The Meta Report #43

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Check out this week’s rankings to the right and a discussion of the meta below. Keep in mind that IHearthU’s weekly meta rankings are 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.

Goblins vs. Gnomes

While the Hearthstone World Championship didn’t introduce any significant innovation or signal a shift in the meta, Blizzcon did bring an exciting announcement. Goblins vs. Gnomes is coming our way in December, and it’s sure to signal a huge change in the current meta. While it’s impossible to discern the exact impact Hearthstone’s first full expansion will have until we’ve seen the complete set, it wouldn’t be spoiler season if we didn’t speculate!

One of the most exciting and interesting cards for the meta is Explosive Sheep. It is a strong early minion against aggressive decks. It is particularly strong against Zoo, which relies heavily upon maintaining its board position. This card will likely slot in well in Warrior and Paladin control decks. Warriors have several different Whirlwind effects with which to proc the Explosive Sheep. Paladin is particularly weak to aggressive decks, largely due to its lack of early AOE. Explosive Sheep shores up this weakness and may give Paladin some significant percentage points in the Zoo match-up. Interestingly, it is also a Deathrattle minion. While unlikely, it could possibly slot into aggressive Undertaker lists in order to counter other Undertakers. Of particular significance is its ability to deal three damage to a buffed Undertaker by attacking and proc’ing its Deathrattle.

Another interesting card coming out of Goblins vs. Gnomes is Piloted Shredder. Piloted Shredder ispotentially another powerful Deathrattle minion which maintains your board state even upon death. A 4/3 for four mana is fairly weak as it can be removed by many two mana 3/2 minions, but this four drop can nearly always two for one due to its Deathrattle. Most often, Piloted Shredder gives you twelve points worth of stats (4/3 and either a 2/3 or 3/2). The Deathrattle also makes this card potentially more powerful in aggressive decks than other four mana options like Chillwind Yeti since it makes Piloted Shredder resistant to opposing AOE. If this card does not make a splash in the meta, it will be due to its weakness against two mana 3/2s.