Hearthstone

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:09 am

If you go to hsreplay.net, you'll see 12 meta decks that have over 50% win rates. https://hsreplay.net/meta/

Viscous Syndicate comes out with a weekly article discussing the meta (it's on hiatus as the meta shakes out due to the release of the mini expansion)
https://www.vicioussyndicate.com/vs-dat ... eport-197/

The math proves that if you buy the Tavern Pass at $20 and do all of your quests (don't forget you can re-roll them) between expansions, you should be able to make 3-4 meta decks with no additional expenditure. I will have 8K gold by August when the next expansion is likely to be released, meaning that I'll be able to buy 80 packs, just as if I spent $80 for the expansion bundle. I started with no gold at the start of the last expansion.

So I don't know what to tell you Sudy. HS is no longer pay to win. The meta is shaken up on a consistent basis as Blizzard listens to the communities concerns and nerfs and buffs as needed.

Runeterra has steadily lost Twitch viewership, meaning that the interest in it is waning. It's identification of the factions is confusing to me, they use words and symbols interchangeably which means that I don't know what they are referring to for quests. It is certainly an advance in ccg's, it's just unfortunate that it's not very accessible in my opinion.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:04 am

FWIW I've been able to put together something like 2 - 3 decks every few months or so from their rotating selection of templates, and I think I've spent all of $10 on Hearthstone since the game came out. I usually need to swap out one or two cards from the templates, but otherwise the game doesn't seem pay to win to me.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:13 am

Thanks for your reply Lorini. I'm sorry if my post sounded like a complaint, I meant it as more of an observation. I like Hearthstone a lot right now, I just wish there were things it did better/differently.

Lorini wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:09 am u go to hsreplay.net, you'll see 12 meta decks that have over 50% win rates. https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=118764

Viscous Syndicate comes out with a weekly article discussing the meta (it's on hiatus as the meta shakes out due to the release of the mini expansion)
https://www.vicioussyndicate.com/vs-dat ... eport-197/

I think that first link is incorrect lol, but I'm familiar with https://hsreplay.net/meta/ and should probably use it more often. I realize it does have more options than the curated Tempostorm one I usually defer to: https://tempostorm.com/hearthstone/meta ... /6-01-2021. I was unfamiliar with Viscous Syndicate though, thank you.

My problem is more that, at least in the meta I've been casually observing since I started playing again a couple months ago, the top decks, as always, are aggro and combo. Yeah, there's usually a control deck that breaks into the meta (Priest in this case), but usually a barely tolerable one with a boring or frustrating playstyle. I tend to get the most enjoyment out of midrange decks, and those seem to be less successful right now (and most of the time I can remember, back when I used to play). In tier 1 and 2 on hsreplay right now, there are 14 decks. 4 are Paladin. 3 are Shaman. DH and Druid are 2 each. I appreciate this is constantly evolving and a 100% balanced meta is impossible and undesirable, but it still feels limiting.

Runeterra metas have just felt more dynamic to me. (https://lor.mobalytics.gg/meta-tier-list , https://runeterraccg.com/metagame/.) Yeah, you often still have dominant aggro and combo decks... some like the detestable Go Hard/Twisted Fate seemed to rule for an eternity. But I've frequently been able to find a variety of options lower on the tier list, and there's usually a fairly good variety of champions and regions.

Lorini wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:09 am The math proves that if you buy the Tavern Pass at $20 and do all of your quests (don't forget you can re-roll them) between expansions, you should be able to make 3-4 meta decks with no additional expenditure. I will have 8K gold by August when the next expansion is likely to be released, meaning that I'll be able to buy 80 packs, just as if I spent $80 for the expansion bundle. I started with no gold at the start of the last expansion.

I've got no problem with the tavern pass/progression. I'm around 90% done and only bought the pass halfway through. This is pretty much exclusively from doing daily/weekly quests and playing a round or two of battlegrounds each day.

Lorini wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:09 am So I don't know what to tell you Sudy. HS is no longer pay to win. The meta is shaken up on a consistent basis as Blizzard listens to the communities concerns and nerfs and buffs as needed.

