Welcome to the 227th edition of the Data Reaper Report! This is the final report for Fractured in Alterac Valley.
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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 | 200,000 |
| Top 1K Legend | 11,000 |
| Legend (Excluding Top 1k) | 33,000 |
| Diamond 4 to 1 | 30,000 |
| Diamond 10 to 5 | 37,000 |
| Platinum | 28,000 |
| Bronze/Silver/Gold | 61,000 |
Class/Archetype Distribution
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Class Frequency
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Class Frequency Discussion
Not much else can be said about the current meta. It hasn’t significantly changed since the launch of Onyxia’s Lair, with an occasional new appearance from a cute new deck that ended up not picking up much traction because it wasn’t that good or that interesting. We’re still seeing these fringe decks appear. One week, it’s Amulet Mage. Another week, it’s Boar Priest. This week, it’s Big-Beast Hunter and Evolve Shaman, but the player base is unlikely to care in large numbers.
At the end of the day, the current meta is dictated by the high popularity of Ramp Druid, which is a deck people might be addicted to playing. After all, we’re very late in the expansion and our data collection, while not a reliable measure of engagement, has not declined at all despite normally slowing down a bit at this stage of an expansion. Wildheart Guff and Kazakusan are digital card game drugs, and while critics will bemoan their power level (for a good reason), there’s clearly something that was done right when designing these cards in terms of their appeal.
The popularity of Ramp Druid rewards players for piloting Trogg decks to counter it, or piloting Trogg-killing decks to counter the Trogg decks. This has birthed the current RPS meta, and since players generally underplay aggressive decks, these are the decks that end up performing best.
In less than two weeks, Voyage to the Sunken City will launch and rotation will occur. Every deck in the current format will either completely disappear or lose such important cards that it will have to massively adapt to survive. The game is going to feel entirely different, so if you enjoy some of the current decks in the meta, savor them while you can. And if you don’t, there’s not much time left to wait for a new format.
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vS Meta Score
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vS Power Rankings Discussion
- The small shift in the otherwise stable format was a further uptick in Beast Druid, which was felt by Ramp Druid players. The deck has now fallen to a sub 50%-win rate at top legend. This was always going to happen once players were more willing to play the Trogg decks, and now that Beast Druid has picked up so much steam, Ramp Druid is heavily punished for its inflated play rate.
- It is currently much more rewarding to counter the Trogg decks, by playing Shaman for example. Burn Shaman has been an incredibly consistent deck for the last month, while Control Warrior is licking its lips at rotation. Sure, it loses some important pieces, but in a world without Kazakusan Ramp Druid or high late game inevitability in general, and a format that could be more “board-based” (which appears to be Team 5’s current goal), a pile of removal topped out by Kazakusan is one of the most enticing directions one could theoretically take in April.
- As for some new stuff to do, there actually are some productive developments happening this late in the expansion. They’re simply hidden by the massive presence of the Druid class. Big-Beast Hunter has re-appeared with a new Pet Collector build that displays a pretty good win rate on ladder. An Evolve Shaman build running Drek’thar has dripped into ladder from the tournament scene and is exhibiting an estimated Tier 2 win rate, strictly fueled by its strong matchups into the overplayed Ramp Druid and Miracle Priest while struggling against aggressive decks. You can find these updated builds in this report, but we did skip on writing class sections this week since developments in other decks have completely stalled.
- That’s it from us on Alterac Valley. We’ll see you again soon.
Class Analysis & Decklists
Demon Hunter | Druid | Hunter | Mage | Paladin | Priest | Rogue | Shaman | Warlock | Warrior
- Demon Hunter Class Radar
- Fel Demon Hunter
- Quest Demon Hunter
- Deathrattle Demon Hunter
- Aggro Demon Hunter
“Poor, predictable Hearthstone players. Always take Ramp Druid.”
“Good ol’ Ramp Druid. Nothing beats that!”
D’oh…
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Tier 3+ Patrons
Special thanks to Leo G, Aaron B, Jed M, Drew M, Alan J, Zolstar, Sean H, Steve F, Andrew N, Alonso P, James Y, Je-ho, Stephen H, William H, 1RiceBowl1, Alex S, PeejTreon, Josh G, Matthew H, Bruno B, Amir, Matthew P, amenbrotep, Karhu, Fisherington, Christopher N, Eric F, Eric L, BraveLittleStove, Lime, Fireproofflame, Kaushal, David, Joshua B, Jeff C, Pi, Reharl, Scott L, Jeff P, Mark P, Keith C, The Big Dawg, nburst, Alex S, Jess M, Peter, Lepton, Bob L, Gary W, Philthy, Charlah R, Chocobo, Tim B, and Chad K for supporting us this month.
Contributors
Here are all the people that participated in bringing you this edition of the vS Data Reaper Report:
