The Meta Report #39

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Hunter takes the top of the ladder this week with Warlock close on its heels. The other two Undertaker classes, Shaman and Priest, follow closely behind.

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: Hunter has retaken the ladder this week. Aggressive midrange Hunter decks have been the go-to for many ladder players recently. The deck wins quickly and has generally favorable match-ups, making it a force to be reckoned with on the ladder. Many current builds are running some combination of Unleash the Hounds and Snake Juggler. Such builds often use Knife Juggler where they once had Starving Buzzard. Several midrange builds are packing a Dire Wolf Alpha or a pair of Sludge Belchers to improve trades in the mirror.

Warlock: Warlock remains an incredibly popular deck on the ladder. Zoo will likely always be a top choice for newer players, being inexpensive and easy to learn. Despite Hunter’s popularity, Handlock is still a strong deck as well. Its draw engine, removal suite, and threats are significantly stronger and faster than many of the slower decks currently popular.

Shaman: Bots, bots, everywhere! While many of your Shaman opponents may be Sea Giant bot masterminds, there are still quite a few true blue human Shamans out there. The deck is one of the few control decks that can effectively utilize Undertaker, making it a fast deck with a flexible suite of removal.

Priest: Priest has retained its popularity largely due to its excellent match-ups against many of the game’s most popular decks. Zombie Chow, Auchenai Soulpriest, and Cabal Shadow Priest make the Shaman match-up a breeze and help a lot in the Hunter and Zoo match-ups as well. The Priest’s Hero Power also allows it to play the long game versus control.

Druid: Druid remains a popular, proactive deck choice on the ladder. Nearly every Druid you run into on the ladder will be the “fast” Druid playing double Force of Nature combo. Some builds have also replaced Haunted Creepers with Sunfury Protectors to taunt untargetable Spectral Knights.

Mage: Most Mage builds on the ladder currently are midrange builds based on Duplicate and Deathrattle minions. Freeze Mage is also reasonably popular, but suffers from its poor Hunter match-up. It does have a strong Warlock match-up though, so give it a whirl if you’re looking to overcome Zoo!

Rogue: Variants of Miracle Rogue have remained reasonably popular. Most builds have moved to more minion oriented builds including Violet Teachers and Shade of Naxxramas.

Warrior: Warrior continues to take high places on the Legend ladder, but is not
particularly popular. It has a strong Hunter match-up, but suffers against Zoo. Not only that, but games with the deck tend to take longer than nearly any other.

Paladin: Control Paladin continues to see mild play on the ladder, but has predominately fallen out of favor. Aggro Paladin has also failed to find a reasonable build as of late.

Deck of the Week: Freeze Mage

Freeze Mage saw a resurgence at the NA Qualifiers in the hands of Hyped. The deck has a strong Zoo and Handlock match-up. With a poor Hunter match-up, it can be a difficult deck to play on the ladder. However, it’s an excellent deck to play in tournaments, particularly those where you can ban Hunter or Warrior.