Hi,
Decided to create a skill focus series to help players improve their games.
I am not a high level player thus do correct any mistakes if I have.
A value trade is a trade where both minions die, but you get the better deal. If you consistently take value trades, then eventually your opponent will fall behind as he will have typically spent more mana than you. Over the course of a game, these are the small things that add up to a big advantage later on.
I am not the best player here but imo - It really depends on the matchups here.
Generally though you probably want to trade and play a strong three mana minion ex: 3 mana 3/4.
If you were aggro:
vs aggro: you trade (you definitely do not want to give board control to the opponent here).
vs midrange: its most likely you dont trade and go face; but I think there might be some other factors here (buffs)
vs control: you dont trade and go face.
If you were control:
vs aggro: you trade
vs midrange: you trade
vs control: you trade
if you were midrange:
vs aggro: you trade
vs midrange: you trade
vs control: depends as you really want to push for damage
Some other considerations would be the benefits the opponent would gain for having a minion alive.
For example: next turn a paladin could play blessing of kings or some other buff.
I think you may need to refine/clarify the examples.
In a aggro vs aggro matchup: Due to the nature of the deck and playstyle, value trade is critical from the start as the player that manages to establish board control eventually can overwhelm the opponent.
In a aggro vs mid matchup: The aggro deck generally tends to be able to dictate the early board and have nothing to trade against. In the midgame, there is no good trade in general as the opponent has a stronger minion or he/she forces a trade via a taunt.
In a aggro vs control matchup: Again much like above.
With the other matchups, similar concept applies with the need to consider your deck/archetype vs the opponent.
Thus, Value Trade involves the value you got out from the trade or non-trade. One of the most common mistake I observe is trading a smaller minion with a taunt minion. With some exceptions*, the purpose of taunt is to let the opponent trade into your taunt minion (thus getting the value out form it). By trading, you get less value from the taunt minion, in addition of missing out the extra dmg to opponent’s face.
My main consideration is will my opponent be worse off if they allow my 3/2 to live next turn, and how easily can they deal 2 dmg to it without trading? Am I laying down a more valuable 3 health minion this turn is another important one.
Another factor is how much I value my life. I have 29 hp to play around with and use as I please. If I am playing the long game to try and OTK my enemy, I need that life, so I play defensively and trade. If I am already calculating lethal 4 turns from now, I am probably going to take the face dmg.
As for if I want to trade in that example, I look at my opponent and ask myself if they would like to trade or not: if they do, I take the free attack. If they don’t, I do the trade.
Of course, in order to determine if my opponent would like to trade or not, there’s a lot more questions I have to ask, but that would all just be a repeat of what others say: I’m not doing anything special there.
We can give examples of situation where we questions if a trade is worth it or not.
example:
You are at near fatigue with 3 cards in deck. It is your turn. There is a chance you can close out the game next turn where only 1 of the 3 cards guarantees lethal, IF you go face with all your minions.
However, there is a high possibility that the opponent is able to recover if you do not trade with his/her board.
I probably take the 33% chance, and go face. If I can guarantee lethal next turn 33% of the time, and they stabilize if I don’t trade, I am likely in a losing situation and I need to hail mary, because playing it safe at that stage will cost me the game.
There’s also always the question of HOW you trade (when you have multiple options). E.g., if you trade vs warrior on turn4, you may want to leave bigger minions on board instead of many small ones (e.g., it’s better to get worse value by losing 2 3/2’s and retain a 4/4 than losing the 4/4 and retain 2 3/2’s (unless your only win condition is gambling that opponent can’t remove it)). On the other hand, if you trade vs rogue, you want to leave as many minions as possible always (as long as they run no aoe at all).
Sometimes you want to hatch your deathrattles, sometimes you may want to keep them even if that costs you tempo (as insurance vs aoe).
If both minions are vanilla, I would probably play another minion and go face. Leave the trading up to my opponent for the time being until
A) I draw a board clear
B) I can use a bigger minion to trade and possibly keep for one more turn
There are SOME situations where I would make the trade.
Paladin because I don’t want to leave a buff target
Mech because magnetic (Hunter/Paladin especially)
Beast if my opponent is a Hunter
I am sure there are more situations where I would make the trade but I can’t think of them all. Essentially, if there is a risk of synergy, I would probably make the trade.
Point to note:
Sometimes we want to lure a Paladin to buff a target so that we can make a more valuable trade later on. e.g. Zillianx into Mechano-egg >> Silence it (HEX) and remove it if necessary.
As such, the concept of Value Trade can go a bit deeper into discussion.
This is under the assumption that I have an answer in hand. If I do, then I will bait. If not, then I will probably make the trade. Basically, its situational and is a learning experience
Very true.
Thus, this thread is for exploration of such situations.
In another game, I encounter at T4 where opponent(mage) had a 3/2 minion. I have a 2/2 on board and a 5/4 rush on hand.
option 1: I can trade the 2/2 to 3/2 and leave my 5/4 as a single minion on board.
option 2: I can trade my 5/4 to the 3/2 >> 5/1 and 2/2 on board. The mage opponent would have to use the heropower to remove the 5/1 leaving with 3mana left over for other actions.
Against a class like Rogue you consider whether they have SI:7 Agent or Backstab - have they used one already (are they on the coin). If you’re playing a 3/4 and are the aggressor you might be more inclined to go face with the 3/2 this turn.