Well yes I usually agree unless you have no other plays to do.
Playing the Dino turn one and using the hero power seems like losing a lot of tempo when you can curve out playing 1/2/3.
But haven't played in forever whatta I know. So the general rule is to just assume they always have some sort of 2 mana removal?

Generally, it's safe to assume that they can kill a 1hp creature, yes.

If not kill, but play a minion that can. Generally trying to combo out scavenging/buzzards before turn 4 can completely backfire. Imo anyways,

The deck is still very much a 1.0 version, would love if people could improve on it .

Played it about 20 times, here's what I found:

Problems:
-Acolyte of Pain almost always draws 1 card, and is 90% worthless after turn 5.
-Often have to play frothing onto an open board

Changes
Remove 2x Cult, Frothing.
Add 2nd execute, yeti, weaponsmith

(Missing cards are: Light's Justice, Hand of protection, Noble Sacrifice)

5-0 so far with this deck. Seems to be doing ok so far, at least better than I originally thought it would. I managed to get some pretty sick cards, but was also forced to take some really trashy picks (LOL Nightblade). I finally had a game where Ysera might have turned the tide from a breakeven or even slightly losing game to a winning one. Usually by the time I drop her, I'm already in a lock to win, or the game is too far gone for Ysera to save it.

Well I don't care about them playing a minion that can trade with buzzard once I draw one card from it. (There are 2 2 mana creatures that don't trade? Armani and crocodile?)
Even if they use a 2 mana removal we're still just trading one for one. Which seems okay to me when we're curving out and have a solid draft.
Just pointing out that I'm giving my thoughts not claiming to be right.

My arena draft went...intersting.

2:Amani Berserk,River Croc
3:Counterspell,Mirror Ent, ER Farseer, Harvest Golem, R. Hunter
4:Cone C,Fballx2,Poly,Anc Brw x3,Clt Mst,DI Dwrf x2, Def Argus, G. Inv x2,TasD,W Elem x2
5:ABomb x2
6:Bliz, Arg Comm
7:F Strike x2
10"Pyroblast

Sorry, at work and bored phone posting and didn't mention the rest:

I'd like to get another auctioneer I think, Gorehowl might also be worth considering but mehhh.

Option B:

I can try for 4x enrage and add 2x cruel taskmaster, 2x acolyte, and drop something else

****ing murlocs, man

re: hunter combo in Arena

Buzzard is probably one of the most valuable, if not THE most valuable card in the deck. I never play it until I'm going to get a **** ton of value for it. Using hunter ability or even doing nothing early is better. A lot of games I mostly use hunter ability, traps, or other minions, and hold the buzzard until it's going to give you maximum value. The goal is to combo off with Buzzard + UTH, snake trap, or get ridiculous value by playing the buzzard then 2-3 other cheap beasts in the same turn.

Yes, it's "average" if you just play it and trade it early on, but you're giving up a card that is literally going to win you the game for one of their generic two drops.

Winning with Hunter combo means understanding the deck is trying to do - win by drawing a **** ton of cards in the mid game and then bury them with it. To do that you really need to save your buzzards and cult masters until they're going to give you maximum value.

Until you get to that point, it pays to use the Hunter ability early and often. It may seem like the wrong play but hunter combo can really explode with Kill Commands and UTH + Timber Wolf, and at that point having them 6-10 points lower is pretty huge.

Generally you want to stall and wait as long as possible (without getting yourself killed obviously) to use any of your combo cards, so they can get maximum value.

No matter how powerful water elemental is, it's still a dork. Removal > dorks.

So you're taking Cone of Cold over Water Elemental? Arcane Missiles?

Oh, I don't claim to be right, either. I'm terrible at this game. I just don't see a point in trying to draw just 1 card or proc 1 effect from the hunter cards when their kit is easily able to get 2+ so easily.

For instance: buzzard/snake trap. Once snake drop is proc'ed, you get 3 cards. Next turn: drop hyena and wolf if you have the cards. Etc. Savannah highmane: when you know that you're gonna kill it, play a combo card.

