Do not "level up" to Gold and Above

orgazmo

I recently decided to try some new deck strategies and as a result, I used too many white cards and got moved from Silver to Gold. This is the first **** event since moving up, and I can honestly say the decks you face are beyond next level. Seriously 50% are mythic after mythic. I just dont see how you can have every card being a mythic and still be in the gold tier. The only explanation I can come up with is sandbaggers and the fact that D3 decided to introduce these new tiers after many, many players had already stacked up with Mythics. If you are one of those guys.. F U Yes, you can still win quite a lot, but the problem is you have to score perfect to get a prize even worth playing the entire event for.

orgazmo

One more thing.. for some reason I end up playing the same decks over and over. I dont remember this being an issue in silver tier (or at least I never noticed it), but I seem to now play the same decks multiple times per node. So if you play some crazy mythic deck that really belongs in platinum, there is a good chance you will play it over and over. With literally 10's of thousands of players, Im not sure how that is even possible on a regular basis.

madwren

orgazmo wrote:

One more thing.. for some reason I end up playing the same decks over and over. I dont remember this being an issue in silver tier (or at least I never noticed it), but I seem to now play the same decks multiple times per node. So if you play some crazy mythic deck that really belongs in platinum, there is a good chance you will play it over and over. With literally 10's of thousands of players, Im not sure how that is even possible on a regular basis.

Yeah, all of those other threads where we complain about the matchmaking probably makes more sense now.

My sympathies on the difficulty jump. Hope you manage to hang in there.

Irgy

orgazmo wrote:

I recently decided to try some new deck strategies and as a result, I used too many white cards and got moved from Silver to Gold. This is the first **** event since moving up, and I can honestly say the decks you face are beyond next level. Seriously 50% are mythic after mythic. I just dont see how you can have every card being a mythic and still be in the gold tier. The only explanation I can come up with is sandbaggers and the fact that D3 decided to introduce these new tiers after many, many players had already stacked up with Mythics. If you are one of those guys.. F U Yes, you can still win quite a lot, but the problem is you have to score perfect to get a prize even worth playing the entire event for.

So you're swearing at people for sandbagging and also advising everyone to do it, in the same post?

Fwiw I had decks full of mythics in Silver not that long ago, and I wouldn't say I ever sandbagged to do it, I just didn't go out of my way to level up either. I think it was just a matter of starting well before card mastery came in, so by the time it did my decks were fairly settled and I never mastered the rubbish starting cards. Maybe that's where a lot of these mythic heavy players come from?

Nobody is sandbagging to be in Gold, on the contrary I would say everyone in Platinum has gone to substantial effort in order to get there.

I went out of my way to get to gold when they stopped giving out mythics to anyone at all in silver, which I would say is a reason it's worh upgrading for anyone, though obviously only if you're ready to compete there.

I also seem to be the only person who doesn't give a hoot about the AI's deck. If I lose it's to AI cascades into a dead board on my turn, plus bad draws. It might happen slightly more often against efficient cards but usually when the big cascades happen it doesn't matter what they play.

THEMAGICkMAN

orgazmo wrote:

I recently decided to try some new deck strategies and as a result, I used too many white cards and got moved from Silver to Gold. This is the first **** event since moving up, and I can honestly say the decks you face are beyond next level. Seriously 50% are mythic after mythic. I just dont see how you can have every card being a mythic and still be in the gold tier. The only explanation I can come up with is sandbaggers and the fact that D3 decided to introduce these new tiers after many, many players had already stacked up with Mythics. If you are one of those guys.. F U Yes, you can still win quite a lot, but the problem is you have to score perfect to get a prize even worth playing the entire event for.

I'm in gold and I don't play against mythic loaded decks. Although I suppose not many level 30s would have a ton of mythics, playing with level 30 planeswalkers is what I do, although its painful to try and get "end with X or more life" objectives

killwind

I will be here waiting patiently for you when you get to Platinum!

Reaganstorme

killwind wrote:

I will be here waiting patiently for you when you get to Platinum!

I read that more like this:

Steeme

killwind wrote:

I will be here waiting patiently for you when you get to Platinum!

I literally just tipped my red mastery over into platinum a couple days ago (Red seems to be splashed across the most planeswalkers). Not sure what to expect, but I've qualified for the next EC event. Not looking forward to grief decks but whatever, I'll adapt I suppose. I have a big enough library.

