I just did a search for “hearthstone” on the forums and I can completely relate to your story. I played Mtg competitively years ago and got sucked into hearthstone a couple years ago as a more accessible way to scratch that itch. I never hit rank 1 legend (very impressive!) but I consistent hit legend in standard and wild every month, and recently started spending tons of hours watching streamers, scoping decklists on VS and Twitter, watching YouTube videos, and doing all of this while I was supposed to be working. I also have a professional career, a wife, and now a newborn, and I was still sinking my time into hearthstone. I’m also 35 like you!
How are you doing these days? I’m on day 2 of Respawn and it would be cool to hear a success story from someone in your shoes. It’s hard for me to quit because I craved the competition and the escape and felt like I put a lot of energy into improving my skills at the game, so it is hard to give up on that. I can’t even imagine how hard it is once you’ve hit rank 1 legend!
All the best and I hope you are well these days.