Duels' representation icon
Duels is a game mode where players face off against other players, attempting to claim 12 victories before they suffer 3 losses, similar to Arena. However, instead of drafting a deck, players are offered a choice between 5 (4 prior to Patch 23.0.0.135540) of Duels-exclusive heroes, then one of 4 of that class's Hero Powers, followed by one of 6 of that class's Signature Treasures. Players then must build a 16-card deck, using 15 cards from their collection, and the treasure they selected.
At the end of each round, whether it was a win or a loss, the player gains 5 higher maximum health and chooses three cards to add to their deck from three different choices, similar to Dungeon Run and other single-player missions. Occasionally, the player can also pick a Passive or active treasure to add to their deck.
Getting started[]
Entry fee[]
Duels' methods of play
Tavern Ticket, previously called Arena Ticket
Duels offers two methods of play with separate matchmaking pools: Casual and Heroic.
- Casual runs are completely free.
- A Heroic run costs 150 gold or a Tavern Ticket. However, Heroic runs feature success-based rewards identical to Arena rewards, including gold, arcane dust, cards, golden cards, and card packs from the latest expansion.
- Since Patch 18.6 Arena Ticket is renamed to Tavern Ticket, which means if the player is sitting on unspent tickets, those tickets can be used in both Arena and Duels.
Selection[]
After starting a Duels run, the player gets to choose the following:
- One of 5 randomly-offered heroes (classes) (four prior to Season 5 or Patch 23.0.0.135540)
- One of their 6 Signature Treasures of the chosen hero
- Some Signature Treasures can only be unlocked after the player completes their specific goals by playing with that hero.
- One of 3 Hero Powers of the chosen hero
- Some Hero Powers can only be unlocked after the player completes their specific goals by playing with that hero.
Then, the player builds a starter deck, which
- Includes the chosen Signature Treasures and 15 unique (no duplicates) cards, from their own collection
- Includes cards available from a certain number of sets, depending on the season, and the hero's classes
- Does not include card in the banned from deck-building list.
For more details about available selections and ban list in the current season, see #Current season.
Choosing a Hero or class
Choosing a Signature Treasure
Choosing a Hero Power
After round[]
Similar to Dungeon Run and similar modes, regardless of winning or losing, after a round is finished, the player gets the opportunity to add new cards to their current deck, by:
- Choosing one of three Passive treasures (after rounds 1 and 3).
- Choosing one of three active treasures (after rounds 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13).
- Choosing one of three loot buckets, each consisting of three cards or none.
For more details about available treasures in the current season, see #Current season.
Choosing a Passive treasure
Choosing an active treasure
Choosing a loot bucket
Group Learning[]
Group Learning bucket, always in the middle
Group Learning (smart bucket, or auto-generated bucket) is a special bucket. Unlike most buckets which have a predetermined card pool, Group Learning has their card pool generated from gameplay data, and it is always in the middle of offering screen.[1]
- Functionality
Group Learning is determined by three factors:
- How were cards played in each game?. In simple words, if you see two cards were played by players repeatedly, it’s a good indicator that there is some synergy between them.
- Which stage of the game and what turns were these cards played?. Cards played in close turns and turns far apart usually indicate different things. The previous pair usually shows signs of combo pieces, and the latter shows cards used as earlier tools and late-game powers.
- What is the end-game impact (win/loss) after the card pair was played?. Win-rate information is embedded in the card pair synergy score. In general, the higher the win-rate, the bigger the score. Afterwards, the score is aggregated for the bucket with some restrictions applied.
- One of the restrictions is that the cards in the bucket needs to be different. Since each bucket contains 3 cards, {A,B,C}, the aggregation consists of 3 different card pairs: {AB, AC, BC}. Mathematically speaking, a "reversed soft-minimum" function is chosen as an aggregation method. The benefit of this over simple addition or some other aggregation methods is it helps to avoid the scenario that {AB} and {AC} has a large score value, but {BC} has a very small score value.
Playing Duels[]
Gameplay[]
A Duels run with 0 wins and 0 losses (3 lives remaining)
A Duels round or game
Play in Duels consists of a series of rounds between Arena players, with each player using their specially constructed deck.
During each Duel run, the player can only suffer up to 3 losses, with the number of losses so far displayed as "lost lives" on the "box" screen. Once a player has lost 3 times, or won 12 times, their run will end, along with their deck destroyed and cannot be viewed or played again.
