Arena Guide

Last updated by Poyo on 12 Feb. 201411 comments

1. Introduction↑top

This guide will take you, step by step, through the entire process of playing Arena. Assuming that you have already mastered the basics of Hearthstone, and had some practice in the Arena, this guide will give you all the information you need to eventually get 12 wins.

2. Picking a Hero↑top

Each class has a different play style that is defined by their Hero Power, and the class-specific cards (mostly the Common ones, since Rares, Epics, and Legendaries do not come up often during the drafting process). Regardless of your choice, each class can pull off a 12-win Arena - all it takes is a little bit of luck and a great deal of knowledge and skill.

If you are asking yourself what class to choose, this is not something to worry very much about. To begin with, your selection is limited to three classes, and as we said, all classes are capable of great results. That said, we will offer you a brief explanation of each class, and divide them into 4 tiers (based on how strong they currently are, generally speaking, in Arena).

Tier 1 (Excellent): Mage
Tier 2 (Great): Paladin, Druid, Rogue
Tier 3 (Good): Warlock, Priest
Tier 4 (Average): Shaman, Hunter, Warrior

2.1. Mage

Mage has the best Hero Power in the game, since it influences minion combat with no health loss, contrary to other offensive Hero Powers such as those of the Rogue or Druid. Cards such as and can turn your Mage into a pure-aggression class, as they offer a solution to nearly any early-mid game drop, and they can also serve as finishers. Cards such as and can wreck your opponents' late game plans and shift the board in your favor.

Check out our Mage Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Mage.

2.2. Paladin

The Paladin Hero Power is extremely bad against offensive Hero Powers (Mage, Rogue, or Druid), however against defensive Hero Powers (Warrior, Priest) it will provide you with additional pressure. Cards such as and will have a huge impact on the board and will often be your main source of card advantage, aside from efficient minion combat.

Check out our Paladin Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Paladin.

2.3. Druid

The Druid Hero Power is decent, as you can use it defensively and slowly stack up armor, or aggressively and trade your health for potential card advantage. Cards such as, , , or will always have pretty big impact on the board during the mid-late stages of the game, while cards such as and offer the Druid great solutions for the early game.

Check out our Druid Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Druid.

2.4. Rogue

As a Rogue, you will often lean towards an aggressive play style rather than a control one. This is due to a large number of cards that allow you to maintain a good momentum throughout the game (tempo cards), as well as due to your Hero Power. You can expect to sacrifice a lot of health for your Hero Power when trying to establish your dominance on the board, and you should exercise caution against other aggressive decks. Cards such as and will always provide you with card advantage, while the majority of Combo cards and will contribute to the tempo and put your opponent under a lot of pressure.

Check out our Rogue Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Rogue.

2.5. Warlock

The Warlock Hero Power is what makes the class good, as the class cards are generally weaker compared to other classes. While it is true that Warlock cards are often over-budgeted for their cost, they have other important drawbacks. Certain cards will do damage to you as part of their cost, such as or , while cards such as or will make you discard a card, which you will get back with your Hero Power at the cost of health and mana. Your health pool is everything - the main source of card advantage for you and the main source of pressure for your opponent.

Check out our Warlock Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Warlock.

2.6. Priest

The Priest Hero Power can be a great source of card advantage if you can heal your minions that survive combat. The Priest class cards will always make you lean towards a control play style, as you will either need to create advantage through cards such as or in the late game, or through efficient minion combat and Hero Power usage. This makes cards such as , , , and essential for your early-mid game play.

Check out our Priest Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Priest.

2.7. Shaman

The Shaman Hero Power is unfortunately random, which often makes it a gamble, and the totems are mostly a simple delay for your opponent rather than a serious threat. In order to benefit from your Hero Power, you need board control, which is sometimes hard to achieve. Shamans have some really powerful cards such as and , while the majority of Overload cards such as , , and require some careful planning in order to generate advantage and not delay yourself. Shamans can be amazing, and really strong if you get good Rares, which is not something you can rely on, in the Arena.

Check out our Shaman Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Shaman.

2.8. Hunter

Hunters often struggle, as the majority of their class cards rely on synergies with Beasts, which is a huge drawback in the Arena. The Hero Power does not have any influence on the board, nor can it create card advantage, which will often force you into an extremely aggressive play style, and leave you struggling for board advantage. Hunters can be amazing, and really strong if you get good Rares or synergies with and Beasts (or !), however it is not something you can rely on in the Arena.

