Hearthpwn

Match 4: Paladin. This one started strange and stayed on the weird side. Going first I kept a 2/3 minion in my hand in case opponent coins a minibot, but instead he coins... Argent Watchman? I play my juggler, he dropped a bomber, which hits juggler, watchman, and opponent. Turn 3 I play blademaster and trade into his bomber, he plays Fencing Coach and HP for free--well played. He then goes face with watchman. Fast forward about 10 turns and despite getting heals from 2 truesilvers, 1 seal of light, and an anti-kill bot (plus my own funnel cake vendor), I've managed to leverage my hero power into enough card advantage to take over the board and start pushing face. Despite having to deal 54 face damage, I finally won the attrition battle. 2-2.

Match 5: Paladin. Bad draw into bad mulligan = turn 2 life tap. Only 2 drop I got from my mulligan and first 2 draws was Haunted Creeper, which I coined. Opponent also plays a creeper, and after I tap I finally see a way to curve through... but it's too late. I have no catch up mechanics in this deck, and missing turn 2 slowly but surely puts me further behind. Nail in the coffin is when opponent plays Cobalt Guardian and Micro Machine back to back. 2-3.

While not as disastrous as my first warlock run, this run does little to ease my frustration with this class. I've read all the icy-veins guides, and most of the guides on hearthstoneplayers as well, but Gul'dan just doesn't seem to like me. On to the next run.

Match 2: Paladin. Played first, both pass turn 1. Drop my gilblin turn 2, opponent coins a cobra. Turn 3 I drop stonesplinter and WISP! HA! Cobra poisons my trogg and hero power. Turn 4 MY WISP GETS A KILL, taking out the cobra, then my stalker pops the recruit and I drop my yeti. Opponent drops taz dingo. Turn 5 I drop Defender of Argus between my guys, kill Taz with my yeti, and go face. Opponent puts BoW on my yeti, drops a huge toad, and HP. Turn 6 I drop my infernal. Next turn opponent concedes. I'm guessing his/her draw must have been REALLY bad. 1-1.

Match 3: Warlock. I thought I started fairly well, dropping stonesplinter turn 2 (hoping to catch a buff from the coin) and felguard turn 3, without opponent life tapping turn 2. I made the mistake of playing into a hellfire, though, and suddenly the most unbelievable sequence of card draw I've ever seen ensues: mortal coil, inventor, peddler, 2 tomb spiders... all from a WARLOCK. My deck's lack of finishing power was horribly exposed, as well as my lack of perceptive play. I have to remember the class AOEs and what turn they can be played. Oh, did I mention the 2 shredders? Popped a f*ing totem golem out of the first one. My warlock woes continue. 1-2.

That was almost exactly my opening sequence: Gilblin Stalker was turn 1, next 3 exactly what you suggested. I'll just try to chalk it up to getting outplayed and carry on.

Match 1: Rogue. This one started badly and got worse. Opponent went first and dropped a zombie chow turn 1, so I'm already behind, but the nail in the coffin was the dark iron stalker that almost wiped my board. I thought dropping my infernal might give me a shot, but he Burgled a Soulfire that gave him lethal. 0-1.

I'm really frustrated. That's 4 losses in 4 games with warlock in arena. I just don't know how to warlock, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

What are your thoughts on Felguard? I kept it in my opening hand this match, but I wonder if it was the right move. Maybe it's only good to keep when going first? I just felt behind the whole game (common feeling for me, actually), and losing a mana crystal definitely didn't seem to help, no matter the stat bonus on the card.

What's the best way to let go of a frustrating run? Start another run, of course! Malfurion, Jaina, and Gul'dan offer to help me along. Well, Malfurion and Jaina offer to help; Gul'dan tries to eat my soul for some reason. Warlocks. But as it happens, my formula dictates I go with Gul'dan anyway (only one run, and it was a brutal 0-3). So I carefully ward myself against possession and embrace the shadow...

WARLOCK RUN 2

http://www.heartharena.com/arena-run/777572

It's always interesting to compare my picks with the algorithm's suggestions. I reference 2 different tier lists (adwcta and sottle), but I only use heartharena for record keeping and hindsight evaluation. Anyway, draft thoughts:

Pick 3: really? REALLY?

Pick 15: I was surprised to see how highly Voidwalker was favored over Acidic Swamp Ooze. I went with the ooze because the walker dies easy to most 2 drops and I like holding the ooze (when practical) against weapon classes just to piss them off.

Pick 22: why is Master Jouster rated so high? It's has low stats for its cost unless it wins the joust, and contrary to popular belief, that's not a 50/50 shot, because you lose ties. I'm also low on 4 drops at that point. I take the blademaster so I don't run the risk of having to silence my own minion and on the off-chance it gets pulled straight onto the battlefield by some effect, making it 4/7.

