While luck is definitely a factor, you need to forget about it and see how you can improve your chances to win. After you lose a match, don't start another right away, take a moment to look back and see what you could have done to have more chances to win in that particular matchup. Maybe you could hold a card for longer or you could choose to mulligan differently. This is gonna have max impact on ladder where you face mostly the same decks.
Im not a pro player but when I spectate them I always learn something I would have done differently. This is because they are always questioning their own plays and nothing else
It comforts me that i'm not the only one strugglin at D2/D3 :) Clearly I'm not a champion in playing HS but it was weird that my winrate dropped from 62/63 % to nearly 50% in that range. I checked HSreplay, Vicious Syndacate but one thing it the deck, another thing is to make right play at the right time. And with this close meta a wrong choice (Rotnest Drake or Glaivebound Adept with a suboptimal target) can cost you a lose.
It is not weird to see your winrate drop when you are nearing Legend. It is not weird at all and in fact it is too be EXPECTED!. You are playing BETTER players. I typically get to D5 with around a 70-90% winrate and then it drops off SIGNIFICANTLY.
Just stick with 1 deck and up your playing time. But don't play if you're tilted as you will most likely misplay more often. You also need to be very critical of your plays and really look into whether you are making any significant misplays or incorrect mulligan choices. Good luck.
First time I reached legend wild was storming with even shamans and odd paladins, before the nerfs. My elemental shaman beat both decks quite easily, so I decided to make a run. Took me one night and maybe 3-4 hours (kingsbane rogue was also popular, and against that I lost many times)
Funny thing is, soon there came new cards like mage cloud prince and secret mage was born. After that my legend reaching elemental shaman was pretty much useless.
Second time I reached legend with my own highlander mage deck. I just didn't lose and got the L, without really trying.
I suggest try highlander decks. At least you have high change to roll face decks
dont think about the hours u play. try to use a fast deck and if u can mange 15 to 20 games per day u can reach it in like 4 days considering u are stuck in rank 4 to 2. it happened to me too this week,. really weird kept having 50% wr in like 50 games. and all of a sudden won like 18 games and 3 or so losses. actually blazed through rank 3 to legend in 90 minutes. there was definetly rng involved in 2 matches that otherwise i would have lost 100%
I recently got legend for the first time in this new ranking system. You get a free legendary card the first time you get it, not just a card pack. Since getting legend, I was playing fun decks or trying things out, not caring about my rank anymore. I noticed that now I’m being matched against gold-level players. When I was climbing, I friended a couple of people and at least one was a top-500 legend who laughed that he got paired with me, ranked diamond 4 at the time. So you don’t know how high ranked your opponents are until you hit legend...! That’s odd to me, different from the old system, where you always saw your opponent’s rank.
I think there is luck involved unless you’re a savant like some of the pros. Got to D5 day 1, and I had been struggling in the d5-d1 ranks most of the month, but I got on a run from d5 to legend in one day because I was playing spell Druid and kept getting matchups against DH and hunter, which were both good matchups for my deck. I’d say if you are on a win streak, keep rolling... and if you lose 2-3 in a row, do something else for a while and come back to it.
You could keep grinding and hope to get lucky or you can work on specific skills.
Things to think about while your playing:
1)how much reach do I have (damage not on board)
2) what are my outs (including outs 2-5 turns away depending on the deck)
3) Deck building skills, despite what people think the "top" decks are not always the best decks. There are always opportunities to push in counters on specific days, which is possible because when a popular streamer streams an interesting deck often his watchers will play that deck, sometimes while the streamer is playing.
