Strategy for discarding cards at the beginning (mulligan)

When you get your first hand in Hearthstone you can discard as many cards as you like and draw replacements for your deck. For now I've mostly just eliminated very expensive cards that I won't get to play for a while, but I'm wondering how aggressive one should be in eliminating expensive cards.

Are there some common rules on which cards to discard immediately? Besides the mana cost, which factors should I take into account making this decision?

Solution 1:

Are there some common rules on which cards to discard immediately?

That's pretty hard to say because it really depends on your build and playstyle. But the cards that cost 5-10 mana should in most cases be removed without thinking. Unless they're some really powerful high quality cards in which case it could be smart to keep one but only if your other cards seem good.

I think it's not worth risking early game by keeping high cost cards unless you're sure you can pull it off.

Besides the mana cost, which factors should I take into account making this decision?

Spell cards:

Some spell cards are more effective late game, even if they cost low amount of mana. Rather remove them unless you feel like they might come in handy early game. Keep good early game spells, especially those that cost low amount of mana and are able to destroy enemy monsters.

Minion cards:

I'd suggest keeping good taunt cards that are up to 5 mana cost. Taunts are very useful and you never know will you get one when you'll really need him later.

Low cost minions that let you draw more cards in any way should be kept as well. Quite useful.

In the end there's no magical formula which will tell you what to keep since you can't know what you're going to get next by drawing. Sometimes you remove cards you don't need early game just to get them replaced with other un-needed cards.

Solution 2:

I think the discard strategy varies from deck to deck. Here is a list of questions I would ask myself before discarding :

• Am I second player (you get +1 mana for one card)
• Is that card essential to my strategy for this opponent
• Do I really need another card I don't have in that hand
• Can my opponent copy cards of my own deck

For my current deck, getting rid of the expensive cards is the most viable strategy. But I guess complex deck need a bit more of thinking.

Solution 3:

You should also keep some low death rattles, such as leper gnome or haunted creeper as these will help you gain early control over the board which is essential to winning.