Murlocs on the march as Paladin shoots to the top of the meta

Paladin is on the rise, taking Hearthstone by storm. Why? The answer is simple: Murlocs.

The amphibious bipeds have been part of Hearthstone since the very beginning, and each expansion has seen more and more added to the pool. Since League of Explorers, Murloc Paladin OTK has been a deck that hovered on the edges of the meta thanks to Anyfin Can Happen. With that card rotating out, most people thought the deck would disappear.

Instead, the Murlocs have become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.

Finja the Flying Star was already starting to make Murlocs a potent board control force, but the additions of Hydrologist and Gentle Megasaur have propelled the deck forward since the addition of Journey to Un’Goro.

Hydrologist is a card no one saw coming. Paladin secrets haven’t been a threat since the days of Mysterious Challenger and Secret Paladin, but the flexibility it provides along with a decent body have helped flesh out the early game Murloc package.

But Gentle Megasaur is the card that really takes Murlocs over the line. Adapt has proven to be a very powerful mechanic, especially when applied to many minions at once. If Vilefin Inquisitor has been in play, Megasaur can fill the sort of role left vacant since the rotation of Quartermaster.

Paladin was very much among the weeds in the initial post-Un’Goro meta reports, but yesterday’s new Vicious Syndicate report paints a very different picture.

While Warrior is still the most commonly played class overall, among legend players it has fallen to third. Rogue has narrowly overtaken it into second while Paladin has a clear lead at the top. Meanwhile Hunter has fallen down well behind Druid and Mage, confirming it as an early meta flash in the pan.

In terms of winrate across the over 100,000 games VS has data for Pirate Warrior, Midrange Paladin, and Murloc Paladin are also the most successful decks.

So if you are looking to beat the below-legend meta, Paladin looks to be the way to go. That’s until everyone else reads the report and catches up that is.