4) Trading skills. Do I trade up and kill my minion, do I trade down and preserve my minion, why might one be better than the other. (for instance trading up can preserve life, at least short term, trading down can preserve value, but only if they don't have removal) etc
5) should I go face or trade? a much more complex decision then many would have you believe. Often it's better to go face and you should favor face sometimes even as the control, but depending on the match up, how much reach you know the other deck to have, also you should consider whether you are the aggressor or whether you are the control(I think there is another name for this). In every specific match up can consider yourself the agressor or control, sometimes this can change during the matchup(this is espsecially important in the late game for more controllerish decks) If you are the aggressor you can favor face even more than normal. If you are the control you should consider favoring trades in order to favor value or long term tempo. As the aggressor going face you should consider A) what's my long term play potentential, if it is for some reason low, perserving value on board and tempo may be better then going face (though not necessarily). As the aggressor do I need to trade because the opponent has a good one sided clear, do I know they have a clear from reading their play actions and hand? As the control can I afford to go face, many control side decks have more reach then you think, Every bit of 'chip' damage can be the difference between a win and a loss.
6) when to hold board clear vs when to use it. A very complex decision based on matchup, current board and hand state, how much removal is in the deck you are using.
7) almost always use more expensive removal before less expensive removal unless you can include tempo in the removal play. This allows later tempo with cheap removal and whatever cards you've gotten through draw or discovery.
8)Other stuff I can't think of because I'm not really on right now.
9) positioning. This is a corner skill but does make a huge difference in certain matchups and with certain decks
10) Lethal - when to hold reach because you could be doing other things, when to use reach to make them low and not be able to use their weapon or tap (for warlock). When you have lethal. I see players miss lethal quite often, and thats without me even knowing what reach they have in their hand.
You can train these skills various ways, but the most powerful thing to do is just know about them because if you don't know about them then you can't focus your attention on them and thus it becomes impossible to train them.
Many of these concepts can be learned by using heartharena and using the tracker (at least the concepts related to deck building) and playing arena.
In the last rank, try to be quiet and dont' play if you are a little bit tilted because that could bring you to make mistakes. I have reached legend for first time this month and I lost some 'matchball' games but eventually I achieved it.
Stick to one deck. Do not switch the deck even if you would feel like it unless it is some deck you are already super familiar with last season for example. If the deck is legend viable then you can do it.
Sucks for the D1 3 stars :(. If you are struggling with counter decks, you just need to use everything in your knowledge of the matchup to try to maximize your chance to win (and get a little bit of lucky). Winning those unfavorable matches is crucial unless you happen to run into 0 them.
And the most important advice for me at least was to never play when you are tilted. It will affect your performance even if you don't feel like it does. Take a break and come back later.
as everyone said, the key is Patience, i am also in the grind to my first time legend, the no bonus star at D5 makes this a grind.
Im doing Reno mage, and currently climbing very slowly, yesterday i played like for 6 hours, i went from P2 to D5 in the first hour, then i got stuck 2 hours in D5, i got D4 3 stars, but lose 3 in a row, etc. the usual.
A legend grind looks like: after several hours of play you are just. 2 or 3 stars higher than when you started but the you need to keep grinding
Before this new ranking style I had 1 month whereby I got to rank 1, full stars 4 times. All those 4 times I lost the final game and did not manage to get legend. That was one of the most frustrating moments for me in HS. I haven't tried getting legend since.
The few times I've hit legend was because of one thing: I found a deck that was pretty good, and I had so much fun playing, I didn't mind playing that deck for a month. Most decks take a lot of time to master, don't underestimate that.
I have been in that situation where i was going back and forth between Rank 1 and 2 and felt like the RNG was always playing against me until i realized something, something which got me to Legend today. Well i was responsible for the wall that was holding me back, the wall was me trying to switch between different decks, hoping this is the deck that gets me to legend but all that did was hold me back from reaching legend and once i realized that i chose a deck which had the highest WR for me and went with it. That's the only secret just stick with one deck that has the highest WR for you, just stick with it even if you lose couple of games at first cause eventually you will reach legend. ADB, I believe in you.
While luck is definitely a factor, you need to forget about it and see how you can improve your chances to win. After you lose a match, don't start another right away, take a moment to look back and see what you could have done to have more chances to win in that particular matchup. Maybe you could hold a card for longer or you could choose to mulligan differently. This is gonna have max impact on ladder where you face mostly the same decks.
