Hearthstone Players!

Thanks for the help, Jackwraith. I pretty much rage-quit before. I'm just missing something. Maybe I need to lay off of Arena for now. I should probably get Naxx and play through it. That will likely help me get better, too.

Gregarius wrote:

Jackwraith wrote: While I appreciate the idea of wining via another method than just beatdown, I find mill decks pretty annoying to play against.

I have no doubt that I'll come to despise mill decks, too, but this was the first one I'd come across. It had a savage beauty to it once it really revved up.

Oh, yeah. They're definitely interesting at first sight and, you're right, I guess it does make you think a bit differently about how to approach the game and that's generally a good thing.

Gregarius wrote:

Jackwraith wrote: While I appreciate the idea of wining via another method than just beatdown, I find mill decks pretty annoying to play against.

I have no doubt that I'll come to despise mill decks, too, but this was the first one I'd come across. It had a savage beauty to it once it really revved up.

I love that Rogue Mill deck. Obviously, it wants to Gang Up those Oracles, but Kripp used Gang Up on his Antique Healbots to get out of reach of a FaceHunter in pretty hilarious fashion not long ago.



I'll cook one of these up once have the dust for some Coldlights. I got my Sylvanas, and aside from Dr. Boom, I don't think any other Legendaries are so must have before the Rares and Epics I am missing. Even Ragnaros can wait while I cook up Coldlights, Coghammers, another Powermace, &c.

Stormseeker--you read my mind. I was also really getting upset about Arena, and the answer for me was Naxx. It requires a lot more lateral thinking than Arena or Constructed does, and it's fucking fun. And funny! Make sure you are greeting your opponents in there, they usually have something funny to say, or grunt. I went back to Naxx afetr some time away and loved it all over again. Got the Heroic cardback and at least started fights with every hero against Kel-Thuzad, because he has unique stuff to say depending on your choice. "You asked for it!" says Jaina. Kel-Thuzad replies, "I most certainly did not! You barged into my floating necropolis!" Also, Naxx has the Hunter Class Challenge, which is a fucking riot.

If I have any advice for Arena it is:

• Have five 2-drops and mulligan aggressively to get at least one of them. You need to play a 3/2 or 2/3 on turn 2 or you cough up a lot of game. If you are on pick 26 and only have three 2-drops? Frostwolf Grunt looks like a winner over things like Stalking Tiger. That's how it goes.
• Kill things "for free." I.e., you can kill their guy and your guy doesn't die. Unless you have lethal, you should probably be doing this. It will win out and as a four-word-strategy it isn't bad.
• Your life-total is a resource to be spent. If you can weapon up and take out something that will be killing your guys--take that thing right on the chin and keep your dudes alive. You don't get bonus points winning 30-0.

jeb wrote:

Your life-total is a resource to be spent. If you can weapon up and take out something that will be killing your guys--take that thing right on the chin and keep your dudes alive. You don't get bonus points winning 30-0.

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Hell, yes. This, this, this. Exactly right. Life is a resource. The MTG world discovered this back in the mid-90s and it's no different in HS. (I still remember the InQuest issue that called Necropotence not only a "trash rare" but the "worst trash rare in the set.") If you have a weapon and can take 3 in the face now, rather than 3, 6, 9, 12, whatever over the next few turns because you can't get rid of that thing (because your opponent plays something as simple as Annoy-o-Tron), do it, especially if it's something that needs to die. As a Priest player, it'd be awesome to drop Cleric on turn 1 because she's a 1-drop, right? Well, your opponent almost inevitably mulliganned for Fiery Win Axe and she's going to die so, no. Just keep in mind that there's only so many times you can hit things with your face before it becomes problematic (kind of a meta hitting your head against the wall thing) so try to think about what else your opponent might be able to do (i.e. 12 or less life vs. Mage is very risky; against Priest, not so much.)

So I'm about a week into the game and I'm glad I got Naxx or I'd probably be where Stormseeker is. I ground my way to level 20 in Ranked play and I'm done with it until next season; I just don't have the variety of cards to construct a deck to deal with the stuff I'm facing. I'd much rather take my chances in Casual where I stand a better chance of someone randomly conceding in the middle of a match when I'm trying to complete a Warrior daily quest with my shitty deck.

