Hearthpwn

Sitting at lvl 80.

No Tavern Pass.

Guys, are we playing too much?? Too many hours a day?

(Am I? ..... Yes, I am, to be honest..     What am I gonna do about that? Hmm..     Somehow I can't easily stop myself from weekly trying to collect ~ the same amount of XP. That might seem stupid to you - I guess it is.) 

That felt quite anti-climatic, reaching lvl 50 without actually "working for it", just jumping over these last few levels because blizz decided it actually Was necessary to placate the angry player base by cutting the XP needed (to finish the Track).

Found it quite a disappointment to be honest. But hey.. I obviously should not care.

Funny how there are ~ 5 of these same threads now, more than one of us had the idea asking the community how far the rest of us had progressed comparing to oneself.

Sitting at lvl 80.

So guys, does it feel like a pleasant cadence, getting from one Bonus Level to the next?

Quote from Nefine1337 >>

Will they be banned?
I just afk at work

I have my cellphone out and join a game every 5 min or so

I am at Rank61 now.

 Please, Nefine, and everyone else who contemplates doing this: Don't.

Please. I understand blizz "advocates" making XP like this; Would you also take other people's time into account?

Yes, afk-ing at work nets you some XP. Thus you will spend less $ come expansion release day. It will provide you with a couple of extra packs.

In order to accomplish this, you will have to turn your attention to your phone every five minutes which is detrimental to your focus. And waste someone's time in the process.

Quote from MaxBocker >>

The new casino rules makes it hard to enjoy the game. If you want to level up in ranked you have to pay out $$$. THe RND allows you to win or move to the later levels if you paid more than your opponent. The lesson is that you will always hit a brick wall when trying to achieve the next level unless you buy more.  HS is hoping that lesson sinks in, so if its important to you, then buy your way to the top rank.

I've created about 4 unbeatable decks. Once they detect these decks they increase the opponent deck strength you're facing. This is the reason they hide the rank of the other player. Its a strength matching mechanic that pits players based on deck strength. The wrong card in your deck will pit you against the toughest opponents. 

The time detect these unbeatable decks has shortened signifigantly in a few years. My latest creation was corrected after a 11 game winning streak (less than 2 hour). 

Quote from YourPersonalGuru >>

Detect? If you have a high win rate, your mmr goes up. That's no secret really. In fact it was part of the announcement when the new ranking system came out, that mm would be more influenced by your recent "skill level" than just your rank. I think there are even players who exploit this when they hit level 5 in plat or diamond to get some easier opponents for a while. You even indirectly state that with the "deck power detection". It's a shame that you don't like it, but it actually helps new players climbing and old players feeling challenged. It also makes the top ladder slightly less aggro dominated. If you win 11 games in a row, wouldn't you expect your opponents to get stronger at some point, and wouldn't your "unbeatable" decks just smash them anyway?

Once you hit legend you can see your opponents rank btw. Also with non legend opponents ;) 

Hmmm, interesting reaction Max! What “Casino Rules” are you referring to?

I don’t share your concerns about matchmaking. In my experience, if I play a good deck, I have a good chance at getting over the hump and enter Legend. It may take me 220 games, or 160, but generally I find a sweet spot where I can string those last few wins together to cross over the 3 stars of Dia-1.

You know, when you are trying to climb, you win some and lose some. In my experience, it’s as dull as that. After a while you get an idea about what decks are good for you to face: you’ll win the majority of those matches. Not all of ‘em. If you play a good deck and you are proficient as a player, you’ll win, say 11 matches out of 20. And then maybe a streak of 14 out of 20. But you might also encounter a stretch where you’ll only have a 30% winrate. Which will even itself out in the next 20 matches.

If your winrate stays below par, below what you have grown accustomed to, the problem might lie in the deck.   e.g. I reached legend with Broom Pally the last 2 months. But this month, the deck doesn't feel strong. It seems as though its good match-ups have largely disappeared and have been replaced by evolve shammy, amongst others. Which seems to be a losing match-up. So, I made an evolve shammy myself and tried if that deck could fit me.

Don’t be afraid to switch. You might find you actually like playing that deck you despise facing.   

