Results and Video links at Reddit Post
I skipped right to the 39 minute mark which was Game 4 as there was a lot of talk about it. Be warned that is a very long match! Kolento made really good plays to get around the Duplicate trap and it is well worth to watch if only for that.
I went on to watch the rest of the series and the last two Hunter matches actually sums up my experience with the Deathrattle Hunter deck. Although everyone is saying that Hunter is powerful at the moment with Undertaker, a lot of Hunter games actually centralises around that card quite a lot so matches can easily go bad when you don't draw/play it early enough.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Reynad's Dreamhack Winter Windfury Shaman Deck
Source: Reddit Discussion
It's relatively cheap to craft and I think Al'Akir the Windlord is replaceable with Doomhammer. I will definitely like to try it but am currently out of dust to craft some of the necessary "basic" cards. I'll like to replace Windspeaker with the spell Windfury and test as it can potentially provide a more surprising and bigger burst.
It's relatively cheap to craft and I think Al'Akir the Windlord is replaceable with Doomhammer. I will definitely like to try it but am currently out of dust to craft some of the necessary "basic" cards. I'll like to replace Windspeaker with the spell Windfury and test as it can potentially provide a more surprising and bigger burst.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Puzzle & Dragons: GameWith's Sample Team Resource (with Saint Seiya and Battle Tournament Leader teams)
Link
I wrote about this website previously and its Sample Team Resource has since been updated with Saint Seiya and Battle Tournament (BT) Collaboration Leader teams! The BT Collaboration is currently ongoing in the Japan version and it's Gacha machine has pretty good rolls overall compared to a lot of the other Collaborations; mostly useful subs with good awakenings and a lot of them are skill-able easily. I also like the artwork a lot and think the "theme" resembles Shaman King/Pokemon.
Saint Seiya's Collaboration is coming up right after this one and I think the most useful rolls from that Gacha is actually the Gold Eggs and they will be hard to get. That Gacha is going to be updated with more characters and new ultimate evolutions so that is something to look forward to.
I wrote about this website previously and its Sample Team Resource has since been updated with Saint Seiya and Battle Tournament (BT) Collaboration Leader teams! The BT Collaboration is currently ongoing in the Japan version and it's Gacha machine has pretty good rolls overall compared to a lot of the other Collaborations; mostly useful subs with good awakenings and a lot of them are skill-able easily. I also like the artwork a lot and think the "theme" resembles Shaman King/Pokemon.
Saint Seiya's Collaboration is coming up right after this one and I think the most useful rolls from that Gacha is actually the Gold Eggs and they will be hard to get. That Gacha is going to be updated with more characters and new ultimate evolutions so that is something to look forward to.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Hearthstone New "Stall" Deck Idea!
Reddit Discussion on Hearthstone animations
It looks like Hunter is the most suited for this one; load up your deck with long animation cards like those with death rattle effects and watch your opponent run out of time for their turn!
But seriously, a lot of digital card games I've played has the option to turn off card animations and Hearthstone should definitely implement it too, especially having rank games that count as well as being an online game where lag may be an issue and.
It looks like Hunter is the most suited for this one; load up your deck with long animation cards like those with death rattle effects and watch your opponent run out of time for their turn!
But seriously, a lot of digital card games I've played has the option to turn off card animations and Hearthstone should definitely implement it too, especially having rank games that count as well as being an online game where lag may be an issue and.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Kranich's World Championship Combo Warrior Deck and World Championship Youtube Videos (Updated Kranich's Twitch page link)
Update: Kranich started streaming on Twitch and here's his page.
Kranich took an interesting Warrior deck to the World Championship and it was a variation of the Control Warrior deck with lots of legendaries. However, the main finisher is the Inner Rage + Charge + Raging Worgen combo which deals 16 damage with 3 cards and 6 mana. You would normally Alextrasza first to get the opponent to 15 health points for the kill or you'll have to slowly grind the opponent down to that range. The other card that is not usually seen in Warrior Decks but used was Wild Pyromancer which probably served as another Raging Worgen enabler.
