Gonna try drafting an arena run and getting some feedback.
Class choices are: Warrior, Rogue, Mage. Easy one for me. I don't play warrior or rogue in constructed and Mage is one of the better arena classes anyway so Mage.
And tough choice right off the bad because I don't like any of them.
Goblin Sapper, Target Dummy or Counterspell. Hearth Arena puts is pretty much at a tie between the Sapper and Counterspell. I figure activating the Sappers text is pretty much never going to happen in the arena so he's just going to be a 2/4 for 3. I'm leaning towards the counterspell hoping it might save a big creature from removal or catch an AE clear.
A vanilla 2/4 for 3 is actually very playable. It's definitely a safer pick than Counterspell in my mind, because it's always going to generate value, whereas the secret sometimes won't have any.
Third pick was Novice Engineer, Undertaker or Darkscale Healer. I went with the Darkscale Healer. Undertaker is weak without deathrattle cards to power it up and the engineer doesn't trade with anything and dies to too many hero powers to be useful imo.
Fourth pick is Defender of Argus, Emperor Cobra or Injured Blademaster. Hearth Arena is saying Defender and Sapper or worgen into Defender wouldn't be a bad play at all. The other two aren't bad but I'd hope as a mage to get other removal options than the cobra and don't really have many ways to use the fact that the blademaster starts off injured and can be healed. Any reason not to go with the defender?
I went ahead and picked the Defender. I wanted to continue drafting and it's late so I'm not expecting much feedback.
Pick 5 is Grimscale Oracle, Mechwarper, Micro Machine. Oracle is out IMO. Not gonna be able to build a murloc deck and 1/1's are just bad. Micro Machine can be sick if it sticks around but that almost never happens and it's only a 2/2 on their turn. Going with the mechwarper. Not gonna get a mech mage deck but still a 2/3 for 2 and I have no 2 drops yet.
Pick 6 is Goldshire Footman, Dragon's Breath or Mana Wyrm. Went with hearth arena and the Mana Wyrm even with no spells in my deck so far. Dragon's breath doesn't seem that bad in arena. One trade makes it 3 mana for 4 damage which isn't bad and trading is common in the arena but I also have a lot more chances to pick up better spells.
Pick 7 is Duplicate, Explosive Sheep and Stonesplinter Trogg. I don't like the sheep much and duplicate seems slow and possibly providing no value if you can't get them to trade into your minion. Going with the Trogg.
Pick 8 is Flamestrike, Sorcerer's Apprentice or Spiteful Smith. My deck is a bit lower on the mana curve so far and neither of the other options are bad bodies for the mana but flamestrike is too good to pass up here.
Pick 10 is legendary time. Illidan Stormrage, Bloodmage Thalnos or Captain Greenskin. Not a weapon class and Captain is just a bad body for 5 mana so he's out. Bloodmage is a nice card but as a 1/1 you can't really hope to keep it around for long. Illidan seems like the clear choice but to going to pause here for a while.
Back to hopefully finish off my draft today. Went ahead and picked illidan.
Pick 11 Cogmaster, Mechwarper or Dire Wolf Alpha. Cogmaster can be a pretty sick 1 drop but I don't have anywhere near the percentage of mechs you'd need to reliably activate it. A dire wolf alpha can be nice, especially when you can use it to trade up. I'm going to go with the second mech warper as I think it is the better card and has some potential synergy with my existing warper and hopefully some additional mechs later in the draft.
Pick 12 is Flamestrike, Flamecannon or Frostwolf Grunt. I went with flamecannon. I don't want to many flamestrikes and will probably get another chance for a second one. Wyrmm turn 1 and flamecannon turn 2 is a nice opening if I can get it.
Pick 13. Dalaran Mage, Cone of Cold or Hungry Dragon. Hungry dragon seems like the clear winner especially since mage is well equipped to take out the 1 drop.
