https://www.vicioussyndicate.com/vs-data-reaper-report-136/
While things are settling in terms of card choices within archetypes, there are a couple of changes that are interesting to note in the macro meta. The biggest one is the rise of Cyclone Mage, which has exploded at higher levels of play. At legend, its popularity has risen by nearly 50% (compared to two weeks ago) and it is now more popular than every single class.
Hunter’s in decline, and this is particularly drastic at legend, where Bomb Hunter numbers have fallen hard. Bomb Hunter has been very successful on ladder, it’s nearly non-existent at high-profile tournaments.
Warrior, Rogue, and Shaman have mostly stayed put. There’s a small nudge from Bomb Warrior to Control Warrior, and Shark Rogue’s popularity has increased outside of legend. Other than that, archetype composition in these three classes is very stable.
The bottom 4 classes are in development hell. Paladin and Druid are lucky to have one deck. Warlock and Priest, not so much. Saviors of Uldum could not come too soon for these classes, and that has been Rise of Shadows’ biggest problem: too many classes “feel” irrelevant.
MAGE
Mana Cyclone and Conjurer’s Calling found each other, in a “Miracle Mage” deck that ran the spell-centric shell, but topped it off with 4 giants to act as CC targets. Cyclone Mage was born and jumped out of its Tier 5 status and turned into a serious contender that still had trouble matching up well enough against Rogues and Warriors.
Then, two golden patches came for Mage. The nerf patch slowed down Rogue, making it more difficult for the class to rush down Mage before it was able to find its swing turns. The buff patch gave Mage its final piece of the puzzle, a 5 mana Luna’s Pocket Galaxy which helped its Warrior matchups. Mage was now able to successfully contend with two of the most popular classes in the format, and enter the elite company. It should stay there until August 6th.
WARRIOR
Warrior has shaped the Rise of Shadows meta like no other class because its defensive tools were so punishing to any aggressive decks that relied on initiative. At no point was Warrior “oppressive”, but it was certainly meta defining, forcing decks to make adjustments to this matchup, or falter. Warrior was the only class holding back Rogue from terrorizing ladder before the balance changes. After the balance changes, Warrior was arguably even stronger since Rogue’s popularity remained high, and Aggro Shaman emerged.
ROGUE
With balance changes hitting Preparation, Raiding Party and EVIL Miscreant, Rogue’s game plan was slowed down and the class moved towards a more resource-focused game plan. Shark Rogue became the most popular deck within the class, but the success it enjoyed in tournaments did not translate into resounding success on ladder.
Even so, Rogue is clearly one of the most well-rounded classes in the game, and it’s hard to envision a world in which it doesn’t find a big role to play in Saviors of Uldum. After all, it still has some of the best cards in the format. Heistbaron Togwaggle and EVIL Miscreant are nuts. Myra’s Unstable Element is nuts. Hooktusk is nuts. Vendetta is nuts. Even Pogo Hopper, at its new mana cost after the buff, could break out with additional support.
HUNTER
Bomb Hunter remains one of the most meta defining decks on ladder, and an opponent that could never be ignored. Midrange Hunter struggles under the weight of Raiding Party Rogue. The Rise of the Mech patch brought about changes that impeded Midrange Hunter’s rise to the top, and the archetype was limited to a more modest role. Going forward, Zul’jin remains one of the strongest late game tools in the format, and thanks to this hero card, Secret Hunter has also quietly been a successful performer on ladder throughout Rise of Shadows.
SHAMAN
Murloc Shaman was the best deck the class had to offer with the introduction of Underbelly Angler, an extremely strong minion that enabled reloading of the board without expending resources. Of all the cards that were given to the class, this one had the biggest impact.
Control Shaman couldn’t contend with Warrior’s dominance, and Big Shaman was a promising deck that fell just a bit short of remaining impactful for long. The Thunderhead buff changed things for a class that was going stale. Already a powerful card before, a 3/6 Thunderhead was now straight-up absurd, pushing an Aggro Overload Shaman to the forefront. Aggro Shaman’s matchup spread has proven to be extremely strong, but Warrior’s dominance of the field kept it from taking over. Indeed, should Warrior ever weaken in Saviors of Uldum, and other defensive decks do not rise to stand up to Thunderhead, watch out for Aggro Shaman to break out. It’s a ticking meta bomb.
PALADIN
But Paladin failed to deliver on its pre-expansion promise. Secret Paladin ended up being a massive dud. With the loss of Divine Favor, the deck ran out of gas too often and couldn’t close games reliably. Holy-Wrath Paladin couldn’t sustain a strong enough role in the meta, and couldn’t deal with Warrior whatsoever. Other experiments such as Dragon Paladin or Big Paladin died as quickly as they were born.
Mech Paladin has been the only real sign of life for the class, but has provided a very polarizing matchup experience for its players, dominating Warriors while getting obliterated by Mages and Shamans. The change of Crystology to 1-mana re-invigorated interest in the deck for a while, and the card will be particularly important to follow in the future. Crystology is one of the strongest cards in Standard format and has the potential to be meta breaking, so watch out for impactful 1-attack minions in the Saviors of Uldum set.
DRUID
Boring. That’s the best way to describe Druid in Rise of Shadows. It wasn’t the worst class, having a viable option for ladder throughout the entire expansion. But, it was extremely one-dimensional. Druid paid for its Ultimate Infestation/Spreading Plague sins by losing Wild Growth and Nourish. Now, it needs extensive, year-to-year support through expansion cards in order to build a competitive deck outside of vomiting minions and casting Savage Roar. It will be interesting to see what Druid gets in the Saviors of Uldum set. It needs one of two things at the very least: 1. Strong ramp cards to reach their currently available win conditions faster. 2. Stronger, cheaper win conditions or power spikes to compensate for their slower early game. If Druid fails to acquire either one of those, Savage Roar decks will continue to be the only thing you’ll see from the class.
PRIEST
Priest in Rise of Shadows will be remembered as one of the saddest classes in Hearthstone’s history. This situation reminded us again how bad its classic set is, and how powerful expansion cards need to be for the class to get out of the dumpster. Priest lacked an identity and any sense of direction. It had no meaningful win conditions. It got slightly buffed with the change to Extra Arms, only to see its classic set become even weaker after losing Mind Blast. There was also that one week when Miracle Nomi Priest looked like a real deck, before collapsing in spectacular fashion.
WARLOCK
After losing its Year of the Mammoth cards, including the Kobolds & Catabombs set (arguably the most overpowered class set that has ever existed), Warlock has received in this expansion one of the weaker sets we can remember. Without any meaningful win conditions outside of gimmicks such as Plot Twist, Warlock was doomed to fail or fall back to Zoo Warlock. If you’re a Warlock fan, keep your eyes on Warlock’s sustainability options in the Saviors of Uldum set.
![:slight_smile:](https://dacy5cilkxabf.cloudfront.net/en/hearthstone/images/emoji/twitter/slight_smile.png?v=6" ":slight_smile:")
