I’ve personally never play meta & grinded long enough to make it to legend before because of my job, I usually hang out around D3-D8 playing off-meta decks for fun, but this season has been different.
I played a mostly homebrew clown druid deck (lieutenant in there before it was cool/meta…:P) this season i went on a crazy run from D8-D2 or so really fast, got to 2 star D1, tanked back to 1-star D4 when the meta become overwhelming early rush.
I got a pseudo-homebrew handbuff pally now back up to 2 star D1, two wins off first time legend, and I find each game just so nerve-wracking haha. I’ll win one, and just say “yup there’s my win for today!”, get one step closer to legend, and play some meme deck in casual for fun.
When I hit Legend for the first time last month the feelings were exactly like this.
Good luck, and just keep in mind if/when you do hit legend, the liberating feeling of ‘I never have to really care about ranking again’ will make all the nerve-wracking wins and losses worthwhile.
Unless you’re one of those crazy people that grinds to legend every month. Madness, I tells ya.
This is why I chain-smoke when I play Hearthstone ranked. You are most definitely not alone. The best way to overcome this anxiety is through exposure to the stimuli that is making you nervous. This way you feel less anxiety over time by exposing yourself to that which causes anxiety.
I have/had to do this, but in regard to people. I have social phobia terribly. I found the best way to overcome this is to continue exposing myself to people.
Try to focus on the things that motivated you to queue when you weren’t going out of your way to climb and just repeat that. Theoretically you could just play games to complete your daily/weekly quests and just happenstance win streak into Legend at some point.
Yeah this is pretty much my playstyle. I tend to end season at D5 playing less meta/lower win rate decks to really surprise people and the variety is something I find really fun. It just so happens that clown druid knocked it out of the park for me on a solid run (I think I went 13-4 at one point before tanking) got so close to legend that I figured maybe I go for it this month, bit I have so much else going on that it’s hard to convince myself that I will haha.
The anxiety isn’t so much of an unhappy/stress inducer though almost, it’s more something I laugh about, but my mind draws me to other game modes instead of just playing ladder. Maybe it’s because I feel the final games are so important that I don’t want to play on my phone (my normal medium) and want to be in front of my computer lol.
Either way, here’s to hoping I can avoid priests for the final two games I need to get there!
I made Legend in my first month (March) & only returned a couple of days ago. I let out a huge whoop, & my wife looked at me over her glasses like, “Yes, he’s lost his mind.”
I haven’t played much since then. I’m still decompressing.
Like Killuminati, I suffer from anxiety as well (chain smoke, too). I once had agoraphobia so bad I couldn’t leave the house in daylight. I sought professional help, & she said “Well, you have to go outside in the daylight.” I’m like, “Are you not listening to me?” So, she says, “I want you to go for a walk around the block in the daylight, everyday. I’ll go with you the first time.” I still have anxiety issues (childhood trauma), but I can go for a walk in the daylight by myself.
Sorry, I’m a middle child, so I over share, but the thing is you can’t hide from what makes you anxious because it’s really just you.
I normally play for fun, usually some N’Zoth or Y’Shaarj deck until I get to D5. Then I make a run for legend with a competitive deck, lately pirate warrior right before the nerf. The last games before legend are indeed very exciting. Then at legend I resume playing my weird stuff. Just don’t ever obsess with rank and play whatever bring you more joy.
Happens to all of us. The key is to get over the anxiety and climb just a tad bit higher than you have before.
Eventually, the climb anxiety goes away and only exists at your highest point of play. If you reach legend all the time, you’ll pretty much lose your Diamond anxiety. If you reach Diamond all the time, you’ll lose your Platinum anxiety. Etc, etc.
What I have found is that MOST people are skillful enough to be higher than they are, but they suffer from this anxiety. Just keep going despite your anxiety. Everyone feels it.
Yeah I think my biggest things are are being this close after playing HS since day 1 launch, and that paired with the fact that my work schedule usually never allows me to play enough to do the d5-legend grind. It feels like a “now or never” kind of thing even though I know that’s not the case, but it’s hard to avoid the mindset.
I can pretty much guarantee it’ll go away when/if I hit legend for the first time, and then i’ll truly use one of my homebrew decks to legend haha.
Thanks for the support all, just trying to fit some games in here and there on my PC to finish it off…I worry about playing in D1 on my phone for some reason lol.
I’d agree with what Schyla said. Back in December when I decided to play HS I’ve climbed to the legend and stuck around 4-5k. When I saw 3k player in front I was so nervous and this also led to a lose. This month I’m around 2k, sometimes going down to 2.4, sometimes up to 1.7 (every win or lose give or take around 100 positions). So this time when I see a 3k player I count this as almost a free win. On the other hand few weeks ago I’d have anxiety seing a 1.3 or above. Not anymore though.
I could recall similar thing from WoW arena - when you hit your first 2.2k you feel like this was hard, but then you go up and with 2.5+ exp you don’t even count past achievements as something worth looking at and just farm your points.
That’s what I’m feeling now. Reached Plat 5 for the first time. Getting to Plat 5 was a breeze, but after reaching Plat 5, my opponents gets the perfect draw and highroll, while I get horrible opening hands
Two wins off legend and then 7 game straight losing skid. 6 hard counters in a row. I’m devastated. It’s stuff like this that just makes me want to quit forever.
Update: 12 straight losses after going 13-6 to D1 2 star. Same deck, same strat.
Yup probably just going uninstall.
Update 2: went back to druid, lost another 3 for 15 straight losses.
Back at D5 0 star. Literally one of the worst feeling of my gaming career. Definitely stopping playing for a few months, this is god awful.
It can be soul crushing experience when you go from D1 to D5. Play few games, if you feel anxiety or if you are dropping ranks, stop playing. Make a brake. Sometimes even for a few days, then come back with fresh perspective.