Hearthstone

[QuikSand]

I guess it's been around on PC a while, but now that it's on the iPad, I'm in and playing a fair bit.

Others? Thoughts?

[Alan T]

I've been playing a while and find it a pretty decent time waster I suppose.

I'm not that good at it, and don't spend any money so my cards aren't really good enough to get beyond rank 13-16 somewhere.. but I still seem to do well enough to win enough to satisfy myself.

[Radii]

solid game can absolutely be free to play if you're patient. If you like it and want to buy some packs of cards do so fairly early on before you collect most of the common cards via arena. This works out nicely b/c its really only reasonable to do so early so there's little risk of feeling like you would ever need to pay to win or anything.

[QuikSand]

So...

In ranked games, I'm one win away from level 19 paying all free cards okays whatever odds and ends I have picked up via leveling up and arena play

So far, feel most comfy with Mage and Hunter decks, but I like that the game really pushes you to pursue them all over time

Not sure how motivated I'll ever be to accomplish much, though...building my deck isn't that immersive to me

What I'd really like is a way to personalize this...form a league or tourney through my contacts (here) and play for some prize, either with my own deck or even area a style...playing anonymous "worthy opponents" runs thin

I'm feeling a shade more positive about the actual game play, maybe I'm just getting a better sense of it (especially what to expect as the main idea behind opponent decks)

I measure my investment more in time than money...so far, so good on that front

[QuikSand]

solid game can absolutely be free to play if you're patient. If you like it and want to buy some packs of cards do so fairly early on before you collect most of the common cards via arena. This works out nicely b/c its really only reasonable to do so early so there's little risk of feeling like you would ever need to pay to win or anything.

Can you elaborate? I have gold in hand, was planning just to play arena...you suggest I buy packs now?

[Radii]

Can you elaborate? I have gold in hand, was planning just to play arena...you suggest I buy packs now?

No, gold should always be used for Arena unless you just hate Arena and only want to play ranked. My comments were about spending real money on the game. If you want to spend a little real money to give yourself a boost, the best time to do it is early before you've done a bunch of arena runs and already have all the common cards. Once you get to that point, spending real money on packs feels awful and you're just fishing for legendaries, because 80% of the cards you get will just be turned to dust immediately. But spending some $$ early on can give you a big boost.

Its 100% viable to never spend any real money on the game and build up your decks by grinding quests to gain gold to enter arena, getting all your new cards through arena rewards. But if your goal is to build up your card base as quickly as possible and being able to build better decks for ranked sooner is where you'd find your enjoyment, buying 10 or 20 packs early on felt pretty efficient to me.

edit: elaborated a bit more

[Alan T]

I was playing arena for a while, but my problem was that I kept going 3 and out and it was more cost effective to just buy decks for a bit. I enjoy arena though, so when I get a little better at the game I'll go back in to play them again. I think most people say if you can win just 3 games, you break even from arena.

As for playing a tournament type thing, you can arrange it through playing casual games with people on your friendlist at a designated time (as long as you are on the same server). However I am not aware of any way to give cards or prizes in game. You would likely have to facilitate money transfer outside of the game that then could be used by the person to buy packs or whatever I suppose

[Alan T]

Dola, I am AlanT#1932 in hearthstone if either of you or others wants to add me for friendly games

[Matthean]

I've only gotten one win per run in arena. One time I was down to 1 HP and all I had to do was attack. I read a card I wanted to play to make sure I read it right only to find out it returned all creatures for both players back to their hand. Oops. Next round I was dead.

[SackAttack]

This isn't something I'm ever going to play, so the free pack codes that came with Diablo III or Reaper of Souls (whichever it was) I neither want nor need.

If anybody wants one (I have three), holler.

[cschex]

This isn't something I'm ever going to play, so the free pack codes that came with Diablo III or Reaper of Souls (whichever it was) I neither want nor need.

If anybody wants one (I have three), holler.

I'd take one. Battle.net ID is cmschex if you're giving them. Thanks

[SackAttack]

I thought there were three. I only found one card in the box. Either I gave away two earlier and completely forgot I had done so, or I somehow misread the StarCraft II and WoW trial cards as being something different entirely.

Or else two of the cards grew legs and ran off.

QS PM'ed me, so I've already sent him the code I have. If I come across another, cschex, I'll pass it on.

[Barkeep49]

I started playing shortly after it came to the iPad.

I have constructed a hunter deck I'm pleased with (up to 3 stars on 15 and think I have more room to grow it).

Arena mode though? Kicking my ass. I am pretty much a .500 player there. Drives me nuts. Would love to strategize on how to improve that because right now despite the math I'm inclined to spend gold on decks rather than invest the time to get a deck and 40 gold back (what 3 wins nets you) when I could be having fun playing my constructed deck.

[QuikSand]

I guess I'm at a different place than you - my constructed decks aren't terribly fun, so right now I rather enjoy the "build/play" combination, plus the unfamiliar cards, that comes with the arena setup. I'm roughly a 50/50 player there, too... but to me it feels like there's more at stake playing those matches.

[Fidatelo]

I've played off an on over the past few months. I haven't spent much time deck building yet, I have one Mage deck that I like but for all the other classes I just use the defaults so far. Consequently I can't get above level 19 in ranked (I might be able to if I just played the Mage deck but I want to do the quests to get gold).

I enjoy the game but I would like to be able to play some kind of tournament against friends as well.

[Barkeep49]

Is anyone aware of any rankings of the cards for Arena?

I know of the one at Icy-Veins (http://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone-arena-guide) but that's from January and card information has changed, and more importantly it doesn't have all the cards now offered in Arena.

I seem to suffer from one of two problems in arena play. Either my mana curve is off or I have the wrong ratio of minions to spells. Or both. Let's not forget both.

Would there be any interest in doing a collective arena draft? Since there's no time limit and you can go in and out of it, seems doable to me.

[Barkeep49]

I've played off an on over the past few months. I haven't spent much time deck building yet, I have one Mage deck that I like but for all the other classes I just use the defaults so far. Consequently I can't get above level 19 in ranked (I might be able to if I just played the Mage deck but I want to do the quests to get gold).

I enjoy the game but I would like to be able to play some kind of tournament against friends as well.
Wasn't sure from your description but are you playing your other decks in ranked to get rewards? When I'm playing with anything other than my top notch decks I just play in friendly to get the gold.

[QuikSand]

Would there be any interest in doing a collective arena draft? Since there's no time limit and you can go in and out of it, seems doable to me.

I don't know what you mean exactly, but something like this sounds interesting. I'd like to play in some structured way against familiar faces.

[QuikSand]

Wasn't sure from your description but are you playing your other decks in ranked to get rewards? When I'm playing with anything other than my top notch decks I just play in friendly to get the gold.

Hmm, I'm not all that sophisticated... right now I have three decks that I have put any thought at all into (mage, shaman, hunter) and I play them in Ranked. So far, I mostly chase gold with other classes, but I f confess that where I am on the learning curve, pretty much every new class I play triggers me thinking about how I could build around that setup (which is a good thing).

[Barkeep49]

I don't know what you mean exactly, but something like this sounds interesting. I'd like to play in some structured way against familiar faces.
What I'm suggesting isn't competitive play but rather that I will start an arena draft and then post which three cards I'm offered. Allow for some discussion, pick, repeat. Perhaps over in the dynasty forum?

I really would like to get better at arena and for a while I thought it meant that I just needed to get better at playing. With my ability to do better in ranked (with a couple of decks I've constructed absent Internet help) but my arena results staying the same, it's clear that better playing wasn't my problem. So now I want to try and find ways to improve my skill (absent watching videos which I don't work for me).

[Radii]

Arena is different than ranked. You can't reliably draft combos that you can carefully build in a ranked deck, so the general idea for most classes is board control at all times. This means having useful things to do every turn (starting turn 2 at least) is huge, and thus mana curve is huge. There are some variations due to class (druids are stronger late game and don't necessarily need as much early control, mages reliance on spells makes them a bit different, etc).

Trump's Arena Tier List: Neutral Commons (http://www.liquidhearth.com/forum/arena-strategy/513-trumps-arena-tier-list-neutral-commons)

Looks like Trump is up to 8 guides now, 3 on the various types of neutral cards and then 5 class guides for arena. The first guide was created in January but there have only been three changes to cards since then... tinkmaster overspark, nat pagle, and unleash the hounds have been nerfed. I believe everything else is still the same.

