I wanted to start with some introduction, but the title pretty much sums it up. The number of players in Legend has increased SIGNIFICANTLY between March and April. I found the numbers really interesting and decided to share.
Here’s the total number of Legend players at the end of March (Source):
| Server | Standard | Wild |
|---|---|---|
| NA | 3,470 | 639 |
| EU | 6,515 | 1,133 |
| Asia | ? | 364 |
| China | 13,449 | 27,433 |
(The most interesting thing here is that in China, we had twice as many Wild Legends as Standard Legends)
And here’s the same table for April (Source):
| Server | Standard | Wild |
|---|---|---|
| NA | 30,971 | 4,531 |
| EU | 60,366 | 8,769 |
| Asia | 18,776 | 2,252 |
| China | 118,247 | 84,809 |
The numbers, of course, aren’t 100% correct – there had to be some more players hitting Legend during the last hours, because the data was collected by players some time before the reset, but that’s besides the point. It’s not about the exact number – it’s about how many more players hit Legend in the new system. In Standard, we’ve got 9-10 times as many Legend players as we did last month. China numbers are most impressive – we had close to 120,000 Legend players near the end of the month. Those are really insane numbers compared to what we’ve usually seen.
Some of the increase has to be contributed to the new content. After all, first expansion of the year is always more popular. This time around, we’ve also got a new class, which brought back multiple players. There’s also social distancing, but it was already in effect in March (especially in Asia, which is also included in those stats, but also in most of Europe), so I think that this part can get ignored. Also, if you think that March was a slow month or something – it’s not really the case. Here are February stats that are pretty similar to March ones.
I believe that most of the increase has to be attributed to the new system. It’s mostly two reasons. First is simple – it’s a new system. People wanted to try it out, and it feels more fun to progress through. Once people started playing more, they got closer to hitting Legend and many of them decided to stick with it. And the second reason is – obviously – because it’s easier to hit Legend under the new system. If I remember the calculations, it’s not FASTER – it actually takes a bit longer, but it’s EASIER, as in that you need a lower win rate. As long as you have star bonus, you can progress quite quickly even with a sub-50% win rate. Then, we’ve got a floor every 5 ranks – so every 15 stars, which is much more often than in the old system (which was every 25 stars). And better rewards for hitting Legend (5 packs from the latest expansion are really convincing)… All of that have resulted in so many Legend players at the same time.
I wonder how things will look like in May. I’m pretty sure that the numbers will drop slightly, since it’s not an “expansion month”, but I wonder whether they will be closer to March or April numbers.
so i started the game after alot of years being out i was usually rank 5-3 never hit legend now in a week i got legend with token druid !
all spells cheap af and seasy to play !
if its so easy now to get legend can u fall to rank diamond 1 or u just stay there
they should fix this so like only 10k players are allowed in the rank the rest if at the end of the season are legend go to d-1 d-2 or where they should go for instance per 5k above 10 k drop 1 rank so they player in 19842 possition goes to rank 2
Or, occam’s razor – Blizzard (whatever that is) made it easier to be Legend ranking on purpose, for financial motivations.
Everyone wants to feel like a winner, now they can, or at least be able to say “I’m almost Legend, so that’s pretty cool” (think I’ll keep playing now..)
I don’t believe it’s as straight forward as just the new ranking system. While the bonus stars are certainly helpful, I feel that the blip more pertains to the pre-nerf and even post 1st nerf of demon hunter than it does the new ladder. That deck could beat anything 80% of the time but most anyone. And now that result will perpetuate a somewhat easier climb for the legends which will take a few months to level off back to where it was before.
I hit legend myself for the first time last month after a 6 month absence. I had been to rank 3 before on the old system but never had the time to really dedicate to go all the way due to work/parenting. I made it to Diamond 2 with Highlander Mage and Control Warlock and after bouncing back and forth between D4-D2 for several days after the 2nd nerf I just went with DH and got legend in about an hour.
Did I deserve it? Tough question. I believe I would have got it this month regardless if I wanted to grind it out some more but why torment myself? I just started playing what I wanted after I made it. And now that I have I don’t feel the need to mess with DH anymore. Been playing only Highlander Mage again so far this month and I am at Plat 5 in 3 days. If I don’t make it again no big deal but I think I can and I no longer have that pressure to get it for the first time which is nice.
Lots of rambling here I know but back to the point of feeling DH is more responsible than the new ladder for the new legend players. Happy to be proven wrong by data in the coming months but that’s where I stand on it!
Totally agree. DH dominance is missing in the points of the article.
I also was between D4-D2 and took some tier 3 deck to finish Daily quest. Suddenly it worked as DH killer deck and I couldn’t stop playing until I got legend. It also took about an hour 🙂
Thats true. But new sistem has a big upside IMO.
Now it is posible to hit legend playing control decks for players that just can’t play 3 hours a day or more. With old sistem, it was super hard to get the +25 from 5 to legend.
