I've now tried 5 times with Chrome over two days, once with Internet Explorer and once with Safari, and I get exactly the same issue each time. It's especially weird considering I have submitted to the last two competitions without issue.
Is there any alternate way I can submit? Time is rapidly running out.
I don't think it's fair to compare Druid and Priest given how vastly different their playstyles are.
Druid has no way to clear boards or big minions so in return they get better stats on their stuff.
Coilfang Warlord also doesn't hold up because it's so blatantly overpowered that it most certainly gets nerfed down the line.
The point of Priest, at least conceptually, is to keep your own minions alive while controlling the board. They enforce this by giiving Priest way more assymetrical boardclears (such as Breath of the Infinite, Soul Mirror, Buffed Holy Nova, and even Shadow Word:Ruin). Skeletal dragon is just another cog in the machine. You play it with the intetion of keeping it alive for multiple turns in order to get more value out of it than Emerald Explorer ever could.
I personally think that Paladin is more meta dependant. I was playing paladin to reach 1000 win most of my time and i saw that heal package of paladin is what it can stop Aggro decks well.
If Aggro and aggressive Demon Hunter and Hunters will be dominant in meta, I believe that a Paladin deck with some heal package might be on top tiers. Can't be sure about an aggro Paladin deck tho. Murgur Murgurgle will some impact on meta probably but Paladin's card draw is in a state that most of card draw cards are for control/combo style which takes some power level from aggressive paladin decks. So I believe in that some Heal oriented Midrange or Control style Paladin deck will be better than an aggro one.
I agree with your Demon Hunter statements. That's more logical to say that your first choice about what Blizzard chose is. Also it is the more realistic one. Of coure they will want Demon Hunter to success for market states. But I honestly think that This shouldn't bother anyone because they are giving Initiate cards for free to everyone which is a win-win for company and players both and that set gives you almost all pieces of fundemental cards that you can need for a viable Demon Hunter deck. Ok some AoO Demon Hunter cards are also must haves for some archetypes but I guess new duplication rule can give you some more aswell. I really believe in that some viable Demon Hunter deck should be in game with only using Initiate cards. Also it will be more fresh for everyone to see a new class in the top tier than existing ones in my opinion.
I also agree with almost all of your Hunter conclusions. Want to say something more about Vereesa Windrunner. As you already said, I also believe in that she is such a powerful card and supported well in my opninion. I think she wasn't so popular because top streamers didn't decide to play with her more than other archetypes. I really rarely lose games when I could Play Vereesa Windrunner. The weapon's power is really huge. With some of AoO cards that gives you some good tools to play at early game, I think, like you, she might shine .
For Rogue, I would say that, we might some surprise top tier stealth deck in this expansion. I would also say that stealth archetype might need some board clears or powerful single target hard removals to be viable tho. At this point, I want to say that Unidentified Contract might see some serious play, also I hope too because that spell can answer both single target and boardclear needs of Rogue. It also synergizes well with one of its upgraded effect which summons a stealth minion. However, it might not be true too because it is an rng effect. I would say it would be a good strategy to summon some stealth minions and clear enemy's board with something then burst the enemy's face with your stealth minions. Also Secret Rogue probably will substitute with Thief rogue in this expansion. I personally think that, this move is a great move for Rogue class. I would do the same if i want to add Secret archetype to rogue, it should belong to or substitute with thief archetype. I am expecting to see at least a tier 2 secret rogue in this expansion.
Warlock always finds a place in meta with its huge card draw. If nothing, there will be a zoolock deck as always. Its classic set lets that. With Leeroy Jenkins rotation, it might lose some resource for ending the game earlier but I honestly think that it doesn't affect Zoolock archetype so harsh and AoO gives some great tools to play to Zoolock. Teron Gorefiend is an example. Warlock also gets some good support for Control oriented decks and I, like you, also see warlock in avarage power at this expansion. Warlock has control and aggro tools both and gets some more supports for both archetypes too. So it will probably in meta at mid-tier.
For Warrior, I would say it will start to lose its aggressive playstyle and will return back to be a more midrange/control archetype class again in my opinion. Taunt Warrior and the Good old Armor Stacking Control Warrior might be a thing in this expansion again. It won't be with huge boardclears this time tho but still good options to clear the board and continue to stack armor. Archivist Elysiana is still in standard so carrying the game to Fatigue won't be a problem for that playstyle. It loses some blood for early game with rotation but classic cards still here so I personally think that warriors will be able to defend themselves from aggressive DH and Hunter swarms.
Our thoughts differs here. I personally think that we could see some Secret Mage in standard instead of other archetypes. I really don't like the state Mages are in right now with so much rng spell generators. I hope this changes this year but seeing Evocation shows that it won't probably. Secret Mage in the other hand impresses me more with some tools added at AoO.
Priest will start to be a midrange class with this expansion imo. With all classes losing Spellbreaker, buffer Priest might be a thing but Zephyrs the great changes this fact unfortunately because it can give highlander decks Mass Dispel and some other silence cards unfortunately. I think that Priests will have no chance in meta until Zephyrs the Great leaves the standard. Blizzard really wants Steal Priest a thing but they are not doing the correct thing for that archetype. Thief rogue was succesful at past because there was some cards that gives you bonuses because you are holding or using other class cards. Steal Priest needs exact same thing to be viable in my opinion. Princess Talanji is an example card for what it can reward you to steal cards but was not enough and also rotating. I would say that with overhaul of Classic and Basic, Steal Priest might be a thing A BIG IF that archetype gets some support. Blizzard needs to understand that adding more steal cards don't support that archetype. They need some tools that rewards players for stealing cards just like The Bazaar Burglary, Spectral Knife, Underbelly Fence, Vendetta etc.
And another class that we think different from each other. Shamans might lose some key cards but I believe that it is the time that return back to old playstyle instead of swarming with battlecry minions. With Warriors returning back to old playstyle, I personally think that it is time for shamans to return back to old playstyle. In past, some decks with Azure Drake was something with Spell Damage etc. and an enough burst as a finisher with Lava Burst and Lightning Bolt. Lady Vashj is just for this archetype for example. Also there are cards that you can build a weak version of Shamanstone-times deck (Flamewreathed Faceless, Tunnel Trogg). That was so powerful in those times and this time it is way weaker but still can do the job. Squallhunter for Flamewreathed Faceless, Surging Tempest for Tunnel Trogg, Storm's Wrath + Unbound Elemental for board presence, Vashj Prime for some burst draw, Cumulo-Maximus and burn for finish the game. I am expecting to see some kind of midrange Overload shaman with Burn finishers in this expansion. But well, you might be right about shamans being at bottom in this expansion. I won't be surprised for that aswell because Shamans have been dominant quite sometime and people are bored to see them in meta but it might be said for Hunter aswell which will continue to dominate meta, i presume.
For Druids, Embiggen Druid will continue to be a thing in meta probably. Even if it won't, We will probably see some tries and there will be always some people that uses the same strategy over and over again. I'm not interested with it but spell druid really takes my interests this time. Different from you, I personally think that Spell Druid doesn't need to have those minions to be viable. I mean, more consistent with full spell package Spell Druid would be more effective but you might be right aswell because spell druid doesn't need deck restriction just like Spell Hunter and Spell Mage which makes Crystalsong Portal, Glowfly Swarm and Fungal Fortunes can work even your deck has minions. I can't predict its tier tho. Seems quite powerful on paper but can't really say anything before i see Demon Hunter's impact on the meta. Why Demon Hunter's ? Because its minion swarm might beat Druid's token swarm. Can't be sure. Combo/Control Druid in the other hand, seems to have support more and more. Blizzard really wants Druid is the class that have always combo and token archetypes. Combo support for Druid never stops which really worries me a lot.
