Hearthpwn

Really funny to see people talk about balance between the decks after 3 games ;D

Actually the decks are pretty balanced. Rag is a control deck that tries to slow Nef down until he can get his second hero power.

By the way, Nef has little ways to deal with the Magma ragers you can spawn, aside from the cards he can randomly get from his own hero power, so you should abuse them.

Otherwise the plan to win with Rag is: Stall as much as you can, attack every turn (duh), then save a board clear for turn 6/7 and start abusing your random 8 damage hero power.

- Save Flamestrikes and Geddons for full boards

- Mulligan for 4/5 windfury, 6/6 taunts and 6/3 6dmg battlecry dudes

- Spawn 5/1 ragers when you can, they are better in this matchup than in "real" HS

- Coren turn 4 wins games

Now what I want to know from you guys is... does anyone know if there's any point in getting tons of wins? There's a win count but I can't figure out if there's anything you can unlock at any point.

I'm sorry, but I don't see this deck being a viable tempo deck. Warlock Zoo has more board control and steam, and Hunter midrange packs a bigger punch against control decks.

Also, the video is a poor example of anything, because it's taken at rank 14 against a Mech mage that has a completely botched opening (probably due to bad luck or poor mulligan) - still the deck struggled and won late game on successive Boom + Antonidas draws.

Nothing to write home about, I'm afraid. If you want to build the best Mage deck you can build, I would suggest to look at Echo of Medivh, and never look back. (yes, it's more difficult to play)

TBK last pick of the deck. Against Onyxia and Mimiron's Head.

I believe theoretically Onyxia is stronger, but I felt the curve couldn't absorb another 9-drop. Interested to know your thoughts.

I bet a few of my opponents played a few games against the Innkeeper to cool off, yes :D

Went 12-2 with this Pally. What's interesting about it is that I kept on being disappointed by common and rare options during the draft - you'll see there's some pretty weak stuff in there - but I also got 3 legendary picks that were all very good, so all in all, a bit of an unusual run.

It's interesting how players shying away from aggro classes (mostly due to the drop in Rogues) is now responsible for an even bigger shift towards heavier, more controlling decks.

As such, Priests are much stronger in this meta, since the only viable strategy against a mind control-heavy deck is to kill them by turn 8-9 max.

The current tier list needs an update to reflect the Meta. 

Soon. :)

Legendaries are strong but not broken.

Learn to pick silences and removal higher in your list, and you'll be fine.

EDIT: also, I have won countless games to my opponent using Hex on a turn 4 shieldmasta. If it's your one Hex in the deck and you burn it this early, then it's on you to die to my Tirion or Deathwing later on, isn't it?

Hey guys, I won't add this to the tier list itself, because it's not statistical data, just personal feeling, but class picks in tier one go like this for me:

Shaman first pick, always. Second is Mage, close enough. Hunter and Paladin come after.

What makes Shamans and Mages so strong compared to the rest of the field, enough that it could warrant a future nerf?

For Mages, Kirin Tor Mage + Secrets is too fast, too hard to deal with. Mage is by default a control class, and that combo just isn't on script. Flamestrike is super strong, but it requires you to hold on until late game. KT Mage + Mirror Entity on turn 3 is really tough to play around. If you drop a small minion to play the ME, you lose card advantage to the KTM. If you drop something to deal with the KTM, Jaina gets it too. :/ I've won and lost many games on the back of that play. The rest of the class is strong, but balanced imho.

For Shamans, the problem is more complicated. The class is insanely powerful atm because it has everything. Cheap weapons, minion generation (better than paladin for control decks), universal minion removal (Hex), great minions (Windspeakers, Fire Elemental), fantastic rares (Earth Elem, Feral Wolves, Lightning storm)... So what to do? A couple of things: I'd consider allowing Hex (and Polymorph) to be silenced so you get your big minion back. It's also interesting to note that the 2 classes affected by such a nerf would incidentally be the two best (according to me, of course, Blizzard may have data to show otherwise). Fire Elemental is a little too good at 6/5 and should be 6/4 imho, so that he can be dealt with Eviscerate / Heroic Strike (ouch) / Swipe / Shadowbolt. Currently, it's too ofter 1 card for 3 cards, and it's too much for a common. 

That's what I would consider. What do you think? What balances changes would you look at if you were on the dev team?

It's great to read that. Hope "Boss" reads it :)

Updated for the current patch! (on October 9th)

Also, a question for you guys: with Miss Moneypenny, we're wondering if you'd be interested in our thoughts on Legendary cards in the Arena, and what to choose. Of course it's deck dependent, but we frequently struggle with choices like "Ragnaros or Alextrasza?" "Sylvanas or Onyxia?" etc. We think you may be asking yourselves the same questions, and we're looking for a solid way to answer them. Let us know if this something you'd like to see, or if you think it's idiotic, or if you have any ideas / suggestions about the format, etc.

