I don't know why they keep nerfing mage but not fixing/removing Ice Block. That was the problem before the last round of nerfs and is still the problem with aggro mage. A free extra turn 8 or 9 is stupidly strong on a hero that runs burn decks. Losing on turn 8 or 9 to Pyroblast is just a symptom of that problem.
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Hearthstone
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January 15th, 2014, 17:41
(This post was last modified: January 15th, 2014, 17:42 by Sir Bruce.)
So the biggest change of this patch is definitely the nerf to Novice Engineer. Almost all decks had room for a 1/2 body cantrip for 2 mana. The drop to 1/1 is a big nerf because it now dies to 4 classes' hero power and can't be used to clean up Argent Squires. I've been brainstorming what will replace it in my Rogue deck:
- Loot Hoarder seems like an obvious first choice. Better stats, same mana, card draw, still dies to hero power but can clean up better minions. The problem with Loot Hoarder is that it is much much worse late game. 2 mana for an immediate card draw is good in the end game while 2 mana for delayed card draw is meh. It's often even worth immediately killing your own Loot Hoarder to get the card right now. - Bloodmage Thalnos is another option although it has similar problems to Loot Hoarder - a death rattle card draw is worse than a battle cry card draw. He's also worse early game than Loot Hoarder because it's unlikely you can use his +spellpower. At least he has synergies with spell decks though. Too bad I don't have him. - Nat Pagle. On average this probably draws little more than one card? And it buys up at least one or two cards from your opponent since Nat Pagle is the Teemo of Hearthstone. I think it may be too slow to play in my Rogue deck though especially because saving the coin for turns 2 or 3 is typically the right move. Also I don't have him. - Acolyte of Pain. Not a bad alternative but you probably need to coin it out to make it worth it. - Shiv. Rogue only option. Not terrible if paired with Thalnos or an Azure Drake (which I don't run). Pretty weak early game though much better late game than Loot Hoarder. - Fan of Knives. Rogue only option. Good against Warlock but most decks weren't running them at Warlock's height. Again needs 1 to 2 spellpower cards in deck. - Slam. Warrior only option. Most decks were running them anyway so this isn't a viable replacement. - Arcane Intellect. Mage only option. Most mages were running this anyway. If I owned Bloodmage Thalnos I'd probably drop my 2 Novice Engineers and 1 Loot Hoarder for 1 Bloodmage and 2 Shivs to see how that worked. Since I don't I may add an Azure Drake and 2xShiv instead. The loss of early game power and potential buffing targets could be troublesome for the tempo rogue though. I'm not sure what other decks will do to replace them. Control decks will probably just go 2xLoot Hoarder + Nat Pagle. (January 14th, 2014, 19:26)WilliamLP Wrote: Heads up, if there's anyone like me who opted in for the closed beta invite a long time ago, Hearthstone has now been added to accounts that opted in a week ago or earlier. I checked and I have it now, finally! Same here. How do people recommend efficiently spending my time/gold? - Getting all heroes up to level 10 - Saving as much gold as possible for Arena runs - Complete quests as they come in Anything else? I don't think I want to start playing Arena until I'm moderately familiar with the different classes. (January 15th, 2014, 22:06)Sir Bruce Wrote: You can beat the expert AI at every class for 100 gold. If you cancel the quest you get a replacement quest?
“The wind went mute and the trees in the forest stood still. It was time for the last tale.”
Cancel quest means you get another instead. Can only do once per quest.
100 and 60 G quests typically take longer, but I'd guess the extra 2-4 wins needed isn't the problem, daily gold intake is. I always cancel 40g quests, I do not find that any 40g quests take much longer than others. 2 wins with specific class is fastest (if you win consistently), all the rest (deal 100 damage, kill 40 minions, cast 40 spells) can be done in 3-4 games anyway. I made a priest deck with (too) many spells to finish that quests. So there IS a use for mind blast  .About gaming, I find Arena most fun. I went into arena as soon as I opened all chars, got a 9-win on my second ever arena. Then I ran dry, of course. Then I took my time, completed all the quests (win 100, win all expert, level 10 all) and read about how to draft well, and now I realize how many subpar choices I made earlier. Both in my own drafting, and because I didn't know the classes and cards well enough. I wish my now-self could face off against then-me in the arena - free wins.
Played: FFH PBEM XXVI (Rhoanna) FFH PBEM XXV (Shekinah) FFH PBEM XXX (Flauros) Pitboss 11 (Kublai Rome)
Playing:Pitboss 18 (Ghengis Portugal) PBEM 60 - AI start (Napoleon Inca) |
