Hearthstone as notes: types of decks. A detailed guide to all types of decks

There are four main types of decks in Hearthstone: Aggro, Control, Zerg, and Deaf.

Agro

The agro deck is based on getting a quick victory, the strategy of which is based on fast aggressive attacks and inflicting high damage on the enemy. Cards for this deck are selected in accordance with this task: spells and abilities for inflicting direct damage and offensive creatures. Defense plays an important factor - thick creatures for absorbing damage will help keep control of the table, besides, the player with them will not be left defenseless. This strategy is suitable for amateurs of damage dealers and procasters in computer games.

The strength of the agro deck is the victory of the opponent in the minimum number of moves. A significant part of the deck should be cards with a cost of 2-4 in order for each move to bring movement and aggression on the part of the player.

Agro decks either win quickly or lose quickly. Playing this deck is like a rush, a test of your ability to quickly get the most out of the situation.

Deaf protection

Blind defense is perfect for fans of a measured game, since the longer the game lasts, the better for it, but you should not count on a quick victory. With the right combination, such a deck is almost invincible. The main task is to successfully survive the aggressive attacks of the enemy, and then bring heavy artillery into battle. The effectiveness of this strategy cannot be denied.

The deck is indispensable expensive cards, but at the same time it is necessary to include cheap cards with healing and defensive abilities, otherwise the early game stage is unlikely to survive. Counterspells will not interfere with it. Cards of high value can be a problem: it is difficult to play a large creature in the first turns. This is very unpleasant, but in the case of a blind defense strategy, it is tolerable.

Zerg

The essence of the Zerg deck is to maximize the output of small creatures to the table with their subsequent strengthening. The use of powerful buffs, combined with their low cost, make them a formidable force, once they accumulate on the table. Some creatures have strong interactions with each other, like the murlocs in Hearthstone. The Zerg deck will bring packs of murlocs into play, where they will desperately rush at the enemy.

The deck mainly consists of small creatures and includes only a few large ones. They need to win as early as possible, or at least seize the initiative before one of the large creatures with a strong buff is introduced into the game. Aggro deck with a lot of mass spells can be a problem. But a defensive deck with limited offensive tools is unlikely to wreak havoc on a horde of cheap meat. Control strategy aficionados also run the risk of a zerg rush, especially if they fail to eliminate sources of buffs in time.

Control

A deck of this type is capable of annoying the enemy in a variety of ways. Did he play an intricate combo? Silence the key creature and kill the rest. A powerful creature has appeared in the game? Turn him into a frog, or take control!

The control deck is made up of cards that allow you to control creatures and counter enemy spells. Such a deck is good for creatures that are used only at the end of the game due to their high cost. The strategy is based on a long defense, during which the player gradually removes the enemy's health. A normal control deck is built around strong offense and prolonging the game for as long as possible. It will be impossible to resist a deck of deaf defense if you do not add to the damage control. The Zerg deck will easily gain victory over its controlling creatures. But the agro deck will overcome control without difficulty - thanks to counterspells, aggro will not be able to win quickly, and there is practically no other opportunity for it to win.

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Starting hand

We are trying our best to get cards into the starting hand, and this means that we discard any other cards, even if it is, or (we will consider the exceptions later).

But at the same time, we almost always leave the card, because it is very difficult to resist the opportunity, for example, to play a card or other similar monster on move 3, capable of single-handedly deciding the outcome of the entire fight in our favor.

Many players are interested in the question of whether it is possible to replace a card in this deck. We immediately note that is key card of our deck and about half of its victories are largely achieved using the ability of this particular creature. However, if it is not possible to use the Archmage Antonidas card, you can consider the following replacement options:

How to use the Archmage Antonidas card correctly

Usually we strive to play a combo with at least one spell, and a joint play with a card allows us to use several spells at once immediately after the appearance of this creature on the board. But if your opponent has very few cards in his hand, and his presence on the board is very weak, it is sometimes possible to place Antonidas on the board in direct accordance with the mana curve. Sometimes, when the situation on the board gets too tense, you can use this creature as a natural provocateur, because the enemy will definitely throw all his resources to destroy him.

