So here we are again my friends. Let’s pull up to the hearth and speak about something we all do now and again and that is make bone head plays within the game of Hearthstone. I know we think we are above those plays but we all make them. Even the great players do it. For instance, the Hearthstone player Pavel made a big bone head move at the European Hearthstone Championships and cost himself a ticket to Blizzcon. I am sure he will forever remember this play and won’t ever make this mistake again (here is a link to the video for those who haven’t seen it). So let me set up a scenario and see if this, in one way or another, has happened to any of you.

The Scenario

It’s another day in the world of Hearthstone. You sit down, fire up the game, and get ready to go whoop some butt. You’re feeling good about things and ready to take on the world, or NA or EU server in this instance. The last few packs you bought (with gold or money, your choice) was pretty awesome. You were able to finally make the Warlock deck you read about online (pick one you like but this is more of a hypothetical scenario) and you thought would really help you climb the ranks. Here it comes, first game you hit him with Dr. Boom and finish him off 8^th turn. You were right; those Legendary cards really do make the world of difference. Next game is a lot closer but you won again. Two in a row and it looks like nothing can stop you now. You smile as you fire up another game ready to make your run to Legend. The next game was close but you lose. You know that the only way your opponent won was because he/she got a lucky draw. You totally convince yourself that is what happened to keep yourself pumped up. Another game is queued up and you watch that little roulette thingy spin. As you wait you think to yourself that Meatloaf was right, two out of three isn’t bad (yes, I know that shows my age). Then it happens…another loss. Then another…….and another….and another. You wonder to yourself what in the heck is going on. You know that this deck finished Top 4 in last week’s tournament, why isn’t it working? Is it possible that hearthstoneplayers.com posted the wrong deck? So you fire up one more game. This one is super close. Your opponent is at 10 life and you have leeroy jenkins in your hand. You are sitting at 16 life and feeling pretty good about yourself. Finally, it’s your turn and you wonder what in the heck took him so long. Here it comes and you draw…soulfire. Yes, you have this sucker. You laugh all Dr. Evil at your opponent and feel the excitement build inside of being able to stop the leak of losing that seems to have happened to your well of luck. This turn, you are smoking this fool. You drop that soulfire, just waiting to see that life go away so you can hit him with leeroy jenkins and watch him fade into the sunset. Then it hits you, you’re a dufus. You watch leeroy jenkins fade away as you discard him into oblivion. You almost feel a tear come to your eye as you concede just to stop the embarrassment as fast as you can. Luckily your opponent doesn’t give you the “oops” as you explode away into sadness. You’re thinking to yourself, as you read this, no one is that dumb and my answer to you is yes they are. That’s because I am that dufus. I got so excited that I lost my patience and didn’t take my time to think through what I was doing. The thing is it was a good lesson. It taught me two things playing with this deck and making the bone head mistake. The key to winning in this game is patience and practice.

Patience

Patience is something you have to have to win. You can’t let your emotions run wild while playing a game or you will make stupid plays and lose more games than you should. No matter if you know you have your opponent where you want him, you need to still think things through. Take your time, that’s what the fuse is for. The game is not a race to see who can finish first, if it was I would be the top player in the world right now. Deep breaths and a level head will serve you well on your climb through the ranks. Just be patient during your games. Have a clear head as you play and try not to let emotion, no matter if it is good or bad, overrule you. Always be thinking ahead and take your time at the start of every turn to think and then rethink what you are going to do. That way you will always be on top of what is going on. That will allow you to make the most clear headed move and not fall to being a bone head.

Practice

The other thing is playing as much as you can to get better and understanding that the cards DO NOT make the player. You can give a great player an average deck and he will still win some games. In that same thought though, you can give a crappy player an amazing deck filled with Legendary cards and they will still lose. Trust me, I have done it. Better cards don’t make a better player, practice and time makes a better player. Let’s say you go to the store and you buy yourself some Air Jordan’s. You run to the basketball court and you slap those bad boys on. You grab a ball and run to the foul line and jump towards the rim. Of course, you miss it by a mile. The shoes don’t make you play like Jordan; they just let you look like Jordan. The same fits in Hearthstone. You have to play and practice to get better. That will help you make the best decisions that will lead to win the games you should win and not lose them making dumb choices. You can have a deck like a Legend but that doesn’t make you one. As someone once told me long ago and I think it applies here, it’s not how big the bat is, it’s how you swing it. Practice and patience will always carry you farther than anything else. After that, the great cards will just fall into place and so will the wins. Make sure to follow me on Twitter and check me out on Twitch for some bone head moves and bad humor. Also, stay tuned because at the start of the next season I will be doing a string of articles chronicling me playing Pirate Rogue through the ladder with some videos of my best plays and mishaps.