I like how blizzard is finally giving people more value for their money (70 packs for 50$) and free stuff in general. They usually do this before expansions which is something I like. This is because it gets more people back and gives us satisfaction to do one quest and get 140 gold worth of stuff instead of the usual 40. Blizzard gets a bad rap for having such an expensive game but i'd like post some appreciation for the changes that they've made so far.

submitted by /u/TheGfom
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This is why discarded cards need to be visible in the history bar

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 03:53 AM PDT

submitted by /u/saintshing
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Noticed he had 10 cards and tried to bait him...

Posted: 27 Mar 2018 07:09 PM PDT

submitted by /u/XxPINEAPPLExX04
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World of Warcraft: Heroes of Hearthstone

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 06:32 AM PDT

submitted by /u/unkiwii
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New Druid card: Forest Guide.

Posted: 27 Mar 2018 08:02 PM PDT

submitted by /u/SomeStacheMan
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Hunting Mastiff and decent/good combos with Build-A-Beast (wild version).

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 03:54 AM PDT

submitted by /u/klimuk777
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oil painting: Dr.Boom

Posted: 27 Mar 2018 08:08 PM PDT

submitted by /u/Oriasnico
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Thijs playing 4D chess

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 06:47 AM PDT

submitted by /u/sabocano
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HearthArena REALLY doesn't want me to pick another Fool's Bane.

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 07:39 AM PDT

submitted by /u/Hectic_
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River Crocolisk of the year

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 07:58 AM PDT

submitted by /u/Grimfandang0
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This week's Tavern Brawl is "Miniature Warfare - Standard" (March 28, 2018)

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 09:00 AM PDT

Description: That pesky Shrinkmeister turned all your Hearthstone cards into toys! Now all your minions are 1/1 and only cost (1) mana!

Chalk Board

This is the 4th time we've seen this Brawl.

submitted by /u/deviouskat89
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Three new handruid cards all have even-cost.

Posted: 27 Mar 2018 10:50 PM PDT

submitted by /u/Alkung
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When you're playing Hunter, but you want to do what Control Warlock does

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 04:41 AM PDT

submitted by /u/Registeel1234
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Shoutouts to whoever made this at Colorado Springs!

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 08:23 AM PDT

submitted by /u/Pillowpet123
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Please adjust the EU pricing to the global exchange rates

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 04:55 AM PDT

Early 2017 EU got a price hike because the dollar was strong, this was perfectly justified of course. Blizzard adjusts pricing according to exchange rates, that's fair.

However, it seems like the dollar hasn't been doing so well. A perfect opportunity to adjust the pricing again, right?

submitted by /u/Throwaway2312451613
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I had to concede after he played this

Posted: 27 Mar 2018 04:59 PM PDT

submitted by /u/bmkorean
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Can we discuss how Auctioneer is limiting the design space of Rogue?

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 09:10 AM PDT

Hey guys, I'm a long time Rogue player and frequent contributor over on CompetitiveHS. Some threads I've made are this guide which aims to teach newer players how to play Miracle Rogue as an archetype, regardless of the deck's contents. This article which goes into in-depth discussion about Sprint vs Auctioneer. And this piece which was the results of my testing of Kingsbane in Miracle Rogue. Furthurmore, I have nearly 5k~ Ranked Wins with Miracle Rogue alone. My point is, I have literally played well over 600 hours of Miracle Rogue, so I come from a knowledgeable perspective on the matter.

With all that being said, I'd like to get into the point of this post: Gadgetzan Auctioneer is severely limiting the design space of this deck as a whole.

Rogue's class identity isn't as defining anymore

In order to demonstrate how Rogue is losing its identity, I have to first explain Rogue as a class. At its core, Rogue is a tempo based class, seeking to play extremely efficient removal and cheat mana costs on spells in order to gain an incremental advantage on the field. We aim to kill the enemy's minions while furthering our own board position with midrange bodies. Cards such as the Coin, Sap, Preparation, Backstab, Eviscerate, Shadowstrike, Cold Blood and Vilespine Slayer are used to alleviate your opponents threats while bolstering your own. The caveat to this, is that in order to generate this Tempo, we use a lot of resources in the form of Spells. Spells are inherently more powerful than minions because they are 1-time use, but because most Miracle decks are made up of these 1-time use spells, we run out of gas quickly.

Enter Auctioneer. He allows us to generate insane amounts of tempo by giving us the ability to use these 1-time use spells and draw a new card to replace it. Due to this interaction, Rogue has always been given extremely safe spell costs in new expansions past the Basic/Classic set. This has always been a problem, but this all came to a head in the Kobolds expansion. Paladin, Hunter, Warlock, and Mage were all given extremely tempo heavy tools, which were all cost efficient for minions instead of spells. The implication for this is huge, because unlike spells, minions can connect with the enemy's face multiple times, and can be used multiple times to fight for board control, which is the one of the most important mechanics in Hearthstone due to board control's snowbally nature.

