Hearthstone Rules
A digital collectible card game — two players battle to reduce the opponent's health to zero.
Best-of-1 or best-of-3 matches, 1v1, is standard for a casual league.
- •Match win = 3 league points, loss = 0
- •League table ranks by total points across the season
- •Tiebreaker: head-to-head result, then total match wins
- •Reduce the opponent's hero health to 0 to win
- •Agree deck restrictions (standard vs. wild format, deck-list submission) before the season for fairness
- •Agree mulligan and turn-timer settings so games move at a consistent pace
Deck formats for a league
Conquest is the standard competitive format: each player brings several decks, must win with each one to take the match, and a winning deck is retired for that match. It rewards breadth rather than a single strong list.
Last Hero Standing is the alternative, where a winning deck stays in and the loser switches. It produces faster matches and rewards a single dominant deck, which is usually less interesting across a long season.
Handling the meta and expansions
Card releases and balance patches change the game substantially mid-season, and a league that runs across an expansion boundary is effectively two leagues. Either schedule seasons to fit between releases or accept the reset and say so up front.
Deck-list submission before a match, rather than free choice on the night, is what makes a competitive league work. It removes counter-picking and means both players are testing preparation rather than reaction.
Common questions
How many decks should players bring?
Three or four is standard for Conquest, with one class ban allowed. Requiring different classes for each deck stops a player bringing three variations of the same list and calling it breadth.
Standard or Wild?
Standard for most leagues, since the smaller card pool is easier for newer players to enter and rotates predictably. Wild rewards long-term collections and tends to favour whoever has played longest, which is worth considering before you pick.
How long does a match take?
A single game runs ten to twenty minutes, so a best-of-five Conquest match takes about an hour. Plan two matches per player per evening at most if you want the night to finish on time.
How do you verify deck lists?
Require deck codes submitted to the organiser before the match, and check them against the decks played. Deck codes are quick to share and impossible to fudge after the fact, which is what makes pre-submission workable.
Track a games & others league online
Live standings, scores & head-to-head records
Games & Others rules
Format, scoring & key rules reference
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