Hearthaholics: A Hearthstone Podcast

Refreshed and ready to go after a holiday break, Andres and Bryan are back to mediate a metered meta meeting. The Meta Mashup is their attempt to provide a field report of what they've been seeing out there on the ladder, and clue you listeners in on some of the choice new decks seeing play. League of Explorers has ushered in a new era of exploration and experimentation, and we at Hearthaholics couldn't be more excited! (It's a turn of phrase; don't be so literal!)

References

Overload Shaman: https://imgur.com/lF0G6hs
Tempo Raptor: https://imgur.com/FyAXLsW
Rattle Rogue: https://imgur.com/eux79HM
Peddler Zoo (Flood Zoo): https://tempostorm.com/hearthstone/decks/flood-zoo-meta-snapshot-40
JJ Freeze Mage: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/370184-super-jjs-freeze-mage-from-seatstory
Aggro Token Druid: https://imgur.com/Y63zvbJ

Twitter: @Hearthaholics
Andres: @IplaiGames
Bryan: @LordMeldorr

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmxmGzLSJjn_wGo0H9uk8A

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearthaholics-A-Hearthstone-Podcast/1821911224700937?sk=timeline

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/al/podcast/hearthaholics-hearthstone/id983756722?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hearthaholics

Our theme song is Let the Hunt Begin, arranged by Masseve. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgu7x8KjRk
http://www.massevemusic.com/

Hearthaholics is a production of the Whales are Whales network. Find more awesome shows like this at www.whalesarewhales.com!

It's time for the Thanksgiving PSA! Wherein Bryan explains our Thanksgiving break and addresses an issue that's been cropping up regarding audio sync issues and interruptions. We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, and will talk to you again next week!

Okay! So turns out Reno Jackson was pretty good! Undeterred, however, Bryan and Andres have returned to wax analytical about the remaining class cards (aka, the interesting cards) from League of Explorers.

This review comes in two parts: Neutral cards, and class cards. Each card will be assigned a letter grade by Andres and Bryan independently, and their quest to finally have a good argument or at least mild disagreement continues throughout. One thing we do stress is that no opinions are objective or have the whole picture, so while we're giving our thoughts on the likelihood each of these cards will eventually see play, the fun will be trying them out and seeing what happens. So make sure to take what you learn from this review and start playing some Hearthstone!

References

League of Explorers Cards: http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/The_League_of_Explorers
Card Evaluation Episode: http://www.whalesarewhales.com/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast/2015/11/13/bg7e0sxh1bpy0rytmv7lazciqfao22

Twitter: @Hearthaholics
Andres: @IplaiGames
Bryan: @LordMeldorr

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmxmGzLSJjn_wGo0H9uk8A

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearthaholics-A-Hearthstone-Podcast/1821911224700937?sk=timeline

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/al/podcast/hearthaholics-hearthstone/id983756722?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hearthaholics

Our theme song is Let the Hunt Begin, arranged by Masseve. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgu7x8KjRk
http://www.massevemusic.com/

Hearthaholics is a production of the Whales are Whales network. Find more awesome shows like this at www.whalesarewhales.com!

What would a new Hearthstone expansion be without a cornucopia of guesses and predictions from every corner of this fine internet of ours? Andres and Bryan aren't ones to miss out on the fun (well, Bryan actually does; frequently. But that's another story!),  and they've brought their A-game to the first full Hearthaholics set review. (They also brought their F-game for cards like Fossilized Devilsaur, in case you were wondering.)

The review will be in two parts: Neutral cards, and class cards. Each card will be assigned a letter grade by Andres and Bryan independently, and their quest to finally have a good argument or at least mild disagreement continues throughout. One thing we do stress is that no opinions are objective or have the whole picture, so while we're giving our thoughts on the likelihood each of these cards will eventually see play, the fun will be trying them out and seeing what happens. So make sure to take what you learn from this review and start playing some Hearthstone!

References

League of Explorers Cards: http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/The_League_of_Explorers
Card Evaluation Episode: http://www.whalesarewhales.com/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast/2015/11/13/bg7e0sxh1bpy0rytmv7lazciqfao22

Twitter: @Hearthaholics
Andres: @IplaiGames
Bryan: @LordMeldorr

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmxmGzLSJjn_wGo0H9uk8A

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearthaholics-A-Hearthstone-Podcast/1821911224700937?sk=timeline

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/al/podcast/hearthaholics-hearthstone/id983756722?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hearthaholics

Our theme song is Let the Hunt Begin, arranged by Masseve. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgu7x8KjRk
http://www.massevemusic.com/

Hearthaholics is a production of the Whales are Whales network. Find more awesome shows like this at www.whalesarewhales.com!

