I used to play pretty regularly and then drifted away just after the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion, so haven't had any cards since then. So I wondered which sets were good value for getting back into the game? I generally played Wild Ranked rather than Standard so would be quite happy with buying a bunch of cards for sets I've missed out on. I'm probably looking at getting a couple of the bigger (60) card packs from some sets.
Sets I've missed are: Witchwood, Boomsday Project, Rastakhans Rumble, Rise of Shadows (is the Dalaran Heist part of this? Worth getting?) and obviously Saviours of Uldum. I also have about 7600 in dust to play with, plus a bunch of other cards I could potentially dust and use (older gold duplicates).
I've been away for so long that I have no idea what the meta is but I used to bounce around between every class so have no firm favourite. Any help/suggestions at all would be great and apologies if this was posted in the wrong place.
I don't play a lot of Wild, so I have no idea of the state of the meta there. Judging by the threads on Hearthpwn however, Big Priest is still a menace. As far as card packs go, if you wish to play Wild, the last expansion, Saviors of Uldum, adds multiple Highlander-cards that see play in Wild as well. Most notably, Zephrys the Great and Reno the Relicologist. I would not recommend buying anything from Witchwood, Boomsday or Rumble, as most cards in those sets see very little play in Wild, as far as I know.
If you have a desire to play Standard, it greatly depends on which style you like. If it's Control, and you like winning, Control Warrior is the still the beast to beat. Most of these cards come from Boomsday. Highlander Mage and Highlander Hunter are also strong picks, which would mean you want to invest in Saviors of Uldum. If you wish to play Aggro, Murloc Shaman and Murloc Pally, and maybe even Zoolock, have seen strong additions from Uldum as well. The very few Combo decks that are out there, rely on Mecha'thun or Chef Nomi, although Maly Druid has also seen a slight increase of play-rate.
As a general rule of thumb, I always tell people in similar situations to not buy packs from more than 2 expansions ago. This would mean Saviors of Uldum and Rise of Shadows. In this case, I would suggest that also. Specifically because you play Wild, which means fewer Legendaries actually see play. Additionally, Zilliax is a must-craft for most decks, while Zephrys the Great has also been named as a staple for any Highlander deck. Lastly, SoU will also give you a chance to get new Quests, but I'm unsure which ones see play in Wild.
EDIT: Just to clarify, I'd use your current dust, and the duplicate dust from your new packs, to craft the Legendaries you want from previous expansions.
That's super helpful thanks. Probably dip into the last couple of expansions then and use my dust to pick up any cards from the older sets as I need them. I was always a bit of a collector first and foremost, so it pains me to miss out on a bunch of sets completely - but I'd rather have decks I can use in Wild and Standard and actually be competitive with.
Hopefully there might be some deals on the cards from the older sets now and then, as I know they've been run before, so I can always wait for those as well. Cheers.
Now to look into some good decks and baulk at the dust cost required.
It depends on what exactly you want to get back to. If you are just looking for a strong deck, if you want to get your collection up to date, if you want to play mostly Wild or wish to switch to Standard.
Since you are mainly asking about sets, I'll try to break down what you've been missing and what you might want to get for whatever purpose:
The Witchwood: A set with a relatively low impact and few good cards in it. 3-4 legendaries are still good, and each class has maybe two or three decent cards that are still useful. The neutral section isn't looking much better. You want mostly commons and a few rares and a handful of epics, that are still good/interesting. Unfortunately, the undeniably best cards of the set, Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater along with a few cards that worked exclusively with them, were prematurely rotated to the Hall of Fame in April. In other words, you can no longer get them in packs, and would have to craft them. These two legendaries had a huge impact (which is why they were rotated) and are still quite relevant in Wild (Baku works extremely well with Paladin, Rogue and somewhat with Mage and Warrior, Genn is great for Shaman, Warlock and is also ok for Paladin). Generally, Witchwood isn't too good, and you might just want to craft the cards you want from the set.