Irgy wrote:

Nobody is sandbagging to be in Gold, on the contrary I would say everyone in Platinum has gone to substantial effort in order to get there.

Exactly. Unless you are deliberately trying to level up your cards in story mode, it takes a while to make it to Platinum. I have a huge library, but I also have a huge library full of junk cards that are just plain worse than the selection of standouts. Believe me, I like to try new combinations, but they usually get steamrolled by Koth, with whom I'm matched up against > 50% of the time in QB's and some events. If it can't stand up to Koth, I give up and do something else.

watman

I think it was just a matter of starting well before card mastery came in, so by the time it did my decks were fairly settled and I never mastered the rubbish starting cards. Maybe that's where a lot of these mythic heavy players come from?

^ This
I'm in gold, have a nice cardbase (given that I'm f2p) and I have never sandbagged... It's just that I did not have to master all the crapcards initially, as my decks were all unc+ at the moment of mastery introduction...

morgue427

just got to plat on my red too, have several red mythics but only 2 i use, olivia which i just got and devil of wolfs reach. not sure what to expect. i did see lots of mythics in gold teir good luck we will both need it i am afraid

bk1234

killwind wrote:

I will be here waiting patiently for you when you get to Platinum!

I've been stuck with him through 2 tiers. Don't let him scare you. His decks aren't that bad. Kilpher on the other hand...

Crimmy

I feel like gold is the sweet spot right now. Silver rewards are often garbage, and platinum is too cut throat to reliably finish highly ranked.

hawkyh1

card mastery is limited by card variation. for example
murderers axe gives the same 2/2 buff as chitinous
cloak. why would anyone choose to make an effort to
master both cards? if they allowed some variation and
made the axe 2/1 and the cloak 1/2 then maybe?
there's no additional incentive to level up to the next
tier, and playing against the same decks over and over
doesn't sound promising. also in a deck of only 10 cards
there's not much wiggle room. the way events are
designed, they favour a small number of useful cards.
so players use the same useful cards.

HH

losdamianos

hawkyh1 wrote:

card mastery is limited by card variation. for example
murderers axe gives the same 2/2 buff as chitinous
cloak. why would anyone choose to make an effort to
master both cards? if they allowed some variation and
made the axe 2/1 and the cloak 1/2 then maybe?
there's no additional incentive to level up to the next
tier, and playing against the same decks over and over
doesn't sound promising. also in a deck of only 10 cards
there's not much wiggle room. the way events are
designed, they favour a small number of useful cards.
so players use the same useful cards.

HH

new event idea
play only with not mastered cards !!!

Yvendros

bken1234 wrote:

killwind wrote:

I will be here waiting patiently for you when you get to Platinum!

I've been stuck with him through 2 tiers. Don't let him scare you. His decks aren't that bad. Kilpher on the other hand...

HA! Kilpher doesn't scare me... not anymore anyways...

Mainloop25

Far worse are the sleeper decks, at least with those two, I know that I'm working with decks loaded with mythics that are set up for the dominant metal so I can kinda anticipate what's coming ... The devil you know....

Steeme

Mainloop25 wrote:

Far worse are the sleeper decks, at least with those two, I know that I'm working with decks loaded with mythics that are set up for the dominant metal so I can kinda anticipate what's coming ... The devil you know....

Just played through the progression for the EC event (platinum for first time). I noticed the decks I was up against were strangely more predictable than in Gold. Very predictable, as they basically use the same cards that I do! And of course, it's much easier to win the match against cards that you already know how to use.

ridfrenzy

I have been in gold for ages, I haven't avoided mastering cards and have progressed naturally.

I have only mastered 231 cards and I don't bother mastering cards I don't use, mainly coz I am lazy

orgazmo

It sounds like the biggest difference is if you had plenty of strong cards and decks before they started the mastery system. For newer players, you cycle cards constantly as you pick new ones up and it inflates your mastery level accordingly.

The part I'm having a hard time with (relatively speaking... hard to win every match on a node) in gold isn't my strong decks and PWs, it's the ones I don't have any of the required cards to really compete. For example, my werewolves suck and I don't have good zombie cards, so I just make do. Mo' cards, mo' problems.

SeditiousCanary

hawkyh1 wrote:

card mastery is limited by card variation. for example murderers axe gives the same 2/2 buff as chitinous cloak. why would anyone choose to make an effort to master both cards?

Because functional reprints are good redundancy, and build consistency in a deck.