Contents
Espo on Tilt
Intro:
Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper. We’re glad you could join us for our 79th episode.
This week we are talking about…
Updates:
What did you do this week?
Quests? Ranked play? Fun Guaranteed with friends?
Top Artwork from Blackrock Mountain
Vastidious – Dragon’s Breath
SquishieDragon – Druid of the flame/Dragon egg/Dragon Consort
Espo – Axe Flinger
News
Blizzard announces significant changes coming
New Play Modes
- Wild – What we play today. Includes cards from all expansions.
- Standard – Includes current cards (Basic, Classic and cards released in the past year and the prior year)
- Available for Friendly Challenges, Ranked and Casual play only (Not Arena, Solo Play or Adventures)
- When the first expansion is released in a year, that’s when everything resets
Ranking Changes
- You will now play ranked in either Standard or Wild. You can choose or even do both.
- Your lowest ranking is what counts at the end of the season regardless of which mode you achieve it in.
- The Developers will revisit cards to consider ‘balance changes’. Balance will be for both Standard and Wild modes.
More Deck Slots – Going from 9 to 18 – Useless?
All game boards will remain in the rotation
First Standard Season will include the following Expansions/Adventures
- Basic
- Classic
- Blackrock Mountain
- The Grand Tournament
- The League of Explorers
- The Spring 2016 Expansion
NOTE: Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes are NOT included
Expansions and Adventures not a part of that season will no longer be available for purchase through the store. BUT you can craft them instead with dust for their normal value.
Interesting comment:
Ben Brode said in an interview with PC Gamer, “Well Standard is going to grow and shrink over time because we’re going to launch that first new set—it’ll be a big set—and then the next couple of sets that release in 2016 will just go into Standard and nothing will be removed. “
FAQ:
How do random effects work in Standard mode?
Random effects (including summoning random minions or cards, the Discover mechanic, transformations, or any other similar effects) will only summon cards that are eligible for the format you are playing. Thus, random effects in Standard will summon only cards that would be usable in the Standard format. All cards are legal in Wild format, so such effects will function as they always have.
Will Tavern Brawls use formats?
Tavern Brawls have different rules each week, so some Brawls will be in Wild format, while others could be in Standard format, but they’ll all be crazy fun!
Can I earn Hearthstone Championship Tour points by competing in Ranked in both formats?
No. Standard will be the only format that offers Hearthstone Championship Tour points for 2016.
Will all official Blizzard esports events be played in Standard format?
Yes. Standard is the official format of the Hearthstone Championship Tour and the Hearthstone World Championship in 2016.
Significant Cards That Will Be Removed From Standard
Mechs – Annoy-o-Tron, Mechwarper, Clockwork Gnome, Spider Tank & Mechanical Yeti
Neutrals – Sludge Belcher, Deathlord, Nerubian Egg, Piloted Shredder, Kezan Mystic, Mad Scientist, Haunted Creeper, Shade of Naxxramas, Zombie Chow, Unstable Ghoul, Antique Healbot, Hobgoblin, Mogor The Ogre, Kel’Thuzad and Dr. Boom
Paladin – Coghammer, Shielded Minibot, Muster for Battle, Avenge, Quartermaster
Warrior – Death’s Bite, Shieldmaiden
Warlock – Imp-losion, Darkbomb, Voidcaller, Mal’Ganis
Shaman – Powermace, Crackle, Whirling Zap-o-matic
Priest – Lightbomb, Velen’s Chosen, Light of the Naaru, Dark Cultist, Vol’jin
Mage – Snowchugger, Goblin Blastmage, Flamecannon, Duplicate, Unstable Portal
Rogue – Goblin Auto-barber, Tinker’s Sharpsword Oil
Druid – Nothing really
Hunter – Webspinner, Glaivezooka
What about the new player? Let’s pretend that you just started the game today. Knowing what was just announced, what would be your suggestion on how to proceed?
Do I buy the first wing of Naxxramas so that I can have it?
Do I buy a bunch of GvG packs to get cards I don’t have?
Do I save my coins for the next expansion?
General Consensus seems to be stick with Classic cards and save for the new expansion.
Is there a SquishieDragon card back coming?
Espo Mode Blingtron’s Beauteous Brawl
Reviews and Emails
iTunes Reviews: None
Emails: 1
Hello LotI crew, great show.
I just wanted to drop you an email to welcome SquishieDragon and to say how good the last few episodes were, I’ve been playing for about 8 seasons now but really enjoying the way you’re getting Squishie up to speed with the game and giving out great tips. I’m always picking up something new.
As Squishie builds up a collection she might find HearthPwns Innkeeper application quite useful to show what she has in her collection and which decks she can make, I’ve found it really useful recently. What do you think of Ben Brodes announcement about wild and standard play, do you think this will help new players like Squshie?
Keep up the great show.
all the best
P.S. I listen to the podcast on Stitcher and in episode 78 Vastidious’s volume was a fair bit lower than Espos and Squshies, might be a Sticher thing. Just wanted to let you know.
Twitter:
I hit rank 15 in @PlayHearthstone for the first time! Thanks @LotiPodcast for the sound advice @XcMtbGamer
Facebook Shoutout:
ShinyRob
As a long time Magic player, I’ve been through many changes.
I want to assure you that the sky is NOT falling.
Hearthstone will survive. And it’ll get better.
Patron shout-outs
Outro
That does it for this episode. You can email the show at info@legendoftheinnkeeper.com. You can also visit our website at legendoftheinnkeeper.com where we will post the show notes with the episode that has links to all the information we discussed.
Our YouTube channel is www.legendoftheinnkeeper.com/YouTube
You can follow us on Twitter
LOTI Podcast – @LOTIpodcast.
SquishieDragon – @Squishiedragon
Espo – @Xcmtbgamer
SquishieDragon’s stream is at www.twitch.tv/squishiedragn
You can support the show through Patreon at : www.patreon.com/Legendoftheinnkeeper
Be sure to subscribe and rate us on iTunes!
Until next show, Happy gaming!
Credits:
Music by James Marantette – https://soundcloud.com/james-marantette
