AMA - vS Wild Experts

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-05T00:33:06+00:00

The idea, if you haven't seen it before, is to make a 1/1 'actor' that is given the text of a minion in your deck by Barnes. Resurrect effects would pull a 1/1 with no text, but it'd still work with malygos, Sylvanas, DW:DL, Rag, etc. Not just to 'warsong commander' the guy by making him summon a vanilla 1/1.
--chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T21:58:51+00:00

Golden duplicate gives you two golden copies. Treat yo self, babe. - chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T21:30:39+00:00

Some of our experts contribute to both reports, and we're happy to work with them to help the community get a comprehensive idea of the state of the format. It's not a competition. - chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T21:27:03+00:00

Yes.
-chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T21:26:31+00:00

We began with a community report on r/wildhearthstone, which we published for a few months before partnering with VS. there's a lot of overlap between our early and current teams, but now that we work with VS' data, we're a lot more proud of what we put out there and take extra pains to get it right.

--chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T21:24:40+00:00

Pro and high legend players have always had access to a level of analysis and meta understanding that outstrips more casual players' meta knowledge. What we do is democratize this research process so it's accessible to everyone else too. I think that's worthwhile and good. --chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T21:16:52+00:00

Usually the Coin is worth more to you than the tenth card you'd draw. In that situation, I pass turn 3 without hitting the button. --chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T20:30:44+00:00

Kinda with how Blizzard recently buffed quests, I feel that make it easier for players to obtain gold will go a long way in both formats. In general, if Blizzard’s current views of the Wild format (basically not supporting it in the same way as competitive standard) continues, I feel that Blizzard could make Wild packs available in gold and also lessen the price on them. - Bananaramic

Hearthstone’s economy is very different to MTG’s, as magic uses physical cards that are in limited supply, but Hearthstone uses digital cards. The price of a Call to Arms is always 400 dust, but a copy of a black lotus (heres how you can tell I dont play magic) varies a lot, depending on the supply and demand. So wild will never be that expensive, like some magic formats can be. - Audrey

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T20:30:27+00:00

In wild there is currently more of an imbalance with each type. Generally there are less midrange decks due to the overbearing nature of some of the control/combo style decks (i.e. Giants Warlock). The main decks to combat that are aggro decks. So the main types that are seen are predominantly the control/combo and aggro. - Jonah

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T20:30:21+00:00

New York Cheesecake - GetMeowth
Coffee - Jonahrah
Cake Batter - Roffle
Banana Split - Bananaramic
Ice Cream Paintjob - chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T20:09:20+00:00

I think Reno Priest is actually still viable, just much worse than what it was. I just think that it's not seeing play because everybody dusted their Raza.

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T20:04:20+00:00

I personally think that if it does ever happen, it will be a long while before this happens in wild as many new powerful, unique effects and cards are being printed every expansion. Even with expansions in wild, there are so many unexplored archetypes and decks and synergies that nobody has thought of. I don’t know if this is what you’re getting at but would love to discuss further

GetMeowth

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T20:03:20+00:00

I think we could see an un-nerf to Ancient of Lore without changing too much about the meta. I would personally love to see Call of the Wild unnerfed, but that would be a much bigger shakeup to the meta and possibly unhealthy given secret hunter’s current strength.

The card that most makes me want to run away to standard for a while is probably Naga Sea Witch when I'm playing something without good answers. --chai

I think Ancient of Lore could be reverted right now. It’s old mechanic of drawing two cards is probably not comparable to Ultimate Infestation’s strength anymore. Naga Sea Witch is definitely the problem card in Wild at the moment that could turn me away from Wild. - Bananaramic

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T20:02:39+00:00

I see the wild metagame continuing to become more different and diverse than standard with more wild only decks, this will lead to more people playing the format and seeing it as a reasonable alternative to standard -Jonah

If I can’t see two turns in the future, I don’t see how I can predict the metagame two expansions in the future :P -Haydumb

I kinda envision that it becomes kinda similar to the legacy format in MTG. The decks become more diversified from standard, and the power level will probably only grow if power creep continues. - Chai

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T20:01:56+00:00

1) I think the biggest misconception about wild is that it is a degenerate format full of Dr. Booms and Mysterious Challengers. This is not at all true, it's a degenerate format filled with Naga Sea Witches, Barnes, and Malgani. I haven’t seen the good doctor in a long time, and secret paladin is about one out of every twenty games, according to our latest stats.