Cheating out minions will ALWAYS be more beneficial than cheating spell costs, because of the fact that minions can be used more than once, and this problem is only amplified when you are cheating out minions 4 to 5 turns before they are able to come out naturally. This is why Call to Arms, Skull of the Manari, Greater Emerald Spellstone, etc, are so powerful. It's because you pay the one time cost, and then they pull minions that need to be dealt with, often times requiring the opponent to burn more resources than you spent summoning the minions in the first place, which generates insane tempo for you.

Allowing other classes to gain such insane amounts of tempo is what is harming Miracle Rogue the most, but this problem is only further exacerbated by these decks level of consistency to do these degenerate things. Summoning at least 3 wolves from Emerald Spellstone gives you 9 mana worth of minions for 5 mana and meeting the condition of the spellstone is extremely easy. Playing Skull of Manari is a 5 mana investment, but the kicker is that even though it can be countered with weapon hate, the deck is built on consistency, utilizing Possessed Lackey and Cubes to generate more of these threats that need to be dealt with, using more resources than they spent to summon the creature in the first place. Secret Mage gets to play Secrets that would normally be tempo neutral, due to them requiring 3 mana and a turn to set up, but instead generates insane tempo by playing aggressively statted minions which make those secrets cost 0, and reduce the cost of a 5/5 by 2 per secret played. This is generating insane tempo, and at a consistent rate.

The issues with Rogue

So now let's get to Rogue. Our tempo generators are now outclassed because other classes are cheating out minions instead of spells. Our minion cheating mechanic came in the form of Fal'dorei Strider, which is completely based on RNG, giving the deck no consistency at all. It's an investment of 4 mana and in an average game, will summon 1 4/4. It's important to consider the state of the board when you play this 4 mana 4/4 battlecry: do nothing immediately. If you are playing it on curve, it's only a "fair" play, when other decks are doing unfair things by Turn 4. If you play it any later in the game, it will likely have little to no impact, and I say that from the perspective of someone who has played hundreds of games with the card.

All of our future cards are designed with Auctioneer in mind. Let's look at Wanted as the best example. This card should cost 3 mana. Yes, I know the implications of a 3 mana coin generator when under the effects of Auctioneer. But what a lot of people are failing to realize is this: Regardless of how many cards a Rogue draws, they must still pay the fair mana cost to summon their minions. The only card that doesn't follow this rule is Strider, which we've discussed above, but what's more important, is that this issue has existed even before Strider was a card. We always had to pay the full and fair mana price for our minions, which is what kept the class balanced. It's why increasing the mana cost of Auctioneer was an effective nerf, there is no way to cheat an Auctioneer out reliably, we must pay full cost for it.

"Miracle Rogue is a skill based deck"

Miracle Rogue is hailed as a skill based deck, and has been for a while. But the funny/sad truth is that it's skill based because the entire deck plays around percentages and RNG. You are always reassessing the highest percentage play and especially during Auctioneer turns, you're trying to figure out the correct sequence in which to play your cards in order to maximize your chances at drawing specific answers at specific times, to allow you to win. I'm talking when you're specifically cycling for sap or evisc or CB for lethal, or whatever. But the whole thing is based on RNG. It's probably the most consistent RNG based deck on ladder, and due to the complete RNG nature of the deck, cards have to be designed in the 'best case RNG scenario" where they're absolutely broken (coin coin/prep/spell/edwin on T1 that isn't answered by the enemy) instead of the 'average' scenario, or even below average scenario where you absolutely brick on draws and have a hand full of coins, preps, and no minions or cycle which allows you to efficiently utilize your removal.

I think that's why I both love and hate the deck. The RNG nature of it makes it so that literally every game is different and has a different outcome, but it also makes it incredibly unfun to play at times when blizzard doesn't give the deck more consistency. Elven Minstrel is the right direction. Fal'dorei Strider is NOT.

Closing

In closing, I think the solution is to rotate Auctioneer. The very premise of Auctioneer is only skill testing in the sense that you must be good at consistently re-evaluating what the most optimal play is as you draw cards. That's perfectly fine, except the swingy RNG nature of this mechanic can be extremely unfun for the opponent when you 'win out of no where' and unfun for you when you completely brick. The inconsistency of the card is what both makes AND breaks the deck. A card like Sprint, is always consistent. it will ALWAYS give you a set amount of cards for 7 mana, or a set amount of cards at a discounted 4 mana. There is no swingyness in the cards nature which means cards can be designed around Sprint's consistency.

If Auctioneer was Hall of Famed, the new card, Wanted, would be perfectly fair as a 3 cost card instead of 4 cost. In fact, if Auctioneer was rotated, we could get more cards that bolster the consistency of the deck, and everyone knows that consistency is what makes a deck coherent and competitive.

Sorry for the long rant, and thank you for reading.

submitted by /u/KreaHS
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No more classic packs from quest events. YAY

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 09:31 AM PDT