a Sunday that was quite unkind to favorites | Forum
wzh123
Sep 4 '18
In our latest roundup of cards from Hearthstones Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion, we start to get farther into one of the major themes: cards that buff other cards in-hand. Adidas NHL Jerseys China . While these types of buffs arent completely new -- the rarely-played Mistcaller buffed all cards in your hand and deck -- the focus on this type of effect is.Why hand-buffing cards? They enable a longer game, rather than cards that enhance the games tendency to become Curvestone (playing cards mainly because they fit a mana curve). Its not explicitly a catchup mechanism like pure control decks like to have, but it does give an opportunity to defer value to later in a synergistic, possibly exploitable way, perhaps taking midrange decks away from the tempo style. Will it work? The jurys still out.Maybe there will be a Murloc-heavy deck in the upcoming meta after all? When Finja came out, I was a little skeptical. While I still am, the Blowgill Sniper is a reasonable inclusion into such a deck. The base statline of 2/1 is unimpressive for two mana, but Murloc decks only have a single card that does direct damage when being played, as opposed to buffing an existing minion on-board, Corrupted Seer. Sometimes you need that little ping and if there is a Murloc deck, its not likely to be one of the easy ping classes. Elven Archer can ping for one, but for one more mana you get the extra point of health and the oh-so-important Murloc synergy.If Murloc decks become a thing for Paladin outside of the bursty Anyfin-type hybrid decks, Grimscale Chum will likely make that cut. A one-mana 2/1 isnt that bad in itself, just unimpressive, but the Murloc synergies and the +1/+1 make up for it. Youll usually have a minion in your hand if you play this and if you topdeck this card, if youre topdecking with a Murloc deck and havent sealed the win, youve probably already lost anyway.I like cards like Dirty Rat for two primary reasons. First, I like anti-aggro tools and Dirty Rat, like our dearly departed friend Deathlord, is a high-health, early-game Taunt with a significant downside in return. Against an aggro deck, youre unlikely to be pulling a large cost minion from your opponents hand, which is why Deathlord worked in the first place.And secondly, I like cards that reward paying attention and understanding the meta and your opponents hand. How many cards they mulligan and evaluating your ability to remove certain cards they may have are key to determining whether you want to be playing this card. And its not a card thats going to be good in all metas or with all classes.A 2/4 for four mana is a pretty poor stat configuration, but if the card has a really solid effect, it will be playable in competitive play. Keeper of the Grove was one such card, before it was nerfed to a 2/2. Is Dispatch Kodo one? If buff decks turn out to be strong enough, the upside of this card makes it playable. Just a 3/5, deal three damage card would be bonkers with a single in-hand +1/+1 buff. An old Keeper of the Grove that doesnt silence but is a Beast is almost good enough for less aggressive Hunter decks, simply because of the value of a ping to a Hunter. Even if it doesnt make a deck, youll see it in Arena because Stormpike Commando, a five-mana 4/2 that does two damage, is sometimes around and this card is better.I happen to think we will see that Hunter buff deck, in a large part because of Rat Pack As-is, Rat Pack isnt that much worse than Haunted Creeper (two-mana 1/2, summon two 1/1 spiders) or Infested Wolf (four-mana 3/3, summon two 1/1 spiders) and both of those cards are popular inclusions. But buffing this card instantly gets insane and as its a deathrattle, not a battlecry, so you can even buff this with a Houndmaster, which is already in Hunter decks. Earlier-revealed cards like Trogg Beastrager are suddenly looking better.Once upon a time, there was a terrible card named Cobra Shot, which for five-mana, did three damage to a minion and three to the enemy hero. Now, turn Cobra Shot into a minion that can do that as long as it stays alive and you have a very good Hunter legendary. Its only a single point off vanilla five-mana stats (11 points) and here you want it to be heavier in health so that you can clear the board and smOrc in the same turn.Plus, its a gangster gorilla, so I think I wouldve liked this card even if was unplayable.Charge cards have been endlessly problematic to balance for Blizzard, with the majority of the nerfs in Hearthstones history involving cards with Charge mechanics that were too powerful for their mana cost. In recent expansions, Blizzard has been introducing Charges that are very expensive or have significant conditions, as an attempt to balance this mechanic.Here we have three, related cards that reflect this philosophy, the Tanaris Hogchopper, Spiked Hogrider, and the Leatherclad Hogleader. Not only does this reflect a continued bit of care with Charge but from the art, a in-depth knowledge of the Mad Max universe.Are the cards playable in Constructed? Id have to say no, especially for two of them.The big daddy, the Leatherclad Hogleader, appears to exist only as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option if suddenly very greedy Control decks start oppressing the meta. Against a Renolock or a Control Priest, this card may be playable. But at the times at which your opponent doesnt have six or more cards, which is the vast majority of Hearthstone games in the games history, its just a worse Boulderfist Ogre, who never sees play in top-level tournaments. Goblin Sapper never worked and this one wont either, though youll sometimes see it in Arena.Tanaris Hogchopper is also likely a card youll see in Arena as four mana 4/4s see play in Arena and you do get into topdecking battles late in the game with pure Control decks hard to assemble. But in Constructed? Nope.Spike Hogrider might be the exception here. One of the nice things about the card is that the Charge is gained by Battlecry, which means you dont have to actually remove an enemy taunt using this minion (though you can if you choose to). 