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Forsen – 1st Place:
Forsen chose not to share his decklist.
Judoki – 2nd Place:
[MG] Wuaschtsemme – 3rd/4th Place:
p0rn – 3rd/4th Place:
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158 players registered and checked in for the November 16th, 2013 North American Tournament hosted by MLG. Throughout the night many players were dropped from the tournament and eventually it all boiled down to Eldorian from BlizzPro and Morlu. With a commanding lead, Eldorian eventually went on to win 3 – 1. If you are interested in the seeding and/or how the rounds played out feel free to stop over at MLG and check it out.
After the dust had settled Thechiv had a chance to talk with Eldorian and get his opinion on Hearthstone, the meta and a few other fun things!
Eldorian US 11/16/13
Unknown Deck
by Auhdit - Dec 7, 2013
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Minion (25)
- 1x Arcane Golem
- 2x Argent Commander
- 2x Defender of Argus
- 2x Knife Juggler
- 2x Blood Imp
- 1x Venture Co. Mercenary
- 2x Argent Squire
- 2x Dark Iron Dwarf
- 2x Elven Archer
- 1x Faerie Dragon
- 2x Flame Imp
- 2x Voidwalker
- 2x Novice Engineer
- 2x Shattered Sun Cleric
Ability (5)
- 2x Demonfire
- 1x Power Overwhelming
- 2x Soulfire
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Name: Eldorian from BlizzPro | Co-Founder.
Age: 34
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
To see the remaining top decks from the 11/16/13 tournament click here.
Thanks for coming in and having the interview and congratulations on a very hard fought and good victory.
What other games have you played?
Competitive side? Any other wins in those games?
Wow, I was playing Magic: The Gathering a lot earlier than you. What was that, Mirage?
My last win was Type II Ice Age.
You got the competitive experience; you like gaming and obviously a giant fan of Blizzard products so what made you come to our tournament?
It can be quite difficult with our hectic schedules. Now into the tournament experience, you played warlock, right?
I couldn’t really figure that out either – Arcane Golem seems to be a great substitution.
We let people sideboard and a lot of people get interested in that. How did you sideboard?
Who was your toughest opponent?
You’ve been in these tournaments before were either any opponents you were afraid to face off against?
Best. Response. Ever. Seriously. I never really considered it – knowing who you are playing agents can kind of psych you out. I had this problem in my first MLG tournament I had to fight spOh or the guy who came in second… I was nervous. I get up to him and I just walked right through him.
You were kind enough to stream the finals – is streaming something you do quite a bit of?
Which archetype would be the biggest threat to your deck? Class and archetype?
Uh oh, don’t say taunt. A lot of streamers believe taunt is a horrible mechanic so you putting a little praise on it may shift the meta!
I think it’s a brilliant card cause its offensive and defense
What would you say your top 3 neutral cards would be and why?
Aggro. Aggro. Aggro.
What would you say is the MVP of your deck? The best of the best? A real trooper?
You see a lot of aggro in the meta, do you think this will stay or shift?
What is the strongest class in the game for Aggro?
What is the WORST class in the game?
I rode that in the First MLG tournament riding the same gimmick and got into the top 8.
Elite Tauren Chieftain, what are your opinions on that?
Maybe a Sylvanas?
They also talked about nerfing Mind Control, good or bad?
They typically try to steal Argent Commander!
What could help out a new person playing?
Don’t forget to go to ManaGrind for articles too!
Angry Chicken! Joke or possible game breaking brilliance?
Actually I’ve run a couple scenarios where I have gotten it up to 30 a few times and 24 a few others.
Yeah, they wanted to see what the community could do with it.
I was actually playing against a Priest in ranked and this is how it happened and I cried. Priest put anAngry Chicken out and I ignored it. I made my play and put down Explosive Trap. Priest buffs it with Power Word: Shield twice. By the way, I was at six life.
I drank quite heavily.
Walked down to KFC and ate a whole bucket of them!
Well congratulations and good luck on your adventures and on behalf of ManaGrind we hope to see you here next week!
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Eldorian – 1st Place:
Morlu – 2nd Place:
Juk3d – 3rd/4th Place:
Realz – 3rd/4th Place:
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November 10th, 2013 was the stage of the latest European Hearthstone tournament hosted byMLG. After the conclusion of check in there were over 128 Hearthstone enthusiasts eagerly waiting for their first match. As the rounds went on more and more players were dropped until finally Timbolt and mkr3 were the last ones standing. After an epic battle of wits, luck and deck composition Timbolt was declared with an amazing score of 3 – 0. If you are interested in the seeding and/or how the rounds played out feel free to stop over at MLG and check it out.
After the dust had settled Thechiv had a chance to talk Hearthstone with Timbolt and analyze what helped his deck annihilate the competition.
Name: Eike Heimpel
Timbolt EU 11/10/13
Unknown Deck
by Auhdit - Dec 7, 2013
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Minion (23)
- 1x Bloodmage Thalnos
- 1x Sylvanas Windrunner
- 2x Argent Commander
- 2x Azure Drake
- 1x Defender of Argus
- 2x SI:7 Agent
- 2x Defias Ringleader
- 2x Harvest Golem
- 2x Chillwind Yeti
- 2x Dark Iron Dwarf
- 1x Faerie Dragon
- 1x Gnomish Inventor
- 2x Novice Engineer
- 2x Shattered Sun Cleric
Ability (7)
- 1x Assassinate
- 2x Backstab
- 2x Deadly Poison
- 2x Eviscerate
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Age: 25
Location: Berlin Germany
To see the remaining top decks from the 11/10/13 tournament click here.
