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Digital Playground

Hearthstone Barrens Part 5: Great, Good, Decent

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Introduction

Hearthstone Barrens Part 5 brings us, at last, to the end of our journey into Horde territory. It represents an arduous week and a half long trip through dangerous terrain. During our last entry, we fought against sneaky rogues and shaman wielding the very power of nature itself. I’m proud of our successes. We will learn from our failures. Overall, the journey made us stronger.

Nietzsche was a notorious ass, but this quote is pretty dope.

The final leg of our trip looks at Warlock and Warrior cards from the set. While I hate Rogue and Shaman, I always loved playing Handlock. Plus, any version of Wallet Warrior gives me a big happy. Neither of those archetypes appears in this set. However, wild exists. Maybe some cards from the set make it into those decks.

Speaking of Wild, I play that format almost exclusively. You think I’d (a) be better at it and (b) build decks around my favorite cards in the set. Let me answer in order. (a) I don’t care enough about the game to git gud. (b) That’s actually a good idea. Maybe after I review the new MTG set this week, I will revisit that idea. Thanks, random reader! For now, lets finish this set with Hearthstone Barrens Part 5.

Warlock

Decent: Broken record time. Look! Another ranked spell. This one is especially awful. Even if you get the fully ranked version, maybe you’ve exhausted all of your opponent’s removal. Highly unlikely, but that’s the only hope you have if you’re running this card. Honestly, the outfitter isn’t all that terrible, but this feels much more like they included it in the game to put it into Battlegrounds.

Good: A sub theme of Shadow spells for Warlock here. Similar to the sub theme of elementals for Shaman in the last article, I slacked on research. Therefore, this may be a strong archetype with other cards in the format. I will say that I haven’t seen much evidence of that. Who knows? Maybe they’re setting it up for a future set.

Great: As I mentioned, I loved Handlock. I tried playing Discolock a couple of times and performed terribly. Zoo is always there when I want to finish a Warlock quest quickly. But, my all time favorite deck was probably Mecha’thun Warlock. This strategy plays right into that deck. Another reason to revisit these cards in Wild.

Having played a mill strategy in both Hearthstone and MTG and also realizing that I said in my last article that I despised mill strategies, especially in Hearthstone, I find it funny that Blizzard forced Warlock into a mill strategy in this set. Yikes, how’s that for a run on sentence? I’d hate to diagram that almost as much as I hate mill strategies. On that note, I probably won’t ever play this deck. Oh yeah! How’s that for a transition? Ready for another, less smooth one?

Warrior

Decent: Okay, I won’t even say it this time. Instead, join me for story time. Once upon a time, Paladin utilized a strategy known as Hand Buff Paladin. I’m confident in your ability to figure out the base line of that strategy. These cards read like a worse version of that deck.

Good: Unlike some of the more recent classes, the good cards for warrior share little synergy. Perhaps I need to rethink my assessment of these cards. Honestly, it makes little difference. However, if I want to be taken seriously, I have to take myself seriously. When I redo my ranks in a few weeks, remind me to reevaluate Warrior more seriously.

Great: Blizzard pushing me to build a possibly terrible Frenzy Warrior deck. I’m more than willing to take that bait. It seems that others have, too. I faced more than one Frenzy Warrior during my recent play tests.

This deck combines Rush with Frenzy and the one taunt minion from above for some late game protection. It also is a deck that I shamelessly stole from Hearthstone top decks. The originator of the deck is Dekkster. Sorry for that, but I wanted to get this article done. 9/10 ain’t bad and you get at least one good deck from this all.

The Verdict

Hearthstone Barrens Part 5 wraps up the review of the set. Overall, I’m happy with how the new format worked and I may try it with my MTG Strixhaven review, hopefully starting tomorrow. MTG sets have many more cards, so I doubt I’ll include every card in the review, but I’ll try. Okay, off to swear at Hearthstone. I have some new decks to play!

Digital Playground

Hearthstone Barrens Part 3: Great, Good, Decent

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Introduction

Hearthstone Barrens Part 3 covers Paladin and Priest cards. Slowly, but surely, we are making our way through the new set. So far, I’m happy with the new format. Sure, I often build terrible decks with either no synergy (or too much), but that’s part of the fun of the page. Once again, you can find meta decks at a variety of pages. Where else can you find ridiculous decks and occasional self deprecation?

