Hey all - I just started playing duels again after ignoring it for quite a while. I actually like the mode, and I think it's a fun alternative to the usual standard and wild experience, but obviously it can get a little crazy. That's okay. That's what's fun about it.
I've looked over some starting decks, treasures, tips and all that, and after playing a number of casual runs I feel like I've got an idea of what's good and what's not, but I was just curious what people are feeling about this mode right now.
I remember reading somewhere a while back that the treasures are offered with better chances to synergize with what you've put in your deck, but in my experience so far, it has not been very smart. Examples are things like: I've loaded my deck with only frost spells as mage... but it offers me fire and arcane synergy treasures. I've put nothing but divine shield minions in my paladin deck, but I don't get either of the divine shield treasures offered to me.
I think it goes without saying, that a great duels run is often determined by what treasures you get, so it feels pretty bad when you don't find anything that really fits your deck. So what do you do if you don't get what you wanted?
I think the solution may be to build a deck that does not aim to cherry pick a specific treasure, but rather, adapt to what you did get... an example being quest mage: you already built your deck with all three types of spell schools, so no matter which treasures you get, you will have some synergy to work with.
This may just be me, but I think part of what makes duels interesting is being able to play with these specific treasures and make interesting decks that you could not otherwise play with in regular game modes (again: frost mage synergy), but it's frustrating that you can't really plan it out and only hope you get what you need.
So, what does everyone else usually try to do when making a duels deck?
TLDR: Duels is fun but treasure drop rates are weird.
I was loving it before the new quests. Playing against them sucks a lot of the fun out for me as I started playing duels because I could play control in that mode.
Treasure drop rates were changed a while back to give you better synergy. But then the patch after that, they nerfed some, and reduced how reliably you could get treasures, which has put us in a middle ground between “completely random” and “super reliable”.
For a while, you could basically guarantee battlecry synergy in both treasures, which proved to be incredibly strong for many classes. Currently, you really want to build a deck that can reliably self-perform, or can use multiple treasures.
Duels is my most played mode, but every since the last expansion I’ve stopped playing heroic and have just been playing casual. Lots of fun builds, without being stressful for me to “only play the best”
I was loving it before the new quests. Playing against them sucks a lot of the fun out for me as I started playing duels because I could play control in that mode.
Couldn't agree with you more on this one. Duels was by no means my #1 mode but rather a casual way to step away from ladder from time to time....then I discovered the recent quests were allowed for deck building so now the mode contains the same amount of Mages you would see in Standard but with a lot more tools at their disposal to ensure quicker and more efficient quest completion.
I suppose individual mileage will vary, as with most things. I don't think I've been having the same "oppressive standard quest decks in duels" experience. They are still there, but they seem more reasonable to handle, especially with the varied ways each class has access to heal and more health in the later games. And mind you, this is just casual mode as well.
Perhaps the heroic runs would be a bit more volatile... which makes sense, since there are stakes.
I sometimes do casual runs for completing cheevos now. It's a lot less fun when you find yourself trapped between rush pirate warrior, quest mage and mind tether priest.
I have been playing alot of Duels lately to get my classes to 500 wins. Currently working on Quest Pirate Warrior.
It can get crazy but games are super fast (win or lose) and feels less stressful than playing ranked. The bad part about casual is alot of people likely just retire their runs over and over again until they get that perfect treasure combination. You'll run into a lot of Mind Tether Priests, Quest Mages, etc. with Fireshaper, Oops No Spells, etc.
So, recent patch had a small duels update - might have gone under the radar for most people since the main event was the big nerfs/buffs/ban.
Party Replacements, Rally the Troops, and Oops, All Spells! have all been moved from Passive Treasure Pool 2 to Pool 2 Ultra Rare.
All Together Now has been moved from Passive Treasure Pool 1 to Pool 2.
Voidtouched Attendant is now banned from deck creation.
So, good news for everyone that hates priest. But I guess that Voidtouched being removed from deck creation does not mean that it can't be found in buckets, right?
