I've hit level 65 despite only playing 3 times in the pat two weeks. I've been grinding a lot of Demon Hunter because I am oh so close to that 1,000-win portrait, which has predictably led to a lot of losses (suffered 10 straight Ls while playing a Lifesteal DH, my tilt was inconceivable). Paladins are a damn curse right now.
Deathrattle Demon Hunter has been doing surprisingly well for me. I've had a 56% win rate over 32 games, and I've been 6-1 since I traded the watch post package with Chaos Strikes and Burning Blade Acolytes. It's also fun to play, especially when you can string along deathrattle minions with Razorfen Beastmaster and Razorboar.
So I decide to play again after a week, piloting a Control Priest deck. This is the queue of opponents I run into:
Control Warlock (insta-loss)
OTK Demon Hunter (insta-loss too)
OTK Demon Hunter (INSTA-LOSS)
Control Shaman (got OTK'd by an Al'Akir combo that I didn't know about; I was in control the whole game)
Control Warlock (INSTAAAAAAA-LOSSSSSSSSS)
This is why I'm playing less and less these days. It's like the game itself is pushing me out. How the hell do you explain that gauntlet of opponents, who HARD-COUNTER the deck I'm piloting? Of course when I made the switch to an OTK Demon Hunter, I faced three straight Rogues in a row.
as soon as i switch i mostly face hard counters. im not really comfortable with any of these decks, and furthermore the number of them that are actually enjoyable to play is zero. priest has approximatley a million healing, warlock draws infinite healing in the end game, hunter kills you on turn 5, druid either has turn 1 8/8 or turn 6 a million/a million in stats, paladin cheats out everything asap and has the strongest possible tempo play on every turn, and rogue and warrior are completely dead.
ultimately this feels like roulette. pick a deck, and pray to god you dont queue into hard counters.
I often experience that too whenever I play a new deck; the first few opponents I face are hard counters. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it is frustrating. The trick is to just keep playing through it. Think of the first few games as some sort of practice run, and eventually the game will give you some reasonable matchups.
On another note, I played the Midrange Demon Hunter deck again yesterday and went 9-2 with it. It's just absolutely rolling through everything in the D5 ranks, whether it's Priest, Warlock, Mage, Hunter, and even other DH decks. My only losses were a Secret Paladin that I misplayed against, and an OTK Demon Hunter that somehow pulled off his combo on turn 7. I'm not facing that many Paladins for some reason, which is a good thing. Try it out.
HSReplay stats show that two Paladin archetypes are back to being S-tier: Secret Paladin (60% WR) and Libram Secret Paladin (58%). I don't think the devs are done with the nerfs, we might see more coming soon to the Paladin class if this continues.
It's a control-heavy meta in Diamond 5 up though. I'm facing a lot of Priests and Warlocks, with very few Paladins, Rogues, and Hunters. There's lots of DH midrange decks running around, which is what I'm playing currently. It's doing really well.
Midrange Demon Hunter has been working out really well for me, I have a 67% winrate with it so far. I've been playing it to get that 1,000-win DH portrait (currently at 937 wins). It feasts on Warlocks and Priests, and does really well against the mirror match or any other Deathrattle DH. I haven't faced that many Secret Paladins, but I went 3-1 against them. Hunter is 50-50.
Game plan is to just out-tempo your opponent and always get in some damage every turn, which has always been the Demon Hunter way. Chop down their health until you can hit them with your Illidari Inquisitors as your finishers. It's a fun deck if you like midrange, and it's a pretty fair deck all things considered.
Spell Mage is still pretty strong. The problem is that there hasn't been any aggro deck that has risen in play that could counter it, due to the fact that a lot of control decks (Warlock, Priest, and Warrior) are now seeing play. Still waiting on a Demon Hunter deck, though I did get absolutely killed by this Deathrattle DH that had Illidari Inquisitor as its finisher.
Just had the most annoying, frustrating, troll-tastic game ever. And of course, it's against a Priest.
