Episodes
Friday May 16, 2014
How To Pick The Best Cards - Episode 31
Friday May 16, 2014
Friday May 16, 2014
Hello!
- Scott Lantz is on the show this week
- Topic: Card Evaluation 101
- Reasons to be happy this week
What Is Card Evaluation?
- Goal: Teach players how to determine the value of any card
- There are good and bad cards in the game on purpose
- This is the fastest way to get better at Hearthstone!
- All card evaluations are subjective to player personality and deck types, so think critically
The Vanilla Test
- Compare the bare-bone stats of a card to see if it’s good
- Rule of thumb: Attack + Health = (ManaCost * 2) + 1
- You can lump the stats of summoned “pets” with the card that summons them
- Chillwind Yeti
- Razorfen Hunter
Direct Comparison
- Find the closest similar card in cost/stats/effect and compare them.
- Bloodfen Raptor vs. Knife Juggler
- Razorfen Hunter vs. Harvest Golem vs. Imp Master
The Cost of Standard Effects
- Most standard effects (healing, direct damage, card draw) have a typical mana cost associated that Blizzard adds to the minion.
- There’s no magic answer with this. This is hard to define and uses fuzzy math.
- Spells vary too often to make an accurate list for them. These numbers apply to effects attached to minions
- 1/1 on a creature = 1 mana
- Stealth = 0.5 mana
- Taunt = 0.5 mana
- Divine Shield = 1.5 mana
- Spell Damage +1 = 0.5 mana
- 1 Card Draw = 2 or 2.5 mana (variable)
- 1 point of Direct Damage = 1-2 mana (variable)
- Charge = variable; expense increases with power of the minion
- Shattered Sun Cleric vs. Flesheating Ghoul vs. Thrallmar Farseer
Special Abilities
- Some of the special abilities cannot be directly evaluated since they’re so variable
- But many give simple benefits, like +1/+1 or 1 damage under certain situations. It’s generally possible to figure out how many activations they need to break even with their cost.
- Frostwolf Warlord
- Priestess of Elune vs. Frost Elemental vs. Hogger
The Class Benefit
- Class cards tend to be better than neutral cards
- Goldshire Footman vs. Voidwalker
- Boulderfist Ogre vs. Temple Enforcer
The Randomness Factor
- Randomness is inherently risky, so be careful overvaluing it.
- There are different types of randomness, though. Randomness that can be “shaped” to control the outcome are generally better
- Mad Bomber vs. Deadly Shot
Card Advantage
- Drawing cards is good, but cards that draw other cards are all over the value spectrum, good and bad. Evaluate each just like any other card!
- Azure Drake vs. Arcane Intellect vs. Novice Engineer
Versatility
- Versatility sometimes comes in the form of explicit choice, like Druid cards
- Sometimes it comes from different and potentially unexpected ways to use an ability
- Blessing of Wisdom
- Inner Rage
High Maintenance
- Low maintenance cards don’t need special circumstance to be played and get their full value.
- Chillwind Yeti and Arcane Intellect
- High maintenance cards need things to be in place in order to get its full value OR they somehow make your situation worse.
- High cost is high maintenance!
- Ancient Watcher and Defender of Argus and Venture Co. Mercenary
- Darkscale Healer vs. Spiteful Smith vs. Faceless Manipulator
- Mountain Giant vs. Sea Giant vs. Pyroblast
The Board State
- There are four states you can be in, in a Hearthstone game: Developing, Ahead, Parity, or Behind
- Cards are often better in some of those states and worse in others
- Some states are more important to be better in. Ahead is the least valuable, because you’re already winning.
Community
- Question from Nerdvana247: Are Rogue underpowered?
- iTunes Review: MrBthoven
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Follow Scott on Twitter
- Watch Scott livestream
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
Saturday May 03, 2014
The Best Free Warlock and Rogue Decks - Episode 30
Saturday May 03, 2014
Saturday May 03, 2014
Hello!
