Standout Post-Nerf Witchwood Hearthstone Decks for Balance Patch 11.2 - Day 1
By Stonekeep -
The nerf patch for The Witchwood meta was released yesterday. You can read about all of the changes here, but just to recap everything quickly:
- Naga Sea Witch - Mana cost increased from 5 to 8.
- Spiteful Summoner - Mana cost increased from 6 to 7.
- Dark Pact - Healing decreased from 8 to 4.
- Possessed Lackey - Mana cost increased from 5 to 6.
- Call to Arms - Mana cost increased from 4 to 5.
- Crystal Core (The Caverns Below) - Global stats change decreased from 5/5 to 4/4.
The nerf patch usually happens 1-2 months after an expansion's release (1.5 months in case of Witchwood) and has become a sort of unwritten rule. It's the time when players have already more or less solved the meta, with a few decks clearly dominating it. It becomes boring, and players want to see something new - at least until another expansion gets announced. And the cycle continues.
Balance changes are important, because even a small card change can shake up the meta quite significantly. After spending a few hours in the game and watching streams, I've noticed that some of the new decks seem to be working better than the others, and I want to round them up in this article.
Keep in mind, though, that it's the first day after the patch and people are usually trying to test new things. Decks that were nerfed are heavily underplayed for that reason, even though they might still be viable. On top of that, I have a limited sample size and base this list mostly on my own experience. I will release another list of standout decks a week from now, when the meta has already settled a bit - it will be backed by much more research and a bigger sample size. Treat this one as a sort of "early look at the post-nerf meta".
Odd Paladin Deck Guide
Format: standard
4,320
Paladin Cards (14)
Murloc Paladin Deck Guide
Format: standard5,100
Even Shaman Deck Guide
Format: standard8,560
Miracle Rogue Deck Guide
Format: standard8,080
Odd Rogue Deck List Guide
Format: standard7,180
Rogue Cards (11)
Spell Hunter Deck Guide
Format: standard5,120
Cube Taunt Druid Deck Guide
Format: standard7,800
Midrange Token Druid Deck Guide
Format: standard7,640
Druid Cards (24)
Neutral Cards (6)
Even Warlock (Handlock) Deck Guide
Format: standard7,000
13 Comments
Clincher37
I've also been having a lot of success with Midrange Shaman (not Even). The deck that runs Keleseth, Elementals, and the Shudderwock Combo. It's got insane value and the combo to beat control and can run the shaman control abilities and a ton of taunts to combat aggro.
JerryDamage
Ran into this earlier on ladder and was not expecting it. By the time I realized I was playing against Shudderwok he had the combo pulled off.
LazyTitanftMadB
Could you post the string for that deck please?
RDUNeil
Purely anecdotal... but I agree. I was playing Even Shaman and was running into a lot of Shudder-Shaman and getting destroyed.
Even Shaman loves an agro meta, because it can control the board and value you out... but Shudder just eats up midrange and board control, just waiting for even bigger late game value. I think we'll see both these decks, vying for use, depending on how the meta trends.
LazyTitanftMadB
Can you post the string for that deck here please?
Razor
What about zoo warlock is it playable?
OnlyMatt
Yes,it is.Got me from rank 15 to 4 in almost 1 week.Pretty good against pala and mage
Flannel
List?
Brb
Mb priest is good to play or not?
Taho
In regards to your deck rankings, Cubelock should still clearly be in the the Best Decks section. It feasts on Even Shaman. You are overstating the effect of the nerfs. Cubelock will remain a tier 1 deck.
Spacemoose
Great nerfs Blizzard, you killed the only control deck viable agaisnt agro.
Brb
WE are in a slow meta, mucho slower that pre nerf
Murasaki
Control mage worcks pretty well
Comments are closed.