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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 Sep 05, 2015
Saturday Sep 05, 2015
Hello!
- Scott is on the show this week
- Topic: The Grand Tournament Review!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: The expansion is out!
The Review Format
- We want to give real, valuable insight into the cards we talk about, but there are too many cards in an expansion to do that for every one.
- So we picked the ones that we think are most important to talk about.
- This week we’re covering all of the neutral cards
- Look at each rarity level separately: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary
- For each tier, each host chooses: The best card to CRAFT, DRAFT, and DUST
- Next episode: Class cards!
Neutral Cards – Common
Best to Craft
- Josh says: 5 stats for 2 mana is right on Vanilla, but this gives you a lot of cool combo opportunities with tough, low-attack minions.
- Scott says: Lots of opportunity with the +2 attack. It has ‘haste’, and can go especially well on minions with other abilities like Divine Shield, Taunt, or Windfury.
- Scott says: Cool opportunity to flesh out a weenie token deck in any class, but the Paladin synergy is especially strong.
- Josh says: Not a Paladin class card! Tons of fun potential here. Eek, that armor art.
Best to Draft
- Josh says: Cheap removal that leaves a body behind, or a late-game Charge surprise. Love the versatility.
- Scott says: The little guy that could! 3 mana is a lot to pay for such puny stats, but he packs a surprisingly strong punch.
- Scott says: As long as you can target two other minions with him, he roughly breaks even. More than that, and you’re at a pretty clear profit. Can combine with other inspire minion-generators (like Silver Hand Regent) for good times!
- Josh says: He eats a banana while jousting? This guy is insane! Strong effect that forces your opponent to answer immediately.
Best to Dust
- Josh says: If you want those 2/3 stats on a 1-cost, there are already better, more reliable options.
- Scott says: Agreed. And you’d think he’d want to be in a joust deck. Except he makes joust decks worse. So his proper place, if it even exists, is rather limited.
- Scott says: Hey, look! They took Goldshire Footman (a card already made fun of for how bad it is) and they made it even more susceptible to hero-power removal. That doesn’t seem like a step up.
- Josh says: This card is named after someone not good enough to participate in the tournament! That should be a sign. Maybe in Warrior Taunt decks, but that’s it.
Neutral Cards – Rare
Best to Craft
- Josh says: I don’t love this card, but there aren’t many good rares in this set. Some cool potential for next-turn combos in Hero-Power decks, though.
- Scott says: Keep in mind this ability will wait until you want to use it. So it can allow you to cast an inspire minion on curve and activate its ability. For some minions, this can make a big difference.
- Scott says: He ranges from slightly overcosted to insaaaane. Make sure he’s in the right deck and he’ll fire more than 50% of the time.
- Josh says: Yeah, when he works, he will wrestle board control from anything at its cost level. When he doesn’t, he’s still an okay body. How much do you want to rely on RNG?
Best to Draft
- Josh says: Right after saying I’m not a fan of Joust, here’s one I’ll pick in draft! It’s slim pickings in Rares this set, but this guy is a great desperate play with huge upside when trying to close out the game or remove a big threat.
- Scott says: Yeah, his stats are pretty reasonable for his cost, especially if you can protect him with taunt or something. If you can manage to fire his charge, so much the better. 5 damage charge is something that would normally be very expensive.
- Scott says: The effect isn’t great, but it’ll matter sometimes, especially against some classes. Given that its stats are totally on curve, the bonus is pure upside. The fewer cards your opponent has in hand, the more likely this is to prevent them from using their hero ability, especially in arena.
- Josh says: Tiny little Loatheb. Weird card, but against some classes, preventing the hero power can be a big deal. Be willing to “throw away” the hero-power perk and play him on curve if it’s safe.
Best to Dust
- Josh says: Same amount of stats as Boulderfist Ogre (same cost), but with MUCH worse distribution. And a 50% chance to screw up your plans every turn. No thanks!
- Scott says: What Josh said. They took a vanilla creature, made it worse, then made it worse again.
- Scott says: In a world where it’s easy to get 2/3s with upside for 2 mana, it’s hard to understand why you’d want to have such a strong limitation on a card where that upside is one more health. This card is horrible.
- Josh says: You get 1 bonus stat for the huge downside here. Not even close to worth it.
Neutral Cards – Epic
Best to Craft
- Josh says: It’s not for every deck, but in Spell Damage mage, this is a 6/4 for 3 mana. Pretty insane. The bottom isn’t that low either – 4/2 for 3 isn’t that bad.
