To celebrate Hearthstone’s 10th birthday I spoke to OG streamers and casters about the best metas, their favourite moments, and most hated cards

Hearthstone turned 10 this week, which on a personal note means I’ve been playing, watching and writing about the same game for a decade. From the halcyon days of peak RNG being Sylvanas stealing your opponent’s Ragnaros, through the absolute degeneracy of Demon Hunter on day one, to the Colossals and Titans of the modern game, it’s been a great ride. I was chatting to a colleague who also covered the game back in its golden era, remembering how great it was when there seemed to be a new tournament on Twitch every other week and the esports scene was doing legitimately huge viewership. 

For years the game fizzed with a constant influx of Mensa-smart young players who generated new memes as fast as they did game-breaking decks. As with all games that last this long, that imperial phase couldn’t last forever, and none of us knew quite how good we’d had it until we were on the downslope. But even now I get excited before a new expansion—the nostalgia-heavy Whizbang’s Workshop is out next month—eager to see what madness the current designers have cooked up.