Hello and welcome to another Hearthstone (Free) news and videos roundup. I hope you’ve had a good week and you didn’t have to face too many Shaman decks (although the odds of that are not in your favor). This past week was a very interesting one as we got the first clear statement of nerfs coming to the game soon as well as possibly the name and theme of the next expansion. Are you ready for some dinosaurs? We also got stories about a great nation-based tournament coming as well as some ways to counter Pirate Warrior. And, as always, we got the best videos of the week. So come in and enjoy the roundup.
Balance Changes Coming This Month
In yet another lengthy post, Ben Brode promised that balance changes are coming to the game and soon. He first talked about how the team evaluates the state of the game regarding class power level and pointed out the importance of letting good players recognize shifts in the meta and take advantage of them before the meta changes. And that’s one of the biggest reasons the team doesn’t nerf cards frequently. They come in and make adjustments when the best decks aren’t fun to play or lose to and when there are no good counters to dominant decks. The team is working on the ability to stream balance adjustments straight to our devices instead of going through the patch process, but they don’t have that ability yet. But when the next patch rolls around towards the end of February, we’ll be seeing some nerfs. More details closer to that date, but I’m excited for sure.
Is the Next Expansion Dinosaur-Themed?
It looks like we might be getting Dinosaurs in the next expansion if this leak is to believed. As we wrote about earlier today, a voice actor’s resume included an entry for Hearthstone: Lost Secrets of Un’Goro, so perhaps that’s the name of the upcoming expansion. Personally, I would enjoy a dinosaur-themed expansion, although the question is whether we would get a whole different tribe or simply more beast cards. Beast cards would help Hunters get our of their current rut. What do you think about a dinosaur expansion? Interested?
Top 5 League of Explorers Cards We’ll Miss
League of Explorers doesn’t have much life left since it will be departing once the next expansion hits. And, of course, we’ll miss some of the cards a lot. According to this story, here are the five cards that the writer will miss the most. The first is Elise Starseeker because of the depth it added to control games. Tomb Pillager is the next because of how useful it is in all kinds of Rogue decks. Next is one of my favorites, Anyfin Can Happen, the card that gave me so many Murloc wins. Reno Jackson is, of course, included in this list as well since it is a huge staple of the meta and has given us some fun decks. And the last is Brann Bronzebeard, a card that introduced a lot of complexity and versatility into many decks. Any cards outside these five that you’ll miss from League?
How to Counter Pirate Warrior
While we are probably less than a month from seeing those Pirates getting nerfed a bit, Pirate Warrior is still a pain to play against, so here’s a guide on ways to counter the deck. The first way to go about it is bringing your own Pirate Warrior to the party (if you can’t beat them…), or you could go the Reno Mage route and take advantage of all the spell options the deck includes. The other way you can beat the deck is by bringing a Priest deck along and use the taunt minions and healing powers to survive the death by a thousand little minions. There are also specific cards that can mess with Pirate Warrior such as Wickerflame Burnbristle or Second-Rate Bruiser. Any other ideas?
Best of Card Art
If you enjoy the terrific card art of the game, check out this story where you can check out full versions of some of the best card art in the game. This gallery of the 25 best pieces is definitely worth your time, and I wish there was a good way to get that art as wallpapers. Which one’s your favorite?
Blizzard’s Apathy Towards Timely Nerfs
The title of this story shows the writer’s feelings on the current state of the game. After expressing his love and hate relationship with the game, he talks about the biggest problem of the game, which is Blizzard’s hesitation to balance the game, even when a handful of cards make the game unbearable for months at a time. His example is, of course, Small-Time Buccaneer. Even though the card was identified as problematic very soon after the expansion, nothing has been done about it. He also talks about how the Jade mechanic is way more powerful than many other mechanics in the game, and how that mechanic along with the Pirates have made Shaman even more powerful than it already was. He prefers Hearthstone tweaked problematic cards more often. Would you prefer a more hands-on design team?
Four Things We learned From the PAX South Major
In any big tournament, we get to see how the pros are approaching the game and what decisions they make regarding deck and card selection. Those decisions are usually a good indicator of the state of the meta. According to this story, this is what PAX South has revealed about the game’s state. The first is that Aggro Shaman is still broken, and the pros are very aware of it. Almost every player brought one along, and most players banned it if they got the chance. The second takeaway was that Pirate Warrior continues to be very strong, with some of the best players taking out opponents by Turn 5. At the same time, Reno Mage and Reno Warlock proved to be a strong counter. Miracle Rogue is still working well, although its future is in doubt, and Kazakus Mage is a very versatile deck and was used very often by the pros.
New Global Games Tournament With 48 International Teams Announced
If you wanted to see how different countries stack up against each other in terms of Hearthstone skill, you’ll soon have that opportunity. Blizzard announced the Hearthstone Global Games, which will feature teams from 48 countries duking it out online to determine who will make it to the live face-off event finals later this year. There’s a $300,000 prize waiting to be split, so this is nothing to frown upon. The official webpage for the tournament includes all the details on how to join and how the prize will be split up. I personally can’t wait to see the different country teams and see how the different metas play out in the tournament.
Fail Moments #31
Best Devolve Moments
WTF Moments #87
Best of RNG #11
Ladder Summarized in 1 Minute
Top 25 Comebacks
Best of Dirty Rat 2
Best of Doomsayer
Kripp on Why Ranked Is Horrible
Trump’s Jaraxxusception
Hotform on Why Shaman Must Change
Kolento on Sheep RNG
As always, we have some good resources on the site for you in case you are new to the game or simply want to sharpen up your game. There’s never such a thing as too much help in Hearthstone, so check out our guides.
Hearthstone Deck-building Guide
