Welcome to the 323rd edition of the Data Reaper Report!
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Class/Archetype Distribution | Class Frequency | Matchup Winrates | vS Power Rankings | vS Meta Score | Class Analysis & Decklists | Meta Breaker of the Week | How to Contribute | Credits
Number of Games
| Overall | 687,000 |
| Top 1K Legend | 57,000 |
| Legend (Excluding Top 1k) | 192,000 |
| Diamond 4 to 1 | 80,000 |
| Diamond 10 to 5 | 107,000 |
| Platinum | 83,000 |
| Bronze/Silver/Gold | 168,000 |
Class/Archetype Distribution
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All Ranks
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D1 to D4
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Legend
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Top 1K Legend
Class Frequency
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Weekly
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Daily
Class Frequency Discussion
We realize this report comes right when massive balance changes hit the format, but we believe it is still valuable to document the first week of Standard following the launch of the mini-set. Our findings may help players understand how to build and adjust decks post-balance changes, while providing an educated guess as to which archetypes are likely to turn out strong post-patch. In our write up, we will focus on that. We also have a scheduling update at the end of the article.
Rogue quickly established itself as the most popular class at top legend, once again. In many builds of Ashamane Rogue, Ashamane was replaced by Fyrakk. Some builds run both cards, so we thought it was most appropriate to rename the archetype as “Shala Rogue” for now. Cinder Rogue, a deck centered on a Dark Gift package and Cindersword, became very popular initially, but started to fade away over the last few days. Cycle Rogue has been gaining momentum, especially at top legend, utilizing a build strictly focused on dropping Playhouse Giants as quickly as possible, without Ethereal Oracle or Incindius.
Imbue Druid and Imbue Hunter have surged thanks to the new cards they were given in the mini-set. These two decks are most responsible for reshaping the format. Both decks hover around a 20% play rate across ladder, making them the two most popular decks at every rank bracket, including top legend. Druid is a bit more popular at higher levels of play, while Imbue Hunter nears a 25% play rate at Diamond ranks.
Death Knight has declined and not seen many changes, with the mini-set cards not making an impact on the class’ three primary archetypes: Blood-Ctrl, Starship and Menagerie.
Warlock remains mostly relevant at top legend. Wheel Warlock has taken over the class, while its sister deck, Starship Warlock, has faded away.
Interest has picked up in Warrior. A Control Warrior built around Fyrakk and Tortolla has gained significant traction, while a disruptive Terran Warrior variant offers an alternative route.
Paladin has dramatically crashed down from its lofty heights. Drunk and Aggro Paladin see modest play.
Demon Hunter has fallen off too. Cliff Dive Demon Hunter is now split into two variants: Ravenous Felhunter and Briarspawn Drake.
Mage seems to be struggling to deal with the new format. Protoss Mage is the only deck trying to hold on.
Zarimi Priest has gone through a population collapse, turning into a fringe deck even at lower rank brackets, where it dominated before the mini-set’s launch. No signs of life in Imbue Priest.
It appears that Shaman remains competitively irrelevant.
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All Ranks
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D4 to Legend
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Legend
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Top 1K Legend
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Legend
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D1 to D4
vS Meta Score
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Top 1K Legend
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Legend
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D1 to D4
vS Power Rankings Discussion
Rogue
- Shala Rogue has gotten progressively stronger every day, so it is safe to say it is the strongest deck at top legend. Rogue’s main counters are defensive classes packed with removal and sustain: Death Knight, Warlock and Warrior. These classes are capable of fending off its early pressure and depleting its resources in the late game. Its dominance against the rest of the field is largely attributed to the strength of Harbinger. With Harbinger nerfed, it might not be able to dominate early game board control to the same extent.
- Cinder Rogue is not nearly as good. The deck has been falling off because its performance does not compare to Shala Rogue. Its late game is worse, so it is even more vulnerable to Rogue’s counters. Its early game is worse, as it is reliant on burning down the opponent. We will have to see whether the loss of Harbinger causes Rogue to default to Cindersword or find another solution.
- Protoss Rogue is underrated, forgotten due to the popularity of Shala Rogue. Harbinger is still an important card in the deck, but we can envision the archetype handling the loss by increasing its focus on the Protoss tribe.
- Cycle Rogue looks weak. Its win rate has not improved over time, either. Its late game simply does not exist. It is very reliant on an early blowout to win, which means it gets rolled by decks that can deal with a couple of Playhouse Giants. There might be a way to cover its weakness to some extent. It does not run Harbinger, so it dodges nerfs, but there is no guarantee the patch will be kind to the deck. Everything getting worse could make Cycle Rogue stronger in theory , but not if it causes control decks to get better.
