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The longest running Hearthstone podcast in the history of space and time and cards. Join GuyGrumpy and a rotating host of guests from The Happy Hearthstone community as they help you get better at the game and have a blast doing it.
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 29, 2014
Tuesday Jul 29, 2014
Hello!
- Scott and Redbeard are on the show this week
- Topic: The Survival Paladin deck
- Reasons to be happy this week
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
The Defending Champion Deck
Redbeard’s Barbarian Warrior Deck uses weapons and fast-acting minions to put the pressure on early and keep momentum up into the mid-game.
The Barbarian Warrior Deck has reigned supreme for 3 months, and has beaten 2 decks before this episode.
The Challenger
Scott has crafted his own deck that he thinks can usurp this Barbarian King. To help you build his deck, he’s put together a full deck list, along with some great commentary and substitute cards in case you’re missing a few of the cards he uses.
The Deck
Creatures
- 2x Abusive Sergeant (1 mana)
- 2x Argent Squire (1 mana)
- 2x Argent Protector (2 mana)
- 2x Sunfury Protector (2 mana)
- 1x Aldor Peacekeeper (3 mana)
- 1x Blood Knight (3 mana)
- 2x Harvest Golem (3 mana)
- 1x Jungle Panther (3 mana)
- 2x Scarlet Crusader (3 mana)
- 1x Sen’jin Shieldmasta (4 mana)
- 1x Silvermoon Guardian (4 mana)
- 1x Cairne Bloodhoof (6 mana)
- 1x Tirion Fordring (8 mana)
Spells
- 2x Blessing of Wisdom (1 mana)
- 2x Redemption (1 mana)
- 2x Blessing of Kings (4 mana)
- 2x Consecration (4 mana)
- 2x Truesilver Champion (4 mana)
- 1x Lay on Hands (8 mana)
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back ups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- 2x Loot Hoarder (2 mana)
- 2x Earthen Ring Farseer (3 mana)
- 2x Ironfur Grizzly (3 mana)
- 1x Frostwolf Warlord (5 mana)
- 1x Sunwalker (6 mana)
The Duel!
Redbeard’s perspective
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Rachel: Android or iOS apps worth getting?
- iTunes Reviews
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Follow Scott on Twitter and watch his videos on YouTube
- Follow Redbeard on Twitter and watch him livestream
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
WoW taught us that Paladins are exceptionally good at one thing: surviving to see another day. Whether it’s by bubble-hearthing back to mama or healing themselves 10 times in a single fight, Paladins will frustrate anyone trying to kill them. And that’s the goal of the Survival Paladin deck in Hearthstone that uses Divine Shield, Taunt, and repeating minions to keep your board full at all times, no matter what.
Find out more about this deck and watch it in action in the latest episode of Happy Hearthstone!
Update 12/1/14: Here is the updated card list for Scott’s Survival Paladin deck!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Scott Lantz. Thanks, Scott!
Survival Paladin
Here are the notes for each card I used in my challenge against Redbeard’s Barbarian Warrior deck. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
Great for a quick damage burst, especially to trade up on an attacking minion w/ divine shield. I’ve started using this guy in a lot of decks. You generally don’t want to drop him on turn 1, but there are cases where that can make sense.
He may be small, but is a good trump to aggro decks and a good target for Blessing of Wisdom — especially early in the game. He also wears Blessing of Kings well if he’s still got his shield. He’s a great turn 1 drop, but also surprisingly relevant later in the game, whether it’s feeding a Blood Knight, getting taunt from Sunfury Protector, or getting a late-game blessing, or just acting as a persistent source of small damage.
More divine shield! Good for protecting minions with Blessings, shoring up your taunt minions, or protecting your attackers so they can survive a suicide attack. Generally you don’t want to cast him without a target, but if you need board presence, it’s not the end of the world.
Having good divine shield and deathrattle effects on your creatures only helps so much if your opponent is walking right past them. Aggro decks are especially worrisome, since they’ll be spending their turns killing you, and you’ll be spending your turns killing their minions. And in the later game when you’re low on HP, they can just kill you with charge minions. This card is the answer! It’s more likely in this deck than most to have good targets — you’re more likely to have at least 2 minions, and creatures with divine shield must be hit at least twice each! One of my favorite plays is putting this between two Argent Squires or Scarlet Crusaders
Good insurance against bigger control creatures. But don’t be afraid to play early in the game if you can target something with at least 3 attack. Like Argent Protector, it’s ideal to hold off on casting this until you have a good target. But if your mana would go unused otherwise and he’d likely live to attack next turn, you should probably just go ahead and play him.
1x Blood Knight
Totally worth pulling divine shield off your own guys for. It’s awesome to get a 6/6 or 9/9 for 3 mana. Generally worth holding until it can hit something. While he’s a lot of fun and can swing the game in your favor, I’m only running 1 because the second will often have less impact, but running 2 is probably fine. Like Aldor Peacekeeper, you can cast him as a 3/3 for 3 in a pinch, but he’s at his best when eating at least one shield. Also remember, he eats opposing shields, and the ideal time to drop him is if your opponent has a shield in play.
A strongly efficient card in most decks, but suits this deck particularly well. It works well with Redemption, and is a good target for Sunfury Protector. It’s especially good against aggro decks where many creatures have only 2 power. His deathrattle functions as it’s own kind of divine shield.
