Meta Check #7 – End of the August Season

Hey everyone, GalaxyBird here, with this week’s Meta Check!

Meta Check is our weekly series that we’re where we share what decks Team HSP is currently and the meta that we each were up against. Check out the first episode here.

Team HSP constantly strive for Top 100 Finishes each season and we’d like to share the knowledge and the decks that we use during our climb with you.

Now that the August Season is finished, Team HSP is focusing in on the road to Blizzcon, while still exploring new decks in the new expansion, The Grand Tournament (TGT). Check out the decklists Team HSP is playing as they prepare for Last Call Tournament for Blizzcon’s 2015 Hearthstone World Championship!

Be sure to check out our Monthly Meta Deck section to see what decks are being played and the guides for it.

Hoarth

1. How did the August season finish for you? How has your focus shifted with the completion of the August season?

   I finished Top 200 in the August season, around 150 to be more exact. The August season’s finish was brutal for me. I had dropped from the Top 50 while experimenting with deck ideas on TGT’s release. On the last day of the season, I spent around 10 hours grinding my rank up, 6 of which were in the Top 200. This season had to be one of the most difficult seasons. There was about an 8-9 game gap between 200-100 ( meaning that you had to win 8-9 in a row to break through) and the break even winrate (from what I experienced) was around 67%. My overall winrate for the last day was 69%, but i couldn’t string the consecutive wins in to break into the Top 100.

   My focus hasn’t really shifted at all with the conclusion of the season, its still the same priorities of tournaments complimented by ladder.

2. What three decks are you running the most right now? Why?

   Nothing specific, mostly trying my best to explore all the archetypes and matchups to figure out my Last Call Tournament lineup.

3. What was the last tournament you competed in? How did you do?

   I competed in the Open Qualifiers for the World Gaming Tournament which will have a live finals in the Maldives, I finished second and will be moving on to the next round of qualification.

4. What’s your biggest upcoming event?

   Blizzcon’s Last Call Tournament.

5. Now with over a week of time playing with TGT cards, what has still surprised you?

   Dr.6 aka Yung X-Mas tree aka NUNYA BIZZNESS aka Da RIddler aka Mysterious Challenger is broken.

Kabi

1. How did the August season finish for you? How has your focus shifted with the completion of the August season?

   I ended outside of Top 100, I got to Top 100 a few days before the end of the season, but was unable to get points this one.

2. What three decks are you running the most right now? Why?

   Zoo, Secret Paladin and Patron…. reason is that they are pretty solid decks, and consistent for the most part.

3. What was the last tournament you competed in? How did you do?

   Archon Open I lost on the first round, Tuesday Night Hype got to top8.

4. What’s your biggest upcoming event?

   Blizzcon Regionals

5. Now with over a week of time playing with TGT cards, what has still surprised you?

   Being able to make Secret Paladin viable was a surprise. Everything else so far is as expected.

   Ram Wrangler is a huge coinflip.

   Most inspire are weak outside the Murloc Knight.

   Joust is a bad mechanic which needs a crazy effect (like draw a card) or Nozordomu bug to make it worth it.

Lucky

1. How did the August season finish for you? How has your focus shifted with the completion of the August season?

   I finished Top 50 on EU. My focus remains unchanged, basically trying to improve as player every day.

2. What three decks are you running the most right now? Why?

   I’ve been testing many different classes last days, these are three decks that have worked quite well.

   Dragon Priest (decklist)

   Ramp Druid (decklist)

   Tempo Mage (decklist)

   The main goal was to find a third deck to complete a possible Warrior / Paladin lineup.

3. What was the last tournament you competed in? How did you do?

   There weren’t tournaments for me in the past few days, I was preparing the Last Call tournament and looking for August Season points.

4. What’s your biggest upcoming event?

   Last Call Tournament, as soon as tomorrow.

5. Now with over a week of time playing with TGT cards, what has still surprised you?

   Secret Paladin and Tempo Mage are working for me better than expected. Mysterious Challenger is my TGT winner for now.

