Hearthstone Arena Match 2 (Mage), Score 1-3 (final)

Game 1

Mage vs Hunter

I was very much in control, perhaps too much control and my health went down really fast. Anyway, he had an explosive trap with my health at 4. So what could I do? Looking back, Kezan Mystic might be a worthwhile pick especially looking at the arena meta. So explosive trap and hunter's power killed me finally. He was also a turn from lethal.

Good play: Killed his Boulderfist Orge with a Fireball and a ping.
Bad play: Should have followed up to kill his 2/4 bird that increased the other minion attack by +1 with my 2 minions on board to reduce a 2 point damage by itself. I wanted to keep them for my Fen Creeper and Stormwind Champion.

His good play: Really aggressive to my face. He used a quick shot on an empty hand. Almost could not make it if not for the explosive damage trap.

Looking back, there was a Kezan Mystic offered and I did not take it. Perhaps I might try one out next time.

Arena 0-1.

Hearthstone Arena Match 1 (Mage), Game 7, Score 4-3 (final)

Hearthstone Arena

Game 7 (final)

Mage vs Mage

Turn 1 was good. He came out Mana Wrym, I answered with Flamecannon. He played Chug and Grizzly. At subsequent turns, I started to fall behind because of my draw and incomplete use of mana. Annoy-o-tron, Mad Scientist (no secrets), Earthen Farseer and Zombie Choy. He played really well with Chillwind Yeti, Questing Adventurer with coin and something else (perhaps an Orge Magi). Anyway, I fireball his Questing Adventurer and killed his other minion, leaving his Chillwind and my board clear. He came out up to 4 units one being the Imp Master. I killed the Imp generated by Imp Master and MCT, deep down hoping to steal his Dragonkin Sorcerer or at least the damaged 4/2 Chillwind. That might turn the game around a little bit. Alas, it stole the Imp Master. Next turn, he Flamestriked and he had 4 minions on board while I did not have a flamestrike on hand. Molten finally came, so Molten, Chillwind and Orge Magi but all was too little too late.

I emoted: "Well played"

Arena run final at 4-3.

Nevertheless, it is still my best run so far with the help of Heartharena. Thanks Heartharena!

Reward: 85 gold and a G&G pack.

Look out for my next arena run.

Everyone, get in here!

Heathstone Arena - Match 1, Game 3, 4, 5 & 6

Hearthstone Arena

Game 3

Mage vs Shaman

This game I lost bad. He came out Whirling Zap-o-matic at turn 2 and I was so paranoid about his Feral Spirit that I coined and charge my Arcane Golem into him thus giving him the extra mana every turn onwards. Later he used Lightning storm, and at the end he was over powering me with like Fireguard Destroyer, Earth Elemental and Lava Shock quite a fair bit of BRM cards. Well, my bad.

Arena run streak broken at 2-1.

Heathstone Arena - Match 1, Game 1 and 2

Hearthstone Arena

First Game

Mage vs Paladin

Bad draw but Flamestrike, Molten Giant (not sure can last to use) on hand. Just focussed to play on curve and trade minions to last till Flamestrike. I came out Water Elemental to freeze him to prevent weapon use. I had 2 minions and he had 3. I Flamestrike him to continue to freeze his hero. 3 minions now. He Gurubashi Berserker. I had to prevent him from clearing my small minion by freezing him with my Water Elemental. His freezed up Gurubashi Berserker now menacing at 8/2 now and he's smart to come out a recruit and not over-extend. I could not use my MCT. I took a gamble, which was the turning point of the game by summoning out my Bomb Lobber and it killed the Gurubashi Berserker. Then... dam, this Paladin had such stroke of luck in draft and draw. Equality+Consecration!

Then he Sunwalker, I Molten Giant and ping his shield. He rammed his Sunwalker then True Silverlight killed my Molten Giant. I top decked, he top decked, traded minions with my Yeti and a bit of face. Both no cards. I also put down my MCT to continue to go for face, since no chance to wait for his 4 minions. His small minions was cleared out by my Yeti, also ping his recruits and my 2 small minions continue to hit him with like 2 attack each. His health down to 8 and my health at 15. Any board clearance like another Consecration will be bad for me now, as I was all in. Suddenly, he quitted. Phew! Most gruelling 1st game. Recorded the win at Heartharena as a way of thanking them and feeding them back the statistics.

For all you know, if it goes well, I may donate to them through Paypal.

The Flamestrike gave me the momentum to continue to pressure to lethal him.

