Wailing Caverns, mini-set for Forged in the Barrens, has been out for ~1.5 weeks now. I have to say that it had a rather major impact on the meta – and in both formats.
Let’s start with Wild, because it’s much simpler. Stealer of Souls has sent waves through that format, because the meta became mostly “play Stealer Warlock or Aggro deck to take it down before it can combo you. Which is… not really fun to say the least. The deck itself is not “overpowered” in a way that it beats everything – it has clear counters – but the issue is that it forced people to play those counters or lose, which made the meta much less interesting. However, Blizzard has decided to ban Stealer of Souls in Wild – which is the first-ever ban in Constructed Hearthstone (you could see Hall of Fame as a sort of “Standard ban list”, but it was a bit different). We’ll see how everything looks like after it goes live mid next week.
Now in Standard, things are finally looking really good for Shaman. Thrall jumped from the bottom of tier list close to the top, or maybe even to the top. On the other hand, Paladin who was on top ever since the start of Year of the Gryphon, has fallen down near the bottom of the charts. I wouldn’t say that it’s unplayable, and it’s still not the worst class (that’s probably Warlock now), but it’s a big change in how the game feels like. Both Aggro and Elemental builds are very popular on the ladder, heavily thanks to the new Wailing Vapor and Primal Dungeoneer. Another big winner of the mini-set was Demon Hunter – Deathrattle build, which was honestly already okay after the last round of buffs (Razorboar + N'Zoth, The Corruptor buffs made a difference). But additions of the two new early game Deathrattles – Felrattler and Devouring Ectoplasm – made the deck way more consistent (because both Razorboar and Razorfen Beastmaster have way more good targets to pull). Other decks that benefitted from the mini-set are Guardian Druid, Control Priest, and Rush Warrior. Face Hunter, Token Druid and Miracle Rogue are doing really fine too, but honestly without any deck changes – with a caveat that Miracle is still mostly popular in high Legend and falls off in the lower ranks.
Overall, the mini-set did a pretty good job. Keep in mind that it was never meant to shake up the meta completely like a whole expansion – after all, it has 100 cards less to work with. But it has strengthened some archetypes and finally made Shaman viable, but not overpowered for the first time in… I don’t even remember how long (the last few times the class was popular, it was pretty broken). I like this mid-expansion shake-up, because usually around this time the meta was getting really boring, the content cycle was getting dry and it was mostly about surviving until next reveal season. Now, we should probably get used to the current meta. I don’t see any clear balance update material – they might do some small changes to shift the decks around, but I suspect that the meta will more or less look like it does right now for the next ~8 weeks, until new expansion launches. Of course, the exact launch date is hard to guess given that they have deviated a bit from the “4 months between expansions” schedule with Darkmoon Faire, but it should be somewhere around early-mid August.
Below, you will find 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!
If you’re looking for the best Wild Format decks, check out our Wild Meta Tier List!
Hearthstone Standard Legend Decks of the Week
3,940
Hearthstone Wild Legend Decks of the Week
- 1Potion of Madness1
- 1Renew1
- 2Insight1
- 2Penance1
- 2Seance1
- 2Shadow Visions1
- 2Shadow Word: Death1
- 2Spirit Lash1
- 2Thrive in the Shadows1
- 3Devouring Plague1
- 3Madame Lazul1
- 3Mindrender Illucia1
- 3Palm Reading1
- 4Greater Healing Potion1
- 4Shadow Word: Horror1
- 5Mass Hysteria1
- 5Raza the Chained1
- 5Spawn of Shadows1
- 7Psychic Scream1
- 8Shadowreaper Anduin1
- 1Demonic Studies2
- 1Kobold Librarian1
- 1Mortal Coil1
- 1The Soularium1
- 2Defile2
- 2Drain Soul1
- 2Plot Twist2
- 3Backfire2
- 3Dark Skies2
- 3Free Admission2
- 4Stealer of Souls2
- 5Cataclysm1
- 7Valdris Felgorge1
- 9Mal’Ganis1
- 1Kabal Lackey1
- 2Ancient Mysteries1
- 2Arcane Flakmage1
- 2Arcanologist1
- 2Medivh’s Valet1
- 3Counterspell1
- 3Explosive Runes1
- 3Flame Ward1
- 3Frostweave Dungeoneer1
- 3Ice Block1
- 3Kirin Tor Mage1
- 3Netherwind Portal1
- 3Oasis Ally1
- 3Rigged Faire Game1
- 4Occult Conjurer1
- 4Varden Dawngrasp1
- 5Cloud Prince1
- 6Kabal Crystal Runner1
- 6Reno the Relicologist1
- 6Sayge, Seer of Darkmoon1
- 1Blessing of Wisdom1
- 1Conviction (Rank 1)1
- 1Crystology1
- 1First Day of School1
- 1Knight of Anointment1
- 1Righteous Protector1
- 2Argent Braggart1
- 2Hand of A’dal1
- 2Murgur Murgurgle1
- 2Potion of Heroism1
- 2Sir Finley of the Sands1
- 3Muster for Battle1
- 3Salhet’s Pride1
- 3Underlight Angling Rod1
- 5Blessing of Authority1
- 6Spikeridged Steed1
- 6Sunkeeper Tarim1
- 7Lynessa Sunsorrow1
I have yet to pull off the kodobane/mankirk face hunter combo. I see this legendary deck contain true aim and kreen which is interesting.