The Meta Report #17

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The meta continues its violent undulations in the wake of the Unleash the Hounds nerf. Having already slipped, Hunter has been violently ripped from its throne. Will Miracle Rogue continue its dominance with Hunter’s demise? Is Warlock poised to retake the throne it once ruled? We attempt to answer these questions and more in this week’s Don’t Kick My Robot Meta Report!

Check out Team DKMR’s meta rankings below. Don’t forget, the name of the game is popularity, not power. While Hunter Midrange may be an incredibly powerful deck, its poor match-up against Miracle Rogue could be enough to keep the deck unpopular. That’s just how the meta works! Check out our other articles this week for more discussion of how the meta works.

Rogue - Rogue holds its perch on the ladder, but for how much longer? Miracle Rogue is still regarded as the premier deck for competitive play. Its ability to draw through the majority of the deck each game makes it one of the most consistent decks. This allows a Miracle Rogue player to see the Leeroy Jenkins/Shadowstep combo (one of Hearthstone’s deadliest burst combos) nearly every game. The meta, however, has painted a giant red target on Valeera’s head and has already begun its march to topple her rule.

Warlock - Warlock is back with a vengeance. Warlock Aggro seems to be as popular as ever, which isn’t too shocking considering its generally favorable Miracle Rogue match-up, inexpensiveness, and ability to steal wins from nowhere on the back of Doomguard and Soulfire. Handlock has also seen a rise to power with its nemesis, Hunter, falling in the wake of the Unleash the Hounds nerf. Handlock’s re-emergence can also be attributed to its overall favorable Miracle Rogue match-up. In order to beat Handlock’s giants, Miracle Rogue often needs to put on its tempo shoes and try to outrace the stone behemoths. Handlock is once more making a case for itself as the next deck to beat.

Shaman - Eager on the heels of the Unleash the Hounds nerf, Shaman has clawed its way into the pale glow emanating at the edges of the limelight. Shaman has always sported one of the best suites of removal and threats, but has been hindered by its weakness to aggressive strategies. Shaman was particularly weak to Hunter since Hunter ran few minions and Shaman’s answers are generally in the form of minion removal. With Hunter now merely a fringe player and Handlock pushing its way to the top, Shaman’s time to shine has come.

Warrior - Even with Hunter taking a backseat, Warrior continues to hold a respectable place on our rankings. Despite Hunter Aggro being an exceptional match-up for Warrior, the class is still one of the most consistent and powerful. It’s a go-to for a lot of top players in must-win situations due to this consistency. Don’t expect Warrior to leave the picture anytime soon.

Druid - Druid has been seeing pretty even play to Warrior. Both decks offer consistency and strong threats. The more popular builds of Druid, however, suffer from a dismal Handlock match-up. While Big Game Hunter tries his darnedest to improve Druid’s odds against the giants, the dwarven sharpshooter can only do so much. Fortunately for all you nature lovers, Druid is rarely a bad choice for the ladder as it offers a consistency across match-ups rivaled by few other classes.

Mage - Mage Aggro has remained a side player in the meta despite Hunter’s untimely exit. While it may not possess quantity, Mage still possess some of the more quality class spells in the game. While we’d hesitate to include Ice Lance among those, the seemingly benign frosty javelin has been doing work next to its much more qualified compatriot Frost Bolt. Expect a flurry of fire and ice if you happen across Mage on the ladder.

Hunter - Oh Hunter, how we mourn thee. Or not. Hunter has plummeted in popularity after its flagship spell, Unleash the Hounds, felt the wrath of the nerf-hammer. Already oppressed by Miracle Rogue, the nerf was the final nail in the coffin of the once dominate Hunter Midrange. Whether due to a lack of power or innovation, Hunter Aggro has also struggled to recover. We feel a well-built Hunter Aggro deck is well positioned in a meta of Miracle Rogues, Handlocks, and Aggro Locks. Only time will tell if Hunter has the tools to tear apart this ripe meta once more or if the nerf-hammer finally put this dreadful beast to rest.

Paladin - Paladin continues to languish on the fringes of ladder play. Variations of Paladin Aggro have resurfaced in an attempt to take advantage of a meta perfect for aggressive strategies, but they have yet to gain a foothold. Even Naxxramas seems to hold little to cure the ailing class. Some players are toying with a midrange deck, but we are not worried about that.

Priest - Priest remains a bold choice for ladder play. While it has strong strategies at its disposal, it does not possess a particularly powerful set of match-ups in the current meta. To add insult to injury, the class is also painfully slow to ladder with. That said, there’s still nothing more satisfying than playing a golden Thoughtsteal and using your opponent’s tricks against them…but prettier.

Deck of the Week

[DKMR]Atlanta here from team Don’t Kick My Robot to bring you this week’s Deck of the Week; DKMR’s Angry Shaman. With the recent nerfs to Unleash the Hounds, Shaman has become relatively stronger in the current meta. Miracle rogues have also became relatively stronger. In the apparent absence of a strong Miracle Rogue check that also has great coverage elsewhere, we designed this aggressive Shaman deck with Miracle Rogues in mind. This deck utilizes various charge minions with a focus on synergy with Flametongue Totem, Windfury, and Rockbiter. This deck has very little issue powering through taunts; we added an additional silence, Ironbeak Owl, to go along with the Earth Shocks. This deck lacks some of the more common options that Shamans like to use, such as Mana Tide and Hex. These cards are good, but are fairly useless in the match-ups that we want the deck to excel at, such as Miracle Rogue, Handlock and Ramp Druid.