The Future of Flying Kraken
@KrakenFlying
HAPPY 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY HEARTHSTONE!!
Wow, it's really been 10 years, hasn't it? I've been around since the very beginning. I still remember playing yeti's in my junior year of high school. Since then I've gone to my dream school, got my engineering degree, and am now a networks engineer living the adult life. I know this is starting to sound like a super sad I'm quitting HS for good and leaving Twitter post but it isn't so bear with me. This post is just going to be free-flowing with me just talking about what has been on my mind for the future.
I hit 10k wins for Druid this week for the celebration of HS's 10 years giving people a wonderful game. Also to show that I'm still the druid king, if anyone wants to show more wins on the class then go ahead. But with that being said, I think this is a good time to ride into the sunset competitively and content-wise with HS. I feel like I've accomplished just about all I want to in HS. I've gotten rank 1 with Druid multiple times, qualified for HS tournaments, and created a respectable community that values my viewpoint of the game. I've even gotten my name to the point where people refer to me for druid opinions, my decks are posted on websites like HS Top Decks and such like I dreamed of when I started. So I'm content with what I have done in this community and I love you all.
BUT...... my love for the game has been declining for a while now and I just don't see it as a positive to do anymore. I thought that I would turn this into a job. Use my background in mtg/HS/card games plus my Computer Engineering degree to get me to Blizzard and work on the game I've loved so much for so long. But after 10+ applications to Blizzard, designing new cards with every application (2 even becoming real cards, not saying they copied me but I hope it helped inspire the card idea), and never hearing a single reply back. I'm just going to move on, I really wanted to become part of that team for HS but I think I've just about moved on from that idea. That's part of it, another is just the card designs and card creativity over the past couple of years. The themes for the sets have been fantastic but I think we are just at the point where we are recycling ideas over and over for all the classes. Not saying it's easy to design cards, I think all card games go through this phase. Finally, I just don't see a future competitively for HS, there just seems to be a lack of understanding or a lack of ability to do anything about it. I understand a lot of it is out of their control but it's just something I don't have a itch to continue.
I say all this to also say that I'm not completely quitting the game, not deleting the app. Just dramatically cutting back by like 80%. Ill still play decks that look like fun, I'll post Druid list here and there that I enjoy, review cards maybe. Probably still watch people play it and play BG's, etc etc. Just going to to focus my brain power on something else, somewhere I'll talk about here soon. But now that I work a full-time job, I am in a very committed relationship with a woman I love. I just don't think I can juggle multiple competitive games, I don't have the time in the day to do that and enjoy other parts of my life. So that leads us to the future.
FUTURE ENDEAVORS
Those who know me also know where this was leading and what my other love is besides card games. I love Pokemon and all forms of it. Many of y'all know I own and run a Pokemon brand called Pokemon Masters League (PML). PML started out as a brand I was a part of, then co-owner, now owner. It has gotten me into a competitive scene I never knew about whether it be through singles on Pokemon Showdown or VGC on the actual games. It's a brand new competitive wilderness that I haven't conquered, I feel like i'm constantly learning and having to work to improve. I haven't felt that about card games in a while. PML has also introduced me to some very amazing people who have become my inspiration to take this next step.
So let me go ahead and do some shoutouts before I talk more about Pokemon battling. Shoutout to TakeTheBump and KnightedSquirrel for being best friends to me and inspiring me to go down this route, Bump has always been supportive and taught me a lot, Squirrel has been killing it in his journey but I want to climb this mountain with him. Shoutout to all members of PML who have been like a little family to me, some even started their journey like Chrxnic and Xander. Finally, shoutout to my team AFG, I felt very lost before Dawn asked me to join. Welcoming me with open arms, y'all are amazing.
But if you haven't caught on to what I'm doing yet. I'm going to focus on becoming the best I can at Pokemon VGC. If you are not familiar, VGC is the official competitive format of Pokemon. Double battles and all. I feel this is the perfect time for me to jump in on the scene. They have live regionals that remind me of a lot of pro mtg events, it's a new environment that feels like a challenge, and it's playing something I'm currently passionate about. Maybe I'll even stream some of my journey sometimes, even though I do not plan to return to full streaming anytime soon outside of what I do for PML.
I hope many of y'all stick around for my journey, no hard feelings to any followers I lose in this process. It just is what it is and I'm going to do what makes me happy in the end. Sorry for making this so long but it has been on my mind for a while and didn't want to post it till after the 10-year thing.