vS Data Reaper Report #204

A weekly Hearthstone Meta Report based on data from 395,000 games.

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Welcome to the 204th edition of the Data Reaper Report! This is the first report of United in Stormwind.

Contributing to the Data Reaper project through Hearthstone Deck Tracker or Firestone allows us to perform our analyses and to issue the weekly reports, so we want to wholeheartedly thank our contributors. Without the community’s contributions, there would be no project. Contributing data is very easy, so if you enjoy our content and would like to make sure it remains consistent and free – Sign up!


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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 395,000
Top 1K Legend 14,000
Legend (Excluding Top 1k) 21,000
Diamond 4 to 1 53,000
Diamond 10 to 5 78,000
Platinum 67,000
Bronze/Silver/Gold 162,000

Reminder About Our Graphs

  • The screenshots added to this report do not make up all of the available data. You can click on each graph to take you to the original tableau file which contains more filtering options. You can also navigate to these graphs through the website’s toolbar as shown below:

 

Class/Archetype Distribution

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Class Frequency

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Class Frequency Discussion

Quest Mage has been the talk of the town since United in Stormwind’s launch. The deck exploded across all ladder ranks and took over the meta by storm. However, since the initial big bang, the deck has experienced some decay. We can see that it remains very popular at lower ranks (20% of the field at Platinum and below) but it gradually drops off as you climb ladder, reaching 13% at top legend.

Handbuff Paladin picked up a lot of steam on the third day of the expansion, rising in play throughout ladder and quickly becoming one of the most popular decks in the game. Other Paladin archetypes aren’t very noticeable, with Quest Paladin’s presence exclusively kept to lower ranks.

Shaman has carved out a decent chunk of the meta for itself with Elemental Shaman going through early refinement in both its Doom and its Whack variants. Quest Shaman is also noticeable across ladder, with multiple iterations seeing experimentation.

Warlock has returned to the competitive scene, with two primary archetypes seeing a significant amount of play. Quest Warlock is a more combo-centric strategy that has gone through several iterations. Most Zoo Warlocks also include the Demon Seed questline, but they run a more proactive build that can pressure early before falling back to Tamsin. Handlock never caught on.

Face Hunter might be the deck that changed the least from its Barrens iteration, but this hasn’t stopped the archetype from seeing success across ladder. Contrary to its normal behavior, Stormwind Face Hunter is showing no signs of declining at higher levels of play, and remains very prevalent at top legend. Quest Hunter hype lasted for a few hours before seeing the deck take a big step back in play and fade into a small ladder presence.

Rogue has changed a lot since launch. Initially, Garrote Miracle Rogue running Gadgetzan Auctioneers was hyped up, but the deck has declined since. Quest Rogue then rose in play and became the primary archetype of the class. We see a little bit of Poison Rogue too.

Druid might be the most splintered class in the format. Quest Druid exploded on the first day of the expansion but started fading on the 3rd day. Anacondra Druid is seeing a small amount of play, followed by Taunt Druid experimentations. Other archetypes of the class, including Clown, Celestial and Token Druid, see very little play.

Lifesteal Demon Hunter has fully embraced Final Showdown, with nearly every build running the quest. The deck is continuing its normal play pattern we’ve come to know for months: little bits of play at lower ranks, and only truly taking off at legend where it’s one of the most prominent faces of the format. Deathrattle DH is the other noticeable archetype of the class, but its presence is very modest. Non-Lifesteal Quest DH exists in very low numbers.

Priest is looking like a very different class from Barrens. Control Priest has died out. Quest Priest cannot get out of lower ranks. Shadow Priest has seen a lot of experimentations which eventually took the deck in a very aggressive direction. At higher levels of play, the archetype is more advanced in its refinement and is pretty much Priest’s version of Face Hunter. The deck continues to rise in popularity as this article is written.

