Hearthhead's Midweek Meta Review #5 - Whispers of the New Standard

炉石由 Skiffington 发表于 2016/04/15，14:37

Why Do You Care About A Meta Report?

Relative frequency at a given rank range is fairly easy to identify. If any player plays 100 games, even though it’s not inherently statistically significant, it’s easy to discover what classes or archetypes are most popular. Moreover…

Where the meta is in its cycle is useful information to have. The relative prevalence of aggro, midrange, or control tells you a lot about what is - and will be - on the rise, versus on the decline.

Presuming that your goal is to improve your rank in constructed, meta reports help you make efficient use of your time - the only variable in Hearthstone that you have 100% control over. Knowing what decks have emerged or are popular, even if the meta can’t be 100% tracked or nailed down at a statistically significant level, can help you do more with whatever time you do have to play competitively.

the number of gamesMidweek Meta Review #5 - Whispers of the New Standard
Written by Kevin Hovdestad

Five top meta decks, including explanations and guides.

At least one anti-meta suggestion.

Class ‘power rankings’, showing which classes are leading or lagging in the meta

Hearthhead guide to the new expansionMidrange Meta

Frequency of appearance.

Ease of play.

Prevalence of (meaningful) counters.

Consistency in winning a variety of matchups.

Rankings

Make sure to check out the actual deck pages for information on overall strategy, mulligans, and tech choices!

1.

Zoo retains its position as top pick with the continued absence of Freeze Mage in the meta due to the rampant frequency of Druid (the class Blizzard is expected to take the harshest action against in the upcoming Classic set tweaks). Zoo being at the top for too long often harkens a return to aggro decks, but Face Hunter is among the only viable aggro deck options that can counter it meaningfully right now.

2.

Druid remains obscenely popular, in no small part thanks to Blizzard’s admission (although this was fairly easy to figure out when people looked at what each class was losing in Standard) that it will likely change the most in the upcoming card tweaks. Knowing that Druid is ‘too powerful’ definitely encourages a certain type of player to play the class, and the sheer number of people playing Druid is the primary reason Freeze Mage fell off and Zoo skyrocketed to the top of our list.

3.

A day may come when the strength of Paladin fails, but it is not this day. Secret Paladin can - and often does - curve out in such a way that very few, if any, classes or archetypes can answer it efficiently. The few tech cards that really hurt Secret Paladin (, etc.) are considered by most players to be too slow or use-case specific to be viable in the current meta.

4.

We explained the rise of Elise Warrior in MMR #4, and it remains viable in the face of all of the midrange board-contesting decks simply because they can’t kill the Warrior fast enough or efficiently enough in many cases. Control Warrior is most punished by decks that can out-tempo them at some point in the game - Tempo Mage in the mid-game, Renolock in the late game - or decks that can build a board without cards ( and Midrange Paladin, especially).

5.

The circle of life looks something like this: Druid crowds out Freeze Mage, Zoo crowds out Druid, Renolock beats most non-Druid decks. Druid has stayed relevant enough to make Mr. Jackson in Warlock not a sure thing, but as Druid continues to be the deck to beat and suppressed by Zoo (or even, in some cases, Warrior/Paladin), that makes Renolock a progressively better choice. If you’re not seeing Druid, definitely consider Renolock.

Anti-Meta Decks

Try these decks out if you're looking for something a little different that should still win you games and may even get better as the meta continue to evolve.

Aggro Druid remains our staple anti-meta pick, although it will go away very quickly when Standard hits! This is a deck that punishes four of the top five decks we’ve listed, but does have a number of other, less frequent matchups that it struggles with (notably Mage, Priest, and even Face Hunter).

Last week we recommended Aggro Shaman, but it remains a deck that generally splits 50/50 with almost everything. Anti-meta decks are meant to be more targeted against what’s currently popular - often at the expense of ‘general’ strength - so we’re looking at something more tailored this week in Midrange Paladin. This is a deck that beats Control Warrior and Druid authoritatively, as well as having 50/50 or better matchups with Zoo and Secret Paladin. If you’re seeing a large majority of Druid and Warrior (not Patron!), this is among the best choices you can make in the current meta.

General Class RankingsFavourable:

Warlock

Druid

Warrior

Paladin

Neutral:

Mage

Shaman

Hunter

Unfavourable:

Priest

Rogue

MMR #5 is likely to be the last one you’ll see before Standard, and we’ll know most - if not all - of the new cards next week! Thanks again for joining us this week, and here’s looking forward to what’s on the other side of a new expansion after the longest gap between new sets in Hearthstone.

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