Hearthstone History: Jade Druid

One of most controversial and most powerful decks of all time in Hearthstone: Jade Druid.
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tempostorm.com/hearthstone/
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[@tranquilissekai8613]

I think this is one of the most important eras of Hearthstone because after the end of Reno and Razakus we stopped calling those style of decks 'Highlander' decks for some reason. We just started going with 'Reno' or god forbid 'Singleton' decks when Highlander is a WAY cooler name.

[@mrchundo]

my one problem with "Highlander" is how you need to be familiar with a 1986 fantasy action-adventure film directed by Russell Mulcahy to really get it

[@johantitulaer1052]

​@@mrchundooh right, because. "There can only be one". I never understood why it was called Highlander up til now.

[@psynque]

​@@mrchundoI mean, it's card game lexicon that was brought over from MTG. Just like most HS players know what "mill" means even when they probably don't know what Millstone did.

[@keromora]

@@psynqueyeh but for some reason I never questioned why mill was called mill but I always wondered why highlander was called highlander. Probably because I was so used to people calling them reno decks when savior of uldum came out. Maybe also because there’s a tf2 competitive format also called highlander

[@psynque]

@@keromora That's surprising considering the name of the TF2 format shares the same root as singleton decks. "There can only be one".

[@draconic787]

Ohh how much I DON'T miss Ben Brode's "the game will balance itself" philosophy

[@mrchundo]

I haven’t minded the balance on Marvel Snap but yeah - imagine if we had to wait 2 months for the original demon Hunter nerfs

[@draconic787]

@@mrchundo I stopped playing Marvel Snap after having to endure Leech being a annoying meta card for MONTHS Oh, and also after realizing how predatory their card acquisition system was. I would have to grind for 6 months, on average, to get a pool 5 card from the token shop. It's insane

[@Intestine_Ballin-ism]

Truly one of the game designers of all time

[@elegy8187]

What about the unicorn priest deck that players haven't found yet???

[@gogovish]

@@elegy8187 thanks for dragging that out of a memory hole

[@RoTenken]

One detail: Jade Spirit started out as a classless minion. It was given the Elemental class in order to try and buff Jade Shaman. But the card needed to be 1 mana less in the cost to be truly effective on both classes after Un'goro, imho. Great Video!!

[@mrchundo]

Thanks for the info! Glad to learn something

[@FiresplitterSpeedrun]

Jade Idol is probably the most oppressive card in Hearthstone history. The card made slow control decks unviable, which had severe consequences in the metas even where Jade Druid in itself was not the tier 1 deck. Like, the damage that card made to control decks is equal to the damage that printing a card for one mana that says: "For the rest of the game, each creature your opponent summons enters the battlefield with two less attack" would do to creature based face decks.

[@mrchundo]

yeah it's really unbelievable. i might put something like Demon Seed up there as well

[@N12015]

Which is why control/highlander priest was number 1 at the end of KotFT... No, Jade Idol isn't responsible for killing control in gadgetzan; IT WASN'T EVEN GOOD THERE due to all the patches. That being said, Jade druid had actual design issue control players don't talk about, (just like how people say Patches is busted for thinning your deck) and the actual reason control struggles against: INEVITABILITY. Those stats just grow infinitely high, generating more and more value from that card; I know it's not infinite but does it even matter? After certain point one of those will outvalue you and defeat you, aka Jade Druid has a built in "After turn X, I WIN"; that's not something attrition cards like Dead man's plate, or Benedictus have, because they ONLY give you more junk and therefore can still be beaten with Tempo. This kind of design had become synonnimous of Druid over the years all the way back to Gadgetzan, and it's why DRUID was the 9th most hated card of 2022 (Yes, enough people wrote Druid to enter the top list). That being said, it's not the only one, Shudderwock, Ignite, Demon Seed, Denatrius, Guff, Kingsbane, Helya, Garrote, Curses, "For the rest of the game" cards and that dumb warlock snake; they're increasingly common designs and SHOULD NEVER be a thing in any card game, let alone one who wants to be fun.

[@philbuttler3427]

Demon seed is worse

[@FiresplitterSpeedrun]

@@philbuttler3427 No, because it does not in itself invalidate an entire major archetype by creating matchups that are 80/20 for that entire archetype, which forces said major archetype out of the meta. It isn't because Jade Idol was a good, even an amazing card, that it was oppressive. It was because its existence in the meta forced out other deck archetypes entirely. It gave midrange decks better late game than control decks AND removed the possibility to play to fatigue, which entirely removed the win conditions of many slower control decks. And it wasn't as if Jade Idol was a dead card in other matchups either so you paid a heavy price to run it to check certain decks, far from it. A huge downside of running low costed cards is that they are often dead draws in the late game. However, a 6/6+ for 1 mana was rarely an entirely dead draw late game during that era. So even though it isn't as good of a card as Demon Seed, it was far more oppressive as it shaped the meta in a really werid way, even though that shaping was not to its favor.

