The Meta Report #20

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As players make their way to Legend the Meta is beginning to stabilize and we are seeing similar decks showing up week to week. Warlock continues to sit atop the throne. Will Rogue claw its way back to the top? Will Rogue and Warlock leave room for another contender? Tune in to find out!

Check out Team DKMR’s meta rankings below. Don’t forget, the name of the game is popularity, not power. While Warrior Control may be an incredibly powerful deck, a poor match-up against Miracle Rogue or prohibitive dust cost could be enough to keep the deck unpopular. That’s just
how the meta works!

Warlock stays on top this week with the ladder resetting and ladder grinders flocking to their trusty Zoo decks. Zoo is cheap, fast, and powerful, so it’s no wonder it’s the deck of choice for early season ladder grinding. Handlock hasn’t gone anywhere either with Rogue trailing Warlock by inches in popularity.

 

Rogue still trials slightly behind Warlock this week. Miracle Rogue is arguably the game’s strongest deck, but its merits don’t hold a candle to Zoo’s popularity in the early days of the season. While Miracle Rogue is still the go-to flavor of Rogue, Tempo Rogue has seen somewhat of a comeback due to its favorable Miracle Rogue match-up.

 

Druid continues to hold steady in the upper echelon of the meta’s popularity. Watcher Druid has seen an uptick likely due to its strong match-up against Zoo. Druid Tokens also remains a strong contender with a close Zoo match-up and a favorable Rogue match-up

 

While somewhat weak to Zoo, the match-up is far from unwinnable for Thrall. Shaman remains a popular pick due to its sound across the board match-ups. Expect Shaman to be a top pick for ladder play for as long as Hunter hunkers in the lower ranks.

 

With Freeze Mage making a comeback and Aggro Mage remaining a somewhat popular pick, Mage is back on the radar. Both decks threaten incredible burst and sport one of the better hero powers for shooting down the Zoo threat. Particularly with the re-emergence of Freeze Mage, it’s likely we’ll see the class hold a reasonable place in the meta at least until Curse of Naxxaramas.

 

Warrior likely suffers most from a season reset due to its slow play and players’ desire to rank up quickly. Warrior, however, is an incredibly consistent and resilient deck which sports decent match-ups against a lot of the ladder’s current top picks. Don’t be surprised if Garrosh sees significantly more play when players start hitting that Rank 5 lull.

 

Paladin Aggro, Paladin Midrange, Paladin Control. Is Paladin actually good now??? Whether it’s been forced from the bottom out of sheer pity or carried on the back of Truesilver Champion, Paladin is making a case for its place in the meta. Expect to see some spicy Paladin Midrange brews on the ladder this season along with its more common Aggro counterpart.

 

Unleash the Hounds is still a fantastic card. Even so, the stigma of the nerf still lingers, and Hunter’s hope to return to its former glory dwindles. It’s of particular note that the nerf especially hurt Hunter’s Zoo match-up, which is unfortunate given the deck’s popularity at the beginning of a season. This is a still great against Miracle Rogue, Midrange Shaman, and Handlock; look for it in tournaments.

 

If Warrior sees less play due to slow games, then Priest experiences the same, only tenfold. While reasonable for tournament play, Priest remains one of the weaker choices for ladder and will likely stay that way until the game receives new cards.

 

Deck of the Week

Like last week, we’re going to go over another deck that has historically been one of the most dominant decks in the game, but has recently taken a more backseat role due to the rise of miracle rogue. Board control warlock; though maybe not suited for duking it out for a high legend spot in the current meta-game, it has a few niche roles. It is one of the best decks for achieving legend because it takes advantage of weaker players ability to deal with consistent board pressure and it also tends to have shorter games than other decks which makes it excellent for grinding ranks. Aside from that, it also has a strong presence in tournament play because you can target which decks you use it against to seek out favourable matchups.