Thanks for showcasing my deck a second time. If I didn't experiment with other archetypes to ladder faster as I collected more cards, I probably could have ground out Infinite at one or two cubes a match. This is the best list I've been able to pilot so far, but I still have a lot more cards to collect.
I have only had time to play on my lower level account, and I took a list I titled Low Level Nightmare into gold with a 14-2 record. It's just basically Galakrond Priest with the annoying Scholomance cards. I knew Cabal Acolyte wasn't as bad as people said it would be; combine it with Wave of Apathy for some fun swings. I only recommend it if you wish to make people regret queuing. Educated Elekk is also a card that forces people to make hard decisions when there isn't a lot of silence/transform available for most classes.
I have yet to run into it personally, but I have heard plenty of stories about high roll Gibberling Druid destroying games by turn 3.
A card stronger than a card that sees no play is not powercreep
Well, if the card had never seen widespread use at some point in its lifespan, this would be a true a statement. Chillwind Yeti was constructed playable for a decent part of Hearthstone's history, but has been overshadowed at 4 mana for years due to natural power creep that exists in all card games. So is Groundskeeper power creep? Yes. Is it as insane as OP made it out to be? No, not for this stage in Hearthstone's life. Something like this should be expected for the current power level of the 4 mana cards in the game even though Groundskeeper is on the strong side.
Standard cost HAS risen, since 1-2 years ago. Not only does this mean it is harder to build a meta deck compared to the past, but also that an ill evaluation of cards (ie. you craft a card that turns out to be unplayable in the meta) is much more punishing: test-crafting is a luxury of the few, and the average player, including the average money-payer, are much more dependant to that (netdecking and meta-shaping) in order to decide what to craft for themselves.
And the fact that Standard cards are bound to Rotate, implies the increased dust investment is just mid-termed at best.
This whole thing is a huge argument in favor of Wild, where any dust investment is virtually eternal, and any non-meme deck can be carried to at least rank 5 with enough patience.
Yeah, I always tell people that Wild is cheaper and you can create ~800 dust decks that can get you to rank 10 with ease. Also, good cards in wild tend to stay good cards so investing there almost never loses value. But, to your point, since KofT release, standard has increasingly gotten more expensive if you want more than an optimized aggro deck or two. My only hope is that it kind of plateaus soon since there are a bunch of decks that cost would have a direct cost of over 70 USD if you covert dust into real world currency.
Board clears and silences exist in the game. Hell, priest has a card that does both.
"Play Priest" is not a solution, unless you want a two-class game. N
I was giving Priest as an example. Control warrior with silences (what I was playing and destroying Kangor's Army with), shaman (any "meta" style if you know how to play), zoo with silences to rush pally down, Conjuring Mage, aggro rogue. All those decks do extremely well when played right and you don't draw horribly (it is a card game, there will always be some aspect of luck in the game).
Board clears and silences exist in the game. Hell, priest has a card that does both.
Edit: This is coming from a person who makes plays mostly control decks when laddering. Control should wreck pally this expansion if played properly and your deck is built properly.
Quest Paladin: If there's something that gets broken because of a quest, I'm expecting it to be because of this. The Quest is difficult to complete quickly, but once it is complete, it becomes very difficult for the opponent to do anything about it. If someone is able to streamline the completing of the quest, I wouldn't be shocked to see this everywhere. That said, if the completing can't be improved, then it won't be competitive.
Right now I am using the deck shown below. I average completion right around turn 6, with perfect ones coming in at turn 4 with a lot of luck. Unless I am all sorts of unlucky, I am finished at turn 8 after the Ashmore draw. I don't know if you can expect to reasonably be faster than this unless you remove all tech cards.
Between the pre-order, spending all my gold and a good Brawlesium run I was able to get all the legendaries (I crafted [Hearthstone Card (Zephyrs the Great) Not Found] golden before opening because you know he'll get nerfed and still be viable forever in wild). On the downside I had to craft the epics I wanted because a lot of them I did not get 1x off.
I've been seeing a lot more Reno decks to take advantage of the new cards. Zephrys the Great always offers a useful card although he can't save you from certain death. There's been less Big Priest and more Priest experimentation. For myself I'm still tweaking my Priest Quest deck and I'm currently 15-15. If you can stabilize the board you win more often than not. IF. Same for Quest Druid. If you don't dominate enough early Druid can bounce back in a roar. Quest Druid loves getting the Coin.
If you are talking about Activate the Obelisk Priest, a lot of those decks I run across would be better if they cut the quest or mulligan it. In so many matches in both standard and wild being down one card at the start hurts a lot, and the deck is already pretty good without it.
My only reaction is there is still way too many Conjuring+Cyclone mages. When building a deck right now the first question I ask myself is "Can this deck reliably deal with a board of Giants around turn 5/6?" If that is a no, I ask, "Can this reliably kill a mage before they create a board of Giants?". If that is a no, I won't play the deck in ranked. Until nerfs come in, Mage and Warrior will probably still dominate with Rogue not far behind.