Why do we need a Mental Technician and where is Dr. Boom?

In the process of playing this deck, we came to the conclusion that some of the fights were lost solely due to not very successful starting hand... At the same time, the enemy's advantage on the board was growing like a snowball, and there was nothing we could do about it. At this point, it is too early to introduce a map into the game, so you had to sacrifice all your resources of destruction in order to subsequently end up in the role of a loser anyway. And with numerous aggressive decks, we often did not have time to play a card, or we instantly lost this creature as a result of the impact of the battlecry of an opponent's card. And our victories came even without the Doctor Boom card.

- Attack score of 6 looks more impressive than 4? We admit that we are more vulnerable on the board, but it will surprise you how often the enemy is not able to adequately respond to his appearance. This is especially noticeable on an empty board or during a protracted fight, when many resources of destruction have already been exhausted. Even if this does not happen, our opponent will have to sacrifice something to neutralize the creature with 6/3, because it poses a strong threat. We unearth a spell and place an imposing threat on the board, forcing the enemy to break his head, and what we managed to get hold of with the help of the ability of our creature.

- at the same time it gives +1 to the ability to damage from spells.

- do you want to get a spell? Or are you more attracted to the opportunity to get +1 to damage from spells without having the spell itself, and even losing 2 points of possible damage in the form of a reduced attack rate? Naturally, often the spell will already be in our hand, and such a situation most often will not arise, but its possibility should be taken into account in this case.

- of course, you know which decision we made a choice, nevertheless, it does not follow from this at all that for you personally, using 2 copies of the card will not be more effective. We just shared our point of view.

Important note. Always take a short break before your move. We often see players throwing cards into play too quickly. If someone drives you, then you are doing absolutely right. But it's always useful to think a little more carefully about your moves.

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Introduction

This guide is intended mostly for beginners and intermediate players. Our main goal is to explain key concepts, game strategy and other important details in an accessible and understandable way. If you are interested in more in-depth, detailed guides for certain classes, then you will find many of them on our website.

Today we're going to take a look at the main deck types found in ranked games in the Hearthstone world. First, we will analyze the most basic archetypes, and then we will complicate the task a little and demonstrate not so obvious, but still relevant original assemblies.

Basic decks

There are only three basic archetypes that differ significantly from each other. The main difference is the speed with which the players play cards (the pace of the game), which in turn depends on the class, the game situation and, of course, the cards themselves. Other differences are different average card costs, different balance between active and passive cards, different victory conditions, etc. Let's start with the simplest archetype to describe:

Agro

Agro decks, judging by their name, are aggressive. They contain a bunch of small creatures for a very strong start to the game, in order to further kill your opponent as early as possible. The mana curve in these decks is very low because when playing with an aggressive deck you need to make every move as efficient as possible. Aggro builds often allow players to achieve a "snowball" effect that prevents the enemy from taking control, especially if they did not manage to quickly destroy powerful class creatures, for example, the Tunnel Trogg, Manazmei, and others. In addition to ordinary creatures, Agro decks contain many powerful spells, which are sometimes called "incinerators". Burning cards are simply spells that inflict instant damage on an opponent without any preparation and even on an empty table. Among these, the most commonly used are Fireball and Lava Burst. Also, some creatures are called burning cards - the Silver Rider, the Kor'kron Warrior and Weapons - Eagle Horn Bow, Doomhammer and others, but unlike spells, these cards can be easily stopped with the help of creatures with Taunt. Agro decks are played actively in every duel. It is important to note that players are trying to save the Burning Cards for last minute for lethal damage at the end of the game. With Agro builds, it's almost impossible to make a comeback if you've lost control.

