“would be my guess”

They didn’t announce that, it’s just my guess based on the previous announcement times, expansion releases and the time Battle for Azeroth releases. Normally I’d say that the expansion would come out on August 16th, but it’s 2 days after Battle For Azeroth’s release, and they most likely don’t want to get them out so close to each other, that would be bad for business. Alternatively they can also decide to push it back by one week, to August 23rd, but I honestly hope that it gets out sooner than later.

Announcement in ~2 weeks, August 9th release date would be my guess.

“In the slow meta we currently have, it actually has some really good matchups, such as different variants of Priests and Warriors.”

Key words are “such as”. Those are only examples of good matchups, I didn’t say that those are the only good matchups.

So I’m really not sure what you disagree with.

You’re right, for some reason I remembered dealing more damage with that combo, but I’ve checked it and it’s not the case. Fixed it.

I think you’re mistaking off-meta decks streamers are playing to cater for their audience (or just for fun) with the actual meta. No one plays those cards in the meta.

For example, yes, Kibler does play Quest Paladin, but the deck is NOT good. He said it himself hundreds of times, he does it for fun, not because it is a viable, competitive choice.

Of course, if you’re a guy playing off-meta decks, then you should not disenchant anything. But I think that you, and many other commenting, are missing the point of this post. People ARE disenchanting off-meta Legendaries. It’s something that is happening and you won’t do anything about it. Believe it or not, but majority of players play to win. They don’t even have enough Dust to build actual meta decks, let alone off-meta things. We are NOT encouraging anyone to do it, just giving some guide-lines, for which players are asking all the time.

Players who are struggling for Dust and desperately trying to build something good are not the ones that have a big collection and want to keep fun, off-meta or tech Legendaries that they might use in the future. They don’t even know if they will be playing this game in the future, so what’s the point:?

The Mukla & Overspark are the only cards I kind of agree with – but as you’ve probably noticed, there are two categories. They’re in the second. So while yes, they might pop out from time to time, they are not a vital part of the deck.

The Odd Rogue deck from vS you mention only runs Mukla, not Overspark. And you can by all means play Odd Rogue without it, it’s just a tech card. Not even good tech cards for majority of players, actually. Most of the techs you see in those lists are tailored for the high Legend meta, played by high Legend players. This pocket meta is often very different, you face the same 2-3 decks all the time and you can more easily tech against them. In this case, both Mukla and Overspark are solid techs against the flood of Even and Cube Warlocks in high Legend, but they might not be as successful in lower ranks. Heck, “might be” is an understatement – stats at hand (HSReplay.net) suggest that out of the 20 strongest Odd Rogue builds (last 7 days, rank 10 – Legend), only one of them runs Mukla – build #5. And zero of them run Overspark.

While Kripp’s chat is full of trolls (even more so than most of the other Twitch chats), this is a good example. After something bad happens, people are quick to shout that certain choice was a misplay, even though it might not have been.

Generally, most of big streamers are explaining their decisions quite well, that’s why they’re a good learning material if you’re willing to listen to them and think about it instead of meme-ing with the chat. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with a decision, knowing exactly why they did it can shed some light on the mindset of a pro player.

Thank you a lot!

In this abstract example (because a card like that will – hopefully – never exist), I’ve meant playing the card on Turn 1 (or that it automatically plays itself on Turn 1), and I thought that it was obvious. But I guess that if we stretch if further then yes, it might be broken if you could keep it.

Did you skip the entire introduction and go straight for the list? Because it certainly seems so.

It’s explained that no card is ever 100% safe to disenchant. It’s cool that you can spend a lot of money on the game and have a nearly full collection, but the majority of players don’t. Most of the players are starving for Dust and they would prefer to have a FUN, playable Legendary they can enjoy right now than something they might or might not need in the future. Heck, most of them don’t even know if they will be playing the game a year from now.

Believe it or not, but the game is NOT only about collecting cards. On the contrary, the most enjoyable aspect for majority of the players is well, PLAYING it. And if you don’t have a playable collection, that Gruul or Runespear is not going to give you much fun.

You most likely should not.

Last time Jaraxxus has seen play was in Reno Warlock, so back in Gadgetzan. Once Reno has rotated out (2 expansions before Gul’dan was introduced), Jaraxxus has seen exactly zero serious play, because it was just too risky. Of course, I’m not saying that he won’t see any play ever again, that’s why he’s in the second category, not the first one. For the longest time, King Krush was in that category too – and now we see it as a part of the strong meta deck. Everything can change. But in case of Jaraxxus, he won’t be played AT LEAST for as long as Bloodreaver Gul’dan is in the meta, and probably even longer.

And that’s exactly the point of this list. It’s for people who need extra Dust now, not for those who are aiming at the long-term full collection. For player on a tight budget, especially one who doesn’t even play Warlock, 400 Dust is MUCH better than a card that might or might not see play a year or two from now.

The guide was updated a few days ago!

Hagatha definitely does not break the combo, I’ve played the deck with her and she wasn’t a problem.

