Game Modes | The basics Hearthstone Guide
Last update: 28 April 2020
The duel is the basic, main game mode in Hearthstone. In the Duel, you can use your own decks or the basic decks of each class, which are available from the start for each player. In addition, it is possible to choose a Ranked or non-ranked (Casual) game.
In the first case, you are matched against opponents with a similar league and rank, which you increase with successive victories. However, you may find bronze players in the legendary league, but only if the given player achieved very high score in the previous season, and is just getting ranked in the current Hearthstone season. On the other hand, in a non-ranking game, the opponent is chosen completely at random, and you cannot gain higher ranks. Non-ranking games are a good way to check your deck before entering a ranking game or completing tasks.
Hearthstone ranking system
Hearthstone's new ranking system was introduced on April 1, 2020, and is based on stars, and 5 regular leagues + one special, called Legendary. For each match won, the player receives a certain number of stars along with a possible bonus. Each league is divided into 10 ranks of which 10 is the weakest and 1, the strongest. To advance to the next rank within the league, you must earn at least 3 stars. Losing in the Bronze League does not result in losing stars for defeats. Unlike in the silver and higher leagues, where the player loses stars for defeats. Once a league is won, it is impossible to lose, so there will never be a situation where a player drops from silver to bronze. There are also two protected baselines within each league - 10 and 5. After scoring 5, a player cannot fall below.
After earning all stars in the highest regular league (diamond), the player is transferred to a special league - the legendary league. You can't lose that rank until the end of the current season. It's also worth noting that brand new players will start in a separate league with a rating from 40 to 1. This will allow new players to become familiar with Hearthstone and all the mechanics, which in turn will translate into better results in the regular Hearthstone leagues.
Bonus ranking stars
Each player receives one star for winning a match or loses one if they lose in a silver or higher leagues. At the beginning of each subsequent Hearthstone ranking season, players can earn bonus ranking stars, which are calculated based on their performance in the previous season. Bonus ranking stars are counted after each victory, and their number decreases as more leagues are won.
For example, at the beginning of the Hearthstone season, starting in the Bronze League, you can get as many as 7 or 8 extra stars for each win. This figure will decrease as the ranking table progresses - by 1 star for each league the player advances to. For a streak of wins (3 wins in a row), the star bonus is doubled. This means that instead of 6 bonus stars you can gain as many as 12 and quickly jump several ranks up!
Hearthstone Ranked Awards
After each completed ranking season in Hearthstone, each player can receive additional rewards depending on which rank they have achieved. There's something to fight for, as the prizes found in the crates for the top leagues (Diamond and Legendary) are very good!
Among the prizes available are additional card packs tailored to Hearthstone's latest expansion, rare cards, and even EPIC cards. With this solution, players can collect the necessary cards much faster and earn even better results at Hearthstone in time for the next ranking season.
Individual Achievement Awards
Another new feature introduced on April 1, 2020 in Hearthstone are one-off prizes for specific achievements. These prizes are won by breaking your own records and can only be collected once. When promoted to a particular rank for the first time with a given account, additional card packs, rare cards, and epic cards can be unlocked. If the player manages to make it all the way to the legendary league he will be rewarded with a random legendary card!
The following table shows the possible additional achievement awards, depending on their position in Hearthstone rankings.
Promotion to a specific rank | First Rank Award | End-of-Season award |
 | 1 Classic Card package | One rare card from a pool of standard cards |
 | 4 random rare cards from a classical set | One pack of cards from the latest expansion |
 | 1 Classic Card package | Two random rare cards from a pool of standard cards |
 | 4 random rare cards from a classical set | One pack of cards from the latest expansion |
 | 1 Classic Card package | Two random rare cards from a pool of standard cards |
 | 1 random epic card from the classic set | One pack of cards from the latest expansion |
 | 1 Classic Card package | Two random rare cards from a pool of standard cards |
 | 1 random epic card from the classic set | One pack of cards from the latest expansion |
 | 1 Classic Card package | Two random rare cards from a pool of standard cards |
 | One random legendary card from the standard set | One pack of cards from the latest expansion |
Card back
In addition to extra packs of cards from a particular set, additional rare cards, and epic cards, players can also earn a special prize in the Hearhstone - the Card back. Card backs are only up for grabs during a certain season and will not reappear in the game so it's a nice addition to the collection.
Under the previous Hearthstone ranking system, a season-by-season award was granted to players at the end of the given season. From April 1, 2020, the Card back is made available to the player immediately after winning 5 ranking games in a given season.
Hearthstone ranking game modes
Hearthstone has two ranking game formats - Wild and Standard. The difference between the two formats is huge due to the fact that the Wild format has no set rules, as opposed to the Standard mode.
In Wild mode, all moves are allowed! Here you can use all the cards available in the game - including standard cards, Hall of Fame cards and cards from all expansion cards released to date. But this is an opt-in format, so there's no way to get here by accident.
The Standard mode, however, has some limitations. Only the latest cards (issued in the current and previous calendar year), as well as basic and classic cards (which will always be allowed in this type of games) can be used. Opponents are selected from a pool of players who have declared their desire to enter the regular season.
When it comes to gaining consecutive ranks, you can rank in both modes. No matter which mode you choose, you will always receive stars. Season awards are calculated on the basis of the highest Standard or Wild ranking a player has achieved over the course of a given season