Arena tips thread

[Hauser]

I just started playing Hearthstone about a week ago so late to the party! I LOVE the arena and drafting. It was my favorite part of MTG and so of course it is my favorite part of Hearthstone. I figured we could have a thread with good tips and links to info that will help us all become better at this! I am averaging around 4 wins per draft now (close to 100 wins in arena already) so I would say some of this stuff for sure helps. I am sure Luke has some insight as well!

The best advice I can give is to draft for mana curve after the first 10 or 15 card picks.

This is a mid range man curve which gives you the best chance to always be casting something throughout the game.
4-6 Two mana costing minions
4-5 Three mana costing minions
5-6 Four mana costing minions
4-5 'heavy hitters'
8-10 non-minion cards and conditional minion cards

If you have happen to draft a faster curve, you want to try and have more card draw ability. Look to have 4 or 5 cards that AT LEAST replace themselves so your hand stays full. Playing 2 cards a turn from turn 5 on means you will be out of cards and top decking by turn 8. That means there is a good chance you lose board control because you have far less options.

Regardless of the special abilities of the minions, aim for cards that have higher stats. It helps a TON when trading in your favor with the opponents minions.

Depending on class, you want to always take the bigger cast cost minions first if you have a choice between 2-3 high quality cards on the same pick. There are a lot more vanilla but decent stat 2 and 3 mana minions than there are 5-7 mana drop minions.

4 mana minions are waaay more valuable than 2-3 drop minions. The good 4 drops (yeti, senjin, dark iron dwarf) trade 2 for 1 with most 2-3 mana minions and also trade 1 for 1 with a lot of 5 mana minions with not much help. They also help you catch up if you are behind on turns 2 and 3.

It is almost never the right option to use your spells on the other hero early hame. Use them to gain board advantage. Whenever I play a mage that shoots his missile at my face instead of waiting for me to get minions because they have extra mana left, I know I have a good chance to outplay them regardless of the decks we have.

Taunt is overrated! Usually you lose other stats for mana cost if the creature has taunt. Yes it is an important ability. Yes, it forces your opponent to deal with that creature. Just don't overvalue it.

Cards that are dependent on other cards like secrets, are not as good as you think. Yes they can sometimes be amazing. Often times, they are a dead card or not what you wanted to draw right then. If you have board control, you did not get it by playing a secret. You can maintain board control by playing one occasionally. You can do the same by playing minions after a trade, losing a couple, etc. You want your opponent to either deal with what you have on board or take damage/lose their minions.

The find opponent queue can help you! The longer it runs, the more wide the search criteria is on who you play. It tries to match you with someone close to the same win/loss first. After 15 seconds or so, it will open it up to others and continue to make the search wider until it finds someone. This means that you want to cancel and re-queue after 15 seconds or so unless you have 5+ wins. Once you have a good amount of wins with a deck, you want to stay in the queue so the search opens wider. You have a better chance of facing someone with a couple wins and losses versus that guy with 8 or 9+ wins then.


Ill post some more links and information later. Hope this helps and is not info everyone already knows!

[Klaus]

Good info. I didn't know the re-queue deal.

[Ender]

The most important thing for picking is to evaluate cards and know their value relative to each other. I have an excel list of cards that ranks their value, and mostly go by that for the first half of the picks. After that you do need to take into account mana curve. The minion curve you suggested above is good.

Here is a really good reference for relative card value, which has excel lists: http://www.liquidhearth.com/guides/arena-tier-list. I don't think it includes the new Naxx cards though.

Card advantage is probably the most important concept. This makes cards that either often trade 2 for 1 or cards that let you draw very highly valued. For example, the strongest common card in the game for arena is probably Chillwind Yeti (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/31-chillwind-yeti), since it almost always trades for 2 other cards. Spells that often kill more than 1 card are also top cards, such as flamestrike and concecrate.

Class selection is really up to you. I am strongest with Paladin, Priest, Warrior and Hunter. For some reason I suck at Mage even though most people say it is the best class. I stay away from Warlock... it can be good but also can be utterly crap if you get too many big cards.

[Klaus]

I do the same. I use the icy veins list for the first half of the picks and all epics/led. I always pick Pally over Mage..