So my conclusion is like; Great #1 - Demon Hunter #2 - Hunter #3 - Paladin Good #4 - Rogue #5 - Druid #6 - Warlock Avarage #7 - Warrior #8 - Shaman #9 - Mage Bad #10 - Priest
I like your optimism for Secret Mage, but I just don't see a winning strategy for that archetype.
At best there's a Cloud Prince burn plan, but the lack of draw hurts.
We also didn't get any new elementals so Elemental Allies, despite being a great drawing tool, is still as average as it is right now.
I also don't think Tempo Priest will get any serious support, I believe they'd rather make a control/midrange priest that tries to control the board with spells and minions and then outvalues their opponents through galakrond. Tempo needs at least some card draw, and as you said, Zephrys kind of ruins big buff stacking strategies.
I also don't really have hope for Shaman. I get what you are going for with returning to old strategies, but realistically, those strategies just don't compare to what other classes do. Sure, you can play your double 2/3 taunts on 3, but then your opponent just pushes you off the board on your overload turn. Shaman just doesn't really have anything particularly unfair to do right now and that's the problem
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I removed Wrath from the set mainly due to my philospohy of what card Druid can do. I've lsited card draw as something Druid can have, but not to extreme. I felt Nourish and Ancient of Lore were enough.
Mark of the Wild and Bite were thrown away because I lacked room for them ([Hearthstone Card (Barskin) Not Found] fills the similar purpose like Mark, and Bite was replace by Life Boon).
Could replace BEEEES!!! with Gnash, which was something I thought of adding for some time. Also, Savagery was changed this way again due to my philosophy that Druids can deal with more boards now. But I totally forgot about Alpha, like 98% of people. xd
I usually start to look at replacements for the cards that will rotate out, but don't replace them until after. Generally, I'll start with completely new decks unless the deck is still viable after a few replacements.
I am genuinely curious how many hours it took you to get this much up, even on those small pieces I wrote outside of this thread took around 20 minutes per article, and those were written per class.
I will address some interesting point you made in the article, and insert my own predictions.
Demon hunters - My prediction is that midrange and highlander dhunter will dominate the meta. Not so for aggressive dhunters, which suffers greatly from board clears.
I dont agree that aggressive hunters will kill off any sort of dhunters. To explain, Dhunters have one aspect that make them more resistant to both face hunter and dragon hunter, and that aspect is that they can heal, and are deceptively good at it. Aldrachi Warblades will be basically in every dhunter, and can heal for 3 with 1 mana hp, and can heal for even more thanks to cards like Chaos Strike and Twin Slice, never mind Inner Demon. As we have experienced, even healing for a mere 6 points tend to rubbish face hunter 50% of the time, and here's a card that heals for 3 every turn for 3 turns, with potential to do more. Also Ashtongue Battlelord is the new psuedo zilliax for dhunters, which guarantees to at least absorb 5 damage at minimum.
Dhunter has access to some of the best tempo cards in the game. Perhaps even better than dragon hunter's or rogue. For that reason, dragon hunter doesnt get a free win versus dhunters of any sort.
Also, Eye Beam. This card is so disgusting that I genuinely belief this to be the main reason NOT to run a highlander dhunter.
Paladin - Probably murloc paladin might make a comeback, but there is higher hopes for highlander dragon paladin. Overall, I dont think paladin can ever match up to dhunters, hunter or rogue, but will be competitive versus other classes. They will be stuck at tier 3 until further notice, is my prediction.
Also, in my opinion healing doesnt counter aggro decks that rely on tempo. Dragon hunter still destroys dragon paladin with double Amber Watcher, even now. Its only very good versus face hunter.
But enough with the memes. Dragon hunter and face hunter will probably be forefront on everyone's nightmares, gaining the powerful Pack Tactics and losing basically nothing. Face hunter in particular since the weakness of SN1P-SN4P+Zilliax is no longer a thing. I will be greatly surprised to see face hunter not nerfed in some way. It straight up counters half of all classes, and personally makes quest res priest a thing. Both abominable results of a face hunter meta.
Tier 1, dragon hunter + face hunter. Probably better bet on dragon hunter than face hunter.
Rogue - Will be tier 1 alongside dhunters, and will be the true competition to Illidan's midrange madness. Stealth aggro rogue looks really strong, almost too strong. We have seen what happens when aggro rogue gets draw cards, and Greyheart Sage is just that. Plus Dirty Tricks, this basically invalidates any reason to run both galakrond or togwaggle for draw and that's saying alot. It also allows rogue to use Cold Blood effectively again, perhaps its even good enough to replace Shadowstep now that Leeroy Jenkins is no longer here.
Secret rogue will likewise also find competitiveness. Bamboozle is a dangerous card, which protects tempo and discourages face/minion trading from your opponent. Blackjack stunner destroys embiggen druid, and Shadowjeweler Hanar looks to be as good as it was when it was first revealed. All in all, very strong support for secret rogue.
Dont underestimate Cursed Vagrant. This card basically ensures that the only way to avoid 7 to the face is with taunts and freezes. It comes expensive at 7, but drop this card and watch your opponent scramble for a taunt.
Warlock - Probably where we will disagree the most. I watched trump's very successful play against firebat using Shadow Council + Imprisoned Scrap Imp but am convinced that its just a highrolling meme at best.
In my opinion Shadow Council is perhaps best played in the 'trash' lock style deck that wins with alex+Nether Breath+Soulfire, since it cycles hard so its more consistent than controlock. Another place for this is discard zoolock, since Hand of Gul'dan+Expired Merchant allows for near infinite draw potential so there's consistency greater than controlock. Also, zoolock never tends to shy away from throwing their hand since its basically outvalued anywhere above turn 4 anyway.
Plot twist warlock, my very own love, will suffer from the loss of Dollmaster Dorian. Perhaps this will be the best time for quest lock to shine. But I'm not optimistic.
My prediction is galakrond controlock to still be the highest tier warlock can aspire to. Maybe shadow council trashlock can make a difference, fingers crossed.
Druid - We are in agreement. I will only add that quest druid can outvalue aggro dhunters and all types of rogue, and will likely see it in tier 2.
Shaman - Again, we are in agreement. Mostly because you brought up the shaman list which I have genuine hope can be tier 2. The creator of the list didnt see hope to put in The Lurker Below and instead opted for Lady Vashj. In my opinion that's a mistake. Vashj prime is the worst of all the primes, and The Lurker Below is at least a decent counter to aggro decks, and with shaman cards being as it is, that's probably good enough.
Priest - My opinion is that priest is good, and tempo priest has a decent chance against aggressive hunters and dhunters. Outside of that, priest gets out valued hard by nearly every other class that plays midrange and above. This might be the best time for galakrond priest to shine, with the hero power and invokes being more powerful since priest lost its ability to draw with Northshire Cleric, and the timely addition of stronger minions.
My prediction is for midrange galakrond priest to be a decent tier 2, and dragon priest as an effective counter to aggro dhunters and hunters, which is reason enough for priest to be on top, at least for a while.
Mage - There's a possibility for the archetype of freeze mage to come back to standard, mostly because of Incanter's Flow. If everything goes according to plan, you can easily get 2x Fireball + 2x frost bolt to hit face for 18, with a single Pyroblast as backup. Add this to an Alexstrasza + 1 mana Frost Nova, there's enough here to make freeze mage work.
Draw is an issue though, but you might still be able to buy some turns with Evocation, which is more than likely to give you a freeze spell somewhere. Added that Evocation can also generate burn cards, and can be generated by cards like Magic Trick, there's more than enough gas for the combo dream to live on.
I predict, boldly, that mage can actually be tier 1 at some point. Put down only by face hunter. But its likely going to be tier 2 at best or just plain tier 4 for lack of consistency.
