The Hearthstone Grandmasters Season 2 Week 3 meta features a narrowing down of the archetypes that were brought last week. As the full effect of the nerf patch begins to take effect, some major shifts in archetype popularity are becoming evident. People are figuring out what are the best decks for the current meta, and that means a lot of Druid.
Quest Druid, the Deck to Beat
Quest Druid seems to be finding its way into nearly every lineup in Grandmasters. There aren’t enough decks to punish its weak early game, and its late game value is second to none. Of course, there is not a universal way to build the deck. There are many possible win conditions players have decided to play around with in their Quest Druids.
The most simple way to win with Quest Druid is just outlasting aggressive decks, and making a large board. The survivability comes mainly from Hidden Oasis gaining 12 life and generating a 6/6 Taunt. The removal comes from Oasis Surger producing 10 damage worth of Rush. When Cenarius drops is usually when Druid starts running away with the board.
Some decks also run King Phaoris. This can be a game ending board or one of many large boards for decks like Control Warrior to have to deal with. Then, the end game versus Control is playing multiple Chef Nomis with Flubbidinous Floop and Elise the Enlightened. Then discovering any left over lethal outs with Zephrys the Great.
There are some even shooting for a Malygos OTK with the deck. For matchups where the damage is needed, the player hopes to get Dreampetal Florist’s effect on Malygos since there are so few minions left at the end of the game. Then, multiple Malygos can come down and usually provide overkill lethal damage.
Control Warrior and Combo Priest Strong Secondaries
Control Warrior no longer seems to be an auto-include deck for Grandmasters players. A majority of players are still bringing it, but it has match ups where it struggles. As Quest Paladin’s popularity rises, Warrior has more chances of running into a loss. It’s one of the most polarizing match ups we’ve seen in a long time, with Warriors winning less than 25 percent of the time typically.
Warriors aren’t really bringing anything different in their lists either. There’s no major tech cards Warriors can include to improve their chances against the current bad match ups, so they just stay as a solid choice overall.
It seems the Grandmasters have all come to the conclusion that Combo Priest is just a good deck. The deck has jumped up in popularity as it is being included in most lineups. There is still some inconclusiveness as to whether Bwonsamdi the Dead is a key piece, with some players opting not to include the card.
Aside from that, Combo Priest has one of the strongest early games of any deck in the game right now. Some of its starting hands feel unbeatable, and its bad starting hands can usually be salvaged thanks to card draw.
Quest Shaman and Zoo Warlock
As the first two or three decks seem easily decided in most Grandmaster lineups, Quest Shaman and Zoo Warlock seem to fill out those final slots.
Quest Shaman provides answers for a lot of decks and only struggles versus the likes of Druid and good Priest hands. Other than that, it provides consistent damage for aggression, and consistent options for small board states. The only real downfall of the deck is removing multiple large minions, which Druids like to make.
Zoolock has dropped a little in popularity, probably due a little to its inconsistency. While it is still going to be a solid pick against Druids, even then it needs to curve out properly to ensure a victory. Also, an option for some is still the Highlander Zoolock, which can provide a nice tempo buff or swing with Zephrys the Great.
Everything Else
OTK Paladin and Highlander Hunter are in their fair share of decks. No real change from last week to this week here, with players that favor those decks likely sticking to their guns.
Quest Paladin sees a little bit of action just as a foil to the huge amount of Warrior in play. If players can get that matchup to come into their sets, victory becomes a much simpler prospect.
Mage as a class is still hanging on as a deck in Grandmasters with Highlander Mage. Some players have stated that Mage is still in an okay position, but most players feel that their are four better decks that can be brought instead.
A player bringing Mecha’thun Warrior is an unusual change of pace. This Warrior can cycle through its deck quickly to end the game, making it a good match up versus those slow decks like Quest Druid that would normally be unfavorable.
Finally, the biggest change is the disappearance of Rogue. It went from middle of the pack in terms of representation, to the bottom of the barrel. One thing players find is that if Rogues can’t end the game early, which it often struggles to do, Druids and decks with life gain end up locking them out of the game.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website and the PlayHearthstone twitch channel.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other TGH writers along with Gino!