Look, I want to tell you something because you're very dear to me. And I hope you understand that it comes from the bottom of my damaged, damaged heart. You are the finest piece of ass I've ever had and I don't care who knows it. I am so glad that I got to roam those hillsides.
Add : Knowing what are the possible cards in your opponent's deck, depending on their class and known archetypes - which you need to be familiar with, thinking of the counters he can have and playing around them + thinking of what he can play and how you would counter it. A lot of probabilities + at least two turns ahead of thinking.
Either all that jazz, or just accepting that it's a game of luck, and whatever you have in hand and you can play on curve is your best choice :) .
I'm a humble and friendly european indie living in Asia. During the day I build computer games. During the night, I am batma I build computer games. Together with a wonderful artist, I help run this very unique comic site : Comic Devs
In addition to what others have said, skill is having the attentiveness to monitor your win conditions at all times and adjust them as the game plays out. Ex.: Switching to a fatigue gameplan while using a tempo deck because the opponent is almost out of cards.
Skill to me is: making the best possible play with the worst possible outcome in mind, you have to obviously be aware of that outcome, knowing every card, every deck and the current meta inside out.
Sure, you're gonna lose to the occasional Paveling Book, but you're gonna win far more based on the choices you made, even if they seem irrelevant at times.
There are many random elements to the game, in many cases far more random elements than should be expected for a card game. However the fundamental necessities of a head-to-head game are not abandoned. It's very much like a chess game. For example, I'm playing Hunter. My opponent is Warrior. On turn 2 he armors up, so he's probably control. I know he has a lot of removal and I'll have to play very aggressively and try to bait some of his removal cards. I want to get him to burn his shield slams and executes on my Savannah Highmanes and my Huntresses so that when I drop my Ragnaros he can't remove it. You want to have a feel for what the next play is likely to be. If I've got several threats on board and he drops sylvanas, he's probably dropping brawl next, so I want to burn my big threat on Sylvanas and let her grab something smaller to force him to change his plan, or I have to play my cat secret so when he does hit brawl I will not lose the tempo advantage.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hearthstone: A game where great victories are won by demonstrating exceptional skill, and losses are suffered due to bad RNG!
i'm playing some janky mech mage build on ladder and come across this mill druid. i've never played against one before but have played a shit ton of mill rogue so i know what makes those decks tick and what they're weak against. as soon as i saw him play his auctioneer (why would he have that in a mill deck?!) i kept all the cards that draw in my hand (thalnos, azure drake, etc.) and chose to let a few get burned through mill then out-draw him. at around turn 7 he was 3 or 4 cards ahead of me towards fatigue and i was content to fill the board with minions to keep him busy. i even had a chance to kill his coldlight but let it stay on the board in the hopes that he would have a way to bounce it and push himself further in the hole and a couple turns later he did.
i was basically playing freeze mage at that point; letting all of my burn collect in my hand. on turn 10 i cabalist tome'd into a couple fireballs and since he was completely fatigued and i had 7 cards left in my deck i started playing thalnos, drake, drake and next turn he was toasty from both my fireballs and his own fatigue damage. i still had a few cards in my deck and he'd fatigued turns ago.
how did i win? i did not immediately recognize the deck he was playing and have never played against it but using my knowledge of a mill deck i've played a bunch as well as just general hearthstone skill i was able to overcome his early surprising plays. he could have easily snowballed his early mill into an easy concede (i was thinking about it around turn 4 :P) but i decided to stick with it and completely altered the game plan of my entire deck (supposed to grab and keep tempo and ride it home like a bronco) and let him over-play himself. a newer player would not necessarily known what to do there.
Nothing. Playing on curve and having good RNG is what decises the vast majority of any game. Player "skill" counts for something like once in 30 turns.
Everyone saying "avoid Shaman" and "get lucky" must be having a grand old time at Rank 20.
I'd go one step beyond some of the good answers already said here about deck knowledge (yours and your opponents), playing your outs, and adjusting your win condition, to add meta awareness. For everyone crying about Shaman there are people playing hard counters, or teching their decks to make the matchup favourable. When you get hit by a Secret Eater when you're playing Secret Hunter you're playing against someone who has thought about their deck, and made conscious decisions in deck building to make the matchup against yours better.
Finally, and probably the most important point, skilled players evaluate their games, and plays, and consider what they could have done differently to win. Sometimes the Rag you Mulched gave the Shaman King Krush for exact lethal, but more often than not there are key turns playing one way could have had a different outcome. Even if you aren't 'misplaying' in these circumstances, considering all the possibilities, and recognising after the fact that a different line could have given you the win will help you become a better player than going "nerf shamans pls".
Han Solo dies.
Genuine question in the OP, by the way.
Look, I want to tell you something because you're very dear to me. And I hope you understand that it comes from the bottom of my damaged, damaged heart. You are the finest piece of ass I've ever had and I don't care who knows it. I am so glad that I got to roam those hillsides.
Hand reads, knowledge of what's left in your deck, the ability to calculate the probability of a certain situation, and being Pavel-level of lucky.
Shanking ankles since 2015.
Ability to dodge shamans on ladder. Either facehunt bastards one by one.
My arena stats!
Add : Knowing what are the possible cards in your opponent's deck, depending on their class and known archetypes - which you need to be familiar with, thinking of the counters he can have and playing around them + thinking of what he can play and how you would counter it. A lot of probabilities + at least two turns ahead of thinking.
