The Happy Hearthstone Podcast

News Chat Quality of life patchDeck sharing Quests with friends Gold stacking!!!!!!!!!!! One nation of gamers closed down :(https://twitter.com/DericOmarOrtiz/status/872839539500253184 - 3 days ago Big tournament organizer/host Next expansion? https://eusgamer.blogspot.com/2017/06/next-hearthstone-expansion-might-be.html?m=1 https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/6gei2d/three_reasons_why_the_next_expansion_is_most/ Topic How to get to Legend   Overview: This guide is going to mostly be geared towards the player who hasn’t cracked into legend yet. Many things will be transferrable to every player (such as mindset and patterns to playing), but it does take more time and effort for the “everyman.” Getting to legend is hard. It takes time. It takes practice. It takes intentionality. You will probably not get there by accident, especially if you’ve been playing for a while. Thomas Jefferson said, “If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.” If you want to get there, you need to do something different. So pay attention as we go through these tips to things you’ve never thought of or (much more dangerous…) the things you think don’t apply to you. Tread lightly when going down that road. Steve and I fought there, but Hat REALLY knows what he’s talking about in this realm. If you haven’t gotten there yet, be willing to try anything we say. We want you to win at this game and get that elusive cardback. It’s worth it.   The things you need… Time A deck you know A deck that performs well Mulligan skill Game skill A bit of luck A good mindset! (We’ll talk about this a lot)   Getting to rank 15 - Making better in-game decisions Draw first! Trigger random effects first to maximize information Trade before random damage effects (arcane missiles, c’thun, etc) to not waste damage/minimize number of targets Hex, Consecration, Flamestrike, Shadow Word Pain/Death, etc. http://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/why-am-i-losing-in-hearthstone http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/fundamentals/3692_Whos_The_Beatdown.html Take your time and consider all your possible plays Mulligans Try to figure out everything you’re going to play on this turn and want you want to be able to play on your next turn before playing any cards Check for lethal! Minion positioning Maximize the odds of random effects Figure out the most powerful comeback card your opponent’s class usually has with available mana and try to play with that in mind Getting to rank 10 - Choosing the right deck to ladder withLadder lists vs tournament lists Hearthpwn, hearthstonetopdecks, competetiveHS subreddit, VS data reaper, HSReplay Picking the right deck for the meta you’re facing Should you play the best deck if you don’t like playing the best deck? Getting to rank 5 - Know what you’re playing against VS Data Reaper VS Live Meta Report TempoStorm Metastats Tournaments HCT Global Games StreamersKibler Thijs Firebat (when he’s tryharding, which is less lately) VLPS ADWCTA/Merps/Grinninggoat (for Arena) Hafu (Arena) Think, “what would I play here if I was playing this deck?” Meta reports Watching streams Play all the meta decks, even in casual Check for your own lethal as well as your opponent’s Getting to Legend Dealing with ladder anxiety!It will be easy to overvalue every star - Blizzard’s grasp of addiction mechanics is second to none and the first time you hit a new ranked high, you’ll want to hoard your stars like a lil dragon But you can’t win if you don’t press play. And losing a star is not a big deal if you expect to get it back The volume of games you will need is substantial (as mentioned below) but you have to keep pressing play until you turn orange Dealing with losing streaks How a >50% win rate feels a lot of the time (lousy) Knowing when to take a breakIf you’re not enjoying hearthstone because of your drive towards a singular goal, maybe it’s the wrong goal for you Don’t burn yourself out - it’s not worth it having a cardback in a game you don’t want to play any more http://www.pcgame.com/how-to-reframe-negative-hearthstone-experiences-and-win-more-as-a-result/ Dealing with RNG/”broken” cards or decks Tech for it Review your replays to play the matchup differently If all else fails, change decks These cards and decks are part of the game for better or worse and everyone is dealing with them; it’s your job as a competitor to figure out how to beat them Just because you lost to Yogg nonsense doesn't mean you didn't make a decision early in the game that let your opponent live long enough to play Yogg Yes, cards and decks are broken at times. Complaining won't fix it. Accept that some matchups are just bad If your stats show you that you're seeing a bad matchup a lot: Complaining won't fix it; it will just lead to tilt Some games may legit be due to bad beats, but you wont know that for sure without reviewing your losses What it is How to recognize it How to prevent it If you have a family, friends, or a significant other of any commitment, say “goodbye” to them. Just kidding… Kind of. The truth is that a lot of your life needs to shift and prioritize this goal. Assuming you have a 40 hour week job or are going to school full time, you don’t have unending free time or days to commit to this game. So the free time you do have in the evenings and weekends need to count.Even better, if you have a couple weeks away from the kids or have a winter break or something, leverage those times. You’ll do much better when you can throw yourself at this game frequently and for long periods of time. Rank 5 is halfway there Plan to be at rank 15 by the 1st, 10 by the 7th, and 5 by the 15th It takes 227 games (on average) with a 55% win rate to get from 5 to Legend:https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/69qzdr/analysis_does_the_rank_5_floor_significantly/ Pirate Warrior, at around 5 mins/game, takes 18 hours from 5-legend Burn Mage, at around 8 mins/game, takes 30 hours from 5 to legend Take your time; a single misplay can cost you an hourhttps://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveHS/comments/4lus9f/10_to_legend_lessons_from_a_firsttime_legend/ Managing the mental game Tilt Playing percentages and knowing your outs Understanding the time commitment Track your progressTrack-o-bot Hearthstone Deck Tracker Record your games/HSReplay OBS/record vids of your games Celebrate your accomplishments even if you don’t hit legendThe top 0.25% of players end up at Legend out of 70+ million Rank 5 - 2% Rank 10 - 8% Rank 15 - 25% If you can hit rank 15, you’re still better than ¾ of all players; don’t be ashamed of that! Community Question Ellak Roach - Is Wild Legend easier than Standard Legend, and if so, why?   YellowDart3 - So now that you hit Legend do you feel driven to keep hitting it or can you relax finally?   James Waddell III (Google+) - What deck or decks would be best in the current meta to get from 15-10 ?   iTunes Review 5 stars - Isabella Chapman - Simply the bestjust a great show in general straydog#1963