Kranich's version still had a lot of legendaries so it is not exactly budget friendly but there is a version by Neirea which is cheaper in cost, posted by S_treaks in the LiquidHearth forum. I tried out a version of it, replacing cards I do not have with Sludge Belcher and Sen'jin Shieldmasta to stall until I can pull off the combo. It was one of the most fun deck I have played so far with the limited cards I have. It is really satisfying to finish the game with the combo as it is played from the hand and is so unexpected.
You can see Kranich's deck in action against Kolento in the final game of the Quarter-finals series as well as the other World Championship matches over at the Hearthstone Youtube channel Videos section.
Kranich took an interesting Warrior deck to the World Championship and it was a variation of the Control Warrior deck with lots of legendaries. However, the main finisher is the Inner Rage + Charge + Raging Worgen combo which deals 16 damage with 3 cards and 6 mana. You would normally Alextrasza first to get the opponent to 15 health points for the kill or you'll have to slowly grind the opponent down to that range. The other card that is not usually seen in Warrior Decks but used was Wild Pyromancer which probably served as another Raging Worgen enabler.
Kranich's version still had a lot of legendaries so it is not exactly budget friendly but there is a version by Neirea which is cheaper in cost, posted by S_treaks in the LiquidHearth forum. I tried out a version of it, replacing cards I do not have with Sludge Belcher and Sen'jin Shieldmasta to stall until I can pull off the combo. It was one of the most fun deck I have played so far with the limited cards I have. It is really satisfying to finish the game with the combo as it is played from the hand and is so unexpected.
You can see Kranich's deck in action against Kolento in the final game of the Quarter-finals series as well as the other World Championship matches over at the Hearthstone Youtube channel Videos section.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Brian Kibler reviews the currently revealed Goblins vs Gnomes Hearthstone Expansion Cards
BMK Gaming Article link
Most people are reviewing the cards through videos but I prefer it in article form for reading and this is one of them.
Most people are reviewing the cards through videos but I prefer it in article form for reading and this is one of them.
Kranich and Firebat's BlizzCon Hunter Decks and Thoughts on crafting now
I was checking out Kranich's Hunter Deck used in BlizzCon and it contains Defender of Argus as well as Cult Master that he mentioned in his interview. It is also quite budget-friendly with Loatheb as the only legendary. (Most of the Hunter and Warlock Zoo decks are budget-friendly) I managed to craft it out with the limited dust I had and tried it out in casual matches.
I think quite a number of players are expecting Snake Traps nowadays when facing Hunter so they try to play around it by destroying your minions with spells instead of attacking into them if possible. With Snake Trap being a key component to the deck in my opinion, I think those counter-playstyle affects the deck's success a lot. I did manage to combo the trap with Cult Master as well as Defender of Argus each about once and it was pretty cool. I find Knife Juggler getting a lot of value if combo-ed into Snake Trap and really should be a key to the deck. Kranich only included one copy so the chances of making the combo was rare which leads me to Firebat's version next.
He included 2 Knife Juggler which definitely make the combo more consistent. I used my remaining dust to craft his deck and am now in the process of trying it out. His version does not include the Cult Master or Defender of Argus but instead had Ironbeak Owl and Dire Wolf Alpha most noticeable among other changes. I also like having one more trap, Freezing Trap, to mix things up as well as being one more target for Mad Scientist. I find Firebat's version more fun partly due to the higher consistency of Knife Juggler and Snake Trap combo. After all, his earlier version was named 2x Flare Deathstar!
Going forward, I think it might be interesting to combine the 2 versions and try to tinker out one that is hopefully the best of both worlds. While crafting, I also realise that it should now be relatively safe to craft missing cards from the existing set as long as you are going to spend all future gold on the expansion packs. There's no need to worry about getting duplicates and wasting your dust in the process if you are no longer buying "their packs".
I think quite a number of players are expecting Snake Traps nowadays when facing Hunter so they try to play around it by destroying your minions with spells instead of attacking into them if possible. With Snake Trap being a key component to the deck in my opinion, I think those counter-playstyle affects the deck's success a lot. I did manage to combo the trap with Cult Master as well as Defender of Argus each about once and it was pretty cool. I find Knife Juggler getting a lot of value if combo-ed into Snake Trap and really should be a key to the deck. Kranich only included one copy so the chances of making the combo was rare which leads me to Firebat's version next.
