Last week I talked about being a bit disappointed with the balance update, because it didn’t seem to do much for new/less popular decks, it mostly got rid of Warrior and shuffled already strong decks around. But it was still early after the update, so I didn’t want to give a final judgment. However, I think that things got even worse. Keep in mind that this is only my opinion, but I’ve been enjoying the meta pre-patch more than post-patch.
The most dominating force in the meta is Tempo Druid (also called Dragon Druid). You know, the same deck that has been topping charts ever since mid-Whizbang’s Workshop. Other than that, the meta hasn’t changed much since last week. Death Knight is still the second-most-popular class. Most people play Rainbow version, but there’s a slightly different Frost/Unholy on the rise (it actually seems to be a bit better than Rainbow, but they are pretty close). And then we have Fatigue Warock, which has replaced Pain version as a go-to Warlock deck. It has solid matchups across the board and only really loses to Handbuff Paladin. Those are the three (well, four if you count both DK versions) popular decks.
Then we have a bunch of slightly less popular, but still good builds like aforementioned Handbuff Paladin and Pain Warlock. Combo Druid, Reno Warrior and Elemental Mage are also up there. One thing that patch changed more than I imagined is the popularity of board flood Aggro decks. Before the patch, Aggro Shaman, Aggro Demon Hunter, Aggro Paladin were all quite popular. But the nerf to Zilliax and an overall meta shift has made them less common. They are still good, but hover around 2-4% play rate now.
One big development is the rise of Sonya Rogue in Legend, especially high Legend. It’s a very, and I mean VERY high-skill deck. If we just look at its win rate in Diamond vs Top 1000 Legend, there’s a ~10% difference. And that’s the Top 1k Legend we’re talking about, which is still pretty broad. If we only looked at the absolute top players, the win rate difference would be even higher – maybe up to 20%? It almost never happens to this extent, even high skill level decks usually just have a few % better win rate in Legend. But this one is different. If you don’t know what you’re doing, the deck sucks hard, but if you do, you can beat any matchup. Players should probably be thankful that an average person can’t pilot it well because if the deck was all over the ladder it would surely be complained about even more than Unkilliax Warrior.
The deck relies on getting a good 1 mana spell from Mixologist or Griftah (6 damage from Griftah is the best one and leads to an easy OTK, but others can also win the game). Then it basically goes infinite with Sonya Waterdancer + Tidepool Pupil + Breakdance shenanigans. While you’re obviously limited by turn timer (and hand size, managing it is incredibly hard), you can just keep bouncing your stuff and replaying the 1 mana spell over and over again. It’s incredibly frustrating to face, because once they assemble the combo (and it usually doesn’t take long), you can’t really do much. If you’ve been watching Masters Tour: Summer Championship, you’ve probably seen the deck a lot.
Normally I would say that a strong deck rising in Legend means that it will likely spread over the ladder over the next days, but in this case I don’t really think so. People will definitely attempt to replicate the top players’ success, but I think most will give up after trying it a few times and failing. So, for the rest of the ladder, Tempo Druid it is.
As I’ve said last week, we probably still have some time until the next balance update. 30.2 is coming on August 20 (Tuesday), but it’s a Battlegrounds-focused patch and since we already have the patch notes, we know that there are no Constructed changes. So the earliest I would anticipate an update is August 29 (Thursday) with a teaser a day or two before it. But if not, then we’ll have to wait until early September to see any changes. Which is fine if you like the current meta, but not really great if the stuff you like doesn’t work very well (or alternatively you dislike the top meta decks).
Below is a full list of the Legend decks from last week, sorted by the highest placement.
If you want to see all of the current top meta decks, go to our Hearthstone Meta Tier List post!
Hearthstone Standard Legend Decks of the Week
- 1Awakening Tremors1
- 1Bunch of Bananas1
- 1Sneaky Snakes1
- 1Thornmantle Musician1
- 2Barrel of Monkeys1
- 2Bestial Madness1
- 2Hidden Meaning1
- 2Messenger Buzzard1
- 2Observer of Myths1
- 2Patchwork Pals1
- 2Remote Control1
- 4Camouflage Mount1
- 4Theldurin the Lost1
- 4Twisted Frostwing1
- 5Ranger Gilly1
- 6Aggramar, the Avenger1
- 6Mister Mukla1
- 9King Plush1
- 0Zilliax Deluxe 30001
- 1Armor Vendor1
- 1Miracle Salesman1
- 2Dirty Rat1
- 2Dreadhound Handler1
- 2Malted Magma1
- 2Mining Casualties1
- 2Tidepool Pupil1
- 3Gorgonzormu1
- 3Mixologist1
- 3Natural Talent1
- 3Overplanner1
- 3Photographer Fizzle1
- 3Rustrot Viper1
- 4E.T.C., Band Manager1
- 4Griftah, Trusted Vendor1
- 5Frosty Décor1
- 7Marin the Manager1
- 7Razzle-Dazzler1
- 10Reno, Lone Ranger1
- 10Yogg-Saron, Unleashed1
Hearthstone Wild Legend Decks of the Week
- 1Costumed Singer1
- 1Miracle Salesman1
- 1Sir Finley, Sea Guide1
- 2Cult Neophyte1
- 2Parrot Sanctuary1
- 2Zephrys the Great1
- 3Bad Luck Albatross1
- 3Forensic Duster1
- 3Gorgonzormu1
- 3Mixologist1
- 3Prince Renathal1
- 3Razorscale1
- 4Blademaster Okani1
- 4E.T.C., Band Manager1
- 4Griftah, Trusted Vendor1
- 4Lorekeeper Polkelt1
- 4Speaker Stomper1
- 5Boompistol Bully1
- 5Loatheb1
- 5Magatha, Bane of Music1
- 6Mojomaster Zihi1
- 6Reno Jackson1
- 1Cold Blood2
- 1Filletfighter2
- 1Gear Shift2
- 1Jolly Roger2
- 1Prize Plunderer2
- 2Secret Passage2
- 2Toy Boat2
- 3Swordfish2
- 1Psychic Conjurer1
- 1Shadow Word: Devour1
- 1Voidtouched Attendant1
- 2Papercraft Angel1
- 2Serena Bloodfeather1
- 3Benevolent Banker1
- 3Cathedral of Atonement1
- 3Chillin’ Vol’jin1
- 3Identity Theft1
- 4Glowstone Gyreworm1
- 4Najak Hexxen1
- 4Shadow Word: Ruin1
- 5Darkbishop Benedictus1
- 5Raza the Chained1
- 5Raza the Resealed1
- 5Spawn of Shadows1
- 7Aman’Thul1
- 0Raise Dead1
- 1Glacial Shard1
- 1Miracle Salesman1
- 1Sir Finley, Sea Guide1
- 2Cult Neophyte1
- 2Dirty Rat1
- 2Fanboy1
- 2Far Watch Post1
- 2Parrot Sanctuary1
- 2Zephrys the Great1
- 3Overplanner1
- 3Prince Renathal1
- 3Razorscale1
- 4Blademaster Okani1
- 4Carry-On Grub1
- 4E.T.C., Band Manager1
- 4Hysteria1
- 4Lorekeeper Polkelt1
- 5Boompistol Bully1
- 5Magatha, Bane of Music1
- 6Reno Jackson1
- 6Theotar, the Mad Duke1
- 10Reno, Lone Ranger1