The Meta, as metas are wont to do, has stabilized in the wake of the most recent batch of nerfs, and with stability comes homogeneity. If you've been playing ladder for the past week, there's probably one (or two) decks that you've grown tired of facing, to the point that perhaps you want to punish every single player who chooses to climb with that archetype. Well, we've combed the data of HSReplay to find some counter pick decks for some of the most popular archetypes on ladder. Whether you're looking for a Tier 2 deck that cleans up in the right matchup, or a completely off-meta strategy that demolishes one particular deck, we've got options for you.
All data about archetype popularity, matchup win rate, and deck lists come from HSReplay.
Curious about the larger picture at play here and the options each class offers in the current metagame? We've also put together a full report to showcase a variety of top Legend decks:
Best Decks Against Naga Demon Hunter
Naga Demon Hunter enjoys a strong popularity at all parts of the ladder, but most especially at Diamond rank. Whether it's eating your minions with Multi-Strike or bashing your face in with Kurtrus, Demon-Render, the deck seemingly has no weak spots (which probably explains why it's the king of the meta). However, the deck can be countered with the right list, and a lot of persistence.
Slow Paladin decks are particularly well-equipped to deal with Naga Demon Hunter, as their abundance of low-cost board clears can stanch the bleeding until Lightforged Cariel is ready to come down. On showcase is Dragon Paladin, a fringe deck that takes advantage of the change to Kazakusan to make him a powerful finisher in a tribal deck thanks mainly to Bronze Explorer being able to activate the Legendary Dragon all on its own.
Good Against: Naga Demon Hunter
Bad Against: Small Spell Mage, Questline Hunter, Ramp Druid, Questline Warrior
Charge Warrior inherits some of Control Warrior's good matchup against Naga Demon Hunter, as it's got plenty of AoE removal for the Demon Hunter's boards and Armor gain to heal up from their aggression. It can do all this while using From the Depths and Sir Finley, Sea Guide to assemble a game-ending combo of Captain Galvangar (or Mr. Smite) and Faceless Manipulator.
Good Against: Small Spell Mage, Naga Demon Hunter
Bad Against: Control Warrior, Ramp Druid, Holy Paladin, Questline Warrior
Best Decks Against Control Warrior
Control Warrior is pretty popular right now, mostly thanks to its robust win rate against Naga Demon Hunter, and not at all thanks to its poor matchups against most of the other popular ladder choices. This makes it a prime target for counter-picking, but be aware that many decks with strong win rates against Control Warrior suffer in most other games.
Mine Warlock is an Control/OTK deck that takes most of the pieces of OwlTK and fits them to new Bomb hotness Naval Mine. The deck is heavy on control pieces and heavy on draw to find combo pieces like Tamsin's Phylactery. It's not an easy list to pilot, but should be good if you're facing too many Control decks.
Good Against: Control Warrior, Holy Paladin
Bad Against: Ramp Druid, Small Spell Mage, Naga Demon Hunter, Questline Hunter, Questline Warrior
If it's left alone, Seek Guidance can (quite literally) win the game on its own, so that makes Questline Priest a great choice for queuing into slower decks that don't put a lot of pressure on. Sure, the list of decks that allow Questline Priest that kind of time begins and ends with Control Warrior, but what're you gonna do?
Good Against: Control Warrior, Naga Demon Hunter
Bad Against: Everything Else
Best Decks Against Questline Hunter
Questline Hunter has been steadily rising in popularity since the expansion launched, thanks to nerfs, Naga, and Drek'Thar. While it's not particularly good against Naga Demon Hunter and Ramp Druid, it breaks even in Control matchups and cleans up otherwise. Decks that work best against it are ones that can find ways to get big minions on board while simultaneously healing back from the deck's persistent damage.
Anacondra Druid is Ramp Druid's weird step-brother, the one no one wants to talk to at family reunions. Like Ramp Druid, the deck enjoys a lot of success against Questline Hunter, as it can magic a win out of thin air with the Cost-reduction of Lady Anacondra while gaining lots of Armor by playing Earthen Scales on Naga Giant or a yolked Ivus, the Forest Lord.
