Lurker > MariaTaylor

LOL
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someone is going to have to fill that niche now
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Rapunzel
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I don't think this board is one that really needs a "leader"

also anyone who has a high enough opinion of themselves to apply for the job would probably be insufferable in the position
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I'm really hoping it doesn't land anywhere near me

that shit is going to be super annoying if it does
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cecil
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Jack Skellington
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I probably have more stupid deaths against One Reborn than any other boss. don't feel too bad. he's definitely one that both fosters the attitude of not really paying full attention to the fight, while also having the power to punish and quickly kill you for not paying attention. whoops.
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NewerShadow posted...

Hasn't this already been in effect since early July or so?

that would certainly explain the insanely high deck variance in arena right now, which is currently the worst thing about arena.
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Ultimecia
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https://hsreplay.net/articles/28/deep-dive-into-spreading-plague

Spreading plague absorbs 2x more damage than spikeridge steed at 1 mana cheaper. Proposed solution is to make Spreading Plague summon 1/2 taunt scarabs.

Stolen directly from reddit
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Shaun: Are there any cards up for debate in Arena to either nerf or change offering rates? This is specifically targeted towards Death Knight heroes in the synergy pick section.

Mike: We have new technology that auto-corrects offering rates based on their win rate. This system will be monitored closely and will hopefully bring all classes closer to a 50% win rate.

honestly reading this makes me want to quit arena and just quit hearthstone all together. I was thinking of taking a break until the synergy pool gets removed but this is beyond ridiculous. this kind of change will make the win and loss rates of players depend almost entirely on luck.

did you draft one of the rare cards that has a high win rate? congratulations, you win.
did you draft one of the rare cards that has a low win rate? too bad, you lose.

fucking beyond stupid.
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My Skill With Particular Classes in Arena

Hunter
Druid
Rogue
-- average ---
Warlock

I only included classes where I've played enough games to be statistically significant. Funny that Warlock is the only one that falls below my overall win rate average. Especially since it's supposedly a tier 1 class. And considering...

Strength Of My Opponents in Arena

Warlock
Mage/Paladin
Druid --- average ---
Rogue/Hunter
Priest
Shaman

Warrior is exempted due to facing so few of them. Druid happens to line up perfectly with my average win rate so they can be considered the "average" class. There's a pretty fair gap between Warlock and everything else. Makes it seem like Warlock is insane in arena right now. Of course these are only my own results and probably don't represent the entire player base. Although they likely follow the same general trends. We know Shaman and Priest are not great right now, we know which classes are good and they are all in some order near the top.

Funny enough I still face way more Mages than anything else. And they still feel like a tier 1 class when I play against them. Which, to be fair, they are still pretty much near the top along with Paladin and Warlock. So yeah.
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just for reference, that last run had 5 out of 7 unsatisfying games. thankfully this is not the norm but man when the perfect storm of arena terribleness happens you can really feel it. I am mentally exhausted from that experience.
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bng_mmmk posted...

VeryInsane posted...

They both see a lot of play even with Warrior being common so... yes?

I guess I see your point, but it sounds like you're just saying "This warrior nerf will result in reduced win rates for warriors." >_>

nah, I think VI's point is that it will see an increase in the presence of oppressive one drops. which are already kind of a big problem in constructed. so yeah. this "nerf" to warrior is actually a stealth buff to an entire category of cards that is already bullshit tier.
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Game 5: Vs Mage. I went Second. Now this is a whole different ball game. I have a bunch of one and two drops so I think about getting on the board early... then I draw VanCleef. Hmm. Might be wise to hold off, then. Not sure if this is the right move but I gamble on playing a bit slowly. Especially since he had no turn 1 play. Primordial Glyph on turn 2. Unless that is exactly Polymorph, this slow start could be good for me. 6/6 VanCleef on turn 3. I don't want to get TOO greedy. Kabal Chemist gives him exactly Freezing Potion to delay it for at least a turn. Then he has Mirror Image to stall for yet another turn. Oh boy. So I guess the theme of this run is me getting incredibly lucky in ways I don't usually (drafting VanCleef, getting a 6/6 VanCleef on turn 3) and my opponents just having exact perfect answers anyway despite how unlikely that is. Volcanic Potion created by Primordial Glyph. Into Flamestrike. To clear my board when I have lethal on board. Molten Reflection created by Shimmering Tempest. Fuck. Mages. In. Arena. I BM'd hard at the end by pretending to miss lethal before killing him. Win.

This is some damn frustrating Hearthstone I am playing right now. I mean really he needed the combined power of Volcanic Potion AND Flamestrike to clear my board and he had both of them. One from a random effect. This shit is out of control. Starting a run at 0-2 is always nerve wracking. Especially when you've got a good deck that deserves so much more.

Game 6: Vs Shaman. I went First. My first truly clunky opener of the run. He coins out... a totem? I have no idea. Oh I see. He had Cryostasis to play on it the following turn. That's actually pretty clever. I have the 1 mana freeze guy to stop it, and then draw both of my Corpse Taker's consecutively. Then I drop Scaled Nightmare behind them. Then he rolls Volcano and gets the worst RNG imaginable, leaving all of my minions alive with 1 health. Oh man. I feel so bad for this dude. Win.

Game 7: Vs Warlock. I went First. Had good draw RNG here and focused mostly on keeping him off the board as much as possible. Build up quickly, he has to coin out Felfire Potion to stay alive. But his health is low. And I drop Scaled Nightmare onto an empty board. And he kills it with Book Wyrm. Oh. Alright then. Well this was pretty one sided but now it might be a game! He makes some pretty god awful plays but it doesn't matter too much since he has high quality mid/late game stall cards. Onyxia Created by Bone Drake. Loss.

Final Result: 4-3

Hugely unsatisfying run that really seemed to highlight all of the worst problems in Hearthstone over the entire Year of the Mammoth. Bullshit card generation cards leading to RNG victory driven outcomes. Also the frustration of going 0-2 at the start, off of games that I had very high odds of winning in a vacuum. I should be at 6-1 right now, not 4-3. But even worse is the fact that my "expected" bullshit loss (against the final Warlock) is something that wouldn't normally be TOO frustrating, but the fact that having ONE stroke of normal bad luck INSTANTLY kills the run because of unreasonable levels of earlier bad luck is just unfair and unfun. The fact that he was a pretty bad player is just rubbing salt in the wound.

