Wild Season 1 Preview

Wild is back and here's a preview to open the new season brought to you by martyb.

ith so little time between reveals and season start, the Wildin’ Out team thought it would be fun to have a quick writeup on every team playing in the Wild Series this season. With the change from 3 players to 5 per team, there’s a ton of new faces and teams to go through. Let’s get started!






The Caverns Below
Captain: Diamond

The Caverns Below is a bit of a new team, changing their name from The Biters last season. Nineeyebrows and nmbrthry are both back with the team, with Nineeyebrows peaking at rank 2 Legend this ladder season and nmbrthry completing several double Legend finishes in the past few months. Nineeyebrows was also the winner of the THL Wild open. The team’s newest members are Tues, an excellent Quest Mage player who has played hundreds of games with it in top 10 Legend, Gkick, who got a signed shirt from Blizzard after defeating Firebat in a tournament and making him drop, and Charip, who recently made Legend in both formats this month.

With former member Basedinc out of the picture, The Caverns Below are going to rely heavily on their new players. Tues has shown historically that he can compete with the best, though this is his first foray into the Wild Series. Charip in the 2 seed for the first few weeks should also be something to keep an eye on. A new addition to THL, he has a lot to prove against some tough competition.

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Power Creeps
Captain: Pasca

Sticking to their name, Power Creeps seem to have gotten even stronger this season. The original members, Memnarch, Jack, and Pasca, remain, along with newcomers Jonahrah and Rami. Memnarch and Jack have both been seeing immense success on ladder since last season, with Memnarch even ending July with a #2 Legend finish. Pasca has also become much more formidable, hoping to carry last season’s success in the Hero and Legacy Series to Wild.New to the Wild Series, Jonahrah is well known within the Wild community, having two Rank 1 Legend finishes this year to his name. Rami should also be familiar to many－the NA Grandmaster is looking to bring his skills to the Wild format and dominate the competition. 

This team should be incredibly successful at all levels. Jonah is a formidable one seed, and having a grandmaster in the 2 seed is baffling. In any other series, it would be a crime to put Pasca in the 5 seed in any other series. This team is going to be a juggernaut in whatever conference it’s placed into.

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Hattleship 2: BBC
Captain: RHat

The reigning champs are returning and looking to snag another title this season. RHat, A2, and BillSnyder are all back, and bolstered their team significantly with their new additions. Basedinc, last season’s Hero Series MVP, is bringing her services to Hattleship as the 5 seed. Corbett himself is new to the Wild Series, but has a long history in THL, playing in earlier seasons of the Pro Series. Now an exclusively Wild player and streamer, he has several high Legend finishes and is a household name in the Wild community. He should make lots of noise starting off in the 4 seed this season.

Being last season’s previous champion, this team shouldn’t be slept on. They’re poised to finish at the top of the standings again, and push heavily for another title.

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F2L: Viridian
Captain: MartyB (nhlnjfan1)

F2L’s Wild team has two returning players this season: Itachi and MartyB (known last season as nhlnjfan1). Nejiboston, who had one of the best records in last season’s series, joins the team, and the final two slots are being taken by two players new to THL. Ultimate is commonly placed among the top 15 in Wild Legend ladder, and Rottedzombie is best known for his work as the head of the Tempostorm Wild Meta Snapshots as well as streaming on the side. Both are looking to give F2L the extra push needed to bring them to playoffs this season.

The team last year underperformed a bit compared to their strength on paper, so it will be interesting to see if they can live up to those expectations this time around. The level of competition is higher than ever, but this is also looking to be one of the most improved teams. If everything goes right, this team should have no problem making the playoffs.

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Wild THL Fanatics
Captain: DoctorBOMD
Last season’s finalists are sticking together on WTF, looking to have another deep playoff run this season. They made a big splash in the offseason too, picking up DracoCatt and BrianOBryan to round out the team. DracoCatt is a massive pickup, with several months of experience in both Standard and Wild Legend, and “Budget Apx” streamer BrianOBryan  is poised to deliver results as well. BrianObryan is especially skilled in Mage deckbuilding and piloting, and will be crucial in getting the team back to the finals.

With the core of the team still around, it’s hard to see Wild THL Fanatics dropping much from last season. MikeLowe has only been getting better, and with his increased involvement within Wild, expect him to rise to even greater heights. ElectricSheepCity and DoctorBOMD round out a fantastic team, and the new additions are sure to fit in comfortably. A playoff spot shouldn’t be the goal for these guys, but the expectation. 