With +15, if you find a good deck for the meta and you play good you can at least have a chance.
In my personal case, I had climbed multiple times before but always with aggro/tempo decks that allow me to play a lot of games per hour. If you do not have a lot to play it was litearaly the only way to hit legend.
With new sistem, I feel I do not need to play fast decks to have a chance and that is great.
Ej: This season I made it with higlander priest. With old sisten i may not have even tried the climb because i knew that even with 60% win rate it was impossible becasue the time factor.
Don’t forget to mention that there were first time rewards for hitting each rank for everyone. There may be less incentive to climb this month when you only get the end of month rewards, or first time rewards for new ranks you didn’t reach last time.
One thing is changing. I think the bonus stars multiplier is reduced by 1.
early April I got 10x stars sitting on 3rd Ranked.
And this time, I only got 9x stars when hitting 3rd Diamond.
What about legend? it should be 11x? Is it also reduced by 1 star?
I find this really upsetting. The legend card back used to be something to be proud of, and just this one month has really cheapened that.
I totally agree. Feels like they’re making the same mistake here like they did with wow. The legend card back was a real accomplishment showing both skill and investment of time. The flavor text ‘Wow. Hardcore’ should now read ‘Average Joe’.
How can I know the legend rank in wich I finished the season?
It do no appear in the client. Is there any way to know it?
Anyway, I can undesrtand why they dont show you the position in the client. I played a lot to get top 10.000 in EU server and I would like to know if i made it
The most likely reason for the spike is that the Diamond rank 5 to legend is significantly shorter than the old rank 5 to legend. There are only 3 stars per rank compared with 5 stars per rank in the old system. If you need fewer wins to get to legend then naturally there will be more legend players.
I have 10k dust and i’am build highlander deck. Rogue or mage? Please write yours opinion
Rogue is better in the current meta.
play wild. with 10 k dust you could build highlander mage or priest, both tier 1 staples
I usually hit legend just before the end of the month, now I hit legend within the first 10 days of the month. The difference is huge (15 vs 25 stars). I do miss MMR in your explanation. Somehow I think the new matchmaking also plays a role.
Simply grinding doesn’t make you reach legend if you don’t have the skills. The system does seem easier to climb though, and shorter.
Grinding can almost definitely grant you the skills necessary to climb legend. I would assume your argument is that having a good deck doesn’t automatically turn someone into a good player?
You’re right, my comment was written poorly. You hone your skill in anything by grinding it out.
Good decks don’t necessarily mean positive winrate as high rank. Especially in the current insanely diverse meta. But that wasn’t my point.
What I meant was, many players put in more time this month (thank you COVID-19). However, if ~280k players didn’t have the skill until now, it doesn’t make sense that so many people suddenly “got it”.
I was just addressing the 2nd (large) paragraph in this article.
well i sat here and i read some commends cuz when i play i like to do something else when my enemy plays
i did not play the game for 6 years !
i was around rank 10-5 back then
now i hit legend in a week with a token druid i think it;s called this is the list
# 2x (0) Innervate
# 2x (0) Lightning Bloom
# 2x (1) Living Roots
# 2x (1) Mark of the Lotus
# 2x (1) Nature Studies
# 2x (2) Guess the Weight
# 2x (2) Rising Winds
# 2x (2) Solar Eclipse
# 2x (3) BEEEES!!!
# 2x (3) Fungal Fortunes
# 2x (3) Savage Roar
# 2x (4) Branching Paths
# 2x (4) Wispering Woods
# 2x (5) Arbor Up
# 2x (5) Glowfly Swarm
i went from 50 to diamond 2 undefeated lost 3 games in a row then cuz i was played vs alot of mages and hunders i pute in the deck for 1 living roots a soul of the forest to have a way to keep my board down vs wave clar or to drake in my 1-1 wisps to get 2-2 and clear the enemys board
i hit legend from d1 without a defeat
i dunno i think they should make a system that last hour u drop from legend per a % of the player in the rank
for instance the 25% stay legend the other 25% go d1 the other 10% go d2 and so on
so they make it more competitive and for players to have a reason to keep winning cuz now ehat happens for me when the season restarts i will hit legend fast again if i do it on a week i hit my goal to get cards cuz that’s what i need right now but i wanna get more u know
make it abit more competitive put a rank after legend that is call true legend and only a % of legend players can be there and give them 1 special reward a legend frame that last a month like the new diamond cards around ur class that u have it for a month if u where top tier legend and u lose it the next if u did not get it again !
this would bring back the legend from the time i played that a few had it and they had to be really good to get it not follow some cheap as 30 min turtorial and hit it !
sr for my any missspells im playing atm rank 5703 wanna go above 2k if i can 😛 🙂 !
Another theory I have, is good decks can carry somewhat if they’re busted enough. Tempo DH was so good early into the expansion, that someone in my friend list reached legend within a week. He never even reached rank 5 in the old system.