Hearthstone is the game that started it all for me – collectible card game (CCG), digital boardgaming, and mobile eSports. I began playing a few years ago, but put it down. I picked it back up again a few months ago. Since then, I have really been re-learning how the game plays and what it takes to make a good deck.  Blizzard recently put out a new expansion that peaked my interest too.

Hearthstone is a game that will you take some time to really learn, develop, and master. Sigh. 🙁

Unfortunately Hearthstone is a very frustrating game and somewhat unforgiving. Why?

1.  To do well in the game, you need to have well developed deck(s). The more cards you discover, the more options you have. There is are so many cards, thus so many options.  It is hard to keep track of all of it. I have put in about $10 into the game, so I am not totally Free to Play but close.  I am working on earning in-game gold to purchase more card packs.

It has become very obvious to me that if you want to progress in the ranked ladder (past level 20) or win more than you lose in casual mode, you need to have epic and legendary cards. The drop rate of these in the card packs is low  and to craft them it costs quite a bit of dust, so….

I cannot tell you have many times I have been destroyed by some random legendary card my opponents pulled out.

I have recently been looking for videos and articles on budget Hearthstone decks to help me out. They are out there but most Hearthstone videos and articles assume you have epic and legendary cards.

2. I am curious how the game matches players. There have been many, many times when it clear the person I am facing has a ton more experience and much, much stronger cards than me.  My highest level hero is about 26.

I recently started a brand new account, just to see what it is like to “be a new player”. All I can say is wow! Some of the players I was matched with could not be new based on the cards and card backs they had. Thankfully you do get a little bit of experience by losing.

3. Losing is part of the game, I totally understand that. I learn from my mistakes but in Hearthstone there is no way to review a game or see what your opponent’s deck was.  This would be a great feature to help players learn and get better.

So why I am so salty?  I am tired of losing but I recently came across two articles that really sum up what I have been feeling, seeing in the game:

Hearthstone: Journey to Un’Goro expects players to spend too much to be competitive

Hearthstone: How Journey to Un’Goro has put off the casual player

Are you a Hearthstone player? What do you think about all of this?

At the end of the day, I am still going to play the game because you never know, that next pack you open might have a legendary in it!  So I am going to search You Tube for some helpful videos and muddle my way through.