1 Pack, 70 Gold.
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Arena #25
I Was Offered: Druid/Hunter/Rogue
I Picked: Rogue


Difficult decision this time. Druid will probably yield the best results, Hunter is my fav/personal best class, while Rogue is the one that I've been needing to use to clear out a few quests. I went with Rogue in the end. I'm almost as good with Rogue as with Hunter anyway and it has high potential to draft into something solid.

The Draft: Pulled a midrange/control type Rogue without many early game plays but a solid 3-5 range of cards. I got a good number of quality cards but MANY situations where my choice was like 10/15/86. So, not really a choice, and I was stuck with whatever curve I ended up with about 60% of the way through the draft. Anyway I managed to pick up a Van Cleef but not much to combo him with. My other options were significantly worse. I expect the hit of this deck to be my two Corpsetakers. I have Divine Shield, Taunt, Windfury, and Lifesteal all in my deck. Oh yes.

Game 1: Vs Druid. I went First. Got pretty lucky and actually drew my early game cards right at the start. Corpsetaker to play right on turn 4 as well. This deck doesn't have a ton of quality but when it hits the good cards it's REALLY good. Unfortunately for me he has a poisonous wasp which makes my plays awkward, and ends up setting him up for a PERFECT Swipe. An unfortunate case where the one time I get really good draw RNG his is EVEN BETTER and counters mine perfectly. He runs me out of cards. Loss.

These are the worst kind of losses since you know it should have been a win, and those are hard to come by in Arena sometimes. I got increasingly unlucky as the game went on with him continuing to draw answers while I continued to not draw ANY of my outs.

Game 2: Vs Warlock. I went Second. Pretty good opener. I mostly came out ahead due to sheer value. Second opponent in a row plays Spiked Hogrider on turn 5 while I have a taunt up. Super fucking annoying. I got my Coin from Burgly Bully but no VanCleef for the Cleef value. Grave Shambler is soooo good in Rogue. It's basically got Inspire: Gain +1/+1. Unfortunately for me I got Harrison Jones'd and ended up giving him two cards. Argh. This drew him into Wolfrider + Bonemare to completely turn the game around when I was well in the lead. Argh. Loss.

Two fucking bullshit losses in a row right at the start of a run. Wow. I am salt incarnate right now.

I literally just got done describing how the worst kind of loss is the one where you've got good draw RNG and could easily win almost any game and then you lose anyway because your opponent got slightly more lucky. And then it happens again for the second consecutive game. Argh.

Literally the only circumstance where I don't win that game is when he drafts exactly Harrison Jones and this topdecks him Bonemare AND Wolfrider RIGHT BEFORE I kill him.

Game 3: Vs Hunter. I went First. Managed to rush him down and kill him quickly. Poor guy. Honestly there's no way that he deserved to face a deck on the level of the one I'm piloting, not at 0-2. Win.

Game 4: Vs Mage. I went First. Started off strong, then things go downhill as classic Mage shenanigans ensue. His Arcane Anomoly has a 2/4 stat line if you want an idea of how many bullshit answers he has consecutively played by turn 6. Then he plays Firelands Portal on 7. Yeah, this card is sure supposed to be rare in arena. How about just removing it like it should be? No? Didn't think so. Then Medivh. Then he smacks my taunt minion with Ateish, bringing himself down to exact lethal based on the minions I have on board. Just what. Why. What. WHY ARE MAGE PLAYERS SO FUCKING BAD???? Win.
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UltiXX posted...

I'm glad I was right about Spreading Plague. Druid should lose to aggro. It was the right nerf. A 10 mana card SHOULD be good. Leave Ultimate Infestation alone.

I actually fully agree with this. Ultimate Infestation does not bother me all that much. Spreading Plague is infuriating. Compare it to Protect The King. Even AFTER the nerf it costs twice as much but generates 3x as much value. Just, honestly, what the hell. And it can be played when your opponent has NO minions on board, compared to PTK which requires them to have at least one minion.

VeryInsane posted...

1/3s break the game now with War Axe nerf

Mana Wyrm will be next card nerfed

I hope so. Mana Wyrm is another bullshit card.
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Oh now it's """"only"""" a 6 Mana 5/25!

so nerf
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8-3 is preetttyyy good by the way. Definitely not a disappointing result, even for a good deck in arena. Some good decks get slammed by bad match up/draw and go 4-3 or even 3-3.
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solid odds that we might get an update tonight
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Forceful_Dragon posted...

There are players with 55% win rates and there are players with 60%+ win rates.

this caused me to get curious and check mine. apparently it's 62.5%! this is better than I thought it would be.

UltimaterializerX posted...

Draw luck is an accepted part of any card game, and both players deal with that equally. Hearthstone's DNA is such that luck and randomness play WAY too big a factor in who wins.

jade druid doesn't have any random elements, you could play that. there's also a demon warlock deck that is playable and doesn't have any random elements.
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MrGreenonion posted...

If you think the first episode is depressing wait until you realize you care about the plot and characters far more than the showrunners ever will.

haha holy shit this is meta
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Freyja
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my man
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Ultimecia
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tag
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Slip and Pearl
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Game 5: Vs Mage. I went First. Neither of us have a STRONG early game but mine seems slightly favored. Like I kept playing cards each turn that were just slightly too difficult for him to handle without extending extra resources. Once again a situation where me going first gave me the needed edge since he was always reacting to these plays. I played around his secrets effectively and kept up tempo in the midgame. However, there was still no clear winner and I could tell it would come down to a topdeck war, and deck quality. FLAMESTRIKE CREATED BY SHIMMERING TEMPEST. I am so beyond salty right now. Wow. Stalls the game out with Ice Walker. Plays Frost Lich Jaina the following turn. I actually still clinched the game in the end but I'm suffering from salt overload regardless. Anything less than perfect draw RNG, perfect plays, perfect cobalt scalebane RNG would have cost me that game. All because he played ONE card that is so powerful it can decide games. Unacceptable. Win.

Game 6: Vs Paladin. I went First. Strong opener, similar to my game 4 opener. Possibly even better, depending on what type of answers he has available. Unfortunately for me what he has is overstatted minions played on curve, making my good opener pretty obsolete as we just trade evenly and end up with an open board. And him leading in tempo somehow. And I whiff super hard on turn 4, pretty much costing me the game. Fun fact, Venomancer + Shadowflame does NOT kill everything with the poison effect. It only deals the normal 2 damage. Loss.

