I don't post often but wanted to say that the guide posted by the forum member who finally made legend is excellent. if you haven't read it, do so.
That being said, this month was a bit unique for me, and wanted to share my experience.
I have never broken rank 11 before. I play a ton of Hearthstone (casually), and watch many pro streamers, but things just never clicked. I have always gone on tilt, gotten angry at RNG, and then I switched up decks with every game just trying to find something that would wreck an opponent by turn 5. Yeah, I eve tried the cancer of pirate warrior, and it was fun for a bit. But when it fails, it fails hard, and it's almost embarrassing.
Back about 2 years ago I nearly broke into rank 10 with the old Undertaker and/or Face Hunter deck. In fact, I might have gotten to rank 10 but it was so short-lived that I can't even remember for sure. Over time, and after hundreds (probably a few thousands) bucks spent on cards, something snapped in me this month where I decided it wasn't worth getting angry over, to laugh a bit at the RNG and to most importantly: STICK TO A DECK I LIKED AND REFUSE TO TURN MY BACK ON IT.
I did this with Dragon Priest. I went on some bad losing streaks and teetered around rank 11 as usual. I somehow managed to get rank 9 and I thought I better just quit and accept my rank 9 treasure chest. This was yesterday. But, more importantly than anything else, I was having FUN with dragon priest, laughing off the losses by turn 4 to warrior or to a board full of 8/8 and higher Jades.
I decided to keep playing. I hit rank 8. Then 7. This has to be the end, right? Everyone's so much better than I am.
But I was wrong. I quit tonight to start drinking for New Year's but I will enjoy a rank 3 treasure chest tomorrow. I was even one star away from rank 2, but a few people got the best of me and I've decided to lay down my guns. If I had more time, I'd have tried to push through to legend. Never did I imagine that I would EVER have a shot at it-- but now, I've learned a few things:
1- stop tilting. I used to play poker for what were pretty high stakes for a college kid- winning or losing 3,000-5,000 dollars per night. I was good because I never played on tilt. For some reason it took me almost 3 years of Hearthstone to cut this habit.
2- I stuck to the deck I liked. I've always loved priest, even if it was weak at times. Oddly, what drew me to priest as a class was the original Randuin deck. I started to play Hearthstone then to troll, basically. This month (really, the last two days), I just put my faith in Dragon Priest and rolled with it.
3- I didn't use my deck tracker for this run to rank 3, surprisingly, but more importantly than tracking I learned that it's important to put a LOT of effort into thinking about the opponent's next turn. That leads me to point 4
4- In addition to thinking about the opponent, plan your moves 2, 3 turns in advance. Have backup plans, if possible. Take some chances. I took some of Trump's videos about board control perhaps TOO much to heart, and because of that I have always had the mindset of clearing minions before going face. This wasn't even Trump's lesson, but I have always had a phobia about some harmless 1/1 getting buffed and taking out my 3/6 4-drop. This really makes no sense and only limits your options in the end game.
5- Have some fun. If you get spanked, throw your opponent a "well played" and concede or let them throw down their ridiculous BM for lethal. I used to have a habit of rage quitting. I don't know why, but I got over it, and it made these last two or three days a blast.
6- Believe that you can do it. You can climb to the better ranks. Trust me, if I can, anyone can. Yes, I have been studying the game somewhat passively for a few years, and we all have our moments where the game feels like a rigged RNG mess, but in the end, through some level-headed play and forethought, you'll find yourself on some streaks and you'll get to ranks you never thought possible.
Next month, I look forward to writing a similar post about my noob self making it to Legend.
The first couple of paragraphs pretty much state what I am going through right now, but I am getting better. I think jumps that can be made to becoming a better player are accepting that RNG is a factor, more or less, and that you must be ready for when it does not go in your favor. Also switching up decks because of rage and expecting to win is a huge mistake. Sticking to certain decks and learning the play style is a very smart idea for ladder pushing.
Wow, this story kinda parallels the same way with my hearthstone experience. I just broke rank 5 last month only after I decided to do what you did in your post, play a deck I enjoyed. After playing for about 9 months already and spending a couple hundred bucks on the game I decided enough was enough and instead of try harding with net decks I stuck with a deck I enjoyed playing.
