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Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the third episode of The Hearthstone Inquirer: Your
one stop for Hearthstone News and Rumours, Community Spotlight and the Deck of the Week.
My name is Striketh and I'll be your host.
This week in the News our topics include:
- Prominent Hearthstone streamer Applejacked diagnosed with skin cancer
- Windows 8 Stability Issues causing grief for Hearthstone players
- XFire Dispute halts SoulFire Masters tournament - Release of the Naxxramas Construct Quarter
Cancer has become more and more of an issue as years go on. It seems like nearly every
week someone we know or love is announcing to the world that, yes, they too have cancer.
Many forms of cancer have no cure, currently, and the treatments for cancer are often damaging
to the body leaving the patient in worse health than before the treatment even began. It's
with a heavy heart this week that we found out that Applejacked, a popular and upbeat
Hearthstone streamer, has contracted Melanoma which is the most dangerous form of skin cancer.
This news shocked his fans as Applejacked is in amazing physical health, is always full
of spirit and vitality when he streams, and is still quite young at only 25 years old.
He's touted as one of the most responsive streamers in Hearthstone as he's always interacting
with his chat, always keeps things positive and puts on a fun show throughout the course
of his stream. Luckily, Melanoma can be treated and potentially cured, if caught early enough,
so there's still hope that Applejacked will make a full recovery. Due to the fact that
he's in such great shape and because of his younger age he should also be able to recover
from any of the more harsh treatments involved with cancerous cells.
Currently, Ghekkoh, who is a long time supporter and follower of Applejacked is running a charity
stream for the American Melanoma Foundation throughout the course of this week as a tribute
to Applejacked. I've placed the link to his Twitch channel in the description beneath
this video so you can tune in and help support not only Applejacked, but others whom are
unfortunate enough to fall victim to this affliction.
In Applejacked's latest VLOG he says, "I don't wanna see any sad faces. All happy faces,
hearts, and good stuff, because that's all that matters." Simple and to the point, but
his message is clear. Stay positive and let's help him, as a community, get through this.
Next up, the latest version of Hearthstone is currently causing severe problems for users
of Windows 8 including: - Stuttering and poor frame rates
- Crashing - OS crashes when exiting Hearthstone
- Problems with alt-tabbing, minimizing and closing the game
Blizzard has released an announcement on their forums highlighting this issue, but 5 days
later there is still no fix in place to rectify these problems. The only work-around currently
to help alleviate some of these issues is to run Hearthstone in Windows 7 compatibility
mode in Windows 8. So, if you're currently experiencing any of these symptoms when attempting
play the game it's my recommendation to try setting your game in compatibility mode. I've
included links to the relevant post with instructions and further details in the description beneath
this video, so please check it out if you're on Windows 8.
This week on the MoreForGaming website it was announced by CEO Micheal Salmon that former
MoreForGaming tournament admin and XFire Community Relations, Jordan Trabue, currently holds
over $600 in gamer prize money and, thus far, has been unwilling to return it. Since the
SoulFire Masters tournament, run by MoreForGaming, has utilized this platform up until now this
has caused high tensions between the two. Unfortunately, until this situation is resolved
and MoreForGaming has migrated to a new tournament platform, the SoulFire Masters tournament
will be on hold. This means that players whom were participating in the weekly events in
order to earn points towards the eventual $10,000 tournament later this year will be
unable to do so until this situation has been resolved.
No mention of reimbursement for tournament winners has been made by MoreForGaming yet,
so if you are one of the winners and have not yet received your payment it's recommended
that you contact MoreForGaming for further details. A link to the announcement can be
found in the description beneath this video. It's my hope that this situation can be resolved
peacefully and for the money distributed to the players that earned it. It's situations
like this which tend to give ESports a bad name and XFire's credibility as a platform
can be called into question by their continued support of their employee whom is currently
holding player earned money for himself.
No comments were available on this situation from Mr. Trabue at the time of this recording.