Warrior is the one class that seems to have no hope in the current format, exhibiting a minuscule play rate at top legend, where the meta is more advanced. It’s not a good sign when top-level players give up on a class this early. The rise of late-game lethality has crippled the class’ late game strategies, including Quest Warrior, which has been forced towards an aggressive approach. Rush Warrior sees very little play, and we wonder whether it has also crumbled under the pressure of a new meta.

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vS Meta Score

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vS Power Rankings Discussion

First, some disclaimers:

  • Aggressive decks tend to shine early since they punish inefficient deckbuilding.
  • Win rates without the context of refinement and development can be misleading. We have to evaluate the ceiling of a deck after its refinement and the disappearance of weak builds.
  • Win rates are generally inflated because bad decks such as Garrote Rogue are still common and give out easy wins to almost everyone.
  • Since balance changes are a hot topic currently in the community, we discuss them throughout this section, explaining why balance decisions for the format are complicated. There is a lot of potential for diversity in the meta, as well as the competitive viability of all classes. Some issues certainly exist, but blowing up the meta with knee-jerk nerfs could lead to a worse situation. We applaud Team 5 for taking their time here. You’ll understand why as you read on.

 

  • Mage
    • At one point during day 1 of the expansion, Quest Mage displayed a win rate that was approaching 60%. The deck has been heavily targeted since, and its win rate even dropped to under 50% at higher levels before going through some recovery: the result of players taking their focus away from Mage and into beating other, more successful strategies.
    • Quest Mage is fairly polarizing and its large presence has some adverse effects on the meta, heavily promoting aggression and choking out late-game strategies that look beyond turn 8 (but it’s not the only deck to do so).
    • With that being said, killing it off completely could lead to complications, as it keeps a check on other strategies that may become too powerful if it’s gone. Nerfing Incanter’s Flow isn’t as simple as it looks.
  • Paladin
    • Handbuff Paladin obviously looks strong. Its matchup spread is quite scary, but we do see signs of a low skill ceiling and worsening matchups at higher levels of play, where more effective counters emerge. Considering the gap in power, there’s a good chance it will remain a powerful deck long after the meta settles down. But if Mage is nerfed, Paladin will likely be addressed as well since Mage is one of the only classes in the format that seems to handle the matchup well.
    • That’s not all. Secret Paladin is one of the archetypes in the format that carries a low sample but exhibits the most potential to blow up. We’re monitoring one specific build that may end up being stronger than Handbuff Paladin! You know where to find it.
  • Shaman
    • Elemental Shaman is one of the top 3 frontrunners of the expansion. Thanks to builds that have been figured out early and powerful additions, both variants of the archetype are making quick work of the field.
    • The good news is that Elemental Shaman’s scope for improvement is relatively low, so other decks could eventually catch up to it through successful iterations. But if Team 5 decides on balance changes that address Handbuff Paladin (a Shaman counter), Elemental Shaman is likely to be hit as well.
    • Then you have Quest Shaman, the best performing quest deck in week one of United in Stormwind! Its matchup spread is extremely promising, and quite eye-opening as well. It’s remarkable how strong it looks despite suffering from oppressive matchups against both Quest Mage and Quest Warlock, and it’s also a cause for some concern should we make those counters completely disappear. It’s quite dominant against the rest of the field.
  • Warlock
    • Quest Warlock in Tier 4? Is this deck all hype and hot air? Well, not exactly. Early iterations of the archetype have proven to be very weak, but within the sea of underperforming lists, one build could take off and become one of the strongest decks in the format. Yes, Quest Warlock has Tier 1 potential post-refinement. This is why current data for Quest Warlock isn’t indicative of its strength, and we should wait for this meta-breaking variant to take over before we judge it.
    • A strong and persistent Quest Warlock is just as warping as Quest Mage when it comes to choking out the late game, so this could be another deck that might require some outside interference in order to slow it down. Early nerfs would have likely not addressed it.
    • And now we have Zoo Warlock, another quest deck that might become a powerhouse as well. While its scope for improvement isn’t as high as its sister quest deck, there’s enough potential improvement to make it flirt with the top-tier pack. It’s already very close.
  • Hunter
    • While Paladin is the king of the lower end of ladder, Face Hunter takes off at higher levels of play. It is the best performing deck at top legend and it’s not even close. The deck is an excellent counter to many of the popular quest decks, but it’s not just exploiting an unrefined meta: its matchup spread is generally very dominant and well-rounded. We do expect the deck to lose some steam in a refined meta, since it is a hyper-aggressive deck and we are early in the expansion, but will that really be enough to tone it down? It’s hard to imagine Face Hunter being left alone when balance changes arrive, especially if Shaman takes some nerfs as well.
