Hearthpwn

Hey guys! I'm a ladder player, didn't care much about Arena, but now that I grew some balls, finally decided to give it a try. Before starting though, I'd like to know what do you guys think about the current state of the game mode. Basically, how good is Arena now for a player who never played it? Cheers.

This topic is basically what ur asking for - Arena Witchwood Meta Report / Class Tier List - so id say go read that! :)

Tbh if you dont have much or any experience in arena, now it might not be the best time to get into it, since the upcoming event will make changes to arena and might throw the entire meta out of whack, read about it here - Arena Exclusive Cards 2.0 (The Taverns of Time).

That being said, if you are down to experience some crazy shit, 100% join the arena during the event, it should be fun! :)

Just ask yourself how much are you triggered by randomness. If you don't like it then don't even bother :P

I find that the first month of a new expansion is probably the best time; you don't have to worry about crafting a great meta deck because it hasn't settled yet, you boost your collection so once it settles, you actually have the cards to make it, and you also don't need the expansion cards yet to enjoy the game.

Other than that, there's never a bad time to start. It teaches you value, tempo, and card advantage, making great trades etc. far better than any other game mode. You WILL be a better player overall if you master arena. It takes a little time and a lot of mistakes to get there, but it's completely worth the time, and the rewards are great. (Unless you get 170g and a golden common for a 10-win run like I did yesterday. Still raging.)

Thanks for your replies, guys! Started my 1st sensible arena run tonight, sitting at 2-1 at the moment. Seems like a refreshing experience after standard ladder ^_^ 

@TallAr92 Good point! I hate randomness, but as everything is so random in this game mode, maybe I'll be able to cope with it.

If you like collecting hearthstone cards and not paying huge amounts of $$, now is a great time to get into arena, second only to before now.

Also all the temporal cards are all the most OP card you ever played, so make sure you draft them when you can.

Right now is an excellent time actually. They are basically giving "free samples" with the incoming caverns of time event. Whenever arena gets major changes like this, they auto retire any ongoing arena runs, give you the reward for your current score and refund you a ticket.  So not only do you get your investment back, but also free stuff.  So feel free to play some arena with no risk; if you feel like you're losing gold or don't like the mode, just stop playing at 2 losses until the event hits. Note that they will give you a ticket by default for this event so you will end up with 2 in total using this method

Oh, also if you like ez wins and farming noobs, the best time is right after they give out free tickets, such as the incoming event and the Frost Festival. People who have no idea what they're doing will be there to cash in their tickets.  If you're not afraid of losing gold and looking for a challenge, you should play when there's no events ongoing and at the end of expansions (like right now) when only the career arena players still play the mode

Quote from beardfasse >>

Thanks for your replies, guys! Started my 1st sensible arena run tonight, sitting at 2-1 at the moment. Seems like a refreshing experience after standard ladder ^_^ 

@TallAr92 Good point! I hate randomness, but as everything is so random in this game mode, maybe I'll be able to cope with it.

 I tell you how arena looks.

You draft a deck. And from this point, triggering randomness can begin. Your deck can be very bad, your legendary picks can be bad. And then each time you queue into an opponent with better deck. Which I find devastating for my nerves. On the ladder, even when you're losing, you're still playing a very good constructed deck, with good quality cards. When you're losing, you know it's because of bad draws or counter deck. And here the experience is that on turn 3 you play razorfen hunter and your opponent rogue plays 4/4 minion and kill your boar with the dagger which is usually gg. Or he starts with better 1 and 2 drops. So not only you can lose to bad draws, counter class but also your opponent having better cards and you having raid leader kind of cards. Your whole plan is dependant on innkeeper generosity (quality of cards on draft) whereas on a ladder you chose what to play and can swap decks whenever you like.

Arena has very limited answers. Which can often time lead to situations where you're losing and there is basically no way to come back. For instance. Your opponent had 2 and 3 drops. But you only 2 drop and missed your 3 drop. And then you have no fast cards (deal dmg on battlecry, direct dmg spells, aoe) to come back on board = gg. Or you think you can come back with some nice 4 mana taunt but the opponent had removal.

There are some cards that are very hard to play around and often lead to a situation like "Okay... He has it then I lose". Flamestrike, blizzard, spikerdiged steed etc. 

So how does the game look? Each class has it's power level cards that you should play around as well as often picked strong neutral cards. You should play around those cards while trying to be the most mana efficient. Playing on a curve is very important. You basically sit with your finger crossed and pray for your opponent having worse deck/hand (or just being a less experienced player) while trying to play around most obvious/strongest cards WHEN YOU CAN. And when you can't then it's like I said... He has it then I lose. Nice game. GG.

What are the cons of playing arena?

You have a chance to play and play against cards you've never faced before, meaning you get to know a lot of new cards. If you can get 7 wins, you've basically got yourself a free pack because you get 150 gold (arena cost) AND a pack. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from meta decks. But as for my taste, there are tons of available decks currently on the ladder so I don't have a feeling of monotony. And it's just a different experience - it's just a very curvy game where you're trying to get the most out of your hand not thinking about future turns too much (because you have no idea what your opponent is playing).

I strongly recommend you watch some videos on youtube. Preferably Hafu. She's better arena player than Kripp. 

PS: if we get a free arena ticket (we most likely will) then dont forget to log in on your other servers (beside main) and play out those free arenas for practice (if you'll have time to spare) ;-)

Quote from Draco_Cracona >>

Quote from Sinti >>

PS: if we get a free arena ticket (we most likely will) then dont forget to log in on your other servers (beside main) and play out those free arenas for practice (if you'll have time to spare) ;-)

 Any idea when Arena goes down, or when the event starts? They usually lock Arenas before changes. Either way, looking at Arena, it's not really changed with 11.2, so after a few attempts with the new cards I'll probably ignore it again. Don't really see how this will solve the issues I have of Arena being all about who draws the least of the enforced tripe cards.

Well, it is supposed to start on June 11 ... no idea on the exact time tho, so i will just assume midnight until i know more.

Every new expansion or new releases (in the case of Tavern of Time) is a good time to get in. Tons of new players coming in, way more variety in terms of who you're up against. Usually during the last month before a new expansion are when people are bored/saving gold and only the Arena regulars play.