by Moonfell and David Wise (WiseTL) The Curse of Naxxramas adventure mode has and is shaking up the landscape of Hearthstone. We've decided that now is a perfect time for a review of Hearthstone's history much like we did at the end of 2013.
Where we left off last year, Freeze Mage had just been nerfed and Enrage/Combo Warriors were all the rage. In those first few months of Hearthstone, however, the meta shifted almost weekly. As decks became more optimized the game seemed to settle before Naxxramas was released. Part of the reason for this stabilization was the Midrange Druid decks which came out at the beginning of the year. These decks were so stable that they became a gatekeeper of the top tier of decks: no deck without a consistent Druid matchup could consider itself top tier.
There was one deck, however, which comes before the Druids took over. To introduce it, and highlight how unstable the game used to be, here is the last line of the 2013 Review: "Warlock might be the dominant class today, but who knows what innovations or patch changes 2014 will bring. Who knows? Maybe even Hunter will get a chance in the spotlight one day. Nah, probably not."
Aggro Hunter
Hunters have been popular since players realized the power of Steady Shot. With consistent 2 damage pings, Hunters could deal huge damage combined with Leper Gnome, Unleash the Hounds/Timber Wolf, and other Charge minions. The deck was so effective at dealing with the slow control decks at the time that it spread throughout Ladder and competitive play.
Face Hunter made Priest and Paladin decks almost extinct at the time, since the two classes did not have appropriate responses for deck's early-game pressure. While those two classes suffered, Druid, Warrior and other decks were forced to adapt to counter Face Hunter.
Watcher Druid became an answer to the prevalence of Hunter at the time. The seemingly useless 4/5 that couldn't attack suddenly peaked the interest of other players when someone discovered to activate it with taunt. With Healing Touch, Ancient of War, and Sunwalkers, Watcher Druid became a viable answer to the Hunter meta as the Hunter couldn't remove the big walls efficiently.
Additionally, Druids benefited from the discovery of the Force of Nature-Savage Roar combo. The combination gave Druids a way to close games with a sudden burst – this 14-damage combo quickly spread to almost all Druid decks.
With Watcher Druid on the rise and Hunter starting to plummet, a new deck was introduced. KitKatz created a Warrior deck that was able to overpower the Druid late game. The deck also was also infamous for its hefty price due to copious Legendaries in the deck.
KitKatz Warrior featured many late-game minions such as Alexstrasza, Ysera, Ragnaros, and Grommash Hellscream to win while using Fiery War Axe and Shield Block to stall. The deck also has cheap removal such as Shield Slam and Execute in the early game with Frothing Berserker and Armorsmiths for early board control.
Murlocs started to gain popularity as the go-to aggro deck when Control was back in the meta. While not as strong as Aggro Hunter in terms of raw damage, Warlock Murloc was a more resilient option. The Murloc deck used the efficient minions to contest the board early while keeping pace with Life Tap.
Reynad posted a very popular Warlock build during the Control meta and it quickly exploded on Ladder due its low cost and effectiveness. This deck by Reynad was similar to many of the other board control decks which have come before it. The main change which Reynad made was the substitution of the recently nerfed Blood Imp for Shieldbearers and the inclusion of Doomguards for extra reach.
The first Zoo deck is very similar to the present Zoo, but ran Nat Pagle, Tinkmaster, and Blood Imps before the three were nerfed. The first Zoo dominated the meta at the time due to its speed and ferocity. In time, Zoo became the deck to climb the ladder, replacing its Murloc counterpart.
Nat Pagle was very common in a wide variety of decks. Thus, just like Novice Engineer before it, Blizzard decided to nerf Pagle because of its prolific use. Pagle’s ability to draw an extra card moved to the beginning of the player’s turn, giving the opposing player the extra opportunity to neutralize it. The nerf succeeded in its intended effect: vastly reduced Nat Pagle sightings in Hearthstone decks as players sought other alternatives for card draws.
