Haven’t read the whole topic thoroughly, sorry if I missed something important, but I suppose I could contribute this report: all the way from D5 to L in Classic (EU) was a giant bot streak — and with basic decks at that. These ‘players’ appeared on the ‘recent’ panel and were reportable… And at least on one occasion I saw that old buggy version, shooting in its face with the Elven Archer (used to be a telltale sign for those Warlock bots).
PS I guess I’ll clarify: all of it meaning that some of those, if not all, looked more like player-run bots than those Bli$$ard bots discussed on a few occasions, but can’t be sure.
Dunno what’s going on: either not enough actual players to play against there or some accounts who have suddenly returned after years of inactivity… and somehow ended up there?
PS In case it wasn’t clear enough: I can’t see those bots actually climbing to those ranks on their own, since even ‘netdecks’ that plebs and bots are playing at lower ranks are better.
(More clarifications added in order to make the post more understandable for those not overly familiar with the subject of bots.)