Hearthpwn

Battletag: JiveJunkie#1670
Region: NA
Trade only? Yes for CELEBRATE THE PLAYERS

About the "synergy-based" first two choices, I'm wondering what spurred them to implement this. I can see the reasoning behind it - some cards are completely useless unless the deck can support them, especially a lot of the weaker Murlocs, or Fight Promoter, etc. But if it's just the first two cards, that's not nearly enough. If it's the first 20 cards, then it may make a huge difference.

I hadn't been hearing about any outcry from the community about lack of synergy-based decks, so I wonder if it's just an internal initiative that they decided to try out.

I know that hsreplay.net posts the highly useful winrate stats on individual cards in arena (https://hsreplay.net/cards/#gameType=ARENA).

However, I'm curious to see statistics for how the individual classes are faring in arena, preferably with match-ups against every other class. Also interested in seeing the stats for coin vs. 1st for each class. Anyone know where to find such data?

Well that's a shame, but thanks for the info. I'm not super interested in Wild format, but I do enjoy actually just playing through the adventures, especially the challenge mode.

Quote from TinyRick >>

Doesn't matter what the drop rates are for good cards or how much value per card there is. The biggest problem with arena is going first vs going second. As long as nothing changes with that, arena will be a coinflip and that isn't fun. Classes like Hunter and Rogue are close to unbeatable going first and playing 1-2-3-4-5 cost minions in order. It's impossible to balance this in terms of cards because even Flamestrike and Blizzard only helps you clear the board that turn and you still pass priority back. The game isn't fair until after turn 10, because until that point your opponent had a 10 mana advantage over you. 

Going second is just killing what your opponent plays every turn trying to survive and never getting a chance to hit them, so against high damage classes or consistent damage classes like rogue, hunter and mage, you just lose. It becomes really obvious in mirrors. You can play exactly the same cards or better than your opponent every turn and still lose. They can make play mistakes and you dont and you still lose. Your opponent has to play nothing for an entire turn in order for you to come back at any point in the game. 

They need to do something for the second player. Arena, wild or standard, will always be unfair for someone otherwise.

I notice that the Wild adventures are now on the Blizzard store: https://us.battle.net/shop/en/product/hearthstone-blackrock-mountain

However, they don't appear to be purchase-able in-game with gold. I can't find any info if they'll ever return to the in-game store or not - does anyone know?

Quote from AbusingKel >>

You've got it right, OP. The days of straight up curvestone arena are gone. Your own mention of board clear minions, along with what Caddage and Sinti mention, cover all the reasons pretty well. 

I came back to Hearthstone a few months ago after about a 2-year hiatus and notice my ability to draft successful tempo decks to rush the opponent down has decreased significantly.

I can usually structure my deck so I can get a really fast start and get them down to the low teens, but then parades of huge taunts and board clear come and stop it cold. Every class having access to two 2-damage board clears (Corrupted Seer and Primordial Drake) seems to be having an impact, and recent taunt powerhouses like Stonehill Defender, Spikeridged Steed and Bog Creeper seem to have incredible defensive value.

Recently my successful drafts (9+ wins) are all value-based midrange and control, with the notable exception of Rogue - I have managed to still get some crazy tempo decks with Sap, Backstab, etc. 

So is it just me, or is the format biased against tempo aggro at the moment?