Hearthstone

[Grafton]

So I've been playing this game off and on, on Mora's battle.net account (when he's not playing it - which is not often). It's a super fun game, but still in closed Beta.

Just wanted to make a quick post here in case any of you have received Beta keys or know someone that has and won't be using them. Would very much appreciate my own access. :) If you'd rather play yourself, that's still a solid move, it's a fun CCG.

edit: I actually have a key now. But I still recommend signing up for the Beta. It's basically a complete game already and there's no wipe before the release. So any cards you get, you'll be able to keep.

[Klaus]

I have been waiting for my own beta key to try this out. Do you play Magic also? If so how does it compare?

[Grafton]

I actually never played Magic. Well, I played a bit way back in middle school - like 1992/93 era. But I was playing other people's decks even then.

I'm pretty terrible at building a deck with any kind of synergy thus far. With that said, I'm really enjoying it. I need to watch some more casts to figure out how to build a proper arena deck. Arena is definitely where it's at with this game.

[Ender]

I played Hearthstone on Jeanna's account a bit, since she got a Beta invite. It is very fun, much more so than any of the MTG online games. It is very similar to MTG, with even some of the same mechanics and a few that are different. There are a few differences from MTG though:

- You don't have mana/land cards in your deck. Instead, each player gains 1 mana point per turn, up to a maximum of 10. I actually like this a lot because it takes loosing due to mana shortage or flood completely out of the equation. There are still some cards that will give you bonus mana points.
- Each player starts with 30 hp instead of 20.
- You can have a maximum of 30 cards in your deck. Since you don't need to have mana/land cards in it though, this is nearly the same as having a 60 card MTG deck since all 30 of your cards are spells.
- The player that goes first draws 3 cards, while the player that goes 2nd draws 4 cards and gets a bonus mana card that can be used at any time.
- You can select any of your initial cards drawn to be randomly replaced. Each player can only do this once.
- You don't select blockers. Instead, the attacker can select to attack anything on the opponent's side (player or minions). However, there are some cards with the Taunt ability that must be attacked before attacking anything else.
- Instead of colors, there are classes: Mage, Rogue, Hunter, Druid, etc. Each class has a unique library of cards. There are also cards that can be used by any class. You can build your class deck however you want with the cards available to that class. You can only have a maximum of 2 of any card in your deck.

So, initially, you play against the AI to unlock all of the starter cards for a class. Once you get a class to level 10, you have unlocked all of the inital cards. Then, you can do play mode against other players. As you win matches in play mode, you earn booster packs that contain 5 random cards.

You can also play arena mode, which is similar to a draft but a little more simplified. You are randomly assigned a class, then you go through 30 rounds of selecting a card from 3 available choices to build your deck. Then you play a tournament against the other players to win prizes, such as booster packs.

I found this game to be the most fun online card game I have played yet. Open beta starts on Dec 1st, and I highly suggest everyone try it out.

[Klaus]

Nice review. That explained the differences between MTG and Hearthstone I was looking for.

[Ender]

Did my first Arena a couple of days ago. You actually choose from 3 classes that are randomly selected. After drafting your deck, you play until you loose 3 games. The maximum you can win is 9 games, at which time you earn a Grandmaster Medal. For each win, you get an additional prize (gold, which is used to enter Arena matches or buy booster packs, or booster packs). I think the max you can earn is 250-300 gold plus 2 packs.

It was very fun and there are some challenging players that you get matched up against. I played a mage and got 6 wins, which is probably above average but not great.

A couple things that I forgot to mention in my summary above:
- Each class gets a class ability that can be used by spending 2 mana. Each class ability is different, and some are better than others. The Mage ability, for example, allows you to deal 1 damage to a target.
- Damage to creatures persists between turns. However, there are abilities that can heal damage. For example, the Priest ability heals 2 damage to a target (you can target yourself), which I consider to be one of the best class abilities.

[Ender]

Finally got my own Beta invite yesterday so I don't need to use Jeanna's account to play anymore lol.

If you are in the Beta and see me on Bnet, send me a message and we can do a few games.

[Grafton]

I just got a second Beta key, does anyone want one that's been waiting to get in?

