vS Data Reaper Report #312

January 9, 2025

Data Reaper Report Logo

Welcome to the 312th edition of the Data Reaper Report!

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!

Quick Links

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 768,000
Top 1K Legend 61,000
Legend (Excluding Top 1k) 169,000
Diamond 4 to 1 64,000
Diamond 10 to 5 93,000
Platinum 86,000
Bronze/Silver/Gold 295,000

Class/Archetype Distribution

Class Frequency

Class Frequency Discussion

Cycle Rogue has declined in play, especially at top legend, where its numbers have dropped below a 15% play rate. Weapon Rogue also seems to have taken a step back, which isn’t surprising as it’s reliant on a big population of Cycle Rogue to succeed. The deck that seems to be popping up this week is Shaffar Rogue. Mostly forgotten since the expansion’s launch, success from a few high legend individuals has prompted the player base to give this deck another run.

There’s a small decline in Rainbow Death Knight, but players are still very persistent with this deck. It’s remarkable that this is the most popular deck at top legend, despite its recent underwhelming performance level. Other Death Knight decks don’t see much play.

There’s a clear shift in Paladin. Lynessa Paladin has further declined this week, while Handbuff Paladin has shot up after its recent success. Handbuff Paladin is now the most popular deck at Diamond ranks, while at top legend, Lynessa and Handbuff are equally popular.

Station Druid has overtaken Dungar Druid, with players seemingly attracted to its grindy playstyle. Spell-Damage Druid maintains a modest presence at legend ranks.

A new archetype has appeared in the Priest class, with Pain Priest coming in and cannibalizing some of Zarimi Priest’s numbers. Pain Priest is yet another Ethereal Oracle burn deck. It is already a more popular deck than Zarimi at legend ranks.

Hunter remains fractured into many different decks at low play rates. None of them look capable of breaking out and establishing a more influential role in the format. Some of them are attractive, but not strong. Others are strong, but not attractive.

The most dramatic development that’s only beginning to show up in this report is the re-emergence of Swarm Shaman, backed by a new menagerie build. This is the fastest rising deck in the format, one that is on pace to become the most popular deck at several rank brackets. We suspect it will easily dwarf the declining Asteroid Shaman by next week. This Swarm Shaman iteration catching fire so quickly suggests one thing: it has to be busted.

Players seem to have given up on Supernova Mage, but interestingly, there’s renewed interest in Elemental Mage at higher MMR’s.

Warrior and Demon Hunter look unchanged from last week. Warlock is in decline, because it’s unplayable.

Matchup Win Rates Header

Power Rankings Header

vS Meta Score

vS Power Rankings Discussion

Rogue

  • A remarkable turnaround in Shaffar Rogue’s performance has elevated it from a fringe performer into the best deck at top legend. Several factors have contributed to this massive win rate spike. First, some refinement has certainly helped, as the deck was previously stagnant with a low play rate and unoptimized builds. Second, meta trends over the past week, such as the rise in Station Druid (Shaffar Rogue is very good against Druid in general), have given Shaffar Rogue a more favorable field. Third, we suspect that Shaffar Rogue players were uniquely low engagement Hearthstone players, which might have hurt its performance. The new attention from dedicated top legend players has given it a big lift. Although the deck seems very binary, it’s not that easy to pilot.
  • Even though Cycle Rogue has declined in play and the narrative of it being the “best deck” has somewhat faded, it remains a Tier 1 performer across ladder.
  • Weapon Rogue’s decline in win rate comes down to the decline in Cycle Rogue and the rise of several harsh counters (Handbuff Paladin, Station Druid). It’s hard to predict which way the wind will blow for the deck. On one hand, things may continue to get worse if Swarm Shaman blows up, but the deck’s matchup against Shaffar Rogue is hilariously dominant (90/10). The only thing we can guarantee is that Weapon Rogue will continue to feel like a queue simulator deck.

Death Knight

  • Rainbow and Reno Death Knight linger in Tier 3. The good news is that Death Knight is decent against Swarm Shaman. The bad news? The Shaffar Rogue matchup is even worse than the Cycle Rogue one. Hard to see things getting better for the class, but its high play rate is very persistent regardless of how it performs.

Paladin

  • Handbuff Paladin looks very strong, but the current meta could be moving against it. It will not be happy to see Swarm Shaman spike in play, as this matchup remains difficult, as it was before the last set of balance changes. It is very likely that Swarm Shaman will eclipse it as the strongest ladder climber in the format. The other issue is that Shaffar Rogue seems to be a more difficult deck to handle compared to Cycle Rogue.
  • Lynessa Paladin has an unfavored matchup against Handbuff Paladin, Station Druid and Swarm Shaman. All three decks have risen in play, which is why Lynessa has fallen off Tier 1.