Game 7: Vs Druid. I went First. God awful opening hand. Thankfully I draw a Stonehill Defender to play on turn 3, which still isn't great, but it's better than not having a play until turn 6. He has the 2 mana 1/5 taunt which is still probably one of the most under-the-radar bullshit minions in the current card pool. I mean let's ignore the fact that it's essentially a 2 mana 3/3, but it's also defensively stated as a high health taunt with more health than anything can POSSIBLY kill on turn 2, and most things can deal with on turn 3. How? Just how does this shit get past QC? It seems like it was obvious and intentional that Druid would be beyond broken this expansion. Anyway, that's enough ranting. I get crushed by superior deck quality, not too surprising considering how many quality cards Druid has right now. Loss.

Final Result: 4-3

One fair loss, one loss due to really bad draw RNG at the most unfortunate time, one completely bullshit loss. This is better than the 40% rule I mentioned above so I have to admit this was a pretty good run overall. I did get a bit unlucky but the deck did about as well as expected. Edit: Though, to be fair, if you count the Mage game as one of the unfun games then it fits the 40% prediction almost perfectly, with 3/7 bad games.

1 Pack, 80 Gold.
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Arena #24
I was Offered: Mage/Shaman/Warlock
I Picked: Warlock


Fuuuccckkkk. I really just want to play Rogue but for some reason they won't offer it to me. Reminds me of when I wanted to play Paladin recently and had quests for it and they didn't offer Paladin to me for like 5 or 6 runs. Argh.

The Draft: Servant of Kalimos for the billionth time. Overall ended up with an 'okay' midrange deck, but it lacks any of the super broken/good cards from the current set which is a recipe for disappointment. I won't set my expectations too high, even if midrange decks seem to do pretty well (luck willing).

Game 1: Vs Paladin. I went First. Bad opening hand. Like, outright bad. Managed to play a solid game until it came down to topdeck time, and I pulled the worst possible card in my deck. A 1 drop. Specifically, a Flame Imp. When my health was already low and I just needed ANY good minion to help fight for the board without dying. Loss.

Game 2: Vs Warlock. I went First. I tapped until turn 4, then played Keening Banshee. Amazing. 9/4 Midnight Drake on the following turn. Unfortunately baiting his removal did not really work since he had additional removal waiting. Oh well. And more removal the following turn. I seriously want to know how people pull this off. Drafting and drawing perfect answers completely on curve in arena. Cause I gotta say in the last 100+ games this has barely ever happened on my end, but it seems to happen TO me quite a lot. I'm able to have a good swing turn on 8 at least. My earlier tapping really pays off and I have many different lines of play available to me. This, unfortunately, gets counted by.... additional removal. A two card combo even. So just to be clear he has played 5 removal cards in 8 turns. In arena. More removal on turn 10. The only thing more insane than his constant removal is the fact that I've reloaded the board like three times now. Then the multiple giant taunts and heals start coming down to help him buy additional extra turns to draw into more answers. Then Bonemare. Thankfully the bullshit is finally over. I reload the board for the fifth time and finally he concedes as I have lethal. Win.

Game 3: Vs Paladin. I went First. Manage to draw a lot of my good, early cards this time too. So I can actually capitalize on going first. And this is basically exactly what I do. This is a game that was probably VERY frustrating from my opponents side of the board since I just completely shut down every play he made, and this was driven entirely by the fact that I happened to go first and therefore had the initiative to do so. Win.

Game 4: Vs Mage. I went Second. Got a SOLID opening hand. So good that I didn't even mulligan anything. He plays Prince Keleseth. On Turn 2. Oh... and he actually has two drops in his deck so it's just nothing. LOL. Vanilla 2/2 for the win. Fun little note. Keening Banshee will still burn cards even if you kill it by playing Abyssal Enforcer. A weird game. He played very aggressive and tried to face race me, but also made really greedy decisions like trying to keep his poison minions on the board for multiple turns instead of taking favorable trades. This led to him being heavily punished multiple times and me pulling ahead. Firelands Portal and RNG saved him for a while, but it was too much and his bad play caught up with him. He Pyroblasts himself in the face. At least he knows shame for picking Mage. Win.
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let the shipping wars commence
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yeah I saw that yesterday Wedge. hilarious.

someone pointed out that the only card on the list with a sub 50 winrate is the card that can be played by classes other than Druid. amazing.
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synergy

pool
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if you love something you must set it free
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Game 3: Vs Paladin. I go First. I decide to keep a 5 drop in my opening hand because it has silence and, well, it's unlikely I'll have a good early game play anyway. Got wrecked by some bad adapt RNG on my Thunder Lizard. Although he had Aldor Peacekeeper for it so it didn't matter anyway. I'm stuck making lots of unfavorable midgame trades. And keep in mind this card has like, three heavy cards that are actually good. So it's not like I'll actually do well in the attrition game. He has Sunkeeper Tarim on turn 8. Ah, so this is what happens when this deck goes against one with quality cards. In the end I had two outs in my deck and didn't draw either of them. Loss.

Game 4: Vs Warrior. I went Second. Ah, it's the class whose Hero Power is literally Priest but better! He plays solid removal spells on turns 2, and 3. And 4. And a weapon on 5. Kind of a huge deal. Drawing into perfect answers at the very start of the game can basically set the outcome in stone. It's rare to happen and always high impact. As a result I'm very far behind before we even reach the midgame. More removal on turn 6. Holy shit is this guys fucking deck entirely removal cards? WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. Finally on turn 7 he makes a sub optimal play and I'm able to punish him for the first time without sheer card quality and draw RNG deciding the outcome. Avenging Wrath from Grimestreet Informant. He gets good enough RNG to clear my board and wreck me. Oh am I tired of this card already. I'm able to play enough mid sized minions and get them to stick that I eventually wear him down. Win.

Game 5: Vs Shaman. I went Second. Unfortunately for me this guy is playing an Aggro deck. He gets going pretty fast too. Fortunately for me I do draw my two board clears early on. Now it's just a matter of being as greedy as possible and playing them at the best time without waiting too long and getting myself killed. He fills the entire board with 2 health minions on turn 5 and I wipe all of them with Holy Nova. I think I did pretty well. Priest of the Feast takes me from 19 back up to 30 in short order. Spirit Lash value for another board clear, then I've got PotF hidden behind Bog Creeper. Yeahhhh. Things are looking good for me finally. Win.