The Bomb Lobber saved my ass.

Arena first blood at 1-0.

Second Game

Mage vs Paladin (again...)

Another dreaded Paladin.

I believed his first few cards was bad. Mine was a perfect draw, 1, 2, 3, 5. Mana Wrym, Annoy-o-tron, Arcane Golem, Bomb Lobber with coin! Later the Spider Tank came in.

The turning point was I Spider Tank he Spider Tank, I coined, charged my Mana Wrym and came out the Bomb Lobber killed his Spider Tank instantly. His came out 3 minions Earthen Ring Farseer, Minibot and Recruit. I killed them perfectly with by pinging the shield off the Minibot and my 3 minions Yeti at 4/4, Annoy 1/2 no shield and Spider Tank at 2/3 (he swapped my attack and health with a spare part???). At that time, I was left with 3 1-health minions which I also tried to bait out his Consecration by putting out my Flesheating Goul earlier which was by now 5/3. If he used Consecration, my Flesheating Goul will survive and be 8/1 and I would ram it to his face threatening closer to lethal him and I still had my Arcane Golem on hand and Water Elemental which would deny him the use of True SliverLight. That's the plan. Lord and behold, his draft pick and draw had Equality+Avenging Wrath. The last shot hit the Flesheating Goul, so heart wrenching!

Oh well, plan B. Came out 3 minions 1 being Water Elemental, but still reserve the MCT in case he decided to go all out. He was very shrewd and stopped at 3 minions, not sure out of mana or played intelligently. His health at 13 I guessed. I calculated my damage and went for lethal to his face, with the 3 minions on board, Arcane Golem charge which gave him an irrelevant mana crystal, Frostbolt and still have 2 mana 1 ping which was not needed.

I must say the Bomb Lobber saved my ass again.

Arena run now 2-0.

Follow me with my Arena adventures ahead.

Everyone, get in here!

Hearthstone AoE or Mass Removal

Hearthstone AoE or Mass Removal

Since I want to do well in arena, I must memorize the Area of Effect (AoE) or mass removal spells from each class by hard. I also need to factor in the extra cost and the additional damage by Azure Drake or Kobold Geomancer. Here's a look up table.

Mage

The Mage arguably has the most powerful board removal spell in the game in the form of Flamestrike. Always assume the Mage has one in hand as you approach turn seven (turn six if they have The Coin).

• 1 Mana: Arcane Explosion "Deal 1 damage to all enemy minions."
• 6 Mana: Blizzard "Deal 2 damage to all enemy minions and Freeze them."
• 7 Mana: Flamestrike "Deal 4 damage to all enemy minions."

Update: 6 Mana "Flamestrike" - Lost a painful game to a Mage. He used a cheaper 6 mana for 4 damage with 3 cards (Kobold Geomancer + 2 x Arcane Explosion). I was saving my Loatheb for his Flamestrike on turn 7. So be careful when he has a lot of cards and no minions on the board. Do not over-extend by having more than 3 minions. Same applies to Mind Control Tech (MCT)

Paladin

It's always worth playing a more controlling game against the Paladin, and making smart minion trades in anticipation of a common early Consecration. Watch out for devastating late-game use of this spell in conjunction with Equality too.

• 4 Mana: Consecration "Deal 2 damage to all enemies."
• 4 Mana: Wild Pyromancer (2) + Equality (2) "Destroy all minions."
• 6 Mana: Equality (2) + Consecration (4) "Destroy enemy minions. Your own minions reduce to 1 health"

Rogue

The Rogue depends on combos to fire most of its removal spells off, but pay particular attention to Betrayal. Like the Hunter's Explosive Shot, it's important to position your minions carefully.

• 2 Mana: Betrayal "Force an enemy minion to deal its damage to the minions next to it."
• 2 Mana: Blade Flurry "Destroy your weapon and deal its damage to all enemies."
• 3 Mana: Fan of Knives "Deal 1 damage to all enemy minions. Draw a card."

Shaman

Lightning Storm comes with an Overload price, limiting the amount of Mana available to the Shaman next turn. Still, this is a very common early response to aggressive decks.

• 3 Mana - Lightning Storm "Deal 2-3 damage to all enemy minions. Overload: (2)"

Druid

Druids don't have the strongest removal spells overall, but Swipe is a particularly nasty card that can be used to make light work of aggressive decks that rely on pushing low power minions onto the board.