These guides are long, but that's mainly because Trump does a great job of explaining things, IMO.

If you do like to watch videos, my recommendation remains trump.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvEIxIeBRKSjKqEBrSl0ymGmiWjvferrh

There is a playlist of arena runs he has stored. They're long, but you could just watch the drafting process at the start of each one.

[Radii]

If it works, this looks neat. Never tried it: Arena Champ - Hearthstone Draft Assistant (http://departuregames.com/arenachamp/)

[Peregrine]

I'm big into Hearthstone, be nice if some more FOFC folks joined in.

As far as Arena I'd start with some of the guides already posted and go from there - I found it took me a while to sort of internalize what generally works in Arena but once I did I saw my win rates increase.

[QuikSand]

What I'm suggesting isn't competitive play but rather that I will start an arena draft and then post which three cards I'm offered. Allow for some discussion, pick, repeat. Perhaps over in the dynasty forum?

I really would like to get better at arena and for a while I thought it meant that I just needed to get better at playing. With my ability to do better in ranked (with a couple of decks I've constructed absent Internet help) but my arena results staying the same, it's clear that better playing wasn't my problem. So now I want to try and find ways to improve my skill (absent watching videos which I don't work for me).

I could be willing to donk off a little time thinking bout the game like this.

[Peregrine]

Arena play is definitely different than ranked play. I've found it leans more heavily towards "big bodies" so definitely look for stout minions with good attack/health. This is because removal can be much more random to get in an arena deck than a regular one where it is plentiful. I play a lot of druid in arena and do pretty well as their big creatures and lots of taunt stuff plays well in this way. However I think you can win with any deck so it's really up to you. Also you will see a lot of the "known good" cards in Arena, the ones most people will have in their decks, so having some kind of plan for when that inevitable Chillwind Yeti or Frost Elemental drops is a good idea. I tend to play a bit more conservative in Arena, especially because premium removal and other utility spells are usually limited, so I think a lot before deploying them.

Also just a mental thing but I found once I stopped thinking about my Arena deck as good or bad, based on which cards I did or didn't get/take, my play improved. It's all about your opponent, how you match with their decks and the order in which you draw cards, like always, so don't be thinking that "oh this deck sucks because I didn't get any epics" or whatever.

[Fidatelo]

Wasn't sure from your description but are you playing your other decks in ranked to get rewards? When I'm playing with anything other than my top notch decks I just play in friendly to get the gold.

Ever since I discovered ranked near the end of last month I've just left it on.

[Matthean]

Ever since I discovered ranked near the end of last month I've just left it on.

Depending on your deck on if you are going for daily quest. Casual can be good if you are trying to kick out a couple wins on a default deck.

[Peregrine]

I play casual all the time personally - it's my default for grinding out quests or just testing decks. I usually save ranked for more "serious" games with my established decks, but that's just me.

[Matthean]

Speaking of grinding, it bugs me that two wins with a class gets you 40 gold for a daily quest, but five wins gets you 60.

[Alan T]

Speaking of grinding, it bugs me that two wins with a class gets you 40 gold for a daily quest, but five wins gets you 60.


When I get the 5 win quest for shaman/warlock which I am horrible with... It usually takes me all day to get those 5 wins :)

[Matthean]

Finally got more than 1 win in Arena. I topped out at 3. I think all of my loses came against Rogues and that's what I was playing.

[Ramzavail]

is there offline play? I was trying without an internet connection and I was having problems.

[Peregrine]

No offline play that I know of. In theory you could use practice mode but think you need internet for that also.

[cschex]

Still suck at arena...mainly drafting the right mana curve. I'm up to level 17 with my current Rogue constructed deck. Also would be interested if anyone decides to arrange a casual tournament going

[Alan T]

I may not be very good at this game but I just giggle with delight when my priest deck has just the right cards to win a game in the most ridiculous fashion.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just started playing this last night after weeks of urging from my 16 y/o.

[Matthean]

I have seem to hit a pattern of getting my opponent down to 4-7 life, have 10+ more life and still losing. Granted, a number of those decks are defaults.

[JonInMiddleGA]

editing to add: I'm Jons3Cents#1820

Have only played ranked, mostly equally leveling classes at this point (except for Hunter which I took to 10 chasing a quest). Played only ranked thus far, got to about 20 before I suddenly became a .500 player.

[QuikSand]

I'm fascinated, at the moment, by the Priest class an trying to get its obvious healing-based synergies to work well. So far, weak results, but I now have an Arena deck that's 4-1 and this with only one of the 1/3 "draw card when anyone is healed" minions in my draw (that seems to be a key card to have for this approach). But I really love the flow of using the creatures' big D early for defense, and then use the card to flip the switch for offense to seal the deal.

[cschex]

I really enjoy Arena Priest. I find that their copy spells are more effective in Arena because you are more likely to copy something that fits into your deck. That, and their removal spells are top notch

[Vince, Pt. II]

Started recently myself. Still really green (have 5 or 6 classes I haven't even unlocked all the basic cards for yet), but early results have me favoring Rogue heavily.

Once I realized that it's much more important to control the board than to deal as much damage to the other character as you can, I got a hell of a lot better.

[JonInMiddleGA]

For those who haven't unlocked all the basic cards yet, FYI (as I discovered last night), that's worth a 100 coin bonus when you do.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't nearly understand the game well enough to know what this might say about my play styles/strengths/weaknesses but having now gotten every class to at least Lvl 10 (all are between 10 and 17) there's definitely some difference in my success with various classes.

Hunter - Paladin - Priest ... I'm most successful (which ain't saying a lot) and virtually always competitive with these in head to head mode. Rogue is not quite as good as those three, but closer to them than to the others.

Warrior - Druid ... Occasionally I'm competitive, unlikely to beat anyone unless they're pretty bad.

Mage - Warlock - Shaman ... Apparently I suck with all of these, hardly ever competitive in head to head, only 7 combined wins with this trio and I think 3 of those wins came against players who lagged and such.

[Radii]

For those who haven't unlocked all the basic cards yet, FYI (as I discovered last night), that's worth a 100 coin bonus when you do.

beating every class' expert AI is another 100 gold, also one that isn't really made clear anywhere.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I'm awful with the Druid. Which is unfortunate, because I got Cenarius in my first pack. Druid legendary card, 9 cost, 5 attack 8 life, Battlecry: choose to either give all your minions +2/+2 or summon 2 treants with 2/2 and taunt. He's an amazing card, I just suck at surviving long enough to utilize him.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I feel like the Warlock is feast or famine. I'm occasionally killing my opponent by turn 6 or 7 with full life and ridiculous board control, or I'm getting my face handed to me by turn 8 or 9.

[cschex]

The thing with Druid is that their best class cards are mostly ones you get through packs are crafting, not unlocking as you level up. Keeper of the Grove, Ancient of Lore, Druid of the Claw and Wrath are all excellent versatile cards that really make Druid top tier. Having Cenarius is a nice start, though.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Yeah, I'm finding that many of the classes seem underpowered until you get some of their class specific cards from packs. Hunter seems to suffer from this as well, though I'm doing better lately than when I first started playing him.

[QuikSand]

I had a great level 18 game with my best mage deck (mostly small stuff) against a defensive warlock deck. For my first time, the "out of cards" effect (hitting him..he takes progressive damage for not having card to draw), and I won with trifling late minions after he ran out of reactions. Lots of denial on both sides...really interesting, first I've seen a game play out that way.

[Barkeep49]

A defensive Warlock deck seems to miss the point of the style. I've had great fun with a warlock deck on casual when I need that kind of win but to me it's all about getting the game over by turn 6 or 7.

My best deck continues to be a hunter but it seems the meta has swung against it. I got as high as 14 with it but think I will end the season at 16.

My last two arenas have been promising. I extensively read the guide posted above and used it to draft several deck. Each time I felt like my deck was better but I was doing worse than before. Now I've stopped using it as a guide, but I think I have absorbed many of its lessons and have improved. My last two games have been 5 wins each and each time I felt like I had a deck that with a little luck could have gotten me 7 or 8 wins.