Well this deck has officially won 3 more games than I thought it could. I'll be honest though, it's been a slog. Even the games I've won are pretty miserable and unfun. That last game was the only exception. That one felt like I actually made meaningful decisions that impacted the game.

Game 6: Vs Rogue. I went Second. Now this guy is far more likely to tempo out quickly and efficiently than some random Shaman. I got Keening Banshee down early and forced him to commit resources to destroying it. Aw yeah. I play pretty well up to a certain point but he has Vilespine Slayer to kill my one big taunt and well, that's all folks. Loss.

Final Result: 3-3

1 pack, 30 gold, 15 dust
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Arena #23
I was Offered: Hunter/Priest/Shaman
I Picked: Priest


This will be my first Priest draft of the expansion. Let's see what Priest arena is like now...

The Draft: Was offered really, really bad synergy picks. In fact like my first 5 picks were all terrible. Amazing. I did draft mostly stall/control cards at the low mana slot but.... here's the problem... I barely got ANY heavy value-oriented cards to build up to. This means I'm just one of those annoying priest decks that can make games last forever but has no win condition. This is really, really, really bad. I could easily see this deck going 0-3. I can't even conceptualize how it would win any matches. Checking the tier score confirms my suspicions and it is among the lowest quality decks I've drafted. Sooo yeah. Against aggro I'll just get rushed down and killed, against control they will always out value me. The only people I can beat are unlucky ones who somehow drafted even worse than me.

Well let's get this over with.

Game 1: Vs Mage. I went First. Lol. I got into the mindset that my normal hunter/rogue tactics would not work here and just held onto my cards instead of playing them. This ends up working out... fairly well. I'm able to make a few good plays early on and come out ahead. I think I made a HUGE value play every single turn from 3 to 5. Pretty good stuff overall. I made some really strong plays but in the end I'm playing against Mage and I have low quality deck. It's quite literally impossible for me to win. I made it close but he topdecks Saronite Chain Gang. Then Ancient of Blossoms. Then Frozen Clone for ultimate value. Obviously I can't play around it because we're in topdeck mode and if I just play nothing I lose the game anyway. But, I mean, I lose the game ANYWAY. So I guess it doesn't matter? Then Blizzard so even my minions on board are useless. Having no lines of play that are valid is pretty epic, huh. Loss.

God damn this guy's deck wasn't even that good. He just got lucky that he walked into some poor sap who drafted Priest as his 0-0 game.

Game 2: Vs Shaman. I went Second. I guess we'll see now if at least 0-1 decks are actually 0-1 now. Had to gamble on some Volatile Elemental RNG early on and got the worst outcome. Then he played 4 mana 7/7. I actually have no cards I can even play in this circumstance. This is legitimately hilarious how bad this deck is. How the fuck does blizzard allow this to happen? Someone out there is walking to 12 wins right now with a deck that is probably almost 200% better than this one in terms of card quality. Can whoever came up with the idea of the synergy pool please get fired? He gets good Devole RNG to transform my minions exactly into understated minions that are slightly too weak to kill off his 4 mana 7/7. I topdeck exactly Spirit Lash, the only card in my deck that could help me in this circumstance. He has Saronite Chain Gang for the save. This seems familiar! I have no choice at this point but to go all in on Keening Banshee. Probably not the best play when I'm likely to go into fatigue this game. Well, to be clear, it is the best play I can make right now, but it's also a fucking terrible play. This is just how unbelievably bad this deck is. Then, unbelievably, I get Gadgetzan Auctioneer to stick and go completely nuts with him. Within about 2 turns I am dominating the board. Gadget is still up. And I shred his health from 30 all the way down to lethal. Wow. I guess I do have a win condition. Win.

Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Keening Banshee is not a very good combination, by the way. But hey, Gadget and a bunch of cheap spells is pretty good. And Banshee + A bunch of bad cards is pretty okay too, since I'm mostly burning worthless cards anyway!
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some of those cards (like jade idol, blossom, wild growth) are individually bad. but the fact that you went all in on them and were lucky enough to draft the constructed druid package with nourish, auctioneers, and everything is pretty extraordinary. this might be a case where they will carry you to high wins. yeah, I could see it.

most importantly you have spreading plague. this will easily allow you to stall out games in the matches when you draw it. that's probably going to be a sleeper MVP of this deck. really, really good card in arena because of its absolutely disgusting design (to punish the other player for doing well)
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yeah I was specifically thinking of Vicious Fledgling when I typed that up

that card absolutely has no place in arena. the fact that we see it less does not change that fact. and in one of my recent runs, two of my three losses were against people playing Flappy Bird on turn 3 when I had no answer. it's just like... this shouldn't happen.
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I just want to mention since it's a related subject. I don't think the change of 'reducing the appearance rate of specific broken cards' is a good fix for arena either. All this does is make it even MORE luck dependent.As the ones who are lucky enough to draft the broken cards will do really well, but you'll no longer be able to play around the card because it's insane to play around something your opponent probably doesn't have. Basically it prevents the problem of "everyone has Meteor and Meteor instantly wins them the game," but turns it into the different problem of "now if you're lucky enough to draft Meteor you instantly win games and if you're unlucky enough to have Meteor played against you then you instantly lose games and neither of these outcomes relies on skill but purely comes down to draft RNG."

This is the exact reason why simply removing DK Jaina from the synergy pool is not an appropriate fix, nor would reducing her appearance rate. The card would still be oppressive and unfair. The fact that we see it so often right now just makes it obvious how oppressive and unfair it is. Reducing her appearance rate would only hide the problem, not fix it.
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In his hands was a claymore, a wide and long blade that required a double grip.
He held it high over his head and prepared for the incoming charge.
It was one lone woman. Not even a Demon. She rode a simple horse, nothing more.
She thought that she was going to joust him, but that would never happen.
He would cut her down before she even got close.

His sword fell, ripping the ground in half in front of him.
Like the fall of Ganthia or the Castle at Lake. A wreckage was created.
The molten core of Hell began to shine up from below as the rock broke.
The force of his attack was so powerful that it ripped through the air.
Even though his sword was much shorter than her lance, the shockwave from his attack would reach her first.
She could try to avoid the attack but her horse would panic even if she turned aside.
More if she tried to force it to ride through.
And in that moment of panic he could jump forward and strike.
His sword, now lowered, would be raised. In a second stroke he'd slice her clean in half.
Two moves was all it would take to decide this battle.

