• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 13:31
CEST 19:31
KST 02:31
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
TL.net Map Contest #21: Voting10[ASL20] Ro4 Preview: Descent11Team TLMC #5: Winners Announced!3[ASL20] Ro8 Preview Pt2: Holding On9Maestros of the Game: Live Finals Preview (RO4)5
Community News
BSL Team A vs Koreans - Sat-Sun 16:00 CET6Weekly Cups (Oct 6-12): Four star herO85.0.15 Patch Balance Hotfix (2025-10-8)80Weekly Cups (Sept 29-Oct 5): MaxPax triples up3PartinG joins SteamerZone, returns to SC2 competition32
StarCraft 2
General
Revisiting the game after10 years and wow it's bad The New Patch Killed Mech! TL.net Map Contest #21: Voting Stellar Fest: StarCraft II returns to Canada herO Talks: Poor Performance at EWC and more...
Tourneys
SC2's Safe House 2 - October 18 & 19 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament $1,200 WardiTV October (Oct 21st-31st) WardiTV Mondays RSL Offline Finals Dates + Ticket Sales!
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 495 Rest In Peace Mutation # 494 Unstable Environment Mutation # 493 Quick Killers Mutation # 492 Get Out More
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion BSL Season 21 BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW caster Sayle BSL Team A vs Koreans - Sat-Sun 16:00 CET
Tourneys
[ASL20] Semifinal B [Megathread] Daily Proleagues SC4ALL $1,500 Open Bracket LAN [ASL20] Semifinal A
Strategy
Current Meta BW - ajfirecracker Strategy & Training Relatively freeroll strategies Siegecraft - a new perspective
Other Games
General Games
Dawn of War IV Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion LiquidDota to reintegrate into TL.net
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread SPIRED by.ASL Mafia {211640}
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Men's Fashion Thread Sex and weight loss
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Series you have seen recently... Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
The Heroism of Pepe the Fro…
Peanutsc
Rocket League: Traits, Abili…
TrAiDoS
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1588 users

A Beginner's Guide to HS Terms - Page 2

Forum Index > Hearthstone General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Deleted User 137586
Profile Joined January 2011
7859 Posts
January 15 2014 23:08 GMT
#21
I've found people ask about abbreviations such as 'tap' and concepts such as 'going for the face'. Also, 'board wipe' has slowly morphed into 'board clear.'

Actually, the concept of 'trade' as compared to ones like 'sack', 'smack' or 'clear' create confusion too.
Cry 'havoc' and let slip the dogs of war
hp.Shell
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States2527 Posts
January 15 2014 23:34 GMT
#22
shiroiusagi strikes again!
Please PM me with any songs you like that you think I haven't heard before!
CrazyHunter
Profile Blog Joined February 2013
United States83 Posts
January 16 2014 01:15 GMT
#23
Thanks! I always love learning new lingo and sharing it with my friends. I'll probably have to reference them to this page as well!
The strong live. The weak die
Advantageous
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
China1350 Posts
January 16 2014 01:38 GMT
#24
thank you for making this thread Hayl_storm, i had an idea of what most of these terms meant just didnt know when it applied. also tnx for explaining the arch types :D
"Because I am BossToss" -MC ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ノ raise your dongers ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ノ I'm sure that all of my fellow class mates viewed me as the Adonis of the Class of 2015 already. -Xenocider, EG, ieF 2013 Champion.
Aezo-
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Canada378 Posts
January 16 2014 07:25 GMT
#25
Loving all the content here :D. Super helpful for those (me) who are brand knew to hearthstone or more generally TCGs.
TheRealNanMan
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States1471 Posts
January 19 2014 18:20 GMT
#26
This is a perfect guide for players that are getting into TCG for the first time! Or even players that have played a couple times but don't know all the terms
Sc2 Caster | Host of Sc2 Up & Coming | The Godfather of Team LXG | Sc2 Historian | Youtube.com/NanMan | Twitch.tv/TheRealNanMan | Twitter.com/TheRealNanMan |
Kage
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
India788 Posts
January 20 2014 11:18 GMT
#27
On December 26 2013 09:13 Hayl_Storm wrote:
- Expected Value: Expected Value is a term used across many games but is most common in Poker. Expected Value is a property of a play that can be calculated by considering the average outcome of any play or series of plays. Most often, Expected Value is calculated in reference of what percent chance a play gives you to win the game: here is an example.

