Gary Kasparov started playing Hearthstone after his appearence in Mercenaries promotional video. His favorite decks and thoughts about the game in this article.

Gary Kasparov, arguably the best chess player in history, is now into Hearthstone. In an interview with PC Gamer, Kasparov told that what decks he likes playing and that he loves Hearthstone’s unbalanced value.

“I like games like Hearthstone because it's more strategic and you still have a time limit. But it's just about strategies, about making calculations, and about understanding connections.”

Kasparov about Hearthstone in a PC Gamer interview

Many chess fans were surprised when Gary Kasparov was featured in Hearhtsone’s Mercenaries promotion video. Being Hearthstone a strategic game, the community started speculating if Kasparov would actually play the game. Turns out, he not only plays but -unsurprisingly- he is pretty good at it.

“If I make a push I can go to legend rank but diamond five I get fairly easily.”Gary Kasparov

Kasparov’s Hearthstone deck choices

Despite having a wide collection, Kasparov mentions his preference for Hearthstone decks. Among the many options Hearthstone has to offer, Kasparov likes simpler decks: “No Rogue, no Mage! (…) I play Libram (Paladin) or a Taunt Druid”.

Despite this preference, Gary recognizes that Garrote Rogue’s potential: “I think the Rogue is probably the strongest deck as of now (before Deadmines miniset) because you know, it could basically kill you on turn seven from hand.” 

Moreover, Kasparov mentions in the interview that he even tried his homebrews. “I did try my own, you know, customized my Priest... just try to play some interesting builds.” For everyone’s sake, let’s hope Gary does not create another hated Control Priest archetype.

When asked what he liked about Hearthstone, Gary Kasparov made emphasis the “unbalanced value”: “You change things and you can have endless combinations that could give you a chance to beat even a strong opponent.” An interesting take in times where a big part of the community complained about balance.

Kasparov's favorite video game

At the end of the PC Gamer interview, Kasparov was asked about his favorite video game. The chess star answered the following: “I don't have a favorite! [laughs] (...) I play Hearthstone. I found it, I discovered it in doing this commercial with Blizzard, and that's what I play now.”

Gary Kasparov appearance in Hearthstone Mercenaries' promotional video
Gary Kasparov appearance in Hearthstone Mercenaries' promotional video

As a chess fan myself, I hope to see Kasparov in Hearthstone’s future. Why not an event around him bringing back customized chess tavern brawls again? As a Hearthstone fan, I’m glad that Pirate Warrior received some support with the Deadmines miniset. Not only do I love pirates, but on top of that, now I know Kasparov does too: “I tried Pirate, the Pirate Warrior, but somehow I think it's not good, it didn't fit”.

Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Hearthstone news and updates. That’s all for now, see you next time, in the tavern.