I also went 1-3 in my first (free) Arena run. It was frustrating because I was seeing a lot of Goblins vs. Gnomes cards for the first time and I didn't even know what the hell a Spare Part was. Between daily quests and achievements I'm sitting at 945 Gold. I'm fully expecting to do terribly at Arena for a good, long while so I'm trying to figure out if I should suck it up and spend all my Gold on Arena runs, Classic packs (since I'm so card and dust poor), or a combination of the two.

I've been saying since GvG that as the game gets older, it's harder to get into. There's more cards, and they aren't any cheaper.

I came in shortly after the iPad version, and because I don't play a lot I don't really have the collection depth that more active or older (by default more games) players do.

However, you can still do some pretty serious damage if you check what's out there, and build cheaply. Net-decking doesn't make you weak, just smart enough to coast behind the guys who want to live this game. If you see a deck with Legendaries in it, you can often replace them with something cheaper that still works. The idea of the other 27/28/29 cards should be similar. Some of them are just truly out of reach without an expensive Miracle combo, but lots are easy.

jeb and Jack are definitely laying down the knowledge (some of which I learned the hard way, and some I probably only think I know).

To my mind, the easiest classes to start with are the Hunter and the Mage. A lot of the critical cards are free or cheap, and playing them is usually pretty straightforward. "Hit stuff, until it dies". Use options to make it die faster. Zoo-type Warlocks are pretty cheap and easy to play as well. I use mine a lot. Playing Warlock will really teach you that taking damage is totally fine.

Another thing to remember is that the first week of the month is when all the slackers (like me) grind back up from 22/23 to 20, and then decide if we care about 19 or more. Playing low-level ranked gets easier towards the end of the month.

Gee Stormy, sad to see you in the dumps...one thing is for sure...Hearthstone can be INCREDIBLY frustrating. Like, Super Ghouls and Ghost frustrating. I never thought I would find myself flipping off my phone but I do it at least once an hour.

I'm TERRIBLE. I'll get into the groove and win some streaks, and then just completely flop. But you know, that's kind of how it is with CCGs. Luck is a major factor. The best deck in the world can be brought down by bad draws. And the worst deck can win against it with the right draws and shrewd, timely play.

What these guys are saying in terms of core strategy is right on the money. Control that board. That's something I actually struggle with, deciding when to trade (another very important concept) and when to go for face. These are some of the more compelling decision points though- put on pressure, or edge toward control. You've got to remember that Hearthstone is actually very creature-y and there's a reason all of the neutral cards are minions and not spells.

You have also got to know when it's worth trading life for advantage, control or face damage. That's another great point. If you can take five but prevent ten...do it even if it means skipping a five damage Attack on your opponent. . But if you can take that ten and make your five turn into 15 on your next turn- maybe that's worth the risk.

I find Arena obnoxiously hard myself. You'd think there would be a more even footing with the drafting, but there really isn't. If you don't build smartly, you're DOA and that can be very frustrating. I've gone down 0-3 more times than I care to admit, but virtually every time I felt like my deck was trash. Learning to value those cards and work the three-at-a-time drafting method is essential. Just like in Magic draft, there are cards that seem not so useful in constructed that are suddenly game winners in Arena.

You will eventually find classes that you just play better with. Mine are the much-maligned Priest and Rogue. I have decent decks for both. But I've played with them the most too and have a better sense of knowin' when to hold 'em.

That is such a big thing in this game- understanding when it's worth holding a card rather than playing it. That's in any card game, really, but it's complicated here by Battlecry, linked effects and any other variable on the table. The WORST thing you can do is to just dump cards on the table. That's another weakness I run into, overplaying and winding up exhausted, unable to follow through. An opponent at 1 health but with seven cards in hand is nowhere near defeat. But if you have 30 health and 0 cards...you are doomed.

Don't give up, this game is definitely worth sticking it out for. Believe me, I understand the frustration. I'm spectacularly bad at most games, but I'm finding learning through my many, many mistakes quite rewarding here.