Druid
- Imbue Druid looks very powerful and well-rounded across ladder. It seems nearly impossible to target the deck, as it has no truly bad matchups and looks solid at every stage of the game. The only card that seems to give it a hard time is Harbinger, so the nerf to Harbinger makes Imbue Druid unstoppable in theory. It is understandable that balance changes are required to tone down the deck, especially when the rest of the field is also getting weaker. However, those changes are unlikely to ‘break’ the deck’s overall game plan, so we expect Imbue Druid to remain strong after the patch.
Hunter
- At some point, Imbue Hunter was headed towards a Tier 4 win rate at top legend, turning into another example of a deck that dominates low ranks but collapses at higher levels of play. However, this trend was reversed with some refinement that elevated the deck back towards a very competitive win rate, around 50%. This suggests that Imbue Hunter is not so easy to target when refined. There are only two ways to ‘target’ it: rush it down before turn 6, where it is able to kill opponents with Plush at an alarming consistency, or pull its combo pieces with Dirty Rat and try to outlast it. The first way seems to work well for very fast decks that snowball hard like Aggro Paladin, Menagerie Death Knight, or Shala Rogue thanks to Harbinger. The second way only seems to force a 50-50 matchup at best (Death Knight, Warrior).
- Considering how common it is to see turn 6 OTK’s executed by this deck, Imbue Hunter provides a play experience that is highly uncomfortable for Team 5, a stark contrast to the incremental and board-based playstyle of Imbue Druid. This is why Imbue Druid is being nudged down more gently, despite looking like the stronger deck, while Imbue Hunter is in for harsher treatment.
Death Knight
- Currently, Starship and Blood-Ctrl Death Knight benefit from their strong Rogue matchups, while struggling to deal with both Imbue Druid and Imbue Hunter. The balance changes are therefore expected to be great for the class, as it is the strongest one on paper that is not receiving any nerfs. Menagerie Death Knight thrives on countering Imbue Hunter, so it might have a more difficult time if it starts facing a large number of defensive decks packed with survivability tools.
Warlock
- Wheel Warlock is looking very strong at top legend, while seeing many of its worst matchups nerfed in this patch. Cliff Dive Demon Hunter and Imbue Hunter are expected to be severely weakened, if not completely disappear. This puts Wheel Warlock in an extremely strong position on paper, especially when it counters the other two control classes in Death Knight and Warrior. The nerf to Cursed Campaign seems appropriate to tone it down to some degree, but we are not sure it will offset the matchup benefits Warlock is receiving this patch. The only way to sidetrack it seems to be through a surge in Protoss Mage, which is very possible.
Warrior
- Warrior is back on the map. Control Warrior looks competitive and solid, the second strongest class that is not receiving any nerfs. It is even receiving buffs to its Dark Gift package. It is difficult to predict how well the class will compete post-patch, as a collapse in the Rogue population does directly benefit it. It will be hoping that Wheel Warlock and Protoss Mage do not become extremely popular. As long as those late game counters do not represent a big chunk of the format, the class should be fine.
- Terran Warrior looks inferior to Control Warrior. Its best build currently looks to target Imbue Hunter as hard as possible, so it may have to reinvent itself again.
Paladin
- Drunk Paladin’s decline is a result of the surge in Rogue, Hunter and Druid, which all represent challenging matchups. The balance changes to other classes should help its matchup spread in theory, but the deck’s own nerfs may completely kill it. The loss of Ursol/Shaladrassil means it needs to reinvent its late game or disappear.
- Aggro Paladin is better positioned to deal with the loss of Ursol/Shaladrassil, as it can replace these cards with Menagerie Jugs, for example. However, its current success comes from its strong matchup against Imbue Hunter. It will be hoping another deck vulnerable to snowballing such as Protoss Mage takes its place, rather than defensive control decks.
- Paladin’s late game may pivot to Imbue, should the buff to the hero power prove to be impactful enough. A deck that clicks its hero power a lot, may become dramatically stronger when that button becomes easier to click every turn.
Demon Hunter
- Cliff Dive Demon Hunter has arguably been underplayed this week, considering how good it is against Rogue. Players are mostly scared away by its poor Imbue Hunter matchup. However, the nerf to Cliff Dive is a threat to its competitive viability. Demon Hunter may need to make significant adjustments to stay relevant.
Mage
- This format has been horrible for the Mage class, but things may look significantly better after the patch. Imbue Hunter is an oppressive matchup that may completely disappear. Should control decks rise in prominence (Death Knight, Warlock, Warrior), Protoss Mage may position itself as the most reliable answer, giving it a key role in the upcoming format. It is still a very vulnerable deck to snowballing strategies, so it will be hoping the player base’s tendency to favor slower strategies will triumph.
Priest
- Zarimi Priest got killed in this format due to its crippling matchup against Imbue Hunter. Team 5 have taken no chances, pre-emptively nerfing the deck so it does not come back to a dominant position after the gutting of Imbue Hunter and the nerfs to the rest of the field.