Edit: Added Mage critique
I get the point about Dorian in Twistlock, but I also think it opens up the ability to use Plot Twist earlier to fish for healing with Broodmother and the boardclear with Kelidan.
Old Twistlock had the problem that you had two pre-defined turns to use the card for and until then it was a dead card, now it's more flexible.
Also I really blanked on how much lifegain DH has. You're probably right, they might even be best equipped to deal with hyper aggro.
I also wanna add to Priest, that I noticed that they are shifting away from printing symmetrical boardclears in favour of assymmetrical ones that encourage building a board of your own (see Chronobreaker, Breath of the Infinite, and the new Soul Mirror, as well as Shadow Word:ruin) so maybe the key to Control/value priest is to actuallly play the board at least a little instead of just nuking it every other turn.
Gift of the Wild - A shame this card costs so much, but yeah as it is it's useless.
Now the changes I don't agree with
BEEEES!!! - Clearly too OP for a core set. It's a Shadow Bolt powercreep for a class that isn't supposed to be good at removal. It is ubiquitous in Druid right now which is a good sign it shouldn't be evergreen.
Savagery - I don't know if you're aware of that but your version of Savagery is what the card was in the alpha version of the game before it was nerfed (https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Savagery) and if a card is nerfed during an alpha, that means it was REALLY OP. I know the current version is useless. Personnaly I've replaced it with [Hearthstone Card (Savage Strider) Not Found].
Keeper of the Grove - Silence should stay a Priest thing. I don't agree with KotG being a core card and even less so being even better than what it was before it was nerfed.
Ancient of War/Ancient of Lore - That change is super weird. I disapprove of it, though I agree those two cards need a buff.
Tree of Life - I don't know if it's a good idea to have such a card in the classic set. I can't think of any way to abuse it right now but my instinct tells me there are many ways it can be abused.
Soul of the Forest - I'm surprised you let this card in the basic set. Doesn't feel druid-y at all.
I agree that DH will be high on top tiers, if not at the very top, thanks to good cards and Aggro being fairly easy to figure out in the first days. Yet despite their card draw, DH have poor tools to swing back the game in their favor, if the opponent manages to play a Tempo swing turn. Which is why I expect DH to rise soon as Aggro king of the meta, then rapidly fall, as soon as people figure out how to stop them (in particular with Priests and maybe Warriors).
At that point, Dragon Hunter will take the lead of the meta, and probably keep it for a long while.
DH will make a comeback later with Tempo lists itself.
Which is also why I don't think Rogue will be so low in tiers: I am fairly sure they can adjust with a faster Galakrond, and be a fair match for DH in terms of Tempo.
I also expect some form of Galakrond Warrior to be there, considering Corsair Cache. The Rage package with Armorsmith and some extra Armor tools could be enough to repel a DH.
For similar reasons (ie healing and high hp), I expect a Midrange or Control Priest to be a fair threat in the meta. Lack of card draw will hold them back tho.
Libram Paladin will be a fair deck, but I don't think that good, since Librams still need quite some setup, and you can barely play a Midrange Paladin with them, with the risk of being vulnerable to Aggro and Tempo: at that point we have higher chances of a Big Beast Midrange Hunter to be way better. Paladins have many tools but will need a lot of refinement.
Overall, I think Mage will be the worst class, completely unplayable as soon as the meta refines
As for Warlock, I really don't know, but I think it will follow Mage pretty closely. I don't believe Shadow Council can be a thing, as it is RANDOM stuff, and I don't think current Standard Handlock can actually find a niche in a Tempo meta, since its powertools need setup, and in the meanwhile, its defenses are poor or need setup themselves (Plague of Flames).
Druid and Shaman may barely survive the onslaught, but low in tiers.
1. Hunter t1
2. DH t1
3. Rogue t1
4. Paladin t2
5. Warrior t2
6. Priest t2
7. Druid t3
8. Shaman t3
9. Warlock t4 (t3 at best)
10. Mage t5
I believe you're underestimating what Warlock is capable now. Shadow Council is random, sure, but the amount of demons we have right now is so large that you're bound to get something immediately playable or big enough to fuel later turns.
I fear that the biggest change that will happen this rotation is that...there won't be any. YotD's power level is so high compared to YotR's and all top meta decks keep their core cards (Galakrond Rogue, Dragon Hunter, all highlander decks,...)
The only major change, outside of the introduction of DH obviously, will be for Paladin. Uther will have to pray that Librams are viable because Paladin is the only class that received complete crap throughout 2019 and its only viable deck, Mech Paladin, will rotate out...
As for DH, its base power level is way too high. It will be tier 1 but not the top class. Warlock has a lot of control tools on top of Sac Pact so it will eat DHs for breakfast. Rogue's power level is currently so high that even DH with all of its OP cards is no match for it.
This is a very good initial analysis and I agree that due to demon hunter classes will be hardlocked in to their strongest strategy with the most optimal decks being favoured.
My fellow memers and I will struggle a bit at first but there is lots of fun to be had this expansion.
I never update my decks for a new expansion, I usually delete all of them and build completely new ones from scratch.
Same here. I always delete all of my decks at the release day and start to re-build anything including wild decks as well. I believe updating decks are restricting your vision for finding new stuff.
For @OP;
I am doing almost same thing for just challenging myself at last month of rotations but it is not updating for my existent decks. I am just trying to build some standard ready decks and challenging myself in ladder. Most of the times, Rotation comes with new archetype supports which ends existing decks up to be worthless for updating them. Updating them also doesn't lead you new ideas, it just makes you to be able to build budget decks mostly. That's also a good skill for card games but brainstorming in newer ideas is better one, I believe. So I'm making budget versions of Rotation decks, For example, I'm building a budget Spell Shaman deck which you can put Lady Vashj when the rotation happens and Expansion release or a Spell Druid without new cards. I'm puting some filler cards that can be budget version of new cards.
I personally think that Paladin is more meta dependant. I was playing paladin to reach 1000 win most of my time and i saw that heal package of paladin is what it can stop Aggro decks well.
If Aggro and aggressive Demon Hunter and Hunters will be dominant in meta, I believe that a Paladin deck with some heal package might be on top tiers. Can't be sure about an aggro Paladin deck tho. Murgur Murgurgle will some impact on meta probably but Paladin's card draw is in a state that most of card draw cards are for control/combo style which takes some power level from aggressive paladin decks. So I believe in that some Heal oriented Midrange or Control style Paladin deck will be better than an aggro one.
I agree with your Demon Hunter statements. That's more logical to say that your first choice about what Blizzard chose is. Also it is the more realistic one. Of coure they will want Demon Hunter to success for market states. But I honestly think that This shouldn't bother anyone because they are giving Initiate cards for free to everyone which is a win-win for company and players both and that set gives you almost all pieces of fundemental cards that you can need for a viable Demon Hunter deck. Ok some AoO Demon Hunter cards are also must haves for some archetypes but I guess new duplication rule can give you some more aswell. I really believe in that some viable Demon Hunter deck should be in game with only using Initiate cards. Also it will be more fresh for everyone to see a new class in the top tier than existing ones in my opinion.
I also agree with almost all of your Hunter conclusions. Want to say something more about Vereesa Windrunner. As you already said, I also believe in that she is such a powerful card and supported well in my opninion. I think she wasn't so popular because top streamers didn't decide to play with her more than other archetypes. I really rarely lose games when I could Play Vereesa Windrunner. The weapon's power is really huge. With some of AoO cards that gives you some good tools to play at early game, I think, like you, she might shine .
