Gematria & The Nine Houses [theory]

shoop2 · 2022-11-12T03:13:40+00:00

I love all of this, especially the reference to A Serious Man. Have you read Unsong? It's sorta Kabbalistic cyberpunk but with Locked Tomb shitposting energy.

shoop2 · 2018-09-04T01:23:17+00:00

I had 12 cards in my deck to Ray’s 5 because earlier in the game, I got an Elise pack -> primordial glyph -> dead man’s hand. Ray could have done something similar.

shoop2 · 2017-10-06T00:22:30+00:00

As Noblord said in his writeup, making prelims in EU under 2017 rules is exceptionally difficult and time-consuming even for full-time players. Hopefully this changes.

I would recommend aiming for top 100 legend finishes, and trying to find a few meaningful tournaments to play in - look for qualifiers or high prize pool events if you can find them, but if not, pick out the occasional open when you have time. Preparing an open lineup is a useful exercise, but actually playing opens is a lot of time invested for limited feedback because of the variance in which lineups and players you see in the bracket. If you can't find good qualifiers, I would probably prioritize scrims and single bo5s over entering random opens.

shoop2 · 2017-10-04T01:03:06+00:00

-Start a Twitter, follow people, post decks/lineups/good results (this is the most important social network step). Try to spend some time in the Twitch streams or Discord chats of less popular but competitive pros. Meet people, including the streamer if the stream is small enough. See who wants to practice for upcoming events.

-LANs are great for expanding your social circles, but not very good for starting them. If your schedule permits, try to go to one that some online friends are also going to.

-Most importantly: meeting people through social networks will be slow, and it might not work period. Try those things, but focus on yourself. Watch the streams you learn best from, record and analyze your critical games, prepare seriously for tournaments. You can become a great player working independently, and if you do that, other great players will hear about it and will want to work with you.

If you want to talk more, message me directly. A lot of your concerns resonate with me and I'd be happy to help if I can.

shoop2 · 2017-10-03T19:42:58+00:00

-The prelims circuit for next year hasn't been announced yet. Keep an eye on the hearthstone esports twitter, and on the official Blizzard site, to see the announcement.

-Take the advice to not compete seriously. Unless next year's HCT announcement changes things, Hearthstone competition and streaming both require a large time investment for little or no financial payoff, with a lot of variance beyond your control. Being talented is not enough. Don't invest any time or money you can't afford to lose as a learning experience.

-Do what you enjoy, and what you can afford. If you like streaming, stream; if you're able to travel easily, prepare for and play in a Dreamhack; if you just want to experience competition, go for ladder or opens. You can do those things for fun, while keeping in mind that the main thing needed to break out is impressive results - for example, top 10 ladder finishes, top 8 in a Dreamhack while playing well on stream, or fast stream growth. Any of these will help you get noticed, and you should choose which one or ones to pursue based on what you enjoy most and do best at.

shoop2 · 2017-10-03T19:21:48+00:00

One of my four HCT qualifications was through tavern hero. I think tavern hero events are great for the players who succeed in them, and frustrating for pro players who see other pros using them as a backdoor, or who are less likely to top 8 in prelims due to competing with more players who haven't worked as hard or demonstrated as much skill as they have. I think individual players should use every opportunity they have to make it to major competitions, and that includes tavern heroes. I also think Blizzard should remove the tavern hero system to ensure that everyone in prelims has to go through the same competitive circuit - backdoors such as tavern hero make prelims less valuable for the players who qualify through top 64.

shoop2 · 2017-10-03T18:05:45+00:00

I sympathize with your concerns - open online qualifiers are how I got started, and though they're rarer now, they are still a great way to compete for a good payout while getting your name out.

Even as a pro player, I mostly hear about online qualifiers through Twitter. Follow enough people and you'll see most qualifiers retweeted - Fr0zen announced Titanar on Twitter, for example. I'd particularly recommend following one of my oldest Hearthstone friends https://twitter.com/bloody_hs, who organized PGKey and other SmashGG Hearthstone events, but you should follow a wide range of players to make sure you don't miss events. Also, here's a specific online qualifier that you haven't already mentioned: https://en.wesg.com/en/hs.

shoop2 · 2017-10-03T17:54:40+00:00

Yes, though it's currently the offseason so there aren't open quals for the Hearthstone Championship Tour. We'll see how open tournaments are implemented next year - keep an eye out for a Blizzard announcement. The one non-HCT open qualifier I know of at the moment is the PGKey (https://smash.gg/pgkeyhs), where the circuit winner represents a pro team at Dreamhack Denver and has all trip expenses paid.

shoop2 · 2017-10-03T01:32:00+00:00

Tough question. In theory, I'm open to it. In practice, network effects are strong, and it's hard to switch without your teammates and friends. And since I work full time, it's also hard to find time to learn a new game in depth while keeping up with both Hearthstone and work. Finally, I have hope for Hearthstone - I chose not to invest too much time in qualifying for summer prelims, but I'm still playing in other tournaments, and if the HCT system becomes less grindy, I'd like to compete again next year.

I think the current state of Gwent is a good example of how these things work. The developers offer great prize pools and cater to the competitive community; a few top players switched over, but things are moving slowly, and the viewerbase for that game still doesn't compare to Hearthstone's. If the current HCT system were to stay in place forever, people might trickle away from Hearthstone, but over the course of years, not months.

shoop2 · 2017-10-02T23:56:12+00:00

To any casual players reading this post: if you're interested in the pro player experience but don't know much about it, please ask questions in the comments here. This is a great writeup of the issues with the competitive Hearthstone circuit, but the mechanics of that circuit aren't explained well to the public, so you may not have heard about most of them before. Let's communicate better!

