In a patch aimed at limiting Rogue and Demon Hunter's power level for the second time since March of the Lich King came out, a lot of players were eager to know if they could finally enjoy the Hearthstone they love once again. Could this meta be based around resource management and less so around burst of damages available.
In this piece, we are going through all the early data of the patch, from the decks popping off in our statistics sheet, to what people are talking about on social media.
Also, something I am very curious about is whether any of the buffed cards managed to push an archetype enough to make it relevant amongst the already existing archetypes.
Did Patch 25.2.2 manage to correct what the previous balance changes couldn't? Let's find out!
Hunter, Demon Hunter, and Rogue still exist and perform
All three classes have an above 50% winrate since the patch, and all of them are utilizing very similar decks to what they were playing before.
Hunter, in particular, seems to have kept a large part of its competitive spirit, even with Shockspitter now a 4-mana card.
Compared to Rogue or Demon Hunter, Hunter managed to quickly find its footing again and owes it a lot to Hydralodon being such a good Colossal, alongside being able to summon it on turn five. Here's looking at you, Stormpike Battle Ram.
As a result, the list has barely changed, only slightly more focused on early board development. The game plan has had a more significant shift though. Instead of quickly trying to get the damage train going in order to set up the Shockspitter threat, you are now looking to get Hydralodon on the board on turn five in order to get some good pressure going and then transfer to damage once this step is completed.
As for Demon Hunter and Rogue, they also are featuring similar decks to what they were running at the start of the week but have had to adapt more than Hunter.
Demon Hunter seems to have returned to the Relic synergy to support its still very strong synergy around Souleater's Scythe.
It is still unclear which is the perfect trio of units to play in the deck. Jace Darkweaver, Lady S'theno, Artificer Xy'mox, Silvermoon Arcanist, and occasionally Abusive Sergeant, all make sense in their own way. So Demon Hunter players have a lot of experimenting to do to find the perfect combination here.
As for Rogue, the Miracle archetype hasn't disappeared, although the Wildpaw Gnoll and Maestra combo is long gone. As many suspected, the Concoction package and the natural explosiveness of the Rogue class are enough to keep it in the meta conversation.
Sinstone Graveyard is still part of the deck, but the big news is the return of Necrolord Draka and Mailbox Dancer. Together, these cards help the deck keep its insane potential for damage and combos.
The deck lost a lot of popularity already, and Rogue seems almost exclusively discussed among players notorious for mastering the class. But who knows how far the class will go once the news spreads of it still being a viable competitive choice.
For now, no list is set in stone. Depending on ladder rank and play style, we can see several ideas being experimented in each class. So take these deck lists as suggestions, more than a clear 30-card recommendation.
Nevertheless, none of these classes seems to have been buried by the patch. The future will tell us if that is good news or not.
### Shockspitter Hunter # Classe_: Chasseur # Mode_: Standard # Année de l’Hydre # # 2x (0) Nuée dévorante # 2x (1) Cire-à-l’arc # 2x (1) Invité timbré # 2x (1) Paysan # 2x (1) Pistage # 2x (1) Trogg de Gouffrefer # 2x (2) Biscuit pour chien # 2x (2) Braconnière d’esprits # 2x (2) Cab-o-tron # 2x (2) Éleveur sélectif # 2x (3) Esprits sauvages # 2x (3) Fusil-harpon # 2x (4) Bélier de combat foudrepique # 2x (4) Crache-foudre # 1x (6) Tavish en armure de bestiaire # 1x (7) Hydrolodon # AAECAbv5AwLbkQTnuQQO6ukD9PYDlPwDw4AEqZ8E2KME4aQEg8gEv9MEweMEzOQE0OQEqJMFj6QFAA== # # Pour utiliser ce deck, copiez-le dans le presse-papier et créez-en un nouveau dans Hearthstone.
AAECAaIHBs75A+2ABPbdBMygBeigBeKkBQy9gAT2nwT3nwS3swT03QT13QT87QTBgwXdoAXfoAXgoAXBoQUA
### # Classe_: Chasseur de démons # Mode_: Standard # Année de l’Hydre # # 2x (1) Cachet d’empressement # 2x (1) Déchaînement de fiel # 2x (1) Fureur rang 1 # 2x (1) Relique de l’extinction # 1x (1) Sergent grossier # 2x (2) Barrage gangrené # 2x (2) Caveau de reliques # 2x (2) Frappe du chaos # 2x (2) Marque de dédain # 1x (3) Arcaniste de Lune-d’Argent # 2x (3) Comportement prédateur # 1x (3) Dame S’theno # 1x (3) Lames de guerre des Aldrachi # 2x (3) Relique des illusions # 1x (4) Faux de la Dévoreuse d’âmes # 2x (4) Troupe de guerre fiel’dorei # 1x (6) Kurtrus, écorcheur de démons # 2x (6) Relique des dimensions # AAECAc7WAwaHiwSDnwSRoAT7vwSVkgWdpAUMwvEDifcDivcDtp8EmLoEr94EsN4EquIEheUEhpIFiZIFi5IFAA== # # Pour utiliser ce deck, copiez-le dans le presse-papier et créez-en un nouveau dans Hearthstone.
Early, tempo-oriented decks shine in the first days of Patch 25.2.2
It is usually customary to see proactive decks do very well in the early days of a new metagame.
It is much easier to enforce a strategy than trying to counter one in a very unstable environment. As such, the aggressive, or at least proactive, builds are much more likely to succeed against the variety of opponents you'll find.
In that category, it seems like Curse Imp Warlock, Pure Paladin, and Evolve Shaman are the early front-runners. Big Spell Mage isn't far behind, and so is Enrage Warrior, as both decks are above 55% Winrate in the Diamond to Legend ranks. The better decks are all passing the 56% winrate mark in the same filter, with Warlock even passing 57%, a nerf-worthy score if it stays this way for too long.
