vS Data Reaper Report #320

April 17, 2025

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Welcome to the 320th 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 1,099,000
Top 1K Legend 105,000
Legend (Excluding Top 1k) 304,000
Diamond 4 to 1 137,000
Diamond 10 to 5 183,000
Platinum 138,000
Bronze/Silver/Gold 232,000

Class/Archetype Distribution

Class Frequency

Class Frequency Discussion

An initial decline in Rogue was observed when Cliff Dive DH was blowing up. However, the class has turned things around and is now on an upswing trajectory, likely due to the rise of Paladin. Rogue’s internal makeup has also changed. Protoss Rogue has declined. Interest in Pirate Rogue picked up. Ashamane Rogue has emerged with a new build. Cycle Rogue has fallen off.

Cliff Dive DH has expectedly surged in play. It has quickly established itself as the most popular deck at legend ranks. However, following the initial surge, it has settled down quickly and even started to decline. Its momentum seems to have been stolen by yet another new face on the block that emerged after last week’s report was out.

Drunk Paladin, the next evolution in Shaladrassil Paladin decks, has exploded in play out of nowhere during the weekend, taking over the class in dramatic fashion at higher levels of play. This new iteration no longer focuses on Ursol as its primary win condition, but on discounting Sea Shanty and Flickering Lightbot. Divine Brew is the deck’s most important card, giving the deck its unique name. Drunk Paladin is on pace to overtake Cliff Dive DH as the most popular deck at legend ranks, while beginning to trickle down to other rank brackets as well.

Imbue Druid has established itself as the most successful and competitive Imbue deck. While this does not say much by itself, considering the state of other Imbue decks, it is worth highlighting that Imbue Druid has become the most popular deck overall, outside of legend ranks. Players are highly attracted to this archetype, as it is reminiscent of old Jade Druid summoning ‘larger and larger men’.

Warlock looks like a completely different class compared to last week. Location Warlock is gone. Wheel Warlock has appeared, but its rise in play has quickly been restrained to a modest play rate. Starship Warlock has popped up as an alternative with a similar playstyle and supportive shell.

Blood-Ctrl Death Knight is going through a near total collapse, retaining modest popularity at Diamond and below, but fading from the top legend field in shockingly quick fashion. Starship Death Knight is also experiencing a decline. Meanwhile, a new face has emerged in the class and is picking up some momentum: Handbuff Death Knight.

Mage is holding on. Based on our experience, there is a good reason to believe that players are highly attracted to both Imbue and Protoss Mage, but these decks do not enjoy a larger share of the format due to their underwhelming performance level. Meanwhile, Spell Mage has popped up a little, seeking a comeback in Standard.

Enthusiasm for Zarimi Priest is down. The deck is still very popular at Diamond and Platinum ranks, but we have seen last week that it is not the dominant deck it was perceived to be early in the patch, meaning that top legend players have gone cold on it.

Hunter has drastically declined. Imbue Hunter is in decline because it is a terrible deck. Our suspicion is that Zegg Hunter is hardly played by humans. Handbuff Hunter is the only deck that seems to maintain some interest at top legend.

Terran Warrior does see some play, while others experiment with various Control Warrior builds, but the class is completely forgotten at top legend. Not a good sign.

There have been some early claims last week that Murmur Shaman was in a good spot in the format. None of that translated into any significant rise in play. In fact, the deck is currently fading away at top legend.

Matchup Win Rates Header

Power Rankings Header

vS Meta Score

vS Power Rankings Discussion

The format is beginning to take shape. Three major powers can be identified, keeping each other in check in a cyclical fashion. The first power is Rogue, spearheaded by Protoss Rogue. The second power is Demon Hunter, which tends to counter Rogue. The third and newest power is Drunk Paladin, which counters Demon Hunter, but gets countered by Rogue.

Rogue

  • Initial impressions of the emergence of Cliff Dive DH and Wheel Warlock were that Rogue could take a step back in power and prevalence. However, this changed with two major developments that followed the rise of Demon Hunter. The rise of Drunk Paladin, an extremely powerful deck, has kept Cliff Dive DH and Wheel Warlock in check while representing a good matchup for Rogue. The collapse of Blood-Ctrl Death Knight, Rogue’s other major counter, proved to be a major boost for Rogue.
  • This has elevated Protoss Rogue to become one of the best decks in the format once again, mimicking its standing on the second day of the patch. It is one of the better answers to Drunk Paladin’s meteoric rise. Warlock and Demon Hunter are now its major relevant counters, with Blood-Ctrl DK’s standing at top legend looking highly questionable.
  • Pirate Rogue is looking worse than Protoss Rogue because its matchup against Cliff Dive DH is increasingly more difficult (10% worse than Protoss), as the deck gets destroyed by Ball Hog. Its matchup against Warlock is better, but Demon Hunter makes up a larger share of the format.
  • Ashamane Rogue has transformed into a deck that looks increasingly competitive, thanks to successful refinement that might not be over yet. This is the strongest counter to Drunk Paladin in the format, edging other Rogue decks in this category. Its poor matchups are similar to Protoss Rogue. Ysera Rogue variants that run Ashamane look like a waste of time in comparison.
  • Starship Rogue is the unique exception. Its performance has declined this week, because it behaves the opposite of other Rogue decks. Its matchup against Demon Hunter is fine, it hard counters Blood-Ctrl DK, but its matchup against Drunk Paladin is terrible. The latest meta developments are opposite of what it wants to see.