- Jin is on the show this week
- Topic: The best free decks for Warlock and Rogue
- Reasons to be happy this week
How Free Cards Work
- Each hero starts with a set of free spells and you unlock more as you level them up
- You also get a big heap of neutral minions immediately when you start
- All of these free cards are combined into the “Basic Set”
- Blizzard built some starter decks, but they’re far from ideal. We’re going to make better ones.
How To Make The Best Free Decks
- Level the class you want to play to 10 to unlock all of your options
- Go to “My Collections” on the main menu and filter the cards by “Basic Set”
- Put the cards we list below into your list, and look if you already have the ones we suggest crafting and upgrading to.
- Website view: Free Rogue Cards, Free Warlock Cards, Free Neutral Minions
The Best Free Warlock Deck
Strategy: Zerg. Zerg hard. Play creatures that offer utility as well as a body. Cheap cards with double top deck power to overwhelm your opponent early in the game.
The Deck List
- 2x Soulfire
- 2x Murloc Raider
- 2x Voidwalker
- 2x Acidic Swamp Ooze
- 2x Bluegill Warrior
- 2x Murloc Tidehunter
- 2x Novice Engineer
- 2x Ironfur Grizzly
- 2x Raid Leader
- 2x Razorfen Hunter
- 2x Shattered Sun Cleric
- 2x Chillwind Yeti
- 2x Dragonling Mechanic
- 2x Sen’jin Shieldmasta
- 2x Boulderfist Ogre
First Crafting Goals
If you enjoy this deck, you’re going to want to untangle the mixture of two popular Warlock decks: Murloc and Zoo. Murloc is less popular right now and Zoo is considered very strong so we are going to work towards the standard Zoo deck with our upgrades.
- 2x Argent Squire (Replace Murloc Raider)
- 2x Dire Wolf Alpha(Replace Raid leader)
- 2x Abusive Sergeant (Replace Murloc Tidehunter)
- 2x Doomguard(Replace Boulderfist Ogre)
- 2x Knife Juggler(Replace Bluegill Warrior)
The Best Free Rogue Deck
Strategy: Play efficient minions at a slow pace, while you use removal spells and weapons to slow down your opponent’s aggression. Survive to the mid and late game, where your efficient use of cards will give you the advantage you need to bully out your opponent.
Deck List
- 2x Backstab
- 2x Deadly Poison
- 2x Sap
- 2x River Crocolisk
- 2x Fan of Knives
- 2x Shattered Sun Cleric
- 2x Silverback Patriarch
- 2x Chilldwind Yeti
- 2x Gnomish Inventor
- 2x Senjin Shieldmasta
- 2x Assassin’s Blade
- 2x Assassinate
- 1x Darkscale Healer
- 2x Boulderfist Ogre
- 2x Reckless Rocketeer
- 1x Sprint
First Crafting Goals
- 2x Defias Ringleader (Replace River Crocolisk)
- 2x SI:7 Agent to replace Silverback Patriarch
- 1x Blade Flurry (Replace Fan of Knives)
- 1x Eviscerate (Replace Fan of Knives)
- 2x Defender of Argus (Replace Gnomish Inventor)
- 2x Azure Drake (Replace Assassin’s Blade)
- 2x Spiteful Smith (Replace Sprint and Darkscale Healer)
Community
- Question from MouseDivided: The balance of Aggro decks right now
- iTunes Review: Dradardanggotu and jtechvfx
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Follow Jin on Twitter
- Watch Jin livestream
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
Thursday Mar 06, 2014
The Best Free Druid and Priest Decks - Episode 27
Thursday Mar 06, 2014
Thursday Mar 06, 2014
Hello!
- Justin is on the show this week
- Topic: The best free decks for Druid and Priest
- Reasons to be happy this week
How Free Cards Work
- Each hero starts with a set of free spells and you unlock more as you level them up
- You also get a big heap of neutral minions immediately when you start
- All of these free cards are combined into the “Basic Set”
- Blizzard built some starter decks, but they’re far from ideal. We’re going to make better ones.