Good Against: Questline Hunter, Control Warrior, Ramp Druid
Bad Against: Holy Paladin, Small Spell Mage, Naga Demon Hunter, Questline Warrior
Handbuff Paladin is a little bit Control Paladin, a little bit Mech Paladin, and a whole lot of hurt for many of the most popular decks on the ladder right now. The deck has a variety of ways to do a lot of good things, and can always try to win games by sending a very large Mr. Smite at the opponent's face. If Naga Demon Hunter (a poor matchup for the deck) didn't exist, we might be talking about counters to Handbuff Paladin instead.
Good Against: Control Warrior, Questline Hunter, Ramp Druid
Bad Against: Naga Demon Hunter
Best Decks Against Questline Warrior
Questline Warrior is still a deck we're seeing sail the seas of Sunken City, just not as often as we were before Raid the Docks took another nerf to its booty. The deck's still pretty popular, as it has good matchups against popular decks that don't involve Rexxar and Illidan. If you want to beat this deck, those are the heroes you'll have to main.
Token Demon Hunter is a deck that's very similar to world-beater Naga Demon Hunter, except for the part where it has good matchups across the field. However, we're not worried about beating everybody, just Questline Warrior, who charitably provides plenty of bodies to trade small minions into to make use of Flag Runner and Wrathscale Naga.
Good Against: Ramp Druid, Questline Warrior
Bad Against: Small Spell Mage, Naga Demon Hunter, Control Warrior, Questline Hunter, Holy Paladin
If your heart's set on punishing Questline Warrior and no one else (and who could blame you?), then our recommendation is to take Beast Hunter for a spin. The deck's toolbox of Rush Beasts, cheap weapons, and Improved Secrets are good assets for the player who wants to hunt Pirates.
Good Against: Questline Warrior
Bad Against: The Rest
Best Decks Against Ramp Druid
Some might have thought that, in the wake of nerfs to Druid staples Kazakusan and Miracle Growth, this archetype would suffer. But Ramp, as they say, finds a way. The deck is still pretty popular, as it plays well against Control Warrior and Questline Hunter. Thanks to the slight down-tuning of its best defensive spell, the deck is susceptible to aggressive strategies like a pair of tribal lists that many once expected to be near the top of the meta themselves.
Pirate Rogue can get in under Ramp Druid's curve with a gang of aggressive cutthroats, then, if that doesn't work out, switch to the plan of "Pirate Admiral Hooktusk steals all your stuff." Be forewarned: Whosoever pilots this deck shall be cursed for all eternity (with a terrible win rate against Naga Demon Hunter)!
Good Against: Ramp Druid
Bad Against: Naga Demon Hunter, Questline Warrior, Questline Hunter, Small Spell Mage, Holy Paladin
Murlock, with its Chum Bucket (insert Spongebob joke here) and loads of large fish, enjoys a fairly one-sided matchup against Ramp Druid. Just play your game: summon Murlocs, buff Murlocs, hit face, repeat.
Good Against: Ramp Druid
Bad Against: The Rest
Best Decks Against Holy Paladin
Holy Paladin is a deck that likes to take it slow, enjoy the scenery, just really live life, you know? It does this thanks to the combination of Wild Pyromancer and cheap spells to keep the board clean until they can slam down Lightforged Cariel and big Holy spells Immortalized in Stone and The Garden's Grace. So, how do you counter that? With fast decks that can apply consistent pressure and don't run out of threats easily.
Amulet Mech Mage takes the power of Mech Mage's early curve and asks the question, "Yes, but what if Dragons?" It's got all the mainstays of the tribal deck: Seafloor Gateway, Discover, a literal machine gun. An expensive spell like Drakefire Amulet just gives the deck a way to use Balinda Stonehearth, as well as a few more threats to summon when the well runs dry.
Good Against: Control Warrior, Ramp Druid, Holy Paladin
Bad Against: Questline Hunter, Naga Demon Hunter
Questline Control Warrior is the unholy meshing of an aggressive Questline with the kind of value-based greed that you'd normally see in a Fatigue Warrior. Turns out, that's really good against slower decks, as the deck's plan to combine Brann Bronzebeard with either Cap'n Rokara or Nellie, the Great Thresher demolishes Control Warrior specifically, and isn't too shabby against Holy Paladin. But that kind of greed doesn't do you many favors against faster decks.
Good Against: Control Warrior, Holy Paladin, Small Spell Mage
Bad Against: Naga Demon Hunter, Questline Hunter, Ramp Druid, Questline Warrior
Best Decks Against Small Spell Mage
The mana cheat is strong with this one, as Spitelash Siren was made to infuriate opponents by making turns last far longer than they should. With the right hand, the deck can fill the board with Naga and vomit damage like Linda Blair, all while Discovering even more threats for later turns. To crack that puzzle, you need the right tools. You either need to weather the storm while assembling a combo that can end the game on its own, or you need to be faster than them and force the Mage to play defensively.