Pick 14 is Ironforge Rifleman, Water Elemental or Polymorph. Both poly and water elemental are solid cards. The freeze can be great against weapon classes or even just stalling big minions. Poly is great at handling those big minions. They are class cards so I can hope to get another shot at either of them but not sure which way to go.
Went with the Water Elemental for a 4 drop creature.
Pick 15 is Ice Lance, Duplicate and Arcane Explosion. Hearth Arena says duplicate by a little bit over arcane Explosion and I think I agree. I've got a number of options to handle early aggression already and arcane explosion seems like a dead card if you can't play it close to curve.
Pick 17 is Flesheating Ghoul, another Wisp or Mirror Image. Heartharena is saying the ghoul and mirror image are basically a tie but going for Mirror image as I have no taunts. A 2/3 for 3 isn't great but if I can drop it and then trade minions it's a 4/3 for 3 which is pretty good. Apprentice followed by a free Mirror image isn't a bad combo either or even late game 2 taunts they have to kill off isn't necessarily bad if it keeps something else on the board. Gonna pause on this pick again. Let me know what you think,
Pick 18 is Arcane Missiles, Tauren Warrior and Flamestrike. I don't want to end up with too many flamestrikes and I'm glad I didn't pick a second one earlier but it seems like the clear choice here.
Pick 19 is Bloodsail Raider, Mirror Image or Volcanic Drake. Bloodsail isn't bad as a 2/3 for 2 but as a mage that is all it will ever be and i've already got 4 2 drop creatures. The drake seems like a clear choice and could be a great combo with flamestrike.
Pick 20 is Crazed Alchemist, Imp Master or Lightwarden. I'm not a huge fan of the imp master really but it fits my curve better and hearth arena seems to like it. Crazed Alchemist can be a handy effect to allow you to get in more damage than expected or to make their big wall (5/10 ancient of war for example) much easier to kill. Gonna pause on this pick again.
I actually love counterspell as a mage because you face so many mirror matches in the higher win columns. There's no better feeling than counterspelling a flamestrike or fireball. Makes such a huge difference. Sapper is fine though as an early 3 drop.
Pick 21 is Ice Lance, Abusive Sergeant and Micro Machine. I went with Abusive Sergeant. Ice Lance is just bad. Micro Machine is a 2/2 for 2 on their turn which isn't bad and if it doesn't get handled it can get out of control but that makes it a high priority to kill. Abusive can be a 1 drop but I prefer to save him for later.
Pick 22 is Ice Barrier, Zombie Chow and Clockwork Gnome. The gnome is nice and could have some synergies with the mech warpers but Chow is just the gold star when it comes to one drops. Went with the chow. If I've had to pick 1 drops the last two picks at least they've been pretty good ones.
Pick 23 is Earthen Ring Farseer, Dancing Swords or Ancient Brewmaster. The brewmaster isn't bad stats as a 5/4 for 4 but since I don't have really any good battle cries the bounce is as much a negative as anything else. Went with the Farseer.
Pick 24 is Ice Barrier, Duplicate or Mana Wyrm. Hearth Arena is saying Mana Wyrm again and I don't really want another duplicate so it seems like the best bet. Any thoughts? Ending up with a pretty aggressive mana curve outside of the two flamestrikes. I hope I can get a few more bigger bodies and a poly or fireball in my remaining picks.
You already mentioned 'Aggressive mana curve' so just go with the Mana Wyrm. You have an early frostbolt and flamecannon to buff it for early game aggro. A dream coin start is Wyrm, coin, 2nd Wyrm with frostbolt or flamecannon in hand for your T2.
On the Ancient Brewmaster comment : you don't need good battlecries to make it effective. Simply bouncing a damaged Water Elemental and replaying it late game can be game changing. I have only very rarely felt the self bounce to be a disadvantage (ie. I'm trying to go all in on a damage race). Though the Earthen Ring Farseer is also a very good pick, I feel the Ancient Brewmaster is a much more skill rewarding card.
