This does not make me feel better about my own inability to hit rank 10.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Hearthstone |OT8| Elise's Extremely Irresponsible Field Trip To Un'Goro
- Thread starter ZealousD
- Start date
- Status
This does not make me feel better about my own inability to hit rank 10.
It's not about skill as much as it is about a ton of games played.
Bots play 24/7 for a month. That's how they get there eventually.
Brawndo Addict
Banned
The ability to get to any rank is dependent on win-streak bonuses; if you win 3 matches in a row and then lose 3 matches in a row you actually gain 1 star. If you win 5 in a row and then lose 5 in a row you actually gain 3 stars. But if you just alternate winning and losing you won't go anywhere. So the only way to climb ladder is to play a huge number of matches and hope that your wins line up.
That's why so many people run aggro to rank up, it's not so much about the decks being way better than a control deck*, it's that they finish their games way faster than any other deck. So they can play 3 or 4 matches in the time it took you to play one control game.
*there are a lot of greedy control decks whenever a new card set is released though which means aggro has a higher than average win rate too*
I see, still it feels weird that I can reliably get to 15 each month but I've never been better than 13. I do better each time I refine my decks but it feels like so little progress is made each month. I like being able to see that I'm making better choices about when to play which minions and spells and being rewarded for that.
Back when I played sc2 I would die to cannon rushes/ 4gates/ various early cheese until I learned to scout for and defend them. By learning that I lost less and could also see improvement, learning to macro better showed actual results etc.
I'm not saying I deserve to be a higher rank than I am. I imagine a very skilled player could take even my less than perfect secret hunter build and get to legend with it. I'm just saying I wish there was better feedback on how I'm really doing. I'd be motivated to play more if I could see more stats and I know I only learn to play better by doing ( though watching Sjow's stream did help me with learning renolock).
Back when I played sc2 I would die to cannon rushes/ 4gates/ various early cheese until I learned to scout for and defend them. By learning that I lost less and could also see improvement, learning to macro better showed actual results etc.
I'm not saying I deserve to be a higher rank than I am. I imagine a very skilled player could take even my less than perfect secret hunter build and get to legend with it. I'm just saying I wish there was better feedback on how I'm really doing. I'd be motivated to play more if I could see more stats and I know I only learn to play better by doing ( though watching Sjow's stream did help me with learning renolock).
The Mango Sentinel
Member
If I notice someone is trying to do a quest, I actually try to help them out and stall the game for as long as possible. If I see you playing a fucking murloc raider on turn 1, I'm pretty sure you're doing a quest.
Yeah I kinda do the same. If I feel like I hit a wall in standard, then I head back to wild and start racking up the wins.
As for your question, I'd probably pay 30 bucks, but then what about the adventures? Those would feel pointless. Well they're still fun, but one of the main reasons I pay for it is that I know exactly what I'm getting. I've NEVER bought packs and I never will because that shit pains me....unless they did just give you all of the cards. I don't think I'd like that though.
Brawndo Addict
Banned
Another thing is that the star requirement per rank increases as you move up the chain. You only need two stars per level from 25 through 21 (and you don't lose stars at these ranks either). But from 20 through 16 you need 3 stars, and from 15 through 11 you need 4. So the number of stars you're going to need increases by one-third if you want to hit 10 instead of just 15. The 'random' nature of winstreaks also means you probably have to play something like 50% more matches to go from 15->10 and not just 30% more.
If you really want Rank 10 rewards I suggest just mashing an aggro deck like Pirate Warrior or Aggro Shaman for an hour or two. People can be so greedy at those higher ranks that you can farm a lot of free wins from control heavy decks and keep a win-streak going for much longer than normal. Ironically you'll do the most real thinking when you're up against another aggro deck because you might need to strategically trade minions as opposed to just going face.
In terms of trying to get more real-time satisfaction from playing I strongly recommend keeping notes on your matchup win rates (third party software or by hand) That way you can track your improvements against certain decks and see how your play is improving as opposed to just a static rank. This kind of self-improvement is most obvious in mirror matches because it's a level playing field so to speak. For example, if you play 10 renolock vs. renolock matches in a row against a friend, I can guarantee you'll naturally learn things about how to play the match-up better.
