Hearthpwn

Hey all, after my last go at the Arena I went down fast. This time I went with the Mage and I'm hoping (and thinking) I picked a better match-up. I'll post my options and choices below, hereby submitting myself willingly to the ridicule and support.

But first, the deck...

1. Ravenholdt Assassin - Imp Master - Sunwalker = Sunwalker
2. Darkscale Healer - Bluegill Warrior - Shattered Sun Cleric = Shattered Sun Cleric
3. Arcane Intellect - Raging Worgen - Ice Lance = Raging Worgen
4. Archmage - Mirror Image - Sen'jin Shieldmasta = Sen'jin Shieldmasta
5. Spiteful Smith - Southsea Deckhand - War Golem = War Golem
6. Chillwind Yeti - Grimscale Oracle - Stormwind Knight = Chillwind Yeti
7. Frost Elemental - Booty Bay Bodyguard - Faerie Dragon = Faerie Dragon
8. Fireball - Murloc Raider - Mogu'shan Warden = Fireball
9. Ethereal Arcanist - Arcane Golem - Counterspell = Counterspell
10. Mountain Giant - Pyroblast - Doomsayer = Pyroblast
11. Dalaran Mage - Silver Hand Knight - Arcane Intellect = Arcane Intellect
12. Chillwind Yeti - Arcane Explosion - Spectral Knight = Spectral Knight
13. Kirin Tor Mage - Wailing Soul - Murloc Tidecaller = Kirin Tor Mage
14. Dire Wolf Alpha - Flamestrike - Spellbreaker = Flamestrike
15. Murloc Tidehunter - Arcane Missiles - Stormpike Commando = Arcane Missiles
16. River Crocolisk - Flamestrike - Mana Wyrm = Mana Wyrm
17. Duplicate- Silver Hand Knight - Abusive Sergeant =Duplicate
18. Silver Hand Knight - Frostbolt- Duplicate = Frostbolt
19. Abusive Sergeant - Frostbolt- Silver Hand Knight = Frostbolt
20. Coldlight Oracle - Violet Teacher - Alarm-o-Bot = Violet Teacher
21. Harvest Golem - Cone of Cold - Frost Nova = Harvest Golem
22. Ironfur Grizzly - Flamestrike- Bloodsail Raider = Ironfur Grizzly
23. Frostwolf Warlord - Dalaran Mage - Bloodfen Raptor = Dalaran Mage
24. Arcane Explosion - Ice Barrier - Polymorph = Polymorph
25. Gnomish Inventor - Mad Scientist - Murloc Tidehunter = Mad Scientist
26. Mirror Image - Arcane Explosion - Frostbolt = Frostbolt
27. Frostbolt- Mirror Image - Murloc Raider =Frostbolt
28. Oasis Snapjaw - Earthen Ring Farseer - Chillwind Yeti = Chillwind Yeti
29. Kobold Geomancer - Thrallmar Farseer - Arcane Intellect = Arcane Intellect
30. Azure Drake - Imp Master - Defender of Argus = Defender of Argus

I'm not an expert by any means but I disagree with a number of your picks. You seem to really hate Silver hand knight and he's actually a pretty cool guy. You only have about two 2-drops that you would actually want to play on turn 2. It's not entirely your fault because you weren't offered too many but towards the end of your draft you ought to have picked some up I think.

A few examples:

#11 Silver hand over arcane intellect (in my opinion)

#17 Silver hand knight>duplicate

#22 2nd Flamestrike or bloodsail (given your lack of 2 drops) > ironfur grizzly

#23 frostwolf warlord and blood fen are way better than dalaran mage no matter what basically. Although again given dire lack of 2-drops I'd have picked raptor.

I don't really know the curve, but somewhat on card quality, I think the wrong picks #5, 11,16,17, 22, 23, and 30. So pretty much the same as the person above, but I think Spiteful Smith over War Golem at #5 and I'm fine with you're picks for #3 and #7.

Defender of Argus over Azure Drake might be fine for #30 though depending on your curve and whether you could actually get full value from Argus.

Biggest question mark is Ironfur Grizzly over Flamestrike. Ironfur Grizzly isn't even that good, only okay, and you only have one Flamestrike.

Mostly as the others are saying, just want to add, that the Dalaran Mage is a very veak card, and in general should be avoided. I know that you are looking at the +1 spell damage, but in arena its mainly about the stats and 3 mana for 1/4 is not good.

Argh... alright so Mage isn't my thing. Ended with 4-3 so at least it was better than my Druid run.

What class does the community suggest for learning Arena on (and potentially doing well)?

i dont think there is any given class to learn arena well in arena. If you wanna learn to trade efficiently, Trump suggests mastering Zoo (Warlock). Any class has the potential to be great in Arena. I think one thing I'm noticing about your drafts, you don't value the swing cards (flamestrike) or high tiered ones. You know about the list right? (Google antigrav1ty arena tier)

my suggestion for learning arena and potentially doing well, pick every class you can.  don't stick to just one or two classes, try them all out.  you can get a sense for what classes you like doing ranked/casual play, but arena is a different mind set.  thats what i'm doing, and i'm surprised by the outcomes.  for example, i just had a mage run with 4 fireballs and 3 flamestrikes that went 2-3 (youtube video of draft and first game at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk-gjWuxSFU).  yes, i made a couple misplays, but in general when i lost i just didn't draw those cards.  i also had a run with a warrior a couple weeks ago that went 9-3 (no video, sorry), and warrior is a class i don't really care for.

in general, the more you play arena the more experience you will get with the draft.  also, don't sweat the noob mistakes; thats how you grow as a player

No I'm not familiar with the "List" but I'll check it out- anything that'll help me learn and get better I'll take! And yea I know the feeling @alshatir, This Mage deck ran with 4 Frostbolts and my last matchup was against a control Priest. Not a single dang Frostbolt came up, they could have kept him cleared D: