1983

On the other hand, I’d like to thank the enhance-o Mechano for helpfully giving my Shaman enemies spell power and healing totems taunt, probably costing him the game.

It’s not entirely a good thing.

On the gripping hand, Shaman Murlock decks should include one. Erk.

1984

This will probably be controversial, but I really like Antique Healbot in Arena. Although by preference I play Warlock and Paladin, and it works pretty well for both.

Then again, I’ve been consistently going 3-and-3 in arena since GvG launched, so what do I know?

1985

I’m not sure that’s controversial. I think Antique Healbot is very strong.

1986

Antigue Healbot for Warlock in arena is amazing, especially since there’s a spare parts card that lets you return minions to your hand.

1987

Some fun deck archetypes I’ve been playing with with new GvG cards:

-Token Paladin
-Enrage Warrior
-Control Warrior
-Murloc Shaman
-Spare Parts Mage

So far, I’ve played the token paladin deck the most and it seems pretty solid. I also updated my old “Deathrattle Shaman” deck a little, and it’s been climbing pretty steadily through the mid ranks so far. Sneed’s Shredder made a really fun addition to that deck.

1988

For a while, I’ve been playing with the idea of expected HP differential as a rough card evaluation metric like the vanilla test. Mostly because of Truesilver Champion, which is potentially 4 mana for a 12 HP differential (assuming 2 face-punches), which is pretty huge. Obviously it doesn’t work for every card, though (I’m trying to come up with a rough for when it’s “worth” using, say, a Consecration or expensive hard removal).

Anyway, by my reckoning, Healbot is ~14 HP differential (assuming it trades with another 3/3) for 5 mana, which seems pretty good.

1989

That method of analysis is really only useful in the context of playing aggro, or playing against it. Otherwise health total in Hearthstone and similar games is a binary value much of the time; either you’re dead or you’re not.

1990

Yeah, it’s definitely a back-of-the-envelope kind of thing. It’s not about specific situations as much as general appraisal.

1991

What’s your guys’ advice on me taking this to the next level? So far I’ve only played for free. I’ve built up 3 characters to level 12-15, a couple others to the 5-6 range. My win rate against humans is something like 10-5. I’ve only played casual.

Should I beat all the practice rounds on expert? Haven’t been able to do that yet. Should I get the single-player campaign ($25)? Should I buy a few decks for say $10? Should I jump into ranked to see what it’s like? I know there are guides online but I don’t intend to ever become really hardcore, but I do want to start playing more strategically. I don’t really care if my win to loss ratio is poor but I think I’m still a bit green to start ranked (for example, I win 2/3 at casual, but sometimes I run out of cards etc).

Thanks!

1992

There are some hidden quests that get you a bunch of gold for little effort, I always suggest doing those.

Arena is a great way to learn cards and build up your collection. I would suggest you check out some basic strategy articles/guides (arenavalue.com is great) because if you go in cold, you’ll lose a lot before getting your feet under you. Learning how to evaluate arena cards during the draft phase is a huge deal, and reading some beginner tips will get you going in the right direction pretty quickly.

1993

Definitely. You get a decent gold reward for doing so.

Should I get the single-player campaign ($25)? Should I buy a few decks for say $10?

Maybe. Depends how much that money is worth to you and how much you’re enjoying the game. It would give you a small leg up.

Should I jump into ranked to see what it’s like?

Any character that’s level 10 should be fine for ranked. That’s enough to be competitive in the noob brackets. Casual is no easier than ranked - it uses a similar (but separate) matchmaking system and everything. It’s really a misnomer.

1994

I think Naxx is the best value and a good buy to get you a bunch of good cards guaranteed. Beyond that I suggest just playing the daily quests and learner quests and buying packs for gold. At some point the mood will strike you to buy some extra packs but I wouldn’t be in any rush. To play ranked to get your monthly card back I would say crafting a zoo deck is still the best way forward. Good deck , teaches a lot of good principles and cheap to obtain.

Hope that helps!

1995

If you actually enjoy playing against the AI now, then Naxx is the best thing to spend money on. You get plenty of decent cards guaranteed, and you can have fun trying to beat the ‘unfair’ AI opponents it pits you against.

1996

If you want to spend money on the game, then Naxx is definitely much better value than buying packs.

1997

Agreed, though the ‘unfair’ bit really only applies to the heroic bosses, which are often very hard even for high-end players. The normal mode that you play to unlock cards is much more ‘fair’.

Also, Arena is a good place to spend time. It relies on skill independent of collection size, and it’s a good way to slowly build up your collection. You can buy a pack for 100g, or buy an arena run for 150g that guarantees a pack and gives you prices based on performance. It’s also a lot of fun!

1998

Apparently good-gaming.com is running a tourny next week on Dec 19th-21st. You have to sign up for G-G’s silver membership for $5 to enter. They’re not allowing “Pros” (basically anyone who won $5k or more in a Hearthstone tourney before) but I suspect that still leaves a ton of really good players. I can’t be bothered to create 4 decks only to lose horribly in a qualifier match, but I figured maybe some of you other folks here might be interested.

1999

Hearthstone on Android is now available. Unfortunately for me it says all my devices are incompatible despite at least one of them meeting minimum specs (6" screen, 1GB RAM, Android 4.0+).

2000

The announcement in the Hearthstone game news says it’s only out in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand so far. Maybe you’re not in the right region (or Google thinks you aren’t)? Personally, I can wait a couple of weeks until they’ve worked the bugs out.

2001

That’s a definite possibility (I’m US). And I’m in no hurry as well. I tend to play Hearthstone in very brief spurts, so no problem with it taking a little longer.

2002

I think they said rest of world will come very soon. I think they’re just trying to make sure there are no major issues before they turn it on for everyone.