Hearthpwn

I'm sorry but zoolock is just a god damned cancer on this game. They are the only class in the game that could play their cards face up without it affecting the outcome of the game. Their deck has next to no strategy involved in it, and could be summed up as simply vomiting up your cards as fast as possible while abusing the shit out of an overpowerd hero power all while watching TV. My cat makes more strategic plays in the litter box.

The attempt to balance their broken, piece of shit hero power through shitty class cards is negated by the fact that they don't even use their class cards. Way to go on that one, Blizzard. Idiots.

If you play a zoolock and you bump into me in game, apologies in advance because you're going to get roped every single turn, every single game. Don't like it? Don't play a cancer deck. Try a deck that actually requires you to think about the cards you're playing.

Conclusion: Fuck zoolocks (handlocks, we still cool). And while we're at it, fuck hunters. **drops mic

Quote from afding jump

In my opinion, 60-40 is already pretty good; high-tier decks don't have many <40% matchups.

Sadly, Flamewaker Mage is your only mage option (with a purported rate of 65-35). If you're willing to try other classes, Patron Warrior crushes Zoolock. You should be aware that this is simply one source of data (though I feel it's a reliable one). Other sites may report different matchup statistics.

Source: https://tempostorm.com/articles/meta-snapshot-19-from-warrior-to-warrior-and-back-again#matchups

 In my opinion, I think that 60-40 is terrible when your goal is to make a hard counter. You've provided some good information, though; thanks for that. As suspected, warrior is really the only viable option--as it tends to be in every discussion regarding control'ish counter decks.

Quote from pomonkeypo jump

I don't think their hero power is the best one, I think mages have the best one.

Anyway, warlocks aren't broken at all. I don't really think they need balancing...? Zoo is manageable (more manageable than hunter anyway) and handlock is also manageable. Demonlock is still in it's gimmick stages IMO, so what's the issue?

Quote from Snatch_Steal jump

face hunter slaughters almost every type of warlock. Go play that

 Why do people automatically assume every single thread on this forum is a whine thread? I'm not whining anywhere in the OP. I'm trying to discuss the game. You guys should take a break from the forum if all you see are whine threads.

Warlocks are the only class in the game who have a hero power that grows in strength with the power creep. As cards become stronger and more valuable, their ability to completely omit any card draw from their decks without it hindering their play looks like it could be tough to balance. I was looking to discuss how it might be balanced when there are say, 5 more expacs released, or 6, or 7. The power creep is real.

I'm curious how Blizzard is going to handle this class going forward. Warlocks undoubtedly have the strongest hero power in the game, and as more and more cards are released, their hero power will only continue to grow in strength in comparison to the other hero powers. I really don't see how they are going to be able to balance the class without reworking the hero power.

How is it going to work, do you think? Or will we all just be playing warlocks?

Quote from afding jump

There's a somewhat-experimental mage deck that uses Molten Giant and Echo of Medivh, as well as taunt-givers, Alexstrasza, etc that has a 60-40 matchup against Zoolock according to Tempostorm.

Here's an example decklist on their site; I'll see if Hearthpwn has anything similar.

https://tempostorm.com/hearthstone/decks/neviilz-echo-giants-mage

 Looks like it's using a lot of the ideas that I've been trying. Is there anything higher than 60? Can any class/deck get higher than 60 vs Zoolock?

Is there any counter to Zoolock that isn't Flamewaker Mage? I've been trying to build a direct control'ish/fatigue counter via variants of freeze mage, but they are extremely inconsistent. Failure to draw an AOE within the first 4-5 cards is an instant loss.

It's extremely frustrating to know every single card in my opponent's deck and still not be able to effectively counter it. Is it play Flamewaker mage or don't play mage at all?

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I guess the people who were not doing well in arena decided to move on.  And I bet arena won't get easier until we get an influx of new people into hearthstone like we did with the release of the android version of hearthstone.

 That would make sense. I also just discovered Heartharena.com; if such assistance has had a spike in popularity, it would easily explain why the average deck in arena is so much stronger than before.

 Same here, though I would be making the same decisions 90% of the time as Heartharena, so that would make me 10% better?

Nice tool to record your stats.

