Hearthstone has been a big success, proving that you can make an accessible card game that still provides plenty of pleasing depth.
Despite its accessibility compared to similar games like Magic: The Gathering Online, it can still be daunting to new players due to the sheer variety in the nine available classes and the myriad spells they have access to.
This beginner’s guide will not only introduce each hero, but also highlight some of their best cards and decks.
And don’t worry; we’ll be staying away from the insanely costly legendary cards, meaning anyone should be able to put together the decks we’ll be looking at.
Class: Mage
Jana’s bread and butter are hard-hitting spells that immediately attack her opponent or can be used to wipe out a large number of minions.
Her special skill is useful for picking off weaker minions, while her secrets can either stop spells completely or take out hard to deal with enemies.
Arcane Intellect Card
Drawing in any game is extremely powerful. Being able to dig for two new cards at a relatively low cost should not be ignored, particularly in the late game.
Fireball
A relatively cheap costing spell that does an impressive amount of damage. It should be able to finish off all but the toughest of minions, particularly when used with Jaina’s special ability.
Flamestrike
Area affect spells are always handy and this is one of the better ones Jaina has access to. You’ll typically want to use it at the first opportunity to stop early swarms.
Counterspell
Like all Secrets it can be played around, but when used correctly Counterspell has the chance to turn things massively in your favour. Just remember it doesn’t counter minions.
Water Elemental
While he’s rather weak in power, it’s his ability to freeze an opponent that makes him so powerful. He’s an especially good offence against weapon-wielding opponents.
The aim of this deck is to build up your forces in order to drop a large Frostwolf Warlord or buff your existing army with a Stormwind Champion. Arcane Missiles, Fireball and Polymorph act as your spot removal, while Flamestrike should take out most of your opponent’s minions in one fatal swipe.
Class: Priest
Anduin likes to focus on healing both himself and his minions, allowing him to reach the late game where he can unleash his more powerful spells.
Whilst not as powerful as in Hearthstone’s beta period, he still has some nasty synergies that can make certain cards insane. His ability to heal two health is also very handy.
Northshire Cleric
Get her out in the early game and she’ll rapidly help you draw lots of cards. Her toughness means she’s quite hard to kill, allowing you to keep healing her to earn her powerful bonus.
Mind Control
Yes it’s insanely expensive but Mind Control can be a game changer, allowing you access to your opponent’s best card and hopefully turning the match in your favour. Very useful.
Shadow Word: Death
There are a large number of powerful minions in Hearthstone, so Shadow Word: Death is a great way to deal with them; it’s situational but is still worth adding to most Priest decks.
Holy Nova
While not as powerful as other potential board sweepers it has the added bonus of restoring health to your own heroes. Case it before combat for the best results.
Shadow Word: Pain
The counter card to Shadow Word: Death. With two of each card in your deck you’ll be able to instantly kill any minion you come across.
The idea of this deck is pretty straightforward – heal, heal, heal. An early Northshire Cleric should ensure plenty of card draw, while cards like Shadow Word: Pain and Holy Smite will keep smaller enemies off the table.
Novice Engineer and Gnomish Inventor help with the card draw, where you should be aiming to draw into Mind Control. You can then use it to take care of any larger threats.
Class: Hunter
An excellent all-round hero who has been getting repeatedly nerfed due to his powerful cards.
He’s a little weaker than before, but his access to strong secrets and well-costed minions (many of which combo off each other) still ensures he gets plenty of play. His ability Steady Shot lets him deal 2 damage to an opposing hero.
Snipe
A superb card, particularly in the mid game. The large amount of damage it deals means it can easily take out a large number of minions.
Starving Buzzard
He’s hard to keep alive as he’s so fragile, but it pays to try. His ability to draw cards works extremely well with Rexxar’s low cost minions. He’s particularly potent with our next choice…
Unleash The Hounds
Yes, its cost has been tweaked, but Unleash The Hounds is still insane, particularly against a large board presence. It’s the ability to attack immediately and power cards like Buzzard that makes it essential in any Rexxar deck.
Timber Wolf
Don’t be put off by his cheap cost and relatively weak attack. His ability to buff your other beasts is what makes him useful, particularly if he’s used in conjunction with Unleash The Hounds.
Houndmaster
In addition to having a decent sized body for his casting cast, the Houndmaster can immediately boost one of your minions, making it an annoying roadblock to bypass.
The aim of this deck is to hit fast and hit hard. The vast majority of your cards are beasts, meaning you have plenty of synergy with the likes of Starving Buzzard, Scavenging Hyena and Unleash The Hounds.
