Hearthpwn

Not to poke, but yeah, as clarification, ANY minion put into play from any circumstance is considered "summoned". "Played" means summoning a minion by manually "casting" the card from your hand. "Playing" a Boar and "summoning" it from your hand with this guy on the board would give it 7 health, same as if you resurrected it to re-"summon" it, or if your opponent forced you to "summon" it by yanking it from your hand with a Dirty Rat.

I think flavor wise, that's kinda the point. While his buddies are fighting EVIL in Dalaran, he literally raided the mage's archives and grabbed whatever he could, because he's self serving like that. His quest reward (the mage one) is full of random scrolls that he grabbed and has no idea how to use, and his new weapons hits random targets, because, quite frankly, he has no business being a mage. I can see how some are off-put, but I love the flavor and think it's pretty funny.

One of the reasons I think this can really work is the large amount of variable spells in Hunter, and the fact that you can double dip on those spells with Zoljin down the road. From secrets to twinspells, you can create a pretty broad deck that can at a minimum, stabilize until you can unleash a powerhouse turn 7 and turn 10. Hammer in those hero powers when you can and you still have some solid damage and a realistic endgame scenario.

Now, is this still strictly better than mech/deathrattle shenanigans going on now? Not likely, but to be determined, and I'm interested to see what happens.

Fantastic site, you all will be missed. Thank you for the great content, resources and memories. I'm actually really bummed at this, Hearthstone is one of my favorite games lately, and this site seemed super active, but I understand there is a human element behind the scenes. In any case, wish you all well on your next steps, and again, thank you.

It's tough (impossible) to please everyone. On one hand, I see people who pour countless hours (and likely dollars) into the game, diving into competitive play, working on the meta, collecting every card, who see this as a waste of their time and resources, and hey, that's how they view their Hearthstone experience, and I respect that. I see others who thrive on solo content, who love Dungeon Run, and other modes that offer challenges that you can't find on ladder or in Arena. This is for the latter, highlighting an aspect of the game that is often forgotten, fun for the sake of fun.

I remember countless hours playing Goldeneye 64 with my friends, and you didn't earn anything, it was for fun. Exploring the worlds of the Witcher, Final Fantasy, the early Halo's gave no tangible rewards, they were just fun for the sake of fun. Some players aren't content with that, which is fine, but there are countless others who are, and this mode is exciting in that aspect. Plus, you get 15 packs in the process, which might not please the guy who battles his way to the top of legend each season, but to my wife, who doesn't care about competitive play and just enjoys the Hearthstone world and gameplay, diving time and time again into Dungeons, its a nice bonus. Asking for compensation to include this mode, either through money or in game currency is understandable and expected. I'm excited for the mode, these modes are fun to me. No cards are locked away behind this content, compared to previous adventures, so it really is optional, and I'm excited for it. 

With the return of so many iconic Hearthstone villains this set, is it safe to assume that Reno and our favorite adventuring company may be returning to foil their plans in the next set? Also, from a design standpoint, what are the challenges you face in balancing lore versus gameplay? Example, the Lich King in the Warcraft universe is obviously more powerful than his 8/8 reflection in Hearthstone, but his card design was well balanced, capturing his feel without being too overpowered.

About one in every 5 matches today, when my opponent is in the middle of discovering a card (and it ONLY happens this way), the game will freeze. Or, at least, cease to progress. The animations still shimmer, the opponent's hero still rambles as time passes, I can still look at my hand and such, but nothing else happens, not even a rope. I let it sit for several minutes to see how long it'd run, and it doesn't stop. No disconnect/reconnect and again, no rope. I have to close the app and reopen it to force it to continue. It's happened at least 6 times so far and now I just try to read the signs of it happening and force close/open, hoping I didn't miss anything important (like my turn) in the process.

Anyone else have this? I imagine they are still working through bugs, and that the network stress might have something to do with it (maybe? that doesn't make sense, entirely, either). Anyways, hope you all are having fun out there!

What makes him so strong in Priest  is that he DOESN'T necessarily have to be on board when you res, just in the res pool, and the one brought back will cast it again at the end of the turn. I've seen priests just drop him for tempo and mass rez several turns later. I dont think he's broken, but definitely strong, and you have to play smart to get through it.

This is not great, obviously, but it says something for this set that if this is one of the "worst" cards as far as drawbacks go, we're in better shape than the last sets.

So many of these cards (of ALL rarities!) have effects with such a wacky variance in how they can be applied that I'm not just excited for standard play, but also for arena. I think for the first time in a LONG time, it will feel like a brand new game and meta in all modes, which is refreshing.

You're being hyperbolic and dramatic, and without enough (any) data yet to back your claim. Odd/Even has been HoF'd and Death Knights are gone. Will things get crazy? I dunno, maybe, but "cancer" is gratuitously excessive, as is the implication that this set could be as strong, broken or frustrating as the entire Year of the Mammoth (or Raven, when combined with Mammoth) by itself.

Really digging the flavor and fantasy of this set so far. Humor, sure, because it's still Hearthstone, but the class identities, Warcraft representation and the finessed mechanics of old are really coming together for me. Seems like a great set for a new year rotation, whereas Witchwood last year seemed a little too quirky and niche (...and brought that Odd/Even stuff...).

Agreed. I think the pacing is great, there's discussion without dragging it out, and we are seeing new cards pretty rapidly. Much improved over last time.

Not saying it will be consistent, but could get some work done with Dollmaster Dorian.

For me, it's not always easy to find a fixed amount of uninterrupted time, so casual means that when I don't have dedicated time for playing ladder, I can still at least play the game, and if I have to bail, I won't lose rank. I also play casual for quests that aren't in line with a competitive deck, but still sound fun enough not to re-roll.