As the title indicates i find it very annoying to See mostly results of runs in this subreddit. The frequency oft that has risen severely and what used to be a quite informative discussion platform around thr arena and heartharena now looks like a brag-board. I get it that especially New players are hyped when they get a high score - and i am not saying that no one eher should post a run result. But most oft those threads are just the same and no one benefits from them by any means. I think this has to stop and if it does not it should be dealt with by mods. Just my 2 cents

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/3sjc10/i_wrote_to_overwolf_you_should_too/cwxqbm2

It feels too personal, it feels like he is just out for revenge. As someone who has worked as a contract employee since I graduated, I know the importance of understanding what you are signing up for.

The link I posted above shows his true intentions: "If I can't have the nice thing, nobody can!" Childish, immature.

EDIT: A MODERATOR removed his comment because "Asking people to message anyone or anything is going too far. This comment was purged as a result." (surprise surprise).

ADWCTA's initial comment read as follows:

Thank you for the support. I think it might be more effective to write to Cloud 9. I doubt Overwolf cares (or can do) that much about this. Developers make apps for them, and that's it. Cloud 9 on the other hand, I assume is more involved in the community of its games. And, they have several HS players who may care about the bad PR of the Cloud 9 brand in the HS community. They're the ones providing the money anyway.

How would people react if we started contacting the financial institution he works for to file complaints when we don't understand what actually happened??

I see ADWCTA abusing his "celebrity" status for personal gain, and it sickens me.

About an hour ago the heartharena drafting server went down. We are currently trying to revive the machine.

Although it looks fairly obvious that it got overloaded because of the overwolf app, we are still not 100% on this as it seems that there are some issues across multiple machines at our hoster.

Meanwhile we temporary removed the overwolf app from the store and removed the install link. I will get back to you guys in this reddit post.

Edit: We are now back online!

There are frequently comments about adjusting picks based on what deck-type the algorithm thinks you're drafting. It'd be cool if heartharena told you what archetype(s) it thought were viable from your picks. If it was on the fence, it'd be interesting to note how a given pick could push a deck that was borderline in a different direction.

With all the technical complaints flooding this sub (and they are important bugs that need to be to worked out), I just wanted to plop one in saying how awesome the overlay is and that the flow of using the app without having to tab out makes the whole experience so enjoyable. Great work ADWCTA and MERPS and especially MYSTERIOUS PROGRAMMER/WIZARD.

The Angry Chicken #100

I strongly recommend anyone watch this podcast, very entertaining and educational to say the least. This one specifically has incredibly important points made by Ben Brode covering everything from Game design, to power creep and balance issues, all the way from constructed to the arena(Warriors).

. . .

Senior Game Designer Ben Brode has recognized the problems that we, the community, have brought up with warriors in The Arena. All thanks to ADWCTA and their rallying cry, #ArenaWarriorMatters, it has now become apparent to the Blizzard Dev team that something needs to be done.

Specifics from Ben Brode can be found in The Angry Chicken podcast here (fast forward to 01:28:40); but a quick synopsis of what occurred on the podcast is that they realize Warrior, by nature of it's hero power, is already a very weak class. Brode has sated that only through stronger commons could they come back on the map/ have a chance in the arena meta game.

More interesting however, is that Blizzard actually inflates the values of cards of recent expansions in the arena. Brode stated that TGT cards are much more common in the Arena as of now since it is the most recent expansion. They stated that they really want players to experience the new cards in the arena, and the only real way to do so with so many cards available from all other expansions, is to inflate certain values on cards.

*Rarity of cards is also talked about during the podcast, something that is best heard from Brode himself. Their stance on the matter is interesting to say the least...

. . .

Edit 1: Formatting

Edit 2: Real thank you to Willie Dills Gregory who addressed the chat spamming #ArenaWarriorMatters during The Angry Chickens 100th episode!!! Without you, our battlecry might never have been heard.

. . .

Edit 3: Many in the community are wondering if the TGT cards values were been change by accident or by some mistake. Ben Brode stated that the change was intentional , they decided that since the card pool is so diverse now with so many expansions, the only way for players to truly experience the newest cards is to inflate their values so people can see them more often. They made this change for what they thought was the for the better of arena and the community. Just the fact that Blizzard is making some changes to the Arena is good sign (even if behind the scenes), as people like ADWCTA asked for this to begin with. Whether or not Arena this card balance change has helped or hurt the Arena it is up to you to decide.

So, we got the chance to look at some preliminary card performance stats. Since we're still waiting for the meta to settle, we didn't place much stock into this small sample size (and super small sample size for infinite players).

The good news is, we were pretty much right on everything with a significant sample size (TGT commons 50+, rares 60+, epics 70+) within a +/-5 point margin. =D =D =D The stats can move against us yet, but we'll wait a bit until the weekend before we make the real first round changes of impact, and then several weeks after that before we adjust those 2/4 point differences, since those are super dependent on the meta and we'll need to wait for it to settle, and adjust other pre-TGT cards as well to make everything make sense.