This week in Naxxramas the Construct Quarter was released. Excitement levels are at an
all time high, especially for priest players, as a long awaited card has finally been released:
Zombie Chow. While at first glance it may look terrible due to the deathrattle, the
potential for this card is massive especially when combo'd with cards like Auchenai Soulpriest.
Other cards released this week are: Death's Bite, a warrior weapon with 4 attack and 2
durability which does 1 damage to all minions on the board when its charges are exhausted.
This is the only weapon with a deathrattle in the game and it should thrill players who
gravitate towards both enrage or control warrior builds. Next is the Dark Cultist, a 3 cost
3 / 4 which gives a friendly minion +3 health when it dies. This is a massive card for Priest
whom, up until recently, was the least popular class for good reason. The combinations and
potential for this card are massive and it is, easily, the best 3 drop minion in the
game. Expect to see a resurgence of Priest both on the ladder and in competitive play
this week as a result.
Our next card is Undertaker, a 1 cost 1/2, who gains +1/+1 for each minion with Deathrattle
summoned onto the board. This card has the same stats as the Haunted Creeper for 1 mana
less, and it can be heavily buffed. While it is vulnerable to silence and early game
removal, this is still a fairly interesting card. Expect to see a large number of zoo
and aggro players experimenting with this card as they typically already run cards such
as Nerubian Egg, Haunted Creeper, and so on already.
The last two common cards this week are Mad Scientist and Wailing Soul. Mad Scientist
is a 2 cost 2/2 that puts a random secret from your deck onto the battlefield when it
dies. This card combos extremely well with Mage and Paladin so it's going to be interesting
to see how this works in actual play. Next week when the final quarter is released and
Paladin gets their new secret this could also cause a rise in Paladin decks running secrets
once again, so keep an eye out for that. The next card, Wailing Soul, also has a very unique
function. It's a 4 cost 3/5 which actually silences all of your own minions when it's
played. This is a battlecry so it can't be silenced. The uses for this card are obvious
at first, but I feel like much of the potential for this card hasn't been explored yet. I'm
excited to see whether this is the final nail in Freeze Mage's coffin, and whether it has
any affect on classes like Paladin which tend to rely on things like Humility, Aldor Peacekeeper
and Equality to control the board or if the card will end up falling into obscurity like
some of the other cards released in Naxxramas so far. Stoneskin Gargoyle, I'm looking at
you.
The Legendary for this week is rather unique as it actually consists of two cards instead
of one. These are: Stalaag and Feugen. Interestingly, if both of these cards are played and die
in a game they summon Thaddius who comes into play as an 11/11 token. While I feel that
it may be difficult to consistently pull off this combo it definitely has some potential.
Even on their own the stats of these cards aren't bad. Stalaag is a 7/4 for 5 mana while
Feugen is a 4/7 for 5 mana.
Overall, this is a really exciting week for Hearthstone and I can't wait to see how the
meta evolves as the week goes on.
Lastly, the Community Tournaments for the week. As always, these tournaments can potentially
win you a seat in the Blizzcon qualifiers so if you're interested in making it to the
pro's then these tournaments are your best best for doing so. Also, please note that
the Soulfire tournaments will be excluded this week due to the ongoing problems between
MoreForGaming and XFire.
Today, August 13th, includes: The National ESL Pre Season Cup #54 which starts at 5 pm
PDT / 8 pm EDT On Saturday, August 16th, you'll find: The
ZOTAC Hearthstone NA Cup #29 beginning at 3 pm PDT / 6 pm EDT, the ZOTAC Hearthstone
EU Cup #29 starting at 1400 CEST, and the Topdeck EU #34 which begins at 1 PM UTC -4.
Sunday, August 17th, you'll find The National ESL Pre Season Cup #55 beginning at 3 pm PDT
/ 6 pm EDT and the Tt eSPORTS Summer Challenge Cup #12 at 1600 CEST.