I discovered that control shaman was actually a thing a few months back and I went through reddit, hearthpwn, etc just to learn more about the deck. Then I gave it a go, it wasn't easy at first however, I lost many times but throughout those times I actually had fun because I was doing something the aggro netdecks didn't really need you to do that much, planning your turns. I had tremendous fun every game through making decision after decision, I felt like I was in the driver seat of the deck and if I made a wrong decision everything will go crashing.
Last month, at the very early days of the month, I spent game after game playing and eventually I made it to rank 5. It was incredibly tough and frustrating at times but when I got there I felt like I actually achieved something, a personal achievement. Satisfying my desire to break rank 5 felt amazing. I never desired to grind to legend though. Probably because all those games grinding took a toll on me. I was never a player to play many games in one sitting. But that month I broke that habit.
Thank you for making this post, I was a player that thought that netdecks gave easy victories and I blamed rng and the luck of the draw and that wasn't fun. But finding a deck that I enjoyed really made ladder that much more enjoyable.
Really cool story man. I'm in the same position tho I've only played for two months. I've spent a good amount and have all the cards needed for top decks but I can't seem to push past rank 9. I have a bad habit of switching decks with ever loss. Anyway just wanted To say you've motivated me to stich with one deck that I enjoy. Thank you and happy new year
Hearthstone is a card game. All card games inherently have luck tied into the drawing mechanism. If you play a lot, you will inherently lose a lot. Once you accept that, it makes the losses much easier to manage. I think accepting that is a really important step towards consistently reaching high ranks.
congrats on your strong finish, and good luck next month.
Playing a deck you like can be important for getting into the right mindset, getting to legend takes willpower. More important still is playing a suitable deck for the meta. I mean if I made a deck that won 100% against Pirate Warrior and Aggro Shaman and lost to literally everything else, I'd reach legend. Playing such a deck can feel demoralizing though, which is why that "optimizing for the meta" strategy is not for everyone, which is usually what people try to do when they constantly switch decks.
You also run into the problem of not learning your deck, very important for pushing the last few percentages above a 50% winrate. For most people it's likely best to perfect a deck you know might not be optimal, but good enough for climbing, and most importantly for having fun.
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...kind of.
I don't post often but wanted to say that the guide posted by the forum member who finally made legend is excellent. if you haven't read it, do so.
That being said, this month was a bit unique for me, and wanted to share my experience.
I have never broken rank 11 before. I play a ton of Hearthstone (casually), and watch many pro streamers, but things just never clicked. I have always gone on tilt, gotten angry at RNG, and then I switched up decks with every game just trying to find something that would wreck an opponent by turn 5. Yeah, I eve tried the cancer of pirate warrior, and it was fun for a bit. But when it fails, it fails hard, and it's almost embarrassing.
Back about 2 years ago I nearly broke into rank 10 with the old Undertaker and/or Face Hunter deck. In fact, I might have gotten to rank 10 but it was so short-lived that I can't even remember for sure. Over time, and after hundreds (probably a few thousands) bucks spent on cards, something snapped in me this month where I decided it wasn't worth getting angry over, to laugh a bit at the RNG and to most importantly: STICK TO A DECK I LIKED AND REFUSE TO TURN MY BACK ON IT.
I did this with Dragon Priest. I went on some bad losing streaks and teetered around rank 11 as usual. I somehow managed to get rank 9 and I thought I better just quit and accept my rank 9 treasure chest. This was yesterday. But, more importantly than anything else, I was having FUN with dragon priest, laughing off the losses by turn 4 to warrior or to a board full of 8/8 and higher Jades.
I decided to keep playing. I hit rank 8. Then 7. This has to be the end, right? Everyone's so much better than I am.
But I was wrong. I quit tonight to start drinking for New Year's but I will enjoy a rank 3 treasure chest tomorrow. I was even one star away from rank 2, but a few people got the best of me and I've decided to lay down my guns. If I had more time, I'd have tried to push through to legend. Never did I imagine that I would EVER have a shot at it-- but now, I've learned a few things:
1- stop tilting. I used to play poker for what were pretty high stakes for a college kid- winning or losing 3,000-5,000 dollars per night. I was good because I never played on tilt. For some reason it took me almost 3 years of Hearthstone to cut this habit.