I play my Rattlegore and it's at 2 health, and what does my opponent play? A goddamn Deathwarden then kills the Rattlegore with an Initiation to steal it.
What kind of fucking asshole runs those stupid cards? That guy's deck was heavily teched to annoy opponents, and I wish he'd choke on his food today, that f*cker. So goddamn triggering.
I'm only at Diamond 10 and I haven't faced any Control Warlocks yet. I played a couple of games with Secret Paladin to see if it's still strong. I went 8-8, though most of my losses were due to misplays. I noticed a lot of Control Priests, some Face/Midrange Hunters, Rogues, and Spell Mages. That's it so far.
I was on a nice winning streak and was on the verge of winning another game, only to misplay and eventually lose. Of course, after that misplay, I proceed to lose 4 straight.
Does this happen to anyone else? My punishment for a misplay always extends to several games, which eventually becomes a long losing streak. It's absolutely frustrating.
I started playing again after a week and I've reached level 42. My quest tray is empty now though, so it's going to be tough to get to level 50 within the week unless I play every day.
Can't wait for the nerfs to go live. This Mage-Paladin meta is such an un-fun experience. No other deck is being allowed to shine by those two classes, which is more frustrating for me since I can't grind to 1,000 wins with DH without losing a lot of games. I hope Deathrattle DH becomes semi-viable after the nerfs hit.
I'm still nervous about Paladin, though. I don't think the nerfs to it were enough; it's still going to dominate the meta. Its libram toolkit is just waaay too overtuned that a couple of buffs to other classes might be necessary.
Still too early to tell. I agree that it might still be a strong deck even after the Deck of Lunacy nerf, but the other nerfs could allow faster decks to see play again. The nerfs to Sword of the Fallen and Pen Flinger could hurt the dominant Paladin archetypes, while the weakened watchposts (particularly Mor'shan Watch Post) could encourage players to play aggro decks again. The latter is something that Spell Mage doesn't want to see, given how it struggles against aggro decks or even those that go wide.
I'm guessing Spell Mage will be mid-to-lower tier 2 after the nerfs go live, since I'm expecting minion-focused decks to be the norm again. I'm guessing a Tempo Warrior or some form of Aggro DH and Hunter will crop up. The current meta is just one of the weirdest and most frustrating ever.
With the nerf announcements today, I decided to buy 5 Barrens packs hoping to get more copies of the nerfed cards for more dust. I didn't get any of them, but instead I got these two from those 5 random packs:
I mean, they're only legendaries from my two favorite classes, both of which I was already thinking of crafting after the nerfs, so yeah. I think I'm happy :)
I only started playing seriously during the Witchwood, so I'll start from there.
Witchwood
Baku the Mooneater and Genn Greymane, no doubt. I played a lot of Odd Warrior and Even Paladin during those days. I freaking loved my Odd Quest Warrior with Sulfuras, it was a blast to play.
Boomsday Project
Dr. Boom, Mad Genius. I was fortunate enough to get him as my free legendary, and as a Warrior main, I played him a ton until he was nerfed.
Rastakhan
Zul'jin. Crafted him in Day 1 to play in my Secret Hunter deck (which was dominant at the time), and I just loved him as a late-game bomb. I played a lot of Hunter during those times in my quest to get the golden portrait.
Rise of Shadows
Blastmaster Boom. I might be in the minority, but I loved the bomb mechanic, and Boom was a big part of those decks. I eventually reached legend with the deck in the Scholomance meta.
Altruis the Outcast. Absolutely loved this card, and its pre-nerf version made for some insane damage turns with DH.
Scholomance Academy
A bit of a tie between Doctor Krastinov and Mindrender Illucia. I was playing a lot of Bomb Warrior during this meta, and it was fun to piss off opponents with a well-timed Illucia.
Xyrella so far. She's just an amazing card in Control Priest, being able to wipe out a large board while dropping a 4/4 just feels good. Great art too.