Tinkmaster Overspark was originally a cost-effective hard removal card. For 3 mana, Tinkmaster would transform a target creature into a 1/1 squirrel or a 5/5 dinosaur. This was an effective method of removing taunts or neutralizing big creatures like Ragnaros. The balance team at Blizzard believed that Tinkmaster was too effective for its cost. Even though the new Tinkmaster became a 3/3, it could not target which creature to transform, which rendered it too volatile for competitive play.
Second Coming of Hunter Aggro
With the ladder swarming with either Zoo or decks filled with Taunts, a new variation of Hunter emerged. This new Aggro Hunter deck contained similar cards to the old Aggro Hunters, but with the addition of Hunter's Mark and Stonetusk Boar. These cards cleared annoying taunts so Hunters could deal continuous damage to their opponent.
This deck was also used to counter Zoo. Because Zoo swarmed the board with cheap, weak minions, Hunter efficiently dealt with the deck thanks to Explosive Trap and Unleash the Hounds. Once again, Aggro Hunter dominated the ladder much to the dismay of many players.
Big armor and big creatures epitomized Control Warrior. This iteration traded cards like Ysera for Armorsmith, Shield Block, Whirlwind, and Acolyte of Pain to set up armor and card draws for the ultimate late game. The Control Warrior late game, when executed properly, seemed nigh unstoppable as high cost minions and high armor allowed it to go the distance versus most decks (especially with cards such as Baron Geddon that could damage the board). This Control Warrior was effective at handling Zoo decks as well as mid-range focused compositions. The deck lost favor among many players, however, due to the rise of Hand Warlock, Shaman, Druid, and Miracle Rogue decks. While Control Warrior still sees play on ladder and in tournaments, it isn't nearly as common now as during its initial ascent.
Midrange Hunter
Just when Hunter just couldn't get better, it did. Lifecoach made a very unique mid-range deck that combined Steady Shot and UTH with big minions like Savannah Highmane and Houndmaster. Kolento also used this deck frequently and made a name for himself as one of the best Hunter players in the game as he went to Legend rank twice using Hunter.
This particular deck was focused more on board control early while dealing huge damage in the mid game. River Crocolisk, Explosive Trap, and the fear of UTH combo kept opponents in line in the early game while overwhelming them in the mid-game with powerful minions such as Savannah Highmane. Hunter's Mark was also a frequent with deck to give it more removal in conjunction with Stonetusk Boar and UTH. This deck kept a strong presence on ladder and in tournaments until Miracle Rogue emerged as a counter.
In the beta, Rogue reigned supreme until Blizzard adjusted some combo cards to nerf the class. Rogue seemed mediocre until the current iteration of Miracle Rogue reared its head. The deck relied on cheap spells, Combo cards, and Gadgetzan Auctioneer to draw the necessary pieces to set up a OTK combo (usually with Leeroy, Shadowstep, and Cold Blood). Conceal rendered the Auctioneer practically immune in most cases, which allowed the Rogue to prepare the dreaded OTK in the following turn. The effectiveness of the deck, especially versus Hunter, led to its prolific use. Thanks to the Miracle variation, Rogue still ranks as the top class according to most pros.
At the peak of the Hunter’s prowess, it seemed nigh unstoppable. At its core was the two-mana Unleash the Hounds. The cheap mana cost made it a great combo card with the likes of Starving Buzzard, Kill Command, or Hunter’s Mark, as well as an effective punish for an opponent’s stacked board. The near-impossibility of dealing with Unleash the Hounds placed Hunter as one of the most-played and most-reviled decks in the meta. Blizzard saw that Unleash the Hounds sucked the fun out of the game for many players so they increased the cost from two to three mana. While the change was small, it prevented many Hunters from executing mid-game lethals and brought stabilized Hunter matchups in the meta.
Too Much Burst?
As Hearthstone players spent more time with the various classes, refined methods to abuse high damage combos emerged. As these burst damage combos became more prevalent, HearthTrolden “sexy sax” videos experienced a boon in content. However, to those on the receiving end of these heavy hitting strats, this represented a seemingly unfair and fun-sucking aspect of the game. Miracle Rogue triple Leeroy, Druid Force of Nature/Savage Roar, Shaman Bloodlust/Rockbiter/Windfury, Leeroy/Faceless, Beast/Kill Command, as well as other combos struck fear in all those who dared to drop below 20 health.