- Scott says: It’s worth noting this will only fire once at most, but in a deck that has a lot of spell damage, this is certainly a good deal.
- Scott says: Even without other hero power cards to synergize with, this can still be a strong card. Hunter, for example, wants to hit face however it can, and this allows another 2-point shot straight to the face. Rogue is really the only class where this is a total dud.
- Josh says: I haven’t gotten enough cards to build a real Hero Power deck, but he’s an absolute staple there.
Best to Draft
- Josh says: Let’s butt heads, Scott! I think this card is pretty strong, especially in a format with less instant removal on-hand. One activation puts you way ahead of Vanilla (assuming you get innate value from your hero power already).
- Scott says: Well, one activation is 8 mana for a 6/10 + hero power effect, which is arguable right on curve. Personally I’d rather have a Chromagnus or Kel’Thuzad. But if you can get multiple activations, he certainly gets out of control quickly.
- Scott says: The thing I find interesting about this guy is that he’s the only guy who can repeatedly put minions into your hand. This can let you trigger cards like Knife Juggler, or fill the board quickly in one turn if that’s of value to you.
- Josh says: You’re going to have to convince me on this one, Scott. 8 total mana for 7/6 stats and a Hero Power. Seems like a slow Silver Hand Knight. Although 5 Attack/Health does seem to be the magic number this set.
Best to Dust
- Josh says: I’ve never once said to myself, “Gee, I wish I had a crappy version of Questing Adventurer in my hand right now.” Trap card!
- Scott says: I feel the same way. Luckily he doesn’t start at as much of a stat disadvantage as QA, but he certainly won’t grow as quickly either.
- Scott says: You must really hate your own ability if at deckbuilding time you think that stealing another random class’s ability will be an upgrade. I could possibly see this ability on a vanilla creature, but you won’t catch me paying a 1-mana premium for it.
- Josh says: Pretty lame this doesn’t work against Adventure bosses. I would love to see more PVE-focused cards with effects like this. As-is, a fun trick that won’t ultimately do much.
Neutral Cards – Legendary
Best to Craft
- Josh says: I wrote this before I opened her in my packs! I was so happy! Spider Tank body with a super powerful perk. I’ll play this in almost every control deck, even if I can’t proc it a bunch. It’s a great body that can get low killing minions and still force out removal.
- Scott says: Spare parts are a pretty cheap and plentiful way of activating her, but Priest, Druid, and Paladin have lots of good choices too. All upside, no downside. Worst case, you have a non-mech Spider Tank.
- Scott says: Chaaaaarge! That alone is worth the price of admission. Not sure if pirate decks are truly competitive yet, but this certainly helps step it up a notch.
- Josh says: The cap’n is trying to make it happen. This card feels like it’s singlehandedly trying to drag all those crappy Pirate cards into the meta. Such a strong card, but only craft it if you want to craft ALL the other Pirates too.
Best to Draft
- Josh says: Solid body and a super fun Inspire effect. Save him until Turn 7 unless you’re super desperate.
- Scott says: Being able to repeatedly draw a spell is pretty good, especially in decks that reward spell-casting. Since all spells are class-specific and class-specific cards are better on average than neutral minions, these will tend to be above-average cards. But like all inspire effects, it’s a bit ‘win-more’.
- Scott says: Not only is he fun, but if the game drags out a bit, you’ll get significant mileage from him over time.
- Josh says: You’ll likely use your Hero power more in Arena. Should get lots of value out of it.
Best to Dust
- Josh says: You should have much better things to do with 6 mana than summon an overcosted minion who has a 50% chance of making you waste your next Turn casting him again.
- Scott says: I don’t hate this guy quite so much — I gave him a 4 in my own set review. Yes, he’s overpriced by 1 mana per summon, but in a top-deck scenario he can easily tilt the game in your favor. Try to keep him to decks where he’s likely to win the joust.
- Scott says: He’s good at helping you stay alive a little longer. But he’s bad at helping himself stay alive since your opponent can just attack your face instead of him, and take no retaliation damage. I’ve seen him used to good effect, but only in a priest deck that purposefully shored up his weaknesses through lots of healing and buffing.
- Josh says: Aww, now you’re just trying to make me feel bad, Scott. This was the first Legendary I opened!
Community
- Question: Gareth: Tavern Brawl cards
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- Brett: $50
The Dust Bowl
We open card packs donated by listeners, and pick our favorites and least favorites on the show!
