The Hearthstone Grandmasters 2019 Week 4 Meta doesn’t seem to shake up the meta as much as we thought the impact of the buff patch would. The overall meta actually stayed pretty consistent from last week to this week. A couple of new archetypes have sneaked their way into the Grandmasters thanks to buffs, but are still seemingly unfavored against the rest.
Rogue and Warrior Consistency
Tempo Rogue and Bomb Warrior have flipped in popularity this week but remain consistent at number one and two in that regard. Last week there were 16 Tempo Rogues and 12 Bomb Warriors. This week there are 15 Bomb Warriors and 12 Tempo Rogues.
Bomb Warrior was the overwhelming favorite deck in week one, it has been steadily increasing in popularity after its hard dip in week two. It didn’t really receive any benefits from the buff patch, but some players did opt to include SN1P-SN4P in their decks to vie for board.
Bomb Warrior doesn’t run neither Security Rover nor Beryllium Nullifier, but the buffs to those cards did help the deck. Thanks to Drone Delivery as a Dr. Boom, Mad Genius hero power, in addition to Omega Assembly, Bomb Warriors can discover both of these cards. The little boost in stats does impact the overall game, as every damage counts.
Tempo Rogue didn’t receive any benefit from the buff patch. A lot of players are still opting for the list that was hard nerfed, and it hasn’t failed to perform either. The ability to do things like Waggle Pick Deathrattle effect or Shadowstep with Leeroy Jenkins just single-handedly wins games.
A new type of Rogue did join the fray this week thanks to the buff to Pogo-Hopper. Raphael “Bunnyhoppor” Peltzer, Torben “Viper” Wahl, and Kevin “Casie” Eberlein all brought Pogo Rogue. This week will be a true test for the deck, facing off against so many Bomb Warriors and Tempo Rogues.
Best of the Rest
Cyclone Mage is the third most popular deck with nine players bringing the deck. Though six of those nine are in the Americas, being a much less popular class elsewhere. The deck has added a decent amount of top end, including running the now buffed Luna’s Pocket Galaxy for cheap Giants and Astromancers.
Midrange Hunter is represented by three players this week, one in each region. It’s going to be good against Warriors but has the potential to struggle against the Rogues. It can also play aggro against Mages to beat them.
Token Druid saw a little bump in representation up to three this week, again one in each region. It can do well against Rogues, but can also be easily beaten if the Warriors draw all of their AOE clears. If they get matched up against Hunters and Rogues, they should win, as those decks have little they can do to clear boards.
Secret Hunter has a couple of representatives this week. The archetype didn’t receive any benefits from the buff, but is in an interesting meta position. Rat Trap can be a great card versus Rogues and Mages. However, Rogues can more easily answer it as they are running Saps and Spirit of the Shark plays.
Cong “StrifeCro” Shu is the sole representative to bring Mech Paladin. This deck archetype became popular on ladder thanks to the buffs to Crystology and Glowstone Technician, but StrifeCro seems to be the only Grandmaster that thinks it can perform well in the Rogue and Warrior meta.
Cards to Keep an Eye On
We are just a week away from the first Masters Tour Stop in Las Vegas, and the buffed cards are key to look after. These cards could make or break the meta for the event, all depending on if they can beat Rogues and Warriors.
The first of these cards is Luna’s Pockey Galaxy. The potential value from all of your minions costing one could be insane. The tempo sacrifice is the issue with the card. If players can remain stable and then snowball the game with card draw after playing Galaxy, it could be unbeatable.
Crystology is a huge buff. Surprisingly, only one person brought Paladin this week. This buff also helped the not represented Holy Wrath Paladin. Crystology only costing one allows Paladin to cycle a lot quicker and in a more flexible way, so we might see Holy Wrath Paladin make a comeback at some point.
Pogo Rogue is actually seeing a fair amount of play this week in Grandmasters. We will have to see how the Pogo-Hopper buff impacts its viability, and if players looking to play Rogue should play Pogo instead of another form of Tempo. If it can beat Warrior a lot harder, and Warrior is expected to top the meta, it might take over.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.
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