How to Win: Pro Tips for New Players
by JR Cook - 11 years ago show comments
This past weekend, I asked followers of our HearthPro podcast on Twitter what their one suggestions for players new to Hearthstone or competitive card games would be. My goodness, did you all ever come through in a big way!
And on that note: what is the *one* tip you could share with new players just now entering the world of card gaming with #Hearthstone?
— HearthPro Podcast (@HearthProShow) August 25, 2013
I am excited to share some excellent advice from a number of experienced players, which will surely put new players on the path to Hearthstone domination. The following tips and suggestions are just another example of how great the Hearthstone community is turning out to be!
@aramisx Your only real enemy is the RNG in the game, so if you lose, it’s not worth getting upset at the other person.
@TheCGravelle Card advantage is king.
@JesseLeeHenry Board control is crucial. Get the most out of your trades (killing enemy minions by sacrificing your own in battle).
@JASTNA The order of your turn! Make sure you think about what goes when, e.g. attacking: set of AOE trap, then spawn mobs after.
@Daidoji_Usagi Do not play cards just because they are in your hand.
@goran_says Do not play the hunter in Arena until you understand him -thoroughly- by far the toughest to master from what I’ve seen imo.
@SirVilicus A good deck doesn’t need to be expensive. Disenchant the cards you don’t need and craft the ones you do.
@Mavagamer Read the cards.
@TalonXV Best piece of advice, as a long time MTG player, read everything! Read every card played even if you know what it does!
@Wiggl_Jesus When drafting / Arena, lower costs will almost always be better than higher costs (mana wise) to win most of your games.
@HeavysGames Don’t stop making tests, always try new cards!
@Kenichan Don’t be an impulsive buyer for card packs – only IF you really need it.
@quorrra #1 piece of advice: keep playing. Practice makes perfect.
@jasonrank2 Keep track of opposing control. If a shaman uses both Hex cards in a round, start dropping your bombs.
@refill_jobu Always practice knowing what your opponent can do with your cards leads to better plays on your part.
@AloneChief Because you got cards in your hands you can play, you don’t have to play them. Save them for a better occasion.
@Alablaster_WoW Read your cards thoroughly and know the limitations of the mechanics.
@_theming Keep going if you lose. Learn from what you have done wrong and you will keep getting better.
@Erthostrivia Watch some live streams. Helped me the most so far!
@pontelon Board state (having more attacking minions) is more important than HP. It is what allows you to beat their faces in. So either have more/better minions and/or plenty of removal (both area and single target). Losing minions to hero powers puts you at a big disadvantage. You don’t have to spend all your mana every turn. Save that 2/2 who gives +1 attack for when you can protect it with taunt.
@HearthPower Value your cards. Example: don’t waste that Assassinate/Hex/Polymorph until the right moment.
@matticus Sometimes the correct play is to hold cards. If you have lots of minions, no need to add more. Save in case of a board clear.
@bazkur98 Spells and secrets are great, but don’t overdo it. They’ll do you little good without some minions backing them up.
OMG – I’m famous for… FOUR words!
Can I get your autograph?!
pff, i’m famous for three
OMG – I’m famous for… FOUR words!
Can I get your autograph?!
pff, i’m famous for three
I’m famous too! woo!
Your tip is kind of a pretty mean accusation though! =( (At least if I don’t get you wrong) Check my comment above if you like, I was talking about you! 😉
What? The game is ALL RNG. It’s kind of the point. You can have the best deck in the world, but if you don’t get the cards you need when you need them, it’s all for naught. The trick is to know how to play the cards you get when you get them. My point is that if that happens, you shouldn’t get mad at the other player, because they aren’t the ones controlling what cards you get. You know, be a good sport and keep the game fun.
Yeah, not trying to argue with you about that but it’s kind of a given isn’t it? I think they’re doing a lot to counter the usual problems you get when you have bad draws (that’s the reason they invented the Hero Powers after all!) So I just thought you might be talking about something else 😉
Nope…just promoting good sportsmanship was all I was trying to get across. I’ve seen live streams where the player was outright getting pissy with the opposition when the anger was misdirected. It’s not their fault. It’s just RNG and the luck of the draw as it should be with any card game.
Oh I see. Then I might have gotten you very wrong! I apologize for that 🙂 You’re very right, the only one you could blame is yourself (for playing the wrong cards / or playing them in the wrong moment) or as you said, the RNG (: have a nice one
Woah. A conversation that started pretty agressive and ended decently on the internet. Faith in Netizens restored. 🙂
Haha thanks ;D Yeah, but you’re right. Though sometimes things sound differently when just written. I didn’t mean to attack the person, just wanted to… critically scrutinize xD
I’m famous too! woo!
Your tip is kind of a pretty mean accusation though! =( (At least if I don’t get you wrong) Check my comment above if you like, I was talking about you! 😉
What? The game is ALL RNG. It’s kind of the point. You can have the best deck in the world, but if you don’t get the cards you need when you need them, it’s all for naught. The trick is to know how to play the cards you get when you get them. My point is that if that happens, you shouldn’t get mad at the other player, because they aren’t the ones controlling what cards you get.
