a super fun archetype to me in its different permutations. I think it's a great example of how a "trash" card can eventually become meta viable, and in this case - the sole survivor of the legendary quest cards from 2019.
I'm pretty dang excited about this expansion! The cosmetics in the paid track look great - especially the priest skin and the new DH. I also really like the Horde coin.
Completely agree. The art that progresses is really fun.
Thoroughly enjoyed this video. All the Wronchi ones are hilarious.
Is the win condition Yogg, or does the deck have other strengths?
It's not original, but I think Odd Demon hunter is arguably the most competitive DH archetype in Wild currently. It's a low-curve list that typically tops out at Leeroy or maybe the three drop that draws a card and gives you 4 attack if you play the drawn card. I haven't played this deck much recently at all.
For fun(!) I recently have been playing a variant of WowHobbs' (streamer) DH list. I found it on D0nkey (website that gathers streamers' decks). I don't have all the cards he uses, but it's sort of a "Big"/memes archetype. His list emphasizes end of turn mechanics with the big DH demons and disruption cards like Glide and Lorewalker Cho. It lacks survivability and gets steamrolled by most meta Wild aggro decks and many meta Wild control decks, too. The deck is classic Hobbs, so it's just for fun - and when you manage to steal a win it feels excellent. Fun for meming at a rank floor (I am hard stuck in the Diamond 4-5 range with this sort of deck), but not great for grinding DH wins if that's your goal.
Hope these are helpful.
I took the Pure Prelate list for a spin last night - only had time for one game but it was a wild one (pun possibly intended)! I didn't have all the cards, so I took it in a more Libram oriented direction. I built a huge Lynessa at the endgame (it works as advertised in the deck guide!), but all my prelates got silenced or transformed by my opponent who was an elemental/Reno mage who kept discovering devolving missiles thanks to some "created by" shenanigans. In the end they Brann Bronzebearded out multiple Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk and Ragnaros the Firelord and eventually the fireballs went face.
Will definitely play some more.
Great write up, thanks for this list!
Edit: for all 3 decks of this flavor!
Congrats NebuchadnezarHS!
I am almost done with level 277. I am sitting on a fat pile of 17,600 gold currently, and I will get the pre-orders for FitB. A couple more weeks to go. I might* make it to 300 - depends on how many projects I get put to work on in our yard between now and then :).
I am most excited about the reversions on:Call to Arms and Necrium Apothecary. I love playing versions of Dane's Big Rogue (not the dragon version), and I love(d) Even Paladin.
I can't wait to see this effect in action, and to play it in Hunter!
I love playing handbuff Paladin in Wild. Hopefully I will be lucky enough to unpack this one!
Congratulations! I am stoked for you! It’s a great feeling to break through into legend for the first time. Great work and enjoy the rewards!
If you’re looking for a great use for your Lorewalker Cho, check out WowHobbs on Twitch. He’s mostly a meme streamer, but he uses Cho in almost every deck. Lots of great shenanigans!
Congratulations again!
Reached Diamond 5? Check.
Need to grind DH wins and DH XP (still only level 46!)? Check, check.
Enjoy disruptive or off-meta play styles? Check, check.
Seems like a winner to me! Thanks for posting these great decks in this series.
The new system feels great to me AFTER they made their tweaks.
I bought the Tavern Pass on Day 1 of the new system, so I've always had that boost, and I play a lot - but I am at 14,600 gold saved so far in this expansion which is by far a new record for me (even when you factor in the XP boost from the paid pass). Given that the next expansion won't hit for another month, possibly more (Iksar wasn't sure on the timing given the challenges of continued WFH during one of his Twitter AMAs), I will have a good deal more gold.
With the daily quests, I am leveling 1.5-2 levels a day (probably averaging 75 gold a day), sometimes more if I get in a groove and play a bunch in the evening. The weekly quests with the 20% XP boost helped me charge through 6 or 7 levels yesterday.
I just entered level 217 last night after finishing my last weekly quest. I have almost 14,600 gold saved, which is definitely a new record for me for a single expansion. That includes the gift of 500 gold from Blizzard that we got after their revision to the rewards track.
Given that the next expansion won't be here until mid-late March or even April, I know I will have a lot more gold saved by that point. Even when you factor in the 20% XP boost I have enjoyed with the Tavern Pass, I am still exceeding my previous expansion hauls - so it has been "worth it" from that perspective (and will continue to be so for me).
I have spent large portions of the expansion achievement hunting - a week or two ago I finished the Darkmoon Races ones (which were mercifully easy) and I finally got the C'thun "kill your opponent from full health" one around the same time. The only XP granting achievement that I don't have from DMF is the Oh My Yogg! one, and I am not going to bother with that!
Awesome Pezman! Happy for you!
That's how I read it too. Definitely seems kinda weird, but that's how I understand the Core mechanic too. I hope they clarify that for us in the coming days.
Hey, just chiming in to wish you the best of luck, and to offer some generic advice that has rung tru(est) for me. I've made legend in standard and wild a few times, and these are some of the things I found most helpful (which I had read many times from various sources before I got to legend the first time).
1) I don't personally use a deck tracker, but it's good to be at least cognizant of your win rate with a deck over the medium to long term. It's good to know if something isn't working, but conversely, it's reassuring to know that a deck is inherently good enough to get to legend. It's been said many times that getting to legend is a grind (and it is, for many) but all you need is enough time invested with a deck that you can pilot with a 50%+ win rate. Knowing that you CAN get there with a given deck is important. Even without the aid of a deck tracker, it's good to keep a mental note of your win-rate.
2) Play a deck you love. When I have made legend, I have known the deck(s) inside and out. Only after playing a ton with something do you learn a) how to mulligan, b) how to beat other decks with it, and c) what your outs are every turn. This leads into a related point:
3) Generally don't switch up decks too much during the climb. Sticking with something reinforces the things you learn/improve upon in point #2.
4) I personally don't get tilted (after all, it's just a game :) ), but lots of wise people suggest taking a break if you go on a losing streak or feel discouraged.
5) (EDIT) I just thought of something else, which helps with point #4 a lot - understand that there are some things in Hearthstone that you can't control. Sometimes your opponent just draws the nuts (or you draw absolute garbage for 6 turns) or someone wins with the top-deck Fireball. Or something bonkers happens off a randomly generated card. Also, some matchups are just unfavorable and probably are lost before much play has occurred (not always the case). Don't be discouraged by things you can't control, just recognize it when it happens and don't let it contribute to frustration.
All the very best in your climb! I will be so happy to hear about your successes in the coming days/weeks. Enjoy the journey!
Awesome article, really enjoyed this read-through!