Demon Hunter

  • Cliff Dive DH is settling down as a powerful deck, but it does not look like an unstoppable meta breaker anymore. The emergence of Drunk Paladin has forced it into a three-way tie at top legend, while other decks even outperform it on the climb to legend. In addition, a new deck has emerged that completely destroys it in Handbuff Death Knight. Even though its presence is small, it is felt.
  • The absence of interest in Aggro DH is also affecting its performance level, as players are not gravitating to its best performing deck in the same way they do for other decks. With the absence  of interest, often comes the absence of information. Aggro DH is by no means a great deck, but aggressive decks that are not specifically top tier often fall to the wayside in this fashion.

Paladin

  • Drunk Paladin looks extremely powerful, with only the Rogue class standing in the way of its complete and utter dominance. Out of the three major powers, Drunk Paladin can easily be argued as the best, especially outside of top legend, where players are not as inclined to play skill intensive Rogue decks. This is why Drunk Paladin is at a different level on the climb to legend, outperforming the second best decks at Platinum and Diamond brackets by 2-3%. Its matchup spread is simply insane against non-Rogue classes.
  • It is entirely possible, of course, that Drunk Paladin will experience what Cliff Dive DH has experienced this week, which is more attention and conscious targeting through novel discoveries. However, as it stands, we have not yet identified a decline or a sign of stagnation in its momentum. It is currently running amok.
  • Shala Paladin might be obsolete in the face of Drunk Paladin looking vastly superior. We hinted last week that the deck is simply too one dimensional, too predictable in its play pattern and too easy to punish. It seems that Drunk Paladin added another dimension to the class, one that is significantly harder to deal with.
  • Aggro Paladin with a Shaladrassil approach looks fine. It even performs well against Drunk Paladin. However, this is an aggressive deck that does not look top tier, which means we doubt it can gain much traction considering how superior (and more attractive) Drunk Paladin is overall.

Druid

  • Imbue Druid is one of the most balanced decks out there, both in its win rate and depolarized matchup spread. Considering its strongest counters come from the Rogue class, it is no surprise to see it become so popular outside of top legend, where Rogue is not as prevalent. The rest of its spread does not present a hard counter. A lot of winnable, close matchups. Drunk Paladin is a bit hard, but it is hard for everyone. Considering its popularity, play patterns and overall performance level, we can consider it to be one of the most well designed archetypes of the past year.

Warlock

  • Wheel Warlock has gone from Meta Breaker to Struggler in the space of two days. The emergence of Drunk Paladin has thrown a big wrench in Gul’dan’s plan, as the format was no longer about countering Rogue and Death Knight.  Besides Zarimi Priest, Drunk Paladin is one of the hardest matchups to deal with for a Warlock. However, we will note that some refinement could help the archetype a big deal. Its initial build, which we floated last week, could use some adjustments. There is a big scope for improvement here.
  • Starship Warlock appears to be a stronger and more stable alternative to Wheel Warlock. It has a very similar matchup spread, as it is a similar deck, but it performs better against Demon Hunter, Druid and Rogue. However, we are not certain that Starship is truly superior, or it was just easier and quicker to build and refine. It is also a bit easier to play.

Death Knight

  • The collapse of Blood-Ctrl Death Knight is remarkable. Its top legend win rate has fallen by 7%, which is an insane number for a deck that has not gone through major internal changes.  This is a result of multiple factors. The addition of Ball Hog and Felhunter to Cliff Dive DH has turned this matchup dark red. Wheel of Death is nearly impossible to deal with, so the increased presence of Warlock has proven to be crippling. The rise of Imbue Druid has made the experience at lower rank brackets tougher too. Meanwhile, the deck stood still and did not find innovation. The entire meta has shifted and upgraded to spank Blood Death Knights silly.
  • Starship Death Knight is also having a tougher time, but not to the same extent, as its proactive game plan makes it a bit harder to punish. The Warlock and Demon Hunter matchups, for example, are much more comfortable (50-50). Drunk Paladin is the major obstacle for this deck, causing its performance to decline.
  • Handbuff Death Knight provides the class with some respite. This deck utterly destroys Cliff Dive DH, to the point it was the best performing deck across ladder during the weekend. However, it does not perform particularly well against Rogue and Paladin, so it is not expected to remain a Tier 1 performer at top legend.
  • Menagerie Death Knight does have one variant that now outperforms others, so it has room for improvement through curation, but it remains an unspectacular aggressive deck that few players care about.