If a good player makes a new account at this moment, he or she could be Legend in a month or so, without paying a penny. I strongly believe that. The player would play a cheap deck of course, but cheap isn’t bad in HS. Face hunter and aggro DH have good match-ups, their games are fast.

Max, I do not think you have created 4 unbeatable decks. Even the best decks can draw badly, which means you just lose (to an opponent with a good hand).

Can you give an example of a “wrong card” that would influence matchmaking and pit you against the toughest oppo's (for your deck?) ?

Quote from Jurke39 >>

Just wanted to say that I finished my "500 wins with all classes" run with style. I finished it with Cthun (highlander mage seems pretty good after these nerfs).
I am super happy!

Next goal is to reach 1000 wins with Warlock and get that badass portrait. Paladin will be next one :)

Great that you are so happy Jurke! See, that’s what HS can bring about (inside of us) now and then!

Did u use the new CThun? Have never seen it in action yet, my opponents haven’t been able to assemble the parts, Then shuffle it in and Then draw it. This Shattered CThun seems so weak.. ;)

Quote from CoKrokToPrd >>

First my goal was just to have fun. I never thought i would reach legend one day. Now i have reached legend 5 times in wild (1 time old system, 4 times new one). Since it gotten easier with the change, i figured i could try go legend with every class once. But i dont think i can do that...at least with my frequent played heroes that im missing yet i could manage. So my next goal would be legend with mage & shaman.

I wouldnt mind to reach 12 wins in arena. I did a few times 10...

At least once legend in standard would be cool. I tried a couple times and i alwasy get bored very quick with the limited cards and boring meta.

Golden portrait with all classes...i guess i will manage one day. Im missing only druid and DH, but im maybe at 200 wins while other classes i have already over 1000. Since beta i havent found a deck for druids yet that would somehow feel funny to play. Same goes for DH, i have maybe 40 wins. Its just totally not my play style.

There we go...a couple of things still to achieve :)

It strangely never occurred to me to try and reach leggy with all the classes: Naturally, a very worthy Goal CoKrok! I’d take my hat off to anyone who accomplishes the feat.

Funny huh, the fact e.g. DH doesn’t suit you at all; But others feel like a fish in water piloting it. I couldn’t for the life of me imagine finding any druid deck NOT funny (rewarding) to play, but you clearly do! It never ceases to amaze me how different we all are.

Thanks for your posts, guys (gals) ^^ .

Quote from jaredb >>

I'm usually too busy to get more than two or three games in a row. Living with the Fiance, and a new puppy keeps me pretty busy when I'm home from work! I can't play more than two classes at a time, due to dust cost to get legendaries. Basically, after I open the 40 or so packs of cards I opened when an expansion starts, I'll play whichever class I got the most cards for to play an interesting deck. Right Now I own almost all the Demonhunter cards, and am mostly playing Meangerie N'Zoth Warrior, as I really like the mechanics. Not doing too well with it, as I'm just messing around with different decks, and I lack a lot of the Epic and Legendary cards for Warrior. Mostly playing a Galakond variant ATM. Might go back to my Demonhunter when I want to actually win games again lol. I might base my decks off ranking ones, but change it due to my collection. Last expansion I played a lot of Highlander and Quest druid, but a lot of those cards are going to rotate soon, so I might start dusting them to flesh out my warrior collection.

Menagerie Zoth warrior indeed looks like a lot of fun! It can be very strong also, specially due to the new small weapon that can give you up to +9/9 (!) on minions in your hand. For 2 mana? That’s frightening to play against!

Jared, is it enough for you to only play 2 classes? (I don’t mind focussing on one good deck myself. Don’t mind playing it for months, even.)

Ahh, it always makes me sad when I hear others stating they will DE good cards, e.g. what you might do with your Quest drood cards (a deck I too enjoyed very much). It’s a true pity you are unable to hang on to them and go back to ‘em in the future.      Enjoy your new pup! And fiancée :P .

Quote from YourPersonalGuru >>

This might be one of the nicest and most constructive threads I've seen here. No venom, just good vibes.

Love that you write this! I have the same feeling, and am quite happy with it ^^ . 

