Farewell to Hearthstone Top Decks from Evident

We have some very sad news to share. Evident, the original creator of Hearthstone Top Decks, and the person who ran the site for many years, has retired. He did an outstanding job and turned what was initially a small fansite into what it is today – one of the most popular sources for Hearthstone decks, news and articles. We will all miss him. But before you panic, no, nothing will happen to HSTD. It will still be the same page you like to visit every day.

Before leaving, Evident wanted to share some words with all of you:

Hey everyone!

The HSTD team has seen some questions from readers about my absence, which has been unexpected and touching to know I’ve been missed! Unfortunately, my time with Hearthstone Top Decks has come to an end. I wanted to let you all know in early January, when my time was up with ZAM, but the transition process occurred during the holidays and working out the logistics took longer than anticipated.

While I’m sad to be moving on, I want to make sure everyone who followed along with me over the years knows how much I have appreciated their support. I could not have done any of this without all of you, and I will never forget the experience of building and growing this site with you.

I feel I am leaving you in the best of hands with Stonekeep. He has done an outstanding job writing for this site, and I have no doubt that he will continue to maintain the quality and consistency that you all have enjoyed over the years.

Big thank you to all the writers and friends who helped me along the way, shout out to Roffle, Stonekeep, TacoRocco, Martian, Tharid, Old Guardian, RogueZebra, and everyone else who contributed! Thanks to my lovely wife who supported this endeavor through tough beginnings and took care of the business side of things for me. Thanks to my family for the support, and to my brother giving me a helping hand with creating the Deck Builder!

Again, thank you to everyone who has been so supportive! While this is the end for me here, I’m still tinkering away over on Pro Game Guides if you want to check in on me!

And now a few more words from the new admin, Stonekeep:

Everyone,

As some of you have noticed, I’ve already been in charge of Hearthstone Top Decks for the last few weeks. It’s been a difficult and unexpected transition, but I’m very confident that me and the rest of HSTD team will be able to maintain the high level of content you’re all accustomed to. It’s really sad to see Shaun (Evident) go, since we’ve been working together on and off for years already. I’ve always looked up to him and the work he’s done. The only thing I want to say to him is – thank you, you’ve been amazing.

If you’re wondering about my credentials, I’ve been playing the game since Closed Beta (I’m just shy of 20k matches), writing about it for over 4 years, and helping run Hearthstone sites throughout most of that time (first Hearthstoneplayers, later HearthHead and finally HSTD). Now I’ll do my best to use my extensive experience in a new role – as an admin of HSTD.

I’m open to our community and always willing to listen. If you have any ideas, concerns, or just want to say anything – leave a comment here, message us on Facebook, Discord or wherever you feel like.

Thank you for putting your trust in me, and I promise that I won’t disappoint you.

Stonekeep

A Hearthstone player and writer from Poland, Stonekeep has been in a love-hate relationship with Hearthstone since Closed Beta. Over that time, he has achieved many high Legend climbs and infinite Arena runs. He's the current admin of Hearthstone Top Decks.

Check out Stonekeep on Twitter!

Leave a Reply

19 Comments

  1. […] Site News: Farewell to Hearthstone Top Decks from Evident […]

  2. DukeStarswisher
    February 25, 2019 at 7:49 am

    This site has been my main source of Hearthstone news and info since I started playing. I love the quality content with admin engagement.

    Thank you Evident for creating this great place and congratulations to Stonekeep for taking up the mantle!

  3. Jhzao82
    February 24, 2019 at 7:58 am

    Without evident I can’t play this game so long, I guess. Hope you get good luck! Hear some news.

  4. Guyopt
    February 24, 2019 at 3:59 am

    Great work! well done Evident, good luck.

  5. Kuskie
    February 23, 2019 at 8:10 pm

    Thank you Evident and Stonekeep!

  6. Cilan
    February 23, 2019 at 7:21 pm

    Thanks for the good work Evident. And Stonekeep you have always done a good job and putting out quality content. Please keep it up!

  7. Chocubu
    February 23, 2019 at 4:19 am

    Shaun, it’s been a great journey. Thanks for all the entertainment and enjoyment over the years. All the best with this new chapter of yours and take care! We know that HSTD will always be a part of you and vice versa!

    Radosław, keep it up – you’re doing fantastic! Looking forward to good times ahead!

  8. Chus
    February 23, 2019 at 1:32 am

    Thank you and good luck!

  9. ILW
    February 23, 2019 at 12:29 am

    Thanks you!
    Good Luck <3

  10. Anggadaz
    February 22, 2019 at 7:43 pm

    thank you,
    your job is worthy for many gamer

  11. Hoobles
    February 22, 2019 at 11:59 am

    Thanks for all you have done over the years, Evident! Good luck in your future endeavours. I am confident Stonekeep will continue making this site the most interesting and informative Hearthstone website out there (and the one with the best optics!).

  12. Maximal
    February 22, 2019 at 10:59 am

    Thanks for all the work you’ve done, Evident. Been a fan of the site for quite a long time, really top notch site, simplicity and quality is the key. Deckbuilder much better than any other site, great card and deck collection, many new competitive decks posted daily and all the news in one place.

  13. JoyDivision
    February 22, 2019 at 9:05 am

    I’m not sure if I understand that correctly … Evident ‘sold’ the site to ZAM (or the fusioned or whatever you’d call that) and now his business relationship with ZAM ‘ended’?

    What happened? Did they kick him? Or was that planned from the beginning? I’m curious …

    @Evident: Thank you for this great site. My main source of Hearthstone news since I started playing.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      February 22, 2019 at 12:45 pm

      Long story short, ZAM has acquired the site from Evident early in 2018, but he still had a contract to work as an admin for one more year. The contract ended in 2019. It was planned from the beginning, but early in 2019 both sides still thought about renewing the contract for some more time (that’s one of the reasons why things weren’t very clear and the announcement was a bit delayed).

  14. BalkanyeWest
    February 22, 2019 at 8:29 am

    Thank you for all your work Evident, and good luck !

  15. Joshuamiika
    February 22, 2019 at 8:26 am

    I have no doubt you’ll make a great owner, stonekeep! Thanks for the update.

  16. Tharid
    February 22, 2019 at 8:24 am

    Thanks for everything, Evident! <3