With tempo, the card advantage (or value) is one of the most essential concepts of Hearthstone. It went mainstream on TCG and CCG games over the last years, and it keeps on getting more popular. What is the card advantage? The point is to create a material advantage over the opponent using the right card, or effect, at the right time. Actually, it is almost impossible to grab victory without using this concept.
Even if tempo is also pretty strong to crush your opponent, in the Arena mode, it's all about the idea of card advantage. Like we said in Episode 1, you have to improvise in this game mode. Aggressive decks are extremely rare and hard to build: in this situation, killing the opponent before Round 8-9 is almost impossible.
The worst thing that can happen is to wane and lose control of your board, that's why the notion of card advantage is chosen over the one of tempo. Let us guide you!
Several ways to create value
The card advantage can be created in many ways, like positive or negative: by producing two cards or more using only one, or by destroying two or more opponent's cards through one of yours.
Pure luck
What could be more satisfying than having a very good hand while your opponent is struggling with back luck? Luck in cards drawing is the most simple and obvious way of creating a positive card advantage. In the end, you play a card that generates others, coming from your deck. However, in the current Arena meta, cards of pure luck are quite rare and aren't always the best way to get card advantage. Counting on good drawing cards costs a lot in terms of tempo and crystals, so it is not that worthy.
Let's take the example of Mimic Pod: the card itself is correct, creating a card advantage of 2 to 1 in draw, but it's way less effective in your Arena deck than in your Quest Rogue deck completed! Simply because in Arena, it can create a duplicate of average cards, whereas once constructed, it always gives key elements of your gameplay.
Additionally, players often think the drawing effects as a way to find solutions, depending on the situation. In Arena, keep in mind that your deck only consists of one copy of each card and that the search for specific solutions is, thus, more delicate.
Well, we won't bite the hand that fed us: counting on draws is nice, and that's also why Warlock is currently one of the best Arena classes. But beware! You will have to sacrifice a lot of tempo. Best case scenario, use your draw effects in "slow" moments of the game when you are not pressured because it isn't an answer to pressure.
Board cleaning
Take the path of the dark side of value creation with board cleaning. Here, you don't want to get an advantage in terms of resources, but in the contrary, destroy the ones of your opponent. AoE is the best way to do it: those cards are inherently "global" since they don't target one card, but several, and all of that using only one card. Of course, it is not that cheap because the mana cost of these cards is quite high, higher than single-targeting and classic removal cards. However, when they are well used, you will get the most of it.
Those 3 cards above are good examples of AoE effects, they have a good Pick Rate in Arena mode. They crystal cost is quite high, considering their strong effect. Used at the right time, these cards will flip the card advantage in your favor. Always try to calculate how much using these cards will be worthy. We know that it can be hard, especially considering the tokens which infest the boards with Un'Goro! Tokens are minions created by other cards, and destroying a certain number of them will sometimes give you the illusion of creating card advantage. It is up to you to judge which situation will be the best one and to tempo your AoE so that they are worthy.
Value trade
Another essential mechanic: trades between minions. We won't stay too long into the subject, because the notion is inherently instinctive and depends on each situation on the board. You simply have to, if possible, follow the golden rule that we said again and again since the last episode: to dominate your Arena, dominate your board! Also, try as much as possible to do worthy trades, where your minions can survive while having killed the opponent's card. It may seem obvious read like that, but it's not that rare to see beginners make the mistake of rushing into the opponent without thinking about the value of the trade. Remember that the value trade is inherently creator of card advantage if the opponent doesn't have the way to manage your survivors afterward. They will do another trade in the next round, and even if they die by killing the opponent, they will still have created a 2 to 1.
Divine Shield is a useful ability to understand the interest of value trade. Technically, it offers a "free" trade to your minion. If it manages to kill the opponent, you are the winner! Because you will survive thanks to Divine Shield. That is why both cards above are very good to get worthy trades in the early game and to create card advantage.
Discover
We distinguish pure draw luck and Discover. You may wonder why, and you can: the point of both notions is the same, which is garnishing your hand of new minions and spells... but the difference lies in the quality of obtained cards. If draw is more powerful in constructed decks than on Arena, Discover is stronger in Arena than in constructed decks. Simply because Discover gives more versatility (you can choose an adapted option to the situation), and mostly because it gives access to cards which are, in average, more powerful and rare than those that you already have in your deck! Let's use the example of Stonehill Defender to break it down.
The Discover effect is strong because it gives an additional card into your hand and has a cheap cost, and with a defensive body. But in Arena, the card goes from "correct" to "excellent", because the discover cards can be epic or legendary which are really hard to pick! If almost all Paladin decks from the ladder can boast having a Tirion Fordring in their list, the Arena Paladin doesn't get this advantage. Yet, with the Defender in your game, your chances of getting the precious legendary card, which is a game breaker, drastically get up. To summarize, the Discover effect in Arena gives you the possibility of finding overpowered minions and spells, stars of constructed decks and that you will have picked with pleasure if you had the chance... where a simple draw will only give access to the average cards of your deck.
Minions of value
In order to end this list of the best ways to create card advantage in Arena, we will be introducing the minions that naturally create a form of value on the board, while bringing some participation. Many minions with Deathrattle are perfectly respectable picks. If your opponent spends his cards to manage them, Deathrattle will create a certain form of value by producing an effect. It is quite obvious for the Loot Hoarder and Polluted Hoarder since the card draw is explicit. It is already less the case for Harvest Golem or Infested Tauren; and yet, their Deathrattle effect is very useful in Arena. Even when managed by your opponent, both cards ensure an always welcome repop to keep some participation on the board. If your opponent sacrifices his minions to trade your Deathrattles, you will get your way with card advantage, thanks to the created tokens.
We also find good creatures in the current Arena meta which will give you, almost every time, a value advantage. Fire Plume Phoenix, brought with the Un'Goro expansion, is a real jewel. The body has a good effect, his cost considered and will be likely to kill an opponent's minion. We also find Bomb Squad, a solution to manage the board. Beware, though: the body is inherently average. Stampeding Kodo is similar, but a safer choice.
This overview has now ended. There are, obviously, many cards that give value can also be used in addition to those quoted above. You still get a quick look of different types of spells and minions that will prevent you from waning too soon.
Drafting those cards during deckbuilding won't guarantee a direct ticket to the 12-wins key, but value creation is a notion which has to enter in the equation. There is no doubt that the mentioned cards are used very often.
Written by Jérémie "Djey" Mathis. Translated from French by Millenium.us.org.
