The playoffs for Hearthstone Grandmasters Season Two start this week. The players have had to put in a ton of practice in a short amount of time to come up with what to play. These Doom in the Tomb decks are a good mix of the previous meta with improvements using the new cards.
Current meta Shaman builds have been able to be expanded upon with Evolve and Thing From Below coming back. Evolve has definitely seen more use than Thing From Below just because discounting Thing can be difficult in early turns.
Quest Shaman has shifted to include Desert Hare and Evolve. Desert Hare is a battlecry minion that progresses the Quest, and on turn four allows three four-mana minions to come out with Evolve. With the Quest Hero Power, this increases to five four-mana minions which is quite a combo.
Evolve Shaman and Aggro Shamans with Evolve are much more viable with this consistency. Shaman is definitely a tier-one class, with every player in Grandmasters bringing Shaman to playoffs.
Not much has changed with Quest Druid, and it’s still a solid option. The only replacement in the deck is to add Kun the Forgotten King.
A free 7/7 with 10 armor is quite a nice addition to developing and surviving as Druid tries to reach those late stages of the game without losing too much tempo.
Malygos Druid also benefits from Kun to add some stall and a body to remove other minions off of the board. Then, of course, the addition of Emperor Thaurissan adds a lot more potential one turn damage.
OTK Paladin, like Quest Druid, has only seen a single card change. The addition of Emperor Thaurissan can enable two options for Paladin. The first is that it makes it so 50 damage in one turn is easily obtainable. In matchups where the 50 damage isn’t necessary, it allows Paladins to make room in their hand which is typically where they struggle.
Control Warrior is being represented in three different ways by Grandmasters this week. The first is with no changes at all, the second is to include N’zoth the Corruptor. The N’zoth version adds Khartut Defenders and Sylvanas to actually create a big board, which is typically lacking in Control Warrior. Then there is a single-player bringing Mecha’thun Warrior looking to capitalize on the discount provided by Thaurissan.
Highlander Hunter sees a little shakeup as well with the new cards. Thaurissan allows cards like Zul’Jin to come out a turn earlier, as well as the additions of Ragnaros and Call of the Wild. If Highlander Hunter lacked damage to finish against Control before, it certainly has better chances now.
Zoolock sees some small representation in Grandmasters Playoffs thanks to the return of Imp Gang Boss. It is really annoying to remove and synergize well with Warlock looking to take advantage of 1/1 tokens.
Highlander Mage isn’t doing anything too fancy, just looking to discount its late game with Thaurissan. N’zoth Priest is a complete meta shift, dropping even the Quest to just play a full Resurrection package.
Tempo Thief Rogue includes both Swashburglar and Shaku, the Collector as more early game ways to activate Vendetta and play Underbelly Fence on curve.
Then, of course, is the oppressor known as Combo Priest. Running zero new cards because it’s just that good, nearly every player in Grandmasters has stuck to the guns of this deck even with the new Doom in the Tomb decks.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.
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