The cards in the Agro archetype run out very quickly. Of course, there are certain spells that allow you to get cards into your hand, but they are still not enough. Given the low cost of cards, an Agro deck can never hold up against a Control deck based on expensive creatures for long. The game plan is simple - put as many small creatures as possible at the start, then inflict as much damage as possible and finish off the opponent with burning cards. You need to finish the game by 5-8 turns, depending on the type of deck. How longer game dragging on, the less chances the Agro deck has to win, since the enemy will sooner or later crush him with his powerful creatures.

Control

Deck Control is the exact opposite of Agro. The goal of Build Control is to control the table throughout the game and ultimately win. Of course, many games cannot be won unless you control the table and do nothing else, which is why Control decks often contain powerful creatures that allow you to end the game in your favor after stabilizing the situation on the table. There are few early creatures in this archetype - in many Control builds there is not a single 1 mana creature (unlike Agro decks). The main task at the beginning and middle of the game is to kill the opponent's creatures, rather than lay out your own. In this regard, in Control decks there are several cards - massive removal to clear the table full of creatures. In most Control assemblies, there is a means for the complete destruction of all enemy creatures - a comeback mechanic. For example, this is a combo Equality + Consecration, Brawl, etc. These spells also allow you to gain advantage in cards, as they kill many creatures in one fell swoop.

In Control Builds, there are many cards that are slow in pace, but high in value. For example, you can often see Acolyte of Pain, whose stats are much worse than many other cards at the same cost, or Eliza Stargazer is a weak card for 4 units of mana, but with potential for development in the later stage of the game. Of course, in Control Decks there are sometimes some quick cards to resist aggressive builds, but the overall playstyle is pretty passive nonetheless. In Control builds, there are practically no burning cards, only if they are not needed as one of the victory conditions. Instead of dash creatures, players prefer to take taunt creatures to stop the aggression. Control decks also need tools for survival, for example, Healing and Armor, or additional ways to slow down the game (for example, the freezing effect of the Mage). Otherwise, you can quickly lose control and lose by 5-6 moves.

Playing Plan Controlling the deck is simple - control the table, survive, draw cards in order to win (usually big creatures or powerful combos), lay them out at the end of the game and win. Against fast decks, the main goal is to survive until your opponent runs out of cards, and then seize the initiative and win in a few turns, simply by crushing him with powerful creatures. In slow games, try to get the most out of every card you play, keeping enough cards to play at the end of the game when Fatigue occurs. You need to wisely use all available resources and try to tighten the game as long as possible, since this deck has an advantage in long fights.

Midrange

Hearthstone's midrange decks are somewhere between the Agro and Control archetypes. They are quite difficult to identify as sometimes fast Midrange decks are very similar to Agro builds, and slower ones are similar to Control decks. Midrange builds adapt to the situation and can play different roles depending on the current playing position. For example. against Agro, they can choose the Control style and try to destroy all the creatures played by the enemy, in order to then defeat him with the help of more powerful creatures. Players will cast massive removal of both medium and large creatures to stretch the game a bit. The Midrange deck does not have as many defensive tools and healing as Control decks, but there are strong creatures that can quickly end the game. When playing against Control Decks, on the contrary, they can act as aggressors, trying to put pressure on the opponent from the very beginning with the help of average creatures. On the one hand, Midrange decks are not as fast as Agro and are unlikely to be able to destroy the enemy by 5-6 turns, but on the other hand, they can hold out longer due to hard-to-kill creatures. The best Midrange builds are known for their flexibility and ability to adapt to the opponent's play style.

Despite the fact that there are small creatures in Midrange builds, they are not as important as in Agro builds. A midrange player can afford to miss the first and sometimes even the second move and still win the game. What's even more interesting is the Midrange build's mana curve. It contains the largest number of cards for 3 4 and 5 units of mana. Players try to play cards efficiently every turn and win through the pressure of the creatures. Midrange players constantly place creatures with an attack of 5+ in order to force the opponent to use the removal until they have fished all of them, and then fill the board with new creatures. In addition, in the Midrange deck, there are always massive removals against Agro builds, such as Swipe and Thunderstorm.