News Chat Free card! If you logged in on May 20, you got a free Fight Promoter. The reaction from the community was pretty interesting. A lot of people asked why they decided to do this, and Ben Brode said he was inspired by Free Comic Book Day. Just wanted to give something random away to inspire interaction and have fun. Wild Tournament Weirdness - Big uproar from some people who wanted to participate, specifically in Australia and surrounding regions. They had gotten to legend on Asia servers, and Blizzard announced that you had to have been playing on your country’s region, and Australia was considered Asia. This is odd because Australian players’ accounts default to the Americas server. But Blizzard was great and changed it for those players affected with some complicated rules that basically change which server is “home” to make more sense. Seems like this Wild Tournament is just being oddly announced and oddly implemented, which is a shame, cause it’s such a great idea! Yong Woo made it to legend with his Divine Fire Dragon deck this month. Check out his twitter feed for the deck. (https://twitter.com/ywoo_dev/status/867094183990841344)   Dragon Priest   We saw the first Dragons, outside of the classic ones (Faerie Dragon, Twilight Drake, Azure Drake, Ysera, Malygos, Alexstrasza, Nozdormu, Onyxia and Deathwing), in the Blackrock Mountain expansion. It seemed like the Hearthstone team was trying to make dragon decks a thing but each individual card wasn’t powerful enough and didn’t synergize well enough with each other to make a reliable deck so Dragon decks didn’t really impact the meta in a significant way back then. BRM did give us Dragon Egg, Blackwing Technician, Dragonkin Sorcerer, Hungry Dragon, Blackwing Corruptor, Drakonid Crusher, Volcanic Drake, Nefarian, Chromaggus, Dragon Consort for Paladin and Twilight Whelp for Priest so you can see the bones of the later priest deck but we didn’t quite have enough dragons yet. The Grand Tournament gave us very important tools in Twilight Guardian and Chillmaw but priests’ overall weakness against the other very prominent decks of the day prevented it from coalescing just yet. Priest got Wyrmrest Agent and Warrior got another tool in their aggro belt; Alexstrasza's Champion. They kept adding dragons in Old Gods with Midnight Drake, Scaled Nightmare and Deathwing Dragonlord, none of which really hit the mark but this is when I really started to try and make the deck work. I liked the idea of a huge end combo with Deathwing Dragonlord drawing a bunch of huge bodies out after his death and I put Classic Deathwing, Ysera, Chillmaw and every dragon I owned into a deck with priests’ hard removal and aoe to live long enough to see it happen. And I was able to pull it off quite often. Mostly I think people were surprised someone was playing priest and they didn’t know how to defend against it but I did hit 10 pretty quickly that month. Karazhan gave us Netherspite Historian which turned out to be huge. Discover is such a powerful mechanic and with the limited number of Dragons narrowing down the pool of cards you are drawing from and most dragon cards quite powerful it was an auto include. Bookworm also made it into a lot of decks for easy removal of annoying 3 or lower power cards, something priest was already good at. And then we come to Gadgetzan and two cards that sealed the deal, Drakonid Operative and Dragonfire Potion. The Hearthstone team realized that all the dragons they had first introduced in BRM were about to cycle out in the next standard year along with TGT dragons and their dream of a synergistic dragon deck breaking through the meta was fast disappearing so they admit they made a very powerful card for priest that wasn’t going to last long. This was their last shot and it worked. We joke that Priest doesn’t have great cards of their own so the best decks they have involve stealing their opponents cards, it often works. This was the most fun I had ever had in Hearthstone. I love tempo decks where you play something strong and valuable every turn on curve and that was Dragon priest. Netherspite Historian was a fun way to start every game if you could get it but it was even more powerful if you could discover two dragons with Brann. Brann made almost every dragon in the deck more powerful in fact, Discovering two cards with Drakonid Operative, getting double the health with Kabal Talonpriest and many more. Most of the dragon cards had Battlecries. Dragon priest had tons of early taunt to deal with aggro, lots of value minions to stand up to mid-range and tempo decks, hard removal, huge aoe and powerful endgame. It seemed to have tools that could beat every deck, and especially with the pros, it did very well. And it was fun, who doesn’t like dragons? The final incarnation of Dragon priest was about putting powerful, hard to remove minions down every turn, getting extra dragons that could answer your opponents off of Netherspite Historian, stealing their best cards with Drakonid Operative, removing their board without touching your own with Dragonfire Potion, lots of end game threats and card draw as well as priests’ ability to heal and keep themselves and their minions alive. Sounds pretty unbeatable right? I gotta admit my biggest challenge was the mirror match. I reached rank 5 that month and eventually Golden Priest. Community The Dust Bowl To keep: Awaken the Makers - Andrew Gluttonous Ooze   To dust: Sudden Genesis - Andrew Frozen Crusher (golden)   Question Decklist from listener Scott B. http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/823657-funnest-deck-ever-pay2win-priest   On the ladder I have been playing kiblers http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/823657-funnest-deck-ever-pay2win-priest I swapped out one of the cabal shadow priests for madam goya. I have been floating between rank 12 and 15. I need to change it to deal with pirate warrior but I don’t understand the meta enough to make the change.   iTunes Review None. :’( Swing by and leave one this week! :D Card of the Week Deathwing

News Chat Hearthstone is celebrating 70 million unique players by giving everyone 3 free packs! All you need to do is login to your account, and you’ll be awarded those packs. A lot of people are reporting a high level of rarity in these packs, so you definitely want to grab em! :) I got Ozruk, golden Primalfin Champion, and another epic! It seems to be the month of the Wild in Hearthstone! Makes sense, the shiny new paint of Un’Goro has faded a bit, and it seems like a great time to start rolling out “Hey don’t forget about Wild, too” initiatives We just had Heroic Tavern Brawl Wild style, and that was a lot of fun to watch. I didn’t participate, but did you, Mark? Also, the top 64 ranks in legend in Wild will qualify for a special Wild tournament that Blizzard is hosting. Those are all the details we have, but if you see the pros playing Wild, that’s probably why. Heroes cardback rules have changed If you don’t pay attention to Heroes of the Storm, they just had a massive overhaul in just about every area of the game. And even if you’re not sure if you’ll ever play it, it’s worth downloading and jumping on briefly because they’re giving away 20 heroes to every player. Which is a TON of value. But the pretty Heroes cardback now requires you to get your level to 15 which means that you’ll have to gain 15 levels across all your different heroes. It sounds a little intimidating, but really isn’t that bad. And you could play all your matches against AI opponents if you want. Definitely worth checking out!   Topic - The New Player Experience 2 Months Before Mammoth After Mammoth Favorite Classes Tricky Things Ideas for the Future   Community Question No questions this week! Email us at thehappyhearthstone@gmail.com to be featured in the next episode!   iTunes Review None :( Go check out our page and leave a quick review to let others know that you like the show! Card of the Week Servant of Kalimos   Guest Plugs twitch.tv/vengadragon

News Chat Community Reaction to Un’GoroLots of decks, lots of craziness, lots of fun Lots of disappointment (pack openings) Lots of wanting to hear from the devs http://kotaku.com/ungoro-expansion-makes-hearthstone-more-random-probabl-1794231571 IDEA: Would love to see a Tavern Brawl that rewards a Quest card of your choice (or 1600 dust if you have them all) Everyone got very excited about quest cards With more legendaries than ever before, it’s hard to get it all, or even guarantee 1 or 2 Makes budget decks more important than ever (Zoo and…?) The Art of Hearthstone coffee table book announced: http://hearthstone.blizzpro.com/2017/04/15/available-for-pre-order-the-art-of-hearthstone-book/   Dust Bowl episode We’ve weaved our choices into the review REVIEW TIME   Priest Awaken the Makers - 3 / X Tortollan Shellraiser - 3 / 4 Binding Heal - 3 / 2   Radiant Elemental - 5 / 4 Crystalline Oracle - 2 / 3 Mirage Caller - 3 / 2 Free From Amber - 2 / 3 Shadow Visions - 5 / 5 (Andrew’s to Keep) Curious Glimmerroot - 3 / 2 Lyra the Sunshard - 5 / 3     Hunter The Marsh Queen - 2 / X   Crackling Razormaw - 5 / 5 Jeweled Macaw - 4 / 4 Grievous Bite - 2 / 3 Raptor Hatchling - 1 / 2 Tol'vir Warden - 3 / 3 Terrorscale Stalker - 2 / 2 Stampede - 2 / 2 Dinomancy - 2 / 1 Swamp King Dred - 3 / 4 (Steve’s to Keep)     Druid Jungle Giants - 1 / X Verdant Longneck - 1 / 3   Tortollan Forager - 3 / 4 Elder Longneck - 1 / 0 Evolving Spores - 3 / 3 Earthen Scales - 4 / 3 Shellshifter - 3 / 4 Living Mana - 4 / 4 Giant Anaconda - 4 / 2 Tyrantus - 2 / 2     Rogue The Caverns Below - 4 / X   Hallucination - 5 / 4 Razorpetal Volley - 2 / 2 Razorpetal Lasher - 5 / 3 Mimic Pod - 3 / 3 Obsidian Shard - 2 / 2 Envenom Weapon - 1 / 3 (Andrew’s to Dust) Vilespine Slayer - 4 / 4 Biteweed - 2 / 1 Sherazin, Corpse Flower - 4 / 3     Warrior Fire Plume's Heart - 5 / X   Ornery Direhorn - 2 / 3 Tar Lord - 2 / 3 Iron Hide - 1 / 1 Molten Blade - 1 / 3 (Steve’s To Dust) Cornered Sentry - 2 / 3 Direhorn Hatchling - 4 / 4 Explore Un'Goro - 1 / 2 Sudden Genesis - 1 / 1 King Mosh - 2 / 3     Neutral Stegodon - 2 / 3   Ravasaur Runt - 4 / 4 Giant Wasp - 2 / 4 Stubborn Gastropod - 2 / 4 Sated Threshodon - 1 / 2 Emerald Reaver - 1 / 1 Giant Mastodon - 1 / 2 Nesting Roc - 4 / 4 Pterrordax Hatchling - 1 / 2 Rockpool Hunter - 5 / 3 Sabretooth Stalker - 1 / 1 Ultrasaur - 1 / 1 Eggnapper - 3 / 3 Devilsaur Egg - 4 / 3 Vicious Fledgling - 3 / 4 Golakka Crawler - 3 / 2 Humongous Razorleaf - 4 / 1 Volcanosaur - 2 / 4 Gluttonous Ooze - 3 / 2 Primordial Drake - 5 / 5 Charged Devilsaur - 2 / 3 Bittertide Hydra - 4 / 4 Bright-Eyed Scout - 2 / 1 Emerald Hive Queen - 2 / 1 Elise the Trailblazer - 4 / 5 Hemet, Jungle Hunter - 3 / 1 Spiritsinger Umbra - 4 / 2     Card of the Week Stonehill Defender - 5 / 4 Guest Plugs http://relay.fm/disruption http://multiball.net http://twitter.com/wickedgood http://twitch.tv/wickedgoodfm

