After hours of trying and spending thousands of gold coins, I finally managed to pull off a perfect Hearthstone Arena run. For the past few months, I’ve barely touched the Constructed ladder, focusing all my energy on the deck-building game mode. Getting 12 wins and zero losses isn’t easy and means nothing in the overall scheme of things. If I had spent that time playing Murloc Paladin or Evolve Shaman, I’d (potentially) be Legend, which is at least something I can brag about. I’ll just have to settle for sharing my secrets here, telling you the tips that top Arena players like Kripp use to gather a seemingly infinite amount of gold.
Here are my top Hearthstone Arena tips for newbies, seasoned veterans, or a grandpa who just downloaded the app to figure out what his grandkids are doing on their gosh darn smartphones.
Arena Deck Building 101: In Standard Hearthstone, players use the same deck over and over, playing the same four netdecked match-ups and gain ranks. In Arena, you choose between three random cards thirty times, making a full deck of cards. Unlike in Standard, which you can technically play forever, an Arena deck will disappear after you lose three games. Those cards you pick up determine how far you’ll go in your run.
If you pick Paladin and see a Truesilver Champion, Silverback Patriarch and a Blessing Of Kings, which card do you pick? Generally, going with a strong weapon is usually the best, though you might already have strong gear and could use a buff to make your minions stronger. Is your deck mainly low-mana minions with a strong curve or did you pick a bunch of Elementals and are going for card synergy? Learning what cards to draft only comes from experience, if you're lucky enough to get over seven wins on your first run, you need to stop playing Hearthstone and go buy a lotto ticket. Going to sites like HearthArena and letting their algorithm pick the deck for you is great when you’re still trying to figure out which cards are good.
Best Classes: In the Journey To Un’Goro meta, Jaina is the best hero to pick. Her strong spells, multiple draw engines and resource collectors make her unbeatable in any serious fight. Putting Secrets in an Arena deck used to be a rookie mistake, but with Archaeologist thinning the deck, taking a Mana Bind or Counterspell isn’t that bad. Primordial Glyph gives Mages utility for all situations. When you reach games at the eight to nine win marker, only the good decks with a lot of clear and Primordial Drakes survive.
Paladin comes in second, it’s a great class but doesn’t have nearly as many tools as Mage. Spikeridged Steed and Dinosize give Uther some of the most powerful buffs in the game. There’s also Tirion Fordring and Ragnaros The Lightlord popping up out of Stonehill Defender and Servant Of Kalamos, making hybrid combo decks a powerful possibility. I’m not saying any of the other classes can’t get wins, but Mage and Paladin definitely have an easier time doing it.
You Will Lose (A Lot): What makes Arena such a fun and punishing mode is how heavily RNG factors in. Picking a deck is entirely random, you can get three Primordial Drakes and then get nothing but one-mana Fire Flys . Knowing which cards to draft and which ones to avoid takes time and you’ll waste a lot of gold in the meantime. Arena is a very swingy game mode, even the best players still get decks that force them to go 0-3. If you’re serious about getting good in Arena, save up your gold and practice whenever you can.
