Playing and streaming are two peas in a pod when you're a gamer in 2014. If you play games, you probably watch others play them. For me, it started with League of Legends and has finally taken me to Hearthstone. It doesn't seem like much of a "spectator sport," but I've quickly noticed improvements in my Hearthstone game by just watching streamers play and picking up their habits.

With every Hearthstone patch comes new changes, nerfs, buffs, and other goodies. For someone with a job and other priorities, that can be hard to keep up with. Let's leave it to the professionals. These three Hearthstone streamers below are a pleasure to watch and will always keep you up to speed with what's going on in the present meta of this game.

Trump

Trump is a StarCraft II player that quickly made a transition to the Hearthstone scene. In October of 2013, he became the first ever professional Hearthstone player when Team Razer announced that he'd be joining their brand. He's a very skilled and knowledgeable player who is known best for squeezing every bit of value that he can out of each hand and deck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpdTg6U4Us8

I first got into watching Trump stream when I watched him do a run through The Arena. He often takes a straw poll with his Twitch chat and allows them to vote on which of the three possible classes he should enter his run with. He'll select the class with the most votes and immediately get into analyzing and explaining through his thought process in building an Arena deck. It's really a pleasure just to hear him speak, because he is one of the most intelligent players in the game today. You can check out his in-game statistics here [Broken URL Removed].

Trump's streaming hours vary, but he usually starts up his stream right around noon EST. If you're interested in a streamer that starts off relatively early and always helps educate viewers, Trump is a good watch.

Kripparrian

Yes, it's this guy again! Kripp has been known to play just about every other game you can think of at the highest level. He is (or was?) huge in Path of Exile, he was one part of the two-man team that took down Diablo on Inferno Hardcore in Diablo III, and he has been banned from games like Neverwinter and Guild Wars 2 for being too intelligent for the economy. He's a big exploiter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10sbw0vhZsQ

Kripp has a cult following behind him. He's everything your parents never wanted you to be when you started playing video games. He's got the lazy beard, the t-shirt with the loose collar, and he's almost always looking sleepy due to depriving himself every night so that he can stay up and stream for 8+ hours for these adoring fans of his.

Kripp doesn't interact with his chat often, but he is a very hilarious and genuine guy. He doesn't beg for donations, and he isn't sponsored by any brand. He just loves to play video games in front of people. It's that simple. He is an absolute genius when it comes to figuring out overpowered and ridiculous turn "cheeses" and his thought process and understanding of Hearthstone (and practically every other game I've seen him play) is unreal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH1i9awgVxc

In the video above, you see Kripp narrating a potential play that could offer a win on the third turn (something pretty unprecedented in this game). About a week later, it happens to none other than the streamer I've mentioned before Kripp in this list! People listen to Kripp because he has a knack for piecing together the puzzle and making things happen in this game that just seem completely unfair.

Kripp streams just about every night from 7PM EST to around 4AM EST.

Reynad27

I'm quite unsure about Reynad27 outside of the Hearthstone scene, but I'm very pleased that I managed to stumble across him on Twitch. He's very well-spoken, and he's one of the best streamers when it comes to Ranked Play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSOGXiqZNCE

Many of the streamers that are more popular on Twitch put a lot of focus towards Arena play, because the consensus opinion seems to be that it's the most exciting game mode. Reynad27 spends most of his time in Ranked Play, building decks, and theory crafting upon what he can do to become #1 in his region. Reynad27 also holds special stream events, such as playing on a smurf (alternate) account and not spending a dime of real money. His goal is then to go from rank 25 to Legend to prove that (in his opinion) you can be a top-level Ranked Play player without the pay-to-win argument.

Reynad27 streams during afternoon EST hours or very early morning EST hours. He has mentioned that he likes to get his stream time in before or after Kripparrian (as he manages to control a lot of the Hearthstone audience). He's a pleasure to watch.