Hearthpwn

Hi guys! I owe you an explanation!

Last summer, I got a new hobby, and during the fall of 2021, I had a very important and demanding IRL task which required my full attention, so I decided to stop all gaming to increase my odds of being successful. The strategy worked, and I will soon return to my home country in a new and very interesting job!

To my surprise, the desire to return to Hearthstone when I had more time was gone, including maintaining this guide. It felt a bit like trying to make out with an ex you are not into anymore, so I have realized everything has an end.

Thank you all for the journey, I have learned a lot, and I hope mountains of dust have found satisfying homes! This guide actually outlasted both my own MOD career and even the previous admin team of this site, and I will always be proud of having made something online which amassed over 1 million views!

See you around!

I am not really sure what "pure control" even means anymore. There have been so many styles called "control" now:

Warrior: Value running more high-end. First by running more big threats, later including C'THUN and Dr. Boom hero

-Fatigue: Usually running Elysiana, but also coldlights and Deathlords.

-Big, cheating out big minions ahead of curve, but other classes do this better.

Druid: Big/taunt/clown

Jades: Will always outvalue you, but is slow, and it can still lose to tech cards or more explosive "control" decks.

Mage: Highlander. This is probably the purest control deck in the current Wild meta, but it requires smart teaching to have a chance in some matchups without hurting others too much.

Mill/Grinder: Were a thing a few times, but probably won't ever be viable again.

Priest: Big. This is actually a real control deck, and if you don't hit a nuts opening or your respool gets messed up it is very clear that it is one. However, this deck is also FASTER than most midrange decks, and aggro needs to kill this before turn 6 despite healing and removal.

Removal/healing/discover control. These decks were super reactive and designed to win with fatigue or slowly hitting face with whichever leftover minions they had when the opponent was out of resources.

Warlock: Handlock would probably barely be in the "explosive control" as it is usually defending against decks like classic druids, but Evenlock is midrange imo.

-Renolock is a control deck similar to Reno mage, running a lot of the same cards and requiring careful tech and play.

Control paladin and shaman were only niche decks a long time ago, and all other slow decks are combo or midrange imo.

So, what is "pure control" and how many of the old archetypes really go in this category? I would expect mostly priest and warrior decks ...

More expected tiers have been added. I am awaiting nerf announcements to place them in the guide.

Quote from PetiteMouche >>

If you think it's horrible then go back in time be a new player in 2015 with no duplicate protection, no lego in first 10 packs, no reward track, no free lego or legendary quest on expansion day, nothing

At least there were other players with similar collections, and a much bigger player pool so the skillgap was much wider. Also, decks in general were much less expensive back then.

I am quite angry they didn't allow the "core" collection in the "classic" mode. Playing "Classic" for free would have been a great way for new players to get into the game!

I have to say I am slightly disappointed about this. I was expecting something like:

-An interresting tournament with decent prices
-A creative competition.
-A new way to play the game, supported by Hearthpwn.

Instead, we get a "competition" between handpicked legendary cards... where the team predecided a whole lot.

This is a community competition done RIGHT, and the winners get both cash prizes and get chosen as ladder maps:
https://tl.net/forum/starcraft-2/575549-tlnet-map-contest-15-voting-results-and-winners

Here is a "pointless" competition done right:
https://tl.net/forum/sc2-tournaments/560491-greatest-map-of-all-time-tournament

This one was about starcraft 2 maps "competing" for a title. I found it especially interresting that 176 maps started out, and that there was a "worst" title as well. The first round started out with group voting.

Please take note! It is possible to make "pointless" votings for a lot of things in Hearthstone, like metas, archetypes, expansions, epic cards...

I think this thread or a similar concept could be revived at some point, it surely showed potential before it died!
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-deck-building/228308-game-hearthpwns-deck-building-challenge

I am back! Expected tiers are now added for some of the new legendaries. Many of them also had a significant Wild impact!

Quote from parishbishop >>

Imagine playing Scrabble. You have a quest to spell the word "Sparkles". If you do , you win the game.

So for 10 games in a row, you draw every letter except the letters u need for Sparkles. 

You get discouraged, but decide to try again the next day. 

Once again, you keep drawing z, y, w, and m's   over and over again. 

And then it happens....You have the perfect opening hand, s-p-a-r-   all you need is a few more letters and you win.  But the guy your playing this game is also trying to spell Sparkles!!!!  NO, say it aint so, not like this. Please no........

As you realize this, your opponent is laying down the tiles to spell word youve tried to spell for 2 days!!!   And to make it worse, he steals one of your letters and uses that to finish you off! LIke how cruel can this game be? 

I made a deck with only 5 cards 7 mana or higher, and in 9 or 10 games, I consistently drew 6,7,8, even the sole N'Zoth 9 drop  every damn game. Trying to complete Priests questline, having all my 2 drops and 3 drops still in the deck not drawn. And to make even worse, I have tons of cards that discover more cards in my list, so it should theoretically be easier to find the mana curve needed to complete the quest. 

Today I try again, and get beat by Quest Priest , who effortlessly completes his quest on curve and steals one of my cards to do it!! Being finished off by the very thing Im trying to do is like being punched in the belly. 