Midrange decks can be considered as the most stable of all three, since with skillful game they can resist almost any deck. This makes them the most popular in the entire history of Hearthstone.

Original assemblies

Almost any deck can be classified as one of the above archetypes. Of course, some decks are difficult to classify (for example, Zoolok, which, depending on the build, can be attributed to the Agro or Midrange build), but they still belong to a certain type. Original builds (subtypes of decks) are more interesting. Some decks can be categorized into certain subtypes, while others cannot. It is also controversial whether all subtypes will be considered by us below. We will try to break down the most popular deck subtypes in the entire history of Hearthstone (some of them are no longer popular now, but they were once).

Tempo

This is a rather strange name for this subtype of decks, since the builds described by players as "Tempo" are not the fastest in pace. For example, Agro decks are often faster than Tempo builds. Decks such as Tempo Mage or Tempo Warrior are more like Midrange decks and can be played quite slowly if necessary. The word Tempo in Hearthstone speaks more to the fact that these builds have enough cards to quickly build up the pace of the game, seize the initiative, and even turn the game around.

For example, the Tempo Mage can dramatically increase the pace of the game with a Pyro combo. On the 4th turn, play the Pyro + Coin + 2 Arcane Arrows cards and there is no wet place left of the opponent's creatures. And this is a fairly common scenario in which a 2/4 creature on the table can deal a total of 12 damage in a single turn. Tempo Warrior can increase the pace of the game through multiple uses of the Whirlwind, Weapon and Execution effect, thereby completely clearing the table and putting a couple of his creatures on the table.

Both of these decks play their creatures and kill the opponent's creatures at the same time, while trying to keep the pace of the game always on their side.

So, you should associate the word Tempo with Midrange decks, which try to be always ahead of the pace of the game.

Combo

A successful combo is the main condition for winning with these decks. These decks contain several cards that are weak in themselves, but when they are played together, it leads to victory. Most Combo decks are built around dealing high damage and finishing off an opponent. For example, Renolock's combo: Leeroy Jenkins + Overwhelming Power + Faceless Manipulator. The combined damage of this combo is 20. Some Combo decks are focused on taking control of the table. For example, the combo with the Grim Regular in the Warrior's Patron deck. Most Combo decks are Midrange and Build Control, but there are more than usual spells and creatures that allow you to draw the right cards for a successful combo.

Combo decks often feature Emperor Thaurissan in order to play a combo faster or reduce the total cost from 11 mana to 10 or 9.

Decks in which a successful combination is not a prerequisite for victory, but which simply have a strong finisher (for example, Control Warrior with Grommash Hellscream) or a bunch of cards with little synergy with each other are usually not called Combo.

Flood

Flood decks are decks with a simple game plan - fill the table with your creatures. In them, the first place is not the quality of the creatures, but their quantity. The main task is to fill the table with as many creatures as possible and at the same time spend a minimum of resources. Since playing a large number of small creatures is a characteristic feature of Agro decks, Flood decks should be attributed more to the Agro type, but sometimes Midrange builds are also found among them. Flood decks try to overwhelm the opponent with a bunch of playable creatures. They cast creatures as quickly as possible. New cards also help with this, for example, the Forbidden Ritual. They also try to put hard-to-kill creatures on the table, which are difficult to destroy even with the help of massive spells (for example, Silver Horseman, Possessed Peasant). The most popular Flood decks in the current meta are Zoolock, Agro Paladin, and Totem Shaman.

