I made it to diamond 3 early one morning at work and pretty much just held there. Noticed the lower rewards today (made it to gold before completing the quest) and have to admit I thought might not play as much for just these rewards.

Like the higher mana cards and played a game today that had a 31 mana cap. I think this is needed to create more variety in the game. Some of the new reward cards feel kind of stale and recycled old cards, but some are pretty neat.