Raid Lead and Timber Wolf enhance your minions, while Arcane Shot, Hunter’s Mark and Kill Command will let you deal with most enemies. The only thing you don’t have access to are board sweep effects.
Class: Warrior
Garrosh uses brute force to take out his enemies. He has the largest number of weapons in the game, and has spells that will typically inflict damage on minions or give bonuses to those already damaged.
His own ability allows him to add two points of armour each turn.
Frothing Berserker
Every minion on the field affects this card, so it’s amazing how quickly his attack can go up. Find ways to protect him and he becomes extremely powerful.
Gorehowl
Yes, it’s not the easiest card to source, but it’s a game changer, allowing you to use it for a large number of turns while you search for game finishing cards.
Arathi Weaponsmith
Any card that gives a bonus when it comes into play is highly useful. This ability is especially good, as it lets Garrosh attack if he’s currently weaponless.
Execute
While it’s not as versatile as some immediate kill cards, it’s still a very handy way of taking out stronger minions you’ve already dealt damage to.
Arcanite Reaper
Another useful weapon for Garrosh, you may only get two uses with it, but it will take out most enemies due to its high attack.
The aim with this deck is to clear the way with brute force so you can start pummelling your opponent with big, well-costed fatties in the late game.
Fiery War Axe, Cleave and Heroic Strike will allow you to whittle down weaker opponents, while Cruel Taskmaster’s ability will let your weaker minions trade with bigger ones.
Eventually you’ll want to win with a Boulderfist Ogre or pumped up Frostwolf Warlord.
Class: Warlock
The Warlock class puts many off as it often cripples you. It’s a great trade-off however and you’ll soon realise his class ability to exchange 2 health for a card is an extremely powerful one.
He excels in low-powered minions and plenty of spot removal, making him a popular choice with higher ranked players.
Dread Infernal
You get an efficient minion for a decent amount of mana. Just be aware that his ability can hinder you as much as your opponent.
Flame Imp
Losing three health sounds harsh, but Gul’dan can restore it through so many means that it shouldn’t really prove a problem. Like Succubus it’s more useful in the early game with relevant support.
Siphon Soul
While it’s rather expensive it is able to take out any of your opponents minions. The ability to restore health is a nice bonus that makes Siphon Soul very versatile.
Soulfire
Although it works in the early game, you’re much better off using Soulfire as a nice finisher, so you don’t have to worry about the trade off of losing a potentially precious card.
Hellfire
Yes, it affects you as much as your opponent, but in the right deck you can turn that drawback into a potential advantage. Not the best board sweeper, but good enough.
You’ll regularly lose health as a Warlock, so you want to find a way to keep your opponent from damaging you further. The best way to do this is use minions with taunt. Ironfur Grizzly, Silverback Patriarch, Sen’jin Shieldmasta and Lord Of The Arena are all perfect for this.
Kobold Geomancer will boost the power of your spells, while Voodoo Doctor, Drain Life, Earthern Ring Farseer and Darkscale Healer can all restore health.
Class: Paladin
Uther is a midrange character who can be quite deadly in the hands of more skilled players.
While his ability to summon 1/1 minions seems weak, he can buff them and has access to all manner of annoying secrets. Uther also has plenty of ways to mess with his opponent’s minions, and can attack them directly with weapons.
Argent Protector
While he’s only a 2/2 creature, it’s his ability to bestow a friendly minion with Divine Shield that makes him so useful. Use him before you make an attack to get the best benefit.
Hammer Of Wrath
Everyone likes a two-for-one, so a card that can take out one of your enemy’s minions, whilst granting you an additional card is not to be sniffed at.
Truesilver Champion
One of the best weapons found in Hearthstone. Its health boost makes it easy to trade off with bigger minions. Just remember you only get two uses with it.
Consecration
While it has little use against bigger minions, this is a great card to use against armies made up of weaker minions. Remember that it also affects your opponent’s hero.
Blessing Of Kings
An incredibly useful card that can make even your weakest minion a force to be reckoned with. Just be careful when using it against heroes with lots of removal spells.
You don’t have too much early game, so use your ability to create Dwarfs to clog up the battlefield.
Consecration should help turn the tide in your favour with its ability to deal damage to enemies, while Blessing Of Kings, Shattered Sun Cleric and Stormwind Champion boost your existing minions.
You’ll also want to generate health, so reap the benefits of Guardian Of The Kings, Darkscale Healer and Truesilver Champion. Finally, Humilty will weaken the strongest of minions.