He included 2 Knife Juggler which definitely make the combo more consistent. I used my remaining dust to craft his deck and am now in the process of trying it out. His version does not include the Cult Master or Defender of Argus but instead had Ironbeak Owl and Dire Wolf Alpha most noticeable among other changes. I also like having one more trap, Freezing Trap, to mix things up as well as being one more target for Mad Scientist. I find Firebat's version more fun partly due to the higher consistency of Knife Juggler and Snake Trap combo. After all, his earlier version was named 2x Flare Deathstar!
Going forward, I think it might be interesting to combine the 2 versions and try to tinker out one that is hopefully the best of both worlds. While crafting, I also realise that it should now be relatively safe to craft missing cards from the existing set as long as you are going to spend all future gold on the expansion packs. There's no need to worry about getting duplicates and wasting your dust in the process if you are no longer buying "their packs".
Monday, November 17, 2014
Team Dignitas' Interview with Kranich
Edit: Auto-correction keeps changing Kranich's name. Sorry, Kranich!
Blog Article Link
Reddit comments
I wrote about Kranich a while back as his Combo Warrior Deck caught my eye and here is a very insightful interview with him. I find the information on his card choices in decks interesting and worth trying out. He made an interesting point about popular streamers showing too much information about their play-style that will affect their matches which made it the headline of the article. It even happened to him during the semifinal as his opponent learns from Kranich's earlier matches so I guess it might be inevitable? As Sun Tze said, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles".
Blog Article Link
Reddit comments
I wrote about Kranich a while back as his Combo Warrior Deck caught my eye and here is a very insightful interview with him. I find the information on his card choices in decks interesting and worth trying out. He made an interesting point about popular streamers showing too much information about their play-style that will affect their matches which made it the headline of the article. It even happened to him during the semifinal as his opponent learns from Kranich's earlier matches so I guess it might be inevitable? As Sun Tze said, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles".
Friday, November 14, 2014
Pokemon Trading Card Game Game Boy Color Game out for 3DS now
Review by Nintendo Life
An RPG-styled old Game Boy Color game for the Pokemon Trading Card Game. No timers and daily quests here!
An RPG-styled old Game Boy Color game for the Pokemon Trading Card Game. No timers and daily quests here!
Blizzard taking action against Botting in Hearthstone (Update: Permanent Banning action taken!)
Update#2: Permanent Banning now by Blizzard. Source: us.battle.net News article
Update#1: There are still bots in the game according to this Reddit thread...
Source: us.battle.net News article
The offenders will be banned temporary till 2015 and subsequent offenders of Botting will be banned permanently. I was starting to face quite a few bots lately and I'm actually more amused than annoyed with them.
You can tell if you are facing a bot especially if your opponent do not respond to emotes and play cards without hesitation. I once face one which stopped attacking after I change their minions attack to 1 as I was Paladin, which was hilarious.
Update#1: There are still bots in the game according to this Reddit thread...
Source: us.battle.net News article
The offenders will be banned temporary till 2015 and subsequent offenders of Botting will be banned permanently. I was starting to face quite a few bots lately and I'm actually more amused than annoyed with them.
You can tell if you are facing a bot especially if your opponent do not respond to emotes and play cards without hesitation. I once face one which stopped attacking after I change their minions attack to 1 as I was Paladin, which was hilarious.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
BlizzCon Top 16 Decklists
Source: LiquidHearth.com
Interesting fact, there is only 1 Paladin Deck (RunAndGun) and 1 Mage Deck (Tarie) in the entire list.
Interesting fact, there is only 1 Paladin Deck (RunAndGun) and 1 Mage Deck (Tarie) in the entire list.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Puzzle & Dragons DC Collaboration Superman and Supergirl teams
Japan already gotten the Collaboration and GameWith site has Superman and Supergirl sample teams up. You can also search "スーパーガールPT" for Supergirl or "スーパーマンPT" for Superman in YouTube and filter to the latest dates to see them being used. This video by Sion Wong, in particular, shows a Superman REM-heavy team clearing the DC Collaboration Dungeon very quickly!