How To Make The Best Free Decks
- Level the class you want to play to 10 to unlock all of your options
- Go to “My Collections” on the main menu and filter the cards by “Basic Set”
- Put the cards we list below into your list, and look if you already have the ones we suggest crafting and upgrading to.
- Website view: Free Priest Cards, Free Druid Cards, Free Neutral Minions
The Best Free Priest Deck
Strategy: Keep your board full with healthy minions that you can use to kill the enemy army, while healing your troops to make sure you win the long war. Later on, manipulate your creature’s larger health pools into big damage, courtesy of a few spell tricks.
The Deck List
- 2x Northshire Cleric
- 2x Power Word: Shield
- 2x Shadow Word: Pain
- 2x Novice Engineer
- 2x Shadow Word: Death
- 2x Ironfur Grizzly
- 2x Shattered Sun Cleric
- 2x Chillwind Yeti
- 2x Oasis Snapjaw
- 2x Sen’jin Shieldmasta
- 2x Holy Nova
- 2x Gurubashi Berserker
- 2x Boulderfist Ogre
- 2x Lord of the Arena
- 1x Stormwind Champion
- 1x Mind Control
First Crafting Goals
If you enjoy this deck, you’re going to want to beef it up as you start to unlock new cards by earning or buying new packs, or winning in Arena. Here are 5 cards that you should try to get first, and what to replace with them.
- 2x Acolyte of Pain (Replace Ironfur Grizzly)
- 2x Lightspawn (Replace Senj’jin Shieldmasta)
- 2x Temple Enforcer (Replace Lord of the Arena)
- 2x Inner Fire (Replace Shattered Sun Cleric)
Note: Once you have Inner Fire and Lightspawn, you should also swap Divine Spirit (a free card) for Novice Engineer.
The Best Free Druid Deck
Strategy: Stave off rush tactics with removal and cheap minions while you slowly gain board and card advantage. Then push for a win in the late-game.
Deck List
- 2x Claw
- 2x Novice Engineer
- 2x Acidic Swamp Ooze
- 2x Kobold Geomancer
- 2x Ironfur Grizzly
- 2x Shattered Sun Cleric
- 2x Wolfrider
- 2x Swipe
- 2x Chilldwind Yeti
- 2x Senjin Shieldmasta
- 2x Darkscale Healer
- 2x Frostwolf Warlord
- 2x Starfire
- 2x Boulderfist Ogre
- 2x Ironbark Protector
First Crafting Goals
- 2x Druid of the Claw (Replace Darkscale Healer)
- 2x Venture Co. Mercenary (Replace Frostwolf Warlord)
- 2x Harvest Golem (Replace Wolfrider)
- 2x Wrath (Replace Novice Engineer)
- 2x Ironbeak Owl (Replace Acidic Swamp Ooze)
Community
- Question from MouseDivided: Do you want new Hero Powers to be added?
- Read MouseDivided’s blog post with his own suggestions for new Hero Powers
- iTunes Review: NycterisA and Ender1626!
Card of the Week
Song by Justin!
Farewell
- Follow Justin on Twitter
- Listen to Justin’s WoW-themed parody songs
- Check out the 1337 Lounge’ amazing livestream camera setup that hosted the Hearthstone tournament!
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
Thursday Feb 20, 2014
How to Win Arena with Paladin and Shaman - Episode 26
Thursday Feb 20, 2014
Thursday Feb 20, 2014
Hello!
- Scott Lantz is on the show this week
- Topic: The best cards for Paladin and Shaman in Arena
- Reasons to be happy this week
How Arena Works
- Quick recap: picking a hero and cards
- Goal for this week: help you make the best card choices while playing Arena
- Includes neutral minions as well
The Best Paladin Cards for Arena
Basic strategy: Fill the board with troops and attempt to control the board. Once you can stabilize the board and get a minion or two to stick, buff them up and terrorize. Paladin is better situated than most classes to win via a grab-bag of tricks that contribute to efficiency in various ways. Especially against fast classes, if you neutralize and stabilize, you’re likely to do well in the long-run. Against slower classes, you’ll want to keep the pressure on.