    • Quest Hunter is a dud and it looks like not much else is left to explore within the class. It seems like another expansion of Face Hunter being the only option available on Rexxar’s menu.
  • Rogue
    • Quest Rogue looks quite strong and competitive. Pretty balanced matchups with some struggles against Mage and Hunter in particular. Could be one of those decks that sneak up on the meta after balance changes, though nothing seems to be excessively alarming about it. It’s relatively refined, so potential improvement isn’t very high.
    • Garrote Rogue is very bad. It is strong against Quest Mage and Quest Warlock but dies to pretty much everything else. We expect it to disappear.
    • Poison Rogue is having some fun early in the meta beating up on janky decks as well as popular quest decks. Its matchup against Quest Mage is nearly 80-20 at legend and that counts for a lot of its success. Its matchup spread is similar to what we saw at Barrens: extremely polarizing. Very hard to deal with for slower decks, but completely rolls over to any sort of minion pressure. It should be very sensitive to meta changes so we don’t expect it to continue thriving as it has during the first week of Stormwind.
  • Druid
    • Quest Druid looked like Tier 1 on the first day of the expansion and fell off a cliff as soon as Paladin rose to prominence. This matchup is 15-85, so it’s pretty impossible to do well on ladder when you constantly run into Paladins. We think this deck took advantage of an early meta that was light on minions but got exposed as a flawed strategy once the opponents started putting consistent pressure through the board. Plenty of decks do that, and they don’t have to be aggressive in order to find success against Quest Druid.
    • Anacondra looks stronger. Still struggles against Paladin, but the matchup is more winnable. Its win condition is quite effective in the current format, since removal-heavy decks that can deal with the deck’s mega power play don’t really exist.
    • Taunt Druid initially looked hopeless, and then things began to develop in a positive direction. There’s a lot of work that can be put into improving this archetype, so we’re not writing it off. We’re not writing off any of the low play rate Druid archetypes either: Token and Celestial Druid could still have something to say about the meta. Clown Druid might be too slow.
  • Demon Hunter
    • Lifesteal Demon Hunter shows remarkable improvement at higher levels, where it breaks a positive win rate at top legend, and its win rate keeps increasing every day to somewhat concerning levels. It is quite strong at racing other quest decks towards its win condition, and it often executes its finisher far earlier than any other deck, and definitely earlier than what Team 5 are likely comfortable with. It often doesn’t even need to play Kurtus in order finish the game. Much like Quest Mage and Quest Warlock, Demon Hunter forces a very fast clock that chokes out other late-game strategies and is likely to be addressed.
    • Deathrattle Demon Hunter may not see much play, but it’s quite strong on the climb to legend. It drops off at higher levels, which we’re used to seeing, but remains competitive throughout ladder. You can certainly have success with it. The meta has not power crept it out of viability.
  • Priest
    • Shadow Priest is legit. The deck’s performance is improving every day, and it peaks at higher levels where the archetype’s refinement is near completion. We fully expect its strong performance to quickly trickle down to the rest of ladder, as sub-optimal Shadow Priest builds disappear. This deck is a menace to any late-game strategy that doesn’t carry strong defenses. It is quite polarizing, and you could definitely argue that the current unsettled meta is helping it perform better. But, we think it has a good chance of remaining very competitive even after the dust settles. Mulligan for Face Hunter when you run into Anduin now, this is nothing like you’ve ever experienced before.
    • Win conditions based on attrition are obsolete. You cannot reasonably perform at any acceptable level on ladder when Quest Mage and Quest Warlock are pillars of the format. This is a death sentence for Control Priest. It needs to find a faster win condition, and it needs these decks to slow down for it to have any chance.
  • Warrior
    • It’s a similar story in Warrior. There is no chance you can do anything as Control Warrior. The Quest win condition is far too slow. It may have worked incredibly well in the Barrens meta, but definitely not in the Stormwind meta.
    • But that doesn’t mean Warrior is dead, because the forgotten Rush Warrior archetype is still performing at a good level. We also see significant scope for its improvement, since it’s been completely neglected. Some of its matchups against quest decks are likely scaring players away, but we think this deck is workable and can function against the current field at acceptable levels. If balance changes arrive, the odds increase for Rush Warrior to find its place.
  • So, to conclude, what could we be looking forward to in next week’s balance patch?
    • Quest Mage, Quest Warlock, and Lifesteal Demon Hunter have restrictive win conditions and execute them too quickly. This will be looked at.
    • The explosiveness of Face Hunter, Handbuff Paladin, and Elemental Shaman will be looked at.
    • Cascading effects of balance changes, especially if they cause deletions of decks from the format, could lead to a deck such as Quest Shaman to blow up. There’s an incentive not to nerf some decks too hard.
    • The meta has a lot of potential to be very diverse and successful. It is already quite diverse, and if adjustments are made to address some of its issues, it could be a home run. But, making the perfect changes is a difficult job.

