The Finding Opponent screen, also known as the loading screen, or the "Spinner", is the holding screen presented while the system is finding a suitable opponent for the player to battle in either Play mode, Arena or Tavern Brawl. It has several notable features, including special music, helpful tips and comical elements. It depicts a large mechanical spinner containing the descriptions of possible players, from which the player's opponent is supposedly chosen, representing the game's matchmaking process.

The Finding Opponent process can be stopped by clicking on the 'Cancel' button any time before a match is made. The screen otherwise persists until the matchmaking process is complete, at which point the battle begins automatically.

The Solo Adventures equivalent of the Finding Opponent screen is the Starting Game screen.

Music

The Finding Opponent screen is notable for its music. A selection of pieces are featured, including several from the early Warcraft RTS game Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. Players can load a new music selection by cancelling and restarting the matchmaking process.

Tips

Main article: Tips

Tips are offered to players on the Finding Opponent screen. Tips are randomly chosen from a selection of possible tips, partly determined by the current game mode. For a full list, see Tips.

Opponents

The process of finding an opponent is represented by a mechanical spinner containing descriptions of several possible opponents. The matchmaking process concludes with the spinner coming to a halt, rocking back and forth before finally settling on one of several possible descriptions.

Descriptions

The description chosen is always the same: "Worthy Opponent". However, the other possible, yet never quite selected opponents' descriptions vary and are:

• Easy Pickings
• Your Worst Nightmare
• World class paste eater
• A Murloc
• Gourd critic
• Nose and mouth breather
• Hogger
• A cardish Ian
• Mopey Mage
• Wombat Warlock
• Rouged up Rogue
• Waifish Warrior
• Damp Druid
• Shabby Shaman
• Penniless Paladin
• Huffy Hunter
• Perky Priest
• The Worst Player
• Your Old Roommate
• StarCraft Pro
• Fiscally responsible mime
• Your Guild Leader
• Noneck George
• Gum Pusher
• Cheater McCheaterson
• Really slow guy
• Roach Boy
• Orange Rhymer
• Coffee Addict
• Inward Talker
• Blizzard Developer
• Grand Master
• Diamond League Player
• Brand New Player
• Dastardly Death Knight
• Mediocre Monk
• A Little Puppy

Notes

• The list contains alliterative references to all nine playable classes, as well as to two of the three World of Warcraft classes not yet implemented into Hearthstone: death knight and monk.
• The list also contains references that go beyond the Warcraft universe, with mentions of Blizzard and Starcraft.
• "Roach Boy" is a reference to a meme started by a thread on the Hearthstone subreddit. In the thread, the poster showcased a conversation between them and another player they had recently defeated in an Arena game, with the latter repeatedly comparing the former to a roach or "roach boy".

Trivia

• The final opponent description "Worthy Opponent" was originally "Reasonable Opponent".^[1]
• This screen does not use its own music when queuing for a Tavern Brawl match; the usual Tavern Brawl music simply continues to play.

Patch changes

• Patch 3.0.0.9786 (2015-08-18): "Musty Orphan" replaced with "Roach Boy".
• Patch 1.0.0.4944 (Open beta, 2014-03-11): The queue timer now only shows up after you’ve been waiting a while.
• Patch 1.0.0.4458 (Closed beta, 2014-1-16): A timer has been added to the Finding Opponent and Starting Game screens, showing the time spent waiting so far, and an estimated total wait time.
• Patch 1.0.0.3890 (Closed beta, 2013-10-02): Music has been added to the Finding Opponent screen.

References

Game screens Main screens Main menu Battlefield Selection screens Hearthstone Battlegrounds Tavern Brawl Modes Friendly Modes screens Arena Duels Solo Adventures (Practice, Adventures, Missions) Mercenaries Journal screens Event Track Quests Rewards Track Achievements Profile Other screens Shop Open Packs Collection manager Game Menu Options Finding Opponent Starting Game Removed Quest Log