- Imbue Priest has a long way to go, but it finally gets significant buffs this patch. Whether they will be enough remains to be seen, but considering how desperate the player base is to make Imbue Priest work, we expect experimentation with the archetype to be rampant early on.
Shaman
- Shaman is dead and receives no buffs this patch, so we are not optimistic the nerfs to the rest of the field will be enough to lift it to a competitive place.
Class Analysis & Decklists
Death Knight | Demon Hunter | Druid | Hunter | Mage | Paladin | Priest | Rogue | Shaman | Warlock | Warrior
Fyrakk is better than Ashamane in Shala Rogue. The archetype could keep Shaladrassil after the nerf, as its top end can still corrupt the spell if it costs 8 mana. Losing Harbinger is a big blow to all Rogue decks. The likely replacement would be another early game minion, such as Bargain Bin Buccaneer. It may also greed up with Ashamane and Xavius.
Cinder Rogue’s current best build runs Dread Corsair as the only pirate and a single copy of Raiding Party. It might opt for two copies of Raiding Party and Bargain Bin Buccaneer to replace Harbinger.
Protoss Rogue was underrated this week, with most of the attention given to Shala Rogue. It will have to cut both Harbinger and Shaladrassil from the deck now. Xavius and Chrono Boost or Blink could fit in.
Cycle Rogue does not seem that promising. Agency Espionage seems like a terrible card that is not that strong in slower matchups. We wonder if Kil’jaeden could be a better choice, based on a promising low sample of the card (not enough to make conclusions).
The new cards are fantastic for Imbue Druid, though Petal Picker does not perform as well in Imbue decks as we expected. It does seem to be slightly better than Wrath in the current format, as aggressive decks are a rare sight. Fyrakk is a little better than Malorne and should become mandatory with Shaladrassil’s mana cost pushed to 8 mana. If Symbiosis turns out to be too weak after the nerf, we can fit Picker and Wrath in the same build.
Imbue Hunter became significantly more powerful once players started running All You Can Eat. The archetype is likely to disappear after the nerfs. Magma Hound may be a legitimate alternative to Plush, but the nerfs to both Dragonkin and Buddy should be difficult to overcome.
Fyrakk looks strong in Blood-Ctrl Death Knight. Maximizing removal works out best for Starship Death Knight. No changes in Menagerie Death Knight. The Dark Gift package failed to make an impact.
Conflagrate looks strong in Wheel Warlock. The build may not be affected by a mana nerf to Cursed Campaign.
All You Can Eat looks better than Quality Assurance in Control Warrior. Fyrakk is very strong in Warrior. Kil’jaeden is becoming more important as slower matchups rise in prominence. The current format does not have a lot of aggressive decks, so we were surprised to find that the deck can get away with running a single copy of Chemical Spill as a result.
A Terran Warrior build that looks to target Imbue Hunter with Ghosts has gained traction this week and looks like the best path for the archetype, but we are not sure there is any justification to run it post-patch.
Drunk Paladin is suffering from significant nerfs this patch that could eliminate it from the format. Aggro Paladin has a much better chance of recovering, as it can pivot to Menagerie Jug to replace the Ursol/Shaladrassil pairing. Imbue Paladin’s hero power buff is exciting.
The Briarspawn variant of Cliff Dive Demon Hunter gained popularity this week as it is faster and therefore better when facing Imbue Hunter. Should the archetype survive the patch, however, the Hog/Felhunter version may prove to be superior, as it is stronger against slower decks.
Nothing new in Mage. Protoss Mage may find more joy post-patch, as it gets destroyed by Imbue Hunter but has good matchups into slower decks.
Priest is dead. The current iteration of Zarimi Priest is not expected to survive a nerf to Naralex. The buff to Imbue Priest’s hero power is nice, but it remains to be seen whether it is enough.
Shaman is dead and not expected to get much better after the patch.
Out of the large number of strategies affected by balance changes in the upcoming patch, we think Imbue Druid is likely to handle them better than most. Should Symbiosis prove to be weak, it is easy to replace with the next card in line. Shaladrassil can still be corrupted by Fyrakk, while Sing-Along Buddy slowing down by a turn does not functionally change how the deck works. Compared to Rogue and Hunter, Druid is getting off easy.
Obviously, there are a lot of moving pieces, making the upcoming format difficult to predict, but it should be dramatically different to what we have experienced this week. The game should significantly slow down with an Imbue Hunter collapse, while control decks will be looking to carve out a bigger chunk of the pie.
Note that due to traveling, our report schedule is going to be different in the next couple of weeks.
The next report is scheduled for Saturday, May 31st. A podcast will be out early next week to discuss the post-patch format. The report after will come out on Friday, June 6th. Then we will go back to normal Thursday reports.
See you then.
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