In this day and age, there’s plenty of that to go around, too…Picture found here.

Once upon a time, in the recent past, I loved Priest. Blizzard unleashed the scourge of Demon Hunter on Hearthstone. I found a Galakrond Priest deck that absolutely destroyed them, so I played that exclusively for the last half a year or so. I never loved Paladin. It stems back to the PTSD caused by Secret Paladin. I never forgave the game for that meta. Even today, unless absolutely necessary, I refuse to play Paladin even to complete a quest.

More recently, Libram Paladin haunted me to the point that I automatically conceded every game against Paladin. I mean, Demon Hunter has become the new hotness in classes nobody wants to play. But, Paladin (and sometimes Priest) are the OGs when it comes to annoying archetypes. Hell, even now I play Galakrond Priest more than anything else and I still concede quite often because I’m in Priest ELO Hell. Let’s see what Hell Blizzard unleashed with our Hearthstone Barrens Part 3 review.

Paladin

Decent: Oh look, another terrible ranked spell and a worse Survivial of the Fittest. I considered Sermon for the “Good” section, but too many other good cards in the set reduced it to “Decent” status. Rank is a new mechanic and often times, they take a set or two to come up with some good cards for a new mechanic. Perhaps the next time they design ranked cards, they’ll come up with some better ones.

Good: To be fair, these cards might not all be better than Sermon. I just put them in this section because the synergy made me consider building a “Holy” deck instead of a secret deck. I nearly lost my mind when I thought that secrets might be “Holy” spells. Thankfully, they have no spell type, so that saved me from having to make too many decisions about my deck. Maybe I will revisit the “Holy” Paladin deck in a future article.

Great: I already talked in the introduction about the old Secret Paladin. Because this deck hasn’t annoyed me nearly as much as that deck, I’m willing to give it a chance and build it myself. I especially like the effect of Cannonmaster Smythe. I played it a few times and it was so much fun. What does this deck look like?

This deck has it all. There are secrets that are versatile, but hopefully won’t trigger immediately so that we can take advantage of Smythe. Both Fordrings can sync together if you draw Alex before Taelan dies. We need to search for Mankrik’s wife, which is a fun little Easter egg for those of us who played way too much World of Warcraft 5 years ago. Finally, Kazakus makes a return.

Priest

Decent: Both of these cards are very situational. I could see Soothsayer’s Caravan being good in a meta with high spell focused decks. Power Word: Fortitude only works with a high concentration of spells. Even then, consider what other spells it beats in any of the mana slots.

Good: Void Flayer fits in with that spell heavy deck I just discussed. However, the stat line is just good enough that it might be slotted in to some Priest decks as additional removal. Serena Bloodfeather is funny because it makes players do math, something that I’ve found CCG players to be surprisingly bad at. Hey, look! A ranked spell that is in the “Good” section. How did that happen? I was going to joke that this could have gone in the “Decent” section and what rule meant I couldn’t have 3 cards there? Instead, I’ll grudgingly admit that the card is pretty good late game.

Great: It appears that the theme for Priest this time is healing. Admittedly, not that inspiring of a theme. However, a timeless theme and less annoying that the theme they often unleash on unsuspecting Hearthstone players, resurrection. Accuse me of plagiarism if you must, but this deck will look a lot like the Blizzard deck in the Tavern Brawl preview for Forged in the Barrens.

As many of my Priest decks do, this one leans fairly heavily into the control aspect of the class. There’s ample removal, card generation, and finally healing to trigger the Xyrella for a big board removal. I might want to put in some of those annoying resurrection effects like Raise Dead, but Veilweaver and Palm Reading do give me a chance to add them to my hand. Hmm, come to think of it, Veilweaver might not be a good choice for this deck since the only trigger in the deck is Apotheosis. I will have to consider that for my revisit.

The Verdict

Paladin made out quite well in our Hearthstone Barrens Part 3 review. Priest is less fun as far as I can see, but I might be missing something. I have seen rumors of a Miracle Priest out there, but I didn’t see a ton of support for the cards I picked in my Great section. Then again, we’re not here to win games. We’re here to have fun and laugh at our ineptitude! Join us soon for Part 4.

