It seems to me everytime I play someone in arena now, they know exactly what they are going to do several turns in advance, and always have a perfect setup. I rarely get above 5 wins anymore, and it feels like it isn't even worth it to do arena anymore as I feel I lose gold from it vs buying packs. All of this is ofc after Naxx was released, which has made arena infinitely harder. I don't understand how people put together what feel like "premade" decks with the randomness of arena. I mean I was just beat by a pally who you couldn't do anything with because he had 10 fucking secrets. Idk what the deal is but I am getting sick of it. So far constructed feels like the only place to have any chance anymore.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Blizzard is just a small indie game company" -Mathmachine
Most people at least get an arena guide before going in now. So people's ability to draft better has gone down in value. Fewer true newbies as well. So not facing people who don't at least have a solid grasp of the basics of the game. Seems logical that the Arena would become generally tougher over time. Talking to a new player just the other day and when he asked for advice about the arena I pointed him to some good draft guides to at least give him a shot.
I noticed the difficulty increasing a lot in the past few days. I think a lot of experienced constructed players switch to Arena in the last 5-7 days of the Season. Best to wait until new season starts to play Arena again.
I noticed the difficulty increasing a lot in the past few days. I think a lot of experienced constructed players switch to Arena in the last 5-7 days of the Season. Best to wait until new season starts to play Arena again.
I've also thought it has been a lot harder to play in Arena since Naxx was released. But, I am thinking that might be because, Free Players are trying to save all their gold to buy the Wings and not playing Arena. And, Arena is full of people who had enough gold or are more serious about this game. So, there are just more knowledgable players in Arena right now.
The other thing I've noticed is that the Arena Meta has definitely changed. It used to be that if I drafted a Mage deck, I could get 6 or 7 wins easily. The last three times I drafted Mage I went 3-3, 6-3, 3-3. I've drafted Hunter twice this week, and went 7-3 and 6-3. And, I really think my Mage decks had stronger cards with more removal. The Hunter decks just had a lot more speed.
I'm not saying that Hunter is a stronger Arena Class now...I'm just saying that Arena is definitely different, and I haven't quite figured it out yet. But, I do find it harder than it was Pre-Naxx.
My winrate didn't change much - 5,6 average wins as usual. More than that, two last arenas I played yesterday I went 11-3 (Druid) and 9-3 (Mage). Maybe this is just a bad period for you, I don't think anything really changed a lot.
It's true though that now you mostly see players with better decks, people have learned what to pick. This is the point where other stuff comes into play like knowing when to not overextend, what to expect on certain turns and what your opponent might play. Basically, now you often know what 5-drops your opponent will likely have because they are not too many, what spells they might have picked etc.
i've actually noticed the last two days my runs have gone down significantly. excluding the last 2 days, for about the last week or so i've been able to consistently hit 8 wins at least per run. yesterday i had a string of bad runs, only one ended up 7-3, the rest 3-3'ish on average. i attributed this to both bad play on my part, as i was running on only 2 hours of sleep, bad luck with draft (seriously, i've had some of the worst luck with drafting today and yesterday), and being out played/out decked, and today has been nothing different. it's a shame. i haven't had one 'decent' draft today, hoping that'll change.
Thanks all for the responses. I agree with many of you that it is just the players have more resources, and part of it is needing to adapt to the new arena "meta" post naxx, I.E. Mage not that good anymore, minion spam=win etc.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Blizzard is just a small indie game company" -Mathmachine
um...the first couple matches you are matche up with horrible opponents....
so easy wins until 4-6 wins, that's where you have to fight for each win...planning carefully, drafting the best, and turning the tides of the game into your favor by a few good plays
Is that true? I thought I read or heard one of the big named arena streaming people saying that the only matchmaking differences were at 7+ wins and 2 losses, otherwise all the same pool?
I still play arena ... so there are some bad players left.
(My win average is still 3.22 over 93 runs).
And don't worry guys I will be bring my ass back in just so close to Legendary this month I have been focusing on that. But my awful titled play will be back next month when I come crashing back down the ranks I will head back in Arena full tilt mode.
