Hearthstone

[Grafton]

So I've been playing this game off and on, on Mora's battle.net account (when he's not playing it - which is not often). It's a super fun game, but still in closed Beta.

Just wanted to make a quick post here in case any of you have received Beta keys or know someone that has and won't be using them. Would very much appreciate my own access. If you'd rather play yourself, that's still a solid move, it's a fun CCG.

edit: I actually have a key now. But I still recommend signing up for the Beta. It's basically a complete game already and there's no wipe before the release. So any cards you get, you'll be able to keep.

[Klaus]

I have been waiting for my own beta key to try this out. Do you play Magic also? If so how does it compare?

[Grafton]

I actually never played Magic. Well, I played a bit way back in middle school - like 1992/93 era. But I was playing other people's decks even then.

I'm pretty terrible at building a deck with any kind of synergy thus far. With that said, I'm really enjoying it. I need to watch some more casts to figure out how to build a proper arena deck. Arena is definitely where it's at with this game.

[Ender]

I played Hearthstone on Jeanna's account a bit, since she got a Beta invite. It is very fun, much more so than any of the MTG online games. It is very similar to MTG, with even some of the same mechanics and a few that are different. There are a few differences from MTG though:

- You don't have mana/land cards in your deck. Instead, each player gains 1 mana point per turn, up to a maximum of 10. I actually like this a lot because it takes loosing due to mana shortage or flood completely out of the equation. There are still some cards that will give you bonus mana points.
- Each player starts with 30 hp instead of 20.
- You can have a maximum of 30 cards in your deck. Since you don't need to have mana/land cards in it though, this is nearly the same as having a 60 card MTG deck since all 30 of your cards are spells.
- The player that goes first draws 3 cards, while the player that goes 2nd draws 4 cards and gets a bonus mana card that can be used at any time.
- You can select any of your initial cards drawn to be randomly replaced. Each player can only do this once.
- You don't select blockers. Instead, the attacker can select to attack anything on the opponent's side (player or minions). However, there are some cards with the Taunt ability that must be attacked before attacking anything else.
- Instead of colors, there are classes: Mage, Rogue, Hunter, Druid, etc. Each class has a unique library of cards. There are also cards that can be used by any class. You can build your class deck however you want with the cards available to that class. You can only have a maximum of 2 of any card in your deck.

So, initially, you play against the AI to unlock all of the starter cards for a class. Once you get a class to level 10, you have unlocked all of the inital cards. Then, you can do play mode against other players. As you win matches in play mode, you earn booster packs that contain 5 random cards.

You can also play arena mode, which is similar to a draft but a little more simplified. You are randomly assigned a class, then you go through 30 rounds of selecting a card from 3 available choices to build your deck. Then you play a tournament against the other players to win prizes, such as booster packs.

I found this game to be the most fun online card game I have played yet. Open beta starts on Dec 1st, and I highly suggest everyone try it out.

[Klaus]

Nice review. That explained the differences between MTG and Hearthstone I was looking for.

[Ender]

Did my first Arena a couple of days ago. You actually choose from 3 classes that are randomly selected. After drafting your deck, you play until you loose 3 games. The maximum you can win is 9 games, at which time you earn a Grandmaster Medal. For each win, you get an additional prize (gold, which is used to enter Arena matches or buy booster packs, or booster packs). I think the max you can earn is 250-300 gold plus 2 packs.

It was very fun and there are some challenging players that you get matched up against. I played a mage and got 6 wins, which is probably above average but not great.

A couple things that I forgot to mention in my summary above:
- Each class gets a class ability that can be used by spending 2 mana. Each class ability is different, and some are better than others. The Mage ability, for example, allows you to deal 1 damage to a target.
- Damage to creatures persists between turns. However, there are abilities that can heal damage. For example, the Priest ability heals 2 damage to a target (you can target yourself), which I consider to be one of the best class abilities.

[Ender]

Finally got my own Beta invite yesterday so I don't need to use Jeanna's account to play anymore lol.

If you are in the Beta and see me on Bnet, send me a message and we can do a few games.

[Grafton]

I just got a second Beta key, does anyone want one that's been waiting to get in?

[Ender]

Got my first 12 win arena since they increased the max wins to 12 a week ago. See screen shots below.

http://postimg.org/image/wae7pryhf/
http://postimg.org/image/ie1e05cur/

[Ender]

Open Beta announced today: http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/...here-1-21-2014