The Boomsday Project: A set that initially did not take off, but is now one of the most important sets in Standard. It has some decent cards for Wild as well, but isn't that important. It holds several strong cards especially for Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin and Warrior. The neutrals also have some fairly good cards. Especially Zilliax is very solid across many different classes and a card likely worth getting. Certainly a set I'd purchase a few packs from.
Rastakhan's Rumble: Another set that has a handful of decent cards, but most of them are not that great. Similarly to Witchwood, you want to get maybe two or three cards per class, and a couple neutral cards and that's about it.
Rise of Shadows: Pretty strong set with a high impact for Standard, and some for Wild too. Has some very good cards for Druid, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Shaman and Warrior, and some very good neutrals. Obviously worth getting lots of packs from, if you want to focus more on Standard since it won't rotate for quite a while, and still worth some investment if you care about Wild. As for the Dalaran Heist: It is primarily single-player content and beating wings will just award you with packs (3 per wing). Getting and beating the entire adventure awards you with card backs, a golden Classic pack and a golden Zayle, Shadow Cloak, an unimpressive legendary. Unless you care about single-player stuff, it isn't really worth it.
Saviors of Uldum: It's a bit early to say how big its impact will ultimately be, but it already looks pretty decent. Zephrys the Great is so strong that it inspires Highlander decks in Standard again, and needless to say it is a very good card for Wild Reno Decks. But it came out just a week ago, and it's still a bit early to tell. Since you should be getting some promotional stuff for it still, just grab what freebies are handed out and maybe get a few extra packs from it.
Bottomline: Boomsday and Rise of Shadows are pretty good sets, Uldum looks good for now, while Witchwood and Rastakhan are not really worth buying too many packs from, but hold a few decent cards worth crafting.
Current meta in Standard: Control Warrior is an extremely strong deck, and not unlikely to get nerfed, since it is virtually the same since the launch of Rise of Shadows, and few decks can reliably beat it. Hunter is looking pretty good with its Mech, Secret and Highlander builds, and Mage has some solid options too. The rest of the classes are still in an experimental phase, and the next two weeks will show how the meta eventually turns out.
Current meta in Wild: Big Priest continues to be a hot topic (almost the same deck you might remember from Kobolds and Catacombs) that many people would like to see go away. The rest of the meta is fairly aggressive, mostly just to beat Priest: Odd Paladin, Odd Rogue, Mech Hunter, Murloc Shaman and Even Shaman are all decks that try to end games quickly while having a solid chance against each other. Quest Mage (with Open the Waygate) is also a very strong deck that is a bit more combo-oriented in playstyle.
Feel free to ask if you have more specific questions about decks or cards or whatever else might concern you.
In what I can only assume was a moment of genius/madness I actually logged onto the game back when Genn and Baku were going to be rotated into the Hall of Fame and crafted their gold versions - then got all the dust back when they were added to the HoF. So well done past me. But it's nice to see that there are a couple of sets I can safely skip with just a bit of crafting.
Will stick with Rise of Shadows and Saviours for now and see what I get. Though I do like the look of a number of the Boomsday cards, but might just craft a few. Probably best that I finish opening the packs I get, choose a relevant deck and then see what I'm missing from there.
Ok a couple people have already gone into details, so I'm just going to give you my quick advice. Just craft Zayle, Shadow Cloak or Whizbang the Wonderful and run that until you get the meta figured out and know what you want to play.
In what I can only assume was a moment of genius/madness I actually logged onto the game back when Genn and Baku were going to be rotated into the Hall of Fame and crafted their gold versions - then got all the dust back when they were added to the HoF. So well done past me. But it's nice to see that there are a couple of sets I can safely skip with just a bit of crafting.
Will stick with Rise of Shadows and Saviours for now and see what I get. Though I do like the look of a number of the Boomsday cards, but might just craft a few. Probably best that I finish opening the packs I get, choose a relevant deck and then see what I'm missing from there.
