Hello everyone and welcome to Touchstone #90, our roundup of everything that happened in the world of Hearthstone [] this past week. As was to be expected, this past week was all about the upcoming Journey to Un'Goro expansion and the HCT Winter Championship. We've seen plenty of Un'Goro cards so far, and I have to say that the expansion is looking really cool. The Quest mechanic looks like it will spur some fun deckbuilding, and some of the upcoming Legendaries look awesome. There were quite a few stories about Quests this past week, which shows how everyone is looking forward to getting their hands on them. There was also a new champion crowned after a fantastic HCT Winter Championship. A great week indeed.
As you can guess from the title of , this writer is quite excited about the upcoming Quest mechanic. For him, Quests are one of the best thing to have happened to the game in a long time because they promote deckbuilding, strategy, and results-oriented play-styles. He sees Quests as very similar to Reno Jackson in that they have powerful effects but only if you build a deck around them. One of the things he likes about Quests is that they can be completed by using already-existing cards, which will force players to reexamine already-existing cards. And they are easy to build around while not being auto-fills. Additionally, they address Hearthstone's issues with consistency and also promote distinct class identities. What do you think about Quests?
summarizes Peter Whalen's blog post on the origins of Quests. He talked about how long they've been in development and how they originally worked. He then described the design process that led to the Quests we have now and how they will probably be used once they are released. A very interesting blog post that offers an insight into how this new mechanic came about.
The writer of believes that the recent Un'Goro reveals point to Murlocs and Elementals becoming quite powerful. On the one hand, we have the Shaman Quest and the Legendary Megafin, the 8/8 Murloc, which should make for some very strong Murloc decks, especially when you add cards like Gentle Megasaur and Primalfin Lookout. On the other hand, Elementals like Ozruk and Stone Sentinel should make for some very strong control decks with very, very strong late game. The question is whether Elementals will beat Jade Golems or not.
The 8-mana 7/7 Shaman Legendary Kalimos . This Legendary has a Battlecry "if you played an Elemental last turn, cast an Elemental Invocation." The Invocations are 0-mana spells that can deal 3 damage to all enemy minions, restore 12 health to your hero, and more, and they are quite powerful. Of course, they force you to play an Elemental-heavy deck and to plan in advance in order to take advantage of this battlecry. Are you going to be playing Kalimos, or would you rather stick to the Shaman decks you know?
The Rogue Quest is an interesting one because, , it requires you to play four different minions with the same name. Although at first this sounds quite difficult to achieve, there are quite a few cards that can help you do it. Youthful Brewmaster, Shadowstep, and Thistle tea can all help you get the Quest rolling as will the Un'Goro card Mimic Pod. If you do manage to complete The Caverns Below quest, you get Crystal Core, which turns every minion you summon into a 5/5. I like this Quest because it calls for some silly shenanigans to get it rolling.
Blizzard decided to reveal quite a few cards during the HCT Winter Championship, and you . The ten cards revealed included Gluttonous Ooze, a new weapon-destroying card, Vilespine Slayer, an Epic Rogue Minion that destroys a minion when comboed, Corrupting Mist, a pretty cool AOE spell, and more. The most important one was The Marsh Queen, the Hunter Quest that asks you to play seven 1-cost minions and then gives you Queen Carnassa, a 5-mana 8/8 Beast that shuffles 15 1-mana 3/2 Beasts that also draw a card. Not bad at all.
Disguised Toast is one of the most popular streamers and content creators, so is definitely worth reading. It talks about how he came to play the game and why he wore a mask initially. He also talks about the importance of maintaining his brand and much, much more. If you're a fan of Disguised Toast, and who isn't, definitely check this interview out.
After a fantastic tournament that culminated in a seven-game final series, ShtanUdachi beat Fr0zen to become the Hearthstone Winter Champion. His triumph didn't come easy, though, since he had to play two seven-game series on the final day, in the process fighting back from 3-1 in the semis. As , the final game of the series was between ShtanUdachi's Reno Mage and Fr0zen's Reno Warlock, which was a fine send-off for Reno Jackson. ShtanUdachi had a strong opening hand that helped him put a lot of pressure on Fr0zen, and when the latter couldn't remove a turn three Brann, the writing was on the wall. Add to that a conveniently-drawn Alexstraza that nullified Fr0zen's Reno turn, and you can see how the match ended. This was one of the first in-person major events for ShtanUdachi, and now I can't wait to see what he does at BlizzCon's World Championships.
If you want to see what the last tournament of Year of the Kraken had in store in terms of decklists, read . It includes all the HCT decklists as well as a breakdown of all the classes that made it to the tournament. Unsurprisingly, there were no Paladins and Hunters; instead, we got 15 Warrior decks, 13 Rogue ones, 12 Mage and Warlock decks, 11 Shaman and Priest decks, and 6 Druid decks. Fr0zen was the only player who didn't bring a Warrior deck, and there were a ton of Reno decks.
As always, we have some good resources on the site for you in case you are new to the game or simply want to sharpen up your game. There's never such a thing as too much help in Hearthstone, so check out our guides.
