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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
Saturday Feb 13, 2016
Saturday Feb 13, 2016
Hello!
- Rob May is on the show this week
- Topic: Podcasts and Streams!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Normal and Wild Modes (follow-up interview)! Red Bull Team Brawl!
Why We Love Streams
- Over-the-shoulder experience
- Free teaching/coaching
- Smaller streams read chat more often and provide insight into questions live as the game develops or as a deck may be built on stream.
- Deck Doctor: Zalae and Firebat serving community with small tips to help players.
Livestreams for Getting Better at Arena
- Hafu
- Kripparian
- Ratsmah
- GuardsmanBob
- ADWCTA
- Commentated Tournaments like Redbull Team Brawl
Livestreams for Getting Better at Ranked
Why We Love Podcasts
- Rob wrote an article about this!
- Join a community
- Learn in a more directed way
- Make your commutes fun!
- It’s good to listen to more than one
Podcasts for Getting Better at Arena
Podcasts for Getting Better at Ranked
- The Golden Wisp: For players interested in the very highest level of play, in both Ranked and tournaments.
- Velen’s Chosen: For players on a budget that really want to get to be competitive in Ranked.
- HearthCoach: For players who are eagerly trying to fight their way into Legend Ranked.
Podcasts for New Players
- Hearthaholics: For players interested in learning the fundamentals of the game and gaining confidence one step at a time. As a perk, these are timeless episodes that can be used like an audiobook. Their website walks you through the order to listen.
- Legend of the Innkeeper: For new and casual players who want to learn how to get better in a fun and enthusiastic environment. Everything from deckbuilding to beating the PVE Adventure content.
- Happy Hearthstone: This is us! For players who want to find new decks to try, learn the basics of strategy, and hear from new hosts from the community every episode to share different perspectives and expertise.
Podcasts for News and Esports
- The Angry Chicken: For players looking for an extremely polished and well-made show with entertaining hosts that covers all the news in the Hearthstone scene.
- Well Met!: For players who like strategy mixed in with their news. This show covers a lot of topics to make sure you’re keeping up with everything from casual play to pro tournaments.
- Value Town: For players who want to hear from pro players and high-profile streamers directly. They do Q&As regularly, and focus on the higher-level of play.
- Coin Concede: For players who like a broad range of topics, Coin Concede tries to cover everything from PVE to high-level pro play. Great coverage of the esports scene.
- Top Deck Kings: For players who like spontaneity and personality mixed in with their news discussion and meta analysis. They’ve played Hearthstone matches with commentary during the show, and even devoted an entire recent episode about the Super Bowl.
- 1600 Dust: For players who like a lot of strategy mixed in with their news. Their recent campaign for #KnowYourRole2016 is breaking down specific game elements in each episode. Hosts are entertaining and keep it fun.
- Hero Power: For players who like hands-on learning alongside their news. The entertaining hosts host two segments a week, one is audio and focuses on news and deckbuilding. The other is a live play segment, where they play an entire match with a different class, walking you through the thought process and helping you get better at it. Both the audio and video content can be found on their site.
Podcasts for Casual Discussion
All of these shoes have great discussions, focused on being entertaining and building a community instead of the academic analysis and walkthrough strategy guides that other shows sometimes offer. They’re all great, so we recommend you try all of these out and find the personalities and style that work best for you!
- The Unstable Portal
- A Worthy Opponent
- Raid Warning
- Whirlwind
- Walk to Work
- Drawing Dead
- Hearth of the Cards
- Hearthcore
- Death Rattle Crew
- Innervated
Podcasts to Find other Podcasts (Podcast-ception!)
- Realm Maintenance: Rho schedules guests on his show for WoW, Starcraft, Heroes, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Diablo every week.
Ways to Support Your Favorite Podcasts and Streams
- Leave them 5-star iTunes reviews
- Support them financially (Patreon, Paypal, etc.)
- E-mail the shows for topics, ways to help, or questions
- Listen to the show all the way through
- Follow them on Twitter (#1 social media used by Hearthstone people)
- Talk about and share the show with friends!
Community
- Question: Best way to keep up with the meta on limited time?
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- None
Card of the Week
Farewell
Saturday Jan 30, 2016
Saturday Jan 30, 2016
Hello!
- Jake is on the show this week
- Topic: Deck battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Designer Ben Brode’s videos
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
Defending Deck: Andrew’s Warlock Demon Zoo deck has reigned supreme for 7 months, and has beaten 5 decks before this episode.
Challenger Deck: Jake Crawford’s Warlock Portal Deck starts slow and builds up to overload you with massive minions all at once.
The Deck
Creatures
- 1x Zombie Chow
- 1x Ironbeak Owl
- 2x Sunfury Protector
- 1x Big Game Hunter
- 2x Earthen Ring Farseer
- 2x Imp Gang Boss
- 1x Mind Control Tech
- 1x Defender of Argus
- 2x Piloted Shredder
- 2x Summoning Portal
- 1x Antique Healbot
- 1x Loatheb
- 1x Sludge Belcher
- 1x Emperor Thaurissan
- 1x Sylvanas Windrunner
- 1x Kel’Thuzad
- 2x Sea Giant
- 2x Molten Giant
Spells
- 1x Darkbomb
- 1x Hellfire
- 1x Imp-losion
- 1x Shadowflame
- 1x Siphon Soul
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.
The Duel
Unfortunately, technical issues devoured the livestream footage of the deck battle and dust bowl this week. I’m very sorry! It was a 2-0 win for Andrew’s Warlock deck. The first match was pretty one-sided, and the second match was very close.