Save enough to craft a golden Dr. Boom, Mad Genius. There are a lot of people pushing for you to be able to double that dust soon!
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I used to play pretty regularly and then drifted away just after the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion, so haven't had any cards since then. So I wondered which sets were good value for getting back into the game? I generally played Wild Ranked rather than Standard so would be quite happy with buying a bunch of cards for sets I've missed out on. I'm probably looking at getting a couple of the bigger (60) card packs from some sets.
Sets I've missed are: Witchwood, Boomsday Project, Rastakhans Rumble, Rise of Shadows (is the Dalaran Heist part of this? Worth getting?) and obviously Saviours of Uldum. I also have about 7600 in dust to play with, plus a bunch of other cards I could potentially dust and use (older gold duplicates).
I've been away for so long that I have no idea what the meta is but I used to bounce around between every class so have no firm favourite. Any help/suggestions at all would be great and apologies if this was posted in the wrong place.
I don't play a lot of Wild, so I have no idea of the state of the meta there. Judging by the threads on Hearthpwn however, Big Priest is still a menace. As far as card packs go, if you wish to play Wild, the last expansion, Saviors of Uldum, adds multiple Highlander-cards that see play in Wild as well. Most notably, Zephrys the Great and Reno the Relicologist. I would not recommend buying anything from Witchwood, Boomsday or Rumble, as most cards in those sets see very little play in Wild, as far as I know.
If you have a desire to play Standard, it greatly depends on which style you like. If it's Control, and you like winning, Control Warrior is the still the beast to beat. Most of these cards come from Boomsday. Highlander Mage and Highlander Hunter are also strong picks, which would mean you want to invest in Saviors of Uldum. If you wish to play Aggro, Murloc Shaman and Murloc Pally, and maybe even Zoolock, have seen strong additions from Uldum as well. The very few Combo decks that are out there, rely on Mecha'thun or Chef Nomi, although Maly Druid has also seen a slight increase of play-rate.
As a general rule of thumb, I always tell people in similar situations to not buy packs from more than 2 expansions ago. This would mean Saviors of Uldum and Rise of Shadows. In this case, I would suggest that also. Specifically because you play Wild, which means fewer Legendaries actually see play. Additionally, Zilliax is a must-craft for most decks, while Zephrys the Great has also been named as a staple for any Highlander deck. Lastly, SoU will also give you a chance to get new Quests, but I'm unsure which ones see play in Wild.
EDIT: Just to clarify, I'd use your current dust, and the duplicate dust from your new packs, to craft the Legendaries you want from previous expansions.
Dad, husband, gamer, fueled by coffee.
Currently playing Dragon Galakrond Priest, Dragon Galakrond Warrior and Highlander Dragon Hunter.
That's super helpful thanks. Probably dip into the last couple of expansions then and use my dust to pick up any cards from the older sets as I need them. I was always a bit of a collector first and foremost, so it pains me to miss out on a bunch of sets completely - but I'd rather have decks I can use in Wild and Standard and actually be competitive with.
Hopefully there might be some deals on the cards from the older sets now and then, as I know they've been run before, so I can always wait for those as well. Cheers.
Now to look into some good decks and baulk at the dust cost required.
It depends on what exactly you want to get back to. If you are just looking for a strong deck, if you want to get your collection up to date, if you want to play mostly Wild or wish to switch to Standard.
Since you are mainly asking about sets, I'll try to break down what you've been missing and what you might want to get for whatever purpose:
The Witchwood:
A set with a relatively low impact and few good cards in it. 3-4 legendaries are still good, and each class has maybe two or three decent cards that are still useful. The neutral section isn't looking much better. You want mostly commons and a few rares and a handful of epics, that are still good/interesting. Unfortunately, the undeniably best cards of the set, Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater along with a few cards that worked exclusively with them, were prematurely rotated to the Hall of Fame in April. In other words, you can no longer get them in packs, and would have to craft them. These two legendaries had a huge impact (which is why they were rotated) and are still quite relevant in Wild (Baku works extremely well with Paladin, Rogue and somewhat with Mage and Warrior, Genn is great for Shaman, Warlock and is also ok for Paladin). Generally, Witchwood isn't too good, and you might just want to craft the cards you want from the set.
