Please, please, please release Eater of Secrets back into Standard as part of this October patch. There are no good anti-secret tech cards now. I would give anything to screw over the next Hunter with this card!
I definitely will use Flamewaker to stir things up! I have had it with all those quest decks and Aggro Priest. It is time Mage reclaims its rightful position: at tier 1! Be prepared to be finished off by fireballs and ragnarosses! Not to mention the potential of Sorcerer Apprentice icm with a Luna and this card to just gun them all down in one turn.
Or a [Hearthstone Card (Flamewalker) Not Found] being followed by a puzzle box? Do these spells count as well?
As a mage player I am very happy. Both cards are extremely good, Babbling Book is the 1-drop mage was lacking for a viable tempo deck. Together with Flamewaker they can boost tempo and cyclone mage a lot. For reno decks this will not have a very big impact I think. I also like this is a buff for Dune Sculptor :)
So now it makes sense to put 4 one-mana cards in your deck to improve your chances on a 1-drop with Secretkeeper, which will give you a one drop chance of 60% (including mulligan) I think.
And with Emperor Thaurissan I am dreaming about 0-cost minions icm with galaxy spell...but might be good a lot earlier than turn 7 as well. This can for instance turn all spells in your hand to 0 mana, which is a good thing for mage, especially the hand variants.
I also see new possibilities for Mecha'thun combo's, for instance:
You empty deck until you have in your hand a reduced by one version of the following 3 cards: Mecha'thun, Ray of Frost and Snap Freeze, next turn you can play them all for 10 mana giving you the OTK. What is especially nice is that the opponent does not get a hint like Galvanizer.
So this basically means you only need to put 4 cards in your deck to always have this combo available when things go fatigue (yes I am looking at you, control warrior), and it can even be played in a reno deck! Holy Deathwing.
Very good article. I sometimes kept score in a spreadsheet how the matchups were and what went good and bad, but most of the time I did not analyze it afterwards to make the necessary changes. I just tried another deck if I was getting tired of my current deck. But I see that really analyzing the performance and trying to fix the bad stuff can make a difference. It is easier to blame a result on bad play or bad luck then to really think about the deck itself.
I agree with OP that it's not OP. BUT, I hate the deck. The quest is literally non-interactive because there is nothing the other player can do to stop it. Either you play aggro and get so far ahead by turn 5 that the quest is not enough, or you (most likely) lose. I get that druid is beatable once the quest is complete, but I feel like when I do beat post-quest druid, it's only because he didn't get his card draw or big heals, not because of anything I did anything to disrupt his deck.
I feel like Blizzard keeps saying they disfavor non-interactive game play, yet they keep producing decks like Quest Druid, and people defend it because its a T2 deck with a good but not great win rate. I don't really care that it's beatable, I care that it's not fun to play against.
I use a reno mage deck which also ramps up to late game powers that is able to outvalue the druid quest deck sometimes. If you are able to create a board at turn 6-7 and you can reload after board clears from that point and get some serious damage in, the druid needs to spend a lot of defensive resources and you can win. So its not hopeless if you are not aggro. And counterspell (or other secrets) is your friend.
I would say being able to put one single big minion on the board using a two card combo should not be a big deal, since chances of having it early are not that great, and by turn 4 you should be prepared for a big minion (mountain giant anyone?). So honestly I do not understand what's the fuzz about. I think it has to do with the general strength of the shaman quest deck.
I think the daily quests are inspired by WoW, but miss some important reasons why they work better there:
1. Higher rewards (useful gear etc)
2. More choice (you can choose from a lot more daily quests to do there)
One of the problems with creating interesting quests is in the reward: gold as a reward is a bit meh compared to getting a higher average iLvL in WoW or this nice item for transmog. I think quests could be more interesting when the rewards could be cosmetical (say win this aweseome card back) or much more impactful (win a free legendary/epic card, your choice) something like that.
And maybe they should introduce trinket cards? Which kindof work as the perks in the adventures.(Say all minions of the opponent have one less attack or something :) lol). Sure this would be difficult to "balance" and people would cry out "unfair"!! But at least you would be more interesting in doing the quests...and if you could only use them for a limited time, say 5 times or something, a temporary buff, then it might work, and it would be "fair": people spending the time to do the quests get better "gear" and therefore have an advantage for a limited period. Just my 2 cents.