Sixis

1. How did the August season finish for you? How has your focus shifted with the completion of the August season?

   I made Top 20 on the EU server. Really exciting finish for me didnt even play the last day :).Well now all my focus is on the Last Call Tournament happening the 5th. The goal is qualifying for the regional qualifier and represent HSP there.

2. What three decks are you running the most right now? Why?

   Well we have the the paladin list i used to get Top20, and then a Midrange Hunter and a Midrange Druid:

   Secret Paladin (decklist)

   Midrange hunter (decklist) 

   Midrange Druid (decklist) 

   I would really recommend to use that Paladin list. (It is the strongest deck right now imo.)

3. What was the last tournament you competed in? How did you do?

   I didn’t compete in any tournament since the season was finishing and i wanted my points.

4. What’s your biggest upcoming event?

   Last Call Qualifier for Blizzcon

5. Now with over a week of time playing with TGT cards, what has still surprised you?

   Dragon Priest has surprised positively as well as paladin of course (the devil himself 6 6 6 OP)

Koroneko

1. How did the August season finish for you? How has your focus shifted with the completion of the August season?

   Legend NA 23th

2. What three decks are you running the most right now? Why?

   Midrange Hunter (decklist): TGT card 5/3/3 so strong. Ram Wrangler

   Ramp Druid (decklist): TGT card 2/3/3 against aggro so strong. Darnassus Aspirant

   Secret Paladin (decklist) TGT card Mysterious Challenger need nerf.

3. What was the last tournament you competed in? How did you do?

   A 3-4th HGL Daily 100 Series #12

4. What’s your biggest upcoming event?

   A 9/12 japan Fireside cup, I will go to Tokyo.

5. Now with over a week of time playing with TGT cards, what has still surprised you?

   No meta, Secret Paladin, i am surprised.

Keyo

1. How did the August season finish for you? How has your focus shifted with the completion of the August season?

   Being that I was in a car for a solid 20 hours on the last day of the season, I didn’t get anywhere near top 100. Not a huge deal for me though, as it was mathematically impossible for me to get into top 23 for worlds.

2. What three decks are you running the most right now? Why?

   I’ve been running a ton of:

   Midrange Hunter (decklist)

   Secret Paladin (decklist)

   Dragon Priest (decklist)

   in preparation for the last call tournament. Basically every deck that I’ve played since the ladder reset has had some chance of being played come saturday, but these 3 are definitely the best 3 in my opinion. The lists are all pretty standard (or as standard as it can get right now) except for the 2x flare. Its been working pretty well for me as well as punishing Secret Paladins a LOT.

3. What was the last tournament you competed in? How did you do?

   I recently played in the Archon Open finals, and lost in round 2. I made some questionable deck decisions in hindsight by bringing Flood Paladin, Control Warrior and Midrange Hunter. Flood paladin was the weak link of the lineup and its what really held me back from getting farther.

4. What’s your biggest upcoming event?

   As I’ve been saying, the last call tournament for Worlds is this Saturday (9/5/15). Its going to be a huge tournament, not only for everyone involved trying to get into Regionals, but also for those watching as it will be a telling sign of what the meta may become.

5. Now with over a week of time playing with TGT cards, what has still surprised you?

   Mysterious Challenger, I knew it was going to be good, but I never thought that it would become “Dr.6”. Obviously its super strong right now, but it’ll be interesting to see if this remains one of the best cards in the set, or if it gets the Mechwarper treatment, where it is still a solid card, but by no means the most broken card in the set when the meta stabilizes.

Closing

The August season is over, but pro players are still trying to figure out ways to deal with the rise of Secret Paladin, and learning just how TGT will fit into the meta. The Road to Blizzcon is paved with discarded deck lists.

Check back next week as Team HSP refines their Tournament deck lists, and watches the ranked meta fluctuate!

Have questions or feedback about this series? Leave your comments below. See you all next week!