On a related note, if anyone has a recommendation for a good mixer that doesn’t produce apocalypse-level distortion effects, please let me know 
Community
- Question: None this week!
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- Jake Crawford: 7 card packs
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Contact Jake Crawford on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
Jake brought back some old-school powerhouse cards in his Warlock Summoning Portal deck on the show this week. Let’s take a look at each card in the deck and talk about why it’s there and how to use it.
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Jake. Thanks!
The Portals Warlock
This is deck I have been trying to make work since the Beta release of Hearthstone. Decks like Handlock have always interested me, which essentially use your opponent’s strategy against them to discount your cards, like Molten Giants. Also, I was inspired by athletes like Muhammad Ali, who win by absorbing the opponents early offense, with their smart efficient defense, in order to swing the game in their favor late. This deck normally shines against early aggression decks, and is not super effective against other control decks. The key strategy is to withstand the early offense to drop lots of Giants and other minions late in the game. With the help of heals and mana discount synergies, this deck has potential to contend with most constructed decks. I love playing this deck because almost every time it catches my opponent off guard, which is hard to do in Hearthstone these days.
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.
Creatures
Chow is used as early game board presence, since your opponents health is relatively unimportant to the deck’s overall strategy, giving your opponent 5 health after Chow dies, is not very important. Hold on to him in the mulligan phase if it shows up.
A great 1-of, silence can come in handy in the era of rampant inspire and deathrattle effects. This owl could save the bacon in certain matchups.
Helps you build walls out of your Giants.
Dr. Boom Hunter. I try to keep one copy of BGH in any control type deck. Super efficient clear of a big threat, also put a body on the border, helping to discount the cost of Sea Giants.
The drawback to the Warlock’s hero power is losing 2 health per use. This 3/3 body is packed with another spell-like effect of healing.
This card is one of the most solid minions, in terms of pure value, exclusively available to the Warlock class. Use this card to squelch early pressure, and keep popping out those imps, if possible. This works well for the “bodies on the board” strategy needed to discount the Sea Giants.
Useful against decks that flood the board early. I find this card can help swing momentum in your favor, more times than it does not. Combo this with Sunfury Protector or Defender of Argus in between MCT and the minion you stole, for a quick taunt wall
The +1/+1 added to adjacent friendly minions can help with trading or turning a giant into a taunt wall.
In my opinion, one of the strongest minions to ever be released. Shredders are very helpful for keeping bodies on the board in order to reducing Sea Giants cost, as well as giving something for Sunfury or Argus to taunt.
The lynch pin to this deck’s strategy. The ability to instantly discount the minions in your hand, as well
Another spell-like healing effect that can be severely discounted in combination with Summoning Portal and Emperor Thaurissan
Loatheb is not a key card in this deck’s strategy, but can help to secure a win in a control matchup. If you have a bunch of threats on the board, and enough damage to finish the opponent of next turn, dropping Loatheb can make your opponent’s removals impossible to play. Feel free to sub out this card, with the list of suggested additions.
One of my favorite minions to be released in the Curse of Naxxramus Adventure. The Belcher was released at time when Hearthstone’s ladder was dominated by aggro Hunters and Zoo Warlock’s. If it’s not silenced, this taunt forces your opponent to deal with it twice. The total combo of 7 health between 2 bodies, effectively saving your Warlock a minimum of 7 damage.
A key part of this deck is discounting the mana cost of the cards in your hand.
Sylvanas gives you some flexiblity on how to use her. A great target for shadowflame. Sylvanas’s give
I wouldn’t say this is key card to the overall strategy, but can really switch momentum in your favor. Trade in your minions to clear the opponent’s board and drop KT, raise the dead and emote ‘oops’ [Editor’s Note: Emoting ‘oops’ like this will make Josh hate you forever.]
Key card to this deck’s strategy. Whether it is your or the opponent flooding the board, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get a discount on this card. Drop a Summoning Portal and this giant will be discounted by 3. Remember this minion is possible to be played for 0.
Another key card to the strategy of this deck. Also possible to be played for zero. Both Giants are targets for Shadowflame, for board clears if the situation calls for it.
Spells
Early board control spell. Hold on to this one if it shows up during the mulligan phase.
Effective board clear against opponents that flood the board with lots of low health minions. You may even be able to combo this card with a discounted Molten Giant in the same turn.
This spell synergizes well with Sea Giants. It can help clear an opposing minion, while putting bodies in play for you.
One of Warlock’s most flexible spells. It plays into their theme of ‘power with consequence’. You have to sacrifice a minion to do damage to all enemy minions. This combined with any of the Giants is likely to clear whatever minions your opponent has on the other side of the board.
Helps extend your survivability, keep it in your back pocket for any big threats your opponent might drop in the late game.
Possible Additions
Like I mentioned earlier, the deck list is pretty specific because the deck revolves around playing Summoning Portals and creating a huge swing turn with discounted cards. That being said, there are a few cards you can swap in until you get the stuff you need.
Loot Hoarder
To increase your number of early drops. More cards in hand for Emperor Thaurissan to discount is always good.
You can use this a silence target and then it can attack. Also use this as a taunt target or fodder for shadowflame.
Include for the same reason as Ancient Watcher
Drop a bunch of Giants and then the Mechano, you have. A good chance 1 of them turns in a taunt.
Super flexible per your situation. You can copy a Summoning Portal or one of your Giants.