Druid

  • Station Druid has received a lot of hype over the last couple of weeks, but the good times for the deck could be ending very quickly. Swarm Shaman is a bad matchup, while Shaffar Rogue is a brutal one. All of Station Druid’s good matchups are declining. We wouldn’t be surprised to see a collapse next week.
  • Dungar Druid gets destroyed by Swarm Shaman, so it should be facing an increasingly hostile meta over the next week, one that is likely to bump it down to Tier 3.
  • The worsening field should hit Spell-Damage Druid too. No one is safe.

Priest

  • Pain Priest looks very solid. We’re not convinced it is better than Zarimi Priest overall, but we do understand why it has managed to gain more traction at legend ranks. Unlike Zarimi, it is strong against Rogue, thanks to its burn-based game plan. In contrast, it is significantly worse against Paladin, a class suited to negate burn. A fine choice for the Priest class if you want to beat Rogues.
  • Zarimi Priest would be very happy to see Shaffar Rogue replacing Cycle Rogue. This matchup is far more manageable. However, a return of Swarm Shaman is generally bad news for the deck.

Hunter

  • Every Hunter deck seems to have gotten worse this week. Though they can be very different from each other, one thing all Hunter decks can agree on is that they don’t want to see Swarm Shaman re-emerge. Pain Priest is also a new matchup that seems to give all of them trouble. We suspect worse times are ahead for the class.
  • Ironically, out of every Hunter deck in the format, it’s the one that sees the least amount of play that might be the best performer. Token Hunter is so unpopular that it doesn’t show in the table, but a new build is estimated to have Tier 1 potential.

Shaman

  • Swarm Shaman is indeed busted, again. As it stands, the deck is guaranteed to take over ladder and become the strongest performer at every rank bracket except top legend. It remains to be seen how popular it can become, but initial signs suggest that players are attracted to the freshness of its latest build. If you want to beat Shaman, you’ll have to play Rogue or Death Knight.
  • The decline of Lynessa Paladin and Cycle Rogue makes life for Asteroid Shaman at high MMR’s a bit more bearable, but not to an extent it’s attractive for top legend players. Meanwhile, the deck is getting worse at lower MMR’s due to Handbuff Paladin and Swarm Shaman.

Mage

  • Elemental Mage is seeing a bit of a revival at higher levels of play. The Shaffar Rogue matchup is a lot better than the Cycle Rogue one. It also prefers meeting Handbuff Paladin over Lynessa Paladin. The deck is looking quite strong across ladder, though it cannot beat Swarm Shaman.
  • Supernova Mage remains sucky and that shouldn’t change going forward.

Demon Hunter

  • We’re not optimistic about Attack Demon Hunter’s standing in the format. So far, it has benefitted from the rise in Druid, but Druid could be getting obliterated by Shaman over the next week, giving Demon Hunter less free wins. The shift from Cycle Rogue to Shaffar, is one that makes things less comfortable too.

Warrior

  • It’s hard to say where Warrior goes from here. Swarm Shaman is not a bad matchup for defensive Warrior decks, but Shaffar is a problem.

Warlock

  • No matter what, Warlock will continue to suck. Of that, we’re confident.

Class Analysis & Decklists

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

 

Data Reaper Report - Rogue

Shaffar Rogue has gained serious traction, for no special reason besides the success of a couple of streamers. The archetype has almost exclusively been running Southsea Deckhands, which we’re still not convinced are necessary in the current format, but they don’t seem to be hurting the deck if it’s doing this well.

We’ve dropped ‘Oh, Manager!’ from Weapon Rogue, replacing it with Tar Slick, which seems okay even without Fan of Knives.

Cult Neophyte has become very popular in Cycle Rogue as the 30th card, with some even running two copies. It’s not bad.

Scarab Keychain is overtaking Miracle Salesman in Rainbow Death Knight, while a second Mind Control Tech is a viable option for the 30th card. For some reason, Yogg-Saron is barely seeing any play in the archetype, so we can’t even tell how good it is. Marin remains bad.

We’ve tweaked Plague Death Knight to be even better against Rogue, but the deck is still bad in most other matchups.

Data Reaper Report - Paladin

Cult Neophyte is all the craze in the current format. Lynessa Paladin can fit it in, though we’re not convinced it’s a better card than Resistance Aura against Rogue. Aura has simply been ignored. We strongly dislike Greedy Partner in this archetype. The card is never good when your deck has 8 total 2-drops or less yet keeps seeing play in such builds.