For Rogue, I would say that, we might some surprise top tier stealth deck in this expansion. I would also say that stealth archetype might need some board clears or powerful single target hard removals to be viable tho. At this point, I want to say that Unidentified Contract might see some serious play, also I hope too because that spell can answer both single target and boardclear needs of Rogue. It also synergizes well with one of its upgraded effect which summons a stealth minion. However, it might not be true too because it is an rng effect. I would say it would be a good strategy to summon some stealth minions and clear enemy's board with something then burst the enemy's face with your stealth minions. Also Secret Rogue probably will substitute with Thief rogue in this expansion. I personally think that, this move is a great move for Rogue class. I would do the same if i want to add Secret archetype to rogue, it should belong to or substitute with thief archetype. I am expecting to see at least a tier 2 secret rogue in this expansion.
Warlock always finds a place in meta with its huge card draw. If nothing, there will be a zoolock deck as always. Its classic set lets that. With Leeroy Jenkins rotation, it might lose some resource for ending the game earlier but I honestly think that it doesn't affect Zoolock archetype so harsh and AoO gives some great tools to play to Zoolock. Teron Gorefiend is an example. Warlock also gets some good support for Control oriented decks and I, like you, also see warlock in avarage power at this expansion. Warlock has control and aggro tools both and gets some more supports for both archetypes too. So it will probably in meta at mid-tier.
For Warrior, I would say it will start to lose its aggressive playstyle and will return back to be a more midrange/control archetype class again in my opinion. Taunt Warrior and the Good old Armor Stacking Control Warrior might be a thing in this expansion again. It won't be with huge boardclears this time tho but still good options to clear the board and continue to stack armor. Archivist Elysiana is still in standard so carrying the game to Fatigue won't be a problem for that playstyle. It loses some blood for early game with rotation but classic cards still here so I personally think that warriors will be able to defend themselves from aggressive DH and Hunter swarms.
Our thoughts differs here. I personally think that we could see some Secret Mage in standard instead of other archetypes. I really don't like the state Mages are in right now with so much rng spell generators. I hope this changes this year but seeing Evocation shows that it won't probably. Secret Mage in the other hand impresses me more with some tools added at AoO.
Priest will start to be a midrange class with this expansion imo. With all classes losing Spellbreaker, buffer Priest might be a thing but [Hearthstone Card (Zephyrs the great) Not Found] changes this fact unfortunately because it can give highlander decks Mass Dispel and some other silence cards unfortunately. I think that Priests will have no chance in meta until [Hearthstone Card (Zephyrs the Great) Not Found] leaves the standard. Blizzard really wants Steal Priest a thing but they are not doing the correct thing for that archetype. Thief rogue was succesful at past because there was some cards that gives you bonuses because you are holding or using other class cards. Steal Priest needs exact same thing to be viable in my opinion. Princess Talanji is an example card for what it can reward you to steal cards but was not enough and also rotating. I would say that with overhaul of Classic and Basic, Steal Priest might be a thing A BIG IF that archetype gets some support. Blizzard needs to understand that adding more steal cards don't support that archetype. They need some tools that rewards players for stealing cards just like [Hearthstone Card (The Bazaar Burglary) Not Found], [Hearthstone Card (Spectral Knife) Not Found], Underbelly Fence, Vendetta etc.
And another class that we think different from each other. Shamans might lose some key cards but I believe that it is the time that return back to old playstyle instead of swarming with battlecry minions. With Warriors returning back to old playstyle, I personally think that it is time for shamans to return back to old playstyle. In past, some decks with Azure Drake was something with Spell Damage etc. and an enough burst as a finisher with Lava Burst and Lightning Bolt. Lady Vashj is just for this archetype for example. Also there are cards that you can build a weak version of Shamanstone-times deck (Flamewreathed Faceless, Tunnel Trogg). That was so powerful in those times and this time it is way weaker but still can do the job. Squallhunter for Flamewreathed Faceless, Surging Tempest for Tunnel Trogg, Storm's Wrath + Unbound Elemental for board presence, Vashj Prime for some burst draw, Cumulo-Maximus and burn for finish the game. I am expecting to see some kind of midrange Overload shaman with Burn finishers in this expansion. But well, you might be right about shamans being at bottom in this expansion. I won't be surprised for that aswell because Shamans have been dominant quite sometime and people are bored to see them in meta but it might be said for Hunter aswell which will continue to dominate meta, i presume.
For Druids, Embiggen Druid will continue to be a thing in meta probably. Even if it won't, We will probably see some tries and there will be always some people that uses the same strategy over and over again. I'm not interested with it but spell druid really takes my interests this time. Different from you, I personally think that Spell Druid doesn't need to have those minions to be viable. I mean, more consistent with full spell package Spell Druid would be more effective but you might be right aswell because spell druid doesn't need deck restriction just like Spell Hunter and Spell Mage which makes Crystalsong Portal, Glowfly Swarm and Fungal Fortunes can work even your deck has minions. I can't predict its tier tho. Seems quite powerful on paper but can't really say anything before i see Demon Hunter's impact on the meta. Why Demon Hunter's ? Because its minion swarm might beat Druid's token swarm. Can't be sure. Combo/Control Druid in the other hand, seems to have support more and more. Blizzard really wants Druid is the class that have always combo and token archetypes. Combo support for Druid never stops which really worries me a lot.
So my conclusion is like; Great #1 - Demon Hunter #2 - Hunter #3 - Paladin Good #4 - Rogue #5 - Druid #6 - Warlock Avarage #7 - Warrior #8 - Shaman #9 - Mage Bad #10 - Priest
Sorry, my dude, I gave you bad info. I forgot that you need to have an established tavern. If I recall, that means you need to hold 3 public gatherings with a certain number of attendees. You might not be able to do this any time soon.
It's all good. The article I read on hearthstones website is what was misleading. Nothing I can do about it though so it's cool.
I have been trying galakrond dragon priest these two days. I only use one mass hysteria as it would be soul mirror, and also no zilliax. The win rate is really not that satisfying because of such ' unneeded disadvantage' . Nevertheless, it is still fine for me since I'm already at diamond 5.
I am genuinely curious how many hours it took you to get this much up, even on those small pieces I wrote outside of this thread took around 20 minutes per article, and those were written per class.
I will address some interesting point you made in the article, and insert my own predictions.
Demon hunters - My prediction is that midrange and highlander dhunter will dominate the meta. Not so for aggressive dhunters, which suffers greatly from board clears.
I dont agree that aggressive hunters will kill off any sort of dhunters. To explain, Dhunters have one aspect that make them more resistant to both face hunter and dragon hunter, and that aspect is that they can heal, and are deceptively good at it. Aldrachi Warblades will be basically in every dhunter, and can heal for 3 with 1 mana hp, and can heal for even more thanks to cards like Chaos Strike and Twin Slice, never mind Inner Demon. As we have experienced, even healing for a mere 6 points tend to rubbish face hunter 50% of the time, and here's a card that heals for 3 every turn for 3 turns, with potential to do more. Also Ashtongue Battlelord is the new psuedo zilliax for dhunters, which guarantees to at least absorb 5 damage at minimum.
Dhunter has access to some of the best tempo cards in the game. Perhaps even better than dragon hunter's or rogue. For that reason, dragon hunter doesnt get a free win versus dhunters of any sort.
Also, Eye Beam. This card is so disgusting that I genuinely belief this to be the main reason NOT to run a highlander dhunter.
Paladin - Probably murloc paladin might make a comeback, but there is higher hopes for highlander dragon paladin. Overall, I dont think paladin can ever match up to dhunters, hunter or rogue, but will be competitive versus other classes. They will be stuck at tier 3 until further notice, is my prediction.
Also, in my opinion healing doesnt counter aggro decks that rely on tempo. Dragon hunter still destroys dragon paladin with double Amber Watcher, even now. Its only very good versus face hunter.