News Chat Journey to Un’Goro launches Thursday, April 6 in NA region.Get your preorder in! I will probably be streaming some serious Hearthstone coming up. Follow twitch.tv/MMOReporter to get updates Fireside UpdatesInnkeepers more tools to personalize experience Fireside-specific Tavern Brawls Location Detection   REVIEW TIME   Paladin Lost in the Jungle - 3 / 3 Adaptation - 2 / 3   Hydrologist - 1 / 2 Lightfused Stegodon - 2 / 2 Vinecleaver - 2 / 4 Spikeridged Steed - 4 / 5 Primalfin Champion - 1 / 1 Dinosize - 2 / 4 The Last Kaleidosaur - 1 / X Sunkeeper Tarim - 4 / 4   Warlock Lakkari Sacrifice - 1 / X   Lakkari Felhound - 3 / 4 Ravenous Pterrordax - 3 / 3 Tar Lurker - 4 / 4 Corrupting Mist - 2 / 2 Feeding Time - 3 / 3 Cruel Dinomancer - 3 / 2 Bloodbloom - 2 / 1 Chittering Tunneler - 2 / 2 Clutchmother Zavas - 3 / 1     Shaman Unite the Murlocs - 4 / X Air Elemental - 4 / 4   Hot Spring Guardian - 4 / 4 Tidal Surge - 3 / 4 Fire Plume Harbinger - 2 / 1 Primalfin Totem - 0 / 0 Volcano - 4 / 4 Stone Sentinel - 2 / 1 Spirit Echo - 3 / 1 Kalimos, Primal Lord - 5 / 2     Mage Open the Waygate - 5 / X   Arcanologist - 4 / 4 Flame Geyser - 3 / 3 Shimmering Tempest - 4 / 4 Mana Bind - 2 / 2 Molten Reflection - 2 / 1 Steam Surger - 4 / 4 Primordial Glyph - 5 / 5 Meteor - 2 / 3 Pyros - 2 / 3     Neutral Tar Creeper - 3 / 3   Fire Fly - 1 / 1 Primalfin Lookout - 3 / 1 Glacial Shard - 4 / 4 Thunder Lizard - 2 / 2 Igneous Elemental - 1 / 1 Fire Plume Phoenix - 4 / 4 Stormwatcher - 2 / 4 Volatile Elemental - 1 / 2 Tol'vir Stoneshaper - 4 / 2 Servant of Kalimos - 4 / 2 Frozen Crusher - 2 / 3 Gentle Megasaur - 2 / 2 Blazecaller - 5 / 3 Ozruk - 2 / 0 The Voraxx - 1 / 1     Card of the Week Tortollan Primalist - 3 / 4   Guest Plugs http://relay.fm/disruption http://multiball.net http://twitter.com/wickedgood http://twitch.tv/wickedgoodfm

News Chat Un’Goro is in full affect! Be on the lookout for all the details as we get closer to Mid-April. March 23-26 More cards are coming… Still unsure about exact timeframe, but they mentioned on stream there could be new cards each day, and definitely cards coming at HCT Possibly more streams Definitely more cards New cards Nether Portal - 5 mana - Open a permanent portal that summons 3/2 Imps - (Token says: At the end of your turn, summon 2 3/2 imps) (Token is untargetable with no way of removing it) Sherazin, Seed - When you play 4 cards in a turn, revive this minion (token is not targetable) Lakarri Sacrifice - 1 mana Warlock Legendary Quest Spell - Quest: Discard 6 cards, Reward: Nether Portal Sherazin, Corpse Flower - 4 mana legendary Rogue minion - 5/3 Deathrattle: Go dormant. Play 4 cards in a turn to revive this minion. Topic Deck battle!   What are Deck Battles? We do these Deck battle episodes once a month. Guest hosts bring on their favorite deck onto the show, and break it down for you.What cards, how it works, and why they like playing it. Best of 3 battle against me, live on the show. Twist: I always use the current Reigning Champion Deck of the showThe last deck a guest host brought onto this show and won with.   The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame! Decks that have beaten 3 challengers in a row! Dan Patriss' Beastmaster Hunter Deck (Mar 2014) My Very Own Warlock Demon Zoo Deck (Mar 2016) Craig's Dragon Priest (Sep 2016)   Defending Champion Deck Zerotio’s Weird Reno Mage Episode 86 Has 1 out of 3 wins to get in the Hall of Fame   The Challenger's Deck The Theme Naga Sea Witch - The most underrated card in hearthstone Started with the question - If you could play any 2 cards in hearthstone on the same turn, which would you choose? Answer- GO ABSOLUTELY HAM   Theme - Go nuts with legendaries     How It Wins Cheating out insane amounts of value by some sick card combos. Huge Threats on top of Huge Threats   Best win condition comes from being able to add +10/+10 to a minion already on board for lethal     The Key Cards Naga Sea Witch Aviana Kun Arch-Thief Rafaam Fight promoter   The Duel   Reminder of the defending deck Trash talk   Best of 3 series We'll be right back.   The Aftermath Who won How close was it? What were important moments? What went wrong/right for the challenger deck? Was this a good representation of the challenger deck's strengths? Congratulate the winner Community The Dust Bowl   Andrew   Card to keep - Rat Pack Card to dust - Hidden Cache BenCard to keep - Counterfeit coin Card to dust - Streetwise investigator   Question None this week. Send yours in to thehappyhearthstone@gmail.com   iTunes Review None this week. Card of the Week Elise the Trailblazer

