Hearthstone

Any suggestion how to defeat him? Its three tentacles x turn are too annoying ...

This happens to me way too often for it to be a coincidence: I'm strolling along with a good deck I put together doing well and encountering players that have equal decks to mine.

Then I hit six wins and suddenly boss mode is enabled. My opponents have perfect decks and make perfect plays while the primo cards that helped get me to 6 suddenly fail to show up or curve is bust.

Not in my head. This is crafty business decisions to not want to give away anything for free because otherwise decent players like myself could string winning arena runs more often and not really need to pay cash.

Which is fine... If it was transparent. Instead I get this frustrating experience where I can't enjoy the game on a level playing field. I wouldn't be surprised if they have bots set up for it 

Ok, now it's your turn to reply with the obsequious "this belongs in a salt thread" and "I can't agree with anything upset so I 100% disagree even though i don't know how it really works" comments. Go:

Menagerie builds are a huge reason people love this game. The only thing that bugs is there is literally THREE things you look for in a unit: Divine Shields, Cleaves, and big stats.

All mechs are viable because of module but most of the other tribes have units you just simply do not want (the dragon and elemental that semi-cleave for example). I would really like to see some units that compete with the big 3.

Here's a few ideas

-The 2/3 tier 1 dragon could be made immune to poison to make it not completely useless.

-How about a demon that has Overkill: Silence the unit on your opponents right side (to allow for counterplay)?

-Scavenging hyaena (or the two previously mentioned) could be replaced with a 2/2 semi swiper that dealt 1 damage to adjacent units (anti div shield aid)

-Lastly, a tier 6 murloc -something we haven't seen in a while- who doubles your first battlecry every round?

These are a few ideas shot from the hip that a regular player came up with that'd mix up builds and make the game more fun. No telling how balanced they are but 100% making the game more interesting and fun if added.

What units would you like to see added to the game?

Since I did it for the expansion I feel like I'm obligated to do it for the mini set as well. At least this one won't take long. Also i'm skipping seperating this into class sections because that just seems redundant.

Tormented Hearts: I haven't attempted this one yet but it sounds like a complete pain in the ass. Since Taintheart Tormenter's effect is so powerful that it can completely lock out spell based decks, they will most likely concede the moment he hits the field, whereas non-spell based decks will most likely just remove it through minions. At best you will get one, maybe two, spellcasts out of your opponent which means it'll take quite a lot of games until this completes. Going into Wild at Bronze rank might help because people play like absolute lunatics and might just bend over backwards to spend extra mana to remove the lad.

Puppy Power: While we have plenty of discounting options in Standard I feel like using Emperor Thaurissan and the multitude of smaller Druid Beasts in Wild will speed up the process considerably. If you have Aviana and Kun (or Omu) you can set up your own achievement OTK using bouncers to play expensive beasts multiple times for 1-mana (If you kept Tyrantus for sentimental purposes you might be winning big here). JUst make sure you actually use Druid beasts and not neutrals.

Poison, Poisoff: Just put Venomous Scorpid into all your decks until it's done. Not worth building a deck around.

Don't Move a Muscle!: Alright, this is probably the most frustrating and bizarre experience. I attempted to build a pure Frost deck to guarantee Frostweave Dungeoneer and managed to create a deck that is literally unable to win, regardless of how well it does at any point. Either way, make sure to get as many elementals out as possible and freeze both face and minions as much as you can. Destroying a minion with a frosty elemental also counts, so don't be shy to value trade. Deep Freeze is unsurprisingly good here.

Friends Like Me: Alright, fuck this one entirely. Getting 3 of the same is quite simple (as a matter of fact I got it the first time I played the spell). Getting 4 is nigh impossible. Someone did the maths and apparently it is below 1% (as opposed to around 12% for 3). Either way, if you really want this achievement you play a Paladin deck with decent draw (Wild is best) as well as Mutanus and Venomous Scorpid (and every other card you need for a different achievement) and try to make the most of the time you will spend. For reference, I got 18 ranked wins today in Wild with a Paladin deck that doesn't even run any win condition....I still never hit 4. If you aren't a completionist I implore you to just forget about this one, it's actually worse than both the Oh My Yogg! one and the Horde Operative.

Even Steven: As easy as it gets. Mad Summoner being a bro again. If you discount both Against All Odds and Wave of Apathy (in case they have a board already) with Palm Reading and you can tutor Summoner with Insight. You don't even need any Wild cards (outside of Summoner ofc) because Priest now has decent draw in Standard.

