Whether you like the current meta or not is obviously subjective – not everyone will be happy when X or Y archetype is popular if they don’t like playing against it. But despite what many have said before the release (including me, honestly) – Scholomance Academy’s meta has been one of the most balanced onces we had in a long time. The meta basically formed itself, with no need for any help from Blizzard – good archetypes popped, they got countered, then the counters got popular and they got countered too, and so on. The early nerf patch with Kael'thas Sunstrider & Mindrender Illucia nerfs was alright – I agree with it – but it didn’t affect the shape of the meta that much anyway.
Current meta is one of those metas without a clear “best” deck. While Pure Paladin & Face Hunter stand out in terms of win rate itself, they don’t really “feel” like they dominate the meta or are oppressive in any way. Then, we’ve got very strong variants of Rogue (Aggro & Secret), Soul Demon Hunter, Guardians Druid, Bomb Warrior, Tempo Mage all of which are the best decks in certain situations or pocket metas. No matter what kind of play style you want – you should find something for yourself (well, combo is shafted a bit, but it’s still possible to play with decks like Illusion / Turtle Mage, which is actually getting more popular lately).
Despite all of that, we’re getting another balance update next week, and it should shake things up a bit. Nerfs to Secret Passage, Cabal Acolyte & Darkglare + buffs to Totem Goliath + Archwitch Willow. Totem Goliath buff is pretty big for Totem Shaman, which is now a Tier 3 deck. Maybe it will pop up to Tier 2, which would now make all 10 classes have a viable build (and that would be amazing). Secret Passage will obviously hurt Rogue, but it’s not THAT big of a deal since it’s just 4 vs 5 cards. Cabal Acolyte is quite a solid hit to Priest, deck that didn’t “deserve” to get hit based on stats, but more because of how it feels like to play against (people don’t like their minions / cards getting stolen). Darkglare is a pretty big deal – the card should still be good, but since the nerf was MOSTLY targeting Wild format, Zoo Warlock might be a bit too weak in Standard now. And finally – Willow buff… I honestly don’t think that it will matter, I think that we need another great, big Demon in order for the card to see play. But it would be a pleasant surprise if it did now.
So all in all, meta is great, the patch should shake things up a bit, we’ve got an event with solo content, Brawliseum etc. coming soon and so on. The game feels really solid right now. The only thing I hope now is to hear more about the upcoming new game mode (just a reminder that we should be getting one this expansion!)
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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