Since the most recent round of nerfs, Hearthstone‘s meta is a tale of two halves.
The game’s nine classes have all been represented, more often than not, in recent tournaments. But the fortunes of those classes fall into two camps—the ones with just a few players bringing them, and those that most competitors deploy.
The meta for the HCT Sydney Tour Stop followed this pattern. Warlock, Priest, Paladin, and Mage dominated the meta, while Druid, Hunter, Shaman, Warrior, and Rogue were happy just to make a cameo appearance.
That’s not an entirely fair characterization of Rogue and Hunter. With Tempo Rogue one of the decks hit hardest by the nerfs, and minion-based aggro generally hurt, Quest Rogue and Spell Hunter are decks to watch out for. But Druid could manage to make just two lineups, with Shaman and Warrior brought by just one player each.
Paladin had the most diverse meta within the class. Murloc Paladin is undeniably strong, with six players bringing it to Sydney. But six other players opted for different Paladin decks. Two brought OTK Paladin, which relies on a combination with Uther of the Ebron Blade and Auctionmaster Beardo, and two ran Dude Paladin—a Murloc-less aggressive Paladin. More traditional Midrange and Control Paladins also made an appearance.
The deck choices among Warlock players, 14 out of the 16 players present, were perhaps one of the more surprising things about the HCT Sydney meta. While you might have expected a balance between Control and Cube Warlock, Cubelock dominated—12 of the 14 Warlock players brought it. That left just one player each to play Control Warlock and Zoo Warlock.
Behind Cubelock, Secret Mage was the most popular deck from the tournament—10 players brought it to the event, with three players opting for a Control N’Zoth Mage instead.
Priest, formerly the king of the meta but still somewhat smarting from the Raza nerf, saw its distribution split fairly evenly between three decks. Six players ran Dragon Priest, five ran Inner Fire OTK, and four brought Big Priest.
Decklists and stats via HearthPwn.
