So I have been playing Hearthstone since the open beta, mostly play casually as I work more than 60 hour per week. I fell in love with the arena format from the very beginning. At that time, I was consistently winning 6-8 games per run, nothing spectacular but I was okay with it. As the expansions have rolled through though I seem to be falling further down the ladder. The past 6 months I have barely been able to squeeze out 3-4 wins per run. Started doing some tracking with Heartharena a few months ago, having it help me draft. I noticed that I was picking all the same cards but for a few close choices. So I have to now believe that my struggles are with my play. The past few runs I have been using HST to track my games so I can have somebody look at the replays. If you have the time and the inclination, I would really appreciate some feedback on my last few runs. I will probably continue to post my progress as I do more over the coming weeks.
This is the trend I have been on with my last few runs. I lose the first two or three, come back with three wins in a row, then run into a buzzsaw or two to finish the run. Or I start out hot with 2-3 wins, then get smoked the last few games. I will post another run tomorrow when I am more rested.
Your curve was horrible. Unless you are a rogue you are not going to get away with 3 total 1 and 2 drops. You need 7-9.
Pick #4 - Dire wolf allows you to trade up unexpectedly, which can swing games in your favor.
Pick #10 - Dont know why you picked dopple here Babbling is just strictly better unless you are a shammy or pally.
Pick #13 - You literally picked the worst card of the 3. Similar to Dire Wolf, Dark Iron can just win you games and that's what i would have taken.
Pick #21 - Shatter really? I get that you have a ton of freeze effects but you dont want to be wasting 2 cards to kill 1 minion. Venture here.
It seems like your plan was to draft early game removal with the frostbolts and cannon, but all this does is delay the inevitable of being over run by minions.
Pick #28 - Take the 2 drop at this point you literally have no early game minions.
Thanks for the feedback fellas, I do appreciate it. On some of the picks, I sometimes get a bit too excited about potential combos (in this case, dopplegangster + knife juggler and shatter with all my frost stuff) instead of just picking the better card at any given moment. I also tend to shy away from stuff that has not worked for me in the past, so my biases for or against cards come into play too much.
Game 1: Turn 5 this game I wonder if I should have taken out the warbot instead of the taskmaster, but he played back into me anyway, so not sure it would have made a difference. Also was unsure about the timing of the Enforcer. But with Don Hancho hitting the Korkron Elite, I am not sure I could have won this game anyway with the way the draws happened.
Game 2: Turn 4 wasn't sure about the choice with the courier as they were all solid cards. Take the minion instead?
Game 6: Turn 3: looking at it now, I should have probably taken out the cultist. Turn 11: I feel maybe I should have been more aggressive and gone face with Mal boosted by the Dwarf and dropped my other two three drops, force him to clear my board or risk lethal.
Honestly, as I'm just starting to play Arena more after playing constructed 99% of the time in Hearthstone..
1. Trust Heartharena's advice for 4-5 drafts and just take their recommendations and see how the cards flow.
2. Watch Kripp on Youtube or Twitch, he was #1 average in NA last month. He is usually streaming around 10-11pm EST US.
3. For the value of each card when you are ready to decide between two close options, think of which card would be more useful on an empty board. Note - there are also arena draft simulators here and elsewhere you can do practice drafts online.
Game 1 with Warlock, I would have played the 6 mana Kabal Trafficker on turn 6 because 1. he then has to deal with a 6 health minion, 2. you get a demon in your hand at the end of your turn. Might not have helped much in this case seeing his cards, but unless I have many minions that can survive the board state might as well play the strongest one.
Game 2 with Warlock: Turn 3, play Harvest Golem. It is stickier than a Kabal Courier 2-2 with its better stats and deathrattle. Plus you could always fish for a card to use more immediately with the courier later.
Pick #2 - In non ping classes being able to do 1 damage is so beneficial. Coil is such a good card and there isnt a need to draft a strong 1 drop this early unless its the best card.
Pick #17 - For a lock Acolyte is really pointless since you can draw with your HP. The murloc is the right choice here.
Pick #19 - This is tough but I think the yeti is the right play because all your other 4 drops are not greatly stated
Play was fine until turn 6. Turn 6 you should have played Kabal Courier first to see what you get (you should resolve as much RNG as possible at the beginning of turn).
