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Hearthstone Streamers Respond In Aftermath Of Controversial Blitzchung Ruling
In the days since Chung “blitzchung” Ng Wai received a one-year suspension from the Hearthstone esports scene following his support for the ongoing protests in Hong Kong in the middle of a stream, the community has become a hotbed for politically charged discussion. The scene’s subreddit—where a large portion of community news is shared and…
By Joshua Calixto Published October 11, 2019 -
CultureThe People Behind Teamfight Tactics Talk Player Expectations And ‘Garbage’ Characters
Teamfight Tactics has been out for just over a month, and already Riot games’ entry into the auto-battler genre has become one of the top 10 most popular games on Twitch, with a wide-ranging player base and a vibrant community of creators on its hands. But as a new entrant into the fledgling auto-battler canon…
By Joshua Calixto Published August 22, 2019 -
A New Card Might Make Hearthstone’s Warlock Class Relevant Again
Hearthstone’s Warlock class has seen better days. While it’s historically boasted some of the strongest decks in the game (the Zoo and Handlock varieties have been powerful for much of Hearthstone’s lifetime), the most recent “Rise of Shadows” set failed to give the class good enough cards, and as a result, the class is struggling.…
By Joshua Calixto Published July 31, 2019 -
Upcoming Hearthstone Expansion Will Bring Fresh Mechanics And Resurrect Some Classics
New expansion season has rolled around yet again for Hearthstone. With the “Saviors of Uldum” set, coming August 6, Blizzard’s digital card game is bringing game-changing area-of-effect spells, minions that resummon after dying, and powerful Quest cards that offer a new Hero Power once certain requirements are met. The “Saviors of Uldum” set calls back…
By Joshua Calixto Published July 4, 2019 -
Blizzard Responds To Accusations Of Censorship In Hearthstone‘s Latest Patch
In the lead-up to Hearthstone’s upcoming “Saviors of Uldum” expansion, Blizzard Entertainment released a patch yesterday that ran a couple housekeeping alterations to make way for the new content. The update removed some older cards from the game’s Standard mode, added some new cards to the game’s Classic set, and in a move that’s stirred…
By Joshua Calixto Published July 3, 2019 -
Brand-New Hearthstone Legendary Card Is Already One Of The Most Popular In The Game
From time to time, Blizzard gives away free Hearthstone cards. Sometimes, they are good. But sometimes, as with the recently released free Legendary card SN1P-SN4P (pronounced “snip-snap”), they are great. Seriously, if you see this thing pop up while you’re playing a game of Hearthstone, you should be scared. The card is a 3-mana Mech…
By Joshua Calixto Published June 13, 2019 -
CultureBlizzard Will Release Significant Hearthstone Buffs For The First Time Since 2014
Yesterday, Blizzard announced that it would be nerfing some of the most powerful cards in Hearthstone in an attempt to break up the dominance of two classes: Rogue and Warrior. If you’ve played the game at all since the release of its latest “Rise of Shadows” expansion, you know that these decks were so powerful…
By Joshua Calixto Published May 21, 2019 -
Hearthstone’s Latest Single-Player Addition Isn’t Free, But It Might Be The Best
With every new Hearthstone expansion, Blizzard makes a habit of releasing free single-player content, mostly as an added draw to bring players back to the fold. In the past, this took the form of grindy deck-building roguelikes and interesting puzzle packs, but the latest expansion, Rise of Shadows, has switched the routine up a bit.…
By Joshua Calixto Published May 17, 2019 -
CultureArchivist Elysiana Is A Fun Hearthstone Card When Your Opponent Isn’t Using It
Up until the launch of this month’s “Rise of Shadows” expansion, Hearthstone was ruled by a few select cards that provide what fans call “infinite” value: Once you played them, you could benefit from their effects for the rest of the game. Deathstalker Rexxar, for example, provided infinite value by letting you add a powerful…
By Joshua Calixto Published April 26, 2019 -
Hearthstone‘s New Expansion Is Bringing The Game Back To Its Roots
On its surface, today’s new Hearthstone expansion, Rise of Shadows, looks like just another batch of new cards. But paired with the Year of the Dragon rotation—a major rule change that also drops today and will make some of the game’s most powerful cards illegal in the game’s popular Standard mode—the set looks like it…