There probably is nothing to worry about though, as this trend is customary of a post-patch metagame. And these decks are likely benefitting from being both the simplest strategies to abuse early on and being already established decks, with refined 30-card lists available on patch release.
I wouldn't be surprised if those decks shine for the first week of play and represent a great way to climb the ladder until season's end. When February comes, and players have more time to experiment, we should see more innovative builds rise and challenge for the top spots of the leaderboards.
### Curse Imp Warlock # Class: Warlock # Format: Standard # Year of the Gryphon # # 2x (1) Wicked Shipment # 2x (1) Touch of the Nathrezim # 2x (1) Grimoire of Sacrifice # 2x (1) Flustered Librarian # 2x (1) Flame Imp # 2x (2) Vile Library # 2x (2) Impending Catastrophe # 1x (3) Tamsin Roame # 2x (3) Sira'kess Cultist # 2x (3) Fiendish Circle # 2x (3) Dragged Below # 1x (3) Brann Bronzebeard # 2x (4) Mischievous Imp # 1x (5) Za'qul # 1x (5) Lady Darkvein # 1x (6) Imp King Rafaam # 1x (6) Dreadlich Tamsin # 2x (6) Abyssal Wave # AAECAf0GBvLtA7CRBOa9BJjUBJvkBIfqBAzX7QOD+wPFgASEoATmoAT+tATcvQTivQT/2QSA2gSB2gSr6gQA # To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone # Find this deck on https://hsreplay.net/decks/WguWm7zCXpBqI7xlWLMxi/
### Pure Paladin # Class: Paladin # Format: Standard # Year of the Gryphon # # 2x (1) Sinful Sous Chef # 2x (1) Sanguine Soldier # 2x (1) Righteous Protector # 2x (1) Knight of Anointment # 2x (2) Seafloor Savior # 2x (2) Order in the Court # 1x (2) Kotori Lightblade # 2x (2) For Quel'Thalas! # 2x (2) Class Action Lawyer # 1x (2) Blood Matriarch Liadrin # 2x (2) Battle Vicar # 2x (3) Stonehearth Vindicator # 2x (3) Seal of Blood # 2x (3) Alliance Bannerman # 1x (6) Blood Crusader # 1x (7) The Countess # 2x (9) Lightray # AAECAZ8FBIbiBKHiBISWBbuXBQ3M6wPw9gPJoAT5pATQrATi0wTa2QS/4gTA4gTy7QSrkwWBlgWDlgUA # To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone # Find this deck on https://hsreplay.net/decks/fZDsB0sBpOldWxjKwCzAt/
### Evolve Shaman # Class: Shaman # Format: Standard # Year of the Gryphon # # 2x (1) Windchill # 2x (1) Schooling # 2x (1) Muck Pools # 2x (1) Convincing Disguise # 2x (2) Carving Chisel # 2x (3) Primordial Wave # 2x (3) Far Sight # 2x (4) Wildpaw Cavern # 2x (4) Prescience # 1x (5) Shadow Hunter Vol'jin # 2x (5) Command of Neptulon # 2x (5) Bloodlust # 2x (6) Tiny Toys # 1x (7) Glugg the Gulper # 1x (8) Bru'kan of the Elements # 1x (10) Neptulon the Tidehunter # 2x (10) Goldshire Gnoll # AAECAaoIBODlA8ORBOm2BL/OBA3j9gPG+QPckgTblATgtQTGzgSF1ASq2QSv2QS12QS22QTy3QSGoQUA # To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone # Find this deck on https://hsreplay.net/decks/dPQVZ7TXRFYMOjhcHKOkle/
Old archetypes dominate, for now.
The thing that's impossible to ignore from all the decks we mentioned until now is that none of them are using any of the buffed cards.
Similar to why the proactive, aggressive decks are posting the best results so far. It feels like a patch so close to season's end isn't helping the more creative archetypes' popularity. The buffed cards will need some testing before they can be included or push a new build, a testing that typically happens during the season's start rather than at its end.
A few ideas made it to the ladder already, even if they aren't popular enough to appear in the statistics so far. Particularly, Casino Mage and Dragon Paladin have been spotted as original ideas being in the works.
AAECAc/6Awad7gOgigT/ogSjkAWmkwXUoQUMkoEEk4EExKAE+6IE+qwEo84E2tAExZMFgJYFqpgFq5gFn6QFAA==
AAECAZ3DAwbgiwSEsASwsgTQvQTA4gSvkwUMzOsD8PYDi/gD7p8EyaAE0KwEkYkFo5MFpJMFp5MFkKQFkaQFAA==
Closing Words
After a few days of play, it really looks like patch 25.2.2 is following the usual course of evolution of most patches.
Tempo-oriented decks are dominating early, and archetypes we knew were refined are having the most impressive performance rates so far. Curse Imp Warlock, Pure Paladin, and Big Spell Mage all had strong 30 cards lists that were ready to go as soon as the patch hit.
However, if we already knew what these decks were capable of, we also know their limitations, and how to approach them if we were to try to counter those. Also, Rogue, Hunter, and Demon Hunter are going to take some time to see how they perform after some reconstruction and experimentation.
For the end of the January season, and maybe the early days of February, during the rush back to the legend rank for those with the x11 multiplier, we might not see so many changes in the metagame, unfortunately.
After this phase, there should be much more originality on the menu, and we should have a clearer picture of whether the buffs did have an impact on the metagame.
We will make sure to keep you posted on all those developments in our next pieces. Until then, you can find all the statistics on the https://hsreplay.net website.
Good Game, Everyone!
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