Is that true? I thought I read or heard one of the big named arena streaming people saying that the only matchmaking differences were at 7+ wins and 2 losses, otherwise all the same pool?
no, you get matched up with the same win/loss ratio guys each time
Is that true? I thought I read or heard one of the big named arena streaming people saying that the only matchmaking differences were at 7+ wins and 2 losses, otherwise all the same pool?
no, you get matched up with the same win/loss ratio guys each time
To the best of the systems ability. During prime time, you're much more likely to be matched with players with your current win/loss record. During non-prime time, the system may have to find players better or worse than you at that moment.
I was thinking about plunking down 150g and give it another go so there may be another bad player soon. My best was 5-3 and it was a miracle. Also, why even bother with the '3'? It's always 3. Why not just say '5' since it can't be 5-2 or 5-0? Unless it's 12.
The arena naturally will get harder over time due to 2 factors.
1. The fresh meat [New TCG players that play casually] will decrease over time as they find new games.
2. The current fresh meat begin to learn the game more and are less likley to make mistakes. [ I'm a part of this group of fresh meat... although I'm ultra fresh :/]
Its the same reason why starting SC2/Street Figher/CS 1.6 seems so harsh when your late to the party.
As to why it seems so bad in the last week? Bad luck imo.
However, the idea that better players stop playing ranked and play arena at the end of the season is interesting. I'm not sure how much validity there is but that point it interesting.
For me i've noticed that with the increased number of cards now available in the Drafting system, luck is even greater during the pick section... I mean that it's even harder when you pick some second tier hero and you don't see any of the key cards that you used to see (at least one of) before thus giving you far less success that before.
Take mage, even if you don't see Flamestrike it's going to be ok (given that you're a decent player during the matches and during the draft section). However, picking up a Druid without seeing any Swipe, a Shaman without any Fire Elemental or a Paladin without any Consecration will make it way harder than it used to be pre naxx just because there are more possible common cards popping up at each pick.
And i've just checked my arena records and i don't know if that's because people are getting better or the card pool is getting bigger but my average was 9 wins before naxx and now it's down to 5, a little more with Mage where i go up to 6.5 wins.
It seems to me everytime I play someone in arena now, they know exactly what they are going to do several turns in advance, and always have a perfect setup. I rarely get above 5 wins anymore, and it feels like it isn't even worth it to do arena anymore as I feel I lose gold from it vs buying packs. All of this is ofc after Naxx was released, which has made arena infinitely harder. I don't understand how people put together what feel like "premade" decks with the randomness of arena. I mean I was just beat by a pally who you couldn't do anything with because he had 10 fucking secrets. Idk what the deal is but I am getting sick of it. So far constructed feels like the only place to have any chance anymore.
"Blizzard is just a small indie game company" -Mathmachine
Most people at least get an arena guide before going in now. So people's ability to draft better has gone down in value. Fewer true newbies as well. So not facing people who don't at least have a solid grasp of the basics of the game. Seems logical that the Arena would become generally tougher over time. Talking to a new player just the other day and when he asked for advice about the arena I pointed him to some good draft guides to at least give him a shot.
I noticed the difficulty increasing a lot in the past few days. I think a lot of experienced constructed players switch to Arena in the last 5-7 days of the Season. Best to wait until new season starts to play Arena again.
This.
I've also thought it has been a lot harder to play in Arena since Naxx was released. But, I am thinking that might be because, Free Players are trying to save all their gold to buy the Wings and not playing Arena. And, Arena is full of people who had enough gold or are more serious about this game. So, there are just more knowledgable players in Arena right now.
The other thing I've noticed is that the Arena Meta has definitely changed. It used to be that if I drafted a Mage deck, I could get 6 or 7 wins easily. The last three times I drafted Mage I went 3-3, 6-3, 3-3. I've drafted Hunter twice this week, and went 7-3 and 6-3. And, I really think my Mage decks had stronger cards with more removal. The Hunter decks just had a lot more speed.
I'm not saying that Hunter is a stronger Arena Class now...I'm just saying that Arena is definitely different, and I haven't quite figured it out yet. But, I do find it harder than it was Pre-Naxx.