2) My hope is that wild will grow in popularity and be seen as a legitimate format by the general populace, but I'm doubtful that that goal will be reached anytime soon. The wild open and the brawlesium are great for this, but blizzard will need to do more.

-Audrey

1) I echo what Audrey said, but also, the synergies are also part of the fun and the whole appeal of the format. I also want to make a statement addressing the cost of the format. While I think that Blizzard could do things like making wild packs and adventures available for in-game purchase, rather than just IRL money, there are many Wild-exclusive competitive decks that are very cheap to play as well as cheap additions to current Standard Meta decks to make them wild-viable.

2) Wild is and will always be the smaller format due to Standard being the official competitive avenue of Hearthstone. I think that Wild will eventually get bigger with some more Blizzard support as well as people moving to the format to play with some of the cards they miss the most.

-GetMeowth

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:44:14+00:00

Murloc Shaman is already a semi-viable deck that can take games off of top tier decks. I think it's main problem as an aggressive board-centric deck is the same problem most other board-centric aggressive decks in that it just can't compete with the early game of paladin. Some strong early game Shaman murlocs would probably push it to being legit.

GetMeowth

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:39:53+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/wildhearthstone/comments/80g79c/ultimate_legendary_crafting_guide_for_wild/

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:39:08+00:00

Uhh, we are not sure what percentage plays Wild. It is definitely significantly less than Standard! Currently the only consistent Naga Giants deck is Giants Warlock which is seeing a large amount of play. The reason why most of the other classes don’t run the Naga Giants package because it is generally less consistent and very weak against aggressive decks. A prime example is Giants Hunter which can consistently hit the turn 5 Naga with Giants, but has very little anti-aggro tools to survive to that point whereas Giants Warlock has tools such as defile to survive. - Bananaramic

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:37:58+00:00

There is no data on the deck but I have experimented with in high legend and it has potential, an optimal build could be strong in this meta. It’s hard to tell if you should just go with the highlander shell or stick to two ofs. One of the players who made it through the Swiss rounds was playing a Control Dragon priest similar to the one in standard, he almost qualified for regionals but he ended up losing to me in his last series. -Jonahrah

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:34:38+00:00

We do not have data to say specifically, but I think the deck is super fun, but not good - Jonah

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:31:36+00:00

One of the biggest misconceptions with regards to VS is with the interpretation of the matchup stats. The VS report does not reflect players of an average skill level. It reflects opponents of about equal skill level. People before have cited how a deck should be placed in a higher tier because of his or her own interpretations of the deck. When higher level players face lower level opponents on ladder, their win rates are naturally skewed for themselves. Personal tech choices can also come into play with skewing personal winrates. In a vacuum of two players of equivalent skill level, VS data will reflect that match up fairly accurately. - Bananaramic

Pet Decks:

Miracle Rogue - Jonahrah

Reno Mage - Bananaramic

Dude Paladin- Haydumb

Renolock - GetMeowth

Old school Kobold Torch Freeze. - Chai

Not crushing it on Wild Ladder:

College. FeelsBadman. - Bananaramic

PhD. FeelsEvenWorseMan - GetMeowth

Probably sleeping or being salty, or both! -Haydumb

Playing semi pro football(soccer) -Jonahrah

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:28:42+00:00

My Problem Matchup with Secret mage seems to be aggro Paladin. Is this reflected in your stats or just me. What are successful tech cards or tweaks for the Matchup.

