Honestly this review is refreshing considering a lot of the youtube videos I’ve seen for Snap are sponsored and so don’t necessarily talk about the pitfalls or the poor progression.

If this style of gameplay (ie where you don’t attack but can modify your opponents cards in various ways and play for points) interests you, but you’re turned off either by the Marvel IP or by the predatory monetization, I would recommend trying out Gwent (or giving it another shot if you haven’t played it in a while). There’s definitely negatives to Gwent, but they recently made their battle passes have infinite duration which makes it much more friendly if you end up wanting to spend money on it.

Can confirm that this deck is strong and imo easier to play than Shark Miracle and even better than Maestra lists.

When Tempostorm had their History of Hearthstone tournament, I found myself getting nostalgic for a period I didn’t even play in. For a while I even watched old Trolden videos and tournaments from around launch (and Hearthpwn has decks from 2014 too), so I’m very excited to play this.

Now, will the meta get figured out extremely quickly? Yes. Will “optimal” deck lists be discovered within a month or so? Probably. Will there be any meta fluidity? Probably not. But still, I think it will be a fun enough diversion. I can honestly see myself maiming the format (though I’m probably a minority) since I’ll be able to play miracle rogue endlessly.

Obviously this would only go into extremely grindy control decks that can afford to have 5 extra cards for the rest of the match. Obviously Warrior, but maybe has a home in Priest or Shaman as well. And for Wild, we’ll have to see whether C’thun triggers before or after Baku, as this could be an option to experiment with for Odd Warrior.

Seems good in Druid, getting this out of deck with Guardian Animals is fine, and if you happen to draw it earlier in the game you can get a 5 mana 8/8 rush later on.

It will fluctuate from month to month since only the top 10% of legend players get the 11x bonus.

I don’t think this is correct. I’m pretty sure you are always matched by MMR, even after your star bonus runs out. For instance, when I was playing in low legend I started queuing into Diamond players, who presumably didn’t have a star bonus anymore (it would be unlikely that they all had 11x).

This is why Old Guardian says matchmaking has been separated from your rank, because you can be matched with players in any other rank as long as they have an MMR near yours.

I’ve had similar experiences as well. One session started off strong and I had like 6 or 7 wins in a row and I was climbing. Then I lost 2 in a row and fell lower then I was when I started the session. Really takes the motivation away when you feel like you can’t climb at all.

While I am grateful to the new system as it’s the main reason I’m able to hit legend now, the grind inside of legend seems insane, as you were saying. While I’m fine with the rank numbers basically being a trick since they don’t matter, what does irk me is that you can’t see your opponent’s rank until you hit legend. I get that this is part of the trick, if you don’t see your opponent’s rank you might assume they’re closer to your own then they may or might not be, but it still feels bad. It also fosters confusion even among legend players: I’ve seen high legend finishers badmouth those in the “dumpster” because they’re facing lower ranked opponents… even though who they’re facing is based on MMR.

No Backstab seems very weird especially considering the the power of aggro in Wild. However I will be trying this out later and see how it runs for me.

Hopefully with the series of balance patches they now have a better handle on Demon Hunter and their second expansion cards will not require such expansive nerfing.

I too am dismayed by the lack of archetypes ever since the Kael’thas nerf, but I think part of the reason why DH is a one-archetype class is simply because it has fewer cards. For instance, when I was testing Big DH builds, the issue wasn’t removal or sustain, but the lack of threat density. Pit Commander is good, but the other demons just aren’t impactful when you cheat them out most of the time.

The good news is that the groundwork is laid for OTK, Big, and Token archetypes for the next 2 years, and they should be revisited after every expansion (on top of any new archetypes they’ll try out, I’m sure).

Big Priest will still be bad. I would be worried about Raza Priest instead.

Thoughts on the changes for both formats:

Kael’thas: Barely a nerf for Wild, I don’t think this changes hurts the current Jade Druid builds that run it. For Standard I could see it still working in Druid thanks to Overgrowth, but it probably kills Combo DH.

