Hearthstone Disenchanting and Card Crafting Guide by TacoRocco

This is a short guide mainly aimed at newer players of the game. This guide will hopefully help you make better decisions when crafting and disenchanting and also give a few tips on crafting do’s and don’ts. I am not going to go through how to disenchant/craft cards in this guide, but if you don’t know how, check the comments below and someone might be able to help you if you have any questions. Note: these are MY personal tips, so some people may not agree with me, but this can at least give you some perspective when disenchanting/crafting cards. If you have any questions on whether a card is worth crafting or disenchanting, please post in the comments and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Disenchanting Cards

Some people may argue that you should just disenchant cards whenever you have extra cards or just want the extra dust, but I disagree. I believe you should wait to disenchant until you have a card that you want to craft or need for a deck. Here are just some tips in a convenient little list:

• WAIT TO DISENCHANT unless you really want/need a card. Patience truly pays off.
• One of the reasons to wait to disenchant is that a card may be nerfed. This is not the main reason to wait, but can be a reason why it may be a good idea to wait to Mass Disenchant cards. When Blizzard nerfs a card, they tack on a temporary disenchant bonus to that card; you never know what cards might be nerfed, so it may be a good idea to save them for the chance there may be a nerf. When Blizzard nerfed Flare, I had a golden copy and 2 non-golden copies; with the disenchant bonus, I was able to disenchant the 3 cards for a total of 1,000 dust when they would normally disenchant for 140 dust! When a new set is released and new cards are added, it may lead to a card combination that is just too strong. Warsong Commander wasn’t nerfed until after a few sets. Nerfs are very infrequent, so this shouldn’t stop you from Mass Disenchanting any time you can. If you want to Mass Disenchant, you may feel free to do so because it is unlikely that it will affect anything. The reason I make this point is because it is a possibility; even if it is incredibly unlikely, it is still something to keep in mind.
• ALWAYS disenchant cards with a disenchant bonus, unless you are using them in a deck. The disenchant bonus makes it so you can disenchant a card for the same dust as it would take to craft it. This means that you will breakeven if you decide to re-craft it at some point in time, and you will gain free dust if you managed to pull it from a pack later after disenchanting it. Disenchant bonuses are only temporary, so take full advantage of it when you can.
• Mass Disenchant before disenchanting cards that you have less than 3 copies of (less than 2 copies for legendary cards). I am personally trying to collect a playset of every card, so if you are a collector, then you might want to follow this tip. Another reason to do this is because you may eventually need those cards for a deck you want to build, and may regret disenchanting them.
• After Mass Disenchant, if you still need the dust for a card that you REALLY NEED, then disenchant the golden versions of cards first. The golden versions yield the most dust for disenchanting them. If you are new to the game, you really shouldn’t be worrying about hoarding up golden cards since you don’t have many cards at all. BUT, if you don’t have any non-golden versions of that card, you may want to read the next tip before disenchanting it.
• Disenchant cards that you know you will never use. Some of the best cards to disenchant first are: Wisp, Target Dummy, Angry Chicken, and more. These are just a few of the cards that are pretty useless unless you build a deck around them.
• If you enjoy keeping the golden versions of cards, like I do, then make sure to disenchant extra non-golden copies of the cards you have. In “My Collection”, the red number on the class icons tells you if you have any new cards. If you have 1 golden and 1 non-golden and you get another of either type, the number will be your indicator that there may be extra copies to breakdown.
• There are some cards that are good, but you do not need more than 1 copy of that card. This mostly applies to high cost cards such as Pyroblast and Lay on Hands. The high cost even means that you will probably go through a good amount of your deck before you can use the cards. If you play 2 copies of those cards, you could end up with 2 copies in your hand, but will only play 1 during the game. High impact cards like these only really need 1 copy to get the job done. You may need to figure out for yourself what cards are not worth having more than 1 copy of.
• NEVER DISENCHANT LEGENDARY CARDS, unless they are really bad or golden. Golden legendary cards are great to disenchant because you can disenchant them and craft any legendary you want, but don’t disenchant them if they are actually a good legendary. It is even safe to say that you shouldn’t disenchant legendary cards unless you have more than 1 copy of it. legendary cards are incredibly rare to come across, and they are often very good. Your chance of ever pulling that legendary card out of a pack again is virtually zero.