Honestly, I never bought the pay to win argument. I played daily from beta until a couple years ago, and from the old quest system and thrifty dusting I still generated enough resources for those 3-4 meta decks per expansion. Occasionally I'd drop $25 on packs or a bundle during an expansion, but for the most part I was free to play. It's not that Hearthstone is pay to win, in my opinion--it's that it's pay to play, or at least to play competitively with a large variety of cards early in an expansion. And that's OK; Blizzard deserves to make money. But so much of the experience seems gated and designed to tempt you to spend money. In a much more aggressive way than in Runeterra or Eternal. (The new duplicate protection helps though.) Blizzard didn't create the CCG model, but they haven't done much to improve upon it, either. In fact, they've propagated it in a digital environment in which you don't own anything, and can't trade.

Stuff like the Battlegrounds pass is BS though, and feels like cynical nickel & diming.

Lorini wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:09 am Runeterra has steadily lost Twitch viewership, meaning that the interest in it is waning.

That's an interesting statistic, but I don't know if it means more than that Twitch streamer and viewer interest is waning. Which doesn't mean the game is dying (to my knowledge); it has a steady stream of content and is constantly evolving. I don't think it needs to be a popularity contest.

Lorini wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:09 am [Runeterra's] identification of the factions is confusing to me, they use words and symbols interchangeably which means that I don't know what they are referring to for quests.

I think quest information could definitely be improved with the addition of tooltips, etc. But after a moderate learning curve, I haven't had any trouble. Runeterra might have more active keywords than Hearthstone, but the in-game tooltips and card text are much better IMO, and the complexity still pales in comparison to something like MTG. A glossary helped me a lot: https://lor.mobalytics.gg/wiki.

Lorini wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:09 am It is certainly an advance in ccg's, it's just unfortunate that it's not very accessible in my opinion.

I was frustrated by its interface initially, but now I find it more accessible than Hearthstone's bloated skeuomorphism. As for the gameplay, it's so much smoother though, and deeper without being more more difficult to learn. Identification of the champions and regions definitely takes longer to build, especially, as you say, their traits often aren't unique. But Freljord will always favour blue and white colours, and trend toward ramp and control. Noxus has a lot of red and grey/black, and focuses on aggro and burn. The one thing I did struggle with at first was the functional difference between Burst, Fast, and Slow-speed spells. But it just took time, and still was a hell of a lot more intuitive than MTG.

I've played Runeterra for about six months now (having taken one month off), and I've unlocked about 70% of the total set without dropping a dime. (I think there are 804 individual cards now... you're permitted three per deck, so you want that many of each.) I've spent $30 or so voluntarily on cosmetics.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:40 am

Everyone hates it when control decks are top decks because they take too long, so I suspect that Blizzard is deliberately making sure that control decks don't dominate the meta. Aggro decks will always be popular because you can play way more games with aggro decks than control decks in the same time space. Aggro is popular right now because of the release of the mini expansion, but aggro will always be popular after an expansion release because it's the easiest deck to create. As combo/control decks get iterated on, I think you'll see aggro become less successful. That being said, Hunter is the by far most nerfed class because Blizzard clearly doesn't want aggro to dominate either.

Control is inherently boring as the control playing is 'controlling' the battlefield which means that everything comes out very slowly and on its schedule, not yours. Frankly if they got rid of control decks entirely I'd be very happy, I always wince when I see a priest or warlock as I know I'm in for a slow grind.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:27 pm

I'm still playing to complete dailies and weeklies, and Battlegrounds and Duels when I feel like it. I really hate that I can't unlock some Duels abilities/cards without picking up like 5 more Scholomance legendaries, etc. How the heck am I supposed to do that without investing $100+?

I've reached 142 on the rewards track and am sitting on 5,000 gold that I don't know what to do with. I don't want to buy packs at the beginning of the next expansion. Card acquisition in this game is so unfun. I wish you could buy more things in the shop with gold. Old adventures, etc.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Fri Jul 16, 2021 4:36 pm

Sudy wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:27 pm I'm still playing to complete dailies and weeklies, and Battlegrounds and Duels when I feel like it. I really hate that I can't unlock some Duels abilities/cards without picking up like 5 more Scholomance legendaries, etc. How the heck am I supposed to do that without investing $100+?

I've reached 142 on the rewards track and am sitting on 5,000 gold that I don't know what to do with. I don't want to buy packs at the beginning of the next expansion. Card acquisition in this game is so unfun. I wish you could buy more things in the shop with gold. Old adventures, etc.

I think you can buy old adventures. That's how I bought them at the time, anyway. You can't buy the whole adventure for gold, but you can buy each individual chapter of the adventures.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Sun Jul 18, 2021 1:14 am

Interesting, thanks... I'll look into that. Now that you mention it I remember doing this with the very early adventures.

