The robot takeover took a while, but it’s finally taken hold. Between Paladin, Hunter and Warrior, Mechs are a huge part of the meta. Their magnetic abilities and reactive power means they’ve taken the mantle as midrange value engine of choice. Of course, with a weaker card pool, their success has a lot less competition. But what else lead to the Mech’s rise? And will their metallic shine wear thin?
Here Comes the Boom!
Part of the reason so many Mechs are about is the power of Warrior’s Doctor Boom. By giving all Mechs rush, he turns mediocre minions into potent removal spells. Harvest Golem goes from a terrible Omega Assembly pull to a flexible 3 mana deal 4. Bulldozer becomes a single target removal that also develops. Security Drone trades away tokens and fills your board with taunts.
By giving Mechs massive late-game utility, Doctor Boom gets around their key weakness of being overly snowbally and board-dependent. This is the perfect opportunity for late-game Mech generation like Omega Assembly and Delivery Drone to shine. But beyond these reactive tools, Mechs have distinct aggressive potential.
Mechanical Midrange
Hunter is jumping on the Mech bandwagon too. Magnetic, combined with the ‘goblin bomb’ mechanic, gives Hunters a surprisingly potent new aggro deck. The plan is simple. Gain the early board with efficient Mechs and bombs, magnetise more things to them to solidify your lead, then hit them hard in the face.
What’s more, Paladin is getting great usage out of mechs too.With an early game supported by the Secret Paladin, Mech Paladin can quickly build massive boards of Mechs, then resummon them with Kangor’s Endless Army.
So why are this midrange mechs so effective? Well part of their success is the ability to dominate Warrior. Warrior lacks efficient silence effects or transform removal, the best counter to magnetic minions. A lack of early game tempo and a vulnerability to Mechs’ Divine Shields and Deathrattles also works against them. Finally, one of Warrior’s best removal cards in Dyn-o-matic is utterly useless against Mechs. The ability to crush Warriors is a huge part of these midrange Mechs’ rise.
Unity, Precision, Perfection
And of course, we can’t forget about the current most popular card in Hearthstone: Ziliax. This 5 mana powerhouse does so much for the cost, it’s worth including in virtually any deck. But when you add Mech synergies to the mix, the card becomes ridiculous. Attach him to a big Mech, and you’ll be healing to full in no time. Not to mention the ridiculous value trade potential.
Not only that, but in restoring significant health while developing an efficient board, Ziliax fits perfectly into the Mech deck’s gameplan, massively improving their win rates against aggro. It’s hard to beat someone down when every high-attack Mech may become a lifesteal threat that will undo all your hard-earned damage.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via hearthstone.gamepedia.com.
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