Hearthstone Announces Ranked Play Changes in Upcoming Update

The Hearthstone teams has some major announcements for the Ranked Play system in a coming update. The idea is to make climbing at the top of the ladder each season less of a grind, while also improving matchmaking and providing a sense of progression at all levels. Since players will be more evenly matched at the start of each season, players will still be able to demonstrate their skill climbing the ladder, and each new rank will be well earned. The big part of this, is starting in March, all players will reset four ranks back. So if you were Rank 10, now you’re Rank 14, and so on. With this, players who gain more than 4 ranks in a month will start next month higher than they did. Each of these ranks will also now contain 5 stars. This makes each rank the same, and means that all players will experience the same amount of progression, regardless of their placement on the ladder. In addition, players will need to win five games to get their monthly card back, instead of having to hit Rank 20. This will make sure that with the new changes, it won’t be a terrifying grind to get the card back. The change in stars at each rank would otherwise have a significant downside: While the monthly card back reward at rank 20 was only 10 wins away from rank 25, starting in March it will be 25. These changes will be official in the March Season, but how you play in February will also impact where you start in March. The video will go into detail on this as well.

There will be a brief window of time where elements of both systems will be in place as they transition to the new system:

• During the February Ranked Play Season reach Rank 20 to receive your seasonal card back. Your rank will reset to four ranks below what you achieved during the season.
• During the March Ranked Play Season, and after, win 5 games to receive your seasonal card back. Your rank will reset to four ranks below what you achieved during the season.