Yeah, not trying to argue with you about that but it’s kind of a given isn’t it? I think they’re doing a lot to counter the usual problems you get when you have bad draws (that’s the reason they invented the Hero Powers after all!) So I just thought you might be talking about something else 😉
Nope…just promoting good sportsmanship was all I was trying to get across. I’ve seen live streams where the player was outright getting pissy with the opposition when the anger was misdirected. It’s not their fault. It’s just RNG and the luck of the draw as it should be with any card game.
Oh I see. Then I might have gotten you very wrong! I apologize for that 🙂 You’re very right, the only one you could blame is yourself (for playing the wrong cards / or playing them in the wrong moment) or as you said, the RNG (: have a nice one
Woah. A conversation that started pretty agressive and ended decently on the internet. Faith in Netizens restored. 🙂
Haha thanks ;D Yeah, but you’re right. Though sometimes things sound differently when just written. I didn’t mean to attack the person, just wanted to… critically scrutinize xD
So umm about the first tip: I wonder, is RNG really that strong in this game? I have been afraid about that also to be honest.
Well, there are quite a few cards that are RNG (e.g. hit 3 minions randomly for 1 damage, sometimes you get value hits, sometimes you don’t). Arena is a little RNG aswell since you get cards randomly and sometimes you just get the most overpowered deck, while sometimes you don’t get a single weapon in it as warrior or rogue.
Thanks for the answer. Yeah, I know about things like Arcane Missiles, Totems, Mekkatorque’s inventions, etc. and the Arena. But what I meant was things like: How much can bad draws ruin your game? Or: How strongly can Mage decks differ? (So much that you can’t know what’s coming for you?) I guess these are probably also things that keep the game exciting, but on the other hand I think there’s a fine line between that and frustration^^
I love how they solved the possibility to lose because of mana starving that you have in Magic for example 🙂
I can’t wait to finally get playing too very soon hopefully =)
In my opinion Mage decks are pretty easy to read. You’ll need to live in fear of massive removal and direct damage all game. There is not a single way to know if your opponent has that fireball in his hand to drop your health and win the game. A few things I’m going to pay attention to when I get into beta (I’m EU):
– Never get your hp into Fireball-range and preferably never get into Pyroblast-range either.
– If I see spell-power minions and/or that little gnome that makes spells cheaper, I’ll conclude that it’s a heavy spell-deck with basically no minions. (except spell-power minions and maybe a taunter)
– Try not to have any or more than 1 minion with 1 hp on the board. (Arcane Explosion, Hero Power)
I believe you can always know what’s coming for you: A lot of spells 🙂
And back to that RNG:
– Since I’m watching streams all the time, I have to admit that it often times gets into those “top-decking” situations. Both players are totally out of cards and have 10 mana each turn, if you get a 2 mana minion you’re screwed, if you get an 8 mana minion you win the game. However, good players won’t let that happen I assume. I don’t actually have any TCG experience, but I just watch Hearthstone streams all day (and when I say all day, I mean all day :P). There are a few people who just never get into that situation and there has to be a reason why (probably they know some aspect of TCGs to avoid that).
Thanks a lot, this was exactly what I was interested to hear about! 🙂 I watch streams a lot also. Can’t wait! 😉
So umm about the first tip: I wonder, is RNG really that strong in this game? I have been afraid about that also to be honest.
Well, there are quite a few cards that are RNG (e.g. hit 3 minions randomly for 1 damage, sometimes you get value hits, sometimes you don’t). Arena is a little RNG aswell since you get cards randomly and sometimes you just get the most overpowered deck, while sometimes you don’t get a single weapon in it as warrior or rogue.
Thanks for the answer. Yeah, I know about things like Arcane Missiles, Totems, Mekkatorque’s inventions, etc. and the Arena. But what I meant was things like: How much can bad draws ruin your game? Or: How strongly can Mage decks differ? (So much that you can’t know what’s coming for you?) I guess these are probably also things that keep the game exciting, but on the other hand I think there’s a fine line between that and frustration^^
I love how they solved the possibility to lose because of mana starving that you have in Magic for example 🙂
I can’t wait to finally get playing too very soon hopefully =)
In my opinion Mage decks are pretty easy to read. You’ll need to live in fear of massive removal and direct damage all game. There is not a single way to know if your opponent has that fireball in his hand to drop your health and win the game. A few things I’m going to pay attention to when I get into beta (I’m EU):
– Never get your hp into Fireball-range and preferably never get into Pyroblast-range either.
– If I see spell-power minions and/or that little gnome that makes spells cheaper, I’ll conclude that it’s a heavy spell-deck with basically no minions. (except spell-power minions and maybe a taunter)
– Try not to have any or more than 1 minion with 1 hp on the board. (Arcane Explosion, Hero Power)
I believe you can always know what’s coming for you: A lot of spells 🙂
And back to that RNG:
– Since I’m watching streams all the time, I have to admit that it often times gets into those “top-decking” situations. Both players are totally out of cards and have 10 mana each turn, if you get a 2 mana minion you’re screwed, if you get an 8 mana minion you win the game. However, good players won’t let that happen I assume. I don’t actually have any TCG experience, but I just watch Hearthstone streams all day (and when I say all day, I mean all day :P). There are a few people who just never get into that situation and there has to be a reason why (probably they know some aspect of TCGs to avoid that).
Thanks a lot, this was exactly what I was interested to hear about! 🙂 I watch streams a lot also. Can’t wait! 😉