Well, in a sense, his prediction was correct.
But his perception of the flow of events was more than a bit off.
As he turned his gaze, trying to track her movements, he caught sight of something else.
A line of blue light coming straight for his face.
Jess had avoided the attack. Her horse hadn't turned aside.
Nor had it panicked. She rode him down, her lance steady.
The tip of the sharp blade shot right through the visor of his armor.
Her aim was pinpoint perfect. If she had messed this up her attack would have been turned aside.
But when it came to riding and jousting, Jess didn't fail so easily.
He crystal lance slammed into his face, the blade burying itself in his skull, and impaled his head.
He was dragged off of his feet and shoved to the ground.

She trampled over him and kept riding forward without stopping.

The Demons behind her were beginning to rise.
All at once they realized exactly what she was.
And they started to believe that maybe there was a chance here.
And if a chance existed then they had to try and seize it.
Because it was now or never.

They had forgotten what it felt like to win.
Now she was going to show them.
Now she was definitely, definitely going home. Her true home.
Back to Esland. The only place where she had ever belonged.

[Chapter End]

19. What should be done with Nova?
A. Make her stay with Aster.
B. Make her stay with Lana.
C. Let her go and do whatever she wants.
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"You have forgotten what it means to stand up and fight."

Her horse began to trot forward.

"Now let me show you."

The enemy, having no idea what this lone rider was doing, had no idea how to respond.
Truthfully, as brazen as Jessie was being, none of the Demons were stupid or insane enough to follow her.
Even Sunday wasn't truly fast enough to keep up.
Nor was she ready to go and get her Soul erased.
Not when she was relatively so close to seeing Lana again.
Sunday's heart, even, was filled with doubt at that time.
She was thinking something like this;
If I stay here, we'll stay locked in war for a while longer yet.
But maybe some day the fighting will stop and then I can go back to Purgatory.
They were all thinking something like that.
All of them were just waiting for the line to break. None of them wanted to break the line.

The Fairies, as well, had fallen into that same kind of mentality.
It seemed like neither side could really gain much ground in this hopeless fight.
As the years passed they focused less on protecting the gate and more on just keeping the island occupied.
And, more importantly, their forces were needed in the Arland theater where things had been going well.
That had all changed. Lana had changed it. She was turning Arland around now.
And Jess wasn't going to let it end there. She was going to change things here too.

She was the Hero who defeated the Glass Heart Witch.
She had traveled here from another world in order to change the fate of this dimension.
She was capable of doing at least this much.
A Gate was not enough to stop her. Nor the champion they sent forth.

The tip of her weapon began to shine with a brilliant blue light.
Jess found herself laughing. She was having fun.
More fun than she had in some time, now.
She had forgotten what it was like.
To fight against impossible odds but with full confidence that she could win.
To hold the Crystal Lance again and ride on horseback again.
To be a whole person. To really, really go forward.
It was ironic but she hadn't felt so alive in quite some time.
And it had taken dying and going to Hell to get her there.

The enemy before her was Andromidus.
Before the Calamity, in the World of Love, he had been a builder.
His love was the love of design, of hard work, of construction.
There was a vision in his mind and with his hands he could bring it to reality.
The act of laboring in order to bring his vision to life was a personal passion.
He was one of the ones who had not believed Starlight about their incoming doom.
Because, for Andromidus, he did not believe such Evil could exist.
Not in his dimension or any other. It was too impossible to conceive.
How could a power exist which sought only to corrupt and destroy?
It was the heart of the builder which gave him this perspective on life.
Now, however, that heart, that Love, had been corrupted.
He was only a creature of hate. A bottomless well, now.
All he wanted was to see it all get destroyed.
Those things that people worked so hard to make, objects that held no meaning.
In order to crush all of them they needed to win this war. To seize this Gate.
In the world beyond the Demons had built lots of things for themselves.
Andromidus now only dreamed of the day when he could topple those buildings.

He went forth in a suit of Getzilver Armor. It was dense, and smooth.
Forged in dragon's fire it had the ability to turn aside a blade with ease.
And it was strong enough that even most arrows and spears couldn't hope to puncture it.
They couldn't even dent it. For as long as he'd been fighting they had never even dented his armor.
Even the Demons here, with their Demonic powers, had failed to scratch him.
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"You'll want to know something, then," Sunday told them.
"I knew Short. I was friends with him. Well, sort of. For a brief time."
She smiled. It made her somewhat happy to know that Short had succeeded in his quest.
"Did anyone else make it back? Or was it just you, Slip?"

A young girl came forth. "I'm Pearl. Our friend Tender is back in the city."
"And Quietly as well was brought back here by Short. But he..."

"Quietly escaped through the Gate," Slip explained. "We don't know if he's alive."

"He's alive," Jess told him. "Believe in it. We'll see him soon."

"What do you-...." Pearl's voice trailed off. "You want to leave the... To go outside?"

"I won't stay here any longer than I have to," Jess explained to Pearl.
"I'll tell you the same as I told the Angels. If you're afraid to fight that is fine."
"But stay out of my way. I'm planning on breaking through."
She paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully however.
Confidence was fine, but these were different than the Angels.
Getting through to them would take its own unique approach.
"Didn't you see anything out there? Do you know about the war?"

Pearl shook her head. "No, we were still in Soul form when Short sent us back here."
"We didn't see the outside world at all," Slip explained.

"Then let me tell you what you're missing," Jess told them.
She turned to the other Demons, speaking to all of them.
"Queen Lana of Esland is out there, and she's fighting for all of us."
"You've done well to hold out for this long. But this is no longer a war of attrition."
"Before long we'll start to gain momentum. I believe in Lana. I believe we can do it."
"And this endless war will come to an end. The enemy will be defeated at last."

Sunday looked at her, smiling.

Jess nodded. "You have horses here, don't you?"

Before long they found something for her to ride.
Jess was also given a suit of light armor.
It was something she could wear to protect herself.
But it wouldn't restrict her movement or slow down her mount.
Lastly, she thought about what kind of weapon she might use.