[@timotheebrasseur6188]

Great vid ! God, you talking about UI bring back memories. I remember all the discussions about how it's 13 to 15 mana worth of effects condensced into a single card

[@mrchundo]

Love bundling discussions. Sword Eater was big for “bundles”

[@josefranco480]

7-8 mana worth of draw, 3-4 mana worth of damage, 4-5 mana worth of stats, 1-2 mana worth of armor. 15-19 mana’s worth in just one card! So you could say that’s it’s worth even more!

[@Tariousgaming]

It's worth noting where Jade stands today: In wild, only mill druid runs jade idol. If they aren't gonna run you out of card first, they're going to be running you out life with the 4-6 idols they're drawing a turn.

[@mrchundo]

oh that would have been a cool thing to include

[@irium_pls]

this was a great video. your channel description did not lie, it was very soothing and good for my soul. i dont think i will ever love a game as much as i did the golden era of hearthstone. thanks for the nostalgia

[@mrchundo]

I'm so glad!

[@wendewang673]

Always love to see a chundo video! Thanks for doing this, I feel like other games like Magic and Yugioh have this kind of history niche, and it's lovely to see it for Hearthstone. :)

[@mrchundo]

Thanks! And yeah that’s what I was thinking with all these other card games having tons of history videos

[@bolt4685]

Excellent video. Hearthstone needs more history and analysis videos like this. I would love to see a renewed golden era for the game I love.

[@youngcrespo]

"What do you do if your opponent plays two Murloc Raiders?" I'm shivering, chundo. I'm outnumbered and cornered. Fandral told me summoning two 1/2 spiders would help but they don't work. THE SPIDERS DON'T DO ANYTHING CHUNDO. In only 15 attacks, I'll end up another victim of these fish-like monstrosities. No, since there's two of them it would only take 7.5 attacks..... oh my god, they have EXCESS DAMAGE. .....I'm afraid this is my last letter. Please tell my wife I love her, and tell my son to get better anti-aggro cards when grows up. Don't let them repeat my mistakes.

[@mrchundo]

"OH NO! HE'S GOT A SEANCE! IT'S THREE MURLOC RAIDERS NOW"

[@kayaek2558]

I LOVE how in depth these videos are! I subbed because of the caverns below video and I'm happy to see you continuing with this format.

[@mrchundo]

Welcome aboard!

[@Hagot428]

I may have already commented this, but this channel is so nice and relaxing. Reminds me of Reverend for pokemon in the like. Very laid back deadpan well edited videos. Great work. Have been binging the channel.

[@mrchundo]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@maebemaebenot]

Banger video. As a lifelong slow control enthusiast I have always despised jade druid, and after watching this… I think my feelings were justified.

[@mrchundo]

Glad you liked it! And yeah, slow control enthusiasts are always under fire

[@joaomarques4030]

makes me laugh remembering the outrage aggro players had towards renathal

[@FreddyChoppins]

A someone who started playing Hearthstone around Forged in the Barrens, I've always heard about decks like Jade Druid and seen the memes, but you did a fantastic job of providing the context of the meta at the time and highlighting both why Jade Druid was a meta tyrant as well as why it eventually fell off and how it got replaced. Hearthstone's a pretty old game at this point with a long history that's often difficult to understand unless you were there as cards/strategies that were overpowered back then seem incredibly tame due to a decade of power creep, but you did a great job.

[@makarzozulia1368]

I have just found your channel and it’s great!

[@mrchundo]

glad to have you!

[@Whey20]

this is why I'm subscribed, a stellar video chundo :D

[@mrchundo]

: )

[@ccmm4094]

Loving these history videos!

[@mrchundo]

I’m glad!

[@marleonka.]

Informative, funny and pretty nostalgic to look back at the game. Great video, enjoyed it a lot!

[@mrchundo]

Thanks : )

[@fastee]

beautiful video as always, you are so unique

[@mrchundo]

i try

[@meruempro]

5:30 That wasn't a first Hearthstone rotation though. The first one happed an year prior with Naxx and GvG leaving

[@mrchundo]

Good catch! Yeah I messed that up.

[@pico349]

This videos on hearthstone history are really cool! Keep it up!

[@mrchundo]

Thanks, will do!

[@danielsmith5318]

Excellent video, good to relieve these memories in retrospect 😆

[@mrchundo]

thanks : )

[@Xanthopathy]

Good vid 👍

[@mrchundo]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@musicacatastale]

:0

[@meruempro]

10:30 I remember when I think it was Ben Brode who was asked why do they make such unplayable cards and he explained with an example of Web Weave that they play tested it at 4 mana and it was broken lmao

[@DavidTG98]

I think even if it cost 2 mana it would still be bad. Like, you are just summoning two 1 drops

[@mrchundo]

Lmao

[@spookyNiles]

On turn 4 you summon two web weavers,you end turn. Your pirate warrior opponent hits you for 13 and then double heroic strikes you for lethal

[@richarizard4049]

Chundo/10 video! I remember most of these happenings but it’s nice to hear them again. I almost forgot nerfs used to be so rare.