However, there are some legendary cards that you can feel free to disenchant because they are essentially useless. This is a list of ten legendary cards that are relatively safe to disenchant, in no particular order (Millhouse Manastorm will always be the best card to disenchant). I also included explanations as to why they are on the list. This can also serve as a short list of cards to avoid crafting:

Millhouse Manastorm

This card is a powerful early game minion, but is completely useless in the late game. Even early game, this card is way too risky to play. Just look up all the videos of people being screwed over by playing this card. It just isn’t a good idea to give the opponent free spells.

Nat Pagle

This card may seem good for being able to draw every turn, but is most of the time a dead card. If you play this card early, it may give you some advantage but it has no field presence due to its 0 attack value. There are just many better draw cards than this one.

Nozdormu

Sure, the 8/8 body is good, but for that mana I would rather be playing Ysera, Nefarian, Alexstrasza, North Sea Kraken or even Onyxia! It’s effect is just not worth playing it because a lot of players can still play well under the time pressure.

Lorewalker Cho

Getting your opponent’s spells is nice, but they also get your spells, and it can really paralyze you if you have good spells that you don’t want to give to the opponent. Just like Nat Pagle, this card has no field presence, and the zero attack means you can’t get rid of it when you want to play your spells. This card does have some use in jamming your opponent’s hand with spells they can’t use, so it is one of the more “useful” cards on this list.

Wilfred Fizzlebang

Free cards are nice, but you only get them when you use your hero power, so that means the cards you draw technically cost 2 mana and 2 health in addition to the 6 mana you need to spend to play Wilfred. Being a 4/4 at turn 6 or higher means it will most likely die on your opponent’s turn, so it will usually only see 1 or less uses. Unless you draw a 9 or 10 mana card out of his effect, this guy ends up being a waste of deck space and mana.

Hemet Nesingwary

Big Game Hunter does it better.

Icehowl

A 10/10 with charge for 9 mana is absolutely insane, but it is only good for killing minions. There are better options for field clearing; options that don’t die to Big Game Hunter.

Deathwing

The biggest minion in the game has a huge price. It is 10 mana, so that means you can’t play any other cards that turn. After playing it, you lose your whole hand, so you won’t want to play him unless you have junk cards in your hand. There is nothing worse than playing this guy and watching it get shot by Big Game Hunter the next turn.

Mimiron's Head

Useless if you aren’t playing a Mech deck. Even in a mech deck, you need to have this guy and 2 other mechs on the field at the same time and keep them all alive, which isn’t easy. This guy requires you to build an entire deck around it, and the current builds of the deck aren’t meta topping.

Tinkmaster Overspark

Always turns your opponent’s Silver Hand Recruits into Devilsaur and your Ragnaros the Firelord into Squirrel. Don’t count on it doing anything else.

Overall, it is best to be cautious when disenchanting cards because you never know when you will need those cards or when you can get disenchant bonuses.

Crafting Cards

Now that I have gone through some tips on disenchanting cards, these are some tips on enchanting cards:

• Never, and I repeat NEVER, craft a common card. I cannot stress how much of a waste of dust that is. Common cards are common for a reason. They are often not the best cards and are easy to come across. If you need a common card, just wait to pull it out of a pack. Chances are that you will pull that card out of a pack and you would have just wasted 40 dust instead of waiting a week or two.
• Always try to save up your dust to craft a legendary card. Since legendary cards are the rarest cards to come across, it is just the best idea to save up to craft them. You can also save up for an Epic card, but for every 4 Epic cards you craft, you missed an opportunity to craft a legendary.
• Avoid crafting a card unless you really need it, and again, try to save up for a legendary card. When I was new, I made the mistake of crafting 2 copies of Pyroblast. In the entirety of my play history on this game, I have pulled a total of 5 copies of Pyroblast out of packs. I now have 1 copy of Pyroblast because it is just not a useful card and I don’t need more than 1 copy. I wasted 800 dust by crafting those 2 copies.
• Craft cards with a deck in mind. Don’t just craft cards because you want them; craft them because you need them for a deck. You might eventually want a card, but don’t have the dust to craft it because you wasted it on a card you never use. This leads partially to my next tip.
• If you craft a card, it should be to COMPLETE a deck. If you have multiple cards you need for a deck, wait until you have enough dust to craft all the cards you need in one sitting. Recently I crafted Nexus-Champion Saraad for a deck, but I still needed 2 copies of Coldarra Drake to complete the deck. Two days later, I pulled Nexus-Champion Saraad out of a pack. It cost 1,600 dust to craft Nexus-Champion Saraad and I disenchanted him for 400 dust, which is only enough to craft 1 Coldarra Drake. If I had just waited, I would have pulled Nexus-Champion Saraad and had enough dust to craft both Coldarra Drakes and still have an extra 800 dust left over.

When crafting for legendary cards in particular, avoid crafting class-specific cards unless it is a deck you know you will use a lot, or it is a card that is absolutely key to the deck. The problem with class-specific legendary cards is that they can only be used for that class. There are definitely a few neutral legendary cards that I recommend crafting first before you craft class specific ones. These are just a few of the legendary cards that could be put in any deck without any real problems. This list may change as time goes on, but for now, these are MY #1 recommendations, with short explanations:

Dr. Boom

Probably the best card in the game. This guy here is the absolute definition of board present. It is a 7/7 for 7, so it is good for the cost. It also summons 2 1/1s, meaning that it is essentially a 9/9 for 7. On top of that, these minions deal 1-4 damage upon death, which can screw up your opponent’s field or get them a lot closer to death if the bombs hit their face. There is very little reason not to add this guy to any deck.

Sylvanas Windrunner

Stealing your opponent’s minions is really good, but this card is probably the most misused card in the game. If used right, she can completely turn the game around and use your opponent’s cards against them. She is almost always a 3 for 1 trade (technically a 2 for 0 trade) since she costs a card to get rid of and then another card for her deathrattle. Nearly every Control deck uses this card.

Ragnaros the Firelord

Big Game Hunter is this guy’s #1 fan. Its power makes it essentially an 8/8 with charge that doesn’t take damage when it attacks. This guy inflicts massive damage and kills nearly any minion. He is also a great card to close out the game or force your opponent to play around it. This guy swaps in and out with Ysera in decks depending on how much Big Game Hunter is played in the meta.

Justicar Trueheart

Every class can benefit from playing this card, some classes more than others. This card is one of the top recommendations because any class can play her and benefit from it.

Harrison Jones

The meta shapes how useful this guy is. In a weapon class heavy meta, he is really good at getting rid of weapons that are vital to your opponent’s strategy. On top of that, he gives you draw! The 5/4 body also means that he has some board presence even against classes that don’t have weapons. This guy is mainly used in Control decks.

Ysera

Used mostly in Dragon and Control decks, this card always provides advantage. Its 12 health allows it to usually survive at least 1 turn and its 4 attack makes it immune to Big Game Hunter and Priest removal cards. She will generate you strong cards each turn and has similar board presence to Ragnaros the Firelord.

Most Importantly

Don’t ever disenchant a card that you crafted. This may seem like a weird tip, but remember that you crafted that card for a reason. If you end up pulling excess copies from packs, you can definitely disenchant it through Mass Disenchant; but never disenchant more copies than you crafted. The best support for this is that you would have overall just wasted dust. You should never be crafting cards unless you are sure you are going to use them, so you should never disenchant the cards. If they were good enough to be used at one point, they will be good enough to be used later on. Even if they aren’t good in the current meta, they might be good again in a later season.

If you have any questions, please post a comment and I will try to answer you as soon as I can.