Just over a week ago, the Hearthstone team released a big round of nerfs that targeted some of the most powerful cards in the game. Paladin, Rogue, and Warlock were the classes most impacted by these nerfs.
Changes were made to five cards that are played in standard. Spiteful Summoner, Call to Arms, and Possessed Lackey all saw an increase of one to their mana cost. Dark Pact got a reduction in healing from eight to four, and The Caverns Below has been changed so that when you complete the quest your minions become 4/4s not 5/5s.
Spiteful Druid, Control Warlock, Quest Rogue, and Even Paladin all saw reductions in win rate and their popularity. These were the top decks in the before the nerfs and their absence from the top created a void that new decks have filled. Both old and new decks are seeing more play due to the change up in the meta.
On the Rise
Token Druid
Token Druid was a deck that some Hearthstone players theorized may become popular with the release of The Witchwood due to the tools it was getting in the expansion. That deck has now come to the top because of its ability to rapidly generate minions on board and there is a lack of large board control at the top of this current meta. Odd Paladin follows in a similar vein as Token Druid because that deck is also focused on pumping out minion after minion and keeping your board full of threats.
Spell Hunter
Spell Hunter was a popular deck before the rise of Cube Warlock and Even Paladin. The reason it fell off was because it did not have many useful ways to deal with large minions on board and struggled as the game got later. Spell Hunter succeeds because it has many abilities to establish board control early on through the use of spells and weapons. Deathstalker Rexxar provides that mid-game control and long-term value with its Hero Power.
Even Shaman
Despite Even Paladin dropping off, even decks for other classes are seeing an increase in play. Even Shaman has emerged as that classes best deck while Even Warlock has taken over Cube and Control Warlock as the best and most popular for that class.
Falling
Cube Warlock
The nerfs to Possessed Lackey and Dark Pact hurt this deck and really slowed down it’s ability to reach its’ win condition of a big Bloodreaver Gul’dan board. The Dark Pact nerf also allowed the deck to take less damage because it could not heal up as quickly. These two nerfs effectively killed the deck in its’ current state. After so many months of dominance, Cube Warlock gets taken down.
Even Paladin
Call to Arms was an incredibly strong card even before the release of the latest expansion. The addition of Genn Greymane only increased its power and Even Paladin began its own reign of terror in Hearthstone. The one mana increase in cost completely ruined this deck because Call to Arms was no longer able to fit into an even deck.
Quest Rogue
Quest Rogue has been hit with nerfs twice in its short Hearthstone history showing just how strong this card can be. Though it eventually survived the first nerf, the second one may be the killer or the card may come back in a different meta. Changing the quest completion from 5/5 to 4/4 minions did not change how the deck is supposed to be played, it just reduced the power once you reach that point. The deck has seen a severe drop-off in play-rate and win-rate. The deck may come back once a new control oriented meta comes up, one that allowed this deck to flourish.
Published: May 31, 2018 07:41 am