Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Blizzard announced in March last year, and then few could imagine how popular it would become after a few months, because the card games had not previously been specially successful. Now in Hearthstone As if almost everyone plays in a row – streams of popular players regularly collect tens of thousands of spectators, and on iOS It is difficult to find a more popular game!
► HEARTHSTONE: Heroes of Warcraft at one of the game exhibitions.
Great interest Hearthstone It caused not only ordinary players, but also among professional cyber ends, especially among hardcore lovers Starcraft 2. Recently, the popularity of RTS is rapidly falling, and the professional Starcraft2 scenes is going through not the best times. Almost every day they announce the completion of the career of a particular player: someone goes to League of Legends, Someone hangs a mouse on a nail and changes the field of activity, but someone opens up for himself Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.
Our interlocutor today a few months ago was one of the strongest in the CIS players in Starcraft 2, played for Zernov and defended colors Rox.KIS. Also, Alexei regularly stabbed and continues to do this to this day, however, he plays in a completely different game. Although he has not yet achieved world recognition in Hearthstone, our viewers love him and try not to miss his broadcasts.
Gambling.RU: For many, ABVER is primarily a professional player in Starcraft 2, but now you have changed discipline and gain glory to Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. When I decided to end Starcraft 2? The solution is final?
A. Drunin: After not the most successful, in my opinion, additions to my interest in Starcraft 2 began to fall, and the realization that serious changes are possible only after three to four years when the last addition was released was finally killed by the incentive to play. Approximately then I began to actively strive and saw in this direction there are much more prospects. I will return to the progingy only if it comes out in the coming years Warcraft 4!
► Alexey Drunin at one of the StarCraft 2 championships.
Gambling.RU: Recently, Starcraft 2 is generally losing popularity, but why? Players have already ate monotonous games? Or the audience was bored to observe the Koreans on the e -sports Olympus? Discipline is depressed: players and teams are less and less. Starcraft 2?
A. Drunin: Rather, a post -sized boom passed, and Starcraft Gradually occupies its niche. She is not as great as many connoisseurs would like, but still there is. There are fewer players, but only the best or most devoted to the game remain, this is also natural. Starcraft is very complicated both technically and morally, because all responsibility for losing lies exclusively on you. In general, I always considered the main mistake of this game the lack of a model-to-play model. Why develop the game if you have already paid for it and not get it from it anymore?
► it is worth playing only a couple of battles, and it is almost impossible to break away.
Gambling.RU: That is, now you are almost no longer playing Starcraft 2? And when I first met Hearthstone? Played with the early Beta or started closer to the release? What was this game hooked on you? By the way, you used to know other card games – MTG, for example?
A. Drunin: I occasionally play to please connoisseurs. I play from Hearthstone from the early Beta, but I took big breaks, I didn’t hooked it the first time, and then it was tightened and did not let go. Before that, the card games were not at all familiar.
Gambling.RU: which class I started to play and what you are playing now? We understand that you are most often in the arena, but what classes you have loved? What a rank is now? Tell us more about your game experience, share your observations.
A. Drunin: I play for all classes, I go out into the legend in each season with different classes and decks. At the moment – the first rank, I try to study all aspects of the game for all classes, then to navigate in any situation as a fish in water. I look forward to the first addition that should greatly diversify the gameplay. Closer at the end of the month I try to take a place in the top 16 of the European Ladder, this is necessary to get to the qualifying round on BlizzCon. This month I have a second attempt, in the past there was not enough.
► it is not known for certain what it is, but it looks good!
Gambling.RU: tell me where you can see these ratings? We are also playing, although it is still far from your rank. Which classes are now the strongest – a hunter and a robber? The tactics with the dogs of the hunter is still strong after the patch? Which class gives you the most problems? You can briefly describe the strengths and weaknesses of each class?
A. Drunin: Ratings are published every month on the official website. But there is only the top 100 of each region. The most powerful – robbers (Rogue). There were almost no hunters left, the poor fellow could not stand the consequences of the last update. I have the largest DamSlots Casino problems with the deck Miracle Rogue. Let's try to describe everyone.
Paladin – weak start, very strong medium and late stages of the game.
Priest – Very strong “anti -radiation” and table control, but there is nothing to kill fighters with an attack of 4 and a lot of health (Yeti, Kern, Dragons).
Robber – Strong “anti -smell” beginning and great damage in the first two moves, but it is very dependent on several cards. If they come at the very end of the deck, then write is gone.
Druid – The balanced class, the most stable and reliable, and its Taunt’y dreams of "racheram" in nightmares. He has no special weaknesses.
Magician – The most standard class, a specialist in throwing with fire balls and the control of the table with spells, but the spell is clearly a strong side. Weakness in the absence of a central idea, “racing” with other classes is more convenient, and in the late game some classes are clearly more convenient.
Blacksnik – The strongest class ability to receive a card due to two units of life allows you to perfectly “cut” and is just as good in the late game. The weakness in it is not always convenient to sacrifice ten units of health.
Warrior – The traditional class for the late stage. A bunch of armor and "legendar", and forward. There are, of course, “rash” versions, but the class ability, which gives armor, significantly reduces the rate of attack. The main minus, perhaps, is just in this ability – no flexibility, just +2 armor, and all, you, you won’t kill other people's fighters, you won’t treat your own. In general, the worst ability in the game.