[Vince, Pt. II]

My best arena run so far was with a Rogue. Won my first three games with absolute ease, then got facerolled by three mages in succession. Which is pretty much how it worked in PvP in WoW as well...not sure that's what they were going for, but hey.

[thesloppy]

I had a great run in the arena with a hunter deck, quickly getting up to 9 wins and 1 loss....which I promptly turned into 9 wins and 3 losses.

[Izulde]

I hate you FOFC. :P Spent all night playing to unlock all the characters - have Shaman and Mage leveled up to 10 so far, and I think Shaman may well become my favorite class, though only extended plays of each class will tell I'm sure.

Mage was fun, but really seemed to lack the punch that Shaman can give you, and I've actually had a few comeback wins with Shaman that I couldn't do with Mage or Hunter (the other two I've done some play with).

I did get nailed once with that fucking Priest Attack is now same as Toughness card. Turned 0/8 and 0/7 dudes into 8/8 and 7/7. I was toasted, though that may have been against Mage or Hunter.

[Matthean]

This is why you unlock and find whatever cards you can get for dealing with creatures. For a Mage, you can turn a creature into a 1/1 sheep. I think a Hunter has one for 5+ attack creatures. I know there is a Big Game Hunter that can eliminate a big creature as well.

[Izulde]

Yeah I have the Sheep cards in my mage set, as well as the frog cards with my Shaman.

Heh, I've only got two wins with my Shaman deck in ranked... and both were against other Shaman decks. Time to level up some other heroes and give them a run.

[Alan T]

I can't seem to break past rank 12. I just keep running into onslaughts of legendary cards that I just don't have answers for. Ugh

[Vince, Pt. II]

I don't know that I've ever played a game where the swings from high to low are so crazy. Games where I've got 7 minions out to their 0 on turn 5 and they concede. Games where I am literally dead by the 6th turn with no chance. I'm sure once I get some more cards and build the decks I really want to play (and simply get better at the game) this will decrease a bit, but lord the variance in games is crazy right now.

[QuikSand]

Ranked games on the first of the month are an adventure. Got to see a monster murloc deck kick my ass, figured there were enough of those cards to get nasty.

[Izulde]

Okay, Mind Control and Mind Vision are freaking fun as hell to play with as a Priest. I've won 3 straight games in Ranked mode with a custom Priest deck specifically because of those cards.

[cschex]

I find the hardest thing with Priest is to have enough board control by turn 10 to use your entire turn on Mind Control. If you craft or collect the rare card Shadow Madness, that can do really well in a Priest control deck and combos with those others.

[Alan T]

I find the hardest thing with Priest is to have enough board control by turn 10 to use your entire turn on Mind Control. If you craft or collect the rare card Shadow Madness, that can do really well in a Priest control deck and combos with those others.


I was doing ok with my Priest up until about rank 12-13 with a control build. I found that I had no problem controlling the board through turns 5-7 with all of the removal cards. Only issues I run into is if I encounter players that have some pretty tough high end late game cards. I don't have enough removals for those until turn 10. So I find I am weakest turns 7-9 usually and my game either falls apart or I hold it together based on those turns.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Random fact discovery: When you win your 100th game (combined) in any mode, you get a 300 gold bonus.

Yay ... that means I can get my ass stomped in Arena mode TWICE :party:

[CleBrownsfan]

I've been playing this pretty much non-stop for the past three days. Pretty damn addictive. My name is : broth32 if anyone wants to add.

I've been doing pretty good with the hunter. The key for me is getting some early taunts out then I'm good to go.

How do you check your record in ranked games ?

[JonInMiddleGA]

How do you check your record in ranked games ?

No way to check your overall record (afaik) but your wins by class in ranked play are shown on the selection screen (where you pick your the class/character you're going to play h2h with).

[Izulde]

I got to Level 19 today but they still didn't give me my new cardback. Do I get it after the month is over?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Strategically I am probably overthinking things right now (haven't touched ranked play yet), but how are you guys who have been playing for a while making strategic decisions? For example, I'm playing against a class that can use weapons, and I pull the common Ooze minion that destroys my opponent's weapon when I play it. I can play it on turn 1 or 2 and have a nice 3 damage minion out early that he'll have to deal with, but then I've given up my ability to eat his weapon once it's played. I know context has a ton to do with it, but at what point are you opting for a strategic hold of a card rather than trying to immediately pressure your opponent?

[Izulde]

Depends on what deck you yourself are playing. For control decks like the Priest one I'm using (was 10-1 in ranked before now losing 4 straight), I prefer to hang on to the cards. To me, playing an Ooze without a weapon to eat if it's a class that uses weapons is a waste.

[Izulde]

Case in point a game I just finished:

I had a 5 damage to enemy Hero and a 2 damage to a single character card in my hand that I'd been sitting on since the early game. Opponent had 12 health, I had 22. Opponent plays some super rare 8/8 dragon that knocks me down to 15 health as a battle cry. Next turn I pull my second 5 damage to enemy Hero card.

Bam.
Bam.
Bam.

WIN.

(I could have also mind-controlled the 8/8 dragon, but the way I won was more fun).

[JonInMiddleGA]

I got to Level 19 today but they still didn't give me my new cardback. Do I get it after the month is over?

Yep. You basically earned a reward that you'll get on July 1st.

[Izulde]

Fuck... druid is such a shite class if you don't have any of the decent cards.

[Lathum]

Just started this last night. I loved the olf MtG online game, so I think I'll enjoy this. So far it sems fun. I haven't gotten to into it yet though.

[Peregrine]

It's a lot of fun. I pulled off a miracle win yesterday, going from 2 health to my opponents 20 by unleashing my patented "Lethal Rogue Combo"

[Peregrine]

Strategically I am probably overthinking things right now (haven't touched ranked play yet), but how are you guys who have been playing for a while making strategic decisions? For example, I'm playing against a class that can use weapons, and I pull the common Ooze minion that destroys my opponent's weapon when I play it. I can play it on turn 1 or 2 and have a nice 3 damage minion out early that he'll have to deal with, but then I've given up my ability to eat his weapon once it's played. I know context has a ton to do with it, but at what point are you opting for a strategic hold of a card rather than trying to immediately pressure your opponent?

My feeling on this is I like to get the weapon destroy effect in, but to me it's not worth having turns pass where you can't play anything. If you can play something less optimal, go with it a turn or two, but if you have nothing else to play I will drop the ooze anyway. That's at the beginning of the game - later in the game you definitely save those cards and play them for effect.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Miracle Rogue wins are amazing, especially when your opponent is sitting there with two 7/7+ minions out and is emoting 'Well Played' because they think they won.

[Glengoyne]

Miracle Rogue wins are amazing, especially when your opponent is sitting there with two 7/7+ minions out and is emoting 'Well Played' because they think they won.

The most lopsided defeat I've ever experienced was at the hands of a rogue that got a questing adventurer out and then started growing him and then concealing him at the end of their turn. It was impressive. All of those 0 and 1 mana spells, and sapping or otherwise removing my taunts. It was crazy. All I could do was sit there and watch him dismantle me. That whole "miracle rogue" thing made sense.

I've gotten up to level 17 with a nicely tuned priest deck, but when I got a bunch of shaman and warrior quests I dropped back to 19/20 real quick.

That said someone with a name that reminded of Quiksand beat up fairly good this weekend. Funny thing is I can't remember if it was a Quik...name or if it was built around Sand.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I seem to have the same arena run every single time now, no matter how I construct my deck. Win the first two or three in a row, then lose horribly three times in a row. Are the opponents random, or is it like a bracket? That is, after you win one, your next opponent has also won one match? It seems that the decks/players I play in the first or second match are typically terrible, and then I start running into people who know what they're doing and I get crushed.

[Peregrine]

I've been told the arena is something like a bracket - in other words once you lose a few games you start playing people that have also lost some games - but to be honest I don't really know for sure. I often lose my first two matches and then go on a long winning streak which is why I believe this theory.

[Alan T]

I've gotten up to level 17 with a nicely tuned priest deck, but when I got a bunch of shaman and warrior quests I dropped back to 19/20 real quick.



You can play the shaman/warrior quest stuff as casual play (not ranked) to complete them without affecting your rank.

