Hearthstone

[Sir Bruce]

To me, coming up with the new big thing in a deck really isn't the sign of a great player - all the current most popular decks have been around for a while and just flavored by the players playing them. Miracle took off when it got streamlined and stopped trying to do too much, but the original deck concept has been around for ages. I think execution is a lot more the sign of a great player - those guys who only misplay once or twice a game and see answers to problems most people don't see. I think if you watch Lifecoach or Tides or even some slightly less fashionable players like Massan or ThatsAdmirable in their streams you see the difference.

Anyway, I don't want to make this a referendum on Trump. I personally find him interminably dull and I'm sure that colors my perception and I really haven't watched in him in a while so its entirely possible he's improved greatly since the last time I watched.

Hafu's a good player and her stream is well-modded, but she's another one of those players who doesn't talk about what they're doing enough.

And uberfish pretty much said everything I think about priest more succinctly than me, unsurprisingly.

I like watching Trump and typically learn something every time I watch but he's definitely a slight step below top tier. Hafu (and Ek0p but I never see him stream anymore) consistently post higher Arena win rates and obviously Trump's constructed skill is lower than Strifecro/Tides/Kolento/etc. His big problem imo is being way too conservative. Sometimes you need to say screw it and take an inefficient gamble (in terms of cards or especially tempo) because you're already in a hole. Trump does this way less than top tier players. In fact the only constructed deck I've seen Trump play and was very impressed with was Zoo which is consistent with his extreme board control play-style and the fact that Zoo doesn't typically require taking large gambles from a state of weakness. Or, if they do require a big gamble, it's obviously the only line of play anyway.

Agreed with Gaspar that if you watch someone like Lifecoach versus Trump you can see a significant difference in their calculations.

And a lot of the best players right now have both created top tier decks and can play many other decks effectively. Strifecro, Kolento, Savjz have all made multiple decks that carried to top legendary but have no problem switching to others when required.