[Ender]

Got my first 12 win arena since they increased the max wins to 12 a week ago. See screen shots below.

http://postimg.org/image/wae7pryhf/
http://postimg.org/image/ie1e05cur/

[Ender]

Open Beta announced today: http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/12440010/hearthstone%E2%84%A2-open-beta-is-here-1-21-2014

[Grafton]

I want iOS version already!!

[Jomama]

I played through the first 6-7 tutorial levels. Fun game, nice twists on a magic type game. Although I'm not much of a fan of the wow graphics and after a bit the repeating sound clips gets a little annoying, just soooo busy visually & audibly. I pref the simplicity of the online magic visuals.. But will definitly keep at this an try out the pvp and arena once I get my stuff unlocked.

[Ender]

There are a bunch of hidden 1 time quests that you can do to earn a bunch of gold to use for Arena fees. They are all listed here: http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Quest

I would do most of those first before doing an Arena. Just be aware that Arena has all of the really good players in it that you will be matched up against, so at first it will be pretty difficult. There is actually a decent amount of skill to the game because the order that you play cards or how you attack almost always matters, and card selection in Arenas also matters a lot.

[Klaus]

Started playing this on Sunday. I kinda like it. It will never be Magic but it's fun.

I have been playing the ranked matches and using a couple of decks. The basic Mage deck (red direct damage) i have been really successful with in the early matches. I think I went on a 6 game winning streak then I hit level 20 and the opponents have much better decks.... now I am horrible and losing.

I am not a huge fan of the game start - there is a coin flip and if you win you start with 4 cards. If you lose you start with an extra card plus a card that gives you 1 extra mana once. So effectively you have two mana in the first round.

[Ender]

Blizzard tracked the win rates for the play first players vs. play 2nd with coin, and they were fairly even with about a 2% advantage to the play first player. So, while it seems like getting an extra card plus the coin is a major advantage, you are still acting after your opponent on most turns. Playing first seems to be a larger advantage in this game since you can deal damage faster and have a better chance of controlling the board.

[Klaus]

Yeah I can see where in turn 2+ going first is probably better. I just seem to never do anything in turn 1 when I go first. I am sure it's fair just doesn't seem that way.

[Ender]

Doing nothing on turn 1 when going first is very common, because most of the 1 cost cards really suck. The only ones worth using are worgen infiltrator and argent squire because they are the only ones that cant be killed by 1 mage ping.

[Grafton]

I like Leper Gnome in a few of my rushier decks too. If they don't deal with him immediately, he's good for 5 dmg to the face for 1 mana.

[Klaus]

It's out of Beta as of last night. Game is still free to play (with in game purchases). You can unlock a wow mount also by playing. The new beta blizzard launcher is really good IMO.

http://us.battle.net/en/app/

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/vXuxnbG_xhBOaHPBcq4Mz182N7RRU812uGi3ej1JeXNH_bTfMP ciHUs57gS4zCUG-YRI0lMsFeYe5-QEKpz3dIg7C8s=w1046-h589-n

[Grafton]

Where the hell is the iOS version so I can play on my iPad?!?

[Klaus]

Yes, I am also hoping they release the iOS version soon. I love to play Magic on my tablet. Only thing I won't like is you can't play offline.

I played three games last night, lost the first and won the next two.... that unlocked the WOW mounts. It said congrats on winning three games but showed 2/3 games. Then when I logged into WOW I had two of the mounts in my mailbox. Glitchy.

[Klaus]

Been playing on Michelle's iPad a lot since it was released. It's pretty much the perfect tablet game. I played Arena last night as Hunter and went 5-3! My best run yet. However, I was expecting a nice payout but only got 1 pack of cards plus 100g....... wtf the minimum is 1 pack of cards.

[Grafton]

You only get a second pack in the 11-12 win range. You get extra "boxes" as you get more wins, but it's just more gold and dust. Around 7 or 8 wins is about when you start to break even on gold (150). I've only managed that once. Guys like Ixidor and Moradrim almost always get there. Arena just isn't my jam.

[Eric]

Ixidor hit legendary last night. That's level 0. O_O