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Nuke The Waygate
Captain: SilverTFoxDemon

One of the returning teams with the biggest turnover, Nuke the Waygate is almost unrecognizable from last season. The name and logo remain, but only captain SilverTFoxDemon is left from the original team. The rest of the players are new to THL, all looking to make a name for themselves. Ricebowl is mostly known for making top 4 in the Coin Concede Listener Series, a Last Hero Standing tournament in the Standard format. Tomat0 is also skilled both in Standard and Wild, hitting Legend in both formats often. BlackSwan is actually familiar with the Wild Series, playing as ShadowRanger last season for the defunct At Least We Have Chicken. BlackSwan had a positive record last season, so they are certainly capable of holding their own within the Wild Format. Finally, Cavera’s performance in the 1 seed will be crucial to this team’s success. The Brazilian player switched to Wild at the tail end of Year of the Dragon, and has done very well on ladder since. It will be interesting to see if this ladder success translates well to THL over the course of the season.

Nuke the Waygate can certainly make their way back into the playoffs this season, but that will rely entirely on the newcomers. If they can find their footing early on, expect them to sneak into the playoffs during the last week once again.

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Seas of Cheese
Captain: Siege

Seas of Cheese went all out in overhauling their lineup after a meme-tastic first season. The only returning player on the team is Sage, who had one of the best records in the Wild Series despite being on one of the worst performing teams. The new inclusions are mainly THL regulars, including Leumer and Darkseid, who both have shown success in other series before. Skritch joined THL last season as primarily a sub, but will be a full time member of Seas this time around. SLAAD is the only truly new member to THL, but has been reaching Wild Legend regularly since the start of Year of the Phoenix, usually with Reno and/or aggro decks.

With how last season went, Seas of Cheese can only improve. The million dollar question, however, is how much. Best outcome? These guys beat expectations and make playoffs. Worst case? We witness another meme-filled season. Hopefully the team can bring it all together and make the playoff race in their conference much more exciting

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Annoy-o-Team
Captain: Mattatarms

Annoy-o-Team, formerly known in the Wild Series as Detroit vs Everybody, seems to have kept its original team intact. Hunter specialist Duwin, combo aficionado MtgSquirrel, and captain Mattatarms are all returning for this season. New additions to the team include fellow Wildin’ Out host and former At Least We Have Chicken member ItsMeMikeV, as well as high Legend player Sleight. ItsMeMikeV did well last season, almost dragging his team into the playoffs after an incredible Cinderella run during the last few weeks. Sleight is well known in the Wild community, having several excellent finishes on ladder this year.

The team was highly regarded on paper at the start of last season, but ended up missing the playoffs. Keep an eye on them this season though. They’re shaping up to be the horse in whatever conference they place.
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Straight Impin’, Metamorphosis Pimpin’
Captain: AgentPWE

One of several new teams this season, SnakeFawdz and Nefola are the only regulars from the Alpha season of the Wild Series. Joining them are ZanCat, SKItLLeZ, and RainyDaze. SnakeFawdz had a rough season last time, but is hoping to turn things around. Nefola is also a solid addition, bringing experience to a team mostly filled with newcomers to the format. SKItLLeZ has dabbed in the format a bit, with one week of experience as a sub last season. It will be interesting to see how his skills translate now that he is playing full time. ZanCat is also a well known player from THL making their first foray into Wild. The 1 seed is extremely competitive, so his performance will likely be a deciding factor in how the team fares this season. Finally, RainyDaze is a newcomer to THL with an impressive resume that includes a NoProsHere tournament win and a 7-0 record at the first Hearthstone Elite Series Philippines Qualifiers. Expect him to slot comfortably in the 4 seed if he can make the adjustment to the Wild format.

Straight Impin’, Metamorphosis Pimpin’s success is going to be entirely reliant on the performance of their top players. The bottom three seeds seem like a solid foundation, but the top two seeds remain question marks. Both SKitLLeZ and ZanCat have shown they’re more than capable in Standard, but can they replicate that success in a different format? Only time will tell.

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Patches Payback
Captain: JerryDamage

Patches Payback sees the return of the original members minus JerryDamage, who chose to take a step back from playing while remaining as the captain of the team. New members include the team’s go-to sub TonyMontana, as well as SirLos and BrushyTuna. The team is reminiscent of last season’s Dirty Mike and The Boys from the legacy series, with 3 of their players making an appearance here. This series will be the first time several of these players really take a shot at Wild, so it should be a treat to follow them and see how they perform.

Patches Payback struggled for most of last season, opting to even bring a few memes at times. If they can put together a few more varied and competitive lineups this time around, they’ll definitely be in much better shape.