Another Giant threat might be too much but you usually have a lot of cards in your hand, so you could get this discounted as well.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, this deck might still be missing a few cards to make it work consistently but it is still really fun to play with. It requires a little bit of extra thinking, when calculating costs and discounts, but dropping a Summoning Portal never felt so right. I hope one day to see a Summoning Portal deck in a professional tournament.
Friday Dec 25, 2015
Friday Dec 25, 2015
Hello!
- Scott is on the show this week
- Topic: League of Explorers Review!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Happy Winter Veil
The Review Scale
What we’re reviewing:
- Arena Score = The value of this card while drafting in Arena.
- Constructed = The value of this card when crafting the type of constructed deck that most wants this card.
How the score works:
- 0 = Awful, unplayable (Example: Sacrificial Pact, Poison Seeds)
- 1 = Underpowered, but it could work out (Example: Naturalize, Divine Spirit, Corruption)
- 2 = Acceptable backup plan or niche filler (Example: Crazed Alchemist, Emperor Cobra)
- 3 = Solid value (Example: Chillwind Yeti)
- 4 = Great, with lots of upside (Example: Animal Companion, Knife Juggler)
- 5 = So good you always have to play it (Example: Dr. Boom)
Druid Cards
Raven Idol
- Josh says: Love the flexibility here. Should always be happy to draw this card.
- Scott says: Sort of like Tracking, but (true to Druid form) with an added layer of choice. Especially strong in Arena where deck synergy and card quality are much lower.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 3
Mounted Raptor
- Josh says: I’m not really sold on this yet. The very best case, you’re paying 1 mana to summon a random 1-cost minion. But even then you’re pairing that cost with playing a regular bloodfen raptor. Underwhelming compared to the likes of Knife Juggler.
- Scott says: It’s a beast, which is nice. It’s like a beast version of Harvest Golem, just slightly less predictable.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 3
Jungle Moonkin
- Josh says: Weird card that excels in super-specific situations. I just don’t see a ton of opportunity to get consistent value in it.
- Scott says: Another beast! Though I’m not sure how many Beast Druids care about spellpower, and I’m not sure how many people who care about spellpower want their opponents to have it. Works especially well with Swipe.
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 2
Hunter Cards
Explorer’s Hat
- Scott says: I’m not sure if I should, but I really like this card. It’s a mana sink for sure, with more mana wasted the more you cast it. Yet I only cast it when I had mana to spare, or when it would make a difference. 2 mana is often well worth letting a minion survive a trade, or buffing a taunted minion. I view this like a reusable hero power baked into a card. Also can combo well with Lock ‘N Load, especially if you can cast multiple times in one turn.
- Josh says: Pure fun. I’ve had it get out of control with some copying effects, but doesn’t seem strong enough to really define a deck type.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 3
Dart Trap
- Scott says: Would be good in a Hunter deck if you can reliably hit face, but a Paladin or Shaman hero power would always have at least a 50% chance to hit a weenie. Generally not worth it.
- Josh says: Yeah, super hard sell for a one-time effect that could do nothing more than ping a token. Would love to see a similar (weaker effect) on a minion, though.
- Arena Score: 1
- Constructed Score: 1
Desert Camel
- Scott says: Not bad. Fine stats, and a good target for a Houndmaster. Not all opponents have 1-cost minions, and you’ll get to control what you draw. Timber Wolf or Webspinner are your two most obvious targets for now, though Injured Kvaldir(!), Leper Gnome, or Worgen Infiltrator are decent choices too. In arena, you’ll have to make sure you have at least a couple 1-cost minions in your deck.
- Josh says: Yeah, some fun opportunities for shenanigans. This can give a ton of value on board presence with the right 1-drops in your deck.
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 2
Mage Cards
Forgotten Torch
- Josh says: Feels great in freeze and spell-damage decks. Great surprise plays if your opponent forgets about it and is only counting your Fireballs.
- Scott says: In exchange for paying for an overpriced spell up front, you get a underpriced spell later on. Maybe. Good in a deck that wants lots of spells and direct damage, and that expects a longer game.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 4
Animated Armor
- Josh says: I see a 4 cost 4/4 with taunt. That’s not awful, but pretty unimpressive compared to a 5-cost Sludge Belcher. If this came on a class that had cheap weapons, I’d love it. Mage has a very hard time getting value out of it the turn it’s played, so I’m less interested.
- Scott says: Seems to go well in a Freeze Mage deck, as it’s another way to mitigate damage. This guy will almost always be a lightning rod as soon as he appears. Can be especially good against Hunters if you can keep the board clear, as it halves their hero ability. In practice, I don’t expect him to prevent much damage, but will often disrupt your opponent’s plans.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 2
Ethereal Conjurer
- Josh says: At face value, I’m super wary of this card. Expensive, trades with a 2-cost minion and no guarantee on spell quality. But mage has a lot of great spells, and a freeze deck loves when things trade with their minions. So I could see it working okay there.
- Scott says: You’re paying a 1-mana premium (plus some badly-balanced stats) for an above-average mage spell, which seems like a good deal. And if you’re able to keep the board tidy, he might even get a chance to punch face once or twice, turning that stat balance to your advantage.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 3
Paladin Cards
Sacred Trial
- Scott says: Kills Dr. Boom (if they had at least one other minion on the board.) Not sure it’ll be worth it in most situations, but Secrets Paladin will probably want it.
- Josh says: I would NEVER have guessed that it kills Dr. Boom in that situation. That seems like a bug. I don’t see anything else redeeming here.