Thanks to supporters:
- Jake Crawford: 7 Packs
- Brett: 25 Packs
- Mike Burgess: 25 Packs
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Contact Scott on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
Tuesday Aug 18, 2015
Tuesday Aug 18, 2015
Hello!
- Jim is on the show this week
- Topic: Helpful tips for new players!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: The Grand Tournament is ALMOST HERE
Tip #1: Follow the Rules
Even though Hearthstone is supposed to be fairly simple, there are many odd situations where cards interact in unexpected ways. It’s good to be aware of these, and try to use them to your advantage!
- Read iHearthu’s extensive rules list
- Read Vivafringe’s special list of rules
- When in doubt, check the rule list on the Wiki
- Watch some awesome videos by the Hearthstone Mythbusters about tricks like how to get 8 minions on your side of the board!
- Our biggest surprises (discussed on the show)
Tip #2: Take Your Turn Slowly
It’s easy to rush, but you have 90 seconds. Use all of it.
Here’s a helpful checklist to go down each time you start a turn.
- 1. Check for lethal damage to your opponent.
- 2. If any of your expected choices draw you cards, do that first.
- 3. Think of what your opponent can do next turn to disrupt your board and play around them. Example: The common AoE spells and their mana costs are (2)Explosive Trap, (4)Swipe + Consecrate + Hellfire, (5) Holy Nova, (7) Flamestrike.
- 4. If you’re winning at the moment, see if you can clear your opponent’s board.
- 5. If you’re left with equal options at this point, do the one that costs more mana.
- 6. Use your Hero Power only if you have leftover mana. It is often very inefficient use of mana.
- 7. Think through your whole plan again before you play anything.
Tip #3: Choose the Right Time for your Minions
- If you play a minion that requires a choice (targeted Battlecry effect or Choose One effect), you can hit ESCAPE or select it again after placing it on the board to cancel it and put it back into your hand!
- Don’t play your surprise-damage minions until you can kill your opponent with it. The surprise factor is a huge part of its value, and your opponent will play differently once they know you have it on the board.
- Don’t cast damage spells onto your opponents’ face until it’s lethal damage either. Lull them into a false sense of security, and then nuke them all at once!
Tip #4: Search out the Secrets
- When a Secret is on the board, your first goal is to figure out what it is without causing major damage to yourself.
- First thing: Pull up a list of all the Secret cards for the class you’re playing against.
- Then, start to play your turn. When evaluating each choice, imagine what the worst-case scenario is for what their Secret could be. Determine if the risk is acceptable.
- When you take an action and the Secret does NOT trigger, take note of what that tells you about the Secret. If you’ve attacked the champion and killed a troop without the Paladin Secret triggering, you know by process of elimination that it must be Repentance. Now you can play around it.
- When making your first tests against a Secret, play small cards and attack with small minions — just in case their Secrets affects them.
- Look for ways to exploit Secrets to your benefit, such as Freezing Trap putting a minion back in your hand, or Mirror Entity copying a minion you play.
Tip #5: Build Your Collection the Smart Way
- Avoid guessing which pack to buy. Use a tool like this spreadsheet to tell you which card back will be more likely to give you cards you don’t already own.
- If you aren’t sure what are “good” cards to craft, look at the Most Popular Cards list on Hearthhead, Elie’s undervalued card list, or HearthArena’s Tier List.
- Get the most value out of crafting gold cards by focusing on cards that generate other cards! Like Unstable Portal and Piloted Shredder.
Tip #6: Give Us a Quest!
- Daily quests actually accumulate in a hidden queue behind the 3 you can see. If you haven’t completed a quest in 6 days, you can do 3 quests in one day and then get 3 brand new quests in your log the next day!
- Rerolling a quest (swapping it out for a new one) resets your hidden queue! So don’t do that on the first day if you want 3 the next day.
- Reroll a Quest every day, even if you aren’t going to play that day. Find the quests you want to do, so they’ll be ready when you can play!
- Overlapping Quests (Examples: Win with Rogue or Druid / Win with Rogue or Mage) will help and can save you a lot of time, but they aren’t necessary.
- If you have a weird combination of quests, don’t be afraid to create unique decks to complete them!
- Hearthstone has a lot of secret Quests (Achievements)! It’s lots of fun knowing about them and achieving them.
Tip #7: Learn How You Have Fun
There are many different playstyles and ways to enjoy card games like Hearthstone. Don’t let others tell you what you have to do to have fun!
- Find your fun and play that way (or experiment!). We don’t all fit into the same box!