Best card:

http://media-hearth.cursecdn.com/avatars/79/786/407.png

[Hauser]

I think that any class can be good. Just depends on how well you know how to play them. Some people destroy with classes I cannot play at all. I seem to do the best with mage, shaman, and paladin.

[Klaus]

I finally got a chance to play hunter in arena (I never seem to get the choice) and I wasn't very successful. I got the choice of traps traps traps during the draft and none of the other hunter tricks that I use in constructed play. Just no beasts and kinda ended up with a crappy deck of all types of minions....

[Ender]

A good hunter arena deck relies on getting a decent amount of beasts, 1 houndmaster per 3-4 beasts. and a couple multishots and kill commands. You should usually still pick buzzards, unleash, and timber wolves when they come up unless there is clearly a better option, but the chance of getting 2+ of each of those 3 cards in your arena deck for the combos is pretty slim.

But yeah, some arenas you get a lot of bad choices and there is nothing you can do about that... just bad luck.

I played arena for the first time in a while last night as a priest and went 8-3 with something like this if i recall correctly:

Priest Arena 8-3

1 x Wild Pyromancer (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/25-wild-pyromancer)
1 x Thoughtsteal (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/62-thoughtsteal)
1 x Acidic Swamp Ooze (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/74-acidic-swamp-ooze)
1 x Darkscale Healer (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/84-darkscale-healer)
1 x Raging Worgen (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/95-raging-worgen)
1 x Worgen Infiltrator (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/112-worgen-infiltrator)
1 x Cult Master (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/140-cult-master)
1 x Core Hound (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/173-core-hound)
2 x Lightspawn (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/192-lightspawn)
1 x Temple Enforcer (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/232-temple-enforcer)
1 x Azure Drake (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/280-azure-drake)
1 x Harvest Golem (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/386-harvest-golem)
1 x Holy Smite (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/409-holy-smite)
2 x Power Word: Shield (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/431-power-word-shield)
1 x Shattered Sun Cleric (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/434-shattered-sun-cleric)
1 x Shadow Madness (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/442-shadow-madness)
1 x Faceless Manipulator (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/450-faceless-manipulator)
1 x Argent Squire (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/473-argent-squire)
1 x Tauren Warrior (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/477-tauren-warrior)
1 x Shadow Word: Death (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/547-shadow-word-death)
1 x Northshire Cleric (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/600-northshire-cleric)
1 x Flesheating Ghoul (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/610-flesheating-ghoul)
1 x Amani Berserker (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/641-amani-berserker)
1 x Auchenai Soulpriest (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/656-auchenai-soulpriest)
2 x Holy Nova (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/671-holy-nova)
1 x Unstable Ghoul (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/7757-unstable-ghoul)
1 x Deathlord (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/7753-deathlord)

[Klaus]

Pally and Mage last night. I was much better with the mage... My arenas are just so random and really depend on the luck of the cards. I usually pick Pally and get 4-7 wins but last night I just didn't draft the card combos I usually get. Blah.

FYI this card is cheating ;)

http://media-hearth.cursecdn.com/avatars/80/23/496.png

[Hauser]

Arena has been up and down for me. Sometimes I will draft what I think is a really solid deck and barely squeak out 3 wins. I also do better than expected with worse decks. I do believe that a big part of increasing your overall average wins is to limit the shit cards even if there are only a couple. By bringing your average card value up, you have a better chance of winning over just relying on that bomb or two. I seem to never get the bombs I draft when I want them anyway but I sure as shit get the one or two terribad cards I needed for my curve or so I wouldnt draft an unplayable etc.

[Ender]

Pyroblast used to cost 8 mana... it was REALLY op then, and led to lots of turn 8 wins for mage. It is okay now, but I wouldn't pick more than one of them.

[Klaus]

Hunter last night and I pretty much got every staple hunter card in my draft. Went 9-3 and probably could of done better but I got a bit crazy the last couple games because it was getting late. Such a difference when you get the good cards ;)

[Ender]

I have played GvG enough now to give some feedback at least on Arena (still figuring out ranked, and need more cards for that).