I've been told the arena is something like a bracket - in other words once you lose a few games you start playing people that have also lost some games - but to be honest I don't really know for sure. I often lose my first two matches and then go on a long winning streak which is why I believe this theory.


Yes, this is correct. It is the most noticeable once you get close to 10-11 wins, players often end up facing the same opponent multiple times as the pool of people in their bracket gets smaller.

[Peregrine]

You can play the shaman/warrior quest stuff as casual play (not ranked) to complete them without affecting your rank.


This is what I do - in fact I play a ton of casual matches - if I am the mood for "serious" play I play ranked but if I am just killing time or tuning up a deck I play casual. My other advice is when you get those quests that are very specific (like cast 40 spells or summon X creatures of 5 cost or more) I just create a whole deck loaded with those things and burn through the quest in a few casual games, then delete the deck (which is always very bad).

[Vince, Pt. II]

If you're looking to maximize your gold, you shouldn't complete a 40 gold quest until you have three of them and you've already passed on one that day. I try pretty hard to avoid the 40 gold quests.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Anybody noticing any pattern to the difficulty of opponents based on time of day? You know, kind of like how certain times of day are harder or easier on stuff like COD (on XBox) based on the types that are playing?

For those not familiar with what I mean, weekend mornings -- with lots of younger kids playing -- are cake compared to west coast nights where it's older & more hardcore players.

So far, to my surprise, I don't really see any of that with Hearthstone. I can get annihilated just as easily at 4am eastern as I can at 2pm eastern.

[Peregrine]

I haven't noticed a whole lot of that either Jon. But from what I've seen in Hearthstone, after a while win/loss doesn't depend as much on player skill, as more like what cards you get and when you get them. The best player can lose to the worst player if they get a slow draw, hand full of high cost cards they can't play, and the other person draws all their cards in a good rhythm order.

[Alan T]

I usually find it easier to win later in the afternoon/early evening than any other time. I tend to find early morning EST much more tougher.

This is without any data to back it up, just basing it on what it feels like to me and could be totally perception based and not reality though.

[Alan T]

Thanks for the game Izulde. Sorry, that was my best deck that I've put together. (I play Priest alot)

[Izulde]

No worries. :) I figured my Priest deck was going to get murdered by yours, and I was right. Leveling up Warlock's basic cards ATM.

[Peregrine]

If anyone wants to friend me for games or chat or whatever - Peregrine #1478 is my main account (lots of good decks.) Also I have a second account, Peregrine #1345 which I am using to play no-money and just dabble in slowly building up.

[Peregrine]

No way to check your overall record (afaik) but your wins by class in ranked play are shown on the selection screen (where you pick your the class/character you're going to play h2h with).

If anyone is interested in this, you can download tracker apps like Hearthstone Tracker which will track your record in various types of play.

[MacroGuru]

and yeah, I started playing yesterday...MacroGuru is da name.

[Peregrine]

BTW for us to add people as friends we need to have the # after your name - it appears in your friends list at the top.

[Izulde]

Sent your second account a request Peregrine.

And I have to say, I hate a lot of Warlock's basic cards outside of the original 10. I'm finding the appeal of the playstyle, though, building a deck of +1 generation. Haven't lost a battle in Casual with it yet. Funny thing is, I started this custom deck at like Level 7 I think it was. Haven't even bothered using the Level 8 or Level 10 level-up basic cards.

[Alan T]

Sent your second account a request Peregrine.

And I have to say, I hate a lot of Warlock's basic cards outside of the original 10. I'm finding the appeal of the playstyle, though, building a deck of +1 generation. Haven't lost a battle in Casual with it yet. Funny thing is, I started this custom deck at like Level 7 I think it was. Haven't even bothered using the Level 8 or Level 10 level-up basic cards.


I don't personally like the level 8 or 10 warlock basic cards and don't ever use them myself.

Of course I'm pretty lousy with warlock so don't listen to what I say about warlock :)

[MacroGuru]

MacroGuru#1755

[Peregrine]

Warlock is sort of an acquired taste for me - not a big fan of the murloc decks some people run but if you set it up for card draw you can be really lethal.

[Peregrine]

Wow just did something in arena first time ever - opponent played Argent Squire first two turns, I waited and then played another Argent Squire, the Coin and then Blood Knight on turn 3 - bam instant 12/12 blood knight. Maybe the easiest game I've ever won.

[Izulde]

Arena mode shits me. 0-3, 0-3, 2-3.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Wow just did something in arena first time ever - opponent played Argent Squire first two turns, I waited and then played another Argent Squire, the Coin and then Blood Knight on turn 3 - bam instant 12/12 blood knight. Maybe the easiest game I've ever won.

Awesome.

I also suck at Arena mode, which is annoying. I've gotten to 4 wins one time. No matter how low I stack my mana curve, it seems that I'll have one game where I get my 5, 6 and 7 drops off the draw, give them up and get them right back again, and can't play until the third turn. At which point my opponent has total board control and it is anarchy.

Picked up a Ragnaros a few days ago - turns out my Cenarius was a golden Cenarius, so I disenchanted him to craft a Legendary card I'd get some more use out of. Ragnaros is a lot of fun. If people silence him so he stops pinging random creatures for 8, it allows him to attack. Unless the opponent has a means of removing him quickly, it's pretty much game over at that point.

[JonInMiddleGA]

3 arenas the other day, a whopping 1-9 record ... and I'm not sure the one win didn't have an opponent that gave up sooner than he should have out of frustration.

One of those three rounds I constructed the deck poorly in hindsight. The other two rounds I felt okay about the decks. Made little difference, when you see an opponent somehow get 40+ damage on the board by turn 5, well, that ain't gonna end well.

[Peregrine]

I found arena quite a struggle for a long time, but eventually got better at it - still not winning huge amounts of games but winning 4-5 at least most of the time is a big improvement for me.

[Glengoyne]

...

Picked up a Ragnaros a few days ago - turns out my Cenarius was a golden Cenarius, so I disenchanted him to craft a Legendary card I'd get some more use out of. Ragnaros is a lot of fun. If people silence him so he stops pinging random creatures for 8, it allows him to attack. Unless the opponent has a means of removing him quickly, it's pretty much game over at that point.

Yup. The first time I faced Ragnaros, I was WAY ahead with a controlish warrior deck. The opponent managed to get a decent taunt out, and I used the execute I'd been saving for a big baddy. THEN the Ragnaros hit the table. Not my first lesson in patience, but something I think of often before playing my removal cards.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Managed to win 2 in arena with a pretty decent Mage deck.

[Alan T]

I have to say that for some reason losing to Lord Jaraxxus just doesn't seem to bother me too much. He makes me giggle for some reason.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Wow just did something in arena first time ever - opponent played Argent Squire first two turns, I waited and then played another Argent Squire, the Coin and then Blood Knight on turn 3 - bam instant 12/12 blood knight. Maybe the easiest game I've ever won.

I just did this myself. Pretty awesome when it works out that way :)

[Lathum]

Won 4 matches in my second ever arena, pretty happy with that

[Marc Vaughan]

I'm Wiz#1746 btw if anyone wants some easy wins :D

[Barkeep49]

Had one of my most frustrating games in a while. I got my opponent down to 1 health while I still had 20+. I have Knife Juggler out, he has Ragnos out. I play three minions none of whom hit him all who hit Ragnos. The last turn he's dealt 16 damage to me from Ragnos and has a taunt that's been buffed to 8/12. I have one minion to play and with other cards I have I can kill that taunt and win the game if the minion from the Knife Juggler hits either him or the taunt (whom I can do 11 damage to). No luck it hits Ragnos again. I lose. About 24 in 25 that I win that game if I did my math correctly. Very frustrating for me

I am Barkeep49#1867

[Peregrine]

Had an ugly run of frustration in ranked play this morning - like three straight rush decks as opponents where they had every perfect card at the perfect time - really hard to beat people like that no matter what you do.

[Lathum]

Does arena play carry over to the next day?

[cschex]

Does arena play carry over to the next day?

Yes, it actually carries over as long as you still have less than 3 losses. For example, my current arena with Shaman is 7-1 but I started it last week and haven't had any time to play this week

[QuikSand]

So, I'm finding ranked play harder this month than last...anyone agree? Game's taking off, is that what it means if true?