Class: Rogue
The Rogue class isn’t an easy one to get to grips with as it relies on combo play that will confuse newer players. Get to grips with it however and you’ll find plenty of cards that will dupe and infuriate your opponent.
Her ability is a 1/2 set of daggers that can pick off smaller minions. Overall, a great class for those that like lots of synergy when they play.
Assassinate
Yes, it’s a costly price, but look at how good it is. For 5 mana you can destroy any of your opponent’s minions. Take your time though, as your first opportunity to use it might not be the best.
SI:7 Agent
Play SI:7 Agent with another low cost spell to get the best out of him. He becomes very flexible, allowing you to finish off a bigger foe or silencing a smaller one.
Sprint
Yes, the mana cost of this is high, but the trade off is potentially huge. You’ll often be out of cards in the late game, making gaining 4 incredibly useful.
Defias Ringleader
A great creature that becomes even more impressive when played with the coin on your opening turn. Even without that trick you’re still getting a lot of attack power for a low cost.
Sap
This might not seem a useful card, but in the right deck it can cause a superb tempo advantage. Just remember to avoid using it on minions with Battlecry effects.
Try and get the upper hand with spells that will offer bonuses or throw off your opponent’s play. Sap can be used to disrupt players, while Ironforge Rifleman should be able to pick off weaker minions when it comes into play.
Sprint lets you refill your hand, Deadly Poison allows you to pick off bigger minions, while Assassinate will take care of anything on the field. Stealth minions like Worgen Infiltrator can gives you a few sneaky hits as well.
Class: Shaman
Many of Thrall’s better cards aren’t available to newbie players, making him more suited for more seasoned players.
Get used to his class ability to create random totems (minions with unique effects) and his overload ability (that gives you low-cost spells that penalise your next turn’s mana access) and he can become quite powerful.
Hex
It doesn’t matter how strong your opponent’s minions are, Hex will take them down easily. Even the fact you’re creating a creature with taunt isn’t much of a hindrance for you.
Lightning Storm
Yes, it locks you out of two mana for your next turn, but a careful play of Lightning Storm should ensure it doesn’t matter. A solid area-of-effect spell and a great board sweeper.
Flametongue Totem
You won’t want to play this card immediately as you’ll need to build your board presence up. Once done, careful placement can make your minions incredibly annoying to deal with.
Stormforged Axe
A strong weapon that can deal with most minions and can be used for 3 attacks. Its overload cost isn’t much of a drawback either.
Feral Spirit Taunt is a useful ability, so sticking it on two 2/3 wolves is a great way of slowing down your opponent’s attacks, while building up your own board presence.
We’re staying away from most of the Overload cards, allowing for more of a beat down strategy.
The idea is to keep spewing out new totems with your class ability, giving them taunt with Ancestral Healing and using minions such as Ironfur Grizzly and Sen-jin Shieldmasta to buy you time.
Eventually you can build up to a big Frostwolf Warlord or smash face with Fire Elementals that can normally take out an opposing minion when they come into play.
Class: Druid
The Druid is one of the most versatile classes, being able to ramp quickly into powerful cards, and having strong board sweepers that can quickly turn the game in his favour.
Like the Rogue, he’s not really for beginners, but if you prefer control-type play you’ll find he suits your play style well. His ability gives him a +1 attack and raises his armour by 1 each turn.
Innervate
Druids like to ramp to their bigger spells and Innervate is a great way to do this. Cast it correctly and you’ll be able to play a spell two turns before you normally could, allowing for a nice early fattie.
Power Of The Wild
Versatility is one of the Druids best tools and this card fits that perfectly. It offers either a cheap well-costed minion, or the ability to buff your existing ones. Very powerful.
Swipe
Whilst not the best board sweeper, its ability to hit for 4 means it will defeat most minions. Potentially taking down a few others makes it that little bit sweeter.
Starfire
Yes, it’s costly but it deals an impressive amount of damage and also lets you draw a new card. A solid versatile spell, which is basically the Druid’s version of Fireball.
Ironbark Protector
He’s costly but few minions are going to get past this beast. Taunt makes him an immediate threat that needs to be dealt with, while his attack lets him go up against nearly anything.
Mark Of Nature
Another versatile spell with two useful abilities. You’ll typically want to use the +4 health and Taunt option, but the +4 attack makes for a good finisher.
This deck does a little bit of everything. Savage Roar is a good finisher, while Swipe helps maintain board presence. There are a lot of bigger minions, but Innervate should allow you to ramp into your finishers like War Golem and Ironbark Protector.
You’ve also get useful card drawing engines in the form of Novice Engineer and Gnomish Inventor.
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