An alternative way to get more Superman sample teams is to make use of Wukong, Dark/Light Batman sample teams, Supergirl and Thor (replace Green Zhuge Liang with Flash. Edit: On hindsight, the recover stats are a little low for this team, which is why the similar team suggested over at the Superman's page uses the Light Wizard instead of Athena) over at GameWith. It turns out that Wukong goes very well in Superman teams and vice versa. Superman and Dark/Light Batman are also fairly compatible pairings of leaders other than Superman's active not helping Batman's much. Superman is just a very versatile leader.
He also has quite a number of farmable subs, other than Light descend monsters. I notice Tornado Holy Dragon has a similar active to Baal so its a decent non-REM replacement, though with much weaker awakenings, to use with Superman's active to get a board of red and light orbs. High Light Ninja is another alternative but is much weaker being 4-stars. I did not list the other skill-up monsters as they only went up to level 70.
Good luck to everyone rolling the DC Collaboration Egg Machine!
An alternative way to get more Superman sample teams is to make use of Wukong, Dark/Light Batman sample teams, Supergirl and Thor (replace Green Zhuge Liang with Flash. Edit: On hindsight, the recover stats are a little low for this team, which is why the similar team suggested over at the Superman's page uses the Light Wizard instead of Athena) over at GameWith. It turns out that Wukong goes very well in Superman teams and vice versa. Superman and Dark/Light Batman are also fairly compatible pairings of leaders other than Superman's active not helping Batman's much. Superman is just a very versatile leader.
He also has quite a number of farmable subs, other than Light descend monsters. I notice Tornado Holy Dragon has a similar active to Baal so its a decent non-REM replacement, though with much weaker awakenings, to use with Superman's active to get a board of red and light orbs. High Light Ninja is another alternative but is much weaker being 4-stars. I did not list the other skill-up monsters as they only went up to level 70.
Good luck to everyone rolling the DC Collaboration Egg Machine!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Hearthstone Expansion Pack pricing
It will be the same pricing as the current packs which means 100 gold. I was hoping there will be a price drop for the current packs as I still have a small collection after all this time playing. Anyway, I started saving up gold for the new packs instead from now onwards as new cards are usually stronger in card games to entice people to buy them.
Source: TouchArcade's interview with the developers at Blizzcon
Source: TouchArcade's interview with the developers at Blizzcon
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Hearthstone Expansion "Goblins vs Gnomes" Information and round-up of Preview Cards (Update with Blizzard's Set Teaser page)
28 cards preview from TouchArcade
25 cards preview from PC Gamer (Midiron's Head and V-07-TR-ON cards are new here compared with TouchArcade's)
EU Battle.net's Goblins vs Gnomes Official Page (Emergency Coolant, Finicky Clearfield, Reversing Switch, Rusty Horn, Time Rewinder and Whirling Blades are new compared to TouchArcade's preview) Update: The mentioned cards along with Armor Plating are "Spare Parts" token cards from Tinkertown Technician and Clockwork Gnome. Source: Reddit
If I did not recall wrongly from going through all the above card previews, we have about 36 cards so far. There are a lot of random effects and it will certainly make the game a lot more interesting and fun. However, I'm hopping for the remaining 90 or so cards to contain more "skill-based" interesting cards. The expansion is coming out in December and will be available in a separate pack from the existing set. Update: Arena will be rewarding new card pack once expansion drops. Source: Ben Brode, Senior Game Designer Twitter and Reddit.
Here's a hands-on from TouchArcade featuring mostly the previewed cards:
TouchArcade hands-on
*New* Blizzard's Set Teaser Page revealing new cards based on Twitter voting.
