So, how's your arena experience?

[GenLiu]

Second run. I draw 6 gold cards...

Needless to say this time I ended the contract after the first loss.

Maybe you should have kept it.
I've made a run with only 4 Golds and lost the coinflip the vast majority of the time and still got 8 wins.
It's not easy but it's doable, especially since peoples tend to make a few rookie mistakes that early (like trying to 2-O you after you open passed on round 1 because you lost the coinflip).

Golds are important but Synergy is key. If you manage to make a good synergy deck you can even have O Gold, you stand a chance.

Eh I have found it very fun. But I'm so depressingly bad at arena mode/drafting in general in all card games. I just don't understand how people can do so well, there must be some knack to it I'm just clearly not getting.

Last run I drafted 13 golds in total, and had a total of three wins before being knocked out. In one game my whole hand was golds and I lost. It made me want to cry.

Sometimes having too many Golds is almost as bad as not having any. The problem with this kind of scenario is that, your deck is only good individual power play but lack of synergy which is very important in limited.
Plus, cards like Shani or Natalis obviously lose a ton of value if you don't have enough target for them (they can even end up being worst than most Bronzes you could have found instead).

 

[Legendarum]

Sometimes having too many Golds is almost as bad as not having any. The problem with this kind of scenario is that, your deck is only good individual power play but lack of synergy which is very important in limited.
Plus, cards like Shani or Natalis obviously lose a ton of value if you don't have enough target for them (they can even end up being worst than most Bronzes you could have found instead).

Mmm, I can definitely understand that. But then, you've said you've had eight wins, and that is just beyond me. This is a little off topic (not much), but I really am just bad at drafting, and I don't get it, while I've got a friend in real life who is absolutely great at it, and wins tournaments and things. I've done arena/drafting in Magic the Gathering, Hearthstone, Elder Scrolls Legends, and now here, and I'm just appalling at it. And I'm not even bad at the specific games at all - just drafting. I don't know what it is, but there must definitely be a 'knack' that people like you (in a good way!) get, and I certainly don't!

Back on topic though, even though I've sucked so much, I have enjoyed the experience as much or more than other card games. I find the huge variance pretty 'fun', and finding synergies cross faction is also enjoyable, as it's so completely different than what you're used to in an ordinary game of gwent.

 

[GenLiu]

Mmm, I can definitely understand that. But then, you've said you've had eight wins, and that is just beyond me. This is a little off topic (not much), but I really am just bad at drafting, and I don't get it, while I've got a friend in real life who is absolutely great at it, and wins tournaments and things. I've done arena/drafting in Magic the Gathering, Hearthstone, Elder Scrolls Legends, and now here, and I'm just appalling at it. And I'm not even bad at the specific games at all - just drafting. I don't know what it is, but there must definitely be a 'knack' that people like you (in a good way!) get, and I certainly don't!

Back on topic though, even though I've sucked so much, I have enjoyed the experience as much or more than other card games. I find the huge variance pretty 'fun', and finding synergies cross faction is also enjoyable, as it's so completely different than what you're used to in an ordinary game of gwent.

Well, you know, it can also be luck based, maybe you're unlucky on the cards the game offers you as a choice.
It's often a tricky thing to say because peoples don't want to admit they win thx to RNG but it's definitely a deciding factor.

If you get a bomb on opening that requires some building around, you have to take it and therefore find the cards that synergy with it but if the game don't propose them to you just can't make the badass deck that you were dreaming about.
It happened once today, I took Vainglory but didn't get enough ressources to make it work properly, it's okay at the end and I'm still kicking on this run because I add a backup plan which is discard but you have to realize that I found Cerys : Fearless, was like "Okay this draft is gonna be shit anyway, let's go for the meme" and then the game gave me enough discard to make it work. I didn't get those cards thx to my skill, I was just lucky enough to have them appearing in the pool.

It's funny btw because I'm incredibly unlucky with pretty much everything in the game (for example, I played 6 matches today, lost the coinflip 4 times and yesterday, out of 23 games I lost it 18 times) but for the draft itself, I can't complain.

Don't lose faith though, I'm sure your time will come and I'm pretty sure it's not due to your skill (you seem to have a pretty solid experience in card games) for me it's just you not finding the right card at the right moment.

 

[xalaa]

Frustrating to a large degree.
I don't know why I am always matched with high level players, Lv 88,67,40 .. while I am 12 ?!

I guess this mode tests one's experience with all the Gwent cards, so they can pull out good combos quickly. So I think it will be fun for the high level players, and overwhelming for most low levels. I wish the Matchmaking was more fair, to cover for the gap of experience between high/low players, and the chaotic nature of the mode.

Arena is like a Keg, but you need to play games to open it. A gamble somehow, but at least you get something even if you didn't win at all.

