There is an article I found a good read below,
However, I like to hear from you on what Skillset are commonly misunderstood or players tend to ignore?
Luck is obviously a big factor when considered all other skillset on par. Thus, How do we handle the element of Luck?
Provide example where possible. (source where we can find more information on/ how to aquire the skillset, etc)
This game is pretty much all luck these days. Its starting cards and early draws. Then, matchup luck comes into play. Theres barely any actual decision making at all. With moron decks like Bomb Warrior and hyper aggro… you just chuck cards out there.
Sure, the Blizz-faithful will tell you otherwise with the usual sales pitches but those are tired and old. Sorry. Game is a casino.
It’s even amazing how blizz no longer needs to make statements with them blizz-faithful around.
Skill is maximizing your chances given the odds (or realm of luck) you’re given.
Very simple.
Skill involving the following:
Mulligan:
Knowing what to keep and what to aim for. For example token against zoo is unfavourable. Heavy mulligan for acorn and the 2 mana spell that summon 2 1/2 try to be able to fight for the board. Otherwise all is lost anw. Meanwhile against slower decks or say bomb hunter, you can afford to keep whispering wood in open hand even if that reduce ur odds of acorn.
Meta:
Knowing the meta and your opponent likely cards help too. Say token against dragon mage. They likely to have dragonmaw so a whispering wood on 4 may be bad. But coining whispering wood on 3 could be awesome. If not whispering wood on 6 and a power of the wild can help you play around dragonmaw.
Paly against warrior. Should you hero power if u left with 2 mana? Will it make the brawl better?
Order:
Playing in the right order is important. Which give you the most information you need before committing your mana. Discover a spell first? Lifetap to see next card? Basically count your mana and decide what you plan to achieve.
Value trade.:
When to trade and when to Smorc? How much health you intend to keep your minion at to play against what kind of board clear? Say you playing against a rogue and they have 2 1/1 on board while you have 2 2/2 2/2. Can the rogue punish you for not trading? If not just Smorc. If you have 2 2/2 and 2 1/1 on say turn 3 will the decision change? Rogue may be holding fan of knife and Smorc all the way may result in a easy board clear for rogue. Trading both 1/1 in may may your board more sticky which may be better.
Tempo vs greed.
Tempo is very important in this game to set up good board state and trade. Turn 3 empty board on both side, dropping a si agent without using his combo may make a greedy player uncomfortable but yet its important to play it for tempo and not holding it to use it combo damage.
I can’t think of anything else offhand but Rng and draw is also a big factor even though skills can really differentiate the best players and casual one.
Luck certainly becomes a key factor considering when both players have the same skillset. While we can do very little with Luck, we can improve our skillset to compensate the difference?
Thus, the purpose of this thread.
I guess its waste of time to talk about skill when taking games like HS into considertation.
I do not think HS is all about luck. That would be laughable and ignorant statement.
Truth is kinda simple. Try to imagine a school where you are learning maths.
Are you more “skilled” when you know how to count to 10 while others count only to 5? Yea…I guess you couldnt say that.
Is that guy over there more skilled because he can even count to 20? Yea. I guess so.
And what about that lass next to you? There are rumors she was able to even write down the numbers on the paper! I guess she has to be a pro.
Problem is there is only so much you can learn in that class. But for some reason none of you is able to progress because its just 1 class school. So you would never learn to read, you wouldnt be able to learn about summation, how to multiply etc. etc.
Its same for HS. The “skill” difference is actually visible only when you compare rookie (who doesnt even recognize the numbers) to a veteran (who can count to 20) or to a pro (who can write down the numbers on a paper).
Thats why I think its pretty much obvious why some people talk about HS to do not need a skill. Or HS being all about luck. The skill required and the skill gap is on such low level it might lead the people to conclusion you can bot this game.
I think skill may mean differently to different people.
My scope for skill is categorised into 2 parts.
Basic fundamentals are concerns with the basic knowledge and skill set that revolves within the game. Such as the concept of value trade, deck building, etc.
Support skills are skill that affects performances from outside of game play. Such as ability to analyse overall/personal meta, management of tilt, etc.
As such, I feel there is space for talk, according to the play level each individual is comfortable with.
e.g. what skillset does a player need to focus on becoming pro. or simply what skills do i need to break my current rank barrier.
I just went through your post history and all you do is complain about “cheesy, braindead” decks… from agro to OTK to res priest… so tell us oh hearthstone master, what decks do you play that take so much skill?
Kind Reminder: I hope we can stay focus on the topic, so that the community can benefit for the sharing of knowledge and experience. ![:grinning:](https://dacy5cilkxabf.cloudfront.net/en/hearthstone/images/emoji/twitter/grinning.png?v=6" ":grinning:")
(abit of “friendly” interactions is ok, but let’s try not to let this thread derail to a non-related war)
Skill and experience correlate.
Any deck, even the ones some call “brain dead”, requires skill to play. The player needs to realize their win conditions, evaluate risks, plan for one or a few turns ahead.
Deck building is a skill, too. If you master deck building with a skillful play, you can have fun in this game with an anti-meta deck preying on copy cats.
When opponent gets a lucky brawl or 2 saps/leeroys back to back - well, that’s lucky. If you evaluate the possibility of this on a given turn and make a conscious decision about it - that’s how you apply skill to reduce negative outcome from bad luck.
But what about allllll the net deckers, what losers they are? My 30% winrate homebrew is superior to them all!
However, I like to hear from you on what Skillset are commonly misunderstood or players tend to ignore? This is a very simple game designed for children and busy adults. It is a low skill game. If there is something misunderstood then it is almost always the basics of the game. ie. Deck building, piloting, knowing your opponent, etc.
Luck is obviously a big factor when considered all other skillset on par. Thus, How do we handle the element of Luck? Managing luck is part of the basic skill involved. All that can be done is keep track of your cards and your opponent’s cards so you can predict how likely it is to draw a certain card. For example, your priest needs five damage to win. How likely is it that you draw Mind Blast?
Deck quality and time contribute more to winning then any “skill” that exists in hearthstone.
Hi, this is a very good response.
I will start with one example of each to get the ball rolling. If needed we can add in more.
Value Trade - simple concept but many players makes mistakes. Many players have a misconception that trading is as simple as it gets. However, going deeper, we can have scenario where you are challenge by whether to trade or push for lethal. That decision can have a ripple effect where the player could have won 1 turn earlier before the opponent can recover/save by RNG. (or lose due to 1hp difference)
To discuss, we may have to further categorise into 2 parts. controlled RNG, and uncontrolled RNG effects.
In deck building, both aspects can fall into consideration. e.g. Shadow Vision minimise the RNG aspect of card draw towards the spell the user wish for. Yogg provides a “last straw” play, etc
Thus, for players that aims for consistency when building thier decks need to understand and apply.
For some players that does not deck build, then some skillsets may not need apply.
As stated there is different types of players, then each person’s view towards the topic can differ.
Skill - playing the netdeck beyond the author’s capabilities.
Luck - having all cards available in that netdeck.