- Arena Score: 1
- Constructed Score: 1
Keeper of Uldaman
- Scott says: A neat spell that can be used on either player’s minions to good effect. Luckily it’s in Paladin where you can always give +2/+2 to a recruit, which is a great deal. The versatility of bringing down a big baddie is just a bonus. Gets better later in the game, so never keep it on a mulligan. A true MVP, and likely the best card in the set for raw value and versatility.
- Josh says: Scott said it all. Great value, great versatility. This is a staple in midrange paladin.
- Arena Score: 5
- Constructed Score: 5
Anyfin Can Happen
- Scott says: What is this i don’t even. No. Unless…. No.
- Josh says: Blizzard trolling murloc players, just like they troll the rest of the playerbase.
- Arena Score: 0
- Constructed Score: 3
Priest Cards
Museum Curator
- Josh says: Love this card, and it doesn’t need to be in a Deathrattle deck for the card you draw to be worth it. Cheap play with high impact battlecry is begging for a Brann Bronzebeard combo.
- Scott says: If you play this guy, I hope you like Dark Cultist, because it’s the only Priest card with Deathrattle. (Class cards have a 4x probability of being chosen.) The good news is that there are lots of good Legendary choices: Cairne Bloodhoof, Sylvanas, Sludge Belcher, and all 3 shredder types. Overall card quality for this Discover type is high. Unfortunately the card itself is low-impact, and in Constructed why would you put a sub-par card in your deck that will still probably give you an inferior card to what you could have just put in your deck in the first place?
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 3
Excavated Evil
- Josh says: Yes, there are combos that can get big value out of this. But even I’m not a big enough sucker to fall for them. You need a hyper late-game heal priest deck (equivalent of freeze mage style) to make this work, and Priest just can’t support that right now.
- Scott says: Not sure why I’d want this. Maybe follow this up with Circle of Healing or Holy Nova for tons of healing triggers? I’ll file this with Hellfire in my “unused” folder.
- Arena Score: 1
- Constructed Score: 1
Entomb
- Josh says: Awesome anti-deathrattle card, but Silence can remove those too, so you’re paying for the premium of combining it with a kill effect. I don’t put any value into the draw, and priest already has a lot of great removal tools.
- Scott says: It’s a more expensive Assassinate that prevents a deathrattle trigger. Having a chance to draw the card yourself later is novel, but it shouldn’t really be better than anything already in your own deck, so will it help or hurt that draw? Most useful in a slow control deck where you’re holding it to target their biggest minion.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 3
Rogue Cards
Pit Snake
- Scott says: Not bad, except for its weakness against Druids, Mages, Rogues, and even Paladins. And small minions. And AoE. Hmm, I guess it is bad.
- Josh says: Yeah, hero powers make all 1-health minions a huge liability. It’ll force them to hero power, but that’s not a big enough advantage to warrant throwing away a card.
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 1
Unearthed Raptor
- Scott says: Lots of fun targets for this guy. Nerubian Egg, Shredders, Anubisath Sentinels, and Sylvanas make especially good targets. Keep in mind the ability is basically free and tacked on a Spider Tank, so there’s not really any downside.
- Josh says: Yeah, the normal mana cost on this guy is what really sold me. The floor is high and the ceiling in best-case scenarios (3 mana for 7/8 stats!) is outrageous. There are so many good cards that you want to run anyways that happen to have deathrattle effects worth stealing.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 5
Tomb Pillager
- Scott says: Slightly sub-optimal stat balance, but a decent deathrattle ability. Coins are worth more than half of a Innervate when you factor in their combo-triggering ability.
- Josh says: Yeah, fits in really well with control rogues, where weapons + poison give you easy answers for things like Piloted Shredders that might show up to trade with it.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 4
Shaman Cards
Tunnel Trogg
- Josh says: This looks like the card Overload decks needed to stabilize and see some real play. You have to play this early, but when you do, it’s a big threat looming over your opponent that’ll make them scramble.
- Scott says: Shaman’s version of Mana Wyrm, and even better in the right deck. It can grow multiple times from a single card, and can trigger from many minions as well as spells. Won’t be as good in Arena where you can’t control your draws. Live the Neptulon dream!
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 4
Rumbling Elemental
- Josh says: This dude loves the number 2! Interesting building block for a battlecry deck, but I think it’s probably best in a control deck that already has lots of battlecry effects. I wouldn’t add new cards to try to combo it.
- Scott says: Stats are balanced for survivability, which will help it fire more often. Will be especially good with Brann Bronzebeard. Some of Shaman’s best units have Battlecry.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 4
Everyfin is Awesome
- Josh says: Cool finisher for a shaman swarm deck. It’s important to note that the effect is permanent and hits all minions, so you can play it murloc-less if you’re desperate.
- Scott says: Like Bloodlust, but more expensive and adds toughness. Gets good with murlocs, but who plays murlocs? Might be worth playing with a Neptulon.
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 4
Warlock Cards
Reliquary Seeker
- Scott says: It’s a huge payoff if you can swing it, but 6 other minions is a tall order. Implosion will certainly help, as will cards like Wobbling Runts. Not likely to ever fire in Arena.
- Josh says: If Master of Ceremonies couldn’t get traction with this sort of effect last set, there’s no way this works.
- Arena Score: 1
- Constructed Score: 3
Dark Peddler
- Scott says: A card built for Floodlock decks, and does help out Reliquary Seeker a little. Discovering the 1-cost card is nice, as there are a few with good Battlecry effects you don’t want to miss out on.
