Hearthstone Classic Mode took us all back in time to the days when 14 hit points came bundled with a flashing warning sign and Ragnaros kept sniping the best target against us time after time. Whether you think this was the golden age of Hearthstone or just the humble beginnings, it can’t be argued that the meme game was at its peak at this time, with many memorable gameplay moments to remember.

Make Artosis mad with Trump’s secret Hungry Crab deck

The SeatStory Cups were the pinnacle of laid-back entertainment for quite a while, combining high-level play with a chill atmosphere where a meme-y moment was always just around the corner. It was one of the early tournaments which featured a unique format: each player brought a secret deck which they could bring to bear one time in Last Hero Standing.

Jeffrey "Trump" Shih decided to go all-in to stop the Murloc Warlock archetype which was so popular in the beta days by teching double Hungry Crab in his Mage deck, and the look on Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski’ face, as he could clearly hear the casters from the adjacent room, remains one of the most hilarious moments in competitive Hearthstone history.

If you’d like to give this deck (and the others listed below) a spin, keep in mind that some of them are from the beta days and therefore still had the OP versions of Nat Pagle and Tinkmaster Overspark in them. You might want to consider swapping those cards before charging into the fray!

Deck code: AAEDAaXDAwbnlQT6oAS1oQTboQSYogTVogQM35UE4pUE5pUE6JUE6ZYEsaEEsqEEk6IEu6IE1KIEv6MEwaMEAA==

Relive Artosis’ infamous Control Warrior brainfart with Inner Rage and Execute

Artosis was also on the wrong end of another memorable meme-y play, though this time he alone was responsible for our entertainment. It’s season 3 of Fight Night, a matchup against the infamous roper Kevin "Monk" Dong. Perhaps his mind was already numbed by the middle of game 1, anticipating all the waiting to come. (In fact, Monk earned his reputation for taking so long with his turns that Team 5 supposedly implemented the rope mechanic inspired by his antics during the beta tournament broadcasts!)

Though killing your own Sylvanas to steal an opponent’s premium minion may seem like a 200IQ play at first, especially to swing the board away from Ramp Druid for good, it’s a whole lot less impressive when you try to use Inner Rage and Execute instead of Shield Slam to get the job done, only to realize halfway through the proceedings that the card doesn’t work the way you thought it did. You could say that was poor execution on his part.

Deck code: AAEDAYwWDPOWBLehBM+hBNWhBNuhBIqiBJiiBMCiBMSiBMaiBNWiBNmiBAmXlgSYlgT/lgSxoQS5ogS+ogTDogSdowSfowQA

Say “hi mom” and experience the Freeze Mage behind RDU’s controversial win

June 2014 marked one of the big upsets in early competitive Hearthstone as Radu "RDU" Rdima, now one of the European Grandmasters, emerged out of nowhere to beat out the field at DreamHack Jönköping, taking out Jason "Amaz" Chan in the grand finals in controversial fashion.

There was no controversy in the servers, a 3-0 sweep with Freeze Mage, but people from his friends list kept giving “friendly advice” and random messages as they stream-sniped the official broadcast, with some going as far as to suggest that a not particularly thoughtful buddy typing “hi mom” is a codeword for the opponent’s Leeroy Jenkins topdeck.

Though his opponent, the admins, and the commentators all rallied to his defense, RDU had a tough few months after that amid harsh blowback from the community. Give this Freeze Mage deck a spin if you’d like to experience what it was like.

Deck code: AAEDAaXDAwa1oQSRogSTogSVogTZogSYowQM4ZUE4pUE5JUE5ZUE5pUE55UE86AE9KAEsaEE1aEEl6IExaMEAA==

Miss lethal just like Forsen did with Miracle Rogue

Many of Hearthstone’s original big-name content creators have now moved on to greener pastures but their impact on the game’s memery remains. Sebastian "Forsen" Fors is now a household name on Twitch and was one of the first such streamers, with an even mixture of strong plays and getting high on his own chat supply along the years.

In fact, he is responsible for multiple infamous “missed lethal” scenarios, including a Midrange Hunter brainfart against Faramir from a later meta — the genesis of Owlsen — but in the Classic meta, it was a pretty straightforward Miracle Rogue lethal which made the highlight reels.

Who knew Spell Damage increased the damage of your spells? Crazy stuff.

Deck code: AAEDAd75Awb7lgT6oAS1oQTcoQSlowTKowQM/JUE/ZUE3JYE+KAEhqEE1KEE3aEE36EE5KEE56EE6KEEk6IEAA==

Wonder who you are with Magicamy’s Handlock

We’re absolutely cheating with this one, for two reasons. The first is to find a way to showcase Handlock, one of the most fun decks in Classic Hearthstone. The second is to spotlight the MagicAmy controversy, one of the most notorious dramas in Hearthstone history. With these in mind, we were willing to overlook the fact that this all took place during the GvG era of the game.

Tempo/Storm’s Hyerim "MagicAmy" Lee seemed like a very special prospect, an excellent player who came out of nowhere and took the Hearthstone world by storm. Peaking in top five Legend on the Chinese servers on two separate occasions, winning the 512-player online qualifier for the prestigious ESL One Legendary Series and the mastermind of the original Meta Snapshot, not to mention a constant presence in fellow players’  Twitch chats to get in on the meming fun – what’s not to like?

Turns out there may have been an identity crisis. After she gave conflicting reasons for pulling out from the ESL One Legendary Series LAN finals, rumors began to swirl about her identity. The murky world of poorly lit webcam images, Skype logs of Canadian men, and one of the OG Reddit witch hunts in the scene all pointed to the apparent conclusion that MagicAmy was just a persona for Canadian player William Blaney. Though the allegations were never proven, she opted to leave Tempo/Storm and the scene as a whole after their own investigation, deciding not to attend a LAN to clear her name as offered.

Deck code: AAEDAfqUAwb6oAS1oQTcoQShogSlogTcogQM95UE65YE7ZYEgqEEwKEEwqEEyaEE06EE2qEEmqIEnKIEqqMEAA==

Just nuke players with Force of Nature and Savage Roar

The real meme here is that this combo was left untouched for so many years, single-handedly carrying Druid on its back until Whispers of the Old Gods. It even inspired a surprisingly detailed comic in the Korean community where the heroes of the game keep falling one by one, repeating the magic number of fourteen over and over again in a catatonic state.

It’s still the best deck in Classic Mode, by the way.

Deck code: AAEDAaHDAwKvoQS1oQQO2ZUE25UE3ZYEsqEE1aEE6aEE7KEE8KEE8aEEk6IE1KIEvaMEyqMExaoEAA==