News Chat New expansion has officially been announced: Journey to Un’Goro! As previously rumored, the new expansion will be all about Un’Goro, which is a zone in WoW that’s similar to Jurassic Park. It’s a pocket of the world where dinosaurs still live. There’s an “adventurous” undertone as Elise Starseeker was involved with the announcement as well. It will have 135 cards. (Spells, minions, etc.) It will release in early April There is a new tribe called Elemental. This is similar to Murlocs or Pirates where these cards can play off of each other. And some old cards (I assume Earth Elemental, Fire Elemental, and Al’Akir) will inherit the Elemental tribe tag. A new keyword called ‘Adapt’ will appear on some cards! This is a new mechanic that is most like Discover. So when you play a card with Adapt, three options will pop up out of 10 possibilities. And you get to choose how you modify the card played. The card they presented as an example is a 5 mana 5 attack 4 health Druid beast minion named Verdant Longneck. And its text reads “Battlecry: Adapt.” So the effect appears to come at about a 1 mana premium. There are 10 possible adaptations: Taunt, Divine Shield, Windfury, +3 Attack, Can’t be targeted by spells or hero powers, Deathrattle: Summon two 1/1 Plants, +3 Health, +1/+1, Stealth, and Destroy any minion damaged by this minion. Volcano - Rare Shaman Spell - 5 mana - Deal 15 damage split among all minions. Overload: (2) Pyros - Legendary Mage Minion - 2 mana - 2/2 - Deathrattle: Return this to your hand as a 6/6 that costs (6) -- THAT card reads Deathrattle: Return this to your hand as a 10/10 that costs (10) Gentle Megasaur - Epic Neutral Beast Minion - 4 mana - 5/4 - Battlecry: Adapt your Murlocs You can currently preorder the new expansion. For $49.99, you’ll get 50 packs on day 1, and you’ll unlock a prehistoric cardback today! Topic We’re going to try out a new episode type today, and if you want to get better at Hearthstone, I think you’re really going to enjoy this. We’re going to do a bit of reflecting and a bit of predicting. We’re going to talk about what has been happening in the game of Hearthstone over the past month (the meta, decks that have been strong/prevalent, etc.), and then we’re going to look ahead to what we think could be expected over the next month. Because the laddering seasons are broken up by each month, my hope is that this will equip you with the tools you need to plan ahead for March and be best equipped for what’s to come. And we’ll mostly be talking about Standard ranked play, because that tends to be the format that most people play.   Reflect Over the past month, even though we’re several months out from the expansion itself, and the meta should be all but settled Of course, our Tier 1 decks seem to be more or less grounded in their spots A lot of Shaman, Aggro and Jade (with Jade on the rise) A lot of Warrior, mostly pirates, a little bit of control Your Reno trademarks are prominent but keep seeing techs Aggro Rogue, Miracle Rogue, Dragon Priest, Jade Druid bringing up the rear of our top meta decks Now with all this being in place, the amazing thing is that this far out from new cards, we’re actually continuing to see more iteration. It’s been deceptive, because the iteration hasn’t so much been totally new decks coming out of nowhere, but more along the lines of huge changes to already standing archetypes.  And I think there’s a lesson to be learned here. First big thing we saw in February was the rise of “Water” decks.   Tossing it back to you maybe → what are “Water” decks and why are they called this. So as the Winter NA HCT championships were approaching, the community was pretty much expecting a carbon copy of the EU championships which had happened the weekend before.  But, what we got was the tasty treat of Murlocs showing up all over the tournament. The big highlight was Luminocity’s Fr0zen punching a ticket to the Bahamas using a Murloc Pirate Warrior, and just cleaning up the competition with it. Since then, Finja and his friends have shown up in all sorts of decks on the ladder.  Menagerie Druid, Finja Rogue, Water Mage, and of course Anyfin Paladin. Tossing it back to you → have you seen decks like these, familiar with any of these lists.  Encountered Finja on the ladder. Story of the Finja swing turn with Rogue and the power of the turn following Finja. Reflection → I think this Finja phenomenon can teach us something about theorycrafting.  I think that the Hearthstone community at large is guilty -- myself included -- of accepting a meta as being completely “settled.”  It’s amazing that this far out from the expansion, with so many powerhouse decks sitting at Tier 1 for week after week -- completely refined, apparently -- something like this could pop in and shake things up so dramatically.   Predict The big nerf patch hit the scene just three days ago.  I remember 2 days out from the end of the season, all the pros were sort of acting like that was the last day, knowing that the patch would roll out the next day and make things so unpredictable. Might want to re-cap what the balances actually were here. Already, I think we’re seeing some pretty big changes as a result of the 2-card balance patch.   The comeback of Zoo and Tempo mage seems inevitable - the former powerful 1-drop decks Aggro Shaman will have to reinvent itself again -- lean on Doomhammer perhaps Aggro Warrior might just settle in with the Finja package - will certainly slow down a bit with the Buccaneer nerf Jade Midrange Shaman will surge in popularity Added strength to any deck that can contest the Buccaneer efficiently Potion of Madness in Priest Whirlwind effects in Warrior Ping effects in Tempo Mage Token Removing Hero-powers in Druid / Mage / Rogue Overall reflection → perhaps not any totally new archetypes, but the balance of power will be shifting around for sure, and the return of some former-favorite archetypes seems likely. And, creative iterations are always possible.  The Finja inclusion showed us that nearly 3 months out, and in an extremely refined meta, some sleeper ideas can still be sitting there, nearly untapped.   Community Question Scott here, aka straydog/thegaryscott/nopunintended. I have a question for the podcast. Reno will soon be gone! Do you think they will replace him with another highlander deck heal?  If so what would the text be? If your deck contains no duplicates: - set a characters health to 15? - set your health equal to your opponents? -double your characters health? -???? Also,I really appreciate y'all accepting my friend request, spectating helps me out a ton. Anyways, thanks for all the hard work, the time spent streaming, and everything else you contribute to the HS community.   Straydog#1963   