[@mrchundo]

Thanks : ). Yeah balance has changed a lot

[@Peter-wy1rg]

I just love the term "goo" for hearthstone tech

[@mrchundo]

i think i heard MBT say it one time about a yugioh deck. no idea if that's true or a hallucination

[@rol9834]

Wow, you churned out some amazing lines. I was expecting every second line to be a "an even larger man" joke. But I was very pleasantly surprised by the ingenuity.

[@mrchundo]

thanks! i try to mix it up from the usual "good stats for the cost" and "four mana seven seven"

[@Bill_the_Redneck]

Hell yeah. Was waiting for you to return with this series!

[@mrchundo]

oh man so you’ve been waiting-waiting

[@nemanjastikic1367]

Tbh Kobolds era with Cubelock, Raza Priest etc. was best one of the mest metas i have played.

[@waterguzzler5993]

Very high quality video essay. Organized and easy to digest

[@mrchundo]

Glad it was helpful!

[@spookyNiles]

Great video! Can't wait for jades to be in Twist

[@mrchundo]

catch me with jade rogue

[@CPemos]

During KOTFT, if I fought druid and they didn’t mulligan any cards, I just saved my time and conceded

[@mrchundo]

lol. Yeah I hate whenever Hearthstone gets like that

[@cuecrunch]

summed up the wrath of the jade druid quite nicely..hated this deck back in frozen throne haha

[@mrchundo]

thanks!

[@joshprice4855]

I was gonna comment something else about wild but damn I forgot what it was after that idiom line. That was slick af.

[@henrygerber9406]

Always glad when u upload

[@mrchundo]

thank you very much!

[@canti1640]

Great video as always Chundo! See you in 3 months!

[@mrchundo]

There was some personal stuff out of my control that made this video take longer (had to play 120 hours of Tears of the Kingdom)

[@roses10k]

babe wake up new chundo video

[@mrchundo]

might need to start uploading these at more reasonable times to accommodate all the babes getting woken up

[@ethankennedykemwashere3360]

Its nearly 1am, just got home drunk, time for Chundo

[@mrchundo]

perfect conditions

[@bluemanblue2316]

U gotta watch this, chundo says "it's jade time", then jades all over the place

[@mrchundo]

so that’s it huh? we some kind of Hearthstone History: Jade Druid

[@DanettaYT]

Love your videos! Do you take inspiration from Rhystic Studies' channel? Your videos remind me of the videos that he does for MTG! Keep it up!

[@mrchundo]

Love Rhystic studios! Don’t really know anything about Magic but loved those videos about frames, whatever that trample card was, and the others

[@luisangel8147]

Love your videos man

[@mrchundo]

: )

[@shazam1205]

As a control warrior player, I literally took a hiatus from hearthstone when jades were released. Didnt play hearthstone again until castle nathria lmao

[@mrchundo]

must have been rough coming back to Kael'thas + Brann + Denathrius in everything

[@0IIIIII]

Jade Druid is awesome. It’s a cool deck, playing against it has a nice pace, it puts the pressure on you to finish or lose the game quickly.

[@jinh605]

chundo upload makes my day

[@mrchundo]

: )

[@Sean-vk5in]

wake up babe new chundo just dropped

[@mrchundo]

chundo

[@Sean-vk5in]

@@mrchundo interesting… looking into this now

[@drew-horst]

Chunity, Chunssison, Chunfection.

[@mrchundo]

This is our town, chundo. Yeah, beat it!

[@LoneWolfKTG]

4:55: cost INCREASED from 1 to 2, not decreased :)

[@mrchundo]

please delete this - can't let anyone know i have ever made a mistake

[@kylerussellandaya9537]

let’s see a sequel to unplayed cards!!

[@Skrek-qw1jz]

Day9 already said whatever needs to be told about jade "larger and larger man" `s unhealthiness as a mechanic. 20:32 I knew this will be mentioned here.

[@mrchundo]

Larger and larger man is all-time

[@kalambda]

Well i can see why people is upset bc of the Jade Druid, i still think that its extremely satisfying deck that i ever played. You see ive come to HS in WotOG expansion, and soon see those cool loking jade cards in MSoG, and i was really excited, i thought,finally "cOnTrOl MetA" where that potentially super powerful card show its hidden power. And then.... There was Pirate warrior. I was kinda crushed, but after gathering my hope, I've seeking bright future in new expansion, and then it was quest Rogue...... and ofc the all-mighty... Pirate warrior. So when the the KotFT happened and the Druid became busted i was happier than ever...... and then they nefr him. I mean it's kinda sad when the thing you've hoped for gets its deserved place and then quickly been thrown down, especially on contrary with warrior....

