Hearthpwn

Hey everyone come join me as I stream some ranked/arena at www.twitch.tv/ezm0d

See you there!

Quote from Taintedpure »

With the first sentence "Mages have been a popular topic recently, particularly in the lower leagues of play." I got the idea this was not a guide to address the meta game.

I don't see a problem with that.  Looking forward to 2 & 3.

This is Part 1/2 of the article, here is the link to Part 2/2 http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/managrind/articles/4096-countering-ignore-the-board-mage-part-2, enjoy!

I would first like to thank everyone for their feedback and let you know that we are definitely paying attention to it. We will be adding part 2 and 3 of this article later today as we believe it will do the article more justice seeing that it does not solely talk about "frost giants" that seems to be a misconception from reading part 1 alone. In ranked play many mages still use subsets of these archetypes and the article aims to teach people how to counter them. Though I would agree that this is not a BIG issue right now and that it might not be seen as an issue in the current meta, if you skim over Hearthpwn forums and even the original Hearthstone forums, you should realize that a lot of people still don't understand how to deal with mages and that it is a semi-popular topic. We take your comments seriously and at heart and I would like to thank you once more for sharing your thoughts! 

Most people will say that ones deck is a copy of some other semi-popular players deck. Ignore this PKU, a lot of popular decks were built pre-beta on a simulator by a lot of unknown players and simply popularized by people with more exposure thus not rightfully making it THEIR deck though everyone always refers to the most popular people as they are clueless of the actually origins of the idea. GJ PKU, great deck!

Quote from Thechiv »

Never say never. We at ManaGrind are always looking for new ways of bringing competitive game play to the community. We could see another day of swiss in the future, perhaps even a No epic, no legendary swiss tourney. Only time will tell but the more support we get for this swiss the better the chances we will get more of them. So make sure to spread the word where ever you go. 

Link this page in forums, twitter, facebook where ever you know there are Hearthstone Players.

This

ManaGrind is proud to announce that we are collaborating with Major League Gaming (MLG) http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/ to grow and expand the competitive Hearthstone community.  We have been working very hard the past few months trying to establish a competitive scene and are taking the next steps to bring this dream to fruition.

After receiving feedback from the previous tournaments we have changed a few things including:

• NA now starts at 2pm EST (Previously did at 4pm EST)

• EU now starts at 6pm CET (Previously did at 7pm CET)
• You can use the following time converter if needed http://www.worldtimebuddy.com/

• Added to [General] rules: "All players must enter their Battle Tag in the "Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft player name" Section when creating their team."

• All players who reach the semi-finals will need to provide a copy of their deck to Managrind admins. Players who refuse to do so will be forfeited.

  Come and compete with some of the best players Hearthstone has to offer! Anyone with beta access is encouraged to sign up and join in on the fun. Do not be discouraged by the big names that will most likely be joining, this is your chance to grow as a player and expand your skill set. It is an important milestone in all Hearthstone players careers. There are prizes to be won in the form of MLG credits which can be used to join buy in seats for paid prize pool tournaments in the future. 

 The North American servers Hearthstone Tournament will begin at 2PM EST on Saturday, January 4th, 2014. If you are interested in participating please go here: http://gamebattles.majorleaguegaming.com/pc/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/tournament/na-managrind-open-11 

 The European servers Hearthstone Tournament will begin at 6pm CET on Sunday, January 5th, 2014.  If you are interested in participating please go here: http://gamebattles.majorleaguegaming.com/pc/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/tournament/eu-managrind-open-11

 Please make sure you follow the directions posted at: http://gamebattles.majorleaguegaming.com/forums/t/Tournament-Guide-8742580 on how to join the tournaments and read the NEW rules (http://gamebattles.majorleaguegaming.com/pc/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/tournament/managrind-hearthstone/rules) regarding the tournaments.

 We look forward to seeing EVERYONE there!

 Also, if you are really interested in playing more competitively ManaGrind and MLG have worked together to form ladders for both the NA and EU servers. You can find the NA one here:http://gamebattles.majorleaguegaming.com/pc/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/ladder/singles/ and the EU one here: http://gamebattles.majorleaguegaming.com/pc/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/ladder/singles-eu/.

