Season One Finale - Awards
Fiery War Axe Award
Winner: Cyg2112
For the first in my 'Season Awards', I present to you... the Fiery War Axe Award!
The Fiery War Axe award celebrates consistency and commitment (from the very beginning) - users that have made it to a plethora of finals week in, week out, but not quite been able to find that winning formula! (Hopefully this award makes up for it! :P)
There are dozens and dozens of regulars that have been in multiple finals that'd deserve the award...
...Ephie, esbee, Triskadekaphilia, Varolie, Aspard, Ethylbenzene, Elwiz, iSinti, MoarDTB, KAKYBAC, G4merguy09, DKPaladinMDL, Metzelmax, literleck, EAMAAN, Ser_Wa, Telefonkabel, DoctorWhoop, brobroadway, ElwynnForest, BOOSHACK360, DialM4Murloc... (to name but a few that spring to mind!)
...but I've reduced it to just three contenders, who between them have had over 20 of their submissions enter the finals! I've supplied a few of their finalists cards below!
A) Nakazawa
B) Cyg2112
C) Lord_HS
Winner:
Cyg2112!
Ysera Award
Winner: Raid Bosses (Week #13)
The second Season award is the Ysera Award.
The Ysera Award goes to my favourite Theme of the contest - one that allowed the best of both worlds - a solid concept with just the right amount of restrictions / rules that still allowed the creative juices of users to flow!
1) Mirrored Spells (Week #9)
Users were tasked in making a spell which had to affect both heroes equally, in the same vain as Equality or Ancestor's Call etc.
2) Raid Bosses (Week #13)
Users were tasked at designing a Legendary Minion that had to be a Raid Boss from WoW - a very unique theme with lots of research required and thought into each submission!
3) Femme Fatale (Week #19)
Users were tasked at creating a Female Minion with a newly created keyword: Fatality, which means "Whenever this minion kills another minion, do something." A very unique contest oozing with great entries and pushing this made-up Keyword to its limits!
Winner:
Raid Bosses - Week #13!
Grim Patron Award
Winner: Triskadekiphilia
The third award of the week is the Grim Patron Award!
The Grim Patron award turns it's attention to the ever present users in the Discussion Threads, and their valuable contributions and feedback towards others' cards and ideas. It too is for those that report ineligible entries / stray comments to keep the Submission Thread clean and tidy for all!
Contenders:
A) Triskadekaphilia
If you've entered into the contest at any point, chances are Trisk as picked apart your card, and looked at the balance and design of it... usually in monstrous detail! Dozens of cards have benefited from such wise wisdom from the competition's outset thanks to Trisk's tireless reviews - a worthy contender indeed for the award!
B) Aslyum_Rhapsody
A late-comer into the competition, Asylum constantly delivers some insightful reviews of the finalists each and every week. Asylum too offers advice and always in various debates to help those with keen ideas in the Discussion Thread. And what's not to love about their concepts with the stand-in Pikachu art? :P
C) ShadowsOfSense
A day wouldn't go past in some contests without a report from Shadows about an ineligible entry into the contest, that I'd have likely otherwise missed. A very helpful community member, that has allowed me to inform users of some dodgy entries and keep the contest running smoothly - what's more, Shadows has since been awarded for their efforts and is Hearthpwn's newest Fan Creations Moderator!
Notable mentions: DialM4Murloc, rdeegan, Hassashu, Kossetsu.
Winner:
Triskadekaphilia
Wisp Award
Winner - Detonate by Shanksyo
The fourth award is the Wisp Award!
The Wisp Award - the most explanatory award of the week, it's time for a little bit of fun and celebrate those users that opted to try and make the pesky little 0-Mana Wisp into something much more interesting and playable! Without further ado...
Contenders:
1) Wispmaster by Hywisp
Even their username has a Wisp it in - it'd be rude not to include Hywisp's Wispmaster! Crazy synergy with Dark Wispers here, watch out!
2) Storm Of Wisps by AntonydusWurm
AntonydusWurm went full Wisp for the BIG Spells contest which tasked users to create a whopping 10-Mana Spell - it doesn't get more extravagant than destroying everything and replacing that deck of yours with a makeshift Wisp-filled one!
3) Detonate by Shanksyo
An incredibly creative card by Shanksyo is our third contender - Detonate brings Wisps into the limelight to help Druids arsenal of Spells!
Winner:
Detonate by Shanksyo
Chillwind Yeti Award
Winner: Zen Guard by KAKYBAC
Sometimes shoving lots of text on a card makes a card look overly complicated and / or unappealing to use. Simple cards were often overlooked in the contest (which was disappointing at times) but is the crux of this Chillwind Yeti award - to be selected for the award, cards had to have 3 words or fewer in the card text... there weren't many!
Contenders:
1) Zen Guard by KAKYBAC
In Week Four, KAKYBAC created this nifty Priest 1-Drop which turns the Enrage mechanic on it's head by making it a downside. Fits Priest perfectly and gives the much-loved Zombie Chow a run for his money!