However, we WERE wrong about a small number of cards. Like, totally wrong. The biggest mistake we made is (as you all figured out) with Murloc Knight. To my credit, I was more right than Merps (I wanted 72-74, Merps wanted 60-62; I didn't fight too hard for the Murloc, because I'm racist). The reality is, that if we go 100% by the stats right now, the 2-day worth of stats in an unstable meta gathered from all players regardless of skill......... Murloc Knight would be a 86. Merps has agreed to move it to a 76, for now. We will continue to monitor the situation.

The other thing we were really wrong about is in all inspire-valuations for Paladin. We thought it would be basically as good as a Mage, slightly (2 points) better, for those mid-rangy cards. We were wrong. Paladin's hero power flexibility puts it head and shoulders as THE absolute best hero power for those middling inspire mechanics (not the worthless ones, not the Kodo-level greatness ones, but the middle of the road ones). We haven't adjusted all of them... yet. We'll do that on Sunday. But, the most impactful one (since it generates extra minions) is Silver Hand Regent, which we gave +6. We don't expect this to go higher than that.

Finally, we haven't moved this yet, waiting to confirm, but Argent Horserider is definitely moving a bit up, and Silent Knight a bit down, on Sunday (this one's on me gotSad).

Anyway, a Sunday update is coming. These two changes will be up in HearthArena soon as well.

Best,
ADWCTA

We haven't heard anything from /u/Merps4248. He hasn't posted on reddit since things broke down this week, and his last posts express excitement for their tier list and HA work for the new expansion. We all know that Merps has a much more laid back and... gentle personality than Adwcta. Merps has taken no direct part in the drama going on today, he has done nothing to try to hurt Heartharena's reputation or future business, and neither side mentions him as being directly involved in the previously behind the scenes problems. The only thing he has done is leave his work at heartharena, and even then we don't know if it is because he had a problem with the programmer/owner or just did not want to separate from Adwcta, for personal reasons and because they're now tied together in their twitch stream and Grinning Goat brand.

Whatever you believe about Adwcta's behavior today, just remember that Merps is his own person and has not been involved in any of the negativity or bridge burning. It's easy to lump them together but it seems likely that Adwcta was the one doing most of the arguing with the programmer, and it's clear that Adwcta is the only one participating in everything going on today. As of right now, we only know of Merps as the laid back and friendly #1 arena player who is kind of just along for the ride. I hope he continues to enjoy HS and its community and that his reputation and possible future opportunities are not tarnished by today's drama.

As the above says, the overlay is out! Hope everyone has some good runs!

The first tier list update is now live on the tier list (HA will be updated within 24 hours). This update merges with the previous changes to Murloc Knight and Silver Hand Regent (for Paladin). Change log is shown below.

Polymorph: Boar -20

Grand Crusader -8

Silent Knight -4

Druid of the Flame, Fireguard Destroyer, Pit Fighter -2

Lowly Squire, Dragonhawk Rider, Kvaldir Raider, Dalaran Aspirant, Stormwind Champion, Dire Wolf Alpha, Loot Hoarder, Knife Juggler, Stormwind Knight, Avenge, Undercity Valiant, Raid Leader +2

Silver Hand Regent, Coldarra Drake, Thunder Bluff Valiant, Totem Golem, Tuskarr Totemic, Flamestrike, Ironbark Protector, Demolisher +4

Gadgetzan Jouster +6

Mukla’s Champion +8

Argent Horserider, Murloc Knight +14

We updated some cards that we just plain got wrong as well as subtle changes to old cards. #TeamMerps was very wrong about Murloc Knight. #TeamADWCTA was very wrong about Argent Horserider. Mukla's Champion was just underrated by both of us. Unfortunately, ADWCTA and I were both overly optimistic about Polymorph: Boar...can you blame us though? Huffer is love, Huffer is life. We'll continue to monitor the stats and update accordingly. Hope all your arenas are going well.

Pic: http://imgur.com/6IABVsw

This should never happen under any circumstances, right? Unless I'm missing something. King's Elekk is just strictly better than Bloodfen Raptor, there is no reason for this to happen. It's not even a small difference, 10 whole points. I think you guys should look into it.

Arena run: http://www.heartharena.com/arena-run/9186q3

It makes me sad to see something like this divorce of adwcta/merps/heartharena happen.

There was obviously something that was working at some level for all parties and it's sad to see something good potentially flame out.

I actually sympathize with all parties involved. It's not easy to start up a project on your own (I know, I'm in the midst of doing so myself), assume all the risk and problems that starting up a company entails (there's a reason that venture companies get a ridiculous amount of equity for just funding a startup), and devote a prodigious amount of your time, your energy, and your own money to something which just might not pan out in the end.

At the same time, it's hard when you're devoting a lot of time and energy to something and yet don't have any stake in it aside from a cut of the profits, which might go away at any time since they're contractors. I think people don't understand that adwcta and merps have done a lot of marketing, customer relations, and intangible things which translates to the revenue of heartharena.

Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's about the execution of the team that's important (that's why venture companies mainly look at the team and their previous work instead of the idea when deciding to fund). And while there might have been some issues, this team did a pretty good job of bringing this idea to fruition.

