Today marks the fourth day that Fractured in Alterac Valley has been out and we think its a great time to look at what the data says about which decks have been seeing success on Standard ladder. With Tian Ding leaving Blizzard, announced last week, we're uncertain if anyone will take over in the official Blizzard insights category so we'll be making use of the data the fine folks at HSReplay have collated and will only looking at the Diamond through Legend portion of decks.
Below you will find some of the top decks available to play right now. Notably, we've left out Pirate Quest Warrior, Aggro Elemental Shaman, and Face Hunter from our main feature here because those decks don't have any new cards in them but they are definitely still performing well which makes them some great picks if you haven't picked up a ton of new cards yet.
Libram Paladin
Libram Paladin received some great support through the addition of Stonehearth Vindicator and Lightforged Cariel. Our new Draenei friend is great at thinning out our deck and brings us a body onto the field which could end up as a decent target for a drawn buff spell. Lightforged Cariel is the star of the show though, presenting us with some wonderful handbuff action through the hero power Blessing of Queens and great anti-aggro via The Immovable Object.
This looks like it'll be our last few months to play Libram Paladin because the majority of cards in the deck will end up being rotated next year. Will Blizzard make Librams a core set mechanic or will we have to wait a couple of years to see Libram active again in Standard? Right now, that doesn't really matter, just enjoy the archetype!
Buff Paladin
Cariel stars in this Paladin deck too, though we've got other new tools such as Hold the Bridge which gives us the ability to protect one of our own minions or use it without ill effect to get rid of an enemy. The Lifesteal component on the card gives us so much desired survivability, which could be potentially even more healthy if we combo it with a Blessing of Authority. In a world against face damage, its good!
Quest Rogue
The best part about Rogue in Fractured in Alterac Valley? Just slam Shadowcrafter Scabbs into your Stormwind decks and continue winning.
Freeze Shaman
Its finally here, performing for you.
This might be the oldest archetype that Shaman had in its arsenal that finally received good enough support to become a real deck. Don't quote me on that though. Without writing an entire guide to this in the limited space and attention span articles can have at times, here's what you need to know about the deck.
Snowfall Guardian is amazing against aggressive strategies or ones that have big bodied boards. Not only do you get to delay the oncoming onslaught, but you get a huge body out of the freeze action which can then help you defend, or smack in the face, your following turn. Combine that with Battleground Battlemaster's Windfury effect and we're going to have a great time. That isn't everything though.
Windchill, and Sleetbreaker, help give us control the board and give us some much-needed card draw which is a welcome sight. Pair these cheap spells with Cheaty Snobold and we're laughing our way to the bank with all the gold we aren't earning at the end of winning (rewards track is better anyway, but does anyone else remember when we'd get a whole 10 gold every 3 wins?).
Bearon Gla'shear comes to the rescue should we lose control of the situation with a board-flooding effect thanks to all our frost spells.
Bru'kan of the Elements. This space left intentionally blank.
Anacondra Spell Druid
If you're seeing a lot of Paladins and Demon Hunters, you probably aren't going to have a great time with the deck. However, we've got some great new consistency with this archetype thanks to the addition of Wildheart Guff, which you should probably mulligan for because he's going to get the party started.
Who doesn't love a good Celestial Alignment + Survival of the Fittest? Why are we allowed to draw all our spells (Malygos the Spellweaver) and play them for free (Lady Anacondra)? Why is Flux so damn salty?
Deathrattle Demon Hunter
Although we've been seeing great success with Deathrattle Demon Hunter in Hearthstone for some time now, Blizzard has been working toward this moment all year long with the addition of Ur'zul Giant giving us the, current, final form of the archetype. More support for the hero attack package through cards like Dreadprison Glaive and Kurtrus, Demon-Render were also very welcome additions to the deck.
Owl OTK Warlock
We featured this deck alongside data which showcased some of the top overall cards in the game from the first day and nothing has changed since then. Tamsin's Phylactery and Humongous Owl have proven to be a hit with the class.
What decks have you been having success with in Fractured in Alterac Valley so far? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to add them to the site via our deckbuilder!
Comments
What about Face Hunter with Irondeep Trogg? Though the data may not show it, it's a transition people ought to be making.
I feel like Irondeep Trogg is not very good in hunter because it is a weak turn 1 play and hunter cannot buff it later on the way Paladin can. Unless you run Doggie Biscuit, but then your stuck running Doggie Biscuit with possibility of having no minions to buff.