Albatross: Albatross probably still sees play in control decks despite this change, it just makes it a bit slower, which is nice. For Wild, RIP Odd decks having access to it, but now Even decks can run it… probably doesn’t hurt Albatross Cubelock that much either, which was my main fear. Plus it means you can run Taldaram in Albalock now!

Felwing: Possibly continues to see play, but the 2 health breakpoint is very significant and it may stop being played altogether. DH may be forced into a more midrangey build with Priestess of Fury again.

Altruis: RIP Odd Demon Hunter. Altruis will probably continue to see play in every Standard DH deck, but this mana change should lessen his blowout potential

Battlefiend and Glaivebound Adept still see play in DH for sure, but them being toned down should rein the class in.

Sacrificial Pact: Finally, Jaraxxus is playable again! Expect to see Warlock experimenting with him again. This makes Zephyrs less swingy vs demons, but imo Zeph shouldn’t have those kind of tribe based options anyway (Zeph into Hungry Crab is another one that tilts me). I’ve seen some people say that this kills Galakrond Warlock, but I’m not so sure: Sac Pac was a 2-of in the deck during DoD, and it was very rare that you would land it on an enemy minion. 0 Mana for 5 health basically on demand thanks to the Draconic Imps is still good. Yes, this makes Galalock worse into DH, but DH is also being nerfed. If Galalock can maintain a good matchup spread against other decks it will be fine.

Bloodbloom: I am INCREDIBLY happy about this change. Darkest Hour is such an unfun deck to play against, and with the new Ranked system it was one of the most consistent climbers to Wild legend. I’ve seen some people say this kills Mecha’thun, but 1. Mecha’thun was basically dead anyway, and 2. there are still ways to combo. For instance, Dorian + Plot Twist + Cataclysm lets you win with an Emp Tick on any one of the combo pieces, and it’s 3 combo pieces just like the old Mecha’thun + Bloodbloom + Cataclysm combo. It might be worth testing the Quest version again simply because that deck already runs double Plot Twist and has the ability to highroll super hard withe Supreme Archaeology.

Open the Waygate: Once again, very appreciative of this nerf. A lot of Wild players who are better then me are saying it doesn’t do enough but I’m not sure, it’s very difficult to judge on paper. Slowing Quest Mage down at least makes it more vulnerable to Aggro decks. IMO it effects Reno Quest Mage less and that archetype could make a real come back (right now it’s pretty rare since regular Quest Mage is just that much better).

There are ways to win with Mecha’thun even with this change, though they certainly make the deck more clunkiest. Clunkiest is to run double Galv and then hit Cataclysm and Mecha’thun with an Emp tick. Least clunky imo is using Dorian + Plot Twist + Cataclysm, you still need an Emp tick on one combo piece but it’s less unwieldy. Quest Mecha’thun can of course highroll like always. But I wouldn’t count the deck out yet.

This is an untrue statement. While Odd Demon Hunter was the more popular build, non-odd Aggro Demon Hunter with the fully pirate package and Ship’s Cannon was doing great as well. Yes, that deck also ran double Skull, but it’s less effected by the nerfs. Odd Demon Hunter will probably be back eventually, and I still run into some people testing new builds post-nerf.

Seems pretty good, I especially like it for Reno Priest in Wild.

Good for Deathrattle rogue since Mechanical Whelp is rotating out, but then again so are most of the Deathrattle synergy cards…

7 mana is too slow for Wild unfortunately.

Interesting card. Gives burst damage plus the ability to value trade into a minion, which is nice since most Stealth minions have low health. It’s also cheap enough to help activate combos, and in a pinch it’s an agressively statted 2 drop.

This card just seems good, not insane, but pretty good. Maybe Apothecary is good again because of this card, and it works well with Anka. Plus, Rogue has a lot of ways to make their cards cost 0, and this is pretty scary. Without access to Leeroy Jenkins for burst and easy healing through Zilliax, Rogue will need to find new ways to close the game out, and a 7/5 that deathrattles into a 7/5 with Stealth could be part of that equation.

In Wild, you might unironically run it in Big/Deathrattle Rogue, and maybe even as a top end in Odd Rogue. Certainly worth trying out in a lot of different places.