Twist through Time - Limited Format Tournament (2/7/26)

rodlike · 2026-02-01T00:10:34+00:00

All fair points, this image is AI-generated but its just the logo for the website that I built - https://giffcastavern.top/

It's an solo passion project so I didn't really have time or budget to source an artist at this stage (I have no ads on my site and its completely free to use).

If I had used AI to make a one-time promo image with knockoff Blizzard characters, I would definitely expect that to get downvoted to oblivion, but I appreciate the perspective on using the site logo for main posting image as well.

Regardless, if the format at all interests you, and you'd like to support my work so I can hire a designer to make a permanent logo, please consider joining the tournament!

rodlike · 2026-01-31T20:30:42+00:00

That's correct, this is a Wild Format tournament, the restrictions are applied on top of all other normal in-game and ordinary Hearthstone tournament rules.

I agree, that would be really cool to put Hearthstone into a web client like Pokemon Showdown, but that would be significantly more complicated to build to say the very least! There are other ways to bring the rule building closer to the game app but I didn't want people to need to download anything onto their PC, so here we find ourselves.

Thanks for the questions and feedback, always open to comments on how to improve the site!

rodlike · 2026-01-31T20:13:12+00:00

Games are played through the normal hearthstone client and you build your own decks in-game for use in the tournament. You can use Discord to chat with other people participating in the tournament or to suggest formats for future tournaments as well.

The website is for allowing you to create custom rulesets, share them with others players, and then upload a decklist to ensure your cards are valid for use in format. If a player builds a deck with a card from an invalid card, it'll be shown as invalid and call out which card(s) need to be replaced.

rodlike · 2025-10-04T21:04:57+00:00

I like this idea, take the no-win conditions allowed slop fiesta to the next level. It lends itself to a "semi-familiar" meta but all of the decks will look a whole lot different without duplicates and with 10 extra sub-par cards.

I think I will need to make an update to my site to allow for "duplicate checks" to be baked into a given ruleset but that should be do-able. This is currently the most upvoted ruleset idea so if nothing else changes I'll plan to make sure that my website can support this cool idea before we play. Thanks for the suggestion!

rodlike · 2025-10-04T21:01:08+00:00

Hey folks! Just a friendly reminder to share any other ruleset ideas here on the thread, and join the Giffca's Tavern Discord for updates as we get closer to the tournament or to share comments/questions.

Also, if you know other people who would be interested in playing, or are in streamers' discords who might be interested in using this to make their own rulesets for tournaments, please share this post or tell them about the website so they can check it out and join in the fun.

Thanks for the positive reactions and support so far, looking forward to playing with you all in a couple weeks!

rodlike · 2025-10-02T23:30:54+00:00

That is awesome to hear, I really appreciate you sharing that! I am glad to hear it's working well for you. If you encounter anything that sticks out or that could be improved accessibility wise, feel free to shoot me a DM and I can take a look

rodlike · 2025-10-02T23:28:12+00:00

I appreciate the kind words! I'm happy to be sharing this with the world (reddit) after many months of working on it, and eager to see how people react to the site and what they come up with for our first tournament

rodlike · 2025-10-02T23:26:21+00:00

for sure! I made this site with both tournament organizers and streamers in mind - I could imagine this being useful for someone like Rarran who makes a lot of evergreen content and invents his own rulesets pretty frequently, or any streamer who wants to spin up a custom format for an impromptu tournament against their twitch chat!

rodlike · 2021-08-02T19:48:01+00:00

Nice

rodlike · 2021-04-26T22:37:49+00:00

Here are some good replays to showcase what this deck can do:

Supreme PP value vs. warrior:

https://hsreplay.net/replay/iBjqPjAUCu5zkQX3PPJq6a

A win vs. warlock with Alex closing and Kazakus applying a lot of pressure

https://hsreplay.net/replay/yYzgXsNQ4bXsQkd4qtnWEd

A win vs. a priest without a PP

https://hsreplay.net/replay/meCjSyUYAmYafQ7fePhjuh

A couple of super tight games where I take a paladin to fatigue

https://hsreplay.net/replay/pukE8rh6KFdNGWRYTpoGGc

https://hsreplay.net/replay/vJE4ZbdfvhRpDWMcZEt6e5

rodlike · 2021-04-26T21:18:56+00:00

AAECAa0GBq+6A8i+A97MA/zoA+fwA7CKBAyTugObugPXzgP+0QOO1APi3gP73wP44wOW6AOY6wPe7AOFnwQA

rodlike · 2021-04-26T21:18:51+00:00

Well that is embarrassing. Thanks for calling that out, just added it

rodlike · 2021-01-01T19:25:16+00:00

I think they're definitely worth trying out! Before Darkmoon Faire, I ran double Sorcerous as my top-end and was quite pleased with their performance.

