Legend of the Innkeeper : A Hearthstone Podcast for Casual Players

More Grand Tournament spoilers!

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  We’re glad you could join us for our 57th episode.

This week we are talking about… the new cards in the next expansion

Updates:

What did you do this week?

News

New concept “Reveal” has been released.  A card from each deck will be revealed and “Joust” against each other with the highest cost winning and activating the mechanic for that cards user.

Espo Mode

“The Masked Ball”

Minions that you play, that cost 2 or more, get the Deathrattle: summon a minion that cost 2 less than this one.

This weeks brawl is a constructed deck style one.  You must use cards from your own collection to play in this Brawl. But, each minion now has a shredder-style deathrattle.  making all 2+ cost minions, that you play from your hand, a lot better.

Getting Better

The Grand Tournament gives us more Spoilers!

Hints and Tips

Did you know that you can see the visual curve of your constructed deck.

Click on your collection, click on the deck you want to analyze, then hover over the name plate at the top of the deck list and you will see the bar graph to the left.

Tournaments

This is the last month for Road to Blizzcon points.

Favorite card from this weeks spoilers?

Ariannwyn – Tuskarr Jouster

More Grand Tournament spoilers!

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  We’re glad you could join us for our 56th episode.

This week we are talking about… the new cards in the next expansion

Updates:

What did you do this week?

News

1. New season begins and next card back revealed to be TGT themed.

*

The Grand Tournament bundle goes on sale in the HS store

3. Fan made Hearthstone LEGO board

*

Interview with Eric Dodds, lead designer for HS

They will be changing Arena rewards when The Grand Tournament expansion releases.

After The Grand Tournament goes live, the Arena rewards will be random: either an original pack, a GVG pack, or a Grand Tournament pack.

Dodds also talked about Tavern Brawl, saying that the developers are treating this mode as an experimentation chamber where they can try ideas and see how they work. They want Tavern Brawl to play totally differently from the rest of the game so as to offer different experiences to the players. He said that in the future, we might see Tavern Brawls repeat themselves, and he wouldn’t answer a question whether Blizzard might start charging an entry price in the future

Espo Mode (Tavern Brawl Discussion)

“Too Many Portals!”

This weeks brawl is very new player friendly.  As it is a pre-made deck from the hero you choose.  You will get a bunch of Unstable Portals with few class specific spells mixed in.  And those spells are from the entire collection, not just the ones you have acquired.

Getting Better

The Grand Tournament gives us more Spoilers!

Hints and Tips

A different card back for each deck?!?  Yep, each of your 9 custom decks can have their very own cardback.  Just go into your “collection”, click on the deck you want, then click on the cardback icon at the top of the UI and drag the cardback you want over to the existing one to replace it.

Cardback for packs that you open? When you buy and open packs they come sealed in their “Classic, GvG, or tGT” packaging.  But once you open them, that display the cardback that you have set as your favorite.  To do this, go into your collection, click on the cardback icon and right click on the cardback you want and set it as your favorite.

Tournaments

This is the last month for Road to Blizzcon points.

Week 4 of Archon Team League finishes, 3 weeks remain

Challengestone 3 happening now!

HearthRank – https://hearthrank.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/3esdu2/we_all_want_tournaments_so_were_here_to_bring/

Favorite card from this weeks spoilers?

Ariannwyn – Argent Watchman

Espo – Demonfuse

Reviews and Emails

iTunes Reviews:

Emails: None this week

Twitter:  ‏@07georgetv

@LotiPodcast Well Met, I myself am a casual player trying to grind gold for Naxx and listening to LOTI has helped me get a lot more wins!!!

Facebook Shoutout:

Liam posted a screenshot of his 50 packs just waiting to be opened.  Stating that “Blizzard is just teasing him.”

Outro

That does it for this episode.  You can email the show at info@legendoftheinnkeeper.

The Grand Tournament

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  We’re glad you could join us for our 55th episode.

This week we are talking about… The new cards and keyword “inspire”

Updates:

What did you do this week?