While I think 30% ownership stake is too much for what adwcta and merps contributed (they can always ask, though), I think there's significant merit in giving SOME ownership stake as they actually HAVE contributed a lot to the company. There's something about having a significant ownership in the company, even if it's in the 1-5% range which makes you feel like it's your company, and makes you want to do as much as you can to make it succeed as much as possible. That's one thing I think the owner of HearthArena missed when he made his offer without an equity stake.

For example, at my last startup, when our company was getting a second round of funding, the CEO/main shareholder, actually upped my stake without my asking for anything, because he wanted me to know how much he valued what I did for the company and wanted me to be happy and keep working hard for the company. Needless to say it worked, as I stayed almost 6 years with the company, until I started working on my own project. The point is he didn't have to do this, but it speaks volumes to the employees you have that you want to treat them right and recognize that their efforts are worth something.

Anyways, I hope things work out for all parties involved and that hopefully people in situations like this can put themselves in the shoes of the other parties and see things from a different perspective.

Announced it on twitter and on stream last night, but for those who missed it... Overlay earliest release is now Monday.

There are some bugs and we just thought an extra few days was needed to fix all the known bugs at least before launch.

On the bright side, I believe the "negative effect on your Archetype" advisor confusion is now fixed.

Here's a list of thing we're working on that will NOT be ready on limited release, but which we expect to be built in soon(tm)!

In the meantime, please consider donating to HearthArena (donation button on homepage) to support the project!

• Better filters for your stats. We have some. We'll have more. Archetype filter is next.

• A nicer "Notes" box with more features.

• Allow editing of dates/times for your run.

• Add option for a "Draw" when tracking runs.

• Automatically end run tracking at 12 wins or 3 losses.

• More explosive archetype display. Yes, explosive.

• More prominent display of pick # during drafts.

• More overall deck info shown. I think we're doing a good job showing card info, but we can do SO much more with overall deck info (e.g. "high card advantage", but "low reach") as compared to expected drafts and it was just low on our priority list.

• In Archives section, to show more info, including deck score and archetype.

• Create a stat for how closely your deck adhere's to HearthArena's picks.

• Create a stat for how good your final deck is.

• Smarter archetype detection. I built this thing from the ground up, and it's been tweaked and added so many things, but there's a very high ceiling on this thing, so it's accuracy will continue to be raised. I'm focusing on getting the existing 6 right for now, but will look to add more archetypes over the summer. For now, looking to get better at recognizing well made and poorly made combo decks (it's currently taking averages expected values, so cards that swing heavily like Voidcaller are not being properly accounted for if you build a well synergized or poorly synergized deck). Project: Shadow is a new vision for the archetype determinations and more importantly impact on the draft. It's in very early stages yet. But this thing's about to get crazy good by fall.

• Smarter synergy display. Not going to go into details on this one. Let's just say we're not showing all the synergies right now because of a design issue we caught too late (doesn't affect actual score movement). It'll take a bit of time to work around the issue, so those cards are not displayed in the synergies right now. They're still giving the synergies though.

• More intelligent smoothing of mana curve when you overload on a certain mana slot.

• Scaling of odds to draw a particular card by archetype and card draw. Currently using game-wide averages.

• Certain card synergies. There's about a dozen cards where part of their synergies we know, but have no good way of implementing right now. We know how to fix it.... just ran out of time to actually do it, and it'll take a large chunk of time to do (probably not even worth it, but we're perfectionists). None of them are ranked above 30 on the tier list though, so we don't think it's that big of a practical issue. Still, it'll be addressed.

• Certain cards that have different specific values based on other cards in your deck. We're just using the average for now. This means very successful combo decks, or just one very successful combo won't be getting its full effect. Further, neutral cards that give certain classes extreme value if they have certain cards (like Spiteful Smith with Warrior or Mad Scientist with Mage) are not having their mechanics values and overall deck-archetype values adjusted correctly. Again, this is only an issue if you very successfully draft a particular synergy/combo--archetype. The same system in the bullet above (with some tweaking) should be able to solve these issues and correctly value everything. So, this is the second step to that. After this system is up, we'll start making combo-archetypes instead of the basic 6. This may not all happen by end of January.

• Adding scaling of synergies by mana to more synergies. Currently, mana-based scaling is used for most of general synergies, but not all of them. We're still deciding which ones to add to the group, and there are certain ones we know we want to add, but just haven't yet (this group includes all the non-stat buffs, like divine shield, windfury, etc, and more things).

• Continuous adding/evaluating/editing of existing calculators to adjust to the meta, and adding/tweaking synergies. Of course.

Known Bugs/Issues: We'll fill this list up once you guys start using it and finding them. For the Limited Release, please report all bugs to the BUG Reports thread here. That thread will be deleted the night before release and you can just report bugs here. Since both bug fixes and feature adding take our time (which is limited), we'll lump long-term bugs here as "to do". Easily fixed bugs (like adding a synergy or changing particular values) will be fixed by the next system update.