News Chat Nerfs incoming!Small Time Buccaneer is now a 1 mana 1/1 with the same effect (+2 attack while a weapon is equipped) Spirit Claws is now a 2 mana weapon with the same stats and effect (1 attack, 3 durability, has +2 attack when you have spell damage on board) Rank floors - 15, 10, 5 These will go through with the next patch later this month UN’GORO (Hearthstone Expansion LEAKED: Lost Secrets of Un'Goro) YEAR OF THE MAMMOTH (They cite an example of how they could have had missions where you played as the Grimy Goons going through the line of lackeys for the Jade Lotus) Just like the Prelude mission to Karazhan, these single player missions will be totally free Cycle of releasing content will be the same time frame (April, July, December) Instead of expansion, adventure, expansion, there will be THREE expansions with adventure-like quests and missions included in each of them! What does this mean?? More cards, more content, more GREATNESS Each expansion will still be “buy packs” centered, but there will also be optional single player missions that explore the narratives of the style Maeiv Shadowsong will be available as an alternate Rogue portrait after the next expansion releases. Just win 10 games in standard ranked or casual then! Tons of other details, so be sure to check out the news article if you haven’t yet For full details, check out the full blog post: http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/20475356   Topic How to Build a Deck! Great decks in all CCGs have similar elements, whether they are aggro, control, combo or midrange decks.  Here are some of those elements that you need to consider when building a deck or modifying a net deck.   Mana Curve   In a game like HS with its strictly limited mana, curve is the single most important element of deck building.  Using mana efficiently turn after turn, more than anything else, produces a winning deck.  So it is important to build a deck with cards distributed across the mana cost slots.  Ideally, the distribution of cards will resemble a bell curve with a few things in the 0, 1, and 2 mana cost slots and a few things in the 8, 9, and 10 mana cost slots.  You are guaranteed a first and second turn in HS, so you should have some cards to play then (unless your deck specifically avoids them like Molten Giant Handlock pre-nerf).  Decks also need one or two bombs (see Reach/Burst below), so you should include those in the deck.  But the meat of most games is turns 3-7.  You should have the most number of cards in these mana cost slots.  While it is possible to run a deck with lots of cheap spells, because they are weaker, you have to either win quickly or you will die.  Conversely, you cannot win with cards too expensive to cast.  Even slow control decks like the previously mentioned Handlock, had some cheap cards.     It is important to note not just the mana available at any one turn, but the mana available to you throughout the game.  On turn one you have one mana available and one total mana available throughout the game thus far.  On turn two, you have two mana available, but three total mana available throughout the game thus far.  This continues—turn three is three and six, four is four and ten.  Over time I have kept track and I have noticed that the player that comes the closest to spending 100% of their total mana available wins the game more often than not.  Other than life totals (which directly determines who wins), percentage of total available mana spent is the next closest indicator to who won than game (that is, it is the strongest correlative factor in winning).   Spend all of your mana every turn and you will do well, provided of course you make good gameplay decisions and you have a good deck.  Luck, yeah, that too.     Value and Resource Conversion Rates   One thing that is important to figure out is the value of a particular card.  Some cards have contextual value, some have partially contextual value, and others have static value.  Jade cards, like Jade Lightning have contextual value—playing this card in different game states determines its value in an almost complete way.  Other cards, like Blackwing Technician have a partially contextual value—there is a lower and upper limit on the value of the card.  Then there are cards with static value, something like Chillwind Yeti or Lighting Bolt.  Their value is largely independent of the game state.  Figuring out the value of contextual and partially contextual cards requires an understanding the maximum and minimum value along with the probabilities of achieving those values.  Obviously figuring out the value of contextual and partially contextual cards is extremely difficult.  That is why it was hard to evaluate the Jade cards in theory, without playing the deck.  But in order to figure out of the value of a card you have to understand the value of the underlying resources.     There are five basic resources in HS: life/armor, mana, cards in hand, cards in deck and attack (or damage)/health.  Cards in deck is a very abundant resource, as is life.  They are the least valuable.  Mana and cards in hand are the scarcest resource.  They are the most valuable.  There are cards and abilities that show us what these resources are worth compared to each other.  Generally the conversion rates between the resources are the same across classes, but some classes have better conversion rates than others.  For example, Druid does better at converting resources (other than health) into mana, while Warlock does a very good job converting mana and life into cards.  Let’s look at some of the easy conversions:   River Crocolisk and Chillwind Yeti set the minimum for mana to stats.  You get 5 stats for 2 mana with the Croc and 9 stats for the Yeti.  But these are the base rates.  Good cards regularly exceed these values.  Other rates are more fixed.   Druid shows us the upper limit of converting cards into mana.  The best you get here is one card in hand being equal to 2 mana (Innervate).  Mage shows us the best rate for converting mana into direct damage with Fireball and Frostbolt, 2 mana and a card for 3 damage or 4 mana and a card for 6 damage (note the ratios are the same, but Frostbolt gives you a toss-in ability).  Warrior shows us the value of armor with Shield Block 3 mana for 5 armor (note the card draw equals out the card spent).  These conversions are key to identifying good cards to build around.  Powerful cards will either break or be equal to the best resource conversion rates in the game.     When you combine the resource conversion definition of value with the idea of context value, you see why people misjudged something like Dr. Boom.  They were not counting the average value of the Boom Bots correctly.  So here is what they SHOULD have realized.  You get 18 stats for 7 mana, guaranteed.  That is already quite good.  But then you get an average of 5 damage from the Boom Bots.  But this damage is random so use Arcane Missile as the conversion for random damage, making the Boom Bots worth a little less than two Arcane Missiles, so an additional two mana worth of value.  You actually get something like 18 stats for 5 mana (subtracting the Boom Bots' nearly 2 completely free Arcane Missiles from the total cost).  Using the resource conversion theory of value you quickly see why Dr. Boom is one of the two or three most broken, non-nerfed cards in the history of Hearthstone.   When building a deck it is extremely important to understand resource conversion rates, not just the Chillwind Yeti numbers but the values for direct and random damage, armor, heal, card draw, cards in deck, cards in hand, etc.  Between the hero powers and core cards in each class you can figure out the value of just about any card.  Some cards are extremely hard to calculate because of their high RNG (Yogg) and some are very contextually valued (Jade cards), but absent the extremes, knowing basic resource conversion rates can help you identify broken and powerful cards and these in turn help you build a deck.  Finally, it is important to note that hero powers, generally speaking, come out very poor in these resource conversions.  Warlock’s is the best, but many classes have pretty bad hero powers, absent synergy cards in the deck.  Priest and Shaman, for example, have very weak hero powers with Priest having the only context-dependent hero power (I guess Paladin’s is also context dependent--you have to have less than seven minions in play) and Shaman having the only hero power with RNG.     Synergy   Synergy is crucial to building a good deck because you take advantage of contextual and partially contextual value cards and create situations that break them the most and break them more often.  If a Blackwing Technician is consistently a 3/5 for 3, it is a very good (though not insane) card.  Similarly, if Tunnel Trogg is always a 3/3 by turn 3, it is an insane card.  Synergy allows you to push the odds for high rolling contextual and partially contextual value cards to their limit.  This is what often breaks a deck.  In the pre-Warsong Commander nerf meta, Patron Warrior was as synergistic as any deck in Hearthstone history.  Nearly every card helped every other card be broken often and to a huge degree.  The result was probably the best deck in HS history (that or the pre-nerf Undertaker Hunter deck, another deck with bonkers amounts of synergy).  Only Patron Warrior’s high skill cap kept it from exceeding its 55% win rate against the field.       Reach/Burst   Because HS places a great deal of value on the board, as opposed to, say Vintage in Magic, stalemates or logjams often occur.  Good decks of any sort must have a way of getting through these stalemates.  Aggro decks like Pirate Warrior, for example, usually has one or two big finishers, like Leeroy or Arcanite Reaper.  Midrange decks have their one to two big bombs like Call of the Wild or Ragnaros.  Control decks usually have their put away card, the card that all but ends the game for the opponent like Reno.  And Combo decks have their combo pieces (Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Edwin Van Cleef for example).  When building a deck it is important to incorporate some form of burst, a way to close out games.  Generally burst cards are cheaper in Aggro decks and more expensive in Control decks.   Versatility v.  Consistency   In building a deck it is important to figure out what the deck needs.  Does it is need a lot of the same type of card or does it need a broad range of cards?  Compare, for example, Pirate Warrior (MSG) with Reno Mage (MSG).  In Pirate Warrior you see very similar builds with a ton of 1 mana creatures, a ton of weapons, and a ton of weapon enhancements.  It is a deck of 30 cards, but really there are only 3 types of cards—cheap dudes, choppas/direct damage, and choppa enhancements.  This is a very consistent deck, but it has no hope of winning if the opponent can neutralize its main strategy.     Reno Mage, on the other hand, by its very nature, has a broad range of cards.  But even in a Reno-style deck it is not 30 completely different cards.  Reno Mages all run burn, minion removal, stall, life gain, board control, and weapon removal.  There are 30 different cards, but they really only do those six things.  You can have a similarly versatile deck in non-Reno decks.  Midrange Hunter (LOE) was a very versatile deck with a wide range of different types of cards.   Consistent decks are easier to play.  You only do a few things.  And you do them over and over again.  Versatile decks, on the other hand, have a much high skill cap.  But the reward is that in the hands of truly great players they tend to perform better than the simple, consistent decks.  This, of course, assumes a well-balanced metagame.  In the Mean Streets meta, for example, Aggro Shaman is a very consistent deck—dudes, burn, weapons—but it is significantly more powerful than any of the versatile decks in the metagame.     Tutors are ALWAYS broken   In Magic there is a card called Demonic Tutor.  It says: pay two mana and put a card from your deck into your hand.  This effect is exceedingly powerful.  All CCGs, including HS, have, at their core, randomness.  You cannot predict which cards you will draw until very late in the game.  So any effect that allows you to skirt this dilemma is very powerful.  Always be on the lookout for any Tutor effect or effects that lessen the randomness of your draw (like Tracking).  The Yogg Hunter deck was only possible because of King’s Elekk and its very weak Tutor effect.  Tutors are so powerful that even bad ones are very good and highly exploitable.   Conclusion   If you combine all of these principles—curve, synergy, burst, consistency or versatility, and tutors you get a very good deck.  One of the easiest decks in the history of the game to with was the Secret Paladin (LOE).  It had a great curve, it was highly synergistic, it was consistent (and easy to play), and it had a multi-card tutor.  It was probably not as broken as peak Patron Warrior or Undertaker Hunter, but it was the easiest deck in HS history to win with because it combined all of the features of a good deck into a simple to play deck.     Hope this helps building your next winning deck. Don’t be afraid to take a net deck, tear it apart, and figure out what works.  It is important to know that playing a deck well produces better results in Hearthstone than piloting the perfect list.  Good play and a good list produce the best results, but because there are so few absolutely terrible cards in Hearthstone good play can overcome a few quirky choices.  Pros regularly hit legend with weird decks that never make meta game reports. Community Question I think I should start to save the gold for the next expansion now. Do we know when it should come ? -Raccoon Dad   iTunes Review None Card of the Week Azure Drake    