If you are a Mage and you have only draw step left to win the game -- by virtue of Ice Block -- and three cards left in your deck -- which you know to be Pyroblast, Fireball, and Leper Gnome -- the Expected Value of making a play resulting in putting your opponent with 6 life is 66% whereas a play resulting in your opponent going to 10 life is only 33%.



I am new (and apparently dumb), can some one explain how these values were arrived at?
phagga
Profile Joined February 2012
Switzerland2194 Posts
January 20 2014 12:42 GMT
#28
On January 20 2014 20:18 Kage wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 26 2013 09:13 Hayl_Storm wrote:
- Expected Value: Expected Value is a term used across many games but is most common in Poker. Expected Value is a property of a play that can be calculated by considering the average outcome of any play or series of plays. Most often, Expected Value is calculated in reference of what percent chance a play gives you to win the game: here is an example.

If you are a Mage and you have only draw step left to win the game -- by virtue of Ice Block -- and three cards left in your deck -- which you know to be Pyroblast, Fireball, and Leper Gnome -- the Expected Value of making a play resulting in putting your opponent with 6 life is 66% whereas a play resulting in your opponent going to 10 life is only 33%.



I am new (and apparently dumb), can some one explain how these values were arrived at?


If I understand it right: You have one turn left before the opponent kills you, no cards in hand, and 3 cards in deck (Pyroblast, Fireball, Leper Gnome). If the opponent has 6 life, the expected value of making a play is 66 percent because out of the 3 cards, 2 (Pyroblast, Fireball) can actually kill the opponent and win you the game, while Leper Gnome can only deal two damage and will lose you the game.

However, if the opponent has 10 life, expected value is 33% because the only card that lets you win the game is Pyroblast (1/3rd of all cards, hence 33%).
"A person who does not concern himself with politics has already made the political choice he was so anxious to spare himself: he is serving the ruling party." - Max Frisch
Hayl_Storm
Profile Joined April 2011
The Shire633 Posts
January 20 2014 15:00 GMT
#29
On January 20 2014 21:42 phagga wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 20 2014 20:18 Kage wrote:
On December 26 2013 09:13 Hayl_Storm wrote:
- Expected Value: Expected Value is a term used across many games but is most common in Poker. Expected Value is a property of a play that can be calculated by considering the average outcome of any play or series of plays. Most often, Expected Value is calculated in reference of what percent chance a play gives you to win the game: here is an example.

If you are a Mage and you have only draw step left to win the game -- by virtue of Ice Block -- and three cards left in your deck -- which you know to be Pyroblast, Fireball, and Leper Gnome -- the Expected Value of making a play resulting in putting your opponent with 6 life is 66% whereas a play resulting in your opponent going to 10 life is only 33%.



I am new (and apparently dumb), can some one explain how these values were arrived at?


If I understand it right: You have one turn left before the opponent kills you, no cards in hand, and 3 cards in deck (Pyroblast, Fireball, Leper Gnome). If the opponent has 6 life, the expected value of making a play is 66 percent because out of the 3 cards, 2 (Pyroblast, Fireball) can actually kill the opponent and win you the game, while Leper Gnome can only deal two damage and will lose you the game.

However, if the opponent has 10 life, expected value is 33% because the only card that lets you win the game is Pyroblast (1/3rd of all cards, hence 33%).