Jungle Panther is a little out of step for this deck, but helps apply some great burst damage where needed. He wears shields exceptionally well from Argent Protector, he comes back stealthed from Redemption, he trades up cost-efficiently, he survives most AoE while stealthed, and he can stay alive longer than usual in this deck thanks to all the taunt. Lastly, another often-overlooked quality about this guy is that he is a straight trump to an entire class of utility creatures that he can take out in one hit while staying alive: Demolisher, Imp Master, Shieldbearer, Armorsmith, Silverback Patriarch, Voidwalker, Summoning Portal, Mana Wyrm, Master Swordsmith, Acolyte of Pain, and tons more. You’ll be surprised how often he makes efficient trades.
Takes 2 hits to die, and does decent damage. Also, comes back good as new from Redemption. A great target for Sunfury Protector, or for a refresher on his shield from Argent Protector.
Great against aggro, as he can usually trade 2-1, and sometimes 3-1. Also keeps taunt if he comes back from Redemption. This guy really helps shore up the deck against aggro.
Like Scarlet Crusader, but with a couple extra health for 1 more mana. Overall, I like this less than Scarlet Crusader in this deck, but it’s still fine. I recently switched one of these out for a Jungle Panther.
What’s better than a Chillwind Yeti? 2 Chillwind Yetis! This guy is ideal for triggering your Redemption if you can arrange it, as you get an extra 4/5 out of the deal, on top of all the other perks.
Speaks for himself. He’s amazing… if you get to turn 8. He is capable of saving games that you would have otherwise lost. Tirion is also a fantastic target for Redemption, and that combo works pretty often thanks to Tirion’s built-in taunt.
A decent card under any circumstances, it’s especially good here given all the divine shield. Remember — don’t play this card until you’re about to attack with that minion! While it depends on circumstance a bit, I often throw this on my weakest creature to force them to decide if they want to kill my stronger creature threats, or if they want to keep me from drawing more cards. My favorite target for this is on an Argent Squire that still has his shield, particularly on Turn 2. Lastly, remember that in a pinch, you can put this on your opponent’s meanest creature to keep it from attacking, or reward you a bit if it does.
2x Redemption
The thematic core of the deck — most minions in the deck benefit from Redemption more than usual. Keep in mind this isn’t a very good card normally, but this deck was built to have cards that work well with it. Unfortunately, one huge drawback is that the 1/1 minions created by your hero ability are never something you want to trigger this card. So be careful with that.
This thing makes anyone huge. It can help you win combat against the unexpected hunk of beef your opponent dropped, or can add to a huge amount of damage to your opponent’s life total. It’s especially effective when added to a minion that has divine shield. In those cases, I like to go straight for the opponent’s face if I can, and make them kill off their team dealing with the guy.
2x Consecration
A useful card against anyone, but especially deadly against aggro decks. The 2 damage it does to your opponent directly is a nice bonus folks often overlook. Even against control decks, this card is good as it can often weaken a group of creatures enough that you can hit them with one attack of your own.
A strong and versatile card that can be used to either hurt your opponent badly, or help maintain board control. Plus, it gives you some ambient healing that can often make a big difference.
1x Lay on Hands
Useful when game goes long. It gives a huge burst of healing, plus 3 more cards to play. The key is to stay alive until at least turn 8, and then this will swing the game strongly in your favor.
Possible Additions
Given that this is a pretty heavily-themed deck that relies on certain synergies to really stand out (Divine Shield + Redemption, Blood Knight, Blessings, etc.), you want to keep that in mind when considering what cards to substitute in.
The deathrattle effect helps draw into the more important cards in your deck, and for that reason is a good substitution if you don’t have all the cards in the core deck. Also, 2/1 for 2 is pretty good considering you get the extra card out of the deal. And it also works well with Redemption. All things considered, this is one of the better substitutions.
He helps survive aggro assaults, or can heal some of your bigger minions in an attrition war. Not a great substitution, but you could certainly do worse.
Another option to help survive aggro assaults. I find him preferable to the Earthen Ring Farseer thanks to his taunt. In a similar vein, you may also want to consider a second Sen’jin Shieldmasta as well — I think that’s slightly more efficient than the Ironfur Grizzly even.
Since you’re usually going to have a ton of guys sitting around, you might as well use them to make a big Warlord! I used this card for a while, and it was a good fit. I pulled it from the my own version because it doesn’t work very well with Redemption and is fairly expensive, but it could be a great substitution for the legendaries in the deck if you don’t have them.
A decent substitution for the legendaries if you don’t have one or both. It protects your smaller guys in the late game so they can get some extra hits, and it works really well with Redemption (comes back as a 4/1 w/ taunt and divine shield!). It’s a bit expensive, but fine to add if you don’t have one of the other expensive cards the deck prefers.
Final Thoughts
This is a fun deck that holds up really well and lower middle ranks. Plus, as Josh mentioned in a previous episode, it can make your opponent ragequit in frustration! While Josh was (somewhat) joking, I’ve absolutely had enemies concede early when they see that Scarlet Crusader come back from redemption, for example.
Saturday Apr 19, 2014
Saturday Apr 19, 2014
Hello!
- Redbeard is on the show this week
- Topic: The Barbarian Warrior deck
- Reasons to be happy this week
- Happy Hearthstone’s one-year anniversary!
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
The Deck
- The Barbarian Warrior: Kill minions. Crush face. Use weapons.
- How it wins: This deck is flexible, which is what makes it so strong in blind matchups. Against aggro decks, it plays a mid-range control style. But against everyone else, it can go full aggro and just punch face for quick wins.
Five Key Cards
- Fiery War Axe: Great removal, amazing value for the mana cost.
- Mortal Strike: Strong removal and great surprise damage for early finishes.
- Kor’kron Elite: The perfect aggressive Warrior card. I’d play 4 if I could.
- Bloodsail Raider: Decent on its own, and incredible with a weapon equipped. The ideal turn-2 drop.
- Frothing Berserker: This deck will hurt minions, and this guy turns that damage into more damage.
