Legend Write-up

So for the past week and a half, I've been grinding the Hearthstone ladder. It had been a pretty rewarding, frustrating and exhausting process. In this post, I'll share some of my laddering experiences, deck-lists, and a few things I learnt along the way.

Rank 3 was my highest rank before. In my past experiences, the metagames between Rank 20-6 and 5-1 are very different. Rank 20-6 is filled with aggro, while Rank 5-1 is very midrange/control oriented. There are two reasons for this, I think. The first is that it's easy to stack accumulated stars with aggro decks. A deck like Face Hunter might be somewhat inconsistent, and suffers in a control meta, but it's a fast deck, and if you get lucky, you can stack stars real fast. Second, consistency beats speed once you're above Rank 5. That's why Druid is such a popular deck now, because it's so consistent. If you can guarantee yourself a 60% winrate, all you need to do is grind.

I predicted earlier that Hunter, despite the Undertaker nerf, would remain relevant in the metagame. The popularity of Hunter took a dip after the nerf - the most popular decks in the meta were Oil Rogue (aka Miracle with Sprint instead of Gadgetzan), Mech Mage (the new Zoo), Pally and Druid (combo is much more popular than Ramp). Face Hunter had even to good matchups with all three, thus it became the go-to Hunter deck when the season first started.

In the climb from 19-6, I used Face Hunter exclusively. Then my plan was to switch to Midrange once I hit above Rank 5. Both turned out to be very solid decisions. It took me around 3-4 days, with about an hour and a half per day, to hit Rank 5. Then I switched to Midrange Hunter. Not only is it a very solid deck versus control, I also personally find Midrange much more enjoyable to play. And just a week ago, Midrange Hunter was virtually non-existent on ladder. So there's the surprise factor as well.

Anyway, here are the deck-lists.

Face Hunter (Rank 18-5)

• Standard list. I don't have Leeroy, but even if I did, I probably wouldn't play it because it is practically a dead card unless you have lethal. I like having a smooth mana curve when playing this deck.
• It is correct to play Abusive Sergeant turn one if you have no other play.
• Owl and Tracking are both situational cards, which is why only one copy of each is good. I like running only 1 Eaglehorn Bow because having too many weapons clogs your hand, and it's very hard to consistently get additional charges on the Bow.
• In the mirror, it is sometimes correct to Kill Command a 3/1 to prevent lethal. Keep note of how many Wolfriders/Golem/other sources of face damage your opponent has used. Usually, the mirror is extremely close, so take time and do basic maths instead of mindlessly going face.

SenX Midrange Hunter (Rank 5-3)

• SenX hit no.1 on Europe with the deck. Notable is his additional of Abusive Sergeant, a tech-card meant to beat Mech Mage. Abusive allows the Webspinner/Creeper to trade into the Mechwarper, leaving a useful 2/1 body.
• Houndmaster is good, but only if people forget to play around it. Houndmaster has the surprise factor when Midrange Hunter briefly disappeared, but now it's hard to get value off it.

Midrange Hunter (Rank 3-Legend)

• My own list, although only afterwards did I realize its tech-cards are eerily similar to that of Naiman's.
• Argus serves as a more consistent version of Houndmaster. Very good versus Rogues, Mechmage and Face Hunter, match-ups where life is a critical resource.
• All Midrange decks should, ideally, have a cycle/draw engine. Mad Scientist/Webspinner are pseudo draws/cycles, but the Cult Master adds real consistency to this deck. A Midrange Hunter that plays high quality minions is already powerful. Add draw power on top of that, and things get insane.
• I like Snake Traps because Midrange Hunter is all about board control. It can be dead occasionally, but it's very powerful against Mech Mage and has good synergy with Cult Master.

Some things I learnt playing the deck:

• Against Mech Mage, clear their board as much as possible to prevent a turn 4 Blastmage. 
• Against Control Warrior, it's correct to keep Highmane if you are on the Coin.
• If on Coin, try not to keep Webspinner. It's better to play two 2-drops in a row with Coin.
• Unless you can get immediate value with Knife Juggler (e.g. with Unleash the Hounds/Dr. Boom), try not to play it too early.
• Prioritize board control, especially in the early game. If you have to decide between Webspinner or Hero Power, play the Webspinner.
• Animal Companion is good, but inconsistent. If you can play other minions, try to play them first so Animal Companion won't screw you over if you get the wrong one.
• Against Rogue, try to Hero Power every turn.
• The general plan of the decks is to play high-quality, sticky minions on a smooth curve, finding tempo with your Secrets, and rush down your opponent when you have enough board control. 
• Don't be stingy with Kill Commands. If it's a clean kill on a Sen'jin or Sludge Belcher, it's totally fine to use it as removal.

Perhaps even more important than the deck/gameplay is the mindset. When I got stuck between Rank 2-3 for a while, things got pretty frustrating and tilt-ish. This grind to legend really tested my patience. Getting emotions under control is super important when grinding ladder. Hearthstone is a game with quite a bit of variance, so persistence is much more important than complaining about topdecks and whatnot. On my final climb to Legend, I learnt (from StrifeCro, actually) to keep myself calm, and think a good deal before every move, planning everything else in advance. And of course, concentrate as much as possible.

There's a few more days left till ladder season ends. I'm going to do other things for the next few days, and I'll try get into the Top 100 when the season is about to finish.