Hex: Shards of Fate TCG - Set 7: Frostheart 6/29/17

So, I kinda ignored this game completely when it started up. Was hardcore into mtg at the time, snuck into starcity's top 50 leaderboard when I was playing the most, so I had no idea the mechanics were so similar to magic.

Now, I can't/don't want to keep up with magic and have been playing a lot of hearthstone from home instead because it was the only real option but got a little fed up with it recently. I'm now also in the eternal beta, which is sort of how I found out about Hex. But, I want to hedge my bets a little if Eternal doesn't take off how I hope it will. So, I'm considering toying around with Hex as well. I saw that they have $ prize tournaments somewhat regularly, and the finance potentials with trading cards too. I owned my own TCG store for a bit, so I'm used to following financial trends, value trading, etc.. in a tcg.

My question is, if I don't want to spend any real money on this game, how long would it take a decent player to catch up/grind their way to having a big enough collection to make any of the top tier decks?

I hate playing 'un-optimal' decklists, which is a main reason I am not playing mtg anymore. If I have to make budget considerations, I don't even want to play the deck then. I'm very competitive when it comes to this kind of thing. I do understand that I will likely have to make one of the cheaper decks first to grind and build from that, I meant I want to have the ability to make any/most of the top tier decks and wondering how long it might take to get to that point without spending any real money (like, maybe 5 bucks every week is fine).

If you want to remain mostly F2P you really can't get very far in the competitive pvp scene. The game's very friendly about giving you tons of PvE cards from campaign/arena, etc, but a lot of those can't be used in pvp matches. For a while early on, you could auction house pve cards for decent value, but their price has tanked a lot since then. Many of the rare pvp meta cards are retardedly priced.

There is the option to play the auction house game where you buy low, then re-sell high, or trade with people, and that kind of tedious stuff, but yeah, that sounds like a massive headache I want no part of.

I'd recommend anyone and everyone who likes the PvE campaign stuff to play Hex for that, because their PvE stuff is a lot of fun and extremely F2P friendly. I would never recommend Hex as a F2P game if you wanna do the PvP.

Is there not a draft/arena/limited format you can build up your card pool and potentially 'go infinite' in?

I have to be honest and say I'm not too familiar with how their "arena" system works. I know you can't enter it with just gold (the F2P currency), so it does take at least some cash to get going. If it's like hearthstone, and assuming a super skilled player can self-sustain arena runs with their winnings, then maybe it is viable to go mostly F2P (assuming you're a top player that can usually win the tournaments). You'll have to get more info on that from someone who knows more about how the arena works than myself though.

Hrmm, I sunk a little money into this and built a PvE deck that was supposed to dominate the first PvE area. It was a bunnies deck as I recall. 30 or so restarts on the final boss and I gave up. Some of the PvE depends too much on getting the right opening hand.

Sinzar said:

I have to be honest and say I'm not too familiar with how their "arena" system works. I know you can't enter it with just gold (the F2P currency), so it does take at least some cash to get going. If it's like hearthstone, and assuming a super skilled player can self-sustain arena runs with their winnings, then maybe it is viable to go mostly F2P (assuming you're a top player that can usually win the tournaments). You'll have to get more info on that from someone who knows more about how the arena works than myself though.

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I did a little research on my own, and it appears you can trade the gold for plat at like a 150:1 ratio (varies a bit from 120:1 to 180:1 range depending on the market at the time, closer to a new set the ratio is better).

So, while it is technically possible to only grind PVE stuff and eventually trade it in for PVP cards, it takes FOREVER to do it that way. But, it seems you could buy into some 'drafts' (sounds like there are a few versions, don't know all the lingo I was reading) and you can go infinite on those if you do real well. Grind some PVE to afford a draft, could take like 5-8hrs of grinding to do it per draft though, and hope to get a jumpstart that way. Also, older players will tend to give away some cards for free, and sometimes even bits of plat or packs for newer players if you ask around.

