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Welcome Our Demon Hunter Overlords – The Best Meta Decks After the First Balance Patch

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

The first balance patch of Whizbang’s Workshop was launched on Thursday. Before the balance patch, we had a fairly narrow meta with five clear top-tier decks: two variants of Paladin (Flood and Handbuff), Spell Token Hunter, Aggro Demon Hunter, and Control Warrior. Four of these decks were hit with nerfs in the patch.

Wait, I thought there were five top-tier decks? Indeed, Demon Hunter managed to dodge the nerfs and is feeling confident in its early dominance of the new meta. Of course, it is much easier to tech against one dominant deck than it is to try to break into a meta locked down by five strong competitors, so we’ll see how the meta will develop over the coming days, but if you want to take advantage of the early tyrant, Demon Hunter is now very, very good.

Let’s take a deeper look into what makes Demon Hunter tick and what else there is in the current Hearthstone meta!

Demon Hunter

What makes Demon Hunter so strong? It is the combination of Umpire's Grasp and Window Shopper. When Umpire's Grasp discounts Window Shopper, also the Demon Discovered by Window Shopper inherits the same discount. This gives Demon Hunter unparallelled tempo in the early game. Taking a look at Window Shopper‘s performance statistics, the card is incredible when it is played on turn three or four. It is OK on turn five or six, and usually no longer relevant after that.

The Demon pool is quite small at the moment, Window Shopper has only 11 possible Discover targets, which means that you can Discover a specific Demon 27% of the time. Finding one of the top two options already happens 49% of the time. The best thing to Discover is a cheap Magtheridon, Unreleased, followed by Illidari Inquisitor. Abyssal Bassist is also strong as it inherits Window Shopper‘s cost and then gets a further discount from your weapon. Finally, there’s Observer of Mysteries, which is especially strong as the 1-mana pick from the Mini version of Window Shopper. Between these four picks, you almost always get something good.

Demon Hunter would be easy to nerf using Blizzard’s favorite nerf methodology, cost increase, because Window Shopper‘s performance drops drastically when it costs more. How Blizzard missed this one for the first balance remains a mystery.

All current Demon Hunter decks are based on this Discover synergy, but they do come in two different varieties. The more popular option is Aggro Demon Hunter, a straightforward and effective deck:

Aggro Demon Hunter

Deck Import

Zilliax Deluxe 3000 in this deck is used in two different configurations: either with Pylon and Ticking modules (+1/+1 to other minions, discounted cost for other minions in play) or with Power and Haywire modules (double the attack at the start of your turn, deal damage to your hero).

Another option that has started to gain popularity in Legend is Highlander Demon Hunter!

Highlander Demon Hunter

Deck Import

You may notice that this is not a real Highlander deck. There are two cards that come in two copies, Umpire's Grasp and Window Shopper. Yes, the main win condition of the deck is the same as with Aggro Demon Hunter, just Discover great Demons at a fraction of the cost and win. Even though there are duplicates in the deck, finding a single Umpire's Grasp removes all duplicates, as Window Shopper is the only Demon in the deck, so you will draw one of them with the weapon.

The Highlander variant is somewhat slower, but also a lot more flexible. You get access to Reno, Lone Ranger and Gunslinger Kurtrus, so you have ways to win games even if they go long, and you give up nothing of the most powerful synergy in the game as those cards are still included in two copies.

The two variants are neck and neck in performance. The Highlander list is stronger against decks that can survive Aggro Demon Hunter, while Aggro Demon Hunter has more tools to challenge aggressive decks early even with a mediocre draw.

While Demon Hunter is the most popular and overall the strongest decks early after the balance patch, there is more to the meta than just Demons. Let’s take a look at each of the other classes too.

Death Knight

Before the balance patch, Death Knight was well-positioned in the meta. It had not top-tier decks, but it had two competitive tier-two archetypes in Plague Death Knight and Rainbow Death Knight.

After the patch, it looks like there will only be one viable archetype left, Rainbow Death Knight. Plague Death Knight is still a fine deck against the archetypes it is strong against, but it is not doing well against Demon Hunter at all. We’re talking 30-70 not well at all here. Unless Demon Hunter numbers start going down Plague Death Knight is at risk of becoming unplayable, and as word of Demon Hunter’s prowess spreads, it looks more likely that the Demon Hunter population will only grow.

That leaves us with Rainbow Death Knight. It is not exactly a counter to Demon Hunter either, but it can hope to go around 48-52 against the top meta deck, which gives it just enough breathing room to find success on the ladder overall. Because all the top Rainbow Death Knight decks include Helya, you also get to play with plagues while playing this deck!

