Magic Friends another article on your favorite game as it is my husbands to :) so enjoy may your day be great where ever in the world you may live and be kind to one another.
Kimberly
TV REALITY MOM
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http://www.tcgunity.net/hearthstone-the-old-gods-have-whispered/
May 2, 2016
Digital Collectible Card Games, Hearthstone
The Introduction of Formats
First off, hearthstone is now mature enough to have formats. These are currently Standard and Wild – Standard being everything but Goblins vs Gnomes and Curse of Naxxramas, Wild being every card ever printed.
Currently, it looks like we’re all playing Standard. For those of you who invested in the early sets, you’re out of luck except for crafting dust value. Players are citing reasons why they’re sticking to Standard for now:
- A relief from the decks that were always dominant before.
- Blizzard has removed the Goblins vs Gnomes boosters and Curse of Naxxramas adventure from the store. So there’s no growth for Wild format going forward, unless you’re going to invest the dust.
- Official Hearthstone events will only be hosted in Standard format.
- People have simply gotten bored with the oldest set, whether playing with or against.
In this way, we begin to see some of the problems that plague long-term TCGs. How do you keep the game growing while still keeping it fun? As the game grows, interactions between cards in a more diverse pool gives rise to broken combos and formula decks. But calving away old cards disenfranchises those loyal players who were with you from the beginning. Other paper TCGs have already run this gamut of growing pains, so it will be interesting to see whether Blizzard Entertainment learns its lessons faster.
The Meta Shift
While old decks like Druid Combo are no longer the bane of the meta, new decks have risen to replace them already. This is because the new set introduced C'Thun, and boosters are chock full of minions that support your C’Thun before it comes out. Since everybody gets a C’Thun whether they want one or not, we’ve seen the rise of a thousand C’Thun decks.
And I, for one, am underwhelmed by this strategy. I’m sorry, maybe it’s that everybody can play it right from the start with the generous fistful of packs everybody got for little effort, but y’all are some terrible C’Thuners. Your C’Thun is out of tune. The way it pops up peek-a-boo every time you play a minion boost to it just puts a sign on your head that says “kill me before turn ten.” Or eight, if you’re running a Druid. C’thun decks are so predictable I can anticipate every turn. I have beaten ten C’Thun decks easy for every one that’s beaten me, and it’s getting to where I’m ready to dust every card in my stash that refers to it.
Warlock Zoo
Word around the campfire says this meta is supposed to be slower, more grindy, and more controlling. I’ll say so, but it ain’t the only way to fly. Maybe it’s just my play style, but I like it when my games end by turn six, which is why I play Warlock Zoo. Here’s My (current) Pet Deck, Warlock Zoo:
- 2x Forbidden Ritual
- 2x Power Overwhelming
- 2x Abusive Sergeant
- 2x Elven Archer
- 2x Leper Gnome
- 2x Possessed Villager
- 2x Voidwalker
- 2x Worgen Infiltrator
- 2x Bilefin Tidehunter
- 2x Bluegill Warrior
- 2x Knife Juggler
- 2x Darkshire Councilman
- 2x Ironbeak Owl
- 2x Raid Leader
- 2x Hellfire
It’s funny how so much of this list is recently nerfed, and yet still playable, which shows how dominant these cards would be now if they weren’t nerfed. Knife Juggler is still a persistent menace, Ironbeak Owl is still necessary to get around taunt and other bothersome problems, and Leper Gnome is still an obnoxious stinger when opponents try to wipe the board.
I might rotate a few cards in and out, depending. I find the Warlock Zoo builds online to have a slightly rougher curve, whereas this deck never has a dull turn and keeps the foot on the gas and the pressure on the opponent. My most common finagle is to replace Worgen Infiltrator for Soulfire, because one-shot finishers become important when your paranoid opponent is boardwiping every turn.
But that Darkshire Councilman! Holy smoking jokers, does that guy ever punch! Coining him out turn two feels like cheating; by doing what the rest of the deck wants to do anyway, he’s usually punching for five damage and up before opponents can stop him. Players don’t seem to realize yet that Darkshire’s ability works on any summon, even if it was from another minion.
But now, the bad news… At manacrystals.com, Warlock Zoo is the sole listing under “Top Decks to Beat,” which means if you’re Warlock Zoo, it’s a dog-eat-dog world and you’re wearing Milkbone shorts. Everybody is tuning their decks to beat you. Recently I’ve met matches that seemed ready for me, seemed to have an answer for every card I played before I played it. The window might slam fast on Warlock Zoo’s fingers.
Here again, another parallel with Magic: The Gathering. In MTG, the first week after a new set and new bannings / unbannings is one of predictable certainty: There will be fast aggro decks, and then after awhile the midrange decks form a firewall to stop them. Then aggro settles back in the shadows and other decks focus on beating each other again. Stick to fast beatdown aggro, and you’ll catch the meta by surprise. But look out, because the deck with the simplest plan to win is also the deck with the simplest answers against it.
So That’s the State of the Hearthstone This Week
It’s still one of the best electronic TCGs out there, and the playing price is the best of all. I haven’t spent a penny yet; everything you see is from grinding and miserly hoarding of dust. I might toss some cash into it someday though. How long can I expect to ride like this?
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