Before we begin I would like to thank you for stopping by and doing this Interview as well as congratulate you on a well fought win.
Let’s jump in, shall we? What kind of games have you played beside Hearthstone ?
So how long have you been playing Hearthstone?
That’s amazing. Yesterday’s North American winner has also been playing for about two weeks and he took top honors.
Yesterday’s winner was actually a Yu-Gi-Oh nationals player and that gave may him given him an edge in understanding the mechanics . Did you play any other TCGs?
That’s pretty amazing considering you picked up on the mechanics and deck construction pretty fast.
And with only playing a little bit you already decided to come to a tournament?
We do our best to support the community and give them something they want. There are others, but I think we are the ones that people want to come to.
What was the best part of the tournament for you?
We try to encourage good sportsmanship in our players. Who was your toughest opponent?
Well it sounds like you enjoyed your time here, but here is the question. Are you going to come back for more?
Yeah it seems to be a great learning experience and something I have been hearing a lot from our winners. When you won were you nervous? Excited? Or did you leap for joy?
I was more nervous before the game but when I won I was pretty calm. Other than that one Rogue player the matches were pretty easy. The final I just beat him 3-0. The first couple of matches in the final were not as easy but the last battle just everything went well and it was an easy 3rd win.
Now let’s move to your deck. Which archetype would have been the biggest threat?
Rogues are a nasty class and recently we have been seeing a rise in rogue players. It’s kind of funny because after the nerf people abandoned Rogues like rats from a sinking ship and now people are playing them competitive again. What are your thoughts on this?
Now little off topic here but did you net deck?
Yeah we see a lot of people net decking from one tourney to another.
Your deck composition has a lot of core things that are in most Rogue decks. However, there are a couple interesting aspects I want to get into like Chillwind Yeti and Gnomish Inventor.
The Chillwind Yeti is a great card.
Yeah he did. TotalBiscuit called it the Value Yeti and that made me smile. Let’s talk about your sideboard. What cards did you bring in against certain classes?
That is awesome to hear. So now let’s move to the MVP. Every deck seems to have one card that shines better than the rest and help ensure your victory. What was yours?
That Yeti is an amazing card! It has enough life to handle most removal and is in that neutral zone for priest so they won’t be able to mess with.
Well we talked about the deck and the sideboard lets move into some personal favorites. What are some of your favorite neutral cards?
Is there a card you think is bad?
Now talking about the meta on the European server… What do you think are the top 3 classes?
Really no mage?
You followed the coverage of BlizzCon and the changes they want to make to some cards what are your thoughts on that?
Yeah the hunters really need a ground up rework to be honest. No one likes playing against them now, and if they don’t make any other needed fixes no one will play them. Not to mention many of their cards are beast dependent.
Been there, done that. But are you looking forward to the other changes to the game, like the new ranked system or adventures?
True, but you’re always going to have that indifference in card collection so you really think that will matter, or will it force players to spend some time doing PvE content rather than just play mode and arena?
Fair points. Now since your new to the game but have pulled of an amazing win today is there any advice you can give to new players coming into the game?
That’s some really great advice. Well I think we can call this one a wrap. On behalf of ManaGrind I would like to thank you for the interview and again congratulations on a well fought win, and I hope to see you back here next week.
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Timbolt – 1st Place:
It is, by far, the best deck I have I think. I built it myself and think i changed one or two things after I saw the Rogue deck that won one of the tourneys last week (even though that was built around Edwin. I feel it is very consistent and almost impossible to get a horrible starting hand. It is very versatile with good removal to keep creatures out before turn three and four because it can buff them with Shattered Sun Cleric, Dark Iron Dwarf and Defender of Argus.
mkr3 – 2nd Place:
Teede – 3rd/4th Place:
ImWicked – 3rd/4th Place:
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On November 9th, 2013 MLG had its third Hearthstone tournament. It officially began at 2PM EST and there were 108 eagerly waiting for some Hearthstone. In the end it came down to LuigeZZ and Luthol. LuigeZZ was declared the winner after beating Luthol 3-1.
After the dust had settled Thechiv had a chance to sit down and discuss a few Hearthstone topics with LuigeZZ and why he felt his deck went to the top!
Name: Stephen Williams
Age: 18
Location: Kingston, New York
To see the remaining top decks for the 11/09/13 tournament click here.
You did really well in this tournament. What other competitive games have you played?
We have a lot of League of Legends veterans coming over to Hearthstone and many think Hearthstone is going to be that new competitive scene. Do you believe Hearthstone has that potential?
What made you decide to take part in this tournament?
Yeah, I couldn’t agree with you more. Sometimes you get to play against people who come up with something you have not seen before and it hits you out of nowhere. We saw this last week in the European tournament.
It seems like Shaman is one of those classes that has fallen out of favor in the competitive scene.
What was the best part of the tournament for you?
A lot of players normally just say they enjoyed winning. Bravo on that, sir. In the Semi’s you faced off against DrakonicRage and you said it was tough, would you say this was your toughest match?
Did that slow down your aggro or stall you out?
We saw similar in the Hearthstone invitational held at BlizzCon today. Were you watching that stream while playing in this tournament?
Did you get a chance to look over the bracket in our tournament and see any names of opponents you were kind of worried about playing?