25 cards preview from PC Gamer (Midiron's Head and V-07-TR-ON cards are new here compared with TouchArcade's)
EU Battle.net's Goblins vs Gnomes Official Page (Emergency Coolant, Finicky Clearfield, Reversing Switch, Rusty Horn, Time Rewinder and Whirling Blades are new compared to TouchArcade's preview) Update: The mentioned cards along with Armor Plating are "Spare Parts" token cards from Tinkertown Technician and Clockwork Gnome. Source: Reddit
If I did not recall wrongly from going through all the above card previews, we have about 36 cards so far. There are a lot of random effects and it will certainly make the game a lot more interesting and fun. However, I'm hopping for the remaining 90 or so cards to contain more "skill-based" interesting cards. The expansion is coming out in December and will be available in a separate pack from the existing set. Update: Arena will be rewarding new card pack once expansion drops. Source: Ben Brode, Senior Game Designer Twitter and Reddit.
Here's a hands-on from TouchArcade featuring mostly the previewed cards:
TouchArcade hands-on
*New* Blizzard's Set Teaser Page revealing new cards based on Twitter voting.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Pokemon TCG Online: Phantom Forces Theme Deck Lists
The game has just been updated with the new expansion "Phantom Forces" and I'm really interested in the 2 new Theme Decks that came with it.
Deck Lists from Tootsy-san in this Reddit thread.
It turns out there don't seem to be any must-have and they both contain the usual trainer cards. I don't think it is recommended to grind out tokens for them even if for that single Pyroar in "Burning Winds". It is probably better to just trade for Pyroar.
Deck Lists from Tootsy-san in this Reddit thread.
It turns out there don't seem to be any must-have and they both contain the usual trainer cards. I don't think it is recommended to grind out tokens for them even if for that single Pyroar in "Burning Winds". It is probably better to just trade for Pyroar.
Magic 2015 Expansion, card list and upcoming changes (Update is out now!)
Update: Expansion and changes is live now!
The expansion will be coming on 5 November as a USD$5 DLC (Download Content) where you play using Garruk's deck (Expansion is entitled "Garruk's Revenge"). It'll be based on Alara-block so you'll unlock cards from there in the new 4 level campaign.
It's cool that the deck progresses and changes to match Garruk's corruption; predominantly green with Black splashes to having more Black cards in the deck. However, The Escapist reported the expansion's difficulty of the bosses and inability to customise the Garruk deck which reminds me of Hearthstone's Character Class challenges in Naxxramas which was an unpleasant experience to say the least.
The pricing model has also been updated to be clearer and the Premium packs are now unlocked from Multiplayer Mode instead. It has been reported that Wizards of the Coast will plan to reward players that have already spent on Magic 2015. You can get a picture of the pricing model over at IGN. The Premium pack change is available to those who unlock all the original chapters after the 5 November update, source: Gamesutra.
While some over at the reddit sub still wants Two-Headed Giant mode to be added, I think the changes are good and should solve some of the initial complains at launch. The expansion card list is available at Examiner.com so you can start brewing new decks.
The expansion will be coming on 5 November as a USD$5 DLC (Download Content) where you play using Garruk's deck (Expansion is entitled "Garruk's Revenge"). It'll be based on Alara-block so you'll unlock cards from there in the new 4 level campaign.
It's cool that the deck progresses and changes to match Garruk's corruption; predominantly green with Black splashes to having more Black cards in the deck. However, The Escapist reported the expansion's difficulty of the bosses and inability to customise the Garruk deck which reminds me of Hearthstone's Character Class challenges in Naxxramas which was an unpleasant experience to say the least.
The pricing model has also been updated to be clearer and the Premium packs are now unlocked from Multiplayer Mode instead. It has been reported that Wizards of the Coast will plan to reward players that have already spent on Magic 2015. You can get a picture of the pricing model over at IGN. The Premium pack change is available to those who unlock all the original chapters after the 5 November update, source: Gamesutra.
While some over at the reddit sub still wants Two-Headed Giant mode to be added, I think the changes are good and should solve some of the initial complains at launch. The expansion card list is available at Examiner.com so you can start brewing new decks.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Brian Kibler's decks to October Legend Rank
Source Article: bmkgaming.com
The final deck used was interesting; A Shaman deck with only 2 Legendaries as Al'Akir was replaced with another Doomhammer. I think it is pretty low budget and Bloodmage Thalnos can be temporarily replaced while Loatheb is "accessible" from the Naxxramas expansion. The deck's original creator, as pointed out by Brian Kibler, is Numberguy though.
