Looking at the Next Season

So the February season of Hearthstone is about to draw to a close. Since school is about to start soon for me, chances are I'll be playing a lot less Hearthstone in the months to come, and with that, a lot less Hearthstone-related content. In this post, I'd like to share some of my overall thoughts on this and the upcoming seasons, and a few decklists I might use to ladder next season. 

Overall thoughts

GvG started off as a showdown between aggro decks (Midrange Hunter, Xixo Zoo) and decks designed to counter aggro (Control Warrior, Handlock). After the Undertaker nerf, midrange decks began to take over the scene, largely because people started discovering the value of GvG cards like Piloted Shredder and Muster for Battle, and how well they fit in a midrange deck. Midrange Pally and Combo Druid became the decks to beat in the February season, while Zoo was largely replaced by Mechmage. Rogue, widely regarded as the worst class when GvG first came out, received a new boost in the form of the Oil Rogue deck, which propelled the class to tier one status.

So right we're in a rather unique position in the history of the game: virtually every class (barring, perhaps, Priest) has become playable. Warlock's popularity has gone up again, thanks to the new Demonlock deck which won ESL. The same player also piloted a Midrange Shaman deck, making it significantly more visible on ladder alongside the Aggro Mech variant. Now, because there's so much variance on ladder, the meta has become more and more volatile. The 'meta', at the moment, consists of a complex paper-scissor-rock situation between various tier one decks, that all seem to struggle to regain the dominant position Hunter was at 2 weeks ago.

Overall, I'm actually very pleased with how the game is right now. The speed at which the meta changes right now forces the player to really think on their feet. Tech cards like BGH, Harrison, Healbot and The Black Knight goes in and out of decks very, very quickly. Because of how decks are generally converging towards midrange, classes have in general become a lot more versatile, able to switch from aggro to control within one to two turns.

As much as the meta changes, though, it is still rather predictable. The decks people play on the higher parts of ladder are largely netdecks from the most popular streamers. Take the SenX Midrange Hunter deck, for example. The deck was virtually non-existent on ladder, even a week after it was first posted by the guy himself. Trump decides to stream it - he piloted it to top 10 NA, and a day after nearly a third of the ladder consists of the exact list. The ability of popular streamers to influence the meta is pretty incredible.

Decklists 

Combo Druid

Druid has always been designed as an extremely consistent and versatile class. Right now, it's the most popular deck on ladder, and for a good reasons too. It has heal, silence, card draw, broken starts with Wild Growth, and potential for some insane burst. It's easily the most well-rounded and consistent deck in the game.

Spectral Knight used to be a staple for Combo Druid, but it's popularity has declined somewhat ever since cards like Piloted Shredder came out. It's still a very good card versus Rogue, which is why I decided to put in one copy. Good tech-cards for this deck (besides the usual BGH, Harrison etc) include Mind Control Tech and Zombie Chow. Kezan Mystic, I feel, is a card that varies from exceptional to awful. So unless the meta is 50% Hunters/Mages, it's a pretty inconsistent card.

Control Warrior

The problem about Warrior right now is that its removals are no longer as efficient as they need to be. Warrior always had problem dealing with Deathrattle minions, but cards like Piloted Shredder made things really hard for Warrior. Control Warrior lists have become more pro-active as a result, seeking to fight for board early rather than relying on cards like Brawl to regain board control. Piloted Shredders, Bomb Lobbers, Sen'jin and Spellbreaker are all decent cards for this purpose.

The choice of Legendaries have also experienced a big change. Because of how sticky minions have become, Ragnaros is not as good as it used to be. Alex and Geddon are both vulnerable to BGH, which has gotten a lot more popular ever since Dr. Boom became an auto-include. The old Alex/Grommash combo have also become increasingly hard to pull off. So players like Sjow have sought to play Control Warrior lists with only 1 BGH target (the Dr. Boom), with some success.

At the moment, I prefer more midrange warrior lists that are able to grind well into the late game. Cards like Piloted Shredder takes care of the midgame, while Ysera takes care of the late. I would also run Sneeds in this deck (possibly replacing one of the Shredders), but I don't have that card unfortunately. Another good card to include is Spellbreaker, which is generally superior to Owl since it doesn't die to the Whirlwind effect of Death's Bite. Control Warrior lists are some of the most interesting to compile, so my list is by no means definitive or anything like that.

Zoo

So perhaps you are wondering why I'm talking about Zoo, even though there's no Zoo list.

It's simple: there are no good Zoo lists around.

Out of all the decks hit by the Undertaker nerf, Zoo arguably got hit the hardest. Because Zoo needs to lay down pressure from turn one, having a good Undertaker start wasn't just the icing on the cake (as it was for Midrange Hunter): it was mandatory for winning the game. With Undertaker gone, cards like Leper Gnome and Clockwork Gnome got significantly worse. So Zoo is kind of in a weird spot right now: it doesn't have enough good 1 drops to play.

Argent Squire is okay, but not amazing. Zombie Chow is alright, but is literally only good when played on turn one. Cogmaster is great, but it requires a mech engine. And Mech Zoo, being simply an inferior version of Mech Mage, isn't worth playing.

What really knocked Zoo out of the meta is that other decks have acquired the tools to compete with the board early. Aggro Hunter still thrives because it has sufficient reach to end the game, even if it loses board control. But after the Soulfire nerf, Zoo's reach has become very limited. Once Zoo loses board, it becomes nearly impossible to regain the board, barring some crazy Implosion RNG.

Perhaps it's time to ditch the whole concept and move on to something more midrange. Silentstorm's Demonlock, I think, is a step in the right direction. It plays almost like Zoo, but is far more versatile, with heal, AoE, and a solid late-game. If Blizzard's new expansion brings in more quality 1-2 drops, I can see Zoo making a comeback. Bur right now, Zoo is barely tier 3.