Will you be coming back for another tournament and did you enjoy the format?
Were you excited when you won?
Your deck did really good but was there any class or archetype you were feeling you might have been weak against, and if so how did you sideboard for it?
How did you sideboards against some of the classes?
Good choice for early aggro because Mages have no reliable way to single target Faerie Dragon.
What are your top three favorite neutral cards?
That’s 4.
Harvest Golem has been the top pick every time amongst most people, it’s just such a brilliant card because you get a lot of value from it and it just won’t die. Last week we saw a rise in Rogues. Both NA and EU had Rogues in the Final Rounds as well as in the Semi-Finals. Do you think this the beginning of a meta shift?
Edwin is one of those cards I can see the value in it, but just don’t feel it’s worth the time for me to craft or include in a deck.
What do you think are some basic things that make a good hearthstone player?
Yeah, knowledge of what is being used and what plays your opponent can dish out can really provide an edge in being able to counter play to gain the advantage and possibly the win.
Very nice. Now when it comes to preparations for a tournament what do you do?
Wow, that is an amazing win percentage for deck testing.
Testing a deck pre-tourney is pretty much a requirement. Every deck seems to have a card that just shines the brightest in tournament play. What was your MVP during this tournament?
Knife Juggler????
That’s right you used Elven Archer in this deck. That was kind of amazing. He is considered to be a horrible minion and almost never taken. Why did you?
Let say you’re talking to someone who is coming has never played the game and is joining up. What advice would you give them?
You seem to know the Meta pretty well in Hearthstone. Where do you see the meta right now? What are the top three classes?
Now you brought up a nerf coming up, that they announced at BlizzCon. What are your thoughts on these three card nerfs they listed?
You know they were saying they wanted it to be killed by Hero Powers, which is kind of horrible when you think about it as Hunters have really no sustainable card draw mechanic or large burst draw mechanic like other class. So, this kind of hurts them a lot when you think about it. As it stands now its main use is late game mass draw for a combo play and this pretty much keeps it being just that. Why no change for Northshire Cleric?
That brings me back to the third card which is also a hunter card and a topic of endless threads of hate and anger: Unleash the Hounds. They have not told us what they are going to do, yet.
Yeah, their cheap cost is what I think is the issue. Other OTKs have a legendary or a few epics and generally are turn 10 win conditions. Where Hunter is cheaper and faster. Do you think these changes to Hunters will send hunters to the bottom of the heap? As it stands Hunters are pigeon holed to one effective archetype.
It seems like Hunters are highly reliant on beast which are some of the weakest minions in this game, with a few exceptions, one of which is what you get from Animal Companion.
Speaking of RNG, do you feel it plays a huge role in this game?
Would you say Warlock is your favorite class to play? You seem to know a lot about the ins and outs of them.
A lot of people seem to favor aggro style decks. Do you think the changes they made in the wipe geared the meta towards Aggro?
That’s impressive. Two weeks in and you won a tournament against some veterans of the game.
You said you got the chance to watch the Invitational in between matches. You saw what they were playing deck wise. Do you think you could have beaten them?
Well we are going to wrap this up here. On behalf of myself and ManaGrind I would like to congratulate you on a well fought win and hope to see you back here next week!
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LuigeZZ – 1st Place:
Luthlol – 2nd Place:
[MG] Jotto – 3rd/4th Place:
Drakonicrage – 3rd/4th Place:
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Every day there is a new thread about how much people hate playing against one deck more than any other. OTK or “One turn kill” has become so relevant in the current Hearthstone Meta that it spans both NA and the EU. The amount of hate people have for this combination of cards is so great that many expect a nerf to come in the near future, but why is it so hated? What makes it work so well? And what are the stats on it?
OTK decks work on work on the basic principle of getting a certain combination of cards in your hand and being able to survive long enough to play your combo and overwhelm you opponent and slam them directly in their face. There are many different variants to this combo and many have their own flavor. At the core of any OTK deck are the following cards. Starving Buzzard,Timber Wolf, Ironbeak Owl, Young Dragonhawk, and Unleash the Hound.
Starving Buzzard – one of two draw mechanics available to only hunters that when used in conjunction with other low cost minions in the mid-game can pull out other minions to boost the damage output or possibly the one required spell.
Timber Wolf – buffs minions that only affects beast giving them plus one Attack. These are core as they greatly improve the overall damage output.
Ironbeak Owl – is a card also serves an offensive goal in regards to the combination. Playing this minion in the combination can remove road blocks such as taunts to allow all your minions to attack the face.
Young Dragonhawk – is probably the real powerhouse behind the deck; Young Dragonhawk adds a real punch to the combo.
Unleash the Hound is by far the most hated and despised card in Hearthstone. It’s extremely low cost and massive benefits allows for some great damage, and quick games.
We will take a deck off of Hearthpwns Deckbuilder and break it down. This is not the deck I play or made myself. This deck was made by Dursul.
As you can see this deck runs a great amount of control elements with Explosive Shot, Arcane Shot,Multi Shot , Deadly Shot, Kill Command, Explosive Trap, and Eaglehorn Bow. These are used to keep the board mostly cleared while allowing the hunter to take pot shots at his opponent with his hero ability.
Minion wise this deck runs the core combo set up with the addition of Novice Engineer for card draw, Animal Companion for early game damage or end game finisher, and Dire Wolf Alpha to give even more bang for the buck.
