To me, Hearthstone is one of my favorite games. I play it almost everyday and consider myself fairly educated with the game's mechanics and play styles. Compared to other TCGs (e.g Yugioh or MTG), Hearthstone is much more straight forward.
As a new player, you'll find yourself severely outgunned by most other players on the ladder, in casual or ranked. The first thing you should do would be to unlock (By beating the respective AIs in Solo Adventures) and level up each other hero to 10. At 10, you unlock a fair amount of class specific cards, and you should have a fair amount of left over gold from completing quests and winning games. If you're confident in your skills, you could attempt a run at the arena (First time is free). The arena tests an individual player's skill in both selecting cards for their deck, and playing with what they have.
If you're not so confident, then I would recommend staying with just completing quests (Tip: Re-roll your 40 gold quests. It is possible to get quests for 60 or even 100 gold) and practicing on the ladder. With your well earned gold, feel free to spend it on card packs. I would recommend splitting your gold equally between both the normal packs and the Goblins vs Gnomes packs as both have key cards that are useful in climbing the ladder.
When it comes to truly learning about all the intricacies of the game, there are really own two ways. Playing the game and learning through trial and error is a solid idea, but watching videos (Trump is a popular Hearthstone player that gives useful advice) can and will be very helpful. Don't expect, however, you'll become a pro in a week or two. Despite being as simple as it is, it will probably take awhile to get all the small details ingrained in your memory, and even more to accurately calculate when to take risks or to guess what your opponents have.
As a new player, you'll find yourself severely outgunned by most other players on the ladder, in casual or ranked. The first thing you should do would be to unlock (By beating the respective AIs in Solo Adventures) and level up each other hero to 10. At 10, you unlock a fair amount of class specific cards, and you should have a fair amount of left over gold from completing quests and winning games. If you're confident in your skills, you could attempt a run at the arena (First time is free). The arena tests an individual player's skill in both selecting cards for their deck, and playing with what they have.
If you're not so confident, then I would recommend staying with just completing quests (Tip: Re-roll your 40 gold quests. It is possible to get quests for 60 or even 100 gold) and practicing on the ladder. With your well earned gold, feel free to spend it on card packs. I would recommend splitting your gold equally between both the normal packs and the Goblins vs Gnomes packs as both have key cards that are useful in climbing the ladder.
When it comes to truly learning about all the intricacies of the game, there are really own two ways. Playing the game and learning through trial and error is a solid idea, but watching videos (Trump is a popular Hearthstone player that gives useful advice) can and will be very helpful. Don't expect, however, you'll become a pro in a week or two. Despite being as simple as it is, it will probably take awhile to get all the small details ingrained in your memory, and even more to accurately calculate when to take risks or to guess what your opponents have.