If the player has a Heroic run, rewards befitting their success will be offered.
Players can also choose to retire their deck at any time after a run's first match. However, it should be noted that, in case you are playing a Heroic run, completing all of a deck's rounds cannot reduce the reward on offer, only improve it. Retiring a deck should therefore be a last resort used only when unwilling to play with the deck any longer.
It should also be noted that if either player is disconnected from the server during a match and fails to return through the reconnection feature, that round is counted as a loss for the disconnector.
The player plays in a Duels round like how they play in Constructed or Arena, except the fact that Duels use their own season's format of card sets and unique cards only available in Duels.
Any cards randomly generated during a match is restricted to the initial card sets. This affects cards generated from any effect and ability.
Matchmaking[]
Similar to Arena, matchmaking for each pairing is determined by the player's win/loss record for the current run, attempting to find a player with as similar a record as possible. Other factors such as class, deck and past Duels performance do not affect matchmaking.
It is possible for a player to be matched twice against the same player over the course of a single Duels run.
Heroic rewards[]
- Main article: Arena#Claiming rewards
Similar to Arena, after a Heroic run ends, they will be given a reward chest, containing up to five rewards with gold, dust, cards, and card packs. The range of possible items and values for each reward is determined exactly like how Arena currently does.
Current season[]
Wizard Duels
Card sets[]
- EXPERT1
- Curse of Naxxramas
- Goblins vs Gnomes
- The League of Explorers
- Whispers of the Old Gods
- One Night in Karazhan
- Journey to Un'Goro
- Kobolds & Catacombs
- The Witchwood
- Saviors of Uldum
- Scholomance Academy
- Demon Hunter Initiate
- Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
- Forged in the Barrens
- United in Stormwind
- Fractured in Alterac Valley
- LEGACY
- Core
- Voyage to the Sunken City
- Murder at Castle Nathria
Classes[]
This section lists all current heroes, Hero Powers and Signature Treasures of each class. For more information about strategies, see indiviual pages.
For a list of each class' loot buckets, see individual Hero pages. For example: Star Student Stelina.
Star Student Stelina (Demon Hunter)
Forest Warden Omu (Druid)
Elise Starseeker (Druid/Priest)
Professor Slate (Hunter)
Brann Bronzebeard (Hunter/Warrior)
Mozaki, Master Duelist (Mage)
Reno Jackson (Mage/Rogue)
Turalyon, the Tenured (Paladin)
Sir Finley (Paladin/Shaman)
Mindrender Illucia (Priest)
Infiltrator Lilian (Rogue)
Instructor Fireheart (Shaman)
Archwitch Willow (Warlock)
Darius Crowley (Warrior)
Rattlegore (Warrior)
Drek'Thar (Neutral)
Vanndar Stormpike (Neutral)
Passive treasures[]
- Pool 1
This lists all Passive treasures that can be drafted after round 1.
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- Pool 2
This lists all Passive treasures that can be drafted after round 3.
                                      |
- Pool 2 Ultra Rare
This lists all Passive treasures that can be drafted after round 3, but have only 1% chance to be offered.
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Active treasures[]
- Pool 1
This lists all active treasures that can be drafted after rounds 2, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13.
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- Pool 2
This lists all active treasures that can be drafted after round 4.
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- Pool 2 Ultra Rare
This lists all active treasures that can be drafted after round 4, but have only 1% chance to be offered.
      |
Banned cards[]
- Banned from deck-building
These cards have been banned from intial deck-building, which are marked as "Banned" in red banner.
                                    |
- Banned from buckets
These cards will never appear in any bucket, even Group Learning.
                          |
- Removed Duels cards
These cards have been removed from Duels, according to the announcements or patch notes.
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Seasons[]
The Hearthstone team will also be adding new Hero Powers and treasures in a mid-season update early next year, and plan to reset Duels ratings at that time as well. At the end of each season, new heroes may be added, and the pools of treasures may be changed.
Each season also has a theme tied to it. For example, Early Access and Season One's theme is Wizard Duels, which brings several familiar professors and luminaries from Scholomance Academy.