A Mage-icle Comeback
Early in Hearthstone’s short lifespan, Freeze Mage was the top dog. It was so prolific that Blizzard nerfed Pyroblast and freeze spells to try to right the meta. Afterwards, Mage fell out of favor in competitive play, outside of aggro decks, due to the high mana cost of spells as well as weak card draw options. However, in an environment dominated by Hand Warlock and Miracle Rogue, Freeze Mage found new breath as a meta-busting counter. The WellPlayed Cup and Dreamhack Summer tournaments illustrated the potential of the new Freeze Mage. RDU utilized Freeze Mage in Dreamhack Summer to sweep Amaz’s Druid, Hunter, and Priest decks in the grand finals. Ironically, Tidesoftime used a Freeze Mage deck in the WellPlayed Cup grand finals to jump to a 3-0 lead over RDU before he finally needed to switch decks. In a somewhat stale meta, Freeze Mage provided another option for those serious about competitive Hearthstone.
Hearthstone's been around for a pretty short time, and already the meta has gone through many cycles. Although a few classes are clearly more used than others, I feel the game is in a very healthy state. Even the supposedly "dead" classes such as priest and paladin are showing up again. Looking forward to seeing the changes it goes through over the remainder of the year.
On August 13 2014 07:54 Greendotz wrote: Great article. How murlocs became popular for a time I'll never know.
Pretty much for the same reason Zoo is so popular now. Intense start which requires you to react accordingly, and then tons of draws and bursts to follow up. If they were allowed to set up and summon like 3 or so lowly 1-1 and 2-1 murlocs, they could just drop a warleader or seer and the game would be almost over.
I'm more impressed over the fact that they actually died out, it was one of the most obnoxious decks around. I guess it's because standard Zoo is better in almost every aspect. More resiliant to removal, better individual card value etc. Still, to this day, a murloc deck with a good hand is one of the worst things to face.
<3 these articles / series. I think looking back and the meta and seeing how things have come and gone is truly a meaningful reflection of the game as a whole. It'll be interesting how things shape up, as I think after Naxx, we will definitely see even bigger meta shifts.
Right now, people are just including these new cards into new decks, but I am confident that there will be some MAJOR changes in popularity of classes and basic deck strategies once people have had more time to experiment with the entire Naxx set.
Already, mass dispel being a useable card in the current meta and the growth of paladin because of strong 5 drops are huge.
On August 13 2014 07:54 Greendotz wrote: Great article. How murlocs became popular for a time I'll never know.
Pretty much for the same reason Zoo is so popular now. Intense start which requires you to react accordingly, and then tons of draws and bursts to follow up. If they were allowed to set up and summon like 3 or so lowly 1-1 and 2-1 murlocs, they could just drop a warleader or seer and the game would be almost over.
I'm more impressed over the fact that they actually died out, it was one of the most obnoxious decks around. I guess it's because standard Zoo is better in almost every aspect. More resiliant to removal, better individual card value etc. Still, to this day, a murloc deck with a good hand is one of the worst things to face.
That's why I hated it. The entire deck hinged so much on droping a Seer at just the right moment. They also kind of needed an early Tidecaller as well. I killed so many Murloc decks and the few that did beat me I just thought “congrats, you got really really really lucky with your draws”. Zoo is pretty infuriating but I respect it as a solid, well designed deck. Don’t get me wrong Murlocs is pretty fun to play, but when I saw it been used in tournaments and reasonably high (Rank 7-10) on ladder it just made me sad.
Having said that I reckon Kolento could probably take a Murloc deck to top 100 legend.
Really missing a paragraph on Handlocks. Handlocks have been top tier about as long as zoo has. And the fact that there are two warlock decks that people need to mulligan against is a big reason why they've both been so effective.
I wonder why LH always uses this odd Puffins deck as their Murloc example and not the Dogehouse version used in several Fight Nights and the first TakeTV event. I think that one is much more (in)famous, more standard and it uses more Murlocs.
