When Blizzard announced Hearthstone at PAX EAST last March, there was a tangible air of indifference among the gaming community, one at odds with its present popularity. With the majority of Blizzard’s resources assigned to their flagship franchises – the likes of Diablo and World of Warcraft – some considered Hearthstone’s 15-strong development team a sign of its subordinacy. Yet, while small in composition, their ideas were anything but.
The blueprint for success was simple: streamline the mechanics and lower the barrier of entry that often precludes the uninitiated from enjoying card games. In light ofHearthstone’s critical acclaim, it’s fair to say they’ve achieved this with aplomb.
Like any great strategy title, the deceptive simplicity of Hearthstone belies a level of nuance that manifests itself with increased exposure. The more you invest in Hearthstone, the more you begin to appreciate the subtle interplay between its cards and deck archetypes. It’s testament to the savvy engineering that, notwithstanding the limited card pool, new deck lists are emerging on the ladder to this day.
While the meta-game will continue to shift and future expansions will augment the catalogue of collectible cards, the core tenets of solid play won’t change. Let’s explore four areas that will dictate the outcome of every game.
Take time mulliganing or pay the price
Mulliganing – the act of replacing cards from your hand at the start of each game – is arguably the most important skill to master in Hearthstone. Make some ill-advised calls at this stage and you’ll likely struggle to keep pace for the remainder of the match. Set up a favourable starting hand with a smooth mana curve, however, and the resultant tempo could propel you to victory, irrespective of your relative deck strength.
Choosing which cards to mulligan, first and foremost, depends on the game mode. In Arena, you’re in the dark with regards to your adversary’s draft, so it’s paramount that you establish early board presence in anticipation of a strong start. The perfect opening hand maximises mana efficiency and threat potential, so that means a 2-,2-,3-cost hand when going first and a 2-,2-,3-,4-cost hand when going second (the 2-drop can be coined out on turn one).
Conversely, mulliganing in Ranked Mode is contingent upon the perceived deck of your competitor. Since effective decks are swiftly co-opted by the community – a practice called “netdecking” – you can predict with some confidence the cards you’re likely to encounter.
For instance, if you’re pitted against a Hunter in the current meta, it’s highly probable they’re running the ubiquitous aggro variant. You should adjust accordingly and mulligan for early board removal, low-cost minions, taunts and taunts givers, and life gain.
Alternatively, should your aggro Hunter run into a Warrior you might expect the popular control variant and elect to keep a Hunter’s Mark (“Change a minion’s health to 1.”) to neutralise one of their many late-game threats (Ysera, Ragnaros and Grommash).
Naturally, fortune plays a major role in successful mulliganing – indeed, it’s a communal trait across all card games – but exercising diligence at this point increases your probability of success.
Push for damage or trade minions?
In Hearthstone, the weight of damage you can inflict each turn (relative to hero health) means that it’s imperative you understand when to trade minions and when to push for damage.
There are numerous scenarios where it would be beneficial to eschew trading minions in favour of depleting the opposing hero’s life reserves:
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If you expect your opponent will execute the same optimal trades, thereby maintaining your tempo and forcing them to adopt a control mindset.
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Your more powerful minion dies to theirs next turn, so you want to extract maximum value by banking the damage now.
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Considering the hero you’re facing, their behaviour up to that point and their mana crystal allowance, you don’t foresee a board clear next turn.
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You possess a health advantage and can rely upon hidden damage from your hand (spells and charge minions) to deal the lethal damage in subsequent turns.
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Your opponent’s in such a commanding position (board control and card advantage) that pushing for damage is the only way to win.
In comparison, you should usually trade if any of these criteria are fulfilled:
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Your minion sits at one health and dies to the opponent’s hero power (Druid, Mage or Rogue).
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Neglecting to trade will cause your opponent to enact unfavourable trades against you. For example, you have a 3/3 and 2/3 minion on board and they have a 3/3 minion – opting to attack their hero allows them to remove your 2/3 minion and keep their minion alive with 1 health.
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You’re playing against a class with numerous minion buffs (Paladin) or healing capabilities (Priest). Suddenly that inconscpicious 1/1 Silver Hand Recruit you ignored on turn 4 morphs into a 5/5 with divine shield (Blessing of Kings + Hand of Protection) and dispatches your 4/5 Chillwind Yeti without perishing. Nasty.
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Their minion, although less imposing than yours with regards to baseline stats, has a threatening special attribute. Minions such as Northshire Cleric, Starving Buzzard, Frothing Berserker, Young Priestess, Flametongue Totem and Gadgetzan Auctioneer should be dealt with immediately.
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You’re facing an aggro class that relies on flooding the board with cheap minions (Zoo Warlock and Murloc).
Most of this should come intuitively through experience. The trickiest thing to gauge is when to completely abstain from trading and attempt the kill. Often you’ll be thwarted by an unforeseen healing spell or minion – that’s the nature of card games.
Play around opponent’s cards and don’t overextend
One of the easiest blunders to make in Hearthstone is to overcommit in dominant positions, setting the stage perfectly for a board clear.
For novices, board wipes like the mage’s Flamestrike (“Deal four damage to all enemy minions.”) seem inordinately powerful but are actually easy to circumvent. Flamestrike is a 7-cost card, so if you’re in a strong position with three minions on the board by turn 6, you should withhold playing additional minions for fear of facilitating a four-for-one trade. Researching these class-specific spells pays dividends early on.
You should also acknowledge the textbook signs that your opponent is preparing for a board clear on forthcoming turns. Consider it suspicious that the Mage chose to Fireblast your 4/5 Chillwind Yeti instead of your 2/1 Murloc Raider? They’re laying the groundwork for a devastating flamestrike next turn. Flummoxed by a Warrior’s inactivity as they let you assert board control? They’re encouraging you to beef up the board so their Brawl (“Destroy all minions except one.”) causes havoc.
Ultimately, you want to reach the point where you can play around all the class-specific spells. Some of these, like the Priest’s Shadow Word: Pain and Shadow Word Death removals spells, are relatively straightforward to counter; while others, such as the Rogue’s Betrayal (forces your minion to deal its damage to neighbouring minions), call for clever positioning and forethought.
Embrace netdecking but don’t take it as gospel
Netdecking is the practice of replicating another player’s deck card for card.
Netdecking ensures that those not versed in the art of deck building can compete on the ladder – in fact, even the professionals regularly source decks from their peers.
A by-product of this is the homogenisation of decks in ranked play, with near-identical builds and counters being employed. At present, the meta-game is comprised primarily of Warlock and Hunter aggro, Warlock giants, Warrior control and mid-range Druid.
While it’s advisable to mirror successful decks that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t react to what’s in front of you and tweak the deck where appropriate. Making one or two alterations to reflect the current meta-game is a great way to fashion a slight tactical edge.
Running into a disproportionate amount of aggro decks? Then recruit a Wild Pyromancer to sweep up the crowd of 1-health creatures. Getting crushed by the inexorable stream of giants from the control warlocks? Then find space for a Big Game Hunter.
For those with no aspirations of grinding to Legendary, there’s still plenty of intriguing deck lists out there to sink your teeth into. Noxious’ “Randuin Wrynn” mischievous deck composed entirely of RNG (random number generator) cards is brilliant fun. And really, that’s what Hearthstone is all about.
Written by James Barnes
