Hearthstone #7 - Knights of the Frozen Throne

Blueline Bomber

AI Generated Minnesota Wild
Sponsor
Oct 31, 2007
38,866
39,495
It's certainly one of the most broken. It feels like they didn't playtest it at all. Like, pre-nerf Undertaker bad.

The deck itself is rather easy to beat. It's why Aggro Paladin and Baku Hunter have raced up the ladder.

But with some fine-tuning, there could easily be a deck that has a solid defensive early game, and still has the Shudderwock finisher.
 

Seb

All we are is Dustin Byfuglien
Jul 15, 2006
17,284
12,322
I crafted Face collector, it's a damn fun card
 

LightningStrikes

Champa Bay Lightning
Nov 24, 2009
26,063
9,772
The problem with Shudderwock is not his effect, not even combined with Grumble etc. The problem is the animation duration. 5-15min turns? Does Blizz even play test? Not even a full hour after release I was seeing this deck on streams. If they fix the animation to something like N’Zoth it’s a merely competitive deck. It’s win rate is under 50% and will arguably drop as most opponents just concede when he’s dropped because they don’t want to wait 10mins to see whether they got successfully OTK’ed or not.
 

Blueline Bomber

AI Generated Minnesota Wild
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Oct 31, 2007
38,866
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I recently opened Shudderwock, but I don't have Grumble. I figure it's still useful without the OTK. Even simply dropping 2 Chain Gangs before Shudderwock gives you a decent board presence
 

Tad Mikowsky

Only Droods
Sponsor
Jun 30, 2008
20,857
21,557
Edmonton
I too crafted shudderwock, because I’ve always am a Shaman fan.

That said, I hate the concept of the deck. It’s not very fun to play against. When I was first playing it, it was neat the first time. Then it became just a chore to go through all the animations.

It’s not really fun or interactive.
 

Wild11MN

First round losers
May 28, 2013
13,201
1,992
MN
Shudderwock is so dumb. I'm not crafting one. It just doesn't seem fun to play after the first 5-minute turn you have. I haven't been playing high ladder, but it sounds like Aggro-Paladin is still king. Divine Favor feels like a big issue. There's just nothing all that cool that makes me want to play ladder right now. I'm sitting on like 13.5k dust, as I haven't crafted any legendaries in a few expansions.
 

PK Cronin

Bailey Fan Club Prez
Feb 11, 2013
33,828
23,185
I just lost to Shudderwock in one turn when I had full health and a dominant board control position. So dumb.
 

WarriorOfGandhi

Was saying Boo-urns
Jul 31, 2007
20,568
10,598
Denver, CO
the solution:
200px-Nerub%27ar_Weblord%287755%29.png
 

Wild11MN

First round losers
May 28, 2013
13,201
1,992
MN
Decided to spend a bunch of dust on some legendaries.
Lord Godfrey
Alexstrasza
Prophet Velen
Edwin Van Cleef

Yes, only one new one. I decided I might as well keep building up my classic set staple legendaries since they'll always be there. There's only a few classic legendaries left that I even want at this point.
 

Blueline Bomber

AI Generated Minnesota Wild
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Oct 31, 2007
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39,495
Right now, I'm running a few decks that I'm happy with.

Spiteful Druid - With only five 10 drops in Standard, it's generally a good pull (Two 8/8s, a 7/14, and two 12/12s). And a small dragon package fills out the rest.

Elemental Mage - Still working on this one. With no Ice Block, so much of your game depends on Frost Lich. I'm still not sure if the best decision is to go Tempo or Control with the deck. Saw someone running Quest Elemental Mage, basically using the extra turn to get an extra attack round. Might try that next

Baku Tempo Rogue - A list I saw Dog dominating high legend with. Rogue isn't one I thought Baku would be good with, but is basically 2 mana - Deal 4, spread out over two turns, which is better than the Hunter's.

Burgle Rogue (Wild) - Fun deck, very hit or miss. If I face any "serious" deck, I usually lose. But against other fun decks (or those that try and play the long value game), Tess Greymane + Shadowstep wins a lot of games.

Quest Shaman (Wild) - I pulled Hagatha day 1, and this was the first deck that came to mind. Play Murlocs, rush down most opponents. Those you can't, play Megafin, refill hand, play Hagatha, empty hand, get spells.
 

firewagonHOCKEY

Registered User
Mar 7, 2006
985
58
Belgium
Warning, Handronox druid is very very good. Only bad matchup is Shudderwock and mage that can polly your Handronox. It crushes pally, hunter and warlock.
 

