THL Best Practices Guide

Scheduling

Message your opponent on Discord as early as possible in the week. You can find your opponent’s Discord handle in the “Current Season Player Database” tab under the Current Season category on the THL website. Be mindful that players in THL are from many different time zones, so make sure you clearly state your own time zone when attempting to schedule. Players are encouraged to use dynamic timestamps to schedule to avoid confusion when player and opponent are from different time zones

Remember that the deadline for messaging your opponent with your weekly availability is Tuesday, 11:59pm Pacific Time each week, and that deadline is extended to Thursday, 11:59pm Pacific Time if you’re a substitute or paired against a substitute player for the week.
Be as clear as possible about your availability in your initial message to your opponent. The most common issue with scheduling is a lack of specificity. Do not use ambiguous terms such as “tomorrow”, “afternoon”, “morning”, etc. Please find a template below for what your scheduling message should look like:

“Hey RidiculousHat,

We’re playing each other in Hero Series this week. Here are the times I’m available:

Tuesday: Unavailable

Wednesday: Between 1:00pm and 5:00pm

Thursday: After 6:00pm

Friday: Between 1:00pm and 3:00pm

Saturday: Unavailable

Sunday: Between 10:00am and 8:00pm

All times given are Eastern Time (ET). Please let me know which times work for you. Looking forward to our match!

- markshire”

If you make a mistake, do not edit or delete your messages.Simply send another message correcting it. In the case of a scheduling dispute, editing your own messages in discord may result in the board ruling against you.
Screenshot your conversation to post in your team server on Discord. This will keep your captain in the loop, remind you of the match time, and serve as scheduling proof should you need an emergency sub.
It’s highly recommended to use https://when2meet.com to determine a time that works best for as many players as possible.

Lineup Submission

If you are playing before or shortly after the deck submission deadline, then it may be worth agreeing to a deadline with your opponent. This is especially important in closed decklist series like Legacy and Hero. Typically, players should aim to set this at least 12 hours before the agreed upon match time.
If you cannot submit in time, ask your teammates or captain to submit for you. Captains and teammates can also submit for each other in extreme circumstances to avoid DQs.

Keep in mind that the player will face being DQed if they cannot play the lineup submitted for them.
Those submitting for their teammates should use their own email when submitting to confirm that the submission was received.

Make sure to message your opponent at the time the match is set to begin. A message some time before the match is also courteous.
Turn off spectating before the match.

First, check the Free Agents forum for possible recruitment and post in the Recruitment forum to attract new players. This should always be your first step.
Ask your current players if they know of other players who may be interested. Newer players tend to know others who may be interested in joining THL.
Check in other Hearthstone-related servers for players who may want to join. Content creator and competitive servers tend to have players who may not be aware of THL yet.
Ask your in-game friends if they would like to play in THL. Ladder players are not always active in Hearthstone-related Discord servers, but may like the idea of playing competitive Hearthstone on a team.

First, register for THL and select any series you are interested in. Registering will automatically make a post in the Free Agents forum. This should always be the first step for new players interested in playing within THL.
Check out the Recruitment and Subs forum to find captains looking for players.
Be active over the season! Even if you don’t get on a team at first, teams are always looking for substitutes throughout the season. Keep an eye on the Recruitment and Subs forum so you can offer to play when an opportunity arises. Messaging more often on the THL Discord server and on the THL Twitch channel will get you noticed.

Last updated 1/18/2025