Then with those 3 choices greater healing is not best in that it is passive. Generally speaking your board and hand looks good and you should be looking at winning the game by controlling the board (especially against warrior with a general lack of good AOE). Not saying that 12 health isn't important or that it is not good, but at 24 health that would not be my main concern and I would max the board.
In your game malchezaar imp is good in that it is a mini-combo with doomguard. You discard 2 cards and draw 2 cards, which is compensation for doomguard's drawback and therefore allows you to play it next turn or whenever you need, not limited to when your hand is empty. Notice in your game your hand had a lot of heavy stuff and you were never close to emptying your hand, making doomguard a complete dead card.
Turn 10 you just can't tap as your health is low (tap you are down to 14 and already facing 6) and you don't need more cards. In your game specifically you would be at 1 and with a taunt in hand you still have some chances as it is not easy for warrior to deal 1 damage.
Game 2:
Turn 3 is a blunder in that you clearly cannot play the courier because it dies to the weapon for free. Acolyte of pain is perfectly fine as that will draw you 2 cards. As for the discover choice here if your opponent is not Rogue I would have taken shadow word death, but against Rogue pyroblast make some sense. I don't think I would take the creature because of the discard mechanic.
Turn 4 you do not freeze the raider as we can almost be certain there will be bigger things you need to freeze later.
Turn 5 if you believe tapping makes sense, you always tap first to see what you get. This is fundamental turn order stuff that you need to know.
Alright, another run. This time I went back to letting heartharena guide my draft, only picking a couple off recommendation. I had been doing that for a long time and on those first few runs I posted, I was trying to see how close my instincts actually were by drafting on my own then putting the results in. Anyways, here is the draft.
Game 1: A win but I caught a mistake on turn two maybe. Thinking I should have coined out the harvest golem. Also got lucky with the spells I received from Cabalist's tome and Ethereal conjurer.
Game 2: Turn 8 out of order play and forgot that flamecaller only hit enemy minions. I am now thinking I should have gone ping, trade, conjurer or bog creeper and hit face. Turn 16: not sure I got enough value out of the flamestrike. Would Eldritch horror have been better? If he goes face I flamestrike the next turn and have a big body, if not he trades both minions and forgotten torch. May have played out the same next turn though. Mostly I think I just got my good cards early whereas my opponent had his late.
Game 4: Turn 7 maybe play the bog creeper instead. Turn 14 should have just played the Horror and ping.
Game 5: Turn 4 probably should have dropped the aspirant instead of getting greedy with face damage. End of game my opponent makes huge mistake by going face and leaving lethal on board.
Game 6: Turn 12 play stalker instead of duplicate? Turn 13, for sure should have gone face with stormwind knight/operative and ping the doomsayer, leaving him at 2 hp, this is the turn that really lost me the game.
Game 1: Turn 6 I probably should have saved the entomb and buffed my champion although looking at the rest of the game, I am not sure. The only other thing I maybe could have done was take out the dark peddler on turn 9.
Game 4: Holy nova might have been early, but a win.
Game 5: mulligan: thinking I should have kept my had as is. Turn 5 maybe should have played the alchemist, given myself one more turn, but not sure it would have mattered.
Game 6: Bad mulligan again. Turn 13 I get lucky with the 2 drop taunt.
Game 7 did not record but it was vs a hunter with a strong aggro deck. Done by turn 9.
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So I have been playing Hearthstone since the open beta, mostly play casually as I work more than 60 hour per week. I fell in love with the arena format from the very beginning. At that time, I was consistently winning 6-8 games per run, nothing spectacular but I was okay with it. As the expansions have rolled through though I seem to be falling further down the ladder. The past 6 months I have barely been able to squeeze out 3-4 wins per run. Started doing some tracking with Heartharena a few months ago, having it help me draft. I noticed that I was picking all the same cards but for a few close choices. So I have to now believe that my struggles are with my play. The past few runs I have been using HST to track my games so I can have somebody look at the replays. If you have the time and the inclination, I would really appreciate some feedback on my last few runs. I will probably continue to post my progress as I do more over the coming weeks.
Exhibit A: Mage Run
Draft: Mage Run 3-3
Replays:
This is the trend I have been on with my last few runs. I lose the first two or three, come back with three wins in a row, then run into a buzzsaw or two to finish the run. Or I start out hot with 2-3 wins, then get smoked the last few games. I will post another run tomorrow when I am more rested.
Your curve was horrible. Unless you are a rogue you are not going to get away with 3 total 1 and 2 drops. You need 7-9.
