No. I would say that good players generally reach legend but that doesn't mean you're bad if you don't. Good players usually reach legend but the only difference between someone who CAN reach legend and someone who DOES reach legend is the effort.
If you are actually trying to reach legend and you can't, then you can definitely improve. Because a good player will generally reach legend if they're playing the games.
Terms like good, great, bad are relative. Some people think getting diamond 5 is good, some people think not being in top 100 is dumpster. If YOU want to reach legend then work on improving. If you are content with where you are then just enjoy that. Either way, focus on improving game to game.
Can't answer the OP's question but I know for sure reaching Legend doesn't necessarily make you a good player.
I'm fairly certain a significant portion of Legend-ranked players got there simply by copying a streamer or netdeck and following a guide to play it to Legend without actually bothering to get good at the game.
The number of extremely basic and game-ending misplays I see made at Legend rank is almost unbelievable at times.
There are a multitude of reasons people dont reach legend. But that NEVER means they are bad players. Especially if they can get to diamond without any issues. I have played since the beta and have reach legend under both the old and new systems. I can honestly tell you that diamond 5 is no different from the majority of legend (Maybe till around rank 3000 its players of similar skill level as D5 players).
Also, the mystique of legend that once used to exist is forever gone since HSReplay was launched. That is what ruined the ranked play experience because everyone would just netdeck the top deck. For example, just 2 days ago I randomly started seeing Miracle Malygos druid with Gadgetzan Auctioneer after over a year of never seeing that card in the standard format. That was because one person (Forgive me I forgot their name) got rank 1 legend with it. Legend doesnt mean much anymore and you should not be hard on yourself!!
Honestly, HSReplay should never have existed, MTG still hides their stats....
legend means you are good at the game rank 5 means you average and below is more casual
I respectfully disagree. Many people, myself included, don't play to reach legend and/or don't have the time to grind it out (yes, I have reached legend).
OP: No, you can be a good player and never reach legend.
I haven't ever made legend but I don't play enough games per month to do so. I often face players with the card back though and they don't seem to be noticeably better than anyone else.
Depends on the how and how much. Are you playing bad or good decks? Are you playing 50 or 500 ranked matches a month? If you answered the first in either, no. If you answered the second to both, yes. How many seasons doesn't matter past "2".
Reaching Legend is more a matter of how much time you're willing to put into ranked, and what decks you're happy to play, instead of just whether you're "a good player". Hearthstone is particularly vicious for having game events that are hyper exciting for one player but miserable for the other, and this often ends up being more important than raw skill.
For example: after the ladder format changed (rank 25 -> Bronze 10), I felt obligated to get Legend again so I would get the free Legendary you got for doing so. I decided to play Demon Hunter (which was on round 3 or so of nerfs), both because people said it was good and also to start working towards the golden portrait for Illidan since I had all the others already. My first win-and-in for Legend, my opponent went Dragonqueen Alex -> Nozari when they were dead on board. My second win-and-in, the same thing. And then it happened twice more that same play session.
I did eventually get there, making it my third time in six years getting to Legend (second was by accident, I just kept winning), but honestly, while it's easier than it was in the 25-to-1 format, it's such a damn grind that I don't want to do it again unless I absolutely have to. I already get to Master rank on both ladders in Eternal every month and I feel I have so much more control in that game vs whether I just roll over and die to RNG in Hearthstone.
Don't beat yourself up about it. You can do it once for the cardback if you want, but it's not a key component to enjoy the game and your life won't change as soon as you get that last star either way. Focus on having fun instead.
You could be a bad player, or you could be a good player who has never invested enough time and focus to get to legend. (Or both!) Only you can really tell.
I do wish they would allow duels to count towards hero portraits tho! Duels take so much time to finish it feels necessary.
Not reaching legend doesn’t make you bad, some of us enjoy hearthstone for different reasons and I can totally understand the grind on ladder is off putting.
I tend to play the other modes more often so standard to me is just meme decks that I try with the cool cards.
I haven't reached legend once and I've been playing constantly since beta. I've missed maybe 5 total daily quests because of going on vacations in that amount of time.