That we touched on draw mechanic a little. This deck runs the before mentioned Novice Engineer, Flare, and Tracking. Novice Engineer’s ability in early play help cycle your deck to help you draw out the combo needed for a win. Flare as a multipurpose with being able to draw you a card and remove secrets and stealth all for one mana. Finally we have Tracking. This card provides a huge advantage in terms of pulling a card needed to ensure victory.
Let’s break it down and give you some numbers.
Out of the 30 card deck you can reduce the number by one for every minion or spell that allows you to draw a card, with the exception ofTracking and Starving Buzzard. This means you have a 26 card deck. So in your opening hand you’re really looking at 22 card deck on turn one and 21 card deck if you go second. Since most OTK decks tend to activate on turn seven or eight, this means you’re looking at 13 to 12 cards. Tracking is not used in this calculation as it draws one but discards two in return. This may not seem like a good trade, and with RNG it can be horrible, but it does give you greater flexibility when you play it before you plan to launch a combo. Starving Buzzards are normally used in the combo to draw more of the combo to maximize the total damage. This seems unstoppable…but that’s not the way you should be looking at it. Even with solid deck cycling and accounting for cards drawn throughout the match the deck still has a fair chance to fail. This is the nature of card games.
Lets look at the best possible combo on turn seven or eight . Mind you, this is to say you have all these in your hand on the turn you choose to use the combo and your enemy has no taunts.
For a grand total of 38 damage on turn seven with the Coin or turn eight.
While this may seem massively overpowered there are many factors one must consider. RNG of what cards you get can play a huge factor and can in fact be a greater delay and Death for this deck. Also consider that in these are optimal conditions, which has a very small percentage of actually happening in a real game.
Since conditions in any match are not optimal you have to try and force them to be optimal. If your opponent goes taunt heavy on his turn seven then the combo will change up to remove the taunts via Ironbeak Owl. If the opponent puts down some secrets like Explosive Trap,Counterspell or even a Noble Sacrifice, it will force the hunter to play out a Flare to remove the secret which by doing so does not boost the durability in the Eaglehorn Bow.
Now in this build the goal is keep the board and your opponent on lock down while you get ready for the final move. This is a very common strategy in chess and a few other card games over the years.
This deck is composed of 50% spells, 6.667% weapons and 43.3333% minions. However, this kind of low minion count should not overlookAnimal Companion. Now because Animal Companion is a spell and not just a minion it gets around certain things such as Snipe and Mirror Entity and in a pinch can be used to check fo rCounterspell .
When you’re playing this deck you’re going to want to try for a balanced hand. One card draw, one removal, and one part of the combo. This way you can easily respond when needed. However, make sure to play your Flares smart. Against another Hunter, Paladin, Mage, and even Priest, that Flare could be the difference between victory and defeat. Animal Companion is a good opening hand card as well since it will throw off your opponent a little and give you a little bit of early aggression. You may have to eat a little damage before playing that Explosive Trap, so don’t pop it early. Unless your opponent has two or more minions do not drop the Explosive Trap.
Is this deck effective? It’s 50-50. This deck has a few elements that are slow in terms of removal when cheaper alternatives are available. The deck runs two Eaglehorn Bow’s but only two secrets thus the highest possible damage output of these bows is 18. This deck is 100% reliant on the combo and cannot win any other way. In general most OTK decks suffer from the same issue. Some of them actually use the standard beast galore concept from pre-wipe. Then on turn five or six pull out a miniOTK slam but since they were doing constant damage at the start the amount they needed to win is less. Another variant plays the like beast galore but on turn seven or eight they start dropping core hounds with unleash the hound. This, in effect, is a two card Pyroblast for the same mana.
We covered all the basics and some of the more advance theorycraft of these decks, but what really makes these decks so hated?
1. These decks tend to deny your removal spells and thus make them useless.
2. If you’re not prepared for them they will crush you, however this is standard in most archetypes.
3. They are a low cost option that denies the player from ever seeing Ragnaros on the board.
Are these decks so dangerous?
In competitive play these days thanks to sideboarding they are a one trick pony at best. Once you use this deck your opponent can easily taunt stack and play things like Defender of Argus orSunfury Protector and shut you down. They can even swap in a swarm or Murloc deck to counter this and shut the deck down. In play mode it’s not as easy to know due to the random nature of who you play.
How do you shut these decks down?
1. Well played taunts – Turn six and seven
2. Well played secrets – Turn six and seven
3. Defender of Argus - Makes two taunts and gives them a buff.
4. Sunfury Protector - Same as defender but cheaper without the buff.
5. Mirror Image – Two little taunts that can easily mess up the damage output and give you one more turn to pull out the win or clear the board.
6. Murlocs – For the most part they can power down and shut down an OTK deck.
7. Thoughtsteal – pray for an Explosive Trap.
8. Explosive Trap - If they play their Flares early dropping this down will easily remove the threat of OTK or at the least stall them out.
9. Swarm deck – Minions like Harvest Golem, Razorfen Hunter, Dragonling Mechanic,Hogger, and Silver Hand Knight. These tend to get around a lot of control.
10. BURN AGGRO – If you have a really aggressive deck you can take everything to the Hunters face and burn him down before turn eight.
In conclusion, while the OTK deck and its variants generally provide a strong showing in the play mode and ladder due to the randomness of who you face. In competitive mode it is a one win at best, and even then it requires that you don’t have a bad hand. The fact that it is easy to counter and everyone has seen it so many times really does make it less significant than other decks.