Fatigue / Mill

We have combined these two types of decks together. While they are slightly different, they are generally very similar decks. The main condition for victory is to achieve the "Fatigue" effect when there are no more more cards... They delay the game as much as possible so that in the end Fatigue will kill the opponent. At the same time, Fatig decks do not necessarily force the enemy to draw cards - this is not the main goal. This is more typical for Mill decks. A prominent representative of the Mill build is Mill Rogue, who forces the opponent to fill his hand with cards as quickly as possible and burn the extra cards. Cards such as Vash'ir oracle and Gathering are played. Wherein the game is on pretty quickly and the deck melts before our eyes. Unlike Fatigue Mill decks, builds can be sooooo slow. Take Fatig Warrior, for example, who tries to drag out the game as long as possible due to the mass of protective spells, removal and creatures with Taunt.

Unfortunately, this subtype has left for a while from standard mode due to the loss of the Deathlord, but players still play it in Freemode.

Rump

Rump decks want to cheat the mana curve. Their goal is to be ahead of the opponent in mana and at the same time use all resources to permanently or temporarily increase the number of mana crystals. Today Rump decks are the domain of the Druids. Of course, other classes have the ability to trick the mana curve with creatures and spells like Unstable Portal, Sea Witch, Emperor Thaurissan, but they are sometimes too unstable or slow to name any other Rump deck. Maybe there will be others in the future, but so far we only see the Druid Rump. In the assembly of Rump Druid, such cards as Inspiration, Wild Growth and Gift of Nature are most often present to get ahead in mana. When the Druid is in front, he begins to lay out large creatures, and the opponent has nothing to respond to them with 3-4 mana units.

Some players think that Handlock should also be a Rump deck, since playing Giants or Twilight Dragon also allows you to get ahead on the mana curve, but this is a very controversial issue. It's only 2 different cards throughout the deck.

Conclusion

That's all. Despite the fact that we planned this article for beginners, it seems to us that even more experienced players were able to glean a lot of interesting and relevant information from it.

Good luck with your ladder! stay with us

I became a legend in HearthStone twice, now I want to give some tips on how to play well and achieve a legend in HearthStone.

Learning the game in stages. Each next stage is more difficult than the previous one. There will be more links here, because there is no point in rewriting what has already been written, it is better to just direct you on the right path. This article is primarily aimed at newcomers to the game, but experienced players will find it helpful to review the basics. The game has tutorials for new players, but it only shows the game superficially, without explaining much more. I was brought into the game by a friend with whom at the beginning I often played and he explained a lot to me, gave useful tips... But then I read articles on my own, watched a lot of videos and streams.

HearthStone Basics

types of cards, boosters, gold, classes, modes, base decks, archetypes, meta

The aforementioned concepts and terms you must know by heart to be a successful HearthStone player. The whole detailed information read the HearthZone Beginner's Guide. http://hearthzone.ru/hearthstone-newbie-guide/ (one of the most detailed guides for beginners).

Another guide will help you understand the principles of the game, playing field and differences between classes. http://hs-manacost.ru/rukovodstvo/

One of the most complete guides explaining almost all the terms and slangs from the game is located on the forum http://eu.battle.net/hearthstone/ru/forum/topic/9413171290

In the beginning, you need to open all the heroes. Then get all the gold that is possible at the beginning. It will help you buy boosters (a list of achievements for which you can get gold). Next, choose a deck to play and start winning as much as possible.

Mechanics

mechanics, creature effects, card effects, secrets, weapons, hero powers

There are many different mechanics in the game, the description of many of which can be read in the game itself if you hover over the map. But it does not describe the subtleties, such as a death rattle is triggered in turn by laying creatures on the table. A lot of knowledge will come from experience in the game, of course, but it will not be superfluous to read the guide.

