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14 Nerfs, 14 Buffs! What Are the Standard Meta Decks Now?

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

Patch 31.0.3 was a huge one. 14 cards in Standard were nerfed and another 14 were buffed. Multiple ways to OTK people were completely removed, also some non-OTK archetypes were completely killed, and the most effective Starship counter in the game – Reno – was weakened. Some Draenei synergy cards and many Starship package cards were buffed. After around 48 hours, the full effects of the patch are not yet clear, but the meta has already changed.

In this article, I will take a look at the top meta decks in the game now, which changes were successful, and which changes have yet to have an impact.

And the Winner Is… Priest?

Funnel Cake was hit with a nerf as it now costs one more mana than it used to, but somehow Priest ended up being one of the early winners of the balance patch. Funnel Cake is a fair bit worse than it was before the patch, but Zarimi Priest never fully relied on it anyway. You can perfectly well play your pre-patch Zarimi Priest list and have great success with it. That said, Funnel Cake is now one of the weakest cards in the deck and it looks like it is on its way out of the archetype.

One of the early attempts has been to replace it with Shadow Ascendant that can help you snowball in the early game. Now, Shadow Ascendant is a mediocre card in the archetype at best, so whether it is the best you can do remains unclear. The overall power of Zarimi Priest is here to stay regardless.

Zarimi Priest without Funnel Cakes

Deck Import

Deck code:

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Another successful approach to Priest has been focused on the combination of Ethereal Oracle and Hot Coals that was introduced in The Great Dark Beyond. This aggro style has seen a couple of rounds of refinement, and its current top performer is a mixture of Coals and Hunter tourism with Trusty Fishing Rod and Birdwatching. An explosive aggro deck indeed, albeit one left in Zarimi Priest’s shadow as of now.

Fishing Priest

Deck Import

Priest is an aggro class nowadays, or a tempo class even at its slowest. Control Priest has not found any space in the meta, and shows no signs of returning.

Libram Paladin Is Back, But It Is Not the Same

Paladin has enjoyed the patch a lot. Libram Paladin received two buffs for Interstellar Starslicer and Yrel, Beacon of Hope, and it has found its way to the meta! Ironically, the new version of Libram Paladin does not even use Yrel, not even in her buffed state. Nope, the new Libram Paladin is happy to use Librams for tempo, but if they cannot end the game fast enough with their initial push, they have an OTK or a near-OTK in their back pocket.

The New Libram Paladin

Deck Import

This new version of Libram Paladin uses only the best cards. Librams are discounted with Interstellar Starslicer that is tutored for with Instrument Tech. Interstellar Wayfarer is too slow and too ineffective on its own.

Get the discounts. Use Libram of Clarity. Use Libram of Divinity. Try to gain control of the game. In the mid-game, Sunsapper Lynessa comes into play and makes your cheap spells cast twice. If you have something on the board, Libram of Divinity will bless it even more. Holy Glowsticks can go face. Lynessa brings the reach you need to end games. This is not your midrange, board-only Libram deck, it is a hybrid of early board control and mid-game reach from hand and even more if you still have the board.

Libram Paladin faces some stiff competition within its class though. It faces that competition from a deck that has not changed by a single card in two months. Handbuff Paladin has been a solid contender throughout The Great Dark Beyond: it was phenomenal early on and while it lost some of its edge as other decks were refined, it was never completely out. And now, it is back at the top again.

Handbuff Paladin – #31 Legend (Lovelyz_is_god) – Perils in Paradise

Deck Import

Deck code:

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Didn’t They Just Nerf Shaman?

While some nerfs completely killed meta archetypes (farewell, Big Spell Mage), not all nerfs had as much of an impact. Shaman was hit with nerfs to Malted Magma and Wave of Nostalgia, and as a result, the top Shaman meta deck… runs both of them in two copies!

Nostalgia Shaman

Deck Import

Deck code:

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Nostalgia Shaman remains a strong contender in the meta. It is difficult to win the board from it, and the threat of Wave of Nostalgia is always present, if you even manage to survive long enough for it to be used. Nostalgia Shaman is one of the top-tier decks right now alongside Zarimi Priest and Paladins.

Shaman also has another viable archetype, one that is a little behind Nostalgia Shaman, but this one is right there at its heels. Asteroid Shaman represents The Great Dark Beyond in the meta as a brand-new archetype from the expansion. It took a while for the deck to find a competitive form, but eventually the combination of Incindius, Asteroids, and Shudderblock did have enough power to win games at a good rate.

Asteroid Shaman – #207 Legend (RiseWasHere) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Back In Fashion!

With Reno hit by a nerf and many Starship pieces buffed, you may have expected Starships to finally find their footing. In the first days after the patch, that is far from what has actually happened. Instead of refining new decks, players have pulled old favorites from the storage, and there are currently multiple mid-tier decks that run no cards from The Great Dark Beyond.