I've only started recently to have that urge to reach legend. Arena was my main mode since 2014 until BG came out. I first wanted to reach 12 wins with each class (except DH). Took ages since each class has shined at different times. After getting  a pure 12 win with rouge and priest I kind of lost the ambition and just want a good win rate now. Winning or nr 1 in BG with each class was a minor goal. Not really a set target, more a means to variation. I also used to aim for finishing with every class in dungeons, but the year of the dragon introduced some really long ones and I lost interest around that time. This month it's reaching legend in standard. Last month was wild. After then I don't know really... Maybe back to BG... Collecting was always a big thing for me so I guess that's why I was more an Arena guy than ranked. The meta has a big influence on my style. I mostly play warrior, so when he shines I'm more likely to play ranked. I think the new ranked system has made it a bit easier and a lot less work to reach legend. That has definitely motivated me to aim for it and then just play fun decks.

You really suck the marrow out of the bone of this game Guru :) . Cool to hear that you have set this many goals for yourself in different environments of the game, you try it all out.   How is the road to leggy coming along? Are you having fun with warrior? Bomb, or Big maybe? OTK/ ETC warrior, I haven’t had the pleasure to encounter it yet. Am interested how that one works. It’s thrilling to play against a deck of which you do not have an idea yet of what it’s capable of. Following the steps of your opponent, “Can he pull it off? What is he trying to do exactly?”

I reached leggy the last 3 months with Pure pally first, then Broom. This month, it seems as though other decks have its number thoroughly, especially evolve shammy.

Quote from ThisWasTheOnlyUsernameAvailable >>

Hearthstone is what I do when I'm taking a break from real life. It's a hobby that I do solely for entertainment and enjoyment. Of course I like working towards in game goals like hitting 500 wins with each character (got golden Rogue last night, my 5th golden hero so far. Priest next!) but I'm in no particular rush to get there. I also enjoy following the 'pro' scene. 

Before they announced set rotations a few years back I had a goal of getting all the good cards in gold. I spent a little too much (actually waaay too much) on the game back then to craft all the cool stuff like golden Nerubian Eggs, Belchers, Shredders, Mad Scientists, Reno, Kazakus, Loatheb, Rag, Sylvannas, Azure Drake's, Tomb Pillagers etc etc thinking that the cards were probably going to be around for a long time yet. I was obviously way off there so lesson learned. Now I keep any good cards I get in gold and DE the rest. I haven't crafted anything in gold since the Lich King in KotFT. 

I own a Belcher, a Shredder, Reno, Kaza, Loathy, Rag, Syl, 2 Azures and 1 Tomb Pillager golden, as do you Only Username :) . I guess we were in line bout what was good, you and I! (Some of the cards were Hall of Fame’d, so an opportunity presented itself there for Goldies at a fraction of the normal price, of which we were obviously aware.)

You (still) follow the pro-scene: Do you find yourself interested in it less than before the “Masters system” ? Or is it a relatively new interest with you?

How much money did you contribute to the upkeep of blizz’s servers / the salaries of the draftsmen (they do a super job imo)? Spent 60 euro’s myself at the very start, and received presents worth 210euri spread out across the years on top of that. 270 euri in 6+ years.

-> Is that enough?

Am I a leech - just counting on the fact that the whales will pick up their own as well as my tab, so that I can happily play without “supporting the supplier” enough?

Quote from Jurke39 >>

(...) Currently sitting on 495 wins with mage, so I am pretty close I can say :) I took Guldan an I agree with you, looks nice :)

I know its just aesthetic, but I am very big fan of golden cards. I dont spend a lot of money on the game, but I never DE cards that I get (unless they are nerfed like Brann and Polkelt right now), and I really like their animations, thats why I trying to make a golden deck, maybe wont be competitive but at least it will look awesome! :)

To be honest, in wild meta is a bit faster (I am wild player mostly, but playing standard as well) but Reno decks have pretty good chance to win aggro, especially if you have Reno in your starting hand. As Highlander type you have a lot of removals and with good managing and predicts, you can easily deal with aggro decks.