[Barkeep49]

I agree ranked play is harder. I actually found it started towards the end of last month which was frustrating as I dropped right at the end of the month. I've not been able to get up as high this month as I was last month.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Haven't played as much this month as I did in the last half of May -- more work now, also hitting the console more than I did then -- but I still suck.

I will say that my impression was almost the opposite, that the game was at least a little easier right now. Maybe the good players have just leveled up & out of my 19/20 range?

[QuikSand]

I don't claim to be especially great at the game, and I definitely don't have great cards - but I'm stuck at 20/19 now and seeing power cards (effective and I don't have access to them) there with some regularity. I got up to 16/15 last month.

[Izulde]

Between job hunting and FM, I haven't played in a while.

[PadresFan104]

I don't claim to be especially great at the game, and I definitely don't have great cards - but I'm stuck at 20/19 now and seeing power cards (effective and I don't have access to them) there with some regularity. I got up to 16/15 last month.

Exactly where I am as well...

[kingfc22]

Just fired this up.

Kingfc22#1465 if you want an easy victory. :)


Likely dumb question: do custom decks play in the order you build them or is the deck shuffled prior to every match?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just fired this up.

Kingfc22 if you want an easy victory. :)


Likely dumb question: do custom decks play in the order you build them or is the deck shuffled prior to every match?


Totally random shuffle as far as I've been able to tell.

I'm not entirely sure whether there might be at least some minor preference shown to lower cost cards when your initial hand is dealt.

[Lathum]

expolsive trap is absurdly over powered

[Peregrine]

It is quite a powerful card, but not really more so than other prime cards of various decks - plus it's less controllable since it fires no matter what cards are on the board, unlike say Consecration, Holy Nova etc which you can time better. Plus since it's a secret which I consider not a very ideal way to deploy cards, you can delay it triggering by only attacking enemy minions.

[Matthean]

expolsive trap is absurdly over powered

I think it is class specific so if the Hunter(IIRC) plays a secret, you kind of have to figure that's a likely pick and play around it. I've seen people doing videos do a solid job of knowing what secret was played.

[Peregrine]

Well for hunters they only have 5 secrets - and some of them are not played that often (snake trap, misdirection) whereas pretty much every hunter has 2 explosive traps in the deck. So when a hunter drops a secret when I have a lot of stuff on the board, I assume that's what it is. If they drop one when I have an empty board it's often Snipe which seems to be the second most often used secret of theirs. You can minimize the effect of Freezing Trap by attacking with your cheapest minion first, and for Explosive the usual tactics (focusing on their minions first, using healing if available, etc)

[Radii]

I think it is class specific so if the Hunter(IIRC) plays a secret, you kind of have to figure that's a likely pick and play around it. I've seen people doing videos do a solid job of knowing what secret was played.

Yeah, there's a lot of game knowledge required here, you have to know what secrets are available, very frequently in the current meta some secrets are more likely to be used than others which should impact how you play, and you have to systematically test for each secret with your plays based on which secret would be most likely/most dangerous to you at the time to figure out what secret they have and minimize the impact to you.

[kingfc22]

Are a lot of you crafting your own cards? If so, any must haves?

[Vince, Pt. II]

I've actually stopped playing for the most part (heavy on Wildstar at the moment), but it seemed to me that your best bet with crafting was saving up for the legendary cards. If you're going to be getting packs regularly, you should save your spending for the least likely to acquire cards. It seems that generally speaking, these are the top valued Legendary cards:

Ragnaros
Cairne Bloodhoof
Leeroy Jenkins

They can fit into almost any deck (Leeroy is more of a rush deck card, but he is a great 'finisher' card as a 5 power charge) and they'll have significant impact almost any time they hit the board.

[Peregrine]

I'd advise focusing on crafting important class cards first, for the classes you want to play. There are a lot of good cards that will be mainstays for most decks you make with that class, and it's good to have them taken care of early.

[Vince, Pt. II]

That's a good point too. Many of the classes (Hunter and Druid in particular) really don't work unless you have several of the core class cards. The only problem with crafting class-specific cards is that you need to pick a class (or two) and the cards only work for that particular class. I'm very wishy-washy when it comes to play style so I don't really like to pigeon hole myself, hence the recommendation for the neutral legendary cards.

[Peregrine]

When I first started I basically picked three classes or so that I wanted to focus on, and ignored the rest. This gave me the advantage of a lot of crafting dust as I was able to disenchant most of the rest of the cards I got in arena packs, etc. Over time once I developed those three classes I gradually expanded to the others - at this point there's only a couple classes I don't have pretty good decks for.

[kingfc22]

When I first started I basically picked three classes or so that I wanted to focus on, and ignored the rest. This gave me the advantage of a lot of crafting dust as I was able to disenchant most of the rest of the cards I got in arena packs, etc. Over time once I developed those three classes I gradually expanded to the others - at this point there's only a couple classes I don't have pretty good decks for.

I think I'm inclined to take this approach. As I level up all the classes to 10, I'm sure I'll favor a few more than others. Definitely liking Druid right now.

[Warhammer]

I am Warhammer74#1466. I started yesterday, so be gentle. So far enjoying the Hunter the most but, I think he is a bit underpowered. I will probably enjoy the Paladin quite a bit as well.

[Lathum]

I got my arena awards and one was a little blue bottle.

What is that?

[Warhammer]

Dust that is for buying individual cards.

[Peregrine]

The bottle is crafting dust - you can get it in the arena, or from disenchanting duplicate or unneeded cards, and use it to craft cards you do want - go into the crafting mode button thing from my collection.

[Warhammer]

So what's the best use of gold, saving up for arena runs or card packs?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Arena Runs. You don't make up the extra 50 gold unless you win 3+ games, but you get experience with different classes and the experience of building a deck through the draft process which is invaluable.

[Barkeep49]

I agree with Vince but there came a time for me where unsuccessful arena runs weren't worth the time, either for drafting or play purposes, and so I've now switched to buying decks. If I ever thought I could consistently be winning 3+ times I would probably change my tune.

[Peregrine]

I don't think buying the occasional pack will hurt you, especially when you need to firm up some decks for Ranked play or just need the crafting dust for the same purpose.

[thesloppy]

Arena Runs. You don't make up the extra 50 gold unless you win 3+ games, but you get experience with different classes and the experience of building a deck through the draft process which is invaluable.

I don't think I've made up the extra 50 gold, but I've definitely gotten a pack of cards and some gold (like 20-30?) out of 0 win arena runs...and one of those 0 win card packs had 2 rares and an epic in it. I think it's still a better bet/value than just buying packs.

[Lathum]

I like the arena.

[Radii]

You always get 1 pack out of every arena run no matter what. So if nothing else you get 1 pack + some experience out of it.

[Lathum]

so what happens at the end of the month?

[JonInMiddleGA]

so what happens at the end of the month?

Best I can tell, at least for us poor to mediocre players, your level resets ... not your character/class "levels", just your ranking level (the one dictated by gaining or losing stars in h2h play). If you made it to at least 20 then you get a new card back that you can use.

Other than that, as far as I saw when June began, nothing.

[Lathum]

Cool. I'm at exactly 20

[cschex]

Also, you can't lose rankings below 20, so you just have to win enough ranked games to get to 20 (no matter how many you lose in between) and it will guarantee you the card back for that season.

[Peregrine]

Also if you have a ranking above 20 you get stars credited to you for each level above, so you start at higher rank the next "season."

[Warhammer]

Ok, getting stuck I casual games with players with multiple legendaries in their decks is starting to get old. Arenas I understand, but casuals is frustrating.

[Peregrine]

Yeah Warhammer that does start to happen once you play more and get a better record, you start getting matched against other good players, who are more likely to have loaded decks. To be honest I'm guilty of the same crime at times when I am trying to get quests done but otherwise I try to keep my heavy legendary decks to ranked play.

[Warhammer]

It's not so much a complaint against the players as much as it is against their match making system.

