Falling up the stairs - my Hearthstone misadventures (00)

I blame Fishc0p (that's a German Youtuber - you can find his channel here)!

I got into Hearthstone mid-February. Why? Because it's free. And I used to be seriously addicted to Magic: the Gathering, so...

However, whereas I spent an atrocious amount of money on M:tG, I'm decided not to throw a single cent Blizzard's way. This obviously "handicaps" my progress - but as far as I figure, that'll only be the case until I am caught up with the adventures (I did the first episode of "League of Explorers" and am 3/5 into "Blackrock Spire"). Once that is done, I'll be free to spend my gold on the arena. I will go into a little more detail about my recommendations for new players in a later post, though.

For this one... I guess I'll just introduce you to the deck that has "carried" me so far. Up to rank 19, at least, and that's the highest I got to this day. But I'll give you that, and some thoughts on it, after the break.
Pain & Response VI (Magician)
Arcane Bolts x2
Arcane Explosion x2
Amani Berserker
Jeweled Scarab x2
Mage's Apprentice
Ice Barrier x2
Forgotten Torch x2
Spell Shaper
Acolyte of Pain
Ironfur Grizzly x2
Kirin Tor Magician
Raging Worgen x2
Fireball x2
Polymorph x2
Water Elemental x2
Grim Patron x2
Emperor Thaurissan *
Flame Blast x2

Basic Idea: I've built the deck on the premise of Jaina's Hero Ability being usable to target any character on the board - including your own. Thusly the minions that react to being damaged.
Version Notes: This is version six, but it's more like version five-point-five. Version five still had Gurubashi Berserkers, but I was more at odds with the mana curve (even though there weren't that many cards to begin with), and Kobold Geomancers, which I felt didn't contribute enough to warrant their place. That's the explanation for the Kirin Tor Magician, Wizard's Apprentice and others.
Impending Changes: I want another Amani Berserker* and Acolyte of Pain to switch in for the Wizard's Apprentice and Kirin Tor Magician. Those are the easy ones since they are commons, but I'm currently out of fairy dust to just make them. Another one would be getting another Spell Shaper, buuuut... that's an Epic, so I'm not holding my breath. Thinking about it, although it hampers my crowd control, I could switch the Arcane Explosions to Frost Bolts. Doesn't sound too bad, especially since there are only two Polymorphs around, and a little attack control can go a long way. I'd love to have a Counterspell just to flip the bird to things like the Murloc Paladin, but I just don't...
Strategies: Pressure early and often. Use the Hero Ability to trigger the bonuses of the Berserkers and Patrons (right after playing those, important). If the opponent has something with 1 Attack, let the raging Worgen attack that and then lead his additional attack wherever it helps most - it can trade up quite well.

I guess that's it for this introductory post. For the next few ones, I'll show you the decks that recently have been either the most fun or the most success I've had recently.

So, if you've read this far, thanks for sticking with me! It makes me happy that my N00b-PoV on the game has been interesting to someone. Leave a comment if you like! I don't feel ready to share my handle just yet, but I'm generally easy to convince.

See you around, and:
It's all fun and games until somebody runs out of cards.


*This should really be "Armani" Berserker. That'd be extra funny since "Berserker" means nothing but "dude wearing a bear's skin".