• 4 Mana: Swipe "Deal 4 damage to an enemy and 1 damage to all other enemies."
• 5 Mana: Starfall "Deal 5 damage to a minion; or 2 damage to all enemy minions."
• 9 Mana: Poison Seeds + Starfall "Destroy all enemy minions (your minions turn in to seeds)."

Priest

• 5 Mana: Holy Nova "Deal 2 damage to all enemies. Restore 2 Health to all friendly characters."
• 4 Mana: Auchenai Soulpriest (4) + Circle of Healing (CoH 0) "Deal 4 damage to all enemies."

Hunter

Explosive Trap is one of the more popular removal spells for the Hunter class, and is yet another reminder of the importance of careful minion positioning. Don't just throw 'em onto the board!

• 2 Mana: Explosive Trap "When your hero is attacked, deal 2 damage to all enemies."
• 4 Mana: Multi-Shot "Deal 3 damage to two random enemy minions."
• 5 Mana: Explosive Shot "Deal 5 damage to a minion and 2 damage to adjacent ones."

Warrior

As well as the Warrior's mighty weapons, he can also draw on a couple of spells to finish off the weaker elements of an opponent's board.
*Update: I have been playing a lot of Grim Patron Warrior recently, so my thoughts in asterisks. Also included single removal for completeness.

• 1 Mana: Whirlwind "Deal 1 damage to ALL minions."
• 2 Mana: Revenge "Deal 1 damage. Health less than or equal to 12, deal 3 damage."
• 2 Mana: Cleave "Deal 2 damage to two random enemy minions." (*omitted this spell as it multiplies Grim Patron)
• 5 Mana: Brawl "Destroy all minions except one (chosen randomly)."
*Update (Single Removal)
• 1 Mana: Execute "Destroy a damaged enemy minion."
• 7 (4) Mana: Crush "Destroy a minion. If you have a damaged minion, this cost 4 less."

*Just the other day, I used a Whirlwind or/and Cruel Taskmaster to increase the attack of a Frothing Berserker to within Big Game Hunter range and "executed" him. Abusive Sergeant is another low cost option.

Warlock

Like all the best Warlock cards, the class's removal spells come with a price. Hellfire will do three damage to everyone and everything (including you!), while Shadowflame demands the price of a minion for its impact on the board.

• 4 Mana: Hellfire "Deal 3 damage to ALL characters."
• 4 Mana: Shadowflame "Destroy a friendly minion and deal its Attack damage to all enemy minions."
• 8 Mana: Twisting Nether "Destroy all minions."

Hearthstone Arena

Hearthstone Arena

I have just started another Hearthstone Arena run again after a disappointing 2-3, 2-3, 1-3 and 0-3 run. I kind of given up until I read so much that it was possible to win. This time round, I approached it with a completely different mindset after reading many, many forums, blog discussions and website recommendations.

1. Use HearthArena or ArenaValue - why reinvent the wheel or draft based on your constructed experience while there are tried and proven arena wins from the experts and on-going feeds into the system. I threw away whatever I learnt in constructed and trusted the experts, not my gut feel.
2. Focus on the Game (NOT on the wins or gold) - Yes, focus on the game itself as a learning experience. It does not matter whether you win or lose. Treat it as school fees. I was very, very concerned when I invested 150 gold initially to enter arena in the past. I told myself, sh*t, I better make it a profit else I might as well buy card packs for 100 gold. It bothered me so much that it affected my game (one such occasion, I could have saved a power overwhelming when I rammed my buffed minion into his Abomination instead of ramming the rest of my minions in to him which would have cleared his board as well, since I used backstab on his second Azure Drake spotted by my spectating friend). I was really cool as a cucumber during constructed that I almost always played a perfect game despite winning or losing using slightly better than basic decks since I do not have most cards.
3. Play One-Game-a-Day - Also, referring to point 2, take it one step at a time. It really requires complete focus. Analyze what has gone wrong, what the opponent did right that cost you the game. Then, DO NOT make the same mistake again or use that tactic he used to beat you. My first game was with Paladin. A good tactic he used against me was not to kill all my minions but reduced them to 2 health or deathrattle them, then he cleared with Conscretion. I used the exact same tactic on him later by flamestrike him.

Follow me with my Arena adventures ahead.

Everyone, get in here!

Hearthstone Destroy Effect

Destroy Effects

I felt it is important enough to reiterate here.

The majority of destroy effects affect minions, and are ideal for removing minions without triggering on-damage triggered effects such as those of Acolyte of Pain, Armorsmith and Frothing Berserker. However, any Deathrattles will still be triggered by destroy effects.