- Timmy – Smash your opponents with big, flashy cards
- Johnny – Build your own decks
- Spike – Win lots of games
- Jim’s recommendation: No matter what style you are, play silly decks every once in a while!
Tip #8: Don’t Rush to Ranked
- Casual is a great, totally viable mode. I played only Casual for a long time.
- Tavern Brawl is a great new silly/fun mode every week. You have to be level 20 to play it, so try to level your favorite class to 20 ASAP so you can join in!
- If you just want to hit Rank 20 and get your card back each month, wait until after the first week of the month. After all the more experienced players have climbed up to higher ranks, it’ll be easier to win!
- If you’re into Arena, try playing that during the beginning and end of the month, when everyone is rushing into Ranked!
- Don’t get discouraged if you lose in Ranked! Some higher-tier players farm wins at low ranks to complete those Secret Quests we mentioned!
Tip #9: Listen to Podcasts, Watch Streams, Talk to People!
Jim put together a huge list of links to help you out, and even gave some short descriptions of each one!
Podcasts
- Happy Hearthstone (Mostly casual, kid-friendly)
- The Angry Chicken (Casual/esports, some language)
- Legend of the Inkeeper (Casual, kid friendly)
- Well Met (Mostly esports)
- HearthCoach
- The Unstable Portal
- Hearthcore
Livestreams
- Trump
- Brian Kibler
- Karma
- StrifeCro
- Mackenseize
- Or stream yourself and ask for advice from viewers!
Beginner Guides
Friendly Devs
Community
- Tony: Advice for new players with other CCG experience?
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- Jayme: Sent some awesome GenCon Hex codes!
Card of the Week
Farewell
Sunday Aug 02, 2015
Sunday Aug 02, 2015
Hello!
- MYSTERIOUS Ben is on the show this week
- Topic: Dragon Priest Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: The Grand Tournament
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 3 months, and has beaten 2 decks before this episode.
Challenger Deck: Ben’s Dragon Priest deck goes for quick kills, but brings a few beefy dragons as late-game backup.
The Deck
Creatures
- 2x Northshire Cleri
- 2x Twilight Whelp
- 2x Faerie Dragon
- 2x Knife Juggler
- 1x Big GameHunter
- 2x Blackwing Technician
- 2x Blackwing Corrupter
- 2x Dragonkin Sorcerer
- 2x Azure Drake
- 1x Vol’jin
- 1x Emperor Thaurissan
- 1x Prof Boom MD
- 1x Onyxia
- 1x Ysera
Spells
- 2x Power Word: Shield
- 2x Velen’s Chosen
- 1x Shadow Madness
- 2x Holy Nova
- 1x Light Bomb
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.
- Drakonid Crusher
- Volcanic Drake
- Shadow Word: Death
- War Golem
- Mind Control
- Shadow Word: Pain
- Dark Cultist
The Duel!
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
- Tom Briscoe: Dusting doubles
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- Jake Crawford: $10/month
- Ian Nowakowski: $5/month
- Leon Chen: $1/month
- Mike Burgess: $25
- Andrew: $25
- Pontus Welin: $10
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Find Mysterious Ben on Twitter or Reddit!
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
Kill all the things. Kill them with dragons! Our latest battle deck is all about dishing out damage with giant, scaly monsters — and bringing in the broodmothers to seal the deal late game.
You can hear us talk about this deck, and watch us duel with it in episode 53 of the Happy Hearthstone!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Ben. Thanks, Ben!
The Dragon Priest
Why should you play Dragon Priest? To put it simply, I find this deck really fun. There are always cool combos and strategy. You have to use your head, but you don’t have to run insane numbers like some Warrior decks. The more you play this deck, the better you get with it. It’s not a perfect deck, so feel free to copy as much or little as you want. Have fun with it!
Creatures
Arguably the best 1-drop in the game. It is almost always draws removal. People don’t want to deal with it because there are too many factors to watch. It makes the enemy think “Is he going to buff it? Is he going to attack and heal to draw a card? Is he going to drop another Northshire Cleric and heal one of my creatures?” It’s also versatile for when you use it. You could use it to bait early-game removal from a Warrior or Mage, or keep it for card-draw later.
At first glance, this is a very underwhelming card, so I don’t blame people asking why this is in here. (At one point, I had Shadow Bombers in this spot.) But the bonus 2 health is a big deal. People play Zombie Chow and he has the same stats, plus a chance to heal your enemy! The main problem here is that these do not activate unless you have a dragon in hand, so you obviously shouldn’t play them in a non-dragon deck. They are good because they can trade up, and if they don’t activate, they can stick around being a target for my buff cards.
