The Hearthstone Grandmasters 2019 Week 2 Meta is one that finds itself in a weird limbo. Players had to submit their lineups with very little practice in a post-Rogue meta. This is also possibly going to be the shortest meta in Hearthstone.
The Rogue nerfs were just received and the buff patch that introduces SN1P-SN4P goes live on June 3. Though what is a sight for sore eyes this week is the fact that eight of the nine classes are represented by at least one deck.
What’s Out and What’s In
Right away from the nerfs, Rogue is out. Just two players decided to bring Rogue this week, which is down 10 from the second most 12 last week. They are also quite different lists, tossing out the nerfed cards for value generators like Spirit of the Shark.
Bomb Warrior also saw a huge drop in popularity, but due to a lot of different factors. It’s gone from the most popular deck to the second most popular, but that’s eight down from 22, a huge shift. The nerf to Rogue means an indirect nerf to Warrior, as Warrior was the best class to counter Rogues.
The nerf to Archivist Elysiana also made the mirror matches less consistent, but interesting tech choices have popped up. Warriors can run cards like Jepetto Joybuzz to get a discounted Elysiana and Barista Lynchen. Either one of these cards at one mana allows multiple Elysianas to be played in a single game.
Mage is the flavor of the week this week. 50 percent of the Grandmasters brought Cyclone Mage this week, with a single player bringing Conjurer Mage. A lot of the switch is due to its 71 percent win rate in week one, getting a lot of their pilots to a 2-0 record.
All Represented Archetypes
Priest is the only class not represented in week two of Grandmasters. It was represented by a single player last week, but he went 0-4 with the deck and no one wants to go near the class. Hunter has six representatives, Paladin three, Druid two, Rogue two, with Shaman and Warlock each having a single representative.
The Hunter archetypes are Midrange and Bomb Hunter. They both see equal representation at three players each. Both Midrange Hunter and Bomb Hunter perform above average against the Cyclone Mage archetype. Both can take advantage of the early turns where Mage doesn’t develop and snowball the game.
Holy Wrath Paladin is the only Paladin archetype being represented. With the meta being generally slower, Paladin can normally safely reach the OTK turn. It’s a coin flip against Mage, the Paladin needs to make sure to clear off the large threats of Mage so they don’t make an insurmountable board state.
Token Druid is the Druid archetype being played this week. It’s generally just a good deck, and is a another deck that is a coin flip against Cyclone Mage. Rogue has two representatives as well, both players looking to generate value without Waggle Pick and Raiding Party.
Murloc Shaman has a single representative, and performs excellently against Cyclone Mage. Zoo Warlock has a single player representing it as well. It doesn’t quite perform as well as Murloc Shaman against Mage, but is still favored.
Tech Choices
There is no longer a need to run weapon removal in decks and different tech options are being leaned on. Mages are finding Magic Dart Frog and Vex Crow to be nice tech choices. A lot of the decks being switched to are more board oriented and both of these cards compete for board quite nicely.
Other tech options for Mage are for the mirror and slower match ups. Snap Freeze can remove Giants with Ray of Frost and Sandbinders helps you find your Mountain Giants and Mana Cyclone. Questing Adventurer can also effectively create more large threats for opponents to deal with.
People are running Upgradeable Framebots and Bronze Gatekeeper in their Mech Hunters to compete for board harder as well. Both of these units can be used defensively and trade well with token minions. Unleash the Hounds is another good card against decks that go wide on board.
For the Warrior class, double Big Game Hunter and Supercollider are moving into the primary lists to counter Mage. Another tech option is Jepetto Joybuzz and Archivist Elysiana to win in mirror matches.
Stay tuned to hear about the evolution of the meta as the weeks progress.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.
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