The Meta Report #14

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Zoinks! When will these pesky Hunters and Warlocks get the hint, “YOU’RE NOT WANTED!” Unfortunately these two powerhouse clasess are still dominating the Meta. With the new cards around the corner, hopefully we will see a shift in the Meta soon. Until then, sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy this week’s Meta Report!

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 times, the strongest decks will also be the most frequently played, but that’s part of how the Meta works.

Who’s the King? Hunter is the most prevalent deck on the ladder right now. Reason being, there are no true hard counters known yet, and who can blame them; it has the highest win rates over all of the other decks on the ladder. Most of the top players on the legendary ladder right now play either the Lifecoach version, which uses a Eaglehorn Bow or the Kolento version which doesn’t. There is also the rush hunter which sends pretty much everything in its arsenal to the opponents face, which can also be very effective.

There are a lot of Warlocks going around on the ladder, mainly Zoo. This deck does fairly well against the control hunter decks, especially if they don’t draw Unleash the Hounds. Even when they do Unleash the Hounds, they have a hard time keeping up with the spamming of minons coming from the Warlock. Ever heard of “Brannigan’s Law” (Futurama)? Another Warlock deck used, is Handlock which relies on having a lot of cards in hand to play extremely big creatures early game; this deck doesn’t do very well against any hunter decks which is why it hasn’t been seeing much play.

Druid has a fairly decent matchup against most of the decks being seen on the ladder in the current Meta. If curved out right, and hunter doesn’t draw the correct combination of cards, it can be a very one-sided game for the Druid. Druid also fares well against Zoolock because it has a lot of efficient removal such as Swipe and Keeper of the Grove. There are very few matchups where Druid struggles against. This is why it’s one of the biggest contenders in the current Meta.

Rogue has seen a considerable increase in play for a variety of reasons. It has a favorable match-up against Hunters, Warlocks, and druids which are still dominating the top three positions. Furthermore, it’s hard to mulligan against as currently tempo Rogue, leeroy miracle, and spellpower miracle, are all very strong decks that see play. Having very effective creatures and removal make this a solid choice.

Warriors are still seeing play although a little less. The deck has a hard time dealing with Savannah Highmane (Lifecoach Hunter), so Warriors are still adapting to the current Meta.

The Control Warrior is still strong against certain decks on the ladder but is often better used as a tournament counter deck. There are still some variations of aggressive Warriors on the ladder, but those are few and far between.

Don’t forget about Shaman, he is still a very strong consistent deck, however with Hunter being the most popular and Shaman being unfavorable, it’s a gamble to play on the ladder.

These decks boast a considerable advantage over Warlocks and Druids, but having no real way to stop unleash is detrimental to the Shaman’s gameplan. This is still a very strong Tournament deck.

The mages on the ladder tend to be rush oriented. They play charge creatures and a lot of card draw. They tend to burn their opponents down while holding off damage with freeze and mirror images.

This can work, but is very inconsistent. There is definitely a spot for a more controlling mage, but a good list has still yet to be seen.

This class seems to either dominate games or get destroyed in games. The card draw is the main component. Northshire cleric, when it gets going can completely devastate opponents.

Priests have a specific card for each situation that they must draw to win games. This tends to be why they either destroy games or pass turns. Far too often you are left passing without plays. This is a dangerous deck to ladder with.

This class is severely underutilized in the current Meta. The board clears are some of the best in the game. Tirion could still be the best class legendary in the game, but due to the lack of available decks, he has become irrelevant. The problem is the paladin lacks endgame burst as well as early board presence. The biggest problem seems to be the card draw. Still this class has seen some use in fight night which will increase its popularity.

Deck of the Week: Tempo Rogue

This week we’ve seen the return of an old favorite to the ladder in the form of the Tempo Rogue. While it doesn’t possess the big legendarys you will see in the Control Warrior or Ramp Druid, your goal is to play high value minions while utilizing the rogue class’ cheap and efficient removal spells to maintain board control and the tempo of the game.

Cards like “Backstab”and “Eviscerate” used in combo can be deadly or you are able to use “Sap” and essentially double the mana cost of a card for only 2 mana. If that isn’t enough, “SI:7 Agent” is always waiting in the shadows. You’ll often want to use your health pool as a resource over losing health on your minions so you can keep the train rolling into their face. Step into the shadows and give it a shot; Valeera is waiting.