With League of Explorer's beginning its epic quest for treasure and glory, we decided now would be an excellent time to run over some of the basics of card evaluation. After all, half the fun of new cards is trying to figure out whether they're actually worth playing! Andres and Bryan share some of the primary ways to analyze a new card, including the vanilla test, card potential, and a neat trick known as quadrant theory. In addition to being a useful guide for the basics of card evaluation, this also serves as a baseline for how Hearthaholics will be reviewing cards going forward; so if you like what you hear, be sure to check out our two-part League of Explorers set review that shall soon be rolling out with all the force of an over-sized boulder!

References

Evaluating New Cards: http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/pvs-playhouse-evaluating-new-cards/
Quadrant Theory: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/li/quadrant-theory-2014-08-20

Twitter: @Hearthaholics
Andres: @IplaiGames
Bryan: @LordMeldorr

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmxmGzLSJjn_wGo0H9uk8A

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearthaholics-A-Hearthstone-Podcast/1821911224700937?sk=timeline

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/al/podcast/hearthaholics-hearthstone/id983756722?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hearthaholics

Our theme song is Let the Hunt Begin, arranged by Masseve. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgu7x8KjRk
http://www.massevemusic.com/

Hearthaholics is a production of the Whales are Whales network. Find more awesome shows like this at www.whalesarewhales.com!

Bryan has always been a bit confused about the Hearthstone tournament scene. This mostly comes from the fact that he hasn't watched many tournaments, and thus is pretty clueless about the upcoming Blizzcon World Championship. Andres, in the goodness of his heart, has decided to sit Bryan down and run through a class of Hearthstone Tournament Fundamentals 101. What are formats? What's the Conquest format? What are some good strategies for the Conquest format? Who are these up and coming youngsters playing in the upcoming championship? If you've been looking for an introduction to get you excited and relatively informed about the big games to come, you've come to the right place!

Unfortunately, due to scheduling shenanigans, this episode is coming out a little later than we would have liked, since the championship has already begun. There's still plenty of relevant information in the episode, however, and at least as of this post we haven't been proven utterly wrong yet! Go us!

References

https://tempostorm.com/articles/understanding-the-strategic-nature-of-the-conquest-format

Twitter: @Hearthaholics
Andres: @IplaiGames
Bryan: @LordMeldorr

TAC Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TACPodcast/

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmxmGzLSJjn_wGo0H9uk8A

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearthaholics-A-Hearthstone-Podcast/1821911224700937?sk=timeline

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/al/podcast/hearthaholics-hearthstone/id983756722?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hearthaholics

Our theme song is Let the Hunt Begin, arranged by Masseve. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgu7x8KjRk
http://www.massevemusic.com/

Hearthaholics is a member of the Whales are Whales network. Find more awesome shows like this at www.whalesarewhales.com!

This is it! The climax! The finale! The omega! The terminus! The coup de grace! The swan song! The denouement! The last part of our 3-part Beginner's Guide! This week we focus on the last great fundamental of Hearthstone strategy: predicting the unpredictable.

There's a lot of unknown information in Hearthstone, from what your opponent has in his hand to where a Mad Bomber is going to lob his creations of chaos, but there are ways to analyze and control this information so that it works for rather than against you. Throughout this episode we'll explain the concept of ranges, and how this can be learned and applied to everyday play of Hearthstone to make you a better and more informed player. Probably. (Statistics joke!)

This will hopefully serve both as a useful introductory lesson for new players as well as a fun refresher for old pros, but be sure to let us know what you think through any of the many options below!

Also, be sure to check out the Episode Outline, which is an article based on our show notes that you can either read in tandem with the episode or even on its own. I know I always like to have written resources I can go through at my own pace, so we hope you'll find it helpful as well!