Hiding in Plain Sight: Run cheap minions and Preparation so you can get both of your Shrouds fast and then concede to move onto the next game. Running spell discovery is unnecessary since you should be able to get 4 procs every game which means you'll only need about 7 to complete this. If you want to go hard you can also just run Swindle and Shroud of Concealment as your only spells to streamline the process.

Spit Hot Fire: Shaman has draw now but it wants you to run Nature spells only so into Wild we go (if you still have draw cards there). If you prefer to stay in Standard, Wandmaker is a really strong option because there are only six 1-mana spells in the pool. Running spell damage and chip damage like Pen Flinger is also important to set up the board. Don't be too greedy because Shaman only has shit healing which means you won't survive until the board is full. Alternatively you can also just run Perpetual Flame in a real deck (Spell Damage Burn Shaman being the best idea probably) and just hope to get it done that way.

Ugh, It's MY Life, Mom: Get this one done fast because it might just get nerfed quit soon because of Wild shenanigans and who knows how hard it will be to complete then. Overall it's probably the easiest to just run a control deck with big cards and stuff like Backfire or The Soularium. It turns out that playing the cards while Immune does  actually advance the achievement so by all means, abuse the fuck out of it in Wild.

Kresh Got Back: Now this one might seem easy but there are a lot of complicated nuances. First of all, Kresh, Lord of Turtling is a 6-cost legendary card, which means you need at least 6-mana to play it and you can only run one copy in your deck. Second of all the weapon comes from his Deathrattle which requires your minion to die before it activates. Afterwards you will have to attack with your weapon 5 times, out of which each attack will count towards the achievement. Yes I just wrote this entire shitpost as a way of telling you that there was no point to explaining anything. Fucking sue me.

Hungry Hungry Murlocs: This one is just a bit of a grind. It's a lot harder to actually find a minion above 4/4 to eat. That being said, this is probably the most fun achievement because playing Mutanus is just really hilarious. I recommend just throwing Mutanus into all of your other achievement decks and iit will eventually complete itself. If you want to rush it, go Rogue with Shadowsteps (inefficient) or play it with Baleful Banker and Zola the Gorgon in Wild.

Adventure is Out There: LIterally completes itself while you attempt to get Friends like Me

That's it, that's all I've got. As per usual, if you figure out any exploits that can speed up the process let everyone know.

Yesterday i was testing out my new gonk druid deck, celestial gonklignment when something weird happened. I had anaconda on board and played celestial alignment and all the nature spells in my hand cost one not zero. So I said, okay it works this way I shod have just played her after alignment" but then every nature spell I drew was zero mana just the few I had in my hand when I played alignment weren't. 

Bug or working as intended?

Prompted by a recent discussion, I want to discuss the overload mechanic in all its glory. Given we're 7 years into the game, and shaman is the current target of 'the class is weak' memes, it's high time I actually understood the mechanic beyond silent intuition. 

Most discussion I've seen on the topic has tried to argue that the mechanic is weak, but I'm going to quickly shut down that idea. No mechanic is weak or strong, they are simply over- or under-valued on a card by card basis. Take inspire for example: if you were to only look at TGT, then you'd probably call it weak. However, if you look at Phase Stalker and Dragonbane (which have the inspire mechanic if not the keyword), then you'd call it strong. 

You can look at all mechanics in the same way, and usually find both strong and weak examples, determined entirely by how much mana the devs attributed to the effect on each card. Such a viewpoint is especially convenient for overload, since it is entirely a matter of mana cost.

So having cast aside the notions of strong and weak mechanics, my interest is on assessing its pros and cons to determine whether overload is interesting enough to deserve a permanent spot in shaman's toolkit. I won't try to quantify how much overload is right for a given effect, simply because that would take too long. Maybe that can come later though.

The pros

The cons

So is it a good keyword?

Having looked at the keyword in some detail, I actually like it even more than I used to. For such a simple mechanic there is a lot of nuance that makes decision making in shaman unique, and does so for all of aggro, control and combo in different ways. That is a distinct advantage over some other mechanics that balance pros and cons, like outcast and discard, which have a much stronger preference for certain archetypes.

Overload is certainly not without its weaknesses, and where they exist they are more severe than other class keywords like combo or choose one, which probably accounts for why it is the target of more claims that it is weak. Part of this is that the effectiveness of overload depends on what the opponent does. This is especially obvious for overstatted minions: when they are dealt with efficiently it can easily feel like you didn't get any benefit for the overload you still have to pay.

However, HS players are salty creatures that more readily remember the bad than the good, and I suspect that is wrongly tilting the balance of opinion against overload. This is perhaps not helped by the way it is presented on the card is as a negative. What you see is how much less mana you have next turn, not how much you save this turn.

