How was heartstone played way back in June 2014? Some users here might not even have started playing the game back then, and everybody, including myself, needs a refresher about which decks and mechanics dominated the game.
First some general points: 1: Some of the cards were AMAZING in their unnerfed forms, and would even be all over Wild today. These include: Leeroy Jenkins, Innervate, Force of Nature, Hunter's Mark, Wild Growth, Soulfire and Starving Buzzard, Big Game Hunter and others. 2: There were almost no synergies, the notable exception was beasts in hunter. 3: There was almost no card creation, with Thoughtsteal the only real exception. 4: There were almost no random minion summons, Bane of Doom saw little play. 5: The powerlevel of "curve" minions was a LOT lower than in later expansions. Oasis Snapjaw was played in midrange hunter, and Sen'jin Shieldmasta was an absolute staple in defensive decks. 6: Lord Jaraxxus was the only option for grinding out your opponent with value. 7: Only druid had vibale turn 7-plays. Other classes had to resort to cards like sunwalker and cairne bloodhoof, awaiting ragnaros the firelord on turn 8.
8: The "a board in a card" and resurrect mechanics were still far off, and did not take off until N'Zoth, the Corruptor. The minions you put in your deck were the ones you would see in play, once each, which was a reason why Faceless Manipulator saw so much play.
So where to start deckbuilding for the new format? 2 classes really stand out, Druid and Hunter. Here is a fairly standard double combo druid Frezzar used at Dreamhack Summer:
But it was also possible to take a more defensive approach, like Reynad did in the same tournament. Some players also made compromises between the 2 approaches, running 1 or 1,5x the FON/SR combo:
And then, there was an old favourite of mine: the Leeroy Jenkins combo handlock. Giants, taunts and big burst damage, what is there not to love in this archetype?
Warrior was not in its best spot with all the midrange decks, as they had a hard time keeping up with the steady stream of threats followed by burst, but they did exist. Note that double Brawl was not invented yet, but time will tell if it was an oversight or if it actually made sense at the time:
In general, this was a MIDRANGE metagame, but with a lot of focus on burst combos. I It will be interresting to see if the best deckbuilders of the day reached the highest powerlevel of the patch, or if the decks above can be improved with the knowledge and tools of today, using the old cards.
I am certainly looking forward to revisiting the olden days of heartstone!
I am definitely planning on dusting off my old freeze mage deck. It was the first one I ever climbed the latter with. Ice block and ice lance feel like old friends I haven't seen in a while.
Does anyone think it will be possible to find a deck that wasn't meta/played back then with the knowledge players have now? Totally different game but the Classic WoW meta now is a very different to the game I played 15 years ago. Has HS got that room for new discoveries?
Personally I'm not sure deck building is going to be any fun and Blizz might as well just release classic with 2/3 decks for each class rather than a whole set of cards. It will be interesting to have to think a bit more though and will be good to have games not being won by discovered cards or pure RNG.
I started during the Naxx release; I got wing 1 for free because apparently there was a Blizzard eff-up on the timeline so they did it to compensate... but I wasn't even a player at the time :p (Just to give perspective on timeline) Back then, the most popular decks were Undertaker Facehunter, Control Warrior, Handlock, and Combo Druid (Old Force of Nature + Savage Roar) I used to play a secret mage back when I started, and NOBODY knew what the mage secrets did because mage was 9th on playrate at the time (freeze mage had just had pyroblast and a couple other cards nerfed right before I started, and people were still butthurt over it) and I would get legend back handlocks dumping giants on turn 4 into mirror entity. My dream f2p opening was Mana Wyrm on 1 and coin into Kirin Tor + any secret. I can't believe it took until 2019-2020 for people to figure out Kirin Tor Mage was good...
Thank you very much for this article! Well done indeed. I hope everybody thanx you and appreciates the time it took to make this. Very informative and nostalgic as well. Awesome!!