References

Poker Concepts in Hearthstone: https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveHS/comments/2yig2r/poker_concepts_in_hearthstone_chapter_1_ranges/ 
Tempo Storm Meta Snapshot: https://tempostorm.com/hearthstone/meta-snapshot/meta-snapshot-35-5000-patrons-in-the-wind
LiquidHearth Power Rank 10.2: http://www.liquidhearth.com/forum/hearthstone/497126-power-ranks-102-the-throne-is-empty

Twitter: @Hearthaholics
Andres: @IplaiGames
Bryan: @LordMeldorr

TAC Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TACPodcast/

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmxmGzLSJjn_wGo0H9uk8A

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearthaholics-A-Hearthstone-Podcast/1821911224700937?sk=timeline

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/al/podcast/hearthaholics-hearthstone/id983756722?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hearthaholics

Our theme song is Let the Hunt Begin, arranged by Masseve. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgu7x8KjRk
http://www.massevemusic.com/

Hearthaholics is a production of the Whales are Whales network. Find more awesome shows like this at www.whalesarewhales.com!

After Part 1 of our guide you should have a pretty good understanding of the fundamentals of Hearthstone. (It would do wonders for our self-esteem if this is indeed the case!) The next question is: how can these be fundamentals be applied to actually winning the game? That's where deck archetypes come into play. Players have created a plethora of decks that utilize and take advantage of those fundamentals in different ways, be it tempo, card advantage, or value. Archetypes are a way to generalize this wide variety of decks into a few broad categories that quickly convey what core concepts the deck is focusing on and how it will use these to achieve victory. Like all generalizations, these are far from perfect, and there are a lot of blurred lines, but they do create a great starting point for understanding what makes decks tick, and how to play both as and against them in the many games to come.

This will hopefully serve both as a useful introductory lesson for new players as well as a fun refresher for old pros, but be sure to let us know what you think through any of the many options below!

Also, be sure to check out the Episode Outline, which is an article based on our show notes that you can either read in tandem with the episode or even on its own. I know I always like to have written resources I can go through at my own pace, so we hope you'll find it helpful as well!

References

Budget Face Hunter: http://hearthstoneplayers.com/shengs-budget-face-hunter-deck/
Budget Aggro Paladin: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/270278-budget-aggro-paladin-aggrodin-legend-grinder
Budget Zoolock: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/267487-budget-zoolock-aggro-legend-grinder-guide
Budget Midrange Hunter: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/255794-budget-mid-range-hunter
Tiddler Talks Patron: http://www.liquidhearth.com/forum/hearthstone/496678-tiddler-talks-patron

Twitter: @Hearthaholics
Andres: @IplaiGames
Bryan: @LordMeldorr

TAC Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TACPodcast/

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmxmGzLSJjn_wGo0H9uk8A

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearthaholics-A-Hearthstone-Podcast/1821911224700937?sk=timeline

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/al/podcast/hearthaholics-hearthstone/id983756722?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hearthaholics

Our theme song is Let the Hunt Begin, arranged by Masseve. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgu7x8KjRk
http://www.massevemusic.com/

Hearthaholics is a production of the Whales are Whales network. Find more awesome shows like this at www.whalesarewhales.com!

The Hearthaholics have returned! Andres and Bryan are back and ready to teach some fools (aka, intelligent and open-minded listeners!) some Hearthstone!  Join us for the inaugural episode of our new format: an in-depth strategy workshop tackling a different aspect of Hearthstone each week.  This week is going to be Part 1 of our introductory Beginner's Guide, where we'll be covering the core concepts of Hearthstone. As good a place to start as any, eh?

This will hopefully serve both as a useful introductory lesson for new players as well as a fun refresher for old pros, but be sure to let us know what you think through any of the many options below!

Also, be sure to check out the Episode Outline, which is an article based on our show notes that you can either read in tandem with the episode or even on its own. I know I always like to have written resources I can go through at my own pace, so hopefully you'll find it helpful as well!

Twitter: @Hearthaholics
Andres: @IplaiGames
Bryan: @LordMeldorr

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmxmGzLSJjn_wGo0H9uk8A

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearthaholics-A-Hearthstone-Podcast/1821911224700937?sk=timeline

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/al/podcast/hearthaholics-hearthstone/id983756722?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hearthaholics-a-hearthstone-podcast

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hearthaholics

Our theme song is Let the Hunt Begin, arranged by Masseve. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgu7x8KjRk
http://www.massevemusic.com/

Hearthaholics is a production of the Whales are Whales network. Find more awesome shows like this at www.whalesarewhales.com!

 

 

Things are changing for Hearthaholics going forward, and Bryan's here to spend a little time explaining what exactly is going on. In short, Billy will be taking an extended break from Hearthaholics due to scheduling conflicts, a new show format and focus will be starting next week, and Bryan is really bad at writing talking points, as you will hear.

Sound effects are from Freesound and RoyalFreeSound.

Music is from Incompetech.