Laterz!

Hey Berlitz, thanks for sharing your experience of your mage draft. My experience recently has differed a lot from yours, so I thought I'd share some deck ideas here. (I'm currently in my second mage draft in a row, the first one went 9-0, the second one I'm 7-0 in)

My strategy going into the Arena as a mage is to focus on control. The most important cards are AoE damage and Polymorphs. AoE damage in order to get card advantage wiping the enemy's board (typically, you want 2, max 3 Flamestrikes, and Blizzard if it ever pops in your draft). You want to pick those above everything else.

Second, you need polymorphs, and you need to save those for super-high HP minions that will wreck you (Legendaries / anything 8/8, etc.) It's very important you get at least one of those, and as many as 3 or 4 won't hurt you.

So those 2 first types of card you need to pick in top priority.

Then you move to Fireballs, because yeah, it's an awesome card, very versatile, and I can't count the games I've won on a normal attack + 2 fireballs for the win.

What about minions then?

First rule: get taunt minions.

Second rule: get more taunt minions.

Seriously, the reason you get smashed by Rogue or Hunters is because by the time you get to flame strike their board, you're almost dead. The only way to break them is to constantly oppose their force with taunt minions so that they can't bypass you. Get Shieldmastas in priority, but don't underestimate the 1/4 taunt ape either. There is no limit to the amount of taunt minions you should have - beside luck in the draft - so feel free to go nuts there.

Whenever possible, get the "good" healers. The 3/3 that heals 3 for 3 is very versatile. Darkscale healer isn't bad though. Again, pick taunt minions higher.

Get the minions who can give taunt to your minions when you find them.

Don't rush into a low curve. Your hero power lets you deal with early threats until turn 4 in most games. Do not underestimate cards like cone of cold and Frozen elemental. They are  very nice ways to gain some tempo back.

So, in short, pick by order of importance: Blizzard > Flamestrike > Polymorph > Fireball > Pyroblast > High hp taunt minions > Acidic Swamp Ooze if you don't have any = low hp taunt minions = healer cards > freezing cards.

For play: keep your cards as much as possible. Deal with the opposing threats while trying to remain above 20hp. Save a polymorph in hand at all times for end game threats. Focus on using the least amount of cards to remove the opponent board. Use your power often. The goal is to exhaust your opponent's cards before yours, then kill him with a couple minions (yeah, a control deck).

Hope that helps ! :)

It's really great that you did stats on your games. I am well impressed with your paladin win rate, which I was only able to achieve on Rogue or Mage so far.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your mindset going into the draft? Are you focusing on taunt minions with healers and fat late game monsters? On smallies with blessings? Or do you go for as many divine shields as possible? What does your curve look like on a typical "winner" deck?

Original post fully re-written and updated to reflect beta experience. (also, a couple of bug reports and a small favour asked of our US beta friends)

Hope you guys like it!

Love,

- ND

I do suggest exactly that, yes. The arena is won as much in the field as in the draft, if not more.

Quote from Ancalima »

I have only 1 question.. the simulator is good for learning how to draft in hearthstone? I did like 2 arenas and went 0-3 and 2-3 :( how can i get better at this?

Sorry to hear that. To answer your question:

Yes, the simulator is good for learning how to draft, but only to figure out what you can statistically hope to build. What does that mean? That mean that unless you already know what cards are good, what's a good mana curve, etc. It won't help you. It will also fail to help you if you make many mistakes in your games. Let me give you an example - not for boasting, but because I think it's relevant. Yesterday I had a bit of gold surplus so my friend and I decided to to pick classes that we weren't playing much, just to test them out again. I went Warlock, and drafted a very aggressive, very low curve deck with tons of demons. First game I realized how bad this was going to be compared to the same strategy but with a hunter deck. I lost that match. Next game I won, purely because my opponent misplayed. Next game, guess what? I lost again. I was so disappointed, and firmly resolved never to play Warlock again in Arena. BUT! I eventually played against people making mistakes, every game, small ones, sometimes big ones, and that allowed me to come back from 1-2 to... 8-2! Sadly, my last opponent had a much better (paladin) deck, and was a good player, so I finished at 8-3. Why am I telling you this?

Because being good in Arena starts by playing your games right. You need to have a plan to win. Are you burning the guy down quickly? Do you need to stabilize the board to let your card advantage win for you? Is it a good idea to play that weapon now given there are 4 others in your deck? What is your opponent going to statistically do if you do this? Does that mage have flamestrike in her hand? You need to figure all that, and the simulator can help you with some of those questions by giving you a better idea of what each class arena deck looks like. But it won't take you all the way. For that, you need to practice playing, again, and again, and again. :)

Good luck!