Is Hearthstone really rigged?

Multiplayer Discussion
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I first started playing hearthstone around a year after release, however i starting devoting my time to other things and took a long break. Ive returned to find a very different game. Ive been playing quite consistently in the past 6 months or so with the goal to reach legend (as i never achieved it back then).

I began my climb with Big Spell Mage and it worked really well.Despite some broken cards and disgustingly unfair openers. I saw genuine steady growth through the rankings. I proceeded to hit diamond after a while and met better players and decks (to be expected). However i still saw myself making steady growth. After hitting diamond 5, I realised pretty quickly this was the real end game. I spent the rest of the season going on win streaks and then massive loss streaks. Sometimes even going from diamond 2 straight back down to diamond 5. I found myself going in circles of wins and losses only to end up straight back where i had started.

Our current season started (March of The Lich King) and see myself at the same point as i did last season. Diamond 5. Only this time I had 3 different decks. After grinding and grinding with all three and experiencing the exact same thing as last time, i began questioning the matchmaking and algorithm. Quite a few games ended at turn 4 minimum.

After a few searches to see if people were having the same issues I realised i was in-fact playing a game made by blizzard and this problem had been around for a while. The current state of hearthstone is a little uneasy in my opinion. The game as a whole has grown greatly in terms of artwork and gameplay but there really is no need to incorporate this kind of relentless algorithm. The literal definition of insanity is to be doing something repeatedly expecting a different outcome but getting the same one each time. Im not sure how blizzard have managed to incorporate frustration and anger into a card game is beyond me but this is blizzard we are talking about.

In conclusion i dont think Hearthstone is rigged. Rigged is a word tied to corruption. As i mentioned before this is just a card game, nothing is gained or lost. I think Hearthstone is unnecessarily unfair with its algorithm to keep you spinning on the hamster wheel. Awarding wins slowly, only to be taken away with loss after loss. It wouldn’t surprise me with blizzards track record to not only match you up in a game you have 0% chance of winning, but to also manipulate both players card draw to solidify a loss.

I might just sound like every other post and in reality I dont really care, but i have some spare time so why not have a little rant. No wonder hearthstone has seen a decline over the years. I think id rather sit on something sharp than be violated by a turn 4 11/11 rogue.

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It’s rigged when i lose, but not when i win. :point_left: :sunglasses: :point_left:

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Here. HS it’s like going to a casino. The first time you get into the game, you get your deck, either you crafted it by your own or just copied it. You are in your very first game with that deck, you get a totally random deck as oponent, almost like trolling or even just legacy cards. You won your first game, then you say: “Wow I think I like this game!”, or “Wow, I think this deck that I just crafted it’s actually good?”. Then, because you’re overhyped about wining your game, you keep playing, but now the algoritm gives you a game against a good (not troll) Rogue, Druid or DH deck. You die on turn 6 or just lose on a totally 1 sided game. Then, and finally, because when you lose you can’t stop playing until you get your win, so you keep and keep playing hours and hours until you finally get your 2nd win, and that oponent it’s either an AFK or bot player, or another troll deck. Then you’re able to go to bed after your win. Win-Win business for Blizzard. Their players spend a lot of hours and you get your win (30% win rate btw). Conclusion: it is rigged indeed.

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Dispite what all these autistic knowitalls on these forums state any game with a matchmaker is rigged.

Matchmakers intentaly rig games to make it harder depending on your Matchmaker ratting.

When you win more games insted of giving you a truely random opponent. It places you against other players on purpose that have a higher or simular win rate as you. This rigs games so you will loose period.

Games are all riged to place you against lower win rate oponents when u have a lower matchmaker rating so you wont quit or get flusterated by being placed with top players.

This is a known fact.

Also the after you get x amount of wins this game puts you up against players whps decks are going to have a high roll. The ai in this game looks at win rates with cards to do this and played win rates together.

Ppl on the past have said the devs are too lazy or i give the devs to much credit so this is not possible. Thing is its extreamly simple to do something like this.

Hs replay checks card win rates with ease. A company like blizzard has far more captiol than hsreplay and with ease has data vastly superior hs replay and vs.

Anyone that trys to say im wrong about my above statements needs a harsh reality check and needs to stop living in some kind of fantasy world.

All match makers are designed to do the above in one way or another and have for the exsistance of matchmakers.

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This isn’t what the whiners are whining about. They think that the system is applied unfairly, as in not to everyone with the same rules. They think it’s about keeping them from their deserved successes through cheating, and not the fair application to their actual performance. That somehow the game knows who “should” win and who “should” lose over the long term and in each individual game. That there is widespread manipulation of game results that is both immediately obvious to casual inspection in a handful of games but completely impervious to data aggregation and statistical analysis.

Do not misrepresent the claims. And, don’t perpetuate the misinformation that the matchmaker looks at your deck. It does not. It never has. And it never needed to. It only needs your win record, and matchmaking systems going back decades have proven it. Chess ELO does not care what your opening is, and Hearthstone does not care what your deck is.

