I agree in that Paladin stands out this expansion as having no real effort put in to a coherent play style or deck type, very lacking in flavour and many of its class cards seem as interesting and powerful as common neutral pack fillers.
In the past few expansions it seems to me that the successful Paladin archetypes have actually been ones that Blizzard did not put much effort into supporting. They definitely did not intend for Holy Wrath and OTK to be viable, that was all the communities work. As you say, the devs card choices for the last few expansions have been incoherent and unimaginative.
But this expansion is another level of neglect and boring design, we just have to hope we can find a way to make Reborn work.
It's a game with a very very low skill cap and high RNG meaning that most games boil down to luck, and it's also a game that is very badly balanced with a dev team that does not particularly care about balance but rather a rotating series of broken decks that encourage pack sales.
You could not really design a more pointless and irritating game if you tried and the fact that it is played "competitively" is the biggest joke of all. The question is why do we bother? Mild addiction to opening cards? Dumb hope that things will change? Take your pick really but ultimately it's our fault for wasting our time on this mediocre trash.
I can certainly see Stormforged Axe in this deck but I'd be careful about what I would substitute it in for. I wouldn't use it as an alternative to any of the current early game or any of the late game value generation as right now I feel like it has just the right balance of the two.
I wouldn't go much further in on overload but certainly Stormforged Axe would have nice synergy with Unbound Elemental. It's also important to have a couple overload cards in the deck in order to be able to play Snowfury Giants that are often generated during the game.
I believe Shudderwock is not only strong, but may even be stronger, as simply another high value potential win condition in a midrange/control deck.
Building your deck entirely around the OTK makes you extremely draw reliant, meaning aggro and midrange can often out race you.
On the other hand simply using him as a late game way to clear the board, draw cards and develop a threat is very strong.
Which minions have battlecries to this effect? Elementals of course!
Elemental Shaman primarily lacked the tempo to keep up with other midrange decks in the early game and a win con to close out vs control. Witchwood plugs all these gaps.
Personally I believe that Shudderwock in an Elemental Shaman (with Hagatha) is a serious contender for a high tier meta deck, it has the tools to deal with every archetype and two solid win cons in these two new legendaries.
Currently running a 70% win rate with this deck over 50ish games.
There's a lot of hype around the new Shaman legendary Shudderwock, much emphasis has been on designing decks around it's potential to one turn kill. However, Shudderwock is not only strong, but may even be stronger, as simply another high value potential win condition in a midrange/control deck.
Less hype has surrounded Hagatha the Witch however she too provides immense value in decks such as these.
I find the key is that both cards synergise with elemental decks as these not only play a lot of minions, but play a lot of minions with battlecries.
This, combined with other new cards available to Shaman in Witchwood, turns Elemental Shaman from a workable but lacklustre midrange deck to a high powered midrange deck that is not only capable of being highly aggressive in the early game but can also act as a control deck with huge late game threats and near endless value generation.
With the launch of Witchwood and the hype around the new Shaman legendary Shudderwock, much emphasis has been on designing decks around it's potential to one turn kill. However, Shudderwock is not only strong, but may even be stronger, as simply another high value potential win condition in a midrange/control deck.
Less hype has surrounded Hagatha the Witch however she too provides immense value in decks such as these.
I find the key is that both cards synergise with elemental decks as these not only play a lot of minions, but play a lot of minions with battlecries.
This, combined with other new cards available to Shaman in Witchwood, turns Elemental Shaman from a workable but lacklustre midrange deck to a high powered midrange deck that is not only capable of being highly aggressive in the early game but can also act as a control deck with huge late game threats and near endless value generation.
So nobody is bothering to guess the effect anymore?
Paragon of Light looks almost certainly like a Paladin card, sounds like it should be a minion. If Paladin doesn't get a card with lifesteal this expansion then I would be very surprised as both The Glass Knight and the previous expansions heal dependent cards suddenly take a huge hit before ever having a chance to become a thing, given the rotation of Wickerflame. I would also be surprised if it didn't have lifesteal as a keyword rather than something like, battlecry: give another minion lifesteal, because Countess Ashmore then has barely any playable lifesteal cards to draw in almost any class. Paladin is also then left with basically no reason to ever play rush which is one of the major themes of this expansion.