I'm on a pretty hot run in Battlegrounds... last five matches are 2nd with Tickatus, 1st with Trade Prince Gallywix, 1st with Ragnaros the Firelord, 4th with King Mukla, and 1st with Captain Eudora. I'm at 5752 rating which I suspect is pretty rubbish, but it's not bad for my lazy ass that only plays in spurts.

It's pretty easy to do well with Elementals, Qullboar, and Demons if you get the right cards early on. Yet if I've ever won with Pirates, Mechs, or Murlocs it's only been once or twice. Dragons and Beasts seem to be in the middle, with Demons sometimes residing here as well.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Sun Jul 18, 2021 11:01 am

5700+MMR is pretty good. According to deck tracker 6100 is top 50%.

I still play daily. Standard and battlegrounds. My top is 7002 this season so far. I dropped back down to 6600 but now climbing again. Just about at 7000 again.

There should be a big update in early-mid August.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 4:10 pm

PC Gamer: What the hell just happened to Hearthstone?

Turn nine may as well no longer exist.

The meta hasn't been this broken since Hearthstone first launched. I only play as a mindless time waste when I don't feel like playing something requiring more than one hand to click. Wild is unplayable, and I can't stand battlegrounds, so I think another patch like this, and Blizzard may eventually succeed in making me uninstall the game.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 8:03 pm

gilraen wrote: ↑Sun Aug 15, 2021 4:10 pm PC Gamer: What the hell just happened to Hearthstone?
Turn nine may as well no longer exist.
The meta hasn't been this broken since Hearthstone first launched. I only play as a mindless time waste when I don't feel like playing something requiring more than one hand to click. Wild is unplayable, and I can't stand battlegrounds, so I think another patch like this, and Blizzard may eventually succeed in making me uninstall the game.

Others are loving it because there's so many good decks. However if you like to play control, you're hosed until/unless they make control friendly balance changes this week.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 8:51 pm

I'm just remembering how much I didn't care for the new release cycle. This is the first one since I returned. Spending 4000 gold on 2-3 random legendaries just isn't fun. But then, Ranked has never been my thing anyway.

I've continued to enjoy Battlegrounds but it's starting to get a bit stale. And I still don't know how to unlock the final Duels options without buying hundreds of old packs.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 3:58 pm

New battlegrounds season and patch came out today. Completely new meta with 30 some new minions. Really fun so far.

https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/ ... atch-notes

Also, a new hearthstone game mode was announced called Mercenaries. Comes out in October.

https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/ ... october-12

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:14 pm

Interesting, it looks like Mercenaries isn't a card based game at all?

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:17 pm

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:14 pm Interesting, it looks like Mercenaries isn't a card based game at all?

What? It's all cards just like HS.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:24 pm

No real gameplay that I've seen yet. My first take is it looks like a combo between duels and battlegrounds with single player adventures.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:29 pm

Lorini wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:17 pm
Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:14 pm Interesting, it looks like Mercenaries isn't a card based game at all?
What? It's all cards just like HS.

I was going by this quote, but on a reread I guess that doesn't mean it doesn't use cards, just that you don't make a deck:

In Mercenaries, you control a Party of up to 6 Mercenaries, instead of a deck of cards. In combat, you will pick 3 of your 6 Mercenaries to fight at a time, with reinforcements coming off your Bench if one of your Mercenaries falls or uses a special Ability to swap out.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:12 pm

They will be offering a WoW mount for playing HS mercenaries, and also giving out BG perks, tavern pass and a bunch of free decks to people with a 6-month WoW subscription. It's been a very long time since Blizzard did any cross-promotion between games. They must really want to entice more WoW players to play HS, since apparently that's where the money is...

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:37 pm

That bundle looks great if one expects to play WoW for that long anyway. Personally, while I haven't taken part in the boycott, I'm taking the half-assed approach of not wanting to give them any money right now.

One developer quotation was that Mercenaries is is their take on Slay the Spire. It doesn't appear to be that exactly, but it definitely looks interesting to me. Packs are being sold for the mode, but they contain mode-specific mercenaries and related stuff, not externally-usable cards. Kind of feels like another unappealing monetization route, but as the mode looks to be up my alley, I'm sure I'll wind up having a lot of fun with it as a mostly F2P player.