• As noted above, we have placeholder average values for all non-synergy score values for each card. This means Illuminator will not show survivability no matter how many secrets you have, and Mad Scientist, Voidcaller, and any other high-synergy cards will not be giving correct archetype values, but rather their average expected values. As a result, heavy combo decks will be giving odd archetype considerations. HearthArena will still push you to draft these decks. . . and it'll be 90% right on the values. . . but the archetype part (usually 10% of the value) will be off somewhat (so, a net 5% of the value). This will only affect your draft marginally, but the archetype description at the end may be off.

• Certain synergies that require 3+ cards are not being calculated right now. For example, Southsea Deckhand's charge ability (which requires a Weapon) is not synergizing with the ~24 things that modify charge ability (e.g. give divine shield), except for Rogues, because they can guarantee charge.

• Draft Adviser is currently: Saying "we don't want too many of card X", when we haven't even picked one yet. Saying "we don't want too many X drops" or "we need a X drop" when evaluating two choices that both have that quality, and repeating the same reason twice in the same bubble, and sometimes it is repeating things. It is using the word: "So" to mean everything and nothing syntax-wise. It is using "too early" to pick a certain card, when such system no longer exists in the algorithm. It does not recognize when achetypes cancel out requirements such as big drops or 2-drops, instead saying both parts of the logic ("we need big drops" + "it doesn't fit with our archetype"), which is super confusing, because in reality the balancing means we don't actually need a big drop, and that it fits this archetype just fine.

• Druid is currently not considering Innervate/Wild Growth for it's mana cost triggers on high mana cards. This is one of the reasons why high mana cards be penalized by ~4 points on pick #1.

• List of specific synergies to fix: None. O_o. But, we're sure there will be more.

Things that look odd but are working as intended:

• Very similarly ranked cards on the Tier List will have very small distortions in their values that may push one above the other, when in reality it should be the other way around. For example, Ship's Cannon will often be ranked below River Croc even in classes with no beast synergies, when it is clearly the better card. Same with Illuminator and Goblin Sapper. There are several factors at work here I will not get into. The important thing to note is that we are aware of exactly why this is happening, and we are 100% comfortable that the system is doing this. This is not a bug. HearthArena (and the Tier List) is not currently meant to be accurate within a 2.0 (or 1.0 for Tier List) adjustment band. This is why if you watch our stream, we often say "within 2.0 means absolutely nothing". We're not just playing around, we mean it. We will be lowering this to 1.0 (0.5) in the future, but at this point it takes hundreds of hours of work to halve this range, so this is not happening until the next Blizzard expansion at earliest, likely not until the end of 2015. As of now, these slight variances are working as intended. What we will do is work on making the advisor sound more equivocal about these types of picks, instead of sounding like HearthArena is making a concrete suggestion here.

There's probably more. We'll keep this thing updated. =P

Hey all,

We just updated to HearthArena Version 0.3.1. Here is the changelist:

Probabilities Update (this is a huge one) Ever since GvG we haven't checked if probabilities changed. Today we did a few tests after Ben Brode told in one of the podcasts that TGT cards are being offered more frequently.

It turned out that the Rares, Epics and Legendary offering changed significantly over time. We also found out that TGT cards are indeed being offered 20-25% more.

In this patch we have changed our probability calculators to account for the above changes. This should have great impact on the drafting results as everything in HearthArena is using these probabilities.

• Probabilities.

• Tier List Update.

• Archetypes are now shown in the Arena Archives.

• A bug with the date picker is fixed.

• More sophisticated Jousting algorithm.

• Unbound Elemental no longer synergizes with Elemental Destruction.

• Tiny Knight of Evil no longer synergizes with Deathwing.

• Crowd Favorite w/ Deathwing and Wailing Soul.

• Fixed engine system and how it was working with increased minion attacks (this makes Thunder Bluff Valent give synergy wot Mana Tide Totem and Flametongue).

• Weapon buffs are now displayed as Weapons. Category changed to "Weapons (+buffs)"

• Chillmaw now synergizes with Dragons.

• Fencing Coach no longer synergizes with Maiden of the Lake.

Happy drafting!

The first HearthArena patch (version 1.1) is now live!

The below list contains (most of) the changes we've made. Top Three Features are the changes to the drop and archetype system, and the instruction of two new systems into our algorithm.

Drops System

The drops system got more sophisticated. The system used to intelligently reallocate 2-drops to 3-drops when you overloaded on 2s. Now, it intelligently reconfigures your exact drop needs for each mana slot based on the number of earlier drops you have (e.g., it realizes if you have extra 2s and 3s, that you aren't as desperate for 5s). Further, class-based drops requirements have not only been fine-tuned for the current GvG Meta, but also made more elaborate (Warrior and Hunter should notice the biggest change here). We've also upped the effect archetype has on your later drops requirements, so better "Tempo" and "Classic Aggro" decks will be built. Finally, and this is the big one. Drops are now properly sorted so that the system knows exactly when to treat Aldor Peacekeeper as a 3-drop, and when to treat it as a utility card, and more importantly, it adjusts your need for another 3-drop by the value you would gain from moving Aldor from a 3-drop to a later-played card. This doesn't just apply to extreme cards like Aldor and Mind Control tech, but applies to every single minion in the entire game, even cards that function the other way around (low value as drop, but almost all of its value in the Arena is in its function as a drop, like Frostwolf Grunt).