But enough with the memes. Dragon hunter and face hunter will probably be forefront on everyone's nightmares, gaining the powerful Pack Tactics and losing basically nothing. Face hunter in particular since the weakness of SN1P-SN4P+Zilliax is no longer a thing. I will be greatly surprised to see face hunter not nerfed in some way. It straight up counters half of all classes, and personally makes quest res priest a thing. Both abominable results of a face hunter meta.
Tier 1, dragon hunter + face hunter. Probably better bet on dragon hunter than face hunter.
Rogue - Will be tier 1 alongside dhunters, and will be the true competition to Illidan's midrange madness. Stealth aggro rogue looks really strong, almost too strong. We have seen what happens when aggro rogue gets draw cards, and Greyheart Sage is just that. Plus Dirty Tricks, this basically invalidates any reason to run both galakrond or togwaggle for draw and that's saying alot. It also allows rogue to use Cold Blood effectively again, perhaps its even good enough to replace Shadowstep now that Leeroy Jenkins is no longer here.
Secret rogue will likewise also find competitiveness. Bamboozle is a dangerous card, which protects tempo and discourages face/minion trading from your opponent. Blackjack stunner destroys embiggen druid, and Shadowjeweler Hanar looks to be as good as it was when it was first revealed. All in all, very strong support for secret rogue.
Dont underestimate Cursed Vagrant. This card basically ensures that the only way to avoid 7 to the face is with taunts and freezes. It comes expensive at 7, but drop this card and watch your opponent scramble for a taunt.
Warlock - Probably where we will disagree the most. I watched trump's very successful play against firebat using Shadow Council + Imprisoned Scrap Imp but am convinced that its just a highrolling meme at best.
In my opinion Shadow Council is perhaps best played in the 'trash' lock style deck that wins with alex+Nether Breath+Soulfire, since it cycles hard so its more consistent than controlock. Another place for this is discard zoolock, since Hand of Gul'dan+Expired Merchant allows for near infinite draw potential so there's consistency greater than controlock. Also, zoolock never tends to shy away from throwing their hand since its basically outvalued anywhere above turn 4 anyway.
Plot twist warlock, my very own love, will suffer from the loss of Dollmaster Dorian. Perhaps this will be the best time for quest lock to shine. But I'm not optimistic.
My prediction is galakrond controlock to still be the highest tier warlock can aspire to. Maybe shadow council trashlock can make a difference, fingers crossed.
Druid - We are in agreement. I will only add that quest druid can outvalue aggro dhunters and all types of rogue, and will likely see it in tier 2.
Shaman - Again, we are in agreement. Mostly because you brought up the shaman list which I have genuine hope can be tier 2. The creator of the list didnt see hope to put in The Lurker Below and instead opted for Lady Vashj. In my opinion that's a mistake. Vashj prime is the worst of all the primes, and The Lurker Below is at least a decent counter to aggro decks, and with shaman cards being as it is, that's probably good enough.
Priest - My opinion is that priest is good, and tempo priest has a decent chance against aggressive hunters and dhunters. Outside of that, priest gets out valued hard by nearly every other class that plays midrange and above. This might be the best time for galakrond priest to shine, with the hero power and invokes being more powerful since priest lost its ability to draw with Northshire Cleric, and the timely addition of stronger minions.
My prediction is for midrange galakrond priest to be a decent tier 2, and dragon priest as an effective counter to aggro dhunters and hunters, which is reason enough for priest to be on top, at least for a while.
Mage - There's a possibility for the archetype of freeze mage to come back to standard, mostly because of Incanter's Flow. If everything goes according to plan, you can easily get 2x Fireball + 2x [Hearthstone Card (frost bolt) Not Found] to hit face for 18, with a single Pyroblast as backup. Add this to an Alexstrasza + 1 mana Frost Nova, there's enough here to make freeze mage work.
Draw is an issue though, but you might still be able to buy some turns with Evocation, which is more than likely to give you a freeze spell somewhere. Added that Evocation can also generate burn cards, and can be generated by cards like Magic Trick, there's more than enough gas for the combo dream to live on.
I predict, boldly, that mage can actually be tier 1 at some point. Put down only by face hunter. But its likely going to be tier 2 at best or just plain tier 4 for lack of consistency.
Not sure about that DH will be Tier 1, but I am totally sure about that he will be the most played class in the next weeks/months, because it's new class.
I agree that DH will be high on top tiers, if not at the very top, thanks to good cards and Aggro being fairly easy to figure out in the first days. Yet despite their card draw, DH have poor tools to swing back the game in their favor, if the opponent manages to play a Tempo swing turn. Which is why I expect DH to rise soon as Aggro king of the meta, then rapidly fall, as soon as people figure out how to stop them (in particular with Priests and maybe Warriors).
At that point, Dragon Hunter will take the lead of the meta, and probably keep it for a long while.
DH will make a comeback later with Tempo lists itself.
Which is also why I don't think Rogue will be so low in tiers: I am fairly sure they can adjust with a faster Galakrond, and be a fair match for DH in terms of Tempo.
I also expect some form of Galakrond Warrior to be there, considering Corsair Cache. The Rage package with Armorsmith and some extra Armor tools could be enough to repel a DH.
For similar reasons (ie healing and high hp), I expect a Midrange or Control Priest to be a fair threat in the meta. Lack of card draw will hold them back tho.
Libram Paladin will be a fair deck, but I don't think that good, since Librams still need quite some setup, and you can barely play a Midrange Paladin with them, with the risk of being vulnerable to Aggro and Tempo: at that point we have higher chances of a Big Beast Midrange Hunter to be way better. Paladins have many tools but will need a lot of refinement.
Overall, I think Mage will be the worst class, completely unplayable as soon as the meta refines
As for Warlock, I really don't know, but I think it will follow Mage pretty closely. I don't believe Shadow Council can be a thing, as it is RANDOM stuff, and I don't think current Standard Handlock can actually find a niche in a Tempo meta, since its powertools need setup, and in the meanwhile, its defenses are poor or need setup themselves (Plague of Flames).
Druid and Shaman may barely survive the onslaught, but low in tiers.
really? I think that would just hurt their consistency and force you to run a bunch of less powerful cards to fill up 30. Is Zephrys really that important to DH.
Remember that awaken minions can't immediately attack unless they had charge or rush. And by turn 3, your opponent's already have a way to defend himself knowing you will summon 3 - 1 health minions (which is pretty low) on board.
And that's only the case if you summon it on 1st turn. What if you summon it on later turn, where you need immediate active board minions. And I hope that answered why this card is bad. (Personally, I think it's bad because this is actually a 3 mana 2/1 body summon 2 1/1 body on board).
Demonic Obsession - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
I've now tried 5 times with Chrome over two days, once with Internet Explorer and once with Safari, and I get exactly the same issue each time. It's especially weird considering I have submitted to the last two competitions without issue.
Is there any alternate way I can submit? Time is rapidly running out.
Our Thoughts on Hearthstone's Ashes of Outland Priest Cards
I don't think it's fair to compare Druid and Priest given how vastly different their playstyles are.
Druid has no way to clear boards or big minions so in return they get better stats on their stuff.
Coilfang Warlord also doesn't hold up because it's so blatantly overpowered that it most certainly gets nerfed down the line.
The point of Priest, at least conceptually, is to keep your own minions alive while controlling the board. They enforce this by giiving Priest way more assymetrical boardclears (such as Breath of the Infinite, Soul Mirror, Buffed Holy Nova, and even Shadow Word:Ruin). Skeletal dragon is just another cog in the machine. You play it with the intetion of keeping it alive for multiple turns in order to get more value out of it than Emerald Explorer ever could.
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
I like your optimism for Secret Mage, but I just don't see a winning strategy for that archetype.