Im not a pro player but when I spectate them I always learn something I would have done differently. This is because they are always questioning their own plays and nothing else
Step 1. Patience
Step 2. Don't think abt legend. Just focus on current match.
Step 3. Stick to one particular deck.
Step 4. Enjoy .
Step 0. Play highlander hunter.
What's point of getting legend when all you get is 1 card pack? lmao
Fun > Meta
It is not weird to see your winrate drop when you are nearing Legend. It is not weird at all and in fact it is too be EXPECTED!. You are playing BETTER players. I typically get to D5 with around a 70-90% winrate and then it drops off SIGNIFICANTLY.
Just stick with 1 deck and up your playing time. But don't play if you're tilted as you will most likely misplay more often. You also need to be very critical of your plays and really look into whether you are making any significant misplays or incorrect mulligan choices. Good luck.
First time I reached legend wild was storming with even shamans and odd paladins, before the nerfs. My elemental shaman beat both decks quite easily, so I decided to make a run. Took me one night and maybe 3-4 hours (kingsbane rogue was also popular, and against that I lost many times)
Funny thing is, soon there came new cards like mage cloud prince and secret mage was born. After that my legend reaching elemental shaman was pretty much useless.
Second time I reached legend with my own highlander mage deck. I just didn't lose and got the L, without really trying.
I suggest try highlander decks. At least you have high change to roll face decks
dont think about the hours u play. try to use a fast deck and if u can mange 15 to 20 games per day u can reach it in like 4 days considering u are stuck in rank 4 to 2. it happened to me too this week,. really weird kept having 50% wr in like 50 games. and all of a sudden won like 18 games and 3 or so losses. actually blazed through rank 3 to legend in 90 minutes. there was definetly rng involved in 2 matches that otherwise i would have lost 100%
1 EXTRA card pack. If you don't want it, then stop at Diamond 5.
Maybe some people never got to legend before and want to see if they can do it. Maybe they want the card back or the extra pack.
Just because you don't see the "point of getting legend" doesn't mean everyone else feels that way.
"There is no spoon"
I recently got legend for the first time in this new ranking system. You get a free legendary card the first time you get it, not just a card pack. Since getting legend, I was playing fun decks or trying things out, not caring about my rank anymore. I noticed that now I’m being matched against gold-level players. When I was climbing, I friended a couple of people and at least one was a top-500 legend who laughed that he got paired with me, ranked diamond 4 at the time. So you don’t know how high ranked your opponents are until you hit legend...! That’s odd to me, different from the old system, where you always saw your opponent’s rank.
I think there is luck involved unless you’re a savant like some of the pros. Got to D5 day 1, and I had been struggling in the d5-d1 ranks most of the month, but I got on a run from d5 to legend in one day because I was playing spell Druid and kept getting matchups against DH and hunter, which were both good matchups for my deck. I’d say if you are on a win streak, keep rolling... and if you lose 2-3 in a row, do something else for a while and come back to it.
You could keep grinding and hope to get lucky or you can work on specific skills.
Things to think about while your playing:
1)how much reach do I have (damage not on board)
2) what are my outs (including outs 2-5 turns away depending on the deck)
3) Deck building skills, despite what people think the "top" decks are not always the best decks. There are always opportunities to push in counters on specific days, which is possible because when a popular streamer streams an interesting deck often his watchers will play that deck, sometimes while the streamer is playing.
4) Trading skills. Do I trade up and kill my minion, do I trade down and preserve my minion, why might one be better than the other. (for instance trading up can preserve life, at least short term, trading down can preserve value, but only if they don't have removal) etc
5) should I go face or trade? a much more complex decision then many would have you believe. Often it's better to go face and you should favor face sometimes even as the control, but depending on the match up, how much reach you know the other deck to have, also you should consider whether you are the aggressor or whether you are the control(I think there is another name for this). In every specific match up can consider yourself the agressor or control, sometimes this can change during the matchup(this is espsecially important in the late game for more controllerish decks) If you are the aggressor you can favor face even more than normal. If you are the control you should consider favoring trades in order to favor value or long term tempo. As the aggressor going face you should consider A) what's my long term play potentential, if it is for some reason low, perserving value on board and tempo may be better then going face (though not necessarily). As the aggressor do I need to trade because the opponent has a good one sided clear, do I know they have a clear from reading their play actions and hand? As the control can I afford to go face, many control side decks have more reach then you think, Every bit of 'chip' damage can be the difference between a win and a loss.