Top 3 of the week – After we look at the cards, pick your top 3 favorites DURING the show. Because that’s how we roll.

Vastidious – Wildfred Fizzlebang, Coldarra Drake, Maiden of the Lake

Ariannwyn – Tuskarr Totemic, Justicar Trueheart, Frost Giant

Espo –  Wildfred Fizzlebang, Lock and Load, Skycap’n Kragg

News

1.Fireside Gathering announcement

(This link will take you to the 1:35 YouTube video of the event)

Grand Tournament Trailer on YouTube

2.Blizzards next Expansion will release in August

3.http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/19819221/the-grand-tournament-hero-powers-7-23-2015

Espo Mode (Tavern Brawl Discussion)

“Heart of the Sunwell – In the Sunwell lies unlimited power, and that power is yours!  Start each game with 10 mana and see what you can do with it!”

This is a deck construction Tavern Brawl, meaning that you must use your own collection to create a deck that you will use in the games.  Starting with 10 mana allows for some very crazy combo and “Huge plays” right away.

Getting Better – New Cards and key word “Inspire”

 

Tournaments

Archon Team League

Hearthstone Pro League

Tuesday Night Hype

The road to the Hearthstone World Championship (qualifying events)

Hints and Tips

Get all heroes to level 10 and get 100 gold

Defeat all of the Expert level AI and get 100 gold

Reviews and Emails

iTunes Reviews: None

Emails: None

Twitter: Darnell H. ‏@LenradVG  Jul 21

I started listening to @LotiPodcast a week ago, from episode 1. Its very helpful since I’m still a relatively new #Hearthstone player!

Facebook Shoutout:

Bryce Fish

Want to thank Espo for the free “spectate” pack! Shaman should be fun with the new cards coming out

Outro

That does it for this episode.  You can email the show at [email protected].  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. As well as new articles from Kraska each week

Our YouTube channel is www.legendoftheinnkeeper.com/YouTube

You can follow the show on Twitter @LOTIpodcast.  However since I never check this twitter, Follow Ariannwyn (@AriannwynHS) and Espo (@Xcmtbgamer) on twitter also!

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

Liked it? Take a second to support Legend of the Innkeeper on Patreon!

What did Espo miss?

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  We’re glad you could join us for our 54th episode.

This week we are talking about… Catching up with Espo.

Updates:

What did you do this week?

Top 3 card animations of the week

Vastidious – [Deathwing], [Mimiron’s Head], [Nefarian]

Ariannwyn – [Elite Tauren Chieftain], [Nefarian], [Twisting Nether]

Espo –  [Twisting Nether], [King Krush], [Mimiron’s Head] (V-07-TR-0N)

News

** Next few weeks – Moving and what that entails

1. Mobile revenue surpasses desktop revenue for the first time

http://mmos.com/news/hearthstone-mobile-revenues-passes-pc-revenue

2. Unlock the Samsung S6 Card back and get 3 free packs

https://netdeck.n4ru.it/free-galaxy-gifts-cardback-and-3-packs/#toggle-id-1

Getting Better

Espo Mode (Tavern Brawl Discussion)

This weeks Brawl seemed to be a random Arena Draft.  I saw 3 Auchuni Soul Priests and cards like Undertaker in a deck with what seemed to have no deathrattle cards.

Hints and Tips

Did you know that you could “un-freeze” a frozen minion with a silence?  Of course it also silences all other traits that are on the card.

Tournaments

Archon Team League

Hearthstone Pro League

Tuesday Night Hype

The road to the Hearthstone World Championship (qualifying events)

Reviews and Emails

iTunes Reviews:

Emails:

Twitter: Seabass ‏@wiiMiinow  Jul 6

@AriannwynHS @XcMtbGamer I think I’m getting the hang of this. Thanks to @LotiPodcast for all the advice. #mage arena (12 wins)

Facebook Shoutout:

Mo Ritz

yep,.. I kinda liked this week’s brawl (30 wins)

Outro

That does it for this episode.  You can email the show at [email protected].  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 the show on Twitter @LOTIpodcast.  However since I never check this twitter, Follow Ariannwyn (@AriannwynHS) and Espo (@Xcmtbgamer) on twitter also!

