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Preparing for Standard & Beyond - What to do Before the Expansion Hits
We're just under a week away from the announcement of what comes next, and assuming the expansion doesn't hit the week after like it did with the League of Explorers, we've got some time to kill and prepare for the awesomeness that is sure to come.
So, what can we do in preparation for that expansion? We're here to address that!
Please note that we are not taking "pity timer legendaries" into any of the following math.
For those not aware, the pity timer ensures that you get a legendary every 40 packs, or 400 dust.
#1 - Purchase GvG Packs for Wild Format
Whether you like it or not, Goblins vs Gnomes (and Dr. Boom!!) is going away - at least for Standard format. Once the next expansion launches, Goblins vs Gnomes card packs will no longer be available from the in-game shop, although all cards will remain craftable through the crafting system.
So, why should you buy those GvG packs now? To save money.
Let's say you want to craft a single common card from GvG to play in Wild format, that's going to set you back 40 Arcane Dust... or one card pack's worst case disenchant value. Refer to the table below to see how many packs it will take to craft other GvG cards.
We are assuming the cheapest possible pack cost of $1.167 USD per pack - this is packs purchased under the 60 Packs option in the store on PC and Mac.
Craft Target | Normal | Golden | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dust Cost | Max Packs Req. | USD Value | Dust Cost | Max Packs Req. | USD Value | |
Common | 40 | 1 | $1.167 | 400 | 10 | $11.67 |
Rare | 100 | 3 | $3.501 | 800 | 20 | $23.34 |
Epic | 400 | 10 | $11.67 | 1600 | 40 | $46.68 |
Legendary | 1600 | 40 | $46.68 | 3200 | 80 | $93.36 |
Yes, a Golden Dr. Boom for Wild would take at most $93.36 USD to craft!
#2 - Purchase the First Wing of the Naxxramas Adventure
Hearthstone's first adventure, The Curse of Naxxramas is being removed when the new expansion hits, kind of. It will work differently depending on your ownership of the expansion.
- If you have purchased one or more wings of Naxxramas, you can continue to play them and buy missing wings.
- If you have not purchased any wings, Naxxramas the adventure will not exist for you at all.
- Naxxramas will still drop cards from defeating bosses, but they will also be available through the crafting system.
Want Naxxramas cards for wild? Buy at least one wing of the expansion now, whether that costs real money or gold.
Using our crafting table above for values..
- Want to craft Loatheb? That will set you back 4000 gold for the packs, more than double the 1400 to gain access to Wing 2 where he resides.
- Wait, how many? Craft Naxxramas for 13440 Arcane Dust - Which is at most purchasing 336 Hearthstone packs.. or $392.11 USD.
- Also a good source of dust! You can disenchant all of Naxxramas for 3140 dust.
Verdict: Naxxramas is a fantastic investment for both Wild and Standard players. Buy it or just a single wing now.
#3 - Craft Murlocs, but not Pirates
Mrglglgl! The cards in the reward set are no longer going to be rewards from quests when the expansion launches. They are going to be changed to craftable cards which for Old Murk-Eye means he's going to cost a lot more dust to obtain.
Only the normal version of Old Murk-Eye is worth obtaining through the quest system.
- Currently costs 700 dust to obtain. This saves you 900 dust if you want him!
- Obtained through crafting:
- Coldlight Oracle (100/800 dust)
- Coldlight Seer (100/800 dust)
- Murloc Tidecaller (100/800 dust)
- Murloc Warleader (400/1600 dust)
But, what about a golden Old Murk-Eye? Not at all worth it for most players. It is only worth it if you can craft 3200 dust or less of Murlocs. Keep in mind you are also going to need the following cards golden, which come from leveling up certain classes.
- Bluegill Warrior - Reach level 53 & 54 with the Paladin class.
- Grimscale Oracle - Reach level 53 & 54 with the Warlock class.
- Murloc Raider - Reach level 51 & 52 with the Priest class.
- Murloc Tidehunter - Reach level 53 & 54 with the Rogue class.
Captain's Parrot? More like Abandoned Parrot. It can be worth it depending on what you already have in your collection, but honestly, Pirates?
- Currently costs 2220 dust to obtain 2 copies of it. It will cost 800 gold later to craft them both.
- If you already have Captain Greenskin, it's worth crafting the rest.
- A golden version will set you back 6800 dust for the two of them through the quest. Crafting two goldens later on will only cost 3200 dust.
- Obtained through crafting:
- Bloodsail Raider (40/400 dust)
- Dread Corsair (40/400 dust)
- Southsea Deckhand (40/400 dust)
- Bloodsail Corsair (100/800 dust)
- Southsea Captain (400/1600 dust)
- Captain Greenskin (1600/3200 dust)
Verdict: Depending on your collection, the only thing worth getting is a normal Old Murk-Eye.
#4 - Farm and Save Gold!
Everyone wants to play with the new cards when they come out, so the more gold you farm now means the more packs you can open on launch day without spending your hard earned cash. There's several ways you can obtain gold.
- Dailies - Login every day and complete the quest you obtain. If it's worth only 40 gold, roll it for another one. If that one is too, you can opt to save it until tomorrow to roll it again.
- Winning - By simply #winning games, you too can be like Charlie Sheen. Well, only the part about making bank. 3 wins gives you 10 gold up to a maximum of 100 gold per day.