 

[devivre]

Frustrating to a large degree.
I don't know why I am always matched with high level players, Lv 88,67,40 .. while I am 12 ?!

Maybe it would make sense to have an arena mode for new players up to for example level 20 and an Experienced Mode for players level 20+.

But I'm not sure this is necessary right now. In Arena you often have to play with suboptimal decks, no matter how skilled you are. And even a beginner can make a deck that can at least win a few games. It's tricky to add a proper match making here...

 

[klaymen]

Now I believe that the number of golds being so variable is completely intentional. See, in this thread already we have people complaining that they went 0-3 multiple times in a row. Making number of golds random makes it so even new players can sometimes high-roll 12 golds and win a lot of games.

Gwent is a very skill intensive game, especially with drafting, and especially with new and different cards. (So you can't netdeck a game plan like in some internet guides.) If they make it too balanced, every new player will repeatedly be wrecked 0-3 and have a pretty bad time.

Any new player should be ready to accept losses as a part of learning process. The fact that the Arena mode pretty much eliminates netdecking is fine, but the new (or worse, or both) player stomping a better player just because he has rolled more gold cards during the draft doesn't help him a single bit. Also Gwent *was* a skill intensive game before. Nowadays the skill helps, but an adequate sacrifice to Random Number Gods helps even more. When a Create card offers you "just what the doctor ordered" is as much skill based as getting 3 crap cards (read: not skill based at all). And if it happens more than one time in a match, that's pretty much a table flipping moment.

 

[TrompeLaMort]

Any new player should be ready to accept losses as a part of learning process. The fact that the Arena mode pretty much eliminates netdecking is fine, but the new (or worse, or both) player stomping a better player just because he has rolled more gold cards during the draft doesn't help him a single bit. Also Gwent *was* a skill intensive game before. Nowadays the skill helps, but an adequate sacrifice to Random Number Gods helps even more. When a Create card offers you "just what the doctor ordered" is as much skill based as getting 3 crap cards (read: not skill based at all). And if it happens more than one time in a match, that's pretty much a table flipping moment.

"New players should just accept losing" is not a convincing argument.

I mean, you might feel that way, if you want, but it would be really unfair to expect CDPR to do the same. If a new player loses all the time, well guess what, he will just go play something else. This is a game, not school, and people play it to have fun, not to practice or learn. (Hell, even schools nowadays try to implement learning methods that are fun.) Losing (all the time) is not fun, and any game that expects people to be willing to do that won't survive for long.

And saying that Gwent is not skill intensive is simply not factual. If you see any good streamer, they consistently get 9-x runs. Even I have never got less than 5 wins in arena, even with bad decks. The good player will win most of the time, just not all the time, which is the right way for a game to be fun for everyone.

 

[Sunsibar]

Really loving the Arena so far

Just played around 4 hours and I had to force myself to stop. It's really addicting Got one good deck, one terrible deck and few mid level decks. Highest achievement so far is 5 victories, but I'm quite happy with that. It's definitely possible to get 9 wins too. I just have to start concentrating more and stop making stupid misplays

The experience has been so relaxing and fun! It's really hard to decide which one is more fun, making a deck, or actually playing with it

 

[TheEpicWhale]

I used up the 3 free tokens and i bought maybe 4 or 5 with ore.

At this point i can say that i have already seen pretty much what the arena has to offer.

Yes it is a fun concept, but needs to be made more fair.

Players should really get an equal amount of gold/bronze/silver

The last deck i build had 4 or 5 golds and a sh1tload of bronzes. I just broke the contract and left it at that.

Way to many lost matches due to connection bugs (would have been nice to get some sort of statement on this)

I had some fun, but most of the time it feels like overpaying for kegs.

 

[quantum_number]

Yes it is a fun concept, but needs to be made more fair.
Players should really get an equal amount of gold/bronze/silver

With my third free shard I drafted a deck containing 15(!) golds, 8 silvers and 3 bronzes. Even my skills were enough to get 9 victories with that deck.

 

[partci]

My experience is that I don't like it. It's not for me. I can watch streamers play it, but playing this by myself is actually annoying.

 

[guison]

Few days and many more tries later I have never passed that 3 win point. It just doesnt make sense how their decks are always perfect synergy and almost every turn I play I never have a card worth even playing. I want to play more to practice or at least get lucky just fucking once with a decent rolled deck, but I cant make enough ore and used all I had. Not paying 2.50 thats a scam.

 

[illicitSoul]

I often have pretty bad luck and get 4-5 golds only. I often win only 1-2 times before my life points run out. I've got 3 wins maximum.

