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Quote from jeepers1704 >>

I feel like Geddon is replaceable. Sure it's good if you play it after Jaina and gain a bunch of life but you should be winning if you survive to Jaina anyway, and you're hoping to draw your legendaries in the right order. Primordial Drake doesn't burn your own face and the body is way better. Even when playing Drake isn't that good it's still pretty good, can't say the same about Geddon.

Alana is better vs aggro and tempo decks because it's instant board presence, Sinny is better in slow matchups, Pyros is weak to silence and is bad on a lot of boards.

I used to believe that, but I think people are starting to better play around the lifesteal. Be it with removal spells or Glacial Shard, I've definitely run into situations where people are denying my initial summoned Water Elemental and continuing to push face. That can be an issue if you can't back your Frostlich Jaina with an Arcane Artificer or some other means of life gain.

I mean, the answer is always "yes". But this is the most diverse meta I can remember and I've been playing since TGT. I'm genuinely struggling with my mulligans these days because each class has so many different archetypes represented.

Howdy, fellow Big Spell Mages. Consider this an open discussion on Arcane Keysmith. I certainly don't claim to have any expertise here. I have started to use it in some pretty specific scenarios, though, so I wanted to share and get your input on how to best utilize this card in common meta matchups.

Vs. Taunt Druid

Playing it going into their 8 mana play is generally pretty solid, as they'll want to play The Lich King on curve. Mirror Entity is ideal, but Frozen Clone can generate insane value. If you haven't yet found your Skulking Geist, Spellbender (preferably, as it can't be triggered by the coin) and Counterspell can both disrupt the Hadronox combo, though they'll generally burn a spellstone or swipe first to test the secret.

Vs. Spiteful Druid

This is pretty obvious, but it turns out Counterspell and Mana Bind are pretty strong when your opponent only runs ten cost spells.

Vs. Odd Rogue

Ice Barrier is a strong selection at pretty much any point. All of the minion-related cards are hard to get value out of due to the sheer number of 1-drops this deck runs. Spellbender can eat a Cold Blood and give you a 4/3 to contest the board. There aren't many strong plays in this matchup.

Vs. Spell Hunter

This one's a gimme: dig for Counterspell going into their turn 5 to disrupt the spellstone. Ice Barrier is always a decent fallback option, and Mana Bind can yield some decent cards as well. I'm not sure it really matters; just having a secret up is enough to lure them into a suboptimal play, generally.

Vs. Tempo Mage

Lots of good options here. Ice Barrier is always tempting, but don't sleep on Mana Bind. Having a 0 cost spell allows you to trigger their Counterspell and commence clearing the board.

Those are just a few observations from tonight's ladder grind. I'm still searching for an optimal way to use it against Quest Warrior and Control Priest. Any suggestions for those matchups?

Please remove Mayor Nogenfogger from this stupid @$%#ing brawl.

If you're playing aggro or midrange you're probably boned. In a control mirror? I guess, be ahead in fatigue (hard to do against big spell mage) and don't play minions. They may still generate a welly or two from Sindragosa, but otherwise they're kind of just stuck pinging your face. It basically becomes your hero power against theirs, and if you're playing odd Warrior, quest Warrior, Bloodreaver Gul'dan, or Malfurion the Pestilent, you'll probably outpace them. 

Needs better 4 and 6 mana tempo plays, imo. The class is very good at controlling the board early right now, but without Bloodlust there's not much benefit to going wide, and it doesn't have strong mid game minions. It loses out on other strong minion buff cards like Fungalmancer and Cobalt Scalebane, too.

I think we're probably one more expansion away. The core is definitely in place for even shaman, though.

I really like Captain Greenskin in this deck. It creates a lot of damage in conjunction with Deadly Poison and gives you a clean way to deal with Tar Creeper and Rotten Applebaum.

I'd go with Sindragosa, personally. I can count the number of situations in my experience where Dragoncaller Alanna seemed like an optimal play on one hand. It has some use against Spell Hunter (post Deathstalker Rexxar drop) when you risk losing to inevitability, but how many matchups are you really looking for board presence? Most control decks are going to be holding AOE clear at that point because you don't have the minion presence to have forced it earlier. Against aggro or midrange... If you can afford to make a 9-mana play that doesn't affect the board, it's probably a win more card.

Sindragosa at least gives you value and a water elemental ping target in control matchups.

Reasonable change. Especially because there's generally a lack of good tempo plays in the 6-mana slot. I wonder if we'll see Cairne creep back into the meta?

Good. Creates more awkward trades in a Tar Creeper/Rotten Applebaum meta. Hopefully it just goes away entirely, but I'll take what I can get.

Found my girlfriend tinkering with my phone. Didn't realise what was going on until now.

^title

Equality

Is it merely my impression that the current META is dominated by hardcore control decks?

If so, why are most decks teched to the teeth as if they'd play in an aggro-wheenie horde META.

Just wondering - the only aggro deck based on small minions I encounter once in a bluemoon is the odd (no pun intended) Baku Paladin.

Personally I have teched out some anti-aggro tools and haven't regretted it.

Hello Hearthpwn,
I couldn't find a better place to share a my small achievement than Heartpwn, site that kept me company through my Hearthpwn sessions ever since mid 2014 when I got my hands on Hearthstone beta.

Almost 4 years and countless seasonal tries later, I finally got to the legendary peak.

I reached rank 3 or 4 many times before, but never had mental fortitude for the final push. After reaching rank 3 this month rather smoothly with Spiteful druid, I decided to go for it. After additional 20 or so hours and facing final boss 4 times, it was Cubelock that pushed me through the finish line.

I'd like to use this post to also say thank you to a lot of helpful players, guides, posts and articles I found on this website. Even though we do tend to be somewhat toxic-y from time to time, I still see it as the best Hearthstone community out there.

Thanks for listening all! Happy laddering, fellow climbers!

Worst brawl ever

Stop shouting at me. 

Also I think you'll find even shaman to be far more consistent and successful than shudderwock.  There seems to be an uptick in number of people trying shudderwock again, but it will die down as people remember that it sucks.

safe craft

This Hunter deck uses Witchwood Piper to track down Vicious Scalehides in order to land Dire Frenzy on them. This gives your deck a ton of life gain going late where you eventually try to win with Deathstalker Rexxar. The early game is spent setting up defensive secrets in order to take control of the board with Lesser Emerald Spellstone. Houndmaster Shaw is a monster and the deck makes sure it has something to rush on turn-5.  Our weapon tech Harrison Jones and even Corrosive Sludge get much better when they can rush into battle. The term tempo Big Game Hunter hasn't been used that often lately but at least with rush he gets more beasts in his sight. Countess Ashmore becomes a huge life gain card late game because you are likely to pull a couple 4/6 rush lifesteals along with Rotten Applebaum.

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