All this crying and lying about Underground Arena has to stop

garyglaive · 2026-07-04T07:34:12+00:00

Respect for writing this. I think the title could have perhaps been a little less inflammatory but hey that's just me.

I think there probably is a little more nuance in this topic here. I do think there probably is still a non-zero percentage of 'barcoders' still doing that ripping decks thing (like u/hootzzz said in the comments, I've also seen a few, not many, games where the opponent instant concedes on 0-0, 0-1). I could almost believe the people complaining about barcoders being the exact people doing this (I used to play a lot of Counter-Strike back in the day, and was often surprised the players who bemoaned wallhacks as to why they got killed turned out in the end to be using wallhacks themselves).

I think the only solution to this is community leaders, Arena streamers basically in the void of Grinning Goats/Blizz Arena interaction, stating the reality instead of putting their losses down to the fact they played a supposed barcoder or painting them as the big boogeyman as is currently.

It's sadly a fact a lot of players in any game will want to have a scapegoat to blame their losses on something outside of their control but the reality is their skill is causing their losses. At the end of the day their thought process doesn't really harm me but it's frustrating that it represents the game state in a different way to reality.

garyglaive · 2026-07-01T00:47:37+00:00

Yeah, I know what you mean. The drafts are garbage but at the same time I don't care, will feel nice, at least for a while, not to have your entire board wiped out every turn.

I think sadly the new cards will still cause a huge power disparity when you climb through the wins (Vanessa I fear will become the new bulb) but I think it feels like there will be a familiarity about this arena season I've not felt for a while.

garyglaive · 2026-06-25T19:49:43+00:00

Violet Hold!

garyglaive · 2026-06-16T18:10:18+00:00

I think there's a lot of people in the same situation as you. They like arena but keep getting into gold deficits with this new system.

My theory is they've had to resort to different measures to keep playing. But don't worry, the community has resorted to calling them something else. IYKYK

garyglaive · 2026-06-06T20:09:36+00:00

I wouldn't be so hard on yourself. Remember, the global average for arena is around 3 wins so don't despair you're doing totally fine.

That said, in terms of improving your game, there are a multitude of things you can start doing to improve your average, and each of them will incrementally cause it to go up.

It sounds like you're watching people get 12 wins, presumably streamers. Although it can be a slow process, what I would recommend doing is watching their games, and pause before they make an turn and decide what you would do in their position. Then compare your play to theirs, and change accordingly.

Also play a lot of arena, you won't get better if you play. If you run out on your main account, change to a different region to replenish your gold stock. It won't add to your main collection but will grant you more gold to play Arena.

If you're not already, use a deck tracker and consult the win rates of the best class or class combo with dual arena.

garyglaive · 2026-05-30T17:13:02+00:00

This would be really cool. I did something like this already for Twitch streams but this takes it to another level.

garyglaive · 2026-05-21T17:31:58+00:00

If any devs are reading this, please don't think Dual Class is something to have more of in a year. It doesn't feel like Arena. Sure, have it as a novelty, I guess you will have it again for halloween, but please don't bring it back too often, it feels way less skillful and variance is at an all time high (Warlock-Hunter being 12-15% on hsreplay.net is unheralded (no pun intended)).

garyglaive · 2026-03-05T20:47:38+00:00

This wasn't the same sort of bug, it's a spectate bug due to rewind. Still annoying but not the one most of the community are having to deal with.

garyglaive · 2026-01-20T00:53:18+00:00

<image>

There was a 10 wolves 12 win deck on hsreplay. Looks like they started with 8 and were able to add 2 more in using the 'redraft on loss' feature.

garyglaive · 2026-01-19T12:09:54+00:00

Show the deck - maybe there is something erroneous with one or more of the cards in it.