The Battlegrounds changes seem very well designed, though I don't look forward to re-learning 37 new cards when I still hadn't figured out all the old synergies. I finished the season with a 6114 ranking despite not getting a lot of 1st place finishes recently. I really wish they'd include more detailed stats and match history, and for free. Outside of the boycott, I'd be much more willing to give them money if they didn't seem to be so greedy in contrast to their competitors. But that's always been the Blizzard way, from their ivory tower. And it's not as if I haven't reaped months of enjoyment from Hearthstone for very little cash.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:54 am

Sudy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:37 pm That bundle looks great if one expects to play WoW for that long anyway. Personally, while I haven't taken part in the boycott, I'm taking the half-assed approach of not wanting to give them any money right now.

One developer quotation was that Mercenaries is is their take on Slay the Spire. It doesn't appear to be that exactly, but it definitely looks interesting to me. Packs are being sold for the mode, but they contain mode-specific mercenaries and related stuff, not externally-usable cards. Kind of feels like another unappealing monetization route, but as the mode looks to be up my alley, I'm sure I'll wind up having a lot of fun with it as a mostly F2P player.

The Battlegrounds changes seem very well designed, though I don't look forward to re-learning 37 new cards when I still hadn't figured out all the old synergies. I finished the season with a 6114 ranking despite not getting a lot of 1st place finishes recently. I really wish they'd include more detailed stats and match history, and for free. Outside of the boycott, I'd be much more willing to give them money if they didn't seem to be so greedy in contrast to their competitors. But that's always been the Blizzard way, from their ivory tower. And it's not as if I haven't reaped months of enjoyment from Hearthstone for very little cash.

I'm on a similar approach re: the boycott. It's interesting because I haven't spent any money on Hearthstone (or other Blizzard products) in a long time, so I don't have much to boycott revenue wise. I've debated whether I should stop playing (for free) entirely.

When does the new patch go live, at least as to phones? I haven't seen anything on my Android Hearthstone yet.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:59 am

It's a good question on when the patch will go live. I haven't seen anything either.

Re: boycotting Blizzard. After a lot of thought, I've decided not to boycott so that the women who are there will still have a job. I don't think there's going to be anymore tolerance of harassment as that will just get them fined even more. It's very clear that someone(s) are reporting everything that could be problematic (like the temp workers and the shredding, although I still find it crazy that a company would document discrimination/harassment to the point where you'd want to shred documentation, that's just ridiculously stupid). So I think things will be fine going forward.

I'm all in on the Mercenaries mode, I'm really tired of this meta.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:46 pm

I don't spend money on Blizzard games because I still play WoW and I've been paying for all of it with WoW gold for years. But I refuse to spend any money ("fake" or otherwise) on Hearthstone because I really don't like the game that much...and because their money grab has gone from reasonable to shameless (10 bucks for a card back and new hero animation? Really?)

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 2:13 pm

It seems the broader community is up-in-arms both because of what Blizzard's charging for the Mercenaries bundles, and also the heavy gacha component. In fact, it seems to be far more gacha than roguelight deck builder.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 2:16 pm

Gacha?

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 2:29 pm

The term comes from Japanese toy collecting vending machines. When applied to games it's associated with loot boxes, and to be the best or advance the fastest in their often grindy automated or simplistically turn-based battles, you have to dump cash into buying more and more loot boxes. This mechanic is most often found in mobile "RPGs", the most popular/well advertised one right now likely being Raid: Shadow Legends. Genshin Impact also employs some of these mechanics I've heard. But most major franchises have released their spin on it in the past decade, including Star Wars, Final Fantasy, etc.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:43 pm

Sudy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 2:13 pm It seems the broader community is up-in-arms both because of what Blizzard's charging for the Mercenaries bundles, and also the heavy gacha component. In fact, it seems to be far more gacha than roguelight deck builder.

That generally is not the 'broader community' it's the more vocal community who ALWAYS complains about big game companies. Those companies can never do anything right in their eyes, which is why I don't listen to the complainers.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 4:15 pm

Doesn't any collectible card game almost by definition already rely on a loot box-like mechanic?

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:32 pm

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 4:15 pm Doesn't any collectible card game almost by definition already rely on a loot box-like mechanic?

That's what I mean. They just want to 'look cool' by not being enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is for suckers. The reality is that their attitude can cause stress and stress is bad. Enthusiasm on the other hand is good for both your physical and mental health, something to look forward to and the body can relax thinking about it.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:32 am

I think you're right, but I also think they might be right this time. A broken clock is right twice a day.