5/5 for five isnt as good a statline as it used to be with the emergence of 5/6 minions at the same cost and I think in the end it wont see Constructed play, but one has to at least consider it before rejecting it. Like Tanaris Hogchopper, youll see this card in Arena.I think Smugglers Run will see play in a variety of Paladin decks. First off, you have the aggressive aggro-token Paladin decks that people will at least attempt to build because of the buff cards that have been released so far. And you also have a benefit to Control Paladin, which frequently doesnt have anything better to do in early turns as the one-mana secrets are only really good if you get a bunch of those for free.The Grimestreet Protector is a one of the few tools that Control Paladins have got that doesnt do an even better job pushing an early-game Paladin style. Grimesteet Protector starts off missing three points of stats from a vanilla card, but the Taunt has value -- you occasionally saw non-dragon decks play Chillmaw, a Taunt with the same stats, even without NZoth to resurrect it laster -- as does Divine Shield. I think this card sees play in Control Paladin decks, even one that eschews the other buff cards.Surprisingly, with more than half of the set now unveiled, Abyssal Enforcer is the only Warlock class card to be released. And its a good one, so long as you dont plan on trying to play this in Zoolock. Hellfire has long been a staple of Handlock/Renolock decks, a four-mana card that has the same effect as this Battlecry. So this is like Hellfire that comes with a three-mana 6/6, which is an absurdly good statline. As such, this will be a staple in late-game Warlock decks and given that its a Common, youll see this in a lot of Warlock Arena decks.Cheap NFL Jerseys Online . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. China NFL Jerseys . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. http://www.wohlesalejerseyschina.net/ . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. A day after the unbeaten Songbird breezed to a seven-length victory in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes as an odds-on 2-5 favorite, Saratoga Race Course lived up to its reputation as the Graveyard of Favorites.The grand dame of American racetracks was as unfathomable as ever on Aug. 21 as the 11-race card produced not one but two six-figure sensational scores.There was surely no indication of what was to come when the favored Born for a Storm ($4.30) took the opening race of the day for leading trainer Chad Brown.Ditto after the second race when second choice Price too High ($7.50) prevailed.But then the madness began.What might have seemed like a bad dream to most proved to be the key to riches for some when Bold Illusion notched an improbable victory at 53-1 odds in the third race. The fact that the 4-year-old gelding was 0-for-10 with nothing better than a third and had been closer than 8-1/2-lengths at the finish of just one of those races best explain why he paid an astronomical $109.50 to win.If youre wondering what happened after that, lets just say that Bold Illusion triggered a $1,881 Pick 3 with a favorite and second-choice. Yes, a sensational score was brewing.Helping to stoke the fire was Security Risk ($19.80), who captured the fourth race for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. That victory capped an $8,005 Pick 3 and a $1,271 double for $2.With a string of six-figure Pick 5 payoffs in place, hockey fans had a leg up on the competition in the final race in the sequence.Chelios ($15) skated into the winners circle in the fifth, putting some rather big, bright numbers on the Saratoga tote board.The Pick 3? You collected $13,516 for $2.The Pick 4? If you hit it, you were $169,947 richer for each $2 wager.The Pick 5? How does an amazing $386,401 sound? Pretty sensational, eh?That wasnt the only monstrous payoff of the week at the Spa as the second race superfecta on Aug. 18 saw 17-1 shot Marble Fallls ($36. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys. 0) lead the charge to the wire. He was followed by Chubby Master at 4-1, Norm the Giant at 16-1 and finally the very sweet Sound of Freedom at 74-1 to account for a superfecta that checked in at a robust $62,248 for a $2 wager.Not to be outdone, on the West Coast Del Mar had its six-figure day in the sun last week.On Aug. 18, there was a carryover of $66,808 in the Pick 6 and it seemed another was in the making when the first two races were won by Cee the Preacher ($24.60) and Ring Collector ($23), who formed a $253.60 double.But after that, the sequence became much more routine. Wins by second choice Do the Dance ($8.20) and then Olotta Shaken ($13.20) set the stage for wins by the favored Danas Best ($5.60) and Youre the Reason ($5) to close out the Pick 6.Yet even with the help of two favorites in the final legs, there was only one holder of a winning $2 Pick Six ticket that was worth a whopping $290,848.Despite all the longshots at Saratoga, the weeks How did you come up with that one? award was presented at Gulfstream Park on Aug. 21.The 11th race that day was a $12,5000 maiden claimer on the turf and if you didnt like the chances of Star Mily, you were not alone. She was 0-for-13 and in her last two races she was eighth and ninth, beaten by a combined total of 21 lengths.But apparently the 14th time was the charm as Star Mily pressed the pace from second then surged to the front in the final furlong and held on for a half-length win. Overlooked in the wagering, she went off at 80-1 odds and paid a weeks-best $162.80 for a $2 win ticket.She also capped a Pick 4 that paid $13,524.50 for a 50-cent and gave Gulfstream Park the same feel as Saratoga on a Sunday that was quite unkind to favorites.For more stories like this check out Americas Best Racing. NFL Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Hoodies Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Discount Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2019 Camo China NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Discount Jerseys ' ' '
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