The Meta Report #32

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We are starting to see some movement in the rankings this week. Classes that have disappeared are starting to rise; unfortunately the same story for some decks are, they just arn’t popular enough to be played in the current meta. A week has passed with all the new cards and we are really seeing the strength of Naxx!

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: For another week we see Hunter taking the top spot and we don’t think this is a surprise to anyone. Hunter has been completely dominating both the ladder and the competitive scene and a change of this in the near future doesn’t seem to be happening. With new additions to the Midrange Hunter decks like Mad Scientist as well as cards like Snake Trap, Hunter has only become stronger. We have even seen the old Face Hunter come out in tournaments recently to counter Midrange Hunter decks but this deck is still unseen on the ladder. We think it’s safe to say that Hunter is the class to beat right now, hopefully we will see a contender soon.

Warrior: Excited to see Warrior on top of the meta yet another week? DKMR definitively is! This is why Hearthstone is so exciting because changes like this happen sometimes where a class goes from being the least played to being one of the most played in the matter of days. With some cool innovation and some Naxxramas love Warrior has become one of the strongest and most reliable classes. So many of the new cards fit so well with the class and allow the Warrior to stall the game long enough to play its late game threats. The cards we are talking about is Unstable Guul, Sludge Belcher as well as the new Warrior class card. However will we see something new happen with the class or will people get bored of the super controlish nature of the popular Warrior decks?

Warlock: No one is disputing the power level of Zoo but there definitely has been a decrease of play recently for Zoo and Warlock in general. It is hard to say why this is because Zoo is one of those decks that do quite well against anything you go up against. People might just be bored of playing the deck and looking to the new more innovative decks that have come to fruition lately. We have been seeing Handlock doing very well in big tournaments the last week so maybe Handlock will be played more over the coming week, we can only wait and see.

Rogue: The downfall of Rogue has caused many different decks to come to fruition over the last few weeks. Although Miracle Rogue is still very strong many are staying away due to the fact that it is no way near as dominant as it was before, it is not the deck that stomped 80% of all other decks anymore. With the new Naxx cards like Sludge Belcher many decks have had an easier time dealing with the threats Miracle Rogue can put out as well as placing a wall that Leeroy Jenkins can’t pass through. We think many people are just waiting for the next Miracle Rogue deck which is perfectly teched to the new meta and there is a big chance we will see Miracle Rogue on top soon again.

Druid: As we write this, Kolento, the popular streamer, hit rank 1 Legend on Europe using a version of a Double Combo Druid so it’s safe to say that Druid is quite strong in the current meta. If what happened to Paladin will happen to Druid we will only have to wait and see, but we think it’s safe to say that we will definitely see more Druid on the ladder over the next week or so. The biggest strength Druid has is its ability to run many variations using different cards, like for instance there is Ramp Druid, Token Druid, Midrange Druid, etc. This makes is hard to know what you are playing against and even harder to counter. This makes the class highly competitive and in DKMR’s opinion its probably the most undervalued class at the moment.

Priest: There are a lot of different variations of Priest out on the ladder right now which is great to see. The class definitely needed some loving and after Naxx, its getting the playtime it deserves. Before Priest was seen as a heavy Control deck or a Control deck slayer if you will, but we are seeing some faster Priest decks recently which have taken the ladder by storm. With the use of cards like Undertaker and Zombie Chow Priest have gained new ways of battling decks like Miracle Rogue which it struggled with in the past. Hopefully the hype around Priest continues and we keep seeing more and more Priest being played on the ladder in the future.

Mage: A few more mage decks have come to light over the last week, most of them are still Secret Mage decks with few variations, some running the Feugen + Stallag combo and some only running a few secrets while other run many. The only problem with these decks are that they get very heavily countered by Flare which is a card many people have been starting to run two copies of in their Midrange Hunter decks which is dominating the meta at the moment. This means that it is very hard to play Secret Mage simply because it seems like every other game you play on the ladder is versus a Hunter. In light of this we have been seeing some more “Aggroish” Mages come out not running any secrets and it will be very interesting to see if this is the future of the Mage class.

Shaman: Not much has changed with the Shaman class. It is a bit surprising that so few are playing the always potent class but then again it does have quite a poor Hunter matchup. When looking at the ladder it is always important to build your decks to counter what is being played the most and Shaman has a very tough time at doing that at the moment. The way you win as a Shaman is you gain board advantage, normally by flooding the board, and then you keep putting on pressure with great removal spells and high damage bursts. The problem with this is that Hunter, which is the most played class, thrives of decks that flood the board because of the Starving Buzzard + Unleash the Hounds combo. Though many have tried making decks that don’t have to flood the board to win it is very hard with Shamans hero power and many of the class cards that Shaman have. Shaman might just have to whether the storm and wait for the Hunter craze to pass.

Paladin: Another week has gone by and another sad week for Paladin lovers. It seems like it doesn’t matter how strong of a deck is created for the Paladin class people just don’t want to play it. Is it because Paladin is boring to play or is it simply because other decks are better? It is hard to say, but one thing is for sure that the deck Kolento created many weeks ago, the deck that now has been perfected is still a deck to be reckoned with on the ladder. Even though Paladin might be the least played class it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the weakest.

Deck of the Week

This week we’re going to be going over a deck that has been one of the top decks in the last several seasons and continues to be a strong component in the meta. Miracle Rogue, one of the decks that can be extremely annoying to play against, it’s a good idea to put it in your own arsenal. With one of the most powerful draw engines in the game, comparable to Starving Buzzard/Unleash the Hounds combo, Gadgetzan Auctioneer can draw through your deck faster than any other deck in the game with the help of the most powerful and cheap tempo spells in the game. With so much draw in the deck, dead cards aren’t too much of a problem, and add up to an insane amount of damage to finish the game. Let’s take a look at the deck.