Before the revamp I got to rank 5 and I quit
After the revamp I got to Diamond 1 but couldn't get past that since I took a major losing streak back to D5. I just gave up.
I mean I would not say it does not mean you are a bad player by no means. If I wanted to I could easily net deck to legend but that isn’t enjoyable to me. Many players have different priorities in a game mine being mainly to have fun. For example I don’t think people who play token Druid are actually good at the game they are just good at exploiting a broken deck that definitely needs a nerf as there are few counters to it. Legend used to be a matter of actual skill but the game has become so RNG with random card generation it is hard to say it requires anything but time and money to hit legend.
no, I hardly ever bothered to get legend for years because who cares. I only started doing it regularly for the extra monthly pack you earn. But now I am so burned out on this slot machine that rank 5 seems fine at this point.
I mean c'mon, it takes 5 hours to reach Diamond 10 from Bronze on the first Day every month, and from there probably roughly 30 hours divided into 7-10 Days to reach Legendary most of the time...
It's like Blizzard almost made it too easy, should have aimed for a middle ground between old and new one.
I've played HS since the beta, so 6 years or so. I have never managed to reach Legend. Does that mean I'm a bad player? It feels like everyone who discusses HS online has managed to reach Legend at least once.
The closest I've been was like rank 2 in the rank system before this revamped one.
HA! no we were just smart enough not to no life the game for a month like the ones that did. If they claim it was ez that's probably when mech mage was running rampant. Good times lol
I would say no. I have been playing since TCG and I never hit legend until this year. I am convinced it wasn't because of any change in my skill in the last two years just I was on summer break and had a lot of time on my hands. To hit legend all you really need is time and commitment to play one deck until you know it and its matchups inside out. I imagine I will never hit legend again bc its a mega grind imo. I think you can still be a great player and even have more fun just playing whatever strikes your fancy each time you get on.
No. I would say that good players generally reach legend but that doesn't mean you're bad if you don't. Good players usually reach legend but the only difference between someone who CAN reach legend and someone who DOES reach legend is the effort.
If you are actually trying to reach legend and you can't, then you can definitely improve. Because a good player will generally reach legend if they're playing the games.
Terms like good, great, bad are relative. Some people think getting diamond 5 is good, some people think not being in top 100 is dumpster. If YOU want to reach legend then work on improving. If you are content with where you are then just enjoy that. Either way, focus on improving game to game.
Can't answer the OP's question but I know for sure reaching Legend doesn't necessarily make you a good player.
I'm fairly certain a significant portion of Legend-ranked players got there simply by copying a streamer or netdeck and following a guide to play it to Legend without actually bothering to get good at the game.
The number of extremely basic and game-ending misplays I see made at Legend rank is almost unbelievable at times.
Why??
There are a multitude of reasons people dont reach legend. But that NEVER means they are bad players. Especially if they can get to diamond without any issues. I have played since the beta and have reach legend under both the old and new systems. I can honestly tell you that diamond 5 is no different from the majority of legend (Maybe till around rank 3000 its players of similar skill level as D5 players).
Also, the mystique of legend that once used to exist is forever gone since HSReplay was launched. That is what ruined the ranked play experience because everyone would just netdeck the top deck. For example, just 2 days ago I randomly started seeing Miracle Malygos druid with Gadgetzan Auctioneer after over a year of never seeing that card in the standard format. That was because one person (Forgive me I forgot their name) got rank 1 legend with it. Legend doesnt mean much anymore and you should not be hard on yourself!!
Honestly, HSReplay should never have existed, MTG still hides their stats....
:)
https://hsreplay.net/replay/27u2NJTZZJgToJ6k6n5BTM
I respectfully disagree. Many people, myself included, don't play to reach legend and/or don't have the time to grind it out (yes, I have reached legend).
OP: No, you can be a good player and never reach legend.
I haven't ever made legend but I don't play enough games per month to do so. I often face players with the card back though and they don't seem to be noticeably better than anyone else.
Depends on the how and how much. Are you playing bad or good decks? Are you playing 50 or 500 ranked matches a month? If you answered the first in either, no. If you answered the second to both, yes. How many seasons doesn't matter past "2".