Check out our Hunter Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Hunter.

2.9. Warrior

The Warrior Hero Power has no influence on the board, which requires strong minions and weapons to create card advantage and board control. Having cards such as , and/or is essential, and games without them are extremely difficult to win. You can easily achieve a 12-win Arena with a Mage without s or s, however as a Warrior without weapons it is much more difficult, and quite unlikely.

Check out our Warrior Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet to see the value we attribute to all the cards you may be offered as a Warrior.

3. The Draft↑top

Choosing your class will roughly decide your play style, based on the common class cards available to your class and the impact of your Hero Power on the board/game. The starting picks of the draft are likely to define your deck's tempo, as you will be picking cards based on their value and their impact on the board. As you progress to the later stages of the draft, your picks will be greatly influenced by your current mana curve.

Your starting picks should always be chosen based on their value, regardless of their mana cost. Using our Arena Card Ranking Spreadsheet will help you make the best choice in the early stages of the draft, but you need to keep in mind that as the draft progresses, the value of a specific card diminishes by having multiple copies of that card, or having many cards with the same mana cost.

For example, imagine that you are drafting a Priest Arena and your first 5 picks are, , , , and. You are nearly set for late game, and you should pay close attention to your mana curve before you commit yourself to the late game so much that you would need to pick every low mana drop regardless of their value in order to support your early game. It is completely fine to grab a second Mind Control or an additional Temple Enforcer, however if you end up having 10+ late game cards, the early game will be difficult, which will allow your opponent to create an advantage that you might not recover from. It is also possible to end up having several Mind Controls in your hand, which you will not be able to use until the late game.

3.1. Mana Curve

The mana curve of a deck refers to the distribution of cards within the deck, when taking into account their costs. When it comes to the Arena, you should always strive to have a good play or a proper response to your opponent's actions in any stage of the game. You will never be bound to a specific amount of cards you need to pick for each mana cost, however you need to realize that regardless of which class you play, the early game will be extremely important, and skipping turns by simply using your Hero Power rather than presenting your opponent with a threat will always be sub-optimal unless you can created advantage with your Hero Power.

Below, we present you the most common types of viable Arena mana curves.

3.1.1. Late-game Mana Curve (Control)

Late-game mana curve means having a sufficient amount of early game minions / spells to help you transition into the later stages of the game. Your deck's role is to establish board control, and slowly building up your advantage for your transition to the late game.

This type of mana curve works best with control decks such as: Priest, Druid, Mage, and Warlock.

3.1.2. Early-game Mana Curve (Aggressive)

A great alternative is the early-game mana curve, which focuses on putting your opponent under immense pressure and bringing them within kill range in the early-mid game. Decks with such mana curves often require a good finish, which is not necessarily a to the face. You can simply have great removal to deal with your opponent's mid-late game drops, and to help your minions to push through.

This type of mana curve works best with aggressive decks such as: Mage, Hunter, Shaman, Warrior, and Rogue.

3.1.3. Mid-game Mana Curve (Balanced)

The mid-game mana curve will often spike out at around 4 mana cost, as the majority of classes have extremely powerful class cards concentrated on the mid-game, which will allow you to create card advantage and take board control.

This type of mana curve can work very well with any class.

4. Perceptive Play↑top

Knowing your opponent's class and its strengths can have a great impact on your gameplay and decision-making. Part of becoming a better player in the Arena is learning to anticipate your opponent's actions before they happen, and minimize their impact on your game. We will guide you step by step so that you can develop the right mentality for facing each class.

4.1. Druid

Druids have an offensive Hero Power, which will create immediate card advantage if you play 1-health minions. In most cases, it would be wiser to mulligan them away. Alternatively, you can attempt to bait out their with such a minion if you are the starting player.

is hard to anticipate, and a good Druid will save it until they can present you with a threat good enough to be worth at least 2 cards, as Innervate causes card disadvantage in exchange for mana acceleration. Should you be able to deal with their threat with a single card, you will always create card advantage and put the Druid in a bad spot.

is one of the most powerful cards Druids have in their arsenal. You can expect that a Druid will Swipe away your board the first chance they get, so when the Druid is close to having 4 mana, do not give them the chance to kill 2 or more of your minions with Swipe, if at all possible. If you have a minion on the board with 1 health that your opponent seemingly ignores, you can expect Swipe to be used the following turn, and you should attempt to trade that minion off before it dies to Swipe.