Class Analysis & Decklists

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

 


Data Reaper Report - Mage

Quest Mage started off the expansion in a blaze of glory, but things have settled down since and the field has kept it in check. The deck is very polarizing both in its playstyle and its effect on the meta, so it is very likely to be nerfed regardless of its win rate. We don’t believe that Incanter’s Flow is dodging the bullet this time.

When it comes to Quest Mage’s build, there aren’t groundbreaking adjustments. Players have experimented with cutting Apexis Blast for Auctioneers or Wand Thiefs. In the current environment on ladder, Apexis Blast is still a decent card worth running, though it’s not as powerful as it was in Spell Mage during Forged in the Barrens.

One addition we like is Hot Streak as the 30th card. A 0-mana spell carries value in quest progression, and it’s a nice way to close out a quest phase and start another. Ice Barriers are core. Devolving Missiles are overrated, even with Paladin looking strong and popular.

Data Reaper Report - Paladin

Handbuff Paladin has started off extremely well in Stormwind. The key to success in the archetype, and perhaps the entire class, is in its Battlemaster/Conviction finishing combo. You’re not required to consistently develop threats every turn in order to mount constant pressure on the opponent. It’s enough to stick two threats in order to set up burst damage that’s very hard to recover from, so be patient and focus on survival and avoid being outpaced to the point you’ve completely lost the board.

Needless to say, Battlemasters are completely overpowered in this deck and you should run two copies of the card without any question. Robes of Protection help you stick your threats against Mage and other spell-centric decks, and do it more effectively than Cult Neophyte. Early divine shield minions are important to snowball Prismatic Jewel Kit. Pack Mule helps maintain the size of your hand for buffs.

We’re not impressed with Cornelius Roame or Taelan Fordring. These cards just seem too slow for the current meta. Varian is more valuable as he offers an immediate swing on the board in addition to his card draw effect.

Quest Paladin doesn’t look too promising and hasn’t seen noteworthy developments that are superior to our pre-launch build. We’ve tweaked the list to add Stand Against Darkness (you want more payoffs) and take out one Pen Flinger (not that great in quest progression) and Cornelius Roame (too slow).

