Intro
Hello again my Hearthstone peeps, my name is HalfBroke Chris. Now I don’t know if you noticed in my last article but I am very much out to help the guys that want to get better within the game but are just nore totally sure what is wrong with what they are doing wrong. A lot of the time it isn’t even about how well they play the game. They may be a great Hearthstone player but something still seems missing. That is where I want to step in and help them. It may not be a tech problem but a mental problem or something very much more important…
Their style!!
So, today I bring to you an article that I think can make the world of difference in the way you approach decks and the decks you play on Hearthstone. It is all about style and how you swing the bat, or the deck I should say.
This knowledge could honestly apply to many sports not just Hearthstone. It is knowing what kind of player you are and then using that knowledge to figure out what is the best hero and deck to play with within the game. Once you figure out what style fits you the best than you can go and design, or like most people do, go on this site (why do you need any other site for your Hearthstone decks and guides?) and find a deck that will play to your style.
There are basically three styles of players within Hearthstone: Aggro, Control, and the people in the middle. I couldn’t really come up with some clever name for those in the middle, so from this point on we can just call that group Midrange. It is within one of these three groups we all stand. Now with that being said, there are many players that could play in any of these groups but it really comes down to where they feel the most comfortable and have the most fun playing. For instance, I really like being an Aggro player but really feel more at home playing Midrange. As much as I like playing a deck like F2k Aggro Hunter, I do not like how it can a lot of times run out of options against many decks in the middle of the game.
The Aggro Style
A person that is Aggro wants to just ignore the board as much as possible and beat you as fast as they can. It is people like this that a deck like F2k Aggro Hunter fits well with. This deck is designed to just move as fast as you can, ignore the board, and just hit straight to a player’s face. I do find this deck very fun to play with and it is great for early ladder climbing. The way the deck should start out if your luck is going good is a first turn leper-gnome or something very comparable. Cards like arcane-golem help the deck with its speed and quickness.
The problem with this deck, in my opinion, is in the middle of a game it can kind fall flat on a player. It can leave you top decking for an answer while the other player takes control of the board and smacks you hard. If F2k Aggro Hunter runs out of steam or doesn’t fall just right, you can and usually do lose but it is very quick and that is what draws people to the deck.
If Aggro is your style and seems like the way you want to go, there are many other decks you can build or find on this site that will fit your needs. For instance, a deck like Aggro Druid would fit into this mold as well. The problem is it doesn’t always fit other players. Some players don’t want to just hot to the face. They want to look at the game as more of a game of chess and play it patiently, they want to take control of the board, keep control of it, and slowly take you down to your untimely death.
The Control Style
The control style of play is for the more patient and less ADD of a player. Being a control player can lead you to a deck such as Freeze Mage. This kind of deck essentially lets a player freeze and kill any minion that hits the table until they can play alexstasza/card]. At that point they just burn their opponent to death with the help of say [card]archmage-antondias and call it a day. This kind of deck can be very frustrating to play against because it doesn’t allow you to move at all on the board. The downside of this kind of deck is a very fast deck can beat it to the punch and beat down a player before they have a chance to take control. It can also make it very tense because you can take a beat down before you finally get control and then make a comeback to end up winning the match.
Other decks that you can check out that fit this style is Tempo Mage and Control Warrior. These are also very good decks that fit into this mold but give you a different sense of control on the board.
For me, I do not fit into this kind of player at all. The reason is, and I will admit it proudly, I am too impatient for this kind of play. I like having control of the board but I don’t like the feeling of being one step away from a loss and then having to make that climb back to a win. I like ending the game a little earlier than that. That brings us to our last group and that is the medians.
MidRange
We, and I say we because I am very much a part of this group, are the type of players that likes to control the board but only long enough for us to smack you in the face for the win. Instead of being peddle to metal or nickel and dime on the way to win, it is take your time until you see the end of the tunnel and then you hit the gas for the win. A deck that falls into this class, and hence the name, is Midrange Druid.
Midrange Druid is a very interesting deck to play with. It essentially is a sped up control deck. The way you speed it up is by screwing with the mana curve. It is trying to get more mana in your bank than your opponent has and then smacking them with a force-of-nature / savage-roar combo.
This kind of deck also gives you options throughout the game. Other decks on this site that fit into this mold is Midrange/Zoo Warlock and Midrange Paladin. The downfall, and every style has it, is if it doesn’t fall just right, you can lose to both the aggro and control player.
Different Styles
All of the style, Aggro, Midrange, and Control, has there upsides and down sides. It really comes down to what style of player you are. Let’s take a second and look at the NFL. You would not see a QB like Tom Brady in an offense that runs the option or calls for the QB to run a lot. With that being said, you are not going to see a QB like Russell Wilson work in an offense that is pass heavy and wants to throw the ball 40 times a game. You play the decks that fall into your pocket of style.
Style really comes down to what is the most intriguing and fun for you to use as a player. If you hate the way players are able to keep the board loaded while you swing to the face, than control is more of your style. If you like to be more of a puppet master when it comes to the board and you decided what stays and what goes while you get to your win condition, than control is your style. That brings us to the Midrange kind of player. The type that likes both sides of the game but not enough to claim one or the other.
Bottom line is play what is fun and stick with decks that fall into that range of style. If you are not having fun than you will not win within the game of Hearthstone but that can apply to life in general. If you don’t like what you are doing than odds are you aren’t going to be very good doing it. So play the style that you love and I promise things will work out in the end.
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