We skipped last week, because we’ve focused on covering Heroic Brawliseum decks instead (which, to be fair, also worked well on ladder and that’s why we didn’t bother making another post for stricte ladder builds). But we’re back with the best Standard ladder decks again this week!
When it comes to the meta changes – well, we had a balance update early this week. Even though it was a quite minor one, it hit what was the most popular deck in Legend (and one of the most popular decks on the ladder in general) – Guardian Druid. Nerfing Guardian Animals from 7 to 8 mana is quite a big deal – the deck’s biggest swing turn and the most important ramp pay-off comes a turn later. A turn is often a difference between win and a loss. Against Aggro, it might give them one more turn to swing with minions and against Control one more turn to gather resources and prepare to deal with your board over and over again. And so, both play and win rate of Guardian Druid has dropped heavily. On the upside, some players have started experimenting with alternative builds, e.g. Exotic Mountseller versions that don’t rely on Guardian Animals THAT much are now more common + others are trying to make Quest Druid work. It’s a bit too early to say whether those tries will be any successful, but any innovation is cool.
The second nerf hit Tortollan Pilgrim, which was played in Turtle Mage in particular. The nerf mostly targeted Wild format (where the deck was pretty disgusting) as well as competitive play. Turtle Mage wasn’t popular on the ladder, but to be honest it was one of the most annoying decks to face. I usually don’t mind combo decks at all, but the issue with Turtle Mage was that you never knew whether you had a chance or not. You theoretically COULD concede the moment they start doing their Tortollan + Potion of Illusion combos, but the thing is that the game wasn’t over. It usually took Mage many turns to kill you, and they could always draw both Potions. I still won like 10-15% of my games after they hit their initial combo, and while it doesn’t seem like a lot, it is in any kind of competitive environment. Other combo decks were more straightforward – you knew when you lost the game and you could just concede. On the other hand, Hearthstone is in a dire need of some good combo deck, they have been super rare in Standard for the last couple of years, that’s why I’m kind of sad that Turtle Mage is gone despite me hating the deck.
In the absence of Druid, Soul Demon Hunter and Face Hunter became the two most popular decks. Well, it’s not like it’s any surprising – they were already the two other most popular decks before the balance update. I guess that we’ll need to give the meta some more time, but I don’t think it’s going to change much from here on.
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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I think the nerf to Guardian Animals Will not necessary but the priest does need several nerfs.