Hero Power is a weekly podcast about Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Your hosts Avanties, Virsica, and Zerotio bring a combined 60+ years of Collectible Card Gaming experience and have been playing since the Beta. We hope to be able to impart some of our knowledge of the game through discussion, play through’s, and having knowledgeable guests to give you tips, tricks, and ideas.
Avanties
Nickname: Avanties
Real Name: Patrick Freeman
Twitter: @AvantiesHS
Twitch Stream: AvantiesHS
Gaming Experience: I grew up playing console games and board games and was introduced to Collectible Card Games in 1995 with Magic: The Gathering. My life shifted after my son was born and I started playing more MMO’s like World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, and Star Wars The Old Republic so I could be home with my family on weekends.
Hearthstone Experience: I started playing Hearthstone in October of 2013 with the Beta, the thing I probably enjoy the most about the game is the deck building and card collecting experience. Hearthstone is also my favorite eSport to watch, I liken it to chess and love to watch players try to outwit each other.
Podcast Experience: I started listening to podcasts in 2006 and started doing my own shows in April of 2012 with Casual Sunday Gamer. In early 2015 we started discussing the idea of a Hearthstone Podcast and with the addition of Zerotio as the 3rd chair we settled on an idea that would become Hero Power.
Virsica
Nickname: Virsica
Real Name: Alex Franklin
Twitter: @VirsicaGaming
Twitch Stream: Virsica
Gaming Experience: I have always been a puzzler, loving anything that required matching wits against someone else. Whether is was chess, board games, or PvP gaming, I am at my best when challenged by someone else. Naturally I was drawn to the CCGs Magic:The Gathering and Jyhad (which later became known as Vampire:The Masquerade). I began playing Magic in Beta and started competing in local competitions as soon as they reached my small town. I have played Magic, Jyhad, Wyvern, Star Trek, and Star Wars CCGs, as well as Warhammer tabletop. I have played video games since Chisolm and OregonTrail on the Texas Instruments Computer and Gyromite and Duck Hunt on NES. I also study strategy as a hobby and I am well versed in ancient European and Asian Battle Tactics.
Hearthstone Experience: I started playing during the Beta for Hearthstone and as I mentioned above I love strategy and I love video games so Hearthstone is a match made in Heaven.
Podcasting Experience: I started podcasting in April of 2012 as co-host on Casual Sunday Gamer with Avanties, we also did a podcast for news and updates about our World of Warcraft guild called The Crimson Dawn Cast. When Avanties and I first started talking about doing a Hearthstone based podcast we agreed we needed a third person for perspective, once we discussed the idea with Zerotio it was all down hill on starting Hero Power!
Zerotio
Nickname: Zerotio
Real Name: James Braschler
Twitter: @Zerotio
Twitch Stream: Zerotio
Achieved Legend in Season 24 (March 2016)
Gaming History: I started playing Magic: The Gathering in 1994, and quickly became addicted to collectible card games. I continued playing, during my teenage year, and competed competitively from 1999 to 2001. At that time I took a break from competitive play to get more involved in Live Action Role Playing (LARP). My LARP experience was from 1998 to 2014. During this time, I also played a lot of PC games, starting with EverQuest and continuing with World of Warcraft. My love of Blizzard games became an important part of my life. I have played World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Startcraft II, Heroes of The Storm and Hearthstone.
Hearthstone Experience: I started playing Hearthstone just before BlizzCon 2013. I immediately decided that this would be my new favorite game. I have competed in a few local and online tournaments. The highest rank I have achieved is Rank 2, but continue to push for Legend Rank. In May of 2015 I won the A Worthy Opponent: Spring Tournament. This push me into the foray of Podcasting and Streaming.
Podcast Experience: I have been a long-time listener of gaming podcasts. I tried streaming a few time, but did not feel confident enough to continue streaming. After winning the A Worthy Opponent: Spring 2015 Tournament, I earned a spot to guest host on the A Worthy Opponent Podcast. At this point, I became hooked. I needed to get into podcasting. With the assistance of The Legend of The Innkeeper podcast, I gained some needed help to eventually become a podcaster. At this time I was offered a chance to help with a 24 Hour Charity Stream to help Legend of The Innkeeper host Ariannwyn get needed eye surgery, to repair a debilitating vision impairment. This exposure allowed me to guest host on a few other podcasts, A Worthy Opponent (2nd Appearance), Heroes Power Hour (BlizzPro) and Legend of The Innkeeper. At this time, I realized I need to make my podcasting dream come true. This is when my close friends Avanties and Virsica decided to approach me with a podcast idea. This is when Hero Power was born!