Like, there is almost no reason ever to just drop a combo card alone with no follow up. You have to be desperate for it.

Just took this deck into the arena.

#1 Archmage
#2Boulderfist Ogre
#3Youthful Brewmaster
#4Blood Knight
#5Dire Wolf Alpha
#6Twilight Drake
#7Sunwalker
#8Pyroblast
#9Ironbeak Owl
#10Ironbeak Owl
#11Ironfur Grizzly
#12Counterspell
#13Razorfen Hunter
#14Shattered Sun Cleric
#15Mana Wyrm
#16Sen'jin Shieldmasta
#17Questing Adventurer
#18Stormwind Knight
#19Stormwind Champion
#20Fireball
#21Flamestrike
#22Flesheating Ghoul
#23Mirror Entity
#24Lord of the Arena
#25Stormpike Commando
#26Arcane Intellect
#27Bloodfen Raptor
#28Ancient Brewmaster
#29Silvermoon Guardian
#30Silverback Patriarch

I felt like I made the best picks I could. I don't know if I'm making horrible decks getting ****ty choices or the standard of play is just better in arena but i'm getting battered. If you had to play that deck what sort of score would you expect to get?

Www.arenavalue.com will help you a ton. Even if you don't agree with it's picks, you can still see what cards are bad.

With Hunter, just wait till turn 6 on, when you can play a combo of cards to either clear the opponents board and have a big creature, or draw lots of cards.

Unleash the hound with 2 buzzards is pretty sexy and tends to win most games. Let me dig up my list.

There's clearly a big difference between a first tier creature and a 2nd-3rd tier removal spell.

Right, and there's a big difference between a Water Elemental and any old Dork.

this

The point is that tier 1 removal > tier 1 dorks.

I'm no expert on the reasons why but I've seen it used as a rule for decades in MtG drafts by pros and I haven't seen a compelling reason for why it should be much different in Hearthstone.

Most creatures don't have an immediate effect on the game state when cast. Removal always does. Also, creatures need to interact through combat, which means they follow certain rules, e.g. taunt. Removal doesn't. But I think the final and strongest point is this: there's more efficient creature than there is efficient removal. So you grab it when you can.

We're talking about arena.
So the general consensus is to save combo cards rather than curve out? It seems every time I do this I get out tempoed and am too far behind for the combo to matter. Then I'm like damn it, shouldn't have gotten greedy. Obv lol sample size though.

For context. :P

I'm aware of the age old theory, and that's a reasonable stance - I just disagree. For what it's worth, I'd definitely take Fireball and Flamestrike over Water Elemental. Probably Frostbolt, too.

It's definitely complicated to play, as far as Hearthstone decks go. Play it too early and you waste a game winning spell, play it too late, and it doesn't matter and you die.

But generally yes, save your combo cards until 1) playing them is going to give you a massive advantage or 2) waiting any longer will put you so far behind you risk losing.

Personally I find turn 5-6 to be the turn I "go off" with hunter combo, playing buzzard + UTH + either another buzzard, another UTH, a wolf, or a hyena (or turn 7-8 with Cult Master). This typically results in you screwing over their board, going way up on cards in hand, and giving yourself at least a modest board presence. Then on following turns you can spew your hand (since you will often have 8-10 cards in hand) and (hopefully) go off again if they somehow aren't dead yet.

You can't bold the 1st and 3rd statements "for context" when the 3rd statement was specifically refuting yours, with your statement being the worst of the bunch.

Just because you choose to misrepresent my statement doesn't make you right.

Yes, water elemental is "just a dork". All creatures are dorks, therefore WE is a dork. The only creatures I'm willing to take in any ccg over a tier 1 removal spells are broken creatures(*). And WE is not broken imo.

But I'm not taking broken creatures over broken removal so removal > creatures still stands.

(*) Unless my deck is literally flooded with removal to a point that its hurting the composition (**)
(**) since you love being pedantic