My winrate didn't change much - 5,6 average wins as usual. More than that, two last arenas I played yesterday I went 11-3 (Druid) and 9-3 (Mage). Maybe this is just a bad period for you, I don't think anything really changed a lot.
It's true though that now you mostly see players with better decks, people have learned what to pick. This is the point where other stuff comes into play like knowing when to not overextend, what to expect on certain turns and what your opponent might play. Basically, now you often know what 5-drops your opponent will likely have because they are not too many, what spells they might have picked etc.
"Listen, here's the thing: If you can't spot the sucker in your first half-hour at the table, then you are the sucker."
i've actually noticed the last two days my runs have gone down significantly. excluding the last 2 days, for about the last week or so i've been able to consistently hit 8 wins at least per run. yesterday i had a string of bad runs, only one ended up 7-3, the rest 3-3'ish on average. i attributed this to both bad play on my part, as i was running on only 2 hours of sleep, bad luck with draft (seriously, i've had some of the worst luck with drafting today and yesterday), and being out played/out decked, and today has been nothing different. it's a shame. i haven't had one 'decent' draft today, hoping that'll change.
*shrugs shoulders*
going to try to power through it.
I still play arena ... so there are some bad players left.
(My win average is still 3.22 over 93 runs).
Poetic.
I've come to the conclusion it's just observer bias brought about by the random variance in draft quality & opponent matchmaking.
Thanks all for the responses. I agree with many of you that it is just the players have more resources, and part of it is needing to adapt to the new arena "meta" post naxx, I.E. Mage not that good anymore, minion spam=win etc.
"Blizzard is just a small indie game company" -Mathmachine
um...the first couple matches you are matche up with horrible opponents....
so easy wins until 4-6 wins, that's where you have to fight for each win...planning carefully, drafting the best, and turning the tides of the game into your favor by a few good plays
Is that true? I thought I read or heard one of the big named arena streaming people saying that the only matchmaking differences were at 7+ wins and 2 losses, otherwise all the same pool?
And don't worry guys I will be bring my ass back in just so close to Legendary this month I have been focusing on that. But my awful titled play will be back next month when I come crashing back down the ranks I will head back in Arena full tilt mode.
no, you get matched up with the same win/loss ratio guys each time
To the best of the systems ability. During prime time, you're much more likely to be matched with players with your current win/loss record. During non-prime time, the system may have to find players better or worse than you at that moment.
Poetic.
I was thinking about plunking down 150g and give it another go so there may be another bad player soon. My best was 5-3 and it was a miracle. Also, why even bother with the '3'? It's always 3. Why not just say '5' since it can't be 5-2 or 5-0? Unless it's 12.
Free to try and find a game, dealing cards for sorrow, cards for pain.
seems pretty much the same to me.
The arena naturally will get harder over time due to 2 factors.
1. The fresh meat [New TCG players that play casually] will decrease over time as they find new games.
2. The current fresh meat begin to learn the game more and are less likley to make mistakes. [ I'm a part of this group of fresh meat... although I'm ultra fresh :/]
Its the same reason why starting SC2/Street Figher/CS 1.6 seems so harsh when your late to the party.
As to why it seems so bad in the last week? Bad luck imo.
However, the idea that better players stop playing ranked and play arena at the end of the season is interesting. I'm not sure how much validity there is but that point it interesting.
Other Games Played: Ultra SF4, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Street Fighter x Tekken
XBox Live GT: Chilaisho
For me i've noticed that with the increased number of cards now available in the Drafting system, luck is even greater during the pick section... I mean that it's even harder when you pick some second tier hero and you don't see any of the key cards that you used to see (at least one of) before thus giving you far less success that before.
Take mage, even if you don't see Flamestrike it's going to be ok (given that you're a decent player during the matches and during the draft section). However, picking up a Druid without seeing any Swipe, a Shaman without any Fire Elemental or a Paladin without any Consecration will make it way harder than it used to be pre naxx just because there are more possible common cards popping up at each pick.
And i've just checked my arena records and i don't know if that's because people are getting better or the card pool is getting bigger but my average was 9 wins before naxx and now it's down to 5, a little more with Mage where i go up to 6.5 wins.