Rainbow Death Knight – #87 Legend (Bewilder) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Druid

Druid had no viable decks before the balance patch. Whizbang’s Workshop focused on promoting a Spell Damage Druid that can OTK opponents, but it is too slow of a combo deck. The combo does work very well, mind you! You just won’t ever live long enough to use it.

Therefore, Druid has looked back to the last expansion and tried to keep up with a Dragon theme. It is slightly better now after the balance patch, but it still hovers at around a 50% win rate, so it is not a great climbing deck. I did take Highlander version of Dragon Druid out for a spin last night and had a good time with it, so if you’re a fan of Druid, you can now play the class without feeling miserable, at least. It can also fight against Demon Hunters, which is something most decks struggle with at the moment.

Reno Druid – #748 Legend (Taki) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Hunter

Hunter was one of the absolute top-tier decks before the nerfs. The class was hit with a pair of mild nerfs to Awakening Tremors and the Ticking Module of Zilliax Deluxe 3000. These did not hurt the deck too much, and it remains one of the best decks in the game.

The main effect of the nerfs was to push the Aggro Demon Hunter matchup into an unfavorable one. If it only was not for those meddling Aggro Demon Hunter, real Hunters could rule the ladder!

Small Beast Hunter – #59 Legend (Feno) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Mage

Mage is another class that struggled heavily before the balance patch. To be honest, Mage still struggles. At least, the nerfs gave it a couple of crucial percentage points and it is now a 50% win rate deck. Rainbow Mage is the only playable Mage archetype. The power of Sif cannot be denied.

Rainbow Mage – #15 Legend (Homi) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Paladin

Paladin was the best class before the balance patch with two top-tier archetypes. It was also hit the hardest by the nerfs, with Tigress Plushy, Deputization Aura, Shroomscavate, and Zilliax Deluxe 3000 all getting hit. This nuclear strike has wiped Paladin from the top of the ladder, at least for the time being. It is back to the drawing board for Paladin fans, and Paladin has not been amongst the favorite classes of the top players unless it is clearly overpowered.

You can still find some old Paladin lists on the ladder, especially Habugabu’s #1 Legend deck. It was a great deck before the nerfs. In fact, it can still reach a 50% win rate after it was nerfed.

Excavate Handbuff Paladin – #1 Legend (Habugabu) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

However, it needs to be rebuilt. The handbuff concept as a whole is questionable now and Shroomscavate in particular no longer has a place in the deck.

Flood Paladin seems like the more promising platform for a Paladin resurgence, and the first candidate is already here. Puchacz’s Aggro Paladin takes the trusty old Sea Giants into a post-nerfs shell, and does a good job with them:

Aggro Paladin – #185 Legend (Puchacz) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

I played a few games with the list and was positively surprised by how well it performed. Statistics confirm my impressions: while the deck is not at the level of Demon Hunter, and slightly behind Hunter as well, it is a solid performer that can easily climb the ladder.

Paladin took a major hit, and Handbuff Paladin was knocked down to tier three for the time being, but Flood Paladin still has aspirations to get back to tier one.

Priest

Priest has been waiting for its opportunity in the shadows. As other classes get nerfs, Priest has been improving, and the top Priest deck is a solid tier-two deck at least. It is Aggro Zarimi Priest:

Zarimi Priest – #18 Legend (MadThanos) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

The deck fights for the board with its 1-drops and can get a major tempo swing from some cheap or free Thirsty Drifters. The threat of an extra turn from Timewinder Zarimi is also always there, so the opponent has to constantly think how they can survive missing a turn in the mid-game.

The nerfs have been most welcome for Priest, but Aggro Demon Hunter is keeping the Priest at bay.

There have also been some attempts to build an Overheal Priest, but so far the best those attempts have resulted in is a roughly 50% win rate deck. While this list reached #81 Legend, it does not look strong enough for climbing in the current meta. That said, if you don’t want to play Aggro Priest, it can be worth a shot:

Overheal Priest – #81 Legend (西陵珩) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Rogue

Rogue has lacked an obvious way to build a deck in Whizbang’s Workshop. The Pirate theme is not strong enough, but Rogue has a toolbox full of miscellaneous tricks, which should result in something. By now, two themes have emerged.

First, there’s the heavy cycle Rogue that uses Playhouse Giants to take over the board and the game. Taken to its logical conclusion, the archetype starts to look like this:

Playhouse Cycle Rogue

Deck Import

Draw. Cycle. Gaslight Gatekeeper. Cheap or free Everything Must Go! and Playhouse Giant, including some extra copies with Celestial Projectionist. That’s the deck. It can actually be built with no Legendary cards, too! Some variants use Mimiron, the Mastermind or Zilliax Deluxe 3000, but those are just a flourish. The core is in cycling and Giants.