Pick 27: I'm not taking a bad 1 drop over an average 3 drop, especially when I need 3 drops.

Pick 29: surprised the Blood Imp got the huge rating boost. I guess it makes another target for my 2 Demonfires, but what I saw was a solid 4 drop.

Not sure what to think. Tier score is a bit low, but I'm thinking this deck will play faster than HA indicates. Any advice on piloting?

Match 5: Paladin. Had a difficult mulligan decision, 2xDeath's Bite and Worgen Infiltrator. Decided to keep one Bite and the worgen, hoping to either draw into turn 2 or catch up on turn 4 with the weapon. I did not draw into turn 2, and while I did clear his board and even had good board presence on turn 8 with Lost Tallstrider and activated Fossilized Devilsaur, I never quite had enough punch to finish him off. Never drew a Battle Rage, so when we came down to top-decking, his recruits started adding up. By the time I drew Ysera, it was too late. 2-3.

Gotta let this run go. That mage match will haunt me if I let it. Warrior seems to be the least forgiving class when it comes to making up for mistakes--outside of weapons, there's no real comeback mechanic. Ah well, on to the next run.

Either Grommash or Rafaam. I'd lean toward Rafaam just because playing it on turn 9 leads straight into a powerful turn 10 play, but either would be a fine choice. Imho, Reno might influence you to draft sub-optimally without a guarantee of payoff. The other two allow you to draft for a strong deck, regardless of whether you draw the legend or not.

Match 3: Hunter. Interesting choice on the mulligan. I had my bomber, which I kept, and Inner Rage, which I chucked, but then I had to choose between Death's Bite and Arathi Weaponsmith. Figuring a hunter to have small minions, I went with the smith, and it paid off. After some early trading left me ahead on the board, turn 4 he nuked one of my minions with a horserider and dropped a Tournament Attendee, leaving me with a Haunted Creeper. The 2/2 from the weaponsmith easily dispatched the taunt, while my creeper took out the horserider. Turn 6 I was able to lower him to 14 health and drop my Drakonid Crusher, after which he either disconnected or just exited the game. Either way next turn he died. 2-1.

Match 4: Mage. Salt. There is salt. So much salt. Playing second, I curve well into a turn 4 arathi, with opponent curving well also, so we have a competitive board. After carefully feeling out his secret (ice barrier), I have 2 minions to his 4. I play Inner Rage on my Gilblin Stalker, giving it enough attack to take out his leftmost minion. I then play Battle Rage, getting 2 cards: Dire Wolf Alpha and Kor'kron Elite. This gives me enough to take out all his minions except a 1/3 Mana Wyrm. Unfortunately, when I send my kor'kron (buffed by the dire wolf) to kill his Coliseum Manager, I have a momentary disconnect... JUST long enough for my rope to burn out. So instead of having my 2/2 and a 4/1 (5/1) against his 1/3, my kor'kron is undamaged and he still has his manager. Arcane Blast on my dire wolf (mana wyrm to 2/3), manager into kor'kron, fire blast kor'kron, recast Coliseum Manager. Over the next several turns that damn manager bounces back and forth from opponent's hand, basically giving him a free 2 damage every turn. Insert screams of rage here. Somehow I still managed to keep enough pressure to keep the game within reach, but he eventually won the top-deck war when he dropped a chillwind and used Blizzard to freeze my devilsaur. I had to walk away for a bit. 2-2.

Match 1: Hunter. Went first, but somehow always felt a step behind. Ran out of steam in mid-game when I couldn't pull any of my big drops until match was decided. 0-1.

Match 2: Paladin. This match went back and forth. My weapons helped me keep the board clear, and I was in good shape until opponent's Coghammer buffed his North Sea Kraken. Then I top-decked my Execute. Got lucky. 1-1.

WARRIOR RUN 2

http://www.heartharena.com/arena-run/a598bw

Draft thoughts: hello, pick 10. Only my second legendary choice so far, and this time it's a toughie. I finally decide on Ysera instead of Nefarian because it's harder to remove and keeps giving more resources the longer it lives, but I would be happy with either.

Pick 16: I struggled with this one. I knew I was in need of 3-drops and already had a few big drops, but I've had a lot of good moments with Spectral Knight, and honestly I felt Ironfur Grizzly would die too often to 3/2 2-drops. I ended up light on 3's, so I may look back on this one and wonder.

Pick 19: at this point I'm in dire need of 3-drops, and even if the battlecry doesn't fire, it's 3/3 for 3. The creeper is a nice card, but I was already heavy on big drops.

