Welcome to the 349th edition of the Data Reaper Report!
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Class/Archetype Distribution | Class Frequency | Matchup Winrates | vS Power Rankings | vS Meta Score | Class Analysis & Decklists | Meta Breaker of the Week | How to Contribute | Credits
Number of Games
| Overall | 2,304,000 |
| Top 1K Legend | 75,000 |
| Legend (Excluding Top 1k) | 243,000 |
| Diamond 4 to 1 | 512,000 |
| Diamond 10 to 5 | 513,000 |
| Platinum | 355,000 |
| Bronze/Silver/Gold | 606,000 |
Class/Archetype Distribution
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All Ranks
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D1 to D4
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Legend
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Top 1K Legend
Class Frequency
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Weekly
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Daily
Class Frequency Discussion
The most dramatic change in the format, following the introduction of Hearthstone’s first batch of class sets, is the rise of Companion Hunter. This archetype has taken over ladder and instantly become the most popular deck at nearly every rank bracket. Only at top legend, where Face Hunter rises to equal its numbers, Companion Hunter is not overwhelmingly more popular than other decks.
With Hunter suddenly becoming the most attractive class in the format, Rogue has taken a significant step back. Herald Rogue is still one of the most popular decks in the game, but not to the extent we saw a few weeks ago.
Spell Demon Hunter has mostly kept stable numbers, but it is a more popular deck at top legend, where it is likely valued as a Face Hunter counter.
Merithra and Token Druid are decently represented across ladder. Merithra Druid is experimenting with some new cards. Token Druid is more settled down in its build choices.
Enthusiasm for Leyline Mage was high early on, but the deck quickly fell off. At top legend, Quest Mage remains the primary choice within the class.
Dragon Warrior has declined, as players moved to experiment with Hunter. The deck is modestly popular throughout ladder, with Egg Warrior looking like the secondary, more fringe option.
Players were not as eager to try out Dude Paladin, with low play rate numbers at all levels of play. Its numbers are close to Aura Paladin.
Herald Shaman has declined, not seeing internal developments for many weeks.
Much like other classes that did not get a set, Death Knight and Priest have declined. Warlock remains the least popular class in the format.
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All Ranks
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D4 to Legend
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Legend
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Top 1K Legend
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Legend
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D1 to D4
vS Meta Score
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Top 1K Legend
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Legend
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D1 to D4
vS Power Rankings Discussion
Hunter
- Despite its high popularity, Companion Hunter is a bad deck. This is not a refinement issue. Every single half decent deck in the format beats it. To understand how bad it is, we will list its equal or positive matchups: Leyline Mage, Dude Paladin, Control Priest and Herald Death Knight. Its high popularity is inflating the performance of the established decks in the field.
- In a competitive format, Companion Hunter has no business existing. Our guess is that it will remain prominent at low MMR brackets to some degree, while declining at the more competitive rank brackets.
- Face Hunter is far stronger. In fact, it is currently the best performing deck at top legend. It benefits from the janky format, as it ruthlessly punishes bad decks.
Rogue
- Herald Rogue looks alright. The success of aggressive decks in the format keeps it in check. Face Hunter will have to get knocked down a bit if Rogue wants to have a better time, though the deck was not particularly powerful before class sets either.
Demon Hunter
- Spell Demon Hunter’s strong matchups into both Hunter decks, as well as aggressive decks in general, means it is in a great position to succeed. Quest Mage, Merithra Druid and Egg decks are its obstacles.
Druid
- Similarly to Face Hunter, Token Druid benefits from the unrefined format, but is also just hard to beat. Removal currently is not strong enough to consistently push it off the board.
- Merithra Druid is suffering a bit due to the rise of Token Druid, which is an oppressive matchup. The deck has a better time when the format slows down and gives it more time to ramp.
Mage
- Quest Mage is a glass cannon deck that loses to every kind of aggression, so this format is not ideal for it. It will be hoping to see Spell DH rise to counter Face Hunter, Token Druid and Dragon Warrior.
- Leyline Mage is horrendous, as bad as Rafaam Warlock. Unless it receives extremely aggressive buffs, it has no chance of ever competing. It is completely dysfunctional.