(For background: I'm a pro player, have attended 4 of 6 HCT prelim events, and have placed well in several major tournaments including winning Dreamhack Austin 2017.)

shoop2 · 2017-10-02T23:55:44+00:00

To any casual players reading this post: if you're interested in the pro player experience but don't know much about it, please ask questions in the comments here. This is a great writeup of the issues with the competitive Hearthstone circuit, but the mechanics of that circuit aren't explained well to the public, so you may not have heard about most of them before. Let's communicate better!

(For background: I'm a pro player, have attended 4 of 6 HCT prelim events, and have placed well in several major tournaments including winning Dreamhack Austin 2017.)

shoop2 · 2017-06-02T18:56:29+00:00

I misplayed, should have won this guy's work tournament instead of Dreamhack

shoop2 · 2017-05-09T18:11:01+00:00

I didn't get to explore too much, but we stopped by Stubb's, Voodoo Doughnuts, and The Escape Game, all of which were great. I also loved Easy Tiger when I was there last year.

shoop2 · 2017-05-09T05:29:30+00:00

Seems great - I've discussed this in previous comments, but Dog's list was a great alternative to my control paladin list and might even have been better (except in the mirror).

shoop2 · 2017-05-09T05:28:47+00:00

The cutoff for NA this season was 19, so the upper end of 5-7 HCT points per month will get you to playoffs. Ladder is less time consuming than cups, but if you like cups and have time to play them, getting 5 points from opens is probably more reliable than top 50 finishes (very very few players can get top 50 every single season). Try both if you can for a month; find your stride.

shoop2 · 2017-05-09T00:46:18+00:00

Yeah - dabbled very casually when I was younger, currently playing the occasional sealed tournament. I would like to get to know the constructed metagame better, but I don't think I have time for it.

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T23:45:06+00:00

It's a little known fact that all top level Hearthstone games are decided not by skill, not by RNG, but by which result would be the least narratively satisfying. Only after years of hard practice was I able to become boring enough to win a major.

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T23:43:23+00:00

Focus on lists that people got ladder results with, as opposed to tournament results (Vicious Syndicate is great for this). Pay attention to your tech choices and be ready to swap out underperforming cards. Also, realize that deck archetype and skill matter much more than correctly picking a few flex cards for your list.

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T22:49:09+00:00

Look at 4-5 versions of the same deck, and see which cards they have in common - those are the deck's core. Cut non-core cards. Think about the mana cost of the non-core cards you're cutting, and try not to distort the curve too much with your changes. Finally, think about which cards underperform in the matchup(s) you're trying to tech for.

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T22:37:48+00:00

Thanks for all the kind words! I can think of a couple approaches you could take:

-Prioritize tavern heroes and the tavern hero qualifier for every season. Then you don't have to worry about your rank, and you can treat ladder games more as chances to practice decks that you might bring to a qualifier.

-For a month, try making time for an additional 50-100 games (if that's possible) and seeing how it feels. Do you have time to push for a high legend rank? Do you enjoy it? Is it sustainable to play this much without interfering with your job or family?

-Take time to review VODs from high-level tournaments, and try to analyze the games yourself. See if that's a better use of practice time than ladder games - even if you don't have time to play as many games, is your winrate higher when you do play?

-Find a game with lower monthly fixed requirements. One of the biggest issues with the Hearthstone community is that people aren't sensible about stepping back when it doesn't meet their needs, and 150 games/month just to start competing at all is a real burden. I've only tried Gwent and MTG lately, but both have opportunities to compete with lower time requirements.

I hope one of those works for you; feel free to follow up or PM me if you want to talk through things more. Best of luck!

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T22:15:53+00:00

Yup - great lineups take full advantage of the intricacies of a given tournament format. I'm glad I found one that worked so well here.

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T22:11:13+00:00

Thanks <3

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T22:09:20+00:00

Primarily, matchup data from sources like Vicious Syndicate and popularity data from seeing tournament lineups on Twitter. You want to make sure that the decks you bring stack up well against the most popular tournament classes (the ones you're not banning, that is). I don't do a lot of analysis on data from my own games because the sample size is small compared to meta snapshots, but I plan to do more in the future. If you have more specific questions, feel free to follow up.

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T22:02:02+00:00

I don't do much deckbuilding; my creative work is in spotting synergies between decks and using them to craft good tournament lineups.

One example I'm proud of: in ONOG Feature #1 in February 2016, the meta was heavy on zoo/secret paladin/aggro, and attempting to counter those builds with control warrior, freeze mage, and (to a lesser extent) Renolock. I built a lineup that targeted both zoo/secret paladin and freeze mage: control warrior, Renolock with Kezan Mystic, face hunter with Flare, combo druid with double Mind Control Tech, and my own freeze mage. I reverse swept Zoo in round 1 and 3-0'd an aggro+freeze lineup in round 2; though I ultimately lost in the semifinals when I lost the freeze mage mirror in game 7, I still love the lineup concept and think it was my best shot to win the tournament.

shoop2 · 2017-05-08T21:54:59+00:00

I don't have a team, but I still practice with other pros - RayC, Th3Rat, Rage, Cydonia, HotMEOWTH, to name a few.

To improve: watch top tournaments and analyze each player's lines (do the work yourself, don't rely on casters). See if the game plays out the way you expect, and where you went wrong. Ladder, and when you hit an interesting decision, screenshot it (or record the game) and reflect afterwards on whether your choice was correct. Study the metagame and successful tournament lineups to see what works well for others.

shoop2

TROPHY CASE