Digital Playground

Hearthstone Barrens Part 1: Great, Good, Decent

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Introducton

For this Hearthstone Barrens part 1 review, I present Demon Hunter and Druid cards from the latest Hearthstone expansion. I tried to come up with ideas to make these articles more interactive. I can’t promise that I have been successful. However, I tried and I will continue to work to mold this page into my image.

It hasn’t been that long, but it has been 7 years. So, roughly 84 months. Hey, the joke works!

I came up with the idea to review all of the cards in the set instead of just cards that I find interesting. Additionally, I stole an idea from another page to build decks around the cards that I include in the “Great” section for each class.

Regular readers know that my decks are on the Johnny Combo (or maybe Timmy) side. They certainly aren’t Spike. When I shared with Chris that Star City Games is looking for writers, he responded, “You know you’ll have to become a Spike.” Luckily, though, they are looking for pop culture writers, too, and that’s much more in my wheelhouse.

But, I digress. Join me while I review Demon Hunter and Druid cards from Hearthstone’s latest set, Forged in the Barrens. If you like possibly fun, but most likely just terrible, decks, then you’re in for a treat. If not, perhaps my witty banter will be enough for you to return for the remainder of the review. And, so, join me for Hearthstone Barrens part 1 review of Demon Hunter and Druid cards.

Demon Hunter

Decent: Sigils got their start in this set with Sigil of Silence and Sigil of Flame (see next section). I suppose that Sigil of Silence has some utility against certain minions. However, there are so many ways to play around the card that the utility isn’t much.

Vile Call reworks several druid cards with a Demon Hunter theme. Like the Sigil of Silence, though, the demons are easily removed, you’d never get the benefit of the lifesteal. Maybe at 4 mana and give the demons rush. I’m not entirely sure how mana efficiency works in Hearthstone, so that might even make the card 5 mana. Then, it is again, unplayable. Oh well, I guess you need bulk commons in ever set, right?

Speaking of bulk commons. If I could set Fury on fire, I would. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the fel flame necessary and we are forced to live with this terrible, terrible card.

Good: This card mimics the Ilidan hero power from Battlegrounds. I struggled where to put this card. The outcast effect is nice and could provide decent early game removal. Even late game if the opponent tries to hide minions behind taunt and doesn’t play around the card. Otherwise, in most cases, this is just a 4 mana 3/4, which is pretty awful, especially for a legendary. Maybe I should have swapped this with Sigil of Silence.

A 2 mana delayed mass removal spell is pretty dang good. It also works like a Doomsayer by delaying smaller minion plays by a turn. Overall, a fun card with some potential.

Great: It appears that someone at Blizzard really wants to make Deathrattle Demon Hunter a thing. I tried my hardest to make those wishes come true. Alas, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that Deathrattle Demon Hunter does not currently have the support cards necessary to make it fun. Nevertheless, let’s analyze this terrible deck together.

Terrible Aggro Deathrattle Demon Hunter

Upon looking at the available deathrattle cards in Standard, I knew this deck would be severely limited. The best I found in this first iteration was a sort of aggro build that tries to take advantage of Teron Gorefiend. I included several tech cards against taunt and the deck absolutely folds to any kind of removal. Funny enough, because of that singular focus on taunt, I threw in two Sigil of Silence. In addition, I did try to include some Warblades as a secondary win condition, but that is equally as, if not more so, flimsy as the minion aggro plan. I guess it is fitting that Demon Hunter is finally given a strategy that won’t require 5 rounds of nerfs simply to make it overpowered instead of game breaking.

Druid

Decent: Both of these cards have decent stat lines and effects for their cost. They might be good in a wild control deck, but I just don’t see that happening for Druids in standard right now. I put together a decent beast aggro druid deck that is fun to play and that just feels like the direction that they’re pushing druid right now.

Good: Again, the 2 drop and the 7 drop are decent cards in a slower control deck. Maybe as a bonus, I will build that deck for a future article. I am trying to provide more content as part of the plan to boost views on the page here. Why not my trademark terrible decks?

Great: As soon as I saw these cards, I knew the direction of this deck. Beast druid represents one of the oldest and most consistent archetypes in the game of Hearthstone. And, so, behold my Beast Druid Deck!

