The Ranked Play Changes Have Been Announced and are Coming in March!
The ranked ladder revamp has been announced! We'll be seeing the changes go live at the beginning of the March season which is roughly a month away! The changes will be patched into the client in February, the same update where we may see a balance update.
Here's how the new ladder will work:
- Card backs will now be earned after 5 wins for a month.
- All ranks have 5 stars.
- When a new season starts, you will reset exactly 4 ranks below your end ranking - stars included.
- Ranked rewards go by your highest ranked earned during the season.
- There may be some rank inflation, but not to the point where everyone will be Legend. (Source)
- No changes to the win streak mechanic. (Source)
- Rank floors (20, 15, 10, 5) are all still in place. (Source)
What do you think? Are these changes enough to make ranked better for everyone? Watch the video from Ben Brode or check out the blog post below. If you think these changes are "simple" and shouldn't have taken this long, Ben Brode gives us some insight into just that.
Quote from DaxxarriBeginning with the start of the March 2018 Ranked Play season, we’re making improvements to Hearthstone’s Ranked Play ladder experience.
Join Hearthstone Game Director Ben Brode as he explains what to expect, as well as the philosophy and intentions behind the update:
Here are the upcoming changes you can look forward to:
- You’ll earn card backs by winning five Ranked games during the season, regardless of what rank you achieve. It will no longer be necessary to reach Rank 20 to earn these card backs.
- After each game, the UI will let you know how many wins you still need to earn the Ranked season card back. You can check your progress between games by visiting the Quest Log.
- All Ranks will now have 5 stars.
- Player ranks will reset to exactly 4 ranks below your current standing, including the number of stars in that rank you earned. Here are some examples:
- Rank 14, 2 stars resets to Rank 18, 2 stars
- Rank 1, 3 stars resets to Rank 5, 3 stars
- Rank 10, 0 stars resets to Rank 14, 0 stars
- Players at Legend reset to Rank 4, 0 stars
Moving to the New System
Some elements of the old and new systems will exist simultaneously when we first make the transition:
- During the February Ranked Play Season, you’ll still need to reach Rank 20 to receive your Ranked season card back. At the season’s end, your rank will reset to four ranks below your current standing.
- Starting with the March Ranked Play Season, you’ll only be required to win 5 games to receive your seasonal card back. At the season’s end, your rank will reset to four ranks your current standing.
The update should allow players at the top of the ladder to jump into the action immediately by matching them against similarly-ranked opponents, providing more engaging matches while reducing the time it will take for them to climb to a rank appropriate for their skill-level each season. This in turn should improve matchmaking for everyone who plays Hearthstone, including those climbing the ladder for the first time. Since players will be more evenly matched at the start of each season, they can make immediately meaningful progress toward their ladder ranking against players of similar caliber. We want the experience of climbing the Hearthstone Ranked Play ladder to be fun, challenging, and satisfying for everyone.
We hope you enjoy the updates to Ranked Play, and we’re looking forward to your feedback. See you on the ladder!
I could not agree more! This gives us semi-dedicated players, who just doesn't have the time to play +15 hours every week, the ability to do a legend climb across multiple months. I am really looking forward to this change.
I am so glad they made these changes.
The only truth being told in the video is that games will become easier for those who struggle at rank 20. The rest is marketing sweet talk.
It will be fun, when everyone realizes, that after the changes almost everyone in the end of the month will end in worse rank than he can get now (and also get less rewards as a result). Because no matter how you divide the ranks in name the relative positions of the player base will remain the same. Meaning is someone was gonna end up above you before, he will now too. And because there will be more sub-ranks in the lower ranks, it means by scaling the ladder accordingly you end up in a worse rank "in name".
Ben says that grinding will be much less, while in fact getting from 20 to 17, was a 1-5 days task if you are half decent in skill and cards, earning some easy gold at the same time.
The real grinding comes at the point where your win-rate approaches 45% (not 50% because of the win-streak bonuses). At that point you are stuck. And for example, if you now stick at rank 10, then you and all the other rank 10 players will go at rank 14 after the month reset. And that means, from Day 1 of the month, you will play against the same people with whom you were stuck the previous month.
Ben calls that "interesting matchups", i call it sugar coating.
Also, because of the change in the star system, a player who now usually ends up at around 10, will now end up at around 14-13. Because as we said, you actually begin with the same opponents that were your limit the previous month. Also because bottom ranks, now have 30 more sub-ranks.
All that means is, the basically being a rank 10 with the new system, is much more difficult than now, and most people will end up with less rewards.
If their reason was to make it easier for new players to not be overwhelmed in rank 20 and just leave, a better solution would be to create a "noob" league. And only if you succeed a certain success there, then you can enter the "main" league. That way noobs would be separated from impossible opponents, and at the same time they wouldn't crap on the rest of the players' rewards.
Speaking of rewards, i feel that the stable 5 dust increase after each rank is laughable, compared to the incremental difficulty of reaching each rank.
I don't get why people call ranking from 20 to 10 "grinding". When that grinding is actually playing the game itself. All you care is your final rank? As a F2P i find the game much more enjoyable 2-3 ranks below my peak rank, before i reach all the stupid meta decks, when it becomes boring. Also, with the gold i get from dailies and wins, i get almost 40 packs/month. Sure, if i paid for every pack, and if i only cared to begin at a "higher" rank, then it would be a good change. But now instead of starting from a 65% win-rate and slowly have it being decreased to 45% and get stuck, you will immediately start at 45%. How fun...