Yes, but before this nerf, the discover would have a much higher chance of giving me a mage spell. In fact, my Vulpera Scoundrel has never offered me a spell from another class (as long as I can remember). So how is this possible? Are spell discovers always from your own class? Ah a discover is always from your own class or neutral and never from another class. I did not know that. So you can ignore all my ignorant comments in this thread :) (facepalm)
Well regarding mage: I was using discover spell minions to discover me a mage spell (ie galaxy). This would improve my chances to have that spell when I needed it. This change will impact that strategy negatively. And I am not sure if Magic Trick should be happy or not. You could get lucky but also very unlucky I guess :) But since it used mainly to get a conjurer's calling and that already got the nerf treatment, I guess most mage players (if there are still some left) will not care a lot about Magic Trick.
Although shaman quest is ruling the ladder I managed to find a reno mage deck that counters it hard.Thx to BossWalrus! See his deck in the deck section. I love the way Hex Lord Malacrass shines in that deck. It makes your mulligan much more exiting. And it really can punish the quest decks by having a super powerful late game. I might even add a card to shuffle Malacrass back in the deck (or back in my hand).
With so many quest shamans, quest druids, quest priests I felt the only viable approach would be to have some super aggro deck so I tried some home brew tempo spell damage mage. Sure when all your minions get removed you can resign early, but otherwise you have them on their knees around turn 5. The explosive potential of a Mana Addict combined with a Sorcerer's Apprentice is very rewarding.
If its good against quest decks I will give it a try since I am getting a bit irritated by all the quest decks atm. I am curious how Malacrass is working out for you: do you ever need that one? I think I would rather have Siamat instead. And since you run Naga Sand Witch maybe Galaxy spell could be used anyway? To buff it to 5 again :).
And are the secrets worth it? And did you consider subject 9?
And a Zephrys in a highlander deck also works nicely, when played against almost any secret in play he will offer the remove secrets spell.
I definitely will use Flamewaker to stir things up! I have had it with all those quest decks and Aggro Priest. It is time Mage reclaims its rightful position: at tier 1! Be prepared to be finished off by fireballs and ragnarosses! Not to mention the potential of Sorcerer Apprentice icm with a Luna and this card to just gun them all down in one turn.
Or a [Hearthstone Card (Flamewalker) Not Found] being followed by a puzzle box? Do these spells count as well?
As a mage player I am very happy. Both cards are extremely good, Babbling Book is the 1-drop mage was lacking for a viable tempo deck. Together with Flamewaker they can boost tempo and cyclone mage a lot. For reno decks this will not have a very big impact I think. I also like this is a buff for Dune Sculptor :)
So now it makes sense to put 4 one-mana cards in your deck to improve your chances on a 1-drop with Secretkeeper, which will give you a one drop chance of 60% (including mulligan) I think.
And with Emperor Thaurissan I am dreaming about 0-cost minions icm with galaxy spell...but might be good a lot earlier than turn 7 as well. This can for instance turn all spells in your hand to 0 mana, which is a good thing for mage, especially the hand variants.
I also see new possibilities for Mecha'thun combo's, for instance:
You empty deck until you have in your hand a reduced by one version of the following 3 cards: Mecha'thun, Ray of Frost and Snap Freeze, next turn you can play them all for 10 mana giving you the OTK. What is especially nice is that the opponent does not get a hint like Galvanizer.
So this basically means you only need to put 4 cards in your deck to always have this combo available when things go fatigue (yes I am looking at you, control warrior), and it can even be played in a reno deck! Holy Deathwing.
Very good article. I sometimes kept score in a spreadsheet how the matchups were and what went good and bad, but most of the time I did not analyze it afterwards to make the necessary changes. I just tried another deck if I was getting tired of my current deck. But I see that really analyzing the performance and trying to fix the bad stuff can make a difference. It is easier to blame a result on bad play or bad luck then to really think about the deck itself.