Full Deck List
You can get more insight into the deck by reading Redbeard’s guide, which goes through every single card with full explanation and advice, but here’s the simple deck list with no commentary (ordered by mana cost), if you’d rather just try it out yourself.
Creatures
- 2x Leper Gnome (1)
- 1x Worgen Infiltrator (1)
- 2x Bloodsail Raider (2)
- 2x Knife Juggler (2)
- 2x Frothing Berserker (3)
- 2x Harvest Golem (3)
- 2x Arathi Weaponsmith (4)
- 2x Kor’kron Elite (4)
- 1x Leeroy Jenkins (4)
- 2x Nightblade (5)
- 2x Argent Commander (6)
- 1x The Black Knight (6)
Spells
- 1x Execute (1)
- 2x Heroic Strike (2)
- 2x Mortal Strike (4)
Weapons
- 2x Fiery War Axe (2)
- 2x Arcanite Reaper (5)
Sideboard
If you don’t have all of the ideal cards, here are some quality backups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- 2x Faerie Dragon (2)
- 2x Acidic Swamp Ooze (2)
- 2x Arcane Golem (3)
- 2x Scarlet Crusader (3)
- 2x Reckless Rocketeer (6)
- 1x Spellbreaker (4)
- 1x Gorehowl (7)
- 1x Lorewalker Cho (2)
- 1x Harrison Jones (5)
- 1x Big Game Hunter (3)
The Defending Champion Deck
Dan’s Hunter Beastmaster Deck, which relies on lots of Beast minions and solid removal spells to rush the opponent down.
The Beastmaster Deck has reigned supreme for 6 months, and has beaten 4 decks before this episode.
The Duel!
Redbeard’s perspective
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Rob: “If i’m a hearthstone noob and don’t want to sink any money in the game yet what kind of deck can I build to at least have fun?”
- iTunes Review: Thepostiegav, Trigsters
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Watch Redbeard Livestream
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
Sometimes you just need to grab a big axe and punch a face! This Warrior deck is all about sending troops behind enemy lines to cut down the hero’s health total and then close it out with a few hefty swings of your own weapon. It’s aggressive when it’s allowed to be, and controls other aggressive decks when it needs to.
Find out more about this deck and watch it in action in the latest episode of Happy Hearthstone!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Redbeard. Thanks, Redbeard!
The Barbarian Warrior
“If you only use one ability, use mortal strike” –The Warrior Code, Line 6
When I started playing Hearthstone, I immediately gravitated to the warrior class. I played it in WoW for 6 years, so it’s my favorite class, plus I thought weapons were so cool. So when I went to try ranked play out, I wanted to play warrior, and I wanted to smash faces in with Mortal Strike. That is what I do. I play aggressively, kill minions, and send big damage upstairs.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
2x Leper Gnome
Aggressive decks need to play 1-mana minions, and this boy is the best option without buffs if you aren’t a warlock. He’s a 2-power dude you can drop on turn 1, and barring some kind of silence effect, he’s at minimum a guaranteed 2 damage, usually 4-6.
I wanted a third 1-drop to increase the likelihood of having a play on turn 1, and since I play no ways to buff a small minion, the Infiltrator just edges out Argent Squire. Stealth stops him from dying for free to a hero power, which does a good job of getting him in for at least 2 damage.
Including Weaponsmiths, this deck has access to 6 weapons, meaning odds are good you’ll have one up most of the time. You can sequence your plays to drop him as a 5/3 early, a 4/3 in the midgame, or a 7/3 off the top of the deck late. All of those represent must-answer threats to your opponent’s health, and a 2-power minion on turn 2 is acceptable, if unexciting.
This is kind of a flex-slot for a 2-drop in the deck. I was playing Faerie Dragon here for a long time, but with the reduced popularity of mage and druid lately, the juggler may be worth playing again. If you find yourself facing a lot of single-target removal spells, switch to dragon, or in case of lots of weapons, feel free to try Acidic Swamp Ooze. Basically, any 2-mana 3/2 can fit here, so use what you feel is appropriate for the metagame.
This troll is the man. He’s possibly the best 3-mana minion in the game and the best warrior card around. 2/4 for 3 is about a point of power under curve, but he grows very quickly and if he goes unanswered, he can take over a game and make your opponent have a very bad day. He synergizes with clearing your opponent’s board, with warrior weapons and removal, and actually makes it quite painful for your opponent to fight back if they’re killing anything but him.
Generic strong 3-drop. This slot could easily go to King Mukla or Arcane Golem if you are interested in faster beatdowns, or Scarlet Crusader if you prefer higher power and a divine shield, but I like the resilience of the Harvest Golem, especially to AoEs.
Arathi Weaponsmith is another big reason to play warrior. By the generally accepted maths, 1.5 mana of his cost pays for the weapon, and since so many early minions have 2 health to start, or end up with it after battling a minion, that 2/2 axe usually contributes to 2 minion deaths on the opposite side. Huge value with a respectable body on a female orc, which you have to love.
This is yet another powerful warrior minion. 4 power with charge means this guy represents a big surprise hit to your opponent’s board or face, and 3 health is more than most charge minions get to have, which all adds up to a big value.
If you’re only ever going to craft 1 legendary, it should be Leeroy. He’s basically a neutral fireball, because his drawback means he almost never lives a whole turn after being played, but your opponent rarely does, either. The paupers among us can get by with Reckless Rocketeers, but crafting Leeroy should be a top priority if you plan to play aggressive decks.
