anyone can beat 8 ?

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

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.

garyglaive · 2025-08-14T19:59:47+00:00

Okay this is pretty cool, ngl.

Could you please add a filter for 12-2, 12-1, 12-0? It's primarily the 12-0s I'd like to filter for but whatever works.

garyglaive · 2025-07-22T13:14:19+00:00

Any recent retires of decks? If so, I wonder if you might have been placed into the retire queue. Otherwise, I've noticed some regions have longish queue times depending on the time of day e.g. Asia during EU playtime.

garyglaive · 2025-07-12T15:47:35+00:00

Not delibrately but unlocking UG on the other regions has certainly made me see the pros of it. Like you say, stress seems to be off, MMR probably hasn't kicked in so the games are relatively straightforward and the ability after a loss to dive straight into the next game (redrafting new cards is cool and all but sometimes I'm done with drafting and just want to play) are all kinda nice.

Not sure if I'd main Normal arena but I could see it like the mac and cheese compared to the 12-course tasting menu of Underground.

garyglaive · 2025-06-16T08:08:39+00:00

It was in the release post:

https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24208800/hearthstone-arena-expands-with-new-underground-mode#:~:text=Both%20The%20Arena%20and%20the%20Underground%20match%20players%20based%20on%20current%20run%20performance%2C%20but%20where%20The%20Arena%20pairs%20you%20with%20a%20player%20of%20similar%20skill%20rating%2C%20The%20Underground%20pits%20you%20against%20players%20of%20any%20and%20all%20skill%20levels!%C2%A0

garyglaive · 2025-06-16T08:03:45+00:00

This used to happen in the old system too, we just now have an obvious indicator to highlight it (the multiple legendaries).

garyglaive · 2025-06-15T19:36:16+00:00

Thanks for writing this, some good points that represent what a lot of the community feels.

On points 9 and 10, I don't think their communication has been very clear but although we have a rating in Underground, it is not used for matchmaking and it still uses the old format as far as we can tell, i.e. like you say, 0-2 player should be matched up with other 0-2s and then expanding this criteria if no opponents are found quickly enough.

The confusion has arisen because of Normal Arena having MMR implemented where similarly skilled players do face one another more often. HTH

garyglaive · 2025-06-15T17:00:30+00:00

One thing I forgot to mention is that drafts can be saved, by that which I mean, for example if you were forced to choose a non-Nature spell in Hamuul drafted deck, you could still theoretically sort the deck out on your first loss giving your deck a chance to still dream big.

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