Welcome to Out of Cards!

Two and a half months ago I started out with a very similar line on this very same website. I told you that we had been busy building a new platform to explore and share Blizzard's Hearthstone with the community. Well, we're back, and we're doing more. Before we get into all the details though, we need to answer some questions first that you've been asking me for a while.

HearthPwn

By now you've likely seen the message on HearthPwn's front page indicating the site is due to shut down on June 28. Yes, I've known about it for a while. Yes, it's been a tough pill to swallow. Although I have never had any ownership of HearthPwn, I spent the past 6 years of my life treating it as my own and it was great to watch it grow and blossom into the beast it is today. There will never be enough words to describe the experience and my feelings towards the shut down.

Out of Cards is a spiritual successor to HearthPwn and we have no affiliation with Curse / Fandom. The website is independently operated by myself and a partner, with many of the amazing HearthPwn staff volunteers jumping on board here as well (seriously amazing people). HearthPwn shutting down doesn't kill that desire to make content!

What Happened to HearthStation?

The timing of HearthStation was very unfortunate. The HearthPwn closure announcement had been written before HearthStation came online and I was expecting to just transition over to that. Unfortunately, it's quite apparent now HearthPwn was not ready to yet be shut down and since there was not an end in sight, I decided to take HearthStation down as to avoid questions - I couldn't tell everyone HearthPwn was shutting down =)

Out of Cards is a rebranded HearthStation. Not much has changed since I took the site offline 6 weeks ago when Rise of Shadows was released. The past month and a half has been dedicated to discussions about the future of the site and creating content for HearthPwn.

I'm sure the HearthStation mascot, Derpcorn, will make an appearance somewhere.

Why Out of Cards?

Now we get to the good stuff!

There's a great trait to those that play card games, we usually like playing multiple games in the same genre. I wanted to make it very clear on this website through the name that we are not going to limit ourselves to only Hearthstone. Limiting ourselves hurts when content for the game dries up (historically happens quite a bit with Hearthstone) and since many members of the Hearthstone community love to play other card games, branching out to hitting a potential everything seems like a good choice.

Hearthstone remains our number one priority right now. Building the tools and features you expect out of a #1 Hearthstone website alongside the content.

  • Expect everything HearthPwn had and then some.
  • We want to push out more content then we ever have before and a custom platform helps with that.
  • Better Esports coverage, proper card design competition interfaces.
  • Opinion pieces will be an actual thing on the homepage.
  • Mobile friendly content and browsing.

Due to us wanting to support multiple games, the homepage will slowly morph into one that highlights all of the games we cover with new, dedicated pages available under each game's category for those only interested in a single game.

What Comes After Hearthstone?

We've got several people on the team that enjoy playing Magic, so expect content and tools from that realm in the future.

There are other games we enjoy playing too and would love to cover so although we may not have tools for those games immediately, content covering them will happen.

This is simply a peek into what is to come. Don't ask us when because we don't know yet!

Supporting Out of Cards

I'm not going to beat around the bush on this. Websites cost money to run and we need to feed the troops.

I hate ads. I hate designing webpages around them, I hate the nonsense they cause for our awesome community members, and overall they're just a drain on society. There are alternative ways to monetize websites and since we're not pandering to investors, I'd like to explore them. I'm not going to say we will never make use of them but if we do, care will be taken on the placement of ads and we'll try and limit them as much as we can.

Here are the four ways you can help support Out of Cards.

  • Support on Patreon with a monthly contribution
    • We have supporter tiers up on Patreon. For a small monthly contribution, you give us independence.
    • All Patrons will receive benefits on the site. We don't have all those details ironed out but will real soon.
    • Patrons receive a special rank on Discord.
  • Support on Twitch with Twitch Prime
    • You can support with your monthly Twitch Prime subscription via Twitch.tv/Fluxflashor. It is a completely free way to show support for those with Amazon Prime so make use of it!
    • All Twitch subscribers receive a special rank on Discord.
  • Support by being a member of the community
    • So cliche but its true. Just being a part of our community shows we're doing something right. Talk about card games, share your feedback, and just generally be awesome.

Thanks and Welcome Home

Come on this journey with us in creating one of the best resources Hearthstone has seen yet. Come hang out over on the forums (especially to provide feedback!) and Discord.

Also, be sure to follow us out on our social accounts to get notified of news on the site!

Thanks to everyone who has been at my side over the years whether its been through volunteering on HearthPwn, tuning in to the nonsense that occurs on my Twitch channel, or simply visiting content I've created. You're all pretty awesome!