As always, links to these tournaments can be found in the description beneath this video
so if you're interested in participating please make sure you sign up as soon as possible
so you don't miss out! And that wraps up the news for this week, so without further adieu,
let's take a look at our Community Spotlight member for this week.
This week we're taking a look at a Hearthstone player who is not only known for his innovation
in the game, but also for his dedication to his fans. Extremely verbose, clear and concise
whenever he's streaming, he's one of the best streamers you can watch to learn the game.
He's ranked well in several tournaments, recently coming in 2nd after a long and gruelling final
set of matches against Amaz, and on top of all of this he also provides Hearthstone coaching
for a nominal fee. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you Realz.
For Realz it all started in World of Warcraft where he spent years as a prominent professional
player in the 3 vs 3 arena tournaments. He resides on Mana Grind currently, who up until
recently hasn't been much of a competitive team, has won 4 live tournaments, and has
even made it all the way to Blizzcon. Despite all of these achievements, Realz remains a
lower key member of the Hearthstone society. He doesn't get involved in drama, he runs
a calm and relaxing stream and his knowledge and foresight are indispensable even to seasoned
Hearthstone players. While you may not always agree with his plays, I guarantee you'll always
understand why he made them.
Whether you're new to Hearthstone or a veteran player I recommend stopping by and checking
out his stream. Give him a follow and maybe even a subscription if you like what you see.
He often streams later at night, but he'll stream for a solid 6 - 8 hours or more in
one sitting, so there's certainly plenty of opportunities to check him out. As per usual,
the link to his stream can be found in the description beneath this video.
And finally, we find ourselves at the deck of the week. Each week I look at what deck
builders in the Hearthstone community manage to come up with, try them out and eventually
select a deck that is both unique and fun. This week we're taking a look at the Army
of Barkness deck by TheQuery on hearthpwn.com. No, that's not a typo. This is a Druid deck,
folks, and it actually utilizes Soul of the Forest.
The way the deck works is similar to zoo in many ways and it's incredibly cheap at only
1,000 dust. So pretty much anyone can just pick this deck up and have at it, though of
course, there are key cards from Naxxramas included in the deck so you'll need to have
at least the relevant wings unlocked. The goal of the deck is simple: Fill the board
with minions, protect them long enough to draw into Soul of the Forest, and then destroy
your opponent with an unstoppable army. The dream is to get Baron Rivendare on the board
along with a Nerubian Egg, double Soul of the Forest and an activator to pop the egg
such as Abusive Sergeant.
This is an extremely fun deck to play. It's fast and fluid and, surprisingly, it works
despite the limited draw potential of the Druid. Warlock obviously has the advantage
in regards to card draw, which is the reason Zoolock is so prominent in the meta, but this
deck certainly has its place. Druid's ability to remove smaller threats can definitely give
you a huge advantage and tempo swing over some of the other classes. When it wins it
wins hard, but when it loses it also loses hard. Rarely do you find yourself in a close
game when playing this deck which is much how it goes with decks of this type.
With all that being said, Soul of the Forest is a card that sees so little play in Hearthstone
that it's sure to catch your opponent by surprise. Pop a Haunted Creeper, cast Soul of the Forest
on your minions on the board, and watch as your opponent visibly freaks out over how
to deal with these previously non-threatening minions.
All in all, if you're tired of running ramp or token druid then this is certainly a fun
alternative to turn to. While I wouldn't expect this deck to get you legend, it's certainly
different from the norm and should provide you ample amounts of fun which, at the end
of the day, is why we all play video games in the first place.
And that concludes episode 3 of The Hearthstone Inquirer! If you liked the video please let
me know by clicking the like button below. Otherwise, if you disliked it please click
the dislike button and let me know why in the comments section! Your feedback is always
appreciated. Also, should you have any nominations for the Community Spotlight or Deck of the
Week please let me know and I'll take them into consideration for the next episode!
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time! This is Striketh, checking out.