It’s brainless to play, but requires big brain to play against.
So:
- Casuals: Who don’t like it are frustrated because they don’t like that they have to “git gud”, while the Mage players relax and ride their games. They also hate the feeling of being forced to play optimized meta decks, since there’s more Quest Mages at lower Ranks.
- Hardcore: Trounce it or still lose to it willingly as a trade off for many other good matchups. There’s also less Quest Mages at higher Ranks so they’re not being fatigued as much by playing against it. They love playing top decks.
This is pretty much the sequel to Barrens Control Warlock. The Mage complaints pretty much mirror the old Warlock complaints.
My solution:
- The player base should want to encourage decks that test the players who play them.
- The players should stop viscerally complaining about high skill decks when they become popular, since it incentivizes Blizzard into making these low skill decks.
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So, D1 & D2 arent high ranks?
Thats where QM is MOST popular, with D3 & D4 not far behind…
Just want to make sure we are on the same page regarding what high rank consists of.
It’s no more brainless to play than anything else in this expansion.
I don’t know why it is players insist on imagining they are smarter because they play a minion deck that my grandson owns with.
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I kind of have to agree. Quest Mage may be obnoxious but it doesn’t seem like an outlier in terms of skill input. You probably have about as many choices in which spells to use as most decks have in which minions to use.
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What do you think is indicative of a deck’s low skill ceiling and floor?
I would say:
- Performs worse at higher Ranks
- Performs worse as the meta becomes more refined
Which cases were you able to evaluate as having low skill floors and ceilings? How did you make that evaluation?
I already mentioned Barrens Control Warlock as another low skill deck, and I will add Wild Big Priest.
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What do you think is indicative of a deck’s low skill ceiling and floor?
All Hearthstone deck are brainless to me… Yes, it has ceiling, but not high enough (compare with Chess game).
You mention that Control Warlock is low skill deck. But, if next expansion, it become the meta, it becomes high skill deck? Eh? The same deck composition, but suddenly it change from low to high skill deck?
Quest Shaman is previously the meta before the nerf, but after the nerf, it leaves the meta. So, the deck become high skill to low skill? I mean, the people from previously smart become stupid?
To me, there is no high/low skill deck. Just calling it “meta deck” is sufficient…
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Popularity, power level, and skill level are all separate things.
You nerf other decks that do well against a deck and it will likely increase in its power level relative to the meta, but it won’t change its skill level.
Questline Shaman itself was nerfed. Its power level and popularity both dipped as a result. Nerfs always reduce the power level, but the skill ceiling is different. It could remain unaffected, be lowered, or be raised (buffs also interact in a similar way).
Whether there are low and high skill ceiling decks is independent of any specific person’s feelings on the subject. You didn’t even present an understanding of what a deck’s skill ceiling is, so I am baffled how you determined that it doesn’t happen.
what is D1, D2, D3 and D4 please? I’m not familiar with those terms
Really?
I understand it’s most popular below Legend, but it’s more popular in Diamond than Gold?
What data source?
D = Diamond
Numbers = rank in that bracket
Yes, it is less popular at legend (11.56%)
Source is HSReplay popularity tab - paid feature.
Last 3 days its:
D1: 18.11%
D2: 17.94%
D3: 16.75%
D4: 16.25%
G1: 15.49%
G2: 15.48%
G3: 15.80%
G4: 15.35%
source:
https://hsreplay.net/meta/#rankRange=DIAMOND_FOUR_THROUGH_DIAMOND_ONE&timeFrame=LAST_3_DAYS&tab=popularity
Like I said, premium/paid feature, so you will need to trust me, or open your wallet to confirm.
That’s why I want to argue about this.
You said that low skill deck is played worse at higher ranks. That’s the definition of “meta” decks, not skill deck.
It’s freaking ridiculous to play against in Diamond. Non-stop damage, non-stop card draw and at the end of their deck they never get damage because Ignite just keeps going back in.
I’m sick of playing against the same deck over and over and losing to it. And if you adjust your deck to try and counter it, then the rigged system doesn’t even match you against. I don’t care if it’s not showing up in legendary.
So glad i didn’t pay for the last expansion. Won’t be paying for the next one either. Blizzard has turned the game over to the Developer B team who wouldn’t know balance if it bit them in the a…
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I am afraid to continue this discussion. Last time someone pulled something similar, I got suspended for asking questions.
I believe you.
Thank you.
I don’t understand. It’s not performing better in Diamond than Gold, right? At least I understand that correctly?
At higher ranks the OTK opposition is a significantly higher presence and Paladin is less popular. Also Mage hate decks with Robes and such probably evaporate.
At higher ranks mage farms Taunt Druid harder, I believe, so it does improve on a matchup.
If your concern is statistics then just tell me what the numbers say? Does Mage get better or worse in individual matchups compared to other decks? I haven’t checked but my guess is it’s not much different. Usually it’s Paladin that suffers from a poor skill cap.
You didn’t answer the question.
Your question is answered right in the OP. It does worse, and has always done worse in the whole expansion.
As far as specific matchups, overall most matchups get worse for the Mage at higher Ranks. Lifesteal DH turns from Mage favored to DH favored, Quest Hunter becomes more strongly favored for the Hunter, and in the Garrote Rogue matchup drops its win rate in half!
Are there a few specific matchups where it does the opposite, yes. So perhaps brainless was too harsh. More correct would be to say there’s very little to learn, compared to other decks.
It is performing better at gold, but only just.
50.20% wr in gold
49.94% wr in d4-1
Last 3 days.
If you go all the way back to the last nerfs, its actually better at d4-1:
Gold 50.58%
D4-1 51.10%
Pretty small differences in performance overall when comparing those 2 brackets, less than 1% either way.
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Uh, comparing it’s Garrote matchup is insanity because we know Garrote gets better at higher ranks regardless of opponent. Lifesteal DH too, if I’m remembering right.
If some decks got better vs it, and some got worse… Then isn’t it just a normal deck in terms of skill?
there is no skill in playing card games, unless you’re playing face to face poker.