Reaching Legend is more a matter of how much time you're willing to put into ranked, and what decks you're happy to play, instead of just whether you're "a good player". Hearthstone is particularly vicious for having game events that are hyper exciting for one player but miserable for the other, and this often ends up being more important than raw skill.
For example: after the ladder format changed (rank 25 -> Bronze 10), I felt obligated to get Legend again so I would get the free Legendary you got for doing so. I decided to play Demon Hunter (which was on round 3 or so of nerfs), both because people said it was good and also to start working towards the golden portrait for Illidan since I had all the others already. My first win-and-in for Legend, my opponent went Dragonqueen Alex -> Nozari when they were dead on board. My second win-and-in, the same thing. And then it happened twice more that same play session.
I did eventually get there, making it my third time in six years getting to Legend (second was by accident, I just kept winning), but honestly, while it's easier than it was in the 25-to-1 format, it's such a damn grind that I don't want to do it again unless I absolutely have to. I already get to Master rank on both ladders in Eternal every month and I feel I have so much more control in that game vs whether I just roll over and die to RNG in Hearthstone.
Don't beat yourself up about it. You can do it once for the cardback if you want, but it's not a key component to enjoy the game and your life won't change as soon as you get that last star either way. Focus on having fun instead.
You could be a bad player, or you could be a good player who has never invested enough time and focus to get to legend. (Or both!) Only you can really tell.
I do wish they would allow duels to count towards hero portraits tho! Duels take so much time to finish it feels necessary.
Not reaching legend doesn’t make you bad, some of us enjoy hearthstone for different reasons and I can totally understand the grind on ladder is off putting.
I tend to play the other modes more often so standard to me is just meme decks that I try with the cool cards.
Is that a murloc? Yawn....conceede!
Play a lot that's my only suggestion. The only few times I reached legend was when I was out of work at the time and I had loads of time at my hand.
As the other guys said it's all about how much time and effort you put into it.
legend is just a test of patience not of skill
I haven't reached legend once and I've been playing constantly since beta. I've missed maybe 5 total daily quests because of going on vacations in that amount of time.
Before the revamp I got to rank 5 and I quit
After the revamp I got to Diamond 1 but couldn't get past that since I took a major losing streak back to D5. I just gave up.
Each month I get to D5 and call it quits.
Probably not before, but with the reworked ranking system yes.
I mean I would not say it does not mean you are a bad player by no means. If I wanted to I could easily net deck to legend but that isn’t enjoyable to me. Many players have different priorities in a game mine being mainly to have fun. For example I don’t think people who play token Druid are actually good at the game they are just good at exploiting a broken deck that definitely needs a nerf as there are few counters to it. Legend used to be a matter of actual skill but the game has become so RNG with random card generation it is hard to say it requires anything but time and money to hit legend.
Net decking was nowhere near as bad and RNG was very limited along with card generation
no, I hardly ever bothered to get legend for years because who cares. I only started doing it regularly for the extra monthly pack you earn. But now I am so burned out on this slot machine that rank 5 seems fine at this point.
Short answer: Yes
Long answer:
In the dreadful old System: NO
Nowadays: HELL YES !
I mean c'mon, it takes 5 hours to reach Diamond 10 from Bronze on the first Day every month, and from there probably roughly 30 hours divided into 7-10 Days to reach Legendary most of the time...
It's like Blizzard almost made it too easy, should have aimed for a middle ground between old and new one.
HA! no we were just smart enough not to no life the game for a month like the ones that did. If they claim it was ez that's probably when mech mage was running rampant. Good times lol
I would say no. I have been playing since TCG and I never hit legend until this year. I am convinced it wasn't because of any change in my skill in the last two years just I was on summer break and had a lot of time on my hands. To hit legend all you really need is time and commitment to play one deck until you know it and its matchups inside out. I imagine I will never hit legend again bc its a mega grind imo. I think you can still be a great player and even have more fun just playing whatever strikes your fancy each time you get on.
I do not think so - but I did not reach legend neither.
IMO the only satisfying way is to reach legend with homebrew deck, othrerwise it is just the same grind like from Bronze 20...
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