I started during the Naxx release; I got wing 1 for free because apparently there was a Blizzard eff-up on the timeline so they did it to compensate... but I wasn't even a player at the time :p (Just to give perspective on timeline) Back then, the most popular decks were Undertaker Facehunter, Control Warrior, Handlock, and Combo Druid (Old Force of Nature + Savage Roar) I used to play a secret mage back when I started, and NOBODY knew what the mage secrets did because mage was 9th on playrate at the time (freeze mage had just had pyroblast and a couple other cards nerfed right before I started, and people were still butthurt over it) and I would get legend back handlocks dumping giants on turn 4 into mirror entity. My dream f2p opening was Mana Wyrm on 1 and coin into Kirin Tor + any secret. I can't believe it took until 2019-2020 for people to figure out Kirin Tor Mage was good...
You have to remember how important Mad Scientist was for mage secrets, and even so, tempo based mages did not break through until Goblin Blastmage and Flamewaker. Arcanologist should have been printed a lot sooner, and I don't think it would have been problematic at all.
Mage had some good cards, but pre-nax, going minion based ended up just being a worse druid.
the coreset gets new toys, so the meta wont be the same. if they did their homework they playtested topdecks from all the seasons against each other and came up with something balanced.
Could you create a Classic Format forum, rather than deleting 2 days of posts and create an echo chamber?
Basics of foruming.
Not that I have nor ever had the power to create new forums, but tbh, I think this site needs LESS separate forums rather than more to not spread the activity too thin. I have a feeling most just clicks whatever comes up on the front page anyway.
Idk what you are talking about with the deleted posts and echo chamber.
How was heartstone played way back in June 2014? Some users here might not even have started playing the game back then, and everybody, including myself, needs a refresher about which decks and mechanics dominated the game.
First some general points:
1: Some of the cards were AMAZING in their unnerfed forms, and would even be all over Wild today. These include: Leeroy Jenkins, Innervate, Force of Nature, Hunter's Mark, Wild Growth, Soulfire and Starving Buzzard, Big Game Hunter and others.
2: There were almost no synergies, the notable exception was beasts in hunter.
3: There was almost no card creation, with Thoughtsteal the only real exception.
4: There were almost no random minion summons, Bane of Doom saw little play.
5: The powerlevel of "curve" minions was a LOT lower than in later expansions. Oasis Snapjaw was played in midrange hunter, and Sen'jin Shieldmasta was an absolute staple in defensive decks.
6: Lord Jaraxxus was the only option for grinding out your opponent with value.
7: Only druid had vibale turn 7-plays. Other classes had to resort to cards like sunwalker and cairne bloodhoof, awaiting ragnaros the firelord on turn 8.
8: The "a board in a card" and resurrect mechanics were still far off, and did not take off until N'Zoth, the Corruptor. The minions you put in your deck were the ones you would see in play, once each, which was a reason why Faceless Manipulator saw so much play.
So where to start deckbuilding for the new format? 2 classes really stand out, Druid and Hunter.
Here is a fairly standard double combo druid Frezzar used at Dreamhack Summer:
But it was also possible to take a more defensive approach, like Reynad did in the same tournament. Some players also made compromises between the 2 approaches, running 1 or 1,5x the FON/SR combo:
What about face hunter? Yes, it was there! This is was Amaz brought, and it is hard to make it any faster:
But more beast-focused midrange decks like this one from Reynad were also a very solid option, as well as taking elements from both approaches:
And then, there was an old favourite of mine: the Leeroy Jenkins combo handlock. Giants, taunts and big burst damage, what is there not to love in this archetype?
Others might miss the old miracle rogue decks more, a highly technical combo deck where counting damage and turns was absolutely crucial:
But backspace also had an interresting take on how to abuse the class:
What about shaman? They had their bidding on a midrange deck with overload focus, note the burst from Doomhammer+Rockbiter Weapon.
And here is RDU's freeze mage deck, as it belongs here:
Warrior was not in its best spot with all the midrange decks, as they had a hard time keeping up with the steady stream of threats followed by burst, but they did exist. Note that double Brawl was not invented yet, but time will tell if it was an oversight or if it actually made sense at the time:
Priests were not that popular, but clever players used decks like this one:
Finally, the most liked deck from the time at heartpwn, Kolento's Rank 1 legend paladin, an overlooked class:
In general, this was a MIDRANGE metagame, but with a lot of focus on burst combos. I It will be interresting to see if the best deckbuilders of the day reached the highest powerlevel of the patch, or if the decks above can be improved with the knowledge and tools of today, using the old cards.
