Meta Check is a new weekly series that we’re exploring. We share what decks Team HSP is currently and the meta that we each were up against. Check out the first episode here.
Team HSPÂ constantly strive for Top 100 Finishes each season (Lucky and Koroneko both made Top 100 in the June Season) and we’d like to share the knowledge and the decks that we use during our climb with you.
It’s now the middle of July and Team HSP are bouncing up and down Legend Top 50’s, trying out different decks and polishing existing meta decks.
Be sure to check out our Monthly Meta Deck section to see what decks are being played and the guides for it
Hoarth
We’re now at the half way through the season. Did you hit Legend? What were the deck lists you used or currently using?
I hit Legend last week when we were releasing the first meta check using a variety of different decks, but finished the climb off with Control Warlock.
Describe the meta that you faced during your climb and games this past week.
Currently I’m testing a variety of brews and decks in the lower ranks of Legend. I’ve been playing a lot of variations of Shaman, Priest, Druid, and Handlock. For the most part, the legend ladder is currently full of Hunter – lots and lots of Hunter. After that is Warlock primarily being composed of control oriented lists such as Handlock, and Warrior being almost exclusively Patron.
What’s the highest Rank you’ve achieved and with what deck?
I hit Legend Rank 17 earlier this week while playing some Patron Warrior.
Recommendations for those trying to hit Legend?
Patron is still king, its just insanely good. Waffster hit Rank 1 with it on the 15th. Make sure when your playing, your paying attention. Focus is probably the thing I struggle with most on ladder. Its tough to be playing your best for extended amounts of time, and if you don’t feel like you are, take a break.
Closing
Definitely spend some time enjoying the game, and not focus too much on doing well, rather than doing your best. We’re at a point in the season where pretty much however your doing now will have little impact on your end of season results. If your grinding to a new or higher rank, its only going to get easier as better players move up the ladder. If your already in Legend, your rank right now probably wont affect your rank at the end of the season.
Kabi
We’re now at the half way through the season. Did you hit Legend? What were the deck lists you used or currently using?
I have hit Legend before the 10th, I have used Patron all season. This is the deck list I’ve been using, credit to Xixo.
Describe the meta that you faced during your climb and games this past week.
I have been consistently at the top 50 of the ladder, and recovering at any drop of ranking. Scores for this month.
What’s the highest Rank you’ve achieved and with what deck?
I have gotten to Legend Rank 2 with Patron. I would recommend, based on the most popular decks right now:
- Patron Warrior: Strong vs almost all decks
- Aggro Hunter: Â Good vs Zoo Warlock, Handlock, Midrange Hunter
- Oil Rogue: Good vs Zoo Warlock, Midrange Hunter, Patron, Handlock
Closing
Not really, the meta is stale at the moment, not a lot of innovation, just polishing and refinement of decks.
Keyo
We’re now at the half way through the season. Did you hit Legend? What were the deck lists you used or currently using?
Unfortunately I had some real life issues going on, so I have not hit legend yet. But I have been climbing with both Demon Warlock and Hybrid Mage, Demon/Midrange Warlock is super strong in the current meta, and I’ve been testing Hyrbid Mage (to a decent amount of success) when I’m not playing Voidcallers and Mal’ganis.
Describe the meta that you faced during your climb and games this past week.
The meta has had a general shift to Midrange and Control decks (and Patron Warriors) since BRM and that trend continued, I saw a huge resurgence in Druids this week, which is part of the reason I’ve been playing Zoo so much, it is interesting to note that many of these druid players have been running both Ancient of Wars and Combo.
Recommendations for those trying to hit Legend?
Check out the Hybrid Mage list that I posted! I’m currently writing an article going more in depth on the archetype.
Lucky
We’re now at the half way through the season. Did you hit Legend? What were the deck lists you used or currently using?
Yes, I hit legend on both EU and NA servers. Last few days I’ve been practicing Patron Warrior on EU, using this decklist. I was also playing this small variation of Control Warlock.
Describe the meta that you faced during your climb and games this past week.
This is what I met on EU ladder from Rank 5 and on, and some Legend games:
44 Warlocks – splitted between Handlock and Demonzoo, Malygos Warlock seems to be gradually falling in popularity
30 Warriors – about 60% Patron, 40% Control
28 Hunters – Midrange mostly
22 Druids, 15 Mages – Tempo almost all
12 Paladins, 8 Priests, 7 Roguse, 6 Shamans
My main goal was practicing Patron Warrior, but I think Midrange Hunter could’ve be great in this environment. Check out this Midrange Hunter decklist.
What’s the highest Rank you’ve achieved and with what deck?
I think the peak this week has been Legend Rank 5Â on NA, using the Control Warlock deck referenced earlier.
Recommendations for those trying to hit Legend?
My modest piece of advise would be – choose one strong deck and stick with it. In that way you stay more focused and play better. I see many people switching decks all the time because they meet two unfavoured matchups (unavoidable variance) or they just lose two games. I consider it a mistake if you either want to climb the ladder or improve your play.
Closing
Patron Warrior continues getting more and more hate (Ooze/Harrison are in most decks) but it still remains the best deck by far. Looking forward to July 22nd to see how Blizzard intend to balance it.
Sixis
We’re now at the half way through the season. Did you hit Legend? What were the deck lists you used or currently using?
