Gamer’s Guide To Hearthstone: The Journey To Value

Hearthstone, like many of Blizzard’s games, became a phenomenon. It’s now one of the most prominent online card games since webcam strip poker with millions of players, a huge eSports community, dedicated streamers and so forth. You, dear reader, have probably heard of this game or is currently playing it and I’m here to help you along that path. Because I’m a poor peasant, I don’t have a lot of extravagant decks like the ludicrously expensive Control Warrior or Miracle Rogue, but I consider myself a decent enough player with about a 3 to 1 winning average. The thing is, I’ve watched a lot of Hearthstone videos. Close to 100+ hours worth and I know exactly what each card does and can nearly predict other people’s plays. This is very different from playing the game for hundreds of hours, but I have some vast knowledge that I can share to you if you’re just starting out.

So here we go.

Never Dennis

Dennis was an opponent of the Hearthstone streamer, Kripparian. On his first turn he cast Holy Smite (deal 2 damage), Coin and then another Holy Smite all on Kripp’s hero. The proceeding turns he got destroyed by 3/2s that could have been easily dispatched by Holy Smite. From then on, the term Dennis came into being. When you Dennis, you cast a low cost spell on your enemy in the early game and then have no answers to your enemy’s minions. Don’t ever do this. That damage is much better spent on minions because they can do consistent damage to you or take out your minions. Those spells can also come mighty handy in the end game when stuff gets insane.

The only acceptable time to Dennis is when you’re a really aggro deck focused on taking your opponent out on turn 5. Even then it’s a gamble since your opponent might throw out taunts that ruin your plan. Point is, don’t use your low cost damage spells on whittling down your opponent’s health because that will almost always work against you. I can spot a beginner player instantly when they do that.

Always Look For The Value Play

When I say the value play, I mean the play that will deal the most damage, keep your minions alive and allow you to keep the most cards in your hand. Don’t just throw your cards out all willy nilly, look for the play that will give you the most advantage possible. If you can take out a minion with one of yours and it has health left, your opponent still needs to deal with that minion by either using a spell, another minion or their hero ability which limits their mana use. Make good trades such as a 2 cost minion taking out a 4 cost minion. If you can save your premium removal cards by using other means to take out a big minion, do that because it gives you more options in the future.

Another important thing to keep in mind is to use your available mana efficiently. Try to play something each turn if you can unless there is a reason not to, in the attempt to use all the mana you have.

The Match Start Card Replacing

Your initial draw at the start of a match is more important than you think. When you get the cards, always replace the cards that cost above 5 mana. There is a concept called mana curve where you will have a play for every turn in the early game that will give you the advantage. High mana cost cards will be dead cards in your hand and it’s much better to have things you can actually play in the early game. Keep your 2 mana drops and if the draw is good enough, you will get more early game plays. It’s all based on luck so one time will get the dream hand and the next you will replace all high mana cards and get more high mana cards in return. Attempt to increase your chances as much as possible.

Play Around Your Opponent’s Cards

This is what makes a good Hearthstone player great. Playing around cards that you believe your opponent has is essential. This mainly comes down to knowledge of cards of all the heroes. For example, a Mage has Flamestrike on turn 7 that can potentially wipe your entire board. If you play too many low health minions, they will all get caught in the blast and leave you without any plays going forward. You can make sure it isn’t that bad by playing cards that have above 4 health and keeping your board as minimal as possible.

Hunters have a powerful card called Unleash The Hounds that summon a 1/1 hound for each minion you have in play and when it comboes with Starving Buzzard (draw a card when a beast comes into play) it can potentially ruin you. You can play around it by making sure you don’t populate your board too much and only putting out high cost minions. As I’ve said, this all comes down to knowledge and experience. If you can predict what your opponent has, you can play around it and gain the advantage. Each class has their good card that they can pull out. Paladins with Consecration, Druids have Swipe, Priests have Mind Control and so on. Clue yourself up with what cards are commonly used with each class and you will have a better time for it.

Educate Yourself

Hearthstone is a game of memory, experience and most of all, knowledge. In order to have the knowledge required to play well, you need to educate yourself with the intricacies of each card and learn how to use them correctly. My preferred learning method is watching YouTube videos and Twitch streams that have taught me many things with regards to this game. The channel I’m most fond of is Trump. He’s one of the best players out there and can really teach you a lot when you watch a bunch of his stuff. There are also links in the descriptions of his videos leading to his card rankings that rank the best and the worst cards and gives you the reasons behind them. I recommend watching him to learn more about this game.

There’s a bunch more YouTube channels that you can use, mainly from competitive streamers that can give you more insight into the more deeper strategic values of Hearthstone. Or you can just play the game a lot. Figuring things out yourself is also a completely valid option and playing the game continuously will also give you that edge.

You Won’t Win Every Time

Even if you have vast knowledge of the game, play your best on each turn and doing all the correct plays, sometimes it all just comes down to the luck of the draw. Hearthstone is also a very RNG focused game meaning that one random bomb from Mad Bomber might be the difference between dominating your opponent and getting destroyed. I’ve seen people with expertly crafted decks lose to peasant decks because of luck and it’s not always the end of the world.

You won’t win every game, but don’t let that discourage you because you can always try again. Keep at it, do the value play each and every turn, don’t Dennis, use your cards to the best of their ability, play around your opponent’s cards and you should be just fine. Hearthstone may seem like a light hearted game, but it’s much deeper than you would initially think. It’s extremely fun and if you stick it out, you can also be a good player on top of just having a good time.

Now, I haven’t covered deck building in this guide because it would make the article way too long. This one is all about being a better player. Look out for the deck building guide soon that will cover good decks for constructed, give tips on Arena drafts and assess certain cards.

Name: Marko Swanepoel
Location: Vereeniging
Position: Author, Features & Columns

Marko has published 526 posts. Read all of Marko's posts.

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