 

[DRK3]

Im starting to get the feel of Arena, and which cards you should go for. Yes, getting more Golds and Silvers helps, but there are still archetypes that may be weak to average on normal play and here are way better.

For example, reveal has the problem on normal play that most of the time you already know what you'll be revealing since most decks arent that unpredictable. But on Arena, Reveal becomes WAY better, due to its randomness. Also, Mulligan is really great - you should try to get a few mulligan options in the deck to compensate for the lack of synergy and to avoid dead cards.

Also, please dont kill me for saying this, but 'create' cards work even better, since they may give 2/3 options to fight the increased possibilities the opponent throws at you.

I'll try to get 9 wins on my 3rd outing. Im confident, specially since i have what might be the greatest card for Arena - SHUPE! (15 effects, for all situations. Just be careful not to have any dupes, which shouldnt be hard at all)

 

[Guest 4226291]

I’m so frustrated

I got 8 wins and only 1 loss in Arena and then I lost two straight. One game I totally would have been able to win except I Vilgefortsed into a Scorch destroying my 27 strength Light Longship and the next game I just got fucked by bad luck. Ugh I hate this game so much sometimes.

 

[StrykerxS77x]

Now I believe that the number of golds being so variable is completely intentional. See, in this thread already we have people complaining that they went 0-3 multiple times in a row. Making number of golds random makes it so even new players can sometimes high-roll 12 golds and win a lot of games.

Gwent is a very skill intensive game, especially with drafting, and especially with new and different cards. (So you can't netdeck a game plan like in some internet guides.) If they make it too balanced, every new player will repeatedly be wrecked 0-3 and have a pretty bad time.

Losing is a part of being a new player. On top of that even good/experienced players lose a lot when they are climbing ranked. Losing is not an excuse to make a game be very unfair and random.

 

[Holypalad1n]

That's the point: you win and lose like you never lost and won in constructed.

Moreover, even 14 points silver is kinda weak for the last round, don't you think? I didn't always win when we were on even cards and I had Shupe and another 15+ points gold in the last round.

Now I believe that the number of golds being so variable is completely intentional. See, in this thread already we have people complaining that they went 0-3 multiple times in a row. Making number of golds random makes it so even new players can sometimes high-roll 12 golds and win a lot of games.

Gwent is a very skill intensive game, especially with drafting, and especially with new and different cards. (So you can't netdeck a game plan like in some internet guides.) If they make it too balanced, every new player will repeatedly be wrecked 0-3 and have a pretty bad time.

What i have with new players??? I spend my lifetime to playing arena and get punish by picking 4 gold cards??? If this cdpr want the game will die this year

 

[SHALLAHJUSTICE]

It's a bit too gimmicky, tacky and dedcandent for my tastes, premium gold and silvers lose their value too much and the whole things pretty low class cheap thrills

Those claw marks on the board so edgy tough! Like fuck it, no rules anarchy card game anything can happen lock your daughters up and call the sheriff kinda vibe.

I enjoy the value and worth of even bronzes in ranked too much to enjoy Arena. Its was made for children surely.

I Iiterally don't even play casual anymore because I've got to such unprecedented levels of HAM.

​​​​​:wisegirl:
​​​​​​

​

 

[BILBO.BAGGINS]

Any mode where i don't have to see/play against the disgusting Alchemy deck is a good mode.

I find the arena very fun and refreshing. No netdecks, really fun combos/interactions ( even combos that kick my a** are sometimes so outrageous, it's actually funny and entertaining! ). I even managed to complete a 9 win contract.
I don't mind the randomness of golds/silvers/bronzes. Having tons of golds doesn't automatically make you a winner. In my very first arena run i had a 3 golds deck and managed to get 5 wins, whilst, other times, i barely get 3 wins with 6-7 golds decks.

 

[xalaa]

Maybe it would make sense to have an arena mode for new players up to for example level 20 and an Experienced Mode for players level 20+.

But I'm not sure this is necessary right now. In Arena you often have to play with suboptimal decks, no matter how skilled you are. And even a beginner can make a deck that can at least win a few games. It's tricky to add a proper match making here...

Thank you.

The problem is not with the decks themselves (all players have random chances after all), but with the player's knowledge of the game. The challenge of Arena is playing a deck that could have no strong synergy, and you have no experience with, while also pulling good combos quickly. Experienced players have seen many cards already and know a lot of good combos, so they have a great advantage.

It is not easy to:
1- think of multiple options / combos,
+ 2- discover and learn your cards. Sometimes I forget what that card was doing, or I have to re-read something (specially with cards that have multiple effects, or create other cards), depending on the situation,
+ 3- understand your opponent's moves, and what strategy is he/she aiming for,
+ 4- finish your turn before the time limit.

It is very challenging for many experienced players, and very, very challenging for new players