Back in Hearthstone...and I suck

[Superlative]

MODS:I'm not sure if I should put this in Gaming or Advice. If it should be moved, please do.

I stopped playing Hearthstone regularly during Goblins and Gnomes. I was never hardcore but would generally make it into the early iron ranks. I hopped back in and found myself barely able to win a match, despite only being rank 25. I think I've won one or two games in the week I've been playing.

While I intellectually realize I suck because I suck at playing, emotionally I wonder if its because I have a small selection of cards and can't reset my rank back to super noob. I have a bunch of super profitable quests, but all of them require wins...which I can't get.

I have to admit, I'm not sure how to proceed. Should I drop the quests and hope i get something that doesn't require wins? should i liquidate my collection and try to build a net deck? Should I just wait until September and hope my rank drops?

Sadly, spending money is not a option.

 

[The Madman]

Use the weekly Tavern Brawls to fulfill your quest requirements, often the rulesets for tavern brawl are so ridiculous and outlandish that not having access to a full deck or being a bit rusty will make little difference. The first win of every week also awards a free pack of cards so you can grow your deck and get extra dust that way. Then use the gold from quests completed with Tavern Brawls to buy into the arena games, in which case the cards you own don't matter anyway since in arena you have randomized cards. Wins in arena also give packs as well as more gold and dust if you do well.

Rinse & Repeat till either you've built up the gold and the confidence to delve back into ranked play (Look up cheap decks on hearthpwn if you want to see what's popular and winning these days) or you get tired of Hearthstone and wander off to another game... or if you're an evil, despicable, immoral example of a human being you can just save for a cheap face-hunter deck and win in ranked that way, but that's only for the truly depraved among us.

 

[Jandau]

I quit during Naxx and when I came back last week, it took me about 3 days to quit again. There's no mode that doesn't feature an abundance of pimped out netdecks. I was facing fully formed decks at rank 23. I even tried Casual mode, figuring the competition would be less there. First thing I came across was a Patron Warrior, complete with all the legendaries. I uninstalled at that point. I didn't lose every game, but the rate at which I won was miserable, and I didn't feel I was losing because I was playing bad, but rather because I simply lacked the cards needed to keep up with the stuff people were putting on the board. Of the packs 6-7 that I opened, I only got the bare commons + 1 blue every time, which made it even more discouraging. Hell, I even managed to get a 3rd copy of a common in those packs, which I just considered ridiculous.

All in all, I didn't feel encouraged to put in more time. I'm guessing that this might become more of a problem for Blizz and Hearthstone as time goes by and they'll have to put in at least some sort of a catch-up mechanic in the game. Until that time, I'll be staying away. It's a nice game, but if you fall behind, you better be ready to pony up the cash...

 

[loa]

Just don't play ranked games...?

 

[Lightspeaker]

I even tried Casual mode, figuring the competition would be less there. First thing I came across was a Patron Warrior, complete with all the legendaries.

Casual mode is pretty much way, way tougher than the lower ranks of ranked because people (including me) routinely use it to either test decks for ladder or to clear quests. In casual I routinely use high level netdecks to clear my quests as quickly as possible.

Your best bet is basically to just keep playing around in ranked mode.


@OP: Depends what cards you already have really. Its hard to tell without knowing what you have available and what you're capable of building from that.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

MODS:I'm not sure if I should put this in Gaming or Advice. If it should be moved, please do.

I stopped playing Hearthstone regularly during Goblins and Gnomes. I was never hardcore but would generally make it into the early iron ranks. I hopped back in and found myself barely able to win a match, despite only being rank 25. I think I've won one or two games in the week I've been playing.

While I intellectually realize I suck because I suck at playing, emotionally I wonder if its because I have a small selection of cards and can't reset my rank back to super noob. I have a bunch of super profitable quests, but all of them require wins...which I can't get.

I have to admit, I'm not sure how to proceed. Should I drop the quests and hope i get something that doesn't require wins? should i liquidate my collection and try to build a net deck? Should I just wait until September and hope my rank drops?