- Josh says: Consistent 2-drops have been hard to find for Warlocks. I love this card, and there are enough great 1-drop cards that you should almost always get something you’re happy with.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 4
Curse of Rafaam
- Scott says: This one’s hard to evaluate. You spend 2 mana and a card to make them take 2 damage and need to spend 2 mana. It’s possible to get more damage over time, but usually they will just cast it next turn. Either way — the opponent will make the choice that’s best for them. Since you equal out on mana, it doesn’t seem worth a card to do 2 damage.
- Josh says: The key, like you’ve said before, is that your opponent gets to make the choice of whether to cast or keep it. It could be an interesting stall tactic when you already have board control, but that’s tough to rely on.
- Arena Score: 1
- Constructed Score: 1
Warrior Cards
Cursed Blade
- Josh says: 2 is just such a bad damage number on a weapon. I would always prefer to play my 3/2 for 2 weapon, and Warrior already has enough weapons in the deck.
- Scott says: If for some reason you want to die quickly, this is the card for you! Might be worth casting if you just brought out a minion you really want to keep, as your opponent has to choose one or the other. Also seems better if you’re investing heavily in Taunt while expecting to punch face with your weapon.
- Arena Score: 0
- Constructed Score: 0
Fierce Monkey
- Josh says: Another not-so-subtle hint about a deck type that Blizzard really wants you to be playing. Great card with great art.
- Scott says: It’s a beast, but that doesn’t really matter here. Mainly, it’s just a spider tank with free Taunt. Clearly a boon for Taunt Warrior.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 4
Obsidian Destroyer
- Josh says: Absolutely brutal in Arena where removal is scarce and the tiny taunt will keep this thing alive forever. Some potential in constructed as well, and at the very least it’s an annoyance thanks to its free auto-defense.
- Scott says: Like Hogger, but generally better. For 1 more mana, you get +3/+3 more on the main body. The downside is that you get smaller Taunt minions, but they’re still bodies with taunt. It’ll take 3 turns to break even with total body size with Hogger, but let’s be honest — Hogger never lasted that long. A very solid addition to the Warrior lineup. Almost as good as Dr. Boom.
- Arena Score: 5
- Constructed Score: 4
Community
- Question: None this week!
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- None
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Contact Scott Lantz on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
Monday Dec 21, 2015
Monday Dec 21, 2015
Hello!
- Scott is on the show this week
- Topic: League of Explorers Review!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Happy Winter Veil
The Review Scale
What we’re reviewing:
- Arena Score = The value of this card while drafting in Arena.
- Constructed = The value of this card when crafting the type of constructed deck that most wants this card.
How the score works:
- 0 = Awful, unplayable (Example: Sacrificial Pact, Poison Seeds)
- 1 = Underpowered, but it could work out (Example: Naturalize, Divine Spirit, Corruption)
- 2 = Acceptable backup plan or niche filler (Example: Crazed Alchemist, Emperor Cobra)
- 3 = Solid value (Example: Chillwind Yeti)
- 4 = Great, with lots of upside (Example: Animal Companion, Knife Juggler)
- 5 = So good you always have to play it (Example: Dr. Boom)
Neutral Cards – Common
Anubisath Sentinel
- Scott says: As long as you have another minion on the board when he dies, he’s bananas. One of the juicier targets for Baron Rivendare and Unearthed Raptor. Make sure not to let him whiff!
- Josh says: Strong effect with some cool combo potentials, like Effigy secret to guarantee the deathrattle lands.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 4
Fossilized Devilsaur
- Josh says: This card tries to be relevant, but just can’t quite pull it off. Stats are below vanilla, the requirements are tough for most classes, and the benefit (taunt) isn’t worth the hassle.
- Scott says: This thing is a poor man’s Ironbark Protector. Only two classes have beast decks that are even a thing, and Druid already has a strictly better version of this card. That means this is a hunter card, or a card for Arena, and I don’t think it’s very good in either case.
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 1
Gorillabot A-3
- Scott says: Seems legit in a mech deck. Not crazy, but nice extra value in a mech deck. Effect is a little cheaper and is faster as a battlecry, but requires a mech to be in place already to trigger.
- Josh says: I’ll be crazy and say I think this card is absolutely crazy. Having a mech in place is no problem in constructed, and Discover favors class cards heavily, giving this even more value in something like Shaman or Rogue who only have awesome class mechs. A 100% mech deck staple.
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 5
Huge Toad
- Josh says: See ya, Bloodfen Raptor. A simple card with a small upside just to keep it relevant in the modern power levels.
- Scott says: Its ability is better than a kick in the pants, but hard to see where it fits into a constructed deck. Think of it as a Knife Juggler with a single (but guaranteed) activation. At least it’s a beast!
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 2
Jeweled Scarab
- Scott says: It’s a beast, so that’s a thing. A bad 2-drop, but will give you a 3-drop that shouldn’t be horrible.
- Josh says: Works better in classes with strong 3 drops like Druid, which conveniently cares about beasts! But, actually, 3 drops is a pretty safe card pool for all the classes. Hunter is the probably the sketchiest, which is a shame since they want beasts most.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 3
Murloc Tinyfin
- Josh says: STOP USING CHILD SOLDIERS!
- Scott says: It’s a wisp. But it’s a murloc. Not enough impact to make a difference.
- Arena Score: 0
- Constructed Score: 1
Tomb Spider
- Scott says: Most people beeline for Hunter with this guy, but I’m really digging Beast Druid. This goes well in that deck too! Is a slow card, but provides good long-term value, especially in beast synergy decks.
- Josh says: I’m in for both classes with this guy. Slightly weaker stats than the Gorilla-Bot (so it’s a bit weaker in Constructed), but it makes the trade-off for a guaranteed proc to help it in Arena.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 4
Neutral Cards – Rare
Ancient Shade
- Josh says: Best comment: “He is the best against face hunter. You will likely die before drawing the curse.” I don’t see a place for this guy.