Mage

  • Mage does not appear to be in a great spot. Both Protoss and Imbue Mage have an intimidating late game, but neither deck is strong enough on the way there. Mage struggles against all three major powers, so we are not too optimistic about its chances to become a more relevant player in the format. Spell Mage does not appear to be a game changer either.
  • However, players enjoy these Mage decks, so they can be considered a design win. With a decent play rate, there is also a higher chance for further discovery and innovation.

Priest

  • Zarimi Priest is expected to further decline in popularity and performance, considering Drunk Paladin is a horrendous matchup. If we add the painful Rogue matchups, it does not look great for Priest at top legend, so we are not surprised to see the class fade at this rank bracket. The one hope the deck has is that Warlock starts popping off again. Zarimi Priest’s major win this expansion is that it is no longer a “boring aggro deck”, which means it has become a more attractive archetype for players, despite its polarizing matchup spread.
  • Aggro Priest might be fine, but few players care, as it is a “boring aggro deck that does not OTK”. Imbue Priest… we will wait for the next buff.

Hunter

  • Handbuff Hunter has been eclipsed by Handbuff Death Knight as the major Demon Hunter counter, but its matchups against the three major powers seem fine on average (beats DH, goes 50-50 with Paladin, loses to Rogue), so it is surviving with a decent win rate across ladder. It does have room for growth through refinement too. It just does not seem to scratch the itch for most Hearthstone players, as its playstyle is very binary and all-in.
  • Imbue Hunter remains terrible. Zegg Hunter is strong enough to carry bots to legend.

Warrior

  • Terran Warrior remains surprisingly effective at Diamond ranks, but seems to struggle under the weight of the three major powers at higher levels of play. It is difficult for Warrior to build a list that can strike a balance between these matchups. Its current builds are very good against Demon Hunter, but struggle against Rogue and get completely destroyed by Drunk Paladin. The rise of Paladin is a major new obstacle in the class’ attempts to come back. It is a similar story with Control Warrior, but this archetype has no fleshed out build that functions well anywhere.

Shaman

  • There is a logical explanation why, for a couple of days last week, Murmur Shaman might have appeared competitive at top legend. With the meta breakers of the last report being floated as Cliff Dive DH and Wheel Warlock, Murmur Shaman is a strong counter to both decks. Cliff Dive DH gets countered by Hex, while Warlock gives Shaman all the time in the world to do what it wants. This can also be shown by the significant rise in Murmur Shaman’s win rate this week, a result of these matchups spiking in play. However, the format is not developing into one that is about countering these two classes alone. There is a more diverse field, one with plenty of decks that give Murmur Shaman a very hard time, Drunk Paladin included.
  • As a result, Murmur Shaman’s win rate and popularity has been on a consistent decline since that initial “spike”. The deck is now closer to falling behind the devastated Blood-Ctrl DK than it is to climb to Tier 3 at top legend.

Class Analysis & Decklists

Death Knight | Demon Hunter | Druid | Hunter | Mage | Paladin | Priest | Rogue | Shaman | Warlock | Warrior

 

Data Reaper Report - Rogue

Protoss Rogue is relatively solidified. Cutting one copy of Metal Detector allows us to run all three of Sonya, Xavius and Griftah. It is only in Protoss Rogue where this package seems worthwhile, as it helps the deck’s late game.

Pirate Rogue sees no changes to its build. There is some experimentation with Harbinger, but it is run in a build with Ashamane and Zephrys, which do not appear to be good fits in this deck. If we were to add Harbinger and Web of Deception, we would cut Toy Boat and Backstab.

Popular Starship Rogue builds seem too greedy, especially with Blood Death Knights collapsing. Sonya, Griftah and Xavius look like unnecessary luxuries, considering how grindy the deck is. Observer of Mysteries looks powerful, but it is usually included in lists that skip on Harbinger. We would run both cards.

Ashamane Rogue is still going through refinement but looks much more fleshed out, with a build that possesses some early game minions to bridge into Ashamane. Zilliax looks great in this deck, which is why we recommend running it in Starship Rogue too. It helps us corrupt Shaladrassil more consistently, especially with Scoundrel.

Eviscerate and Zephrys are popular inclusions that do not impress us. Neither does ‘Oh, Manager!’. Nightmare Fuel makes more sense with this deck’s playstyle than Eviscerate. We believe Observer of Mysteries should be experimented with, considering how well it performs in a similar deck (Starship Rogue). It might be better than Mixologist, or Nightmare Fuel.