So I'm going to guess:
Paragon of Light - Epic - Minion
6 mana 5/6
Lifesteal
Rush
We will definitely see another Paladin secret this expansion and I think it will be a strong one but this is unlikely to be it.
Jade/Raze/Cubelock are actually things that should not exists in this game balance, theyre Control/Combo hybrid decks. While pushing out any other control deck with fixed win conditions theyre also way to strong against aggro thus why there are basically no real aggro decks atm only midrange tempo decks.
Normaly a combo deck that generates almost limitless value should lose most games to aggressive decks but those decks have to much aoe and heal for aggro decks to kill them.
I very much agree with this, it has been one of the main issues with the meta during this and the last few expansions.
The whole control > midrange > aggro > combo > control cycle is almost always ruined in Hearthstone by a few degenerate cards that let one archetype, usually in one class, trump two or more archetypes.
The most common victim is pure control and as you say this time it is dying to the control-combo hybrids. Warlock, Priest and Mage all have control decks with game winning combos that make playing any other control deck absolutely pointless. Nevermind Control Hunter never seeing the light of day, you have classes that on paper should be highly viable control classes like Paladin and Shaman totally unviable for most of the history of the game because if ever a meta appears in which control can survive, only the control-combo hybrids can be viable.
I'll say it now, there should not exist control-combo hybrids in the game. The damage this does to diversity is just huge.
If it wasn't for Cuba and Aluneth and Ice Block and Raza etc. then you would see many more control and midrange decks rising to meet the aggro and tempo decks that we see now.
The most unfunny thing about Hearthstone, and there is a lot to choose from, is being pigeon-holed into 3-4 decks maximum, usually in 2-3 classes maximum, to be truly viable. In a game with 4 archetypes and 9 classes that's a gigantic failure of design. Playing as and against the same 3-4 decks is crushingly boring.
I've been looking for a way to make Valeera the Hollow shine as I feel she adds very little to most existing Rogue archetypes. One deck she does fit perfectly, however, is Mill Rogue.
KFT brings a few tools for Mill Rogue, namely Shadowblade making you immune to fatigue, Plague Scientist offering another board clear with Wild Pyro, and ofc Valeera just making the whole strategy more consistent and buying you an extra turn.
As usual with Mill Rogue, you are strong vs. control and some midrange, and typically weak vs. aggro, however with a good mulligan that too is winnable.
Frankly, against a lot of the meta right now (control), the strength of this deck is frankly a joke. I am still to lose to a Priest or Druid.
1
I agree in that Paladin stands out this expansion as having no real effort put in to a coherent play style or deck type, very lacking in flavour and many of its class cards seem as interesting and powerful as common neutral pack fillers.
In the past few expansions it seems to me that the successful Paladin archetypes have actually been ones that Blizzard did not put much effort into supporting. They definitely did not intend for Holy Wrath and OTK to be viable, that was all the communities work. As you say, the devs card choices for the last few expansions have been incoherent and unimaginative.
But this expansion is another level of neglect and boring design, we just have to hope we can find a way to make Reborn work.
5
Man.. this is probably the worst expansion for Paladin in years
8
Free mana is always going to be overpowered. Always.
1
A 3 mana draw engine with stealth is almost always going to be broken good.
1
It's a game with a very very low skill cap and high RNG meaning that most games boil down to luck, and it's also a game that is very badly balanced with a dev team that does not particularly care about balance but rather a rotating series of broken decks that encourage pack sales.
You could not really design a more pointless and irritating game if you tried and the fact that it is played "competitively" is the biggest joke of all. The question is why do we bother? Mild addiction to opening cards? Dumb hope that things will change? Take your pick really but ultimately it's our fault for wasting our time on this mediocre trash.
0
I can certainly see Stormforged Axe in this deck but I'd be careful about what I would substitute it in for. I wouldn't use it as an alternative to any of the current early game or any of the late game value generation as right now I feel like it has just the right balance of the two.
