Hey everyone, my name is TeamAmerica_USA, you can just call me PJ. I recently achieved the No.1 spot for Arena Leaderboards NA March with an average of 9.17 !
This has been a goal of mine for a while, and I’m almost in disbelief that it actually happened, let alone by a margin of .8 wins per run. Congrats to everyone who made it this month, especially because I know a lot of top players were struggling with their March averages. For whatever reason, March was the best month of arena I’ve ever had, so I wanted to share with you all a little bit of my backstory, my approach to the game, and what I believe has helped me achieve regular leaderboard spots and particularly the number 1 spot this month. I did play nearly all of my games on stream, and if you like my content and are interested in lessons (and watching me misplay when I get tired…) follow me at twitch.tv/teamamerica_usa .
I’ll start with some raw data-- Here are my averages by class from my best 30: Mage- 11 runs @ 9.18 averageWarlock - 9 runs @ 9.25 averageRogue - 5 runs @ 10.8 averageWarrior - 3 runs @ 7.53 averagePaladin - 3 runs @ 8 average11 total 12 win runs
My Background:
As for my background, I have been playing since release, although I left right before Naxx and then came back for GvG. Around that time I got really into the game playing lots of arena and also spamming Mech Mage to Top 30 Legend. I was competitive in both modes and around that time I discovered tier lists which was a game changer learning things such as Headcrack is a bad card.
I’ve always loved playing both standard and arena, but I can play arena for a much longer period of time without getting burnt out and seem to enjoy it a little more. I am very competitive, and I was really excited when I saw the Arena Leaderboard come out and immediately made some attempts. I finally made it in April of 2017 and again in May when Un’goro came out. Then I started working and moved cities and didn’t take any time off till December, when I coincidentally made the leaderboard again.
Some changes with work happened right around the time Witchwood came out and I suddenly had some more free time. I was able to finish top 200 Legend for the first time and get on Arena leaderboard in the same month. At that time I basically added everyone I played against up there to try and have some high level friends I could talk with and learn from. I started doing some qualifier cups and SneakyChe helped me decide to go to Dreamhack Austin to compete in the open Tournament. I gained valuable experience while getting top 32 after falling to Boarcontrol in my streamed match.
Afterwards, I managed to play in the Copa America Qualifier and went 7-0 with my Dreamhack Lineup and then in the qualifying duals got though in an epic series with Tincho. Argentina was a ton of fun and getting to meet all the players was great. I had my Malygos druid reverse-swept by Rase in the morning, practiced it all day with some help from LiiHS, and then I managed to beat Topopablo and PNC on stream to make it out of the group. After that, I lost to Muzzy the next round, but my goal was to make it out of my group so I was happy with the performance.
Streaming Arena:
I decided that I wanted to try streaming some while I looked for work. I decided to stream arena since I can play that for hours and feel that I am comparatively better at it. To be honest, it was a struggle to play at the same level while streaming and to explain my plays vs just playing instinctively in the beginning. I also started using a deck tracker for the first time which I think has slowly made me a worse player overall, even if in the short term it helps a ton. After a few months I was finally making the arena leaderboards again while streaming with slightly above a 7-win average.
Then in January this year there was the Twitch Rivals Arena Event and I was super excited till I read it was invite only. I was pretty disappointed and I tried to use it as motivation to try and show that I would’ve been a great addition to be a part of it. I was talking with my chat about how I wasn’t sure what I needed to be doing differently to be able to take my average to the next level. I had been able to get a little above 7 for for leaderboards when I had time, but to get to the 8 win level, I just was feeling kind of hopeless.
In late February I got a job doing some JavaScript development, and it made me realize how much I hated it. Because of this, too, I was super motivated to keep streaming every day even though I was doing a mentally fatiguing job full-time, because I wanted to see if I could do better at streaming if I put my all into it. This is where getting the 9.17 came in.
March Arenas:
In early March I started to have some really good class RNG in that I was able to play either Mage and Warlock for 16 straight runs. I was so focused and I could tell that my numbers were on pace for number one, but I was feeling ambitious and was actually consistently trying to calculate how I would have to do to try and get the all-time record. I think the meta also just fit me perfectly, it was a control meta and I think my instincts for when to play for face and when to play for value just fit perfectly. I try to adapt my draft-style and play-style consistently because the meta is always changing, new expansion or not.
Some General Advice:
I do use HearthArena and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking to be better at arena, experienced or not. My motto when using HearthArena is “It’s a tool, not a rule.” (It’s fun to rhyme). Same goes for other tools such as HSReplay. HearthArena is especially helpful when you are new to a class, but it’s only a starting point. After a few runs, make adjustments based off of what you think the meta calls for curve-wise, value-wise, or otherwise. This is where honest self-reflection and evaluation is important.
Something that has really helped me succeed at Hearthstone, and games in general, was developing the mentality that you should always focus on improvement, vs caring about wins and losses . I believe it is key to focus on the process rather the results when you are trying to improve, because it gives you something to feel good about regardless of the randomness you cant control. You will win games you misplay on and lose games you played perfectly. Identifying what you did right and wrong is much more important if you want to continue to get better. I can also say that my competitve gaming experience has helped me learn the importance of not getting tilted and always focus on what you can control, which is usually just your deck, how you play, and you attitude.
I know I am not the best player, but I believe I am good enough to beat anyone in part because I work to control my emotions so that I can always play at my best. Don’t give up on a game or match because of some bad RNG or a misplay. If you are still in the game your focus needs to be how you can win.
Thanks For Reading!
I’m not sure if there is anything else you want to hear about me or any arena tips that I have, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask in a comment or in twitch chat! I stream Everyday 2pm-9pm CST. I am also still trying to grow on Twitch, so if anyone has any tips or feedback for my channel, I’d greatly appreciate it!
Thanks everyone for reading. Special thanks to SneakyChe, Hapabear and BoozorTV. I am very happy with my results and I hope to continue to top leaderboards and get even better at the game. Hopefully my stream or this post can help in some way. Looking forward to the April/May Leaderboard! I know that I am not really deep in the Arena community yet, but everyone I have met so far is great and I look forward to getting to know everyone better.