Hearthhead's Midweek Meta Review #1: Wrestling for the Board

Hearthstone Publicado 11/02/2016 a las 16:21 por Skiffington

Prologuea Midrange Meta.

Frequency of appearance.

Ease of play.

Prevalence of meaningful, non-tech-dependent counterplay.

Consistency in winning various matchups.

Aggro decks lack the consistency and raw pressure to beat most of the popular Midrange decks out there at present. Midrange decks are able to build up their board presence to deal more damage as the game progresses past the first few turns, beating Aggro at their own game in terms of maximizing sheer damage, while also having tools (Secrets, Taunt minions, Healing, etc.) to survive the purest Aggro decks’ burn pressure.

League of Explorers provided a lot of tools for Control decks, which in general holds Aggro back from succeeding in a broader sense on the ladder. Reno Jackson, Entomb, Fierce Monkey, etc. gave existing Control archetypes great supplements to the cards that have long pushed Aggro out of the meta (Sludge Belcher, Antique Healbot).

Midrange decks are taking advantage of many of the powerful cards that we are looking forward to seeing removed from Standard play in the coming months (Piloted Shredder, Haunted Creeper, Loatheb). In general, many of the ‘sticky’ minions that are core to Midrange being so dominant right now are slated for removal from competitive play.

This Week's Notes

Secret Paladin remains among the strongest and safest decks to take to Ranked play with. The significant power of each turn in this deck means that bar for really tragic mulligans, you’re rarely put in a position where you can’t apply increasing pressure turn over turn despite your opponent’s best efforts.

Tech Options

Consecration Blessing of Kings

If you’re seeing less Zoo (or other board flood decks), trade the Consecration out for a second Blessing of Kings.

This Week's Notes

Druid has more polarized matchups than Secret Paladin, which gives it a lot of strength but also more pronounced weaknesses. The growing presence of Zoo alone introduces more risk into playing this Midrange Druid style, despite its exceptional ability to close out games against many of the popular Control/Midrange styles that are otherwise currently fairly dominant.

Tech Options

Shade of Naxxramas Mind Control Tech

To help with the Zoo matchup, drop a Shade of Naxxramas for a Mind Control Tech.

This Week's Notes

Always a popular choice, but immensely dominant when Druid is a top tier choice, Zoo Warlock would probably be the best deck on the ladder right now if it weren’t for the risk of hitting Freeze Mage. Every new set has added something critical for this archetype, and the synergy is better than ever.

Tech Options

Brann Bronzebeard Void Terror

Defender of Argus Dire Wolf Alpha

This report’s substituted out Void Terror for Brann Bronzebeard and the second Dire Wolf Alpha for a second Defender of Argus. You can opt to swap those back, or look at a Sea Giant in lieu of one of the activators.

This Week's Notes

Patron has positive win rates against every other top meta deck on this list, but only moderately so - and is the only ‘Midrange’ deck type that loses to Control pretty much across the board (with the notable exception of Freeze Mage). There are lots of variants on this deck making the rounds at present, but the core is largely consistent.

Tech Options

Slam Cruel Taskmaster

Given the contemporary meta, trading out a Slam for a Cruel Taskmaster can help develop your board more efficiently against Midrange or tempo-driven decks.

Sir Finley Mrrgglton Loatheb

Finley can also be traded for a better tech choice (given the meta, Loatheb is actually a strong contender for this slot).

This Week's Notes

If you want to play a deck that loses to Druid lots (and Control Warrior 90% of the time), but wins all of its other games, play Freeze Mage. This deck remains relevant purely on the basis of how much it holds down the non-Druid decks in the current meta.

Tech Options

Loot Hoarder Malygos

A handful of players are substituting Malygos in to improve the anti-Control matchups.

With where the meta currently is, we wouldn't be surprised to see this deck rise in popularity as it tends to do well against many of the top tier archetypes.

This Week's Notes

Aggro Druid has positive win rates against most of the current top meta decks, and the ones it does not it trades quite evenly with. Most players are not looking for the more aggressive early bodies from this style of Druid, and may mulligan incorrectly against this deck.