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Hearthstone: The Rock, a paladin deck

by Matt Low RSS on Feb 11th 2014 (11 months ago)


The meta has changed! Among the classes, the gap between best and worst has narrowed significantly. Today we'll examine a couple of emerging paladin decks. Their hero power is called Reinforce which generates a 1/1 Silver Hand Recruit. The one we're looking at today is aptly titled The Rock. You'll find out why in a few moments.

Read on for the full deck list!

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Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

Hearthstone expansion details and Season 3 reminder

by Matt Low RSS on Jan 31st 2014 (12 months ago)


Hearthpwn recently translated an interview with Hearthstone Executive Producer Hamilton Chu originally published on Chinese website nga.178.com. Hearthstone's future is being discussed with the addition of new premium content.

Game content and features

They're working on new heroes like Varian instead of Garrosh for warrior decks. New card backs are also being considered and these are separate from the ones that are to be awarded during ranked season play (with even more rewards to be planned for the ranked ladder season). New game boards are also going to be added. There is no plan to adjust the length of seasons yet although the team is watching it carefully.

For the time being, Hearthstone will consist strictly of Warcraft themed elements. Anything not Warcraft related won't be added. The game will eventually feature achievements. Adventure modes will have new quests, new game stages, and add an additional 10 to 20 new cards. Expected release date will be some time after the game is official released on the PC and iPad.

Even though Hearthstone isn't out yet, the developers are looking ahead and planning the first expansion which will likely contain 100 to 200 new cards. Chu confirmed that Death Knights and Monk classes are not being worked on. 2v2 mode and observer modes are not actively being worked on (although observer mode is on the to-do list).

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Hearthstone Card Balance Philosophy

by Matt Low RSS on Jan 20th 2014 (1 year ago)

A post from Hearthstone Lead Designer, Eric Dodds, shine's a little light on the issue of card balance. We've seen assorted buffs and nerfs throughout the entire beta period of Hearthstone (some as recent as last week). Rogue decks were nerfed when they were quite strong early on. The rise of priests saw Mind Control getting shut down and brought back in line. One turn kill decks such as hunters and warriors were shut down before they spiraled too far out of control. Just recently, mage and warlocks had their key cards nerfed to help encourage more card diversity. Seeing the post from Eric allows players to really understand what guidelines the developers are trying to adhere to. What cards are considered too strong? What happens if it's too weak? What about cards that are too confusing to understand?

Read on for the full post!

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Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

Siege of Orgrimmar nerfs incoming

by Matt Low RSS on Jan 17th 2014 (1 year ago)

Watcher has announced that several bosses in Siege of Orgrimmar will be adjusted starting with next week's raid resets. The affected bosses include Galakras, Thok the Blood Thirsty, Siegecrafter Blackfuse, and Paragons of the Klaxxi on various difficulty levels. Watcher's post is a long one, so check it out behind the break.

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Filed under: News items, Raiding

Final rounds of Hearthstone beta invites complete

by Matt Low RSS on Jan 15th 2014 (1 year ago)

Check your Battle.net account! If you haven't received your beta invites yet, log in and check as the final round of invites have been handed out. Most Battle.net accounts that opted into the Hearthstone beta test before January 7th or did not have a Hearthstone license already attached to it as of January 7th should now have access. Check your emails and check your spam folders. Alternatively, just head over to the Battle.net Account Management page.

Note that the Battle.net desktop app is a requirement in order to play the game.

Not quite sure where to start? Check out a few posts here on WoW Insider that might help point you in the right direction.
Hearthstone Closed Beta Invites Status

The majority of the final round of invites to the Hearthstone closed beta test have now been completed - We have now directly flagged most Battle.net accounts that have met both of the following criteria:

  • The account was opted into the Hearthstone beta test before January 7th.
  • The account does not have a Hearthstone license already attached to it as of January 7th.

If your account was successfully flagged for beta access, your account was also sent an email with instructions on how to download and install the game. If you cannot find this email for any reason, please go to your Battle.net Account Management page - The Hearthstone license should be visible under "Summary" - "Your Game Accounts" if your account was flagged for beta access. If your account has not yet been flagged for the beta test, we are still going through all of the accounts and we will provide another update at a later time.