"Long ago I used to wield the Crystal Lance," Jessie mused out loud.
"It's been some time since I gave it away. But I think... it remembers me still."
She took a deep breath. "And if I try to bring it back to me. I think it would come home."
"You remember me? Don't you?" She asked.
There was a flicker of light in her hand. Then a crackle of energy.
Something seemed to open up from within her palm.
A blade, sharp and long, crystal dense, began to emerge from thin air.
Then as the blade crossed the gap the haft itself began to take shape.
As long as it kept growing it seemed as if it must be over, and then it kept coming.
Until, finally, she sat in the saddle with a fourteen foot long lance balanced on her shoulder.

The Demons stared at her in wonder. They had no idea what Jess was.
They had never seen anything like her before. Certainly not any Humans.

Then again maybe Jess was something different entirely.
She smiled to herself as she thought about how much she had changed this world already.
Then she looked back at the Demons who were looking at her.

"You've all been fighting a war for so long. Your spirits have grown dull."
"Your will is being crushed, until all you knew was this endless stalemate."
She lowered her lance, aiming it forward. Aiming it right for the Hell Gate.
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"So they're letting even the worst Humans into Heaven now?" Jess raised an eyebrow.
This was, definitely, nothing like the Heaven and Hell people spoke about on Earth.
For them it was probably not even about good or bad. It wasn't about that at all.
The people of Purgatory were just haphazardly caught in a battle between Angels and Demons.
And neither side was really good and neither side was really bad.

The Red Prince didn't seem to have a reply to that.
"Well, either way, you'll want to know... there's fighting up ahead."
"It's mostly stalled out now. For some time, but every so often they'll try to push again."
"One way or the other," he grumbled.

"We know," Sunday told him. "We're trying to get to the fighting."

"Hm." The Red Prince frowned. "Well, there's been a few Humans who offered to help join in the fight."
"Most of them went back to the reserve camp before long, though. It's too dangerous out there."
"I must warn you," he said. "If you die here, your Soul will be erased. You'll cease to exist."

"I don't plan on dying," Jess told him simply.

"Well nobody plans on it," The Red Prince said.
"It just... sort of... happens." He looked sad.
It was likely he had lost friends or family already to this war.

"Take us," Sunday implored. "You'll want to see this."

Despite how vague her statement was, the curiosity of this Demon was piqued.
Not only did he offer to show them the way but he agreed to come along as well.
If they were acting like they had something to show off then he wanted to see it.
Demons were naturally curious because of how easily they got bored.

Indeed, by the time they reached the battlefield, he had already invented many possible stories in his head.
And when they got close to where the Demons were gathered, he was ready to spread the word.
"Hey everyone!" The Red Prince cried out. "I have brought something with me!"

They looked bored and disinterested at first. But their expressions grew more intent as he talked.
And, eventually, Jess could see it easily, they began to look at her as if she had brought some kind of answer.

"Humans," The Red Prince explained. "They just got here. Recent arrivals."
"Crazy, right, I know? But here's the funny thing. They came to the battlefield intentionally!"
"Yeah, it seems they think they will be able to make a difference."
"I heard that one girl mention she had some kind of crazy plan."

Of course no such plan was mentioned or discussed at any time.
However, the Demonic skill of embellishment was strong with this one.

"Tell me, Red Prince," Jess inquired, "What is your name?"

"I'm Slip," he told her. "I'm also a new arrival. Like you."

"You must be one of the Demons who escaped," Jess replied.
She thought for a moment. "The Angels were talking about you."
"It seems you made quite an impression on them."

Slip shook his head. "No, it wasn't me. That was all Short."
"He was the one who freed us from that prison. He sacrificed himself for us."

Jess nodded. It seemed among Demons they had Heroes too.
That was good. That meant the concept would be easy for them to understand.
As she was chatting with Slip, she noticed that others had come over here.
Slip's promotion of her seemed to have worked.
It was easy to make Demons gain interested in something that was flashy or exciting.
Jess had never thought of herself that way. But, well, Sunday certainly stood out.
She was after all the one and only Mismatched Palette Girl.
---

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"You're afraid of the Fairies. I get that. It seems like you all suffered heavy losses fighting against them before."
"And you're afraid of the Demons too. So you can't trust them enough to fight with them."
"All you can think about is how to protect yourselves now. From whatever is coming."
Jess curled her legs up close to her body. She leaned her head on her knees.
"I'm afraid of having to go home. I'm afraid of the day when my adventure will end."
"So I have to ... even though I dream of peace ... I have to keep fighting without stopping."

Sunday was standing over her now. She reached out her hand.
She helped Jess to her feet.
"Not all adventures have a bad ending," Sunday told her.
She must have been listening. "Sometimes we get to go home and live happily ever after."

However, that's not where they were going now.
The Angels sent them to Hell. The front of war.
The Hell Gate which linked Purgatory and Hell together.
Here, on this side, was Perron Fields. On the other side of the gate was Catharsis.
Jessie Lawlier had been there once before. It held many unpleasant memories.
But... it hadn't all been so bad back then. There had been some good things as well.
Here, now, all she saw were clouds of ash that hung in the air all around.
The fields had been blasted and stripped by powerful magic and artillery fire.
The ground was glowing in some spots. High frequency, pulses of energy, was burning from the core within.
Whatever slept beneath Hell was hot and vibrant.
This was a mere glimpse into that reality.

"By the way," Sunday asked. "How did you convince them to let me come?"

Jess shook her head. "I don't think they even thought about it."
She had a feeling, before long, the Gate would have twice as many Angels and move half as quickly.
The fact that they had let two Outsiders, one of them half-a-Demon, escape, was not lost on her.
They weren't particularly good at their jobs. It was something she was thankful for.

If not she might have been Purged. Or, worse, sent back home.
Being allowed into Heaven was not an ideal outcome, either.
There was still so much to do here.

"Come on, then," Jess said. "Let's go find someone."
"Then what do you plan to do?" Sunday inquired.
Jess shrugged. "I'm a Hero. I'll do what I always do."
She was definitely going to make a difference here.
It was her job to change the world. She had come here for a reason.
It was not coincidence that had brought her to Purgatory.
That was something Jessie Lawlier would never believe.

They found a bunker that was about a mile south of the Gate.
Outside, a Red Prince spotted them. He waved them down.
"Hello there!" He called out. "Travelers? Now that's odd."
"I didn't expect to see travelers so close to the battlefield," the Red Prince admitted.

Jessie shook her head. "We're not travelers. We just got here."