I'm not exactly one for climbing constructed, as I usually only play enough of it to knock out quests or get the card back. I made a couple Unstable Portals out of dust, and I've been loving Mage ladder life ever since. You have Fireball and Polymorph for burst and spot removal, you have Flamestrike for board clear, and anything else you can tinker around with as you please. I put in lots of mechs, a couple Goblin Blastmages, and the Sneed's Old Shredder I opened a week or so ago. With as much Arena as I play, getting things like Snowchugger/Mechwarper/Spider Tank was never an issue. The value, as they say, is insane.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, boys. I appreciate it.

My biggest issue with Arena is it always feels like I drafted the wrong shit. I sometimes build something I think is good and then start playing and it just feels like shit. I think I'll go do Naxx and see how I do there.

rocketkiwi wrote: I'm not exactly one for climbing constructed, as I usually only play enough of it to knock out quests or get the card back. I made a couple Unstable Portals out of dust, and I've been loving Mage ladder life ever since. You have Fireball and Polymorph for burst and spot removal, you have Flamestrike for board clear, and anything else you can tinker around with as you please. I put in lots of mechs, a couple Goblin Blastmages, and the Sneed's Old Shredder I opened a week or so ago. With as much Arena as I play, getting things like Snowchugger/Mechwarper/Spider Tank was never an issue. The value, as they say, is insane.

And that's the way Hunter was before GvG. The decks just made themselves. Grab a bunch of Beasts, a few Beast-comboing Hunter cards, and tear things up. It's still sort of like that.

It was a quick way into the game, and I think Mechmage decks are the sweet spot right now. It took me a while to build up enough cards and knowledge to play something more complicated. But honestly, the game's not rocket science. It can be annoyingly random, but if it weren't it would paradoxically be even less fun.

Started a new arena run as Rogue - in the first game, I got the Warlock down to 6HP and he plays...Jaraxxus. I have nothing to kill off the stream of 6/6s and he ends up winning. I curse my luck.

Game three was against a Hunter and he's going face hard. I get my Kel'thuzad on the board and stabilize, but I'm already almost to single digit HP. He gets me down to 1HP and it's my turn. I despair. I count my board, and then I realize: if I play Argent Commander and Tinker's Sharpsword Oil, I have exact lethal of 28. I win. The game gives, and the game takes.

Ok, I'm having success with this oil rogue deck:
Backstab x2
Shadow step x2
Cold Blood x2
Deadly poison x2
Southsea Deckhand x2
Blade fury x2
Eviscerate x2
Gang up x2
Sap x2
Goblin Auto Barber x2
Knife Juggler x2
Perdition's Blade x2
S1:7 Agent x2
Tinkers Sharpsword Oil x2
Sprint x2

Obviously, this deck is about aggressive, flexible combos and weapons use. There are a couple of pathways to get 5+ damage turns in the early game and if I've got advantage I can double or triple that in mid to late game. There are no taunters so that is something of a weakness but I have the Gang Ups to just grab whatever the other player has. This is very much a face deck, but it doesn't ignore the skirmish- the Barbers are really nice 2-drops in here, the Deckhands can run out and nullify a 3/2 or get comboed with Oil or Cold Blood to become a 6/1 charger. Jugglers speak for themselves. The Agent is great with Shadowstep- I've cleared the board a few times with that combo. Mostly low cost spells make it easy to roll into a combo, but I have those Sprints in there because exhaustion is an issue with this build.

Feels like the best deck I've built, kind of felt like I turned a corner playing it.

That's a sexy looking build, you rapscallion.

I'm not sure the Jugglers belong in that deck.

Honestly, there simply aren't that many minions in it, and no respawning.

Believe me, I love Knife Jugglers, and run them in many decks. Here I'm not sure you're going to get the real value from them, because stuff isn't hitting the board. You've got to play minions to use them, which is sort of cross-purpose to the Oil Rogue. Also, no Preparation? Prep-> Sprint->do *something* is a great move to pull off, instead of giving up tempo to refill your hand for 7 mana.

I need to go get Blackrock obviously, Gang Up looks like an extremely useful card.

I broke out my manaramp/Alarm-O-Bot all fatties Druid for a quest last night, but that deck hasn't aged well. I also tweaked my old Shaman a bit, and it won the two games I needed pretty fast.

(standard disclaimer, listen to me at your own risk, I suck.)

I've got a half-decent Mage build going. Lots of burn and card draw. It's sort of mid-tempo. Wins more than it loses. Probably 55/45.