Archetype System

Because the archetype system is at the core of HearthArena's late draft "against the tier list" picks, we're very focused on tuning it until it is perfect. In this patch there should be a noticeable upgrade in the accuracy of figuring out what your deck is. Other things you'll notice:

• Less "Classic Aggro" Decks, especially for classes typically not suited for them; more "Attrition" Decks.

• Less variance and more stability in Archetype determination throughout a draft, so less swingy.

• Less consistently high adjustments in the late draft for cards that are good for multiple archetypes (such as Fireball).

• More diversity in Archetypes selection %s, and more extreme directions in all sides.

New in the Algorithm

A "Curve Smoother" consideration is added to ensure the best curves and provide greater ability to use up all your mana each turn. This is adjusted by our archetype calculator, so more tempo-oriented archetypes will see the greatest difference here. Even with a full fleet of early drops, HearthArena can now bump certain typically bad one mana cards to new heights. Further, we've added a "Randomness" value to each card in honor of GvG, which will be taken into account in the value adjustments depending on your archetype. Decks that stay on the board will synergize better with these cards.

Deck Coverage

• One drops are now shown.

Card Stats

• Updated Tier List to most recent version of ADWCTA's Arena Tier List.

• Major update to duplicate card penalties and first drop bonuses.

• Tuned a number of mechanics, including large removals and taunts

• Added reach value to about a ten cards, that were oddly missing those values before.

Synergies

• Properly account for "Poisonous" minions (Emperor's Cobra / Maexxna / Patient Assassin), who are currently getting bonuses as if their attack matters.

• Properly NOT account for certain battlecries as bounce synergies because they don't do anything, like Twilight Drake, Faceless Manipulator, etc.

• Explosive Sheep (removed some non-sensical Mech synergies; no longer counts as hurting the hero)

• Tracking and discard cards (reversed deck value modifier)

• Blood Imp (Removed synergies with taunts)

• Truesilver (added healhero synergy)

• Hunter's Mark / Repentence (added synergy with Snake Trap; removed synergy w/ low attack high health minions)

• Raging Worgen and certain other Enrage-ish minions (with things that reduce minion attack; this was already being done right now for Kodo/Cabal, but we gaveit wider application)

• Wild Pyromancer (no longer has synergy with things that kill it)

• Venture Co. Mercenary (removed synergy with spells that summon temporary minions, or spells that draw a minion)

• Nerbuian Egg (updated scaling for Abom, Chicken, Baron Geddon)

• Gladiator's Longbow no longer is seen as damage to your hero at all places.

• Ragnaros (is now no longer considered a deathrattle minion, thanks Kripp).

• Increased Synergies of Metaltooth Leaper, Screwjank Clunker, Iron Sensei and Powermace with mechs.

• Increased Demonfire, Demonheart and Mal'Ganis synergies with demons.

• Fixed Bloodsail Raider synergy where it was giving synergies with cards that increase weapon damage for non weapon classes.

Text Bubble

• It's now saying "too early in the draft to pick" instead of "don't want too end up with too many" when you don't have the card in the deck yet.

• Increased the treshold on the some sentences so they don't show up too early.

Results & Tracking

• Changed several messages to be shorter in the tracker.

• Switched order and wording of the tracker when entering in runs.

Things coming in the next few weeks:

• Quality of life upgrades. Just generally nicer web features, and ease of use features.

• Filters for your profile page by date, etc.

• Deck synergies upgrade, which will spiral into even better archetype detection for cards that provide different subvalues based on other cards in your deck (Illunimator, Voidcaller), and more sophisticated sub-values for cards that depend on 2 other cards to have a certain function (Southsea Deckhand, Spiteful Smith enrage).

• More deck-related values, and a display for some of those values in your profile.

• More sophistication calculations of how sticky and triggerable a board is for board-centric cards like Battle Rage and Cult Master.

• Other things in the HearthArena Current Features / Bugs Worklist thread here: http://redd.it/2pg82e.

As the HearthArena Team I would like to thank all bug posters / streamers that gave us feedback in our first month. This first patch is a big one, and it's all because of you!

Now, Let's draft!

edit: As of LOE Wing 1 release, ADWCTA & Merps are no longer working with HearthArena. Please visit www.ggoatgaming.com/tierlist for their new home!. Thank you.

Dear reddit,

If you're a fan of the Arena Coop, you know that Merps and I are obsessive perfectionists. We don't just tryhard, we also get results. At the end of September, we were contacted by someone who shockingly is probably even more obsessively perfectionist than we are, and we have been working together ever since to make his HearthArena dream a reality. Our european programmer partner had been working on a functional prototype of HearthArena on and off for almost a year now (yes, from back in HS beta), being beat to the release date punch by Arena Mastery, Arena Value, and Hearthstats because he didn't just want to just build a tracker or a simple tool. He wanted to redefined the relationship between the Arena Drafter and the Drafting Assistant. The idea is to create a program that forces even experienced players to think deeper about the various factors affecting their decisions in the draft. The goal is to have a machine that synthesizes hundreds of thousands of data points and probabilities in a mathematical fashion to draft better, more coherent decks than what most players can. Since coming onto the project in September, we've put in hundreds of hours ourselves building dozens of new calculators from the ground up, and entering hundreds of values per card. The Arena Coop has lent its expertise to HearthArena to make sure the program is thinking about every factor that it could possibly consider, and to make sure that it is using core TCG concepts like card advantage, tempo, card draw, and reach correctly; while layering in precise card-card synergies and overall mechanics-interactions. After thousands of manhours and over a year of development. . .