 Be sure to hone your skills and prepare for the exciting adventure that awaits each and every one of you.

Cheers!

P.S.: Keep in mind that MLG is currently working very hard to make the whole process more user friendly and convenient!

(Interview done by TheChiv1, Edited by Homebrewed)

Name: Peseto
Age: 23
Location: Bavaria, Germany

I’m here with Peseto winner of the MLG/MG EU Open #10. First off congratulations on the victory, we saw a lot of upset matches in this tournament and you come away with the victory.

Thanks.

Now you were playing a Druid, which seems to be a powerhouse class in this current meta.

Yeah couple of days ago I decided since I was mostly an arena player and because of the new ladder system, I decided to play around with Druids to get to legendary. I tried a couple different decks and at about rank eight it was all Warlock aggro and I couldn't get past it so I tried Druid and it solved the problem. Mages after the nerf were push overs and Hunters are completely a joke.

I wouldn't say Hunters are a joke there is still some life in Rexxar, at least on the North American side of the game.

Maybe.

So what other games do you play?

Nothing in particular, a couple of years ago I played World of Warcraft.

That’s really interesting. Yesterday’s winner also played very few games, mostly Blizzard products, and he wasn’t competitive in any of them.

Yeah same here, though there is one card game I have been playing called "Card Hunter".

I know of Card Hunter. It’s more like a Dungeon and Dragons type of game, but with cards. It was a lot of fun, but sadly that game takes so much time I just don’t get the chance to play it often.

It’s a really fun game and I was playing it while waiting for my beta key and I loved it. I played a lot in the close beta and tried out a lot of different builds and paths in it. Then they reset for open beta and I just didn’t have the time. All the work I put in, I just didn’t want to go through that again.

Now you said you are not a competitive player, so what made you decide to play in the MLG/ ManaGrind tournament?

Well I just got home from a skiing trip and I sat down at the computer and, I always try to check out ManaGrind and see what’s going on with the meta and see the decklists. I saw the tournament was starting in an hour so I signed up. Now that I’m legendary I figured there isn’t much else for me to do in constructed play, so why not?

What was the best part of the tournament for you?

I would have to say sideboarding. I mean in constructed you have to have a deck that is a jack of all trades. Now with sideboarding you can modify it to be better against certain opponents. It was something I have never done before, it was really fun.

Who would you say was your toughest opponent?

There was a couple. The finals was a tough match up cause he was playing “handlock” and Murlocs in that series so you never knew what he was going to play. There was one Rogue which was a really close game.

Now the person you faced in the Finals beat the number one ranked player in the EU in the Semifinals using that same archetype switch strategy.

I actually thought that was the number one reason to play a Warlock in these tournaments. The fact that you can switch to so many different archetypes with a Warlock is just a powerful strategy.

Now are you coming back for more tournaments?

Maybe, I normally have a busy weekend, if I have the time then certainly.

What was the hardest archetype for your main deck to compete against?

Murlocs, I started out with kind of an anti aggro deck using the Ancient Watcher. Even with an anti aggro deck, Druids still have a chance to lose so the Ancient Watcher came in handy. The other class that is very difficult to counter is Paladin. They can outlast you and Equality forces you to play big minions slowly.

Let’s talk about some neutral cards, what are the three best neutral cards in your opinion?

Nat Pagle is really underplayed, Tinkmaster Overspark is useful, and The Black Knight in the current meta is just great. The Black Knight is especially useful against aggro decks with Defender of Argus and in mirror matches with Druids it’s great.

Those are some really great legendary cards and we have been seeing them played a lot more in this meta. Moving on to your deck. Which card was the MVP of the tournament for you?

Let me look at my decklist real quick. I want to say Ancient of Lore but I had to sub him out in a few times. I would have to say Keeper of the Grove.

I love Keeper of the Grove! It’s a very versatile card and gives you so many options.

Exactly. It works perfectly against aggro, against “handlock”, and works great against Sylvanas Windrunner. Not to mention if you’re playing Ancient Watcher you can silence him to attack with.

