Hearthstone V2

[Jelly]

WELL MET!

Introduction

Since the old threads are long since dead, I decided I would take it upon myself to help continue discussion on HEARTHSTONE. Well, "What is Hearthstone?" you ask? Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is an online collectible card game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It is free-to-play with optional purchases to acquire additional cards and access content quicker. Hearthstone is available on Microsoft Windows and OS X systems and on Windows 8, iOS and Android touchscreen devices. New content for the game involves the addition of new card sets and gameplay, such as from the Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion pack and the Blackrock Mountain adventure. (ripped shamelessly from wikipedia)

Tutorial

Here's a basic tutorial for all you noobies:

Some of the cheapest and most reliable decks are Face Hunter and Warlock Zoo. I highly recommend them if you're just starting out.

Video tutorials on these decks can be found here and here, respectively. (Videos may be outdated, but the concepts behind the decks and how you play them are the same.)

F2P decklists can be found here, as well.

Meta

The Hearthstone meta is ever changing, with new decks being discovered and cards being balanced and new cards being added quite frequently, the Hearthstone meta is anything but stale, with deck archetypes fluctuating in and out of viability constantly.

The top decks as of July 27, 2015 are:

-Grim Patron Warrior (Control/Combo)

-Oil Rogue (Burst Rogue) (Combo)

-Midrange Hunter (Midrange)

-Handlock (Warlock) (Control)

-Demonzoo (Warlock) (Midrange)

Endtroduction

That's about it, really. If you're really new and still confused, I recommend looking through Trump's channel on YouTube for more informational videos. Need deck advice? What deck(s)/class(es)/mode(s )are you playing this month? Any undiscovered decks/strats you'd like to share?

Edited July 27, 2015 by Jelly

[Sapp]

Constructed is lame.

Arena is where the cool kids are at.

You also should give links to MidRange Hunter, Face Hunter, Control Warrior, Zoo, Handlock, Lightbomb Priest, Freeze Mage, and Combo Druid, as they're all still extremely viable in the meta.

Edited July 18, 2015 by StarryD

[Kiryuu]

Have you ever played Yu-Gi-Oh? if so, is this like Yu-Gi-Oh when they release a broken card for 5 months, banned it and them release a weaker version of it the following year rinse and repeat?

I quit Yu-Gi-Oh because of it....cheap way to make money....

[Sapp]

Have you ever played Yu-Gi-Oh? if so, is this like Yu-Gi-Oh when they release a broken card for 5 months, banned it and them release a weaker version of it the following year rinse and repeat?

I quit Yu-Gi-Oh because of it....cheap way to make money....

I've played both at the tournament level, and Hearthstone is much more balanced. There are much easier ways to earn packs than by buying them, and cards are hardly ever nerfed. There is no "ban list", but you can have up to two of any card in a deck, except Legendary rarity cards, which is just one of each. Decks are 30 cards instead of Yugioh's 40+.

Try the game if you liked Yugioh but wanted a more balanced system.

[Flux]

I'm loving Handlock right now. Still saving that last bit of dust to get Jarraxus and a few other cards, but the deck works great. Right now I have it mixed with my old Void Terror themed Warlock deck, and the combination is actually working better than I feel full-on Handlock would, though I'll have a more definitive answer when I finish the deck completely. The Void Terror deck style is something I kind of made up myself after playing around with Void Terror in Arena and doing very well (11 wins iirc). It involves combos such as Nerubian Egg > Power Overwhelming > Void Terror to end with a 7/(4-9 depending on what you used the egg for) and a 4/4 as early as turn 3. It gives Handlock some additional early game presence and forces your opponent to use up some of that removal that would normally be saved for your Molten/Mountain Giants and other big hitters.

[Sapp]

I hate Hearthstone, YGO is the better TCG game. That is all.

You'll have to argue a point. Otherwise people will just assume you're wrong.

[Kiryuu]

I've played both at the tournament level, and Hearthstone is much more balanced. There are much easier ways to earn packs than by buying them, and cards are hardly ever nerfed. There is no "ban list", but you can have up to two of any card in a deck, except Legendary rarity cards, which is just one of each. Decks are 30 cards instead of Yugioh's 40+.