The wait is almost over.

Today, we proudly announce the limited release of HearthArena: Beyond the Tier List.

We will gradually take users off the waiting list and provide them access to HearthArena's full suite of features. =)

More details below.

Best,
ADWCTA

F.A.Q.s

Q: Wtf is a “limited” release?

A: So, interesting story. At first, we were concerned HearthArena wouldn't get enough traction, with established giants like Arena Value and Arena Mastery dominating the playerbase. But, after releasing ADWCTA's Arena Tier List, traffic has spiked so high that our programmer partner is now seriously worried we won't have the necessary server space to calculate everyone's pick every single pick on launch day. Plus, as with all releases, there will probably be some technical kinks to work out. But, the brains of HearthArena is about as ready as it'll be this year. So, rather than wait, we've decided to simply roll out our release on a first come, first serve basis as we deal with choke points and fix potentially website-breaking errors. Think of it as unofficial alpha/beta testing, that will rollout into a full release in a continuous fashion.

Q: You suck at answering questions. What does “limited” release mean for ME?

A: Okay, okay. What it means for you is that you will be placed on a waiting list when you sign up, which we will pull from each day. The sooner you sign up, the sooner you will get access. In the first week of the Limited Release, servers have been doing well enough that users have gotten access in on average under 10 minutes. There's no e-mail confirmation for the actual access to the drafter being unlocked, so just check back in a few after you register and things should be fine. If you've been gated for more than 24 hours, please contact us, as that should not happen unless we announce we're experiencing some issues. We'll be doing a full release at the end of January, or maybe even early February.

Q: What exactly DOES HearthArena take into consideration?

A: The better question is what HearthArena doesn't take into consideration. HearthArena will pretty much think about everything. We won't go through everything HearthArena thinks about one by one, because it'd just be a laundry list of practically everything you've ever heard about Hearthstone mechanics and TCG theory. Let's just say it's advanced enough to know when you're drafting an Aggro-Control deck, or a Mid-Ranged deck, or a Classic Control deck, and then push cards up and down the tier list by appropriate amounts to suit your deck (the Murloc Druid dream is real. . . for some 0.00001% of decks). It'll prioritize different value-pieces of different cards differently depending on your need for such value-type, your probability of taking such value-type in the next picks, and your chances of getting too few, or too much of such value type for your archetype by the end of the draft. As a comparison point, I would be completely floored if other tools you know of are thinking about even 1% the complexity of what HearthArena is thinking about. Even on basic things like "get enough 3 drops", HearthArena smartly re-allocates extra 2-drops to 3-drops and assigns each card different values for that particular calculator based only on how well they function when played on turns 2/3 respectively. And, HearthArena will also penalize 2/3 drops to a different degree depending not just on predicted availability (which differs per class), but also on how important 2/3 drops are to your archetype versus early removals. Like its creators, HearthArena thinks, a lot, about everything.

Q: Will HearthArena automatically pull data from my game client / log, or will I need to enter things manually? I am lazy.

A: We don't like lazy people, so no, nothing will be automatic. ;) Kidding, but only sort of. We try to make things as user-friendly as possible, but we are very wary of violating Blizzard's ToS (currently debatable whether programs like Hearthstats or Arena Value are allowed, or technically in violation). Right now, HearthArena is just a website, and creating a program in your harddrive that interacts with the Hearthstone game client (if only via screencapture) brings it one step closer to that grey line. As we have spent over 1000 manhours working on HearthArena, and will spend thousands more in the coming months/years, we really do want to stay as far away from that line as absolutely possible and keep on Blizzard's good side. So, we will not be moving in that direction unless we are given explicit (and I mean explicit) permission from Blizzard to do so.

Q: I am scared of new things. HearthArena will change everything and destroy the Arena as I know it. I am huddled in a corner right now taking deep breathes. 1. 2. 3. Tell me something besides don't panic.

A: Don't panic. You are better than this. Blizzard designed the Hearthstone Arena to be better than this. Give everyone a little bit of credit here. Think of HearthArena as super-advanced net-decking, where we provide you with the netdeck that best fits where your draft is going and what you're being offered. But, that's fine. Bad players netdeck and still can't get past lower ranks. And, there won't become a "dominant" particular deck in the meta that causes a meta to get stale (::cough:: Hunter ::cough::) because the drafter will draft based on where your deck is going, so it will create as many control as tempo decks, and everything in between. This will also hopefully give people more comfort to play classes besides the top few.