Pick 26 is Clockwork Giant, Hungry Crab, Mini-Mage. Mini Mage seems like the only option. The 1 health hurts but at least he has stealth so he should be able to attack once. The giant doesn't seem like it would work well in the arena with not enough card draw and no hand locks to punish for holding cards. The crab is just bad and no murlocs in the deck.
Pick 27 is Clockwork Gnome, Ice Lance, Arcane Explosion. Hearth Arena says clockwork and that seems like it has definite potential. Combo with a Mech warper for a free drop or use the spare part to buff up a Wyrm. Going with the gnome.
Pick 29 is Argent Squire, Fen Creeper, Silvermoon Guardian. I was thinking Silvermoon Guardian but HearthArena is saying Fen Creeper. I don't have any taunts and it sure could work out well to duplicate him. Pausing for dinner and feedback.
Pick 30 is Master Swordsmith, Argent Commander and Gadgetzan Auctioneer. Went with the Argent Commander as the best of the bunch and another later drop. A finisher with charge isn't a bad fit in an aggressive deck.
First game ran into a paladin that seemed to have all the right answers. Turn 2 silence my mana wyrm so I can' t pump him up. A timely consecration cleared my board and I never got control back
Second game got a priest. Was able to establish early aggression and board control and never let go. A perfectly timed top deck of a flamestrike left him at 1hp and conceding on turn 7. Did have a duplicate sitting there from turn 3 on as he never killed one of my minions on my turn but if nothing else it pumped up my mana wurm well.
Gonna try drafting an arena run and getting some feedback.
Class choices are: Warrior, Rogue, Mage. Easy one for me. I don't play warrior or rogue in constructed and Mage is one of the better arena classes anyway so Mage.
And tough choice right off the bad because I don't like any of them.
Goblin Sapper, Target Dummy or Counterspell. Hearth Arena puts is pretty much at a tie between the Sapper and Counterspell. I figure activating the Sappers text is pretty much never going to happen in the arena so he's just going to be a 2/4 for 3. I'm leaning towards the counterspell hoping it might save a big creature from removal or catch an AE clear.
A vanilla 2/4 for 3 is actually very playable. It's definitely a safer pick than Counterspell in my mind, because it's always going to generate value, whereas the secret sometimes won't have any.
I went for the sapper. As you said counterspell could be sitting there doing nothing when I die.
Next pick was Arcane Missiles, Voodoo Doctor or Raging Worgen. I picked the Worgen. Already my second 3 drop but it's early.
Third pick was Novice Engineer, Undertaker or Darkscale Healer. I went with the Darkscale Healer. Undertaker is weak without deathrattle cards to power it up and the engineer doesn't trade with anything and dies to too many hero powers to be useful imo.
Fourth pick is Defender of Argus, Emperor Cobra or Injured Blademaster. Hearth Arena is saying Defender and Sapper or worgen into Defender wouldn't be a bad play at all. The other two aren't bad but I'd hope as a mage to get other removal options than the cobra and don't really have many ways to use the fact that the blademaster starts off injured and can be healed. Any reason not to go with the defender?
I went ahead and picked the Defender. I wanted to continue drafting and it's late so I'm not expecting much feedback.
Pick 5 is Grimscale Oracle, Mechwarper, Micro Machine. Oracle is out IMO. Not gonna be able to build a murloc deck and 1/1's are just bad. Micro Machine can be sick if it sticks around but that almost never happens and it's only a 2/2 on their turn. Going with the mechwarper. Not gonna get a mech mage deck but still a 2/3 for 2 and I have no 2 drops yet.
Pick 6 is Goldshire Footman, Dragon's Breath or Mana Wyrm. Went with hearth arena and the Mana Wyrm even with no spells in my deck so far. Dragon's breath doesn't seem that bad in arena. One trade makes it 3 mana for 4 damage which isn't bad and trading is common in the arena but I also have a lot more chances to pick up better spells.
Pick 7 is Duplicate, Explosive Sheep and Stonesplinter Trogg. I don't like the sheep much and duplicate seems slow and possibly providing no value if you can't get them to trade into your minion. Going with the Trogg.
