Hearthstone

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About

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a free to play digital collectible card game (CCG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The game is loosely set in the Warcraft universe.

History

Hearthstone was originally announced at PAX East in March 22nd, 2013^[4]. Hearthstone had entered closed beta in August 26th, 2013, and later open beta in January 21st, 2014. The game was officially released in March 11th, 2014^[1]. The first adventure named Curse of Naxxramas was released on July 22nd, 2014 and the second adventure named Blackrock Mountain was released on April 2nd, 2015. The first expansion named Goblins vs. Gnomes was released on December 8th, 2014, the second expansion named The Grand Tournament was released on August 24th, 2015.

Notable Developments

The game quickly became popular, even during its beta period^[2], with various YouTubers and Twitch streamers making videos of gameplay, strategy, and more. The iPad app of the game, in one day, reached the first place in popularity^[3]. Hearthstone had spawned several memes within the community.

Card Parodies

Hearthstone's cards have served as exploitables ever since the announcement of the game. Many fan-made cards were created, either used to illustrate ideas for future cards, or for the parody of other memes and subcultures.

Lord Jaraxxus / "You Face Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion!"

You face Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion! is a quote said by the Legendary Hearthstone card, Lord Jaraxxus. The quote is used as a battlecry or to warn the upcoming use of the card.

"Well Met"

Well Met is a quote said by the Paladin hero Uther Lightbringer when making a "Greetings" command. It is commonly used to taunt the opponent.

Defias Ringleader / Silver Hand Knight

(ง ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)ง This is our town SCRUB (ง ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)ง(ง •̀_•́)ง Yeah beat it! (ง •̀_•́)ง / (ง ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)ง Squire attend me(ง ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)ง - (ง •̀_•́)ง Ready sir! (ง •̀_•́)ง are the quotes are said by the cards Defias Ringleader and Silver Hand Knight respectively. Both of these card have an effect to summon an additional unit on the board, Defias Bandit and Squire. It is often used as an exploitable copypasta, mostly featuring popular Hearthstone streamers.

EVERYONE, GET IN HERE! / Grim Patron

"EVERYONE, GET IN HERE!" is a quote from the Blackrock Mountain card Grim Patron. This minion summons a copy of itself whenever it survives damage. Combined with the effect of Warsong Commander (whenever you summon a minion with 3 attack or less, give it charge) made it possible to keep attacking enemy minions, summoning multiple Grim Patrons and saying the quote. The deck using this tactic, Patron Warrior, was a powerful deck that was nerfed in October 2015, changing its card text to "Your Charge minions have +1 Attack.". Warsong Commander became unplayable, and the phrase "Your X have +1 Attack" became a joke regarding any soon to be nerfed cards.

Who am I? / Mysterious Challenger

"Who am I? None of your business" is the play sound for the Grand Tournament card Mysterious Challenger. The card was a staple of the Secret Paladin deck which ruled over the ladder for a long time. When played, Mysterious Challenger played five different Secrets from your deck, making it an extremely powerful card.

I'm in charge now! / Patches the Pirate

"I'm in charge now!" is the play sound for Patches the Pirate, a 1 mana 1/1 legendary from Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. It has Charge, and summons itself from the deck when the user plays a pirate from their deck; Patches then shoots himself from a cannon and screams "I'm in charge now!". Patches the Pirate proved to be one of the most played card of the game, a free 1/1 with Charge being very useful: most classes, even non-Pirate classes played Patches. It was not uncommon to start a game turn 1 with a small pirate followed by Patches screaming "I'm in charge now!". In February 2018, Patches was nerfed, removing his Charge ability and changing his voiceline to "Yaharr!"

⛏️How long can this go on? ⛏️ / Saronite Chain Gang

"How long can this go on?" is the play sound for Saronite Chain Gang, a minion from Knights of the Frozen Throne. When played, he summons a copy of himself, which also plays the voiceline. Due to this echo effect and the card's high playrate, the quote has been used to describe times where the meta is seen as unbearable and repetitive.

Jaina Proudmoore's Artwork Change

On January 5th, 2019, Blizzard^[5] introduced an undocumented change to the hero artwork of Jaina Proudmoore, covering her previously open cleavage with a top.

On the same day, Redditor^[6] Liiv23 launched a Reddit thread "Jaina Proudmoore got nerfed!" on /r/herathstone subreddit, highlighting the artwork change. The post gained over 8,000 upvotes in one day.

In the next 24 hours, threads complaining of the change, making fun of it and proposing alternative solutions appeared on the HearthPwn forum^[7]^[8], in the /r/hearthstone subreddit^[9]^[10] and on 4chan's /v/ board^[11]^[12] (examples below). Several posts highlighted the fact that several male characters, including Garrosh Hellscream, were bare-chested in the game art.