Competition is compelling. Cardhunter provides endless--yes, endless--competition. With players from the US, Europe, and China, there are always games going on. You can track game history here. It has a solo campaign adventure that is fun in its own right, full of death touching zombies, brutal trolls, and over-powered dragons. The game is a throwback to Magic: the Gathering mixed in with AD&D. But then you wander over to the multiplayer portal and things get interesting (read: addictive). You play for a bit (read: a month). Watch the best players hand your severed head to you a few times. Get some decent gear and start getting some solid wins against top elo guild players (more on elo later). Then you get approached by a guild principle and agree to join their guild. Now you're in the so-called metagame, fighting for pizza, the in-game currency that can help you secure better weapons or new skins to make your avatars look more intimidating. Every month is a new guild season in Cardhunter. Every month is a new chance to compete, to be the best! Oh, and it's really, really fun.
Players and guilds come and go, but if you stick around over a period of a year, you'll see many of the same players. For the past year, Kraken has dominated the game with Gurel, Dark Brightness, Sasoo8, and Auburn toasting and roasting the competition. Although The Braves of Glory have presented Kraken with an ever-present threat, with greats like Sucre, Fcx Hiro, Zippo, Krystalis, and OldManRigney playing with unprecedented skill.
But even though those two guilds are almost always above the rest, any group of committed players can form a guild and challenge them. All you need is some pluck and a good deal of luck.
The multiplayer system has adopted chess's system for ranking players. The all-time high was achieved by a player from Istanbul with the handle Pappas just like week. He crested over 1960 which beat Sucre's high of 1954 from late 2017. Players start at 0 and as they win and lose, their elo goes higher or lower. I'm not actually sure if it's possible to get a negative score. Suffice it to say that the highest elo players win much more frequently than the lower elo guys. Here's a breakdown of what the elo range means in game:
1900+ Truly rare. Requires a combination of expert understanding of the game, at least a few of the very best weapons, a build that fits with the month's map rotation and the current meta (which means the sort of equipment and team composition players are using), and a good dose of luck. Win rate of 90% needed. There have probably been no more than 10 players achieve this score in Cardhunter's 4-year history.
1800s If you get to elo 1800, you've won the game for all intents and purposes. There have easily been a hundred players reach this milestone, but it's still quite rare. Win rate of 80% needed.
1700s. Watch out. A 1700 player is a cardhunter expert. They know all the tricks, have solid strategies, solid equipment, and know how to win. 70% win rate
1600s. Strong player, but has weaknesses. 60% win rate
1400s-1500s Solid players. This is where you generally start finding guild players. 55% win rate
1300-1400s The odd builds. As players grow in their understanding of the game and gain new items, they will make some unexpected builds. Unexpected builds can sometimes win against the best players--because who knew that Cardomania197 was carrying rocket charge and an all-out-attack (AoA) paired with a laser thrust. 52% win rate
1200 - You made it! This is where you begin to compete with more battle-hardened cardhuntrians. 50% win rate
0-1000 - Novice level. A player that knows what they're doing can start a brand new character and get to elo 1000 in a few hours of play. A brand new player both in account and experience could easily take a couple weeks to get to 1000.
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