LightningStrikes

Champa Bay Lightning
Nov 24, 2009
26,063
9,772
Warning, Handronox druid is very very good. Only bad matchup is Shudderwock and mage that can polly your Handronox. It crushes pally, hunter and warlock.
Yeah and normally they run 2x Naturalize and kill Hadronox on the same turn they play it. Or Cube it the turn after + Faceless Manipulator. Super annoying. I think Baku Quest Warrior is the only deck able to beat it if they get the quest done early. They have enough removal with 2x Brawl, 2x Reckless Flurry, 2x Shield Slam etc. and then of course the deal 8 hero power from the quest. It's still insane how quickly Druid can put up a big board and tons of armor at the same time. Played against one last night, he ended the game at 70+ health and a full board of big taunts.
 

Blueline Bomber

AI Generated Minnesota Wild
Sponsor
Oct 31, 2007
38,866
39,495
Re: Shudderwock - here's Savjz experimenting with a Quest Murloc Shaman running Shudderwock:



I was just coming to post that deck. It's actually pretty great. Enough early game to combat Aggro decks, and quick enough to race Control. The Echo Murloc helps a lot, and as shown in the video, Shudderwock is nasty with a lot of their Battlecries.
 

Blueline Bomber

AI Generated Minnesota Wild
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Oct 31, 2007
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I stopped playing a while ago, but I still watch Kripp and Trump on youtube. That new Hadronox/witching hour deck looks disgusting.

It's OK. I can't get it to work. I just can't seem to draw the cards in the right order. Nothing worse than having two Witching Hours and a Cube in your hand and no Hadronox. Or Hadronox in hand and no Naturalize, knowing your opponent has Hex/Silence in hand.

And then you think you've got it all figured out, but your Witching Hour brings back a Hex Frog or a PolySheep because why the f*** not?
 

Plural

Registered User
Mar 10, 2011
33,703
4,853
Just had arena match against a mage with at least 4 fireballs, 2 pyroblasts, 2 meteors, 4 frostbolts and 2 flamestrikes. How the hell do you compete against that?
 
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sabresfan129103

1-4-6-14
Apr 10, 2006
22,452
2,312
Amherst, NY


Ben Brode's leaving Blizzard. That's a big blow to the company. Even though he wasn't doing as much development anymore he was basically the public figurehead of the game.
 

Wild11MN

First round losers
May 28, 2013
13,201
1,992
MN
Just had arena match against a mage with at least 4 fireballs, 2 pyroblasts, 2 meteors, 4 frostbolts and 2 flamestrikes. How the hell do you compete against that?
I've definitely drafted Mage decks with too much removal. You basically can't get anything going on the board because all you have are clears, so it usually ends up going to fatigue. But with the ability to go face with 4 fireballs, 4 frostbolts, and 2 pyros... wow.
 

Blueline Bomber

AI Generated Minnesota Wild
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Oct 31, 2007
38,866
39,495
I'm glad a decent Kathrena deck has emerged in this meta. Dire Frenzy helps prevent the problem of not having enough beasts for Kathrena, and the Witchwood Grizzly is a great beast to pull from Kathrena that you don't mind having if it's not recruited
 

Plural

Registered User
Mar 10, 2011
33,703
4,853
I've definitely drafted Mage decks with too much removal. You basically can't get anything going on the board because all you have are clears, so it usually ends up going to fatigue. But with the ability to go face with 4 fireballs, 4 frostbolts, and 2 pyros... wow.

The reason I brought it up was cause I had a nice run at 12 wins. I happened to get destroyed in my 10th game. I know it happens. I'm just pissy cause that deck was 12-wins. I played poorly to lose 2 and lost the last one to an ubeatable deck.
 

SK13

non torsii subligarium
Jul 23, 2007
32,758
6,367
Edmonton
Been having a lot of fun (albeit, at rank 10) with this deck:

### Witch for a Teacher
# Class: Druid
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Raven
#
# 2x (1) Lesser Jasper Spellstone
# 2x (2) Power of the Wild
# 2x (2) Wild Growth
# 2x (2) Wrath
# 2x (3) Savage Roar
# 2x (3) Tar Creeper
# 2x (3) Witching Hour
# 2x (4) Branching Paths
# 2x (4) Ironwood Golem
# 2x (4) Oaken Summons
# 1x (4) Soul of the Forest
# 2x (4) Swipe
# 2x (4) Violet Teacher
# 1x (6) The Black Knight
# 2x (8) Charged Devilsaur
# 2x (10) Ultimate Infestation
#
AAECAbSKAwL9AvgMDkD3A+YFxAaFCOQIxsICysMCh84ClNICmNICntIChOYCjfACAA==
#

If it didn't lose so hard to Cubelock, I think it'd be fine at higher ranks. Double Witching Hour + Savage Roar is a healthy 20 damage push and there's enough armor gain, taunts and removal to hang with the aggro at least ~45% of the time. Which is the best you can ask for with a combo deck (that isn't Warlock) really.
 

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