I am certainly looking forward to revisiting the olden days of heartstone!
Editor of the Heartpwn Legendary Crafting Guide:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/card-discussion/205920-legendary-tier-list-crafting-guide
I am definitely planning on dusting off my old freeze mage deck. It was the first one I ever climbed the latter with. Ice block and ice lance feel like old friends I haven't seen in a while.
Face Hunter? Rogues doing a lot of stuff each turn? Druids cheating big boards all of sudden?
Phew glad we don't have any of that these days
Does anyone think it will be possible to find a deck that wasn't meta/played back then with the knowledge players have now? Totally different game but the Classic WoW meta now is a very different to the game I played 15 years ago. Has HS got that room for new discoveries?
Personally I'm not sure deck building is going to be any fun and Blizz might as well just release classic with 2/3 decks for each class rather than a whole set of cards. It will be interesting to have to think a bit more though and will be good to have games not being won by discovered cards or pure RNG.
I started during the Naxx release; I got wing 1 for free because apparently there was a Blizzard eff-up on the timeline so they did it to compensate... but I wasn't even a player at the time :p (Just to give perspective on timeline) Back then, the most popular decks were Undertaker Facehunter, Control Warrior, Handlock, and Combo Druid (Old Force of Nature + Savage Roar) I used to play a secret mage back when I started, and NOBODY knew what the mage secrets did because mage was 9th on playrate at the time (freeze mage had just had pyroblast and a couple other cards nerfed right before I started, and people were still butthurt over it) and I would get legend back handlocks dumping giants on turn 4 into mirror entity. My dream f2p opening was Mana Wyrm on 1 and coin into Kirin Tor + any secret. I can't believe it took until 2019-2020 for people to figure out Kirin Tor Mage was good...
You just made me remember that Arcane Golem used to have Charge. The good old days. xD
Good thread btw. Very cool to see the old decks back.
If you see a bad post on the forum use the report function under it, so I or someone else of the moderation team can take care of it!
What to expect:
1)Leeroy +2 x Shadowstep and 2 x Cold Blood (10 mana) to deal 26 face damage in a single turn.
2)Force of Nature + Savage Roar for 12 face damage in a single turn.
3)Face Hunter, nuff said.
It'll be fun for a month, but will die out soon after.
Thank you very much for this article! Well done indeed. I hope everybody thanx you and appreciates the time it took to make this. Very informative and nostalgic as well. Awesome!!
You have to remember how important Mad Scientist was for mage secrets, and even so, tempo based mages did not break through until Goblin Blastmage and Flamewaker. Arcanologist should have been printed a lot sooner, and I don't think it would have been problematic at all.
Mage had some good cards, but pre-nax, going minion based ended up just being a worse druid.
Editor of the Heartpwn Legendary Crafting Guide:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/card-discussion/205920-legendary-tier-list-crafting-guide
Oh Gods... Miracle Cancer Rogue again.... ugh...
I'll pass on this mode...
the coreset gets new toys, so the meta wont be the same. if they did their homework they playtested topdecks from all the seasons against each other and came up with something balanced.
but man those decks feel like a lifetime ago
Eh... it was a viable deck, but by no means the only good one at the time. Remember Rogue had not defensive tool in a meta packed with burst damage.
Editor of the Heartpwn Legendary Crafting Guide:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/card-discussion/205920-legendary-tier-list-crafting-guide
My guess is freeze mage, combo druid and in some cases handlock.
@ OP
Could you create a Classic Format forum, rather than deleting 2 days of posts and create an echo chamber?
Basics of foruming.
Not that I have nor ever had the power to create new forums, but tbh, I think this site needs LESS separate forums rather than more to not spread the activity too thin. I have a feeling most just clicks whatever comes up on the front page anyway.
Idk what you are talking about with the deleted posts and echo chamber.
Editor of the Heartpwn Legendary Crafting Guide:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/card-discussion/205920-legendary-tier-list-crafting-guide
*Commences chanting*
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
:-D
Bumping this, it just became relevant!
Editor of the Heartpwn Legendary Crafting Guide:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/card-discussion/205920-legendary-tier-list-crafting-guide