I hate this game sometimes.  Still havent completed the quest even once yet. Meanwhile Mage, Warlock, Paladin, Hunter ,and Warrior are cruising like theres no tomorrow. Poor Priest. Poor me. 

Is control finally dead as a viable option?   IM gonna try some big warrior next and see what that fells like. 2 days of Priest is getting tedious. 

LOL 

 If you want to win with inconsistent and gimmicky control and combo decks you either need more patience or find another game.

No. That requires cards, mana or that he sticks, and magnetic mech decks have not been Wild viable for a long time because of transform effects and a high power level.

Why didn't this at least get Taunt to be half useful? Fal'dorei Strider is WAY better and has stronger synergies in the class, but even that card was never more than "solid"

Quote from Reacherl >>

This investigation was going on for two years though. These charges (from the state of California) are the result of the END of investigation not the start, due to one ex-employee.
And a State won't risk filing a accusation of this magnitude on one of the biggest companies in their juistriction, if they found "questionable" evidence.
This ordeal really outgrew "percieved discrimination". You may read up on it (or not), but the question isn't if the accusations are warranted, but rather on wich accusations Actiblizz can slither away bc of formal errors, deals and the like.

I know the investigation concluded in this case, but my point was that we can't possibly know the whole story.

I am familiar with several examples of ex-emplyees framing their former employers in nasty ways which do not stand up in court.

I'll wait for the conclusion of the lawsuit. There are definitely 2 sides of this story, and things which are perceived as discrimination can be something else when looking at the whole picture.

I am not saying Blizzard is 100% innocent either, but I do not like how people and companies are judged by the public as soon as a lawsuit is filed and some times even as an investigation STARTS.

Thanks a lot to SirJohn13!

Here are the first parts of the updates for the Wild section:

Shudderwock Tier 2 to 1
Dragonqueen Alexstrasza Tier 1 to 2
Siamat Tier 2 to 3
Dr. Boom, Mad Genius Tier 2 to 3
Vessina Tier 2 to 4
Dollmaster Dorian Tier 2 to 4
Sathrovarr Tier 2 to 4
Colossus of the Moon Tier 2 to 4
Face Collector Tier 4 to 5
Doctor Krastinov Removed from the Wild section

The announced new legendaries has also been added to the "awaiting placement" section.

If you spot inconistencies or errors, please post them in the thread and it will be looked into!

Buildaround: Playing an archetype without this card does not make sense. Ex: Baku the Mooneater in Odd paladin 

Staple: The archeype can be played without this card, but it will almost certainly hurt your winrate.  EX Death Speaker Blackthorn in deathrattle DH.

Good card/near staple: The card performs very well in an archetype, but you can find replacements which are about as good.

Playable: The card is not strictly necessary for the archetype, but can be a nice personal twist or tech option. EX: Al'ar in deathrattle DH.

Niche: Used both for cards rarely used in common archetypes and important cards for rare archetypes.

THE TIERS:
The focus of this list is competetive ranked play. Fun/interesting cards and cards performing well in duels or other formats are usually not given a bonus.

TIER 1:
Flexible cards which see a lot of play in different classes and archeypes and important cards for the strongest decks.

TIER 2:
Cards which are typically very important for "tier 2" decks or viable tech options in tier 1 decks. Also contains some flexible cards which do not have the play- and winrates to be put in tier 1.

TIER 3:
These cards are typically not strictly necessary for competetive play, but that does not mean that they are never seen in the top end of the ladder! These cards are recommended for fans of particular classes or if you want to try a specific deck and have the dust to spare.

TIER 4:
These cards will typically gather dust in your collection and hurt your winrate as tech cards, but they can be used for meme decks, tavern brawls and curveballs to  surprise your opponent. Also the "graveyard" of staples of many outdated archetypes, especially in the Wild section.

TIER 5:
While the the tier 4 cards might give you some moments of joy, the tier 5 cards should bring mostly disappointment with their low powerlevel and how hard it is to make them work as intended. Many of these cards have common, rare and epic counterparts which are strictly better for almost every situation

Added a "how to read this list" section at the top of the OP. I should probably have done this a while ago, but for regular readers, I think this is all known information.

Not having the core set available in Classic was such a missed oportunity to make the game more accessible to new players.

Now, Classic is all about super-veterans getting their nostalgia fix, and not many remain there now.

Quote from Phoesias >>

This list is just completely useless

i mean just one example, Deck of Lunacy* - Playable in no minion mage.

OK. thx Captain Obvious. 

Give some more examples, please, and I will check if I have to do changes. Note there is a difference between "staple", "good card in", "playable", and "sees niche play in". Every card gets the same treatment, and the description should be matching how important the card is for the deck it is mostly played in. Regulars in this thread rightly often give feedback when they don't think a card is "staple" in a deck and should be demoted.

Some updates for the Standard section:
Kresh, Lord of Turtling To tier 2
Mutanus the Devourer To tier 2
Inara Stormcrash Tier 1 to 2
Cariel Roame Tier 2 to 3
Apothecary Helbrim Tier 3 to 4
Dark Inquisitor Xanesh Tier 5 to 4

Also added the new cards in the "Awaiting placement" section at the top.