Hearthpwn

I think that nerfing Thaurassan in such a way that he becomes unplayable like you suggest is a horrible idea. There are better ways to nerf him, and I'm confident that Blizzard will find a way to do so without making him unplayable. They have data and resources far beyond what we have. Personally, though I know I will get a ton of hate for this, I don't think Thaurassan or any part of the patron deck needs to be nerfed at all. Every single time a deck becomes broken, or more often, perceived as broken, the community reacts with hate. This is nothing new, and it is to be expected with an infuriating deck like patron running around. 

The thing is, just because a deck is annoying doesn't mean it should be nerfed. A deck should be nerfed if it is too strong; that is all. I come from a background of Magic: The Gathering, and if you thought patron was broken as hell, take a look over there. Consistent turn 4 infinite damage combos on one end of the spectrum, and extraordinarily slow control decks on the other end, yet somehow the meta exists in a perfectly balanced harmony, and they're not even allowed to change cards. The thing that balances everything out? New cards and a different design that Hearthstone.

The problem with Hearthstone isn't the cards. It's that it wasn't built to handle combo decks. It was built to handle fun, interactive decks; every rule and every effect they designed in the beta was meant to create a fun interactive game. So naturally, when combo decks begin to manifest, or any form of one-sided deck really, people complain. It's because the game is fundamentally not ready to handle these decks, and until they fix the game, not the cards, it will stay like this. 

That's my analysis, and I'm more than willing to change it, but I do feel that this is the main reason behind every unfair Hearthstone deck.

The great thing about this card is that if it were created, it would help push several archetypes into existence without buffing zoo, and it would probably not make it into handlock lists. Though it is a powerful effect, it only triggers when a minion attacks your face and is only good when that minion is greater than say a 3/2. The rest of the time, it is fairly weak, as it does not immediately affect the board state. It is great against aggro, as getting it with mad scientist slows down their tempo, but not so great against control, where they can just sit back and fight for board; they don't have to go for face. It's a difficult card to evaluate, but I think the 4 mana cost balances it out enough so that it doesn't push warlock to be too powerful, especially since it's so easy for your opponents to play around and you can be forced to wait a long time to get value.

Flavortext:

"You will join me, the easy way or the hard way. But I can promise, the easy way will be far less messy."

I've not actually been playing on 3 or 4, but playing it in the late game while your low on cards. Its been preforming really well for me there, where the 3/2 body has been able to get several hits in, but it might just be variance. For now, I'm going to keep playing him and keep testing with him, as while my current results suggest that he is worth it, I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't the best card for the slot.

Question: Why no Goblin Auto-Barber? I've been testing it out and it works really well vs alot of decks, its almost like a 3rd or 4th deadly poison against aggro, and against control, it's still a 3/2 for 2 with upside.

The age old question. Is combo druid better, or ramp druid? 

I'm not entirely sure of the answer. Combo druid has the potential to win out of nowhere, but isn't as consistent, with your hand getting clogged up with spells you might not want. Ramp druid has more consistent draws, but gets a lot of expensive cards stuck in their hand later game and can't play all of them. So which is better???

I'm not sure which is worse, the people that make people salty, or the salty people when they flock to forums like these.

Anduin seems not great as well, as +2 health for 2 still isn't that great, and probably not worth the card.

I've never seen the full, blown up art of fen creeper before, and damn it looks good.

Ah, the typical, "hunter is op" argument. I've said this once and I'll say it again, you beat hunter by killing them before they kill you. This doesn't mean only slowing down their clock, it can also mean speeding up yours. One of the most common mistakes I see lower-ranked players make against hunter is play too defensively and not take enough risks. 

@GoToTheSatan: The reason there is so much hate is because people tech in all these super hard counters, and they still lose because they're not dealing any damage to the hunter.

There's no way this will replace zombie chow. The 3 health is the difference between a 1 for 1 and a 2 for 1, and it doesn't need you to activate your hero power. The five life doesn't really matter at all.

I would assume that there won't be many druids around rank 14-17, but there is a reasonable amount at higher ranks. I would assume that since it is a difficult deck to build, most people who have already built it would be a higher rank. Its similar to why there are so few warriors at low ranks; Control Warrior is very expensive and Patron Warrior is very hard to play.

I made this deck a few days ago and have been mucking around rank 7 since.

Yes, I know, its strange. It runs buzzard and unleash and all sorts of other cards usually deemed bad, but it has been preforming fairly well and I think that, with a few modifications, I could begin pushing the gold ranks with it. 

(and no, taking out all the combo cards and putting in Skill Command and Animal Companion does not count as "Modifications")

--- Quick Summary Of How The Deck Plays Out ---

The deck plays out fairly slowly at first, usually playing Tracking into Loot Hoarder/Mad Scientist/Nerubian Egg. It begins to deal with opposing threats turn 3 with Eaglehorn Bow, Explosive trap, and Wild Pyromancer + Hunter's Mark. It can get board presence with the Eggs and buff cards including Defender of Argus and Dire Wolf Alpha, using Hunter's Mark to kill their threats and get a 4/4. 

Eventually, this deck does one of two things. It either keeps board control and wins through Savannah Highmane, other threats, and the hunter hero power, or it loses board control and combo's with Unleash the Hounds + Buzzard/Dire Wolf Alpha/Cult Master, drawing through its deck and executing powerful mini-combos such as Tundra Rhino + Savannah Highmane. It later wins by getting board control and not letting your opponent catch up.

So what do you think? What changes should I make to make it more competitive? As of now, it's mainly losing when it fails to deal with the opponent's threats and when you fatigue yourself and run out of damage, so any help with that would be fantastic.

Thanks beforehand to those of you who help.

 I've been playing a deck similar to this recently. The combo for mine is slightly different, but getting there should be about the same.

First off, 2 Wild Pyromancer is an absolute MUST. The card is incredibly good and efficient with Acolyte of Pain and Hunter's Mark.

The draw package I'm using for my deck is fairly similar, but i'm running 1 Starving Buzzard instead of Acolyte of Pain. The card is very good with 2 Unleash the Hounds and Snake Trap. However, you might not want to run it, as you are running only 1 Unleash the Hounds. I would, however, advise running 2.

I'm also running 2 Explosive Trap instead of Freezing Trap, as it sets your opponent much farther behind.

I would also suggest running one Savannah Highmane, as it is great with a discounted Tundra Rhino and can allow you to get board control the turn before you combo.

A quick list of cards I would consider taking out of your deck: Animal Companion, Mechanical Yeti, and 1 Antique Healbot.

I think the problem is that most people look at this brawl and say, "Oh man, I can turn 1 deathwing turn 2 nefarian turn 3 ysera". Quite frankly that's the least effective strategy you can use, but a lot of people are using it. The other really popular strategy is turn 1 alexstraza turn 2 chargers and win. This one is actually fairly good, but can be countered in a variety of ways.

If you try and build a deck in one of these archtypes, you will lose. It will just be a worse version of your opponent's deck. You have to build a deck to counter these archtypes to win. Personally, I'm using a high-taunt mill rogue, but I'll let you try and solve the problem your own way.

What do you all do when you get bored with hearthstone? I've played several different decks to legend and finished both of the adventures on heroic. It seems like there's not a lot else to do. I personally don't enjoy arena too much and most fun decks I build get crushed on ladder and casual. Tavern brawl has certainly helped, but this week's is really bad. 

Does anyone have any ideas?