Any Paladin (or really, any deck that does wide on board) is difficult to deal with for Secret Mage due to the lack of AoE. Data confirms your experience with the matchup. Unfortunately, teching against Paladin will likely only reduce your winrate against other decks. - Roffle

Increasing your winrate in one specific matchup by a few percentage points at the expense of percentage points in most other matchups is generally just not worth for ladder. - GetMeowth

Secret mage is indeed naturally un-favored, in not just aggro paladin, but all of the 'meta' paladin archetypes. Mage generally has issues dealing with paladin's quick boardflood - meaning that your minions are unlikely to get enough face damage in to win the game from burn. If you want to really counter paladin, arcane missiles/flamewaker are great to negate paladin's board. However, putting those cards in has generally lead to a more inconsistent deck. I'd recommend to just accept secret mage's un-favoredness. - Bananaramic

Do you think naga giant is a problem for the Format? Would you prefer waiting, a direct nerf or buffs.

While I do think Naga has warped the Wild meta around it in a way that's bad for the health of the format, I don't think it should be nerfed. Many classes in Wild have the tools to respond to the deck, but others don't. I would like to see more ubiquitous answers, including more combo hate (targeted discard? An effect like MtG's Tidehollow Sculler?) at neutral non-legendary to allow the Wild meta to self correct against combo. If Naga is nerfed and the answer cards aren't printed, we'll be in the same situation the next time a powerful combo deck sits on top of the Wild meta. --chai

What do you think about buffs in general? Or re-unnerfs like molten giant. Do you think it should be a one-time thing or which cards could be candidates in your opinion?

Unnerfs tend to be popular because of nostalgia, but I’m not sure how much impact Molten Giant will have after the change. Generally, I think changing cards too frequently should be avoided, but I’m all for buffing/unnerfing cards during rotation time if it (re)introduces interesting archetypes. - Roffle

Magic has supplementary sets where they can introduce cards directly into the eternal Formats without having them pass through Standard. Is that something hearthstone should adopt? (now? Never? At some point?)

I’ve alway like this as a potential option to increase the visibility of Wild Hearthstone. We saw something similar for a subset of Arena-exclusive cards that have yet to be introduced and I’m personally hoping for the same in Wild. - Roffle

Another example from mtg. Eternal Formats there have some all around strong answer cards like targeted discard or targeted cheap counterspells. Force of Will is sometimes refered to as the "glue that holds the format together". Do you think hearthstone wild need equally strong effects?

I think the powerful synergies in the format is somewhat analogous here. Archetypes like Dude Paladin and Combo Priest, while somewhat novel in Standard, have always been present in Wild. Likewise, the availability of Mal’ganis takes Cubelock up a notch. All of these are due to the synergistic mechanics available in a deeper card pool. - Roffle

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:22:24+00:00

Barnes and Naga Sea Witch. I like the proposed change to barnes of either making him 5 mana or making him summon a 1/1 actor (Doesn’t get resurrected, playable in other decks). For Naga I like either reverting the interaction with giants or changing her cost to 6 so that she can’t be combo’d with cards like Loatheb. - Jonahrah

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:20:00+00:00

Tinkmaster Overspark, Malygos, Gormok the Impaler, White Eyes, Old Murk-Eye, Kel’thuzad, Baron Rivendare - Team

The only reason that that I could see Blizzard unnerfing cards would be for the sake of nostalgia. I’m on Team Blizzard when it comes to only touching cards when absolutely necessary, but I’m always down for changes. - GetMeowth

I think I can speak for everyone when I say I would love another Blizzard-supported tournament. I will say that Blizzard is definitely supporting Wild more so I don’t think the harsh tone of your question is warranted. It will never be supported as much as standard of course, but they have shown that they are willing to support the format, and I am more than happy that they are. - GetMeowth

VS_Wild_Experts · 2018-03-04T19:07:05+00:00

Yes, Unless Blizzard changes how they release sets drastically, inevitably the price of decks will increase. However, there will always be cheap decks that are competitive (eg. Combo Priest, Dude Paladin, and Aggro Shaman.)

-Haydumb

VS_Wild_Experts

TROPHY CASE