Druids in general often pack a lot of minions with Taunt and strong late game cards, which makes cards with Silence and direct removal extremely powerful against them. This is especially true towards the late game, when you are trying to execute a Druid, or to simply push through their minions. You should always hold on to your Silences, as well as cards such as , , or until you can take out a minion that would potentially be a 2-for-1 card, unless you can create immediate advantage at the current stage of the game.

Druids excel at minion combat, and they often have solid drops in the late game. You should attempt to pressure them during the early-mid game as much as possible, and save up your removal for the late game when they will attempt to play their biggest minions.

4.2. Hunter

Hunters are often extremely aggressive, and you need to take into account their Hero Power that might just do enough damage to finish you if you fall behind with board control. Against a Hunter, you should always attempt to establish board control as quickly as possible, and to play rather aggressively against them yourself.

Hunter Secrets can have a great impact on the game, and you should play carefully around them and take specific steps towards triggering them in order to ensure minimal impact on the game. Attacking with a minion will trigger a , attacking your opponent's hero will trigger or , attacking a minion will trigger , and will be triggered by playing a minion. By analysing your opponent's play, you can anticipate which Secret it is.

For example, let us assume that your opponent played a Secret without having any minions on the board, while you have a and a . You should attack with your Novice Engineer. Here are the possible outcomes to this situation.

The Secret triggers and it turns out to be a Freezing Trap, in which case you just created card advantage, as you will be able to recast your Novice Engineer and get an extra card from it, while your opponent lost a card and you kept pressure on the board.
The Secret triggers and turns out to be an Explosive Trap. Both of these minions were guaranteed to die to the trap (and by not playing another minion before attacking, you minimised the damage the trap did). You lost both minions, but since you already got a card from your Novice Engineer when you played it, the Explosive Trap only took out your Knife Juggler which makes it a 1-for-1 trade.
The secret triggers and it turns out to be Misdirection. Your Novice Engineer will either attack you for 1 damage (instead of the 3 damage the Knife Juggler would have done, had you attacked with it instead), or it will attack your Knife Juggler, which will survive. In either case, your opponent suffers card disadvantage and you have prevented your hero from potentially taking 2 damage.
The Secret does not trigger. This means that the Secret is either Snipe or Snake Trap. At this point, you should try to play a minion with bad value and simply throw it away 1-for-1 in case it is Snipe (or, preferably, play a card such as Novice Engineer or Loot Hoarder and create card advantage), and use your excess mana for your Hero Power, rather than playing a minion with 4 health that will simply die and waste your entire turn.

Whenever you are facing a Secret, approach it step by step in an order that would cause the least card disadvantage for you, so analyse all possible scenarios before you decide to make your play. In anticipation of Explosive Trap, never play your minions before attacking your opponent's hero.

, if played in the early game can simply be a bad 2/2 minion, or it can become your worst nightmare if your opponent plays and rams their 1/1 minions into yours. Kill the Hyena just to be safe, and simply present your opponent with a new threat.

needs to die as fast as possible, however if your opponent played the Buzzard and a Secret, you can always assume it is , which would make attacking the Buzzard with one of your minions an extremely bad idea. You should use a spell to kill the Buzzard, if at all possible.

is an extremely powerful turn 4 play. Anticipating Multi Shot often means trading with one of your minions in order to ensure that you only have one minion on the board (thus preventing the Hunter from using Multi Shot). If you simply ignore the Hunter's minion(s) and attack him directly (especially on turn 3), you are likely to see both your minions die to Multi-Shot. Should your opponent have no minions, you should play an inferior minion and use excess mana on your Hero Power, or simply play a minion that has enough health to survive a Multi-Shot and make it 1-for-1 card.

is rare, and you will not face it every match, however you should always place your minions on the board as if you were anticipating an Explosive Shot. This means that you should place your biggest minion (the one with most health, and the minion your opponent would want to cast Explosive Shot on, dealing 5 damage to it) at either side of your board, and never in between two minions, especially not between 2 minions that have 2 health or less.