I wouldn't go much further in on overload but certainly Stormforged Axe would have nice synergy with Unbound Elemental. It's also important to have a couple overload cards in the deck in order to be able to play Snowfury Giants that are often generated during the game.
0
I believe Shudderwock is not only strong, but may even be stronger, as simply another high value potential win condition in a midrange/control deck.
Building your deck entirely around the OTK makes you extremely draw reliant, meaning aggro and midrange can often out race you.
On the other hand simply using him as a late game way to clear the board, draw cards and develop a threat is very strong.
Which minions have battlecries to this effect? Elementals of course!
Elemental Shaman primarily lacked the tempo to keep up with other midrange decks in the early game and a win con to close out vs control. Witchwood plugs all these gaps.
Personally I believe that Shudderwock in an Elemental Shaman (with Hagatha) is a serious contender for a high tier meta deck, it has the tools to deal with every archetype and two solid win cons in these two new legendaries.
My list:
0
0
Currently running a 70% win rate with this deck over 50ish games.
There's a lot of hype around the new Shaman legendary Shudderwock, much emphasis has been on designing decks around it's potential to one turn kill. However, Shudderwock is not only strong, but may even be stronger, as simply another high value potential win condition in a midrange/control deck.
Less hype has surrounded Hagatha the Witch however she too provides immense value in decks such as these.
I find the key is that both cards synergise with elemental decks as these not only play a lot of minions, but play a lot of minions with battlecries.
This, combined with other new cards available to Shaman in Witchwood, turns Elemental Shaman from a workable but lacklustre midrange deck to a high powered midrange deck that is not only capable of being highly aggressive in the early game but can also act as a control deck with huge late game threats and near endless value generation.
Here's my list:
1
With the launch of Witchwood and the hype around the new Shaman legendary Shudderwock, much emphasis has been on designing decks around it's potential to one turn kill. However, Shudderwock is not only strong, but may even be stronger, as simply another high value potential win condition in a midrange/control deck.
Less hype has surrounded Hagatha the Witch however she too provides immense value in decks such as these.
I find the key is that both cards synergise with elemental decks as these not only play a lot of minions, but play a lot of minions with battlecries.
This, combined with other new cards available to Shaman in Witchwood, turns Elemental Shaman from a workable but lacklustre midrange deck to a high powered midrange deck that is not only capable of being highly aggressive in the early game but can also act as a control deck with huge late game threats and near endless value generation.
Here's my list:
0
If it enables Corpsetaker and is drawn by Countess then it's good, if neither then it is trash.
0
So nobody is bothering to guess the effect anymore?
Paragon of Light looks almost certainly like a Paladin card, sounds like it should be a minion. If Paladin doesn't get a card with lifesteal this expansion then I would be very surprised as both The Glass Knight and the previous expansions heal dependent cards suddenly take a huge hit before ever having a chance to become a thing, given the rotation of Wickerflame. I would also be surprised if it didn't have lifesteal as a keyword rather than something like, battlecry: give another minion lifesteal, because Countess Ashmore then has barely any playable lifesteal cards to draw in almost any class. Paladin is also then left with basically no reason to ever play rush which is one of the major themes of this expansion.
So I'm going to guess:
Paragon of Light - Epic - Minion
6 mana 5/6
Lifesteal
Rush
We will definitely see another Paladin secret this expansion and I think it will be a strong one but this is unlikely to be it.
1
1
KFT brings a few tools for Mill Rogue, namely Shadowblade making you immune to fatigue, Plague Scientist offering another board clear with Wild Pyro, and ofc Valeera just making the whole strategy more consistent and buying you an extra turn.
As usual with Mill Rogue, you are strong vs. control and some midrange, and typically weak vs. aggro, however with a good mulligan that too is winnable.
Frankly, against a lot of the meta right now (control), the strength of this deck is frankly a joke. I am still to lose to a Priest or Druid.
1
With Uther, those 2/2s cannot be ignored, they demand removal every turn.
It's also an automatic win in top deck wars.