Hello Hearthstone (Free) players and welcome to another Touchstone Tavern, our weekly roundup of the most interesting Hearthstone articles and videos. This week we saw the meta starting to transition as some new decks started making an impression on ranked. We also have a Wild tournament coming (finally) as well as stories about new Un’Goro archetypes, the decks that should be dominating the meta in the near future, and much more. And, like always, we have some fun videos for your work/school break. Overall, it’s been a pretty positive week with players enjoying the variety of decks. Without further ado, let us begin.
Un’Goro is the Best Expansion Since League of Explorers
As you can tell from the title, this writer is very pleased with Journey to Un’Goro, although he does point out the cost concerns. After describing the many reasons why the pre-Un’Goro meta wasn’t the best, he goes on to talk about how well various design decisions ended up playing out. For instance, Adapt works well, Elementals require thought to play well, and while the Quests haven’t been performing well so far, they still have potential. Un’Goro’s success can be seen on the diversity of ladder decks, with every class having at least one archetype capable of hitting legend. Read the whole story here.
The Seven Decks that Should Dominate the Un’Goro Meta
Apparently, you can use all kinds of equations to come up with which decks should be dominating the Un’Goro in the near future now. Reddit user Aaron_Lecon used ViciousSyndicate’s data and a Nash Equilibrium equation to come up with how the meta will look like in a few months. Don’t worry, I have no idea what that equation is either. The important part is that according to this equation, Midrange Paladin will be dominating, with Aggro Shaman, Murloc Paladin, and Freeze Mage following. Read the whole story for how this future meta came about.
The Best Cards to Complete Your Rogue, Shaman, and Warlock Quests
If you’ve been wondering which cards to pick for your quests, this article will help. The article goes over Rogue, Shaman, and Warlock, and explains in detail which cards have been performing the best in these quests and why. This is a great resource for those who are still trying to figure out optimal ways to complete the quests, and you should definitely take a look at it and adjust your decks accordingly.
The Most Fun Un’Goro Cards You’ll Never Play in Standard
Not all cool cards can find a place in competitive Standard decks, so this story looks at the ones left behind. The writer talks about cards like Chittering Tunneler, the Paladin Quest, Primalfin Totem, Hemet Jungle Hunter, Explore Un’Goro, and Bright-Eyed Scout. Any cards you would add, or do you actually use in your decks some of these cards?
Some Favorite Un’Goro Deck Archetypes
As this story points out, Un’Goro has shaken up the meta quite a bit and has given us some interesting new archetypes. There’s Token Druid, Midrange Hunter, Exodia Mage, Midrange Paladin, Purify Priest, a new Miracle Rogue, Elemental Shaman, and Taunt Warrior. If you want to be familiar with what the latest decks are and how they play, check out this story.
Hearthstone Has a Crab Problem
This article focuses on the role of tech cards in Hearthstone, focusing specifically on Golakka Crawler. After explaining how tech cards clash with what a good deck is supposed to do, he explains why Golakka Crawler has been relatively successful recently. The reason is apparently two-fold: it prevents Pirate decks from achieving their goals while also helping decks build early tempo. Since the meta has plenty of pirates and also plenty of tempo-based decks, the card works well. The article goes on to talk about other Crab cards as well as Eater of Secrets, so definitely worth a read if you’re thinking of teching your deck.
Poker Star Becomes Hearthstone Pro
Randy Lew, a very good poker player who’s won over 3 million dollars during his career, has decided to join Team Liquid and become a Hearthstone pro. He isn’t going pro for the money; he just wants to play with the best of the best. It’s always interesting seeing poker players jump ship, and it remains to be seen how well Randy Lew does. Read the whole story here.
Blizzard Announces Wild Tournament
Blizzard has stated in the past that it wants to help Wild’s popularity, and now we now what the developers have in mind. As this story points out, the top 64 Ranked players in the Wild mode at the end of May will qualify for an official Wild tournament. While we don’t have any additional details, it’s going to be great watching Wild decks facing each other.
🌿🌿 GO WILD! 🌿🌿 The top 64 from Ranked Wild in May can qualify for an upcoming official Wild Tournament! More info to come. pic.twitter.com/9iwyHKgGIT
— Hearthstone Esports (@HSesports) April 29, 2017
Meta Report
According to the Vicious Syndicate report, Paladin is taking off in terms of representation share, even beating Warrior and Rogue at legend. The aggressive Murloc Paladin is more popular than Midrange Paladin, but Control Paladin is also surging on ladder. The class is reminiscent of Warrior during Whispers. Mage is also rising, with Discover Mage doing well while the aggro variants not so much. Since Paladins and Mages are rising, Warriors and Rogues are falling, as is Hunter. Druid, on the other hand, is becoming more popular but Priest is still a mess. You can read the report in detail here.
Trump’s Quest Druid
Insane Predictions
5 Crazy Fan-Made Legendary Spells
Amazing Mage Luck
Priest RNG is Awesome
Un’Goro WTF Moments #96
The Most Expensive Game of Hearthstone
Mimic Pod is Pretty Good
Did Un’Goro Kill Pirates
Best of Amara, Warden of Hope
5 Cards That Got Nerfed With Un’Goro
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
