What's the deal with arena MMR?

General Discussion
1

So I recently returned playing after not touching the game since around the release of the Karazhan adventure, so around late 2016 early 2017.

One game mode I’ve always enjoyed and spent all my game gold on instead of packs is arena, aswell as my own money too, more so now considering I have even less of the current cards than I did 4 years ago, I was fairly decent back then at arena and have a 9 win record and would usually finish each run between 4-7 wins on average.

Obviously returning to the game after such a long gap so much has changed, cards, metas, player skill levels etc and I’m just not the same player i was those years ago, but one thing that hasn’t seemed to have changed is the level of players I face in arena, I’ve just finished my 10th arena run and so far since returning and I haven’t got past 3 wins and I only got that once I usually finish with 1 win sometimes 2 if I’m lucky.

The majority of all players I face have golden avatars which I know you could argue the games been out many years now and it’s not as big as an achievement anymore but it’s honestly nearly every player I face, plus mosthave legend card backs too so it just shows the sort of level of seasoned players I’m being matched against.

When I played standard ladder though it was completely different it’s like I had ‘placement’ matches because I won my first 4 games in a row and after that the level of players completely shifted from players with very basic cards to players with current cards, so I don’t know why blizzard can’t just reset MMR after every card rotation or at the very least after a year or so of inactivity?

I just want to enjoy the game again and most of the enjoyment I get is from playing arena, it’s just a fun way to collect cards too instead of just flat out buying the packs straight from the store, but I just feel I’m wasting money because every run I finish I end up only getting one pack and like 20 dust or a common card, it’s really disheartening.

2

There isn’t an mmr in arena but an issue you’re going to have is that it’s now mainly only played by the hardcore arena players. So that coupled with your lack of the current arena meta knowledge means your gona do much worse. I’m the same, used to be very good when I ground arena, now when I do a couple of runs per expansion, I get my butt kicked, but I can see why.

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3

Arena doesn’t have MMR and that is a big problem. Dean Ayala mentioned it in the last AMA but here’s the basic idea.

Arena matches people by the current record. If you are 2-1 you will play against someone that is 2-1. If you are 11-2 you are matched against someone that is 11-2. This means that really good Arena players will get the big victories more often and that less skilled players will have less chance of doing well.

This means that new people trying Arena will feel discouraged because they’ll get trampled by the regulars and that Arena becomes staler and staler over time.

What Dean mentioned is that changing Arena implies adding some sort of skill MMR to it. That means changing the rewards structure so that Arean regulars don’t go nuts with the change.

Arena is in a lot of trouble at the moment. A lot needs to change. The problem is not Arena MMR but the lack of it.

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4

Thankyou for enlightening me guys I appreciate the feedback after being out of the game for so long.

I do feel that they should incorporate some sort of MMR aswell as current run record to add some level of balance, for instance I could jump into my first game 0-0 at same time as someone who has just finished their last run 11-2, were both 0-0 but we all know who’s going to get buried.

I can understand it would upset hardcore arena runners but I feel its a needed change and would bring more overall players aswell as casuals to arena, where good players play good players and amateurs play amateurs, and amateur players aren’t just used as cattle to be farmed by hardcores for better run rewards (that’s literally the reason they’d get so upset is because they dont want to lose their ‘‘free’’ wins)

5

I completely agree with you. I don’t play Arena at all because I’m simply and utterly destroyed there. There’s just no competition. The status quo has to change and Team 5 knows it, but the problem I foresee is that changes in Arena take a long time to be implemented. Often, more than year.

6

Yeah exactly and I feel if it isn’t something they’ve properly addressed or changed at this point I don’t think they ever will its a shame really, but I’m relieved to know that it wasn’t my MMR and its just the current state of arena, I was even considering making a new account even though I’d lose alot of wild cards I never really play ladder so it would of been worth the sacrifice to have a fairer run at arena, atleast I know now thankyou.

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7

For me the issue with that is that it’s a reward based mode that has an entry fee. So essentially you end up punishing the hardcore players, probably to the point where they can’t play arena anymore as they run out of gold and I am not for punishing people who put in the time and effort to get good, even if as a casual, I’d benefit.

8

That just more or less alienates new players that want to get into arena, they’ll have no chance to garner experience if they’re constantly stopped 3 times in a row and that’ll just demotivate them to go again.

Fair enough these hardcore have put in alot of time and effort to get to the levels they’re at now but that just leaves no room for anyone new to get there, players need to walk before they can run.

Possibly add a ranked system like ladder, that after X amount of wins you see a promotion to a higher rank with the potential of extra benefits? I know its difficult to incorporate such changes to a mode that isn’t as straight forward as ladder but it just makes everyone else suffers, it’s like a kids playground run by ‘bigger’ kids and if you try to go inside to have fun you just get battered, weird analogy but its just the way I see it lol.

9

I’ve played Hearthstone since its release and have not stopped playing it.
Like you I love Arena. Still do , actually.
I prefer to play Control and Tempo in Arena over Attrition decks.

Some tips and helpful tools that will help you , I think.

Arena is a pure tempo game most of the time. To get better at Arena, you need to have better knowledge of the cards, so that you know what’s you’re up against.
If you have been absent from Hearthstone for quite some time, you need to familiarize yourself better with the cards.

Ask yourself a simple question: what is the best turn that my opponent can make while having X mana, and prepare your board in advance.

In early game it’s easier to predict the best opponent move since you’re dealing with limited mana reserves.

For instance, when I’m against Hunter, I know that he can drop an Imprisoned Felmaw on me on turn 2, and it will take him two turns to awaken, so I prepare my board to accommodate the threat. I try to play several minions to have more targets for him to hit, and soak up the damage.

In late game, always ask yourself: how do I lose? is there something that my opponent can do on his next turn so that I lose the board completely?

Just knowing that now Flamestrike deals 5 damage instead of 4 and that it is is an Epic card and not a Common can help you plan out your turn accordingly.

The Heartharena companion app can help you draft balanced Arena decks. Just search for it.

I also encourage you to watch streamers like Trump play Arena

Don’t be discouraged if you lose. Even the best laid plans can fail.
Don’t forget that your opponent wants to win just as much as you do, and he’ll do anything to attain victory.

Good luck!

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10

I guess they could just do what they did with duels and add a casual arena that is free to enter but has no rewards.

11

Why not Arena competitive leagues? Similar to Ranked but you’d win stars for each game you won on a run. Would certainly separate the regulars from the rest of us.

EDIT: Actually that wouldn’t work. Stars would need to be the difference of wins and losses of each run. Otherwise getting up there would be a matter of time and the problem would persist.

12

The reason everyone has golden portraits is because bliz recently started counting arena runs towards portraits. Previously, a dedicated arena player may have had 10k arena wins with no golden portraits at all.

I don’t mean to be insulting, but coming back after 4-5 years and playing a couple dozen games is not going to put you back where you were skill-wise, no matter what your skill was. That’s true for all game modes, but especially in a draft system where the meta matters so much.

Making arena like constructed is only good for people that like constructed. Those who like arena because it doesn’t work like constructed aren’t helped by those sorts of changes. Having multiple modes work differently is good for the game.

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