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Board Space Invaders
Captain: Adamos

For this season, Adamos decided to leave Nuke the Waygate and take a shot at forming his own Wild team. So far, he’s lining up to do very well with his team if performance matches up to the skill on paper. Fresh off of a duos tournament win, Adamos in the 1 seed should worry other teams facing Board Space Invaders. MartianBuu is a new pickup－the streamer has extensive experience in Wild both with meta decks and wacky creations. HockeyBoyz is also a solid addition, with plenty of success both in THL and on the competitive Hearthstone scene as a whole, including an all Mecha’thun Lineup at HCT. Meduzas was also with Nuke last season and brought his services to the team, now playing in the 4 seed. Bluesombrero in the 5 seed is going to be the biggest question mark for this team. In standard, they’re a max PR player. However, they don’t have a ton of Wild experience. They’re perfectly positioned as a low-risk, high reward player in the 5 slot. 

Make no mistake, this team is solid from top to bottom. Don’t be surprised if they go on a deep playoff run.

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Bash Brothers

Captain: Reverb
The Bash Brothers are Reverb’s first go at putting a team together. He’s here as the 1 seed, banking on his success from last season to continue so he can lead the team from the top. Zerotio takes the 2 seed and is looking to bring some “unconventional” lineups to the format. Anubinator is well anointed in esports, working as a secretary within the industry. A Priest player by heart, this will be her First THL series. Next up, Mr. Python has had success both in Standard and Wild, reaching high Legend in each format. Finally, Mradamsir has been looking to get into the competitive side of things for a while. This will be their first season in THL.

Bash Brothers seem solid on paper, but a lot of questions remain. Reverb and Zerotio both have experience in THL, but the others are fairly new to the community. The team’s success will be entirely dependent on how quickly they can adjust to the different style of play.

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The Diamond <> Club
Captain: Volkai

(Editors Note:  The graphic to the left was created before this team's name was adjusted.  The blurb below reflects the correct name)
The Diamond <> Club is a team coming from the members of the Night Attack Podcast, formerly known as the NSFW show. Much of the team is new to the Wild Series, so this will be their first real foray into the competitive side of the format. Some fun facts about them include not one member making Legend (update: one has reached Legend so this is no longer true), all members having a Hearthstone collection (we all would hope they do), and all members being a part of the podcast since the very first episode. Volkai will be stepping aside as a player and only remaining as a captain this season.

With so little information, it’s hard to say how skilled these players will be. Hopefully, they can at the very least grab a few wins each week to stay competitive.
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The Grimscale Gang
Captain: Swashmrglr
The Grimscale Gang is an interesting case. The captain, Swashmrglr, is going to be playing Wild all season long for the first time, having been only an occasional sub last season. Him, Mattyebs, and YoDaddy are all comparable in skill level, so expect them to shuffle among the first three seeds a lot this season. As for the 4 seed, Risa is slotting in for that spot. Risa is a big question mark on the team, having only reached Legend in Wild for the first time last month. Their overall skill level is mostly unknown for now, so it will be intriguing to see what their ceiling is in the Wild Series. On top of the questions surrounding Risa, there’s an even bigger question surrounding the 5 seed: who will be playing there? Shaggy dropped at the last minute, so the last slot is a total mystery. *Update: WhiteDelight will be playing in the final spot. One of the most creative control-oriented players in the game, he’ll provide a massive boost to this team’s potential.

It’s difficult to pin where The Grimscale Gang will end up this season. They could be a playoff team with a deep run, or miss the playoffs entirely. Consider them another dark horse for now. ​

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The Cult Wild
Captain: Quaz

On paper, this team looks extremely top heavy. Duocat and Jrose in the 1 and 2 seed are both excellent Wild players, having success both on Legend ladder and in tournaments, respectively. Duocat has regularly reached high ranks, and Jrose recently topped AnthonyTheCordiest’s Tournament. Absolute in the 3 seed is shaping up to be a sleeper too. A player that leans heavily towards slow Warrior archetypes, Absolute is in position to shine this season. The team’s success, however, will rely heavily on how the 4 and 5 seeds perform. Quaz is normally a 5 seed, but the Wild Series is a different beast compared to other formats. Competition is much fiercer, and he has a lot to prove if he’s going to be able to keep up with the rest. Catharsis also has a lot of question marks surrounding him, being new to THL this season.

The Cult is going to need to see success from top to bottom if they’re planning to go far. In a series where teams have 1 seed players in their 4 seed, It’s going to take a massive effort from everyone to be  competitive and make the playoffs.






Finally, here’s a list of Power Rankings for this upcoming season, courtesy of the people at Wildin’ Out:

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