Against a Hunter, you always need to keep an eye on your health, as they will attempt to push for the kill range and their Hero Power can seal the deal even if you manage to play a solid taunter. Having board control and advantage against a Hunter from the early stages of the game is almost an ensured win.

4.3. Mage

Mages are rather difficult to play against, as they have many small traps in all stages of the game, and their Hero Power makes efficient minion trading difficult, since they can always come up with that 1 extra damage needed.

To start with, you should mulligan away your 1-health minions, as they are likely to die to the Mage's Hero Power. Exceptions should be made with minions such as and , as they will delay your opponent at no card disadvantage. can be decent, however it is vulnerable to , and you should not attack with it unless you can trade it 1-for-1 (since bringing out of Stealth will cause it to die to the Hero Power).

Mage Secrets should be approached carefully, and before you make your play you should analyse the impact of all Secrets on the board.

For example, let us assume your opponent attacked you with a and played a and a Secret, while you have a on the board, and, , and a in your hand.

Keep in mind also the following about Mage Secrets:

Counterspell gets triggered by casting a spell.
Spellbender gets triggered by casting a spell that targets a minion.
Mirror Entity gets triggered by playing a minion.
Vaporize and Ice Barrier get triggered by attacking your opponent's hero.
Ice Block gets triggered by lethal damage.

So, in our case, the worst thing that you can do is Assassinate the Mage's Sunwalker. This risks running into a Counterspell or Spellbender, which is why you should check for those secrets first in this scenario. Play Backstab on your opponent's Bloodfen Raptor, and if the secret triggers, you can safely Assassinate his Sunwalker and kill his Bloodfen Raptor with your Bluegill Warrior (if the Secret is Spellbender, the resulting 1/1 minion can be killed by your Hero Power).

If the Secret did not trigger on targeted spell cast, you should play your Bluegill Warrior to test for Mirror Entity. If it triggers, you can trade the Bluegill Warriors, or simply take out your opponent's with your Hero Power.

If the secret did not trigger on a minion cast, you should attack with your Bluegill Warrior to check for Vaporize, as it is the last Secret that can cause potential harm to you that turn. If the Secret turns is not Vaporize (or Ice Barrier, which is not really a problem), then you will know it is Ice Block.

The effect of can be diminished by placing a minion with Stealth (or a) between 2 other minions. This will prevent your opponent from hitting all 3 minions with Cone of Cold. Alternatively, if you have many minions on the board, you should position them in such a way that a single Cone of Cold cannot hit all of your most important minions.

Mages will often try to hold on to their until you play a serious threat. Should you have an extremely powerful card in your hand that is guaranteed to change the course of the game, you should save it and attempt to bait out the Mage's Polymorph with other minions.

can often wreck your entire game and you should never allow your opponent to make more than 2-for-1 with it. You should always attempt to make good trades with your minions when closing in on 7 mana, and have just enough pressure on the board to bait out your opponent's Flamestrike. 2-for-1 Flamestrike is bad, however it is often the minimum requirement for your opponent to cast it, and possibly the only way for you to bait it out.

Having a good position on the board is always great against the Mage, as they will not be able to push you within kill range and finish you off by a topdecking a . Keep in mind that over-extending on the board can have bad impact on your game, as a single spell such as Flamestrike (even one topdecked later on) can destroy your entire game.

4.4. Paladin

When playing against a Paladin, you should always attempt to keep the board clear. Their Hero Power minions will not be a huge problem, however they are all potential targets for (and even ), which is why you should always attempt to get rid of them with your Hero Power (if it is an aggressive one) or with your minions.

in the early game can have devastating consequences, which is why you should always trade your 2-drop for the Paladin's 2-drop, even if your minion is superior in quality.

You should always be aware of the Paladin's strong 4-cost cards, ,, and . Should you have advantage on the board, you can anticipate that the Paladin might play Consecration on turn 4. This means that playing an additional 2-health minion on turn 3 is usually a bad idea. Cards that survive Hammer of Wrath (4 or more health) or even that survive Truesilver Champion (such as the or ) are ideal.

Since Paladins have weapons, you should always try to hold on to your , unless you have no other alternatives.

Paladin Secrets often have much less impact on the game than Mage or Hunter Secrets, however you should always test their triggers and try to create some advantage in the process.