"Ah, fresh arrivals. Now that is odd." The Prince thought about it for a moment.
"I heard the Angels had been letting all humans into Heaven for some time now."
"Once the fighting between the Demons and Fairies started, they stopped letting Humans into Hell."
---

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Jess looked away. Supposedly. She had been told that was the case.
"I will not go back," she said, a hint of anger creeping into her voice.
By the time she looked back at Ketz her eyes were burning.
And in her words there was a not so subtle threat. "You cannot make me go back."
If they tried to make her return to that place, to Earth...
Jess would have no problem killing them all, even destroying Heaven if she had to.
She was willing to go that far if it meant she wouldn't have to go back to Earth.

However, it didn't come to that. "It would be better if you go back."
"That would solve the problem for us," Ketz replied. "Then we could just Purge the other one."
"And that would-"

"No." Jess shook her head. "We need to go to Hell. Both of us."

"You didn't answer my question before," Ketz replied.
He seemed like he was measuring her now. With his eyes. With his words.
The tone of his voice. "You would fight with Demons?"

Jess hesitated. Then she felt anger burning inside of her again.
These people had pushed her past the point of frustration. "Yes!"
She shouted at him. She raised her voice. She wasn't thinking.
Probably, at that time, she was being loud enough that anyone could hear.
She didn't meant it, but definitely, all four of the Angels here would hear her.
"I'll fight with Demons. I'll fight with anyone I have to. The enemy is down there!"
"I'm not prepared to hide here like the rest of you." Jess stomped her foot.
She shook her head enthusiastically. "If you're too scared to fight then stop making excuses."
"You won't team up with Demons? Fine! Nobody is forcing you to do that."
"Just stay the hell out of my way and send me back there. NOW!"

Ktzhxl stared back at her, speechless. His eyes grew wide.

The tallest Angel here, the one who had spoken the most of Purging them, reacted.
He licked his lips. He began to walk down the white steps, leaving the Gate.
He'd been standing there for some time, never leaving it.
As if he was afraid that if he walked away from the Gate something bad would happen.
This was a creature that was completely enslaved by his fear.
"So now we see the true nature of this thing." His gaze narrowed.
His anger was pointed at her like a blade. "A dangerous creature."

"Oh yes," Jess told him. "I am dangerous."
She closed her hand into a fist.
"Now will you point me at the enemy?"
"Or would you rather be the one standing in front of me?"

Ktzhxl extended his hand, putting it between Jess and the other Angel.
They were standing a ways apart but this symbolic gesture seemed to cut the tension between them.
"That's enough," he told them. "As of right now we are undecided, aren't we?"
"Then let my vote break the tie. Let me cast the thread of destiny."
He looked back at Jess. For some reason, he smiled at her.
"No, we cannot let something this dangerous stay here."
"Nor can we Purge something that is clearly a Human."
"I think... to make everyone happy... we should banish it. To Hell."

Before she left, Jess found herself sitting alone with the Angel.
Not the one who had vouched for her, but the one who wanted to destroy her.
At that time her heart was more calm. She felt herself speaking with reason and measure.
"We're the same, you know?" she told him. "Both of us are ruled by fear."
---

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"You would fight with Demons?" Ketz asked her.
Perhaps this question was meant to measure her worthiness.
Angels didn't think too highly of Demons. That was commonly known.

But Jess couldn't lie, either. This was too important for that.
Whether the truth would get her into trouble or not she had to accept it.
And she couldn't deny the truth that was inside of her right now.
She opened her mouth.

"What... what is that?" Someone shouted from the Gate. "Outsider!"
"Prepare yourselves, it's coming!" They sounded panicked.

"Not an Outsider," the second Angel waved his hands. "It's just a Demon."

"No, I feel it." They were arguing now. "I... I feel... what..."

And Jess understood in that moment what they had found.
Something that was neither a Demon nor a Fairy.
It was something they couldn't understand.
Someone who probably didn't deserve to die. But she had ended up here anyway.
It was Sunday.

Predictably, the Angels could not decide what the hell Sunday was.
They, therefore, could not decide what to do with her either.
This started a separate argument that caused them to stray even further from the issue of Jess.
Although, in this instance, it seemed they were heavily leaning on the side of wanting to Purge her.
"Whether she's a Demon or Outsider, does it matter? The result is the same."
"Yes. We'd Purge either one of those. This seems like a simple case."
"Perhaps. But maybe not. What if she is neither?"
"It's true. We could just be confused."

While they were talking, Jess went over to Sunday.
"I didn't expect to see you again," Jess told her. "Well, not so soon."
"I got stabbed." Sunday looked forlorn.
It was going around in this place.
Hard to be happy when you were dead. "And you?"
Jessie hesitated. "Building fell on me."
Sunday nodded. "What happens now?"

Jess looked at Sunday, and in that moment she could see her uncertainty.
This creature had come to them from another place. A strange place.
She was timeless and had experienced so much more than most humans.
Perhaps more than any human. But at the same time... she was so...
Jess made a resolution. "Don't worry. I'll figure something out."

The Angels took a break from arguing with each other.
Apparently there had only been two guarding the gate before.
But those two had argued so much that they ended up making mistakes.
Jess didn't know much about it, but they had let multiple Demons escape.
Two additional Angels, Ketz among them, had been sent here.
It was thought that by adding more Angels that they would come to decisions more quickly.
And, in the end, they'd be able to make the right decision without being tricked.
Honestly it seemed like all had happened was the process became more slow and inefficient.
"I suppose this is what happens when you pour resources into a system that doesn't work."
Jess shook her head. She went to speak with Ktzhxl.
This was the first time she had approached him.
Before, she always waited for him to come and speak to her first.
The truth was that Jess was generally like this. She was not a very assertive person.
The only time she came to life was in battle. She didn't even know why she was this way.
Maybe it was because she hated the idea of dying so much.
Her natural instinct to stay alive brought out the best in her when she was in danger.
Now, though, she was already dead. What else could she lose?
"So, what do you think will happen to us?" Jessie asked him.