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November 3rd, 2013 was another amazing European tournament to that really came down to the wire! The tournament officially began at 7PM CET and there were 176 participants hungry for some Hearthstone. In the end it came down to Darkwonyx and p0rn In the end, however, only one could be declared the winner and p0rn beat out Darkwonyx 3-2.
After the cards were picked up and put back into their cases Thechiv and Moon had a chance to sit down and discuss how p0rn won and what he believed made his deck the top deck of the night.
Name: Mark Shokh
Age: 23
Location: Outside Stuttgart, Germany
To see the remaining top decks for the 11/03/13 tournament click here.
Previous Games:
What made you want to participate in the MLG/ManaGrind European Hearthstone Tournament?
This week we featured a new type of format from last week. Last week the winner had to keep their class and the loser could swap out a new class and or deck. This week is was one class per round with sideboard. What did you think of that?
Some classes have a real advantage in competitive play in that regards. Do you agree?
What was your favorite part of the tournament?
Would you say the spell heavy druid was your toughest or was it Darkwonyx, the Rogue, you faced in the final?
What made the final so difficult?
You had a good experience?
Since your experience was so good do you think you will be come back again and try your luck?
Some people think doing well in these could lead to more recognition and later on the possibility of sponsors. Do you think that is true?
The Twitch.TV statistics say Hearthstone is in the top 5 streamed games behind League of Legends, DOTA and Path of Exile. Does that surprise you?
Many gamers have a routine or things they do before a competition. Like check out the competition, watch some streams, or just meditate or some other thing. Did you do any of that for this tournament?
Preparation can be a great key to success. You prepared for mage but what class and archetype would you say was the biggest threat to your deck and why?
Yeah it is, but do you think it should be nerfed or banned?
Wouldn’t that kill its effectiveness?
What cards brought you the most utility in your main deck?
Do you think the nerf to Backstab really affected rogues all that much?
This tournament was different because it really forced you to run sideboards to be able to counter your opponent. So what was your side board like?
Betrayal is one of those cards you don’t see main decked these days.
Nice way to throw your opponent off. So what else did you use in the sideboard?
Really? That is really strange. Most rogues seem to always main deck Sap, were you running one then adding a second?
What advice do you have for new players getting into this game?
Do you think that the biggest mistake people can make when playing is rushing to make plays without thinking things through?
And once you figure out how they play do you play a little faster and more confident?
That’s really really smart thinking. Now, let’s look as Neutral cards. What are the three best neutral cards in the game?
Have you been seeing a lot of Argent Commander in the EU?
Do you think the nerf to rogue was fair or a little heavy handed?
So, you thought you could still use multiple classes like last week’s tournament – what decks did you have prepared?
Hmmmm, let me think… a hunter?
Spell heavy druid?
I have to agree on that. Druids are one of those classes that are good all around, but in certain circumstances fall apart. i.e. MAGES.
Really that’s kind of funny because Hunters are one of those classes that I could easily swap out and have completely different builds in this current tournament format. Like going from OTK to Beast Aggro to Control with out much of a problem.
So let’s talk about the second Rogue deck you ran in the finals that was not just a side board.
Ok, let me take a look at your original deck list and we can do a comparison here. OMG. You played an Edwin VanCleef in your deck?
Wow, a lot of people were upset with his Nerf.
Walk me through how you changed your deck up for the finals.
There is a combo I have been seeing with Rogues lately… It involves Leeroy Jenkins and Shadowstep with Cold Blood. Have you been seeing that lately?
Great I just ruined the European Meta!
***Laughing*** You’re welcome. Have you spent a lot of money in this game or are you paying as you go?
Do you enjoy playing Arena more than constructed?
What do you think are some of the strongest opening moves any player can make?
That’s really interesting. A lot of people think that Hearthstone has too many RNG elements in it. Do you agree with this or disagree?
Ok well I think we will wrap this up here. Thank you for stopping by and chatting with us, p0rn. We hope to see you back here next week and wish you good luck in the next tournament.
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pr0n – 1st Place:
Acidic Swamp Ooze against weapon decks.
Betrayal against mirrors to keep board presence.
Sap against control or late game decks .
Darkwonyx – 2nd Place:
Used Murlocs to get the benefits from Murloc buffs against other Murloc Decks.
Faerie Dragons against Mages and Rogues.
Bimbz1 – 3rd/4th Place:
Aggro Decks – Abomination
Stinkweed – 3rd/4th Place:
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November 2nd, 2013 was the second of many tournaments to come in the future! The tournament officially began at 2PM EST and there were 169 participants hungry for some Hearthstone. In the end it came down to Kithros and curi In the end, however, only one could be declared the winner andKithros beat out curi 3-1.
Moments after the dust had settle and the cards were electronically put away we had the opportunity to interview Kithros and investigate what made his deck beat out all the competition!
Name: Chris Stuemer
Kithros US 11/02/13
Unknown Deck
by Auhdit - Dec 7, 2013
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Minion (24)
- 1x Bloodmage Thalnos
- 1x Edwin VanCleef
- 2x Argent Commander
- 2x Azure Drake
- 2x Defender of Argus
- 2x SI:7 Agent
- 2x Defias Ringleader
- 2x Harvest Golem
- 2x Dark Iron Dwarf
- 2x Loot Hoarder
- 2x Gnomish Inventor
- 2x Novice Engineer
- 2x Shattered Sun Cleric
Ability (6)
- 2x Backstab
- 2x Deadly Poison
- 2x Eviscerate
Loading Collection
Age: 21
Location: Ottawa, Canada
To see the remaining top decks for the 11/02/13 tournament click here.