Ah, I take it you finished the rewards Track and chose That Gul’dan ;) . Also quite pretty by the way! Chose Prophesying Priest, cause I have an inkling I’d like to play a lot of priesty in the foreseeable future. Yes, I got over the emptiness of a goal reached and got back to enjoying a couple of games, without clear intention, other than to celebrate interacting with my oppo through some pretty pixels on a screen.

You must have completed -> all your classes to golden status by now. Had a look at your screenshot: Looks sweet, all your heroes neatly at the 500-mark ^^ .

 “(…), but I never DE cards that I get” - Had the same policy for a long long time, all golden cards were kept, to be used in a rare arena run - Of course you know that cards you pick in an arena draft are golden if they are in your collection.

Then, half a year back, I went totally overboard in crafting loads of legendaries and my 20K dust reserve shrank to 1K. That was the nudge I needed to DE all gold cards I’m not using in any constructed deck. Netted me 25K - Sitting on 32K at the moment due to more nerfs on blizz’s side lately, for which I am grateful.

I’m with you regarding being able to play an all gold-deck; It’s a pity though that an oppo rarely “seems” to notice // gets back to you about your shiny, wiggly deck after befriending. Presume Whizbang is to blame.

Of course Jurke, you aren't mistaken in the least, Reno is intended to prey upon aggro. Has always been my bread n butter, suits my character I guess.

Then Pirate/ Token Drood rolls in. It “seems as though” they are so consistently fast in building wide And huge boards that only a God-Reno hand can deal with it. It baffles me. It baffles me that blizz supports this form of ultra-aggro.

   Love this exchange of ideas with you and the others Jurke!

Quote from Biomass >>

To quit.

Double legend most months, complete collection. Since I’m addicted and won’t quit, I’d like to collect all the card backs I’m missing (which is not possible, solid gold and all that), and I will probably farm the achievements at some point (currently 12k+). More gold decks is something I managed to refrain myself from considering.

Whoa, double Legend most months And a complete collection(!) .... You truly committed, Bio!   

Oh yes, of course, the cardbacks are also items that merit collecting. For me (as for you) unattainable: I am missing waayy too many at this point. Only pre-ordered twice (against my knowledge even: presents) -> that’s already 10/ 20 cardbacks missed right there. Also, was a bit late to the party: The first cardback that I own is of november 2014: “Goblins” . Since then: every single one that was awarded for playing in the current season (naturally). (Have 12,5 pages full of cardbacks, I just saw :P .)

But you are missing out there! Golden decks feel so…………….. well, noble. There should be Something to divide you from the masses Biomass!

Quote from fabjx >>

It used to be reaching legend. But now that I am legend it's kind of meh. I have no purpose anymore and I play a lot less

 I understand. Then, as it is with me, it comes down to the question: “Do you like the game, the ideas behind HS, the “Lore”, the mechanics, etc, enough to keep on devoting your time to gearing up into the queue (once in a while?) , heading into some cardslingin action?” Is HS in its core attractive enough?

Quote from Binori >>

Yes, since 2016 y. Im trying to not spend even $1. It is very hard achievement and still struggling, more difficult than getting Legend (4 times already, 2 times in the row).

What makes it so hard keeping your money in your pocket instead of giving it to blizz, Binori? Are your hands itching to delve into those pockets and buy yourself some additional Arcane Dust as well as a couple of cards you wanted (if you’re lucky) ?     Well done: the Leggie 4 times over! What was your highest rank inside L ? 

Thanks a lot for your contributions guys (gals) !

Quote from Cleedek >>

They should just create hero portraits for you, especially for Druid and Warlock! My favorite classes too btw! :)

You do me far too much honor kind Sir (or Lady) !

Quote from Cleedek >>

I play HS also from 2013/2014, almost every day at least one game. I reached legend back in the days when Star Aligner druid was a thing and never wanted to do it again :D - So stressful!

That would accurately describe my own (head) case. Even when away on holiday, I try to find a bar with strong internet every 3 days to at the very least complete the 3 dailies that accumulated. (Each summer my wife and I travel abroad and then around, sleeping in our car. Usually to France, but also Italy, Portugal. The sparse battery of our mobiles is only to be used for Ggl Maps - unless near a wall outlet ^^ .)