Non-optimal Beast Druid Deck

This deck is similar to some of the other beast druid decks I’ve seen out there. I actually net decked one by fr0zen to finish a beast quest in the game. For this deck, I took the bones of that deck and tweaked it slightly. I call it non-optimal because I had to include Pride’s Fury, which took out the new Kazakus. That’s too bad because that’s a fun card to play. Also, I’m not sure that Solar Eclipse has a place in the deck, but it might lead to some fun combos.

The Verdict (Hearthstone Barrens Part 1 – DH :Bad, Druid – Good)

Demon hunter definitely got the short end of the stick during this expansion. As I said earlier, it’s about time that class come back down to earth a little bit. In the early iterations, I autoconceded against every single Demon Hunter I saw. Even recently, I break out in cold sweats and reach for the concede button when faced against a Demon Hunter. Maybe with this expansion, I will be able to heal from that hurt.

On the other hand, druid gets a fun and viable archetype with all of the beast support cards. Granted, I’m biased because I enjoy playing beast Druid. Still, give the deck a try. Hopefully you’ll either find it entertaining or figure out ways to make it better. Thanks for reading my Hearthstone Barrens part 1 review. Join us tomorrow for part 2.

Digital Playground

Hearthstone Deck List – Priest N’Zoth Greed (Wild)

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Introduction

Chris posted a Hearthstonedeck list a couple of days ago. I checked it out and then texted him with encouragement. It’s a Paladin aggro list and those are very strong in Wild right now. I used one that I threw together to beat the same poor soul three times in a row by turn 5 in each game to finish off a quest that I had to do.

His post inspired me to think about maybe with some possibility probably posting one of my own. I have this debilitating controlly greed Priest deck that I use to crush any hope out of my opponent. I told Chris that I can almost see the point at which they realize that it’s hopeless and give up on the game even though they are an anonymous avatar in a computer game.

The Deck

Some Notes

The deck hasn’t been updated with any new cards for maybe two expansions. So, it probably isn’t as strong as it could be. I do know that I discovered a cube from my curator in one game that seems like it could be very strong in the deck. Maybe I’d remove one or both of the curators so that I just had the cubes without having to rely on discover. I also only have one shifting shade, so maybe cutting a Shrinkmeister for another Shade would add that extra death rattle minion for your eventual N’Zoth.

The only board clear is Nova, which generally isn’t an issue. With the Velen’s Chosen cards and the Thalnos, you can generally get a 3 or 4 damage nova. I don’t know much about the meta of wild, but a Lightbomb might also be an addition if you wanted to swap out one of the Novas. Other than that, I have good success with the deck as it is. The one downside is getting stuck with a heavy hand or the Shrinkmeister without any other minion.

Playing/Mulligan

I usually hard mulligan for a cleric against most decks. The card draw let’s you cycle through the deck and get to your heavy hitters/defensive cards quicker. Having a Shrinkmeister is nice, too for decks like Shaman or Paladin, that can coin or play big minions on 2. Aside from that, just shoot for a low curve out hand so that you are making a play each turn and getting that board presence. PW: Shield and Velen’s chosen allow you to get great value trades and a follow up Holy Nova often wipes their boards completely.

Entombs are there to clean up possible big taunts/high impact minions. It can also be used for those pesky 4 attack minions that people think they’ll play to give you trouble. Then again, a Shrinkmeister/SW: Pain or Cabal Shadow Priest will give you a big to massive swing in the early game with Pain or the late game with the Shadow Priest. Once you’ve exhausted all of their resources, the N’Zoth turn is often back breaking.

I’m no professional deck builder. I just put together things that I think are fun. This one plays right into my fun police player profile and it gets good results most of the time. If you have any constructive criticism, I’d like to hear it. L2P Noob? I’ve heard that all before.

On the Tabletop

Land Ho! (Modern)

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I recently played against a mono green Standard version of this deck and I was so impressed by it that I decided to brew a Modern version. This deck is all about searching your library for multiple lands and playing them every turn until you can drop something big and scary like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Gaea’s Revenge or something else that’ll ruin your opponent’s day. I did stray away from mono green and splashed a bit of red for DragonMaster Outcast, which will let you start producing Dragon tokens ridiculously early on. The deck can be weak against aggro, but is more than a handful in the mid-game. Warning: You will take a beating in the first few turns, but don’t worry, Jaddi Offshoot and Grazing Gladehart will keep you in the game and once you drop Ulamog or another Eldrazi on the 4th or 5th turn, the tables turn rather quickly.