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

Liked it? Take a second to support Legend of the Innkeeper on Patreon!

The Legendary Mindset

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper. We’re glad you could join us for our 53rd episode.

This week we are talking about…

Updates:

What did you do this week?

Top 3 of the week – Favorite Card Art

Vastidious – [Dragon’s Breath], [Hex], [Antique Healbot] (golden)

Ariannwyn – [Jeeves], [Twilight Drake], [Dragon’s Breath]

Zerotio –  [Ogre Ninja], [Truesilver Champion], [Elite Tauren Chieftain]

News

More Hints as to the July 22nd announcement

Blizzard sent out another tweet on July 9th, of a picture from a book showing what appears to be a female blood elf with a herald trumpet. It came with the following text:

“Champions are individuals who courageously answer the call of those who require their aid!”

The German Hearthstone twitter account had a similar tweet that read:

“A champion is someone who has outdone all his comrades-in-arms in a competition.”

They also posted a new blog post on July 8th that had some interesting things.

“Today was something else! The air was filled with the happy hubbub of folks dueling away and enjoying one another’s company…. The funny thing was , most of ‘em were wearing the shiniest armor you ever saw – including the magic-using types! I even saw murlocs all geared up in plate”

1. Ben Brode says that Brawls will be recycled

https://twitter.com/bdbrode/status/616678138551140352

* New Warcraft movie posters

https://twitter.com/warcraftmovie/status/619903038262620160/photo/1

* ComicCon Warcraft movie details

http://www.slashfilm.com/warcraft-comic-con-2015/

* Comes out June 10th 2016

* Comments from SlashFilm

* “Some of the most beautiful visual effects I’ve ever seen”

* “Some of the most, heavy-fantasy, somewhat confusing story elements in recent memory”

* Orcs are every bit as good as the work done on Avatar.

* Rob Kazinsky (Orgrim) who is an avid WoW player, said “I’m a gamer and I know what I’m expecting, you’re expecting, and Duncan Jones has made the movie you want to see.”

BRAWL – The Great Summoner Competition

Mindset / Attitude

Please add notes if you have any! I got nothing. Feel free to add content here!

http://hearthstoneplayers.com/mindset-legend-player/

A key part of the mindset is evaluating all options before making a decision on what to play. Top players don’t make a play without considering all possible situations and the repercussions from each.

Knowing how to think through that process is vital. Below we list a few steps you can take to consider each turn.

* Do you have lethal?

Of course this would be something you likely won’t have to consider until mid/late game. This step also includes planning for a potential lethal in your next 2-3 turns.

* Could your opponent have lethal?

This step makes you consider not only what they have on the board but what they could potentially have in their hand. For example, a Druid with a few minions on the board might have [Savage Roar] in their hand which could be lethal.

* How do I win this game?

I know it seems like the obvious question, but you do need to be asking yourself this question. What can I do this turn that will help me win this game. Just like in the game of chess, you should be constantly looking several turns ahead. Yes your opponent’s actions may change your plans but plan ahead anyway.

Shhh.. It’s a Secret

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  We’re glad you could join us for our Fifty Second episode.

This week we are talking about…

Updates:

What did you do this week?

Update on Ariannwyn’s Eyes

* Surgery was completed without any complications

* Seeing the doctor on Tuesday to evaluate results

Top 3 of the week –  Top 3 Card Backs

Vastidious – Lunar New Year, Molten Core, Heroes of the Storm

Ariannwyn – Heroes of the storm, Black Temple, Icecrown

Nightfall –  3rd Maraad, 2nd Gnomes 1st Heroes of the Storm

News

 

* Possible expansion announcement on July 22? http://blizzardwatch.com/2015/07/02/possible-new-hearthstone-expansion-july-22/

Tavern Brawl

Last week – Banana Brawl

In the Banana Brawl, anytime a minion died, that player who had the minion had a banana card put into their hand. There were 4 different banana cards; +1/+1 to a minion, +2/+2 to a minion, swap a minions attack and health and 2 damage to a minion.