- Scott says: If you’re going to use this thing, your plan needs to be to kill your opponent before you draw the curse. Therefore, you need to be a very fast deck. But how are you going to protect him with only 4 health?
- Arena Score: 1
- Constructed Score: 1
Eerie Statue
- Scott says: Is a creatureless control deck a thing? Will mostly be used as a bigger Ancient Watcher that might be able to hit face on its own in rare circumstances. A great candidate for friendly silence or taunt.
- Josh says: Yeah, I could see Handlock or removal-heavy control decks using this card to good effect, but I’m not sure it’s better than what those decks already have.
- Arena Score: 0
- Constructed Score: 3
Summoning Stone
- Scott says: Can certainly be strong, but you generally need to cast more than 5 mana worth of spells with him on the board to really be profitable. Could be interesting in a rogue deck with Master of Disguise!
- Josh says: There’s a lot of red tape with this one, but it’s powerful when it works and offers some fun gameplay options. Looks like a fun experimenting card to me, but I suspect it’ll end up in the Tavern Brawl-only zone.
- Arena Score: 0
- Constructed Score: 3
Wobbling Runts
- Josh says: I think the numbers are misleading on this one: it’s not as good as an 8/12 for 6 mana. A 2/6 is nearly irrelevant on Turn 6 and usually dies without trading. That means you’re getting a slow, permanent Force of Nature. Should work in a swarm deck that needs bodies on the board all the time, and not much else.
- Scott says: Hard to evaluate, but I think it’s pretty decent. Kind of like a giant Haunted Creeper, and that guy sees consistent play. If your goal is to make sure you have units in play, this is a good choice. A good value, but very slow.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 3
Neutral Cards – Epic
Djinni of Zephyrs
- Scott says: Fun! Seems like it would go well in a Priest or Paladin deck, similar to Dragonkin Sorcerer. Works especially well with cheap card draw like Blessing of Wisdom or Power Word: Shield. Doesn’t sacrifice much in terms of stats, and has good stat allocations.
- Josh says: Yeah, there are some nice cheap spells in Warrior and Shaman as well that open up some nice burst combos with it as well. And you’re only losing 1 stat point for the effect! At worst, he’s a fatty lightning rod that makes your opponent worried.
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 4
Naga Sea Witch
- Josh says: This card looks like a trap. Effect can easily backfire and won’t be relevant (outside of extra hero power) until Turn 10. Pass.
- Scott says: Only useful for lowering the cost of more expensive spells… but how many 6+ cards are you running?
- Arena Score: 1
- Constructed Score: 1
Neutral Cards – Legendary
Arch-Thief Rafaam
- Josh says: There are a lot of fun, powerful top deck cards. This one looks like the most versatile one since Ysera, so I give it some value there. Any late-game deck could pull off tide-swinging shenanigans with it.
- Scott says: Another guy that I think is overhyped. Sure, he gives you giant artifacts. But they cost 10 mana! Too unpredictable, slow, and expensive to be reliable. Probably best in arena, where he’d be a great topdeck draw in a long game.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 2
Brann Bronzebeard
- Scott says: Neat! Unfortunately he’s a legendary, so it’s a stretch to build a deck around him. A very strong ability, but in many cases the battlecry doesn’t make sense to double. Ooze only destroys one card, for example, and a silenced minion getting immediately silenced again isn’t very exciting. Still, an awesome fun card!
- Josh says: There are definitely effects that don’t double well, but so many of them do. We saw how powerful this was in the Rogue Mill deck with Antique Healbot and Coldlight Oracle. You’re only paying 1 stat for that effect, so even the smallest of procs makes this card worth it, and the value ceiling is incredible. I’m a big, big fan.
- Arena Score: 3
- Constructed Score: 5
Elise Starseeker
- Josh says: Total trap card. The final effect you’re spending all game chasing is FUN and COOL, but not even guaranteed to help you. I’m usually the player that falls for this sort of fun-first card, and even I can see this is no good!
- Scott says: She has a half-mana premium on her body, followed by a 2 mana premium on the map. The final form makes up for that mana cost, but not when combined with the time investment and high probability you won’t see a payoff. Combine with Brann Bronzebeard for 2 maps. In constructed, this only wants to be played in the slowest of control decks, and even then, you’ll be at a disadvantage when casting it.
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 1
Reno Jackson
- Scott says: People are going crazy for this card, but I think it’s too much work. Note that it just requires that you only have 1 of each card left in your deck at time of casting, NOT your starting deck. Might be better in Arena where most cards are 1-ofs.
- Josh says: Definitely better in an aggro-heavy meta. I agree on the Arena value, but have seen this work too many times to discount it in Constructed. The interesting thing is that this card should get better over time, as more and more general Legendaries are worth running in your deck.
- Arena Score: 4
- Constructed Score: 3
Sir Finley Mrrgglton
- Scott says: This guy’s cool! Not horrible stats, and his ability is a boon to some classes.
- Josh says: Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on. Let me go ahead and directly quote you from our TGT review: “You must really hate your own ability if at deckbuilding time you think that stealing another random class’s ability will be an upgrade.” What’s different here?
- Arena Score: 2
- Constructed Score: 3
Community
- Question: None this week!
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- Kristoffer Amundsen – $5/month
The Dust Bowl
We open card packs donated by listeners, and pick our favorites and least favorites on the show!
Thanks to our supporters:
- Jake Crawford – 7 packs!