At best there's a Cloud Prince burn plan, but the lack of draw hurts.
We also didn't get any new elementals so Elemental Allies, despite being a great drawing tool, is still as average as it is right now.
I also don't think Tempo Priest will get any serious support, I believe they'd rather make a control/midrange priest that tries to control the board with spells and minions and then outvalues their opponents through galakrond. Tempo needs at least some card draw, and as you said, Zephrys kind of ruins big buff stacking strategies.
I also don't really have hope for Shaman. I get what you are going for with returning to old strategies, but realistically, those strategies just don't compare to what other classes do. Sure, you can play your double 2/3 taunts on 3, but then your opponent just pushes you off the board on your overload turn. Shaman just doesn't really have anything particularly unfair to do right now and that's the problem
VengaDragon Live
Hello, I'm VengaDragon.
I recently dedicated my time to being a full time content creator and social media influencer. Before I posted here, I wanted to make sure I honed my skills as a streamer and built up a Twitch Community. Since January, I've been streaming four days per week and added a YouTube channel to my online presence.
SCHEDULE & VIDEOS
TWITCH
Twitch Link: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 5:45pm EDT
YOUTUBE
YouTube Link: Monday, Tuesday & Friday (New Channel & Schedule 4/4/2020)
I'm psyched to be here. Ask me questions in this thread and let's get to know each other. Right now, I have about 10 consistent viewers and my YouTube Channel has only a few subscribers.
NO REALLY! WHO ARE YOU?
I know I'm new and people don't know me, I also know that I'll add value to the Hearthstone Community. I'm a person who likes to be positive and spread goodwill. I played online poker full time for years and did pretty good, so much so that I have money and time to work as an influencer for the rest of 2020. I hope you have an open mind and enjoy my videos and social media stuff. You can find out more about me as I post more content and go all in on Hearthstone.
Neoguli's Custom Druid Core Set Changes
I removed Wrath from the set mainly due to my philospohy of what card Druid can do. I've lsited card draw as something Druid can have, but not to extreme. I felt Nourish and Ancient of Lore were enough.
Mark of the Wild and Bite were thrown away because I lacked room for them ([Hearthstone Card (Barskin) Not Found] fills the similar purpose like Mark, and Bite was replace by Life Boon).
Could replace BEEEES!!! with Gnash, which was something I thought of adding for some time. Also, Savagery was changed this way again due to my philosophy that Druids can deal with more boards now. But I totally forgot about Alpha, like 98% of people. xd
Was once thinking of replacing Keeper of the Grove with a custom card.
Acnient card changes felt intrieging to me to the point I went for them. If needed, I could pull them off and leave AoL at 6 mana.
Who has started converting their decks to prepare for post rotation?
I usually start to look at replacements for the cards that will rotate out, but don't replace them until after. Generally, I'll start with completely new decks unless the deck is still viable after a few replacements.
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
I get the point about Dorian in Twistlock, but I also think it opens up the ability to use Plot Twist earlier to fish for healing with Broodmother and the boardclear with Kelidan.
Old Twistlock had the problem that you had two pre-defined turns to use the card for and until then it was a dead card, now it's more flexible.
Also I really blanked on how much lifegain DH has. You're probably right, they might even be best equipped to deal with hyper aggro.
I also wanna add to Priest, that I noticed that they are shifting away from printing symmetrical boardclears in favour of assymmetrical ones that encourage building a board of your own (see Chronobreaker, Breath of the Infinite, and the new Soul Mirror, as well as Shadow Word:ruin) so maybe the key to Control/value priest is to actuallly play the board at least a little instead of just nuking it every other turn.
Neoguli's Custom Druid Core Set Changes
Oh god what have I done
Now the changes I don't agree with
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
I believe you're underestimating what Warlock is capable now. Shadow Council is random, sure, but the amount of demons we have right now is so large that you're bound to get something immediately playable or big enough to fuel later turns.
I do agree that I might have underrated Warrior.
Ashes of Outland Giveaway Results
I won something :D sadly not the packs but I guess the spamming at least gave me a chance :P
hope my 3 AM predictions will be accurate.. at least some of them.
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
I fear that the biggest change that will happen this rotation is that...there won't be any. YotD's power level is so high compared to YotR's and all top meta decks keep their core cards (Galakrond Rogue, Dragon Hunter, all highlander decks,...)
The only major change, outside of the introduction of DH obviously, will be for Paladin. Uther will have to pray that Librams are viable because Paladin is the only class that received complete crap throughout 2019 and its only viable deck, Mech Paladin, will rotate out...
As for DH, its base power level is way too high. It will be tier 1 but not the top class. Warlock has a lot of control tools on top of Sac Pact so it will eat DHs for breakfast. Rogue's power level is currently so high that even DH with all of its OP cards is no match for it.
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
This is a very good initial analysis and I agree that due to demon hunter classes will be hardlocked in to their strongest strategy with the most optimal decks being favoured.
My fellow memers and I will struggle a bit at first but there is lots of fun to be had this expansion.
Well written sir
Who has started converting their decks to prepare for post rotation?
Same here. I always delete all of my decks at the release day and start to re-build anything including wild decks as well. I believe updating decks are restricting your vision for finding new stuff.
For @OP;
I am doing almost same thing for just challenging myself at last month of rotations but it is not updating for my existent decks. I am just trying to build some standard ready decks and challenging myself in ladder. Most of the times, Rotation comes with new archetype supports which ends existing decks up to be worthless for updating them. Updating them also doesn't lead you new ideas, it just makes you to be able to build budget decks mostly. That's also a good skill for card games but brainstorming in newer ideas is better one, I believe. So I'm making budget versions of Rotation decks, For example, I'm building a budget Spell Shaman deck which you can put Lady Vashj when the rotation happens and Expansion release or a Spell Druid without new cards. I'm puting some filler cards that can be budget version of new cards.
Ashes of Outland Giveaway Results
Congrats all!
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
I personally think that Paladin is more meta dependant. I was playing paladin to reach 1000 win most of my time and i saw that heal package of paladin is what it can stop Aggro decks well.
If Aggro and aggressive Demon Hunter and Hunters will be dominant in meta, I believe that a Paladin deck with some heal package might be on top tiers. Can't be sure about an aggro Paladin deck tho. Murgur Murgurgle will some impact on meta probably but Paladin's card draw is in a state that most of card draw cards are for control/combo style which takes some power level from aggressive paladin decks. So I believe in that some Heal oriented Midrange or Control style Paladin deck will be better than an aggro one.
I agree with your Demon Hunter statements. That's more logical to say that your first choice about what Blizzard chose is. Also it is the more realistic one. Of coure they will want Demon Hunter to success for market states. But I honestly think that This shouldn't bother anyone because they are giving Initiate cards for free to everyone which is a win-win for company and players both and that set gives you almost all pieces of fundemental cards that you can need for a viable Demon Hunter deck. Ok some AoO Demon Hunter cards are also must haves for some archetypes but I guess new duplication rule can give you some more aswell. I really believe in that some viable Demon Hunter deck should be in game with only using Initiate cards. Also it will be more fresh for everyone to see a new class in the top tier than existing ones in my opinion.
I also agree with almost all of your Hunter conclusions. Want to say something more about Vereesa Windrunner. As you already said, I also believe in that she is such a powerful card and supported well in my opninion. I think she wasn't so popular because top streamers didn't decide to play with her more than other archetypes. I really rarely lose games when I could Play Vereesa Windrunner. The weapon's power is really huge. With some of AoO cards that gives you some good tools to play at early game, I think, like you, she might shine .