But this isn’t all that Paladin offers. A Secret Paladin coming from WuLing is exhibiting results that suggest it could be a serious competitor. Once again, this deck is built with one mindset: Get Battlemaster/Conviction to connect.

Data Reaper Report - Shaman

Elemental Shaman is another frontrunner of the early Stormwind meta. Much like during Barrens, it is split between the Doom variant and the Whack variant. The Doom variant is better against “OTK” decks that are more vulnerable to off-board burst damage. The Whack variant is better against more traditional Hearthstone decks. As such, the Whack variant is currently slightly superior, though it is meta-dependent and both builds are generally very effective.

For the Whack build, we’ve found that Auctionhouse Gavel isn’t quite the early game powerhouse it seemed to be. You’re pretty much looking for 3 cards in the opening hand: Wailing Vapor, Kindling Elemental and Granite Forgeborn. Everything else is nowhere near that power level, so we’d rather have the value 2-drop that scales better in the late game (Menacing Nimbus).

For the Doom build, success is apparent in a similar concept to the one we’ve suggested during Barrens. Run Rockbiter and Stormstrike as your only spells. They’re tutored off Dungeoneer. Current lists even run Notetakers in order to maximize their damage. Tech cards such as Cult Neophyte and Far Watch Post are okay, though not necessary.

Quest Shaman also looks promising and seems to settle down as one of the strongest quest decks in the format. The best build seems to include all the cheap Overload cards you can run, since you’re often mana starved as you attempt to complete the quest. This includes Primordial Studies and Investment Opportunity which indirectly further your quest progression. Primal Dungeoneer does not consistently activate, but is still a worthwhile inclusion. Landslides aren’t great right now.

Evolve Shaman has not taken off. Tiny Toys is a terrifying inclusion and looks like an extremely powerful card in the archetype that may cause problems down the road. However, the archetype itself does not seem currently powerful, to the relief of a large section within the Hearthstone community.

Data Reaper Report - Warlock

Warlock has made a triumphant return to the meta, though the early expansion data is not going to reflect it as much as it could.

Initial builds of Quest Warlock were centered on Stealer of Souls with some draw package (Auctioneer or Hand of Gul’dan). Those builds look very weak and make up the large majority of Quest Warlocks on ladder, which is why its win rate is in Tier 4 territory.

However, NoHandsGamer has popularized a different build utilizing Soul Rend, Blood Shard Bristleback, and Barrens Scavenger. This variant is far stronger, and may have Tier 1 potential! The deck runs Flesh Giants alongside Battlegrounds Battlemaster, and this might be the most important package in the build. It gives Warlock the ability to finish games outside of the quest reward, and in fact, it more often wins in that manner. Goldshire Gnolls and Anetheron look strong and further push the deck into a “Handlock” direction (this tweak was popularized by Zyrios). Treat it as a Flesh Giants deck rather than a Demon Seed deck.

Zoo Warlock is already looking quite impressive and seems to have further room to grow. Much like in Quest Warlock, the archetype is infatuated with Stealer of Souls, but builds incorporating the card have looked underwhelming so far. Although we don’t want to write Stealer off this early, we have to go with the stronger variant of the archetype that we’ve identified so far.

The important thing to understand about Zoo Quest Warlock is its win condition. Though you can certainly play more aggressively, there’s merit to set yourself up for success in the mid-to-late game and take full advantage of the quest. Be greedy in your mulligan, don’t underestimate how quickly Flesh Giants can be discounted, and don’t settle for a turn 2 Hecklefang Hyena. Two Animated Broomsticks allow you to set up big Darkglare-fueled swings in the mid-game, while the post-quest damage coming from Knife Vendors is nuts. This deck is more similar in its playstyle to Darkglare Warlock in Wild than it is to the Standard Zoo Warlock you might remember.