 

And yes, I also found out arena is a bit more difficult these days, like, I was doing 5-6 wins always and there I was, last week finished 0:3, 1:3 ...

 Yeah, I just used it for an arena run and after seeing the types of picks the software suggests, I have zero doubt that this site and others like it are the reason for the sudden increase in strength of the average arena deck. Yeah, the software isn't perfect, but for your average arena player who couldn't pick a deck to save their life, this allows them to greatly level the playing field. 

Quote from TheRealGhostDragon jump

I guess the people who were not doing well in arena decided to move on.  And I bet arena won't get easier until we get an influx of new people into hearthstone like we did with the release of the android version of hearthstone.

 That would make sense. I also just discovered Heartharena.com; if such assistance has had a spike in popularity, it would easily explain why the average deck in arena is so much stronger than before.

Was averaging 5-7+ wins consistently for the past couple months, now I'm doing exceptional if I can break 2 wins.

Any idea why arena has suddenly become so much more difficult?

Quote from Tomskiej jump

He has several points. When he doesn't kill the board, he either soaks a silence, damage or a destroy card. If they use damage to destroy him, that's less burst on your hero later on. If they use a silence, maybe they don't have a silence for your Mad Scientist or Acolyte of Pain and if they play a 'destroy minion card', then maybe your Alexstrasza or Antonidas will survive the turn or you have more chance of getting draws from Acolyte.

When I started playing Freeze mage I too wasn't so sure about him and I played Loot Hoarders instead, but when I had the dust to craft them, I found them very usefull. You can also just play him on an empty board to prevent minions from being played, or even when he has a full field of minions without any Freeze card just to prevent all the damage to your face (very usefull against hunters in early turns). It's also VERY rewarding versus any tempo mage deck that has a Mirror Entity secret waiting for you :D

Quote from dplWILDY jump

Often a good play is to drop them onto a late-game empty board (e.g after its just been cleared) to force your enemy to either burn mana removing him (less he can play) or not play anything, giving you the advantage. Turn ten twisting nether into doomsayer remains one of my fav combos for that reason

 Agree with the posts above. The only real use I've found for him is in stealing the initiative from my opponent by playing him into a dry board. He is simply useless as a removal due to all the high burst available.

Finally broke down and crafted two of these to try in combination with a variant of freeze mage, but I'm having a very hard time getting any use out of him. I've been trying to use him on moves 5 (with frost nova) and six (with cone of cold) but it just seems like my opponent always has a very, very easy answer for him either through silence or burst damage. 

Is this card just not good for clearing things? Is he only useful as an attempt to block a turn from your opponent?

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

(PS. Before mods go apeshit on me as they have been doing to all my posts lately, I did use the search feature and didn't find any threads on strategy usage for this card)

Quote from fabisco jump

Anyone else tired of the daily aggro-whine thread by some rank 10 player claiming aggro to be 'op' because he's lost 2 games in a row vs. face hunter?

If there are daily whines about it, then that would indicate that there is merit to the complaint. #logic

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Then make a deck that counters hype aggro, and hit legend ive all you see is hyper aggro :)

 I hate that argument so much. It's not very fun to play anti-aggro decks....

To  be on topic, it's been alot worse ;)

And it still doesn't change the outcome of the game being decided by who has better early card draws. You either draw your early anti-aggro cards and win, or you don't and lose. The control warrior might be an exception to this, but I can't say for certain because I don't have 13000 dust.

Seems like every single deck in play these days is a hyper-aggressive deck designed to end the game before move 10. Sure, there are a tiny handful of viable control decks, but the vast majority of the meta is hyper-aggressive. 

I understand why people are playing these decks--it's the fastest way to farm gold in casual, it's the fastest way to farm wins in ranked, and because BRM didn't bring adequate counters to balance the power creep, aggro decks are simply superior--but it feels like the vast majority of my games are decided by who draws better, not by strategy and card play. Is this really what Blizzard wanted? It feels as though half of my collection--basically anything over 5 mana with few exceptions--is unplayable due to how slow these cards are.

I don't know, maybe it's time for me to put this game on the shelf. Anyone else growing tired of the current hyper-aggro meta?

 Anyone else not get a new quest for 6/19?