Welcome to the 314th 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 | 797,000 |
| Top 1K Legend | 74,000 |
| Legend (Excluding Top 1k) | 178,000 |
| Diamond 4 to 1 | 86,000 |
| Diamond 10 to 5 | 124,000 |
| Platinum | 102,000 |
| Bronze/Silver/Gold | 233,000 |
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
Although Terran Shaman did take a small hit in its play rate, it remains one of the most popular archetypes in the format. The Fizzle nerf mostly pushed players away from the slower, value-centric variant, into the faster variant. The faster variant is now far more popular across ladder, while experimentations with slower builds exist mostly at top legend at smaller numbers.
The balance changes did not seem to affect Zerg Death Knight. Its play rate has settled where it was already headed towards. The archetype has cleaned up its composition, with the Frost build becoming the most popular variant.
Enthusiasm for Protoss Rogue has spiked following the patch, with perception growing that the archetype is now competitive. Protoss Rogue has become a favored deck at legend ranks. Weapon Rogue’s population is relatively small.
The Hunter class has completely transformed, a natural development that wasn’t driven by balance changes. Grunter Hunter initially started to run Zerglings (on top of Spawning Pool) as additional buff targets that could become a threat at an earlier stage of the game. Then, players realized that Zerglings became massive so quickly that they decided to cut Warsong Grunt from the deck. Therefore, Grunter Hunter became Handbuff Hunter. Discover Hunter has also gone through changes that involve running Zerglings and Evolution Chamber.
Terran Warrior has grown in popularity, something that we expected to see happening because of the Fizzle nerf. The faster variant of Terran Shaman gets effectively countered by Warrior, so this was a natural response of the player base to Warrior’s ability to drain Shaman out of resources. In a game where both sides lose access to infinite value, Warrior benefits, as it makes Boomboss more powerful.
Many players bemoaned the absence of a Dungar nerf this patch, but they’ll be happy to hear that Dungar Druid seems to have naturally declined to a low play rate across ladder. Hero Power Druid is now the dominant strategy in the class, though it does seem to decline at higher levels of play.
Attempts to refine Protoss Priest continue. We’ve renamed Pain Priest to Zealot Priest, as the aggressive deck continued to drop its ‘pain’ elements, save for Brain Masseuse and Acupuncture.
Location Warlock has slightly grown in popularity, but the deck’s presence is still relatively modest compared to popular Starcraft decks in Shaman, Death Knight, Warrior and Rogue.
Protoss Mage seems to have been relegated to low MMR cope, as the archetype disappears at higher levels of play. Interest in old Elemental Mage is low.
Terran and Handbuff Paladin see a little bit of play, but the class is an afterthought. Demon Hunter has been almost completely abandoned.
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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
Shaman
- Terran Shaman remains the best deck in the game, which is not surprising considering the faster variant was untouched by balance changes. The one positive is that Shaman can get countered by Warrior and Warlock more reliably now that the Fizzle variant has dropped off. However, the faster variant was generally stronger into a wider variety of matchups, so Shaman’s overall performance level was not negatively affected.
- Still, we’re seeing signs that with some refinement, the slower variant of Terran Shaman does have competitive potential. We’ll wait another week to judge, but we’ll be surprised if the infinite aspect of the deck was the main factor holding it together.
Death Knight
- Zerg Death Knight was lingering in low Tier 3 before the patch hit, but has grown stronger after the patch, for two different reasons. The first is that the Frost build has taken over, improving the archetype’s aggregate performance. The second is the rise of Terran Warrior to counter Terran Shaman, giving Zerg DK more of its best matchup. We think the current dynamic makes it less likely that Death Knight falls off.
Rogue
- Protoss Rogue now looks okay, though it does seem to exhibit a play rate that’s significantly higher than its performance merits, suggesting that the archetype’s popularity stems from an attractive playstyle. It does have a decent matchup against Warrior and Death Knight but struggles against other top meta contenders. It is arguably boosted by the popularity of other (bad) Protoss decks, which it tends to farm.
- Weapon Rogue enjoys the surge of Protoss Rogue, as it is easier prey than even Zerg DK. The deck is elite but isn’t popular simply because it’s polarizing and unattractive.
Hunter
- Handbuff Hunter looks very strong, with a significant scope for further improvement through refinement. It looks like a better overall deck compared to Grunter Hunter, which is disappearing for a good reason. However, Handbuff Hunter does lose to Terran Shaman, which limits its ceiling in a Shaman dominated format.
- Discover Hunter is a deck to watch out for. Its refinement phase is ongoing and looks very productive. Several key matchups seem to be improving over time. Its win rate is on an upwards trajectory, especially at higher levels of play. We wouldn’t be surprised if it proved to be superior to Handbuff Hunter once the dust settled.
Warrior
- Terran Warrior may have a better time facing Shamans, but Zerg DK remains a difficult counter that’s simply too popular to allow Warrior a positive win rate, even though the rest of its matchup spread is very strong. The popularity of Protoss Rogue is also a bit uncomfortable.
Druid
- Dungar Druid is experiencing a collapse. Its win rate is freefalling and may hit Tier 4 at top legend by next week. The culprit is a transformed Hunter class. Handbuff Hunter completely destroys the deck, while Discover Hunter is becoming increasingly aggressive.