Warrior
- Dragon Warrior remains powerful and well rounded, with only a few soft counters. Its advantage, compared to Face Hunter or Token Druid, is that Spell DH does not counter it as hard, though it performs worse against the Druid class.
- We have mentioned before that we think Egg Warrior is not a popular choice because of its extremely polarizing matchup spread. Its overall numbers look good, but queueing into the wrong matchups can turn players away from it.
Paladin
- Dude Paladin is underwhelming and has no chance of surviving in an optimized field. Historically, a Tier 3 aggressive deck does not see play. Aura Paladin is a much stronger deck, while Token Druid and Face Hunter have similar playstyles that are vastly superior.
- Aura Paladin remains extremely powerful at low MMR’s, one of the better choices on the climb to legend and falls off at top legend. Nothing we have not heard before.
Shaman
- Herald Shaman does well against Druid, but does not beat other meta classes, so it does not stand out and falls off at higher levels of play.
Priest, Death Knight and Warlock
- Control Priest and Herald Death Knight have the honor of being the only two “old” decks that lose to Companion Hunter. That is how bad they are. Egg Warlock beats Companion Hunter, so its win rate is inflated by its rise. However, that means it has no competitive prospects once the new deck falls off.
Class Analysis & Decklists
Death Knight | Demon Hunter | Druid | Hunter | Mage | Paladin | Priest | Rogue | Shaman | Warlock | Warrior
Critter Caretaker is very important for Companion Hunter. The featured build looks like the best choice for the archetype. We want to have a bunch of cheap spells to activate Broll Bearmantle and fuel Confront the Tol’vir. Crazed Alchemist can be used to flip Tortolla into an instant win. Though this seems like a niche late game role, it performs okay.
Face Hunter wants to run Tame Pet with no other Companion synergies. The card is valuable enough strictly for the draw effect being repeated by Confront the Tol’vir and Niri. This allows us to cut Arrow Retriever.
Due to the decline of the mirror matchup and rise of Spell Demon Hunter, we have noticed that Deja Vu and Nightmare Fuel have declined in their performance in Herald Rogue. Sands of Time performs better than both, so we have dropped Fuel to make way.
Twilight Mistress is far too important in this format, so the Imbue build that omits Mistress is clearly inferior. Mistress is strong against Merithra Druid, Quest Mage and the popular Companion Hunter.
No changes in Spell Demon Hunter. What we have learned before about the archetype remains relevant today.
Merithra Druid can run several new cards, though none of them are top performers in the archetype. Bashana is the best performing new card and comfortably slots into the deck. Lifebloom is slightly better than Cenarius. Heartroot Stones is serviceable. Some players run Viper for Quest Mage, but it does not seem necessary.
Underking is the prime candidate to cut from the deck to make way for the new cards, as it is a weak performer. Heartroot Stones provides an alternative way to gain armor.
Token Druid is rewarded for being as aggressive as possible. Xavius is normally a weak card in aggressive decks, but it performs well here because it increases our chances of finding Wickerfang.
The featured build we previously settled on for Quest Mage looks like the best one. Leyline Mage is a waste of time.
Much like Token Druid, Dragon Warrior wants to lower its curve and play as aggressively as possible to punish the popular, greedy decks.
Dude Paladin is not far away from being competitive but Resilient Savior and Emboldening Blade are clear underperformers that weigh down the archetype.
We are not convinced yet that Aura Paladin should be running Convalescence. Currently, it does not look like an upgrade alongside Violet Treasuregill and Acceleration Aura. At least, we do not agree with the popular trend of cutting Twilight Egg for it.
Herald Shaman’s build has been settled for a long time.
Class sets have come out with a whimper, as all new archetypes are underpowered to different degrees. Companion Hunter has the attractive factor going for it, at least. Dude Paladin can easily become competitive with simple buffs, though does not seem that attractive. Leyline Mage is the biggest disappointment, and we have doubts on whether Team 5 are willing to buff it to the degree it needs to seriously compete.
The introduction of bad decks into the format means that aggressive decks such as Face Hunter and Token Druid are currently feasting. Their main counter, Spell Demon Hunter, is a smart ladder choice in the current climate.
We think a rise in Spell DH is likely needed to tilt the format back towards slower decks, such as Quest Mage and Merithra Druid, which have good matchups against Demon Hunter.
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