Sadly, spending money is not a option.

Hearthstone can be an extremely frustrating game to try and break into.

Trump has done a couple of FTP series now, in which he starts a new account and tries to assemble a competitive deck from scratch. I recommend checking it out. He's a good player to learn the game from.

If you're light on cards and don't want to spend money, your best bet is to pick a class and commit to it. Dust any gold cards you might have, or rares/epics that are useless. Use that dust to round out a competitive deck from that class. This can be your deck to ladder with, which will reward you with more gold and the monthly chest, which will give you golds you can dust, etc.

If you feel comfortable with the game mechanics and meta, I also recommend doing frequent Arenas as gold becomes available to you. If you're reasonably competent, it's pretty easy to break even on Arena runs (especially if you can knock off a quest or two) which makes the pack you get "free". Helps give you a break from the endless procession of netdecks in ranked as well.

As others have pointed out, do the Tavern Brawl at least once a week to get the free pack, and use it to complete quests that don't coordinate well with your Arena or your ranked deck(s). The Brawls that provide you with a random deck are the most forgiving for new players.

Probably most importantly...don't play to the point that you tilt. I have a lot of cards and a lot of legendaries, I can run some super competitive decks, and I still find the game perhaps the single most frustrating/annoying title I've ever played. There is a high degree of variance in Hearthstone, and you can go on runs where you come out on the wrong side of it over and over, and will make you hate the game. Know when to step away or shake up your game mode. Don't play until you want to snap the keyboard over your knee.

First thing I came across was a Patron Warrior, complete with all the legendaries.

Patron Warrior generally doesn't run any legendaries outside of Thaurissan. That's the major reason it's such a cancer. It's a really cheap/easy deck to run.

If you ran across a Warrior with "all the legendaries" it was either the ridiculously expensive Control Warrior deck (which doesn't run Patrons) or some crazy homebrew deck someone was just screwing around with.

 

[Jandau]

I even tried Casual mode, figuring the competition would be less there. First thing I came across was a Patron Warrior, complete with all the legendaries.

Casual mode is pretty much way, way tougher than the lower ranks of ranked because people (including me) routinely use it to either test decks for ladder or to clear quests. In casual I routinely use high level netdecks to clear my quests as quickly as possible.

Your best bet is basically to just keep playing around in ranked mode.

I meet the same decks in ranked, even pre-20. Which was why I tried Casual.

Patron Warrior generally doesn't run any legendaries outside of Thaurissan. That's the major reason it's such a cancer. It's a really cheap/easy deck to run.

If you ran across a Warrior with "all the legendaries" it was either the ridiculously expensive Control Warrior deck (which doesn't run Patrons) or some crazy homebrew deck someone was just screwing around with.

He had a Rag in there along side the Thaurissan, as well as the Patrons and all the stuff used to proliferate them.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I even tried Casual mode, figuring the competition would be less there. First thing I came across was a Patron Warrior, complete with all the legendaries.

Casual mode is pretty much way, way tougher than the lower ranks of ranked because people (including me) routinely use it to either test decks for ladder or to clear quests. In casual I routinely use high level netdecks to clear my quests as quickly as possible.

Your best bet is basically to just keep playing around in ranked mode.

I meet the same decks in ranked, even pre-20. Which was why I tried Casual.

they really need to remove quests from casual mode, that way people who ACTUALLY want to play casually are free to, as lightspeaker said, all the try-hards use it to clear quests and some just run face hunter over and over again to get gold as quick as possible.


OT: agree with guppy, the damn game can be STUPIDLY frustrating...which is hilarious, it's a fucking card game. Just take a couple of days off if you are getting "stumped" (a.k.a. running into non-stop face hunters that constantly are top decking you right before the finishing blow) and then try a different strategy or re-think as to why you were getting whooped on. tavern brawls are pretty much the new "casual" mode for me, I play those quite a bit for some wonky fun..and by fun, I mean actual fun, not having to face constant try hard "git gud" decks.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

He had a Rag in there along side the Thaurissan, as well as the Patrons and all the stuff used to proliferate them.