Now we have seen some changes over the past couple of weeks from Blizzard. So tell me your thoughts on the new rank system.

I really like it. Before you sat at the three star master rank and it was just boring after that. Now the grind to the top is more exciting. Now you really have to pay attention, where before you would rush it because there was no downside. I would like to see more rewards from it then just card backs. I mean if you really put in the time to get to legendary I think there should be more of a reward then some cosmetic stuff.

Now moving onto Mages, do you think the nerf to Mages really affected them all that much?

I think it changed one type of deck that was being played. The frozen giant deck is not being played any more and I think that is a good thing. Before the patch it was boring playing in ranked mode. You either faced a frozen giant deck or decks with too much heal. I think it is better for the game with the changes bringing out more deck types.

Yes, but because of that all those people who were playing it all of a sudden are running this Warrior OTK combo deck instead. This is getting to the point of hatred that the old Hunter OTK used to get.

I think it’s a lot different than the OTK. You didn’t care much what the other player did. Just waited until turn seven or eight then you would burst off the combo and win. It’s lot harder to play the Warrior one.

Perhaps, but the Warrior OTK does have a more consistent draw mechanic for a Warrior to get the combo and survive just enough to win the game. It becomes too easy and even if they do begin to swarm you just use Brawl. The only counters to this we are seeing are Sunwalker and changing your play strategy.

Yeah.

There are a few changes in terms of balance that the community has proposed. They are to change the mana reduction on giants and possibly put an attack cap on Warsong Commander. An attack cap would allow only minions with six or less attack to gain the charge effect from that card.

Yeah, I think giants need a bit of change perhaps make the minimum like 2-3 mana. But people need to think that there are other OTK combos out there, they are just not as consistent. Though I think when you look at both Warsong Commander and Giants, the bigger problem is the Warsong Commander. Nerfing the giants down won’t change the OTK possibilities in Warriors. This will affect all new cards that come into the game.

Wow those are some great ideas. I think we can wrap this one up. On behalf of ManaGrind congratulations on your victory today and I hope to see you back here in the future.

I really enjoyed it and thank you all for organizing it. I am a big fan of all the work you guys do with the tournaments, decklists, and articles. So thanks for letting me take part in it.

Thank you for all the applications, we are currently reviewing them.

Quote from JadenSnowIII »

i just a have a simple question about deck reporter, are you allowed to give your own insights or thoughts on the deck? So people reading it will have some information except just the quotes about the deck?

Most times we will use the players quotes though if needed an extended explanation could be used as well.

Hi Kargen,

We announced it in our lats ManaCast that we will not be going live until the end of the holidays. Basically We are picking back up ManaCast next tuesday!

Hello everyone this is Jotto and welcome to the review of the MLG/ManaGrind #9 Tournament. This week we have an old deck show up, with some tweaks, and some new exciting additions to the meta game.

Rogue cantrip made its mandatory appearance at the top of competitive play proving once again that it is still a tier one deck and should be feared and respected as one of the best decks in the format. The interesting variation in both decks this week was the use of Ragnaros the Firelord as a late game win condition as the rogue cantrip deck often have issues ending the game sometimes against midrange or control decks.

We also saw the return of the shaman midrange deck in both regions, putting a new stain on the metagame, forcing some of the aggro decks to run silence and hard removal, and preventing the cantrip decks from being as spell/removal light as they usually are nowadays. In one of the shaman decks Al'Akir the Windlord even made an appearance, one of the most underestimated cards in the game. However Al’Akir can perform a 12 damage hit with Rockbiter Weapon or a 10 damage hit with Flametongue Totem, this is often enough to end the game on its own. On top of that he can be used as a pseudo fire elemental, dealing with two threats at the expense of stats.

On top of the variations of the previously known deck we saw an archetype that normally has nothing to do with warlock, shields up, a deck type that comprises of Ancient Watchers, Defender of Argus and Sunfury Protector to protect the play from early aggro while setting up the midgame. This is usually associated with the more defensive classes such as priest but in this case the more controlling side of the warlock comes out using cards like Siphon Soul and Shadow Bolt to control the boards along with a total of 4 board wipe cards in Hellfire and Shadowflame.