Ktzhxl shook his head. "You are still connected to your world."
"You can... go back at any time. Can't you?" He inquired.
---

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[19. When In Heaven, Do As The Angels. When In Hell... ]

"We cannot let her inside. She is not from here."
"Inside? There is nothing to do but to Purge that creature."
"We cannot Purge her! She is... she is clearly human."
"No. Something holds onto her. Attachment to another world."
"Whether she's from here or not she is... she is a human."
"I know you see it as well."
"... Do not presume to tell me what I see."
"Our hatred, our fear, it blinds us. It is our greatest weakness."
"You are wrong. We see the Evil of this world. This is our strength."
"You trust your eyes, then. I trust my heart."
"And so?"
"I will not let you Purge this woman. Our job is not to kill Humans."
"And who do you think will stand with you in this?"
"I will. I stand with him."
"Predictable. Disappointing, but predictable. Ktzhxl?"
"... Give me time."

Jessie Lawlier had not given much thought to her death lately.
Not for some time. And all at once it caught up with her.
Before she ever had time to consider it.
Laying there in the stable. It must have collapsed on top of her.
She remembered something heavy and hard striking her head.
It hurt, but it didn't hurt like something that was going to kill her.
But her skull began to feel warm and she felt sleepy.
And she didn't wake back up. Well, not in Purgatory. She woke up... here.
Outside of the Gate to Heaven.
Jess didn't know if she was the type of person who would go to Heaven or Hell.
This, then, must have been her answer.
The Angels did not seem to know what to do with her.

Those who watched the Gate had turned her away.
They did not send her to Hell, they did not Purge her, they would not let her inside.
Each wanted to do something else. And then there was the fourth. Ktzhxl.
She had taken to calling him Ketz. It was easier to say.
And it was important that she could address him easily.
He had come to talk with her on more than one occasion.
Today was one such day.

"Tell me more about where you are from," Ketz insisted.
His hair and his eyes were both blue. He had a serene expression on him always.
The most predictable thing about Ketz is that he would never make a decision quickly.

"How long have I been here?" Jess inquired.
Had it been just a few days? Or a hundred years?
It was hard to tell. She wasn't sleeping anymore. She didn't like it.
The only thing she liked about this place was that she seemed to have both of her legs again.
That had been the one pleasant surprise about dying and waking up here.
Her body must have returned to Heaven all in one piece.
Free from the injuries she had earned in her long life in Purgatory.
"In my world Purgatory is a place of legend," Jess told him.
"Those who belong neither in Heaven nor Hell are sent there."
"It's funny because I never thought of this world-... this, um... Purgatory... as being the same."
"Now it feels more than ever like I'm in a Purgatory like the one from the legends back home."
"You won't let me enter Heaven. Nor will you send me to Hell."

"Is that what you want? To go to Hell?" Ketz inquired.

Jess was sad. She thought about it for a while.
It seemed like such an absurd thing.
But, on some level, she felt like maybe that is what she wanted.
"There's a Gate there. In Hell. It leads back to Purgatory."
"This is where the Demons and Fairies are fighting right now."
"I want... to go there." Jess paused. "I'm not done fighting."
---

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theoretically it's not an insane swing card but anyone who has played a bit of arena knows from personal experience that in practice it is an INSANE swing card that single handedly decides games. once again I've been in an 'about to win' position multiple times and had the other person play Jaina and completely run away with the game afterwards.

the card has a played win rate of around 80%

this is not a coincidence. both light forge and hearth arena had to increase the rating of the card to be higher than they initially had it set at, because it's just far better than it seems at first glance. 5 armor, plus summons an elemental with lifesteal, plus has potential to summon more elementals with lifesteal, plus gives any elementals they have in their deck lifesteal.

arena is not the same as constructed. yes, in constructed, you can have an optimized deck where the opponent gaining 5 armor is no big deal. in arena though the opponent buying themself one extra turn and putting a lifesteal monster on the board can absolutely swing the game. especially when they now have the ability to generate instant value.

first of all you're forced into difficult trades where you have to try and avoid your minions being left with 1 life because it can allow them to summon an elemental. this is not just a problem of 'well if you play really well you can avoid having 1 health and avoid being punished.' you have to understand the issue is that often you have to FOREGO making the optimal play because the oppressive hero power of DK Jaina restricts the lines of play you have available. if you top deck a minion with one health or one they can trade into and drop to one health then you just can't play. they can turn your draws into dead draws. they can force you to make the least favorable trades. if you try to face race them down they will simply keep hitting you and gaining health back from lifesteal. it's nowhere near as easy to deal with as you seem to think it is. especially in a mode where your deck is just cobbled together random cards that you have to make the best of.
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bng_mmmk posted...

He said something like "If you think you were dominating a game, and then your opponent played Jaina, and you ended up losing, the fact is you weren't dominating the game."

That's bullshit. Utter bullshit. Anyone who thinks Frost Lich Jaina isn't a completely insane arena card is just flat out wrong.

100% agree. I have four documented cases of Jaina being played against me in my last sequence of runs and every single time it won my opponent the game. Two, arguably three of those times I was in the position where I was about to win the game and they completely turned it around and made it a stomp in favor of the player who played DK Jaina. The card is absolutely fucking ballistic in arena.
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KokoroAkechi posted...

Btw. All of my arena decks this expansion have been awful. At times sub 60 points bad. Some of the time I get synergy picks at the start but then succeed in not getting offered anything related. I have a paladin deck and got like a dragon as a first pick. But was offered one other dragon card the entire game.

it's really frustrating to think about right now because about 60% of arena games follow the current rule

1. proper drafting is the most important. you need to construct a good deck to increase your probability of having good draw RNG. this means that drafting SKILL has a high impact on your ability to do well.
2. draw RNG is second most important. having multiple cards that you can play on a given turn gives multiple lines of play. this means that player SKILL has a high determination for your ability to do well. making the correct plays will often be important and be rewarded.
3. card quality is third most important. whether you play a 50 point card or a 70 point card is probably not going to make a difference. it matters more that you construct a good deck so you can draw the card at the right time and play the correct one for the situation you're in.

this is actually AMAZING. this is what arena SHOULD BE.

here's the problem... there's a few insane and broken cards in the card pool right now, and the range of low quality to high quality cards is so spread out that it leads to insane deck variance. the other 40% of games you just AUTOMATICALLY LOSE or AUTOMATICALLY WIN based on your deck quality. this makes skill completely obsolete.

this is TERRIBLE. and the exact opposite of what arena should be. to have 40% of your games be completely unfun and have a predetermined result regardless of what line of play you make is just totally unacceptable.

if all of the games were as good as the 60% I mentioned above then arena would be phenomenal right now. but it's simply not going to happen until Blizzard fixes the damn problems that are incredibly obvious and easy to fix.
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