Best Wild and Standard Decks, Nerfs, Luckiest Combos, and More ‘Hearthstone’ Weekly News in ‘Touchstone’ #113

TouchArcade Rating:

Hello and welcome to another Hearthstone (Free) weekly news and videos roundup. We had all kinds of different stories last week, ranging from the big nerfs going live to questions about the place of Hero Cards in Arena and more. The game seems to be in a peculiar moment right now judging by last week’s stories. Even though most are happy with the Frozen Throne expansion, they also see the game as stale and the same decks sticking around for way too long. Then there’s the Warrior Fatigue issue and tournament issues more generally, which have left a sour taste to those who enjoy the esports side of things. I’m curious to see what the developers are considering to do to remedy this general feeling of discontent that seems to pervade the community (not that it’s a new feeling). Are you happy with the game right now, and do you play as much as you used to?

Hearthstone Nerfs Innervate and More, Also Publishing a Cookbook

We knew they were coming, but they are finally here. I’m talking about the latest round of nerfs, which touched some of the game’s most popular cards (Innervate, Fiery War Axe, etc). It remains to be seen how the meta will change after these nerfs, but I was glad to see Blizzard take quick action this time around. And, in an unrelated story in every way but timing, we are getting a Hearthstone official cookbook in November, which is a fun idea. Read the whole story here.

Tournament Changes Planned

As we wrote about last week, the latest Hearthstone tournament was a bit of a disaster, so Blizzard came out and talked about plans to ensure incidents like that one never happen again. That includes reevaluating equipment requirements and venue capabilities to avoid the kind of DDoS attacks and equipment malfunctions that have been rearing their heads during recent tournaments. No word of a Tournament mode yet, though.

Popular Standard and Wild Decks of the Week

If you’re looking for what popular players are playing, check out this story. It lists many Wild and Standard decks from some of the best players in the game, so you’re in for some quality netdecking. You have Mill Rogue, Control Warlock, Dragonadin, DK Reno Priest, OTK Warlock, and many more. Hop on over here and start putting together some strong decks, if you have the cards of course.

Best Decks of the Week

More great decks for you to either copy or be inspired by. You have Token Druid, Jade Druid, Pirate Warrior, Midrange Paladin, and many more. And if you feel like aiming for Legend, there are decks for that too, including Pirate Warrior and Hybrid Hunter.

An Absurdly Long Game Demonstrated the Fatigue Warrior Issue

Blizzard knew that Fatigue Warrior mirror matches may lead to matches going over the 90-turns limit or just absurdly long matches, and that ended up happening during a recent Taiwanese tournament. The game went on for more than an hour, and the winning player ended the game with more than 500 armor. Both players used the Dead Man’s Hand Warrior, so they ended up copying cards all the time. And it certainly didn’t make for fun viewing. Check out the whole story and Blizzard’s response here.

Latest Expansion did the Lich King Justice But Left the Game Feeling Stale

This story talks about what the expansion did right and what it did wrong and how it has left the game feeling stale. There’s some blame on the Druid cards that were added to an already strong class but also an explanation of why the Hero Cards are a triumph. The writer talks about how futile it is to try and predict a meta and also whether Blizzard should be considering ways to ensure certain decks don’t remain dominant for years. An interesting look at the latest expansion.

Will We Ever Get 2v2?

This story casts a look at whether 2v2 would work for the game, and if yes, how it would have to be programmed. The writer believes the game has the capability of being great for more than two players, but rule tweaks would be necessary, and those tweaks would require development time. And then there’s the issue of balancing, since deck combination strength would require cards be rebalanced. Would you want to see a 2v2 mode, and do you think it is doable?

Luckiest Combos

As this article points out, some of the game’s combos rely heavily on luck. For instance, anything with Anyfin Can Happen relies on luck if more than seven Murlocs have died during the game. Holy Wrath Molten Giant is another luck-based combo, since it can dish out 25 damage to the opponent’s face as long as you are lucky enough to draw that Molten Giant. The story lists a few more luck-based combos, so check it out here.

Should There be Hero Cards in Arena?

There’s been a debate recently on whether Hero Cards should be available in Arena or not. This article looks into this question and talks about the deck imbalance if one of the players was lucky enough to get a Hero Card and the other one wasn’t. He comes down on the side of removing Hero Cards from Arena. What do you think?