2x Nightblade
Nightblade is not a very good card, but this deck needs ways to get the final few points of damage through after the opponent puts up a big taunt wall. I refused to play this card for a long time because I thought it was not worth it, but it is essentially more copies of Kor’kron Elite. Since the deck plays so many 4-mana minions, having a couple 5s doesn’t make much of a difference, and you trade off 1 up-front damage for an extra point of health.
You may be noticing a theme. Every minion that costs 4 or more does some damage the turn it is cast. Argent Commander has 4 power, charge, and divine shield, which makes him surprise damage, resilient to removal, and a form of removal himself. This is another generic aggressive card that is hard to replace.
This is another flex-spot for the deck. I play The Black Knight because “shields up” is the name of the game these days with so many ancient watchers getting in the way of finishing off an opponent. Spellbreaker is a fine substitute if you don’t have The Black Knight, and shifts in the popularity of certain decks could make Harrison Jones, Lorewalker Cho, Gorehowl, or Big Game Hunter a better choice.
1x Execute
This one-off is the most recent addition to the deck. I saw another aggresive warrior deck play one, and decided to try it out. I realized that in a world full of giants and legendary 8/8s, a card that can kill any size minion for a single mana is pretty worthwhile. I would not add a second copy because even with just one it has a tendency to sit in my hand a while some games, and I feel like 2 would risk hurting my ability to build a board presence too much if I drew both of them.
Heroic Strike is cheap removal that can also be sent upstairs to finish the opponent off. It synergizes with weapons, helps lower your health for mortal strike, and is cheaper than comparable cards from other classes.
Warriors have to work hard to get a Fireball. Mortal Strike is one of your primary finishers because it sends a lot of damage that is not subject to taunt. You should remember that you play this card at all times, because armoring up can sometimes be a bad move if it will keep you above 12 health for too long.
One of the keystones to the deck, the Fiery War Axe is cheap removal, usually a 2-for-1, and a nice synergy with Bloodsail Raiders. That said, if your draw if heavy on weapons and weaponsmiths, don’t be afraid to send a durability or two at your opponent’s face.
This is the big axe. While Arcanite Reaper is usually meant to be a 5-mana pyroblast spread over 2 turns, it also excels at killing Chillwind Yetis and other annoying high-health midgame minions. It’s most appealing quality is the ability to make a 2-mana 7/3 out of Bloodsail Raiders, which is a pleasure virtually unique to warriors.
Possible Additions
There is a lot of room for customization in an aggressive warrior deck, so there are many cards one can use to suit this deck to the current run of opponents or one’s particular collection. Your minion choices offer a lot of flexibility, and there are too many options to list all of them, so I include here only a small selection.
Faerie Dragon is a replacement option for Knife Juggler. If your jugglers die too often to wraths, frostbolts, and backstabs, or if you just can’t spare 100 dust to make one, feel free to replace them with little dragons.
Similar to Faerie Dragon, the ooze is a possible candidate for Knife Juggler’s job. He comes in if your jugglers are instead being killed by Perdition’s Blade, Deadly Poison, or Stormforged Axe.
2x Arcane Golem
Arcane Golem is a contender for Harvest Golem’s spot if you find the deck doesn’t put out damage fast enough for your tastes.
Scarlet Crusader is a middle-ground between the unfettered aggression of Arcane Golem and the resilience of Harvest Golem.
Reckless Rocketeer is the budget replacement option for both Leeroy Jenkins and Argent Commander. It should never be played if you have access to those more expensive cards, but can stand in if your collection is lacking.
1x Spellbreaker
Spellbreaker is what you play if you can’t afford The Black Knight’s hefty price tag. It still gets your attacks past a taunt, but since it doesn’t remove that minion from the battlefield, it’s an inferior choice.
1x Gorehowl
Gorehowl is another possible replacement for that 30th card slot. It can go to the face for a lot of damage, and can clear up a messy board over a few turns, but at 7 mana is probably more than you want to spend on an aggressive finisher.
Lorewalker Cho is an option I’ve never really tried, but sounds exciting. Since the spells you play are not very good in the hands of an opponent (Heroic Strike is removal that damages its caster and Mortal Strike is rarely deployed before the final turn) and you only play a handful besides, Cho is a nightmare for opponents who rely on spells to handle your minions, such as mages and druids. The one caveat for the legendary panda is that Execute is not his friend, so if you include this in slot #30, be sure to swap out that Execute for a second Worgen Infiltrator.
If you fear things like Lord Jaraxxus, Doomhammer, Gorehowl, and Assassin’s Blade, let Dr. Jones put them in a museum as your 30th card.
Big Game Hunter is the 30th card to use if what you fear most are giants and Ragnaros, the Firelord.
Final Thoughts
Aggressive warrior walks a fine line between midrange and all-in aggro, and is very much unexpected by ranked play opponents. If you like to watch your hero fly around the screen crushing things under his massive boot heel, you will definitely enjoy playing the Barbarian Warrior.
Saturday Mar 22, 2014
Saturday Mar 22, 2014
Hello!
- Derrick is on the show this week
- Topic: The Power Paladin deck
- Reasons to be happy this week
- Happy Hearthstone’s one-year anniversary!
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
The Deck
- The Power Paladin: Use the potential of strong buffs and dangerous minions to force the opponent to play reactively.
- How it wins: Puts too many dangerous minions on the board, consistently, for the opponent to rely on removal. If they let even one stick on the board, you can buff it up and end the game quickly.
Five Key Cards
- Blessing of Kings: Strong buffs that can add surprise value to high-threat minions.
- Faceless Manipulator: We’re going to be adding a lot of buffs to our minions, which gives us plenty of good targets for this guy.
- Sword of Justice: An amazing card in every Paladin deck.
- Windfury Harpy: A minion like this has innate threat that can snowball into a bomb, with or without buffs added onto it.