Exactly, it's a little bit awkward to write out examples but this is correct. The idea is that you want to put yourself in the best situation to capitalize on your potential draws.
Editor@TL_Hayl // Return of the (Marine)King
Kage
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
India788 Posts
January 20 2014 18:19 GMT
#30
On December 26 2013 09:13 Hayl_Storm wrote:

If I understand it right: You have one turn left before the opponent kills you, no cards in hand, and 3 cards in deck (Pyroblast, Fireball, Leper Gnome). If the opponent has 6 life, the expected value of making a play is 66 percent because out of the 3 cards, 2 (Pyroblast, Fireball) can actually kill the opponent and win you the game, while Leper Gnome can only deal two damage and will lose you the game.

However, if the opponent has 10 life, expected value is 33% because the only card that lets you win the game is Pyroblast (1/3rd of all cards, hence 33%).



Ah perfect, I get it now. Thanks!
yokohama
Profile Joined February 2005
United States1116 Posts
January 21 2014 00:10 GMT
#31
With Hearthstone being my first card game, I found a lot of good information in this article. Thanks!
Hayl_Storm
Profile Joined April 2011
The Shire633 Posts
January 21 2014 01:18 GMT
#32
I'm glad that people newer to TCGs are finding use in this post: it was for you!

Expect more fundamentals based articles in the near future. (Spoilers)
Editor@TL_Hayl // Return of the (Marine)King
Melliflue
Profile Joined October 2012
United Kingdom1389 Posts
January 22 2014 12:42 GMT
#33
What does "proc" mean? I've seen it used a few times but I don't know what it is short for.
Navillus
Profile Joined February 2011
United States1188 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-01-23 22:03:34
January 23 2014 22:03 GMT
#34
On January 22 2014 21:42 Melliflue wrote:
What does "proc" mean? I've seen it used a few times but I don't know what it is short for.


You know I know what proc means but I had no idea what it actually was short for and never realized that until I tried to answer it, well according to this -> http://www.wowwiki.com/Proc it comes from "special procedure" and in the context of hearthstone it roughly means an ability on a card that is activated by something else, for example the knife juggler procs every time a minion is played because whenever that happens it throws out a random knife.
"TL gives excellent advice 99% of the time. The problem is no one listens to it." -Plexa
Melliflue
Profile Joined October 2012
United Kingdom1389 Posts
January 24 2014 20:16 GMT
#35
On January 24 2014 07:03 Navillus wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 22 2014 21:42 Melliflue wrote:
What does "proc" mean? I've seen it used a few times but I don't know what it is short for.


You know I know what proc means but I had no idea what it actually was short for and never realized that until I tried to answer it, well according to this -> http://www.wowwiki.com/Proc it comes from "special procedure" and in the context of hearthstone it roughly means an ability on a card that is activated by something else, for example the knife juggler procs every time a minion is played because whenever that happens it throws out a random knife.

Thanks. I had seen it a lot and it seemed to mean 'trigger' or 'play' or something else depending on context. I could always work out from context what was meant but I could never work out why it was 'proc'. So thanks
rd
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States2586 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-02-08 18:12:26
February 08 2014 18:04 GMT
#36
A common misconception of Card Advantage is using it to describe “cards in hand” or “minions on the battlefield”. The correct way to think about Card Advantage is to image a scoreboard where players are scoring points for being more efficient with their resources in card form. The central tenet of Card Advantage is that cards are a resource, just like Mana Crystals or life. A player is winning in terms of Card Advantage if and only if they are being more efficient with this resource.


This in itself is a misconception. Scoreboarding your card's efficiency is not describing card advantage, it describes card value -- that is, the extraction of maximum value out of a minion trade, or a board clear, so that the end result of the exchange creates a net card advantage. Card advantage itself ignores card value, and literally only describes your total "cards in hand" and "minions on the battlefield" compared to your opponent. It's a very basic examination of cards themselves as a resource; an observation of who holds more cards after an initial starting condition where each player begins with a set number of cards. Going beyond that definition to discuss the practicality of card advantage goes into defining card value.