I'll reserve judgment until I play it, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it even if it is exploitative. But gacha game modes by their nature draw comparisons to gambling and prey on addictive personality traits.

What's verifiable is that there are three Mercenaries pre-purchase bundles available right now for the equivalent of $37.49, $62.99, and $62.99 CAD each. While they may not be mandatory in any sense and are mostly comprised of Mercenaries packs, it seems questionable--especially when good will toward the company is at an all time low, and there are a lot of complaints about other game modes. As well, it appears you'll need to use regular Hearthstone gold to upgrade building in Mercenaries, meaning there will be another gold sink to compete with buying main-mode card packs.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:21 am

Sudy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:32 am I think you're right, but I also think they might be right this time. A broken clock is right twice a day.

I'll reserve judgment until I play it, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it even if it is exploitative. But gacha game modes by their nature draw comparisons to gambling and prey on addictive personality traits.

What's verifiable is that there are three Mercenaries pre-purchase bundles available right now for the equivalent of $37.49, $62.99, and $62.99 CAD each. While they may not be mandatory in any sense and are mostly comprised of Mercenaries packs, it seems questionable--especially when good will toward the company is at an all time low, and there are a lot of complaints about other game modes. As well, it appears you'll need to use regular Hearthstone gold to upgrade building in Mercenaries, meaning there will be another gold sink to compete with buying main-mode card packs.

Mercenaries was clearly being developed long before the revelations about the hostile work environment at Blizzard. I'm sure it was in beta testing by then, so they really had no choice but to go ahead and release it. I'm really curious about exactly how these coins will work out for getting new cards.

All of the ftp games are gacha except maybe Path of Exile. HS is certainly gacha, as is MtG Arena, and Legends of Runeterra. I feel like that ship has sailed long ago.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:37 am

Gacha may = loot boxes, but all loot boxes mechanisms do not = gacha. Have you played mobile games like Raid: Shadow Legends, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Fire Emblem Heroes, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Heroes of Dragon Age, or Marvel Future Fight? There are unappealing elements of this style of game that Mercenaries is implementing that go beyond a simple loot box mechanic.

Lorini wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:21 am Mercenaries was clearly being developed long before the revelations about the hostile work environment at Blizzard. I'm sure it was in beta testing by then, so they really had no choice but to go ahead and release it.

I think the specific gripe is that they're selling $150 of pre-release bundles, and how ridiculous this is even in contrast to standard mode bundles. Now's not the time they want to be perceived as money-grubbing.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:50 pm

Big patch came out today which includes a new battlegrounds season. They added a buddy mechanic which seems pretty cool. Going to take awhile to see what is good and not.

For the battlegrounds tavern pass, you can now purchase using in-game gold. I've only seen it available using real money (typically $9.99). That's good thing.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:12 pm

You're referring to Battlegrounds Perks? I believe that's always been optionally purchasable with in-game gold (or at least, it has been for some time). The cost drops as the season progresses. Unfortunately, it's really poor value IMO.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:50 pm

Sudy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:12 pm You're referring to Battlegrounds Perks? I believe that's always been optionally purchasable with in-game gold (or at least, it has been for some time). The cost drops as the season progresses. Unfortunately, it's really poor value IMO.

Ah, I did not know you could use in-game gold. I noticed it's 1,200 gold today or something close to that.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Tue Jan 25, 2022 6:25 pm

The buddy mechanic is interesting... it certainly expands each hero's ability, which is a very good thing. Though (and I've only seen a few buddies), some feel a bit underwhelming? Probably necessarily for balance reasons, but those seven card slots are so precious late game. But again, I guess that's ideal design... you don't want the buddy cards to be so good they're mandatory for all builds, all game long. And attempting to balance this many must have been tough.

I don't know if this will be enough to get me to start playing again (game length is a little long, even if it's much shorter than traditional auto chess games), but it's definitely renewed my interest. It's nice to see the designers address staleness somewhat proactively.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Mon Nov 06, 2023 3:07 pm

I've resumed playing a ton of battlegrounds, and some ranked. I don't think I'll ever be excited by the game again and I hate its monetization, but battlegrounds is addicting and if I luck into getting some decent legendaries each set that actually allow me to play a meta deck or two, I'm happy. But I'm unlikely to drop money on the game at those prices. Blizzard is so selfish and player-hostile, at least in this game.

