Here's the thing about "farming" at low ranks: they are also conceding a lot. With win streaks and limited stars, "farming" that low is very inefficient.
Indeed, I think it's likely that the majority of the "golden portraits" your friend is being matched up with are just bad/weaker players with good collections.
Given what we know about how far out they plan expansions, I have a feeling huge changes are in the works for the April rotation. That's my key takeaway here. It's not going to be limited to Priest.
Is it just me or this is the least good adventure in the whole game? Having to repeat the whole run just to continue fighting the final boss is abysmal. Also, the twists in each chapter are just horrible and plain annoying.
It's been 6 months since the last time I was at rank 20ish with my main account, but from what I remember the situation is hellish there. Climbing from 16-12 is much (I can't stress it enough) easier than passing the 20-17 segment.
I'm not talking about netdecking and I'm totally aware of the existence of Whizbang the Wonderful's recipes, but there seem to be an abnormal amount of experienced players farming at low ranks. Two weeks ago I tried some ladder with my adventures account and man, being new and with a deck full of niche/basic cards must be painful.
I don't know if these are actually bots or real players, but if you're not good at the game (and you aren't supposed to be that good at rank 20, right?) you'll probably end up as fresh meat for this people, making your ladder experience terrible.
Yeah, this doesn't happen with a 100% ratio (the golden portrait, as zoobernut said, is a product of time commitment more than ability to play), but still the rank 20-16 belt should be a protected environment, allowing you to slowly switch from the Rank 50-25 "how does the game work?" zone to the Rank 15- "let's start playing competitively" zone.
Just my honest opinion: I don't have to deal with this situation nowadays, but it would be foolish not to acknowledge it
Ooh, crap. I had a miscellaneous Warlock card, then removed it, then forgot to put something in its place. Depending on whether you face off against more Control or Aggro, I suggest Gnomeferatu or Shriek, respectively.
Uh is MrGnome trolling the blizzard representative? I feel like if you're going to have someone represent your site they should maybe not be so snarky and condescending in almost every interaction with an official employee of Blizzard.
My first successful run against the murloc plaguelord was a breeze. I had captured Flag + Titanic Ring for +1/+2 and taunt on all my minions and a bunch of treasures and cards that generated tokens, not to mention the murloc infestation itself. I was basically free to go face while the boss had to find ways to clear my board over and over again, and I would have easily fatigued him if it weren't for his final form, murlocknado. I took down the plaguelord from nearly full health despite having a hero power that had zero synergy with the deck (spell power +2).
Just to say, having won 500+ games with a class doesn't make you "good" at the game. It only says that you have played the game a lot. The same apply to getting to legend: if you never hit it, it doesn't mean that you aren't a good player at all. It only says that surely you didn't play enough in one single month.
Your friend only needs a better cardpool and to better understand the game. As soon as he will get a better collection with some legendaries, the problem will be over.
Just want to share that "Hearthstone" is an amazing treasure. I used it after getting the Heroic PlagueLord of Madness to 23 health and I was about to die. Went directly to Bob's, made a few deck adjustments, then faced the boss again, still at 23 health, but I was at full health (plus 5). Beat it!
I convinced a friend of mine to start playing Hearthstone some time ago and for the moment he prefers being Free-to-Play. He plays a basic mage deck and with my "help" we managed to get to rank 17. He is not new to cards games (we played MTG together) so he has a good understanding of the mechanics and such.
The problem is that as he gets a lot of wins, the algorithm matches him now with golden-portrait players with all-golden decks etc. He couldn't reach his Rank 15 goal, so I advised him to farm a bit in lower ranks, since he wishes to remain F2P for the time being. The problem actually got even worse at bottom ranks. Golden players farm wins and gold at these ranks apparently and ruin the experience for newer players. How are they going to love this game which treats them without respect? Would any of them stay or spend money to get bullied by dudes like them (trust me some of them are really toxic)? I do understand that as people play the game for longer and the skill cap of players get higher, we are going to see more and more of this.
Anyways, I believe that if anyone has been to Rank Legend or has over a certain amount of wins (1500+ wins lets say), the game should not let them drop under rank 15. Maybe if some of them have returned after a long time, there could be some "outs" for them. What do you think of this? If you were new to Hearthstone, would you invest any time, effort or money in a try-hard-looking, overpriced game like this?