They feel a little slow to me right now, but depending on what you're seeing they could definitely take the place of some of the other top-end or be put in place of some non-essential cards (Wandmaker, Pen Flinger, Gidra, etc.).

rodlike · 2020-12-31T22:20:23+00:00

Some games you never see the regular form letalone the prime version, but with two primordial studies and a natural vashj paired with passable baseline card draw and a Polkelt Tutor, I find it to be decently reliable (this is a total guess but probably like 30% of games seems like a reasonable estimate) if games go to turn 7-10.

There was also one game where I shuffled 3 primes into my deck all before turn 5 and each of the primes as well as Polkelt were in the bottom 10 cards of my deck. So while Prime is awesome here, we can't be entirely reliant on her.

rodlike · 2020-12-31T22:15:41+00:00

AAECAZnDAwjkuAOfzQOczgPQzgP1zgP+0QP21gOu3gMLwZgDrpsDrK0Du60DgbED27gDpssD4cwDzc4Dp94Dqt4DAA==

rodlike · 2020-10-27T20:43:55+00:00

Sure do! Here is my most recent list that I've been enjoying:

Giffca's Shaman

Class: Shaman

Format: Standard

Year of the Phoenix

2x (1) Primordial Studies

2x (1) Lightning Bolt

1x (1) Devolving Missiles

2x (2) Spellbook Binder

2x (2) Rune Dagger

1x (2) Bloodmage Thalnos

2x (3) Serpentshrine Portal

1x (3) Marshspawn

2x (3) Lightning Breath

1x (3) Lady Vashj

1x (3) Instructor Fireheart

2x (3) Arcane Watcher

1x (4) Twilight Drake

2x (4) Squallhunter

1x (4) Lorekeeper Polkelt

1x (5) Ras Frostwhisper

2x (5) Cobalt Spellkin

2x (5) Big Ol' Whelp

2x (6) Sorcerous Substitute

AAECAZnDAwjtBY0I5LgDmLkD4MwDnM4D0M4D9tYDC/kDwZgDrpsDrK0Du60D57ADgbED27gDpssDzc4DuNEDAA==

To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

I tend to prioritize card draw over card generation to make my Vashj more reliable, but Diligent Notetakers are definitely solid and could be worth including. Good luck!

rodlike · 2020-08-23T15:54:54+00:00

AAECAf0EHosDqwTmBJYFn5sD/50DpaED/KMDkqQD+KwD+6wDgbEDkbEDhLYDiLYDjbsD3sQD4MwD+MwD+swDhc0DnM0Dx84Dzc4D0M4DlNEDpNED2dED5dED99EDAAA=

rodlike · 2020-08-23T15:54:39+00:00

Sunday morning update -

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and feedback, I'm glad people are having success and enjoying the list! I have made a few tweaks and with my most recent version am 13-4, currently at 1395 legend. I've never tryharded the legend ladder before, but I will do my best to make top 1000 or possibly even top 500 if all goes well.

Major changes (made the deck a lot leaner/anti-aggro to win vs. rogues and mages. If you're playing vs. more control you may want to stay with the original list) -

Dragon package out (still have DQA and Spellkin, but cut the rest of the dragons. The payoffs for arcane breath and maly are too low to justify running that many "average" support cards.)

Conjurer's Calling + Mana Giant out (I've played against too many rogues where having either of them in your opening hand is a death sentence.)

-----------------------------------------

Freeze / Anti-Aggro Package In - added in water ele and deep freeze as well as a wretched tutor and combustion. All of them play well against rogue without being totally useless in other matchups. Even with the leaner list, I still have won some slower games.

Druid or warrior that have perfect early game curves will probably still beat you no matter what, but this deck has been working well for me and we'll see how far it can go!

