by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

If you’ve been frequenting my stream of late, you’ve no doubt had the pleasure of witnessing my intense misfortune in the Hearthstone arena. It’s fair to blame the RNG (and in moments of desperation, I totally do) but there are also some basic rules to observed. If you go in just looking to make a comical deck, or one that features your favorite cards, you assume a certain degree of risk, and, let’s be honest, Hearthstone’s a game, so that’s totally fine. If you’re like me though, and cannot stand the crushing pain of defeat, here are some basic rules that will increase your chances of success.

Respect the Kill Cards

Hearthstone matches are a dance. You play a minion, your opponent plays a minion. The match progresses, mana reserves increase, more creatures come down on the board. You can be the next Desert Fox, but if your opponent has the ability to wipe the board and you don’t, you’ll be in a critically bad spot. Short of board wiping though, creature removal spells such as Cleave, Multi-Shot, Holy Nova, et cetera, are absolutely the most important cards to possess. If you disagree, try doing the arena run where you draft none and are stuck trying to use one lone Stormpike Command to control the board.

Gotta Go Fast

It’s generally accepted the arena decks are sort of a mess. Mana curves are all over the place, there are a bunch of minions you’d never see in a respectable constructed deck and, unfortunately, most decks are a bit slow. You can capitalize on that by grabbing up early game pressure creatures such as Leper Gnome, Faerie Dragon and Amani Berserker. If those aren’t available, most of the two mana 3/2 archetype creatures (Knife Juggler, Bloodfen Raptor, Acidic Swamp Ooze, Youthful Brewmaster, et cetera) will suffice and give you a nice Coin combo on turn two. You don’t have to have the fastest deck, it just needs to be faster than your opponents’.

Pay the Man

Venture Co. Mercenary is absolutely getting his own mention. This guy just wins games, whether on turn five, or turn four with the Coin. This rugged Goblin (is that a thing?) is a massive 7/6 and is capable of inflicting some serious harm on the opposing hero. Moreover, he can effectively brawl with almost any other minion on the board and come out alive, forcing a second card to finish the job. If your opponent has valuable kill cards, expect to see them cast on this soldier of fortune. Should you be fortunate enough to see Venture Co. Mercenary in your draft choices, pony up and pay the man. He could just win you the game.

Avoid Risky Decks

Turn one rolls around and you see a Molten Giant, a Big Game Hunter and a Murloc Warleader. How totally cool would it be to build a Murloc deck!? It’s not cool. It’s never, ever cool. I mean, it might be in constructed, but never in arena. If you want to win, do not try and build themed decks. Turn one might support the argument, but what about the other 29 picks? What happens when you have a Murloc Warleader and a deck with no other Murlocs? The same can be said of Hunter beast decks, although it’s a little bit easier to pull off since none of the essentials for an Unleash the Hounds combo deck are rares, epics or legendaries. It might not be as glamorous, but look for the safe picks, the Shattered Sun Clerics, the Dark Iron Dwarves, the Venture Co. Mercenaries. They’ll give you guaranteed performance without the gimmick.

Don’t Forget Taunts

You might think you have a plan for everything, but let me tell you what you don’t have a plan for: Stranglethorn Tiger, Ravenholdt Assassin, Leeroy Jenkins, Arcane Golem, Wolf Rider, Argent Commander. Basically, large creatures with charge or stealth. There are just circumstances where it’s unavoidable to take damage, unless you have a crafty secret or a big wall to hold them back. Sen’jin Shieldmasta, much like Venture Co. Mercenary is an absolute must. If you don’t find him along the way, even smaller creatures like Frostwolf Grunt and Goldshire Footman can sacrifice their lives to prevent you from getting mowed down. Moreover, if you’re mana curve is not terribly friendly, they can give you some early game options for board control.

All these rules considered, there’s still the chance you run into the guy who drafted six swipes as a Druid. RNG is part of the arena and honestly what makes it hilarious at times, and a totally different experience from constructed. Yes, you want to win, but having fun should also be on your to do list. If you lose a game, but are able to chuckle about it, that’s still some kind of win. Take these rules, keep them floating around in your head and do your best to conquer your foes!