Welcome to another weekly roundup of everything that’s happened in the world of Hearthstone (Free). This has been another week where players have complained about the state of the meta and about how the game doesn’t feel as fun as it used to. I feel we’re going to be hearing the same complaints until we get new cards, get cards nerfed, or get cards banned. When will that happen, I have no idea, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that we are once more going through very interesting times. Outside the complaining part, we got news on the upcoming World Championship, more on the making of One Night in Karazhan, and much more. So, on we go.

Three Years In and Cards Still Aren’t Nerfed Fast Enough

As you can tell from the title of this story, this is all about Blizzard’s hesitation when it comes to nerfing cards, which means that we usually get nerfs too long after we should have. The writer talks about the current meta, which he sees as pretty broken to the point of making him want to quit. He sees this phenomenon of broken metas as a common occurrence in the game, and even though the current problems are even more obvious now then they were before (Shaman’s OP), Blizzard still isn’t nerfing any cards. He talks about Shaman’s current problems (Totem Golem, Tuskarr Totemic, Flamewreathed Faceless, etc) and also about Yogg-Saron. Unlike with Hearthstone, Blizzard seems to be ok nerfing Overwatch quite often, so it’s peculiar that the devs take a different approach with Hearthstone. Read the whole story here.

Sorry but the Game Isn’t Fun Anymore

Well, the title says it all in this one. The writer takes issue with how stale the game has become and how much RNG has taken over from skill. When your decisions don’t matter as much as a roll of the dice does, then the game is no longer fun to play. One of the issues he sees is how the game has become very combo based, which is an issue because per design, you can’t play cards when your opponent is. So, you just have to sit there and take the combo to the face (he specifically talks about the Raging Worgen Warrior combo). In a game like Magic, you can disrupt combos, but in Hearthstone you can’t, so cards that allow for that style of play are just bad for Hearthstone. The writer has additional – well reasoned – complaints about the state of the game, and you read them all here.

In Defense of Yogg-Saron

Unlike most other stories on Yogg-Saron, this one actually defends it for a change. However, he comes to it from a spectator’s perspective and points out how much fun it is to watch those desperate 10-mana plays and all the craziness that ensues. He understands why pros have an issue with the card and can see why Blizzard is slow to ban it from tournaments  (doesn’t want to set a precedence). This article is a reminder that there are more people playing Hearthstone than the very vocal – and popular – pro players, so it’s not always easy for Blizzard to take action. Read Yogg’s defense here.

Fans Create Clever Way to Save and Share Replays

The community has often requested a replay function in the game so we can share our proudest achievements and biggest blunders. So, fans have stepped in to fill the void by creating HSReplay.net, a deck tracker that runs while you play Hearthstone and uploads your game to the site and then lets you share those replays with friends. Pretty cool idea. I haven’t tried it yet, but if it works, it’s going to be quite fun. And I know that this is not something you can use on mobile, but it’s still a cool little tool for those with PCs.

Hearthstone European Championship Saw Predictable Decks Prevail

If you were expecting surprises at the Hearthstone European Championship, well, sorry to disappoint. What we got was all eight players bringing Yogg Druid and Aggressive Shaman and a Warrior deck, with seven players bringing a Control warrior and one a Midrange Dragon Warrior. So, to no one’s surprise, people are using these decklists to point to Hearthstone‘s competitive issues and the lack of a variety of strong decks. Check out the story, with more details on the decks, here.

Hearthstone World Championship Details Unveiled

BlizzCon is coming soon, which means the Hearthstone World Championship is upon us as well. So, Blizzard gave us more details on its plans for the HWC, including the rules for the series. The Group Stage will take place between October 26th and October 30th, with each group consisting of 4 competitors (one from each region). The tournament will use a best of seven Conquest format with one ban, and each player will bring 5 decks to the tournament. The group stage will be double elimination, with the top two going to the quarterfinals on November 4th and then semis and finals on November 5th. The winner gets $250,000, the biggest prize even in the history of the game. Check more details in our story.

The Making of One Night in Karazhan

This is a great story that offers an inside look at how Karazhan became the adventure we know. Designer Peter Whalen and art director Ben Thompson talk about how the adventure theme came about – including variations to the theme they ended up going with – how they went from concept to realizing it, and much, much more. I always like inside looks at adventures, and expansions because they help me figure out how the developers think. Check out the story here.

Blizzard Looking for Legendary Player to Help in Upcoming Adventures

This story is definitely not for me, but if you are a really good Hearthstone player – as in the kind the hits Legend often – Blizzard has a job for you. According to the job posting, this legendary Hearthstone player will join the team and will have the responsibility of making “fun-to-play, clear, and balanced cards" to complement expansions and adventures. Fun! If you have what it takes, you can apply here, but even if you don’t, it’s good to see that Blizzard is trying to get a more balanced game in the future.

Blizzard Has Been Suffering From Repeated DDoS Attacks

If you’ve been having issues logging into the game or experienced weird lag spikes, don’t blame Blizzard since the company has been repeatedly attacked in recent days. These denial of service attacks have been messing with the game big time, and I’m sure Blizzards is looking into what can be done to protect the infrastructure from such attacks. Read the story about the DDoS attacks here.

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