Sounds like he was just screwing around or trying something out (or heard Patron Warrior was good but didn't really understand why). There really isn't any need for a Ragnoros in a Patron deck, since the entire gimmick is around armoring up/clearing threats until you have a OTK in your hand. It's why I hate the deck so much, it's completely non-interactive. The Patron Warrior just sits there doing nothing and then does 40 damage to your face in a single turn.

 

[Lightspeaker]

I even tried Casual mode, figuring the competition would be less there. First thing I came across was a Patron Warrior, complete with all the legendaries.

Casual mode is pretty much way, way tougher than the lower ranks of ranked because people (including me) routinely use it to either test decks for ladder or to clear quests. In casual I routinely use high level netdecks to clear my quests as quickly as possible.

Your best bet is basically to just keep playing around in ranked mode.

I meet the same decks in ranked, even pre-20. Which was why I tried Casual.

they really need to remove quests from casual mode, that way people who ACTUALLY want to play casually are free to, as lightspeaker said, all the try-hards use it to clear quests and some just run face hunter over and over again to get gold as quick as possible.

I could get behind that. Its very, very silly that the casual mode is typically harder than the ranked ladder itself (at least at lower levels). At the moment though there's very little reason to play ranked other than to hit 20 for the cardback. Hell, for the past few months I've been playing once a month, just for the cardback, and then not playing at all for the rest of the month.

Their recent change to add bonuses for higher ranks is good. But it doesn't seem like enough incentive.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Yeah Hearthstone really has an issue with new/returning players right now. For as much as I play it, I wouldn't recommend a friend who hasn't played it before to pick it up because it takes forever. I'm ok cuz I was playing consistently since open beta.

See, this is why people pick up Face Hunter. It's legit the cheapest deck you could make cuz what, the most expensive card is one rare Arcane Golem? Thanks Blizz.

Why is there no collectors pack that gives you cards from any expansion now that there are three expansions + 2 adventures? By the way, drop BRM cuz pretty much all of it is terrible aside from the first wing which hands you Patrons. TGT was the thing that made Dragons halfway viable and that's in Priest only. I do love Dragon Priest though, if you don't mulligan complete arse it can destroy aggro decks. Board of two Twilight Guardians both Velen'd up and he's there trying to take even one down.

"My apologies"

[sub][sub]Priest BM is best BM[/sub][/sub]

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I even tried Casual mode, figuring the competition would be less there. First thing I came across was a Patron Warrior, complete with all the legendaries.

Casual mode is pretty much way, way tougher than the lower ranks of ranked because people (including me) routinely use it to either test decks for ladder or to clear quests. In casual I routinely use high level netdecks to clear my quests as quickly as possible.

Your best bet is basically to just keep playing around in ranked mode.

I meet the same decks in ranked, even pre-20. Which was why I tried Casual.

they really need to remove quests from casual mode, that way people who ACTUALLY want to play casually are free to, as lightspeaker said, all the try-hards use it to clear quests and some just run face hunter over and over again to get gold as quick as possible.

I could get behind that. Its very, very silly that the casual mode is typically harder than the ranked ladder itself (at least at lower levels). At the moment though there's very little reason to play ranked other than to hit 20 for the cardback. Hell, for the past few months I've been playing once a month, just for the cardback, and then not playing at all for the rest of the month.

Their recent change to add bonuses for higher ranks is good. But it doesn't seem like enough incentive.

yep, up until they added that chest for your highest rank achieved of the month, I couldn't give two shits what my rank was.

Or perhaps for casual mode, instead of earning gold for your 3 wins, you earn *insert amount of* common cards, that way, for newbies or for people who haven't played in forever, they can somewhat "catch up" by getting all the common cards without grinding for gold and hoping packs give them something they don't have already.

just spitballing.

 

[rcs619]

Main thing is to play to your strengths. Which rares and epics do you have? Which legendaries?