As a player, you should want to put your big cards in decks. I've won a total of 17 games in "play" mode. Trying to grind the 2 win 2 games as a priest quests that I had. Here were my opponents:

Game 1 - Equal opponent - won
Game 2 - Opponent had 4 Epic cards that I counted in his deck (note: that is 4 after I started keeping track of them.) - Lost
Game 3 - Opponent had 2 legendaries and 3 Epic cards - Lost
Game 4 - 1 Legendary card, 3 Epics played, another 2 in deck that I Found out about through a Thoughtsteal card. - Lost, would have won but he had the legendary that gave him a fireball for every spell he cast. This was the most frustrating game, as I had outplayed him thoroughly, but lost due to his legendary minion providing him 2 fireballs.
Game 5 - relatively equal opponent - no obnoxious cards, but he had a significantly higher level of gold cards - might be focusing on one class. Very good game, but he pulled it out in the end.
Game 6 - Equal Opponent - won

Game 5 I have no issue with, I don't expect to win all my games. But games 2-4 were guys with clearly superior decks, and it's not as though these were random epics, they snowballed off of each other. I didn't get anything out of the game but frustration. These were tuned decks, with superior cards. I had no business being matched up against them, casual game or no.

[thesloppy]

I've been playing for months, and I don't even think I have a single legendary card yet.

[Peregrine]

I do agree it would help if they had a system which would weight decks for casual play based on the number of rare/epic/legendary cards in them. For one thing it would be fun to have some basic decks and try to win with them (like Pauper Magic) and also would balance out some of the real mismatches.

[Matthean]

I've been playing for months, and I don't even think I have a single legendary card yet.

I haven't played in a while, but I would say I saw them fairly consistently. As the player base matures, I can only assume it is getting worse.

[Barkeep49]

I had the best pack I've ever opened last night with one rare and two epic cards.

I'm curious what the forthcoming expansion will do to players decks. I'm hoping it evens it out some against the problems others have commented on?

[Barkeep49]

I have decided that I am going to start saving my gold for the expansion.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As the player base matures, I can only assume it is getting worse.

Most likely, or at least the differences will become more extreme & obvious.

Not sure whether they'll become more frequent though, since I'm not sure what the retention level for the game is (it was a daily thing for me for a few weeks and now hasn't been touched in 2-3 weeks ... bumped off the gaming table as it were)

[Lathum]

I think this game may be in trouble for the casual player. I just played several casual games, not ranked play, and got smoked by decks with obvious themes that were well tested decks. Wasn't much fun.

[Matthean]

They need to figure out the ranking of decks and go from there. I wish them luck.

[Lathum]

Ended up winning one out of ten games. Ironically it was ranked. Every casual game I played I got crushed by a theme deck.

[terpkristin]

Everything I've heard is to play ranked, because casual is broken. People are just using it to stroke egos or something.

/tk

[Warhammer]

Ended up winning one out of ten games. Ironically it was ranked. Every casual game I played I got crushed by a theme deck.

I find it funny that I brought the subject up last week, and all of a sudden I've been having a much easier time in casual. 4 of my last 5 in casual and I should have won the one I lost (attacked a minion rather than dealing the last blow to his character).

My arena runs have been terrible though.

[MacroGuru]

I just started playing ranked and I am 4/4. Casual I have done well with my rogue deck.

The Arena the most wins I have gotten to is 3.

[Lathum]

It is kind of BS that in arena play some people get epic cards to choose from and some dont.

[Peregrine]

I think one way to address this would be to have the game give your arena deck after you pick it an internal "rank" based on what kind of rarities you have, then it could try to match you with people of similar ranks.

[Lathum]

Why can't there just be a set number? For example every arena deck is offered one rare, one epic, etc. seems really dumb to me and uneven that when constructing a random deck your opponent has superior cards to choose from.

[Vince, Pt. II]

The problem is that there isn't necessarily a correlation between rarity and quality among cards. Lorewalker Cho, for example, is not nearly as powerful as Cairne Bloodhoof.

[Matthean]

Balance has never been a Blizzard strong point.

[Warhammer]

Why can't there just be a set number? For example every arena deck is offered one rare, one epic, etc. seems really dumb to me and uneven that when constructing a random deck your opponent has superior cards to choose from.

Not every arena deck is offered a legendary.

EDIT: didn't read as part of thread. Never mind.

[Marc Vaughan]

Why can't there just be a set number? For example every arena deck is offered one rare, one epic, etc. seems really dumb to me and uneven that when constructing a random deck your opponent has superior cards to choose from.

I'd go further than that and say that you need some 'vision' with regards to what cards are coming or have it bias towards ones which help your selection.

For instance sometimes you'll get a card which requires other cards to function optimally (say other 'Pirates' for instance or a Weapon) ... its hit and miss as to whether you'll actually see the required card throughout the rest of the draw or not.

This means I go very 'vanilla' on my Arena decks to avoid this sort of thing screwing up the deck.

[Thomkal]

Curse of Naxxramas is now available to download and play

[Lathum]

Curse of Naxxramas is now available to download and play

So is that just like an expansion?

[MacroGuru]

So is that just like an expansion?

Solo Adventure, with new levels released weekly it looks like. Fun so far.

[Thomkal]

So is that just like an expansion?

Somewhat. It's an solo adventure where each week for four weeks you enter another wing of Naxx's lair. You have to defeat three bosses in each wing before you can defeat that wing. You will have to pay in-game gold or real money to get access to the following wings, the first is free for now. You can also unlock class challenges for each class I believe against Naxx's bosses.

I'm not a very good player-tried my highest level character, a mage against the first boss and got my ass handed to me very quickly. Switched over to my second highest ranked character, a paladin, and was able to defeat the boss on my first try. Kept the paladin around for boss 2 and defeated her fairly easily. You get a Naxx themed card for each boss you beat-they use all new cards that fit Naxx's realm. Expect a lot of Deathrattle cards, which you have to deal with carefully as they can heal the boss or summon a monster(s) upon death amongst other things.

Some complaints on facebook and the forum about how easy the bosses were to some-defeating all three in 10 minutes or so. Second wing opens in a week.

[kingfc22]

Supposedly they fixed the in-game crash bug for iPad 2's, but I have already crashed out twice in my first battle in Naxx's realm.

Edit: make that 4 times so far.

[Barkeep49]

The first boss gave me some issues though I ultimately prevailed. I then defeated the next two each on turn 5. I don't have a good grasp on Druid play so that construct deck is giving me some challenges. The rogue deck was fun to play.

[Warhammer]

Just like anything else in this game currently, if you have an overpowered deck, you can defeat the AI easily. The problem is, if you have an average deck, it will be difficult.

[Barkeep49]

Just like anything else in this game currently, if you have an overpowered deck, you can defeat the AI easily. The problem is, if you have an average deck, it will be difficult.
In thinking about it I think you're right, it does seem skewed towards the high end players. This approach seems silly considering I think lower level people are more likely to want to do it.

[Peregrine]

I havent played the expansion yet but I wonder how competent the AI can really be. It seemed terrible when I was playing the practice games - does it just use strength to overcome bad play?

[Barkeep49]

I havent played the expansion yet but I wonder how competent the AI can really be. It seemed terrible when I was playing the practice games - does it just use strength to overcome bad play?
I haven't played the "hard" version yet but it's definitely improved in how it uses its spells. But more of the difficulty comes from strength of cards.

[Alan T]

The hard version is pretty tough so far for me. The AI starts with 40 health instead of 30, and their 2 power specials are more buffed. Such as the first boss on hard level for 2 crystals can call a 4/4 creature pretty much every turn.

I haven't managed to beat the first boss yet on hard level, my best was getting him down to about 9 health I think before I just ran out of steam and lost control of the board.

[Fidatelo]

I got stuck on the spider last night on normal. I'm going to have to custom make a deck for that guy, I think. I can't imagine playing these things on a harder difficulty, I'd get stomped.

[Barkeep49]

So for Anub'rekhan, the first boss, I used this deck (http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/76051-heroic-anubrekhan-cheap-deck-soulbound-and-white) which ended up working. I swapped out the haunted creepers for some other low cost taunts which ended up working. The key seems to be to get Wild Growth to play for turn 2. You'll need other card luck as well. The key for me was getting Ironbark protector out with some bonuses on top of it.

The second boss the key is to have a "zoo" kind of deck with lots of low cost creatures. If you don't have many cards in your hand her power isn't so bad and I was able to win this even on hard without too much trouble.

