Greedy Shaman deck is starting to work out pretty well. About to hit rank 12 (4 stars into 13 and I'm on a streak). Games are getting consistently decked vs control Paladin and control Druid which is annoying to say the least as they just take forever, but at least I'm winning.
Hearthstone
- Thread starter Azrayne
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Sure, here:
Ragnaros and Alexstraza are cut off on the bottom there.
It is a really slow deck, especially with only two cards that have card draw, so you need to be play it efficiently. The Mind Control Techs+Leeroy is a fun little RNG thing. A lot of people are playing around MCT so being able to spawn stuff on your opponent's side of the board is nice. I've done board clears with Leeroy+MCT+Ancestral Spirit on Leeroy for charge, die, revive, charge. Lots of other strong targets for Ancestral, as well (Cairne, Sunwalkers, Harvest Golems, Sylvanas, Rag). Truthfully it'd probably be better with two Novice Engineers instead of Far Sight, but I wanted to make Far Sight work. There have been times it was a game changer. I'd have a 13 mana solution to something, and thanks to Far Sighting a card earlier in the game, I could actually do it.
If you don't draw a Doomsayer vs agro you're odds of winning go way down. Don't ever turn 2 coin into an overload spell, doing nothing the next turn is death. You can't even totem. Your odds of winning vs a Mage are slim to none, but that is true of nearly every Shaman build, so.
Vaclav
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Beat him 2 out of the 3 times - just finding it odd regardless. (and the loss, second game was from Warsong + Molten x2 the same turn - had him ready to die next turn)
PS - On MTGO during the OTJ era I was the one that first brought the pack seed "hack" (really was just a packet sniff though - hack is the wrong word for it) to WOTC attention from noticing similar oddities. It's not impossible HS has a similar RNG for the packs that can be tracked down to guarantee picks. And on the question later - none of the Legendaries, but the rest was present. Double Moltens, etc.
Nidhogg
Molten Core Raider
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I just hit 13 again with Warlock Control. Might run aggro lock till I hit 10 though - wading through the 1000 mage decks (Which Warlock Control wins maybe 10% of the time) is not worth the time invested.
Modified my Warlock Control deck to deal with OTK Warrior - very satisfying to sit on 10 cards basically all game while the warrior goes through all his cards. On his 2nd to last turn he drops Gorehowl and passes, and I drop the only Ooze in my deck that I've saved in my hand since turn 2 and watch him concede @ 22 life because he only has Alex left that is playable.
I had a terrible losing streak to aggro decks where I would not draw my Hellfires or Doomsayers =\ But 5-6 average turns to win with Aggro Lock means I should get into the single digit rankings soon.
If anyone has a great solution to aggro mage let me know.
Modified my Warlock Control deck to deal with OTK Warrior - very satisfying to sit on 10 cards basically all game while the warrior goes through all his cards. On his 2nd to last turn he drops Gorehowl and passes, and I drop the only Ooze in my deck that I've saved in my hand since turn 2 and watch him concede @ 22 life because he only has Alex left that is playable.
I had a terrible losing streak to aggro decks where I would not draw my Hellfires or Doomsayers =\ But 5-6 average turns to win with Aggro Lock means I should get into the single digit rankings soon.
If anyone has a great solution to aggro mage let me know.
Morrow
Trakanon Raider
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Apparently I've randomly lost all my skill in arena because I never do so great anymore. I took like a week break a couple weeks ago and then started playing casually again and it's just all been shit. I was averaging around 8 wins before, but now it's down to an embarrassing number I don't even want to talk about. It feels like no matter what I do, my opponent has the EXACT answer, even if it's shitty cards that almost never do any good that good players don't usually pick that somehow counter whatever I'm doing. I have plenty of 12 win victories under my belt and now I can't seem to fucking do well anymore. I don't get it. It's absurdly annoying. Actually I don't even get mad anymore, I'm just used to it and don't enjoy the game nearly as much anymore.
@TheMaster: Yeah I play Shaman in constructed now too, mostly. I do really fucking well. Ancestral Spirit on Leeroy is hilarious and fun and I'm glad I'm not the only Shaman running 2 Far Sights. I think I posted about the deck I had a week ago that is a very similar slow Shaman deck. Our decks look almost exactly the same except for a different legendary choices just because I don't have them. Love me Shaman. Far Sight still needs a little work though for an epic imo, but I love using it as a kind of "reverse Overcharge" specially if you use 2 and hold the drops in your hand for whatever tactical reason. Makes your opponent go WTF? When they've forgotten you have a few beefy cards in your hand that cost 3 less. It annoys me Shamans have no healing though. Doesn't make any sense at all.
Need Chain Heal and shit.
Also I run 2 Ancestral Spirit because it's too damn awesome with Cairne and Leeroy and I also run an Earth Elemental I find it fun on, as well as an Imp Master which I find works quite nicely for delaying till late game.
@TheMaster: Yeah I play Shaman in constructed now too, mostly. I do really fucking well. Ancestral Spirit on Leeroy is hilarious and fun and I'm glad I'm not the only Shaman running 2 Far Sights. I think I posted about the deck I had a week ago that is a very similar slow Shaman deck. Our decks look almost exactly the same except for a different legendary choices just because I don't have them. Love me Shaman. Far Sight still needs a little work though for an epic imo, but I love using it as a kind of "reverse Overcharge" specially if you use 2 and hold the drops in your hand for whatever tactical reason. Makes your opponent go WTF? When they've forgotten you have a few beefy cards in your hand that cost 3 less. It annoys me Shamans have no healing though. Doesn't make any sense at all.
