I was just wondering. What makes a control deck a control deck. What makes a combo a combo. What makes a mid-range a mid-range? Etc.
I was also wondering if there are any more archetypes than control, mid-range, combo, miricle and aggro. (Not thinking about stuff like Reno, that would be control)
Aggro = Minions and spells low cost trying to kill the enemy fast as possible, don't spend any resource in high cost/high value cards, if opponent still standing after turn 8 you failed and concede.
Midrange = Try to play the best card possible in all mana curves.
Control = Try to stall and survive long enough with AoE, removals, draws and healing until your high cost/high value cards win the game.
Combo = Similar to control but try to get a specific combination of cards to win the game in one turn (or maximum two like mage quest).
I was just wondering. What makes a control deck a control deck. What makes a combo a combo. What makes a mid-range a mid-range? Etc.
I was also wondering if there are any more archetypes than control, mid-range, combo, miricle and aggro. (Not thinking about stuff like Reno, that would be control)
Please answer my questions.
The Terms Control, Combo, Aggro, and Midrange are the basic Archetype names of the decks you'll see on ladder. Most decks fall under one or more of these categories. Miracle is usually classified under "Combo". You can combine archetypes but they are not as prevalent in this game as opposed to other card games but they still exist. I'd say Jade Druid can fall under Midrange/Combo most of the time and sometimes Control. Pre nerf Combo Druid could've been classified as Midrange/Combo as well.
My Definitions:
Control: Looks to keep your opponent's board devoid of threats through removal, minions, etc and then wins through making your opponents run out of threats or through a Combo.
Examples of Control decks: Control Warrior, Taunt Warrior, Renolock, Freeze Mage,Control Priest
Aggro: A deck that is aggressive in nature. A deck that looks to kill your opponent(most of the time as fast as possible) through efficient use of minions, burn etc. These decks usually play minions that are hard to remove, plays a large amount of minions, or plays a lot of weapons and burn. Aggro decks usually do not fare well in late game.
Examples: Pirate Warrior, Zoolock, Face Hunter, Aggro Shaman,
Midrange: A deck that tries to curve out in all moments of the game. These decks can be more controlling in nature or more aggressive in nature. These decks have a well balanced curve that can fare well into late game.
Examples: Midrange Murloc Pally, Token Shaman,
Combo: A deck that uses a combo of 1 or more cards that wins the game or helps the player piloting the deck to win the game. In hearthstone most combo decks usually do not rely on combo's as a singular win condition with some exceptions of course.
Examples: Quest Rogue, Inner Fire Priest, Miracle Rogue, Malygos Shaman, Malygos Druid, Patron Warrior (Pre- Warsong Commander nerf), and Quest Mage, Combo Druid (pre Force of Nature
There are 2 main deck types, and several variations.
AGGRO: Quickly push massive amounts of face damage until the opponent dies. This deck is characterized mostly by having low cost cards so that you can play out your hand quickly. The playstyle involves mostly going for trades only in the first couple of turns. You get your early minions to accumulate repetitive damage, then when your opponent gains board control, you finish them off with burst. This deck style is characterized by being on a clock. Against heavier decks, aggro decks are unable to survive into the late game, because they are severely outvalued. This is the very reason the aggro deck must kill the opponent quickly, otherwise they will have time to play their strong cards, while all of your cards are comparatively weak. In order to do this, the deck has to be consistent
CONTROL: Survive. You have huge expensive cards in your deck, some of which can win the game single handedly when they are played. Basically, your deck is so heavy that you will out value anyone that enters the late game with you. For this very reason, your objective is simply to survive, because if you do, your cards are so big and strong that you will win the game. Because you have these expensive cards, your early game is less consistent, so it is sometimes difficult to deal with early game pressure.
Those are the 2 main deck types.
Some variations include: ZOO: A type of aggro deck in which you have less burst damage, but stronger board presence. COMBO: A type of control deck in which you have instead of alot of heavy cards, a few choice broken cards that have stupid interactions with one another and generate much more value than they should. Much more draw heavy, because you need to get to those broken cards. MIDRANGE: A deck that is all around and plays to counter whatever you are working against. Against Aggro, you play control. Against Control, you play aggressively.
and finally, CANCER: This is the deck that does not interact with your deck at all, and doesn't need to, because it plays itself, and your opponent has to react to you. This is when you have an aggro deck that plays out it's hand every turn, but still has enough draw to never run out of cards and continuously keeps up the pressure. Or when your Combo deck has all cheap cards, so you can combo your opponent to death while still in the early game. Or a control deck that always gets to the late game because it has the early game consistency of a zoo deck. When a deck has the benefits of one or more archetypes without the downsides, it's cancer.