But also, I'm glad they moved Party Replacements to ultra rare. That one can be so obnoxious to deal with in the early game especially.
Hey all - I just started playing duels again after ignoring it for quite a while. I actually like the mode, and I think it's a fun alternative to the usual standard and wild experience, but obviously it can get a little crazy. That's okay. That's what's fun about it.
I've looked over some starting decks, treasures, tips and all that, and after playing a number of casual runs I feel like I've got an idea of what's good and what's not, but I was just curious what people are feeling about this mode right now.
I remember reading somewhere a while back that the treasures are offered with better chances to synergize with what you've put in your deck, but in my experience so far, it has not been very smart. Examples are things like: I've loaded my deck with only frost spells as mage... but it offers me fire and arcane synergy treasures. I've put nothing but divine shield minions in my paladin deck, but I don't get either of the divine shield treasures offered to me.
I think it goes without saying, that a great duels run is often determined by what treasures you get, so it feels pretty bad when you don't find anything that really fits your deck. So what do you do if you don't get what you wanted?
I think the solution may be to build a deck that does not aim to cherry pick a specific treasure, but rather, adapt to what you did get... an example being quest mage: you already built your deck with all three types of spell schools, so no matter which treasures you get, you will have some synergy to work with.
This may just be me, but I think part of what makes duels interesting is being able to play with these specific treasures and make interesting decks that you could not otherwise play with in regular game modes (again: frost mage synergy), but it's frustrating that you can't really plan it out and only hope you get what you need.
So, what does everyone else usually try to do when making a duels deck?
TLDR: Duels is fun but treasure drop rates are weird.
I was loving it before the new quests. Playing against them sucks a lot of the fun out for me as I started playing duels because I could play control in that mode.
Treasure drop rates were changed a while back to give you better synergy. But then the patch after that, they nerfed some, and reduced how reliably you could get treasures, which has put us in a middle ground between “completely random” and “super reliable”.
For a while, you could basically guarantee battlecry synergy in both treasures, which proved to be incredibly strong for many classes. Currently, you really want to build a deck that can reliably self-perform, or can use multiple treasures.
Duels is my most played mode, but every since the last expansion I’ve stopped playing heroic and have just been playing casual. Lots of fun builds, without being stressful for me to “only play the best”
Couldn't agree with you more on this one. Duels was by no means my #1 mode but rather a casual way to step away from ladder from time to time....then I discovered the recent quests were allowed for deck building so now the mode contains the same amount of Mages you would see in Standard but with a lot more tools at their disposal to ensure quicker and more efficient quest completion.
I suppose individual mileage will vary, as with most things. I don't think I've been having the same "oppressive standard quest decks in duels" experience. They are still there, but they seem more reasonable to handle, especially with the varied ways each class has access to heal and more health in the later games. And mind you, this is just casual mode as well.
Perhaps the heroic runs would be a bit more volatile... which makes sense, since there are stakes.
I sometimes do casual runs for completing cheevos now. It's a lot less fun when you find yourself trapped between rush pirate warrior, quest mage and mind tether priest.
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I have been playing alot of Duels lately to get my classes to 500 wins. Currently working on Quest Pirate Warrior.
It can get crazy but games are super fast (win or lose) and feels less stressful than playing ranked. The bad part about casual is alot of people likely just retire their runs over and over again until they get that perfect treasure combination. You'll run into a lot of Mind Tether Priests, Quest Mages, etc. with Fireshaper, Oops No Spells, etc.
11 wins - 200 gold, 2 cards and 1 pack
Really? I love playing duels, but i get frustrated so often, when i get total bullshit after a good run.
So, recent patch had a small duels update - might have gone under the radar for most people since the main event was the big nerfs/buffs/ban.
So, good news for everyone that hates priest. But I guess that Voidtouched being removed from deck creation does not mean that it can't be found in buckets, right?
But also, I'm glad they moved Party Replacements to ultra rare. That one can be so obnoxious to deal with in the early game especially.
it's good news about voidtouched. but i still faced mind tether priest 9 of my last 11 matches and i hate it so much, god damn