For Rogue, I would say that, we might some surprise top tier stealth deck in this expansion. I would also say that stealth archetype might need some board clears or powerful single target hard removals to be viable tho. At this point, I want to say that Unidentified Contract might see some serious play, also I hope too because that spell can answer both single target and boardclear needs of Rogue. It also synergizes well with one of its upgraded effect which summons a stealth minion. However, it might not be true too because it is an rng effect. I would say it would be a good strategy to summon some stealth minions and clear enemy's board with something then burst the enemy's face with your stealth minions. Also Secret Rogue probably will substitute with Thief rogue in this expansion. I personally think that, this move is a great move for Rogue class. I would do the same if i want to add Secret archetype to rogue, it should belong to or substitute with thief archetype. I am expecting to see at least a tier 2 secret rogue in this expansion.
Warlock always finds a place in meta with its huge card draw. If nothing, there will be a zoolock deck as always. Its classic set lets that. With Leeroy Jenkins rotation, it might lose some resource for ending the game earlier but I honestly think that it doesn't affect Zoolock archetype so harsh and AoO gives some great tools to play to Zoolock. Teron Gorefiend is an example. Warlock also gets some good support for Control oriented decks and I, like you, also see warlock in avarage power at this expansion. Warlock has control and aggro tools both and gets some more supports for both archetypes too. So it will probably in meta at mid-tier.
For Warrior, I would say it will start to lose its aggressive playstyle and will return back to be a more midrange/control archetype class again in my opinion. Taunt Warrior and the Good old Armor Stacking Control Warrior might be a thing in this expansion again. It won't be with huge boardclears this time tho but still good options to clear the board and continue to stack armor. Archivist Elysiana is still in standard so carrying the game to Fatigue won't be a problem for that playstyle. It loses some blood for early game with rotation but classic cards still here so I personally think that warriors will be able to defend themselves from aggressive DH and Hunter swarms.
Our thoughts differs here. I personally think that we could see some Secret Mage in standard instead of other archetypes. I really don't like the state Mages are in right now with so much rng spell generators. I hope this changes this year but seeing Evocation shows that it won't probably. Secret Mage in the other hand impresses me more with some tools added at AoO.
Priest will start to be a midrange class with this expansion imo. With all classes losing Spellbreaker, buffer Priest might be a thing but [Hearthstone Card (Zephyrs the great) Not Found] changes this fact unfortunately because it can give highlander decks Mass Dispel and some other silence cards unfortunately. I think that Priests will have no chance in meta until [Hearthstone Card (Zephyrs the Great) Not Found] leaves the standard. Blizzard really wants Steal Priest a thing but they are not doing the correct thing for that archetype. Thief rogue was succesful at past because there was some cards that gives you bonuses because you are holding or using other class cards. Steal Priest needs exact same thing to be viable in my opinion. Princess Talanji is an example card for what it can reward you to steal cards but was not enough and also rotating. I would say that with overhaul of Classic and Basic, Steal Priest might be a thing A BIG IF that archetype gets some support. Blizzard needs to understand that adding more steal cards don't support that archetype. They need some tools that rewards players for stealing cards just like [Hearthstone Card (The Bazaar Burglary) Not Found], [Hearthstone Card (Spectral Knife) Not Found], Underbelly Fence, Vendetta etc.
And another class that we think different from each other. Shamans might lose some key cards but I believe that it is the time that return back to old playstyle instead of swarming with battlecry minions. With Warriors returning back to old playstyle, I personally think that it is time for shamans to return back to old playstyle. In past, some decks with Azure Drake was something with Spell Damage etc. and an enough burst as a finisher with Lava Burst and Lightning Bolt. Lady Vashj is just for this archetype for example. Also there are cards that you can build a weak version of Shamanstone-times deck (Flamewreathed Faceless, Tunnel Trogg). That was so powerful in those times and this time it is way weaker but still can do the job. Squallhunter for Flamewreathed Faceless, Surging Tempest for Tunnel Trogg, Storm's Wrath + Unbound Elemental for board presence, Vashj Prime for some burst draw, Cumulo-Maximus and burn for finish the game. I am expecting to see some kind of midrange Overload shaman with Burn finishers in this expansion. But well, you might be right about shamans being at bottom in this expansion. I won't be surprised for that aswell because Shamans have been dominant quite sometime and people are bored to see them in meta but it might be said for Hunter aswell which will continue to dominate meta, i presume.
For Druids, Embiggen Druid will continue to be a thing in meta probably. Even if it won't, We will probably see some tries and there will be always some people that uses the same strategy over and over again. I'm not interested with it but spell druid really takes my interests this time. Different from you, I personally think that Spell Druid doesn't need to have those minions to be viable. I mean, more consistent with full spell package Spell Druid would be more effective but you might be right aswell because spell druid doesn't need deck restriction just like Spell Hunter and Spell Mage which makes Crystalsong Portal, Glowfly Swarm and Fungal Fortunes can work even your deck has minions. I can't predict its tier tho. Seems quite powerful on paper but can't really say anything before i see Demon Hunter's impact on the meta. Why Demon Hunter's ? Because its minion swarm might beat Druid's token swarm. Can't be sure. Combo/Control Druid in the other hand, seems to have support more and more. Blizzard really wants Druid is the class that have always combo and token archetypes. Combo support for Druid never stops which really worries me a lot.
So my conclusion is like;
Great
#1 - Demon Hunter
#2 - Hunter
#3 - Paladin
Good
#4 - Rogue
#5 - Druid
#6 - Warlock
Avarage
#7 - Warrior
#8 - Shaman
#9 - Mage
Bad
#10 - Priest
Fireside Gathering
It's all good. The article I read on hearthstones website is what was misleading. Nothing I can do about it though so it's cool.
Who has started converting their decks to prepare for post rotation?
I never update my decks for a new expansion, I usually delete all of them and build completely new ones from scratch.
Who has started converting their decks to prepare for post rotation?
I have been trying galakrond dragon priest these two days. I only use one mass hysteria as it would be soul mirror, and also no zilliax. The win rate is really not that satisfying because of such ' unneeded disadvantage' . Nevertheless, it is still fine for me since I'm already at diamond 5.
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
I am genuinely curious how many hours it took you to get this much up, even on those small pieces I wrote outside of this thread took around 20 minutes per article, and those were written per class.
I will address some interesting point you made in the article, and insert my own predictions.
Demon hunters - My prediction is that midrange and highlander dhunter will dominate the meta. Not so for aggressive dhunters, which suffers greatly from board clears.
I dont agree that aggressive hunters will kill off any sort of dhunters. To explain, Dhunters have one aspect that make them more resistant to both face hunter and dragon hunter, and that aspect is that they can heal, and are deceptively good at it. Aldrachi Warblades will be basically in every dhunter, and can heal for 3 with 1 mana hp, and can heal for even more thanks to cards like Chaos Strike and Twin Slice, never mind Inner Demon. As we have experienced, even healing for a mere 6 points tend to rubbish face hunter 50% of the time, and here's a card that heals for 3 every turn for 3 turns, with potential to do more. Also Ashtongue Battlelord is the new psuedo zilliax for dhunters, which guarantees to at least absorb 5 damage at minimum.
Dhunter has access to some of the best tempo cards in the game. Perhaps even better than dragon hunter's or rogue. For that reason, dragon hunter doesnt get a free win versus dhunters of any sort.
Also, Eye Beam. This card is so disgusting that I genuinely belief this to be the main reason NOT to run a highlander dhunter.
Paladin - Probably murloc paladin might make a comeback, but there is higher hopes for highlander dragon paladin. Overall, I dont think paladin can ever match up to dhunters, hunter or rogue, but will be competitive versus other classes. They will be stuck at tier 3 until further notice, is my prediction.
Also, in my opinion healing doesnt counter aggro decks that rely on tempo. Dragon hunter still destroys dragon paladin with double Amber Watcher, even now. Its only very good versus face hunter.