The main mechanics are in this article http://www.allmmorpg.ru/hearthstone/hearthstone-gajd-po-mexanike-igry/

For beginners and pros, I advise you to read the MythBusters forum thread, which deals with difficult situations from the game. http://eu.battle.net/hearthstone/ru/forum/topic/9413841330

Crafting and Spraying Cards and Legendaries

what to craft, what to dust

At the beginning of their journey through HearthStone, many players are asked which cards to leave for later, how to dust, which ones to craft. I advise you to spray as little as possible, because in the future you will still craft the same. You should already know that crafting costs 4 times more than dusting. You don't have to go to one class, spraying everything else. What I can advise is the dusting is real bad cards and collect dust for good legendary cards and epic cards.

A good guide to crafting is on the manacost's website http://hs-manacost.ru/kraftu-legendarok/

A useful picture that answers the question "should I dust my leg?" Clickable.

Useful sites

http://hs-manacost.ru/ - the most popular and oldest Russian site on HearthStone. Guides on various new decks are often published, and the "meta-report of the week" heading will be useful for you. There is a VKontakte public, which is also worth subscribing to https://vk.com/manacost

http://hearthzone.ru/ - guides are also often published, in addition, just interesting articles on the game and its development. Public VK is present https://vk.com/hearthzone

http://hearthpwn.com/ is one of the largest and most popular HearthStone sites in the world. This is a whole portal on which new decks, news, opinions are constantly posted. There are databases on maps and map changes. Unfortunately, everything is in English.

http://ru.hearthhead.com/ is also a western site, although there is some automatic translation. Selections of decks, cards. Great site for learning maps.

http://eu.battle.net/hearthstone/ru/forum/ - the official forum for game HearthStone from Blizzard. On the same forum, you can find many guides, tips, ask for help. It will be useful for both beginners and professionals.

http://ru.arenavalue.com/ - Assistant for choosing maps in the Arena. There is a program.

Useful programs for HearthStone

As in poker, in this card game there are programs to help you win a little more. All of them are not prohibited or violate the rules, they just help organize your thought and strategic process. Naturally, any programs for cheating levels and earning gold are prohibited. There used to be a lot of bots in the game, but now everyone has been banned.

HearthstoneTracker is a program for tracking game statistics. Which deck has the highest winrate, how often do the Khanty come across against you. When you win most often, with or without a coin. Helps to choose the optimal deck against the current meta.

Hearthstone Deck Tracker - the program displays your deck, and what cards are left in it. How much time is left until the end of the turn and what are the secrets. A useful program for beginners, but difficult to install.

Arena value - from the name it is clear that the program helps you in choosing maps in arena mode. Of the three offered cards, it will show which is the strongest, taking into account the cards you have already chosen and the different odds.

10 Hearthstone Twitch and YouTube channels worth subscribing to

You can learn how to play from streams and videos, as I did in the beginning and do now. It will be possible to understand when it is better to hit in the face, and when to trade.

Hearth funny- Every week they release a new video with funny moments from HearthStone.

Trolden- everyone is recognized as a collector of funny and good moments from the game, when a funny moment happens on the streams, in the chat everyone already starts shouting the name of Trolden.

GamerGraphy- unlike the channels above, the channel does not post selections, but moments from tournaments and streams.

HysteriA- publish more funny videos, their heading "Mythbusters" is popular.

Amaz- PudiPai in the world of HearthStone, Asian, antics, a little gay, but everyone's favorite Amaz. Most often funny moments and constant top decks happen to him. He thinks badly. Thanks to his charisma, he became the most popular streamer on HearthStone.

Trump- another Asian, just not so beautiful. Collected many base decks... There are HearthStone lessons on the channel.

Kripparrian- constantly ponders before each video which card is good and which is bad. Playing HearthStone is more fun than winning.

Noxious- believes HearthStone should be played for fun. He collects the craziest decks, hates the Khanty.

Kolento is one of the best players in the world. He hasn't had much luck lately, but he thinks like a god and participates in many tournaments. Ukrainian, but in the video speaks broken English.

That's all for now. Supplement the article in the comments, ask questions - I will answer you. The hilarious test "Who are you from HearthStone?" Will be published soon.