- Guardian of Kings: This guy sits with your monstrous curve-toppers at the top of the deck list to help secure the win at the end.
Full Deck List
You can get more insight into the deck by reading Derrick’s guide, which goes through every single card with full explanation and advice, but here’s the simple deck list with no commentary (ordered by mana cost), if you’d rather just try it out yourself.
Creatures
- 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze (2 mana)
- 1x Argent Protector (2 mana)
- 1x Dire Wolf Alpha (2 mana)
- 1x Ironbeak Owl (2 mana)
- 1x Acolyte of Pain (3 mana)
- 1x Demolisher (3 mana)
- 1x Flesheating Ghoul (3 mana)
- 1x Harvest Golem (3 mana)
- 2x Ironfur Grizzly (3 mana)
- 1x Razorfen Hunter (3 mana)
- 1x Shattered Sun Cleric (3 mana)
- 1x Silverback Patriarch (3 mana)
- 1x Chillwind Yeti (4 mana)
- 1x Spellbreaker (4 mana)
- 1x Faceless Manipulator (5 mana)
- 1x Venture Co. Mercenary (5 mana)
- 1x Windfury Harpy (6 mana)
- 1x Guardian of Kings (7 mana)
- 1x Ysera (9 mana)
- 1x Deathwing (10 mana)
Spells
- 1x Blessing of Might (1 mana)
- 1x Blessing of Wisdom (1 mana)
- 1x Sword of Justice (3 mana)
- 2x Blessing of Kings (4 mana)
- 1x Consecration (4 mana)
- 2x Hammer of Wrath (4 mana)
- 1x Avenging Wrath (6 mana)
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back ups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- 1x War Golem (7 mana)
- 1x Stormwind Champion (7 mana)
- 1x Ravenholdt Assassin (7 mana)
- 1x Truesilver Champion (4 mana)
The Defending Champion Deck
Dan’s Hunter Beastmaster Deck, which relies on lots of Beast minions and solid removal spells to rush the opponent down.
The Beastmaster Deck has reigned supreme for 5 months, and has beaten 3 other decks before this episode.
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Richard: “What is your favorite card to use that is not considered ‘cool’ in the current or previous meta?”
- iTunes Review: Gaxx78, BlackEntropy
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Follow Derrick on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
The Paladin Power Deck
The goal of this deck is to build up not out. I find lots of value minions that have intrinsic power that I can seek to exploit, which can get huge on their own. Buff spells help you get even more value out of those minions, and protection spells help keep them on the board. With so many power threats in the deck, we’re counting on at least one of them sticking on the board to get momentum in your favor.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
The 2 mana 3/2 minions are all pretty good. Take your pick. This one has the outside chance of killing a weapon (pure upside, but mainly this is my vanilla 2 mana 3/2.
This guy’s bubble is a cheap way to get my power cards to stick around an extra turn.
One of the ways this deck solves the classic “if only I had one more damage” problem. Never play it on an empty board if you can avoid it.
1x Ironbeak Owl
Nearly every deck needs silence of some sort. This one is cheap and fits into my curve, nicely, in the mid game. Timing is key. I usually mulligan this card if it’s in my opening hand. I don’t want to play it on turn unless I have to.
Early-game, this keeps me refilling my hand as I spend cards. If I get him late game, I don’t hesitate to slap Blessing of Kings on him and just going off.
1x Demolisher
Another great target for Blessing of Kings. A free 2 damage to open each turn demands respect. Helps keep their board clear and also gets in for good damage.
One of my favorite minions. This card allows me to create an early threat so that my opponent panics and either makes unprofitable trades or, even better, wastes premium removal.
This card goes in pretty much every deck. Works nicely through AoE effects. Even if he milks a silence out of my enemy, I feel good.
My optimal way to cut off early game. If I have one of these in my opening hand, my chances of winning go way up. Shuts down Clerics hailing from Northshire and Wyrms smothered in mana.
This card just helps me establish a board presence. For 3 mana I get two minions which gives me more targets for buffs and blessings. Also helps me take out X/1 targets and still have an attacker.
Another one of the cards in my deck that fixes the “if only I could deal one more damage” problem. Also the +1 HP can sometimes turn trades into profitable attacks.
My deck wanted another taunt to deal with early-game threats. I also don’t mind putting Blessing of Kings on this dude. A 5/8 minion with taunt on turn 4 can be nasty, especially if you have another minion on the board.
One of the best vanilla beaters. A medium threat early-game and helps me curve out. Even off the top in late game, this guy doesn’t suck.
1x Spellbreaker
My other chance to silence. But at 4 attack, I actually prefer this guy to come down behind protection so that I can start taking chunks out of my opponent’s HP.
The build-around-me card of the deck. I’m designed to assemble some sort of mega-threat. Then if I happen to top deck Faceless Manipulator, I duplicate that mega-threat and make my opponent sweat.
Super efficient beater. Makes your other minions expensive but who cares if I have 7 attack on the board. Every swing with this minion is almost a fourth of their starting life total. I’m not afraid to burn my silence on this minion either if it makes sense.
My deck needs threats like these that become great targets for my blessings and/or Faceless Manipulator.
Designed to help dig me out of a small jam, top-decking this card helps me stabilize a bit. Both the heal and the size of this creature contribute to that end.
1x Ysera
When I build a deck I want two or three curve-toppers that, if I’ve leeched enough removal from my opponent’s deck along the way, will kill them outright because their deck is out of steam. Ysera not only puts down a creature with 12 HP, but also does 4 damage per turn, while giving me card advantage with powerful OP cards.
1x Deathwing
This card cheats. So I play it. Again, i’m hoping to lure out my opponent’s removal throughout the game, giving Daddy Dragon plenty of chance to survive that first turn by my opponent.