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Contact Scott Lantz on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
Tuesday Nov 24, 2015
Tuesday Nov 24, 2015
Hello!
- Bradford Grant is on the show this week
- Topic: Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: League of Explorers impressions
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
Defending Deck: Andrew’s Warlock Demon Zoo deck has reigned supreme for 5 months, and has beaten 4 decks before this episode.
Challenger Deck: BradfordLee’s Mill Rogue deck looks to outlast and burn through the opponents’ deck, throwing away the key cards they need to beat you.
The Deck
Creatures
- 2x Antique Healbot
- 1x Big Game Hunter
- 1x Bloodmage Thalnos
- 1x Brann Bronzebeard
- 2x Coldlight Oracle
- 2x Deathlord
- 2x Earthen Ring Farseer
- 1x Novice Engineer
- 2x Sludge Belcher
Spells
- 2x Backstab
- 2x Eviscerate
- 2x Gang Up
- 2x Preparation
- 2x Sap
- 2x Shadowstep
- 2x Shiv
- 2x Vanish
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some 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 Refreshment Vendor
- 1x Assassinate
- 1x SI:7 Agent
- 1x Fan of Knives
- 1x Loot Hoarder
- 1x King Mukla
- 2x Deadly Poison
- 2x Blade Flurry
The Duel!
NOTE: I accidentally had my mic muted during the entire livestream, because I have no idea how technology works. Sorry!
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: Glitter Beards, yay or nay?
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- No donations this week
The Dust Bowl
We open card packs donated by listeners, and pick our favorites and least favorites on the show!
Thanks to our supporters:
- Jake Crawford – 7 packs!
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Contact BradfordLee on Twitch and on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
Looking for a new deck type to play? Mill Rogue is a terrificly fun, creative deck that tries to win by forcing the opponent to draw too many cards and leaving them with nothing but fatigue damage.
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by BradfordLee. Thanks!
Mill Rogue
This is by far my favorite deck in Hearthstone. Its core strategy and route to victory comes from using Coldlight Oracle to force your opponent to draw too many cards. Eventually, the opponent will run out of cards and being taking fatigue damage. Alternatively, in some aggro match ups, victory is obtained by continually playing Antique Healbots until your aggro opponent runs out of resources.
I love Mill Rogue because every game feels like a puzzle. You have to use all of your resources just right to solve the puzzle and thus reach victory. The deck presents complex lines of play and incredible precision. If you happen to use a card too early or too late you will often find yourself unable to solve the complex puzzle presented in front of you.
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.
Antique Healbot is a win condition against face hunter decks and is a valuable late game life gain against slower or mid-range decks. Its ability to gain eight life is often enough to buy you the time you need to win.
I love running one Big Game Hunter in this deck. One of the biggest issues for the deck is Dr. Boom. Having a good way to hunt down a Dr. Boom is important since you don’t want to Vanish or Sap it back to your opponents hand. In the past, I ran one Assassinate in this spot but I find that I win more games with Big Game Hunter.
Bloodmage Thalnos makes cards like Shiv and Backstab more potent and it also has the most relevant text in the game “Draw a card”. This card is not very strong in the deck and thus can be easily replaced by Loot Hoarder, Novice Engineer, or Fan of Knives.
Brann Bonzebeard is the newest inclusion to this deck. Brann + Coldlight Oracle + Shadowstep can mill your opponent for 8 cards in just one turn. He really gives this deck a needed power boost and can win you games that you previously had no chance of winning. I would say, of the the legend in this deck, he is much more important to this deck then Bloodmage Thalnos
Coldlight Oracle is the glue that holds this deck together. It moves you closer to victory, facilitates card draw, and it helps you find the answers you need for any given situation. I will often mulligan to this card. The games where I have a Coldlight Oracle before turn 6 are the games that I feel I have the best chance to win. MRRRRGGGL!
2x Deathlord
Deathlord is an incredible card for its cost. In the aggro match ups it can stone wall your opponent and against decks like Ramp Druid, that have a combo finish, it keeps you alive when they are ready to combo you. Also, it helps you mill your opponent when it dies.
Earthen Ring Farseer is very important for this deck because it costs 3 mana. It allows you to play it on turn 3 as a body and it also allows you to play it on turn 6 alongside a Vanish + Preperation. Also, Earthen Ring Farseer can heal a Sludge Belcher or Deathlord that is damaged. While this utility is not commonly used it is very helpful in some circumstances.
I only run one Novice Engineer because Bloodmage Thalnos acts like the second Novice Engineer. In the past I ran Loot Hoarder in this spot but with the introduction of Brann Bronzebeard the 1x Novice Engineer gets the node over the 1x Loot Hoarder. This card is not great but in the early game it is very nice to have a two mana draw a card effect. Additionally, In the mid to late game the low cost on this card makes it easy to cast alongside other cards in the deck.
Belcher, like Deathlord, gives you protection from oncoming board pressure. It is a very powerful card and can often buy you an entire turn so that you can draw into the card that you were looking for.
2x Backstab
Backstab is incredibly important to any Rogue deck. Backstab offers tempo when you are behind and helps you stay ahead when you are ahead. It’s also great with your hero power to answer minions with three defense. Lastly, in this deck, it gives you the ability to not over draw. That is to say, when you are casting multiple Coldlight Oracle’s in one turn you will sometimes have too many cards in hand (i.e. 10) and will thus need to cast your Backstab just so that you have space in your hand to draw cards that are more relevant to the current state of the game.