The Battle.net desktop app is required in order to play Hearthstone, so make sure to install the Battle.net desktop app first. If you run into issues with downloading or installing Hearthstone or with the Battle.net desktop app, please visit our Support site for more assistance.


Good luck and welcome to Hearthstone!

Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

Hearthstone: Card changes for January 13

by Matt Low RSS on Jan 13th 2014 (1 year ago)

Another set of Hearthstone balance changes is on the way. Several cards have been nerfed like Pyrobast, Blood Imp, and Sylvanas Windrunner. Unleash the Hounds has been buffed slightly. The rest are all balance related changes. Warlock board control decks will be hit fairly hard here with the change to Blood Imp. Hearthstone test season 2 started last week and already things are going to be shaken up!

My thoughts on these balance adjustments after the jump!

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Hearthstone: A look at the Warlock metagame

by Matt Low RSS on Jan 11th 2014 (1 year ago)


Welcome to Hearthstone's test Season 2! If you're looking to climb the ranked ladder, your best class would be that of a warlock. Their hero power (Life Tap) provides card advantage at the cost of your life and their minions are often cheap, strong, and downright annoying to deal with. Blood Imps help bolster minion health. The fire spells (Hellfire, Demonfire, Soulfire, etc) often help in controlling the board even if it's at a cost.

Now then, let's take a look at the four most popular Warlock deck types you'll often run into ranked play.

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Hearthstone: Season 2 begins!

by Matt Low RSS on Jan 9th 2014 (1 year ago)

It's official! Hearthstone Season 2 has begun! Everyone's ranks will reset back to 25 and the race to legendary will begin anew. Here are the expected maintenance times for each region:

NA: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM PST
EU: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM PST
KR/TW: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM PST
CN: 12:00 PM - 2:00PM PST

Don't worry, your card collections will not reset. Which deck will you plan on using on your climb up the ladder?

Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

Hearthstone test season 1 ending January 2

by Matt Low RSS on Dec 22nd 2013 (1 year ago)

Hearthstone Community Manager Keganbe chimed in to remind everyone that the first Ranked Play season will be ending soon. After the season ends, everyone's rank will be reset to 25 and the climb to the top will begin anew. We saw the fall (or at least, rebalancing) of mages in the inaugural season of Hearthstone. Test Season 2 will begin on January 2nd. We'll start seeing alternate card backs and golden heroes soon!
Hearthstone Test Season 1 End Reminder

Thank you for helping us test our very first Ranked Play season! This season is intended to conclude on January 2nd, so be sure to wrap up your climb up the ladder before that date. Once the season is over, everyone's ranking will be reset back to Rank 25, and Test Season 2 will begin!

During the course of this first test season we've gotten some very valuable feedback and data from you regarding the new Ranked Play system. We greatly appreciate your efforts in helping us test this updated Play mode, and we look forward to seeing your future feedback in Test Season 2. In the future, once the Test Seasons have concluded, we look forward to adding our Ranked Play rewards: Alternate card backs and Golden Heroes. We can't move on without your help!

Be sure to continue reporting bugs on our Bug Report forum here, and give us your feedback on Ranked Play mode on our general discussion forum here.

Thank you for helping us test Ranked Play mode!



The highest rank I've been able to reach so far is rank 8. How have your experiences in Hearthstone been? Which decks have you been using to climb the ranks? Personally, one month per season is too short. I think each season should be expanded to at least 2-3 months at most. I feel as though it takes quite a bit of time for constructed (play mode) players to get to their appropriate ranking.

Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

HearthStone open beta delayed, closed beta invites sent out

by Matt Low RSS on Dec 19th 2013 (1 year ago)

At this year's BlizzCon, the Hearthstone team announced that they were hoping to push the game into open beta this month. Unfortunately, a little more time is going to be needed. Production Director, Jason Chayes, has shared that as of today, beta invites have been sent to everyone who opted in for the Hearthstone closed beta test before December 16.

Check your email to see if you've gotten one, and be sure to check your spam folders as well. Any accounts that opted in and didn't have their keys claimed will be flagged for access at some time during early January. Opt-ins for the closed beta test will stop on January 7 and anyone who has opted in by then will be invited.

Lastly, Jason confirms that there are no plans to wipe card collections. If you haven't yet, go sign up and opt in!

See the official post after the break.

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Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

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