I also think board control and mana efficiency should be defined, as they're both very related to the discussions of what the goal of a specific deck style is, and the over-arching decisions one makes in the pursuit of card value and card advantage. Card value (from the perspective of the perceived inherent value in a card when building a deck) is tethered by mana efficiency, and board control is another byproduct of card value.
Roco3D
Profile Joined August 2010
Chile1 Post
February 11 2014 22:16 GMT
#37
Nice guide and excellent redaction. Most of the concepts are clear to me now, but how would you describe the concept of "meta". I'm new to hearthstone and I've been reading a lot of it. Thanks.
The imagination is more important than the knowledge.
Hayl_Storm
Profile Joined April 2011
The Shire633 Posts
February 11 2014 23:31 GMT
#38
Meta, or the metagame, literally refers to actions outside an actual match but which effect it: which decks are popular, the playstyle of your opponent, etc.
Editor@TL_Hayl // Return of the (Marine)King
Roco3D
Profile Joined August 2010
Chile1 Post
February 12 2014 08:38 GMT
#39
On February 12 2014 08:31 Hayl_Storm wrote:
Meta, or the metagame, literally refers to actions outside an actual match but which effect it: which decks are popular, the playstyle of your opponent, etc.

Thanks a lot!.
So when I read "this balance change will affect the metagame" actually means that it will affect the way players use the cards affected by the balance change.

One more thing. I disagree on calling hearthstone a TCG because so far we can't trade cards. Instead I prefer to call it a CCG which stands for Crafting Cards Game. What do you think about it?
The imagination is more important than the knowledge.
FlamingRuby
Profile Joined April 2013
Greece1 Post
February 21 2014 23:32 GMT
#40
Thank you for the guide!
As a newbie is going to be handy
Smile always
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Safe House 2
17:00
Playoffs
SpeCial vs AstreaLIVE!
TriGGeR vs MasTeR
ZombieGrub492
TKL 142
EnkiAlexander 45
3DClanTV 36
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Clem_sc2 540
ZombieGrub492
TKL 142
ProTech76
BRAT_OK 48
JuggernautJason39
trigger 27
CosmosSc2 25
MindelVK 20
DenverSC2 10
StarCraft: Brood War
Soma 1068
Larva 972
ZerO 809
Light 589
Mini 560
Barracks 488
actioN 451
Stork 438
hero 250
firebathero 200
[ Show more ]
Hyun 199
Rush 115
PianO 113
ggaemo 95
Dewaltoss 88
Sharp 65
sorry 48
Mong 36
NaDa 21
Sacsri 18
scan(afreeca) 15
Terrorterran 15
Dota 2
Gorgc7391
qojqva2381
Fuzer 314
Counter-Strike
fl0m2350
olofmeister2001
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor548
Liquid`Hasu425
Other Games
singsing1821
B2W.Neo1067
Skadoodle259
KnowMe172
ArmadaUGS158
Hui .138
Trikslyr26
ZerO(Twitch)24
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick933
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Adnapsc2 16
• HeavenSC 13
• iHatsuTV 12
• IndyKCrew
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• intothetv
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Kozan
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 25
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 3509
• lizZardDota242
League of Legends
• Jankos3250
• imaqtpie1269
Upcoming Events
IPSL
1h 29m
Sziky vs Havi
Artosis vs Klauso
Monday Night Weeklies
22h 29m
WardiTV Invitational
1d 17h
WardiTV Invitational
1d 20h
Tenacious Turtle Tussle
3 days
The PondCast
3 days
WardiTV Invitational
4 days
Online Event
4 days
RSL Revival
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Invitational
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Snow vs Soma
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
WardiTV Invitational
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #4 - TS2
WardiTV TLMC #15
HCC Europe

Ongoing

BSL 21 Points
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
EC S1
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual

Upcoming

SC4ALL: Brood War
BSL Season 21
BSL 21 Team A
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
RSL Offline Finals
RSL Revival: Season 3
Stellar Fest
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
CranK Gathers Season 2: SC II Pro Teams
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.