Pick 8 is Flamestrike, Sorcerer's Apprentice or Spiteful Smith. My deck is a bit lower on the mana curve so far and neither of the other options are bad bodies for the mana but flamestrike is too good to pass up here.
Pick 9 is Ice Barrier, Voodoo Doctor or Frostbolt. Frostbolt seems like the easy choice.
Pick 10 is legendary time. Illidan Stormrage, Bloodmage Thalnos or Captain Greenskin. Not a weapon class and Captain is just a bad body for 5 mana so he's out. Bloodmage is a nice card but as a 1/1 you can't really hope to keep it around for long. Illidan seems like the clear choice but to going to pause here for a while.
Back to hopefully finish off my draft today. Went ahead and picked illidan.
Pick 11 Cogmaster, Mechwarper or Dire Wolf Alpha. Cogmaster can be a pretty sick 1 drop but I don't have anywhere near the percentage of mechs you'd need to reliably activate it. A dire wolf alpha can be nice, especially when you can use it to trade up. I'm going to go with the second mech warper as I think it is the better card and has some potential synergy with my existing warper and hopefully some additional mechs later in the draft.
Pick 12 is Flamestrike, Flamecannon or Frostwolf Grunt. I went with flamecannon. I don't want to many flamestrikes and will probably get another chance for a second one. Wyrmm turn 1 and flamecannon turn 2 is a nice opening if I can get it.
Pick 13. Dalaran Mage, Cone of Cold or Hungry Dragon. Hungry dragon seems like the clear winner especially since mage is well equipped to take out the 1 drop.
Pick 14 is Ironforge Rifleman, Water Elemental or Polymorph. Both poly and water elemental are solid cards. The freeze can be great against weapon classes or even just stalling big minions. Poly is great at handling those big minions. They are class cards so I can hope to get another shot at either of them but not sure which way to go.
Went with the Water Elemental for a 4 drop creature.
Pick 15 is Ice Lance, Duplicate and Arcane Explosion. Hearth Arena says duplicate by a little bit over arcane Explosion and I think I agree. I've got a number of options to handle early aggression already and arcane explosion seems like a dead card if you can't play it close to curve.
How much time have you spent on this arena draft so far...?
So far so good, keep em coming!
For pick 15 I went with duplicate.
Pick 16 is Sorcerer's Apprentice, Dragon's Breath or Wisp. The apprentice is a 3/2 for 2 with a useful effect so seems like the clear choice to me.
Pick 17 is Flesheating Ghoul, another Wisp or Mirror Image. Heartharena is saying the ghoul and mirror image are basically a tie but going for Mirror image as I have no taunts. A 2/3 for 3 isn't great but if I can drop it and then trade minions it's a 4/3 for 3 which is pretty good. Apprentice followed by a free Mirror image isn't a bad combo either or even late game 2 taunts they have to kill off isn't necessarily bad if it keeps something else on the board. Gonna pause on this pick again. Let me know what you think,
Go Flesheating. :)
For pick 17 I went with the flesheating ghoul.
Pick 18 is Arcane Missiles, Tauren Warrior and Flamestrike. I don't want to end up with too many flamestrikes and I'm glad I didn't pick a second one earlier but it seems like the clear choice here.
Pick 19 is Bloodsail Raider, Mirror Image or Volcanic Drake. Bloodsail isn't bad as a 2/3 for 2 but as a mage that is all it will ever be and i've already got 4 2 drop creatures. The drake seems like a clear choice and could be a great combo with flamestrike.
Pick 20 is Crazed Alchemist, Imp Master or Lightwarden. I'm not a huge fan of the imp master really but it fits my curve better and hearth arena seems to like it. Crazed Alchemist can be a handy effect to allow you to get in more damage than expected or to make their big wall (5/10 ancient of war for example) much easier to kill. Gonna pause on this pick again.
I actually love counterspell as a mage because you face so many mirror matches in the higher win columns. There's no better feeling than counterspelling a flamestrike or fireball. Makes such a huge difference. Sapper is fine though as an early 3 drop.