The rest of the deck is focused on maintaining board position through the midgame using cards like Harvest Golem and even Mind Control Tech along with its removal. Earthen Ring Farseer keeps your health maintained through Life Taps and molten giant takes advantage of the hero power to play them while on low life just before Lord Jaraxxus takes over and wins the game on its own while being protected by the shields up engine that was previously mentioned.

Finally the game secures its midgame using Sylvanas Windrunner and Twilight Drake, two cards that not only have a massive impact on the board but synergize with the shields up engine as if either of these cards are given taunt it can be game winning at times.

In conclusion, the current meta game is moving back to the midrange beck that we used to see at the beginning of the beta but this also leaves the door wide open for some more creative control and aggro decks that can expose any flaws in the current set up of shamans, rogues and the occasional warlock or druid. So for all you deck builders out there, this is an opportunity for you to shine as the meta game for the MLG/ManaGrind tournaments will be in a slight flux for the next week or so. Thank you all for reading, and see you next week!

Jotto

This was a new idea we had in mind in regards to Jotto switching his weekly video recaps in an article form. We will most definitely revise the title as you are right and it does not portray the content accurately. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

Hello everyone!

As most of you already know, ManaGrind has been growing constantly since the alpha stages of Hearthstone,thus is in need of more willing and dedicated core team members to be able to provide the community with continuously quality content. If you are looking into making a name for yourself in the Hearthstone community or simply want to join an ever growing competitive community for Hearthstone, then ManaGrind is a great stepping stone for you. As we produce more content and host more events, we need to increase the size or our team to stay effective. Keep in mind that we are currently a non-lucrative organization, though we have many exciting projects line up in the new year and therefore we are reaching out to the community. Don’t miss your chance in being part of a well organized group of individuals that all share a common passion for Hearthstone!

If you are interested in one of the positions below please send a detailed e-mail to ezmod@managrind.com mentioning:
-Position you are interested in
-Relevant experience if any
-Hours you can dedicate a week
-Reason in wanting to join ManaGrind

Positions Available at ManaGrind

Content Producer, Written/Video
(Please provide us with a FINALIZED piece of content you are interested in producing while in your role.)

Requirements:

• Produce content in your medium of choice on a predictable schedule.
• Ensure that your content is engaging, entertaining, and up-to-date.
• Maintain a professional disposition at all times.
• Have a passion for Hearthstone and be up to date with the competitive scene that is slowly emerging.
• Prior TCG/CCG experience is a plus
• You must submit at least one sample (preferably multiple samples) of previous content in your relevant choice of medium at the time of application to be considered.

Competitive scene - Content Producer, Written
(Please provide us with a FINALIZED piece of content you are interested in producing while in your role.)

 Duties:

• Provide high level analysis and coverage of ManaGrind's EU and NA competitive teams.
• Produce engaging, entertaining, and up-to-date written content both on demand and on schedule.

Requirements:

• Good written English skills.
• Have both a passion for, and demonstrated skill in, Hearthstone (at least rank #1 level skill).
• Able to keep up to date with the Hearthstone competitive scene.
• Maintain a professional disposition at all times.
• Prior TCG/CCG experience is a plus.
• You must submit at least one sample (preferably multiple samples) of previous content in your relevant choice of medium at the time of application to be considered.

Community Manager 

Requirements:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (specifically in Excel & Word)
• Very strong organizing/scheduling skills
• Be grammatically inclined and have a sharp eye for grammatical and spelling errors
• Active and easily reachable
• Have a passion for the game  - Hearthstone

As a community manager, your responsibilities include:

• Assisting Ezmod (CEO/Founder) in various tasks regarding the community as a whole
• Scheduling and organizing various projects  
• Communicating with the tournament team - content team - communications team - competitive NA and EU ManaGrind team on a regular basis

Assistant Content Manager 

Requirements:

• Proficiency in applying the coordinating relevant images onto articles
• Proficiency in cropping pictures and making appropriate banners for each piece of content
• Be grammatically inclined and have a sharp eye for grammatical and spelling errors
• Able to use Hearthpwns formatting system
• Active and easily reachable
• Updated on the current state of the meta and ManaGrind itself
• Have a passion for the game  - Hearthstone

As a content manager, your responsibilities include:

• Making sure content gets out on time.
• Communicating with Fluxflashor and Ezmod in regards to publicizing the content once edited and formatted properly on Hearthpwn
• Formatting content produced by the ManaGrind team. Content of which includes:
  • Tournament Decklists
  • Interviews
  • Articles
  • Meta Recap

Artist

Requirements:

• Ability to work with another artists work and style and adapt to it
• Be creative
• Proficiency in artistic designs and in coordinating them with the current ManaGrind theme/feel
• Available to work on several projects during the week
• Active on a weekly basis
• Updated on the current state of Hearthstone news/tournaments/etc...
• Have a passion for the game - Hearthstone
• Have a portfolio handy to show past projects/art 

Communications Specialist 
This position requires a 300-450 word "Writing sample", as part of the application process. This writing sample can be about anything related to Hearthstone, but must be well written and professional.

Requirements:

• Excellent verbal and written communications skills
• Familiarity with social media management tools (TweetDeck, Hootsuite)
• Vibrant personality, able to work well with others in a team situation
• Passion for Hearthstone and its competitive scene
• Experience in the field of Communications is an asset 

As a Communications Specialist, your responsibilities include:

• Assisting the Communication/PR Manager in seeking out and communicating with sponsors
• Engaging the Hearthstone community via social media and forums
• Sending out Twitter and Facebook announcements with hearthstone tournament results
• Other duties as assigned by the Communications/PR Manager

Tournament Organizer -  Friday Night Swiss (NA) - MUST HAVE ACCESS TO NA SERVER 
Must be available between 8:00pm and midnight EST on Friday.

As a tournament organizer, your responsibilities include:

• Managing the tournament brackets on http://challonge.com
• Be available and reachable on Teamspeak throughout the whole tournament.
• Solve disputes between tournament participants.
• Collect decklists from the top 8 or top 16 players.

NOTE: Tasks between organizers will be divided fairly

Tournament Organizer -  Friday Night Swiss (EU) - MUST HAVE ACCESS TO EU SERVER 
Must be available between 7:30pm and midnight CET on Friday.

As a tournament organizer, your responsibilities include:

• Managing the tournament brackets on http://challonge.com
• Be available and reachable on Teamspeak throughout the whole tournament.
• Solve disputes between tournament participants.
• Collect decklists from the top 8 or top 16 players.

NOTE: Tasks between organizers will be divided fairly

Deck Reporter -  MLG/ManaGrind North American Open - MUST HAVE ACCESS TO NA SERVER 
Must be available on Saturday evenings towards the end of the tournament.
Tournaments on Saturday begin at 2pm EST and are typically 6-8 hours long.

As a deck content producer for the North American Open, your responsibilities include:

• Collect decklists from the top 4 players in the tournament. You will use the MLG Gamebattles platform to contact players by finding their battle tags.
• Try and get a quote or two from the deck owner, to place alongside the deck.
• Format the deck lists using the deckbuilder on HearthPwn.com and place them into a forum thread using a provided template.

 Deck Reporter -  MLG/ManaGrind European Open - MUST HAVE ACCESS TO EU SERVER 
Must be available on Sunday evenings towards the end of the tournament.
Tournaments on Sunday begin at 12pm EST [6pm CET] and are typically 6-8 hours long.

As a deck content producer for the European Open, your responsibilities include:

• Collect decklists from the top 4 players in the tournament. You will use the MLG Gamebattles platform to contact players by finding their battle tags.
• Try and get a quote or two from the deck owner, to place alongside the deck.
• Format the deck lists using the deckbuilder on HearthPwn.com and place them into a forum thread using a provided template.

 We hope to hear from you soon!

Starting attendance in 5-10 mins!

Quote from beard413 »

signed up. so excited. good luck all! :D

GL !