Either all that jazz, or just accepting that it's a game of luck, and whatever you have in hand and you can play on curve is your best choice :) .
I'm a humble and friendly european indie living in Asia. During the day I build computer games. During the night,
I am batmaI build computer games.Together with a wonderful artist, I help run this very unique comic site : Comic Devs
In addition to what others have said, skill is having the attentiveness to monitor your win conditions at all times and adjust them as the game plays out. Ex.: Switching to a fatigue gameplan while using a tempo deck because the opponent is almost out of cards.
Skill to me is: making the best possible play with the worst possible outcome in mind, you have to obviously be aware of that outcome, knowing every card, every deck and the current meta inside out.
Sure, you're gonna lose to the occasional Paveling Book, but you're gonna win far more based on the choices you made, even if they seem irrelevant at times.
Playing priest and win.
Skill is the ability for your decisions to make you win over another player.
The bigger the gap between a pro and a beginner, the more skill.
You can guess how much there is in hearthstone. THE ANSWER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU!
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - Sneak Review! http://www.thepoxbox.com/challenges.php?id=batmanvsuperman
Here's what defines skill in hearthstone: a few win-rate percentage points difference. That's all.
"As housecarl I am sworn to your service. I will protect you and all you own, with my life." - Lydia of Whiterun
Playing anything but tempo mage, midrange shaman and secret hunter
Skill is understanding the following:
There are many random elements to the game, in many cases far more random elements than should be expected for a card game. However the fundamental necessities of a head-to-head game are not abandoned. It's very much like a chess game. For example, I'm playing Hunter. My opponent is Warrior. On turn 2 he armors up, so he's probably control. I know he has a lot of removal and I'll have to play very aggressively and try to bait some of his removal cards. I want to get him to burn his shield slams and executes on my Savannah Highmanes and my Huntresses so that when I drop my Ragnaros he can't remove it. You want to have a feel for what the next play is likely to be. If I've got several threats on board and he drops sylvanas, he's probably dropping brawl next, so I want to burn my big threat on Sylvanas and let her grab something smaller to force him to change his plan, or I have to play my cat secret so when he does hit brawl I will not lose the tempo advantage.
Hearthstone: A game where great victories are won by demonstrating exceptional skill, and losses are suffered due to bad RNG!
lemme give ya an example.
i'm playing some janky mech mage build on ladder and come across this mill druid. i've never played against one before but have played a shit ton of mill rogue so i know what makes those decks tick and what they're weak against. as soon as i saw him play his auctioneer (why would he have that in a mill deck?!) i kept all the cards that draw in my hand (thalnos, azure drake, etc.) and chose to let a few get burned through mill then out-draw him. at around turn 7 he was 3 or 4 cards ahead of me towards fatigue and i was content to fill the board with minions to keep him busy. i even had a chance to kill his coldlight but let it stay on the board in the hopes that he would have a way to bounce it and push himself further in the hole and a couple turns later he did.
i was basically playing freeze mage at that point; letting all of my burn collect in my hand. on turn 10 i cabalist tome'd into a couple fireballs and since he was completely fatigued and i had 7 cards left in my deck i started playing thalnos, drake, drake and next turn he was toasty from both my fireballs and his own fatigue damage. i still had a few cards in my deck and he'd fatigued turns ago.
how did i win? i did not immediately recognize the deck he was playing and have never played against it but using my knowledge of a mill deck i've played a bunch as well as just general hearthstone skill i was able to overcome his early surprising plays. he could have easily snowballed his early mill into an easy concede (i was thinking about it around turn 4 :P) but i decided to stick with it and completely altered the game plan of my entire deck (supposed to grab and keep tempo and ride it home like a bronco) and let him over-play himself. a newer player would not necessarily known what to do there.
Dead but dreaming
hearthstone is more about knowledge than skill.
Nothing. Playing on curve and having good RNG is what decises the vast majority of any game.
Player "skill" counts for something like once in 30 turns.
Everyone saying "avoid Shaman" and "get lucky" must be having a grand old time at Rank 20.
I'd go one step beyond some of the good answers already said here about deck knowledge (yours and your opponents), playing your outs, and adjusting your win condition, to add meta awareness. For everyone crying about Shaman there are people playing hard counters, or teching their decks to make the matchup favourable. When you get hit by a Secret Eater when you're playing Secret Hunter you're playing against someone who has thought about their deck, and made conscious decisions in deck building to make the matchup against yours better.
Finally, and probably the most important point, skilled players evaluate their games, and plays, and consider what they could have done differently to win. Sometimes the Rag you Mulched gave the Shaman King Krush for exact lethal, but more often than not there are key turns playing one way could have had a different outcome. Even if you aren't 'misplaying' in these circumstances, considering all the possibilities, and recognising after the fact that a different line could have given you the win will help you become a better player than going "nerf shamans pls".
Being able to construct and win with a deck that you didn't download from the internet.
Know how to pray to RNGsus. (Including how to draw the needed card)
world champion already confirmed that.
Trading
Thinking ahead
The Value game
Calculating risks
Deck building and Playing
Mechanic knowledge (especially obscure mechanics)
Playing the right stuff
Meta knowledge
skill - a competitive measurement of luck
Kaladin's RoS Set Review
Join me at Out of Cards!