Aggro decks focus on early tempo, burn, and winning before slower decks get to use their late-game win conditions. They intend to make the opponent answer their actions.
Control decks focus on board control, health gain and working towards their late-game win conditions. They intend to answer the opponent's actions.
Combo decks combine multiple cards or do a lot of set-up for an extraordinarily powerful win-condition.
All decks fall somewhere in-between these 3 archetypes, and they are the only archetypes you need to describe pretty much every deck out there. If you go a level lower you can find terms like "miracle", "burn", "fatigue", "mill", etc, which further pinpoints what a deck aims to do.
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I was just wondering. What makes a control deck a control deck. What makes a combo a combo. What makes a mid-range a mid-range? Etc.
I was also wondering if there are any more archetypes than control, mid-range, combo, miricle and aggro. (Not thinking about stuff like Reno, that would be control)
Please answer my questions.
Aggro = Minions and spells low cost trying to kill the enemy fast as possible, don't spend any resource in high cost/high value cards, if opponent still standing after turn 8 you failed and concede.
Midrange = Try to play the best card possible in all mana curves.
Control = Try to stall and survive long enough with AoE, removals, draws and healing until your high cost/high value cards win the game.
Combo = Similar to control but try to get a specific combination of cards to win the game in one turn (or maximum two like mage quest).
There are 2 main deck types, and several variations.
AGGRO: Quickly push massive amounts of face damage until the opponent dies. This deck is characterized mostly by having low cost cards so that you can play out your hand quickly. The playstyle involves mostly going for trades only in the first couple of turns. You get your early minions to accumulate repetitive damage, then when your opponent gains board control, you finish them off with burst. This deck style is characterized by being on a clock. Against heavier decks, aggro decks are unable to survive into the late game, because they are severely outvalued. This is the very reason the aggro deck must kill the opponent quickly, otherwise they will have time to play their strong cards, while all of your cards are comparatively weak. In order to do this, the deck has to be consistent
CONTROL: Survive. You have huge expensive cards in your deck, some of which can win the game single handedly when they are played. Basically, your deck is so heavy that you will out value anyone that enters the late game with you. For this very reason, your objective is simply to survive, because if you do, your cards are so big and strong that you will win the game. Because you have these expensive cards, your early game is less consistent, so it is sometimes difficult to deal with early game pressure.
Those are the 2 main deck types.
Some variations include:
ZOO: A type of aggro deck in which you have less burst damage, but stronger board presence.
COMBO: A type of control deck in which you have instead of alot of heavy cards, a few choice broken cards that have stupid interactions with one another and generate much more value than they should. Much more draw heavy, because you need to get to those broken cards.
MIDRANGE: A deck that is all around and plays to counter whatever you are working against. Against Aggro, you play control. Against Control, you play aggressively.
and finally,
CANCER: This is the deck that does not interact with your deck at all, and doesn't need to, because it plays itself, and your opponent has to react to you. This is when you have an aggro deck that plays out it's hand every turn, but still has enough draw to never run out of cards and continuously keeps up the pressure. Or when your Combo deck has all cheap cards, so you can combo your opponent to death while still in the early game. Or a control deck that always gets to the late game because it has the early game consistency of a zoo deck. When a deck has the benefits of one or more archetypes without the downsides, it's cancer.
I like to make cards and discuss game balance.
I enjoy when "No similar decks were found."
My latest deck: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1366184-scholomance-charge-rez-priest-wild
Aggro decks focus on early tempo, burn, and winning before slower decks get to use their late-game win conditions. They intend to make the opponent answer their actions.
Control decks focus on board control, health gain and working towards their late-game win conditions. They intend to answer the opponent's actions.
Combo decks combine multiple cards or do a lot of set-up for an extraordinarily powerful win-condition.
All decks fall somewhere in-between these 3 archetypes, and they are the only archetypes you need to describe pretty much every deck out there. If you go a level lower you can find terms like "miracle", "burn", "fatigue", "mill", etc, which further pinpoints what a deck aims to do.