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Deatiled arena guide (best for beginners!)

Hey guys, I wanted to share an arena guide I wrote to help out less experienced players get into the arena format. I hope it will be helpful and if you have any questions or feedback, please let me know!

 

Table of contents

1) Introduction
2) Choosing class
3) The draft
4) Getting into your opponents head
5) Trading vs going face
6) Conclusion

 

1) Introduction

Welcome to the ultimate arena guide! This guide is best suited for beginners, however I hope that players with more experience can still find something interesting for themselves. We are going to go through the entire process of playing arena step by step focusing on each of the elements individually, since people usually lack skill in a certain aspect more so than in general. Please use the table of contents to navigate through the guide if you’re only interested in a specific part.

 

2) Choosing class

Quite obviously, each class has unique strengths and weaknesses in arena. Hero power plays a huge role in shaping the given classes playstyle (favoring the deal 1 damage ones, because they directly influence the board). Due to the changes in arena that happened some time ago, we are also much more likely to get class cards in the draft, so it’s worth considering which class has the most useful ones (for example almost every mage class card is playable while a lot of warrior ones are dead cards).

Right now, we are going to take a look at my personal tierlist, however, keep in mind that every class is capable of getting to 12 wins if the draft and execution were good enough. After the tierlist, we will take a look at the draft process and point out some of the key cards for each of the classes.

 

Tier 1 - Mage, Rogue, Paladin

Mage will always be good in arena because of the quality of basic and common class cards and the amount of boardclears and I feel like it’s still the best and most versatile class. Because of some of the cheap minions and a lot of burn/removal spells, you should be able to aim for either a tempo deck or an attrition deck (that might need a Pyroblast as a finisher). It’s worth noticing however that some of the core cards like Flamestrike or Fireball are now less likely to be drafted due to the arena tweaks that happened a couple of months ago.

Rogue is the queen of tempo decks. Utilizing cheap removal spells alongside well drafted manacurve, rogue can easily get out of control. Valeera’s hero power also works as a decent tempo tool since it can technically get rid of two targets per usage. No matter how good of a tempo you can put out, it’s core to use your life total in a responsible way. Mages often pray on Rogues who have been using their face to trade too much, however it is generally always correct to put cards like Deadly Poison or Envenom Weapon to work.

Paladin has seen some significant improvements with cards like Hydrologist (into Getaway Kodo most of the time for extra value), Vinecleaver or Spikeridged Steed making it a very strong choice if you enjoy the value game. Part of Paladin’s strength is draft flexibility when you can go for more removal type of cards (Aldor Peacekeeper, Consecration etc) or more value oriented ones (Vinecleaver, Ivory Knight, Hydrologist) and top that off with some incredible buffs (Blessing of Kings, Spikeridged Steed, Dinosize).

 

Tier 2 – Hunter, Shaman

Hunter can definitely be a good choice for arena if you like the aggressive approach. Relying strongly on tempo and utilizing hero power, hunter can end games much faster than other classes, however the playstyle is rather one-dimensional (it has never really been possible to build a control deck for hunter both in constructed and in arena). You will often find yourself racing for lethal and due to the one-dimensional hero power, that’s the best way to utilize the class.

In my opinion, Shaman is in a very interesting spot right now. Since the card pool was reduced with the standard rotation, we are actually able to build some incredibly synergetic decks for Shaman, based on either or both Jades and Elementals. Adding a Bloodlust or two on top of that might give you a very strong, board oriented deck with a strong finisher. I think Shaman is probably even better than hunter and clawing it’s way to Tier 1.

 

Tier 3 – Druid, Priest, Warlock

While being a dominant force in constructed for a long time, Druid has never really been an arena powerhouse. While the minions and the ramp are strong tools that facilitate the lategame focused playstyle, the removal is not as effective as in other classes pushing Druid to Tier 3. Tortollan Forager and Shellshifter definitely helped in terms of midrange potential for Druid, but I still feel like I’m missing something important whenever I choose to play Druid in arena.

The Priest’s hero power becomes even more important in arena making him able to keep minions on the board and constantly provide pressure. However, it can also be a liability since it has no effect on the tide of the game especially if you have no targets to heal. Due to the hero power and the nature of class cards, playing Priest always ends up as playing a control playstyle. The plan should always be to outvalue your opponent rather than upright killing them, but right now we don’t have that many high value control tools and often find ourselves overwhelmed in midgame.

Unlike Priest, Warlock has a hero power that can turn the tides of battle. Having access to card draw whenever you need it gives you a huge advantage over every other class. That ability allows for a fast and aggressive build that utilizes hero power to keep the hand full. However, life total management and poor minions value has pushed Warlock much lower than it used to be before Un’Goro. While the class is still strong, I don’t think it has as much potential as Paladin or Druid in terms of the board oriented playstyle and it lost its burst potential when Power Overwhelming was moved to Wild.

 

Tier 4 – Warrior

Warrior’s hero power has no impact on the board and generates no additional value other than keeping you alive for longer, which historically made Warrior one of the worst arena classes and it’s not different in Un’Goro. Solid aggro/tempo draft accompanied by weapons can still make the class go crazy though. Weapons are the most essential cards but don’t pick too many of them. Three or maximally four weapons is all you need.