Hunter -a class, clearly aimed at Rush, because of its ability (2 units of damage to the enemy hero). After a recent patch weakening the central card, he lost popularity. Still well “rash”, still not bad in the late game, but not at all. The main minus is in the absence of flexibility and the only opportunity to receive cards through Kanyuk.
Shaman – Stripping specialist, with a million of the various spells to kill the enemy. Itself prefers to act with free totems from the ability. Strong at all stages, but requires a very balanced consumption of cards and toli of good luck. Weak against mass -cleaning spells and against Rasha, if cards have entered poorly.
► probably this is what ABVER looks like when it loses a few games in a row.
Gambling.RU: You probably have already played more than one thousand fights with different classes. You can recall the several of the most outstanding outcomes of battles? Were there such cases when you were ninety-five percent confident in victory, but in the end you lost due to bad luck or bad cards? How strong the role of the case is in this game?
A. Drunin: The most outstanding, of course, with the participation priest – When you steal a card from the enemy and kill it with them. For example, you can score Orc His ax. Or when stands on the table Izra , And the enemy also makes a refine that you take control. After that, the opponent makes two more copies of this card, and you make your own copy, and as a result, the whole table in these "legends". It looks good! Yes, there were cases when, with my full advantage, the opponent began to wildly carry, and from an almost impossible situation he pulled out the games; However, it happened on my part. The role of the case is very great; If you are not lucky, you can lose ten levels below you.
Gambling.RU: How your learning process goes to Hearthstone? You play a lot and study on your mistakes or watch the streams of famous players and analyze the decks? How much time do you devote to the study of maps and their abilities? You write something on paper or just try to study all the chips already in the battles?
A. Drunin: The game is very simple, there is nothing much to study. I rarely look at the streams of other players, although if there were more free time, I would look with joy. The main factors of success are a lot of parties played and attentive. You need to know exactly what to expect from the enemy and from your deck, and act accordingly. In principle, there is nothing to record. This is the main charm of the game, it is extremely simple, but at the same time only the most stubborn and persistent achieve success.
► IPAD gameplay is even more interesting than on a personal computer.
Gambling.RU: Doesn't it seem to you that the Hearthstone client is too simple? Three buttons, and you can not register through it for online championship. However, there are support for tablets, which instantly made this game the most popular on iOS. What would you advise the developers to change first of all?
A. Drunin: Add observer mode. I still don't understand why this was not done initially. Conducting tournaments is very complicated due to the lack of streamers of the opportunity to observe games. In addition, there are too many times, many deliberately wait a minute before doing something, and this is wildly annoying, so the option of blitz-mode would be by the way. And so the power of Hearthstone __ is in simplicity.
Gambling.RU: How do you assess the prospects of the game in computer sports? In the West, several LAN championists have already been held, while we had nothing of the kind. Does this game have a chance to become a popular tournament discipline? Is it convenient to comment on it? Is she spectacular? Perhaps it would be worth introducing the 2×2 mode? There are many strong players in the CIS? Who can you highlight?
A. Drunin: The prospects are excellent, the game is spectacular and simple, I think the addition of the observer regime will increase the number of tournaments several times. It is difficult to call it e -sports, the factor of good luck is still too strong, but the main thing is that the audience be interested, so there will be many tournaments, including in the CIS, including. I don’t know anything about our players, I don’t follow the scene yet, but I gradually begin to be interested in. And the 2×2 mode at this stage is superfluous, there are directions for work that are much more important.
► gul’dan (warlock) – perhaps the most interesting and unusual game class.
Gambling.RU: For example?
A. Drunin: Adding new maps and new classes, balance facilities and new mechanics. Recently, the stability of servers is also a big question.
Gambling.RU: Imagine that Blizzard trusted you to come up with a tenth game class. Who would you choose? What basic cards would give this class? Perhaps I would take a Panaren monk?
A. Drunin: I would add undead from Warcraft 3, with death knights, but there are rumors that Blizzard This is exactly what I will come, so I'm satisfied! And the main feature of the class I would make interesting effects in the death of fighters.
► A painstaking process of creating beautiful gaming cards.
Gambling.RU: The game has a lot of all kinds of cards, what your loved ones? Name, if you can, the five most useful, five most beautiful and five most useless. We are interested!
A. Drunin: Favorites are stolen thoughts priest , Tyrion Paladin, Izra , Ragnasos And PyrobLast sorceresses. I won’t call the most beautiful, with a feeling of beautiful I have problems since childhood. And from the useless I will highlight the distant vision of the shaman, Wisp, Milhaus Manashtorm, the spirit of the ancestors of the same shaman and the healing of the ancestors. In general, the shaman got the widest set of useless cards.
Gambling.ru: agree, Milhaus Manashtorm is completely useless. Thanks for the interview, now you can convey greetings to everyone who wants. And, of course, tell our readers where they can watch your streams and follow your game.
A. Drunin: Mom, wife and all my spectators hello! You can watch me in a whole bunch of places: Goodgame.ru , SC2TV.ru , Twitch.TV. Search by the word abver.