The relative strength of classes hasn't changed much in my opinion, but here is how I would rank them:
1. Mage - some really strong additions to this class in Flamecannon, Goblin Blastmage, Unstable Portal, and Snowchugger (one of my fav cards) keep mage on top of the arena class ranking.
2. Paladin - also some really strong additions here in Shielded Minibot, Muster for Battle, Scarlet Purifier, and Coghammer. I had Paladin 2nd before as well, and it stays there now.
3. Shaman - I moved this class up a bit because of some really nice additions in Whirling Zap-o-matic, Crackle, and Powermace.
4. Warlock - This is the biggest change from before GvG, when I had this class ranked last. Warlock has some really great additions in Darkbomb, Floating Watcher, Fel Cannon, Imp-losion, and Demonheart, so this class definately improved the most for arena. Antique Healbot really helps as well. Also, simply having more cards available means you have less chance to get crap cards, which makes the hero power better. The key to this class for arena is still to have a very low mana curve so you can tap and play in the same turn.
5. Priest - Moved down a little, but has some decent additions in Shrinkmeister, Velen's Chosen, and Upgraded Repair Bot.
6. Rogue - Some good additions in Goblin Auto-Barber, Tinker's Sharpsword Oil, Cogmaster's Wrench, and Sabotage. However, it is simply harder to kill stuff now with this class because of the strong 3 drop minions now available, and you take a lot of damage trying. Rogue has too few board clearing cards, blade flurry being the only one, which requires other card synergy.
7. Druid - This class really got no help for arena in GvG. The only decent additions are Anodized Robo Cub and Mech-Bear-Cat, and they are marginally good at best. It is still an okay arena class if you get the right cards, but can be bad otherwise.
8. Warrior - Also not very good additions to this class, but Screwjank Clunker and Crush can be really good. Warrior wasn't a great arena class to begin with though, but I enjoy playing it.
9. Hunter - Hunter really relies on getting beasts, and now there are a much lower percentage of them in the overall card pool. Steamwheedle Sniper is an amazing addition, but with it being an epic you won't see it often. Glaivezooka and Metaltooth Leaper are the only other good additions. The nerfs to Flare and Starving Buzzard also really suck.

Here are the top neutral card additions for arena: Mechanical Yeti, Piloted Shredder, Spider Tank, Bomb Lobber, Piloted Sky Golem, and Enhance-o-Mechano. Enhance-o-Mechano is quite simply overpowered in a low curve deck with lots of 2 and 3 drops. Tinkertown Technicion and Mechwarper can also be really good, but they are dependent on having a lot of mechs, which you might not get. You should generally take the first Tinkertown Technicion you see, but only take another if you have enough 2 and 3 drop mechs. It is just an average card without a mech on the board.

If you get a legendary pick, the best new ones are Dr. Boom, Foe Reaper 4000, and Sneed's Old Shredder.

[Klaus]

Mage.... I went 0-3 with a Mage for the first time last night. I do like Shaman and Paladin a lot. Hunter is bad now for the exact reason you state (lower % of beasts).

[Ender]

Hmm... bad cards maybe? I went 11-3 over the past couple of days with this deck (a couple cards might be wrong, but most of it is what I had):

Mage Arena 11-3

3 x Flamestrike (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/44-flamestrike)
1 x Raging Worgen (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/95-raging-worgen)
1 x Wolfrider (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/174-wolfrider)
2 x Frostbolt (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/177-frostbolt)
1 x Ice Lance (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/188-ice-lance)
1 x Youthful Brewmaster (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/247-youthful-brewmaster)
1 x Mana Wyrm (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/263-mana-wyrm)
1 x Flamecannon (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/12192-flamecannon)
1 x Unstable Portal (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/12178-unstable-portal)
1 x Snowchugger (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/12230-snowchugger)
1 x Arcane Intellect (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/489-arcane-intellect)
1 x Fireball (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/522-fireball)
2 x Polymorph (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/595-polymorph)
1 x Goblin Blastmage (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/12195-goblin-blastmage)
2 x Water Elemental (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/274-water-elemental)
1 x Elven Archer (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/356-elven-archer)
1 x Bluegill Warrior (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/289-bluegill-warrior)
2 x Harvest Golem (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/386-harvest-golem)
1 x Spider Tank (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/12184-spider-tank)
1 x Tinkertown Technician (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/12202-tinkertown-technician)
1 x Mechanical Yeti (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/12253-mechanical-yeti)
1 x Azure Drake (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/280-azure-drake)
1 x Argent Commander (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/463-argent-commander)
1 x Sea Giant (http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/614-sea-giant)