Golden heroes are a product of time commitment not ability to play. I have one golden hero but have never gotten past rank 5. I also have met many gold hero players that make super shitty plays and I beat them easily.
Not saying that you are wrong about how match making works I am just pointing out that you are harping on people with golden heroes when that isn't the real issue. It is just easy to see so that is what you latch on to.
I'd say rank 15 is absolutely doable with a budget deck; even if you're facing netdecks full of legendaries the average skill level is quite low at these ranks. Zoo Warlock is almost always a viable ladder deck and you usually only need a handful of commons and rares to update the evergreen shell of the deck to a playable version of the latest standard list.
As for toxic a-holes, I'm afraid they're just a part of the game. Try to take their BM as a sign that they're really really upset about losing to a F2P player.
Not a single class in the game sees only one aspect of its class identity reinforced over and over again. Priest is just like any other class in this regard: sometimes buff priest gets attention, sometimes dragons, sometimes steal cards, etc. etc. etc. The class absolutely needs a fundamental revision, especially the evergreen set, but not because it has more than one theme that is periodically pushed. Hell I'd argue that affinity with deathrattle is one of the most consistent aspects of the class, even if that rarely materialises in a T1 deck.
In what way has it "been a problem"? Priest has rarely dominated the meta. If you're just going to make things up, I guess I'm glad you've "stopped posting here." Keep it up!
Btw your remark about early game for dragon priest: a 2/3 on 1 and a 2/4 taunt on 2 are not enough?
Have you ever played against secret mage & mech pally with Dragon Priest? I have. When Big Priest was the go to deck for Priest in Wild I was running Dragon Priest. Had mixed success with it. Mixed means exceptional result from Rank 10 to Rank 5 not so much after Rank 5.
Nope, haven't played dragon priest this season. But I was responding to your early game remark of dragon priest and that it would make dragon priest viable. I would say it has good early game already with that kind of cards. I don't think there are a lot of minions with that kind of stats for the cost (without other downsides that is).
Btw your remark about early game for dragon priest: a 2/3 on 1 and a 2/4 taunt on 2 are not enough?
Have you ever played against secret mage & mech pally with Dragon Priest? I have. When Big Priest was the go to deck for Priest in Wild I was running Dragon Priest. Had mixed success with it. Mixed means exceptional result from Rank 10 to Rank 5 not so much after Rank 5.
After Savior of Uldum it has become way harder to tutor Dragon Priest. From my sig I hope you have already guessed that I am a Priest main. I play nothing other than Priest.
I have tried every type of Priest decks from the conventional one to non conventional OTK, New quest Priest to mogu cultist priest to resurrect priest, king kobold etc etc. I am speaking from my experience. It's not that I am projecting out of thin air.
Currently I am running a version of my highlander, Nzoth quest (awaken of the maker) priest. I made it to rank 5 at the very first day & after that I have been stuck at rank 3 for the past 24 days. It's continuous rank 5 - rank 3 back & forth for me. Previous season Rank 2 was my best & that was it. Gave it all the push but remained stuck there.
For past 24-25 days I have been playing 30-40 games each day but still no effect. So it's like I have almost played 600 games this season with a 46% win rate. Tried various decks to extended period with various tweaks but couldn't make them work.
Also lately I haven't faced a single Priest deck on wild ladder on EU server. Can't say what's going on in US & Asia server, but here is EU Priest is almost non existent after Rank 5. True story.
I'd also like to see a return of something similar to the old Machine gun Shadowreaper Anduin lists but Raza is definitively not the way to make that work. Oh, and Mind Blast support that doesn't require such huge windup time would also be nice.
Well I play the below list (with raza) and it's doing well. Needs refinement probably, but it's winning enough. You are still able to do 26 damage in an ideal scenario.
not that I want Cleric to get the axe, but there's always LIghtwarden, and thanks to Injured Tol'vir we actually have a good 2-drop as well, so it's not like their early game would be ruined.
Not to mention without Divine Spirit the Cleric wouldn't even be a problem...and they would have to give Priest way more draw to compensate anyways
Rise of the Zombeasts
Talking about RNG dependent Brawls that feels unrewarding no matter the outcome ?