Here's my recent career-best battlegrounds finish lol. I've never had a card in the billions like a lot of the better/smarter players, but I did hit 7,000 MMR this season.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Thu Apr 11, 2024 5:58 am

Hearthstone has resumed its position as my standby game I often reach for to wind down, or to entertain me as I eat. I don't think I thought that would ever happen again as it's just so stale. I played it to death back in the day, and the magnetization has only gotten worse. But the variety of the game modes combined with the frequent updates, plentiful community resources, and the relative simplicity of the mechanics just makes it an ideal lazy game. I think Battlegrounds (i.e. Hearthstone autochess) has really been what's kept me around, even though it in itself isn't enough.

BUT the loss of the Duels game mode next week on April the 16th is going to be a huge loss for me. I understand why it wasn't profitable and they chose to axe it. But it was just such a vibrant, captivating mode. Unfortunately, I never played as deep into it as I might have as I just couldn't justify creating some of the cards that shined in the mode. (Cheap players like me are probably precisely to blame for the mode's end, by that way of thinking lol.)

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Sat May 25, 2024 8:14 pm

I've lost interest in Battlegrounds, but tried a handbuff death knight deck in competitive and somehow it's kept me playing. I've made it to rank platinum 5 for the first time ever but am starting to lose steam. I'd really like to push to legend as I can't see myself getting this far again, but with just six days left in the month I don't think I'm up for the grind. Especially considering this is a somewhat inconsistent off-meta deck.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Fri May 31, 2024 12:32 am

Well, there's one day left to go in the season and I'm at diamond 7. I imagine that's where I'll end it as I don't foresee playing more than a few games tomorrow at most. I read a comment that it usually takes as long to climb from diamond 5 to legend as it does from bronze 10 to diamond 5, and there's no way I got time for that.... Maybe if I was playing a rush deck that averaged must faster games or something.

According to my deck tracker which I imagine I was running at least 95% of the time I played, I played 97 games with some variation of handbuff death knight this month. I played only three games with a different deck, so this accounted for pretty much my entire climb in constructed from bronze. I played for around eighteen hours and had a 71% winrate (81% when going first, 60% when going second). I won 90%+ of matchups against demon hunter, druid, and shaman. But I only won 50% of games against priests and warlocks. I played nineteen games in diamond and had a 63.2% winrate. Interestingly, that's really not much worse than my time in platinum--56 games with a 67.9% winrate. Actually these numbers are weird. It says I played 91 games in silver, with a 72.5% winrate? Either something's off, or I didn't put together many win streaks in silver resulting in fewer rankings boosts.

This is the most I've played constructed in years. I can't see doing this again next month unless I find a faster deck I really enjoy playing and Hearthstone remains my mealtime entertainment. I generally prefer control, and games just take too long. I'm also likely to get distracted when playing slower opponents which results in making poor plays. (I think multi-tasking is also what kept me from advancing at poker sit'n'gos back in the day.) Handbuff DK is a lot of fun, but it's just not fast enough or consistent enough. I imagine I could have done a bit better if I played more aggressively, but it's necessary to do some slowplaying to ensure you have powerful enough removal/healing tools in the late game. I enjoyed the process of tweaking the deck over time, playing at least seven variations over the course of the season. While I fully netdecked, I consulted multiple versions/evolutions and then further customized by dropping cards I realized I just didn't use that often.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Tue Jul 02, 2024 8:19 pm

I somehow got to platinum with a sub-50% winrate in June, so I guess it's not the achievement I thought it was.

I guess it makes sense on their end to reward and keep mediocre players playing. If you're not tracking your games you might not even realize you're a losing player! I think I'm generally above average when I'm focusing, but spell mage just was not strong enough last month. But I continued playing the deck just because it was fun.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Fri Jul 19, 2024 2:22 pm

I don't track my win rate but I just hit legend for the first time ever. Sat at Diamond 5 for almost 2 solid weeks, completely stuck - win one, lose one, win two, lose five... Then suddenly things started moving playing a plague DK and OTK mage. The last few wins came from a "let me dump a bunch of bombs in your deck" warrior deck. Which is quite possibly one of the most broken decks in the history of the game, tbh. It's kinda fun until you face a mirror match, but aside from that there are very few counters to this deck. I much prefer control priest, though, because it's just more fun (making copies of your cards, stealing copies of opponent's minions...keeps things fresh). But it stalled out around Diamond 4, too slow.