I’m currently using:
- Patron Warrior
- Midrange Hunter
- Control Warlock
Basically the decklists I’ll be playing in DreamHack Valencia. I hit Legend Rank 1 last Sunday. Currently Top 20 NA. I faced mostly Warriors, Druids, Warlocks, Hunters and Mages (in that order probably). Warlocks are mostly Zoo and the Mages are mainly Freeze. If I had to make a recommendation I’d say any of the decks I use are fine for the ladder. It’s like a big game of rock/paper/scissors:
- If the meta is full of Warlocks, play Hunter,
- if the meta is full of Warriors, play Warlock,
- if the meta is full of Hunters, play Patron.
Editor’s Note: Sixis is competing in DreamHack Valencia this weekend and was busy with practices, hence the short summary!
Koroneko
We’re now at the half way through the season. Did you hit Legend? What were the deck lists you used or currently using?
NA is Legend now. I’ve been using Ramp Druid with great success! Check out my decklist here. Current score is 41-16!
Describe the meta that you faced during your climb and games this past week.
For some reason, there’s a huge surge of Zoo Warlocks on both NA and EU.
What’s the highest Rank you’ve achieved and with what deck?
Highest Rank achieved was Legend Rank #11.
Recommendations for those trying to hit Legend?
My Ramp Druid! Great against Hunters and Warriors – don’t even need Harrison Jones!
Stonekeep
We’re now at the half way through the season. Did you hit Legend? What were the deck lists you used or currently using?
Yes, I’ve just recently hit the Legend on EU. My grind was fairly short, but I didn’t have much time to play. In lower ranks (around R15), I was testing the Aggro Paladin and it worked quite well, but I’ve stumbled upon a lot of counters and decided to change the deck after few games. From R13 to R4 I’ve played the mix of Face Hunter, DemonZoo Warlock and Midrange Druid depending on the opponents I’ve faced. Face Hunter was especially good there, my final score was 31-6. My scores with Midrange Druid and Warlock were actually pretty bad because of a lot of Patrons on the ladder, that’s why I’ve decided that Face Hunter will be the fastest way to climb. Then, on rank 4 I’ve started encountering many Control Warriors and decided to switch to Midrange Hunter (it has much better matchup against CW than Face Hunter) and had a pretty smooth ride to Legend with 27-7 score.
Face Hunter (Decklist)
Midrange Warlock (Decklist)
Midrange Druid (Decklist)
Midrange Hunter (Decklist)
Describe the meta that you faced during your climb and games this past week.
It’s rank ~500 on Legend. When it comes to the decks I’ve faced, Warrior is still very popular. During my climb, Warrior was the most popular class. 66% of my opponents played Patron, the rest Control. The second most popular class was Hunter with about 70% playing Face and rest of them Midrange. Third was Mage (55% Freeze, 30% Tempo, 15% Mech), followed by Warlock (60% Zoo, 30% Handlock, 10% Malygos Warlock) and Paladin (60% Aggro, 40% Midrange). At the end of the stake, there were Priest (all Control), Shaman (50/50 Mech and Control) and Rogue (Oil). It’s really interesting that I met more Shamans and Priests than Rogues, but I guess it’s just variance.
What’s the highest Rank you’ve achieved and with what deck?
I have barely played in the Legend yet and I’m currently around L500.`
Recommendations for those trying to hit Legend?
I think that the best idea is sticking to your best deck. Meta in Legend is really varied and you can’t predict exactly what are you gonna play against. What really matters is consistency. My advice is to pick a deck that is good in curent meta and that you’re best with and stick to it. This way you make much less mistakes compared to when you juggle the decks around and play a little of everything.
When it comes to my recommendations, Patron Warrior is still very strong and probably #1 deck to climb the ladder. Besides Patron – Midrange Hunter, Control Warrior and Warlock (pretty much every list – DemonZoo, Handlock, Malygos) are very strong contenders. Oil Rogue is also a good, consistent deck if you face a lot of Patron Warriors.
Closing
If you struggle with getting the Legend – don’t give up! My best advice is to take breaks. I’m not a good ladder player because I get tilted after a hour or two of grinding without much progress. I also get tilted after losing streaks. When I get angry at my RNG or loses I’m making a lot of mistakes and when I realize that I’m making them, I get even more angry. If I continue to play then, I’m just gonna fall even further. There are actually a lot of players like that and the most important thing is to realize that. If you are one of those players, don’t play too much. Play in many shorter sessions. Taking breaks every couple of games boosted my winrate from rank 5 to Legend by about 10%, which is pretty huge considering that I didn’t do anything else.
When it comes to the decks to watch, it’s definitely the new Control Warlock. It’s not popular just yet, but can get a lot of recognition soon. I’ve yet to test it myself, but I’m gonna do it soon!
My advice is that knowledge is power. Knowing what opponents you face most might boost your win rate a lot for example by adding tech cards into your decks. Right now, it’s a great idea to add Ooze / Harrison to almost any deck, because most of the strongest decks on the ladder are weapon classes. Not only Patron Warrior, but Control Warrior, Midrange Hunter and Oil Rogue too.
I’m also experimenting with a fun version of Deathrattle Shaman right now, incorporating Ancestral Healing, Injured Blademaster and The Black Knight into the deck! If you’re interested, check our site next Thursday, we’re starting a new series based around building fun, non-meta decks – Let’s Brew.
Next Week
Next week will mark the beginning of the mad dash to the Top 100. Check back as Team HSP prepare our climb to finish Top 100 for the July Season!