I use a reno mage deck which also ramps up to late game powers that is able to outvalue the druid quest deck sometimes. If you are able to create a board at turn 6-7 and you can reload after board clears from that point and get some serious damage in, the druid needs to spend a lot of defensive resources and you can win. So its not hopeless if you are not aggro. And counterspell (or other secrets) is your friend.
I want a way to make an exodia mage again. Or something to beat Priest.
Didn't he change his name? To something like KaleKin?
I would say being able to put one single big minion on the board using a two card combo should not be a big deal, since chances of having it early are not that great, and by turn 4 you should be prepared for a big minion (mountain giant anyone?). So honestly I do not understand what's the fuzz about. I think it has to do with the general strength of the shaman quest deck.
I think the daily quests are inspired by WoW, but miss some important reasons why they work better there:
1. Higher rewards (useful gear etc)
2. More choice (you can choose from a lot more daily quests to do there)
One of the problems with creating interesting quests is in the reward: gold as a reward is a bit meh compared to getting a higher average iLvL in WoW or this nice item for transmog. I think quests could be more interesting when the rewards could be cosmetical (say win this aweseome card back) or much more impactful (win a free legendary/epic card, your choice) something like that.
And maybe they should introduce trinket cards? Which kindof work as the perks in the adventures.(Say all minions of the opponent have one less attack or something :) lol). Sure this would be difficult to "balance" and people would cry out "unfair"!! But at least you would be more interesting in doing the quests...and if you could only use them for a limited time, say 5 times or something, a temporary buff, then it might work, and it would be "fair": people spending the time to do the quests get better "gear" and therefore have an advantage for a limited period. Just my 2 cents.
I am done with all the {paladin, shaman, rogue} quest decks.Lock, War, Hunter, Priest I dig. Mage I don't see. But the other 3: I am done with them.
I would rather have a counter against those upgraded hero powers...like that card that disables the hero powers for both players.
So to summarize: this nerf only affects minion discovers and not spell discovers.
Yes, but before this nerf, the discover would have a much higher chance of giving me a mage spell. In fact, my Vulpera Scoundrel has never offered me a spell from another class (as long as I can remember). So how is this possible? Are spell discovers always from your own class? Ah a discover is always from your own class or neutral and never from another class. I did not know that. So you can ignore all my ignorant comments in this thread :) (facepalm)
Well regarding mage: I was using discover spell minions to discover me a mage spell (ie galaxy). This would improve my chances to have that spell when I needed it. This change will impact that strategy negatively. And I am not sure if Magic Trick should be happy or not. You could get lucky but also very unlucky I guess :) But since it used mainly to get a conjurer's calling and that already got the nerf treatment, I guess most mage players (if there are still some left) will not care a lot about Magic Trick.
Although shaman quest is ruling the ladder I managed to find a reno mage deck that counters it hard.Thx to BossWalrus! See his deck in the deck section. I love the way Hex Lord Malacrass shines in that deck. It makes your mulligan much more exiting. And it really can punish the quest decks by having a super powerful late game. I might even add a card to shuffle Malacrass back in the deck (or back in my hand).
With so many quest shamans, quest druids, quest priests I felt the only viable approach would be to have some super aggro deck so I tried some home brew tempo spell damage mage. Sure when all your minions get removed you can resign early, but otherwise you have them on their knees around turn 5. The explosive potential of a Mana Addict combined with a Sorcerer's Apprentice is very rewarding.
I am trying it out right now :) At rank 10 atm, with 2 out of 2 against a tempo rogue and a zoo lock. So it seems to be pretty strong against aggro.
At first I thought it should have a bit more draw, but until now it worked out ok :)
In the vid galaxy is still 5-mana spell...then it is easy...:)
I think the shaman quest is too strong and the mage and warlock quests are too weak.
If its good against quest decks I will give it a try since I am getting a bit irritated by all the quest decks atm. I am curious how Malacrass is working out for you: do you ever need that one? I think I would rather have Siamat instead. And since you run Naga Sand Witch maybe Galaxy spell could be used anyway? To buff it to 5 again :).
And are the secrets worth it? And did you consider subject 9?