Previous Games:
Previous Wins at Other Competitive Tournaments:
What made you decide to get into the competitive scene and enter the MLG/ManaGrind Tournament?
What was your favorite part about the tournament itself?
Who was your toughest opponent?
Were there any competitors you were glad you did not have to go up against?
Will you be joining future MLG/ManaGrind tournament?
What went through your mind when you won?
Which archetype would have been the biggest threat to your main deck and why?
Which Neutral cards do you favor and why?
What makes some one consistently good at Hearthstone?
How do you prepare for tournaments?
What card brought the most utility in main deck?
Any advice for people who are just getting into the game and want to improve?
Thank you Kithros and everyone else for coming out and competing in MLG/ManaGrind’s North American Tournament for Hearthstone. Please be sure to come back to see further announcements of when tournaments will be popping up.
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Kithros – 1st Place:
Curi – 2nd Place:
Kickascii – 3rd Place:
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If I’ve learned anything since Hearthstone went into beta it is that The Arena is an amazing tool everyone has at their disposal to learn a lot about the game. Playing in this mode allows you to play with cards you may not have yet. It allows you to discover amazing combos you may not have thought of before. It gives you the freedom to be creative and explore new options. Many new players seem to think that Arena is extremely intimidating because you are forging a deck out of 90 random cards and are immediately thrown in to the heat of battle. But, instead of being skeptical, everyone should dive in and learn as much as they can!
I learn from participating and taking notes. I know you’re asking yourself, “Why do I want to take notes when I’m playing a game!?” Well, my friend, the answer is pretty simple. Remember the good ol’ days of High School – jotting down notes, chea-taking exams, eyeballing that really cute girl/guy that you knew you didn’t have a chance with? Imagine, for one moment, that you were taking notes on something you actively wanted to learn and / or get better at! It’s a ridiculous notion, I know. Now, I am not suggesting that you take notes on every single play you do or every card you encounter. What I am suggesting is that you track your Arena progress in a multitude of ways.
There are several amazing spreadsheets and tools that community members have developed that allow you to dissect and analyze a wide array of statistics based on your arena runs. For example, reddit user wdalright has developed a spreadsheet that is beautifully designed and very easy and intuitive to use.
However, with that being said, I take it one step further. I decided to really track my progress and write even MORE about each of the Arena runs I did. Now, bare in mind I am not a excel professional, but, I like to get the most information out of everything I do.
In the beginning this takes a significant amount of extra time to complete as you must write down the options for each of your thirty picks, but, honestly, when I went slower and had to write them down I honestly believe I made wiser choices and really improved my deck. I hand crafted the fine mana curve and card type graph myself as I was creating the deck just so I could see (even though, in game, it is already provided). I also had another section the far right hand side that showed which crowd control type spells I took, which taunt minions I took and how much card draw I had available in the deck. This really allowed me to view the cards from an alternate angle. I felt it was a little more personal and gave me the opportunity to make wiser decisions. I think the most important thing about it was that it actually took me significantly longer than it normally would.
Now, for the record, this deck went 8-3, but I feel like I lost one of those matches because my internet was being spastic and I just wanted to get the match over. In no way am I claiming that I would have won the match, but I probably would have done significantly better had I of had a stable connection. However, I digress. I will use this information in the future and try to build decks that are somewhat related to this. I tried a different approach with this deck because I took less taunt minions and really tried to go outside my own box (as taunt minions are usually a ‘safe’ choice in the minds of many newer players) and try to make smarter minion decision.
There are several other spreadsheets out there if this one doesn’t exactly “rock your boat” and there is also some software out there that you can search for on reddit and various other Hearthstone fan sites that will extract the information with screen cap recognition for you!
barrette123′s spreadsheet for both Arena and Constructed play and that comes with a list of all the cards and their mana costs!
And if you’re not into the really fancy spreadsheets and just want something simple to track your Arena runs with you can go use jmxd’s that he posted on reddit a few weeks ago.
By utilizing these tools you can better prepare yourself for Arena matches in the future and learn about deck composition and the basic fundamentals of what makes cards good in what situations. If, for example, you made an unexpected play or created a new combo that worked under specific conditions, write it down! Don’t lose it. Arena is your chance to play with cards you haven’t opened or crafted yet. It is your opportunity to go outside the box before you commit on crafting. Also, pay close attention to how your opponents play. Watch the cards they use and, again, jot down interesting tactics they utilized against you in combat. Any reference you can create for yourself is just one more piece of information that will help on your journey to becoming a better player.
It is very important to take your time when crafting decks and playing any type of card game as a player should be thinking one, two, maybe even three steps ahead of themselves and have a decent idea of what remains in their deck. if you write down what your deck is composed of or even take a screenshot after you’ve created it you will have a better understanding of what is to come. I found it very useful to be able to reference my spreadsheet to see what cards could be drawn next and I could base my pseudo decisions on these.
However, with that all being said, use the Arena to your advantage. Use it to learn cards, gauge tactics, and above all else have some random fun. There is absolutely no point in complaining or dwelling on poor RNG because your deck didn’t turn out that great…. every loss is an opportunity to learn something you may have overlooked.
— Of course you could just dive in to Arena, pick whatever cards you want and see how it goes! That can be fun too!