Are you sure that Saronite Chain Gang’s Battlecry triggered first? Because if Grumble and/or Zola triggers first, they don’t work, since those Battlecries can’t target the original minion (if it was the case, Grumble would just bounce himself immediately once you’ve played him). That’s why the deck runs Chain Gangs – Shudderwocks copied by Chain Gang can be bounced.

Like I mention in the guide, the combo has a chance to fail, but the chance is pretty low. Even lower if you managed to play more than 2 Chain Gangs (e.g. you copied one with Zola or bounced with Grumble).

Don’t worry, the Arena’s balance is not that bad right now. Even the worst 3 classes can get an insane draft, they just lag behind a bit in terms of averages

“but it could have been changed to a 3/3 weapon”

That would be almost as broken as the 2 mana 3/2. Seriously. Just see how good is Eaglehorn Bow after gaining +1 Charge. As a Pirate Warrior, you don’t always want to equip Arcanite Reaper on T5, and 9 damage for 3 mana is nuts.

There were some ways to nerf it better. For example, they could make it 2 mana 2/2 weapon with “Has +1 Attack when targeting minions” or something like that. But since it’s a part of the Basic set, they didn’t want to make it too complicated.

Yes, right now it’s a worse version of Eaglehorn Bow (which is sometimes played even without Secrets in the deck, by the way), Rallying Blade etc. But is that really a problem? A lot of the Basic cards are basically worse versions of other cards. They aren’t all meant to be playable, they are meant to give new players some base and teach them how to play the game.

“There would need to be a way for the competitors to access the tournament servers from their own machines or they’d be locked out of practicing the old patch matchups.”

That’s how it works in League of Legends. Pro players also have access to the tournament client, which they can use to scrim on the tournament realm.

It wouldn’t be that difficult to just give players who are participating in official tournament a way to access the tournament client a while before the tournament happens.

I understand your point, and thanks for the extensive comment to illustrate that. On the one hand, I agree with you, but on the other, you need to understand something.

The thing is, previously I’ve tried to put Legendaries that “might see play in the future”, ones with lots of potential, higher than those who are clearly played only because X decks is doing good right now. And I’ve got a lot of criticism for doing that – I’ve got a lot of messages saying that “X is not a great craft, it doesn’t even see that much play right now, the deck it’s played in is not even that good” etc.

And there is a point to that. It’s impossible to reliably predict the future meta. Even a few balance changes have completely messed it up. For example, recommending Frost Lich Jaina in the “best” category because of her potential while in reality she might see zero play next expansion (because it might happen).

That’s why this time around I’ve decided to recommend the best Legendaries IN THE CURRENT META and put the ones with future potential into “good crafts”. Is it a better approach? Maybe yes, maybe not. But it’s definitely the safest approach, because you clearly have stats to back up the best Legendaries in CURRENT meta. And you have no clue which ones will be good or bad in the future, you can only make educated guesses (and given that I have zero insight in what Blizzard is planning to release or nerf, it’s almost impossible to make those)

Also, if we agree with your approach, I think that Shudderwock definitely deserves a spot in the best crafts. The card has insane potential and it’s not only that combo deck. It’s amazing in any deck running a bunch of Battlecries, not necessarily this specific combo deck. It was shown nicely by the Elemental version of the deck that didn’t even run Lifedrinker. We just need one or two strongest Battlecries that are great to replay with it and it can actually serve as not necessarily a finisher, but a great value/tempo tool in that kind of deck. Same for Spell Hunter, I believe that this deck will only get better as the year goes by, unless Blizzard decides to completely drop the idea and not print any good Hunter spells… but those are the things you just can’t predict.

I also disagree with your assessment of Keleseth. The card sees play in more than Shudderwock. It’s just that the meta currently has slowed down and there are less high tempo decks that would want to play it, but it doesn’t mean that he’s bad. Recruit Hunter, Zoo Warlock, Spiteful Druid (which is better than a lot of people think, but nearly no one plays it, because people have dusted their Spiteful Summoners, lol). Keleseth has seen play in every expansion since it was printed, so I don’t know what makes you think that it won’t see play in the future expansions.

Sometimes even the most unexpected Legendaries become meta, while the best ones fall from the top after just a single expansion.

P.S. I kind of agree with Grumble recommendation as the best craft. Because you’re right, this card is not a great standalone card, at least it does not appear to be.

Lots of them are too strong and look sort of like scrapped ideas. But some of them would be really cool to have in Constructed too!

It’s situational, basically. You can look at it that way – you can draw a certain card that might be very useful in the situation you’re in, but you have to pay 1 more mana for it (and discard the other two, but that’s usually irrelevant).

If you need reach – pick Bow or Kill Command. If you need AoE, pick Explosive Trap or Unleash. If you need DK Hero to outvalue your opponent.. well, pick Deathstalker Rexxar.

But I’d say that Lesser Emerald Spellstone is overall the best pick on average, especially if you’re holding some Secrets in your hand. That card is just nuts.

Another note: Ironbeak Owl used to cost 2 mana back then.

Yet another note – in pre-GvG lists, Soulfire used to cost 0 mana