Welcome to the 338th 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 | 1,389,000 |
| Top 1K Legend | 33,000 |
| Legend (Excluding Top 1k) | 277,000 |
| Diamond 4 to 1 | 345,000 |
| Diamond 10 to 5 | 332,000 |
| Platinum | 169,000 |
| Bronze/Silver/Gold | 232,000 |
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
Hunter maintains a middling play rate throughout most of ladder before hitting a high play rate at top legend. Discover Hunter remains split between the Elise build and the non-Elise burn variants.
Cycle and Starship Rogue have slightly declined in play, while Protoss Rogue numbers have gone up. In addition, we are seeing Fyrakk/Ashamane Rogue lists beginning to reappear at top legend. Note that we have these variants merged under one archetype despite a popular list not even running Fyrakk. We will see how things further develop in this cluster before figuring out an appropriate name (might have to be ‘Elise Rogue’). Splitting them based on cards played by the opponent is not a reliable method, as their early game is identical and they may only slightly differentiate at the top of their curve. Not too different from trying to split Blood-Ctrl DK based on whether they play Marin/Ceaseless or Naralex/Fyrakk.
Blood-Ctrl DK is rising in play at top legend as players recognize its recent success. Herenn DK with Bonechill Stegodon is receiving slightly more attention across ladder as well.
Across all ladder, Control Warrior is in decline, while Dragon Warrior is on the rise. The Elise variant of Dragon Warrior is taking over the archetype.
Hagatha Shaman has declined, which we think is a product of players trying out other decks after the buffs patch rather than a competitively driven trend.
Spell Demon Hunter has appeared in small numbers following the changes to The Eternal Hold and Solitude.
Azshara Druid has gained further traction with yet another novel build, one that runs Busy Peon. This build has quickly taken over the archetype.
Toki Mage has popped up in noticeably greater numbers following the Toki buff. However, it is significantly more prevalent at Diamond 5 and below, as well as lower MMR legend, than it is at upper Diamond and top legend. Those are the play rate patterns of a likely poor performer.
Rafaam Warlock is another deck that has risen in play following its buffs, but it exhibits a similar play rate pattern as Toki Mage.
You would not think Priest or Paladin received any buffs based on their play rates. These classes have not exhibited any meaningful movement in response to the patch.
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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
Hunter
- Discover Hunter has settled down as a Tier 2 performer across ladder. It is popular amongst top legend players due to its balanced matchup spread and attractive playstyle, but there are better choices if we are looking for a strictly stronger performer.
- Quest and Face Hunter have dipped in their play rates, but based on their low post-patch samples, they likely perform at a Tier 2 level.
Rogue
- Protoss Rogue will remain Tier 1 at top legend as long as Discover Hunter maintains its popularity. Cycle Rogue is fine. Starship Rogue is harder to justify, especially when it does not beat Blood-Ctrl DK.
- We can tell you that ‘Elise Rogue’ is very promising based on its low top legend sample and might be the best (!) Rogue deck on ladder. Whether it runs Fyrakk or Ashamane does not matter much.
Death Knight
- Blood-Ctrl DK is just very strong. Well-rounded matchup spread with no hard counters, which are similar traits to Discover Hunter, but even better overall win rate. Azshara Druid has moved towards a build that does not counter it either. Herenn DK is fine, but inferior.
Warrior
- Last week, we said that if everyone started playing the Elise variant of Dragon Warrior, its win rate could climb by 2%. You are seeing it in this report. The Elise build is extremely powerful.
- The format is generally moving in a direction that is more hostile to Control Warrior. It is a Blood-Ctrl DK without counterpressure, which makes it more vulnerable to late game lethality.
Shaman
- Hagatha Shaman is elite across ladder. The days of Discover Hunter restraining it at top legend are over.
Demon Hunter
- In the first couple of days of the patch, Spell Demon Hunter looked terrible. A new build appeared later at top legend that looks drastically stronger. The aggregated win rate is therefore not great, especially at ranks where the more prominent iteration is the one that gained traction on the first day. This means that Spell Demon Hunter’s win rate is spiking hard and “should” be a Tier 2 performer across ladder.
