do hit, its ridiculous in a deck like Face Warrior. 3/3 isnt th

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The fans chant their names, wave their flags and do a little samba in their seats whenever the Brazilians take the sand at the Copacabana Olympic beach volleyball venue.If its a lot of pressure for the hometown teams, theyre handling it well.All four Brazilian teams advanced out of pool play at the Olympic tournament, and three won their first matches of the knockout round on Friday and Saturday. After a disappointing fourth-place finish as hosts of the soccer World Cup in 2014, Brazils other national sport has thrived on its hometown sand.It is not a pressure for us, said Barbara, a Rio native, who with her partner Agatha beat China on Friday to reach the quarterfinals. We are living the dream now. Inside our hearts is joy.Beach volleyball is a passion in Brazil, as much a recreational sport on the Copacabana shore as soccer or surfing or sunbathing. And that has led to Olympic success, with the country winning 11 of 30 total medals since the sport was added to the Summer Games in 1996.So dominant were the Brazilians -- and Americans, who have claimed nine medals -- that quotas were created to limit each country to two entries (per gender) in the Olympics.And when Rio de Janeiro won the rights to host the 2016 Olympics, it was only natural that the beach volleyball venue would be on Copacabana.I fell so lucky, so honored, as a first-time Olympian to be here in my home, Barbara said. I am so proud to be a part of this Olympic year at home.The fans appear to enjoy it, too.With green and yellow shirts filling the stands and Brazilian music wafting over the security barriers onto Copacabana beach beyond, the Olympic venue has been shaking at times with the cheers for the four hometown teams.Agatha and Barbara were the first to reach the quarterfinals, followed later on Friday by the defending world champions Talita and Larissa. Alison and Bruno reached the round of 8 by beating Spain on Saturday, and the party was only slightly spoiled when the No. 2 mens team, Pedro and Evandro, lost to Russia.Still, the crowd gave the Brazilians a standing ovation on their way off the court, though part of the crowd was certainly acknowledging the 21-16, 14-21, 15-10 victory by Russia as well.Here on Copacabana, they know how to play, Russias Nikita Liamin said. They know the good play, and they know how it is done.Two-time Olympian Ana Paula, who is working with the stadium entertainment crew in Rio, agreed. At one break in the match, she introduced American Randy Stoklos, a five-time world champion and volleyball hall of famer who played before the sport was added to the Olympics.We might have built this stadium, but the Brazilians really made this sport, he said to a huge cheer.All of the Brazilians knew who he was, Ana Paula said. Its because Brazil really, really loves beach volleyball. Its because volleyball -- its been in our DNA.Ana Paula said she thinks volleyball and beach volleyball have even surpassed soccer in her homeland -- in part because of the soccer teams much-lamented 7-1 loss in the World Cup semifinals. We dont talk about the World Cup, she said with a smile.By contrast, the beach volleyball players seem to be thriving under pressure.I dont think we are going to see anything like that in volleyball, said Bruno, whose uncle Oscar Schmidt is a basketball Hall of Famer and one of Brazils most celebrated athletes. The crowd is so happy, so full of happy people.And thats been a boost for all of the players -- even Brazils opponents.Spains Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez said they were excited when the pools were drawn and they knew they would be playing Agatha and Barbara.At the beginning, I felt like, `Oh, my God. The whole stadium is going to fall down on me, Liliana said after beating the Brazilians. But we wanted to play them on Copacabana.The Spaniards had already clinched a spot in the knockout round, so they didnt feel the full pressure of 12,000 fans rooting against them.When Germanys Britta Buthe and Karla Borger drew defending world champions Talita and Larissa in the playoff round of 16, their coaches tried to cheer them up.Everyone was saying, `Oh, its such a tough draw for you guys. But we were really excited, Buthe said after the Brazilians eliminated them in straight sets.We would have liked it if we would have played for it and won. We werent able to experience it, she said. But still I think this is one of our best memories, even if it did end. Fake China Shoes .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. China Shoes Free Shipping .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. https://www.chinashoesshop.com/ . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. China Shoes Nike . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. China Shoes Cheap . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. As expected, Blizzard announced its next expansion for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft at this past weekends BlizzCon. The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, Hearthstones fourth full-scale expansion, is set to be released in early December and will consist of 132 cards.The biggest change shown thus far is a series of tri-class cards, a departure from the past in which cards have all either been playable by one specific class or by all classes. This addition goes along with the general theme of the expansion set of three warring factions in the city of Gadgetzan, a neutral desert trading outpost found in World of Warcraft. The expansion draws heavily on the gangster film segment of film noir, with a generally lighter tone than the previous full expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods, that had tentacled monsters consuming souls rather than brightly covered gangsters in fedoras and pinstriped suits. MSG will also be the last set of new cards until next years rotation that will shuffle Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament, and League of Explorers out of the Standard format.Well be discussing the card set and how the cards are likely to affect competitive play in the coming weeks, but today, were focusing on ESPNs card reveal, the Grimestreet Pawnbroker.How does this card fit in competitive play and how likely will it have a key part in the upcoming meta? While there are many cards still to be released, the Grimestreet Pawnbroker does use variants of mechanics with a long history in Hearthstone.Lets start with the basics. Its at three mana, 3/3 card at its core, a common stat configuration in Hearthstone. 