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The Hearthstone Meta: Decks That Shaped Hearthstone in 2014

By: Evident - - Updated:

Happy New Years everyone! I figured it would be a good time to take a look at the decks that have shaped the Hearthstone Meta in the recent year. This list only includes decks that were a significant impact on the game in 2014.

Decks That Didn’t Make the List

These decks just didn’t have the same impact as the decks that made the cut. OP Freeze Mage was nerfed before 2014 started, and Control and Deathrattle Priest kind of split their effectiveness and weren’t singularly dominant over the meta. Midrange Shaman has always kind of been a strong deck, but it never had a really dominant period. Midrange Paladin (Quartermaster) is a bit too new, and Kolento’s Paladin that he made in the middle of the year was strong, but was good because of Paladin being so rare on the ladder. There’s a case for Token Druid, but I believe Combo Druid made more of an impact.

Feel free to say what I missed or discuss in the comments below!

The Dominant Hearthstone Decks of 2014

Combo Druid

StrifeCro figured out early on that Force of Nature and Savage Roar was a pretty potent combo, but the aggressive Combo Druid didn’t really come together until Naxxramas came out. Haunted Creeper, Echoing Ooze, and Shade of Naxxramas all made fine additions to the deck and helped it become strong even when missing one of the combo pieces.

Control Warrior

If there’s a case for a Pay-2-Win deck then you’d start with Control Warrior. The original deck boasted 6 Legendaries, 4 Epics, and 4 Rares which stacked up a 12,000+ arcane dust cost. Kitkatz came to prominence due to his version of the deck that would directly contest the uber popular Midrange Hunter. The deck would remain strong, but due to a bad matchup with Miracle Rogue it would take a hit in popularity on the ladder. Once Naxxramas came out the deck reemerged by utilizing Death’s Bites and Sludge Belchers. Goblins vs. Gnomes added Dr. Boom and Shieldmaiden to the mix and Control Warrior has never been stronger.

Face Hunter

Before Midrange became a consistent and dominant force in the meta game there was Face Hunter. Arcane Golems, Wolfriders, Leeroy Jenkins, and Unleash the Hounds tormented players on the ladder with crushing blows to the face. Face Hunter has largely been phased out, but early in the year it was a brutal deck to play against.

Midrange (Deathrattle) Hunter

Unleash the Hounds was changed from 1 mana “Give your Beasts +1 Attack and Charge.“ to 4 mana “For each enemy minion, summon a 1/1 Hound with Charge.” At the time this was a significant nerf to the powerful OTK Hunter and killed the deck. Later, Blizzard realizing that it may have been too heavy with the change reduced the cost from 4 to 2. This lead to the rise of Midrange Hunter or as Lifecoach dubbed his deck: Sunshine Hunter.

The deck was super powerful which lead to Unleash the Hounds being given a one mana increase to 3. Would that finally slow this deck down? Nope! Leeroy Jenkins would be nerfed, and Starving Buzzard was significantly nerfed by increasing the mana to 5 (while being buffed to a 3/2). Surely after killing Hunter’s draw mechanic the deck would be dead? Wrong. Undertaker and Webspinner brought it back from the “dead” with Deathrattle synergy. Goblins vs. Gnomes has done nothing to slow down the deck and has even given it more Deathrattles to buff Undertaker and keep minions on the board.

Check out the rest of the meta shaping decks below! 

Miracle Rogue

Miracle Rogue in its earlier renditions was considered a spotty deck that could only win if it was able to draw into a Gadgetzan Auctioneer. That card would still be important, but a couple of tweaks and Azure Drakes later and the deck was far more consistent. Hyped in particular would rank to top 10 legend with two accounts in one season on the back of Miracle Rogue.

Blizzard saw fit to slow down burst-y decks by increasing the cost of Leeroy Jenkins by one, but the final blow was the nerf to Gadgetzan Auctioneer which slowed the deck by one turn too many.

The deck is still in play today, but its dominant days are behind it.

Ramp Druid

Ramp Druid has been apart of the meta from the beginning. It combines its ability to ramp with Innervate and Wild Growth with large minions such as Ancient of War and Cenarius. Gaara’s Dreamhack Bucharest win was primarily due to his Ramp Druid variant which then popularized the deck even further. Ramp’s popularity would soon wane and then comeback during the launch of Naxxramas when the deck introduced strong cards like Shade of Naxxramas and Loatheb. Ramp has since become less popular and has lost out to Combo Druid as the premiere Druid deck.

Warlock Handlock

Handlock has remained a strong deck throughout the year and only really suffered against certain aggro decks. The deck really didn’t change much aside from adding a bit of the strong stuff from Naxxramas and Goblins vs. Gnomes. A nerf to Soulfire did little to slow the deck down due to it almost instantaneously receiving a card that compliments the deck even better in Darkbomb.

Warlock Zoo

Little did we know that a deck video posted in February would have such an impact on the game and haunt the meta throughout the year. Even when Flame Imp was given a damage increase from 2 to 3 it did nothing to slow down this deck. Warlock Zoo started off strong and has ended strong, and while the Shieldbearers have been cut the core of the deck remains the same.

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