Hearthpwn

I'm puzzled by the lack of creativity in ranked play. I derive a lot of enjoyment trying to come up with unique decks to refute the meta, but it seems like no one else does, as I rarely ever run into a unique deck. Playing up to and around 5-8 all month long, I can say with certainty that I have not come across one unique deck--it's all the same netdecks.

Why do people not like trying to come up with unique ideas that refute the ranked meta? Am I the odd man out for enjoying deck building/experimenting?

Just want to say thanks to Hearthpwn. Because of your over-the-top advertising, auto-playing video ads, and half page banners, you're the first site in my 20 years on the internet that got me to install adblock. Thank you for forcing me to improve my browsing experience at the cost of reducing your own ad revenue.

Quote from XanderCrews1 jump

Midrange Druid is a huge underdog against Zoo.... the heavier taunt version might be a little better, but I don't know if its the best zoo counter. Check Tempostorms matchups index on their meta snapshot. I think there are a couple errors this week, but its pretty good overall.

They list patron warrior, paladin, tempo mage, and handlock as favorable matchups against zoo, and that seems right to me. Priest isn't listed, because its not a common deck right now, but I think priest is the overall best counter to zoo.

 I can see this being true. Benn running into Deathlord priests that look like they would smash zoo. 

Just looking at the replies in this thread it, looks like zoo doesn't have any bad matchups. I don't think any other deck in the game can say the same. Jeez, do I loathe zoolocks.

Quote from thepoxbox jump

If anything they should buff warrior's hero power because it doesn't do anything. 

 Warriors with 80hp (50 armor + 30hp) say hello. No other class in the game can increase their health pool the way a warrior can. Their hero power is fine--more than fine, in fact.

Quote from Bernadottes jump

 

Quote from LambMine jump

Quote from Bernadottes jump

As a Midrange Zoolock player myself I can confirm that Tempo Mages don't counter my deck unless I have extremely bad hand.

It goes that way - I play Nerubian Egg and Imp Gang Boss and they already have hard time removing these cards. I don't even mention Voidcaller shenanigans, you see the picture. 

The Freeze Mages are actually harder because they effectively remove my creatures and have strong late game spells.

 I've tried every variant of freeze I can think of and the hero power is just too difficult to keep up with. Without topdecking repeatedly, I'm always overwhelmed courtesy of the hero power. In all honesty, it feels like mage is pretty much unplayable on ranked due to 70%+ of the matches being against zoolock.

What is your most feared deck, control warrior?

 My most feared class is Druid actually. They always have answers in early game, they play Taunt with Innervate, later they just roll all over you with FoN and Savage Roar.

At least Control and Grim Patron Warrior can be outraced and killed before they play something really good.

I really have troubles with Druids, man.

 Time to make a druid. Thanks.

Quote from Zukuu jump

Quote from DatJake jump

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Quote from DatJake jump

I run 2x abom and 2x sludge belcher, seems to take care of the lower ranks of aggro.. But yeah, we were moving towards mid-range at one point here, but aggro has dragged us back in unfortunately. And yes, auto concede on patron when using abom, you will die. 

 We ARE moving towards mid-range. Face hunter is now hybrid, zoo is now more like mid-range demon etc.

Not when your ranking on ladder. 

 I've been through the whole ladder the past seasons and I have not seen a single "face hunter" or non-demon zoo in a while.

 Sorry, but I'm calling bullshit. I've been playing all day long, probably closing in on 100 matches for the day, and over half my games have been versus face hunter and zoolock. You either playing in EU, or you're just making stuff up.

Quote from Radikalist jump

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Quote from H2050 jump

Basically we need more taunters on every mana. A good 3 mana taunt goes a long way.

 Deathlord's ineffectiveness should be evidence that a few taunt cards aren't what is needed to balance the aggro.

 

What?
Deathlord is amazing versus aggro. The problem is that it sucks at pretty much all other matchups.

 I'm not sure we're playing the same game...

Play Deathlord against a Hunter: They laugh at you, silence it, then do 12 damage to your face.
Play Deathlord against a Lock: They laugh at you, siphon soul it, then play 12 minions.
Play Deathlord against a Mage: They laugh at you, fireball + (insert any of a million options), then say, "Hello" to their new Flamewaker.
Play Deathlord against... bah, you get the idea.

The card is just bad against aggro--except for priests who can buff it (in my opinion, of course), specifically because it pulls a free minion for an opponent whose strategy is based on applying a lot of pressure. It's just a giant liability in too many situations.

Quote from Fluxflashor jump

Any particular pages you're looking at which are causing this, LambMine?

I don't seem to have the same issue. What kind of an internet connection are you on?

That said, we are working on some improvements to the homepage deck widget which has been a source of slowdowns for users and we're also working on a mobile version of the site so things are much friendlier for anyone on mobile.

 Just browsing around, usually. It doesn't seem to be doing it now, but I isolated to the site during the issues this morning. Might have something to do with the ad network you're using.

I have a very stable 20ms to all west coast servers and a respectable 30-60ms to the rest of the country. However, when I have hearthpwn open in a browser, the latency spikes up to several hundred and higher and stays there.