Dangerous Cliffside looks like a decent card in Cliff Dive Demon Hunter and should provide more than Immolation Aura in the current meta. The fall of Blood-Ctrl Death Knight has tempered our enthusiasm of adding Ferocious Felbat, which turns the deck into a grinding monster in the late game at the cost of some early game consistency.

Aggro Demon Hunter should drop all other builds for a Menagerie direction, or it will continue to look underwhelming in its aggregated performance.

Data Reaper Report - Paladin

Drunk Paladin looks incredible. 29 cards seem locked in. Righetous Protector is the 30th filler. It could be anything. Wisp does not seem great in a list without Grillmaster, and Robocaller looks superior to Grillmaster.

Remember that Ursol/Shaladrassil is the deck’s secondary win condition and a backup plan. Most of the time, this deck wins through Lightbot and Sea Shanty. You should be looking for Divine Brew, Lightbot, Lifesaving Aura and Vicious Slitherspear in your opening hand.

Shala Paladin is falling off. The deck wants Anachronos right now, as the board reset is too valuable, especially against Drunk Paladin.

Aggro Paladin wants to go the Shaladrassil route too. Divine Brew is strong with Toreth. Flash Sale and Crusader Aura are both included. Menagerie Jug is a bit redundant.

Data Reaper Report - Druid

Zephrys is a popular card in the current meta, but it is usually highly overrated. Imbue Druid is the one deck where Zephrys looks like it could belong. Running it or cutting it makes little difference.

Data Reaper Report - Warlock

Wheel Warlock must adapt from its early iteration, the one we floated last week. It does seem that our suspicions last week had merit, as Rotheart Dryad and Fractured Power look like strong cards in the deck. Low impact cards such as Wisp, Mortal Coil and ‘Eat! The! Imp!’ should make way. Ysera and Zilliax are good Dryad targets. We would also cut Dreadhound Handler for more impactful stalling (Bob, Domino Effect).

The featured build is significantly better than early iterations, to the point we are not sure it is a worse deck than Starship Warlock.

Starship Warlock looks a lot cleaner and straightforward. We do wonder whether we should learn from Wheel Warlock and replace Mortal Coil with Fractured Power, even though we recognize that Coil performs better in this archetype due to its utility with Felfire Thrusters. Glacial Shard is an alternative cut.

Blood-Ctrl Death Knight is collapsing and there is nothing the deck can do to stop it. It can flex some cards between an early game focus (Keychain, Creature) or late game focus (Hematurge, Moon) but it does not change the bad matchups.

Handbuff Death Knight looks like the best counter in the game to Cliff Dive DH. An obvious tweak to the most common build is to run two copies of Spinel Spellstone. This is one of the best cards in the deck and should be treated as such. The featured build drops one Rainbow Seamstress to make way.

The Rainbow build looks like the best one for Menagerie Death Knight.

Data Reaper Report - Mage

We cut Divination from Imbue Mage as the card was not carrying its weight. The buffed Dreamweaver looks good here. The Skyla build is, by far, the best path to compete with Imbue Mage. No changes to Protoss Mage.

Data Reaper Report - Priest

The Menagerie variant is the stronger build for Aggro Priest. No changes to Zarimi Priest. We are aware that Shadow Word: Ruin answers Sea Shanty, but the card is utterly useless otherwise.

Data Reaper Report - Hunter

Turns out Handbuff Hunter found a better 3rd minion in the deck to pair with Mythical Runebear than Wisp. Power/Twin Zilliax looks incredible in a build that drops the token package to lean harder into hand buffing consistency.

Data Reaper Report - Warrior

Terran Warrior can run Tortolla even without Chemical Spill. The painful part of refining Terran Warrior is that we must run double Brawl (Paladin), but we also wish we had space for Yamato Cannons. Running one Brawl is simply incorrect when Drunk Paladin is so dominant.

Control Warrior looks inferior to Terran Warrior currently, until a build emerges that convinces us otherwise.

Data Reaper Report - Shaman

Murmur Shaman had a glimmer of hope last week, as it counters both Cliff Dive DH and Wheel Warlock, but that quickly ended with the emergence of Drunk Paladin, as well as multiple other decks that do not lose to Hex or AFK until turn 7.



Drunk Paladin has exploded into the scene, throwing the format into further chaos and continuing the trend of new decks popping off on a daily basis. This is, by far, the strongest deck in the format if you are interested in climbing to legend. But remember that this deck plays very differently to Shala Paladin, focused on Flickering Lightbot more than it is on Ursol. Our goal is to overwhelm the opponent with discounted Sea Shanty and Lightbot. Should they be able to deal with those (not many decks are), we fall back to the Shaladrassil game plan. This added versatility makes the deck more well rounded and effective than Shala Paladin.

Unless you encounter a significant number of Rogues, it seems that drinking on the road to legend is, in fact, recommend.

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Contributors

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