I agree with the OP, Lord Jaraxxus is gonna be a real problem in the future. Warlock has some pretty good control tools already to help them survive against aggro like Drain Soul, School Spirits, Hysteria, and Cascading Disaster. Against other archetypes, they have two absolute control-killers in Lord Jaraxxus and Tickatus, and a great value-generating card in Tamsin Roame. They'll only be susceptible to burn decks. Warlock might be annoying to face once the current meta tyrants are nerfed.
I expect Lord Jaraxxus to be changed if Control Warlock becomes too oppressive, it's just way too overtuned now that it's a simple hero card. The downside of having only 15 health in exchange for a ridiculous 3/8 weapon and infinite 6/6 infernals for 2 mana is gone, so it might simply be too powerful if the meta slows down.
Will some of these art be made available as hero portraits in the upcoming tavern passes? I don't know how to feel about that since it spoils the surprise, but some of those would look awesome as hero portraits. The Bru'kan ones are awesome (Alex Horley remains the best Hearthstone artist out there), though the second one with him holding a chicken drumstick is just...weird? What the hell is that
I'm sure Deck of Lunacy will get hit. Sure, a turn 2 Lunacy might not guarantee a win despite the stats saying so, but it's an incredibly annoying card to play against. Imagine not having any idea what to expect from your opponent while they drop powerful spells every turn. That's not fit for any competitive scene whatsoever.
I'm guessing the other nerfs would be to Sword of the Fallen (down to 2 durability) and Pen Flinger (just limit its damage to minions so as not to kill the card). As for the others, I think Field Contact might get hit. That's just an insane draw engine for Rogue that maybe the devs foresee it as a problem. Refreshing Spring Water likely won't get nerfed; you just need to kill the archetype it's strong in (No-minion Mage where it's just a free card to play) and it'll be fine in other Mage decks.
I've hit level 65 despite only playing 3 times in the pat two weeks. I've been grinding a lot of Demon Hunter because I am oh so close to that 1,000-win portrait, which has predictably led to a lot of losses (suffered 10 straight Ls while playing a Lifesteal DH, my tilt was inconceivable). Paladins are a damn curse right now.
Deathrattle Demon Hunter has been doing surprisingly well for me. I've had a 56% win rate over 32 games, and I've been 6-1 since I traded the watch post package with Chaos Strikes and Burning Blade Acolytes. It's also fun to play, especially when you can string along deathrattle minions with Razorfen Beastmaster and Razorboar.
So I decide to play again after a week, piloting a Control Priest deck. This is the queue of opponents I run into:
Control Warlock (insta-loss)
OTK Demon Hunter (insta-loss too)
OTK Demon Hunter (INSTA-LOSS)
Control Shaman (got OTK'd by an Al'Akir combo that I didn't know about; I was in control the whole game)
Control Warlock (INSTAAAAAAA-LOSSSSSSSSS)
This is why I'm playing less and less these days. It's like the game itself is pushing me out. How the hell do you explain that gauntlet of opponents, who HARD-COUNTER the deck I'm piloting? Of course when I made the switch to an OTK Demon Hunter, I faced three straight Rogues in a row.
Screw you, Blizzard. Your match-making is RIGGED.
The first time is always the sweetest. Congrats! Which legendary did you get?
I often experience that too whenever I play a new deck; the first few opponents I face are hard counters. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it is frustrating. The trick is to just keep playing through it. Think of the first few games as some sort of practice run, and eventually the game will give you some reasonable matchups.
On another note, I played the Midrange Demon Hunter deck again yesterday and went 9-2 with it. It's just absolutely rolling through everything in the D5 ranks, whether it's Priest, Warlock, Mage, Hunter, and even other DH decks. My only losses were a Secret Paladin that I misplayed against, and an OTK Demon Hunter that somehow pulled off his combo on turn 7. I'm not facing that many Paladins for some reason, which is a good thing. Try it out.