2) Titansteel Destroyer by VikingEagle
Weapons had little love during the contest but all the way back in Week Three, we had a whole contest dedicated to them! VikingEagle came up with Titansteel Destroyer, a very simple Warrior Weapon with no text whatsoever in the same vein as Fiery War Axe and Arcanite Reaper!
3) Sha'tar Upholder by G4merGuy09
Just two Keywords appear on Shat'ar Upholder, but with 0 Attack, this teeny Paladin Minion by G4merGuy09 requires a little help to be really effective - it'd be awesome to build a deck around this minion!
Winner:
Zen Guard by KAKYBAC
Blizzard Award
Winner: Dreadmaul Ogre Mage by ThePokeMann
The Blizzard Award is the final award this week!
The Blizzard Award looks at some of my favourite entries of the competition that I think Blizzard should incorporate into Hearthstone as in my opinion, these contenders are perfectly suited for the game in terms of balance and design! Roughly, there have been ~4000 entries into the contest since its offset so it's very likely I missed some good'uns! Oddly, I arrived at 3 contenders being all 3-Mana Minions and hey, I'm a sucker for simplicity - which cards were your favourite from the contest?
1) Dreadmaul Ogre Mage by ThePokeMann
Week Sixteen was "Cards with Drawbacks" week - entries into the competition had to have strong stats for its Cost but have a downside attached to compensate. Dreadmaul Ogre Mage fits the bill perfectly - a strong 3-Drop that could backfire against a Spell-Heavy opponent.
2) Standard Bearer by Varolie
This creation by Varolie all the way back in Week One of the contest is a very unique concept - behold the Standard Bearer. When he dies, a Silver Hand Recruit can be gifted a Golden Standard and step up to the plate and become another Standard Bearer! Very thematic indeed, and a worthy contender for the award! 
3) Witchwing Harpy by Emmangt
It's another 3-Mana Minion! In our Sound of Silence contest, users were tasked with creating a minion that incorporatedSilence into the card text. Emmangt, hoped to make a whole new archetype come to life with Witchwing Harpy - a card which awarded your minions with bonus stats for being silenced! Wailing Soul, new meta?
8
4/2 divine shield is considered good enough stat. This is above the curve being 4/3. Wtf are you people smoking and the effect is good.
1
Wild is more fun if you like to build your own deck. Or if your favorite deck is no longer in standard. Simple as that. The meta snapshot and statistical site show a lot less skewed result and a much larger variety of decks. Also, the meta shift much faster and a good deck for a deck might not be good enough the next day. Which make it very exciting, because it is occupied by a pool of players with large card collection. So unlike Standard which people stick to budget effective meta aggro decks, you run into a larger variety of decks. If you prefer a slower pacing game, with more thinking, but require a large card collection go ahead. You can hit legend with your own decks much more easily there.
5
I know this was pretty pointless. But yeah, Ima just run this and tell you guys how it goes ... wish me luck.
2
I never got so much friend request until I played this deck lmao. This wringe the salt out of people.
1
To my Side and Rhok'delar wasn't a meme after all, to all the naysayer.
3
I don't care how good this is, I will run this just to mess with highlander priest.
4
Use this to pull a taunt (1/1 ds, tarcreeper) or meat wagon, 2/4 9 mana card that recruit dragon, and a 3 attack taunt. Might be able to fill your board with super strong card and be a win condition.
3
This is stronger than it looks, recruit allow you to build deck more easily around legendary that are 1 of. Also if you have several big dragon threat in your deck like deathwing dragonlord, ysera and this. It hard for opponent to remove both this and the dragon it pulls out at the same turn. And leaving this on the board can mean another dragon is coming. Unlike the 10/10 oldgod this doesn't make you commit to only having big minions, but just big dragon.
3
Just put Malganis (if wild), 3/9 Void taunt, and a bunch of huge demons in your deck. Removal and non-demon early. And use recruit to cheat out late-game stuff. Hell, remember big demon handlock that many people reached legend with seasons ago in GvG? Literally just do that. They are not over costing recruit. Drawing a minion and playing something from your deck is extremely strong and controlled RNG. Like not every deck in the ladder is tempo oriented. The issue with Recruit is not viability, but that it is too easy to control and that it is interactive.
3
Recruit is powerful, and it is a interesting mechanic to build decks around. While people are shit talking blizzard for toning it power down. This can be quite strong, if you run Jade for turn 1-3 and only run a chunk of good 4 drops minion that this is guaranteed to pull out. With this guy and the other recruit 4 guy. Maybe just run 2 Senjin Shieldmaster and some decent 4 drops in the deck. 3 3/5 taunt for 8 mana isn't bad at all. (13 mana worth of value for 8) Don't believe the comment shit talking this card. This can be quite good in Jade Druid as they have good amount of spells and removal that they don't have to run 1-3 drops, and having this pull 2 4 drop out is insane. Remember, Druid gotten more removal at this point and a decent amount of ramp for turn 1-3.