Josh
Argent Protector
Great 2-for-1 potential to get board advantage early game, great late draw to protect your bombs.
Hammer of Wrath
Nice and simple. Any card that replaces itself has value, and the fact that this replaces itself AND kills an opponent’s minion on the board means it’ll be useful every game you draw it.
Consecration
It is so easy to kill multiple creatures with this card. Turn 4 is the perfect time for this too. If they’re rushing, you’ll wipe out 4-turns of minions on their side of the board. If they’re going big, you should be able to Consecrate and trade your small minions for their big minions. Bonus: also deals damage to their hero.
Imp Master
I’ve spent too many Paladin games with a powerful buff card in my hand and nothing to cast it on. The Imp Master + hero power will go a long way towards making sure something sticks on your side of the board.
Scott: I’ve become a big fan of this recently. Very under-rated card.
Noble Sacrifice
This is similar to Explosive Trap for me. Great way to remove a threat you know is coming — it’s a heal and a damage.
Scott
Blessing of Wisdom
This card is interesting. You cast it when you’re about to attack, and you are guaranteed to get your card back. So this is a unique card in hearthstone that essentially says “Bet 1 mana now that this guy will survive to attack again on future turns.” Or, with Windfury, it’s just plain profit. Must play it smart, but never costs you much if you bet poorly. Plus, you can use it to kind of neutralize an enemy minion in a pinch. Been seeing that a lot lately
Aldor Peacekeeper
A 3/3 for 3 is fine, and its ability goes a long way towards neutralizing the nastiest enemy minion on the board. This card’s ability is one of the best ‘free’ abilities on a creature whose size equal to its cost. Very close to a 2-for-1.
Blessing of Kings
While you obviously can’t have a deck full of buff cards instead of minions, this can be much stronger than a 4/4. You’ll often use this to take out the biggest thing on the board and still have a powerful (if fragile) threat left over. Beware of putting all your eggs in one basket.
Sword of Justice
As a 1/5 weapon for 3, this is not a good deal considering Paladin also has a 1/4 weapon for 1 that isn’t really worth using. You should be using this to buff, only attacking if highly efficient. This won’t enable any tricky surprises like Blessing of Kings, but +5/+5 (spread over 5 minions) for 3 mana is some of the best efficiency you will find. This WILL turn the game in your favor compared to a random neutral minion. Doesn’t do anything when cast though, so get it out ASAP.
Equality
Hard to use, but if you’re clever and patient, it can swing a game. This card is better in weenie decks. Combos well with cards like Knife Juggler, Scarlet Crusader, Argent Protector, Cult Master, and Harvest Golem. Make sure you cast this before summoning minions.
The Best Shaman Cards for Arena
Basic strategy: A lot of cheap, powerful removal to keep the enemy board clear and then big minions at the end to keep the pain train going. One of the trickier classes to play well.
Josh
Mana Tide Totem
The enemy will put a lot of effort into removing this card. Play it when you have a taunt out or their side of the board is clear to increase your chances of getting more than one card. Remember: if they spend a removal to get rid of this, it’s a victory for you.
Stormforged Axe
We talked about this a lot on the last show, but this is the perfect answer for early game aggression. You should be able to kill almost anything they throw down in the first three turns, all with one card.
Fire Elemental
Big minion that instantly kills an enemy minion when it comes into play. Love it!
Flametongue Totem
This is one of my all-time favorite cards of any class. The element of surprise is extremely valuable, and it often lets you trade up short minions, or maintain a strong defensive wall as you punch to keep itself alive.
Frostwolf Warlord
It’s easy to look at this card and get worried about lost potential. But as a Shaman, you will almost always have at least one troop on the board (a totem). That makes this a 5/5 for 5 with a ton of upside.