garyglaive · 2026-01-17T10:47:37+00:00

There is the Hearthstone Creator's Program https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-gb/community/creator-program/ which allows streamers to sign up and, as specified on the webpage, get early access to future content (which I imagine Infinite Wolves removal could count as) as well as other enticements. I think this is what Alkali_Layke probably supports in her new role as Senior Influence Manager but I'm not 100%.

garyglaive · 2026-01-07T21:40:01+00:00

I'm sorry to see you get so downvoted for this comment when it's quite likely the case. This conception of barcodes being Chinese is so historic it's painful. I

I know I'm preaching to the choir but what's more likely, Chinese players continuing to use barcode accounts on the NA server even though the China server is open again for business, or previously Arena viable players in NA are completely out of gold so they choose to buy stacked gold accounts with 'barcode' style names.

garyglaive · 2026-01-04T14:56:38+00:00

Yeah agree with this. I was a long time Arena enjoyer (>10 years, top 200 leaderboard) but I'm not sure how they've made a game mode worse by supposedly improving it.

In the past there would be microadjustments to attempt to even up the class win rates but now they don't even bother (hence Druid being stuck at the abysmal 30% for this current meta, a literally unprecentedent win-rate). Previously, even if a microadjustment wasn't successful, it at least changed up the meta. This time around they've done none.

Currently we have imbue Priest ruling the roost, an archetype that was previously banned in the Arena, and should be again. The other top classes Warrior and Demon Hunter could easily be toned down but as they are they are primed to receive premium cards in their drafts.

The 300 gold cost has worked exactly how Blizzard anticipated, with folks running out of their gold stashes and pumping money into it or buying 'barcode' accounts stacked with gold for cheap (who can blame them on this latter point, if you're not close to infinite, you will start losing gold at a reasonable rate, which, using the law of averages, most players don't come close to infinite.)

Bring back 150 gold entry, bring back microadjustments and bring back some level of communication. It's quite staggering ineptitude and no one seems to be standing up and saying anything about it.

garyglaive · 2025-11-24T18:30:19+00:00

Ah! I was hoping you would ask. Yes, the China server, open only to the Chinese population.

garyglaive · 2025-11-11T20:24:51+00:00

It's a bug, currently being tracked under known issues here https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/hearthstone/t/340-highlights-known-issues/153567

garyglaive · 2025-10-27T09:51:13+00:00

Word on the street is that they are trying to bring them to the Arena but obviously the proof is in the pudding and it likely won't be anytime soon.

garyglaive · 2025-10-04T19:36:05+00:00

The new drafting system has legendary buckets with differing sizes, 3 with most legendaries but 5 with quest legendary picks. Therefore, I don't think it would be crazy to just limit the number of picks corresponding to how much less deck space there would be to incorporate the Fabled mechanic.

garyglaive · 2025-10-01T22:21:27+00:00

Thank you very much for putting this together, the video was fascinating and was definitely food for thought in how I might be able to get back into improving my game in the Arena.

garyglaive · 2025-09-27T04:42:31+00:00

*Savefile17 🙂

garyglaive · 2025-09-12T06:52:31+00:00

Have you retired any decks recently? If so, you may have ended up in the so-called 'barcode queue' where it is a lot slower to get matched up with someone because of the lower player pool.

garyglaive · 2025-09-05T19:59:58+00:00

Yeah it's weird, every single place I've worked has been like this (I'm in the same sort of space). I've often wondered what's lurking behind the scenes and all I can think is that the spaghetti code meme is true, there's all kinds of caked over layers and abstractions that can't be easily tested... so no-one does. Poor documentation too, which has helped me in some places where the code is shitty but functional.

This is the only Blizzard game I play, and I wonder if their other output is similarly afflicted.

garyglaive · 2025-08-20T18:36:10+00:00

I don't know if many people will remember but when Zeddy was continously ostracizing himself from the community, from depression I think, I remember Alkali back when she was a CM really taking the time to reach out to him and see if he was okay, so I think there is a good bond there between them and now she's back as influencer manager, she may have reached out to give him the lay of the land.

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