Pick 28: the venture's drawback doesn't scare me too much. Either I use it to trade into an opposing big drop, force out a large removal, or, if my opponent tries to make me suffer by leaving it alive, I go face with it for 7 per turn. I like the amani, but I'm bleeding 2-drops at that point.

Pick 29: might be a mistake, but I wanted more card draw. It hurt to pass on the dwarf, though.

Pick 30: it may seem bizarre to pick a card designed around secrets as a warrior, but follow me here: Summoning Stone sucks, and I absolutely despise Gnomish Experimenter. 2/4 for 3 mana is good value that trades well with most 2-drops and will stick to the board against a lot of 3-drops. I hope.

My curve is a bit wonky, but at least I should open well. Too bad all my weapons are 4 mana, but I hope to create some value there. I'm not putting too much thought into Ysera; I got excited when I drafted Ragnaros the Firelord, but I only saw it 3 times that run, played it twice, and one of those times it got sheeped. So I'm not getting too psyched over one card.

Match 7: Paladin. My initial draw is 2 4-drops and 2 6-drops, so I chuck them all and pray. Totem Golem, Voodoo Doctor, Lightning Storm, and Defender of Argus. First draw is my other golem. This gives me a solid opening, and I manage to keep his board clear most turns, taking a few shots at him here and there to whittle him down. He drops a Frost Giant, but after I SMOrc him down enough to activate my Drakonid Crusher, he has to buff it with Dark Iron Dwarf and sacrifice it. I finally set up lethal by dropping him to 2 health with a face Lava Burst and Silent Knight on the board... and the f*er SMOrcs me down to exactly 12 health and drops Deathwing! And my hand is empty. I have 3 chances: draw my Lightning Bolt, draw my Hex, or stick a minion on the board and pray for a Stoneclaw Totem. I draw Harvest Golem. I summon Healing Totem. GG. 4-3.

A little disappointed with how that run ended, but sometimes RNG just doesn't go your way. At one point my bomber had  a better than 70% chance to take out his 4/1 dwarf, but missed. Without that dwarf to trade for another of my minions, I hit lethal before he can drop big D. As for having Deathwing dropped on me, well, hat tip to my opponent on his good fortune. On to the next run; it shall be my second go round with Garrosh. As always, I'll post the draft when it's done.

So I recently got my wife to start playing Hearthstone and she just got Jaina to level 20 to make her eligible for Tavern Brawl.

She can't play this brawl.

She tried to make a shaman deck, but after putting every card she had available in her deck, it was only 24 cards. Her other classes had the same problem. Nice job by Blizzard to make sure new players feel included.

Match 5: Druid. Tried to get pressure on him early, but couldn't keep the game from going long. A late Molten Giant followed by a Druid of the Claw shut me down. 3-2.

Match 6: Rogue. I don't know what it is, but I seem to have a knack for beating rogues (currently 75% win rate). Playing first, I drop a Totem Golem after opponent plays a worgen. Opponent Saps my golem (not a bad tempo move, considering the overload) and SMOrcs with the worgen. Mad Bomber does me good and kills the worgen. From there on it was just a matter of staying ahead on the board. Watching my opponent throw his best 2 minions into my activated Drakonid Crusher only to watch another minion die when I drop my Fire Elemental must have demoralized him, as I got a concession soon after. 4-2.

Quote from vodkavlaflip »

If I keep stormforged axe, I wouldn't keep either bolt or rockbiter. As you use rockbiter on your weapon and bolt gives you early overload you don't want.

This was my thought in hindsight. I had an opportunity on turn 3 after opponent used arcane missiles to clear my spectral spiders but left his own board empty, but all I could do was HP. Turn 4 wasn't much better. It was a chance to get ahead and force suboptimal plays, and I couldn't take advantage.

Match 3: Hunter. Another slow start going first, having to pass and HP turn 2, but opponent drops Dragon Egg and shoots me, so I'm not far behind. Fell behind on the board thanks to Freezing Trap eating my Hungry Dragon, but Fire Elemental caught me up again. Most satisfying part of the match was drawing my Kezan Mystic at just the right time to steal his Explosive Trap, which is what finally killed him. He was at 3 health and should have had lethal when he attacked with a 3 health minion, but he failed to account for my spell damage totem. This one was close, but I won. 3-0.

Match 4: Mage. I think I lost this one in the mulligan. Playing second, I chose to keep my Stormforged Axe, Lightning Bolt, and Rockbiter Weapon, trading my draconid crusher for Haunted Creeper. This gave me a pretty good opening, but come turns 3 and 4 I had no good plays to make. While I managed to remain competitive on the board, I couldn't apply enough pressure, and opponent finally burned me down. 3-1.