News Chat Lots of talk about the meta, balance, and a TON of feedback from Ben Brode and the Hearthstone Design Team   Biggest complaints are: Aggro and Shaman Aggro: Feels bad to lose game after game without really having a chance if your opponent draws correctly and you don’t Shaman: This class has been powerful and diversified (multiple strong ways to play it) for quite a while now. Big Brode Bullet Points Worst diversification in HS was Undertaker Hunter, being played 35% of all games 17% of all games have Shaman in it (30% at legend) Highest winrate of any deck was Undertaker Hunter at 60% Current winrate of Aggro Shaman is 53% What do you do with all this? Let data inform your feelings If you’re sick of Aggro Shaman, play Control Warrior/Shaman Use a tracker! (So far this month, I’ve played 47 games. 4 of those were Aggro Shaman (9%), 10 were Pirate Warrior (21%))   Topic Deck battle!   What are Deck Battles? We do these Deck battle episodes once a month. Guest hosts bring on their favorite deck onto the show, and break it down for you. What cards, how it works, and why they like playing it. Best of 3 battle against me, live on the show. Twist: I always use the current Reigning Champion Deck of the show The last deck a guest host brought onto this show and won with.   The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame! Decks that have beaten 3 challengers in a row! Dan Patriss' Beastmaster Hunter Deck (Mar 2014) My Very Own Warlock Demon Zoo Deck (Mar 2016) Craig's Dragon Priest (Sep 2016)   Defending Champion Deck Jarret: Future-Proof Tempo Mage December 2016 Episode 83  The Challenger's Deck The Theme Reno Mage, with an unexpected win condition   How It Wins Stall the game and setup Reno/Ice Block Combo and be ready for your “swing turn”   The Key Cards Reno Jackson & Ice Block + “Secret Weapon”   The Duel   Reminder of the defending deck Trash talk   Best of 3 series We'll be right back.   The Aftermath Who won How close was it? What were important moments? What went wrong/right for the challenger deck? Was this a good representation of the challenger deck's strengths? Congratulate the winner Community Question Jarret (from ep 83): Now that Mean Streets is out, what card where you "meh" about that you now love? For me it's Jade Swarmer. I didn't think about it's potential in N'Zoth Rogue; it's basically a more efficient and on-curve Twilight Summoner. iTunes Review That’s Incredible - 5 Stars - thegaryscottLove this podcast. Listen every week. Card of the Week Molten Giant….. No… Seriously! Guest Plugs Twitter: @ZerotioHS Twitch: Twitch.tv/ZerotioHS Hero Power: HeroPowerHS.com

Hello! Andrew is the host this week! Topic: Deck Battle! Reasons to be happy this week News: Developer Stream 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: Jarret’s Futurist Tempo Mage Deck keeps the punches rolling swiftly, and avoids cards that’ll cycle out of Standard next year.Challenger Deck: Josh’s Darklfight Warrior Deck, Greedy Priest deck, and the very first Warlock deck he ever brought onto the show. The Darkflight Deck Creatures 2x Alexstrasza’s Champion: This card is the single reason why I’ve been making Dragon decks for two years. Insanely good. 1x Netherspite Historian: This was love at first sight for me, and it’s only grown as I play with it. Slow, but always good. 1x Beckoner of Evil: I only use C’thun cards guaranteed to hit +2 stats, because getting C’thun to 10 will make or break this deck. 2x Blackwing Technician: Solid stats for early trades. 1x Brann Bronzebeard: Every combo in this deck is huge. C’thun buffs for instant 10/10, +10 more armor on Shieldbearers, or double Discover dragons.