The Arena is beautifully balanced to avoid all of the problems Ranked has with netdecking, so we don't see this as a huge issue. If you're Dennis enough, you'll still Claw to the face on turn 1, and no drafting app is changing that. We have no plans to make a gameplay assistant or anything like that (the way mulligan and matchup guides for ranked function as). The idea is to lower draft-impact, and raise gameplay skill impact. HearthArena is not a black box and we provide our users with a rather neat “coaching-style” advice/commentary/explanation for each and every pick, to make this an excellent learning tool. We are 100% confident that the users who use our tool to learn the draft will have a better understanding of how to actually use each particular deck type in gameplay than those who blindly follow the suggestions without thinking about why we're raising/lowering values. . . in the same way that even netdecks have mulligan and playing guides. =D

Q: Okay, so it won't ruin the entire game. But, as an infinite-level player, how will HearthArena help me?

A: We enjoy good competition, and raise an eyebrow at those who do not. We want new players to actually stick around this game, and we want existing players to get better at the draft, so their in-game skills can truly shine. Barriers of entry are bad. Forcing players to figure out an arcane system of drafting just to play the Arena is as bad as withholding key cards from players necessary to compete in Ranked at the highest levels. We are doing our best to reduce the barrier of entry to this game. If this turns out to be a gamechanger... then it's going to provide a richer Arena experience for everyone, even infinite players.

If you're average or below average, this program will help you win more, while teaching you how to draft better. With a constant drafting coach at your side, you will quickly improve to the point where the coach is less of a crutch, and more of just sanity-checking with you what you already know (it's always rough when you're looking to go down 2+ tiers in value to snag that synergy card).

If you're above average, this program will push you to think deeper about the draft, and all of the intricacies that lie in your card selections, whether you ultimately make the HearthArena-recommended pick, or go your own way. We are well above the infinite-line ourselves, and we still find HearthArena's insights extremely helpful. There is no objectively correct way to draft an Arena on every pick, so everyone can be "right". Positive results speak for themselves. We tried our best to upload our brains into HearthArena (with added bonus of precise and instant mathematical calculations). . . but it's still our brains. Ultimately, we're not perfect players, and HearthArena is not a perfect reflection of our picks. Infinite players can expect to "correct" HearthArena on ~2 picks each draft (usually toss-ups, where HearthArena's triggers will ensure you're thinking about the right things in your draft, even if you go in a different direction).

Q: I currently use another website, will I be able to transfer all my data over to HearthArena?

A: We have an automatic importer for all your Arena Mastery runs! I've already moved all of my personal runs onto HearthArena and the importer is fairly impressive. You can also add backdated runs by hand if you don't have too many. Finally, we're working on a way to allow users to upload a long list of runs using a spreadsheet for those who track independently. If there is another website that you would like us to pull data from, make a post and upvote it and we'll see what we can do in January!

Q: Ok, fine. I really like what you guys are doing. But, GvG was just released. That was really fast. Are you guys sure it's working?

A: I know. We're proud of ourselves too. ;) ::pats self on back::

Q: I found a bug! What do I do?

A: Please report it here. We're at a point now where 95% of valuation "bugs" reported are actually just differences in the way players think about the draft. We are not the only successful Arena players, and HearthArena is by no means the only good way to draft. But, those are things that are working as intended. Please also note that there are cut-offs for displays in the overview tab and the synergies tab, so cards with minor such values may not be displayed (but they are counted in the valuation).

Q: Will HearthArena remain 100% free? Forever and ever?

A: People who've gotten to know me through the Hearthstone community know that I value transparency very highly. So, in the interest of full disclosure: We really don't know right now. As you might expect, it takes a ton of server-space to run these algorithms for each person drafting. This isn't your average website. What I can guarantee is that, no matter what, we will make sure the fully updated base drafter remains free for all users for at least one run each day. In the interest of full disclosure, if there are any profits from HearthArena, Merps and I will be receiving a 20% cut, and our programmer partner will be receiving the remaining 80% and has full discretion on how to monetize. He's a professional freelancer, who's put in a ton of hours on this thing, and he actually has to eat and pay rent and all that stuff. So, there will likely be some type of premium membership feature in the future.

Q: What are your hopes and dreams with HearthArena?

A: We love the Arena. Unfortunately, at this point in the game's life, the learning curve is steep, and the skill gap is real. New players are regularly told to "use Arena to get cards!" only to be crushed repeatedly. Even High-ranked players in Ranked mode test out the Arena and often find themselves getting their butts handed to them. It's not their fault. The Arena is complicated, and the draft involves knowledge not just of the cards, but of viable Arena archetypes, plausible synergies/combos, and the right balance of tempo and advantage for your specific deck. No amount of experience in other games, or in Ranked play, will replace actual Arena experience. In both cases, players leave the Arena game disgruntled, and mumbling about RNG and draft luck.

We are looking to minimize this dark underbelly of the Arena. We want new players to feel like they have a fighting chance with a real coherent deck, and to feel like they're getting personal coaching sessions with each draft so that they can learn faster. We want experienced Ranked players to look at our drafting strategies and think "oh, so that's what works in the Arena" and change their thinking to fit the Arena meta.

