Every expansion has its winners and losers. Often, a class simply won’t get the tools it needs to compete in a fast-changing meta. It was Hunter and Paladin that fell behind in the ruthless Mean Streets meta, Warlock that couldn’t compete in Un’goro, and Warrior that fell off after Kobolds and Catacombs. With Boomsday just around the corner, here are some (subjective) likely candidates for the worst class of the Boomsday meta.
Priest will get good Deathrattle and buff cards, but little else.
Priest is a class of ups and downs. The class has spent most of its life on the borderline of viability, with occasional spikes in power. Currently, Priest is on the wane from Anduin’s dizzying heights when Highlander terrorised the ladder. The class has a number of mid-tier archetypes, but their new cards don’t seem to be reinforcing many of them.
Priest is getting a load of new support, but while many of the cards are strong, they have limited flexibility. Almost all of Priest’s new tools are supporting their class identities of Deathrattle and buffs. And while buffs have proven successful in Divine Spirit/Inner Fire Priest, Deathrattle Priest has never truly shined. If Quest Priest can’t find a foothold on the ladder, the class’s viability may collapse. Especially if Druids hold back Control Priests with their huge armour potential and combo win conditions.
Not the best tempo.
Hunter is a solid class that struggles when new tempo tools out-compete its early game. We saw it most obviously in Meanstreets, when its inability to utilise Patches and Small-Time Buccaneer left it in the dust. Boomsday’s Magnetic mechanics might leave it similarly wanting.
Hunter has no AOE and poor spot removal. Magnetic poses a great threat, as sticky minions that are able to take buffs and value trade with Hunter’s early minions will quickly snowball out of control. To make matters worse, Hunter’s new tools in Goblin Bomb synergy look better for pushing face damage than competing in the vital early-game. Though Hunter has some Magnetic minions of its own that can push through big minions when it has the board, the risk remains that it will be unable to grab the early lead it needs to win in those vital aggro mirrors.
Paladin’s tools might make it the superior Mech option.
Warrior is getting a decent number of strong mech synergies this expansion. However, that alone may not be enough to pull the class out of its current funk. Two big obstacles stand in the way of the class improving in Boomsday.
The first is threats to its traditional Control strategies. If magnetic strategies catch on, it will be harder to utilise Warrior’s powerful AOE as aggro opponents consolidate their mechs. Meanwhile, pressure is coming from the upper end too. Druid’s ramp and combo potential may be too much to handle.
Meanwhile, Mech Paladins may stunt the potential of Mech Warriors. With a more board-centric hero power, better buffs and weapons, and access to cards like Sunkeeper Tarim and Tirion, Mech Paladins may end up simply being the superior Magnetic option. This would leave Mech Warriors as a second-rate option with few advantages.
Too experimental?
Rogue’s cards also lean heavily into untested archetypes. The order of the day is Deathrattles and Deck manipulation. Cards like Pogo Hopper and Lab Recruiter are designed to synergise with the new Legendary draw engine, Myra’s Unstable Element. Meanwhile, new Deathrattles and their accompanying synergies seek to give Rogue more solid mid-game options.
As usual, some are preemptively declaring the death of the class. They’re not entirely without point; many of Rogue’s new options are pretty mediocre. They certainly don’t seem as flashy as that given to Druid. However, this logic has been consistently wrong in the past, with the strength of Rogue’s classic set and repeated receipt of sleeper cards carrying the class.
But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and if the meta shifts against them, Rogues could find themselves back at the bottom. Cards like Crazed Chemist and Necrium Blade may not be quite good enough to support Rogue if their more experimental cards fail. More likely though, Miracle and Tempo Rogues will find a way to survive yet another meta.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via Hearthstone.gamepedia.com.
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