Month: June 2017

SeatStory Cup VII Hearthstone tournament decks, results, and analysis

SeatStory Cup VII Hearthstone tournament was played from 22 to 25 June 2017. It was a major LAN invitational tournament with 32 players, who played two group stages (32 players and 16 players in groups of four players) followed by top-8 single-elimination playoffs. The group stages were played in best-of-five Last Hero Standing with one ban format, and the playoffs were played in best-of-seven Last Hero Standing with one ban format. The tournament featured a $20,000 prize pool.

In this post, I will take a look at the decks and results of the playoff stage (top 8), including class distribution, archetypes, and tech choices.

The analysis here is shorter than usual, as SeatStory Cup was extraordinarily difficult to analyze: decks were not public and much of the casting was focused on memes over gameplay, so viewers were not told about bans, for example, and in some cases it was not even possible to find out what classes players had brought to the tournament. I believe there is nonetheless something of value in this brief overview.

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Answering Tokens with Jade Druid: Wild Pyromancer or Starfall?

While the traditional Jade Druid core is holding strong as evidenced by its solid performance at Dreamhack Summer Hearthstone Grand Prix, alternative builds have also gained some ground recently.

With Evolve Shaman and Aggro Druid being such prevalent threats to Jade Druid, several players have looked for an answer to token boards. The most common answer right now is the inclusion of Wild Pyromancer. But what about Starfall?

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Dreamhack Summer 2017 Hearthstone Grand Prix top 16 decks, results, and analysis

Dreamhack Summer 2017 Hearthstone Grand Prix was played from 17 to 19 June 2017. It was a major LAN tournament with a 200-player Swiss (9 rounds) followed by top-16 single-elimination playoffs, all played in a best-of-five Last Hero Standing with one ban format. The tournament featured a $25,000 prize pool.

In this post, I will take a look at the decks and results of the playoff stage (top 16), including class distribution, archetypes, and tech choices.

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How to play Neirea’s StarLadder Jade Druid (Hearthstone deck)

Jade Druid is a popular deck in control lineups: with its infinite Jade Golems, it is the ultimate control killer and beats most other control decks at ease. For Hearthstone StarLadder Season 3 Finals, Neirea brought this list that is a mix between old and new: splashing in one copy of Wild Pyromancer and pone copy of Acolyte of Pain for some improved early game and cycle, but otherwise remaining true to the basic construction of the archetype.

In How to play series, I take a look at interesting decks and provide brief details on how to successfully pilot the deck together with example gameplay videos.

Let’s take a look at this Jade Druid variant.

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How to play Rdu’s Anti-Aggro Discover Mage (Top tier Hearthstone deck)

Discover Mage, Gunther Mage, Burn Mage – no matter how you choose to call it, this archetype has really had an impact on the recent Hearthstone meta. Rdu brought an anti-aggro version of the list to StarLadder finals, and did extremely well with it – despite facing multiple control decks!

In How to play series, I take a look at interesting decks and provide brief details on how to successfully pilot the deck together with example gameplay videos.

Let’s take a look at why Discover Mage is so successful.

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StarLadder Hearthstone StarSeries Season 3 (2017) Finals decks, results, and analysis

StarLadder Hearthstone StarSeries Season 3 Finals were played this weekend to determine the winner of this global major series with a $30,000 prize pool.

In this post, I will take a look at the decks and results of the LAN finals (top 8), including class distribution, archetypes, and archetype performance.

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How to play Evolve Shaman / Token Shaman (Top tier Hearthstone deck)

Evolve Shaman is a hugely popular Hearthstone deck right now, and no wonder – it combines the aggression of two copies of Bloodlust with the immense mid-game value of Doppelgangster and Evolve package.

In How to play series, I take a look at interesting decks and provide brief details on how to successfully pilot the deck together with example gameplay videos.

Let’s dive in to the world of Evolve Shaman!

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How to play Kranich’s Jade Elemental Token Shaman (Top tier Hearthstone deck)

Kranich brought a bit of a different take on Token Shaman to the Hearthstone Asia-Pacific Spring Playoffs, and piloted it all the way to the top four!

In How to play series, I take a look at interesting decks and provide brief details on how to successfully pilot the deck together with example gameplay videos.

Let’s see what makes Kranich’s deck so different from the rest!

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How to play Kranich’s Secret Hunter (top tier Hearthstone deck)

Secret Hunter is back! Kranich brought this aggressive anti-aggro aggro deck to the Hearthstone Asia-Pacific Spring Playoffs, and piloted it all the way to the top four.

In How to play series, I take a look at interesting decks and provide brief details on how to successfully pilot the deck together with example gameplay videos.

Let’s dive in to the world of Secret Hunter!

Continue reading “How to play Kranich’s Secret Hunter (top tier Hearthstone deck)”