Data Reaper Report - Hunter

It happened again. After the launch of yet another expansion, only Face Hunter looks like a viable and competitive option for the class. Perhaps, competitive is an understatement: Face Hunter looks like the best performing deck at higher levels of ladder by a significant margin. It is demolishing the early and unsettled field, which is littered by defensively weak decks that easily fall prey to Hunter’s relentless damage potential.

You almost need no new cards to successfully run Face Hunter on ladder. Only Aimed Shot is the worthwhile and very strong new addition. Felmaw is still too strong to omit from the deck, as this card has refused to back down on multiple occasions by now whenever players have attempted to cut it. It is looking slightly superior to Wriggling Horror at the 2-mana slot.

Quest Hunter is a dud. It exhibits very little chance of competing and players have largely abandoned it by now.

Data Reaper Report - Rogue

Quest Rogue is in a pretty decent position in the evolving meta. One surprising finding in the archetype is how playable SI:7 Infiltrators are. Every SI:7 card has an “invoke” effect attached it, so even though a 4 mana 5/4 is not a card you’re thrilled to draw, it can help you progress the quest and get to your win condition. Cards that don’t further your primary game plan have consistently looked underwhelming in this deck. Battlegrounds Battlemaster is one exception since it is very strong at leveraging your win condition once it’s online.

With that being said, there’s some flexibility to adjust to certain opponents. Cult Neophytes can help against combo spell-centric decks. Prize Plunderer can help against the faster minion decks. Neither one is great against every opponent. You can switch them into the slots occupied by the flex cards marked in yellow.

Garrote Rogue looks like a pretty bad deck. We don’t see a deck that’s mired by experimentation and there’s no build out there that solves the archetype’s alarming weaknesses. Not recommended.

Poison Rogue has done well early since it obliterates some of the popular OTK decks, but the success of aggressive decks in the format and the underwhelming performance of some of Poison Rogue’s prey does not bode well for its future. Considering its extremely polarizing matchup spread, it could completely collapse with any noticeable change in the meta.

Data Reaper Report - Druid

Quest Druid started the expansion very strong as an answer to Quest Mage and other “solitaire decks”. However, as minion combat quickly returned to the meta, it is seeing great struggles. The Paladin matchup in particular is a huge problem.

The best build does not greatly differ from what we’ve speculated before the expansion. A spell-heavy, Fungal Fortunes shell looks like the best approach. McBanterFace slightly adjusted the list to include Glowfly Swarm and Arbor Up. We’ve also found that Cenarion Ward costs 8-mana, which means it isn’t great in the current meta!

Anacondra Druid looks stronger in a Paladin meta, as this matchup isn’t quite as bad. This might be the best Druid deck going forward as a result. The build stayed mostly the same as it was during the end of Barrens, with the exception of Best in Shell. It’s a very good addition.

Taunt Druid initially fell flat on its face, but new developments suggest it may have a chance to be a competitive deck. We’re featuring a list that shows the most promise. Voracious Reader complements the vomiting nature of the archetype. You want many 2-drops to combo with Oracle of Elune and Razormane Battleguard. Raven and Squirrel are serviceable 1-drops at best and you should avoid settling for them in your mulligan. They do very little for you on turn 1. Look harder for Oracle and Battleguard. Razormane Battleguard is this deck’s Incanter’s Flow. You’re far more likely to win games dropping it on turn 2.

Big news for Celestial Druid! It is no longer the worst deck in the game, as multiple archetypes are miles ahead of it in that category. Being serious, based on our low sample estimate, it’s far more playable these days due to the prevalence of quest decks that do not appreciate a Celestial Alignment. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Lifesteal Demon Hunter has successfully incorporated Final Showdown into its build, to the point this deck doesn’t even run Skull of Gul’dan anymore. That is remarkable and something we completely underestimated before launch.