2- I stuck to the deck I liked. I've always loved priest, even if it was weak at times. Oddly, what drew me to priest as a class was the original Randuin deck. I started to play Hearthstone then to troll, basically. This month (really, the last two days), I just put my faith in Dragon Priest and rolled with it.
3- I didn't use my deck tracker for this run to rank 3, surprisingly, but more importantly than tracking I learned that it's important to put a LOT of effort into thinking about the opponent's next turn. That leads me to point 4
4- In addition to thinking about the opponent, plan your moves 2, 3 turns in advance. Have backup plans, if possible. Take some chances. I took some of Trump's videos about board control perhaps TOO much to heart, and because of that I have always had the mindset of clearing minions before going face. This wasn't even Trump's lesson, but I have always had a phobia about some harmless 1/1 getting buffed and taking out my 3/6 4-drop. This really makes no sense and only limits your options in the end game.
5- Have some fun. If you get spanked, throw your opponent a "well played" and concede or let them throw down their ridiculous BM for lethal. I used to have a habit of rage quitting. I don't know why, but I got over it, and it made these last two or three days a blast.
6- Believe that you can do it. You can climb to the better ranks. Trust me, if I can, anyone can. Yes, I have been studying the game somewhat passively for a few years, and we all have our moments where the game feels like a rigged RNG mess, but in the end, through some level-headed play and forethought, you'll find yourself on some streaks and you'll get to ranks you never thought possible.
Next month, I look forward to writing a similar post about my noob self making it to Legend.
Happy New Year to all.
The first couple of paragraphs pretty much state what I am going through right now, but I am getting better. I think jumps that can be made to becoming a better player are accepting that RNG is a factor, more or less, and that you must be ready for when it does not go in your favor. Also switching up decks because of rage and expecting to win is a huge mistake. Sticking to certain decks and learning the play style is a very smart idea for ladder pushing.
Wow, this story kinda parallels the same way with my hearthstone experience. I just broke rank 5 last month only after I decided to do what you did in your post, play a deck I enjoyed. After playing for about 9 months already and spending a couple hundred bucks on the game I decided enough was enough and instead of try harding with net decks I stuck with a deck I enjoyed playing.
I discovered that control shaman was actually a thing a few months back and I went through reddit, hearthpwn, etc just to learn more about the deck. Then I gave it a go, it wasn't easy at first however, I lost many times but throughout those times I actually had fun because I was doing something the aggro netdecks didn't really need you to do that much, planning your turns. I had tremendous fun every game through making decision after decision, I felt like I was in the driver seat of the deck and if I made a wrong decision everything will go crashing.
Last month, at the very early days of the month, I spent game after game playing and eventually I made it to rank 5. It was incredibly tough and frustrating at times but when I got there I felt like I actually achieved something, a personal achievement. Satisfying my desire to break rank 5 felt amazing. I never desired to grind to legend though. Probably because all those games grinding took a toll on me. I was never a player to play many games in one sitting. But that month I broke that habit.
Thank you for making this post, I was a player that thought that netdecks gave easy victories and I blamed rng and the luck of the draw and that wasn't fun. But finding a deck that I enjoyed really made ladder that much more enjoyable.
Really cool story man. I'm in the same position tho I've only played for two months. I've spent a good amount and have all the cards needed for top decks but I can't seem to push past rank 9. I have a bad habit of switching decks with ever loss. Anyway just wanted To say you've motivated me to stich with one deck that I enjoy. Thank you and happy new year
Hearthstone is a card game. All card games inherently have luck tied into the drawing mechanism. If you play a lot, you will inherently lose a lot. Once you accept that, it makes the losses much easier to manage. I think accepting that is a really important step towards consistently reaching high ranks.
congrats on your strong finish, and good luck next month.
Playing a deck you like can be important for getting into the right mindset, getting to legend takes willpower. More important still is playing a suitable deck for the meta. I mean if I made a deck that won 100% against Pirate Warrior and Aggro Shaman and lost to literally everything else, I'd reach legend. Playing such a deck can feel demoralizing though, which is why that "optimizing for the meta" strategy is not for everyone, which is usually what people try to do when they constantly switch decks.
You also run into the problem of not learning your deck, very important for pushing the last few percentages above a 50% winrate. For most people it's likely best to perfect a deck you know might not be optimal, but good enough for climbing, and most importantly for having fun.