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Whether you’re new to Hearthstone or returning after some time away, this guide will help you make the most of your rewards and get into the game.

Objectives:

• Create an Account
• Complete the Apprentice Track
• Try Out Loaner Decks and Claim One
• Get the Heroes of StarCraft Mini-Set in the Shop
• Build and Edit Decks

Create an Account

Find Hearthstone in your chosen app store, or within the Battle.net launcher on desktop. You don’t need to create a Battle.net account if you start by playing on mobile, but doing so will let you save account progress, keep account access if you lose your device, and more. If you don’t have a Battle.net account to begin with, you can always make one later from the Options menu.

Complete the Apprentice Track and Rake in Rewards

After you create an account and play through the streamlined tutorial, you will be placed into the Apprentice Track. In the Apprentice Track, you play Standard games against other new players. As you progress through the Apprentice Track, you’ll unlock all the classes, earn packs and Gold, and get two complete decks of your choice. This is a great way to get some practice, build up your Collection, and pick up some competitive decks that you can play right away!

While progressing through the Apprentice Track, you’ll also be completing a series of introductory quests called the Tavern Guide. These quests augment the Apprentice Track experience and give you even more Arcane Dust and Packs as rewards for completion.

Once you’ve finished the Apprentice Track, you’ll join the regular Ranked Hearthstone experience where you’ll compete against players of your skill level, regardless of how long they’ve played. Completing the Apprentice Track also unlocks all the Hearthstone game Modes, Daily and Weekly Quests, in-game Events, a new full Rewards Track, and more.

Play with New/Returning Player Loaner Decks and Pick One to Claim

At the end of the Apprentice Track, you’ll get access to competitive loaner decks that you can take directly into Ranked Standard play. For one week, you can play with these decks as much as you want to get a feel for their different cards and playstyles. After that week, or if you’ve made up your mind about a favorite early, you can claim one of the decks to add to your Collection for free!*

* Claiming one of the decks ends the loaner deck period, cutting off access to the other decks, but it also means that the non-Core cards from the selected deck are added to your Collection, which lets you modify the deck or use the cards in it in your other decks.

Check out Heroes of StarCraft

Whenever you’re ready, you can head to the in-game Shop to grab the Heroes of StarCraft Mini-Set! The Mini-Set includes 49 all-new cards spread across the three StarCraft factions. Each faction is comprised of a few Hearthstone classes and is led by an iconic Legendary minion.

The Zerg

Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Hunter, and Warlock make up the Zerg. They are led by the vicious Sarah Kerrigan and use aggressive swarming strategies, direct damage, and minion generation to pressure their opponents.

The Protoss

Druid, Mage, Priest, and Rogue fight for the Protoss. Led by the noble Artanis, they use cost reductions to power out higher-cost minions and spells, made cheaper throughout the game. Spend the first few turns of the game building up your resources and then unleash big bursts of power!

The Terran

And finally, Paladin, Shaman, and Warrior make up the Terran forces. Led by the legendary Jim Raynor, the Terrans have special Starship synergies that help them amass a platoon of troops, launch multiple Battlecruisers each game, and then launch them again!

Cards from the Mini-Set can be acquired from The Great Dark Beyond packs or as a complete 94-card collection.* There is a normal version of the Mini-Set for $19.99 USD or 2500 Gold and an all-Golden version for $79.99 USD or 12,000 Gold, which also includes a bonus Diamond copy of the Grunty Legendary minion. For this special Mini-Set, each of the three individual factions are also available separately for $9.99 USD or 1200 Gold if you just want to main your favorite faction.** You can see all the cards from the Heroes of StarCraft Mini-Set in the official Card Library and get yours through the webshop or in-game.

* 4 Legendary cards, 1 Epic card (x2), 20 Rare card (x2), and 24 Common cards (x2).

** Each faction has 5 faction-wide cards that all classes in the faction can use, plus 3 class-specific cards per class in the faction. Individual faction card counts and rarity breakdowns depend on which faction is selected.

Edit Your Decks, Build New Ones, or Import Deck Codes to Try

Once you’ve cleared the Apprentice ranks, claimed your rewards, and acquired the Heroes of StarCraft, the world is yours! Build some decks with your new cards, explore the different StarCraft factions, and experiment with different cards and combinations to attack the ladder.

Have you created a great deck? You can share the decks you create and import ones created by other players using a built-in feature that allows decks to be easily shared via deck code. If your deck is already full, when you select the Hero portrait at the top of a deck in your collection, you’ll see a Copy button.

Press that button and your decklist will be copied to your clipboard. If you paste your decklist into a text document. At the bottom of the decklist, you will see a string of letters, numbers, and symbols. That is the deck code. You can share this deck code with other players to quickly and easily share your deck ideas with them.

Likewise, you can use deck codes from other players to quickly build a new deck from your collection. Instead of dragging each card from your collection to your deck, you can copy the provided deck code and take that to Hearthstone.

When you go to create the new deck in your Collection, Hearthstone will detect that you have a valid decklist on your clipboard and will ask if you’d like to create a new deck with the one you’ve copied. Any cards you don’t own will appear insubstantial (blue-grey). If you don’t want to craft the missing cards right away, you can replace them manually or select them for suggested replacements, like in the image below.

Give it a try with these three deck codes, including cards from only Heroes of StarCraft and the free Core Set:

Core Zerg Frost Death Knight

AAECAfHhBASI9gTLpQXm5gbO8QYNpKAEtIAF2+UG3OUG3eUG3uUGn/EGrPEGvvEGwvEG4/EGqPcG//cGAAA=

Core Protoss Mage

AAECAf0EBqiKBJbUBOvmBuHrBpP0BuH0Bgz8ngTEoATx0wTe+AWG5gaL9AaM9AaQ9AaZ9Aaa9Aad9AbF+AYAAA==

Core Terran Paladin

AAECAZ8FBO2fBObmBq/xBuH0Bg3JoASU9QWV9QW1ngbQngbUnga08QbY8Qba8Qbi8QaQ8ga79Aa/+QYAAA==

If you don’t already have a decklist in mind, you can also look at the in-game deck recipes for ideas from some of Hearthstone’s biggest creators. Just go to your Collection, create a new deck, and select your class—you'll see three Deck Recipe options (one based on the Core Set, two based on recent expansions) to choose from. There are so many ways to find your new favorite deck!