Creatures (18):

2x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

2x Gaea’s Revenge

2x Conduit of Ruin

1x Oblivion Sower

1x Bane of Bala Ged

1x Terra Stomper

2x Rattleclaw Mystic

2x Jaddi Offshoot

2x Dragonmaster Outcast

1x Shaman of the Forgotten Ways

2x Grazing Gladehart

Spells (17):

3x Nissa’s Renewal

3x Sylvan Scrying

4x Explosive Vegetation

2x Utopia Sprawl

4x Nissa’s Pilgrimage

1x From Beyond

Artifacts (2):

2x Hedron Archive

Lands(23):

18x Forest

2x Rootbound Crag

2x Evolving Wilds

1x Blighted Woodland

On the Tabletop

Here There Be Dragons..(Modern)

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If you remember, waaaaay back in September of last year, I posted our very first deck list, Mono Red Dragons. It was a pretty fun deck, great for casual games against non-aggro, and tough to handle in the late game. Well, consider this deck it’s faster little brother. It really shines in the mid game as opposed to the late, with enough removal to make sure the game gets there. The basic strategy is to use the aforementioned removal spells to keep the other side of the board clear, play Dragonspeaker Shaman and/ or Dragonlord’s Servant to get Stormbreath Dragon or Thunderbreak Regent out on Turn 3 and 4..and then keep dropping multiple copies of each every turn after. Don’t be afraid to take damage, the key is to keep your Shaman and Servants alive in order to play dragons faster. I’ve tested this deck list out against a modern Splinter Twin, a modern Slivers, and a mono green ramp and have seen success.

 

Creatures (22):

4x Dragonlord’s Servant

4x Stormbreath Dragon

4x Thunderbreak Regent

2x Dragon Whisperer

2x Dragonspeaker Shaman

2x Kilnmouth Dragon

2x Moonveil Dragon

1x Furyborne Hellkite

1x Balefire Dragon

Spells (18):

4x Draconic Roar

4x Lightning Bolt

4x Lightning Strike

2x Mizzium Mortars

2x Awaken the Ancient

2x Roast

Lands (20):

18x Mountains

2x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

On the Tabletop

Life-Gain Beatdown (Legacy)

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dopI know what you are saying right now: “C’mon, a cheesy life-gain deck?!” Well don’t pass judgement..I haven’t steered you wrong yet have I? This isn’t just any life-gain deck my friends. No, this deck isn’t about building up a mountain of life points that you sit on and giggle as your opponent struggles to even put a scratch in it. The life points we get go towards a great cause: pumping up our Divinity of the Pride, Serra Avatar and we can also sacrifice that stockpile to feed some Moltensteel Dragons. In order to get life fast this deck contains one key card: Rhox Faithmender (well two copies actually). His ability to double the amount of life you gain allows you to pump up the creatures mentioned above at an insanely fast rate. Who doesn’t want to play an 8/8 flying Divinity of the Pride on Turn 5? Of course to keep that life total nice and high, you need to shut down your opponent’s offense. To do so, the deck contains Angel of Serenity, Pacifism, and a playset of Banisher Priest. This deck is pretty fun to play but your opponent probably won’t agree. Now on to the list:

The Deck(60 cards)

Creatures (25): Enchantments(7):

4x Banisher Priest 2x Ordeal of Heliod

2x Divinity of the Pride 2x Pacifism

4x Kemba’s Skyguard 2x Brave the Elements

1x Archon of Redemption 1x Divine Favor

2x Rhox Faithmender Artifacts(1):

1x Serra Avatar 1x Hall of Triumph

1x Augury Adept Instants(7):

1x Angelic Skirmisher 4x Rest for the Weary

1x Angel of Serenity 2x Riot Control

1x Watcher of the Roost 1x Phalanx Formation

2x Doomed Traveler Lands(18):

1x Seraph of the Sword 17x Plains

1x Seraph of Dawn 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

1x Suture Priest

2x Ajani’s Sunstriker

Artifact Creatures(2):

2x Moltensteel Dragon

 

Note: If you want to be a real dweeb and add in another possible win condition..grab a copy or two of Felidar Sovereign, which allows you to win the game if you have 40 or more life at your upkeep. I’m not into it, but hey whatever floats your boat.