Fel Demon Hunter can look very similar to Naga Demon Hunter, except that it eschews the early-game power of Drek'Thar to instead run Jace Darkweaver as a late game finisher to repeat Fel spells Multi-Strike, Fel Barrage, Fury and so many more. Depending on its draw, the deck can either take it slow and play defensively, or push its opponents onto their backfoot.
Good Against: Small Spell Mage, Questline Hunter
Bad Against: Naga Demon Hunter, Control Warrior, Ramp Druid, Holy Paladin
Face Hunter has seen more inviting metas, and he's none too happy about Naga Demon Hunter stealing the Aggro Crown, but the archetype still has good targets in the current meta and can make Jaina pay for playing such a Small Spell deck.
Good Against: Ramp Druid, Small Spell Mage
Bad Against: Naga Demon Hunter, Questline Hunter, Control Warrior, Holy Paladin
Which of these counter-picks can you see yourself playing? Is there a specific deck that you've been wanting to beat up on? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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Comments
Great post. I've been playing DH for a while before everyone seemed to notice how strong it is, and I'm already being countered a lot, so I was thinking about playing something else, to keep things interesting.
You advertise Ivus, Forest Lord for the Anacondra Druid list, but he isn't actually in that list. He definitely should be!
Playing a given deck to counter another deck seems silly to me.
Wouldn't it be better to play a deck that gives you a fighting chance against all comers?
It doesn't always exist. If your deck can outheal and board clear an Aggro DH, then suddenly half your cards are worthless against Control Warrior. Likewise, if your deck has a lategame win condition against Warrior, then you won't draw your survivability against DH as consistently. Hearthstone doesn't have a sideboard system, so you can't really fine-tune your deck for specific matchups. The best you can do is play to your deck's primary strengths.
Just a few comments.
Dragon pally is not unfavored vs quest hunter by virtue of 2x Holy Maki Roll alone. In fact, if you dump cards like Mr. Smite (your win con is Kazakusan) for Amber Watcher, you're even more favored against it.
The list featured here is currently the most popular dragon pally in hsreplay. But by no means the better deck. I think the best list plays midrange, going for kazakusan as fast as possible. No smite, no bannerman, no righteous defense.
Quest priest is something I've been seeing a lot as of late, but I have absolutely no idea why. Its win rate is shown to be good, but after facing quite a number of it last week I think its not really worth the bother at all. Its not even necessarily good against the two decks that its supposed to be beating; control warrior and naga dhunter.
If there's any priest deck that deserves any mention at all its boar priest. A deck, played well, that can do exceptionally against all the current top meta decks. Hard loses to anacondra druid and warlock, but these decks are hardly ever seen so its a good tradeoff.
I think an argument can be made for a few shaman list here. There's currently two builds; the usual burn shaman with Bioluminescence and the very funny mutanus shaman. Both hard loses to quest hunter, but otherwise decent against nearly everything else, which is to say, not embarrassingly bad as the current state of warlock is.
Thanks for your comments, these are all valid points. I just want to explain my thought process behind a couple of them:
1) I went with the most popular Dragon Paladin list over any best-performing deck solely due to sample size. Because I was trying to share decks that have "good matchups" against certain meta decks, I didn't want to feature a deck that had less than 100 games in that matchup and claim that it was "favored." I hope I will get better at being able to pick out the decks that have good win rates in certain matchups; it's a learning curve, and I'm working on it. Thanks for your detailed breakdown of the deck's chances against Questline Hunter.
2) Yes, the lack of Shaman is glaring. This is partly because I was trying my hardest to feature more decks that people may not have seen or thought of playing (although there are some decks here that people have likely seen before: AM Mage, Handbuff Paladin, for example). It was also hard to find non-Burn Shaman lists that had enough games to feel comfortable featuring them--I don't recall seeing a Mutanus list that had a big enough sample size for me to feel comfortable with. Again, learning curve--I'll work to get better.
3) QL Priest over Boar Priest in this article is simple: Aesan featured Boar Priest in his very good breakdown of the best current meta decks. We overlap in some places, but not in this case.
Thanks for your comments!