A great filler card for really any dragon deck, it can be used to activate Twilight Whelps or Blackwing Technicians. Being untargetable by spells is useful, but not vital to this card’s value.
In my opinio,n Knife juggler is the best 2-drop in the game. At 3/2 for 2 mana, he already passes the vanilla test. That means that his activations are pure bonus value. This deck has tons of potential synergies that can make him a gold mine of damage.
As much as I think he takes fun out of the game, BGH is important because he stops giants from being overpowered. He’s in this deck as an anti-Handlock card and just a general Dr. Boom killer
Blackwing Technician is an awesome early game card. It allows you to play more value than your opponent at the extra cost of telling them that you have a dragon in your hand. Think of it as a potentially better Spider Tank.
As I said in the show if I could play a fire elemental in every deck I would but I cant so I have this as a concealment prize and what a prize is he. the 3 damage he packs gets rid of pesky shredders and most other 3 or 4 drops (although after this expansion he may get worse with all the massive health minions) he is just a good value card and even if he doesn’t activate he is 5 damage on the table they have to remove.
A very strong body with great potential in decks like Paladin and Priest, which have many cards to activate off of. In this deck, it’s actually more valuable as a threat than an actual power play. Putting this on the board lets you bluff your opponents. They’ll typically remove it by trading or wasting some premium removal, which is great. That means I can play a safe Dr. Boom or Ysera later. If they don’t remove it, you can hit it with Velen’s Chosen to make it a 6/10 with +1 Spell Damage.
2x Azure Drake
Another card that is pure, unadulterated value. Just being a dragon gives it synergy, but the main reason it’s here is the card draw. This deck lacks consistent draw. You have the Northshire Clerics, which you typically get 1, maybe 2, cards from if you’re lucky. And you have Power Word: Shield for 1 draw. Having 2 more card-draw minions may not seem like much, but they effectively make your deck thinner if you play them on curve, and having 6 less cards in your deck makes it a lot more chance that you will draw your combos. Plus, with a 4/4 body they can take and give a solid beating in midgame.
1x Vol’jin
Vol’jin is my favorite legendary to come out of Gobins Vs Gnomes. A 5 mana 6/2 sounds really bad, but his ability to swap health with any minion makes him so valuable. Take out the enemy doom sayer with a swap and then a lesser minion you already had on the board. He’s effectively a specialized Power Word: Death that can hit Ysera and Malygos. On turn 10 and up, you cano drop him and then Holy Nova to kill their bomb.
Emperor Thaurissan is a very strong card. He has the potential to run away with the game and look outright broken. If you hit any one of the combos with him, it gets playable. If you hit 2 or more, it becomes extremely strong. He will almost always be your 6-drop if you can, but he’s great bait for the opponent’s premium removal anytime.
1x Dr Boom
Just like the BGH I don’t really like him and I don’t have much to say except that his value makes him so strong. You are behind, even before the game starts, if you don’t have him in our deck. The only realistic way of dealing with him is with Light Bomb to get rid of his bots. And even then, you can potentially get 8 damage to the face. He also has great synergy with our Knife Juggler.
1x Onyxia
I don’t think Onyxia has ever been mentioned on the show. I think this is where she gets her power: absolutely no one expects to see her. If you combo her or a Knife Juggler, they become the 10/11-mana combo to summon an 8/8, a 3/2 and 5 1/1’s and deal 6 random damage. She’s not a vital card, but just really fun.
1x Ysera
Ysera is my favorite Legendary dragon. She has so much value for every turn that she’s on the board. Her ability is crazy. All of the cards she gives are really strong. In a top-decking situation, she will hands-down win you the game. Plus, she can’t be Killed by the 3-mana fun-killer that is Big Game Hunter. Surprise: If you look at the card art, she’s a dragon who has people hands! That has to count for something, right?
Spells
A really high-quality cycling card (replaces itself when played) that gets you more health so you can survive a trade and then use your Hero Power to get some health back. It’s the perfect buff for the Dragonkin Sorcerer. This is a Priest staple that should have 2 copies in every deck.
A really strong spell that’s allowed to be strong because it’s a class card. If you Northshire Cleric on turn 1, and then drop this on turn 2, you’ll be laughing. A 3/7 is not easy to remove! It also combos really well with Dragonkin Sorcerer and Holy Nova. The only real drawback is that it’s a dead card when top-decking.
A largely unseen card for a while that’s slowly getting more play. Shadow Madness is great for dealing with Warlock zoo and face Hunter decks. It feels really good to kill their Defender of Argus-ed imp with their own Voidcaller!