If you're still relatively new, you may want to consider an aggressive hunter or paladin deck. They tend to use a lot of cheap, common cards and just bash someone in the face before they get the chance to gather steam against them. Face-Hunter decks are especially cheap and usually run no legendary cards at all. A couple rares, but those aren't too bad to craft with a little dust.

I would also focus heavily on value. A lot of the time, just having a big, solid body on the board is much more useful than a more niche minion with a cute effect. Knife juggler, acidic swamp ooze, harvest golem, senjin shieldmasta, chillwind yeti, silverhand knight, piloted shredder, sunwalker, boulderfist ogre. These are just good, solid, useful cards to have in a newer deck.

The Naxxaramus adventure is also quite good for newbies, as it contains useful cards like mad scientist (a very useful 2-drop for hunters and mages), haunted creeper (a very sticky 2-drop), sludge belcher (a super efficient 5-drop taunt minion), Loatheb (a solid, 5-mana utility legendary) and a few other class specific cards that can be handy depending on who you play.

So yes, focus on value. A lot of net-decks aren't as scary as some people say if you just keep filling the board with value and don't give them enough time to pick up steam. They will still have an edge, but play smart and you still got a chance (also, keep in mind that just because someone is using a net-deck doesn't mean they're a pro player. Some of those net-decks can be slightly complicated if you don't know what you're doing).

 

[Mister K]

When I came back after a relatively long break, I got "Win 5 games with Rogue" quest and I got wrecked a lot. I googled "Hearthstone rogue basic deck" and I got a few suggestions for decks with cards avaliable from the start ONLY. I didn't win every game after that, but my win ratio definitely increased. I then replaced some cards with a few that are more to my liking.

What I mean is, check the internet for basic decks.

 

[Redryhno]

of it over and over, and will make you hate the game. Know when to step away or shake up your game mode. Don't play until you want to snap the keyboard over your knee.

I'd honestly agree with most of what you said except for this part here, getting mad at Hearthstone is alot like getting mad at tic-tac-toe or rock-paper-scissors, sure there's a degree of strategy to it, but there's a large portion of the game that's completely out of your control.

I mean, I can understand the feeling of facing a shit deck, you know it's a shit deck(hell, when you're first starting out, even if you're a deckbuilding master, you have a shit deck as well anymore, especially with all the expansions out now), but they have Dr.Boom, so their chances of winning just increased exponentially JUST because that card's on the board.

But it's still a Blizzard game that isn't an RTS, it's casual as all hell. How can you get annoyed at anything in the game but seeing an overabundance of decks you KNOW the person didn't come up with themselves? Though I suppose this comes back around to the game being casual as hell, so many cards are absolute garbage. And Hunter will never be balanced correctly, too much synergy with newbie players and people whining about it to get more than like three decent cards in four expansions...and one of them is ESSENTIAL as a Hunter player that's locked behind a paywall...the model and setup is honestly the most frustrating thing about the game, especially with Blizz talking about upping the Arena cost again...used to be you could do one once a week, now you're lucky if you get that much...

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I'd honestly agree with most of what you said except for this part here, getting mad at Hearthstone is alot like getting mad at tic-tac-toe or rock-paper-scissors, sure there's a degree of strategy to it, but there's a large portion of the game that's completely out of your control.

I mean, I can understand the feeling of facing a shit deck, you know it's a shit deck(hell, when you're first starting out, even if you're a deckbuilding master, you have a shit deck as well anymore, especially with all the expansions out now), but they have Dr.Boom, so their chances of winning just increased exponentially JUST because that card's on the board.

But it's still a Blizzard game that isn't an RTS, it's casual as all hell. How can you get annoyed at anything in the game but seeing an overabundance of decks you KNOW the person didn't come up with themselves? Though I suppose this comes back around to the game being casual as hell, so many cards are absolute garbage. And Hunter will never be balanced correctly, too much synergy with newbie players and people whining about it to get more than like three decent cards in four expansions...and one of them is ESSENTIAL as a Hunter player that's locked behind a paywall...the model and setup is honestly the most frustrating thing about the game, especially with Blizz talking about upping the Arena cost again...used to be you could do one once a week, now you're lucky if you get that much...