Ha! I feel you there: Trying to get over the hump from Dia 5 to L; Yesss, it keeps on being highly stressful, even when it’s far from the first time! How come, I wonder..?

I play ranked only with fun decks and my favorite is probably Druid deck, which can get over 2500+ armor and I added Mecha'thun + naturalize as the second win condition (or when you run out of cards and don't want the game to go any longer).

I bought so many pre-orders and packs, that I don't really want to count it, but I decided to not buy any more and just save gold for Battlegrounds, which seems like more fun (probably because it's pretty new and kinda like a casino)... I also play it because the ranked ladder doesn't seem like fun anymore (maybe I will go back to it sometime).

These are my stats from classic HS + BG and thank you for your post, finally something interesting :)

Could you please supply the deck-list and -code of the thousand fold armor-Drood? Have seen it in action once: Very impressive when pulled off.

It seems as though your stats were lost somewhere along the way Cleedek. Feel like giving posting ‘em another try?     It makes me genuinely happy you find some of the stuff said here appealing - merci, merci :) . 

Quote from Ecperlux >>

currently I am going for achievements. just got all Battleground achivements, besides the achivements attached to unavailable heroes.

soon 1000wins on warrior, which will make my 6th or 7th class, so ye, I think achivements is a good goal x)

 All the BG-achievements done Ecperlux??! Woooow! Those are A Lot! You must be God’s Own BG_player! Well done ;) .

But ehm, these achievements.. They do not actually reward you with anything tangible, do they? (Yeah, as though my 1500 wins across the classes rewarded anything at all :P .)

Do you anticipate a future where blizz “gives you something” for your time-put in?

Quote from Ecthelion2 >>

There does come a point where simply winning isn't enough . . . Winning with ridiculous win conditions usually does the job.

Give us an example or two of your most ridiculous wincon’s Ecthelion :) . Please!

(Thanx for your reactions and most probably votes, guys ^^ ) 

Quote from Jurke39 >>

I am currently "working" on getting 500 wins with all classes. Right now, I am 40 wins away with mage and that will be done! :)

After that my goal is to reach 1000 wins with warlock since that is the first class I have ever played and also 1000 portrait Guldan looks sick!

My favorite classes are: Warlock, Paladin, Warrior and Shaman. So idea is to have as much as I can cards for those classes so I can be able to play almost everything with them (mostly meme decks), and maybe one day full golden deck for some of them, that would be really nice.

How are the mage wins coming along Jurke?

I also find the green gnome-Gul’dan quite bad-ass!

I would actually count having a complete, competitive golden deck as a personal goal as well. Up until now, I merely crafted all the Reno cards golden. e.g. When Dragonqueen Alexstrasza was revealed: Crafted her golden; Zephrys the Great of course. And Kazakus, couple of years back.

Add to those a golden Loatheb, a golden Reno Jackson, a Dirty Rat, a Kobold Stickyfinger, a Skulking Geist..,   and you have yourself the beginnings of “a deck”, with far too much Tech :P . Crafted all of the above golden, because of the devastating effect each can have. And isn’t it just that much more significant if you get crushed by that 1 card that torpedoes your entire strategy, when it’s shiny and wiggling about?

Problem is, you won’t win many games with such a “well-rounded” deck anymore, with almost exclusively neutral cards.

You lack a strong strategy of your own. And that rarely wins in HS anymore.   The win-conditions of e.g. Evolve shammy / Libra pally / in wild Token drood / EbonLocke-BloodReaver lock are simply way too fast or stack way too much value. A Reno deck doesn’t have enough answers (while also furthering its own plan). Not enough synergy amongst its cards. Sad somehow that time has passed Reno by... (With the exception of a priest preaching "Raza the Chained!" and "Shadowreaper Anduin!")

Well.. against less refined decks (of newer players) Reno-decks still stand a chance.

Quote from EnTaroAdunEU >>

(...) Now that you have all classes above 1500 wins, what's your next goal?

 Damn.

This is… very strange. My quest log says: “Play 12 beasts” (progression 8/12) . Otherwise the log is empty.