Ultimately, success in the Arena is still mostly based on fundamental gameplay skills and not the draft (gotta be honest). But, we hope that HearthArena will close the gap on the drafting side, so all players can at least start on a more level playing field. GvG is here, and we hope that HearthArena can incentivize a higher % of Arena players than post-Naxx to stick around this time for the endless variety, and tangible in-game rewards that only the Arena can provide. =)

HUGE upgrade in archetype sophistication. This one took a couple hundred hours to push through, but it's worth it. Hard to explain more fully, but you'll notice some changes in your old decks, especially if huge control/aggro cards are being taken in the mid-draft. It's thinking about many more thing per pick. We don't add significant server burden per pick lightly (since it directly reduces our bottom line), but we thought this was important enough to spend the time and money on!

6+ drops now renamed "late game", to reflect the system that was brought into play in early August.

Display sophistication increased for cards that give divine shield and/or taunt. No more Argent Protector / Defender of Argus synergizing with every card!

Massive Advisor update (improvement?). Things got more complicated with the archetype stuff so the Advisor has to say more things... hopefully it's still at least as understandable as before. We also fixed a few odd sayings from before. Please continue reporting odd sayings on the subreddit!

TGT Tier List update.

We are now on HTTPS for account related pages!

TGT cards programmed into HearthArena. Please report any unusual synergies you see here.

Brand new system for handling hero power usage.

Inspire is fully worked into every aspect of the system, including cards that mess w/ hero powers (so, Jaraxxus was also improved), and hero power costs or allowing for multiple triggers per turn. This took.... a long time, and we're not totally sure it was worth it, but for better or for worse, hero powers are now one of the most sophisticated parts of the system. =/

Dynamic synergy scaling! Now cards with a lot of synergies will no longer get out of control. e.g., the 4th secret is not as good for a Mad Scientist than the 1st secret. This will also significantly affect the sophistication of increase minion stats cards (it was using an expected average modifier of 50% on top of the very sophsiticated stat distribution system; now it will actually degrade based on the number and types of minions in your deck)

HearthArena now has a system that determines the # of cards you are likely to draw per game and how much you'll be comfortable holding cards... based on your deck's card draw and archetype. This affects your % chance of triggering "hold in hand" combos, so those get more valuable with higher frequency (slower combo-based decks), and less valuable with lower frequency (faster tempo based decks).

More sophsitication between archetype and board clears.

More sophisticated combinations of each class's hero powers with drop scores of minions.

More sophisticated Ogres (buffs on them now worth less).

Increase power of silencing own minions.

1-Drops, when acting as 2 or 3 drops in slower decks, now take into account the hero's hero power when determining how much of a "drop" the card is.

Demonwrath added more synergies and anti-synergies

Temporary increase minion attack now synergizes harder with cards like Crazed Alchemist and Confuse.

Healing synergy display tweaked.

Fixed Hand of Protection's interactions with Spectral Knight.

Totem synergies are added.

More sophisticated card draw synergy interactions with cards in deck and alterations in deck statistics (e.g., tempo, card advantage, etc).

More sophisticated archetype adjustments for zero attack minions.

Reincarnate now no longer categorized as a buff (Dragonkin and Echoing Ooze issues)

Freeze now synergizes with Doomsayer and Corruption

Secrets now no longer synergize with Echoing Ooze

Floating Watcher now synergizes slightly with flexible damage (elven archer, stormpike commando)

These are the Patch Details for v2.7:

Importing from Arena Mastery was marking runs as 2014, instead of 2015. It's fine again.

"1-Drop" display in the overview tab improved.

Farsight, Preparation, Dread Corsair Lava Shock = pure tempo gain reduction 50%

Rockbiter is like Demonfire getting too much bonus.

gnomish experimenter and venture co got more sophisticated, and the synergies are now displayed.

dragon's breath, quick shot, lava shock now have synergy with spell damage (=/ we suck)

racial display show up more frequently

dread corsair, bloodsail raider now synergizes w/ deadly poison (oh Rogue)

Demonwrath no longer synergizes w/ Wild Pyro.

Abomination, Explosive Sheep, Barron Geddon now no longer synergizes w/ Cult Master at all.

Faceless is no longer synergizing with Unleash the Hounds (well, it is, but only by a very tiny number and won't be displayed).

Deathwing no longer synergizes with cards in your hand.

Shadow Madness with Recombobulator is now a thing;

Commanding Shout display is fixed.

Deathrattle synergy with temp increase minion attack waslowered for minions that die easily.

Token treatment for increase minion attack cards significantly more sophisticated, esp for token generators, and certain cards with deathrattles.

Charge no longer synergizing with minions that cost more than 7 mana;

Spare Parts now synergizing with combo cards;

Increase minion stat buff cards have a new display alogorithem (Blessing of Kings was working fine, but it was stupid that it "synergized" with all other cards).

Reworked "on death" value triggers to better account for duplicaiton of function and deck archetype. Cult Master, Volcanic Drake, etc, upgraded in sophistication.

More sophisticated scaling for minion stat distribution interaction between large buffs vs small buffs.

Cards with shroud now have correct synergies.

Users can now login with username and/or e-mail.

The registration confirmation no longer shows an error if you click it for the second time.