Despite starting at a higher rank, games will be difficult from Day 1, and progressing much harder. The trick here is to let you remain at almost the same point (instead of falling much down), and if you remain close enough to the much wanted "legend" rank, to finally give up and buy more Meta deck stuff and break the barrier.
PS. Stupid people will downvote this comment, because the don't have a clue what i am talking about.
I only play 6 months and i am completely F2P. I reached rank 11, on month 3. So basically the noob excuse is just an excuse, for not having any skill. If you don't play a lot to learn, and just buy premade decks, what's really the point? My resource for cards is the wins and i still can't compete against expensive meta decks, maybe some super-geniouses can reach legend with non-Meta decks, i can't.
Our difference, is that you only care about your ranking, otherwise you wouldn't call grinding the actual climbing of the ladder, no matter the end result. If i go 20->11 i am happy, if i go 20->14, i am still happy, because i do it with my custom F2P deck. I feel that i "progress". I don't care to start higher in the ladder. Now progress will be "achieved/felt" only through building a stronger deck (aka more money/time). Since you will start the month, where you finished the previous. Meaning against the same opponents, just everybody will be 4 ranks lower.
Similarly, i find stupid that many people actually pay in other games, to skip parts of a game (buy stronger weapons without earning them in-game, etc), in order to finish it faster. You should play games because you enjoy the process, not for the end result. But then again, many people like "clicker" games, who am i to judge right? lol...
So after climbing the ladder, i reach a certain rank and hit a wall of Cubelocks and Priests. Yesterday, i played with 5 Warlocks one after another. The game becomes not fun and boring, even if you manage to steal some wins with your lesser deck. But at least now that happens at the end of the month, not from Day 1. I don't mind playing against Legend players and Meta decks at rank 20 for a few days, i know that things will become easier the next days. But now they won't. The only way to have some fun will be to buy a meta deck yourself.
Basically the new system is good only for total rank 20 noobs who can't play for their life, those who care only for their ranking and playing their meta deck against other meta decks, and p2w players who will create the even better deck in order to progress from the 50% WR hell of Day 1 now.
And sure, i can see that most of you, belong to one of those categories, i don't mind. Sheep will be sheep.
I mean if you don't get that EVERY change they make is in order to make more money (=more P2W) then enjoy your cloud number 9 life. And i don't blame them, they are a business, but you being happy about it...lol
Sure the changes, will make the game more noob-friendly for rank 20, more people will stay, more money to be made. Also, more people will be constantly closer to Legend, and pay to reach it. They are smart, and hats off to them, you are not. They could achieve the same noob-friendliness for free. but placing them in a different "noob-league" if they wanted, so me, the evil rank 10 F2P, can't stomp them. But they won't.
PS. Dear Blizzard, please hire me, i too have plenty of ideas to draw money from these suckers, and thank us about it. Not joking.
I feel happy for you guys up at the top of the ladder, but for me and 90% of the people just barely scraping rank 15, moving from 3 stars to 5 makes climbing such a chore. I don't play ranked often, but when I do, I get shit on by a bunch of aggro meta which makes it not fun, and turns me more into a filthy casual.
With the new system there should be less "100%-meta-decks" in the future at your lower ranks.
One reason the grind sucks for people playing non-meta decks etc. is that even the people breaching rank 10 were being pushed back into the 18s and the like, so naturally you played higher skill or more meta focused opponents. Given these changes and the increased number of stars you should end up playing far less people like that.
lets sure hope so
I LOVE these changes. Now I can have all the time to play ranked! I wish I could play in school but ya know...
IMHO the changes are pretty pointless. We'll have exactly the same problems like we had before with the only exception that people who end up on Legend ranks don't have to play against C'Thun mages and F2P hunters anymore at the start of a season. How Team 5 needed 2 years to come up with this is far beyond me.
I disagree completely. The bottom of the ladder will finally not be littered with players who have no business being there. There was a season I returned to Hearthstone only to discover meta decks at 20. I also guarantee this will allow highly skilled players who don't have the time to grind legend a shot at hitting legend for once. Starting at 4 will also make the legend grind much less tedious.
Dude, stop with the BS exaggeration. I'm a multiple time Legend player in addition to making the Arena leaderboad for NA 3 months in a row, have a bunch of people on my friends list who regularly make the NA leaderboard for Standard and Arena (including people with the golden cardback for high finishes at major tournaments), and I STILL don't see any of them or myself going from rank 16 to rank 5 in "about 2 afternoons".
People MIGHT have went from rank 16 to rank 5 in past seasons quickly with something like Pirate Warrior or Aggro Druid pre-nerf, but in the current meta, with the few good aggro decks being substantially weaker, and playing a much slower deck, my grind in January to rank 5 (which I achieved January 13th) took as long as my grind to Legend. (January 23rd)
So yes, this change is greatly appreciated by even the highest level players. I like having exciting matches against other good players with finely tuned meta decks, NOT crushing some weaker player with a bad deck.
Wow I might finally make legend!
Well, ranked should reward those who are good at playing, not those who are able to spend half the day on a daily basis playing a virtual card game...
I think this is a step in the right direction.