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.
10 leagues in each division? ... yikes... R.I.P. casual players
Anyone know if you still get the legend card back for reaching first time legend? I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, but assume it hasn't gone away?
Ended 13, got 6 stars, which end at gold 5 (25). Then 1 at a time like I was 6 months ago.
Parallel platinum level gives 8 stars. Oh, the grind to get back to glory. Some, but glory.
So if I understand correctly, technically it's better to wait next week to start levelling up on ladder, because for the free packs awarded you get the Ashes expansion which is pretty neat.
If you grind this week, you get the current latest expansion (Galakrond), so maybe there's that to take into account.
You are wrong. You get first time rewards immediately. End of season are given ... well at the end of season. That means now you get classic cards but for newest expansion packs you have to wait for the end of month.
No, you get classic for first-time, latest expansion at end of month.
Ah yes, I hadn't noticed that is was only Classic cards / packs for first time grind. Ok then, no need to postpone.
Don't think so because latest expansion packs are only awarded at end of season, first time rewards only award classic packs.
I don't really get this. There was a question then 2 awnsers to it. After that OP wrote that he gets it now. And after that smb still awnsers the same question. What's the purpose of that?
i reached legend last month but i have 10x stars. what is high legend ??? what is legend ???
if i reach legend will i always get the rewards 5packs 1epic etc? or is it after i reached legend the first time just the legendary 1epic at the end?
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no one cares ;)
From Bronze 10 to Gold 5 very fast. I had 9 bonus stars. I've played about 12 games and lost only 1 to mech Paladin (hate them). It's all thanks to my quest Priest. I'm going to miss Priest so much. RIP
Do you see your opponents rank at some point? Just tested 4 games and it didn't show.
You won't see ranks because the match is determined not by player's rank, but by his/her MMR, so it is possible that your opponent is from a higher/lower rank than you are
I couldn’t see mine since last update on mobile platform. Haven’t checked today.
I've really been enjoying the new rank up system! Just feels nice to soar through the ranks, and the rewards are so much better. If there was any complaint, it's that I wish I could actually see the rank of the players I am fighting. I get that we are matched on MMR now instead of rank, but for giggles I'd love for a Silver 10 to get matched with a Diamond 1 every now and again. XD
Dr (Boom) 7 is an image of Diamond 7. Nice touch devs
will this be the case in the future as well or just the first season to get things going? all articles i looked at stated that its finish based only
thx already!