This week – Webspinner

This week’s brawl was similar to the Hunter challenge back with Naxxramas. Back then they had the hunter’s deck filled with nothing but Webspinners. In this version, you could choose any class to play and all the minions were Webspinners. There were class specific spells included in each deck. It made for quite the interesting results.

Core Show

Testing for Secrets

When playing against certain classes, one of the obstacles you have to better understand is secrets. Only Mages, Paladins and Hunters have secrets at this time. When your opponent plays a secret, it’s a good idea to try and figure out what that secret is so that you don’t trigger it at the most inopportune time.

We should take a moment and describe what a secret is and what they are. A secret is a spell that when played, sets up an action that will be triggered based on certain actions by your opponent. For example, the Mage has a secret called [Mirror Entity]. The card text says, When your opponent plays a minion, make a copy of it on your board. What this does is when your opponent plays a minion to the board, the secret will activate (or what we call pop) and duplicate that minion on your side of the board that you now control. Secrets can really ruin your day if you don’t have a good understanding of how they work and how you can play around them.

We should note here that if you are using Hearthstone Deck Tracker, it will display on the screen all the possible Secrets that could be in play by your opponent in a section on the screen. This helps you think about what could be in play. You can hover over each of these secrets and get pop up windows showing what the effects of the secrets are. Incredibly useful. Also if you’ve already seen two of a particular secret it will be greyed out so that you know it can’t be that secret.

Let’s break this down a little more by looking at each classes secrets and how to ‘test’ for each of them.

Mage

The Mage has 7 different secrets that they can play.

[Mirror Entity]

[Vaporize]

[Duplicate]

[Ice Barrier]

[Counterspell]

[Spellbender]

[Ice Block]

One thing you need to keep aware of with the Mage is that they have a few Mage specific minions that can benefit from having a secret in play on the board. One of those is the [Ethereal Arcanist]. If you control a secret at the end of your turn, this minion gains +2/+2. If a Mage plays this, you want to remove or silence it fairly quickly, especially if he has a secret in play. Another minion that can benefit from secrets is the [Kirin Tor Mage]. His card text reads,

Both of these minions can cause many problems to the opponent if not dea...

Deck Archetypes

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  I’m Vastidious, I’m Ariannwyn and I’m Espo.  We’re glad you could join us for our 51st episode.

This week we are talking about… win conditions

Introduce DragonRider and her stream

Updates:

What did you do this week?

Tournament:  LotI Patron only Tournament 18 participants

DragonRider: http://www.twitch.tv/dragonriderdk

Kraska and ZeroRange articles

Top 3 of the week – Pick your favorite: Nefarian or Ragnaros! (It’s not a top 3 but we are allowed to cheat.  We are the hosts

Where we’ve been, where we’re going

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  I’m Vastidious, I’m Ariannwyn and I’m Espo.  We’re glad you could join us for our 50th episode.

This week we are talking about…

Updates:

What did you do this week?  Race to Golden Warlock  Vastidious: 343  Espo: 316  Ari: 4

Top 3 of the week – Favorite past episode? (Vast and Ari don’t listen…is this a good top 3?)

Vastidious – Episode #29 (QuarterPounder) & Episode #32 and Community

Ariannwyn – Community

Espo –  19 – Warlock Strategy

Patreon favorites:  Community episode (47) and Arena episode (46)

News

Patch # 9166 – Hit the servers but isn’t live yet. Contains the new Tavern Brawl mode, 3 cosmetic heros and a set of Brawl-specific cards!

 

*

Tavern Brawl! (A.K.A. Espo mode)

 

http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/19508176

http://www.hearthpwn.com/news/921-hearthstone-patch-9166-tavern-brawls-new-heroes

* Launch mid-June

* FREE ADMISSION

* Weekly event with a custom deck building rule for that mode. One week you might build a deck another be given a premade deck.

* Unlocks after leveling any hero to 20.

