April Ranked Ladder Changes - All the Details!
With the announcement of the upcoming Year of the Phoenix, Blizzard unveiled their plans to release a massive reworking of the current Ranked Play system. Throughout the last year they've been working toward a system that would provide a fairer matchmaking and improve rewards for new and veteran players alike. We've gathered all the useful information below so you know what to expect when you begin tomorrow's climb to Legend!
New League System
The biggest change implements a new "League" System which will take the place of the tradition Ladder System we're used to. This will include five Leagues each containing 10 ranks -- for a total of 50 ranks prior to reaching legend.
- 5 Leagues - Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond.
- Each League will be made up of 10 ranks.
- Rank floors will still exist -- at ranks 10 and 5 of each League.
- At Season's end all players will return to Bronze rank 10.
- Matchups will now be based on player's Matchmaking Rating (MMR).
- New players will have their own League with ranks 40-1.
- Atop the Leagues is the Legend rank, which will work the same as it had previously.
Star Bonuses
Each rank requires a player to earn three stars -- or wins -- to progress to the next. Win streaks are still in effect, and a new addition to the system is "Star Bonuses". In order to transition from the current system to the new one, players will be given a Star Bonus based on their Ranked finish for the month of March.
- Each rank, from Bronze 10 to Diamond 1, consists of 3 stars.
- Players are given a Star Bonus based on the previous month's finish.
- For example: a Star Bonus of 5x grants a player five stars for each win instead of one.
- Bonuses remain for Win Streaks. Meaning a player with a 5x bonus could earn 10 stars per win while on a streak.
- Losing does not effect a player's Star Bonus.
- Star Bonuses will be reduced by one for every Ranked Floor a player passes.
- The maximum Star Bonus is 11x, for a player reaching Legend the previous month.
New Ranked Rewards
The season reward system has also been completely reworked. Your reward chest at the end of the season will now contain card packs from the most recent expansion, Rare cards, or even an Epic card based on your final ranking. In addition, players will now be given the Season's card back immediately upon reaching five ranked wins. A set of rewards is also in place for the first time a player reaches each Ranked Floor -- including a Legendary card for a player's first trip to Legend! These rewards are not retroactive; meaning each player will receive them for each Rank Floor once the new system is live.
Conclusion
With all the changes to Hearthstone's ladder experience, we're in for some exciting times to come. If you're looking for decks for the upcoming Season, we've compiled a list of competitive Meta decks you can find here. Alternatively, feel free to search for decks to begin your Legend climb with our Deck Search function here.
Ashes of Outland Card List & Expansion Details
Learn more and see all the cards in our dedicated Card List.
This will be the case in the future too.
Systems seems bugged or not working as intended, i got a x11 multiplier on an account that reached rank 3 (non legend) but x10 on my legend account.
anyone having the same issue?
This is due to your MMR, it also affects the bonus stars
I reached legend rank but got x10. I think it is unfair
System works as intented. Fresh and cool! :)
What happened to the legendary card reward at LEGEND rank? Am i climbing from Diamond 5 to Legend witch is 10 times harder than reaching it self for 1 extra pack? Are you kidding me Blizzard ??
It's still there as the one-time award for getting to Legend for the first time- it was always this.
they said it is a one time reward...so the first time you reach legend in this new ladder system you get it, afterwards you get just the pack...read what they say before getting angry dude
I love this new system, win streak is insane with multiple bonus stars. Although I'd like to collect the floor rewards every month. Fair rewarding, and more player would be interested in playing ranked.
The floor rewards are end of season rewards..
I got only missing cards from this leveling reward system.. nice.
Just like with how legendary bonuses from different shop bundles and arena only gave legendaries you didn't have, those rules are applied across the board. Any time you get a card reward from now on it'll prioritize cards you've never owned since the patch.
Because they implemented duplicate protection across all rarities.
Shame the floor rewards arent every season, other than that, i think its a great change.
Floor rewards are actually given every season..
Can you hit me with the source of your claim? I can't find it. Thanks bro.
Dude it's on the jpg in the end of this exact article. You get them at the end of the month, that does not mean that they aren't floor rewards
I reached rank 3 last season, got 10 bonus stars. Played 7 matches, lost first match and won all the following matches. With the win streaks that got me to Gold 8, 2 stars and 6 bonus stars.
The rewards keep clinging in!!! It's fun!!
loads better, great job on the revamp
I hate this rank system too! My goal is to reach rank 5 every month with the minimal play time - but now there are much more games to play in order to achieve at least diamond10 and I feel like I don't have the time. Previous to this rank system, I have always been placed at rank 9 at the start of the month and I could easily reach my goal. Now start at bronze10, the same as every single hearthstone player in my region...even if i have x9, that number will decrease as I climb. Right now i am silver4 and have x6. Every rank has 3 stars - so not even x11 seems like it's enough. Maybe the streamers will enjoy this, because the climbing feels more accomplishing, but who cares about what they like? Does anyone give you sweet candy after you finish a task at your job?
In Standard, there is no "best deck" so you can crush every opponent who is not playing it - in consequence, you can lose to lesser skilled players, because they're playing something that counters your deck, or because they got lucky.
I guess diamond10 is now equivalent to rank5. To achieve this rank you must go through 120 stars. Even if you have x9, this number will rapidly decrease - I think that at platinum10, you will already have x1 and from here, you must go through 30 stars. If you have a win rate of 66.67%, you will reach diamond10 after 120 games.
This resets every month, so you probably won't have time for it. You probably have time to reach this goal right now, because you are in quarantine - you don't go to work or school and you can't go out! But how can you climb this ladder when your life goes back to normal?