- Tavern Brawl - If you can win brawls faster than you can win normal matches, rack up those wins through this instead!
- Arena - There is quite a bit of gold that can be won via the arena feature if you play your cards right. As a bonus you can also get classic packs and golden cards which can help you get dust to craft stuff you want in the next expansion.
In addition to spending gold on the new packs that come out, you may want to also blow it all on Goblins vs Gnomes packs if you're missing quite a bit from that set and want those cards for the Wild format.
#5 Don't Disenchant Anything
As the title says, don't touch that disenchant button yet. You never know how the future will play out and there's cards you may regret getting rid of now. There could also be a nerf to a card in the classic collection which could fetch a higher value once that change is made rather than now.
I still got 1 gvg pack that i will never open....it feels like having a piece of history and the longer i wait, the longer i feel like having a bottle of fine wine stored for the future.
If I don't get Captain Greenskin in a pack before the expansion hit I'm probably never going to see that parrot anywhere near my collection.
Murlocs will be crafted today, though.
Thanks for the nice write-up!
Anyone knows if we can buy GvG packs and craft murlocs and pirates to get Old Murk-Eye/Captain's Parrot after Monday's patch?
No problems, you'll open the packs as normal :). Source here -> Source
Should I craft Captain Greenskin to get 2 epic parrot ? Is that worth?
Captain Greenskin is almost essential in any weapon class. He's great. Very unique and adds a multiplier to your weapon... Plus has a strong body.
Captain Greenskin is the last Classic Pirate I need. T_T
I usually buy only 200 :(
This is an expensive game. It takes time and money to get a large collection.
Noone here has all the cards unless they threw down about one thousand dollars. Even if GVG was still for sale forever, at the rate most of us go, most of us wouldn't ever get all the gvg cards unless you just threw the cash because with the amount of gold you get per day, you'll likely always be buying the latest expansion.
That's OK. We will all survive.
AAAAND
Wild will be a blast. Golden Dr. Boom isn't because anywhere for a loooong time.
My suggestion would be to purchase a GvG pack and a TGT pack each time you get a free Classic pack from Tavern Brawl or Watch and Learn. You'll be building up your collection slowly but also saving some for the expansion.
With so few cards I would suggest forgetting about GvG and stockpiling gold, which includes not playing Arena. I would hold off on TGT until the new set is out. You'll want more TGT for sure, but you also won't want to be behind on the new set. You'll also have a better idea of how many "new" TGT cards become relevant to the meta once Standard is out. Keep buying packs over playing arena until you have all the commons and rares you want from all current expansions. Save your dust for meta-necessary epics and legendaries.
#1 GvG: I have close to a full set. I'm not buying any more packs. I never got that second piloted sky-golem or second recombobulator. I dusted Bolvar, and I shed no tears then or now. I never got to play with Trade Prince Gallywix. I can live with that. The chances that a "new" GvG card will become relevant in the Wild meta is slim to none. Most everyone should have their common Piloted Shredders and crafted Dr. Booms. If you don't, Wild won't be for you for at least a year. Focus on stockpiling gold for the new set(s).
#2 NAX: Yes, buy the first wing if you don't already have it. This actually stops you from losing content. The cards and adventure are actually worth the gold in my opinion. They might be less powerful than GvG's best, but they're more unique. Maybe they won't be relevant going forward into Standard, but buying the first wing for 700 gold is still a very, very safe bet. And again, the adventure is fun!
#3 If you want to stockpile gold for new sets, don't play Arena. While Arena has been proven to be "worth it," you're naturally investing in current sets instead of future sets. If you make it to three wins and get 50 gold, a tiny bit of dust and a pack, you've more than broken even across the board, but part of your gold went to a current pack set instead of a future pack set. If you want to open a ton on launch day, stop playing arena now, and start up again for awhile once the new set becomes part of the Arena awards.
#4 If you really care about gold cards then you're going to end up spending real money at some point or another. Have fun with that.
I'm not sold on the idea of buying GvG packs. I'm only missing about a dozen GvG epics and the only ones of note are Coghammer and Quartermaster. If I need those in wild I can craft them. Even if I get an epic out of a GvG pack there's not telling if it will be one I need.
Retarded and nonsensical decisions are Blizzard's stock in trade.
Don't believe me? Two words: Warsong Commander.
I just crafted one Murloc Warleader to get Old Murk-Eye (regular ones).
400 dust for an Epic and a Legendary??? #RegretNothing :)
I like to emphasis the "collectible" part of Hearthstone ;)
i don't have any plans to disenchant anyything, even after standard drops because wild could be an alternative to when standard gets boring
Can't believe people care about golden cards. They are only good for disenhant value.
Not if you've already got the cards you really want.
The next expansion should should sometimes within the next 1-6 weeks.
The next adventure? Probably mid-late summer is when we'll see Ulduar.
At least I really hope it's Ulduar.
If u already have Cpt. Greenskin (the most expensive card from the "set"), it might be very worth it to obtain rest of the pirates to get the Parrot(s). If for some reason they will be dustable for a full cost, u will get 800dust, since u will get 2 parrots from the Q ;-)
And ofc the already mentioned typo: u need just one Southsea Captain, so no 800/1600 dust, but 400/1600 and this influences the total cost of the "parrot Q", so not 2620 dust, but 2220 dust ;-)