Been playing since a little before Nax, and in all my time of playing, I have never really touched arena. My average is four wins whenever I try it, and my all time best has been 8 wins. I would like to start getting 6-7 wins on average, but I am absolutely terrible at drafting, and am not very good at knowing the best way to maintain board control, as I am not sure what cards to really play around.
Can anyone give a little bit of their time to follow me in an arena run and give me advice/observations?
I don't have the time to be your tutor, but here are some pointers that might help.
Just use heartharena to help with drafts at least until you get a hang of it(eventually you will stop needing it, and realise you don't even agree with their picks all the time).
As for what cards to play around, it's mostly about finding a balancing act. The first question you should ask yourself is whether you can even win the game if they have X card regardless of what plays you make. If you "play around" flamestrike(for example) in a situation where you are in topdeck mode anyway and are simply trying to kill the guy before he gets to his late game by keeping one or two minions back, you might be sacrificing that extra bit of pressure you need to kill him in time(assuming he does not have FS) when you're going to lose anyway if he DOES have it.
After you have determined that you can in fact play around the card effectively in your situation, is when you should wonder how punished you will be by not playing around it, and whether it is still worth doing.
You will also attempt to take into account how likely he is to have it in the first place. First and foremost, think about whether the card's draft probability is currently buffed(due to expansions), which will increase the odds of them having it. Then try to look at what your opponent played. If you are nearing the late game and he has kept a couple of cards in hand, that means he likely wasn't able to play them yet(or didn't want to), which means they are either expensive cards(in terms of mana cost) or removal spells.
Lastly, you generally shouldn't play around epics and legendaries, but there will be times when one of said cards is literally the only way you can lose the game. So sometimes play around deathwing by keeping back your mind control, when deathwing is LITERALLY the only way you don't have lethal next turn can be worth it. Obviously deathwing and mind control are just an example, and there are a million other interactions to take into account. The idea you should take, is that the more ahead you are, the more things you can be afford playing around.
I know this might sound like common sense, but I see many arena players completely ignoring these very simple things quite frequently.
Thanks, Its gonna be hard knowing what their win condition is when I don't know what cards are super strong in arena, but the basics are a good place to start. I am just going to have to play alot of arena I am assuming.
Thanks, Its gonna be hard knowing what their win condition is when I don't know what cards are super strong in arena, but the basics are a good place to start. I am just going to have to play alot of arena I am assuming.
Like I said before, heartharena is a decent tool to come to grips with how to evaluate arena cards.
Also, you should never judge cards based purely on standalone value(unless you are in your first 0-5 picks) but rather how well the card fits into your deck COMBINED with its standalone value. As good a card as North Sea Kraken is for most decks, you certainly wouldn't pick it often in an aggressive hunter draft. Heartharena already does this for you to some extent, and will point you the right direction on how to recognize the archetype your draft is leaning towards.
I'm going to book this Gamer Sensei in the near future...he's(?) a member on here. Maybe he can help with arena, too. (Which would great, because even with HearthArena, I haven't gone any more than 2-3. Hell, last time it was 0-3!)
Been playing since a little before Nax, and in all my time of playing, I have never really touched arena. My average is four wins whenever I try it, and my all time best has been 8 wins. I would like to start getting 6-7 wins on average, but I am absolutely terrible at drafting, and am not very good at knowing the best way to maintain board control, as I am not sure what cards to really play around.
Can anyone give a little bit of their time to follow me in an arena run and give me advice/observations?
"Science isn't about why! Its about why not!"
I don't have the time to be your tutor, but here are some pointers that might help.
Just use heartharena to help with drafts at least until you get a hang of it(eventually you will stop needing it, and realise you don't even agree with their picks all the time).
As for what cards to play around, it's mostly about finding a balancing act. The first question you should ask yourself is whether you can even win the game if they have X card regardless of what plays you make. If you "play around" flamestrike(for example) in a situation where you are in topdeck mode anyway and are simply trying to kill the guy before he gets to his late game by keeping one or two minions back, you might be sacrificing that extra bit of pressure you need to kill him in time(assuming he does not have FS) when you're going to lose anyway if he DOES have it.
After you have determined that you can in fact play around the card effectively in your situation, is when you should wonder how punished you will be by not playing around it, and whether it is still worth doing.
You will also attempt to take into account how likely he is to have it in the first place. First and foremost, think about whether the card's draft probability is currently buffed(due to expansions), which will increase the odds of them having it. Then try to look at what your opponent played. If you are nearing the late game and he has kept a couple of cards in hand, that means he likely wasn't able to play them yet(or didn't want to), which means they are either expensive cards(in terms of mana cost) or removal spells.
Lastly, you generally shouldn't play around epics and legendaries, but there will be times when one of said cards is literally the only way you can lose the game. So sometimes play around deathwing by keeping back your mind control, when deathwing is LITERALLY the only way you don't have lethal next turn can be worth it. Obviously deathwing and mind control are just an example, and there are a million other interactions to take into account. The idea you should take, is that the more ahead you are, the more things you can be afford playing around.
I know this might sound like common sense, but I see many arena players completely ignoring these very simple things quite frequently.
Thanks, Its gonna be hard knowing what their win condition is when I don't know what cards are super strong in arena, but the basics are a good place to start. I am just going to have to play alot of arena I am assuming.
"Science isn't about why! Its about why not!"
I could help you if you want as much as i can. Jakora#2964
Edit: i'm EU
I'm going to book this Gamer Sensei in the near future...he's(?) a member on here. Maybe he can help with arena, too. (Which would great, because even with HearthArena, I haven't gone any more than 2-3. Hell, last time it was 0-3!)
an experienced player knows when to disagree with ware like Heartharena, although it does help drafting for unseasoned players.
might i suggest you watch arena veterans' streams, they usualy explain every move they make, extremely helpful.
Heartharena is great for pointing out weak cards and potential synergies in draft.
For convenience overwolf will let you see heartharena ratings in-game while you draft.
HS Deck Tracker is great for keeping track of what's in your deck.
HS Deck Tracker lets you upload replays to hsreplays.net so you (presumably) can share them and get critique that way (much more efficient).
Keep in mind that 4 wins average is not bad. 6-7 wins average is top-tier.
Watch people play arena. Like Kripparrian. Actively watching and trying to understand why he makes plays really helps me.
Hi! I can watch you play arena and give pointers if you like!