Another somewhat successful way to build a Rogue deck in Whizbang’s Workshop is to make a huge Stealth Zilliax and then just win the game. Understandably, this deck is not as popular or powerful in high ranks, but it can be difficult to handle. You just stare at that growing Zilliax and cannot remove it.

Mech-y Zilliax Rogue

Deck Import

This deck is probably on its way out as aggressive decks like Demon Hunter, Hunter, and Priest become more popular, but it is an absolutely devastating opponent if you are not fast enough to end the game and have no way to remove a Stealth minion.

Shaman

With the nerf to Thrall's Gift removing a source of direct damage form Nature Shaman, the class is in trouble. Nature Shaman can still sometimes put together enough damage to win a game, but the deck seems to be on its way out of the meta.

The only potential replacement is Highlander Shaman, and it does not look too impressive either. This list hovers at around a 50% win rate, at the edge of viability.

Reno Shaman – #7 Legend (RWBBYROSE) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Warlock

Warlock is enjoying the post-nerfs meta. Well, Aggro Demon Hunter is a problem for Warlock too, but other than that, life is peachy.

Wheel Warlock is currently the strongest Warlock archetype:

Wheel Warlock – #48 Legend (Corbett) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

I continue to be amused by the success of Wheel of DEATH!!!. The card automatically wins any slow matchups, but there are not many of those on the ladder. However, it wins the more aggressive opponents with the combined power of Forge of Wills and Fanottem, Lord of the Opera, which give the Warlock a 15/15 Taunt and a 15/15 Rush on the same turn when Warlock plays the Wheel. Free Fanottem is the best Fanottem.

A bit behind the Wheel Warlock, Sludge Warlock also remains a playable deck. There have been no new innovations for that archetype since the addition of Doomguards in the beginning on the expansion.

Doomguard Sludge Warlock – #56 Legend (ChaboDennis) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Warrior

Odyn, Prime Designate was nerfed and now costs one more mana than before, but it has not had a huge effect on Warrior. The nerfs to other classes have actually had more of an effect on Warrior.

The classic Odyn Control Warrior still exists mostly unchanged. Trial by Fire has been cut from the deck as it does not work well against Demon Hunter, but that’s pretty much it.

Odyn Control Warrior

Deck Import

However, the rise of Demon Hunter has had a more major effect on Warrior. Odyn Control Warrior is fine against Demon Hunter, but a Highlander Warrior is even stronger in the matchup. Consequently, there are now tens of variants of Highlander Warrior on the ladder, each seeking the optimal build to crush Demon Hunters. Highlander Warrior is the best counter to Demon Hunter, but it is weak against Plague Death Knight and Wheel Warlock, so it is not a panacea.

This appears to be the best Highlander Warrior at the moment, although there is no way to be fully confident given how many slightly different variants there are and how low their sample sizes still are:

Highlander Warrior

Deck Import

Zilliax has Twin Module and Perfect Module. E.T.C.’s Band consists of Armor Vendor, Celestial Projectionist, and Gaslight Gatekeeper.

A Better Meta?

Demon Hunter is obviously a problem. Highlander Warrior is the only clear counter to the deck. Highlander Druid also shows some potential against Demon Hunter, but Druid is not played enough to get a solid view of the matchup. Other than that, the balance changes have created more breathing room for a wide variety of decks, more so than everyone else being oppressed by five top-tier decks.

Blizzard’s next steps will be interesting. Demon Hunter will be nerfed at some point, but it is unclear what would happen if Demon Hunter was nerfed alone. There are multiple decks that are held at bay mainly by Demon Hunter, and we do not have enough data on their performance against each other, so predicting the post-DH meta is nigh impossible as of yet. Blizzard may also be trying to figure that out before taking action. Demon Hunter has some counters, too, so this meta may yet develop in interesting ways, even though Demon Hunter’s primary Discover engine does seem somewhat overpowered.

Personally, I have had more fun in the post-patch meta than in the original Whizbang meta, despite Demon Hunters. The meta feels less locked down when the number of super decks is lower. As always, the meta will be figured out and people will start to gravitate to the very best decks, but it is easier to work against one tyrant than many, so I expect there to be room for innovation for some more days at the very least.

Old Guardian

Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian

Check out Old Guardian on Twitter or on their Website!

Leave a Reply

2 Comments

  1. TardisGreen
    April 2, 2024 at 7:22 am

    Decks, such as Small Beast Hunter and Rainbow DK, that can fit Glacial Shard are doing so. Freezing the second swing of the weapon for a turn or two can be quite impactful.

  2. X15d
    March 31, 2024 at 1:46 am

    Wow i didn’t know plague dk vs aggro dh is that unfavorable. Having playing as the dk side recently and it feels more like a 50/50.