Cheap Cheap! This is like removal against an X/4 when I play it on a 1/1 (which the pally deck makes all the time). Also targets Windfury Harpy nicely. But I’d say I use it to help remove big threat minons 70% of the time.
Cheap Cheap! We’ve talked about on this show whether or not we would play a card that says “Pay 1 mana and draw a card.” I know I would. And any draws beyond one is just gravy for me. The quicker I get to any of my bombs, the more likely my chances are of winning.
This will carry me through the mid-game. Giving the next 5 minions +1/+1 instantly makes my mid-game better than yours.
Another build-around-me card in this deck. It’s the swiss army knife. I have plenty of great options to target with it, and if I’m absolutely desperate, it serves as a desperate removal card.
1x Consecration
My one and only shot at solving the lack of AoE in this deck. You gotta make it count when you use it.
This is the straight removal of the deck. It’s more expensive but draws me a card. Helps with tempo and card advantage.
The flavor text on this one, says it all: “Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!”
Possible Additions
This deck has a few key cornerstone epics, which don’t really have great replacements. However there are plenty of big beaters and an alternative weapon you could use in the interim, all of which play just fine in this deck.
1x War Golem
If you need a curve topper, this card can fill in a gap.
Another neutral minion that is commonly seen in Paladin decks. He must be dealt with or can overturn a game.
Without taunt, your opponent is taking 7 damage. Even more if you can protect him on the follow up turn. Great target for Blessing of Kings.
Every time my opponent plays it against me, I groan. That means it’s good. I wanted this in my deck, but I just couldn’t fit it into the 30-card limit. But it’s worth jamming into every Paladin deck and can work as a stop-gap solution until you get a Sword of Justice.
Final Thoughts
Are you tired of Mages Flamestriking you to death? Try making your minions so big and nasty that those Mages simply blink away in fright! Try out this Paladin deck and feel the power. Get those noobs complaining on the forums that Blizzard should once again, nerf Paladins.
Wednesday Feb 05, 2014
Wednesday Feb 05, 2014
Hello!
- Adam is on the show this week
- Topic: The Muhammad Ali Shaman deck
- Reasons to be happy this week
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
The Deck
- The Mohammad Ali Shaman: Keep the board clear early and mid-game and punch hard later.
- How it wins: Uses early low casting cost spells to remove early threats while setting up totems and creatures for late game. It’s a slow painful death.
Five Key Cards
- Wild Pyromancer: Great mid-game removal
- Rockbiter Weapon: Remove those threats early game.
- Stormforged Axe: Great value for the cost.
- Lightning Storm: Even better with totems and Pyromancer boosting the damage.
- Fire Elemental: Close out the game with removal and beefy minions lumped together.
Full Deck List
You can get more insight into the deck by reading Adam’s guide, which goes through every single card with full explanation and advice, but here’s the simple deck list with no commentary (ordered by mana cost), if you’d rather just try it out yourself.
Creatures
- 2x Flametongue Totem (2 Mana)
- 2x Novice Engineer (2 Mana)
- 2x Wild Pyromancer (2 Mana)
- 1x Defender of Argus (4 Mana)
- 2x Azure Drake (5 Mana)
- 1x Earth Elemental (5 Mana)
- 2x Argent Commander (6 Mana)
- 2x Fire Elemental (6 Mana)
Spells
- 2x Earth Shock (1 Mana)
- 2x Forked Lightning (1 Mana)
- 2x Lightning Bolt (1 Mana)
- 2x Rockbiter Weapon (1 Mana)
- 2x Stormforged Axe (2 Mana)
- 2x Feral Spirit (3 Mana)
- 2x Hex (3 Mana)
- 2x Lightning Storm (3 Mana)
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back ups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- 1x Argent Commander (6 Mana)
- 2x Loot Hoarder (2 Mana)
- 2x Mana Tide Totem (2 Mana)
- 1x Lava Burst (3 Mana)
- 1x Faceless Manipulator (5 Mana)
- 2x Bloodlust (5 Mana)
The Defending Champion Deck
Dan’s Hunter Beastmaster Deck, which relies on lots of Beast minions and solid removal spells to rush the opponent down.
The Beastmaster Deck has reigned supreme for 3 months, and has beaten 2 other decks before this episode.
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Question: The best 2-mana cost minions by Craig Bowser
- iTunes Review: Lightbox22, Scott Lantz
Card of the Week
Song by Jonas
Farewell
- Follow Adam on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
Lightning bolts, frogs, and plenty of axes. This Shaman deck uses strong spells and weapons to delete threats early on, and then keep the board clear in the mid-game with AoE. Even better, it uses ZERO Legendaries, so new players can build it pretty quickly. Then, learn to control your enemy long enough to play your own big threats late-game and strangle them slowly.
Find out more about this deck and watch it in action in the latest episode of Happy Hearthstone!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Adam Clegg. Thanks, Adam!
The Muhammad Ali Shaman
This deck will outplay any heroes early game (yes, even murloc Warlock decks) and utilize its mid-game totem/Pyromancer control to last until the late game, where you crush your opponent by slowly leaning on them and watch as they slowly run out of cards and concede.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
This card is very sneaky. You can have two 0/2 totems out and look like you have a non threatening board. After dropping this bad boy in between your two totems you know have 2 2/2s to clear their board.
Even after the nerf, this card creates a ton of tempo for your deck and helps you get totems out by giving your opponent another target.
A very key card for the deck, it combos nicely with your heal totem giving you many 1 damage to all creature pings over many turns.
All-around solid creature, better when you use them with totems.