Pick 20 I went with Imp Master
Pick 21 is Ice Lance, Abusive Sergeant and Micro Machine. I went with Abusive Sergeant. Ice Lance is just bad. Micro Machine is a 2/2 for 2 on their turn which isn't bad and if it doesn't get handled it can get out of control but that makes it a high priority to kill. Abusive can be a 1 drop but I prefer to save him for later.
Pick 22 is Ice Barrier, Zombie Chow and Clockwork Gnome. The gnome is nice and could have some synergies with the mech warpers but Chow is just the gold star when it comes to one drops. Went with the chow. If I've had to pick 1 drops the last two picks at least they've been pretty good ones.
Pick 23 is Earthen Ring Farseer, Dancing Swords or Ancient Brewmaster. The brewmaster isn't bad stats as a 5/4 for 4 but since I don't have really any good battle cries the bounce is as much a negative as anything else. Went with the Farseer.
Pick 24 is Ice Barrier, Duplicate or Mana Wyrm. Hearth Arena is saying Mana Wyrm again and I don't really want another duplicate so it seems like the best bet. Any thoughts? Ending up with a pretty aggressive mana curve outside of the two flamestrikes. I hope I can get a few more bigger bodies and a poly or fireball in my remaining picks.
You already mentioned 'Aggressive mana curve' so just go with the Mana Wyrm. You have an early frostbolt and flamecannon to buff it for early game aggro. A dream coin start is Wyrm, coin, 2nd Wyrm with frostbolt or flamecannon in hand for your T2.
On the Ancient Brewmaster comment : you don't need good battlecries to make it effective. Simply bouncing a damaged Water Elemental and replaying it late game can be game changing. I have only very rarely felt the self bounce to be a disadvantage (ie. I'm trying to go all in on a damage race). Though the Earthen Ring Farseer is also a very good pick, I feel the Ancient Brewmaster is a much more skill rewarding card.
Went with the second wyrm.
Pick 25 is Blackwing Technician, Polymorph or Unstable Ghoul. Sheep is an easy choice there.
Pick 26 is Clockwork Giant, Hungry Crab, Mini-Mage. Mini Mage seems like the only option. The 1 health hurts but at least he has stealth so he should be able to attack once. The giant doesn't seem like it would work well in the arena with not enough card draw and no hand locks to punish for holding cards. The crab is just bad and no murlocs in the deck.
Pick 27 is Clockwork Gnome, Ice Lance, Arcane Explosion. Hearth Arena says clockwork and that seems like it has definite potential. Combo with a Mech warper for a free drop or use the spare part to buff up a Wyrm. Going with the gnome.
Pick 28 is Polymorph, Nerub'ar Weblord or Priestess of Elune. Seems like another easy sheep pick.
Pick 29 is Argent Squire, Fen Creeper, Silvermoon Guardian. I was thinking Silvermoon Guardian but HearthArena is saying Fen Creeper. I don't have any taunts and it sure could work out well to duplicate him. Pausing for dinner and feedback.
Fen definitely here. As you mentioned, Dupe synergy.
Went Fen Creeper for a taunt.
Pick 30 is Master Swordsmith, Argent Commander and Gadgetzan Auctioneer. Went with the Argent Commander as the best of the bunch and another later drop. A finisher with charge isn't a bad fit in an aggressive deck.
The entire draft can be reviewed at:
http://www.heartharena.com/arena-run/08m1nq
Finally started playing this arena run.
First game ran into a paladin that seemed to have all the right answers. Turn 2 silence my mana wyrm so I can' t pump him up. A timely consecration cleared my board and I never got control back
Second game got a priest. Was able to establish early aggression and board control and never let go. A perfectly timed top deck of a flamestrike left him at 1hp and conceding on turn 7. Did have a duplicate sitting there from turn 3 on as he never killed one of my minions on my turn but if nothing else it pumped up my mana wurm well.