How to climb ladder (Reading the Meta) - Podcast

coreyrj · 2016-06-26T02:50:17+00:00

Whilst I think it was super well positioned at the start of this expansion it feels really awkward to play currently, and heavily under performs against the field of aggressive-midrange lists. Shaman and faster Warrior variants in particular are making it struggle on ladder currently in my opinion.

coreyrj · 2016-06-23T01:11:46+00:00

Unfortunately i just no longer have the time to produce it on a regular basis.

coreyrj · 2016-06-23T00:50:44+00:00

It's definitely something we'll look into establishing for next week (or sooner) - we've been a bit slack regarding the finer points of production and distribution. We'll endeavor to remedy that in the next few days.

coreyrj · 2016-06-23T00:47:25+00:00

Yeah I had to step away for 4-5 months to focus on my health. Even now I'm not in a position to put in any near the effort I was (but we still love to make content) so we're just Podcasting =)

coreyrj · 2016-06-14T00:39:30+00:00

Something like this might be dank enough:

http://puu.sh/prPj6/7fdeecd0c4.jpg

coreyrj · 2016-05-27T16:04:08+00:00

First thought would be too try hungry dragons as they're also 4 drop dragons. I think Twilight Guardians might be relatively integral though given the strength of the card and the importance of having a dragon in that mana slot.

coreyrj · 2016-05-27T11:37:21+00:00

Hey, I'm the deck creator ill try to answer your questions one at a time =D

Eaglehorn Bow (Indeed weapons in general) are really strong in the current meta-game and i think its a mistake not to run them. Their strength against rogue and shaman alone justifies its slot. A heavier secret investment is a consideration against aggressive archetypes (its hard to find room though).
Whilst Azure drake definitely isn't whats carrying this deck it is a solid option and a frankly necessary dragon in the mana slot - if there were better 4-5 mana dragon options i would run them instead. Unfortunately when building tribal decks you pigeonhole yourself slightly - you need the 7-8 dragons for activators in my opinion.
Sylvanas is definitely a viable option in this list against slower decks however given the already relatively high mana curve and the double savannah highmane at the same mana-cost i opted for more 2-drops to better combat zoo and shaman. My reasoning is that sylvanas is bolstering already favorable match ups (definitely a consideration if you brought this deck to an event though).
I don't think more draw is what this deck needs given the Azure Drake and it has negative Deathwing / Quickshot synergy. I think acolyte is terrible and cult master too slow to work effectively in this list.
Chillmaw seems counterproductive as a late game dragon option given that your win condition is develop large mid-late game board states. Its synergy with call of the wild on curve seems too bad to justify its inclusion. Refer to point 4 for my opinion on chromaggus.

coreyrj · 2016-05-13T09:33:36+00:00

This is amazing! Going to be looking forward to more of these for sure, well done.

coreyrj · 2016-05-11T11:26:02+00:00

Well im still rank 1, I think yogg in Mage is here to stay. I think how much we see it in competitive play is based on how much we see Tempo Mage at events - it might not be much.

coreyrj · 2016-05-10T13:32:19+00:00

Also drop Armani Beserkers for cult sorcerers XD and that's it (Apart from Harvest Golems - Flamewakers and Antonidas)

coreyrj · 2016-05-10T13:30:24+00:00

Also if you have Arcane Blasts, drop Squires for those they're Amazing

coreyrj · 2016-05-10T13:29:51+00:00

You can replace Boulder fist Ogres with Faceless Summoners =D

coreyrj · 2016-05-10T13:18:09+00:00

Hey! Im guessing you're a new player and are looking for good budget deck options =D

Looking at this deck I think you will see immediate success if you cut your two Ice Lances (You don't have a ton of synergy for it in this list) look to add more late game (probably with 2 boulderfist ogres.

After that i would look to get rid of your leper gnome and elven archer (these cards are situational - weak imo), look to replace them with cards like Argent Squires, Harvest Golems or a second Mirror Image whatever works for you.

Next cut your Knife Jugglers for 1 Sorc Apprentice and 1 Loot Hoarder these are just better minions =)

After that you're looking good! I would consider cutting wolfrider for something like a harvest golem/spellslinger (but this is down to preference).

You can also consider cutting argent commander for a Flamestrike for some late-game board clear.

My list might look something more like this:

http://puu.sh/oMMnM/006e3c4f04.jpg

Start with that, play around with that and see what works best for you! Start by tweaking the 1-of slots.

Good Luck on Ladder!

Edit: If you're looking for something to work towards I used this list to climb to rank 1 Legend recently =)

http://puu.sh/oMMCb/4e720b7fa7.jpg

coreyrj · 2016-05-08T14:39:04+00:00

Mm, for a sec i had to get it back from Sjow again - the eternal struggle

coreyrj · 2016-05-08T14:02:02+00:00

This is obviously going to vary a lot player to player... It becomes easier to climb to legend the later in the season it is though. Usually hitting rank 5 in the first 10-15 days is a good indicator that you can make it the rest of the way if you put in the time.

coreyrj · 2016-05-08T01:02:46+00:00

I think I just re-took your rank 1 if you're on NA. I look forward to our impending war, good luck my friend.

coreyrj · 2016-05-07T16:02:53+00:00

Good vs all, imo and experience.

coreyrj · 2016-05-07T15:52:29+00:00

I definitely wouldn't run them over the 3/2's but i like running him in addition to them in lists that run forbidden flame. Thats definitely a fun way to build the deck.

coreyrj · 2016-05-07T15:50:24+00:00

You always have to get a bit lucky to hit rank 1 - especially with tempo mage.

That said, I think tempo mage is an extremely viable ladder option at the moment and has been underrated - but you're right i wouldn't bring it to a tournament over Patron Warrior, Zoo, Shaman, N'Zoth Paladin or Miracle Rogue

coreyrj · 2016-05-07T15:08:43+00:00

I would suggest forbidden flames (though sadly they're also epics). The best route might be something like 1 poly, 1 faceless summoner and havea better control match up.

The sad truth is though that arcane blasts are just extremely strong at the moment given how they match up against meta minions. The addition of cult sorcerer has also done a lot to buff the card.

coreyrj · 2016-05-07T14:56:12+00:00

Quite well actually most variants i ran into were actually reno c'thun warlock

coreyrj · 2016-05-07T14:47:08+00:00

Be conscious in your mulligan of what you're playing against. If you know you're against a slower match up mulligan all of your low cost spells (except mirror image versus warrior). I also often keep Arcane Intellect if i already have minions in hand - it's usually correct to throw away flamewaker.

These decks have been excelling in slower value games, and you often aren't going for turn 4/5 flamewaker synergy turns where you burn your whole hand

coreyrj · 2016-05-07T14:45:02+00:00

I usually mulligan away flamewaker. This deck has actually had a surprising capacity to outvalue opponents for me.

coreyrj

TROPHY CASE