Phew, I'll stop there. I'm sure I've missed a bunch of stuff, and would be keen to see how the community feels about overload. It is all too easy to hear the vocal minority and think it represents everyone...

I don't even know why I bother opening them anymore. All they do is bring me sorrow. I remember back when opening packs was an exciting process and I would actually open good stuff.

Now it's 40 dust every time or an epic every so often. Golden cards? I'm actually a huge enthusiast and remember getting them at a decent rate every 5-10 packs. I can't remember the last one I opened.

As for Legendaries each and every time it countdowns to 35-40 packs. I recall a time when I would open up an L not long after I just had thinking, oh wow cool so soon. Now it's so far I'm pretty much angry when I finally get one.

I even used to open up golden legendaries. Not often of course, but maybe one every few months and I'd cherish it. I'm a daily player and it has to have been a year since I've found one.

Just wanting to see if anyone else is having this issue. I can't help but feel that since all the big changes they've implemented that they have lowered the drop rate on premium cards. More likely it's just my own bad luck.

I don't even know why I bother opening them anymore. All they do is bring me sorrow. I remember back when opening packs was an exciting process and I would actually open good stuff.

Now it's 40 dust every time or an epic every so often. Golden cards? I'm actually a huge enthusiast and remember getting them at a decent rate every 5-10 packs. I can't remember the last one I opened.

As for Legendaries each and every time it countdowns to 35-40 packs. I recall a time when I would open up an L not long after I just had thinking, oh wow cool so soon. Now it's so far I'm pretty much angry when I finally get one.

I even used to open up golden legendaries. Not often of course, but maybe one every few months and I'd cherish it. I'm a daily player and it has to have been a year since I've found one.

Just wanting to see if anyone else is having this issue. I can't help but feel that since all the big changes they've implemented that they have lowered the drop rate on premium cards. More likely it's just my own bad luck.

Is anyone else experiencing issues climbing the ladder?  I played back-to-back standard games, and did not receive any stars for winning either game.  To add insult to injury, I lost the following game -- and sure enough -- I lost one star.

Has anyone else had similar issues?

Why do you downvote my posts in the salt thread, when they are legitimate salt posts and following the rules, yet upvote everyone else for doing the exact same thing?  

Mods - why do you do nothing about harassment posts in the salt thread?  I've reported multiple posts and they remain up.  As far as I can tell, you are completely absent.

I would like to know what's going on.  I use the salt thread to vent, and you guys make it feel like I'm now allowed to. 

An rather new HS dev twittered that they just had an internal Mercenaries presentation and that it's "even cooler and bigger than it was last time I told you guys it was cool and big"

He later also added that there is still some time before they share it externally.

I think it's reasonable to expect an official trailer sometime between the fire-festival and the next expansion's pre-purchase.

Hi, I made it to level 100 yesterday and am having trouble picking a hero. The fact is I already have Valeera the only one I think looks really good and rest are kinda meh to me. I want to make my choice knowing what each one has in emotes... Oddly on YouTube I can't find anything. Does anyone know where?

Would adore it if one day they released 10 new champions into the game, one for every class in the game. These new additions would all have the same hero power: "After you raise your tavern tier discover a [Mage, Warrior, etc] spell."

Which means you only get five a game. Also you can cast one per turn. Spells range from lightweight secrets to effects like a Flamestrike being cast before combat. It would be optimal if the pool for each discovery was 5 or 6 to keep it fresh.

It's pretty hopeful since it would be a balancing nightmare but if launched successfully would be amazing fun trying to use the 5 spells you get efficiently. Ideas?

Currently, I am playing Reno Priest. Every time I queue into a Handbuff Paladin I either win through my opponent being unable to draw both of their convictions or losing to three buffed-up charge minions and double conviction. Does anyone have any tips? I cannot run Skulking Geist as I am using the Loremaster Polkelt/Tealen Fordring combo. 

Invalid Deck ID

there will be a miniset for this expansion? when is it expected? thanks

Great subreddit meme post. 

"Neo Learns the Truth about Hearthstone"

Not mine, but deserves an upvote and to be shared. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/nc394g/neo_learns_the_truth_about_hearthstone/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

So... what happened? I haven’t actually gotten around to playing Hearthstone after the nerfs but from what I can tell it seems pretty bad? Like Paladin has actually become even stronger? (Well, at least judging from HS replay statistics).

I mean, I hope this is only a short-term problem that comes from a recent meta fluctuation with people changing around their decks and what-not. But I’m also surprised to see that Hunter winrates have ballooned as well. I don’t remember Hunter having a particulary good matchup against Paladins either.