2x Holy Nova
Another staple priest card. Can be used with Northshire for massive card draw, Azure drake for high damage AoE spell, with Vol’jin for killing sticky legendaries and even by itself for good damage and good healing.
1x Lightbomb
A fantastic board clear! One of the best cards to help you come back from behind. It’s also a perfect anti-Handlock card for dealing with giants and Mal’Ganis, and is one of the only consistent ways to deal with Grim Patrons.
Possible Additions
Like I mentioned earlier, the deck list is pretty specific because the deck revolves around playing Dragons 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.
A very strong and fun card to play. Back when this was a zoo deck, I had 2 and they were my late game Dragons. They can be played as 9/9 or 6/6, which gives them the bonus strength of letting you choose if you want to make a Big Game Hunter target or not. Swap for Ysera or Onyxia.
Another card in my original build, back when it was zoo and I did not want to play Dr Boom. Volcanic drake is a strong card that, when played corectly, can come down on turn 4 giving you huge board swing. Swap for Dr Boom and Emperor Thaurissan to make the deck faster.
A Replacement for Vol’jin, while also being a good quality piece of premium removal. It should be in most decks and the only reason I don’t have one is because this deck is experimental.
Not an amazing card, but it gets the job done. Pretty good stats and can be strong when played on curve. Swap for Dr Boom or Onyxia.
One of my favorite cards in the game and extremely good value. It not only destroys the opponent’s minion, but also summons a copy of it for you. If you don’t have a fancy Legendary card, just use your opponent’s! I’m upset that there’s no room for it in my deck. Only play one, because it can be a dead card if there are no big targets or if you need it on turn 8 or 9 to stay alive. Swap for Ysera.
In my opinion, this is the best 3 drop in the game. The only reason it’s not in my deck is because it’s not a dragon. If you wanted, you could swap it for Shadow Madness or any other early minion you don’t have.
Another high quality card that I just didn’t have room for. It gets rid of Armorsmiths and Acolytes of Pain without doing damage to them. Or early-game demons and pesky taunts. Swap for Shadow Madness or any other early game minions you don’t have when you’re facing a lot of rush decks.
Final Thoughts
This is an intricate deck with many nuances that needs to be played many times to understand. It has an above 50% win rate on early-to-mid ladder rankings, but I think that — when it comes down to it — unless a deck is fun to play, there’s no point in playing it. Let me assure you that this deck is fun! You won’t win every time, but you will pull off an Onyxia Knife Juggler combo and have an 11/21 Dragonkin Sorcerer, and Light Bomb an entire board of Grim Patrons! You will feel great and that’s what Hearthstone is about.
Monday Jul 20, 2015
Monday Jul 20, 2015
Hello!
- Ryan is on the show this week
- Topic: Arena Tips!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Tavern Brawl, Argent Tournament Announcement
Arena Basics
Arena is fundamentally different from constructed play in that you don’t build your deck from your personal collection, but rather choose cards one at a time from three options drawn from the entire card pool. Because of this, you’ll encounter cards not commonly played in constructed and be able to pick cards you don’t personally own.
This means the strategies and tactics here are different, which calls for different tactics! Removal is generally scarcer and the powerful finisher combos seen in constructed cannot usually be drafted. This usually leads to a slower game in which value plays leading to card advantage are often the deciding factor in winning.
Tip #1: Getting Ready for Arena
- Get all classes to level 10. If you don’t have a basic understanding of the classes, you will be surprised by your opponent’s play and will play into board clears like Consecration (4) or Flamestrike (7).
- Buying packs (100g) vs. buying Arena (150g)
- Arena currently only offers Goblins vs Gnomes packs as a reward, so buying classic packs is better if your goal is to build decks for constructed.
- If your classic collection is mostly fleshed out, Arena is better value. For 50 more gold, you have a chance to earn additional gold, dust, cards, even an extra pack!
- 7 wins gives at least 150g (infinite arena), 3-5 wins is break even point, rewarding a pack plus around 50 gold on average.
Tip #2: Choosing the right Hero!
- Your most comfortable class
- when in doubt: Mage, Paladin, Priest
- All are viable with decent drafts and good play (I have 12 wins with Warrior, Rogue and Hunter)
Tip #3: The Lingo We Use
- Value: Cards that are independently good (Spider Tank) or affect the board state (Stormpike Commando/Frostbolt).
