Blizzard spends a lot of money on these tournaments which is indirectly marketing and advertising the game. These costs must be passed on to the consumer because at the end of the day because Blizzard is out to make a profit and they wouldn’t be charitable and give out money at a tournament. Now, just imagine that instead of spending on this kind of marketing, they passed on the cost savings to the consumer in the form of more packs per dollar, more XP and more rewards in the rewards track. I think more people would stick with Hearthstone.

The new ranked system is Blizzard’s new way of wooing over the playing public. A star multiplier basically guarantees progression and rewards until you hit the 1-star climb to legend something which is no doubt very popular. With no star multipler, the match making is based on rank not MMR and that means if you’re unable to do so in the early parts of the month then it will get a lot easier towards the end of the month. So with a lot of effort and trying I think most people will hit legend at the end of the month – again leaving a good taste in the mouths of the playing public. Very clever design Blizzard.

If only Blizzard would apply the same concept of discount to wild legendaries and packs. Surely if something has seen its day in standard and has rotated into wild then it should be cheaper to craft and purchase in gold from the shop hmm?

The most likely reason for the spike is that the Diamond rank 5 to legend is significantly shorter than the old rank 5 to legend. There are only 3 stars per rank compared with 5 stars per rank in the old system. If you need fewer wins to get to legend then naturally there will be more legend players.

Whilst I appreciate Stonekeep’s guide I think it can be much further expanded on. Having played and beaten the Heroic mode I think I should share some of my tips with others who want to know how to win. And you only need 4 treasures from each hero to win – no need to grind if you play smart. WARNING: Spoiler alert!!

Phase 1 – You want to select Finley as your hero with the discover hero power. A very pressing objective of this phase is to discover 3 key spells that will greatly assist you in the coming phases. You need 2 transformation spells from the shaman class. Can be Hex, Devolve or Plague of Murlocs. You also need a single target removal spell. Until you get these 3 spells you should never go face with your minions – simply just trade. There should be ample opportunity to get these spells from your discover hero power but if you can’t get them by the time your opponent fatigues through the first phase then concede and restart. Finley should never fatigue because of that +2 health spell and he will always have minions to play due to the hero power.

Finley also has the lance which you should equip on turn 4 after the opponent has had a chance to play the weapon removal on turn 3. If you don’t have the lance early on then wait until he has played 2 weapon removals and then equip it – it will last all the way to the 2nd phase. Finley’s lance is a great weapon to have early on – it makes life a lot easier.

Phase 2 – Ideally you want Finley to survive this phase up to the point where the opponent plays his big C’Thun. Then the next hero you need is Brann who has a treasure that destroys two opponent minions. If you kill the C’Thun with it you’ll get a lot of armour. There are 3 other opponent minions of importance in this phase which you need the cards from the first phase for. Hadronox and Rin you need a transformation spell for otherwise you’ll simply lose the game if they get their deathrattle effects off. There’s also a shudderwock which can get quite big so you might need the single target removal spell for that.

Phase 3 – After clearing your board, the opponent will play the final plague along with 0 mana giants and another big C’thun. This will kill Brann and you’ll need Elise to be your next hero because she a treasure which silences and clears the enemy board. Once Elise has cleared the board, then this should be your win. Play out your minions like you normally do and your priority should be trading. Opponent has lots of board clears so just play enough to trigger them and he will run out of health before you do.