2x Eviscerate
Eviscerate is simply the best piece of removal that is available for this deck. It answers most early to mid-game threats and in the mid to late game it can keep the board clear to buy you one more turn. This is especially relevant in games where you have yet to find a Coldlight Oracle.
2x Gang Up
This is the worst card in this deck but it is a key card it gives you extra copies of Coldlight Oracle and it prevents you from drawing too many cards.
2x Preparation
Preparation helps you cast all of your spells for cheaper. In this deck it almost always is only used in conjunction with the spell Vanish. For instance, on turn 6 you are able to cast Coldlight Oracle for three mana then cast Preparation + Vanish for your other three mana. The play of Coldlight Oracle + Preparation + Vanish is one of the key plays in this deck. It allows you to over fill your opponent’s hand, replay your Coldlight Oracle, and Empty the board of any troublesome threats. If I could play more copies of Preparation I certainly would.
2x Sap
Normally Sap’s strength is its ability to gain tempo by returning 5+ cost minions to your opponent’s hand. However, when your opponent’s hand is full (i.e. 10 cards) you have the added luxury of it just destroying the minion that you cast Sap on. This gives Sap flexibility in this deck. In my opinion, this is the best Sap deck in the game!
2x Shadowstep
Shadowstep serves three roles in this deck. Role one: Against most match ups Shadowstep gives you more Coldlight Oracle battlecry abilities and thus continues you toward milling your opponent out. Role two: In some aggro match ups, namely face hunter, this bounces back an Antique Healbot and helps you gain so much life that your opponent is unable to win the game. Role three: In some circumstances shadow step allows you to return a damaged Deathlord to your hand in the early game. Generally this play is only advisable when you are currently unable to deal with a big threat entering the battlefield off of the Deathlord’s deathrattle ability.
2x Shiv
Shiv is not a great card. Its impact on the game is very minimal but it warrants a spot in this deck because it has the most relevant text in the game on it “Draw a card”. Being able to dig through your deck faster creates redundancy and thus helps you draw into your Coldlight Oracles faster. This card could be replaced by Novice Engineer, Loot Hoarder, or Fan of Knives
2x Vanish
Without vanish this deck would not be able to function. Vanish gives you the ability to bounce back your own Coldlight Oracles, Earthen Ring Farseers, and Antique Healbots. More importantly, Vanish clears the entire board. Outside of minions with charge a Vanish can buy you a lot of time. They should not be used frivolously as you only have two of them. If I could play 6 copies of this spell I would easily play 6 copies of it. It is also worth noting that if your opponents hand is full you can use this to destroy minions.
Possible Additions
Mill Rogue deck lists are trying to do something very specific. For that reason many of the cards in the deck are specifically tailored to the deck and thus are not worth cutting for other cards. That being said, there are a few flex spots in the deck and the following are some good alternatives in case you are missing some of the cards for this deck.
Refreshment Vendor is a nice card for this deck because it has a solid body while also gaining you four life. It is worth noting that since this card costs four mana it is harder to use this card in combination with Vanish + Preparation. Also, unlike Earthen Ring Farseer, you cannot heal your minions.
1x Assassinate
Assassinate is good in this list since you often need a nice piece of removal to deal with troublesome threats like Dr. Boom. This card could be played in place of Big Game Hunter.
1x Si7 Agent
Another great card to substitute for Big Game Hunter is Si7 Agent. Basically this card is just another piece of removal that happens to have a 3/3 body attached to it. So, this serves a similar role as Big Game Hunter.
Too many X/1’s on the ladder? Then Fan of Knives is the card for you. It slices, it dices, and it draws you cards. What more could you ask for? This card can be yours for the low low price of cutting 1x Shiv from your list.
1x Loot Hoarder
In the past I have run 2x Loot Hoarder and 1x Bloodmage Thalnos. If you don’t have a Bloodmage Thalnos this is a great substitution. This card could also take the place of 1x Shiv if you don’t have access to the card Shiv.
1x King Mukla
THE KING! Let’s be real… this card is Bananas. It fills your opponents hand up and that allows you to over fill your opponents hand to make your Coldlight Oracles super effective. However, I don’t run The King because it tends to be good in the match ups you are already good against and bad in the match ups that you are bad against. If The King was good against the match ups this deck struggles with, like Zoo, then I would consider running this card. Never the less, if you own a King Mukla it’s a lot of fun to play with.
2x Deadly Poison
Deadly Poison is certainly good in this deck. When you play it you generally want to play it as a 2 of in the deck to go along side Blade Flurry. Since this build doesn’t contain that package of 4 cards I wouldn’t play it. However, Blade Flurry and Deadly Poison shine in some of your bad aggro match ups. That being said, and due to the nature of this deck, I believe it is better to make your good and/or average match ups better by focusing those 4 slots in the deck on other cards. I would certainly not discount anyone for playing Deadly Poison and I still think it is an incredible card that is fun to try out in this deck.
2x Blade Flurry
I personally am not a fan of Blade Flurry + Deadly Poison in Mill Rogue. There are certainly people that play both of these cards in their decks. I don’t like it because I don’t think it is necessary and neither of these cards have the words “Draw a Card” written on them. Shiv, Loot Hoarder, Fan of Knives, and Bloodmage Thalnos offer consistency for the deck and I have found that having these cards instead gives you a better chance of winning a game even though the power level of your deck is lower. That being said, These two cards are certainly fun, powerful, and good
Final Thoughts
If you like solving complex puzzles and enjoy the thrill of fatiguing your opponent to death, then Mill Rogue is the deck for you. It’s engaging and exciting every step of the way and with a little bit of practice you might even start having a winning record with the deck.