Friday, July 31, 2015

The Ultimate Edwin VanCleef (2 Turn) Combo

One of my favorite things about my Rogue deck is the Legendary card Edwin VanCleef. For those who don't know, for each card that is played earlier in the turn, Edwin VanCleef gains an extra +2 Attack/ +2 Health! With this Combo bonus, it is possible to create a 20+ Attack/ 20+ Defense Minion during a match. Especially when the majority of Rogue spells cost only 2 Mana or less, this card can be a threat on almost every single turn.

While it is possible to create a ridiculously powerful Minion with any spell based Rogue deck from turns 5 and on, I've found the most success when using Edwin VanCleef in the first few turns of a match. If I ever start a match with Edwin VanCleef or the "The Coin" I immediately throw any cards with a Mana Cost of 2 or more back into my deck. The goal is to get cards like Backstab (0), Preparation (0) & Deadly Poison (1) which cost little to no Mana. I can then combo these cards in a single turn while still having enough Mana to play Edwin VanCleef.

Here is an example of a match that I just recently played where I started with Edwin VanCleef & "The Coin" in my hand:
Turn 1: My opponent started the match by playing Leper Gnome. This card is played in the majority of Low Mana Cost aggressive decks. Normally I would use Backstab this turn or use "The Coin" and attack him with my Hero directly. However, knowing I had Edwin VanCleef I had to save both cards for next turn.

Turn 2: I took 2 damage from Leper Gnome, and then my opponent played Knife Juggler. Instead of wasting Backstab on the Leper Gnome I was able to efficiently use it on his (2 Mana Cost card) 3/2 Knife Juggler. Not only that, but it also gave me an extra combo towards Edwin VanCleef. I then used "The Coin" which gave me the 3 Mana I needed to summon a 6/6 Edwin VanCleef!



Turn 3:  By only the third turn of the match I had already had a 6/6 Minion on the board. Unfortunately for my opponent, I don't think that there are many cards 3-4 Mana Cost Cards that can destroy a 6/6 Minion (Especially for a Paladin with an Aggressive deck). He would have had to play a few more turns to play a more powerful card.

However, by this time I would have damaged his hero to below 20HP, plus I would have had board control. It would have been very difficult to come back and win at that point.

Recap: Edwin VanCleef can be used in many different situations. By using combo spells you can usually clear out all enemy minions and then play a X+/X+ of your own. It can really completely change the pace of a match. 

If you have one or two additional Minions on the board before unleashing a combo of this type you are almost always guaranteed a win. This card brings another element of surprise to the Rogue deck and that is why it is one of my favorite cards. Quickly win in the early game or create an extremely powerful Minion in the mid to late game. This card can fit into any kind of Rogue style of play.

If you have any stories or strategies of your own related to Edwin VanCleef please share in the comments below!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Slow Playing Against Mage Mech

Although dealing with early game pressure from low cost minions is tough, I find that early game pressure from a Mech deck is even more difficult. The main reason for this is the fact that if they are not destroyed immediately after each turn, Mech cards provide exponential advantages to each other as they are played. It is a kind of snowball effect that must be taken care of early on or else it becomes too difficult to stop by turns 3 and 4.

In my opinion, the Mechwarper card really provides the true advantage to this deck. Once this card is in play, all of your Mechs cost 1 mana less. It is as if you are getting a free mana crystal to summon a more powerful Mech on turn 3. Even if you are a beginner to Hearthstone you know that a 4 cost minion is much more powerful than a 3 cost one.

In addition, Mech decks also provide your opponent with Spare Part cards which allow their Mech army to become even stronger. Increasing attack, health, giving minions taunt, etc. at only 1 mana cost each, this does not make your job easier versus Mech opponents.

I just tested my luck against a Mage playing an aggressive Mech deck and this is how it went...

My opponent started Turn 1 by playing Cogmaster. This is a 1/2 minion that gains a bonus from other Mech cards, Bonus = "Has +2 attack while you have a mech". Once he played this card (although I couldn't destroy it immediately) I knew 2 things to begin the match.

#1. More Mechs would follow.
#2. I had Fan of Knives & Blade Flurry so I could be a little more patient in the 1-2 turns to follow.

Turn 2: My opponent played the Mechwarper. I played my Mana Addict to try and hopefully absorb some damage.

Turn 3: Unfortunately he ignored my Mana Addict and went straight for my hero instead. Then with Mechwarper in play he was able to summon Mechanical Yeti (4/5 Minion). I decided to use Preparation in order to play Fan of Knives for free and then played a second Fan of Knives. Knowing that I had Deadly Poison x2 and Blade Flurry in my hand I started slow playing my opponent at this point, hoping that he would continue to summon more minion cards.

Turn 4: I used Deadly Poison to finish off his Mechanical Yeti. He played another Mech card. Again I waited, letting my opponent think he had the upper hand with Board Control and a Health Point advantage 23 HP vs. 15 HP.

Turn 5: I was getting a little worried at this point as I was down to only 9HP. However, I knew he played the majority of his Minions. In addition, I knew at least 2 of the cards in his hand were only Spare Parts that he received from his Mech units earlier in the match.

Turn 5:  Still on Turn 5, I knew I could not Slow Play anymore or I would be dead next turn. So immediately I played my Azure Drake (Giving me +1 to Spell Damage). Then I used Preparation to allow me to use Blade Flurry for free! 4 Damage to all enemies and instantly the match turned in my favor.

Turn 6: At this point my opponent was probably not happy, but was still trying to get the win. Using his Spare Part to freeze my Minion he summoned a 5/4 Minion of his own to try and regain the  Board Control that he lost.

Turn 6: Unfortunately for him, I still had 5 cards to choose from and one of them was Eviscerate. Playing the Dalaran Mage activated the combo Mechanic on Eviscerate which allowed me to destroy his Minion.