On August 13 2014 09:37 Paragleiber wrote: I wonder why LH always uses this odd Puffins deck as their Murloc example and not the Dogehouse version used in several Fight Nights and the first TakeTV event. I think that one is much more (in)famous, more standard and it uses more Murlocs.
It's because Puffins was the man that popularized the deck ( at least amongst all the top tier players). He climbed his way to rank 1 and held it to prove its worth.
On August 13 2014 09:15 cablesc wrote: Really missing a paragraph on Handlocks. Handlocks have been top tier about as long as zoo has. And the fact that there are two warlock decks that people need to mulligan against is a big reason why they've both been so effective.
Handlock was always "a deck" but it was never "THE deck" and this was all about the eras of certain classes where they reigned supreme atop the meta.
On August 13 2014 09:15 cablesc wrote: Really missing a paragraph on Handlocks. Handlocks have been top tier about as long as zoo has. And the fact that there are two warlock decks that people need to mulligan against is a big reason why they've both been so effective.
Handlock was always "a deck" but it was never "THE deck" and this was all about the eras of certain classes where they reigned supreme atop the meta.
Slipped between Midrange Hunter, Miracle Rogue and Druid, Handlock has snuck in amazing tournament results. With a couple really weak matchups and being very susceptible to techy cards like BGH and Black Knight, it's a deck that is only effective with the right meta conditions. But when the conditions are met, it hits like a freight train and rolls over everything. It's a very important deck when considering Warlock's strength, but due to it's waxing and waning nature, it always plays second fiddle to Zoo.
Handlock saw a big rise after the UTH nerf as it had very nice MUs vs both miracle rogue and zoo which dominated until nax release. Druids auto-included TBK, and some even had 2xbgh to have a decent handlock matchup. Aggrodecks countering handlock, mages, paladins and hunters, saw more play.
Ofc. I am biased as a main handlock player, but these shifts were important IMO!
Oh, and shaman was THE deck when trump popularized it before the hunters took over for the 2nd time.
I actually miss the control era of when Tinkmaster was autopick in every deck. It just seems so refreshing compared to always playing against zoo and miracle..
The seemingly useless 4/5 that couldn't attack suddenly peaked the interest of other players when someone discovered to activate it with taunt.
Hate to be that guy, but it's "piqued the interest", not "peaked". Piqued means it started intriguing players, peaked means the interest reached a high point and then started down.
I miss Nat Pagle and Tinkmaster, they added interesting RNG to the game since almost every control player ran them in their decks. "If Tink make the enemy minion into a devilsaur, how do i deal with it? Will my opponent get to draw with his nat pagle?" etc. Nowadays as a warrior control player, the only RNG is rag and brawl (and ysera for those who run her). Sure, RNG is debatable, but it adds a suprise element to the game.
I feel they should revert the nerf on Pagle. Since then, the meta has moved from card advantage and card draws to a bursty aggro meta, of which Pagle is weaker. It would be nice to see him used, rather than not at all, ever, that it is at the moment.
On August 13 2014 06:21 Dreamer.T wrote: Hearthstone's been around for a pretty short time, and already the meta has gone through many cycles. Although a few classes are clearly more used than others, I feel the game is in a very healthy state. Even the supposedly "dead" classes such as priest and paladin are showing up again. Looking forward to seeing the changes it goes through over the remainder of the year.
Since the article only covered this year, if you remember the Innkeeper's Invitational at Blizzcon: that's then Priest QQ was overwhelming and Paladin dominated the brackets. That was less than a year ago!
Ya, it's all part of the meta changing and developing. I feel blizzard has done a good job putting HS in the right direction. Out of all of these decks though I have to say I feel mage was maybe nerfed prematurely. For one, i'm always one of the people that feel the players should have the chance to figure out the meta and evolve. Don't get me wrong, I remember how sick it was seeing so many mages and they were frustrating. But I don't think it would be that strong now even if everything was reversed. (pre-naxx even) Now, post-naxx, I feel mage is the most underpowered class in the game by a long shot.
EPT
