We are in the second season of the Rise of Shadows Hearthstone meta. A couple new decks have popped into the meta, but Rogue is still the oppressor. Many people are trying to experiment with some lesser used cards to create new archetypes. Here’s a look at the May 2019 Standard meta in order of ladder popularity.
Tier One
Tempo Rogue
Tempo Rogue is the undeniable best deck in the current meta. It is very powerful early to mid game and has amazing burst potential.
At Rank 6 and above the deck makes up nearly 30% of all decks on the ladder. All decks must be made to be good against and/or teched against Tempo Rogue, or good against its counter, Warrior.
This deck is highly likely to be targeted by nerfs. The cards that will need to be looked at are Raiding Party, EVIL Miscreant, and Edwin VanCleef.
Tier Two
Control Warrior
Control Warrior makes up a large portion of the meta because it serves as the only real counter to Tempo Rogue. Even then, Control Warriors still only win 65 percent of the time against Rogue. Rogues could switch to a list running Chef Nomi and make the odds lean more towards a 50/50 for Rogue.
This also comes at the cost of time spent playing games, as the average Control Warrior game is nearly three times as long as Tempo Rogue’s average games. Warriors also run the risk of running into all of the tier two decks looking to counter Warrior itself.
Mech Hunter
Mech Hunter is in an interesting position. It is quite popular but also isn’t particularly strong against the two strongest meta decks. It’s un-favored against Rogue because of cards like Sap. Although it’s good against specifically Dyn-o-Matic in Control Warrior, Warriors still have too much removal and life gain for aggro Mech Hunter.
The positives of Mech Hunter is that it beats all of the decks that are trying to beat Warrior. After Tempo Rogue it is the most aggressive deck and doesn’t run any weapons. This allows it to avoid the weapon removal that nearly every deck is running to try to beat Rogues.
Dragon Mage
Dragon Mage is the new name for Summoner Mage because it runs a handful of Dragons and the cards that synergize with them. The only problem with the deck is that its match ups are very polarizing.
It performs great against Control decks because of its ability to make big boards. However, it moves too slowly in the early game and suffers at the hand of most aggressive decks. If the rank pocket you fall into is playing a lot of Warrior, Control Shaman, Priest, or slow Paladins then this deck is prepared to beat them all.
Secret Hunter
Secret Hunter is a deck on the rise at Rank 5 and above. It is less popular at the lower ranks likely because of its dust cost to craft. Secrets create an interesting game dynamic thanks to Rat Trap.
A lot of decks that are meta like to play three or more cards in a single turn, specifically Rogue and Tempo Mage. Rat Trap gives Hunter a big minion to kill those decks that typically aren’t prepared for it.
The Rest
Token Druid, Bomb Warrior, and Midrange Hunter are still sitting in the tier two level. Token Druid is a coin flip deck against most of the other popular decks but specifically has bad match ups against Zoolock and Nomi Priest, which aren’t too popular.
Bomb Warrior in its current form is a less consistent version of Control Warrior that has even worse match ups against the decks trying to counter Control. Midrange Hunter is somewhat similar to Dragon Mage in terms of its match ups but is more solid against Mech Hunter and Tempo Mage which are pretty popular right now.
Tier Three and Below
Tempo Mage
Tempo Mage is a deck that requires a lot of attention and skill to pilot. It takes the same simple combo of Mountain Giant and Conjurer’s Calling but runs a lot of spells rather than a lot of minions.
It opts to be more aggressive with cards like Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Questing Adventurer. This Mage hopes to get some decent cards out of Mana Cyclone in order to carry it into its finishing blow. It’s a deck that’s actually the third most popular in legend ranks because it is both skill intensive and adds a degree of fun with randomly generated spells.
Holy Wrath Paladin
This deck has seen a very small revival starting at the Legend ranks. People tend to start playing slower decks once they hit legend and this Paladin benefits from that. Even Control Warrior isn’t the worst matchup for this deck because it can still deal 50 damage. The deck is feasted on by aggro though.
The Rest
Nomi Priest, Zoo Warlock, Murloc Shaman, Control Shaman, and Mech Paladin all sit in tier three or four. All of these decks have their match ups that they are good against in tiers one or two. They also have really bad match ups against the decks they don’t counter in one and two. These decks aren’t as overpowered or consistent as those above it.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.
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