Hearthpwn

Twice when Jade Druid was in Standard and when Even Pally was a thing. Rank 5 is pretty much the same rewards anyway although I did manage to get Rank 1 5 stars 4-5 times last month with Recruit Hunter (last boss was always Odd Paladin can't believe my luck on that one), probably could've gotten there if I tried atm only play Hearthstone for maybe an hour or two a day. My mindset is If I get there I get there if I don't no biggie.

Need a third option: No, and never going to happen

 Almost every time after reaching rank 3, I'd think that I'll definitely grind to legend. And then I got pushed back to 5. Then I think, maybe next month. It's been 2 years now... 

No, I'd rather play for fun than grind all day just to get a card back.

Hit rank 5 fairly easily, have neither the time nor the inclination to go for legend.

Oops, this was an answer to the OP, don't know why it ended here

Theimmondbeast already gave you the answer:

I've had my time grinding for various objectives on numerous games and finally realized that was work and not fun so I changed my approach. I now try as many decks as my collection allows to learn their mechanisms and when I enjoy one, I play it a little more (but never much).

That's the fun I'm looking for when playing a game be it Hearthstone or any other... and that, of course, makes it impossible to reach Legend...

I did once years ago with dragon/tempo warrior just by getting a lucky long winstreak at the end, there wasn't much of a grind. 

Last season I finally managed to get there again with the boring as hell odd rogue, and I probably never will again.  I just wanted to prove I could still do it even if it meant playing a braindead deck where every game goes pretty much the same and what my opponent does doesn't particularly matter unless it's removing my whole board.

Aside from the requirement to play tier 1 decks that I don't like, the main thing keeping me from trying again is how legend ranks work, unless they change it soon.  All it takes is a few losses and it's like you're permanently stuck in dumpster tier facing rank 4-3 people unless you put in several hours to slowly climb back to the point where you play against other legend players.  Where's the fun of being in the legendary bracket if all you face is non-legend players?

I tried to get legend only once - got to Rank 1 with 1 star. Maybe I should've pushed it further then because I never wanted to grind it to legend ever since.

I used to get rank 5 every season for a golden epic effortlessly with the deck I liked at the time, because I liked to play the game. But nowadays I only play to finish quests from time to time. The game actually annoys me with it's rock-paper-scissors design ever since MSoG and super-swingy cards and mechanics.

I used to build decks for 3-5 classes to have some variety, although mainly sticking to Mage regardless of the class' state. Now most decks need class legendaries and niche epics, so I don't bother and just play Mage and sometimes semi-outdated Warlock decks.

Yes. Once. After almost 4 years of playing the game I finally got to legend at the end of last month. Tho I haven't really tried to push for it more than just a few times. Rank 1 4 stars was my best before this one. Mostly I've been satisfied with reaching Rank 5.

Edit: I might add that it happened almost by accident. I was basically just doing daily quests with Evenlock and I had already reached Rank 2 5 stars so I thought I might as well do a bit of try-harding to see if I could make it this time.

Secret Option 3: No and I couldn’t care less.

Seriously, Legend does NOT automatically mean you are good at the game.   I have a few friends who have reached legend, I’m happy for them, but it’s not something I’ll strive for.  The only time legend meant anything was pre-WotOG, when there weren’t nearly as many OP trash decks.  

And the cardback? Lol! TOTALLY not worth it, plus there’s no such thing as bragging rights in this game outside of a deck consisting of all goldens.  That’s my goal, to have one deck that I love be all golden. Something like Miracle Rogue that doesn’t really change a lot over time.

Yes. I got Legend a few times before the ladder changes were made. Now with the new ladder its difficult. People can't drop below rank 5 once you reach it and at the end of the season you only drop 4 ranks. As a result you will see Noobs playing memes that hard counter your deck between rank 1-5. So getting to Legend now is just 100% dice roll. It isn't worth it. This season's card back is more cool.

Quote from MProdigy >>

Secret Option 3: No and I couldn’t care less.

Seriously, Legend does NOT automatically mean you are good at the game.   I have a few friends who have reached legend, I’m happy for them, but it’s not something I’ll strive for.  The only time legend meant anything was pre-WotOG, when there weren’t nearly as many OP trash decks.  

And the cardback? Lol! TOTALLY not worth it, plus there’s no such thing as bragging rights in this game outside of a deck consisting of all goldens.  That’s my goal, to have one deck that I love be all golden. Something like Miracle Rogue that doesn’t really change a lot over time.

 I agree 100% with your last comment.  The cardback is hideous.  It looks like it should be the cardback you start with when you start a new account.  I'd rather use the s1-4 backs - not because they are better looking necessarily (although s2 and the cloud/rainbow one is pretty cool), but because they mean a lot more than whether you hit legend or not.  

Quote from Phoenixfeather >>

Nope. And neither has most of us

 are you implying some people may be lying about their constant legend status while being stuck at rank 20?  I refuse to believe this.

No.
I want to just for the card back since it is like 1 of maybe 3 backs ever made I don't have, but my ADD won't allow me to.  Every time I say I'm gonna grind it out this month, or even for a day, I wind up playing like 4 other games.  Only play HS for an hour or so at a time at best.

Once in March, don't care to do it again. I can get more gold at other ranks, and have more fun. 

Quote from EFHYDRALISK >>

Ive reached "Dad legend" aka rank 5 and it always feels great. Though 5-legend grind is burtal. Maybe one day. As a husband and father I have a lot on my plate thats more important. 

 This, exactly this. I have made it to rank 2 back before the change to ladder from rank 18 ish. But i just can't find enough time in a season to make the full push.

Never been Legend, but last season was my best ladder result ever, reaching Rank 4 (previously it was 11).  I was using Odd Paladin which seems to have the twin virtues of being able to close out games early and having lots of different ways to win.  This deck makes it seem like it might be possible for me to reach Legend, if I played enough games.  But since I have a full time job and lots of s**t to do, I doubt I'll ever find out.

If you want to reach legend, do not use any hearthpwn deck with "70% wr"

I'm glad I made legend, in March and April.  I work full time as an accountant sooo I don't really know how I made it in my busiest months of the year lol, but I'm still glad I did.

The main reason I was able to make it was, I was just using a Keleseth zoo deck, teched properly to apparently counter the entire ladder meta, and games were all 5-6 minutes max.

I'm just glad I don't have to respond to these type of threads with a slight salty, envious undertone any more lol (not saying anyone else does this; it's just what I did back in the day).