3/3s match up poorly with the three mana 3/4 cards, of which there are many, so the playability of a 3/3 depends on it having a valuable effect.Looking at class cards, there have been ten 3/3 cards, of which about half have seen significant play at some point: Aldor Peacekeeper and Steward of Darkshire in Paladin, SI:7 Agent in Rogue, Silverware Golem and Void Terror in Warlock, and Ravaging Ghoul in Warrior. All of these cards have a significant effect to go along with them, one with the potential to be abused, whether its SI:7s ability to do damage and affect the board immediately, Silverware Golems ability to be played for free, or the Whirlwind which attaches to Ravaging Ghoul, which triggers other Warrior effects.The Pawnbrokers effect is a Battlecry, giving a random weapon in your hand +1/+1, these days, most likely a Fiery War Axe, Fools Bane, or Gorehowl. Weapon effects are common in Warrior, but we havent seen an effect quite like this, with the usual effect being to either give the player a weapon (NZoths First Mate, Arathi Weaponsmith, Malkorok) or enhancing a weapon already in play. This card instead applies its effect to the weapon cards themselves, making a Fiery War Axe a 4/3 weapon, Fools Bane into a 4/5, and Gorehowl into an 8/2 (which allows a face damage turn without destroying the weapon).But is this card good enough to see play in the likely Warrior builds? Thats a bit trickier. Affecting the card itself is a bit slow - a Warrior wants to be playing the Fiery War Axe on Turn 2 or Turn 1 with coin against decks with an aggressive early game, not waiting until Turn 4 to play a 4/3 weapon instead. A 4/5 Fools Bane can remove more cleanly cards like Azure Drake and Tomb Pillager (more often than not, the Warrior will have already had to deal with one or both Totem Golems).The best way to think of a card is a Shattered Sun Cleric (three-mana 3/2 that gives +1/+1 to a minion) for weapons instead of an on-board minion. The Cleric is a playable card, but its just not good enough to find a spot in highly-refined decks. Its certainly better than Ogrimmar Aspirant, a three-mana 3/3 that gives +1 attack to an equipped weapon with Inspire -- not enough of an effect considering you need to use five mana for it not to be vanilla -- but Aspirant wasnt even close to making any tournament decks. The effect is also less useful to an aggressive Pirate build as the Pawnbroker cannot buff the Rusty Hook equipped from NZoths first mate, while Bloodsail Cultist, a 3/4 for the same mana cost, can.Warrior has a lot of competition for the three mana slot and its hard to see this card fitting right now in most deecks.ddddddddddddAmong class cards, Bash, Fierce Monkey, Frothing Berserker, Ravaging Ghoul, and Shield Block all vie for spots in decks and a Warrior can run only so many three-drops. And Im not sure that Pawnbroker fits Warriors goals better than any of these cards. If Pawnbroker makes it into competitive Warrior decks, I think it would have to be after the rotation, when Bash and Fierce Monkey leave.In Arena, this card is more likely to see play simply because a three-mana 3/3 is more playable. Deaths Bite remains in Arena and getting from four attack to five attack for turn four on-curve is the best scenario for Pawnbroker, allowing Warrior to more easily deal with a wide array of five-health four drops (the Yetis, Senjin Shieldmasta, Violet Teacher, etc.) without the fear of Harrison Jones, a card that is less available in Arena.In summary, its a neat card with a new spin on weapon enhancement. It might not fit in existing Warrior decks, but if theres a midrange or an aggressive Warrior deck out that can still get enough armor to make use of an enhanced Fools Bane and maybe an Arcanite Reaper, this could be a powerful card.But really, whats the fun of a card unveiling if its just accompanied by one persons opinion? To get a wider view of where this card fits into the world of Hearthstone, I requested input from other members of the community.The first place I turned to for a second opinion was Brian Kibler, a veteran card pro -- hes in the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame -- and also a designer involved in a number of trading card games, such as the original World of Warcraft Trading Card Game.It seems like a potentially powerful effect that helps hit certain health flashpoints with mid-game weapons (could be great with a Deaths Bite-type weapon to follow it up, for instance) or to let heavy-hitting late-game weapons do more damage. It pairs very well with Gorehowl, for instance, which can hit for 15 total across two attacks if you can butt if with the Pawnbroker.Kacem Noxious Khilaji, an analyst, streamer, and broadcaster noted for his deck experimentation shared a more optimistic view of the Pawnbroker than I did. This card is awesome. It will either make Bloodsail Cultist better because of the redundancy or given how straight forward it is, make it obsolete, said Noxious in a short interview. You play Fiery War Axe on Turn 2 and this on Turn 3 and you can probably get a good Arcanite Reaper on Turn 5. This might be the basis for an alternate win condition in some Warrior builds.Chris ChanmanV Chan, the host and developer of Value Town also believes that the Pawnbroker could lead to a different type of deck, one that could be a Face Warriors dream.Its different than Upgrade since you cant upgrade the weapon activated. Thats the kicker with this card, but even one 6/3 Arcanite Reaper is well worth it. When you do hit, its ridiculous in a deck like Face Warrior. 3/3 isnt that bad of a body and even if you whiff, its not terrible. If this card became prevalent, you can guarantee that Acidic Swamp Ooze and Harrison Jones will be played even more than they already are.For the Arena side of Hearthstone, I consulted with Mike SimCopter1 Bender, who specializes in this part of Hearthstone.This is a decent minion that provides potential upside while sacrificing few stats (one stat point in this case, since true three-drops have a baseline of seven stat point). This card fits multiple playstyles: It can help midrange decks get the extra weapon value they need to keep the board, it can help face-oriented decks generate enough burn to win a match they might otherwise have lost. With that being said, I think Grimestreet Pawnbroker is best used as a midrange value generator that lets your weapons clear pressure from enemy minions.On the downside, if the Battlecry doesnt hit or isnt relevant, its going to be lackluster. A three mana 3/3 is below-average in an arena meta where high state minion on-curve in games. Luckily Warrior has quite a few weapons these days, but it would be a lot better if it interacted with Arathi Weaponsmith, Upgrade!, NZoths First Mate, or Malkorok. ' ' '