- However, when evaluating the best build’s matchup spread, we are not convinced the deck is all that strong. It is unfavored against most of the best classes and its stronger win rate is inflated by the increased presence of bad decks. Its biggest assets are its matchups against Rogue. When the dust settles, it may end up a Tier 3 performer. The buffs lifted the deck from an unplayable status to a competitive one, though it might still not be at the level required to have a noticeable impact in the current format. Long term, these buffs will likely matter more.
Druid
- Azshara Druid is declining in its performance at top legend, while improving throughout the rest of ladder. A concerning trend is that it seems to have a more difficult time against Shaman and Rogue, while it lost its advantage against Blood-Ctrl DK. It is possible it will end up sinking further down in win rate at higher levels of play, which makes us wonder whether its current refinement process is helping it, or hurting it by simplifying its win condition and removing its versatility.
Mage
- Toki Mage is now the worst deck in the game, seeing Rafaam Warlock leap over it. While the buff to Toki has absolutely made it a better card, it was nowhere near enough to turn the archetype into a competitive deck.
Warlock
- The Rafaam buffs were impactful, just nowhere near enough considering where the deck was sitting before the patch. There is one direction that offers a significantly better win rate, but probably still not good enough.
Paladin & Priest
- Business as usual here.
The impact of the patch
- Short term, the patch did not do much. Spell DH is viewed as the biggest success story, but we are not sure the deck is actually good in a more optimized environment, so jury is still out until next week. The buffs to Rafaam will only matter if the fabled legendary gets more buffs in the future (Explorer, Giant, Archmage). The Priest buffs, similarly, may only matter post-rotation. The Paladin/Druid buffs do not matter.
Class Analysis & Decklists
Death Knight | Demon Hunter | Druid | Hunter | Mage | Paladin | Priest | Rogue | Shaman | Warlock | Warrior
Discover Hunter’s two variants look solidified. Quest Hunter may have faded in its play rate but the deck performs well.
Some players run Warp Gate in Protoss Rogue over Griftah. Neither card is great but the location looks slightly better.
Fyrakk/Ashamane Rogue is gaining some traction at higher levels of play and looks good based on its low sample. In the featured build, you can see how the deck can be tweaked to accommodate an Ashamane top end instead of Naralex. Ultimately, this is just a different way to activate Elise and neither direction looks clearly superior to the other at this moment in time. Garona and The Kingslayers perform poorly in the archetype.
There are two ways Blood-Ctrl Death Knight can fill the last few slots to activate Elise: Naralex and dragons or Marin/Ceaseless. We consider running one copy of Sanguine Infestation a mistake and would rather cut a Chillfallen Baron if more space is required.
Scarab Keychain looks good in Herenn Death Knight.
The Elise variant of Dragon Warrior is simply elite at all levels of play and players are starting to respect how strong it is.
Hagatha Shaman has been solved for a while so there is no card choice news in this front.
Spell Demon Hunter should drop weak value cards and fill the deck with burn instead. The featured build looks most correct, with Aeon Rend considered the final and most replaceable choice. The other 28 cards look good.
- Demon Hunter Class Radar
- Aggro Demon Hunter
- Peddler Demon Hunter
- Cliff-Dive Demon Hunter
- Spell Demon Hunter
A new build of Azshara Druid has gained serious traction, cutting Oaken Summons for Busy Peon. We advocate for two copies of Peons if we go down this route, while maintaining the importance of Welcome Home. The popular build runs Bottomless Toy Chest, which is a weak performer.
Toki Mage is the worst deck in the game, and you should not play it if you are interested in winning.
Rafaam Warlock is unlikely to be competitive, but one approach significantly trumps the rest, which is a beatdown shell with a Shred package rather than a defensive package. Trying to strictly survive to the Rafaam win condition does not pay off.
The best performer in this list is Possessed Animancer thanks to its synergy with Ultragigasaur.
There is no indication that Aura Paladin should even run the buffed Cardboard Golem.
Protoss Priest is having a better time thanks to queueing into more terrible decks, but do not expect much once the good decks fully take over again.
You guys are slacking off, playing less of Hagatha Shaman when it’s objectively the best deck in the game. We will let you know when Toki Mage is actually good (probably never).
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Contributors