- Hero Power Druid seems very strong on the climb to legend, but things are souring at top legend, where it’s expected to fall into Tier 3 (at least). The difficult Terran Shaman matchup, as well as the development of Discover Hunter, may completely push it out.
Priest
- Protoss Priest appears to be the same trash deck we saw before the buff to Void Ray. However, we’ve identified one build that may have competitive potential and lift the archetype into Tier 3 territory, if it takes over.
- Zealot Priest looks strong, though slightly dips at higher levels of play. The Shaman matchup is a very big problem for this deck.
Warlock
- Location Warlock looks very good. It’s the second strongest counter to Terran Shaman, while the rest of its matchup spread is very balanced. Weapon Rogue and Dungar Druid are not gaining traction, which leaves Zerg DK as the popular matchup where the Warlock is slightly unfavored. If you’re looking to counter Shaman, while maintaining decent matchups into the rest of the field, this is a better choice compared to Terran Warrior.
Mage
- Protoss Mage remains terrible, and we see little hope for it going forward. Elemental Mage is not terrible, but it’s not a good deck either. The Shaman matchup is enough to make you want to delete the deck and never look back.
Paladin & Demon Hunter
- Do not bother.
Class Analysis & Decklists
Death Knight | Demon Hunter | Druid | Hunter | Mage | Paladin | Priest | Rogue | Shaman | Warlock | Warrior
The faster variant of Terran Shaman was unaffected by the balance changes. We recommend running the same 30 cards. This deck offers the easiest ladder climb out there, at every level of play.
The slower variant was affected by the loss of infinite Fizzle, but the deck is beginning to creep up again at higher levels of play and exhibit a competitive performance level. We suspect Pop-Up Book is a trap. Kil’jaeden inside ETC helps against Warrior.
Swarm Shaman doesn’t see much play, but we estimate it to be a Tier 1 deck, slightly worse than Terran Shaman. Missile Pod is good enough in this deck without any further battlecruiser synergies.
Zerg Death Knight is unchanged. The Frost build is drastically superior to any other option out there. The Rainbow build makes little sense considering how low Weapon Rogue’s play rate is.
Spacerock Collector looks like a promising card in Protoss Rogue, and we would like to see more data on it. The other 28 cards look relatively solidified. Dark Templar looks unnecessary in late game matchups. Running four Templars doesn’t help you beat Warrior more often, for example. The one matchup where Dark Templar looks good is Location Warlock, as it helps Rogue deal with Warlock’s threats. We would reconsider Dark Templar if Warlock’s play rate spiked this week.
We added Valeera’s Gift to Weapon Rogue. This card has been popular bait for a long time, but in this format, it looks playable.
Vicious Slitherspear might be a game changer in Handbuff Hunter, as it offers the archetype another avenue for pressure. The deck can afford to run a third minion in the deck, as Birdwatching still offers us a guaranteed Zergling. You just need to understand that Slitherspear is not a mulligan priority. You want to find a Zergling as soon as possible (Zergling, Spawning Pool, Birdwatching) and start buffing it (Reserved Spot is the best buff).
The featured build cuts some of the worst cards in the deck. Celestial Shot, Punch Card and Starshooter are all unimpressive. Titanforged Traps is good, as is Evolution Chamber.
Discover Hunter wants to be more aggressive after the loss of its infinite Fizzle game plan. Running Zerglings alongside Evolution Chamber helps us accomplish that. The featured build is very, very promising.
Terran Warrior doesn’t need to be as greedy in this format, since Shaman doesn’t have an infinite Fizzle late game. Inventor Boom has become less important, while Mind Control Tech is losing traction due to the decline of Dungar Druid. Needlerock Totem looks superior to Sleep Under the Stars in every way. Hostile Invader is very good against Terran Shaman, while Brawl is better against Zerg DK. Bladestorm is an option to deal with massive Zerglings from Handbuff Hunter, but the card is weak in most other matchups.
Dungar Druid is desperate for early game, which is why Cactus Construct is now so important. We’ve slightly tweaked Hero Power Druid, but the deck is mostly solidified.
Protoss Priest might not be a complete joke. The featured build shows competitive promise thanks to its ability to fight for board in the early game. It turns out that Orbital Halo is always the answer.
The main issue of the archetype is the absence of card draw and reliance on finding Chrono Boost. Miracle Salesman, Gold Panner and Narain Soothfancy slightly alleviate this.
Zealot Priest has cut the Kvaldir/Springwater pairing. Zarimi Priest sees little play but looks competitive.
We’re happy with the Location Warlock build we settled on two weeks ago. This deck is very underrated considering how good it is against Shaman and the rest of the field.
Mage appears to have the worst Protoss deck following some developments in Rogue and Priest. Its only competitive option is the stagnant Elemental Mage.
Paladin is competitively irrelevant.
Illidan is cooked.
Location Warlock seems to provide a good answer to the format. While we do not expect it to become the best deck, it’s a nice counter to Shaman that doesn’t roll over to anything else out there, which makes for a balanced experience. As long as players are disinterested in Weapon Rogue and Dungar Druid, Location Warlock is strong.
The deck to watch out for this week is Discover Hunter. Handbuff Hunter may currently appear to be stronger and has made more noise thanks to its explosive Zergling turns, but we’re seeing some signs in the data that suggest that Discover Hunter, with its more aggressive Zerg approach, could become an elite meta contender.
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Contributors