Until next time…
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Aggression and control: two facets of a coin, both approaching the same game in a different way so as to secure victory. Aggression, we know, typically relies on heavy usage of minions to assert board dominance and beat down the opponent. Control, on the other hand, is a bit more misunderstood, especially since some of the cards that relate to it are often sprinkled in aggressive decks as a little "push" to help with the previously mentioned board dominance. Not all Control cards belong in Aggression decks, however, and one of those that DO belong in such decks will be the focus of this short article!
Lately, or more specifically since the patch that took place at the beginning of October, Mage has probably been the most dominant class as far as the Aggression archetype is concerned. And there is a reason for it: unlike some Warlock Aggression decks who beat you down recklessly with Flame Imps while casting the occasional Shadow Bolt, their Control spells are both versatile and supportive of the Aggression archetype!
Taking a closer look at one of them specifically, this will make more sense!
Are you getting your Mana's worth out of Frostbolt?
Absolutely!
Frostbolt was changed from a 3-Mana Cost spell in the first Beta content patch to a 2-Mana Cost one, making it highly desirable and partly propelling Mages to the rank of the most played classes! It is now a 2-Mana Cost spell with two components: the 3 damage it deals and its secondary effect, the Freeze. In order to look at the card in a "global" context, we will directly compare it to other similarly designed cards, in all of its aspects.
Demonfire, Wrath, Eviscerate and Slam all are direct damage spells with the same Mana Cost, but with a different secondary component and restrictions.
Demonfire's damage is low (equal to Arcane Shot and Holy Smite, which cost only 1), but the secondary component often makes up for it in the most aggressive Warlock decks, since Flame Imps and Blood Imps are more often than not at the forefront of their strategy. As a removal tool, however, it isn't the best, although it does take care of the annoying Turn 1-2 Knife Jugglers and Acidic Swamp Oozes. The +2/+2 effect it yields "can" be compared to a Mage's use of the Frostbolt to deal 3 damage to the enemy Hero, but has the benefit of being re-usable assuming the minion both survives and, as a pre-requisite, is a DEMON! If the Demon part of the pre-requisite can often be satisfied through deckbuilding, the survival of the minion is far from being systematically guaranteed, and this mildly hinders the card's usability.
Wrath, as a second comparative point, can deal the exact same amount of damage Frostbolt can, but is restricted to target minions. This last restriction has been implemented on the same patch Frostbolt was brought down to a Mana Cost of 2, but it isn't a gamebreaking one. As a counterpart for not Freezing the targeted minion, the Druid can choose to deal only one damage (Mage's Hero Power equivalent), but draw a card as added value. As far as very early removal goes, it doesn't get better than Wrath: it can remove Leper Gnomes, Knife Jugglers and Shattered Sun Clerics. However, Frostbolt gets even better once the middle of the game is reached, as it allows the Mage to both kill minions with 3 Health AND delay incoming aggression, setting up to kill the target at a later time with a Blizzard/Cone of Cold/Hero Power. Plus, it synergizes amazingly with a Sorcerer's Apprentice on turn 3 to both remove a minion AND establish board presence.
Eviscerate, we all know, is one of the most effective cost-to-damage-ratio cards in the games. For 2 mana and an easily attainable prerequisite, you can deal a total of 4 damage to a target of your choosing. Mages are giving up on 1 potential extra damage for a promise of always having access to a 3 damage, aggression-delaying effect that largely synergizes with their AoE spells. The trade-off is balanced, and although there are a lot of circumstances where you would LOVE to have an Eviscerate over a Frostbolt (e.g: a 4-Health minion you have to expend 4 Mana to kill, using your Hero Power in conjunction with your spell), Frostbolt lends itself a lot better to the Mage playstyle than Eviscerate probably would, since the Combo requirement would probablybe steep for early/midgame removal as a non-Rogue class.
Slam, a Warrior card specifically aimed at removing minions, will no doubt remind you of Hammer of Wrath, but also make you praise the Hearthstone gods for Frostbolt. It has the damage output of a Demonfire, but a secondary component that requires that you spend at least another action to finish off your target (if you so desire). It is meant to synergize with Enrage effects whereby you use it on your own Raging Worgen to triggers Windfury and +1 Attack, but it is, unlike Frostbolt, a very unreliable and demanding removal spell. And to top it off, it cannot target enemy Heroes. The card admittedly finds situational purpose, but it is far from being at the level of Frostbolt as far as general value goes.
Same damage, different day.
Lightning Bolt, Kill Command and Hammer of Wrath are all direct damage spells with the same damage output, but a different Mana Cost as well as a different secondary component.
Lightning Bolt, a staple of Shaman decks and arguably one of the best early game removal spells that exist, costs 1 Mana and gives you Frostbolt's damage equivalent. It comes at the cost of one less Mana Crystal on the following turn due to Overload, but is highly efficient when it comes to "curving out" (leaving as few Mana Crystals open at the end of your turn as possible). This "curving out" efficiency I would argue is Lightning Bolt's strongest selling point, but it isn't putting Frostbolt to shame at all. Lightning Bolt's mana efficiency is largely rivaled by the absence of an Overload cost on Frostbolt which, when paired with the the Sorcerer's Apprentice as a very strong Aggression deck synergy, can turn the tides easily in an Aggression mirror match-up. Not to discredit Lightning Bolt, though, I must admit it is probably (with Forked Lightning as a close contender) the spell I view as the prime example of a solid early/mid-game removal spell.