“1.500 wins across all classes”: Done.

Hmm..

What now? Simply play………….. what I like? Without some number to reach? That feels…

empty. (…)

I still have 3 levels of the Track left.. Let’s work on that I guess (?)                            Edit: When logging on earlier today, I saw blizz made us progress (to level 58 or so in my case) in 1 fell swoop. Anti-climatic "skipping over" levels 46 to 50 after being happily preoccupied with progressing through the Rewards Track since november 12th (when the new system was implemented).

Quote from jaredb >>

I basically just like to play when I am eating breakfast and lunch. Nice quick game I can play a round or two on my phone while munching away. No asperations of achieving anything competitive. But, the highest rank I've reached is gold 1, so I'd like to surpass that at some point.

Thank you for your reaction Jared - That’s how my wife plays. She casually starts a game on her mobile at all times, e.g. when waiting for the taters to boil and the children are around, screaming. Not a casual game, no, a ranked one, at Dia 3. Could never force myself to do that! When “feeling it” and thus gearing up for a laddering-session, I go and find a quiet spot in the house, get in a comfortable sitting position, get my notepad ready (to write down what’s played // what secret it cannot be - Play on an old laptop where deck tracker doesn’t work). Only Then can I start a ranked match that matters (to me)! During the first (and maybe second) match of a laddering session, my heart’s beating loudly.. Now, that’s what it means to me :P .

What kind of deck will you use when trying to beat your previous best Jared? One of the top decks that HS Replay suggests, or will you try to do it with something you came up with yourself?

Quote from XDrakkosX >>

he definitely has more games than me but if you want to see crazy. zetalot has 30k Priest wins lol

Yeah, exactly Drakkos! I remember watching some preliminaries of the World Champs a couple of years ago, when I still found it worthwhile (now even the World Championships themselves go by virtually unnoticed) to follow almost all of those tournaments where it was decided who would go to Worlds - 4 players from NA / EU / South Asia / China - .

What’s up with this HS-Masters system? Isn’t it just much more fair to give Everybody a chance of becoming world champion than only a selected group of "Masters"? Can’t wrap my head around this // Maybe I just don’t follow closely enough.

But I digress: Frodan and TJ were introducing this guy who only played warrior. Literally had never played anything else ;) . He played Dead Man's Hand // just any kind of warrior that had a chance of being good in the meta. They said he had thousands and thousands of wins with the class. I remember thinking ‘Has he played 24 hours a day, every day? 1 class at that? Such dedication.”

I only have ~ 23.175 wins in total. I do like the wins are somewhat spread out across the various heroes.

Quote from dirvenstylez >>

It used to be getting legend every month. With the new ranking system that is a bit to easy in my opinion. The goal i set for myself for now is getting first place with all BG heroes. I'm aiming for it since a weeks and i'm at 20 now. I can tell you it is very fun!

A little side mission is to get to know guys from the dutch HS scene. I know a few now and it is a nice community.

 Is getting Legend That easy dirven? All we read about here on the forum is what a demonic grind those 15 stars between Dia 5 and L are. For you it’s too easy (!) :P .

You did indeed set a cool goal for yourself, in getting first place with all heroes in the B-Grounds. How many heroes are there now dirven? Soon you will have to become proficient with the Old Gods as well!

Great to hear that you are connecting with other players in your local community. Isn’t that such a sweet side-effect of playing a game? Maybe you and the other members of your group would accept me as a small part of your community at some point (I live in Haarlem).

Quote from I_Feel_Ur_Pain >>

I would say going for legend but that is pointless now I guess portrait but most classes bore me death that I play only 2 classes. I wish it for entertainment but not really.

 Why is going for Leggie pointless Feel_Pain?

Which two classes tickle you best? (Am a Drood and Lock adept myself.)

I assume the entertainment you derive from our game has declined, as you say you “play (wish) it for entertainment” but the game does not seem to accomplish that (anymore).

What is missing?

Quote from YourPersonalGuru >>

(...), but maybe also a bit worried :)

 

I'm not sure you should worry bout me Guru. Though am afraid my wife (and kids) would beg to differ.....