We are nearly midway through Season 5 of the Constructed Hearthstone scene. Naxxramas has made a huge impact on the meta, and has even made Priest a viable class again. We saw Realz in the VGVN Tournament take 8 of his 9 game wins with Control Paladin! Last but not least, we’ve witnessed Midrange Hunter comeback from relative obscurity to becoming one of the top decks in the meta. Let’s take a look at the decks!
Rogue
Miracle Rogue is still very strong. People were under the impression that Loatheb was going to kill Miracle, but Loatheb actually found its way into the deck and has only slowed it down a bit. Players like Hyped quickly recognized that Assassin’s Blade is a great way to get damage going on a dead Loatheb turn.
With the rise of Midrange Hunter, Miracle Rogue is in a position to become even MORE popular.
Paladin
Kolento came up with a viable Paladin deck list last season, and Cloud 9 started showing up with it at tournaments to middling results. The big break for Paladin came yesterday, when Realz rode it to secure himself a spot in the VGVN Semi-Finals. Naxxramas added the sturdy Sludge Belcher at the 5 drop spot, which really buttoned up that spot in the curve.
Priest
Priest went from one of the bottom classes to making waves in the meta! It got Trump to a #2 spot on the NA Legend ladder. Surprisingly, the card that seemed to make it happen was Deathlord! Unfortunately, Deathlord can totally swing a game to your opponent’s side if he manages to pull out a Ragnaros or something equally as strong, but due to the Priest’s removal (Shadow Word: Death), they can usually recover which makes it an interesting addition to the deck.
Warrior
Control Warrior saw a resurgence with the Naxxramas addition of Unstable Ghoul, and this deck saw ThisjNL get to #1 on the EU Legend Season 4 ladder. Naxxramas kept trucking on, and has given Control Warrior another addition which can really punish a Miracle Rogue: Spectral Knight. The Knight is very tough to remove (especially for Rogue), and can really help push damage and help clear the board for you. Unfortunately, as is before with Control Warrior the dust cost of the deck is extreme with Rdu’s version hitting a whopping: 13,600 Arcane Dust!
Warlock
Zoo is still as strong as ever and even evolving into potentially scarier versions. The release of Voidcaller has triggered players to skew more towards a Demon heavier build. These builds can make for very explosive plays with cards like Void Terror and even Pit Lord seeing play.
Hunter
Midrange Hunter is all the rage these days, and it seemingly started with Webspinner. I was surprised the card has such a heavy impact on the deck, but it’s probably more to due with how the meta is shaping up than the card itself. There are two versions of the decks floating around, one with traps and one without. If you are running into a lot of Hunter yourself, you might want to lean towards the trap-less version which has two Flares in it to cycle and make your opponent pay for using secrets.
Druid
Druid has reduced in popularity, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t strong. Token Druid is a very good deck and can easily take you into Legendary ranks.
Shaman
Shaman isn’t super strong right now, but they’re about where they always are. The control version of the deck is still popular, however, we’ve seen some Deathrattle versions popping up but nothing that looks optimal.
Did I miss a deck? Comment below to let me know what should be added to the list!