By Joshua Calixto Published April 9, 2019 -
CultureMagic: The Gathering‘s Next Expansion Will Radically Alter The Game
Wizards of the Coast is pulling out all the stops for Magic: The Gathering’s April 25 expansion, Ravnica: War of the Spark. The latest is a beautifully animated cinematic lore trailer that launched at PAX East over the weekend. In it, a brooding, sinister take on Linkin Park’s “In The End” plays while Planeswalker Liliana…
By Joshua Calixto Published April 2, 2019 -
Blizzard Removes Two Of Hearthstone‘s Most Overpowered Cards From Standard Play
Every year, Hearthstone enters a new competitive season that brings sweeping changes and dictates what the game will look like over the coming 12 months. This year, in proclaiming 2019 as the Year of the Dragon, Blizzard has announced a series of changes that will alter powerful cards, switch up the game’s approach to single-player…
By Joshua Calixto Published March 1, 2019 -
Hearthstone‘s New Tiger Card Will Tear You To Shreds
It was difficult to gauge the quality of Shirvallah, the Tiger before the Hearthstone card released as part of the game’s most recent set, Rastakhan’s Rumble. With its impossibly high Mana cost of 25, it was one of those cards whose strict requirement meant that its true value could only be tested after release. On…
By Joshua Calixto Published January 25, 2019 -
Hearthstone Just Got Some Of Its Biggest Nerfs Yet
Yesterday, Blizzard dropped a Hearthstone balance update that could easily qualify as the most significant set of nerfs the game has ever seen. The Druid class, which from Hearthstone’s launch has been defined by the ability to “ramp” up its Mana pool and play more expensive cards at a faster rate than the opponent, will see…
By Joshua Calixto Published December 20, 2018 -
Everything You Need To Know About Hearthstone‘s Next Expansion, Rastakhan’s Rumble
Blizzard has now announced all of the cards from Hearthstone’s upcoming Rastakhan’s Rumble expansion, and once again, it looks like the Hearthstone metagame is in for a huge shake-up once it drops next week. On top of all the new mechanics that the set will introduce, there also seem to be a few cards that…
By Joshua Calixto Published November 30, 2018 -
Hearthstone‘s Most Entertaining Card Turns Every Game Into Chaos
Hearthstone games rarely go according to plan. Sometimes you draw the wrong cards and have to make the most of the situation. Sometimes your opponent discards your most important combo piece and you have to find a new way to win the game. Once you play the game enough, you start to get familiar with…
By Joshua Calixto Published November 20, 2018 -
When Hearthstone Pros Get Bored, Out Come The Wacky Decks
Hearthstone’s Boomsday Project expansion has been live for two months now, and as tends to happen at the end of the expansion cycle, the game is beginning to feel like a waiting room for the December 4 launch of the next set, Rastakhan’s Rumble. Iterations of Hearthstone’s most powerful decks have reigned for months, and…
By Joshua Calixto Published November 8, 2018 -
Three Powerful Hearthstone Cards Just Got Nerfed
If you’ve played any Hearthstone since the Boomsday expansion launched in August, you’ve probably gotten destroyed by a couple cards time and time again. Earlier this week, Blizzard announced that three of those cards will be getting nerfed, and today those nerfs are live. At the top of the nerf list is the dastardly Giggling…
By Joshua Calixto Published October 18, 2018 -
‘Zoo Warlock’ Is A Powerful Hearthstone Deck That Anyone Can Play
Hearthstone decks come and go, but certain strategies are so prevalent that they never really disappear. Minion-heavy “Zoo Warlock” decks have always been around in some way or another, but throughout the game’s current Boomsday Project expansion, it’s been one of the strongest decks in the game. Just as “aggro” decks aim to kill the…
By Joshua Calixto Published October 12, 2018 -
Hearthstone Is Getting New Classic Cards And A More Beginner-Friendly Ranking System
New Hearthstone expansions come out all the time, but it’s fairly rare for the base experience of the game to change outside of that. Earlier this week, Blizzard announced a few changes—including some new cards and tweaks to the ranked ladder system—that set the tone for how the game will evolve in the future. These…
By Joshua Calixto Published September 20, 2018
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