Any ideas?

Quote from Bernadottes jump

As a Midrange Zoolock player myself I can confirm that Tempo Mages don't counter my deck unless I have extremely bad hand.

It goes that way - I play Nerubian Egg and Imp Gang Boss and they already have hard time removing these cards. I don't even mention Voidcaller shenanigans, you see the picture. 

The Freeze Mages are actually harder because they effectively remove my creatures and have strong late game spells.

 I've tried every variant of freeze I can think of and the hero power is just too difficult to keep up with. Without topdecking repeatedly, I'm always overwhelmed courtesy of the hero power. In all honesty, it feels like mage is pretty much unplayable on ranked due to 70%+ of the matches being against zoolock.

What is your most feared deck, control warrior?

Quote from H2050 jump

Basically we need more taunters on every mana. A good 3 mana taunt goes a long way.

 Deathlord's ineffectiveness should be evidence that a few taunt cards aren't what is needed to balance the aggro.

Quote from Massacre666 jump

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Quote from trialq jump

Quote from ShQQta jump

I have a problem - I can't figure out who is the biggest prick: is it the guy playing facehunter, the lamewaker Mage, or the priest that thought steals your fucking TrueSilver AND Avenging Wrath and uses them to finish you while they sit at the back of your deck?

I absolutely despise the people who run thoughtsteal and mind vision.

 I like thoughtsteal and mind vision. It's cards like cabal and mind control that actually steal your minions that annoy me.

 I made a priest deck just to watch people rage from the following combo:

They play Piloted Shredder or any 4-attack minion.

I play: Shrinkmeister followed by Shadow Madness followed by Youthful Brewmaster, thus completely stealing their card right off the board. Naturally following this sequence of plays up with a "Thank you."

The friend request spam after using this move is world breaking.

 You can get it killed against an enemy and the deathrattle minion will be yours as well, or recombubulate to another minion which will be recognized as yours as well. Better than throwing it up in your hand and having to pay the cost again maybe.

Edit: You can even do the combo you said for the same mana with 2 cards > Shrink and Cabal (dont need to pay the mana again, and leaving a 4/5 body extra instead of a 3/2)

 I wasn't using the play to be efficient, I was using it to be an asshole. Stealing the card right off the board hits the opponent in a way that triggering a deathrattle does not. :)

Quote from trialq jump

Quote from ShQQta jump

I have a problem - I can't figure out who is the biggest prick: is it the guy playing facehunter, the lamewaker Mage, or the priest that thought steals your fucking TrueSilver AND Avenging Wrath and uses them to finish you while they sit at the back of your deck?

I absolutely despise the people who run thoughtsteal and mind vision.

 I like thoughtsteal and mind vision. It's cards like cabal and mind control that actually steal your minions that annoy me.

 I made a priest deck just to watch people rage from the following combo:

They play Piloted Shredder or any 4-attack minion.

I play: Shrinkmeister followed by Shadow Madness followed by Youthful Brewmaster, thus completely stealing their card right off the board. Naturally following this sequence of plays up with a "Thank you."

The friend request spam after using this move is world breaking.

Quote from Asuryan jump

I agree with the OP, I'm curious to see how Blizzard will handle Warlock in the future.  I don't think the hero power is OP, and I think that changing hero powers is out of the question.  But I think that Warlock's hero power puts design constraints on future Warlock class cards.

Not long ago Zoo was THE class to whine about, before the rise of Face Hunter.  It would only take 1 or 2 more strong aggressive Warlock minions to push Zoo over the edge.  This is also the reason that I doubt we'll ever see any more aggressive neutral Murlocs.  (I think that's why Blizzard has started pushing Murlocs towards Shaman instead of keeping them neutral.)

Since it's all but impossible to change the hero power, I think we'll continue to see Warlock's aggressive class cards being under-powered relative to the other classes.  I think Blizzard is forced to push Warlock towards mid-range and control strategies instead.

 I think the problem is that they try to balance the warlock hero power with under-powered class cards, but it also means they face a limit on what they can do with neutral cards. One of the strongest lock decks right now abuses this very concept by using a majority of neutral cards in conjunction with their hero power.

Quote from GG_Garrison jump

• healing in the current meta: Antique Healbot 
• deathrattle: Earth Shock - Hex best deathrattle counters since the old ages
• taunt wall: Earth Elemental - Feral Spirit
• anti swarm: Forked Lightning - Lightning Storm

I still believe if you want to create an anti-aggro deck on the cheap side, shaman can do the job. The real problem is that you should commit to much to kill them aggros that you wouldn't kill anyone else.

 As someone who routinely tries to build anti-aggro decks on my mage, the biggest problem with anti-aggro decks is the incredibly small window you have to draw cards that will keep you in the game. You have to draw well just to have a fighting chance while the aggro decks don't. Even if you do draw your healbot or whatever in the first couple rounds to counter the early onslaught, you have to continue to draw well enough to make it to the late game.

It's just broken, imo. It makes it feel like you aren't even playing against your opponent, instead it feels like you're playing against the draw of the deck.