Eye for an Eye triggers from any source of damage, and if you have your opponent in kill range and you are on low health yourself, you should always attempt to inflict as little damage as possible with your first attack.
Noble Sacrifice is the most often played Secret in Paladin decks, and if you have an aggressive Hero Power such as Rogue or Druid, you should always attempt to trigger it by attacking with your hero (thus creating card advantage) instead of attacking with a minion.
Redemption is extremely powerful, however any decent Paladin will never play it if they have Hero Power minions (or other very weak minions) on the board. Regardless, you should always attempt to attack the worst minion on the board before engaging into further trades. Redemption can be extremely powerful with Deathrattle minions such as Harvest Golem or minions with Divine Shield, as they will come back in play with their abilities.
Repentance can be decent, and it will often be one of the last Secrets you check for, so make sure to play a minion with as little health as possible if your opponent's Secrets did not trigger on attacking.

Board control in the early game against a Paladin is essential, as the game can get out of hand rather quickly. Never over-extend on the board with minions that can die to Consecration.

4.5. Priest

The Priest Hero Power cannot make advantage without minions on the board, which is why you should always attempt to keep the board clean.

You should always bait out their in the early game, especially if you are playing minions such as or .

and can be tricky. When your opponent plays Mind Vision, you should always treat it as if they have gotten the best card you currently hold in your hand, until you can actually see them play a different card that was in your hand at the time they played Mind Vision. Thoughtsteal can be dangerous, especially if you have really powerful cards in your deck. For example, if, as a Mage, you have a in your deck and you have Thoughtsteal used against you, you should have the same approach as if you were playing against another Mage.

Minions with 4 attack are amazing against Priests, as they have just the right attack to be safe from , , and . When you have minion buffers such as or , it is always good to buff your 3-attack minions and put them out of harms way. Keep in mind that buffing a 4-attack minion to 5 attack can often be a bad idea, as it becomes a target for Shadow Word: Death.

Keeping Priests under pressure is always great, however keep in mind that they can wipe the board clean with 5 mana by playing Holy Nova. You should never over-extend against a Priest with too many 2-health minions.

Should the game get delayed in later the stages, you can expect that your opponent is holding on to a . You should attempt to bait it out with minions that you can deal with yourself, rather than playing your best card and risk losing the game to it next turn.

Priests win games by beating you down with their minions. Usually that takes mid-late game to happen, and your goal is always to punish their lack of early game by being extremely aggressive. Their Hero Power is their main source of card advantage and board advantage, so you should not allow them to use it for healing minions. Keep the board clean.

4.6. Rogue

Rogues can have an extremely aggressive early game, and they excel at being able to instantly turn the board in their favour. When facing a Rogue with , you can expect that they will hold on to it until they can trigger a combo with it.

When a Rogue uses Hero Power on their second turn and does not attack with it, they are likely holding on to a . You should always save your against a Rogue and try to play it when they cast Deadly Poison or .

A Rogue will often sacrifice a great deal of their health attempting to create card advantage with their Hero Power, which you can exploit to your advantage if you have strong finishers. Try to keep the Rogue under pressure as best as possible.

Towards late game, you can expect that your opponent is holding on to an , which you should bait out before you play your deck's best minion. Give them a reason to use Assassinate on something else.

Playing aggressively against a Rogue is always a good idea, as they will have to think twice before they sacrifice any more health for their Hero Power.

4.7. Shaman

Shamans require board control and advantage to win, and you should take out their totems at any stage of the game unless there are more efficient targets to attack.

, , and other similar cards are extremely vulnerable to , as it first silences and than damages your minion - taking it out 1-for-1.

You should never give a reason to a Shaman during the starting turns to get a good 2-for-1 with Forked Lightning.

Since Shamans have weapons, you should always try to hold on to your , unless you have no other alternatives. This does not necessarily mean to hold on to your ooze until the late game, but you should play a different 2-drop in the early game, as it will always bait out their Stormforged Axe should they be holding onto one.

Towards the late game, you can expect that your opponent is holding on to a , which you should bait out before you play your deck's best minion. Give them a reason to use Hex on something else.

Having board advantage against Shamans means that you are winning. You should never let them have multiple totems, as they can create insane advantage or possibly kill you with .