I tried it on two accounts since I was "lucky" enough to open the quest on both. Still tinkering with it, but against more refined decks/players it can end up being too slow since you don't develop on turn one. I also tried a beast version to see if cycling faster with master's call would help, and it really didn't change anything. I did get the combo off a few times, but most wins were from the zoo beat down, not the combo.
If you get the Scarlet Webweaver reduction on Tundra Rhino, you can do 28 damage from hand with Timber Wolf, Swarm of Locusts and the quest hero power. Someone smarter than me should be able to find an OTK combo using the hero power.
I don't know whether I should be happy or concerned that this expansion is pushing a low tempo, mid range meta harder than Whispers of the Old Gods did. At least it will be great for new players.
Thanks for showcasing my deck a second time. If I didn't experiment with other archetypes to ladder faster as I collected more cards, I probably could have ground out Infinite at one or two cubes a match. This is the best list I've been able to pilot so far, but I still have a lot more cards to collect.
I have only had time to play on my lower level account, and I took a list I titled Low Level Nightmare into gold with a 14-2 record. It's just basically Galakrond Priest with the annoying Scholomance cards. I knew Cabal Acolyte wasn't as bad as people said it would be; combine it with Wave of Apathy for some fun swings. I only recommend it if you wish to make people regret queuing. Educated Elekk is also a card that forces people to make hard decisions when there isn't a lot of silence/transform available for most classes.
I have yet to run into it personally, but I have heard plenty of stories about high roll Gibberling Druid destroying games by turn 3.
Well, if the card had never seen widespread use at some point in its lifespan, this would be a true a statement. Chillwind Yeti was constructed playable for a decent part of Hearthstone's history, but has been overshadowed at 4 mana for years due to natural power creep that exists in all card games. So is Groundskeeper power creep? Yes. Is it as insane as OP made it out to be? No, not for this stage in Hearthstone's life. Something like this should be expected for the current power level of the 4 mana cards in the game even though Groundskeeper is on the strong side.
Yeah, I always tell people that Wild is cheaper and you can create ~800 dust decks that can get you to rank 10 with ease. Also, good cards in wild tend to stay good cards so investing there almost never loses value. But, to your point, since KofT release, standard has increasingly gotten more expensive if you want more than an optimized aggro deck or two. My only hope is that it kind of plateaus soon since there are a bunch of decks that cost would have a direct cost of over 70 USD if you covert dust into real world currency.
I was giving Priest as an example. Control warrior with silences (what I was playing and destroying Kangor's Army with), shaman (any "meta" style if you know how to play), zoo with silences to rush pally down, Conjuring Mage, aggro rogue. All those decks do extremely well when played right and you don't draw horribly (it is a card game, there will always be some aspect of luck in the game).
Board clears and silences exist in the game. Hell, priest has a card that does both.
Edit: This is coming from a person who makes plays mostly control decks when laddering. Control should wreck pally this expansion if played properly and your deck is built properly.
Right now I am using the deck shown below. I average completion right around turn 6, with perfect ones coming in at turn 4 with a lot of luck. Unless I am all sorts of unlucky, I am finished at turn 8 after the Ashmore draw. I don't know if you can expect to reasonably be faster than this unless you remove all tech cards.
Between the pre-order, spending all my gold and a good Brawlesium run I was able to get all the legendaries (I crafted [Hearthstone Card (Zephyrs the Great) Not Found] golden before opening because you know he'll get nerfed and still be viable forever in wild). On the downside I had to craft the epics I wanted because a lot of them I did not get 1x off.
If you are talking about Activate the Obelisk Priest, a lot of those decks I run across would be better if they cut the quest or mulligan it. In so many matches in both standard and wild being down one card at the start hurts a lot, and the deck is already pretty good without it.
My only reaction is there is still way too many Conjuring+Cyclone mages. When building a deck right now the first question I ask myself is "Can this deck reliably deal with a board of Giants around turn 5/6?" If that is a no, I ask, "Can this reliably kill a mage before they create a board of Giants?". If that is a no, I won't play the deck in ranked. Until nerfs come in, Mage and Warrior will probably still dominate with Rogue not far behind.
I tried it on two accounts since I was "lucky" enough to open the quest on both. Still tinkering with it, but against more refined decks/players it can end up being too slow since you don't develop on turn one. I also tried a beast version to see if cycling faster with master's call would help, and it really didn't change anything. I did get the combo off a few times, but most wins were from the zoo beat down, not the combo.
Yes, this is the right math breakdown for the damage combo eazy
If you get the Scarlet Webweaver reduction on Tundra Rhino, you can do 28 damage from hand with Timber Wolf, Swarm of Locusts and the quest hero power. Someone smarter than me should be able to find an OTK combo using the hero power.
I am pretty sure it's not viable in Control Warrior, but you could also get to 7 Mogu Cultists by using Dead Man's Hand a few times.
I am surprised this is a common. Not amazing, but definitely a solid card and pairs well with Plot Twist.
I don't know whether I should be happy or concerned that this expansion is pushing a low tempo, mid range meta harder than Whispers of the Old Gods did. At least it will be great for new players.