Happy Feast of Winterveil! Josh and Scot have prepared the ultimate stocking stuffer for you: an epic 4-hour-long episode of Happy Hearthstone! We review every single card in the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion, and tell you what we like about it, what we hate, and fight over the final scores — all for your entertainment and maybe even (dare I say it?)… EDUTAINMENT! Don’t forget to check out our Review scores spreadsheet, which has individual comments and scores from each of our four Review Panel experts (Josh, Scott, Ryan, and Matt)! Listen to the Podcast Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe to The Happy Hearthstone Podcast on iTunes, Google Music, or RSS!   The Links If you enjoy this episode, please consider donating Build a Sealed Deck with this pack opening simulator! Check out our review of the Whispers of the Old Gods neutral cards and class cards! Play Hearthstone right now! Hello! Scott is the guest this weeek! Topic: Review EVERY SINGLE Mean Streets of Gadgetzan card — it’s 4 hours long! Reasons to be happy this week Review Scoring Guide 0 = Awful, unplayable (Runic Egg, Poison Seeds) 1 = Underpowered, but it could work out (Dust Devil, Corruption) 2 = Acceptable backup plan or niche filler (Crazed Alchemist, Shadow Bolt) 3 = Solid value (Senjin Shieldmasta, Assassinate) 4 = Great, with lots of upside (Animal Companion, Fireball) 5 = So good you always have to play it (Tirion Fordring, Call of the Wild) The Spreadsheet Below, you’ll find a very basic summary of our thoughts on each card. To get all the juicy details and drama that rose up between our panel of 4 reviewers during the review process, check out the official Happy Hearthstone Mean Streets of Gadgetzan Review spreadsheet. In it, you’ll find all the good stuff you see here on this page, plus individual scores and comments on every single card by each member of our review team! I hope you enjoy it! A huge thanks to Matt, Scott, and Ryan for putting in tons of time and effort to help us do this review. The Review This list contains our Scores (Constructed Score | Arena Score) and a very short comment.Be sure to check out our spreadsheet for an in-depth analysis of every card by each person on our review panel! Neutral Cards (Common) Mistress of Mixtures: (4|4) – This is a good sign. We all agree on the first card! Great in control decks. Blowgill Sniper: (2|2) – Worse than Elven Archer. Friendly Bartender: (4|3) – Good for proc’ing heal triggers in Priest. Gadgetzan Socialite: (3|3) – A smaller Earthen Ring Farseer. Backstreet Leper: (2|1) – Good for Aggro, worse than Wolfrider. Hired Gun: (3|3) – Better than Ironfur Grizzly. Street Trickster: (2|0) – If you really want a survivable spell power minion. Toxic Sewer Ooze: (2|3) – Not as good as Acidic Swamp Ooze, the heft is nice. Daring Reporter: (2|3) – Good with Coldlight Oracle? Hozen Healer: (4|4) – Best used with beefy minions. Kooky Chemist: (2|3) – Decent pirate! Naga Corsair: (4|3) – Decent pirate! Tanaris Hogchopper: (1|2) – Your hand won’t be empty. Worgen Greaser: (2|3) – Bad vanilla. Grook Fu Master: (2|3) – Needs buffs and to survive a turn to be good, otherwise bad. Red Mana Wyrm: (1|1) – This is very bad. Streetwise Investigator: (3|2) – Only neutral card with this effect. Ancient of Blossoms: (2|3) – Uses sub-par stats surprisingly well. Big-Time Racketeer: (4|3) – Good combo potential. Neutral Cards (Rare) Small-Time Buccaneer: (4|3) – Rogues, anyone? Backroom Bouncer: (2|3) – How many of your minions do you plan on having die? Bomb Squad: (3|2) – Many classes have better options for damage. You need the combo for full value. Doppelgangster: (5|4) – Good base value, plus insane combo potential. Force of Nature +++ Second-Rate Bruiser: (4|4) – At his best when you need him most. Spiked Hogrider: (4|3) – Best of this cycle. Neutral Cards (Epic) Weasel Tunneler: (0|0) – Bad bad bad. Dirty Rat: (3|2) – You feelin’ lucky, punk? (We’re not.) Blubber Baron: (1|0) – WIll rarely be profitable. Fel Orc Soulfiend: (3|2) – Josh sees combo potential but Scott is dubious. Burgly Bully: (3|3) – Should be fine in a rogue Coin deck. Defias Cleaner: (2|3) – Will sometimes connect. Often will not. Fight Promoter: (3|2) – Need something to survive previous turn, or a buff this turn. Leatherclad Hogleader: (3|3) – Will rarely happen. Wind-up Burglebot: (2|2) – Huge lightning rod. Likes Divine Shield. Neutral Cards (Legendary) Patches the Pirate: (4|1) – Not always free, and low-impact even when he is. Auctionmaster Beardo: (2|3) – Effect is practically nothing. Sergeant Sally: (4|2) – Love isn’t always rational. I love her. Amazing effect. Genzo, the Shark: (4|3) – In ultra-cheap decks, this can be huge. Finja, the Flying Star: (4|1) – Balances out bad-luck streaks in Paladin murloc. Madam Goya: (3|1) – Ability costs a lot; might be worth it? Wrathion: (5|4) – Happy with one draw. Two is fairly common. Mayor Noggenfogger: (0|0) – More like “Mayor Noggonna-be-in-my-deck”, amiright? Druid Cards Mark of the Lotus: (1|2) – Too low impact most of the time. Jade Blossom: (3|2) – Pretty good. Jade Behemoth: (4|3) – 2-mana premium for golem. Jade Idol: (4|1) – Almost always want to summon the golem. Celestial Dreamer: (3|3) – Don’t want to play this on curve. Virmen Sensei: (4|2) – In beast decks is a solid play. Pilfered Power: (3|2) – Only useful on very early turns. Lunar Visions: (2|2) – Like Far Sight, can get out the biggest minions early. Kun the Forgotten King: (3|3) – Will usually choose armor, I expect. Hunter Cards Shaky Zipgunner: (3|3) – Won’t be too hard to get the effect from. Smuggler’s Crate: (2|0) – Not worth a card. Alleycat: (3|3) – Low impact, but good for being sticky. Dispatch Kodo: (3|3) – Only shines with hand-buff cards. Hidden Cache: (1|1) – Don’t do it. Trogg Beastrager: (3|3) – Effect is mostly free, so why not? Rat Pack: (5|4) – One of the best cards in the set. Massive combo potential. Piranha Launcher: (2|3) – Great value, but extremely slow. Knuckles: (3|3) – Interest balance of control and face. Mage Cards Freezing Potion: (1|0) – Very low impact. Kabal Lackey: (3|1) – Be careful — mage secrets are bad early. Potion of Polymorph: (1|1) – Everyone already plays their worst minion into secrets, so don’t expect big snags. Volcanic Potion: (3|3) – Scott likes this less. Cryomancer: (3|3) – Wants a proc, but doesn’t NEED it. Manic Soulcaster: (3|3) – The effect is rarely useful. Kabal Crystal Runner: (4|2) – Faster Arcane Giant, for Secret decks. Greater Arcane Missiles: (2|2) – Don’t trust the “Greater” label — it’s worse! Inkmaster Solia: (3|1) – Drop “this Turn” and let’s talk. Paladin Cards Smuggler’s Run: (2|2) – Stronger than it looks, especially in Arena. Can still whiff. Grimscale Chum: (2|1) – For the ultra-aggro deck that wants to run murlocs without Anyfin. Grimestreet Outfitter: (3|3) – Comes with a body. Getaway Kodo: (3|2) – (Almost) Perfect protection. Loves Battlecry minions. Grimestreet Enforcer: (3|4) – Lightning rod with one guaranteed proc. Snowball incoming! Grimestreet Protector: (3|3) – Needs friends. Meanstreet Marshal: (3|2) – Easier than expected. Small-Time Recruits: (4|1) – Keep up the pressure and thin out the deck for better draws. Wickerflame Burnbristle: (4|5) – Tiny little wall with lots of upside. Priest Cards Potion of Madness: (4|4) – The aggro killer. Kabal Songstealer: (3|3) – There are better ways to Silence. Pint-Size Potion: (4|2) – Steal! Steal! Steal! Kabal Talonpriest: (4|4) – Insane value when the effect lands. Drakonid Operative: (5|3) – Too good. Muscling out Blackrock Corruptor before its time. Mana Geode: (3|3) – Harder to proc than you’d think. Greater Healing Potion: (3|2) – Great Plan C. Dragonfire Potion: (2|3) – What’s 5 damage picking up on Turn 6? This isn’t Lightbomb. Raza the Chained: (3|2) – Lackluster effect doesn’t pay for the hassle like Reno does. Rogue Cards Jade Shuriken: (3|3) – Scary tempo swing in Jade Golem decks. Jade Swarmer: (4|2) – Interesting N’zoth combo potential. Eternally slow. Shadow Rager: (3|3) – Sigh. Counterfeit Coin: (2|1) – Not as fun when you pay a card slot for it. Gadgetzan Ferryman: (3|3) – We’re split if having the option to not Combo is good or bad. Shadow Sensei: (3|2) – In a stealth deck is pretty good! Lotus Assassin: (4|4) – Glorious sneaky, stabby fun! Luckydo Buccaneer: (3|2) – Huge payoff is worth the hassle in Wild. Shaku, the Collector: (4|4) – More upside than most. Shaman Cards Call in the Finishers: (4|2) – Prays day and night for a combo. Broken when it finds it. Jade Lightning: (4|2) – In a Jade Golem deck, does major work. Jade Chieftain: (4|2) – Bigger mana premium than most Jade Golem cards. Devolve: (3|2) – Scott thinks this is hot garbage. Jade Claws: (4|3) – Rogues everywhere are jealous. WTB! Jinyu Waterspeaker: (4|4) – Underrated effect can have a big impact. Finders Keepers: (4|3) – Double Overload synergy! Lotus Illusionist: (3|4) – Please not Big-Time Racketeer! Only 6 downgrades out of 78 options White Eyes: (4|4) – Good vanilla taunt unit, not sure how to combo well Warlock Cards Blastcrystal Potion: (3|2) – Pay what you have to for premium removal in Reno Lock. Crystalweaver: (3|3) – Effect is almost free. Abyssal Enforcer: (4|4) – At least it doesn’t hurt itself. Bloodfury Potion: (2|1) – Grab the other demon buffs that can be damage when needed. Seadevil Stinger: (2|1) – Paying a lot for that effect, and hard to imagine the payoff. Felfire Potion: (2|2) – Rip them all down! – Sarumon. Unlicensed Apothecary: (3|1) – Reminds me of Venture Co Mercenary. Kabal Trafficker: (4|5) – Good everywhere, amazing in Arena. Krul the Unshackled: (3|1) – Best way to cheat out a Doomguard in Standard. Warrior Cards I Know a Guy: (3|4) – You’ll always find something good. Public Defender: (3|2) – Wears buffs exceptionally well, which is good because he NEEDS them. Grimy Gadgeteer: (4|4) – Goes well w/ taunt decks. Stolen Goods: (1|0) – Laughably bad. Who risked jail time to steal this? Grimestreet Pawnbroker: (3|2) – Sure, why not? Alley Armorsmith: (3|2) – Armor flows like water. Sleep with the Fishes: (1|1) – Awful art. Awful effect. Brass Knuckles: (3|4) – Slow and steady. Tough for anything to compete with Fiery War Axe. Hobart Grapplehammer: (4|3) – Fun effect, and doesn’t charge TOO much for it. Tri-Class Cards Jade Spirit: (3|1) – You have to play all the Jade Golem cards if you play any. Lotus Agents: (2|3) – Huge card pool means less control and more bad options that could pop up. Aya Blackpaw: (5|3) – The lynchpin of all Jade Golem decks. Don’t play without it. Grimestreet Smuggler: (3|3) – BOOORING! Grimestreet Informant: (2|3) – SNOOZE! Don Han’Cho: (5|5) – This woke us back up. Hello there, beautiful. Fun first, combo later. Kabal Courier: (3|3) – Everyone wants Mage cards. Hello, Frost Bolt. Kabal Chemist: (2|3) – Potions are just okay. Kazakus: (5|4) – Life of the party. Incredibly fun, and his spells are overtuned. Looking for more analysis? Check out our Review Spreadsheet for lots more insight and opinions! Farewell Follow Scott on Twitter! Follow Matt on Twitter! Follow Ryan on Twitter! Say hi to Josh on Twitter too! Join The Podcast SUPPORT the show with your contributions of time or money! SUBSCRIBE to The Happy Hearthstone podcast on iTunes, Google Music, or RSS! FOLLOW me on Twitter or Google+ or email me MEET new Hearthstone friends and discuss deck strategies and the latest game news in our Google+ Community.