The final deck used was interesting; A Shaman deck with only 2 Legendaries as Al'Akir was replaced with another Doomhammer. I think it is pretty low budget and Bloodmage Thalnos can be temporarily replaced while Loatheb is "accessible" from the Naxxramas expansion. The deck's original creator, as pointed out by Brian Kibler, is Numberguy though.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
HearthStone World Championship and Firebat's "Ha-Ha" Miracle Rogue
The Hearthstone World Championship is currently going on and there are lots of exciting matches. Here's the schedule and players from Blizzard's official site. Matches can be viewed live from Twitch (the broadcast page also has tournament broadcast schedule below the video player) or Youtube. The VODs (Video-On Demand) of matches are also available from those sites.
One match I watched was Firebat vs Qiruo and Firebat used an interesting Miracle Rogue deck. It uses Southsea Deckhand + Cold Blood + Faceless Manipulator combo as a finisher and able to go 3-0 in the series. There was a Reddit discussion on the deck and many were saying it is not something new. Here's the deck-list by karapiper from HeathPwn.
One match I watched was Firebat vs Qiruo and Firebat used an interesting Miracle Rogue deck. It uses Southsea Deckhand + Cold Blood + Faceless Manipulator combo as a finisher and able to go 3-0 in the series. There was a Reddit discussion on the deck and many were saying it is not something new. Here's the deck-list by karapiper from HeathPwn.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Hearthstone: An attempt to take a fresh Free-to-play account to Legend by Lunk42
By Lunk42 from Reddit
It was made with the aim of checking out the entry barrier to Hearthstone for new players and I think the main takeaway is the difficulty in getting enough cards to make decent decks for a number of classes to be able to do daily quests which are pretty essential for gold. As I pointed out in my Late Starter Guide post, it takes around 5-6 classes to cover the class specific daily quests.
The other interesting thing is regarding the Casual matchmaking system, I used to think there is some matchmaking ranking system in Casual but I guess it is only true for Ranked matches as I'm experiencing the same thing as Lunk42. You can also get match up to the same player again often times, win or loss previously. I think matchmaking is simply non-existent in Casual and new players need to be aware of that.
It was made with the aim of checking out the entry barrier to Hearthstone for new players and I think the main takeaway is the difficulty in getting enough cards to make decent decks for a number of classes to be able to do daily quests which are pretty essential for gold. As I pointed out in my Late Starter Guide post, it takes around 5-6 classes to cover the class specific daily quests.
The other interesting thing is regarding the Casual matchmaking system, I used to think there is some matchmaking ranking system in Casual but I guess it is only true for Ranked matches as I'm experiencing the same thing as Lunk42. You can also get match up to the same player again often times, win or loss previously. I think matchmaking is simply non-existent in Casual and new players need to be aware of that.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Monster Strike vs Puzzle & Dragons
Puzzle and Dragons Forum discussion
An interesting discussion going on at the Puzzle and Dragons (PAD) Forum. It's interesting to note that there were comments that the rare drop rate of the Gacha machine in Monster Strike was low. There were many changes made to PAD like stamina refresh to 5 minutes as well as character rebalancing all made in the recent patches to the Japan version(US version is getting it soon) to try to freshen things up but it wasn't enough based on the iTunes App Store Top Grossing Chart. I think as with many games, people will eventually grow tired of it. I do think that with more future collaboration with anime and manga like the upcoming DC Comics collaboration, PAD should retain the top grossing number one spot again, even if briefly.
An interesting discussion going on at the Puzzle and Dragons (PAD) Forum. It's interesting to note that there were comments that the rare drop rate of the Gacha machine in Monster Strike was low. There were many changes made to PAD like stamina refresh to 5 minutes as well as character rebalancing all made in the recent patches to the Japan version(US version is getting it soon) to try to freshen things up but it wasn't enough based on the iTunes App Store Top Grossing Chart. I think as with many games, people will eventually grow tired of it. I do think that with more future collaboration with anime and manga like the upcoming DC Comics collaboration, PAD should retain the top grossing number one spot again, even if briefly.
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