It's been over a year since Blizzard took this step. Why?
It's been just over a year since Blizzard removed my favorite mode in Hearthstone. To this day, nothing has filled the void in my heart.
What Exactly Is Hearthstone?
Hearthstone is now really well known, especially among card game enthusiasts. But for those who don't know it, or have only seen it briefly, here's a quick introduction to this otherwise truly fantastic game:
Set in the fantasy universe of Warcraft, you collect cards that have different effects, an attack value, and health points. Some of these cards also belong to classes that you can combine with each other. It is important that the cards are available for your chosen hero. They all have a different play style and hero ability. In addition to a hunter who wants to deal a lot of damage quickly, there is also a priest whose ability is to restore 2 health points to a character on the playing field and who focuses on spell cards. These can have additional effects, such as buffs, effects, or healing or damage. Once you have put together a deck, you can battle against other players who have also put together a deck. This is the standard mode, and because the deck is homemade, it is also called "Constructed".
But Hearthstone has a lot more to offer: in addition to this mode, there are solo campaigns against AI, fun mini-games, and alternative deck-building scenarios. One of these was a game mode that immediately captivated me and still has me hooked today. I'm talking about Duels, an alternative roguelike mode. But if you look for it today, you won't find it – even though Duels had a loyal fan base.
What Made Duels So Special?
Duels is slightly different from the "Constructed" mode described above: Here, you are presented with a number of alternative heroes, most of whom still represent the "standard classes". But that's where the fun begins: You don't get the same selection of heroes every round, so you first have to collect a few cards for some classes. Once you have chosen your class, you can choose one of three abilities that should suit your playing style. You can then choose a class-specific treasure: a card around which you will build most of the time. Here, too, you have to build a deck, but instead of 30 cards, you only need 15. And then the fun begins! After each match, you can choose between "buckets", three groups of three cards each, to add to your deck. In between, you also have two choices between two extremely powerful passive effects. After 12 wins, you win and can look forward to a big reward, but after 3 lost rounds, you're out. And so Duels became the hunt for the perfect run.
Perhaps the description appeals to some readers, but Duels had so many more advantages: The mode was much more beginner-friendly, as you only needed 15 cards instead of 30 at the start, and you often just needed a lot of luck instead of 10 legendary cards to win big. You could only earn a lot of gold if you were really good, but you would also get the occasional card after a run. However, if you got 12 wins, you could count on a lot of gold and legendary cards, which made every round super exciting. And keep in mind: with more and more cards in your deck, the matches also became longer and really nerve-wracking.
Players Begged Blizzard To Reconsider
We've made the difficult decision to discontinue support for Duels Mode later this year. Thank you to all the passionate Duels fans who made this Heroic Run possible.Read the details: https://t.co/5uZPb04f21 pic.twitter.com/xqtDbpsvQZ
— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) January 4, 2024
After Blizzard surprisingly announced that it would be removing the mode, players flocked to the forum to BEG Blizzard not to remove it. Many of the comments so far have only one post—the one expressing displeasure with this announcement. Very few comments welcome the announcement and are immediately torn apart by other users. A comment by a user named Flankhardt describes the sad story of this beloved mode: Blizzard did not promote the game mode, did not monetize it properly, and left it to rot. Many users report that they not only bought packs because of the mode, but that it was the only mode they played.
Please reconsider. I've spent hundreds on this game and I’ve loved it the last 10 years, this mode is by far the best thing you guys ever did and the day it goes is the day I uninstall sadly.
I agreed with that opinion.
Seriously, What's The Point?
Blizzard never responded to players or changed anything. Instead, modes that were so unpopular that they hadn't received any updates for a whole year were left in the game. And so Duels disappeared from the scene. And with it, my love for a game that I had loved since its release.
It's been a year since I uninstalled Hearthstone. Just before that, I was sitting on the couch with friends, lamenting crushing losses, complaining about our bad luck, and freaking out when we won a tough battle with our combined brains. Blizzard has once again shown that it doesn't care about what players want: whether it's removing beloved modes, pointlessly continuing the once legendary hero shooter, or the bitter disappointment of a poorly thought-out, overly expensive Diablo 4.
Have you played Hearthstone and remember Duels?