The card game Hearthstone is under criticism due to its pricing policy, balance issues, and the new Mercenaries mode. Some players are therefore looking for alternatives. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch switched to Legends of Runeterra back in 2020 and feels confirmed in this change.
What’s happening with Hearthstone? The card game from Blizzard recently announced the new Mercenaries mode. The presentation was chaotic and many viewers did not understand exactly how this mode works.
What many understood, however, are the high costs associated with this mode. The pre-order for all new packs costs 130 euros and does not even provide advantages for the other modes.
In general, many see a problem in Hearthstone’s pricing policy:
- A new set comes out every 3 months, for which players can buy packs.
- There is a Season Pass that costs money.
- You can directly buy top decks.
- There are solo contents that need to be purchased.
- It feels like every week, a cosmetic set with new skins is released.
Cortyn has already expressed his thoughts on the pricing policy in a “Mecker Wednesday”: I don’t earn enough money to play Hearthstone anymore.
What are the alternatives? Currently, there’s an increasing question about which alternatives to Hearthstone are worth considering. Games like Magic: The Gathering Arena, The Elder Scrolls Legends, or Gwent are mentioned.
Personally, I played Hearthstone for years but permanently switched to Legends of Runeterra in the summer of 2020.
The biggest plus points I see in Legends of Runeterra are primarily in the flow of gameplay, the better Arena mode, and the monetization, which is extremely fair.
He has already spent dozens of hours in both Hearthstone and LoR. Currently, he only follows Hearthstone through compilations and on the YouTube channel of Trump, who regularly presents new sets and crazy decks.
Legends of Runeterra is superior to Hearthstone in almost every aspect
The better gameplay: When I first tried Legends of Runeterra in January 2020, I was particularly captivated by the gameplay. I would describe it as a mix between Hearthstone and Magic.
- In a round, one player is always the attacker while the other must defend against the attack.
- Both players take turns, performing an action (e.g., playing a monster), after which the opponent may respond.
- Mana points are required for playing cards, which recharge and increase with each turn. Additionally, there are up to 3 “spell mana”, which is unspent mana from the previous round.
- There are different types of cards: Creatures, Champions, and Spells. The Champions, who are well-known LoL characters, can rise to combat under certain conditions, adding another tactical component to the game.
Overall, the gameplay in Legends of Runeterra is significantly more dynamic than that of Hearthstone. This makes it much more enjoyable for me.
Moreover, the Champions here truly feel special. While known characters from the Warcraft universe in Hearthstone can be played but usually do not have a significant impact on the course of a game, in Legends of Runeterra, strategies and decks are typically built around the Champions.
How such a match proceeds is demonstrated in this tutorial video from Riot Games:
The better Arena mode: The Arena mode in Hearthstone is fundamentally a cool idea, but it has been terribly implemented. You put together your deck of 30 cards randomly and fight against other players who also have random decks. The goal is to win by being better at evaluating the offered cards and building a functional deck from them.
Players are always offered 3 random cards from which they must choose one to add to their deck. The only aspect a player can orient themselves to are the cards already chosen.
However, the system completely lacks synergies and therefore complexity. Generally, you only choose the cards that are the strongest on their own. There’s little freedom of choice, and you can’t really take risks with the selection of cards since there are no indications that you’ll get matching cards for synergies.
Moreover, there’s no guarantee that I will get a legendary card while other players may draw two or three legendary cards.
The Expeditions in Legends of Runeterra, on the other hand, let you collect “packs” instead of cards. You are offered one Champion and two corresponding cards in each of the first two selections that create a synergy.
Also, in the following rounds, you select not one, but always two cards. Alternately, you are offered two “normal” cards and two cards that interact with each other.
The system in Legends of Runeterra emphasizes ensuring that each player receives an equal number of Champions and that the decks value not only the strongest cards but also synergies.
At the end of the draft, a trader also offers you the chance to exchange one of 3 random cards for another card, should you wish.
During an Expeditions round, your deck also changes. After the first victory, for example, you’ll receive 3 Champion packs to choose from.
The Expeditions also rely on a different “elimination system” than the Arena:
- If you lose 3 matches in the Hearthstone Arena, you’re out.
- In the Expeditions, you only lose if you lose twice in a row.
Much better monetization: Like in Hearthstone, Legends of Runeterra offers special card backs, skins for champions, and different play fields for real money. However, there is a significant difference when it comes to purchasing cards.
In Legends of Runeterra, you cannot purchase booster packs, even if you wanted to.
Instead, you directly buy a common, rare, epic, or champion card with real money. Depending on the rarity, the card costs more. A champion of your choice costs about 3.30 euros, a common card 11 cents.
By comparison: A pack in Hearthstone costs around 1.50 euros and contains 5 random cards. To get a legendary card, you typically need 5 to 15 packs, during which you don’t have control over which legendary you receive.
The purchased card in Legends of Runeterra can then be used in deck building to unlock a desired card of the corresponding rarity. However, in LoR, new cards are obtained so quickly that you don’t need to spend any money for the first good meta decks.
Art style and interactions: This last point can certainly be debated, but I much prefer the art style and especially the interactions in Legends of Runeterra.
In the game, there are recurrent interactions between champions and other champions, as well as between the champions and their “followers”. Not only are fun puns and jokes made, but part of the lore is also told.
The entire presentation of the game – with all artworks, cinematics, and interactions – pleases me so much that I also have high hopes for the upcoming LoL MMORPG:
Because Legends of Runeterra is so well-made, I have high hopes for the LoL MMORPG.
Hearthstone offers different modes and more peculiar situations
What does Hearthstone do better? Not everything about Hearthstone is bad. The game doesn’t take itself too seriously, has good humor, and of course features many iconic characters from the Warcraft universe.
Moreover, there are players who prefer the rather quiet and alternating gameplay of Hearthstone over that of Legends of Runeterra.
With the implementation of Battlegrounds and the Mercenaries mode, Blizzard has introduced two interesting game modes that you won’t find in Legends of Runeterra.
Lastly, I also enjoy following Hearthstone because of the peculiar situations where players can eliminate their opponents as early as the third turn or when numerous random interactions occur that completely change the course of the game.
Yet, as entertaining as these moments are, they’ve also led to a lot of frustration for me. That is one of the reasons I feel more comfortable in Legends of Runeterra, but I still enjoy watching compilations of Hearthstone matches.
What are your thoughts on the two card games? Do you hold onto Hearthstone despite Blizzard’s often harsh monetization? Or do you play another card game? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