Pick #4 - Dire wolf allows you to trade up unexpectedly, which can swing games in your favor.
Pick #10 - Dont know why you picked dopple here Babbling is just strictly better unless you are a shammy or pally.
Pick #13 - You literally picked the worst card of the 3. Similar to Dire Wolf, Dark Iron can just win you games and that's what i would have taken.
Pick #21 - Shatter really? I get that you have a ton of freeze effects but you dont want to be wasting 2 cards to kill 1 minion. Venture here.
It seems like your plan was to draft early game removal with the frostbolts and cannon, but all this does is delay the inevitable of being over run by minions.
Pick #28 - Take the 2 drop at this point you literally have no early game minions.
Thanks for the feedback fellas, I do appreciate it. On some of the picks, I sometimes get a bit too excited about potential combos (in this case, dopplegangster + knife juggler and shatter with all my frost stuff) instead of just picking the better card at any given moment. I also tend to shy away from stuff that has not worked for me in the past, so my biases for or against cards come into play too much.
Here is another run:
Draft: Warlock 3-3
Replays:
Honestly, as I'm just starting to play Arena more after playing constructed 99% of the time in Hearthstone..
1. Trust Heartharena's advice for 4-5 drafts and just take their recommendations and see how the cards flow.
2. Watch Kripp on Youtube or Twitch, he was #1 average in NA last month. He is usually streaming around 10-11pm EST US.
3. For the value of each card when you are ready to decide between two close options, think of which card would be more useful on an empty board. Note - there are also arena draft simulators here and elsewhere you can do practice drafts online.
Game 1 with Warlock, I would have played the 6 mana Kabal Trafficker on turn 6 because 1. he then has to deal with a 6 health minion, 2. you get a demon in your hand at the end of your turn. Might not have helped much in this case seeing his cards, but unless I have many minions that can survive the board state might as well play the strongest one.
Game 2 with Warlock: Turn 3, play Harvest Golem. It is stickier than a Kabal Courier 2-2 with its better stats and deathrattle. Plus you could always fish for a card to use more immediately with the courier later.
Warlock draft:
Pick #2 - In non ping classes being able to do 1 damage is so beneficial. Coil is such a good card and there isnt a need to draft a strong 1 drop this early unless its the best card.
Pick #17 - For a lock Acolyte is really pointless since you can draw with your HP. The murloc is the right choice here.
Pick #19 - This is tough but I think the yeti is the right play because all your other 4 drops are not greatly stated
Warlock game 1:
Play was fine until turn 6. Turn 6 you should have played Kabal Courier first to see what you get (you should resolve as much RNG as possible at the beginning of turn).
Then with those 3 choices greater healing is not best in that it is passive. Generally speaking your board and hand looks good and you should be looking at winning the game by controlling the board (especially against warrior with a general lack of good AOE). Not saying that 12 health isn't important or that it is not good, but at 24 health that would not be my main concern and I would max the board.
In your game malchezaar imp is good in that it is a mini-combo with doomguard. You discard 2 cards and draw 2 cards, which is compensation for doomguard's drawback and therefore allows you to play it next turn or whenever you need, not limited to when your hand is empty. Notice in your game your hand had a lot of heavy stuff and you were never close to emptying your hand, making doomguard a complete dead card.
Turn 10 you just can't tap as your health is low (tap you are down to 14 and already facing 6) and you don't need more cards. In your game specifically you would be at 1 and with a taunt in hand you still have some chances as it is not easy for warrior to deal 1 damage.
Game 2:
Turn 3 is a blunder in that you clearly cannot play the courier because it dies to the weapon for free. Acolyte of pain is perfectly fine as that will draw you 2 cards. As for the discover choice here if your opponent is not Rogue I would have taken shadow word death, but against Rogue pyroblast make some sense. I don't think I would take the creature because of the discard mechanic.
Turn 4 you do not freeze the raider as we can almost be certain there will be bigger things you need to freeze later.
Turn 5 if you believe tapping makes sense, you always tap first to see what you get. This is fundamental turn order stuff that you need to know.
Alright, another run. This time I went back to letting heartharena guide my draft, only picking a couple off recommendation. I had been doing that for a long time and on those first few runs I posted, I was trying to see how close my instincts actually were by drafting on my own then putting the results in. Anyways, here is the draft.
Mage 3-3
Replays:
And one more, this time priest.
Priest 4-3