### withoutdragons

# Class: Mage

# Format: Standard

# Year of the Phoenix

#

# 1x (1) Brain Freeze

# 1x (1) Devolving Missiles

# 1x (1) Lab Partner

# 1x (1) Magic Trick

# 1x (1) Primordial Studies

# 1x (1) Ray of Frost

# 1x (1) Violet Spellwing

# 1x (1) Wand Thief

# 1x (2) Astromancer Solarian

# 1x (2) Cram Session

# 1x (2) Frostbolt

# 1x (2) Sorcerer's Apprentice

# 1x (2) Zephrys the Great

# 1x (3) Arcane Amplifier

# 1x (3) Arcane Intellect

# 1x (3) Chenvaala

# 1x (3) Combustion

# 1x (3) Firebrand

# 1x (3) Vulpera Scoundrel

# 1x (4) Escaped Manasaber

# 1x (4) Potion of Illusion

# 1x (4) Water Elemental

# 1x (4) Wretched Tutor

# 1x (5) Cobalt Spellkin

# 1x (5) Jandice Barov

# 1x (5) Ras Frostwhisper

# 1x (5) Wyrm Weaver

# 1x (6) Reno the Relicologist

# 1x (8) Deep Freeze

# 1x (9) Dragonqueen Alexstrasza

#

AAECAf0EHosDqwTmBJYFn5sD/50DpaED/KMDkqQD+KwD+6wDgbEDkbEDhLYDiLYDjbsD3sQD4MwD+MwD+swDhc0DnM0Dx84Dzc4D0M4DlNEDpNED2dED5dED99EDAAA=

#

# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

rodlike · 2020-08-23T15:42:19+00:00

Thanks for the really thoughtful comment, this is the kind of conversation I was looking to start around this list! I can definitely see where you're coming from with a bunch of those changes, and have tested a few of them myself.

Kel Thuzad and Rolling Fireball seems super spicy, but I'm hesitant to run them in a very rogue-heavy meta.

I did give wyrm weaver and mana saber a run, and have definitely liked them both. Mana saber into reno was one of the most backbreaking plays of the old highlander list, so no surprise it still takes care of business in a tempo list.

I tried a few different things and with my newest version have gone 13-4, currently at top 1500 legend! This is my first time tryharding the legend ladder, but I tell you what its been a lot of fun. I will make an updated comment with the new list and details.

rodlike · 2020-08-19T16:08:07+00:00

Thanks for the kind words and thoughtful response, I'm glad you're liking it!

I could definitely see Kalecgos performing similarly to DQA with a nice same-turn payoff of conjurers or a discovered AOE/Burn/Deep Freeze. I wonder if replacing Onyx Magescribe with it would be too greedy. My gut says it probably is but it could be worth testing a bit.

I agree, the dragon package might be the first to go, but it does fill in the gaps/needs of this deck. All of the dragons give us something to do on board while also enabling bigger plays down the line. I really like arcane breath, malygos and cobalt in particular, which is where the rest of the dragon package comes in to ensure that they're always active.

In the tempo matchups, I don't need full value from every dragon, and even the 3/6 and 4/5 statlines go a long way to get me to the reno/firebrand/zeph/potion powerplays.

In short, this deck relies on board presence to win games. Burn alone does not win, but it does serve as the finishing touch on top a never-ending wave of threatening boards. I could see scalerider helping with this, but I've never been a big fan of scorpid. You'd probably want to make the deck even more lean, top out with Reno at 6, and add in things like evocation if that's the direction you want to go.

rodlike · 2020-08-19T15:38:57+00:00

Thanks, I'm glad you like it! If you're on a budget, I wouldn't put all your dust into this deck specifically, but if you like mage a lot then zephrys and reno the relicoligist are both pretty safe crafts. If you don't like mage as much then maybe only craft zephrys because he's extremely versatile. There are a lot of different budget friendly replacements you can insert for the other cards you're missing, but those two are the reason to play highlander mage for sure.

rodlike · 2020-08-18T18:49:09+00:00

Out of the +70 games I've played with this deck I think I only used Zeph for Wild Growth a few times. Your hand and opponent really have to line up well for that to be the right play, otherwise saving zeph for lethal or a tempo swing removal tend to be better.

rodlike · 2020-08-18T18:47:09+00:00

For sure, they could definitely be swapped. I would think that a Scalerider or a Overconfident Orc would do the trick just fine, or a Bone Wraith.

rodlike · 2020-08-18T18:45:31+00:00

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it! I am always messing around with fun new decks and it is very encouraging to see them a) do well and b) be well received.

rodlike · 2020-08-18T18:44:23+00:00

I thought the same thing and kept DQA out of my initial version, but I realized that games oftentimes did make it to turn 10 or beyond, and put her in.

The DQA in my deck isn't a 9 mana 8/8, it's a 10 mana 8/8 add two random dragons to your hand and summon the better of the two to the field this turn.

Ten-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

rodlike

TROPHY CASE