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You make a strong case. I am starting to believe the matchmaking might actually be rigged this way. (not neccesarily for BG but for standard).

That might explain the wall of counters and things like seeing random oozes when you switch to a weapon deck.

Still dont know if believe this or not lol but you sound more convincing then anything i read before on this forum. It is definitely impossible to prove i think. The matchmaking data apearently does show that every deck matches vs every other deck in the expected ratios of meta prevalence.

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The game does not look at your or anyone’s deck.

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I don’t lose. Therefore game isn’t rigged.

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Maybe someone can ask chatgpt3.

Would it realize it doesnt know. Would it repeat the official blizzard statements that can be found online,or would it also include public opinion on forums like this.

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It said that matchmaking is dependent on MMR and deck type, I followed up by asking why different decks face the same mix of opponents in the meta and it apologised, and then clarified that deck type is not considered.

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Can you back your claim? No. You have no clue what goes on behind the sceens in the match maker.

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Its like how people were suprised what the NSA was and is capable of doing. Like someone else said its not anymore the internet of 2000.

That the game is rigged doesnt matter aslong you have fun and you are willed to fight the odds.

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I have direct quotes from the people who made it that support my claim.

If, however, you think that the people making your video game are lying to you about cheating you out of wins so that you feel bad, and you still keep playing, then I concede that I won’t ever convince you through logical discourse and citation of sources.

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If you didn’t have a weapon why would your opponent play an ooze when a different card would be a better choice?

Stop for a second and realize you don’t know every card in the opponent deck unless you fatigue each game. You will never know how many opponents didn’t play an ooze in games you didn’t play a weapon.

This has been stated by the devs. If someone were able to prove that the match does, in fact, use your deck in the match, blizzard would be in huge trouble on multiple continents.

They won’t make a public statement like this unless it’s factual. The legal ramifications are too great.

I commend you for trying to explain a “how” to go with your claim. It’s a step in the correct direction to being taken seriously, but card win rates don’t explain what you think they explain.

Give us an example of how you think this AI would work to use win rates and played win rates to match people.

Dunning-Kruger effect in full force, mate. You’re out of ur depth on this one.

Blizzard tells us that rating is based on winning and losing your matches and the opponent winning and losing their matches.

Let’s say you play opponent Z who plays deck A and win.

Next queue you play opponent N who plays deck A, too, and you win.

The match then puts you to opponent M, who plays Deck P, which happens to be pretty much a mirror to your list.

Here’s where it gets interesting. You’ve won three straight, including a mirror. The match then says well, lets find a player who has beaten player M and match you there to see if your skill is superior. Mind you, it didn’t look at the deck, just recent games of win or lose, and decides to give you player H.

Player H plays a list that curb stops Deck P, which is why both you and player M got pwned, and you lose.

It didn’t match you to a counter deck, it matched you to a player… who happend to be played a deck that is strong against your list.

It doesn’t need to look at a single card to piss you off. Not one. Making it consider cards is making it complex for no good reason.

It’s very much a case for Occam’s Razor.

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I never once said that your putting words in my mouth i was talking about how match makers work because i have personaly helped design them for a game. You look for statistical data about previous games matched against other players that will lower the persons chances of winning and match them accordingly to make the chances of them winning harder.

Your delusional if you dont think thats rigged game.

Now they fact if they idently whole decks or not thats up for debate.

Do they check card wins rates 1000%. if you dont belive that your sanity is inquestion.

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Dont you think that a random Matchmaking would let you play countless Times vs Player Z N and M?

In your scenario the game chooses a opponent to test you and thats RIGGED…no randomness …a engine that gives a specific opponent.

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Your the one making yourself look bad here sir its quite hilarious tbh.

Dunning-Kruger effect implys the persons lack of skill.

No1 iv programed matchmakers

No2 im a t500 player in standard and wild.

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I just copie two decks from hsreplay play wild. just hit diamond in 2days. Yeah wild is so much easier. Not that rigged for me, welli dont plan on going higher. They were gave me a few streaks today … up to 11. (maybe its their pity reward for my wasted time in battlegrounds. )

BUT…
My serious question is… their grandmasters and world tours, what are your opinions on the match draws of the heats? Totaly out a hat??

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The only accurate thing you typed out

This isn’t a rant, it’s a conspiracy theory. If you simply said, “I’m tired of losing to X deck”, you may garner some likewise sympathy here. For example:

This is more believable than some top secret algorithm

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I prefer Rekt’s take on this, as plausible as limebeasts rationale sounds it would require such and such a player to queue up at an almost identical moment after 3 rounds against x,y,z random opponent. I can’t say it 100% is correct, I’m sure the legal side of this would be pretty grey too because they are a game and not a gambling service, you’d have to prove that manipulating it led to some kind of addiction or that it made people spend more for it to even get looked at. Phones purposely being slowed down so you would buy a new one like apple are just the start of why you should have skepticism for these big companies that are supposedly doing nothing wrong.

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