As for, Kill Command is a very tricky card to compare Frostbolt to. On one hand, it is just as versatile as far as targeting goes, and its baseline damage is just as strong. However, its damage output is nearly on par with Fireball when the pre-requisite is met. Much like in the case of Eviscerate, though, I would say that the Mage has a sufficient amount of "pure damage" spells with the existence of Fireball and Pyroblast, and do not need more than they already have at the risk of being imbalanced. From a damage perspective though, and if only because its Mana Cost is lower and it has no pre-requisites, I would tend to favor a card such as Frostbolt regardless of the class I was just because of its consistency. As a Mage, my preference for such a designed card is compounded by my Mage's Hero Power, as well as the existence of Cone of Cold and Blizzard which often finish off the formerly weakened Frostbolt target.
Last of the three, Hammer of Wrath is a very straightforward comparison because of one thing: the Mana Cost between it and Frostbolt is much larger than that of the previous two spells. The extra 2 Mana Crystals expended on the card justify the fact that it "cycles", whereas Frostbolt costs you two less Mana for the same damage yet still provides some utility with a Freezing effect. Not much else is to be said about these cards, aside from the fact that, again, your Hero Power complements Frostbolt a lot better than the Paladin's Hero Power complements his Hammer of Wrath.
Frozen Rock Solid!
Ice Lance, Frost Nova, Cone of Cold, Blizzard and Frost Shock are all damaging spells that share a similar secondary component but a different Mana Cost/damage output, as well as targeting restrictions.
Frost Nova, Cone of Cold and Blizzard can be "bunched" in a single comparison, since they are not single target spells but rather "AoE" spells (Area of Effect) that affect multiple targets at once. The most similar of these to Frostbolt is Cone of Cold, since it typically will deal 3 damage for 3 Mana, and Freeze three minions. It would be a mistake to compare Frostbolt to it regardless, since Cone of Cold is used a lot more as a tempo delay/weakening spell, whereas Frostbolt often aims to kill.
Ice Lance on the other hand seems to serve a purpose akin to that of Frostbolt. It's a cheap spell, and it freezes, and it can deal damage...but the pre-requisite is so situational on Ice Lance that it makes Combo spells and Kill Command look like they're easy to satisfy. Even though it does Freeze a minion at the least, the thing Ice Lance does best is make Frostbolt more appealing by allowing you to synergize both for a total of 7 damage dealt, at a modest cost of 4. I would hardly compare Ice Lance to Frostbolt, but I am more than happy to give it an honorable mention as "Frostbolt's Bestest Friend Ever".
As a last comparison point of this article, we're looking at the absolute most similar card to Frostbolt in the game: Frost Shock. For one mana less than Frostbolt, you can see Shamans lose out on TWO DAMAGE! The efficiency discrepancy is massive! Frostbolt is a combination of a Frost Shock AND an Arcane Shot/Holy Smite, all in ONE CARD and for no Mana Cost penalty. This efficiency discrepancy is only understood in the context of class balance, whereby Shamans have access to a plethora of very efficient removal spells already(Lightning Bolt, Forked Lightning, Lightning Storm, and Lava Burst), and the fact that they have a readily available +Spell Power source in their summoned Wrath of Air Totem. In this regard you could argue that Mages "need" something like Frostbolt as a reliable early game removal spell, and I would tend to agree, but its power level is further alongside the curve than some people yet realize!
The Verdict
Frostbolt, after the patch lowered its Mana Cost from 3 to 2, has become a "no brainer" when it comes to building a Mage deck; much like every Warrior plays Fiery War Axes (or should), every Mage plays Frostbolts. And if you're not playing Frostbolt yet, "ye're doin' it wrong!"
On this light note, and hoping I didn't just convince the remaining 40% of non-Mage players to change their class, take care of yourselves!
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October 27th, 2013 was the very beginning of what is sure to be the first of many European tournaments hosted by MLG and ManaGrind. By the time the tournament officially began at 2PM EST, there were 122 participants thirsty for competition. After a few hours that journey came to an end as Wuaschtsemme and ReconRaccoon came forth on to the tabletop and threw down their cards in an epic struggle between tempo, card advantage and board presence! In the end, however, only one could be declared the winner and Wuaschtsemme beat out ReconRaccoon 3-1.
Moments after the dust had settle and the cards were electronically put away we had the opportunity to interview Wuaschtsemme and investigate how he rose to the top and took home an epic victory that may be the first of many!
Name: Thomas Mühlbauer
Age: 24
Location: Baravaria, Germany
To see the remaining top decks from the 10/27/13 tournament click here.
Previous Games:
Previous Wins at Other Competitive Tournaments:
What made you decide to get into the competitive scene and enter the MLG/ManaGrind Tournament?
Now that you are a part of EU ManaGrind what are your expectation and goals?
What was your favorite part about the tournament itself?
Who was your toughest opponent?
Were there any competitors you were glad you did not have to go up against?
Will you be joining future MLG/ManaGrind tournament?
What went through your mind when you won?
Which archetype would have been the biggest threat to your main deck and why?
Which Neutral cards do you favor and why?
What makes some one consistently good at Hearthstone?
How do you prepare for tournaments?
What card brought the most utility in main deck?
Any advice for people who are just getting into the game and want to improve?
Thank you Wuaschtsemme and everyone else for coming out and competing in MLG/ManaGrind’s European Kick Off Tournament for Hearthstone. Please be sure to come back to see further announcements of when tournaments will be popping up.