The final boss I'm thinking a lot of direct damage cards plus charge. Thinking I'll do warlock?

[MacroGuru]

Blew through the boss and the Class Challenges this morning.

[Izulde]

Yeah, ranked mode is sucking right now. I haven't played this in a while and keep getting hammered once I hit 20. Solo Adventure was fun but I beat it pretty quickly.

[Lathum]

Yeah, ranked mode is sucking right now. I haven't played this in a while and keep getting hammered once I hit 20. Solo Adventure was fun but I beat it pretty quickly.

same exact thing for me. Even in casual I get smoked by epic decks.

[MacroGuru]

So I can't do shit against Noth, his deck is freaking crazy and I don't know how to counter it.

[Marc Vaughan]

I havent played the expansion yet but I wonder how competent the AI can really be. It seemed terrible when I was playing the practice games - does it just use strength to overcome bad play?

The AI is woeful and the expansion opponents largely rely upon pre-canned combinations and/or over-powered powers/cards in my opinion which is a bit of a shame really.

(especially with regards to the 'practice' AI as otherwise it'd be a good way of testing out decks)

[Marc Vaughan]

So I can't do shit against Noth, his deck is freaking crazy and I don't know how to counter it.

There are two easy routes with basic cards you can use against him.

Take a Mage deck and nuke him from orbit with spells or (my preferred) take a Priest Deck and just don't give him minions he can kill easily - he tends to go heavy on lots of smaller creatures so spawn the 'healing 0/5' units and double their health, use them to hold him from killing you while the right cards show up.

Easiest kill is 0/5 healer, then double health - follow with another double and make attack equal to health and instance 20 hit, for double coolness clone it using the minion which mimics another on the battle field ...

PS - Word of warning he does have a card which destroys anything but skeletons, but tbh with a Priest he's fairly easy to beat anyway as you can easily power up units to beyond his killable range and his AI isn't clever enough to victimise them after that meaning you can pick things off ..

[Barkeep49]

I agree that that the lack of a good AI is disappointing but I actually think they made the AI worse than it would have to be after overpowering the characters in other ways otherwise they could be neigh unbeatable.

[Lathum]

So you have to pay to do anything past the firsy level?

[Marc Vaughan]

So you have to pay to do anything past the firsy level?

You don't ever have to pay anything (I haven't purchased anything apart from the 'solo adventure') ... HOWEVER that being said in my opinion the gameplay is inherently unbalanced so as to encourage you to purchase card packs.

Its not 'required' but you will find yourself increasingly running into decks with 3+ legendary cards once you get to rank 16+ and if you have none yourself then you'll often simply feel 'nuked from orbit' at times (I have zero legendaries in my deck and I can handle decks with a few of them through cloning and instant kill cards, but you're dependent on draw (as always) and there are only 3-4 of these in my deck).

(You'll also find the monthly reset is painful for newbies as it effectively places all the lesser powered players into the better players sights for a few days until they grind up the ranks again)

If you're starting out then I'd recommend the Priest, Mage and Hunter as the easiest to play classes in my experience.

PS - Arena would be awesome if the cards you got to choose from were at all balanced between draws, as it stands sometimes you get legendaries in your options ... sometimes not, sometimes you get an early card which requires others to be useful and then never get the options for the 'others' to make it useful etc.

[Lathum]

I wasn't talking about the overall game, just the expansion. Sorry for any confusion

[Marc Vaughan]

same exact thing for me. Even in casual I get smoked by epic decks.
Best bet to dealing with epic decks in my experience - go cheap and dirty with a Priest deck.

Mind Vision - cheap (1) and steals an opponent card, wait until round 5-6 when they're likely to have better cards in their hands and cross fingers you steal a legendary.
Thoughtsteal - more expensive (3) but steals 2 cards from the opponents deck at random, use on a turn when you have nothing better to spend 3 on and cross fingers you get lucky.
Lightwell - Cheap (2) 0/5 healing unit. You want to put this down and have it survive a round (hide it behind a cheap taunt unit or play it early when they can't do 5 damage easily). Then use power word shield (+2 health), divine spirit (double health) and inner fire (attack matches health) to maximum effect.
Its VITAL you only do the power ups after the unit has survived a round as any player worth their sale will instant kill it next turn, however you can often simply win a game using this trick - my preferred is Lightwell, Divine Spirit x 2 and Inner Fire for a 20/20 minion, that leaves the opponent with 10 health and often they'll simply give in at that point because its likely you'll pick them off fairly easily from there.
Lightspawn - Mid-range cost (4) 5/5 attack matches health unit; expect it to get nuked from orbit but if it doesn't use the same trick as with the lightwell (without inner fire as it already has it effectively).
Faceless manipulator - Clones a unit on the battlefield, this is awesome for cloning legendaries or more frequently if I have a mid-range powered up lightspawn or lightwell (ie. 10/10) then its a good way to help ensure that I keep a powerful beastie on the board (as people generally have one instant kill option in their hand at a time but rarely two).
Mind Control - ludicrously expensive (10), but for legendaries very useful in the late game
Shadow Word Death - cheap way (3) of dealing with high powered beasties; kills any minion with 5 or more attack
Ironbeak owl - cheap (2), weak minion but with silence as its battle cry. Use either to take out annoying powers or as a sneaky way of getting past taunt units to finish an opponent.
Gurubashi Beserker - mid-range (5) 2/7 unit which powers up when injured; another 'good one' to consider doubling up on.

At the start always redraw if you don't get cards you can use early on - controlling the board is vital to winning with this approach. The units who you can power up are expendable - chuck them out there and see if they get nuked, expect them to get nuked and power up if they don't ..

Oh and you'll still get regularly nuked from orbit by anyone with an advanced deck - thats just how the game is setup to play, try not to feel bad about it ... it frustrates the heck out of me at times ... you're not alone ;)

[Alan T]

For those that did not know, they announced the next expansion over the weekend: Goblins and Gnomes.

Looks pretty neat so far. Online people are making a big deal about the Random nature of the cards that have been shown thus far, but the report is that those are generally the most random and interesting ones and they did not show many of the more normal cards.

Looks like a pretty large expansion, much larger than the Naxx expansion that was a few months back.

[Julio Riddols]

I've been enjoying the game a reasonable amount, won my first ranked match this past weekend. I figure I will do better when I get more packs opened, I think I have only gotten 4 so far. Hopefully the expansion will add to the free game play.

[kingfc22]

I need to get back into this.

[cschex]

Can't wit for the expansion. Apparently, the arena rewards will be all expansion packs once it releases

[Alan T]

Next expansion is officially going live next Tuesday (9th).

They have released images of all of the new cards, some really fun looking cards to get!

[cschex]

For anyone who hasnt been playing in a while, apparently Blizzard will be giving everyone who logs in and plays during the expansion launch event window 3 free expansion packs and a free arena run

[Alan T]

According to patch notes, at some point soon (this afternoon), they're switching over arena play to use the new cards a few days ahead of time, and also giving 1 free arena play too it sounds like?

With the new patch, spectator mode is also going in, where you can watch your friends play. if anyone who plays doesn't have me on their friendlist already, I'm AlanT#1932

You can watch my crazy priest decks that I play with :)

[Julio Riddols]

I've been slowly slogging my way to a decent collection of cards, hard to really compete with some of these decks when you don't buy 40 packs to start yourself off, but I have won a decent amount, probably 30-40 games out of maybe 200. I like saving up my gold and drafting a deck and then failing miserably in the arena. My best run so far is 2 wins. Seems like I just get terrible draws and then get stomped.. But I have an idea for my next run that I am going to try.

[Alan T]

For some of the classes, yes it is very difficult to compete higher ranked if you don't have some good cards, but you can make a few decks (hunter and warlock primarily) that use almost 100% cheap or available cards that can compete at much higher levels than I am able to get to with a bunch of legendaries even.

I'd be more than happy to provide some deck lists that are pretty cheap if you are interested.

For the arena, I've gotten to where I generally average around 57% win rate, meaning mostly 4-6 wins on average. I've had some good runs of 10+ and some bad runs too. I've found in arena, it really is important to have quality minions over spells, and have a good selection of 2-4 cost minions to do well. (That is an overly simplified summary of course, but trying to keep this response short).