2x Azure Drake
This card is very good in this deck for spell damage, and for the tempo of drawing another card.
This card usually comes out of nowhere late game and is a nice surprise for your opponent. If they can’t deal with it the turn it comes out, the game usually ends shortly after.
This is the bread-and-butter of dealing damage out of nowhere, very solid card in any deck in my opinion.
This is your late game finisher, usually taking out a creature when it comes into play and leaves a large threat late game when your opponent has very few cards left in hand.
2x Earth Shock
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS CARD. It one-shots so many things and silences their massive legendary cards.
I call this card the “Makes your opponent sad” card. You 2-for-1 their board, gain board control and make your opponent sad all in one turn for 1 mana.
Solid removal card, very good early game. This is a key card for early game board control.
Another solid removal card that helps maintain early board control.
This card has won me so many games that I’ve fallen in love with it. It usually removes 3 creatures early game and gains you a ton of tempo for casting totems.
2x Feral Spirit
This card is not used for attacking, but mainly used for mid-game defense. It sucks up your opponents cards while you gain some card advantage on them by not having to waste your spells on their creatures.
2x Hex
This card is basically for damage control, or what I like to call Legendary control. Every deck needs cards like this to kill super powerful minions.
Insert the usual “AOE damage cards are amazing” comment. Enough said.
Possible Additions
The above decklist is the ideal setup that I enjoy running. But you might not have all of those cards right now, and that’s okay—you can still make a great deck by using some substitutions. Here are a few cards you can swap in until you get all of the pieces together.
2x Loot Hoarder
Some players prefer the Loot Hoarder’s damage over the instant-draw from Novice Engineer. Feel free to use whichever you prefer.
Good card draw, and a decent filler if you have some empty spots. It’ll help you reach the cards you do have even faster.
1x Lava Burst
Earth Elemental might be tough to get early on. If you get a Lava Burst first, use that instead.
You will face countless Legendaries on enemy teams in constructed. This is a great, and cheap, way to get those Legendaries in your deck too!
2x Bloodlust
A great game finisher if you’re ahead, and a great equalizer if you’re surrounded by bigger minions and need a way to balance the field.
Final Thoughts
I think you should try this deck because it’s cheap to make (no Legendaries in it), Shaman is a fun class to play, and this deck has a good chance to win any game you play.
Tuesday Nov 19, 2013
Tuesday Nov 19, 2013
Hello!
- David is on the show this week
- Topic: The Secret Mage deck
- Reasons to be happy this week
What is a Deck Challenge?
This is a new episode type we started cycling in last month. Basically, guest hosts bring on their favorite deck onto the show, and break it down for you, telling you what cards they put in it, how it works, and why they like playing it.
Then, they put their decks to the test and do battle against me in a best-of-3-series, live on the show. Each time, I’m going to be using the current Reigning Champion Deck of the show — the last deck a guest host brought onto this show and won with.
Right now, Dan’s Hunter Beastmaster deck is the reigning deck. So I’ll be using it!
And, of course, David has put together a full deck list for his deck, along with some great commentary for the deck that he’s going to be playing today — so you can recreate that one too.
The Deck
- The Secret Mage: Load your deck up with Secrets and creatures that play off of Secrets well to disrupt your opponents plans.
- How it wins: A lot of the Secrets excel at keeping your big threats safe from removal, letting you invest into big creatures late-game that are almost guaranteed to live long enough to punch face. Disrupt the opponent’s plans and keep them constantly second-guessing with Secrets to delay until then.
Five Key Cards
- Counterspell: Always useful, great at protecting your minions.
- Spellbender: Solid as a defense, like Counterspell, and will occasionally steal a huge buff for you.
- Ethereal Arcanist: Perfect in this deck, where it can potentially scale out of control very quickly.
- Kirin Tor Mage: Perfect turn 3 drop. Get a big creature and a secret for free!
- Any legendary minion: The secrets excel at keeping your big threats safe. Any big threat will do.
Full Deck List
You can get more insight into the deck by reading David’s guide, which goes through every single card with full explanation and advice, but here’s the simple deck list with no commentary (ordered by mana cost), if you’d rather just try it out yourself.
Creatures
- 2x Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2 mana)
- 2x Acolyte of Pain (3)
- 2x Kirin Tor Mage (3)
- 2x Ethereal Arcanist (4)
- 2x Water Elemental (4)
- 2x Azure Drake (5)
- 1x Ragnaros (8)
Spells
- 2x Frostbolt (2 mana)
- 2x Counterspell (3)
- 2x Mirror Entity (3)
- 2x Spellbender (3)
- 2x Fireball (4)
- 2x Polymorph (4)
- 2x Blizzard (5)
- 2x Flamestrike (7)
- 1x Pyroblast (8)
Sideboard
The deck list is pretty tight for The Secret Mage deck, but there are some alterations you can make if you are missing some cards.
- 1x Archmage Antonidas (7 mana)
- 2x Vaporize (3)
- 2x Ice Barrier (3)
- 2x Arcane Intellect (3)
- 2x Secretkeeper (1)
- 1x Bloodmage Thalnos (2)
- 2x Novice Engineer (2)
- 2x Gnomish Inventor (4)
The Defending Champion Deck
Dan’s Hunter Beastmaster Deck, which relies on lots of Beast minions and solid removal spells to rush the opponent down.
The Beastmaster Deck has reigned supreme for 1 month, beating 1 other deck before this episode.
The Duel!
David’s perspective
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Question: Must-pick Arena neutral minions Nathan Montgomery
- iTunes Review: Mjb222, Dan Streelman
Card of the Week
Song by Chris Briggs
Farewell
- Follow David on Twitter
- Watch his videos!