* Couple of days delay between Brawls.

* Fight as many times as you like during that week. Total wins for that brawl will be shown on the Brawl screen.

* You can only have one deck for each brawl but you can edit the deck. The deck has it’s own slot in the Brawl UI, like Arena

* Winning your first Brawl each week during the launch event will reward you with a FREE Classic Pack (source: https://twitter.com/CM_Zeriyah/status/608691501879668736 / https://twitter.com/CM_Zeriyah/status/608673655116005376)

* Daily quests can be completed in Brawls.

* And you can get 10 gold for every 3 wins when winning Brawls.

New Cards part of the first Tavern Brawl?  (See details in post from HearthPwn above)

There are some cards that will be in the Tavern Brawl that will not be available outside Brawl – (source: https://twitter.com/Daxxarri/status/608739211181580288)

New Card back tied to a Samsung Galaxy gifts promotion?

 

2. Hero Skins

 

Medivh will join Jaina in the Mage class, while Alleria will be an alternative to Rexxar in the Hunter class.http://www.pcgamesn.com/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/blizzard-announces-two-new-hearthstone-heroes

Six Gamers has made a few videos about the lore and history of each hero in the Warcraft Universe

Magni: https://youtu.be/1Zz4RhBLjbE

Alleria: https://youtu.be/OLcaa126CQs

Medivh: https://youtu.be/Rpekm_U9xka

3. Card Slot Discussions

Quote from Ben Brode

Seems like you guys are interested in more statistics, so here you go! Keep in mind these aren’t related to any decision-making regarding deck slots. I just mentioned the stats because I don’t think it’s super healthy when a single person represents themselves as “everyone”. The truth is there are lots of types of players.

Deckbuilding

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  I’m Vastidious, I’m Ariannwyn and I’m Espo.  We’re glad you could join us for our 49th episode.

This week we are talking about…

Updates:

What did you do this week?

Espo was asked by Viscious Sydicate to cast the “Show Match” with @Dusty_Dog_96

Claudia/Mantastic played against Kevin Kookie

Top 3 of the week – Deckbuilding mistakes (Maybe later in the show?)

* Playing advanced level decks when you are a beginner.

News

1. New Hero Skins – Magni Bronzebeard shown

http://www.hearthpwn.com/news/911-new-heroes-are-coming-magni-bronzebeard-confirmed

Thread with Q&A about the new skins: http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/forum/topic/17999419813

2. Rumor is that the Hero skins were not the ‘big thing’ coming in this next patch

http://www.hearthpwn.com/news/912-ben-brode-on-deck-slots-more-than-just-new-heroes

Getting Better

Terms around Deck Building:

NetDecking – Searching the internet and picking a deck someone else built online. Using it as is or using it to then tweak to make it your own.

META – What is happening in the current ladder.

Tech Cards – Cards that are a direct response to what is happening in the META or against specific decks. (BGH, The Black Knight, Harrison Jones, Hungry Crab and Ironbeak Owl are Tech Cards)

Vic Weidman (Mertz)

May 28 at 7:40pm

I have an important question. (at least for me) I have played decks that are great decks and win, but not always. I tweak my decks constantly and by the end of the second or third day, sometimes I have a whole new deck which was not the plan at the beginning. My question is, when and how do you know when to change out cards in a new deck? I have played decks that I win 10 in a row then get bad draw and lose 10, but are solid decks, you know what I mean? How many times does a deck need to lose before you decide it’s not good, and is it the whole deck or just a few cards?

I don’t like to just net-deck all the time, I like to learn how to make good decks myself, that’s fun for me.

Today:

Vic Weidman (Mertz)

You know this was my question several weeks ago and what I came to as an answer was to learn to play by playing decks that were proven good decks, but when you want to create your own deck, keep “fun” as the focus and build your deck. Change out cards as necessary based on your win/loss ratio. I keep track of what decks I have beat what decks I play on the ladder. This info is invaluable for me to help me understand am I having bad draw, do I have a deck with the wrong mix of cards, where am I lacking (don’t have enough removal, minions, spells, etc), or do I need to take a different approach all together to improve my win ratio.