Turns out that Bob is a good card in Handbuff Paladin. Neophyte can also fit in here, though Speaker Stomper is horrendous bait.

Libram Paladin can run two copies of Tigress Plushy, as well as Amitus (good against Rogue).

Data Reaper Report - Druid

The second copy of Forbidden Fruit is probably better than the second copy of Lifebinder’s Gift in Dungar Druid. Not much else is going on in the class, other than the format becoming more hostile to it.

Data Reaper Report - Priest

A new Pain Priest has emerged and looks competitively viable. This is a typical Oracle burn deck, which gets cute with Holy Springwater and Shadowtouched Kvaldir.

It’s another week in which we’ve evaluated every card choice in Zarimi Priest and haven’t seen a way to upgrade our established build. Some players cut Tea and Hot Coals, but it hasn’t made the deck better this week. We suspect it will make the deck worse over the coming week, should Swarm Shaman blow up.

Data Reaper Report - Hunter

Discover Hunter’s best build has long been figured out. The question is whether we run Mind Control Tech or Eredar Brute inside ETC. For something like Station Druid, you want MCT. Against aggressive decks, Brute.

Aggro-Discover Hunter can fit in Cult Neophytes. Grunter Hunter has started to cut Punch Card so it can fit in Sneaky Snakes with Catch of the Day.

A new build of Token Hunter looks extremely powerful, incorporating Extraterrestrial Egg and Terrible Chef with Yelling Yodeler.

Data Reaper Report - Shaman

Swarm Shaman is back and looks extremely powerful, behind a menagerie build centered on Party Animal. The featured build is very close to common ladder builds. A single Drone Deconstructor is used to fish out Zilliax with Trusty Companion. Fire Fly and Scarab Keychain serve similar roles in tutoring important cards with the buff. Greedy Partner continues to be overrated and is better off being cut.

Data Reaper Report - Mage

Turns out the Tsunami build was the superior approach in Supernova Mage. Players simply didn’t give it a chance, but it has gained some traction this week and outperforms other iterations.

Elemental Mage is figuring out ways to be better against Rogue. Incindius and Sleet Skater replace Azerite Giants in the featured build.

Sheriff Barrelbrim has been played in Attack Demon Hunter, but we didn’t like it last week. It looks better this week, since single target removal has become more valuable.

Data Reaper Report - Warrior

Control Warrior wants to infinite chain Fizzle. The secondary win condition is less important, so players have started shoving those cards inside ETC, picking whatever fits the matchup.

Data Reaper Report - Warlock

Warlock is dead.



Swarm Shaman is back with a vengeance. Expect it to become your biggest roadblock on the climb to legend, or the easiest way to get there.

Shaffar Rogue, a deck that seemed to have stagnated due to its binary playstyle, has been given another chance and took it. We’ll have to see how much more traction it can get, because its play rate is clearly limited by non-competitive factors.

Preparing our weekly article requires a significant amount of time and effort from many individuals. We would like to wholeheartedly thank our current Patreons, whose generous donations help us fund computing and server costs.

vS Gold is our membership plan aimed to support our efforts towards improving our content and data analysis while receiving some bonuses and extra features.

Tier 3+ Patrons

Special thanks to Leo, Jed M, Drew M, Alan J, Zolstar, Sean H, Steve F, Andrew N, Alonso P, Je-ho, William H, Alex S, PeejTreon, Josh G, Amir, amenbrotep, Karhu, Christopher N, Lime, Kaushal, Joshua B, Jeff C, Scott L, Mark P, The Big Dawg, nburst, Jess M, Peter, Bob L, Charlah R, Chocobo, Chad K, Alex W, Ashton F, Swift, Logan, Fisherington, WorldEight, Jacob M,  Timothy M, Darren J, Wyatt P, Michael N, Noah E, Nezoomer, Dooshenbarf, mikey, Dooshenbarf, Michael S, BraveSurRobin, Clint D, Neil R, Keith W, Michael D, Hisham M, PapaPloKoon, Scott D, Howie, bruh, Jwaf, Nick M, Ethan S, lepton, NEBMAN27, Josh, Donghoon, and supakoopatroopa for supporting us this month.

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

Contributors

EndofDaysTzachilookitzjoe

1 Comment

  1. Hey guys, I just want to let you know about a Warrior deck I have built and have been having success with. It’s an aggro Draenei Warrior deck. I have a 63% win rate with it this season (92-55) and have just gotten into Legend with it. I really feel like you guys ought to take a look at it and potentially include it as a meta breaker. It really is quite strong, and it would give Warrior some hope. A link to the deck list on Hearthstone Top Decks is below:

    https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/draenei-warrior-5/

Comments are closed.