Advice for new-ish player who is overwhelmed by the game

[rjaguar3-1216]

I started Hearthstone around 2022 but then stopped before finishing the then-Apprentice league (I think it was around tier 25 that I stopped); I think I was just completely overwhelmed by everything in the game. I tried again in late 2023 or early 2024 and again got overwhelmed and stopped. I’d like to see if it’s possible to tackle the game again now.

Does anyone have tips for handling the complexity of the game as a new player? I have no idea what decks I should be building and don’t have any suitable decks to play with at all (even the core decks are missing cards).

[Irukandji-1751]

Look in the shop and see if there’s an option to purchase “Catch Up Packs.” It should cost 2,000 gold. Do daily/weekly quests and weekly brawl to save up 2,000 gold and buy the Catch-Up Packs (preferably on/after Jul. 23 when the new expansion starts). The Catch-Up Packs will fill up your collection with useful cards to make better decks.

Then, watch a few Hearthstone Streamers and learn how they play the top decks in the meta. I watch Roffle occasionally to keep abreast of the Standard meta and he posts the card list and explains the aim of the deck. Pay attention to the cards kept in hand and cards discarded, as well as the order cards are played in a turn.

That will start you on the journey beyond bronze tier!

[Joachim-22234]

You picked a good time because the meta will change next week when the new expansion releases. Like it was said: wait until the new expansion releases before you open Catch Up Packs and Standard Packs.

Besides watching streamers you can also look at sites which display the current decks with a good winrate.

https://hsreplay.net/

https://www.hsguru.com/

Those sites give an overview over the decks which you will likely meet in the current meta.

[Jonius-11264]

There are a lot of keywords being used now these days, learning them one by one can help you become a better player. Start with the in-game tooltip/description, and then you can look at other resources online such as the Hearthstone Wiki (though they may be too wordy and not enough pictures of gameplay)

Here’s an example with the Titan keyword:
https://hearthstone.wiki.gg/wiki/Titan

Titans are stupidly OP cards

When players use a Titan, there’s often 1, sometimes 2 abilities that are commonly used and the others are not used as much. So you only need to really remember that ability and the Titan’s ongoing effect/Battlecry. The Primus (Death Knight): Destroy an enemy minion. This minion and your hero gain its health. Then also discovers a card with that rune (in this case, Blood). Argus (Demon Hunter): Summon four 2/2s, two to the left (which have Rush), two to the right (which have lifesteal) OR Redu…

Here’s my post listing some keywords:

You are trying to get new players into the game?

Some Evergreen keywords: Battlecry: an effect that occurs when you play a card Deathrattle: an effect that occurs when a card dies or all its charges have been used Divine Shield: the first time a minion takes damage, it takes no damage instead. Rush: a minion can attack immediately, but cannot target heroes on that turn. Charge: a minion can attack immediately and can target heroes immediately. Some Class-specific keywords: Choose One (Druid): pretty self-explanatory, choose one of multipl…

[Rastapal-2638]

@Irukandji-1751

Look in the shop and see if there’s an option to purchase “Catch Up Packs.” It should cost 2,000 gold.

Looks like those are not available for gold.

[anon65711140]

Chess is complex. This garbage is a slot machine

[Zee-1630]

@rjaguar3-1216

Does anyone have tips for handling the complexity of the game as a new player?

As others have pointed out, wait to open any unopened packs that you have until after the release of the next expansion.

ALWAYS open Catch-Up Packs first (if you have some or if you are able to purchase some).

Opening order for packs can make a difference based on your goals:

“- Always open Catch-Up Packs first, since their card count is based on collection size.

• If you want the most total cards (fewest duplicates), open Expansion Packs, then Class Packs, then Standard Packs.
• If you want more latest-expansion cards, at the cost of more duplicates overall, open Standard Packs, then Class Packs, then Expansion Packs.”

Source:

https://x.com/Celestalon/status/1724150493323375031

Don’t forget to get up to 10 free packs by connecting your account to Twitch and then watch a “drops enabled” Hearthstone streamer during this weekend.

If you have money to spend or a significant amount of gold to spend, and your goal is to play Standard, then you might want to buy one or more of the recent mini sets after opening all Catch-Up Packs.

To summarize, my priorities would be:

1). Wait till PiP comes out.
2). Buy or open Catch-Up Packs first.
3). If you have the resources, buy some of the recently released mini sets.
4). Open any remaining unopened packs. As a new player with a small collection, I would probably open packs in a way that gave me the fewest amount of duplicates: open Expansion Packs, then Class Packs, then Standard Packs.