6) when to hold board clear vs when to use it. A very complex decision based on matchup, current board and hand state, how much removal is in the deck you are using.
7) almost always use more expensive removal before less expensive removal unless you can include tempo in the removal play. This allows later tempo with cheap removal and whatever cards you've gotten through draw or discovery.
8)Other stuff I can't think of because I'm not really on right now.
9) positioning. This is a corner skill but does make a huge difference in certain matchups and with certain decks
10) Lethal - when to hold reach because you could be doing other things, when to use reach to make them low and not be able to use their weapon or tap (for warlock). When you have lethal. I see players miss lethal quite often, and thats without me even knowing what reach they have in their hand.
You can train these skills various ways, but the most powerful thing to do is just know about them because if you don't know about them then you can't focus your attention on them and thus it becomes impossible to train them.
Many of these concepts can be learned by using heartharena and using the tracker (at least the concepts related to deck building) and playing arena.
In the last rank, try to be quiet and dont' play if you are a little bit tilted because that could bring you to make mistakes. I have reached legend for first time this month and I lost some 'matchball' games but eventually I achieved it.
I hit legend 1st time this season.
Stick to one deck. Do not switch the deck even if you would feel like it unless it is some deck you are already super familiar with last season for example. If the deck is legend viable then you can do it.
Sucks for the D1 3 stars :(. If you are struggling with counter decks, you just need to use everything in your knowledge of the matchup to try to maximize your chance to win (and get a little bit of lucky). Winning those unfavorable matches is crucial unless you happen to run into 0 them.
And the most important advice for me at least was to never play when you are tilted. It will affect your performance even if you don't feel like it does. Take a break and come back later.
Me? Gongaga.
Was playing gala priest and moving up and down from 3 star D1 to D3. Switched to hylander hunter and lost 1 game from D3 to legend
as everyone said, the key is Patience, i am also in the grind to my first time legend, the no bonus star at D5 makes this a grind.
Im doing Reno mage, and currently climbing very slowly, yesterday i played like for 6 hours, i went from P2 to D5 in the first hour, then i got stuck 2 hours in D5, i got D4 3 stars, but lose 3 in a row, etc. the usual.
A legend grind looks like: after several hours of play you are just. 2 or 3 stars higher than when you started but the you need to keep grinding
Pick a tier 1 deck and play enough to get a lucky streak. Luck is the key.
Before this new ranking style I had 1 month whereby I got to rank 1, full stars 4 times. All those 4 times I lost the final game and did not manage to get legend. That was one of the most frustrating moments for me in HS. I haven't tried getting legend since.
The few times I've hit legend was because of one thing: I found a deck that was pretty good, and I had so much fun playing, I didn't mind playing that deck for a month. Most decks take a lot of time to master, don't underestimate that.
I have been in that situation where i was going back and forth between Rank 1 and 2 and felt like the RNG was always playing against me until i realized something, something which got me to Legend today. Well i was responsible for the wall that was holding me back, the wall was me trying to switch between different decks, hoping this is the deck that gets me to legend but all that did was hold me back from reaching legend and once i realized that i chose a deck which had the highest WR for me and went with it. That's the only secret just stick with one deck that has the highest WR for you, just stick with it even if you lose couple of games at first cause eventually you will reach legend.
ADB, I believe in you.
Exactly!Stick to one deck that you enjoy the most and has good win ratio.
2 hours a day is mere 10 games in the best scenario.that's seems too little...play more time!
dead game btw