Quests: Making Hearthstone Great Again
As you can guess from the title of , this writer is quite excited about the upcoming Quest mechanic. For him, Quests are one of the best thing to have happened to the game in a long time because they promote deckbuilding, strategy, and results-oriented play-styles. He sees Quests as very similar to Reno Jackson in that they have powerful effects but only if you build a deck around them. One of the things he likes about Quests is that they can be completed by using already-existing cards, which will force players to reexamine already-existing cards. And they are easy to build around while not being auto-fills. Additionally, they address Hearthstone's issues with consistency and also promote distinct class identities. What do you think about Quests?
Senior Game Designer Talks Quests
summarizes Peter Whalen's blog post on the origins of Quests. He talked about how long they've been in development and how they originally worked. He then described the design process that led to the Quests we have now and how they will probably be used once they are released. A very interesting blog post that offers an insight into how this new mechanic came about.
Murlocs and Elementals are the New Meta
The writer of believes that the recent Un'Goro reveals point to Murlocs and Elementals becoming quite powerful. On the one hand, we have the Shaman Quest and the Legendary Megafin, the 8/8 Murloc, which should make for some very strong Murloc decks, especially when you add cards like Gentle Megasaur and Primalfin Lookout. On the other hand, Elementals like Ozruk and Stone Sentinel should make for some very strong control decks with very, very strong late game. The question is whether Elementals will beat Jade Golems or not.
Kalimos, the New Shaman Legendary
The 8-mana 7/7 Shaman Legendary Kalimos . This Legendary has a Battlecry "if you played an Elemental last turn, cast an Elemental Invocation." The Invocations are 0-mana spells that can deal 3 damage to all enemy minions, restore 12 health to your hero, and more, and they are quite powerful. Of course, they force you to play an Elemental-heavy deck and to plan in advance in order to take advantage of this battlecry. Are you going to be playing Kalimos, or would you rather stick to the Shaman decks you know?
The Rogue Quest Needs Four Minions With the Same Name
The Rogue Quest is an interesting one because, , it requires you to play four different minions with the same name. Although at first this sounds quite difficult to achieve, there are quite a few cards that can help you do it. Youthful Brewmaster, Shadowstep, and Thistle tea can all help you get the Quest rolling as will the Un'Goro card Mimic Pod. If you do manage to complete The Caverns Below quest, you get Crystal Core, which turns every minion you summon into a 5/5. I like this Quest because it calls for some silly shenanigans to get it rolling.
Hunter Quest and More Revealed at HCT Winter Championship
Blizzard decided to reveal quite a few cards during the HCT Winter Championship, and you . The ten cards revealed included Gluttonous Ooze, a new weapon-destroying card, Vilespine Slayer, an Epic Rogue Minion that destroys a minion when comboed, Corrupting Mist, a pretty cool AOE spell, and more. The most important one was The Marsh Queen, the Hunter Quest that asks you to play seven 1-cost minions and then gives you Queen Carnassa, a 5-mana 8/8 Beast that shuffles 15 1-mana 3/2 Beasts that also draw a card. Not bad at all.
Disguised Toast Interview
Disguised Toast is one of the most popular streamers and content creators, so is definitely worth reading. It talks about how he came to play the game and why he wore a mask initially. He also talks about the importance of maintaining his brand and much, much more. If you're a fan of Disguised Toast, and who isn't, definitely check this interview out.
ShtanUdachi is the Hearthstone Winter Championship
After a fantastic tournament that culminated in a seven-game final series, ShtanUdachi beat Fr0zen to become the Hearthstone Winter Champion. His triumph didn't come easy, though, since he had to play two seven-game series on the final day, in the process fighting back from 3-1 in the semis. As , the final game of the series was between ShtanUdachi's Reno Mage and Fr0zen's Reno Warlock, which was a fine send-off for Reno Jackson. ShtanUdachi had a strong opening hand that helped him put a lot of pressure on Fr0zen, and when the latter couldn't remove a turn three Brann, the writing was on the wall. Add to that a conveniently-drawn Alexstraza that nullified Fr0zen's Reno turn, and you can see how the match ended. This was one of the first in-person major events for ShtanUdachi, and now I can't wait to see what he does at BlizzCon's World Championships.
All the HCT Decks
If you want to see what the last tournament of Year of the Kraken had in store in terms of decklists, read . It includes all the HCT decklists as well as a breakdown of all the classes that made it to the tournament. Unsurprisingly, there were no Paladins and Hunters; instead, we got 15 Warrior decks, 13 Rogue ones, 12 Mage and Warlock decks, 11 Shaman and Priest decks, and 6 Druid decks. Fr0zen was the only player who didn't bring a Warrior deck, and there were a ton of Reno decks.
Kripp's Un'Goro Card Review #2
Noxious' Un'Goro Review
Card Reveals Summary
Math is Hard
8 Cards that Got Cancelled from Gadgetzan
Blessed by the RNG Gods
Tinyfin Can Be a Lifesaver
Top 5 Underrated Cards
Best of Misclicks
As always, we have some good resources on the site for you in case you are new to the game or simply want to sharpen up your game. There's never such a thing as too much help in Hearthstone, so check out our guides.