In Hearthstone, there’s a near-infinite number of ways to kick your opponents while they’re down, and we’ve all had them done to us. But every so often, the righteous card gods descend from the green felt heavens to smite asshole opponents in a way that’s so unsuspected, so wholly satisfying, it makes us feel like perhaps there is justice in this world.
One particularly brutal moment of schadenfreude played out live on stream earlier this week, and it’s a real life-affirmer.
When the clip starts, streamer SaveFile17 has pretty much lost the game. He’s out of cards, he’s out of minions, and his opponent has lethal damage on the board. All the opponent has to do is target his hero and deal the damage.
Most of us, assuming the opponent is an average Hearthstone sadist who wants to stuff your nose in the stench of defeat until the turn clock expires, would simply concede at this point. But SaveFile lets it play out. And I bet he’s glad he did.
In a risky attempt to style on SaveFile, his opponent plays Deathwing, a 10-mana card that clears the board and summons a massive 12/12 minion, discarding your entire hand in the process. This play is flamboyant in its excess; the Hearthstone equivalent of hitting on a 20 or throwing a last-second Hail Mary pass when you’re six points ahead.
On top of this play’s pure stupidity, the opponent has made a fatal miscalculation, failing to take into account that SaveFile has a Deathrattle minion on the board that’ll resummon a poisonous minion capable of killing his Deathwing. With no cards left in hand, he’s basically handed the game over on a silver platter.
With a few more careful, wise plays, SaveFile forces his opponent to concede in what we can only imagine to be a deep, soul-penetrating shame. For once, justice has been served and all is right in the world.
A couple lessons we can all take from this clip: One, never concede if you think there’s a chance your opponent will spike the ball on the 1-yard line. Two, if you’ve got lethal damage and wanna flex, do the usual thing and let the clock run out or play your crappy 1-drops—just don’t forget to actually kill your opponent.