Need Chain Heal and shit.
Also I run 2 Ancestral Spirit because it's too damn awesome with Cairne and Leeroy and I also run an Earth Elemental I find it fun on, as well as an Imp Master which I find works quite nicely for delaying till late game.
Famm
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Well, that's pretty much how arena has always been for me. I feel like I've gotten better at the game in general and certainly better at drafting, but like you said I just get fucked endlessly even when I don't make mistakes. So many arena matches that I dragged out as much as possible only to get killed the turn before I would have been the winner due to sheer topdecking luck by my opponent and/or bad luck for me. Watching you especially, and some others, post about going 8+ wins consistently made me think it was all on me more than just luck but I guess its just the nature of arena.
I'm not embarrassed to admit that my best run ever was 5 wins and I haven't come close to that again. Two wins in arena is a huge success to me, I can't count the times I've gone 0-3 and questioned why I'm not just buying 100 gold packs. It IS better for my knowledge of the game than buying a pack though so I still do it. I'm also keeping in mind that its still beta and I plan to just drop the money on a 40 pack when the game is live if I think I'll still play. I figure that's like buying a box/DL for a regular game and might as well throw my support if I enjoy the product.
Angelwatch
Trakanon Raider
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I played a OTK Warrior. He had 8 cards in his hand. What did I do? Play my two Murloc Oracles of course! It was SO satisfying watching his Alexstrasza poof into the ether. He didn't concede but I won two turns later when I did the Frostbolt, Ice Lance, Ice Lance combo and then Pyroblast to finish him off.
Angelwatch
Trakanon Raider
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I don't play Arena any more. It's too frustrating for me since I normally go 3 wins or less (usually less). My best run was 8 wins and that was months ago.
Personally I'd rather do the daily quest and grind some wins and buy a pack a day. It's more fun for me.
Personally I'd rather do the daily quest and grind some wins and buy a pack a day. It's more fun for me.
Famm
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I also sometimes feel that I'm statistically more likely to be facing people who had great drafts and are on a win streak than other 0-3 losers like me. Not sure how the math on that would actually break down but it seems like the people who win three or less are simply in and out of the pool of opponents faster so its less likely to get a scrub than an arena winner.
Morrow
Trakanon Raider
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I dunno man. I've been facing some really impossible shit lately. I've had an itch that something might be up, but then I just thought that was me being a sore loser. But when you're a player that was doing infinite arena for a month and had plenty of 12 wins under your belt and then suddenly for 2 weeks you do shit? I dunno. Maybe it's possible.
Elerion
N00b
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It's nothing to be embarassed about. Several of the people you see posting good results here have years of experience from other card games, which makes a lot of basic play second nature. This, again, allows us to focus our thought process on more advanced exercises like planning several turns ahead, playing around potential cards in the opponent's hand, and so on.
That said, it's not "just the nature of the arena". Skill does matter. I think I have had 2 runs below 5 wins out of my last 20 arenas. Trump, Kripp and other arena specialists do better than me on average.
I have several guild mates playing the game also, and the guys with limited card game experience do roughly as well as you, barely reaching 6 or 7 wins even after 20 arenas. The other avid card gamer aside from me got his first 12-win within his first 20 arenas, along with several 9+ runs. These people are all really good at other games, but the CCG experience obviously makes a difference here.
Arch
Lord Nagafen Raider
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Im in the same boat, I've never done better 3 wins and lately I'm lucky to get 1, it's weird because I do feel like I'm getting better at the game I think my biggest issue is finishing a draft with a theme or an overall plan, I usually just try and make the best play I can but it seems like if I draft a rush type deck I can't push fast enough and when I draft a control type deck I can't delay long enough. Still enjoying the game at least.
Famm
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Another thing with arena, I feel like I need time to "practice" a deck before I get good with it. In constructed if I make a new deck or tweak one it always takes me some time, and often losses, before I really have a "feel" for it and start doing well. Dailies on classes I don't play much usually require me losing a bit before I get in a rhythm with the deck. Obviously in arena I don't have that luxury and I just get eliminated even if my draft was strong because I just don't have a feel for the deck in my head yet. I've tried more and more to study my deck list and have it in my head before playing, but its just not the same as actually cycling through the deck a few times in a live environment. I guess that's why so many strong decks are popping up in casual constructed constantly. Also goes back to certain strats and habits being ingrained in players with more CCG experience than me.
Depends on the match up. Warlock agro? Drop it turn 2 ideally. It resets his board or forces him to expend a Soulfire or Power Overwhelming to clear it. Either way that costs him two cards. And despite the fact that they can draw two cards per turn, they do eventually run out. Watching a Warlock deck himself is a pretty common experience for me and I'll still have 14 cards in my deck. For Druids I might put it up behind a taunt totem if they have only one big threat on the board. Usually he either loses it, has to expend multiple cards clearing it, or uses a silence on it... but Druids only run two silences, and Sylvanas/Cairne not being silenced is great as far as I'm concerned. You can put it on a clear board even, if you want. The fact they can't play anything means you now have initiative.
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In general, at the very least doomsayer is a 7heal for 2mana, which is better than holy light. It doesn't turn out that way against silences or direct removal, but still expands one of these, and silence makes it so you can still convert it into something useful later once you have an argus and make it into a 1/8 taunt.