That'll be a one and done for me
Ranking System is problemtic
Here's the thing about "farming" at low ranks: they are also conceding a lot. With win streaks and limited stars, "farming" that low is very inefficient.
Indeed, I think it's likely that the majority of the "golden portraits" your friend is being matched up with are just bad/weaker players with good collections.
Iksar: "We have some plans to remove Divine Spirit"
Given what we know about how far out they plan expansions, I have a feeling huge changes are in the works for the April rotation. That's my key takeaway here. It's not going to be limited to Priest.
Chapter 3 of Tombs of Terror Unlocks Today!
Is it just me or this is the least good adventure in the whole game? Having to repeat the whole run just to continue fighting the final boss is abysmal. Also, the twists in each chapter are just horrible and plain annoying.
Tombs of Terror - Fun/Strong runs
Discovered King Togwaggle and enemy had full hand. Guess who is Plague Lord of Murlocks now?
Ranking System is problemtic
It's been 6 months since the last time I was at rank 20ish with my main account, but from what I remember the situation is hellish there. Climbing from 16-12 is much (I can't stress it enough) easier than passing the 20-17 segment.
I'm not talking about netdecking and I'm totally aware of the existence of Whizbang the Wonderful's recipes, but there seem to be an abnormal amount of experienced players farming at low ranks. Two weeks ago I tried some ladder with my adventures account and man, being new and with a deck full of niche/basic cards must be painful.
I don't know if these are actually bots or real players, but if you're not good at the game (and you aren't supposed to be that good at rank 20, right?) you'll probably end up as fresh meat for this people, making your ladder experience terrible.
Yeah, this doesn't happen with a 100% ratio (the golden portrait, as zoobernut said, is a product of time commitment more than ability to play), but still the rank 20-16 belt should be a protected environment, allowing you to slowly switch from the Rank 50-25 "how does the game work?" zone to the Rank 15- "let's start playing competitively" zone.
Just my honest opinion: I don't have to deal with this situation nowadays, but it would be foolish not to acknowledge it
Renouncing Victory, With Style!
Ooh, crap. I had a miscellaneous Warlock card, then removed it, then forgot to put something in its place. Depending on whether you face off against more Control or Aggro, I suggest Gnomeferatu or Shriek, respectively.
Iksar: "We have some plans to remove Divine Spirit"
Uh is MrGnome trolling the blizzard representative? I feel like if you're going to have someone represent your site they should maybe not be so snarky and condescending in almost every interaction with an official employee of Blizzard.
Tombs of Terror - Fun/Strong runs
My first successful run against the murloc plaguelord was a breeze. I had captured Flag + Titanic Ring for +1/+2 and taunt on all my minions and a bunch of treasures and cards that generated tokens, not to mention the murloc infestation itself. I was basically free to go face while the boss had to find ways to clear my board over and over again, and I would have easily fatigued him if it weren't for his final form, murlocknado. I took down the plaguelord from nearly full health despite having a hero power that had zero synergy with the deck (spell power +2).
Ranking System is problemtic
Just to say, having won 500+ games with a class doesn't make you "good" at the game. It only says that you have played the game a lot.
The same apply to getting to legend: if you never hit it, it doesn't mean that you aren't a good player at all. It only says that surely you didn't play enough in one single month.
Your friend only needs a better cardpool and to better understand the game. As soon as he will get a better collection with some legendaries, the problem will be over.
Tombs of Terror - Fun/Strong runs
Just want to share that "Hearthstone" is an amazing treasure. I used it after getting the Heroic PlagueLord of Madness to 23 health and I was about to die. Went directly to Bob's, made a few deck adjustments, then faced the boss again, still at 23 health, but I was at full health (plus 5). Beat it!
Ranking System is problemtic
Golden heroes are a product of time commitment not ability to play. I have one golden hero but have never gotten past rank 5. I also have met many gold hero players that make super shitty plays and I beat them easily.
Not saying that you are wrong about how match making works I am just pointing out that you are harping on people with golden heroes when that isn't the real issue. It is just easy to see so that is what you latch on to.
Ranking System is problemtic
I'd say rank 15 is absolutely doable with a budget deck; even if you're facing netdecks full of legendaries the average skill level is quite low at these ranks. Zoo Warlock is almost always a viable ladder deck and you usually only need a handful of commons and rares to update the evergreen shell of the deck to a playable version of the latest standard list.