The Boomsday Project:
A set that initially did not take off, but is now one of the most important sets in Standard. It has some decent cards for Wild as well, but isn't that important. It holds several strong cards especially for Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin and Warrior. The neutrals also have some fairly good cards. Especially Zilliax is very solid across many different classes and a card likely worth getting. Certainly a set I'd purchase a few packs from.
Rastakhan's Rumble:
Another set that has a handful of decent cards, but most of them are not that great. Similarly to Witchwood, you want to get maybe two or three cards per class, and a couple neutral cards and that's about it.
Rise of Shadows:
Pretty strong set with a high impact for Standard, and some for Wild too. Has some very good cards for Druid, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Shaman and Warrior, and some very good neutrals. Obviously worth getting lots of packs from, if you want to focus more on Standard since it won't rotate for quite a while, and still worth some investment if you care about Wild.
As for the Dalaran Heist: It is primarily single-player content and beating wings will just award you with packs (3 per wing). Getting and beating the entire adventure awards you with card backs, a golden Classic pack and a golden Zayle, Shadow Cloak, an unimpressive legendary. Unless you care about single-player stuff, it isn't really worth it.
Saviors of Uldum:
It's a bit early to say how big its impact will ultimately be, but it already looks pretty decent. Zephrys the Great is so strong that it inspires Highlander decks in Standard again, and needless to say it is a very good card for Wild Reno Decks. But it came out just a week ago, and it's still a bit early to tell. Since you should be getting some promotional stuff for it still, just grab what freebies are handed out and maybe get a few extra packs from it.
Bottomline: Boomsday and Rise of Shadows are pretty good sets, Uldum looks good for now, while Witchwood and Rastakhan are not really worth buying too many packs from, but hold a few decent cards worth crafting.
Current meta in Standard: Control Warrior is an extremely strong deck, and not unlikely to get nerfed, since it is virtually the same since the launch of Rise of Shadows, and few decks can reliably beat it. Hunter is looking pretty good with its Mech, Secret and Highlander builds, and Mage has some solid options too. The rest of the classes are still in an experimental phase, and the next two weeks will show how the meta eventually turns out.
Current meta in Wild: Big Priest continues to be a hot topic (almost the same deck you might remember from Kobolds and Catacombs) that many people would like to see go away. The rest of the meta is fairly aggressive, mostly just to beat Priest: Odd Paladin, Odd Rogue, Mech Hunter, Murloc Shaman and Even Shaman are all decks that try to end games quickly while having a solid chance against each other. Quest Mage (with Open the Waygate) is also a very strong deck that is a bit more combo-oriented in playstyle.
Feel free to ask if you have more specific questions about decks or cards or whatever else might concern you.
In what I can only assume was a moment of genius/madness I actually logged onto the game back when Genn and Baku were going to be rotated into the Hall of Fame and crafted their gold versions - then got all the dust back when they were added to the HoF. So well done past me. But it's nice to see that there are a couple of sets I can safely skip with just a bit of crafting.
Will stick with Rise of Shadows and Saviours for now and see what I get. Though I do like the look of a number of the Boomsday cards, but might just craft a few. Probably best that I finish opening the packs I get, choose a relevant deck and then see what I'm missing from there.
Ok a couple people have already gone into details, so I'm just going to give you my quick advice. Just craft Zayle, Shadow Cloak or Whizbang the Wonderful and run that until you get the meta figured out and know what you want to play.
Save enough to craft a golden Dr. Boom, Mad Genius. There are a lot of people pushing for you to be able to double that dust soon!
"Why, you never expected justice from a company, did you? They have neither a soul to lose nor a body to kick." -- Lady Saba Holland