OK - this is totally a noob question and I know it!
How do you approach a new expansion? Do you wait a couple of weeks before starting to build new decks and crafting new cards to see how the meta is playing out or do you just dive right in with your favorite class and try to build decks for that class?
I have managed to get up to Diamond 1-5 for the last two seasons but haven’t broken into Legend. I have been playing mainly Hunter and Shaman decks. Should I keep playing the decks I have and then wait to see what Hunter and Shaman decks are looking good to start crafting any additional cards? I don’t think I can lose my star bonus from the previous season if I lose a lot of games at the beginning of the new season/expansion but I could use up some precious dust on what turns out to be a not so good card later in the season(s).
Really interested to hear everyone’s approach!
hearthstone is a game, and i play it regardless of what is going on
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Best way to manage your collection most of the time literally play what you open.
You have some fun and lose exactly nothing as resource.
People get a little over the top looking for decklists and forget that play eficiently is also not compromise your collection.
Anyone incapable to do this is doomed to never really have fun.
First because the meta change a lot in first days.
And second because when you lose too much resources doing this you gonna always be on a very small collection even if you spend with the game.
Therefore never being able to give yourself the luxury of craft something you want instead.
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I don’t care about ranked, I’ll immediately craft anything that looks fun and that I want to play with 
95% of my playing is in ONE class- there are 3 other classes I occasionally play, but I DE all the others down to their roots. That sacrifice means that I never lack dust for the classes I actually care about
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That is really interesting and I have been tempted to do the same at least with demon hunter which I have no interest in playing. But I always worry that something might change in the future and I may want those cards. I never thought I would play Hunter and now I am really enjoying it.
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if you wanna be efficient never craft the first 2 weeks, just use your cards from packs or sit it out and wait.
i rarely wanna be efficient when playing a game though…
I’ll open my packs (usually around 80 or so from saved gold) and then pick a deck that looked fun on the theory craft. If I’m missing a card, I’ve got tons of dust to craft it. I usually make a few tweaks to make the deck feel fun for me. This expansion is right after a rank reset, so playing ranked is no big deal, since you’ll start in Bronze with no loss penalty. But if the drop date was mid/late in the month, I’d typically start out playing Casual until I had a chance to refine the deck and got comfortable piloting it.
I’m not sure how good it’ll end up being, but I’m gonna start with FunkiMonki’s Totem Shaman (with a couple of changes):
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First time me watching Funki. I really like his energy. Thanks for sharing. I’ll be crafting Totem Shaman, more than likely.
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And he’s very positive. People that get really frustrated with certain aspects of the game like RNG, OTK’s, Quests, etc. should really watch Funki. When he loses, even in the worst way, he laughs it off with such a positive attitude. Now sometimes it’s fun to watch the youtubers who get mad and flip out, but Funki’s attitude has really rubbed off on me and changed how I approach the game.
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I’ve used his decks I see on Twitter here and there, but never watched him. I’m glad I have. I need more positivity, namely when seemingly most other players emit the opposite of that.
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Best approach is to make a deck with new cards you like and try them out immediately.
Waiting until a new meta has established is just meh. It’s a game, and trying out new cards and combinations is fun.
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Great advice, thanks Auto!
i am pretty sure the best way to go in to a new expansion is with wallets open.
How many packs and dust do you have? Since I don’t care about a full collection I usually craft about 4-5 legendaries and wait to see if new interesting decks pop up in the first few weeks. I’ve got my eyes on Kel’Thuzad, Theotar, Denathrius, Harvester of Envy, Kael’thas and Xy’mox. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like that there are many epics worth crafting.
Spend all my gold on packs day 1, and check the crafting list to see what i’m missing and have interest in using.
Wait a couple days after the first round of nerfs and make the top meta decks from the after nerf meta.
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It’s also worth noting that there are often some safe bets you can make crafting certain cards. This is to say, cards that are likely to get nerfed, and therefore, you your dust back. I didn’t watch the theorycrafting streams and so can’t say exactly what cards this means you can safely craft – and no guarantee of your dust refunded. Two I predict being nerfed, though, are Theotar and Kael’thas. You can look around on Reddit, perhaps, and see what players there think about these new cards.
Edit: I also can see Necrolord Draka being nerfed. But, don’t take my word for anything. It’s worth doing a little research before crafting anything.
I’ll have to check him out! I really like watching Christian Hearthstone too. He’s positive and plays a lot of games with a deck in a row so that you can really pick up some tips on the deck.
I don’t think Theotar will be nerf. Like Druid seems absolutely broken with Sire and even if you Theotar and take the Sire Druid will still kill you with Topior and token swarms. MaCN seems to introduce a lot of redundancy for win conditions. Stealing 1 card isn’t enough.
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I love watching Funki too, the dude overflows with positivity. Plus he makes decks that are both interesting to watch and viable.
As for nerfs, I don’t see a clear target for them in this expansion. I’m 90% sure Guff will end up being nerfed in the next month, maybe even other druid cards like Scales of Onyxia, Celestial Alignment or the new ramp + draw 4-drop.
I’ll probably play Theotar in every deck but I think he’ll underperform. If I had to bet on what’s to be nerfed, I can see Pelagos getting hit if it snowballs too hard; hunter’s Wildseed package looks very strong (although hunter usually has to kill someone to get nerfed); and Lady Darkvein also looks nuts.
