vS Data Reaper Report #343

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Welcome to the 343rd 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 1,957,000
Top 1K Legend 50,000
Legend (Excluding Top 1k) 371,000
Diamond 4 to 1 298,000
Diamond 10 to 5 294,000
Platinum 223,000
Bronze/Silver/Gold 721,000

Class/Archetype Distribution

Class Frequency

Class Frequency Discussion

Rogue has slightly declined in play, but the class is still very popular across ladder. Elise Rogue has become a favorite for both casual and competitive players, despite producing underwhelming results with the Imbue package.

Discover Hunter continues to surge at top legend, becoming the most popular deck with a 20% play rate. The deck is still not popular outside of this bracket.

Broxigar Demon Hunter has further spiked in play and drastically shifted to the Elise/Blob build, which broke out last week. Though the archetype is slightly skewed to higher MMR’s in terms of player preference, we are seeing more of it everywhere on ladder and it is becoming a common opponent at every rank bracket. Cliff Dive DH has slightly declined in play and turned into a secondary choice.

There is a small recovery in Dragon Warrior’s numbers, which may have to do with the rise of Discover Hunter. Control Warrior is unmoved.

A small decline in Death Knight is observed, likely tied to the rise of Demon Hunter, which presents a difficult matchup for Blood-Ctrl DK.

Aura Paladin, Azshara Druid, Egg Warlock and Hagatha Shaman have all declined in play, especially at top legend, following their decline in performances last week. Mage and Priest appear stagnant.

Matchup Win Rates Header

Power Rankings Header

vS Meta Score

vS Power Rankings Discussion

Demon Hunter

  • Broxigar Demon Hunter has elevated its performance and become the top performing archetype in the format. The Elise/Blob build is absolutely cracked, proving to be a superior approach to the Elise build of Cliff Dive Demon Hunter and leapfrogging it. The deck has a couple of important counters, but generally beats the rest of the field with great effectiveness.
  • Cliff Dive DH has experienced a drastic decline in its performance, which we suspect is a product of its low play rate combined with more informed players gravitating to Broxigar DH to an extreme degree over a short period of time. At higher levels of play, it is also running into worsening matchups against some decks, such as Blood-Ctrl DK and Discover Hunter.

Hunter

  • Discover Hunter’s high play rate at top legend is a product of its balanced matchup spread, including its strong matchup against Broxigar DH, one of the only counters to the fast growing meta breaker. However, Discover Hunter mostly goes 50-50 with other meta contenders, which prevents it from exhibiting a higher win rate. Top legend players enjoy decks that present a chance to win any matchup.

Rogue

  • Elise Rogue has declined in its performance due to its poor Demon Hunter matchup. Its popularity is clearly a product of its attractive design.
  • Protoss Rogue is the best performing Rogue deck due to its strong matchup against the rising Discover Hunter. It is also the best performing deck against Broxigar DH, which is close to a 50-50 matchup, while all other Rogue decks are significantly unfavored against the meta breaker. This is why you see Cycle and Starship Rogue get generally worse. But Protoss Rogue is a deck that few players care for and feel good about playing.

Death Knight

  • Blood-Ctrl DK is unfavored against the rising Broxigar DH, therefore its performance has declined. This is the only matchup that prevents Death Knight from establishing itself as a surefire Tier 1 performer.

Warrior

  • Although Dragon Warrior is favored against Discover Hunter, the Broxigar DH matchup is not great. This is why the deck has generally gotten better where Hunter numbers are high, but gotten worse where they are low.
  • The shift from Cliff Dive to Broxigar has made Control Warrior slightly worse. The Broxigar DH matchup is now dead even.

Druid

  • Despite Azshara Druid’s decline in play, its performance has improved, as it is the only other counter to Broxigar DH outside of Discover Hunter. Elise Rogue, a poor matchup, is also declining in play. We can understand why it is not highly favored by players, considering its Rogue matchup.

Mage

  • Protoss Mage is a stagnant deck that gets worse when other decks progress with their own refinement.

Paladin

  • Aura Paladin is weak to Broxigar DH, so it is not expected to get better.

Shaman

  • Hagatha Shaman is unfavored against both Broxigar DH and Discover Hunter, so its win rate is tanking hard at higher levels of play.

Warlock

  • The further rise of Discover Hunter is killing Egg Warlock’s top legend viability. The deck is still effective outside of this bracket.

Priest

  • Priest is struggling, but its future is looking brighter with its Core set updates. Just kidding, it is actually going to be worse somehow.

Decklist updates:

  • We have only made one. Sleep under the Stars replaces The Great Dracorex in Control Warrior at the 8-mana slot. Elsewhere, we have not found a reason to make updates.

Class Analysis & Decklists

Death Knight | Demon Hunter | Druid | Hunter | Mage | Paladin | Priest | Rogue | Shaman | Warlock | Warrior

 


Data Reaper Report - Rogue

Data Reaper Report - Hunter

Data Reaper Report - Warrior

Data Reaper Report - Druid

Data Reaper Report - Mage

Data Reaper Report - Paladin

Data Reaper Report - Shaman

Data Reaper Report - Warlock

Data Reaper Report - Priest



The might of Elise and a horde of Blobs is proving to be a difficult combination to beat in the current format. Discover Hunter is the popular top legend answer, but it has its own flaws and the deck is not favored elsewhere on ladder.

A new expansion announcement is just around the corner, considering it usually comes soon after Core set changes are announced. It will be interesting to see where the game is headed next.


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Contributors

EndofDaysTzachilookitzjoe

1 Comment

  1. Thx to Blackhorn they send me a clear message to stop playing this game.
    Ppl who prise this kind of design. Maybe we print a Whitehorn: 4 mana 5/5. Destroy all cards in players hand & deck that cost 4+.
    So we can play nice deathwing and collossus..

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