If you really want Rank 10 rewards I suggest just mashing an aggro deck like Pirate Warrior or Aggro Shaman for an hour or two. People can be so greedy at those higher ranks that you can farm a lot of free wins from control heavy decks and keep a win-streak going for much longer than normal. Ironically you'll do the most real thinking when you're up against another aggro deck because you might need to strategically trade minions as opposed to just going face.
In terms of trying to get more real-time satisfaction from playing I strongly recommend keeping notes on your matchup win rates (third party software or by hand) That way you can track your improvements against certain decks and see how your play is improving as opposed to just a static rank. This kind of self-improvement is most obvious in mirror matches because it's a level playing field so to speak. For example, if you play 10 renolock vs. renolock matches in a row against a friend, I can guarantee you'll naturally learn things about how to play the match-up better.
CarbonatedFalcon
Member
Aggro Jade Shaman carried me back to rank 5 after being knocked down from rank 6 for playing reno priest and a silly anti-control Rogue.
Just too good.
Thinking about trying out N'zoth Shaman, but I probably need to craft a Hallazeal, and I'm not sure if I want to do that. Don't think it's quite as good either, even if it's more entertaining. Mainly since I pulled a White Eyes yesterday.
Also pulled a Wrathion, but he's not that great.
Just too good.
Thinking about trying out N'zoth Shaman, but I probably need to craft a Hallazeal, and I'm not sure if I want to do that. Don't think it's quite as good either, even if it's more entertaining. Mainly since I pulled a White Eyes yesterday.
Also pulled a Wrathion, but he's not that great.
veryslowhand
Banned
Renolock with Kazakus and the new warlock legendary is the most fun I had in a long time in this game.
Totally agreed! Reminds me of OG handlock.
In other news, I was fairly sure Jade Rogue was eh-tier but I did like a 24-8 in my last 32 matches with it (albeit Kripps N'Zoth Jade Rogue, but still...). I went from rank 15 straight to 5 in 3 hours of play. Pirate warrior mostly ate me, so I teched in a ooze for a fan of knives and that helped quite a bit. I often got that extra turn to get lethal by the skin of my teeth. Renolock, jade shaman, jade Druid and Dragon-kaza-preist (the match ups I got the most) felt fairly easy to overcome. And it's so much fun to play! I just wanted to clear a win 2 Rogue quest and here I am.
Edit: felt like elaborating: The deck is really smart in the sense that the jade mechanic makes it so you don't hate when N'Zoth brings back your early deathrattles like Jade Swarmer, since by then it's gonna spawn an 8/8. Never liked when a Fiery bat or Toad took the place of my highmane in hunter N'Zoth lists. And since you'll often want to out-jade your opponents in control match ups the N'Zoth turns are back-breaking especially to Druid, who should have no way except a puny ancient if war to stop you. Your slowish start is also offset by the traditional Rogue tempo tools like backstab, SI:7 etc. Barnes also has a lot of great results. Slightly above 50 % for a 1/1 with a good/great effect. And Brann just has so many synergies as well.
In a weird way it's a combo-ish deck, only it staves off the shortfall of having to have 'those exact 3 cards to win' since there's multiple synergies across multiple mechanics.
Mind you, I don't think 5 is some great achievement either, but I'm sorts surprised at the ease. Outdid my renolock easy peasy.
Be like me and just do the quests. :d Gotta save up for the next expansion! Next year will be the year of Paladin I hope. Just gimme some cool stuff this time.
Did anyone make a secret Mage deck work yet? Paladin, Mage and Hunter are my favorite classes. Paladin has crappy joke decks nowadays, Hunter also gets destroyed by most classes and I don't have Kazakus to try out Reno Mage. 😔
Exactly how I feel.
Want to play a competitive deck that will actually win you games past Rank 10? You have 5 netdecked choices. Enjoy.
Fuck you Blizzard for making Patches too.
I don't know man, that's higher than some previous metas. Seems pretty good to me!
So much fun getting matched up against the same 2 decks near damn every match. I'm barely winning with some of the best draws possible as Control Warrior. I'm not even "playing" the game. I'm just praying I have a opening hand + draws good enough to deal with their guaranteed great turn 1-4.
Looks like the honeymoon phrase is fading away for other people as well.
