I ran into a typical Hearthstone strategy problem which is quite common, whether to kill an enemy minion with hero ability or my own unit. The problem is especially tricky because the enemy has a secret. Here is the situation:
So, here we have the situation:
Board:
Mage vs Mage, 3 mana
White has 1-3 (Mana Wyrm, +1 to damage on spell use)
Black has 2-1, 4-3 and a Secret
White's hand:
Coin
2-2-2 Kobold Geomancer (spell buff)
3-1-4 Dalaran Mage (spell buff)
4-3-6 Water Elemental (tank)
6-6-6 Phoros (legendary)
4---- Cone of Cold (freezes + damage)
4---- Polymorph (removal)
I am playing White, what should I do? At the time I considered that I had two options:
Use Coin, kill the 2-1 with the Mana Wyrm, and play the Water Elemental.
Use Coin, Kill the 2-1 with the Hero Ability, sacrifice Mana Wyrm to reduce 4-3 to 4-2, Play Kobold Geomancer.
I opted for #1, however, when I played the Coin it turned out to be Counterspell, so the Coin was lost. Therefore, I changed my plan, and killed the 2-1 with the Mana Wyrm, and played the Dalaran Mage. Black used a Cone of Cold, got board domination and went on to win. Did I screw up here?
There are couple of key questions:
Is it better to kill with Hero Ability or a minion?
Is playing the Coin against a potential Counterspell correct, or should a different spell be used?
In retrospect, I think the best move should have been:
- use Coin
- kill 2-1 with Hero Ability
- drop 4-3 to 4-2 by sacrificing 1-3
This leaves the Dalaran Mage in my hand, but reduces the 4-3, so I can kill it later with a Cone of Cold / Hero combination later.