EPTHypestone as I like to call it sometimes.
With a long history in TCG's(over 13 years) Blizzard has done an outstanding job with it currently.
And the crazy part.
It is still in closed-beta.
The game is very simple to play. With some similarities to Magic The Gathering and a little bit of Yu-Gi-Oh.
Easy to play.
But hard to master, there is a lot of small things that can change the tide of the game.
Recently I lost a game because I made the wrong decision on turn 3 on a 15+ turn game.
Funny how one small thing can sometimes change it. And it wasn't even a bad move, but I could've had a better move.
It isn't even pay2win as some people like to regard it as.
The way I see it there are 2 types of players
1) Competitive
2) Casual
If you are a competitive player, in no matter what sport/esport, you have to be prepared to spend some money.
Basketball? Need shoes and the RIGHT ball.
Baseball/hockey/football? Need good gear, trainers etc.
You have to put in money, to get money. Nothing comes free in life. Thats my motto.
You can play hearthstone for free on your ipad on the way to work, beat down some noobs, earn cards.
If you want the competitive edge(in constructed) buying $50-$100 worth of booster packs will really
take you far. You don't even have to spend that much to play.
Hopefully the rewards are increased a little bit more in the future, and they most likely will, so that
casuals will want to play the game on a daily/bi-daily basis.
So yes it really is free to play. And any competitive player will know he/she will probably have to spend some money not
just to have strong cards, but to have fast acess to newest cards and newest stratagies, not having to worry that he or she cannot
build a deck because they do not have the cards.
I've bought $100 worth of cards. I pretty much have everything I need and enough dust to craft 3 legendaries.
Legendaries are not at all needed to win games. There are a few that would be nice to have, but you can always
play around them.
My top 3 decks in constructed currently are 90% free cards(Mage/Shaman/Rouge), with 70%+ win rates in Masters 3.
On average you'll need 2-3 rares per deck and 1-2 epics per deck to be "competitive" Legendaries are nice
but can be easily replaced.
There have been also numerous people that got to Masters 3 with 100% free deck. (meaning playing with cards he/she earned)
There is also a small thing called Arena, which I feel mixes casual+competitive players quite well. If a casual gets good enough at the game he or she can practically play the game for free and earn card/gold/dust while doing it.
It pretty much is a draft, you are given 30 booster packs with 3 cards.(You do not keep these) for $2 or 150gold
You choose 1/3 cards out of the pack, and continue making your deck. Some of it is luck, some of it is skill, but if you get good at it you can be MAKING a profit on the game while "technically" playing for free.
How do you make money? At the end of your arena run, you are given a prize of gold+dust+1 booster pack.
I hope when Hearthstone is open beta you will all try out this game.
Just a short blurb/blog. Take it as you wish!
~EggY
