Hearthstone: Crafting versus card packs for beginners

Blackwing Lair was released today, and with it the new cards to be unlocked from defeating bosses and completing class challenges.  Playing through it got me thinking about the two primary ways of getting new cards in Hearthstone - purchasing packs and crafting.  Writing this, that does seem a bit of a weak connection but it's totally what happened.  I'm sure we've all had the dilemma of deciding whether to craft that card you want right away or waiting to see if it pops up in the next batch of card packs (I suspect a lot of us have been on a pack buying spree too, but that's another story).  Both arcane dust and in-game gold take a while to build up and crafting one card or purchasing one pack makes a pretty major dent.  So which one's better?  The answer may surprise you.

First off, when you start out there isn't much of a choice.  Crafting requires cards from expert packs, as you can't disenchant the soulbound cards you get from leveling up the classes or completing the adventure mode.  Even after several packs, it's not a good idea to disenchant seven or eight cards in a row to generate enough dust to craft that one epic you've been hunting.

Is it weird?  Hold on to it - could be just what you need.

It's easy to think "but I would never need that card" especially if you only play a certain kind of deck.  Don't be so sure - often times you won't know exactly what you need until you read about it on Icy Veins, so hold on to any unusual minions or spells you come across.  Down the line you'll be glad you did.  It's this random element that is actually what makes purchasing card packs the better way to go when expanding your collection.  Five cards each time will rapidly grow your card pool and allow you to construct a variety of decks as the need arises.

Of course, this doesn't mean that you should be holding onto every single card you get for fear of wanting to use it later. You can only use a maximum of two of the same card in your decks, so any more copies after that can be disintegrated immediately.  For ease of use, the game even has a single button for the purpose - "disenchant extra cards," so you will always be accumulating dust at a steady pace.

Always take a moment before investing the 1600 dust for a that legendary.

Crafting should be considered carefully, especially when it comes to legendary cards where the price rises steeply.  While you theoretically have almost every card in the game (with the exception of soulbound) at your fingertips, it's not meant to give them to you.  The point is to identify a specific card as the linchpin of your deck and not have to wait on Lady Luck's whims before you're ready to play.  There are a variety of crafting guides out there and some particularly good ones for crafting your first legendary.

I am by no means an expert, but I like to think I'm good at finding those who are.  For excellent video guides, check out Trump Teachings and Become a Better Hearthstone Player series on YouTube.  Written guides worth a look are in abundance on Icy Veins, as mentioned above,  as well as Bamboo Gamer: A Hearthstone Blog.