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Hearthstone's January card back: Marauding Maraad
The tenth season of Hearthstone ranked play has begun. This month's card back features a draenei theme -- or more specifically, a Vindicator Maraad theme. It's a beautiful card back and a nice counterpoint to the Iron Horde-themed card back from purchasing the Warlords of Draenor Collector's Edition. As always, you need only reach rank 20 to earn this card back. You can't lose rank until you've surpassed 20, making it a relatively simple goal.
Hearthstone's October 2014 Ranked Play Season ushers in Hallow's End
It's a new month, which means a new season of Hearthstone ranked play is upon us -- and a new card back. This month's theme is Hallow's End. These card backs seem to get consistently better, evolving from glorified palette swaps to artwork with far more detail. To earn the card back, you must reach rank 20 in ranked play before the end of the month. If you're an inexperienced Hearthstone player, we would advise waiting a few days before giving it a shot. A new season of ranked play means a ranking reset. Much more experienced players will be aggressively working their way up the ranks to their usual place and are apt to stomp you if you get in their way up the ladder.
Hearthstone season 6 ending soon
If you count today, there are only 5 days remaining in the current season of Hearthstone ranked play -- and thus only 5 days remaining to earn your pirate-themed card back. You need only reach rank 20 to earn the card back. As we've mentioned many times before, that isn't too difficult a task. You can't lose stars (or ranking) until you've surpassed rank 20. Until then, you have nowhere to go but up. The impending weekend is a good opportunity to do it.
Most Hearthstone players don't surpass rank 15
If you follow any number of prominent Hearthstone players, your perception of ranked play might be a little skewed. Being above rank 10 -- or even top 5 -- seems perfectly standard. When you play the game yourself, frustration mounts quickly because you can barely make it into the teens. However, Blizzard has recently stated you may be better than you think. According to the stats they've released, 75% of players are between rank 15 and 25. Only 2% of players are in the top 5 ranks, with only 0.5% of the playerbase at the Legend rank. While Hearthstone had no difficulty hitting 20 million registered players, I often wonder if competitive games based on ranked played have issues with retention. When ranked play is the central game option, the simple nature of the beast means the majority of your players will sit at the lowest rungs of the ladder. The truly dedicated will invest significant time and energy into overcoming that hurdle, but certainly not everyone. The answer isn't to give people free victories, but is there another way to keep them engaged? If you're interested in the full infographic, it can be found below or on Battle.net.
The latest season of Hearthstone ranked play ending soon
The latest season of ranked play in Hearthstone is coming to a close in just a few short days on August 31. This month's participation reward is the Chill of Icecrown card back seen above. You only need to hit rank 20 before the end of the month to earn the skin, which isn't a particularly difficult task. Losses prior to rank 20 don't cause you to lose ranking, so as long as you play enough to work your way up to that point, you have it in the bag.
New Hearthstone card backs revealed
A post on the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Facebook page has unveiled several alternate artwork options for the backs of your cards. They are colorful and fun, and will be visible to both you and your opponent while you play a match. You can earn the card backs by attaining certain ranks in ranked play. Thus, your card backs can serve as reminder to your opponents just who they're up against. Hearthstone CM Zeriyah has also let it be known that the new card backs will be animated, though we don't yet have a preview of that. Currently, my favorite of the lot is the rainbow (who doesn't love rainbows? Besides imps, anyway), but I'll withhold my final judgement until we get to see just what the animations look like. I'm sure more unique, animated card backs will be on their way in the future, as well, and they'll provide a nice goal for collectors and competitive players to work toward.
BlizzCon 2013: Ranked play changes coming to Hearthstone
In all of the Warlords of Draenor madness at BlizzCon 2013, Hearthstone news fell just a little off of our radar. Now that we've had time to get most of the Warcraft news out there, however, it's about time we give Hearthstone a little love. The Hearthstone developers have announced that a new ranked play system is in the works. The new system has a total of 25 ranks, each represented by a Hearthstone minion, the lowest being Angry Chicken. As you win matches, you'll progress through the ranks -- and unlike in the current version of the game, it will be possible to lose rank if you lose too many matches. If you win many games in a row, you will rank up faster than you normally would. At the highest rank, known as Legend, you'll be able to see what your rank within that rank is in comparison to others at that level. While you might be at the highest rank the game provides, you can still compete to become the best of the best. There are additional rewards coming sometime after the release of the new ranked system. Earlier today we mentioned the card skins, cosmetic customization options for your deck. Further, the developers are also adding "gold" version of heroes -- after 500 wins in ranked play with a hero, you'll unlock an animated version of that hero, adding prestige to your deck of choice.