 

3) The draft

Selecting the class you want to play is just the beginning of a new arena adventure. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the class you chose, you can now proceed to the drafting stage knowing more or less what you want to achieve. For me, the draft is always split in three parts of ten cards.

The first ten cards should always be chosen based on their general value, regardless of their mana cost or synergy possibilities. Try choosing as many core cards as you can to allow for more flexible choices in the later stages of the draft. Using programs such as Hearth Arena Companion can be a tremendous help for less experienced arena enthusiasts and provide additional information for those who already spent some time battling in the arena. For example, I use it to have easier time spotting synergies between the cards.

After going through the first ten choices, you now have the core of your arena deck. The next ten choices should help you strengthen a certain archetype (for example you can pick more early game cards to go more towards the aggressive playstyle). At this stage, I usually try to choose cards that can help me fill the mana curve the way I want it to be at the end.

Remember that it’s not always correct to choose the strongest card. For example, given a choice of Flamestrike, Water Elemental and Mana Wyrm you can decide whether you want to gear your deck more towards lategame (Flamestrike), to make it better overall (Water Elemental) or to go for more of an aggro approach (Mana Wyrm).

Now you’ve already chosen twenty cards. You know if your deck is shaped more towards aggro, midrange or control. You know how many single target removals you have and how many aoe removals you have. You can see what’s the minion quality and hopefully what is your win condition (burn spells, board presence, some kind of combo). Now you just have to smooth things out with the last ten cards. See what tools you’re still missing or would like to have more of (for example focus on spells if you have minions that interact with spells). Remember about general card values, but also look at your deck and possible synergies.

 

Core cards for each class

• Druid
  

Swipe, Wrath, Innervate

• Hunter
  

Savannah Highmane, Animal Companion, Kill Command

• Mage
  

Flamestrike, Fireball, Frostbolt

• Paladin
  

Consecration, Truesilver Champion, Spikeridged Steed

• Priest
  

Northshire Cleric, Mind Control, Holy Nova

• Rogue
  

Backstab, Eviscerate, Sap

• Shaman
  

Fire Elemental, Bloodlust, Lightning Storm

• Warlock
  

Flame Imp, Abyssal Enforcer, Blastcrystal Potion

• Warrior
  

Fiery War Axe, Frothing Berserker, Arathi Weaponsmith

 

4) Getting into your opponent’s head

This point and the following one are closely connected to decision making that we discussed in one of my previous articles (https://blog.gamersensei.com/article/hearthstone-is-a-rubiks-cube/). I wholeheartedly recommend you to read it not only for the sake of this arena guide, but to help you improve your game in general.

 

So what does getting into your opponent’s head actually mean?

First of all, based on the knowledge of all of the classes and the card pool available to them, you can predict what kind of threats you will be facing in the following turns. The most blatant example is Mage playing a Flamestrike on turn 7 to clear your board. Solution? Don’t expand your board too much. There are many core cards for each class, especially when it comes to boardclears or combos, so it’s crucial to learn all of them. There are also certain minions that you can expect on specific turns. Ironbark Protector on turn 8 is a pretty good example of that. You know it’s a possibility and because the card is basic, there’s a pretty big chance that your opponent actually has it in their deck. Because of that, you have to prepare yourself to deal with a 8/8 taunt – either keep a single target removal (Polymorph, Assassinate etc.) or play enough minions to be able to get through the big tree dude.

Sometimes you can also feel there is something fishy going on, for example your opponent lets your minions live when they can kill some of them. This might mean a boardclear coming up but it can also mean there’s a Mind Control Tech somewhere ready to ruin your day. Similarly, you can sometimes spot that your opponent is desperately going face with everything they have. That might mean there’s some kind of burn spell waiting in their hand to finish you off. If you feel like you might be in a situation like this, play as safe as possible, trade, heal, taunt up. Being greedy or too optimistic is one of the biggest mistakes people make in arena.

You can also try bluffing. After all, the unofficial name of the game is Wizard Poker. Since you know about all the core threats, you can assume that your opponent understands how to play around them too. In that case you might want to go for a suboptimal play acting like you’re not holding a specific card that they might expect and use it when they overextend due to the false security you just gave them.

 

5) Trading vs going face

Based on my experience as a Hearthstone coach, I can say that the thing that give students the biggest headache is knowing when to trade and when to push damage to the opponent’s face. One small mistake in this area can lose a game of Hearthstone, and it’s not always obvious what the correct choice is in a given situation. Less experienced players tend to not see all the possibilities and even more so, get stressed about choosing the correct one. This part of the guide will hopefully make you understand the basic principles and allow for a more relaxed approach to your Hearthstone adventures.

It is crucial to be able to identify your role. You should be able to understand specific matchups between classes as well as knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your deck in order to properly adjust playstyle. Obviously, your playstyle will be different when you play Hunter with low manacurve (more aggressive) than when you play a Priest with an even manacurve (lategame oriented).

 

6) Conclusion

Ok, I'm glad you were able to get through the whole thing! Hopefully, the little bits of knowledge about picking your class, drafting and executing plays will be able to get you that sweet 12 wins! Just remember to follow the tips in this article and trust me, from now on, it's all in your hands. Don't get discouraged, continue trying and eventually the experience will start to pay off!

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