So my hypothesis right now is that: Yes, Paladin is still a very strong class but will have a tiny bit weaker early game considering the First Day of School and Crabrider nerfs... however, it clearly did not address enough of its power cards like Blessing of Authority or Hand of A’dal. Anyway, I would like to think that the current fluctuations in winrate (for Paladin and Hunter) are only because people are trying out their janky new N’zoth decks and Deathrattle Demom Hunters with the new buffs. Also, the Hysteria nerf cannot be downplayed as Warlock and Priest, Paladin’s major counters, were probably temporarily shelved away in light of the nerfs.I mean Priest in particular has really good matchups against anything that’s not Warlock, so I am honestly quite shocked at the massive fluctuation in winrates.

So to summarize, Paladin and Hunter are just beating up all the new homebrew decks, artificially boosting their winrates (combined with their main counters Priest and Warlock probably dipping in playrate a bit as well). So what do you all think? Just the usual doom and gloom from the community or a sign that the worse is yet to come?

I hit 350 last expansion and am currently working toward 135 in barrens progression. That would be my tavern regular should be 350+134= 484? Instead it says 482. I know that's minor at the cheaper high levels but would gate me at the even caps at some point.

Since I am waiting for Mercenaries to be released, I thought it would be fun to guess what roles the mercs will play in the new mode. 

The "roles" I am talking about are the main 3 for dungeon and raid running in WoW: healers, to keep their allies alive, tanks that act as targets and can soak damage, and DPS, or damage dealers.

So now that this is out of the way, I am now going to guess, using Wow class knowledge, what role the Forged in the Barrens mercs might play.

Kurtrus:  One word tips me off about Kurtrus; VENGEANCE! In Wow, V DHs are tanks with high mobility and are able to deal heavy AoE damage to enemies. In Hearthstone, he swiftly attacks minions, so that checks out. Maybe  fast slashes might bolster Kurtrus' allies

Guff: My best guess for Guff is Restoration Druid, a type of healer. They heal allies equal to their spell power. In BoM, he really isn't the fighting type, instead buffing friendly minions. But don't worry, he can still defend himself with shapeshifting. 

Tavish: With all of the animals following him, he is obviously a form of DPS for Hunter called Beast Mastery. They can pair up with a ferocious friend and deal damage. Hunters themselves can shoot with guns and bows, so we can expect some sharpshooting from Ol' Tavish.

Varden: Frost Mages can literally freeze enemies in their tracks and have great AoE with crowd control. Perhaps they can stop the bosses, making them skip their turn. If so, I would sign them up to be on my team in a heartbeat!

Cariel:  Due the ridiculous size of that hammer, I am making an educated guess that she is a Ret Pally, a melee DPS. They can heal also a tiny bit. Also, they can cast Avenging Wrath. to buff themselves for damage. 

Xyrella: For Xyrella, I am thinking Discipline Priest, a protective healer. They can shield their allies from harm, then unleash the Holy Light on their enemies. They can also heal, making them a jack for all trades.

Scabbs: With steel-tipped shivs and a small stature, this gnome has me confused. I am torn between Assassination and Subtlety. While they are both melee DPS, they are both starkly different. Assassination Rogues use poisons to deal damage between strikes. Subtlety, on the other hand,  are quick and stab quickly. I am leaning towards Subtlety, since he works for SI:7 and they are as stealthy as they get.

Bru'kan: His strong connection to Nature makes him a strong contender for a powerful caster DPS spec called Elemental Shaman. They can scorch and shock enemies with strong elemental magic. A valuable asset for a team.

Tamsin: Tamsin belongs to a shadow-magic using DPS spec called Affliction Warlock. They revel in damaging enemies over time, siphoning their life out bit by bit.  Pain is in your future if you are fighting one of these. They also summon imps to help you fight.

Rokara: Berserker rage lays in her soul, because she's a Fury Warrior, feared melee DPS. They go into a frenzy, swinging their two weapons to cut their enemies to ribbons. Expect heavy damage.

ALL DONE! I really had fun looking all of this up. Do you agree with my selections for these ten mercs? Any guess what roles the other mercs will play, like the regular Hearthstone heroes?

Why are the emotes so passive-aggressive? I can't well play with half the heroes I have because they all sound so patronizing. What is worse is that sometimes you can't tell what kind of emote is being used by the opponent (or vice versa) because none of them sound like the original emotes (Ex: Nightslayer Valeera's well played is 'What is sharper- your wits or your blades?")