Turn 7: He played a secret. I attacked him directly with Deadly Poison, but I didn't want to summon any additional Minions just in case the Secret was Mirror Entity (Which would make a copy of the whichever minion I played). Instead I played cautiously and just attacked his Hero with the 2 Minions I had in play.

Turn 8: I'm not sure what Secret he had, but I ended up winning the match!

Recap: Looking back on the game, I think it was best to slow play the Mech Mage because I was able to destroy all 4 minions in one turn. If I would have killed them earlier, my Blade Flurry card would not have been used as efficiently.

I may have been then left with less cards at the end of the match (Which I needed to eventually finish him off). I likely would not have had my Eviscerate or Deadly Poison left and the match may have ended differently. Especially being at only 9HP against a Mage, you are pretty much asking to be Fireballed/Frostbolted to death.

Anyway, this was the strategy I ended up using for this particular match, but if you have any other strategies or tips when facing Mech decks please share in the comments below!

Dealing With Early Paladin Pressure

Paladins have the ability of creating an army of Low Cost Minions at the very start of a match. In, addition, the Paladin Hero Power allows an additional 1/1 minion to take the field.  While these minions usually only have 1-2 attack each, there are a bunch of low cost spells that an easily create a powerful army by turn 4. 

Just to list a few...

(Costs 1 Mana) Blessing of Might: Give a minion +3 attack
(Costs Mana) Blessing of Kings: Give a minion +4 attack, +4 Health
(Costs Mana) Avenge: When one of your minions dies, give a random friendly minion +3/+2.
(Costs Mana) Hand of Protection: Give a minion Divine Shield.

If you don't put a stop to these low cost minions in the first few turns, it can be very difficult to come back and win the match. The following is a match I just played against a Paladin with a similar strategy.

By turn 3 I had used my Dagger Mastery to attack and then destroy his 1/1 Argent Squire (Once he played this card, I figured he had a low cost Minion deck). Next, he used his Hero Power on Turn 2 and then used Muster for Battle on Turn 3, which gave him 3 Silver Hand Recruits and a 1/4 weapon.


I didn't want to risk waiting too long, so I immediately played my Dalaran Mage, Preparation and then I used Blade Fury to clear his minions. Then on Turn 4 I played my Harvest Golem (Very good against low cost minions as it has higher defense and it summons a 2/1 Golem once destroyed).

 By turn six, he had continued to play low cost minions (including using his Hero Power). Instead of using my 2/2's I kept on playing my minions that had higher defense and lower attack. By doing this it allowed me to keep board control, while preventing him from using enhancement spells on his lower cost minions.

Although my minions only did about 3 damage to the Paladin in two turns, they did three things for me:

#1. Kept my opponent from creating any powerful 1/1 minions with his spells.
#2. Bought me a few turns, which allowed me to draw some of my own damage spells.
#3. Did enough damage to get his HP down to the below 15 range. 


 At this point, my opponent had almost run out of cards and I had enough cards to deal the 14+ instant damage that I needed. With the combo of Tinker's Sharpsword Oil & Eviscerate, I was able to deal an extra 14 damage with just these spells alone.

Recap:  Whether it be a Paladin (Warlocks as well) or really any class that it is trying to pressure you early in the match with 1/1 or 2/1 minions, the most important thing is for you to notice their strategy immediately. This strategy is to kill you as quickly as possible!

If you do not have an AOE (Area of Effect) spell, which can wipe out multiple minions at once, it is extremely important to destroy the minions as they are played. Use your Hero Power or whatever spells you have at your disposal, but always try to be efficient as possible. For example, use 1 card to destroy 1 opponent's card or maybe use 2 if your opponent's card is a big threat (Usually a higher mana cost). Never use 3+ cards to destroy 1 of your opponent's cards unless you're about to lose the match or if you benefit from a card's "Deathrattle" mechanic.

However, if you do have an AOE spell (Eg. Fan of Knives, Blade Fury) a lot of times it can be better to wait an extra turn or two. Patience is very important here as you may be able to destroy 3-4 minions at once rather than 1-2. However, if you are taking too much damage early on it may be better to clear the board more quickly (Use your judgement). This will give you a 1-2 card advantage over your opponent. There have been matches where I waited 3 extra turns as I had Deadly Poison, Blade Fury & a low Cost +1 Spell Minion. This combo resulted in a 4 damage AOE attack, destroying all 6 enemy minions at once.

At this point you have complete control of the match and 99% of the time it's a win.

Good Luck!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Winning (19 Total Damage) Combo In Arena

This post is meant to show just a small sample of what Rogues can do when combos are used effectively.

Quick Recap: I only had a 2/3 minion creature out on the field and my opponent had a 7/7 and a 3/2. I was down to 11 Health and my opponent still had 19 Health left.


Luckily, from the picture you can see I had 4 cards left and it was my turn. By playing Arcane Golem I was able to activate the combo mechanic on the 3 cards in my hand. With the combo activated, 2x Cold Blood = 8 extra attack for Arcane Golem on this turn and 1x Eviscerate = 4 extra damage.

Being that Arcane Golem had charge, I was able to use those 4 cards to do a total of 16 damage that my opponent did not expect. In addition, I used my Hero Power for 1 damage and my 2/3 creature for 2 damage for a total of 19 damage on one turn!

Most classes cannot chain together multiple cards on one turn and deal large amounts of damage at once. Therefore, most opponents may think they have the advantage in this situation having board control and being up by 8 HP (Rightfully so). However, Rogues have the capability of winning a match instantly, especially when there are still a lot of cards in his/her hand.

Although I have never done this myself, I have seen Rogues on the verge of losing put together an 8 card 30+ damage combo. Hopefully, I'll be able to do this one day!