The best one of the bunch is Pirate Aggro Demon Hunter. Sadly, the Starship version has declined and players have returned to the last expansion meta version of the deck. The Demon Hunter Starship received no meaningful buffs, as Blizzard focused on Crewmates instead. Alas, Crewmates are still bad, and the more promising adjustment to Demon Hunter’s course was not brought to a competitive level.

Pirate Aggro Demon Hunter

Deck Import

Deck code:

AAECAea5AwSongbHpAbEuAb8wAYN5OQF6Z4G7p4G/KgG17gG17oGlL8G1sAG2MAG38AG9sAG1cEGrcUGAAED87MGx6QG9rMGx6QG6N4Gx6QGAAA=

Another last-expansion list that is still doing well is Weapon Rogue. It showed signs of success early in the expansion while other decks were being refined, then took a bit of a plunge as contenders got too strong, and now it is back again after multiple decks got nerfed. Just some good, honest, face-hitting action from this one.

Dagger Rogue

Deck Import

The most surprising comeback has been staged by Warlock. The Great Dark Beyond Warlock set was bad, and Warlock mostly sought refuge in Wheel Warlock in the early days. Now, the meta has suddenly become more favorable for Pain Warlock to return!

Pain Warlock

Deck Import

Deck code:

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I don’t quite know how to feel about this. I think this is temporary because Pain Warlock should not be strong enough to stay as other decks get refined again, but if it is an archetype you have missed, there is a window of opportunity to play with it now.

Death Knight’s survivability was nerfed, which hit one of the few Starship-using archetypes in the meta. In response, Death Knight seeks to be faster by going back to Frost/Unholy Corpsicle builds. These decks were strong from the start of the expansion, but Death Knight also had multiple new things going for it with both Reno and Starships. With the nerfs to Reno and Death Knight survivability, those dreams seem to be over for now.

Corpsicle Frost/Unholy Death Knight

Deck Import

The Mix of Old and New: Dungar Druid and Elemental Mage

There are also two successful archetypes that are a fascinating mix of old and new.

Dungar Druid is now the go-to Druid archetype on the ladder. Travelmaster Dungar summons powerful minions from different expansions, and then they can be resurrected with Hydration Station. With Kil'jaeden, Star Grazer, and The Ceaseless Expanse, new cards from The Great Dark Beyond often play an important role in the games with this deck even though the core of the archetype is older.

Dungar Druid

Deck Import

Deck code:

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The patch killed Big Spell Mage, but Elemental Mage survived. The nerf to Lamplighter affects the deck, but it can still use Lamplighter to fight for the board while keeping its Elemental chain intact, so the card plays a different role but can still be used. As it happens, the nerf hit the budget version of the deck much harder because Lamplighter was the main reach the deck had if it lost the board. The more expensive version can always fall back to Saruun as an alternative win condition, so it can survive the nerf better. Elemental Mage is no longer dominant, but it remains playable.

Fire Elemental Mage – #57 Legend (Clark) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

What About Starships?

So far, the patch that tried to buff Starships has not achieved much in making Starships a part of the meta. Demon Hunter got no buffs and gave up on theirs. Death Knight lost survivability and gave up on the slow archetypes, and they had a slow Starship. The buffed Starship pieces still see no play. The only exception is the buffed The Exodar, which looks like a potentially powerful card and is being experimented with in some decks.

Still, Starships mostly play a minor role. Armor Taunt Druid uses Arkonite Defense Crystal, but skips all other pieces. After the buff to The Exodar, Druid has started to experiment with that one, and it actually looks good even with the very low Starship piece count in the deck.

Armor Taunt Druid

Deck Import

Deck code:

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The only somewhat successful ladder deck that uses Starship as a major win condition is Discover Hunter. In some of its variants, anyway, others skip the Starship altogether. Biopod Starship and Yelling Yodeler can win games, and the buffed The Exodar is a good addition to the deck. Still, this style of Discover Hunter is a minor player on the ladder.

Discover Hunter

Deck Import

Rogue Starship got several buffs, and people have been experimenting with it. So far, results have been elusive. Druid Starship is relegated to a minor role. Warlock Starship does not look like it will make it either, the best it can do is provide some support for Wheel Warlock, if even that.

As so often, Blizzard’s nerfs have had an impact, but buffs have failed to bring new archetypes to the meta. Out of the 14 buffs, two have had any effect so far: Interstellar Starslicer managed to bring Libram Paladin to the meta, and The Exodar is being used in many more Starship decks and it has good results in them, although none of the decks themselves are very successful.

I will keep an eye on any Starship development, but so far it looks like they may have a better chance to shine after the Standard rotation in spring. In the meanwhile, we have a meta with a mix of old strategies and a couple of new things from The Great Dark Beyond sprinkled in.

Old Guardian

Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian

Check out Old Guardian on Twitter or on their Website!

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