Unless you are trying to be competetive and climb to the top of the ladder (someplace I’ll probably never be) fun is the key here. If you enjoy a game you will keep playing, if you’re not having fun, it probably will cause a dis-interest and you will move to another that will give you the fun you didn’t find in your last game.

Matt Buttle (iButtle) I’ve struggled to figure this out to, so I started taking good net decks and then start to make edits. It would ask myself “why are these cards in here?” “What combos exist?” “Where am I losing with this deck and what card effects would help it.” Example,

Legendary Crafting

Intro:

Welcome to the Legend of the Innkeeper.  I’m Vastidious, I’m Ariannwyn and I’m Espo.  We’re glad you could join us for our Forty Eighth episode.

This week we are talking about…

Updates:

What did you do this week?

Update on campaign to help with Ariannwyn’s medical costs – $3,545

https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/f7r8/eye-surgery-for-emily-eason-ariannwyn-#

Getting Better

Legendary Questions:

We frequently get asked the question, “What Legendary should I craft?”. We usually answer the question the same way every time. It depends! It depends on a lot of things. What Legendary cards do you already have? Which class do you like to play the best? Which Epics do you already have? Etc. So to address this VERY important question, we are going to take a special look at this subject.

However before we go down the list of Legendary cards you should craft, let’s address the other associated questions.

* Should I craft a Legendary card or several Epic cards?

* Should I craft a Class specific Legendary?

* Should I craft a Legendary that I think is just fun?

* Should I purchase and complete an Adventure for the Legendary cards there? Naxx? BRM?

Now that we’ve covered those sections, let’s look at the specific list of Legendary cards that we would suggest you start with.

Legendary Cards To Craft

* [Dr. Boom]

* [Sylvanas Windrunner]

* [Ragnaros the Firelord]

* [Alexstrasza]

* [The Black Knight] (If current META is good for it)

* [Harrison Jones] (If current META is good for it)

* [Tirion Fordring] (Paladin Class)

* [Lord Jaraxxus] (Warlock Class)

* [Tinkmaster Overspark]

* [Ysera]

* [Grommash Hellscream] (Warrior Class)

Top 3 of the week – What legendary would you craft other than Dr. Boom if you didn’t have any others

Vastidious – [Sylvanas Windrunner], [Ragnaros the Firelord], [Lord Jaraxxus]/[Alexstrasza]/[Deathwing]

Ariannwyn – [Elite Tauren Chieftain], [Mogor the Ogre], [Foe Reaper 4000], [Blingtron 3000]

Espo –  [Mal’Ganis], [Gahz’rilla], [Deathwing]

Tournaments

Viagame House Cup #3 Gauranteed Fun https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPiIHr9jcb7KEnxTecz_e_xmGwQLnRjd6

Reviews and Emails

iTunes Reviews:

BrandonYoungblood – You will feel the love! Great people / Great podcast

I’ve been a weekly listener since episode 1 and I never miss a podcast. I drive a lot and LOTI is always the first podcast I listen to each week. Espo, Ari and VNasty (?!?!) have wicked chemistry and every second is entertaining. I’d consider myself a pretty non-casual hearthstone player – I manage Viscious Syndicate and play a ton of hearthstone myself – but this podcast transcends the casual / non-casual polarization. Indeed I’ve listened to every episode from the beginning, but listening to their recent podcast about Community and how the HS community rallied around Ari and her medical needs, really touched my heart. I should have rated 5 stars months ago, but I couldn’t procrastinate any longer! I feel like I’m listening to close friends talk about this game each week, and I don’t even know Ari, VNasty, or Espo as much as some of their other loyal fans. But LOTI has always supported me and my teams efforts to provide content to the hearthstone community and I’ve always been grateful for that. I love these people and I know you will too! Warmly, Brandon ‘vs_Beastmode’ Youngblood

Emails:

Hello!

A quick hello and greetings from Down Under! I have just signed up as a Patreon after being a listener to the podcasts for a...