As for toxic a-holes, I'm afraid they're just a part of the game. Try to take their BM as a sign that they're really really upset about losing to a F2P player.
Ranking System is problemtic
I haven't been at those ranks since forever but I'd check what type of decks they commonly use (if there is one) and try to counter that if possible.
Hunter is generally better for budget players than Mage, so maybe play that?
Iksar: "We have some plans to remove Divine Spirit"
Straight up
Priest is currently trash in wild & it would be a pertinent problem for the class in near future.
Not a single class in the game sees only one aspect of its class identity reinforced over and over again. Priest is just like any other class in this regard: sometimes buff priest gets attention, sometimes dragons, sometimes steal cards, etc. etc. etc. The class absolutely needs a fundamental revision, especially the evergreen set, but not because it has more than one theme that is periodically pushed. Hell I'd argue that affinity with deathrattle is one of the most consistent aspects of the class, even if that rarely materialises in a T1 deck.
Iksar: "We have some plans to remove Divine Spirit"
In what way has it "been a problem"? Priest has rarely dominated the meta. If you're just going to make things up, I guess I'm glad you've "stopped posting here." Keep it up!
Iksar: "We have some plans to remove Divine Spirit"
Yep - it's shame they don't release any new cards at card rotation time that could more than offset the loss of a single card.
Hey, wait a minute.....
Priest is currently trash in wild & it would be a pertinent problem for the class in near future.
Nope, haven't played dragon priest this season. But I was responding to your early game remark of dragon priest and that it would make dragon priest viable. I would say it has good early game already with that kind of cards. I don't think there are a lot of minions with that kind of stats for the cost (without other downsides that is).
Priest is currently trash in wild & it would be a pertinent problem for the class in near future.
Have you ever played against secret mage & mech pally with Dragon Priest? I have. When Big Priest was the go to deck for Priest in Wild I was running Dragon Priest. Had mixed success with it. Mixed means exceptional result from Rank 10 to Rank 5 not so much after Rank 5.
After Savior of Uldum it has become way harder to tutor Dragon Priest. From my sig I hope you have already guessed that I am a Priest main. I play nothing other than Priest.
I have tried every type of Priest decks from the conventional one to non conventional OTK, New quest Priest to mogu cultist priest to resurrect priest, king kobold etc etc. I am speaking from my experience. It's not that I am projecting out of thin air.
Currently I am running a version of my highlander, Nzoth quest (awaken of the maker) priest. I made it to rank 5 at the very first day & after that I have been stuck at rank 3 for the past 24 days. It's continuous rank 5 - rank 3 back & forth for me. Previous season Rank 2 was my best & that was it. Gave it all the push but remained stuck there.
For past 24-25 days I have been playing 30-40 games each day but still no effect. So it's like I have almost played 600 games this season with a 46% win rate. Tried various decks to extended period with various tweaks but couldn't make them work.
Also lately I haven't faced a single Priest deck on wild ladder on EU server. Can't say what's going on in US & Asia server, but here is EU Priest is almost non existent after Rank 5. True story.
Lack of News posts
Well, this is an important question xD
Standard Meta Report #6 - September 16, 2019 - September 23, 2019
Woopsie that's some gore art worth to be reworked right there.
Here, take this totally family friendly art!
Priest is currently trash in wild & it would be a pertinent problem for the class in near future.
Well I play the below list (with raza) and it's doing well. Needs refinement probably, but it's winning enough. You are still able to do 26 damage in an ideal scenario.
Wild · Highlander Priest · by Cleef2 · 6 years, 11 months ago
Btw your remark about early game for dragon priest: a 2/3 on 1 and a 2/4 taunt on 2 are not enough?
Standard Meta Report #6 - September 16, 2019 - September 23, 2019
May I interest you with some pre-nerf artwork? ^^
Priest - Nerf or Overhaul?
not that I want Cleric to get the axe, but there's always LIghtwarden, and thanks to Injured Tol'vir we actually have a good 2-drop as well, so it's not like their early game would be ruined.
Not to mention without Divine Spirit the Cleric wouldn't even be a problem...and they would have to give Priest way more draw to compensate anyways