Hearthstone Beginner Series (Part 1) – Getting Started

[This article assumes you’ve installed Hearthstone and played through the tutorial. If you have not, Hearthstone is available for free for free on computers and mobile devices. Best way to see if Hearthstone is a game for you is to download it and try it out for yourself.]

So you’ve just completed the tutorial with Jaina Proudmore, now what? Here is a quick guide on your first few days through Hearthstone.

Step 1 – Modify your basic mage deck

First, you need to realize the basic decks are horrible. You need to modify your deck such that they become generally stronger. The same applies to all hero classes after you unlocked them, not just the mage deck. Here are some quick rules of thumb for building a good basic deck:

• Have 2 each of Acidic Swamp Ooze, Chillwind Yeti, Senjin Shieldmasta and Boulderfist Ogres. These 4 cards are the OP basic neutral cards, and need to be in every deck.
• Have at least four 2-cost minions (i.e. 2-drops), at least four 3-drops, and a maximum of six total 6+ drops. This is to ensure that you have enough minions to play in the early game, and your hand doesn’t get too clogged up with late game minions.
• For mage – when you get them, include 2 each of Polymorph, Fireball, Flamestrike, Frostbolt, Water Elemental. These are OP. Arcane explosion and arcane intellect are optional, but don’t use frost nova.
• It’s hard for inexperienced players to tell what are the good basic cards and which are the bad ones. I write another article soon about the basic cards and how to evaluate them.

Here is a sample of good basic decks (by Trump) if you prefer to netdeck, for level 10 heroes. Click to enlarge

Step 2 – Unlock all heroes and get them to level 10

Your mage deck which you just modified will be strong enough to unlock all other 8 hero classes. When you do, build a deck for them just like you did for mage, and level up all the classes to level 10. Play against real people on casual or ranked – these games earn more experience than against the Innkeeper. Also, you’ll probably be playing against people who are just as inexperienced as you, so they may not be difficult games. You should also play ranked until rank 20 to obtain the free cardback of the month.

Some older cardbacks. Reaching rank 20 every month earns you a new cardback each time!

Step 3 – Defeat the Expert AI

By now you should have one deck which you think it’s stronger than the rest (may very well be mage). Use that deck to challenge the expert AI, and systematically defeat all 9 heroes. This will earn you another 100 gold.

Step 4 – Earn Gold and buy classic card packs

By now you should have a bunch of gold, and a few free card packs. Note that you also get gold for unlocking all 9 classes, for leveling them all to level 10, for defeating all expert AI, and to get your first 100 wins. You’ll also get gold for completing daily quests (note: you can re-roll one quest per day by clicking on the red cross). What should you do with all that gold? For now, just buy classic card packs (NOT the Goblins & Gnomes ones). Each card pack will include at least one Rare card (blue gem in middle), but may have more than one. If you’re lucky, you may even get epic (purple) or legendary (orange) cards.

You get 300 gold after you won your first 100 games

When you obtain new cards, you may want to consider adding them in to your decks. I recommend to maintain one deck per class (9 decks of one class each) so that you can clear the daily quests more easily.

(Optional Step – Use real cash to buy Naxxramus and Blackrock Mountain Expansions)

I am a firm believer that Hearthstone can (should?) be played without paying any real cash. However, it is a proven fact that paying real cash will speed up the progress of your game significantly. If you’re willing to part with cash, what should you do? First you should buy the Naxxramus Expansion and then the Blackrock Mountain Expansions under solo adventures. To obtain the cards from these expansions, you need to defeat the bosses under “solo adventures”. These matches appear to be difficult as first, but they can be completed using basic decks (search youtube for help).

Willing to spend real cash? Use it to unlock these two expansions.

After which, if you’re still willing to part with more cash, considering buying 40 or 60 classic packs at one shot. Doing so will greatly increase your card collection, and the general strength of your decks.

Step 5 – Challenge friends and discuss on how to be a better Hearthstone player

Hearthstone is a game like chess or any other sport. You can improve playing by yourself, but you’ll improve much faster if you have people to discuss the game with, especially those who are willing to spectate the games you play. Here are some questions to ask your friends:

• Should I put this card in my deck? Is there another card a better replacement for it?
• Did I mulligan correctly at the start of the game? What are cards I should keep, and what are cards I should throw?
• What are my obvious misplays that I made during the game which you observed?
• How can I better predict my opponent’s move, and adjust my strategy accordingly?