Hunter - This is perhaps the one and only time I genuinely belief there's enough support for a tier 2 combo hunter. Play a semi defensive secret hunter built, draw your specific beasts (Savannah Highmane, King Krush, Tundra Rhino, Scarlet Webweaver, etc.) with tutor cards like Scavenger's Ingenuity, buff em with Scrap Shot, then play Beastmaster Leoroxx for the win, or play Hunting Party for discounted king krush for the win.
But enough with the memes. Dragon hunter and face hunter will probably be forefront on everyone's nightmares, gaining the powerful Pack Tactics and losing basically nothing. Face hunter in particular since the weakness of SN1P-SN4P+Zilliax is no longer a thing. I will be greatly surprised to see face hunter not nerfed in some way. It straight up counters half of all classes, and personally makes quest res priest a thing. Both abominable results of a face hunter meta.
Tier 1, dragon hunter + face hunter. Probably better bet on dragon hunter than face hunter.
Rogue - Will be tier 1 alongside dhunters, and will be the true competition to Illidan's midrange madness. Stealth aggro rogue looks really strong, almost too strong. We have seen what happens when aggro rogue gets draw cards, and Greyheart Sage is just that. Plus Dirty Tricks, this basically invalidates any reason to run both galakrond or togwaggle for draw and that's saying alot. It also allows rogue to use Cold Blood effectively again, perhaps its even good enough to replace Shadowstep now that Leeroy Jenkins is no longer here.
Secret rogue will likewise also find competitiveness. Bamboozle is a dangerous card, which protects tempo and discourages face/minion trading from your opponent. Blackjack stunner destroys embiggen druid, and Shadowjeweler Hanar looks to be as good as it was when it was first revealed. All in all, very strong support for secret rogue.
Dont underestimate Cursed Vagrant. This card basically ensures that the only way to avoid 7 to the face is with taunts and freezes. It comes expensive at 7, but drop this card and watch your opponent scramble for a taunt.
Warlock - Probably where we will disagree the most. I watched trump's very successful play against firebat using Shadow Council + Imprisoned Scrap Imp but am convinced that its just a highrolling meme at best.
In my opinion Shadow Council is perhaps best played in the 'trash' lock style deck that wins with alex+Nether Breath+Soulfire, since it cycles hard so its more consistent than controlock. Another place for this is discard zoolock, since Hand of Gul'dan+Expired Merchant allows for near infinite draw potential so there's consistency greater than controlock. Also, zoolock never tends to shy away from throwing their hand since its basically outvalued anywhere above turn 4 anyway.
Plot twist warlock, my very own love, will suffer from the loss of Dollmaster Dorian. Perhaps this will be the best time for quest lock to shine. But I'm not optimistic.
My prediction is galakrond controlock to still be the highest tier warlock can aspire to. Maybe shadow council trashlock can make a difference, fingers crossed.
Druid - We are in agreement. I will only add that quest druid can outvalue aggro dhunters and all types of rogue, and will likely see it in tier 2.
Shaman - Again, we are in agreement. Mostly because you brought up the shaman list which I have genuine hope can be tier 2. The creator of the list didnt see hope to put in The Lurker Below and instead opted for Lady Vashj. In my opinion that's a mistake. Vashj prime is the worst of all the primes, and The Lurker Below is at least a decent counter to aggro decks, and with shaman cards being as it is, that's probably good enough.
Priest - My opinion is that priest is good, and tempo priest has a decent chance against aggressive hunters and dhunters. Outside of that, priest gets out valued hard by nearly every other class that plays midrange and above. This might be the best time for galakrond priest to shine, with the hero power and invokes being more powerful since priest lost its ability to draw with Northshire Cleric, and the timely addition of stronger minions.
My prediction is for midrange galakrond priest to be a decent tier 2, and dragon priest as an effective counter to aggro dhunters and hunters, which is reason enough for priest to be on top, at least for a while.
Mage - There's a possibility for the archetype of freeze mage to come back to standard, mostly because of Incanter's Flow. If everything goes according to plan, you can easily get 2x Fireball + 2x [Hearthstone Card (frost bolt) Not Found] to hit face for 18, with a single Pyroblast as backup. Add this to an Alexstrasza + 1 mana Frost Nova, there's enough here to make freeze mage work.
Draw is an issue though, but you might still be able to buy some turns with Evocation, which is more than likely to give you a freeze spell somewhere. Added that Evocation can also generate burn cards, and can be generated by cards like Magic Trick, there's more than enough gas for the combo dream to live on.
I predict, boldly, that mage can actually be tier 1 at some point. Put down only by face hunter. But its likely going to be tier 2 at best or just plain tier 4 for lack of consistency.
Edit: Added Mage critique
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
Not sure about that DH will be Tier 1, but I am totally sure about that he will be the most played class in the next weeks/months, because it's new class.
New Hunter Spell - Unseal the Vault
It was in one of the recent patch notes (highlighted on this site) but there was no explanation from blizzard. People agreed it was weird
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
I agree that DH will be high on top tiers, if not at the very top, thanks to good cards and Aggro being fairly easy to figure out in the first days. Yet despite their card draw, DH have poor tools to swing back the game in their favor, if the opponent manages to play a Tempo swing turn. Which is why I expect DH to rise soon as Aggro king of the meta, then rapidly fall, as soon as people figure out how to stop them (in particular with Priests and maybe Warriors).
At that point, Dragon Hunter will take the lead of the meta, and probably keep it for a long while.
DH will make a comeback later with Tempo lists itself.
Which is also why I don't think Rogue will be so low in tiers: I am fairly sure they can adjust with a faster Galakrond, and be a fair match for DH in terms of Tempo.
I also expect some form of Galakrond Warrior to be there, considering Corsair Cache. The Rage package with Armorsmith and some extra Armor tools could be enough to repel a DH.
For similar reasons (ie healing and high hp), I expect a Midrange or Control Priest to be a fair threat in the meta. Lack of card draw will hold them back tho.
Libram Paladin will be a fair deck, but I don't think that good, since Librams still need quite some setup, and you can barely play a Midrange Paladin with them, with the risk of being vulnerable to Aggro and Tempo: at that point we have higher chances of a Big Beast Midrange Hunter to be way better. Paladins have many tools but will need a lot of refinement.
Overall, I think Mage will be the worst class, completely unplayable as soon as the meta refines
As for Warlock, I really don't know, but I think it will follow Mage pretty closely. I don't believe Shadow Council can be a thing, as it is RANDOM stuff, and I don't think current Standard Handlock can actually find a niche in a Tempo meta, since its powertools need setup, and in the meanwhile, its defenses are poor or need setup themselves (Plague of Flames).
Druid and Shaman may barely survive the onslaught, but low in tiers.
1. Hunter t1
2. DH t1
3. Rogue t1
4. Paladin t2
5. Warrior t2
6. Priest t2
7. Druid t3
8. Shaman t3
9. Warlock t4 (t3 at best)
10. Mage t5
Pack Opening Time - Pre Release Event
Those are not available until launch day.
Ashes of Outland: Meta prediction and Class ranking
really? I think that would just hurt their consistency and force you to run a bunch of less powerful cards to fill up 30. Is Zephrys really that important to DH.
Our Thoughts on Hearthstone's Ashes of Outland Paladin Cards
Remember that awaken minions can't immediately attack unless they had charge or rush. And by turn 3, your opponent's already have a way to defend himself knowing you will summon 3 - 1 health minions (which is pretty low) on board.
And that's only the case if you summon it on 1st turn. What if you summon it on later turn, where you need immediate active board minions. And I hope that answered why this card is bad. (Personally, I think it's bad because this is actually a 3 mana 2/1 body summon 2 1/1 body on board).