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
- Extended version of my interview with the Hearthstone devs at BlizzCon
DECK GUIDE:
The Secret Mage
To put it simply: this deck is a very fun to play. If you miss that “sneakiness” from Magic the Gathering, this might be the deck for you. There are secrets galore, and they protect you and your minions until you can unleash the Mage’s fury! This deck was inspired from one of the top decks from a tournament I watched a few weeks ago. It is almost the same as that deck, with a few modifications of my own. I always wanted to get The Secret Mage deck to work, and now that I’ve finally collected the proper cards, I was able to make this a reality.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
This is a simple card that accomplishes two things: reducing the cost of your secrets, and being a solid early drop. It’s a nice 3/2 body so don’t be afraid to drop this early.
This guy is pretty standard in most Mage decks – he gives you nice card draw. Especially if you can play him on turn 5 and he draws you two cards (ping him with your Mage Power and the opponent attacks him on the following turn).
Another obvious pick if you’re running with lots of secrets. This minion will allow you to play a Counterspell or Spellbender immediately after to protect it (assuming the opponent’s board is clear).
Another essential minion for the deck. His role is to get some nice mid-game damage on your opponent. The ideal situation: you play a Kirin Tor Mage on Turn 3, followed by a free Spellbender or Counterspell. If your opponent does not trigger the Spellbender on their turn, you now have a nice 5/5 for 4 to cast on your turn that is now protected by the Spellbender/Counterspell.
This minion is nice because he gives you some control with his freeze ability, as well as being a 4 drop with great stats to back it up. He will get you to the late game if he isn’t immediately removed. He is also really nice against weapon decks (mainly Warrior decks).
2x Azure Drake
The Azure Drake is a neutral minion that finds it’s way into almost any deck that wants +Spell Damage. Usually a 2 for 1 in your favor, he makes your spells stronger and is a nice 4/4 body to boot. Not much else to say here!
1x Ragnaros
Ragnaros is your token “I end the game with this card” legendary. A Ragnaros on the board with a Spellbender lurking in the background to protect him is how you win games. It should be noted that Antonidas is a better replacement if you have it, but really, any strong end-game legendary will do.
2x Frostbolt
Basic removal at a nice cost. Also has the added benefit of control, as well as the ability to chuck it at your opponents face.
2x Counterspell
One of the essential secrets for the deck. You need this card to protect your minions as well as take advantage of its secrecy (triggering Ethereal Arcanist).
Another secret to fit the deck strategy. Hopefully you get a nice minion out of it as well if your opponent thinks its a Counterspell or something.
2x Spellbender
Same idea as Counterspell. More of the same thing here, and a really nice card to protect your minions.
2x Fireball
An auto-include in any Mage deck. Removal or to the face, whichever the situation calls for.
2x Polymorph
Removal is essential to have in almost any deck. Polymorph will help you answer any threat with ease.
2x Blizzard
Every deck needs AoE (Area of Effect) spells to help clear the board. Luckily the Mage has access to quite a few choices. Blizzard doesn’t do as much damage as, say, Flamestrike, but it will slow the opponent’s minions down for an entire turn. The fact that it is 5 mana makes it pretty strong for what you are getting out of it.
2x Flamestrike
Like I mentioned above with Blizzard, AoE is important. It can help you catch up if you fall behind, or can allow you to keep board control if your opponents drops a lot of minions on his turn. Flamestrike is one of the strongest AoEs in the game, and it will take care of many many minions.
1x Pyroblast
Last, but absolutely not least, PYROBLAST! The most infamous of Mage finishers, Pyroblast comes out of left field and is absolutely devastating to your opponent. A third of your opponent’s life total for 8 mana in one card is nothing to slouch at. If you have dust and you intend on playing the Mage as a class, this should be one of your first goals to craft. Only 1 is needed here because you don’t want to draw it too early, and you certainly don’t want both in your early starting cards. Honestly 1 Pyroblast is usually enough.
Possible Additions
Like I mentioned earlier, the deck list is pretty specific because the deck revolves around playing secrets and the cards that are affected by them. That being said, there are a few cards you can swap in until you get the stuff you need.
If you have him, he should take the place of Ragnaros. He is the main Legendary you want for this deck. One of the biggest weakness of Antonidas is the fact that he immediately gets removed. This becomes less of an issue when you back him up with a secret which you cannot do with Ragnaros (on the same turn).
2x Vaporize
Vaporize isn’t as strong as the other secrets, but if you have Vaporize it can take the place of the secrets you are missing.
2x Ice Barrier
Same as the above-mentioned Vaporize. This is considered the weakest of the Mage secrets, mostly because it does not give you board control or tempo.
Arcane Intellect is a nice filler if you’re missing cards. If you don’t have everything you need, this will let you draw what you DO have faster. Also combos nicely with Sorcerer’s Apprenctice.
2x Secretkeeper
I’m not a fan of this card in this particular deck for one reason: you don’t want to be playing her early because she gets targeted down immediately, and she isn’t terribly amazing late-game either. You need to drop her and at least 2 secrets on the same turn to get her out of the dangerous “3 health” range. Still, there is obvious synergy with this card, so if you are in need of fillers and you have her in your collection, toss her into your deck.
Thalnos is one of my favorite Legendaries. He is like Azure Drake, being useful in any Spell Damage deck. He isn’t quite as needed here, but can make a great addition if you happen to own him.
The “play this and draw a card” minions are great fillers. The Novice Engineers and Gnomish Inventors are great when you are only missing a few cards to make your deck complete.
See ‘Novice Engineer’ above.
Final Thoughts
The Secret Mage deck is not the most guaranteed-competitive deck out there, but it really is enjoyable to play. And it can totally hold its own if you have the right cards!