Scott
Feral Spirit
Cast on turn 2 or 3, these spirits will usually dominate the board. Later in the game, their role changes to double-deep protection of your fragile-but-valuable creatures like Flametongue Totem, Mana Tide Totem, or Fire Elemental. Compared to Fen Creeper (a card I like more than most) this defers part of the casting cost, has more combined power/toughness, and is split over two bodies.
Lightning Storm
Lightning Storm is one of the signature Shaman cards. Mass AoE. Obviously, spellpower minions or totems make this thing even nastier. Generally best to wait until it will hit at least 3 minions. Note that this one doesn’t hit the enemy hero, so it’s all about its efficiency in killing minions.
Hex
People often overestimate cards like this and Polymorph, and therefore don’t get the full value they should. Generally, you don’t want to Hex cards costing less than 6 unless that card has been buffed with another strong card. Be patient and wait for a blowout, unless you just can’t. Keep in mind this is card disadvantage, since it will never kill a creature by itself. But if you can neutralize your enemy’s 8/8 for only 3 mana, that is a big tempo swing in your favor.
Unbound Elemental
This card is about half a mana overcosted for its stats, so while you can drop it in a pinch if you need to, it’s generally best to wait to cast it until you can also cast something with Overload on the same turn. Luckily, Overload cards have cheaper up-front casting costs, so that’s easier to do than it may seem. Obviously, you need plenty of overload cards with this, or it’s just an overcosted minion.
Stormwind Champion
While this card is also good in a Paladin deck, it’s a smidge stronger in a Shaman deck because it can make the difference between most totems being able to attack or not. Can really throw off your opponent’s combat calculations, giving you efficient trades they hadn’t planned on. If you can end your turn with your opponent having less than 6 power on board, this thing’s efficiency only grows. If you have 2 creatures ready to attack when you cast this, you’ll usually have profited.
How To Win Arena
- Minions are #1 priority
- Card draw is always valuable
- AoE removal works
- Avoid specific synergy decks — it’s a trap!
- Efficiency and flexibility
- Don’t be scared
- It’s worth the cost
Keep track of your progress!
Scott made a brilliant spreadsheet that you can use to track all of your Arena progress (and your entire card collection)!
Download his spreadsheet now
Scott’s Hearthstone Arena Tracking Spreadsheet
Here are a few great alternatives, in case Spreadhsheets aren’t your thing:
Arena Mastery: Website tracking (Derrick’s favorite!)
HearthStats: Website tracking
HearthTracker: Local app for tracking
Community
- Question from Justin: How to use emotes without offending people?
- iTunes Review: Icstrm and JollyAngus!
Card of the Week
Song by Scott!
Farewell
- Follow Scott on Twitter
- Check out Scott’s livestreams
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
Friday Jan 24, 2014
Picking Your First Class - Episode 24
Friday Jan 24, 2014
Friday Jan 24, 2014
Hello!
- Jenna is on the show this week
- Topic: Finding the right class for you!
- Reasons to be happy this week
First Impressions
- The tutorial
- Mana, creatures, combat
- Sound effects
- Excitement level
Overpowered, Underpowered, or Okay?
- Read all of the old patch notes
- Unleash the Hounds
- Pyroblast
- Mind Control
- Angry Chicken
- Battle Rage
- Imp Master
- Sunfury Protector
- Captain Greenskin
Pick One Card
- Novice Engineer vs Loot Hoarder
- Ancient Watcher vs Mad Bomber
- Arcane Golem vs Stranglethorn Tiger
- Sunwalker vs Avenging Wrath
- Arcanite Reaper vs Explosive Shot
- Counterspell vs Snake Trap
- Deathwing vs Onyxia
Picking Your Class
- 10 questions
- Your perfect class is…
Community
- Question from Derrick: Do you talk about Hearthstone with other people?
- Question from Nate: Will you try PvP?
- Question from Jennifer: How to get a family member into the game?
- iTunes Review: Mcilvafr and Dubrx!
Card of the Week
Song by wojciech
Farewell
- Follow Jenna on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show