- Win more: Cards that are reliant on synergy or specific board states to be used effectively (Enhance-o Mechano/Bloodlust)
- Curve: How many cards in total you have in each Mana cost. Why it matters – If you have something to play on curve every turn and your opponent does not, you will be ahead on the board. Missing turn 2 or 3 gives the initiative to the opponent.
- Drop: A minion card that can be played onto an empty board the turn that matches its mana cost. Like Senjin Shieldmasta. A Fireball for 4 mana is ideally not played on turn 4. So when talking about how many “drops” you have at a given mana slot, you don’t count situational spells or minions (Big Game Hunter is not a 3 drop).
Tip #4: Drafting 101
- Start by picking “best” cards regardless of mana cost for the first 10 picks.
- Re-evaluate at 10/15/20/25 picks in. When you have a tough decision, choose the one that fills a hole in your curve. Towards the end of the draft you might pick a mediocre card over a “better” one if you are lacking early or late game.
- Currently the Arena meta is rather aggressive. One and Two drops are very powerful so draft them or have way to slow them down. This is because you are guaranteed the early game but not late. You might not live until Turn 8 to play your Ironbark Protector.
- How many spells ideally, compared to minions? It depends on what spells (weapons are basically spells). Can you have too many Fireballs or Flamestrikes? Probably not, but it depends what the other options are. You want at least 1 or 2 AOE spells and a few big target removal spells, if they can also be used for burst finishing, that’s a bonus.
- Know which type of deck you drafted: Fast, mid, or slow
Tip #5: Mulligan
- Do you have the Coin?
- You want a turn-two drop! Turn-one drop also, if you drafted enough. Take the board or fall behind.
- Curve out. ex: (1-2-3) | (2-3-4) w/coin: (2-2-3) | (2-4-4) |(3-3-4)
- Keep removal? Watch opponent’s mulligan, also depends if you already have 1 or 2 drop.
Tip #6: Early game
- o coin or not to coin, that is the question… Coin on turn 1 only if you have a turn 2 play to follow it up or to remove a snowballing minion like Whirling Zap-o-Matic.
- Obtain board control without playing into AOE board clear
- Play value minion each turn
Tip #7: Face vs. Board Control
- What is the win condition of your deck? Can you win a control (slow) game?
- Just because you or opponent are below 10 health doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over!
- Play to win vs. play to not lose: If playing against a slower deck and you are running out of cards, you probably need to try to finish the game, otherwise their bigger minions will crush you. The longer the game goes on, the more likely you will lose. When playing a against faster deck, if you can stall the game out, they will run out of cards and your big minions will be uncontested. You will gain a feel for this as you play more games.
Tip #8 More Resources
- Drafting/Statistics: Hearth Arena
- In-Depth Guide: Icy Veins
- Watch Streamers: Trump, Kripp
Community
- Donations: Jayme ($30), Falana ($5/month)
- Question: Which cards to dust?
- iTunes Reviews: We read German (terribly)
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Send Ryan a message on Twitter and listen to his friend’s WoW podcast (Explicit)
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the showp=
Friday Jul 10, 2015
Friday Jul 10, 2015
Hello!
- Jayme is on the show this week
- Topic: Warrior Mech Grim Patron Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Tavern Brawls
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 1 month, and has beaten 1 deck before this episode.
Challenger Deck: Jayme’s Warrior Mech Grim Patron deck combines the best of mech consistency with the explosive Grim Patron combo Warrior is famous for right now.
The Deck
Creatures
- x 2x Warbot (1 mana)
- x 2x Cruel Taskmaster (2 mana)
- x 2x Mechwarper (2 mana)
- x 2x Harvest Golem (3 mana)
- x 2x Spider Tank (3 mana)
- x 2x Warsong Commander (3 mana)
- x 2x Screwjacnk Clunker (4 mana)
- x 2x Piloted Shredder (4 mana)
- x 2x Antique Healbot (5 mana)
- x 2x Grim Patron (5 mana)
- x 1x Grommash Hellscream (8 mana)
Spells
- x 2x Execute (1 mana)
- x 2x Fiery War Axe (2 mana)
- x 1x Commanding Shout (2 mana)
- x 2x Revenge (2 mana)
- x 2x Death`s Bite (4 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.
- x Gnomish Inventor (4 mana)
- x Tinkertown Technician (3 mana)
- x Mechanical Yeti (4 mana)
- x Whirlwind (1 mana)
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
- No donations
- No questions
- iTunes Reviews
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Send Josh your comments/questions for the elusive, mysterious Jayme!