I reached level 50 and my free legendary was Serena Bloodfeather. I hate my luck when it comes to the Tavern pass legendaries XD
HSReplay stats show that two Paladin archetypes are back to being S-tier: Secret Paladin (60% WR) and Libram Secret Paladin (58%). I don't think the devs are done with the nerfs, we might see more coming soon to the Paladin class if this continues.
It's a control-heavy meta in Diamond 5 up though. I'm facing a lot of Priests and Warlocks, with very few Paladins, Rogues, and Hunters. There's lots of DH midrange decks running around, which is what I'm playing currently. It's doing really well.
Midrange Demon Hunter has been working out really well for me, I have a 67% winrate with it so far. I've been playing it to get that 1,000-win DH portrait (currently at 937 wins). It feasts on Warlocks and Priests, and does really well against the mirror match or any other Deathrattle DH. I haven't faced that many Secret Paladins, but I went 3-1 against them. Hunter is 50-50.
Game plan is to just out-tempo your opponent and always get in some damage every turn, which has always been the Demon Hunter way. Chop down their health until you can hit them with your Illidari Inquisitors as your finishers. It's a fun deck if you like midrange, and it's a pretty fair deck all things considered.
I bought the new bundle, and lo and behold my luck with packs has been really good lately. This is my second golden legendary in two days, amazing.
Spell Mage is still pretty strong. The problem is that there hasn't been any aggro deck that has risen in play that could counter it, due to the fact that a lot of control decks (Warlock, Priest, and Warrior) are now seeing play. Still waiting on a Demon Hunter deck, though I did get absolutely killed by this Deathrattle DH that had Illidari Inquisitor as its finisher.
Just had the most annoying, frustrating, troll-tastic game ever. And of course, it's against a Priest.
I play my Rattlegore and it's at 2 health, and what does my opponent play? A goddamn Deathwarden then kills the Rattlegore with an Initiation to steal it.
I manage to steal it back with a Faceless Manipulator, but then he plays Idol of Y'Shaarj that pulls a 10/10 Robes of Protection. I play Brawl to get rid of it, but it survives. I play a 2nd Brawl, and it SURVIVES AGAIN. That's when I rage-quit.
What kind of fucking asshole runs those stupid cards? That guy's deck was heavily teched to annoy opponents, and I wish he'd choke on his food today, that f*cker. So goddamn triggering.
I'm only at Diamond 10 and I haven't faced any Control Warlocks yet. I played a couple of games with Secret Paladin to see if it's still strong. I went 8-8, though most of my losses were due to misplays. I noticed a lot of Control Priests, some Face/Midrange Hunters, Rogues, and Spell Mages. That's it so far.
I was on a nice winning streak and was on the verge of winning another game, only to misplay and eventually lose. Of course, after that misplay, I proceed to lose 4 straight.
Does this happen to anyone else? My punishment for a misplay always extends to several games, which eventually becomes a long losing streak. It's absolutely frustrating.
I started playing again after a week and I've reached level 42. My quest tray is empty now though, so it's going to be tough to get to level 50 within the week unless I play every day.
Can't wait for the nerfs to go live. This Mage-Paladin meta is such an un-fun experience. No other deck is being allowed to shine by those two classes, which is more frustrating for me since I can't grind to 1,000 wins with DH without losing a lot of games. I hope Deathrattle DH becomes semi-viable after the nerfs hit.
I'm still nervous about Paladin, though. I don't think the nerfs to it were enough; it's still going to dominate the meta. Its libram toolkit is just waaay too overtuned that a couple of buffs to other classes might be necessary.
Still too early to tell. I agree that it might still be a strong deck even after the Deck of Lunacy nerf, but the other nerfs could allow faster decks to see play again. The nerfs to Sword of the Fallen and Pen Flinger could hurt the dominant Paladin archetypes, while the weakened watchposts (particularly Mor'shan Watch Post) could encourage players to play aggro decks again. The latter is something that Spell Mage doesn't want to see, given how it struggles against aggro decks or even those that go wide.
