The Meta Report #21

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Gul’dan continues to cackle from the meta’s precipice. Will Rogue and Druid manage to usurp the dastardly Warlock? How has the meta affected your favorite deck?

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 continues its ladder dominance this week. While Zoo isn’t seeing quite as much play as it did at the onset of the season, Handlock has continued to see increased play. Handlock has some of the strongest openings in the game as well as a favorable Miracle Rogue match-up, so it’s no surprise to see it popular. Many builds have adopted two copies of Faceless Manipulator to increase their odds of a turn four and five Mountain Giant.

 

Miracle Rogue hasn’t gone far, remaining a popular choice on the ladder. Gnomish Inventor has witnessed particular popularity in recent Miracle Rogue builds. Rogue Aggro and Tempo Rogue have seen a significant downturn in play, making it much easier to predict a Rogue opponent’s deck.

 

Druid Midrange has seen a particular upturn in popularity while Druid Tokens has seen less play. Druid Midrange has likely seen increased play due to its strong match-up against aggressive decks; a strong attribute at the beginning of a season.

 

With Hunter’s decline, Shaman has continued to experience reasonable prosperity. Shaman has been a particular standout on the tournament scene, with it being a fixture in many top players’ arsenals. Generically powerful cards like Feral Spirit and Lightning Bolt give the deck a chance against nearly any opponent.

 

Paladin Aggro has stormed the ladder off and on in the past week to combat the proliferation of Handlock and Miracle Rogue. Similarly, Paladin Midrange and Control have seen significantly more play due to their ability to handle Handlock’s large and powerful minions.

 

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.

 

Both Aggro and Control variants of Mage have seen increased play. Freeze Mage in particular has made a showing in the tournament scene, the deck being championed by several top players. Both variants will likely continue to see a respectable amount of play on the ladder until Curse of Naxxramas shakes up the meta.

 

Hunter has experienced increased attention recently with no real increase in its ladder play. Reynad sported a Hunter Midrange deck recently in tournaments while several players have used Hunter Aggro to secure tournament wins. However, the Unleash the Hounds nerf has created a lasting stigma for the deck’s life on the ladder.

 

With an awesome new Priest card being spoiled for the upcoming Curse of Naxxramas expansion, Priest finally has hope for its ladder future. Currently Priest remains too slow and inconsistent to achieve exceptional ladder results. Dark Cultist may be just the card the class needs to change that.

 

Deck of the Week

This week we are going to be covering is midrange Druid. Most people are familiar with one of the strongest cards in the game, innervate, which makes this deck extremely hard to handle at times. Innervate Yeti turn one can be devastating to almost all decks unless it can be dealt with by Sap or combinations of cards like Backstab, and Eviscerate. That being said, Miracle Rogue is a deck that Druid struggles against. Although Miracle Rogue is a struggle for this deck, there hasn’t been as much of it going around due to the counters on the ladder such as Cancer Rogue, which uses charge minions and leper gnomes to do a lot of damage fast, which is too fast for Miracle Rogue to keep up with.