Hearthpwn

The healing's on par with Ragnaros, Lightlord. Tempo options similar to rotating Ragnaros the Firelord. Versatility a plus. Less RNG, requires synergy. Totally ok with this! Costs 8, so if it lands in a tier 1 deck, this can't be cause for complaints. 

Tomb Spider holla at cha boi!!! (Ironically rotating out though).

But seriously, I'm not convinced what the true 'forced deck' is until we know the replacement for Power Overwhelming is. We can only guess if Disco-lock will be more value or cancer oriented. 

Look at Ship's Cannon. Some of my more savvy opponents would wait for the double-ping synergy before playing their first pirate. That would more likely flip the board, wrecking anything I had setup turns 1-3.

Not saying that's the best way to open as PW, depends on the hand. But that's a very common highlight in wild where low/no-cost synergies get crazy.

Yeah I'm worried about the changes too. I just got the hang of this expansion, and I don't like playing standard in constructed. 

However, win rate-disparities between going 1st vs 2nd are crazy, and we have the data that minions from GvG + TGT exacerbated it.  The vast win-more card pool is the culprit. Ideally, a hand-picked card pool with custom offerings can address this + class balance.  Standard's not ideal, but better than nothing.

If this can get more folks into arena, and on a fairer playing field, I'm ok. 

If you run 2 Croaky Concertoads, does that put 2 Hexs into your opponent's deck.

Automatically nullifies a Reno deck? So OP as a 1 mana non-legendary spell? Beneath the Grounds needs to be played to disrupt Reno.

I agree Tze; 1 wrong nerf could kill the whole deck, and worse, players won't see a full refund on all the crafted cards by result.  So that means the freemium rev model IS threatened by a Pirate nerf, right? It makes sense. MSoG, indirectly offered a specific price point to first-time customers/players. Give or take a legendary (ex. Leeroy) ~$25-50 in packs is enough dust to craft a pirate deck and compete against veteran players who have Reno. A win-win for both noobs and Blizzard's income statement right?

My hunch is if this MSoG expo was so successful for Blizzard getting new players to spend that initial investment on pirates, they'd be even LESS likely to nerf before next rotation.  Any nerf crippling the entire archetype may immediately lose the interest of all those players who invested it all on pirates. If all those players quit after the nerf, then Blizzard failed at growing the long term player base. But what else would a new player have done in this meta? Pirates the only option? Sorry all ~$25 worth of dust obsolete. No dust left to craft Jade & Aya. That's why Blizzard must be very careful.

Quote from MvonTzeskagrad >>

Quote from Chocomotion >>

the real question is why do the people that always complain about aggro never tech against it?? yea aggro is annoying but there are plenty of ways to shut them down...but sadly most low tier player think that any deck they play should be favored against everything

 Who tells you they don't? Is'nt running Second Rate Bruiser, Mistress of Mixtures, Mortal Coil, Doomsayer, Dirty Rat, Mind Control Tech, Demonwrath, Acidic Swamp Ooze, Earthen Ring Farseer and Sunfury Protector and Refreshment Vendor "teching against aggro"? (and this just speaking of renolock)

 

1) Lengthen the ladder. Lessen the monthly reset, but keep the difficulty of reaching legend relatively the same. That would separate noobs without a collection from vets who need to grind again. I hate that. 

2) The going first 'curvestone' issue, especially for arena. A fundamental change in mechanics or card base is needed. The arena stats are absurd. +8% win rate solely determined by a flip of "the coin", not fun, nor interactive, nor fair. (I'm 64% going 1st, 56% w/ coin, HearthArena)

I can wait for tournament mode IMHO. RIP 2016.

HotMEOWTH bringing Patron Warrior with Arcane Giants! Whaaaaa?

Not surprised 1st Chess TB is a carbon copy of the heroic adventure. Blizzard can revisit it with some updates next year. Some ideas to make Chess TB way more flavorful and interesting:

1) Start game with pawns on each side of board.

2) Add some card draw spells to the deck (maybe Wrath, AI, whatever).

3) Add some kind of promotion spell. Can turn a pawn into a Bishop/Knight/Rook. Provides a potential swing play, but should cost at least 4 mana.

Just like against a Freeze Mage, put some pressure on his life total. Make him use his control resources. He can't be holding everything in his hand at once. Shaman is good. Doomhammer, double Rockbiter Weapon is threatening. And Tuskarr Totemic helps refill your board fast. Hunter is another favorable matchup. Call of the Wild on turns 8 & 9 seal the deal.

Oh wait...

Disclaimer: I played Anyfin Paladin, before it was cool. Kappa :)

Rank 5 in Wild. Complete most class quests in standard.

I have enough portrait wins in Warrior & Druid, so based on current meta(s), that's why I'm on opposite ladders. 

Wondering if Barnes is that valuable with only 8 / 20 minions with upside. I climbed to rank 5 with N'Zoth Renolock but with Bran Bronzebeard to generate swing turns. 

This brawl shows how too few RNGs have too big of an impact. Only 7 different cards, 7 RNGs, when the range of legendary outcomes is too large. Sylvanas vs Boogymonster x4 is monumental. A brawl with 30 RNGs, 30 different cards (ex. crossroads) will more likely have decks closely matched due to law of averages. Offensive Play is a neat idea, but the format needs serious work to support it in a balanced way. 

Fix 1: Give everyone 30 random legendaries each cost 1 or 2 less. Toss in 1 Reno to each starting hand automatically for consistency. 

Fix 2: Golden Monkey?

Very interesting. Thoughts on swapping Sorcerer's Apprentice for a Cult Sorcerer?

Seems like this deck is going for a lot of Spell Damage burst. Or is SA too useful to trigger Antonidas combos?