Sinzar said:

I have to be honest and say I'm not too familiar with how their "arena" system works. I know you can't enter it with just gold (the F2P currency), so it does take at least some cash to get going. If it's like hearthstone, and assuming a super skilled player can self-sustain arena runs with their winnings, then maybe it is viable to go mostly F2P (assuming you're a top player that can usually win the tournaments). You'll have to get more info on that from someone who knows more about how the arena works than myself though.

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The constructed ladder has no entry cost. You just go in with your premade deck and fight people, it gives various prizes for reaching different leagues, and the top 64 of cosmic league go into a cash prize tournament at the end of the season.

Right, but if you do well at sealed/draft does your prize pay for your next event AND some amount of profit or not?

In draft probaly,yes. Payout for winning one is 5 packs, second place is 3 packs and the entry fee is 100 plat + 3 packs. May also largely depend on what kind of rares and legendaries you can pull.
In sealed and evo sealed not likely. You need to win all your matches to break even in regard of packs and theres a lot more variance because of the card pool and games only being bo1 but its much faster since the queue is asynchronous.
Climbing both ladders can also net you 18 packs and a decent amount of gold each season.
Would not advise grinding PVE for gold unless youre masochistic.

OU Ariakas said:

What are everyone's thoughts on chests?

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Spectacular waste of gold, sell them all.

memory dealer said:

Would not advise grinding PVE for gold unless youre masochistic.

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Well, I wouldn't 'only' grind pve for gold to buy cards or something. The idea being just to do it to afford extra drafts. I'd be willing to buy a draft or two each week, but one of the main reasons I stopped playing MTG was the upkeep cost was too high for how I enjoy the game (I was very competitive and needed a playset of almost every card on every new set). I subsidized the cost of mtg by trading well, but the best opportunities to trade required traveling a few hours to a big event, and it seems you can do that in hex a little bit by playing the auction house.

Well, its an option. But i dont think its a fun way to do. The numbers regarding the free to play path that are posted on reddit or the official forums are extremly optimistic in my opinion (lots of fanboys/white knights there, so take everything with a grain of salt). I think you need more like 10 hours of arena runs to afford a single draft. I personally cannot stomach to play more than 1-2 runs because its just mind numbing.
I usually just sell my rares or legendaries from drafts and sealeds to fund the tournament fees, so i have only to drop a couple of bucks now and then. But im not a big constructed player and only farm the ladder with a budget yotul deck to get the rewards. Not sure if this an option for you if you want the build a complete playset.
Yes, playing the auction house is definitely a thing in hex but the UI and the functionaylity of the auction house are very lacking. You can check hexsales or hexprice for prices and stuff.

OU Ariakas said:

My Evo Sealed pool after 4 wins. Mightsinger and Yazukan were my first 2 pack rares. Satyr's Roost Bard was my 1st win pack rare and Herofall was my 3rd win pack rare. My only loss was 1st game because I didn't have enough playables for a Wild/Blood deck and splashed Sapphire into mana issues.

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Wow thats an insane pool. Surprised you even lost a single game with it.

I just found out the spectral lotus from the kickstarters are finally in the game. Changed in name, etc. but I need to log in and see it, hadn't realized that they implemented that (months ago?)

Are any of you guys using these things and able to explain how they work? Or do I just need to know to log in once a day and worry about what they are and what they do someday down the road?

Attog said:

I just found out the spectral lotus from the kickstarters are finally in the game. Changed in name, etc. but I need to log in and see it, hadn't realized that they implemented that (months ago?)

Are any of you guys using these things and able to explain how they work? Or do I just need to know to log in once a day and worry about what they are and what they do someday down the road?

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The first time you log in each day you will get a spectral acorn appear in your collection. You can add them to decks like any other card. When you use them you get 3 mana and threshold and they permanently change into a squirrel card, basically they are one shot buffs.

Thanks Velk. There is an uncommon card in the new set, polyberry pouch. All it does is transform a creature into another creature with cost +1. If I were to use that defensively against some critter the opponent had a bunch of valors on, do the +1/+1's all stay on the newly transformed creature?