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
What do you get when you merge the spontaneous chaos of a Grim Patron deck with the stability and early pressure of a mech deck? Pissed robots looking for a fight!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Jayme. Thanks, Jayme!
Mech Patron
At its core, this is a Grim Patron Warrior combo deck that uses Warsong Commander to deploy Patrons in a quick and surprising way. However, the combo is hidden into a standard Mech deck, which has great tempo plays on the early turns to gain you some board control or just flat out win before needing the Patron combo.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find the simple Mech Patron deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
2x Execute
Super cheap removal that I use for large Taunt minions, or pesky Legendaries that need instant answering. Fairly easy to trigger the damaged condition with the cards in the deck.
2x Warbot
Best played on turn 1. He’s not going to do too much damage, but he’ll be great for knocking out early minions, and at 3 health, he’s resistant to enemy hero powers.
One of the best turn 2 plays, you`ll get enemy minion removal out of this card. Worthy mulligan target.
This card is something that not a lot of other Patron Warrior decks run, but I think it`s potential outweighs the risk of it becoming a dead card in your hand. You`ll almost always gain board advantage for using it and, at the very least, it draws a card to replace itself.
2x Revenge
While other Warriors may prefer the cheaper Whirlwind, I find the extra mana investment in Revenge allows us to use it as a board-clear in late game losing situations as well. Due to our lack of AOE, Revenge fills that critical role.
This guy is perfect for activating Patrons, removing 1-health enemy minions, or triggering your Grom Hellscream. He`s also decent when paired with an Acolyte of Pain or a Warbot.
The linchpin to making this deck a credible threat. Never deploy her on a board without a combo piece. She`s just too valuable and vulnerable.
2x Death`s Bite
Great turn 4 play as it can take care of any midrange threats you may be up against. Time the Deathrattle effect to take maximum advantage with Patrons, Acolytes, or Grommash.
His surprising Battlecry will almost always allow your early Mech drops to trade up and take out higher cost enemy minions. A 2/5 body is also good at two-for-one’s against early minions or removal as well.
The big finisher, when you need it. 10 damage to the face is pretty much where you want to be, with this guy. 12 damage when paired with a Taskmaster. Boom!
2x Mechwarper
The key to an accelerated opening, Mechwarper is incredible for his cost, and can let you drop your midrange minions early and often. Mulligan target.
One of the best 3-drops in the game, for similar reasons to the Piloted Shredder. Having minions stick on board after they’ve been killed gains you tempo on an opponent’s turn, and that is great value.
2x Spider Tank
Great stats for this Mech, his big body means he’s usually taking out opposing 3-drops with ease, and living to fight again. 4 health takes him out of range of Frostbolt, Quick Shot and a lot of the early removal spells that are popular.
One of the best 4-drops in the game, this guy is a credible threat with staying power as he phones in a friend when he’s kaput.
His sole job is to keep you alive long enough to combo. But at best, he Charges into battle off a Warsong for a trade.
2x Grim Patron
The secret weapon of the deck. Play him with a combo, or don`t play him at all. Simply, losing a 5-cost 3/3 to a Frostbolt is your worst nightmare.
Possible Additions
I also used these cards while testing the deck. Go ahead and try swapping some of these in there, if you have them. See if they work better for you than they did for me.
In theory, this card should totally work in this combo style deck. However, I found it’s complete randomness to be more of a pain than a boon. It combos extremely well with Commanding Shout and Grim Patrons though. And against a big solo drop, it will kill pretty much anything. This is more of a sideboard than a substitution card.
Great value with the Mech ability trigger. However, I prefer the Spider Tank as it doesn’t require the set up cost.
Swap him in for Screwjank Clanker if you don’t have them. He’s a great body for the cost, with some Spare Parts upside that makes him better than a Chillwind Yeti.
I think most standard Patron Warrior lists run this in favor of Revenge, but I opted for the latter for it’s more toolbox ability of getting me out of a jam. Swap out for Revenge if you don’t have them, though. Essential to have this sort of effect.
Final Thoughts
If you like surprising combos that result in almost unbeatable board-states, then you should consider my Mech Patron decklist. It can be vulnerable to board clears, like all minion-heavy decks. But the steady tempo backbone will build you some good early control through profitable trades, and can help survive until you can unleash your combo. I’m not even a Warrior player, as I primarily play Shaman, Priest, Druid. But this Grim Patron card came out in Blackrock Mountain expansion and I just had to make this deck. It’s super fun, very powerful and it’s really funny when the “Everyone, get in here!” chains off a bunch of times.