4.8. Warlock

Warlocks are tricky. Regardless of whether they play a control or an aggressive deck, their health can be turned into card advantage with their Hero Power. Their class cards are often worse than other classes, but they can play a lot of them. You should always play as aggressively as possible against Warlocks.

Should a Warlock have an empty board and 4 mana, you are likely to see a . Do not over-extend against a Warlock if you have board advantage. Pressure them as best as you can with what is currently on the board.

needs to die immediately. Should your opponent play it, you need to handle it or the game can quickly spin out of control.

Warlocks have insane finishers, such as and . Play it safe and work towards board control rather than pressuring your opponent if you do not have much health.

Allowing your opponent to use their Hero Power means you are not pressuring them enough, and they will create a lot of card advantage that will be hard to recover from. Keep them under pressure, establish your advantage on the board, and you will force them to react to the current state of the board rather than spam their Hero Power.

4.9. Warrior

Warriors lack late game, which is why you will often be facing extremely aggressive Warriors that excel at early-mid game with their weapons and powerful class minions. Warriors primarily rely on their weapons to create card advantage and secure their position on the board.

Similar to other aggressive classes, you should play rather aggressively yourself against a Warrior. Throughout the course of the game, a Warrior will attempt to make up for their lack of late game, by pressuring you with minions and attempting to maintain board control and creating card advantage with their weapons or efficient minion combat, which will often cause the Warrior to sacrifice a great portion of their health in the process.

Since warrior relies on weapons, you should always try to hold on to your .

Apart from creating card advantage with weapons and solid minion combat, Warriors will always attempt to use the first chance they get at making 2-for-1 or more with it. You should not let them have several damaged minions. Always attempt to eliminate their threats as fast as possible, and push hard towards board control.

is similar to Warlock's - leaving it up on the board might have bad consequences as the game can get out of hand really fast. Get rid of it immediately.

Warriors can often have amazing finishers. and can lead to an unexpected finish, so keep the board clear once you establish your board presence. Always prioritize taking out their minions and never attempt to race a Warrior for the kill if you are in their potential kill range.

Always play aggressively against a Warrior, as their Hero Power has no impact on the board, and having a solid board position in the early-mid game against a Warrior will make your late game much easier.

5. Combat Techniques↑top

When it comes to combat decisions in the Arena, it is often crucial to identify and choose the best option even if several really good ones are presented to you. Below, we will analyse each scenario to help you pick the best approach.

5.1. Trading Minions

Regardless of how aggressive your deck is, you should always prioritize making the best possible trades, rather than pressuring your opponent and allowing them to make the worst possible trade for you. Keeping the board clear will always help you avoid any potential traps your opponent can set for you by buffing their minions and making trades even worse than they could have been, or creating an even bigger advantage with their AoE damage spells.

When your opponent has a minion that can be taken out by your minions, you should always go for the trade if you suspect that they might be holding on to buffers. Here are some examples.

Shattered Sun Cleric can make your opponent's 2/3 minion a 3/4 which will take out your minion and create card and board advantage for your opponent.
Argent Protector will always give your opponent card and board advantage if they have a suitable minion to buff with Divine Shield. You should never allow the Paladin to have that option.
Power Word: Shield can easily make any 2-drop a 2-for-1 and possibly more if you allow the to use their Hero Power to heal the minion.
When your opponent has a minion that can be taken out by your minions, you should always go for the trade if you suspect that they might be holding on to AoE damage spells.
- Forked Lightning can make a nightmare 2-for-1 and shift the board control to your opponent in the early game, which can be prevented by trading your minions and not giving your opponent the requirements to play Forked Lightning (having 2 minions).
- Consecration can wipe your entire board, making 2-for-1 or possibly more for your opponent while allowing them to take board advantage. Take out your opponent's minion, and try to bait out Consecration with a 2-for-1. Similar approach applie to any other AoE damage spell such as Holy Nova, Blizzard, orFlamestrike.

5.2. Pushing for Lethal Damage

The only reason why you should choose to attack your opponent rather than trade minions is to push them within the kill range. When pushing for lethal, you should always have a finisher or a backup plan (strong removal, direct damage, silence to break through taunters) in your hand if you consider your opponent capable of finding a solution to the current state of the board.

Each time you allow your opponent to have priority when trading minions, you run a great risk of losing any hard earned advantage you have made in the earlier stages of the game. The trade can turn out to be much worse than you initially estimated, and can potentially shift the state of the board in your opponent's favour, which is why you should always consider whether it is worth taking the risk.

There are several factors you should consider before you decide swapping from efficient minion trading to pushing your opponent within kill range.

Your deck and mana curve. When playing an extremely aggressive deck, you will often have an outstanding early-mid game plan, however the late game will be mediocre at best, and every big minion your opponent plays is a potential 2-for-1, which is why you should push for lethal when you consider your opponent's late game stronger than yours.
Your opponent's class and AoE damage spells. When your opponent plays a class that has decent mass removal, you should consider the previous stages of the game. If your opponent was offered a 2-for-1 or more and did not use theirConsecration, Holy Nova, Flamestrike, or other mass removal when they were under pressure, it is unlikely that they have it in their hand. The possibility of your opponent drawing a solution from the top of their deck remains, and you always run a small risk of that happening.
Your hand. When you are are holding on to a response to your opponent's most threatening defensive plays possible, you should always go for the kill. Silence, strong minion removal, direct damage spells, weapons and minions with charge should build up your confidence and help you decide whether or not you should push for the kill.
Your state of the game. When you fall behind and you consider your deck incapable of providing you with solutions to the current state of the board, you should always consider going in for the kill and letting your opponent deal with the board while you hope to topdeck a solid finisher.

Whenever you decide to push your opponent for lethal damage, evaluate your hand, position on the board, and your opponent's likely responses to your play. If you consider it to be worth the risk, go for it.

5.3. Racing Your Opponent

When you decide to go for your opponent's face and your opponent responds aggressively by attacking your hero rather than trading minions, you should consider the following scenarios if you are unable kill your opponent on the following turn.

Your opponent has a strong finisher and is trying to push you in kill range.
Your opponent is not satisfied with a potential 2-for-1 use of an AoE damage spell.
Your opponent has no solutions to the current state of the board and is hoping for a good draw.

In most scenarios, you will make the right choice by playing it safe and minimizing the risk by going back to efficient minion trading, however if you consider your finisher strong enough to seal the deal on its own the turn after and your health high enough to take another swing and remain outside your opponent's kill range, you can go for the kill.

5.4. Skipping Your Attack

On a rare occasion, you will find skipping your attack beneficial, however in most scenarios you put yourself at great risk by doing so and you should only do it as a last resort and when you have advantage or solid alternative plays.

For example, let us assume that, as a Mage, you have on the board and your opponent plays a Secret. When you establish that the Secret is not Mirror Entity (by playing a weak minion, such as a 3/2 minion), you can skip your attack and check if the secret is next turn with your weaker minion, rather than with your Chillwind Yeti.

As another example, let us suppose you are playing against a Paladin and you coin out a and your opponent plays a Secret. The Secret is most likely to be , and if you have no alternative ways of triggering it (Druid or Rogue Hero Power, attacking with a weapon, attacking with an inferior charge minion), you should consider skipping the attack with your Knife Juggler, hoping to trigger the Secret on your next turn with more efficiency, such as attacking with a or .

Mage or Paladin Secrets are easy to play around, while Hunter Secrets require a great deal of perceptive play. You should always attempt to find the most efficient way of triggering Hunter Secrets, even if it means triggering a potential 2-for-1 . Skipping your attack against a Hunter is never a good idea.

6. Conclusion↑top

Watching streams and reading guides will certainly help you become a better player, however before you can truly master the Arena, you will need to develop the right kind of mind set that will allow you to see the best possible play when there are several really good options available.

Knowing each class, its strengths and its weaknesses is crucial when it comes down to deck construction during the drafting stages of the Arena. Paying attention to your mana curve and understanding the importance of early game, regardless of the class you play, will always be reflected in the quality of your deck, regardless of the cards available to you. Sometimes you will have the option of picking several Legendaries, or you will be flooded with Epics, while other times you will simply be happy if you got one or two decent Rares. Spreadsheets can help you master the drafting part of the Arena rather fast, however eventually you will develop your own drafting strategies and put your own values to the cards.

Experience and knowledge of each class will help you develop and improve your perceptive play and combat techniques, which are the essential qualities of every Arena master. Luck is certainly present and it might have an impact on your score, however in the long run it comes down to your skill and your skill only.

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Hearthstone

mardi 8 juillet 2014