Wild midweek surprise! We never got to take a proper look at the impact of Forged in the Barrens to the Wild meta before the need for nerfs (especially for Standard's sake) became evident. Now that the dust of the balance patch has started to settle, we'll glimpse into the stats of HSReplay to see what are the strongest decks that the new expansion has inspired.
DISCLAIMER: All stats mentioned were correct at the time of writing. Data was taken from Diamond to Legend post-nerfs. Decks were required to have at least one Barrens and one Wild card.
Handbuff Paladin
Secret Paladin was king before the nerfs but Handbuff was already vying for the top spot not far behind. Several lists have breached the 60% winrate limit post-nerfs, and this seems to be the best one. Another equally well-performing list makes only one swap: Val'anyr to Lord Barov.
Even Shaman
Mrggrgrglllrl...wait, no. Pure Murloc Shaman lists are taking the top spots for the class - or would be if this list hadn't crept ahead of them with barely enough games played to make it to HSReplay's stats. Murlocs are also capable of reaching above 60% winrates, and this list is currently topping the charts alongside the Paladin lists mentioned above with 64%.
Pirate Warrior
No prizes for guessing which archetype the Warriors are still banking on. This list is running only a single copy of Outrider's Axe as their Barrens flavor, but other lists around the same winrate have gone Wild with TWO copies of the Axe and Rokara. One could say that the new Core set has had a bigger impact to the lists than Barrens since both Bloodsail Deckhand and Fogsail Freebooter have earned a spot in all top lists.
Tempo Mage
I have used my veto here to not post the current best deck because it's yet another secret Mage with a single copy of Oasis Ally. Additionally, this list is merely 0.3% behind in winrate, both comfortably above 60%. Although I'm not sure if I'm making a disservice here since this list is hardly more fun to face than Secret Mages...
N'Zoth Warlock
Either people haven't been playing Zoo lately or something is currently stomping it since all Warlock lists matching the criteria I mentioned are variants of this 59% winrate deck. Far Watch Post has kept its spot in the early game disruption package post-nerfs to buy some time before the late game Demons start to drop.
Highlander Hunter
The core set is outplaying Barrens in this list as well, as the latter has only a single Pack Kodo to prove its impact with. Hunter isn't topping the playrate lists so there might be something stronger brewing under the surface, but this one (56% WR) is currently outperforming the only other list showing up in the stats, an aggressive Even Hunter (53% WR).
Highlander Demon Hunter
I already vetoed one archetype and now I'm vetoing an entire class - I'm not posting the most generic Aggro Druid with a single copy of Pride's Fury as a new amazingly fun Barrens list here. Instead, I'm giving you this significantly spicier Deathrattle-oriented deck that has, believe it or not, reached a respectable 55% winrate at the high ranks.
Oh, and about Druids: different Celestial Alignment-Malygos lists are also reaching 50% WR so it's not all aggro or bust.
For friends of the remaining classes: the only Rogue list found with the criteria has 44% WR so that's a no-go, and not a single Priest list shows up. Widening the search to the entire Barrens era gives Highlander Rogue and Big Priest as the top decks.
Preparing for the Wilds of the Barrens? Arm yourself with some community decks.
Forged something awesome yourself? Create a Wild deck and share it in the comments below. Don't forget to include a guide!
Comments
I've been having a lot of fun with the Pirate Warrior deck. Arrr! As mentioned, this deck has been dismantling the Mage Lunacy decks.
Appreciate the Wild love, and some slightly* off the beaten path decks!
I would recommend the spell-less version of pirate warrior (avoids OMY and secret mage issues). I had a 70+% WR to legend with it over 35 games. Absolutely steam rolls mage (both secret and APM).
The new 4 mana weapon is great draw and very good into other aggressive decks in the meta (murloc shaman, pwar mirror, secret mage). Two corsair caches is very 'meh' in a meta where you need to kill the opponent by turn 5-6.
Can you share the decklist you have been using? Thanks!
Seconded. I've been enjoying the listed Pirate deck, and if there's improvements to it, then I'd love to see it too.
Sure thing, here is what I used:
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You can replace loatheb w/ another Fogsail - but spell disruption seems so important in meta atm. All the card draw is baked into the weapons, so in Aggro-based mirrors keeping the (4) cost weapon is typically a strong consideration. Early on I was tossing the weapon and running out of steam.
I felt like climbing to legend last night. First tried some variations of APM Mage, but I lost about as much as I won. Then switched to this exact Handbuff Paladin and got there with an 87% winrate. 13 wins and 2 losses.
Should also try this exact APM Mage list. Running 1 Ice Block didn't improve my chances much, but 2 might just buy me enough time.
"Tempo mage" lol, guys thats not a tempo deck, its alot better than secret mage and you gotta cut the ice block and mysteries if you want to be optimal. Also pure murloc shaman is wayyy better than even right now.
Will you also post the best decks in each format, regardless of whether they have new cards or not, at some point in the future?
I'd say why not if that's something people want to see.
I'd say lists of best-performing decks are always something people want to see.