Yep, we’re back with Top Standard Legend decks compilations! We’ve skipped Week 1 because we had a compilation post with all of the decks, and then we skipped Week 2 because we had a compilation post with all of the “Post-Nerf” decks… But here we are, no new patch over Christmas so we can finally do a regularly scheduled post! Of course, I’m really happy that they did a quick balance update (it was released 9 days after the expansion’s launch, which is the new record) – otherwise half of the decks posted here would be Galakrond Shaman (and no one would even read this post, because people would be sick and tired of the meta). While I do believe that players would find some counters to Galakrond Shaman, the deck was so over the top that even those counters wouldn’t be enough.
As for the meta, while it hasn’t settled down yet, we already see where it’s heading. And I have to say that it’s the most aggressive expansion we’ve seen in a while. We’ve got not one, but two Face decks – Face Hunter & Pirate Warrior, and then a bunch of other fast/aggressive builds such as Galakrond Warrior or Galakrond Zoo Warlock. Then, Tempo/Midrange decks like Highlander Rogue, Galakrond Warrior or Galakrond Shaman are also very popular. On the other hand, Control decks are nearly non-existent – Quest Resurrect Priest is the only popular one, but it’s mostly played at the lower ranks (in Legend, I’ve faced it maybe twice over the last few days). Same thing for Combo builds – one could call Deathrattle Rogue (Anubisath version) a “Combo” deck, but it would be a stretch. Combo Priest also sees SOME play, but it’s not very popular. Long story short, the meta is fast and all about tempo – which has been important for a long while, but it’s even more so now. We’ll see how it develops, but right now players who enjoy this kind of style should have a great time.
What’s interesting is that the new PvE content is coming pretty soon. It’s going to drop in January, probably in the second half of the month. But that’s still only 3-4 weeks from now. While new PvE content release is always fun, this one is even more important, because they’ve decided to go back to the old Adventure style… including new cards. Yep, given that the current meta will probably take at least another week (or maybe two) to settle, getting new cards so quickly will be interesting. How powerful will they be? Will they make a significant impact on the meta? And importantly – will we get them for free or have to pay for them again? We should learn answers to those questions pretty soon, but it will definitely be an interesting end to this Standard year.
Below, you will find 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!
If you’re looking for the best Wild Format decks, check out our Wild Meta Tier List!
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>> While new PvE content release is always fun, this one is even more important, because
>> they’ve decided to go back to the old Adventure style… including new cards.
Has this been officially confirmed anywhere?
“The final battle in the Year of the Dragon’s solo adventure story is Galakrond’s Awakening, coming this January! We won’t spoil too much, but we hope you’re ready to battle E.V.I.L. (or good) and collect 35 new cards! More details on Galakrond’s Awakening will be coming soon.”
Source: https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/23239986/hearthstone-update-december-5-descent-of-dragons
I also remember dev confirming that the gameplay will be similar to old adventure content and won’t follow the Dungeon Run formula, but I can’t find the source right now. Either way, it should most likely be announced soon-ish – my guess would be within 2 weeks 🙂
Is the 5th January patch a real thing?
if that so, meta gonna change again. But not so much, since the effect of later nerf doesn’t do much.
the meta is sure to change when the new cards arrive.
Can’t wait to see what kind of cards we’re getting.
Quest/resurrect priest is a real grinding machine, playing it from rank 20 to (actually) rank 2 with an insane winrate.
Is literally the higher winrate deck is ever played more than 100 games, beating miracle rogue and some old fashion op decks.
How long did it take you to get rank 2 a decade, most boring deck in the game
They never said that there will 100% be a patch on January 5th (it’s Sunday anyway). They just said that IF it will be necessary, they might do another patch after January 5th. So the question is – do we need another patch now?
I honestly don’t think so. It’s not the healthiest meta ever, but it’s relatively balanced, and the strongest decks have their own counters. I don’t think that we really need another patch. We’re probably going to learn more after New Year, but I would be very surprised if we got one. The only chance IMO is some kind of quick, emergency patch if some overpowered deck gets discovered over the next few days etc.
>> So the question is – do we need another patch now?
In my eyes, that depends. If the deck populations generally stay like they are right now, we probably don’t need a patch. But the problem I have is that I think the previous patch was more a placebo effect than any real balancing. On paper, the Galakrond Shaman core package + Shudderwock is still really really strong, AND ~30% of the active population still owns most of those key cards. I believe there’s a fair chance someone invents a new variant with >60% winrate, and if (when?) that happens it probably infests the ladder again within days.
Of course, you’re right, patches that hit a certain deck have usually a big “psychological” impact too – players don’t really like to play things that just got nerfed even if they’re still strong. There’s a solid chance that someone optimizes Galakrond Shaman build to the point of it being overpowered again. But all of the nerfs really did hurt the deck and I don’t think that it would dominate the meta the way it did early. It has Tier 1 potential, but most likely won’t be Tier 0 / Tier S (or however you call the absolute best decks).
Then, there’s a question of timing – if that will happen just before Adventure release, I don’t think that they will necessarily want to release a patch, but rather wait and see the impact of new cards on the meta first and maybe THEN patch it up.
So we would probably need to see some broken deck by the end of this week in order to warrant another balance update before solo adventure.