After evaluating some data, it is now clear: There is some cheating involved in the awarding of Legendaries in Hearthstone. To our advantage?
The Joy of Legends
Opening card packs is one of the most beautiful, as well as one of the most frustrating moments in Hearthstone. Everyone knows the thrill when opening a pack and seeing the orange shimmer around the targeted card. You’ve outsmarted fate again and snagged a legendary card! But… is the probability really random? Or is there a little cheating going on?
A Sympathy Legendary for everyone over 39.
The evaluations from opening over 14,800 card packs from “The Grand Tournament” have brought some interesting insights to light. Blizzard has obviously implemented a “sympathy threshold” from which players receive a guaranteed Legendary. Within the test group, there was not a single person who opened more than 40 packs without receiving a Legendary. The probability of that happening is statistically under 0.001%. The logical conclusion: Blizzard has built in a mechanism that guarantees that you receive at least one legendary card in every 40 packs. However, there are some points to consider for these sympathy Legendary cards:
- The 40 packs must be from the same edition. Opening 20 Classic and then 20 GvG packs does not have the desired effect.
- The 40 packs do not need to be opened in the same session.
- The 40 packs must be opened in the same region, as American and European accounts are treated separately.
Kripparian has addressed this topic in a video and explains it in a little more detail.
By the way, there is also a sympathy threshold for epic cards – it is set at 10. It is therefore guaranteed that there will be an epic card in at least the 10th pack!
What do you think about this sympathy threshold? Does it bother you a lot, or do you find it a useful bonus to maintain the fun of the game?
