Across the Timeways expansion was released nearly a month ago, and we went through two distinctive metas already. The latest one has started with a balance patch on November 13, and it’s been slowly developing since then. Well, I say “slowly developing”, but it’s probably safe to say that it’s now pretty much done.
Last week, we still had two clearly dominating decks – Midrange Shaman up to Legend, and Discover Hunter in high Legend. I’m happy to report than neither of them took over the meta completely. Shaman, while still one of the best and most popular decks decks, is pretty much on the same level (winrate-wise) as other meta decks such as Cliff Dive Demon Hunter (which is probably the best Shaman counter right now), Dragon Warrior, or Aggro Demon Hunter. Those decks haven’t really changed over the last week or two, but they seem to have reached the equilibrium. Over the last few days there hasn’t been much movement at the top of the meta.
And Discover Hunter, while probably still the best or one of the best decks in very capable hands, probably won’t domiante the meta simply because of how hard it is to pilot properly. The basic idea behind the deck is quite simple, but you need to adapt very well to each situation and your win condition often changes on the fly, so for most of the players it’s going to sit around Tier 2.
The Tank Paladin I mentioned last week (also called Bubble/Divine Shield Paladin) is getting a bit more attention this week. The deck’s popularity is slowly climbing, but it’s still only about 3-4%. In terms of win rate, it’s slightly weaker than the top dogs I’ve mentioned before, but I’d still classify it as Tier 1. I suspect that it’s gonna peak around 4-5%, because that’s how much Aura Paladin previously had and Tank Paladin is just taking over them. Aura Paladin is now basically nowhere to be seen at higher ranks.
We also have Protoss Mage, which shows the biggest disparity between play rate and win rate. It’s a pretty mediocre deck in terms of win rate (probably around mid-low Tier 2), but it’s the second-most-popular one after Midrange Shaman (with about 10% play rate in Diamond-Legend). That said, I don’t think it’s particularly out of ordinary. Metas often have those low win rate, high play rate decks – it’s simply something players enjoy playing, or their perception of its power level is higher than the reality. It’s not a bad deck at all, so if you play it well you should be able to climb with it.
And then there’s Rogue. I know I’ve been saying it many times over the years, but the class just can’t die. No matter what they throw at it, no matter how much they nerf it, a new Rogue strategy pops out and turns out to be viable. This time we’re back to Protoss Rogue as the best Rogue build – yes, it’s been a while since we’ve seen it as a part of the meta. The deck now runs Garona Halforcen‘s package and – of course – Chrono-Lord Deios. The idea is to burn the opponent down with some early/mid game tempo or the aforementioned Garona, and then finish the job with Archons (preferably doubled by Deios – you have some mana cheat ways to play them together). Cycle Rogue, Combo Rogue and Starship Rogue are also seen on the ladder, but they aren’t doing as well as Protoss version.
Of course we also have a whole lot of Tier 2/3 decks that I don’t have time to cover in detail right now, but the point is – the current meta is actually quite diverse. While we have some clear distinction between the top decks and the rest of the pack, the meta has mostly stabilized and those differences no longer grow. In fact, they have shrunk a bit over the last week or so, especially in Legend which is always the fastest to adapt to new meta. The only issue is the one I’ve been talking about for a while – we still have a distinct lack of brand new strategies. Most of the decks run SOME new expansion cards, but usually in the support role and not as win conditions. This has been a big issue for this whole Standard year IMO, and I wonder what’s what’s going to happen when 2024 sets rotate out. But that’s a future us problem – there are still 3 months until rotation.
As for the next meta shift – there are honestly two options. First one is a patch in mid-December. Patch 34.2 (with a big Battlegrounds update) drops on Tuesday, and I doubt that it’s going to contain any Standard changes. But we’ll almost surely get a mid-patch balance update, probably with a big focus on Battlegrounds. That patch COULD contain Standard changes, but we still have no idea if it’s going to. If not, the next meta shift (or at least an attempt at such) would be in early January, with the mini-set launch. I would prefer the first option, because while I can’t say that I hate the current meta, I don’t think that it’s fun enough to keep everyone entertained for another month. But let me know what you think in the comments.
Below is a full list of the Legend decks from last week, sorted by the highest placement.
If you want to see all of the current top meta decks, go to our Hearthstone Meta Tier List post!
Hearthstone Standard Legend Decks of the Week
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- 1Righteous Protector2
- 2Flash of Light2
- 2Interstellar Researcher2
- 3Interstellar Starslicer2
- 3Libram of Clarity2
- 4Crusader Aura1
- 4Gnomish Aura1
- 4Holy Glowsticks2
- 4Interstellar Wayfarer2
- 4Libram of Divinity2
- 4Tigress Plushy2
- 5Chronological Aura2
- 5Mekkatorque’s Aura1
- 6Libram of Faith2
- 7Crafter’s Aura1
- 8Gelbin of Tomorrow1
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Hearthstone Wild Legend Decks of the Week
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- 0Zilliax Deluxe 30001
- 1Sir Finley, Sea Guide1
- 1Sphere of Sapience1
- 2Astalor Bloodsworn1
- 2Crystal Tender1
- 2Dirty Rat1
- 2Timeless Causality1
- 2Zephrys the Great1
- 3All You Can Eat1
- 3Lord Barov1
- 3New Heights1
- 3Overplanner1
- 3Prince Renathal1
- 4Aftershocks1
- 4E.T.C., Band Manager1
- 4Elise the Navigator1
- 4Lorekeeper Polkelt1
- 4Nightmare Lord Xavius1
- 6Bob the Bartender1
- 6Reno Jackson1
- 6Theotar, the Mad Duke1
- 8Reno, Lone Ranger1
- 8Sleep Under the Stars1
- 125The Ceaseless Expanse1
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- 1Potion of Madness1
- 1Shadow Word: Devour1
- 2Papercraft Angel1
- 2Spirit of the Kaldorei1
- 3Benevolent Banker1
- 3Cathedral of Atonement1
- 3Chillin’ Vol’jin1
- 3Identity Theft1
- 3Mindrender Illucia1
- 3The Harvester of Envy1
- 4Fight Over Me1
- 4Glowstone Gyreworm1
- 4Najak Hexxen1
- 5Darkbishop Benedictus1
- 5Raza the Chained1
- 5Spawn of Shadows1
- 7Aman’Thul1
- 8Shadowreaper Anduin1
- 9Aviana, Elune’s Chosen1
- 0Raise Dead1
- 1Deafen1
- 1Miracle Salesman1
- 1Sir Finley, Sea Guide1
- 2Cult Neophyte1
- 2Dirty Rat1
- 2Far Watch Post1
- 2Zephrys the Great1
- 3Mixologist1
- 3Prince Renathal1
- 3Razorscale1
- 4Blademaster Okani1
- 4E.T.C., Band Manager1
- 4Elise the Navigator1
- 4Hysteria1
- 4Nightmare Lord Xavius1
- 5Emperor Thaurissan1
- 5Loatheb1
- 6Reno Jackson1
- 6Theotar, the Mad Duke1
- 8Reno, Lone Ranger1






























































































































































































































































































































































































