Hearthpwn

Thanks. The curve is deliberately agressive. The longer the game goes for the more chances they have to kill One-eyed Cheat. Captain Greenskin is certainly a better card than Bloodsail Corsair but the idea is to play a Pirate per turn, not necesarily the most 'on curve' one. By using entirely low cost Pirate's you can play other cards the same turn. You may well be right, I'm just clarifying why Captain Greenskin has not been used; I did consider him.

The only card costing more than 4 is Sprint so far, and it costs exactly 4 when used with Preparation. I actually just added a second Sprint; if you don't draw One-eyed Cheat this is just a sub-par Pirate deck...

The main problem is just protection for One-eyed Cheat. That 1 HP is too fragile in too many situations. Adding Captain Greenskin feels too much like giving up on the core notion of the deck, though.

Ysera could be good. You could have 2+ Ysera in play and  Ysera Awakens won't hurt any of them. Ysera also gives a 0-cost bounce Dream card(I forget the name) which would provide good synergy. Some Blackwing Corruptor with Dragon synergy might be cool, but is probably pushing the space too much.

I'm also surprised you play neither The Black Knight nor Stampeding Kodo; Kodo is probably not worth it but The Black Knight is exceptionally powerful against certain decks and multiple copies of hard removal should seal some games by itself.

There's also Harrison Jones to consider. Acidic Swamp Ooze wouldn't make as much of an impact, so I don't think you should bother with that, but Jone's is a ridiculous power play in some cases.

Basically I'd be looking to make this into a complete toolbox deck, which can counter anything with the right card for the job. At the very least Loatheb should be included; it's always good and with multiple Loatheb you can really limit a lot of different plays in various matchups, especialy if you play Loatheb two+ turns in a row.

You seem a little confused about what a Dragon deck is; this is just a Control deck.

Just made a fun deck around this guy. It's probably a little fragile in it's current form, but I have a few tech ideas that may improve it; just wanted to post the idea first.

It's based around the idea of using his recurring Stealth with Cold Blood and Oil so you can hit face and kill them a few turns after One-eyed CHeat hits the board.

Anyway, here's a link: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/259615-barreling-cheat

Such a waste. Pity you couldn't see the potential this has...

Okay, sorry about that. I'm just surprised that this hasn't been covered in the guides I've read. Hinted at, sure, but there are definite principles involved which I think need some explanation.

I was hoping there was an article somewhere already, as I'm not actually that experienced with arena and I feel like someone who is might have worked out a few things that I haven't. I've done a ton of simulator runs just to get the hang of the draft in general terms, but the result of that isn't the same as actually playing a deck in the arena. Going to look around some more today before I attempt writing down the theory I've developed so far.

I'd probably use Jeeve's over Oracle(Jeeve's might help them but isn't guaranteed to do so, wheras Oracle automatically gives them cards). Also 1-2 Auchenai over Shadwoform, as the body gives value. Apart from that this is brilliant.

Any Shaman worth their salt is probably running some sort of Spellpower to avoid Lightning Storm suffering from RNG against Patron.

I know what it is; I wasn't talking about a summary, but something that actually goes into detail about the way this plays out in real terms in relation to arena drafts. There are various factors for assessing synergy within an arena pick; I'm thinkng of writing a short guide to how this works in arena and how it varies from constructed.

I feel that it's the 'missing piece' that can make a good arena run into a great arena run; overall card quality and mana curve are important, but a well-balanced deck with synergy will win more often than not.

DEMON SMASH!

Yeah, I think it's the only one I can think of with a distinct before and after. I usually can't stand golden cards, but this one's pretty cool.

Wisp isn't a spell though; pretty much defeats the point.

It is a solid minion, but it's still not as good as Fire Elemental; the flavour text is backwards if you ask me...

Just to be clear, there are plenty of solid 4 drops, but being one of the better one's doesn't change the fact that this is nothing exceptional.

Even with Blackwing Corruptor around Fire Elemental is still set apart from most 6 drops. The fact that some classes relish having a weaker Dragon-dependent version of him just proves how strong he is. Only Savannah Highmane and a couple of Legendaries can compete with his value.

You're both right to some degree, yet neither of you is completely so...

Overload is it's own factor, like the negative Battlecries on some Demon and neutral cards; Earth Elemental, for example, works with Ancestral Call in a similar fashion to Doomcaller + Voidcaller, it just isn't played because Ancestral call is unreliable. If you add Lava Shock and/or Unbound Elemental into the equations the cost of Overload will obviously be reduced, or even become beneficial in some cases. In such cases the effect of Overload has to be assessed on a case by case basis, or by probability in relation to the value a certain card might possess in relaton to the deck you put it in.

Generally speaking, if you're looking at an Overload card in isolation,it's most helpful to consider the Overload as being of half the cost of upfront Crystal usage, on account of the tempo gain and the fact that you should be preparing for next turn when you consider the drawback; though sometimes this can be unfrotunately limiting.

With this particular card I think it's fair to say a 4/6 for 4+1 is average; for half a crystal more you get 1 extra health compared to Yeti, which is reasonable. At 5/6 it's as good as you would expect from a class card. At 6/6 it becomes guaranteed profit. At 7/6 it becomes a bit controversial considering BGH, but is generally a great play assuming you actually run other 7+ attack minions. I wouldn't consider Lava Shock highly relevant, as it tends to be best used with cards like Lightning Strom and Feral Spirit's, which give Lava Shock the same value as Backstab when used correctly. If you have Unbound Elemental, though, then this is a great pick for your deck.

Not even close.