Many consider the current Arena metagame on of the best we’ve ever had – and since this has a lot to do with the increased amount of decision points, having a good understanding of what makes an effective deck here is perhaps more important to know than ever before: you can’t rely on powerful spells to bail you out as much as before, and simply going Curvestone won’t get you that far either. It’s one of the richest experience the format had to offer so far: let’s take a look at the most important primers!
Embrace the Grind
This is pretty much what Arena should be in the purists’ eyes: a long battle where incremental advantages of tempo and value slowly add up to produce an eventual winner. Don’t expect as many insane blowouts and ridiculous comebacks as you may have seen previously: the spell bonuses have been radically reduced, meaning it’s a lot less likely that your opponent will have back-to-back board clear options to punish your aggressive push once you’ve locked down the board. Conversely, it’s also more difficult to go on the SMOrc path as your dedicated burn options are also more limited than they used to be before.
Where does that leave us? More often than not, you’ll be locked in a deadly fight for board control, making value-trades and card advantage extremely important. Still, it’s important to know that this meta is no Curvestone as there are enough tools to make it back on the board even if you fall behind to some extent, and a deck dedicated to such a strategy would likely lack the late-game to finish you off anyway. The main takeaway here should be this: don’t try to play off the board. It may have worked with some classes in certain Arena metagames, but you won’t find much success here with such an approach. All this makes sticky minions with hard-to-clear Deathrattles and Divine Shields all the more valuable, and recent staples like Stubborn Gastropod and Stoneskin Basilisk really shine now as there are fewer options to deal with them from hand – and as a minor aside, the reduced appearance rate of Mind Control Tech makes incremental board advantages even more valuable than before.
Of course, grinding out the game will not help you that much if your opponent’s deck has a lot more value than yours. This means it’s extra important to identify who’s the beatdown as most decks will have a very similar gameplan right now, and understanding the differences between the resources you and your opponent have available can be what leads you to victory. While going for an all-out aggressive strategy still won’t work – remember, Giggling Inventors are everywhere and Defile is ubiquitous in Warlock decks (more on that particular class later) –, you will have to figure out where to “flip the switch” and utilize your board edge to help you deliver the killing blow before the cavalry arrives.
This may sound fairly esoteric, and it is certainly hard to quantify without concrete examples – but if you’re running out of large chunky minions and your opponent still has a lot of cards left, consider going face as you are not likely to win out on the board in the long run. This calculation is also easier if you’ve got a good idea about how “large” the average deck is – meaning how many major threats they usually include – at any given time. If yours has more, stall until they can give you the edge. If you have the more nimble deck, try to push the issue. It’s worth reiterating that while is always a fairly important consideration in Arena, it is especially crucial now: even when everyone is playing mid-range, someone still needs to accept the beatdown role.
Misbucketed cards and the class to rule them all
While it certainly seems like the “bucket system” is finally getting to a point where it is capable of producing a good Arena experience, it is still not perfect: some cards are grossly underrated by the system, and prioritizing them can net you a serious edge. (Also, if you know ahead of time that those cards will always be worth picking up, you can also consider its synergistic properties when you’re choosing your other cards.) This is not a major issue right now on a gameplay level: while improvements can and should be made, the current situation allows the good players to find certain extra edges in the drafting process. Warlock is definitely the powerhouse of the Boomsday Arena with Defile (second bucket), Despicable Dreadlord (first bucket) and Omega Agent (fifth(!!!) bucket) carrying it to the top of the charts – closing in on a 55% global winrate according to HSReplay’s stats – and there is no excuse to not picking it if you want to do well in the 12.0 Arena.
In the neutral department, keep an eye out for Giggling Inventor – yes, really, as it is only in the third bucket –, alongside Mechanical Whelp and Emperor Cobra in the sixth. In fact, finicky (you could also say “skill-testing”) cards like small poisonous minions are consistently underrated in the bucket system by Blizzard, likely due to low-level players using them in a way too greedy manner: the aforementioned Stubborn Gastropod is somehow stuck in the fifth bucket while Giant Wasp is in the sixth. Hunter’s Spider Bomb is also definitely better than its third-bucket position, just like how Vilebrood Skitterer is way too good for the fourth.
Similar value-gaining opportunities in the draft include Book of Specters in Mage, Potion of Heroism and Shrink Ray in Paladin, not to mention poor Blessing of Wisdom stuck in the bottom bucket for no reason; Shadow Word: Pain in Priest’s third bucket and Extra Arms in the fifth; Fan of Knives (fourth) and Sprint (seventh!) in Rogue; Crushing Hand (third), Stormforged Axe (fourth), Earthen Might (fifth) and Spirit Echo in Shaman; Shadowflame and the aforementioned Omega Agent in Warlock (fourth and fifth bucket respectively); and Warpath (fourth), Upgrade! (sixth) and Commanding Shout (seventh) in Warrior. Knowing these edge cases is useful beyond getting an advantage on your own: these are cards you should expect to see at higher wins as your opponent has likely also figured out (or read this guide) how to make the best use of their low-bucket picks.
All in all, this is one of the most varied and exciting Arena experiences to date. If you were jaded about all the spells since 7.1 or just never really felt like giving the format a go, this might be just the right time to jump in. It’s been a long time since your decisions mattered as much as they do now, and it is a very nice alternative to the Constructed experience now that the drafts’ power levels don’t mirror the Standard environment.
Played 12 games of ‘new’ Arena by now. Played against Giggling Inventor 12 times.
Of course, didn’t get to pick it for myself in the 3 drafts I did so far..
So much fun. 😀
Kind of ridiculous that current Giggling Inventor (hopefully it gets nerfed to 6 mana) is only on the third bucket. It’s the new MCT in Arena: horrible to play against. I’m always happy to craft a Mossy Horror because I know I’m always going to get value of him with GIs all over Arena.
Your words inspired Blizzard so much, they set her to seven, just for you.
Yes, we all know the words of a random player in a random article of a random site inspired the devs. =P In all honesty, though, Giggles would be fair at 6 mana. The problem is that it would then be a powerhouse for Even decks. So they have to underpower it to 7 mana. Maybe the main body could have been a 3/2 at 7 mana. As it is now, it’s only useful in Evolve Shaman and maybe Odd Warrior. And yes, glad that the OP Giggles is gone from Arena.
nice Art!
What is a bucket?
Buckets are Hearthstone’s way of organizing your card option in arena.
Each bucket is a tier, with the first bucket being very good cards, the next bucket being slightly worse, and so on and so on, till you get to the bottom buckets with will have generally horrible cards.
When you draft in arena, you are given the choice of three random cards from the same bucket, meaning all choices of each selection will be of similar quality!
Hope this helps explain it!