Debates getting annoyed at Hearthstone.

Spends the rest of the post listing annoying things about Hearthstone.

I think we can all agree that Hearthstone, for all its merits, can be a FANTASTICALLY infuriating game.

 

[Redryhno]

I'd honestly agree with most of what you said except for this part here, getting mad at Hearthstone is alot like getting mad at tic-tac-toe or rock-paper-scissors, sure there's a degree of strategy to it, but there's a large portion of the game that's completely out of your control.

I mean, I can understand the feeling of facing a shit deck, you know it's a shit deck(hell, when you're first starting out, even if you're a deckbuilding master, you have a shit deck as well anymore, especially with all the expansions out now), but they have Dr.Boom, so their chances of winning just increased exponentially JUST because that card's on the board.

But it's still a Blizzard game that isn't an RTS, it's casual as all hell. How can you get annoyed at anything in the game but seeing an overabundance of decks you KNOW the person didn't come up with themselves? Though I suppose this comes back around to the game being casual as hell, so many cards are absolute garbage. And Hunter will never be balanced correctly, too much synergy with newbie players and people whining about it to get more than like three decent cards in four expansions...and one of them is ESSENTIAL as a Hunter player that's locked behind a paywall...the model and setup is honestly the most frustrating thing about the game, especially with Blizz talking about upping the Arena cost again...used to be you could do one once a week, now you're lucky if you get that much...

Debates getting annoyed at Hearthstone.

Spends the rest of the post listing annoying things about Hearthstone.

I think we can all agree that Hearthstone, for all its merits, can be a FANTASTICALLY infuriating game.

Sorta was the whole joke of the post...

But honestly there's just not enough to the game to start raging about most of the time from my perspective. Shit happens, the entire game is built around RNGesus and the ladder is a fucking joke for all but the something like thousand people above Rank 10(just guessing, got to rank 10 and a thing popped up talking about something like 95% of the playerbase last month) who can turn some kind of profit off of it with either streaming or tournaments.

 

[LostCrusader]

I stopped playing a little while after the Naxx adventure came out because I got the feeling I was losing every game to legendaries that I didn't have because I wouldn't pay for the expansions. I started playing again when they came out with the phone apps and have been enjoying it since. But since you are starting it again, here are some tips that might help.

One of the big mistakes I made when I was first playing the game was trying to do every quest. Part of the issue is the UI on the quest screen, I had no idea that clicking the X in the corner would reroll the quests instead of just dropping them. But I also let the quests determine what I would try to play, rather than what I wanted or had the tools to play. Oh, and don't try to use arena for class win quests like I did way back, that was a huge mistake.

Another idea is to try watching some of the streamers. This will give you an idea of what you are playing against and what they will be doing to try and win. Also, one of the streamers that I have watched is doing a series right now where he is trying to get legendary rank this month using a fresh account without spending any money. Watching may give you an idea of how to approach making your own decks.

Last don't worry to much about trying to make exact net decks, see if you have the core parts for a cheaper deck type and make it your own. My suggestions would be a zoo deck or a variant of mech mage, neither should fully require adventure mode cards. I started with a zoo and got to the middle ranks when I started back up.

 

[Unspoken_Request]

If you were competitive in G&G, I am sure you can still win plenty of games now (even without getting new cards).

Expansions since G&G did not add that many great cards and the meta has not change all that much (beside patron warrior). Aggressive decks still trump controls (unfortunately). Face hunter is still a plague.

Since most aggressive cards came from G&G anyway (and previously from Naxx), you should not be too much out of depth. You just need to adapt a bit.

I am morally against it, but anyone can make a face hunter deck to win its share of games. Mech mage and Zoolock are also still easy to build and works rather consistently.