Hello! Jarret is the guest this weeek! Topic: Deck Battle! Reasons to be happy this week What is a Deck Battle? Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne! If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame! View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame Defending Deck: Jarret’s Futurist Tempo Mage Deck keeps the punches rolling swiftly, and avoids cards that’ll cycle out of Standard next year.Challenger Deck: Dan Patriss’ Beastmaster Hunter, Andrew Brown’s Warlock Demon Zoo, Craig’s Dragon Priest Futurist Tempo Mage Creatures 2x Babbling Book: Don’t underestimate this 1/1. His Battlecry fuels your deck and adds unpredictability. 2x Mana Wyrm: Probably the best class 1-drop in the Classic or Basic set. With its 3 health, this minion can get out of control and even become a win condition. 1x Bloodmage Thalnos: Deceptively powerful, Thalnos gives you cycle, spell damage, and a token: incredible value for 2 mana. 2x Cult Sorcerer: Because Mage has burst, C’Thun was never relevant in the class, but a 3/2 body with spell damage is perfect. 2x Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Anything that makes cards cheaper is good. She allows Tempo Mage to maintain the board, race aggro, or finish off control decks. 1x Barnes: Barnes is all about tempo. The dream is pulling Ragnaros, but most of the other minions in this deck have some utility and demand attention from your opponent. 2x Water Elemental: Water Elemental may seem like a control card, but its massive 6 health and text allows Tempo Mage to own the board or slow down weapon classes. 2x Azure Drake: Azure Drake is the first card I craft on free-to-play accounts. Tempo decks need card draw, and Azure Drake provides the bonus of spell damage and a decent body for 5 mana. 1x Archmage Antonidas: I usually think Antonidas is too slow for a tempo deck, but he can win games against control decks and transform useless spells that may come from Babbling Books and Cabalist’s Tome. If Mean Streets slows down the meta, this Legendary will become Tempo Mage’s win condition. 1x Ragnaros the Firelord: I don’t need to explain why this card is good, so I’ll complain about the lack of a comma. Spells 1x Mirror Image: This spell is useful for protecting Antonidas or other minions, especially against weapon classes and midrange decks. 2x Arcane Explosion: If Shaman and Zoo continue to rule, expect Arcane Explosion to be in most Tempo Mage decks. 2x Frostbolt: Mage’s most useful spell. Frostbolt can win the board for you or essentially “Sap” a big minion. Its 2 mana cost allows it to easily be combined with spell damage minions or Fireballs to finish off an enemy. 2x Arcane Intellect: As Flamewaker moves into wild and after the Yogg nerf, this card’s utility is somewhat decreased. However, you still need the ability to refill your hand when you run out of gas against slower decks. 2x Fireball: In some matchups, Fireballs are your win condition. Combine them with spell damage, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Arcane Missiles, and Frostbolt for up to 24 damage. In a pinch, they can also protect you from many of the game’s most powerful minions. 2x Polymorph: Malygos, Savannah Highmane, Ragnaros, Tirion, Sylvanas, Edwin, and Grommash all want to ruin your day. To them, we say “Baaa.” 1x Cabalist’s Tome: Like Arcane Intellect, Cabalist’s Tome is not as good if you’re not playing Yogg, Flamewaker, or Arcane Giants. On the other hand, refueling with cards that are good on average, especially later in the game, can help you pull out a win. 2x Flamestrike: Midrange Shaman and Hunter, and Zoolock are likely to continue to be popular in 2017. Flamestrike will win games against these decks. Substitutes In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back-ups and alterations you can use, which all keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck. Kabal Courier: You lose a little tempo with a 2/2 minion for 3 mana, but the ability to pick the right card for the situation may make up for it. If this card was Mage-only, it would be an auto include. Counterspell: If played perfectly, this Secret can win games against Hunter, Freeze Mage, Priest, etc. However, 3 mana for an unpredictable effect doesn’t make the cut. Firelands Portal: A card that can flip the board is always useful. 5 damage for 7 mana isn’t ideal, but Firelands Portal is a good alternative to the 1-mana spells when the meta is slower. Medivh, the Guardian: Medivh is a valid alternative to Antonidas. If the meta is faster, and you’re not running Barnes, he’s probably better. Arcane Giant: I didn’t include Arcane Giants in this deck for multiple reasons: I expect the card to be nerfed during rotation, a vanilla 8/8 isn’t as good in Mage as most other classes, and Giants (like the other minions in my sideboard) have bad synergy with Barnes. However, if the meta leans towards midrange or control, 2 of these could become a win condition. Arcane Missiles: 3 random damage isn’t as good without Flamewaker, but if flood decks and tokens continue to be common, this card is useful, especially combined with spell damage. Harrison Jones: Expect Spirit Claws, Fiery War Axe, and Eaglehorn Bow to remain popular in 2017. And with weapon buffing being more common in Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, weapon destruction will be even more valuable. Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End: Post-nerf Yogg isn’t nearly as powerful, but it can still be a potential comeback card, or at least make losing less agonizing. Kabal Chemist: Kabal Chemist could be good for Tempo Mage, but too many of the potions may not be useful enough for this type of deck. The Duel Community Questions: Most-Anticipated card of Mean Streets? iTunes Reviews Donations (More info) Card of the Week This is a FAKE card designed by Josh. It is NOT real. You can find more of my made-up cards on Twitter.Josh’s card:  Jarret’s card:  Extra Rogue Secrets:     Farewell What do you want to see in future episodes?

Hello! Josh is the guest this week! MADNESS! Topic: Hearthstone in 2016 A big thanks to Con Before the Storm and World of Podcasts for organizing this, and for inviting me to be a part of it!

Hello! A mysterious man dressed in all green is on the show this week! Topic: Everything that happened on the first day of BlizzCon! Listen to the episode for more info! I’m tired and would like to post this now.

Hello! So many people are on the show this week! Topic: Predicting what Blizzard will announce at BlizzCon this week! Why are you reading this? The episode is like 15 minutes long, just go listen to it!