The following table lists all past seasons of Duels in Hearthstone history.
| Season | Patch | Start date | Card sets | Resets MMR? | Rotates? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revendreth, Season 7 | Patch 24.0.0.145077 | July 26, 2022 |                    |
Yes | Yes |
| The Sunken City, Season 6 | Patch 23.0.0.135540 | April 5, 2022 | |
Yes | Yes |
| Alterac Valley, Season 5 | Patch 22.2.0.130051 | January 25, 2022 | |
Yes | Yes |
| Wizard Duels, Mid-Season 4 | Patch 22.0.0.126807 | November 30, 2021 | |
||
| Wizard Duels, Season 4 | Patch 21.6.0.124497 | November 2, 2021 | |
Yes | Yes |
| Wizard Duels, Season 3 | Patch 21.0.0.88998 | July 27, 2021 | |
Yes | |
| Wizard Duels, Season 2 | Patch 20.0.0.77662 | March 25, 2021 | |
Yes | |
| Wizard Duels, Mid-Season 1 | Patch 19.4.0.71003 | January 21, 2021 |  |
Yes | |
| Wizard Duels, Season 1 | Patch 19.0.0.65614 | November 12, 2020 | |
||
| Wizard Duels, Early Access | Patch 18.6.0.63160 | October 22, 2020 | |
History[]
Duels was announced October 22, 2020 during the Hearthstone Fall Reveal Stream and the trailer. Afterwards, Duels was immediately launched into season Early Access as a part of Patch 18.6, available to players who either:
- Pre-purchased Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Bundle or Mega Bundles.
- Received Twitch Drop which contained Early Access to Duels.
Duels was set officially launch on November 17, with the transition from Early Access to Season One.
Card changes[]
- Main article: Duels/Card changes
Card changes are the alteration of cards from their previous designs. Hearthstone's designers prefer to avoid changing cards, but when the need arises, card changes will be implemented within patches.
Like collectible and Battlegrounds cards, Duels cards have been design-changed intentionally through the patches.
Patch changes[]
Note: This section only includes gameplay changes to Duels and not individual card changes.
- Patch 23.0.0.135540 (2022-04-05):
- The player can now choose one of 5 heroes instead of 4.
- Patch 22.2.0.130051 (2022-01-25):
- New card buckets will be added to better support the new heroes.
- Pool 2 Treasure offerings will now be more synergistic with your deck.
- 2022-02-01: Fixed a bug where Duels achievements were not properly tracking runs.
- 2022-02-01: Fixed a bug where Duels Health totals did not match the Health totals intended for run progress.
- Patch 22.0.0.126807 (2021-11-30):
- New main art updated (to Fractured in Alterac Valley key art) (previously: Scholomance Academy key art)
- Patch 21.8.0.126299 (2021-11-16):
- Fixed a Duels bug where favorite card backs were not being applied to decks.
- Patch 21.6.0.124497 (2021-11-02):
- All original Scholomance Heroes will have all their unlock requirements removed.
- Patch 21.2.0.91456 (2021-08-31):
- Modes menu updated.
- Patch 21.0.0.88998 (2021-07-27):
- Fixed a Duels bug where Diamond cards would only be Diamond in appearance for the first game of a run.
- Patch 20.4.0.84593 (2021-06-03):
- Passive treasures are less deterministic.
- Fixed a bug that would result in duplicate treasures being offered in Duels.
- Patch 20.2.0.81706 (2021-05-04):
- New tech has been added so that you’ll more regularly be offered Treasures that synergize better with the cards in your deck.
- Fixed a bug where Legacy and Core set filters were not appearing when making a deck in Duels.
- Fixed a Duels bug on mobile where the client could become stuck on the rewards screen after finishing a Heroic run.
- Patch 20.0.0.77662 (2021-03-25):
- Fixed a Duels bug where the win counter could show -1.
- Fixed a Duels bug where duplicate card buckets could appear.
- Fixed a Duels bug where your deck would not appear on the end of run screen.
- Patch 19.4.0.71003 (2021-01-21):
- Passive Treasures offered between matches in Duels should now present more options that are better suited for the class you're playing.
- Patch 19.0.0.65614 (2020-11-12):
- Fixed a Duels bug where Golden cards would appear as normal cards.
- Fixed a Duels bug where the Best Runs counter was being unintentionally reset.
- Patch 18.6.0.63160 (2020-10-22): Added.
External links[]
- Blizzard Entertainment. PlayHearthstone Library - Current Duels Cards.
- Blizzard Entertainment (2020-10-22). Introducing a New Game Mode: Hearthstone Duels!.
References[]
- ↑ Tian, Lead Data Scientist (2020-11-17). Dev Insights: Treasure Pools & Smart Loot Buckets in Duels.
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Duels
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