[Vince, Pt. II]

Yeah, I haven't played in ages but I found that when I got over trying to be clever and pull off combos in arena, my win rate rose dramatically. It's almost entirely about board control in Arena, and that means high quality, cheap minions.

[Alan T]

I have to say that I love spectator mode. It is fun trying to figure what move I would make and compare to others.

[Barkeep49]

I have to say that I love spectator mode. It is fun trying to figure what move I would make and compare to others.
To date I've only spectated you, but I agree it's really useful. I think I had plateaued as a player and this will allow me to start improving again.

[Barkeep49]

Just played my first game using a constructed deck with the new cards. I had saved up enough gold to buy 15 packs plus the 3 I got free from the launch has given me some cards to get going.

It was a Zoo vs Zoo casual battle and the new cards really helped make the difference particularly my ability to bust out Floating Watcher plus Flame Imp late game.

[Alan T]

I decided to just play a bunch of arena for a bit to try to get some more packs. I want to get all of the priest cards before I try to create some with dust. Hopefully later today or tomorrow I will have them all

[Alan T]

I am loving Arena mode. By far my favorite part of the game. I finally had my first 12-win arena, coming as a Paladin of all characters. I didn't even really draft many of the new cards from GvG either. Just had a really good deck that I got plenty of lucky draws at the right time.

Overall, my arena win % (of games that I track) is 54.9% which means at least I'm at least getting as much for my Gold as if I had just bought decks, so that is great for me.

Some interesting notes... For my, thanks to that 12 win , Paladin is my best class in arena with 72% win (23-9), followed by Mage (57%), Warrior (52%), Druid and Priest (51%). Warlock for me is bad 44% and Shaman is 0% (0-3). I've actually never played Rogue or Hunter in arena. :)

In comparison, playing against classes, I do the best against Warrior (75%), Rogue (71%), Hunter (68%), Paladin (56%), Mage (54%). I don't do so well vs Warlock (47%), Shaman (47%), Priest (49%) and really bad vs Druid (41%).

So I think that tells me that I really don't know how to play the Warlock or Shaman characters very well :)

[AnalBumCover]

So this is now available for Android. What am I getting myself into?

[kingfc22]

Wish this would be released for the iPhone 6 or at least the 6+. Screen is plenty big enough to play it on.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Only available (can be d'loaded but won't play) for Android devices with screens over 6"

[cschex]

I am loving Arena mode. By far my favorite part of the game. I finally had my first 12-win arena, coming as a Paladin of all characters. I didn't even really draft many of the new cards from GvG either. Just had a really good deck that I got plenty of lucky draws at the right time.

Overall, my arena win % (of games that I track) is 54.9% which means at least I'm at least getting as much for my Gold as if I had just bought decks, so that is great for me.

Some interesting notes... For my, thanks to that 12 win , Paladin is my best class in arena with 72% win (23-9), followed by Mage (57%), Warrior (52%), Druid and Priest (51%). Warlock for me is bad 44% and Shaman is 0% (0-3). I've actually never played Rogue or Hunter in arena. :)

In comparison, playing against classes, I do the best against Warrior (75%), Rogue (71%), Hunter (68%), Paladin (56%), Mage (54%). I don't do so well vs Warlock (47%), Shaman (47%), Priest (49%) and really bad vs Druid (41%).

So I think that tells me that I really don't know how to play the Warlock or Shaman characters very well :)

Congrats on your first 12 win run. Pally is the class I have the most 12 win runs on but Warrior is actually my best class statistically (averaging 8.4 wins with it). I assume you're tracking on ArenaMastery? There is a new drafting/tracking site that is doing a limited release this week in advance of a general release next week that look really good. IT's run byt the guys who do the Arena Coop weekly stream and I think will be a great drafting assistant

[AnalBumCover]

I just send a bunch of friend requests. If anyone is wondering who GizmoDogg#1790 is, that's me.

[cschex]

I'm cmschex#1194, if folks want to add me. I got to spectate one of Alan's arena matches the other day. I mostly play NA arena in the evenings

[Peregrine]

Anyone given Might and Magic Duel of Champions a try? Pretty interesting so far - a bit more complex than HS but they have some fun NPC campaigns and the deck building looks nice.

[Alan T]

Is anyone interested in a fun kind of FOFC hearthstone tournament?

Obviously we could do a traditional tournament with everyone picking their own decks, but that likely favors people who play more or have better libraries of cards available.

I was thinking to try to keep it fun or more "fair" for everyone, we could do a format in one of the following type:

- All Basic card tournament : You can only play with the basic cards that come with the game (no cards from packs).
- Limited card choice tournament: You can have at max 1 legendary, 1 epic, 2 rare, 3 commons and the rest basic cards in your deck.
- Arena draft tournament: Each player drafts an arena run and screencopies it for submittion, then re-create that deck to play in this tournament (problems for this format is you can't pick more than 2 of a card in your arena draft, and you would need to draft cards that you actually had in your library).
- Random deck tournament: There will be a list of 10 basic cards (chosen randomly ahead of time) that then will have to be in everyone's deck. The rest of your deck can be filled on your own choosing.


I'm sure there are other possibilities too.. mainly just curious if anyoen would be interested in a HS tournament of some sort?

[Barkeep49]

I would definitely be interested in a tournament. I would suggest an all basic+common tournament so no epic or rare. Feel like you could get some good variation with that without advantaging longtime players too much.

[Lathum]

I would be interested

[cschex]

I would be interested. I like either a restriction or ban on legendaries/epics (maybe a restriction on rares but not an outright ban)

[cmgdodgers]

I'm in! I think the random deck format would be a blast but am ok with any format that attracts the most participants.

[Alan T]

Cool, so it sounds like there are at least enough people interested to do even a small little fun tournament. Since we are not playing for crazy money or anything, just having fun we do not need to make the rules over complex for this. If it works out well, we can do other types of tournaments in the future. (best out of 5/ multi decks/ etc).

We will keep things pretty easy going, but a few things exist that we can't work around:
- Everyone has to have their account on the same region. Since we primarily are NA, it needs to be that region. (you can't play games across regions).
- I'll need people's battle tag IDs for us to arrange the head to head matchups for the tournament pairings. If you don't want to publically post your ID, you can send it to my inbox, and we will keep it between us and your opponent(s) for the tournament.

To keep it easy, we will do this one as just a Best of 3 Single elimination tournament. In each round, the first person to win 2 games moves on to the next round.

We won't do any type of hero restrictions on loss, between matches you can keep the same hero for the next game, or you can change to a different hero to play.

The only deck restrictions we will have is Common and Basic cards only. No Rare (Blue), Epic (Purple) or Legendary (Orange) for this one. This does eliminate some of the more fun cards, but should keep things a bit more even for everyone. I think in the future, allowing some kind of rares on a limited basis will be fun, but lets keep the first one easy.

Since board attendance is low on the weekend, I'll put up the official signup next monday - Wednesday and we can target to start later in the week. the bracket will be done via random.org and we can let each pair coordinate when they want to get together to face off over a few day span (to work around people's schedules and such).

[Barkeep49]

Thanks Alan for organizing. Love your rules. One suggestion if sign-ups are low (4 or 5) maybe a round robin followed by a finals?

[Lathum]

I suggest starting a separate thread for the tournament, may pique some people interest.

[cmgdodgers]

ID - winterfel#1406

[Alan T]

Ok, created a new thread as Lathum suggested. Go signup here please:

FOFC Hearthstone Tournament Signup - Front Office Football Central (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=89957)

[Alan T]

So they announced today at Pax East the next Hearthstone Adventure will be Blackrock Mountain. I didn't ever play WoW so am not the best at copying the info on it that I've read, but I'm pretty excited since it is going to be an adventure like Naxx was. I really liked the Naxx adventure as it was more than just simply collecting new card packs.

Looks like it will be coming out some point next month they say. They also announced Hearthstone will be available on phone devices in the next few months as well.

[kingfc22]

Finally available on the iPhone. Plays great on my 6+.

Now I can get back to playing more often.

[Barkeep49]

Why are so many people so bad at playing int his week's brawl? The strategy is obvious: load up on as many spells as you reasonably can since you will get minions for free. Why do so many people have so many minions in their decks? I just don't understand it.