Regarding the build, there’s no Skull or Glide. Glide is still a bad card. Your ability to complete questline phases comes down to very cheap draw and a couple of tradeable cards. Tuskpiercer/Peddler is a cute little combo. Double Jump/Spectral Sight is another one to keep in mind. Sigil of Alacrity is great at setting up a completion of a phase. The most promising card we’ve only very recently found is Guild Trader. This card is incredible in the deck and is far superior to Ethereal Augmerchant since it helps you further quest progression and is guaranteed to get discounted by Kurtus thanks to its tradeable tag, offering you another +2 spell damage enabler. Make the switch, you’re going to feel it.

Deathrattle Demon Hunter is being ignored as it’s an old Barrens deck, but the deck performs very well in the early days of the expansion. We’re featuring a build that is very suitable for the current meta. Far Watch Post is mandatory. Cult Neophyte is helpful. N’Zoth is too slow, and you’re greatly encouraged to drop those Inquisitors down earlier with the help of Raging Felscreamers, which also corrupt your Felsteel Executioners. Basically, you’re looking to play faster and hit face earlier.

Data Reaper Report - Priest

Anduin is very angry. His dear Control Priest has been obliterated by the lethality and inevitability of the current meta. The archetype has no chance to compete with several late-game strategies that have emerged in Stormwind. Attrition simply does not work anymore. We do not recommend running the featured build for this archetype, though we’ve worked on ways to provide it with increased proactivity and pressure (Flesh Giant, Elekk Mount), and it’s not as bad as other builds we’ve run into.

Total darkness has proven to be Anduin’s revenge! Shadow Priest has found success through hyper-aggression, the likes of which we’ve never seen from this class throughout Hearthstone’s history. This deck plays Elven Archer. Elven Archer! And it sort of works (though probably not what you want to run in an optimized list). Shadow Priest might be the most aggressive deck in the format, killing opponents as quickly as Face Hunter.

The glue that keeps the deck together is Voidtouched Attendant. This card is actually insane and remarkably strong at all stages of the game. Shadow Priest seems to have solidified around 26 cards, and then there’s some debate regarding the other 4. We like Kul Tiran Chaplain for its snowballing capabilities with Attendant. Knife Vendor provides valuable reach once you’ve lost the board. We’re not impressed with Traveling Merchant or Dragonmaw Overseer. Psychic Conjurer could also be serviceable.

Data Reaper Report - Warrior

Another victim of the Stormwind meta, Quest Warrior has proven to be a dud as Juggernaut is an ineffective win condition against decks that can regularly kill you on turn 8. The Warrior class is often centered on leveraging incremental gains, and that doesn’t translate well against the current field. Control Warrior is obviously dead and Big Warrior isn’t fast enough to make an impact either.

The one exception that prevents the class from being completely dead is Rush Warrior. This deck is performing quite well but much like Deathrattle Demon Hunter, isn’t being played. Stormwind has a lot of shiny and exciting new options, which leave Rush Warrior behind. If you’re not looking for something glamorous, the featured list gets the job done. The only new cards are Harbor Scamp and Pack Mule, both of which are fantastic upgrades.


This meta has more than one Meta Breaker, and this section really can’t do it justice. There is so much to explore and further discoveries will surely be made. Things rise and fall on a daily basis. It feels like there are more options available to experiment with than the player base can even handle. This report provides many decklists that should accelerate the refinement process of many archetypes, allowing us to see their potential.

But if you want to kill everyone trying to make these discoveries, you know what deck does it best.

Face Hunter feels different now. No longer a strong deck that gets disrespected at top-level play, it has completely blown away the competition on week 1 of Stormwind and took the title of best ladder deck by a wide margin. And it did all of that with just one new card.

Special thanks to the Garrote Rogue players. This couldn’t happen without you.

Face Hunter


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Contributors

Here are all the people that participated in bringing you this edition of the vS Data Reaper Report:

EndofDayswwloscheesee-hunterspacemonkey-paladin TzachilookitzjoeSentenza