Hearthpwn

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but try looking at the lists from the Wednesday Managrind Limited tournaments.  Epics and legendaries are banned in the format, so the decklists are budget-friendly.

Here's a link to last week's top NA decklists:  http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/managrind/content/8637-managrinds-na-wednesday-limited-swiss-9

I am all for using emotes.  I regularly use "Hello" and "Well Played" at the start and end of a game, to me it shows courtesy and good sportsmanship.  At times I get annoyed by people who spam them or use them sarcastically (particularly "Thanks" and "Sorry"), it's just not respectful.  But hey, its the internet, why would I expect people to treat each other like human beings?

Quote from Steko »

I posted a rough emote translation guide on reddit yesterday:

Greetings: (1) Hello, (2) Did you forget to click end turn?, (3) I have ADD and/or am a huge asshole.

Well Played: (1) Good game {game over/about to end}, (2) Holy fuck that was some RNG, (3) that completely obvious play looks like it's shifted the advantage to you, (4) that was a genuinely good play, well done, (5) you made a mistake and I'm a huge asshole.

Sorry: (1) Apologies for me being alt tabbed, AFK or unnecessarily slow, (2) that was some terrible RNG for you, (3) you would surely have won if I didn't topdeck Leeroy, (4) I'm a huge asshole.

Thanks: (1) {after Well Played from opponent during game} Thank you, (2) {after taking your stuff or after Well Played at end of the game} I'm a huge asshole.

Oops: (1) Darn, I made a dumb error, (2) you made an error and I'm a huge asshole.

Threaten: (1) we're friends and it's cool for me to threaten you, (2) I'm a huge asshole.

http://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/1zmpkb/emote_idea_suspectedpredictedfeared_option/cfve8wu

This seems about right to me.

Defender of Argus might be a good fit here.  He can buff up your early drops, giving you some extra damage.  The added taunts will help you on defense since your opponent will have to deal with your taunt minions before hitting you in the face, giving you some more time to get to your bigger threats.  Throwing down a DoA while you have a Frothing Berserker in play is always nice if you have another minion or two in play, you can give the other minions taunt, allowing your Berserker to get huge while your opponent deals with your taunters.  If you decide to try the Defender, I'd take out the two Dark Iron Dwarf.

Currently, there's not much reason to hold on to Onyxia, Illidan, or Nozdormu, unless you're going for a full collection.  However, with the upcoming patch, I would recommend waiting to craft anything major until more details are released.  Who knows what might be changed, or what cards might become the next big thing, and if you use your dust now, you'll have to wait to collect enough to make the next uber-legendary.  I would recommend waiting it out for a couple of days/weeks until we have more info on the patch, and make your decisions based on that information.

Quote from Tarcrist »

So you're basically recommending spending your time on 2 accounts, which will make your card collection grow half as slow :(. I've done the same thing with League of Legends but I wouldn't advise it.

It depends on what your goals are in the game.  This thread is about ways to play the arena often without paying real money for it.  One effective way to do so is by using 2 accounts, which doubles your daily quest income, allowing you to have more gold to use for Arena entry.  Yes, it does split your play time across multiple accounts, slowing your collection growth slightly.  But it certainly does not slow it by half, as most of my gold income comes from quests and arena rewards.  The meager 10 gold per 3 wins from constructed play is the least time-efficient form of income in the game. 

Also, many players are interested solely in Arena and not constructed; card collection matters little to these players.  If you are interested primarily in constructed and want to fill out your collection ASAP, this method is probably not right for you.

Charge is only relevant the turn a minion is played.  It has no affect on freeze or other debuffs (although if a card with charge somehow became frozen on the turn it was played before it attacked, it would then not be able to attack that turn).

Now I want there to be a card that can do that, maybe a secret that triggers when a minion comes into play, freezing that minion and adjacent minions (a mash-up of Snipe & Cone of Cold without the damage).

Melindar#1946  (I'm on the NA server)

Been playing since October (got my invite the week after the wipe).  Up for talking strategy on cards/decks/arena, or just generally BSing with other Hearthstone players.  Feel free to add me and introduce yourself, game challenges are welcome!

4 power minions are very strong against a priest, since they sit out of range of both shadow word spells.  So I would recommend holding onto any Yetis, Druids of the Claw, Azure Drakes, etc. in an opening hand.  Other than that, try to be aware of what cards a priest has available.  Save a silence for any Divine Spirit/Inner Fire shenanigans, and try to draw out their Mind Controls before dropping your big threats.

Honestly, having an opening hand of 3 ancients is going to lead to a tough game for you versus any class, not just priests.  It happens sometimes, but unless you have an innervate in hand, you're best off to mulligan the high cost cards and hope to get some early game cards.  Also, I agree with Zherbus with turn 2 Yeti, turn 3 golem, and hopefully draw into another play for turn 4.

Honestly if you have 2 accounts and play a few occasional constructed games to complete quests every couple of days, it is not hard to always have an active arena going.  I created a second account a few weeks back to see how I could do with a F2P account, and between my 2 accounts I can play Arena as much as I want.

Quote from Shaddolf »

I would enjoy HS a lot more if a) decks were standardised and you just picked a premade deck every time

b) the meta never changed so you could play one deck forever

You can do this.  Just select the basic deck of the class of your choice, and play practice games vs. the AI.  Eureka, standardized decks in a never-changing meta!

Quote from Powergamez »

Quote from Melindar »

I'm pretty sure that in a recent article the lead designers of Hearthstone stated that the player going first has a higher win % across all the classes.  They did indicate that the win rate for rogues going second was closer to that of rogues going first, but those going first still had the high win %.  While the coin can create some ridiculous plays, the overall statistics don't show that it is as OP as many people thinks it is.  Players going first (who therefore don't have the coin) still win more often than those going second.

I know personally for myself going second is a lot better.

My win rate for going second compared to going first is 21% higher.

While I respect your experience and opinion, one person having a significantly higher win rate going second does not reflect the overall state of the game and the thousands of people who play it.  Blizzard has continually monitored the win rates of those going first vs second, and the evidence they have presented has been favorable for the player going first every time I've seen it.

I'm pretty sure that in a recent article the lead designers of Hearthstone stated that the player going first has a higher win % across all the classes.  They did indicate that the win rate for rogues going second was closer to that of rogues going first, but those going first still had the high win %.  While the coin can create some ridiculous plays, the overall statistics don't show that it is as OP as many people thinks it is.  Players going first (who therefore don't have the coin) still win more often than those going second.

The deck costs 760 dust.  While it will take a little while to obtain all the cards, it is pretty reasonable to construct a deck of that dust cost within a few days/weeks of completing quests and playing arenas.

Plus, it really shouldn't require that much dust, because in the process of acquiring dust you're bound to open at least a few of the commons required.

Quote from Powergamez »

I had 4 legendaries (rag, alexstraza, tinkmaster, deathwing) then I saved up dust and crafted a leeroy. The very next packet I opened....... a mother fucking leeroy jenkins LOL

Lol, yeah that's my biggest fear when it comes to crafting.  Such a shame to put all your dust into a card, then find it in a pack soon after.