Hello everyone and welcome to another Hearthstone (Free) weekly news roundup. Please, have a seat by the fire. Today’s news is more varied compared to the last couple of weeks, although we still have a couple of guides on popular and powerful decks. There’s also a view of the current state of the game from Blizzard itself, questions on whether Secret Paladin can still haunt your dreams in the current meta, questions about the nerfs, and, of course, the current state of the Meta. I feel that players are starting to get accustomed to the radical changes Standard brought to the game and starting to get used to the new reality. How have you been enjoying the changes? Is Hearthstone the way you like it right now or are changes you can’t wait to see?
Six Cards We Miss in Standard
This HearthHead story talks not about what is in Standard but what the writer misses from Standard after the recent changes. He talks about cards that weren’t really great or overpowered but were still fun to play or had a fun mechanic. The cards discussed are Shieldmaiden, Mal’Ganis, Mechanical Yeti, Lightbomb, Loatheb, and Death’s Bite, explaining why each one was a fun card to play with. Check out the full story here. Any cards you miss from the old format?
Is Secret Paladin Still a Strong Standard Deck?
If you remember not too long ago, a certain Secret Paladin deck was pretty much driving every player insane. Once Standard hit, though, Secret Paladin lost too many good cards, so everyone wrote its obituary. This HearthHead story looks into whether the deck can still be competitive in Standard by looking at how the deck used to play, what it lost, what still remains, and how you can fill in the openings with other cards. According to the writer, you can actually still make a competitive Secret Paladin deck, so if you’ve missed shocking your opponent with a Christmas Tree Hero, check the story out here.
Kripparian Talks Being a Pro
Kripparian (or Kripp) is one of the most popular pros in the game who while not having big trophies or tournament prizes under his belt, is still very popular because of his great videos and Arena runs. In this interview, he talks about the challenges of being a pro, his path to streaming, having to often spend 8 hours a day editing video and in general having to work very hard to achieve the kind of success he has. What I found most interesting is all the talk about the technical parts of being a streamer; all the time it takes to find clips and edit them appropriately and all that. Check out the story here so you can realize that being a streamer is more than just playing a game on stream.
Devt’s Midrange Shaman Guide
If you’ve been thinking about jumping into the Midrange Shaman pool, here’s a guide by Legend Player, Devt. The deck continues to be very strong, so it’s not a bad idea to get on board now before the meta changes. The guide offers an extensive description of the general strategy of the deck along with match-ups, tech choices, and more. Check out the guide here and join the Shaman club.
Pokemon as Hearthstone Cards
ErgoFye put together a very fun gallery of Pokemon as Hearthstone cards. This is the kind of thing I always enjoy because it’s fun to see what happens when two games collide. There’s Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Raichu, and also many spells and even hero powers. All of them are very well done, so check them out.
Did the Nerfs Go Far Enough?
This story focuses on the Standard nerfs and whether they went far enough. After talking about Blizzard’s nerf philosophy and the decisions behind which cards would remain in Standard across expansions, the article goes into detail regarding most nerfs and discusses what was appropriate and what wasn’t. Doomhammer is, of course, a subject of discussion since it’s the card that everyone feels should have been nerfed, as are many other cards. Then, the article goes into the issues with what Blizzard calls the “core" cards in the game, noting that the Basic and Expert sets are too “flabby" with plenty of cards that shouldn’t be in the game. I agree with a lot of what is said in this story and especially about the need for a Doomhammer nerf. Go here to read the whole story.
New Game Mode Icons Spotted
In what was a great piece of detective work, HearthPwn spotted new game mode icons in a Ben Brode and the UI team discuss a new UI job opening. The icons show things like Standard vs Wild, Adventure, Brawl, and so on, with the Brawl one offering information on how that week’s Brawl works. According to the story, the Arena display will show how many wins and how many loses you have. I’m glad to see Blizzard continuing to tinker with the game’s UI because great as it is, it could be better. Check out screenshots of the new icons here.
Want to work with @bdbrode @mxma101 & @figluster on #Hearthstone UI design? https://t.co/VFns9YPtmmhttps://t.co/YuAdkmalbf
— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) June 10, 2016
Old Gods Travel Agency
Hearthstone Brasil Facebook page decided to let us travel to popular Azerothian destinations based on the Old Gods theme. You can “visit" Icecrown Citadel, The Dark Portal, and Vale of Eternal Blossoms. As the article points out, we have no idea whether any of these have any meaning beyond the fun factor, but it’s definitely a fun idea. Check it out here.
Blizzard Talks State of Hearthstone
In this story, Blizzard’s Mike Donais and Peter Whalen talk about the current state of the game. They talk about how happy they are with Standard and the fact that players are enjoying it. They are glad the meta feels fresh again and that players are using a great variety of decks. They are working on a variety of things at the moment, but one of their priorities is boosting Fireside Gatherings so they can encourage people to play the game socially. They also think there’s room for improvement with the Ladder, but they see it as working well at the moment. When it comes to the nerfs, they feel they were pretty successful overall (though Doomhammer would disagree I think). There’s a lot more to read about (including Arena and class-specific talk), so check out the story here.
Spring’s European Championship Infographic
If you want to get a sense of the current meta through numbers and stats from the European Spring Championship, this story’s got you covered. Pulling together the various decks of the competitors (among them Thijs and AKAWonder), the writer talks about the distribution of archetypes in the pool – with C’Thun Warrior being the most popular and Aggro Shaman second most popular – and the class distribution and, of course, includes all the decklists. He also puts together a nice comparison between the Spring Preliminary and this tournament that shows how the various classes’ popularity has changed. Interestingly, Hunter has jumped in popularity. Check out the whole story here.
Meta Report
The Meta is still pretty Warrior-dominated with five variants in the top two tiers – Control, Tempo, Patron, Pirate, and Dragon. According to the Tempo Storm Meta Snapshot, players are starting to run more midrange decks like Midrange Hunter and C’Thun Druid to deal with the slower Warrior variants. The popularity of midrange decks is also making players go more aggro, with Aggro Shaman taking top spot in Tier 1 this week. Pirate Warrior is also doing plenty of damage currently. Zoolock is doing well, too, because of how consistent it is and because its early draws can help overwhelm Warrior decks.
HearthHead’s Attack the Meta offers some strong decks to counter the current meta powerhouses. Decks like Patron Warrior, Dragon Priest, Tempo Mage, and Malygos Rogue should help you hold your own. When it comes to tech cards, Stampeding Kodo is a great one to add to your deck because it can help contest board-driven decks.
Lucky Moments #31
Best Moments #55
Best of Cabalist Tome
Kripp’s Full Legendary Deck
Trump’s Miracle Rogue Class
Trump’s C’Thun Druid Class
Best of Fandral Staghelm
Best of Acidmaw
Fail Moments #12
Best of Forbidden Shaping
The Fall of Arena Druids?
Epic Plays #115
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
