The Meta Report #30

Team DKMR: Twitter | Website

Sponsored by: Hearthstats | Gunnar | 2P.com | Waypoint Media | SoulFireMasters

Hold the phone, the meta is changing again! Just when we get used to the new King of the Meta, a new one rises, a familiar face, but with a twist? We are seeing classes that were at the bottom of the Meta Report week after week, now rising; tune in to see how high they will go! And remember to check back here every week to see how the Meta is changing. At the bottom of the article you can check out the DKMR Deck of the Week.

Here’s Team DKMR’s weekly Meta ranking. Keep in mind, it’s about which classes and archetypes are played the most, not about which are the strongest. Most of the time, the strongest decks will also be the most frequently played, but that’s not always the case. That’s just part of how the Meta works

Hunter: Coming out of nowhere Hunter seems to have gone from seeing almost no play on the ladder after the Unleash the Hounds nerf to a point where it seems like 90% of people are playing Hunter. It might be due to the fact that the new cards like Haunted Creeper as well as Loatheb have manipulated their way into the already strong Midrange Hunter deck or it might simply be because of the staggering amounts of Zoo and other midrange decks that are being played on the ladder. It will be interesting to see whether Hunter can keep its spot on top of the meta now that the new Naxx wing can be opened. It doesn’t seem like any of the new cards fit that well with the extremely potent Midrange Hunter deck, will it crumble to these new threats?

Warlock: There are many different variations of Warlock that are hitting the ladder, even more now that Undertaker has finally been released which might have been the most hyped card after Loatheb. The one mana 1/2 might seem weak but the fact that a Zoolock can play many small deathrattle minions make this card extremely strong and is a great addition to the already strong but annoying Zoolock deck. Deamonlock has also been a new deck that many have been trying out on the ladder as it saw some spotlight in the recent VGVN tournament where Realz showed how potent this deck can be. It is safe to say that we will be seeing many Warlocks creeping around the ladder trying to find the best way to incorporate Undertaker as well as the new Warlock class card; Voidcaller.

Rogue: Even though it seems like many of the new Naxx cards have been targeted towards the use of spells which is Miracle Rogues greatest weapon the deck has not fallen out of favor completely. The truly great Miracle Rogue players can still navigate the ladder with much success due to the fact that it still does very well against both Midrange Hunter and Zoolock which is dominating the ladder at the moment. Will the new cards bury Miracle Rogue even further under the ground and will it finally bring the downfall of the deck that have ruled them all for so long? We will only have to wait and see.

Druid: Druid shows how much the meta changes from week to week, especially now with the new Naxx wings being released every week. After being one of the most played classes last week it has completely fallen out of favor. The few that dare to play the always consistent class have a hard time against what seems to be millions of Hunter players out there. The Druid masters are still trying to find the right balance of low and high drops to balance with their extremely strong class cards. It seems that Token Druid is the deck that is favored when you do run into a Druid on the ladder as it seems that the once super strong Midrange Druid with Wild Growth is completely dead. It unfortunately seems like another dark week for Malfurion as none of the new Naxx cards released this week seem to mend very well to the class.

Shaman: There has been a little bit of a drop in Shaman players on the ladder recently, most likely due to the fact that Druid has fallen out of favor. Now Shaman has a very hard time dealing with the mass amounts of Zoolock as well as Midrange Hunter which makes most players stray away from the totem loving class. Nothing has really changed deck wise for Shaman and the new Naxx cards will most likely not change much as they will be hard to fit into any strong Shaman deck. Hopefully we are wrong and we will see something new and exciting come out and take the meta by storm!

Priest: There has been a significant increase in Priest play on the ladder and with the release of the new Naxx Priest card this will probably not change. Although it might not be the strongest card it fits well in many variations of Priest decks that often lack a strong early start. The new mass amounts of Priest players might be due to the fact that the well known streamer Trump has taken a strong liking to the class and have taken his own version to high rankings in legend. Is this the beginning of a new era where Priest finally isn’t on the bottom? We can only hope.

Paladin: Due to the fact that Paladin has received a lot of limelight in several big tournaments it is being played more and more on the ladder. Most people have however come to realize that the Control Paladin deck might be more suited towards tournament play as it seems to struggle a bit on the ladder against both Midrange Hunter, Miracle Rogue as well as Zoolock. This is holding players back from committing to the always undervalued class. Unfortunately none of the new cards seem to fit Paladin in the best way and it might only get worse from this point forward.

Mage: Since the downfall of Freeze Mage there has been little to no space for Mage in the meta and nothing new has seemed to come out for the class, however this will definitely change this week. We are already starting to see more and more people playing different variations of Secret Mage and this is definitely a deck that DKMR urges all of you reading to watch out for. With the release of Mad Scientist as well as Duplicate last week, this deck has become extremely strong. We wait with excitement to see what will come of this deck in the future.

Warrior: Finally the new class card for Warrior has arrived as well as Feugen and Stalagg which might be very good in Warrior. There has already been some new decks being innovated and Warrior might see a lot more play in the near future. For now however the once very favored class is still struggling at the bottom of the meta and still hasn’t really found a way to battle against either Miracle Rogue or Midrange Hunter which now is dominating the ladder. Hopefully the new decks can bring some new air into the once popular class.

Deck of the Week:

This week we’ve chosen to share a Hunter deck that [DKMR]Kisstafer workshopped with the team after the latest Naxxramas Construct Quarter was released. This deck is a Midrange Hunter with our own personal twist on it - we decided to cut the Savannah Highmane to make it better against Miracle Rogue and vs the other Hunters we’d been seeing on the ladder. Savannah is very strong, but its high mana cost means it can be late to the party at times. Stranglethorn Tiger is almost guaranteed to get in for 5 damage due to its stealth, and it comes down a turn earlier which means you are faster in the race.