vS Data Reaper Report #39

Welcome to the 39th edition of the Data Reaper Report!

This is our last shortened report before the balance changes hit early next week. At that point, we will reset all matchup data and go on a short break with the purpose of accumulating enough post-patch data to generate a reliable report. Our next report will likely be published in two weeks: March 9^th. You will be able to track the Meta in our live sheet earlier, though it will take us a few days to update our definitions algorithm according to the changes archetypes go through, since we need to gather a few days’ worth of post-patch data for clustering/card usage analysis. Be mindful of that. If you would like to help us with data gathering, and still have not signed up to share your data – we and the community will be thankful if you do.

Our Data Reaper Project, including the Data Reaper Live (Beta) has 2,300 active contributors. Without them, this project would not be possible, so we’d like to thank all of our contributors for their help.

Quick Links

Number of Games

Overall	69,000
Legend	4,000
Ranks 1-5	21,000
Ranks 6-10	21,000
Ranks 11-15	14,000

Class/Archetype Distribution

Class Frequency by Day

Class Frequency by Week

The Meta may feel stale, since most of the established archetypes are at the final phase of their development, but the game is actually going through quite a dramatic change with the introduction of Aggro Rogue. The archetype has exploded into the higher level scene and is very common at legend rank, where it’s as popular as Miracle Rogue. In addition to Aggro Rogue, we’re also seeing the appearance of another Rogue archetype, Water Rogue, which is essentially an Aggro Rogue deck shell with the Finja/Warleader/Bluegill package, and sometimes, a Curator package as well.

Speaking of Murlocs, players are trying to make the Finja package work in literally every class in the game. The most notable are the Rogue and Warrior versions, and although their numbers are too low for us to evaluate at this point, they seem to have potential with multiple players breaking into top 10 legend. If you’re curious about the experimentations, and would like to try them out, we’ve prepared a special Meta Breaker section at the bottom of this article discussing the subject. Mrglmrgl!

Note: legend win rates are currently applied to the legend table as well as the ranks 1-5 table. The rank 1-5 table is likely the best estimate of a deck’s power level at this time of the month.

Valeera is back, she’s angry and she’s sick of being pushed around and getting clocked in the face while waiting for a Miracle to happen. Aggro Rogue has surged in its performance against the field, in correlation with its more advanced refinement stage and higher play rates. It is arguably the 3^rd strongest deck in the game, and considering its rapid improvements on a daily basis, might be the 2^nd best deck only behind Aggro Shaman. The archetype is an example that even at a late stage of an expansion where the Meta appears to be solved; discoveries can still be found.

Ranks 1-5 is the most competitive and ruthless section of the Meta at this point in the month and its table perfectly illustrates the standings of each deck in the current Meta. Patches reigns supreme with three weapon classes fueled by aggressive playstyles to dominate the field. Kazakus is the biggest opposition to these aggressive decks due to its powerful comeback mechanics and recovery potential in tandem with Reno. The rest of the field is left quite further behind, but the upcoming change to Small-Time Buccaneer and Spirit Claws are sure to dramatically affect the balance of power. It hits the Meta tyrant in Aggro Shaman harder than anyone else, and it remains to be seen whether the deck can morph into an efficient alternative. The other Patches decks will also be weaker to an extent, which might provide space for previously suppressed strategies to surface. What deck will top this table in two weeks? Will it be the end of Shamanstone? Can Paladin and Hunter make a comeback? No one truly knows, and that will surely make things interesting.

Class Analysis & Decklists

Something very fishy is going on in the Meta. Finja, the Flying Star, has seen its play rates double over the past week. Players are becoming more aware of its potential as a massive swing card in the mid-game that can blow opponents off the board, and are trying to make this package work in every class.

The highest profile Finja success came from Fr0zen who has booked a ticket to the Hearthstone Winter Championship in the Bahamas with his Pirate Water Warrior deck. We’re also featuring a Dragon take on Water Warrior with which ZachO was performing very well at legend over the past few days. The class that seems to have the most ladder success though, is Rogue. Multiple players have hit top 10 legend with Water Rogue, which is a Murloc version of the very successful Aggro Rogue deck that has entered the Meta with guns blazing. Quatro hit #3 legend with his Curator version, while Trusted took the same deck to #1.

Some players, such as Apxvoid, have had success with a Tempo Mage build that utilizes this package. Zalae has embraced Finja in his brave attempts to hit legend with Hunter this month. The synergy with Dragons and Curator are driving people to add the package to Dragon Priest builds, with Zetalot’s take including Herald Volazj and his potential to do some crazy things if a Murloc board is established.

We are also featuring slightly older Finja decks that were experimented with before the recent Finja craze (Feno’s Druid, Kibler’s Shaman) as well as a relatively new take on Anyfin Paladin from Thijs. Even Zoo hasn’t been ignored, with Purple taking a Murloc infested Zoo deck to a tournament, though to be fair, Purple really plays Finja in everything.

How good are these decks? Some are legitimately strong, some less so, but they’re all pretty damn fun to play.

The Data Reaper Report will see you on the other side of the patch!

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.

Tier 3 Patrons

Special thanks to Leo G., Chungfr, Kognar, and Bill C. for supporting us for the month of February.

Contributors

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

Te4i says:

February 27, 2017 at 6:08 AM

That moment then you actually got Finja from the beginning of Gadgetzan and tested these types of deck a lot earlier but who cares.
- SIMMAN99 says:
  
  March 6, 2017 at 3:00 AM
  
  perhaps if u had reached a high legend rank people would care… but nobody cares about what’s happening on rank 18
Awkwardman says:

February 24, 2017 at 2:46 PM

From pirate meta to murloc meta? Finja is by far my favorite MSG legendary. I love this experimental fase.

Comments are closed.

A weekly Hearthstone Meta Report based on data from over 69,000 games.