EDIT: Updated list. More even more aggro shamans after that screenshot. The last one was still aggro shaman, it just happened to have Hex included.
yeah how is this different. I think I remember last meta snapshot was just Shaman and Control Warrior
(speaking of Shaman just got a 40g Shaman/Mage Victory quest this will be easy I might not reroll it)
may be you guys should, I don't know, play the game? why are you so fucking concerned about how the game is "balanced"? I play the game and enjoy it as it is, have been enjoying for 8 months and that's it, don't like to grind? then throw off the garbage ranked play like I did and play casually.
I think every month we see here how people complain this isn't the perfect game for their particular tastes...
I think every month we see here how people complain this isn't the perfect game for their particular tastes...
Turns out you have to play in Ranked if you want Golden Heroes, which means you need to win, which means you have to play cheap fucking meta net decks. It's almost like I have been playing the game but my card choices are so limited in this meta I can't fucking win without resorting to one of what feels like five different decks.
It's just after an expansion so I obviously wouldn't expect something this soon but yea... I've always felt it a flaw of the game to not take advantage of the digital format more and do balance patches/changes more often... I think "well cards will rotate out of standard anyway" is a pretty poor excuse...
It doesn't have to be just nerfs either... Remember the Bane of Doom change? That actually changed up the meta on ladder for a couple weeks despite it not being some huge game breaking buff or anything. Slight changes or buffs to interesting cards that don't see play can mix things up even if only temporary... but it still keeps the game more fresh and fun.
Their philosophy has been and will probably remain to let OP shit run wild for months then try to correct it with a new set release... Problem is it always fails and some new OP shit just goes into whatever the existing dominate deck is...Which is exactly what we have now with Shaman running Patches.
This has actually bothered me for some time. I'd play some casual since you can get a little more deck variety there but no progress toward golden heroes suuuuuucks
It doesn't have to be just nerfs either... Remember the Bane of Doom change? That actually changed up the meta on ladder for a couple weeks despite it not being some huge game breaking buff or anything. Slight changes or buffs to interesting cards that don't see play can mix things up even if only temporary... but it still keeps the game more fresh and fun.
Their philosophy has been and will probably remain to let OP shit run wild for months then try to correct it with a new set release... Problem is it always fails and some new OP shit just goes into whatever the existing dominate deck is...Which is exactly what we have now with Shaman running Patches.
This has actually bothered me for some time. I'd play some casual since you can get a little more deck variety there but no progress toward golden heroes suuuuuucks
A perfectly balanced game wouldn't be as fun as you'd think. To keep players interested and keep revenue coming in, they have to release new cards that players will want. Players aren't going to chase new cards that are just art swaps so you get OP cards that will inevitably get nerfed or be retired to Wild.
They look cool!
At least my laddering is decided on which heroes I need to golden, but also I look to play with fun decks
At least I feel like the meta isn't that bad at the moment, in kharazan got way worse
You're acting like I don't see the exact same decks in Casual mode in the off chance I actually play it (mostly for Hunter because there's a guaranteed way to tank my rank). If there's anything I'd like them to take care of right now, it's Patches hands-down.
Golden Heroes are not that important to me, but if I'm not playing ranked I feel like I'm missing out on that little bit of reward.
Golden Heroes are not that important to me, but if I'm not playing ranked I feel like I'm missing out on that little bit of reward.
It was when Miracle and Patron were strong.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
Secret Paladin was still the best meta.
I've being saying this but I never see any point to playing anything but Aggro in this game. There is no counterplay to Brawl / Entomb / Mind Control / Dragon Operative, etc. Greedy decks get punished too hard and unlike MtG we cant play on opponents turn to stop them from polymorphing our minions
All you can do is play cheap Shaman/Warrior decks with no legends worth stealing and just run over people. This has been my golden rule last couple seasons I always ran Hunter to climb to rank 15.
This season I'm currently 12. Not ashamed to admit its been mostly all due to all aggro decks with my Malygos sprinkled on top but rarely (cause with Malygos I dont have to play it til lethal)
All you can do is play cheap Shaman/Warrior decks with no legends worth stealing and just run over people. This has been my golden rule last couple seasons I always ran Hunter to climb to rank 15.
This season I'm currently 12. Not ashamed to admit its been mostly all due to all aggro decks with my Malygos sprinkled on top but rarely (cause with Malygos I dont have to play it til lethal)
slightconfuse
Banned
Meta seems fine.
Pirate warrior is such a fragile deck. Beat one last night with turn 1 void walker.
Aggro shaman is little more frustrating
Pirate warrior is such a fragile deck. Beat one last night with turn 1 void walker.