Try the game if you liked Yugioh but wanted a more balanced system.

I'm going to give it a shot....

I hate Hearthstone, YGO is the better TCG game. That is all.

For how long you been playing YGO?

[Jelly]

I hate Hearthstone, YGO is the better TCG game. That is all.

and this thread is about hearthstone and not ygo? there was no point in posting this.

anyway i just wanted to say im having a ton of fun with midrange pally. even matchups across the board and plenty of ways to deal with top decks right now.

[Shamitako]

Arena is where the cool kids are at.

^^^ (Even though I suck at arena)

Personally don't own enough stuff to make anything fancy. I mostly just rely on my Burn Mage (mostly just for monies, super standard, though I still needa craft a few rares) and my Combo Priest (which needs work but suffices for now)

[Kiryuu]

and this thread is about hearthstone and not ygo? there was no point in posting this.

anyway i just wanted to say im having a ton of fun with midrange pally. even matchups across the board and plenty of ways to deal with top decks right now.

I apologize in advance. I was the first to bring YGO into this topic. I wanted to see what Hearthstone is all about and whether is worth my time trying it.

YGO meta left me a VERY salty feeling about TCG games overall.

Edited July 18, 2015 by Smok3iT

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

While this isn't stated here, most decks and classes are entirely viable, just certain ones have trouble against the current meta.

With the meta being more fast paced certain control styles have issues though they do remain strong such as Control Warrior ((which has trouble since Grim Patron is hella more affordable and plays a control like style combined with a Combo deck.)).

Also links or guides should be provided for Face Hunter and Zoolock/SImilar decks. Theses are the most affordable decks fro new players as they require at most 4 rares and don't rely on really any Legendary Cards etc.... as such they are definitely good starter decks. People will hate me fro saying... but it's just true lol.

EDIT: Also, not to nipick Jelly, but can I get you to label the Firestorm as Tempo Mage please? It better conveys the decks playstyle and is what is is usually referred to at high levels of play. This is due to the fact that Firestorm here seems to be a particular flavor of the Tempo Mage rather than something that is a new type of deck. It's better to more generally label it etc.

[Shamitako]

Well, I think they release some pretty broken cards sometimes *Coughnighinfitefireballsformagescough*, but overall things are fairly well balanced so if the only reason you don't like it is that, then I suggest you give it a try ^^

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Archmage Antonidas is hardly broken. It is a late game combo that relies on cheap spells that need to be acquired during the game or drawn at the right point. You can't even possibly play a single Fire Ball on the turn Antonidas is even palyed with out at least 2 mana reductions from Emperor Tharissan... and if they let out Tharissan that long... they lost that game anyway.

Antonidas is 7 Mana. It is a late game combo only and it has to be started as an engine to draw into burn. It is honestly left out of some Mage decks as it is too slow for them.

The Only card I think is broken right now is Doctor Boom, who is a 9/9 for 7 stat wise, and on top fo that the 1/1's he summons deal 1-4 damage. It is a strong strong card and seen even in Early game decks. ((like it is in some versions of Face Hunter I shit ye not.)) THat is the sign of a card being a bit broken, that it is in literally every single style of deck regardless. When an Aggro deck is using a card that should be in Control decks, you know it has a bit more power than it should.

[Shamitako]

Maybe, it's still stupidly annoying in lategame mage decks

[Eternal Edge]

I'm currently using Antonidas in my MechMage deck due to the super cheap costs of the Parts I get and the easy late game chaining of multiple fireballs. It's super nice. That being said, his use is pretty niche right now to combos like that. Dr. Boom/Flamewalker is a much better option in most Mage Decks.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Yes, but annoying and broken are very different things. While it is a strong card it is a card that takes a lot of set-up to work.

It way more reliable than some End-game magic combos ((Malygod Warlock anybody?)) but I still wouldn't say it is broken.

[Jelly]

While this isn't stated here, most decks and classes are entirely viable, just certain ones have trouble against the current meta.