In short,

1. Destroy does not trigger damage effects
2. Destroy will still trigger deathrattle effects

This costed me a game as I assassinated the Explosive Sheep and triggered the 2-damage explosion wiping my board.

Grim Patron Warrior Deck

Grim Patron

༼ ºل͜º ༽ºل͜º ༽ºل͜º ༽ＥＶＥＲＹＯＮＥ,ＧＥＴ ＩＮ ＨＥＲＥ!༼ ºل͜º༼ ºل͜º༼ ºل͜º ༽

Thanks to Senfglas Legendary Grim Patron Warrior deck, Warrior can be finally enjoyed by poor players like me. In the past, you will need at least a few high mana legendaries to at least play competitively for Warrior. With all the cards obtained from Nax and BRM, I was able to modify the deck a bit to enjoy playing Grim Patron Warrior. This deck has an inherent weakness, especially if you do not have enough threats like Frothing Berserker and Gromish Hellscream for the opponent. AOE - Auchenai+CoH, Velens+Holy Nova, Hellfire, Flamestrike, Shadowflame, Spell damage+Lightning Storm, Bladeflurry, Brawl+Weapon, Wild Pyromancer+Equality, Equality+Conscretion, Lightbomb.

Anyway, I modified the deck a little bit to include the free dragon eggs from BRM to counter the aggro decks since Unstable Ghoul blocks them and activates the eggs at the same time. I am missing a few key cards like Cruel Taskmaster and most importantly, Battle Rage (substituted with Slam) and Frothing Berserker (substituted with Kel'Thuzad). I also put in Emperor Thaurissan. I can only put in the free Shield Block but what I rather have are Shieldmaiden and Shield Slam. Oh well, let's grind them in arena or buy card packs with my gold which is currently almost at 1.4 K now.

I have included 2 links to Grim Patron Warrior decks.

Senfglas #1 Legend Grim Patron Warrior
Icy Veins - Cheap Grim Patron OTK

Hearthstone Blackrock Mountain - Hidden Laboratory Strategy

I have beaten the final wing of Hearthstone Blackrock Mountain Hidden Laboratory Normal Mode the same night it was released. With that, I have obtained all the Blackrock Mountain and class cards. I walk the talk and I will guide you to get more Legendary cards without purchase.

The final wing Hidden Laboratory bosses were all beaten with one class, namely Priest. The reason, the computer either had 2 silence cards or 2 removal cards in their deck. It is very easy to take advantage of it even when playing against real players. When both cards are used up, you just need to buff one taunt card to very high health and there is no way they can get pass it. So the win condition will be to buff a Deathlord to extreme high health with even free Power Word Shields, Divine Spirit, Dark Cultist (Nax). I was lucky to have 1 Velen's Chosen, 1 Temple Enforcer and 1 Inner Fire with the free decks from those quests of spectating a friend win. Finally, a Kel'Thuzad to repeated revive your Dark Cultist and Temple Enforcer and buff your minions health to seal the victory.

Omnotron Defense System

Hero Powers (Normal) -
Activate Arcanotron! (2 mana)
Activate Toxitron! (4 mana)
Activate Electron! (6 mana)
Activate Magmatron! (8 mana)
Activate! a random tron! (4 mana)

Hero Power (Heroic) -
Activate Arcanotron! (0 mana)
Activate Toxitron! (2 mana)
Activate Electron! (4 mana)
Activate Magmatron! (6 mana)
Activate a random tron! (2 mana)

I chose Priest due to past experiences. First try and I was successful. I put in all my favorite free spells like Holy Smite, Holy Nova as damage would +2 for Arcanotron and cost -2 for Electron. Also removal and buff spells. Their Toxitron will help you to AOE 1 damage but your hero healing power is 2. I saw in gamepedia the boss deck had 2 Earth Shocks and no removals. So if they do not draw Earth Shock and you buff your Deathlord (Nax) to oblivion and Inner Fire, it will be a textbook boss win.

I saw in other sites like gameskinny recommended Warrior as well. I believe it will work as Toxitron will buff your enrage minions or multiply your Grim Patron.

Recommended Class: Priest/Warrior
Recommended Cards: Holy Smite (F), Holy Nova (F) Northshire Cleric (F), Dark Cultist (Nax), Divine Spirit (F), Power Word Shield (F), Shadow Words (F), IBO, High Health Minions, Kel'Thuzard (Nax), Inner Fire, enrage minions, Gurubashi Berserkers