Aggro shaman is little more frustrating
A Pretty Panda
fuckin' called it, man
That's 5 times more decks than before
That's not how you write Patron Warrior.
I've met 2 times those deck on casual, may be because of luck or something, but even if I meet them all the time (which never happens, I find casual much more varied than ranked), than the players are more relaxed in their plays, they do some interesting tricks.
I find casual much much more... casual. I decided I wanted to enjoy the game instead of trying to burn myself in ladder since the only reason I wanted to get there were the card rewards.
to each their own, so if you like and enjoy ranked, go on ahead.
Also exactly my experience with the game the last couple weeks, aggro, hyper-aggro, Renolock, some OTK Rogue bullshit, and finally the occasional deck that isn't one of those.
EDIT: Sorry meant 2TK Rogue bullshit with stealth.
to be honest sometimes I bring tier 1 decks straight to Casual just to run over people. It's childish but my reasoning is I always get my
ass
Mobius and pet octopus
Member
Damn, I had a good reno draft and I screwed it up on the last pick taking a second duplicate.
Really not sure why people aren't jumping on this deck. I'm up to rank 7 with a 70% winrate, I'm one win away from rank 6, on a streak, and there isn't a single match-up where I feel like I automatically lose. My deck is probably worst against Priests and Druids and I'm still positive against them. I feel like I'm actually ahead of the meta for once and I'm crushing the ladder with a deck hardly anyone is paying attention to.
The fact that you've got:
- Priest back in the meta
- Various usable Reno decks
- Like 5 Druid archetypes
- Pirates actually worth using
Means we're in a pretty fresh spot. So what if you aren't seeing something like Hunter. That's no different from previous metas where another class would be in the same situation. MSG is probably one of the best expansions ever released.
'Course, it helps that this the peak of card saturation. 3 Adventures + 3 Xpacs. We won't have something like this again till end of 2017-early 2018.
- Priest back in the meta
- Various usable Reno decks
- Like 5 Druid archetypes
- Pirates actually worth using
Means we're in a pretty fresh spot. So what if you aren't seeing something like Hunter. That's no different from previous metas where another class would be in the same situation. MSG is probably one of the best expansions ever released.
'Course, it helps that this the peak of card saturation. 3 Adventures + 3 Xpacs. We won't have something like this again till end of 2017-early 2018.
soulslayer
Member
Really not sure why people aren't jumping on this deck. I'm up to rank 7 with a 70% winrate, I'm one win away from rank 6, on a streak, and there isn't a single match-up where I feel like I automatically lose. My deck is probably worst against Priests and Druids and I'm still positive against them. I feel like I'm actually ahead of the meta for once and I'm crushing the ladder with a deck hardly anyone is paying attention to.
What midrange shaman are you using? The Jade variant or the Karazhan Midrange Shaman?
Really not sure why people aren't jumping on this deck. I'm up to rank 7 with a 70% winrate, I'm one win away from rank 6, on a streak, and there isn't a single match-up where I feel like I automatically lose. My deck is probably worst against Priests and Druids and I'm still positive against them. I feel like I'm actually ahead of the meta for once and I'm crushing the ladder with a deck hardly anyone is paying attention to.
the same list you posted a while ago? I want to try that one, but I'm resisting the idea of crafting Aya, I will if it works so well...
bangbang i'm a timpani
Banned
this new Aggro Shaman is just as stupid as the others. Until Shaman loses its ability to put dowwn a 3/4 on turn 2 or 4/6 on turn 3 its always going to be this way.
Aya MVP. Super good against Renolock. I love it when they twisting nether and I still have a 6/6 or higher on board. Straight broken with Brann. Like, a deck uses one of it's precious AOE spells and then I play Brann/Aya and suddenly my board is scarier than it was before the clear.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
do you really need the ooze with all the aoe and feral spirits?
aggro shaman is playing 4 jade cards aside from aya and that usually means a 3/3 and 4/4 from Aya in addition to a 5/3.
aggro shaman is playing 4 jade cards aside from aya and that usually means a 3/3 and 4/4 from Aya in addition to a 5/3.
or an insane draw 2+ cards.
the issue people didn't predict was that he reveals which cards you draw, and it's honestly pretty dumb.
That bug was fixed a few days ago.
that was a bug, it was hotfixed some days after it was revelaed
- Status