With the meta being more fast paced certain control styles have issues though they do remain strong such as Control Warrior ((which has trouble since Grim Patron is hella more affordable and plays a control like style combined with a Combo deck.)).

Also links or guides should be provided for Face Hunter and Zoolock/SImilar decks. Theses are the most affordable decks fro new players as they require at most 4 rares and don't rely on really any Legendary Cards etc.... as such they are definitely good starter decks. People will hate me fro saying... but it's just true lol.

EDIT: Also, not to nipick Jelly, but can I get you to label the Firestorm as Tempo Mage please? It better conveys the decks playstyle and is what is is usually referred to at high levels of play. This is due to the fact that Firestorm here seems to be a particular flavor of the Tempo Mage rather than something that is a new type of deck. It's better to more generally label it etc.

AYE AYE CAPN

e: done!

Edited July 18, 2015 by Jelly

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Also, if anybody wants me to do some guides etc.... I'll do them. Though I would like the time to ladder to a point I feel I am actually competent lol. ((I haven't had the time to grind to Legend Yet, but Imma get there one day dammit....)).

For beginner stuff really head on over to Trump's Channel. He has a lot of good series for learning, hell, he even has some for Arena in the iDraft series in which he talks about a lot of picks. It is a bit outdated but it will really help you understand the value of some cards in Arena lol. By the way, I may drop an Arena Tier-List here for funnsies lol.

My preferred decks right now are Patron Warrior, Oil Rogue ((The basically new version of poor old Miracle Rogue lol. RIP)), and My own version of Mech Shaman... I prefer a more Mid-Rangy version without the Cogmasters... which are just a super weak feeling card to me. But it is personal pref... I'll probably change up mine since it is an old as hell version XD. It actually predates BRM.

SOme of my old favs are Handlock and Giants Mage... but both are much weaker than they used to be so I don't use them much... especially as I don't have Malganis or Jarraxxas for Handlock.

[MetrololAce]

Hearthstone is awesome. I just wish the pve stuff was equatable to how Pokemon is, especially in Reborn and Rejuv.

I love creating teams that make a 100 percent win condition, and I love doing it in Hearthstone as well, but there are VERY few that it can be done on.

Just too much RNG

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

If there was 0 RNG trust me... it be a very boring game. A Lot of Hearthstone is adadpting to crazy stuff that happens on the board etc... It's not like M:TG in that way and honestly why I like it more in many cases.

At least... IMO.

[Tomas Elliot]

It is free-to-play with optional purchases to acquire additional cards and access content quicker

After a bad experience with this kind of stuff in the past, upon reading this line I can't help but immediately think "pay to win".

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Tomas... it's a TCG/CCG they are inherently "Pay to Win"

However, I have played Hearthstone entirely Free to Play and have nearly every card in the game.

[Tomas Elliot]

Tomas... it's a TCG/CCG they are inherently "Pay to Win"

Well not really: you wouldn't believe the kind of trades you can persuade kids to accept

But yeah, the aforementioned "bad experience" of mine was something not related to any TCG, it was just a game in which people had the choice to pay or to play for free... And of course, it soon got to a point where there were basically two separated games. People who didn't pay had literally no chance against those who did, so the game became having two de facto ladders... In case you are wondering, it was a wrestling-themed game. Fun Fact: my "Tomas Elliot" nickname was born there.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Eh, it happens. I personally think Hearthstones curve is pretty fair. It is kinda slow, but I don't think it was that insane that it wasn't fair. However... do keep in mind I ahve played since Beta. It might be a bit different fro me.

Also, you can win with Basic Decks and get to Legend rank. I've seen it. If you're good you can get super far even without all the cards.

[Eternal Edge]

imo Hearthstone's model is super good. The pricing of the arena vs the packs is my favorite part.

1 Arena Run = 150 Gold

1 Pack = 100 Gold

Arena runs guarantee you 1 pack and a reward from the random reward pool. Depending on how well you do you can break even. Winning at least 7 arena games will net you your 150 gold back along with a pack and a random reward PLUS you get experience of playing with cards that may not be in your collection yet and learning new starts.