[@mrchundo]

yeah it's so weird how Hearthstone will just have certain strategies become *completely* unviable for long stretches

[@patrickkwon3351]

HES HERE!!!

[@mrchundo]

YOU’RE HERE

[@Waltuhhhhhh]

Another banger, chundo

[@mrchundo]

waltuh, put your acidic swamp ooze away, waltuh. i'm not equipping a weapon right now waltuh

[@offsale8911]

another glorious chundo video so I can listen to his voice as I enter the fortress of dreams

[@mrchundo]

This is the optimal chundo experience

[@darkie3784]

My hate for jade druid has been justified. Now we'll just deal with decks that are faster than it and ramp harder (Relic DH)

[@mrchundo]

shoutout to old Relic DH that everyone made fun of

[@RoTenken]

Never lost hope with those relics. It's amazing what a few buffs can do. Still play it to this day and stolen a few wins. And if you're complaining, weren't you also saying a year ago: "Priest is the problem!!! Priest is always the problem!!!"?

[@ScarletSpartan_]

I’d love if you covered that phase shortly after this where everyone just absolutely hated Druid

[@mrchundo]

idk if im ready for a 4 hour video yet

[@TalkingPickles]

I still the Druid to tell the truth

[@CyanLovesYou]

NEW CHUNDO VIDEO!!!!!! YIPPEEEEE

[@mrchundo]

YIPPEEEEE

[@cyburger7257]

Love the vid chumbo

[@mrchundo]

Thanks!

[@orendamusic7577]

For my next trick i will summon a larger and larger man

[@kylerussellandaya9537]

excellence. Pure excellence

[@mrchundo]

: )

[@33_plus27]

😮 Mr chundo do you ever plan on opening a patreon?

[@therichfull]

Ah the good old pirate warrior. 1 in 2 players were running that and Patches had charge too The rest were shamans and hunters lol. I remember i hit legend for the first time then with a beast hunter tweaked with 2 golakka. Hunter Master Race.

[@029tailsfox]

Jade Druid is when I stopped playing hearthstone the first time

[@Dumpula]

New Chundo. I am chubo.

[@mrchundo]

😳

[@BasicallyADiety]

Chundo please adopt me. Another amazing video

[@mrchundo]

I have no time for another child!!

[@nessy3098]

😘😘

[@mrchundo]

😎😎

[@theeverchosen1504]

Mean Streets had to be the worst expansion to play, just jade druids vs pirate warriors

[@mrchundo]

whaaaaat? you're not playing handbuff paladin?

[@huggelion]

first i got to legend was with jade druid good times good times

[@briankelly1240]

Ah, going down memory lane

[@mrchundo]

glad to bring back some memories

[@maxxieboy271]

Ah how i missed making bigger green men

[@jamiehughes5573]

And thus skulking geist was born

[@dkkarma3339]

Classic Chundo W

[@mrchundo]

: )

[@helo793]

Another huge Chundo W

[@mrchundo]

cant spell chundo without w

[@philbuttler3427]

Ah the death of value control decks and the first truly infinite value deck. It's fascinating how HS design ultimately went the way of Jade Druid.

[@tamermushroom]

Summoning a larger and larger sub count.

[@mrchundo]

my current projections have me at 1 zillion by Q1 2024

[@tamermushroom]

@@mrchundo Still loses to Raza Priest

[@Alisu-]

I hate jade decks for killing control warrior 😡

[@mrchundo]

yeah the one card counter to control is always a bummer

[@thomasvella494]

So much nostalgia… from jade Druid to cubelock. To call it hearthstones golden age was certainly correct

[@Ap7r5]

What do you guys think the next expansion will be? I hope it’s pandaren themed 🐼

[@mrchundo]

love those pandas

[@user-iy6rp1zt1l]

Tell me you're a furry without telling me you're a furry

[@DavidTG98]

I'm so glad Ben Brode left Hearthstone, he is a nice guy, but under his management the nerfs take sooooooo long to happens (If happen at all). Like Jade Idol, Undertaker, Barnes, Caverns below. Cards that are clearly toxic for the game, and still he refused to make any change

[@mrchundo]

Yeah that’s fair. Miss the raps though

[@klweth5439]

Nice

[@gabri-immortale]

Best hs channel after solem crypto scam

[@0IIIIII]

This game has gone downhill since Ben Brode left. I think after Rastakahn’s Rumble, that was it.

[@gabri-immortale]

Tom the chinese cheater

[@Ovijit001]

@rarran

[@nemanjastikic1367]

Tbh Kobolds era with Cubelock, Raza Priest etc. was best one of the mest metas i have played.