I'm guessing Spell Mage will be mid-to-lower tier 2 after the nerfs go live, since I'm expecting minion-focused decks to be the norm again. I'm guessing a Tempo Warrior or some form of Aggro DH and Hunter will crop up. The current meta is just one of the weirdest and most frustrating ever.
With the nerf announcements today, I decided to buy 5 Barrens packs hoping to get more copies of the nerfed cards for more dust. I didn't get any of them, but instead I got these two from those 5 random packs:
I mean, they're only legendaries from my two favorite classes, both of which I was already thinking of crafting after the nerfs, so yeah. I think I'm happy :)
I only started playing seriously during the Witchwood, so I'll start from there.
Witchwood
Baku the Mooneater and Genn Greymane, no doubt. I played a lot of Odd Warrior and Even Paladin during those days. I freaking loved my Odd Quest Warrior with Sulfuras, it was a blast to play.
Boomsday Project
Dr. Boom, Mad Genius. I was fortunate enough to get him as my free legendary, and as a Warrior main, I played him a ton until he was nerfed.
Rastakhan
Zul'jin. Crafted him in Day 1 to play in my Secret Hunter deck (which was dominant at the time), and I just loved him as a late-game bomb. I played a lot of Hunter during those times in my quest to get the golden portrait.
Rise of Shadows
Blastmaster Boom. I might be in the minority, but I loved the bomb mechanic, and Boom was a big part of those decks. I eventually reached legend with the deck in the Scholomance meta.
Saviors of Uldum
Unseal the Vault. Quest Hunter was a blast to play.
Descent of Dragons
Deathwing, Mad Aspect. One of my favorite cards ever, the design is just so good.
Ashes of Outland
Altruis the Outcast. Absolutely loved this card, and its pre-nerf version made for some insane damage turns with DH.
Scholomance Academy
A bit of a tie between Doctor Krastinov and Mindrender Illucia. I was playing a lot of Bomb Warrior during this meta, and it was fun to piss off opponents with a well-timed Illucia.
Darkmoon Faire
Il'gynoth. Those surprise lethals with Aldrachi Warblades never get old.
Forged in the Barrens
Xyrella so far. She's just an amazing card in Control Priest, being able to wipe out a large board while dropping a 4/4 just feels good. Great art too.
I agree with the OP, Lord Jaraxxus is gonna be a real problem in the future. Warlock has some pretty good control tools already to help them survive against aggro like Drain Soul, School Spirits, Hysteria, and Cascading Disaster. Against other archetypes, they have two absolute control-killers in Lord Jaraxxus and Tickatus, and a great value-generating card in Tamsin Roame. They'll only be susceptible to burn decks. Warlock might be annoying to face once the current meta tyrants are nerfed.
I expect Lord Jaraxxus to be changed if Control Warlock becomes too oppressive, it's just way too overtuned now that it's a simple hero card. The downside of having only 15 health in exchange for a ridiculous 3/8 weapon and infinite 6/6 infernals for 2 mana is gone, so it might simply be too powerful if the meta slows down.
Will some of these art be made available as hero portraits in the upcoming tavern passes? I don't know how to feel about that since it spoils the surprise, but some of those would look awesome as hero portraits. The Bru'kan ones are awesome (Alex Horley remains the best Hearthstone artist out there), though the second one with him holding a chicken drumstick is just...weird? What the hell is that
I'm sure Deck of Lunacy will get hit. Sure, a turn 2 Lunacy might not guarantee a win despite the stats saying so, but it's an incredibly annoying card to play against. Imagine not having any idea what to expect from your opponent while they drop powerful spells every turn. That's not fit for any competitive scene whatsoever.
I'm guessing the other nerfs would be to Sword of the Fallen (down to 2 durability) and Pen Flinger (just limit its damage to minions so as not to kill the card). As for the others, I think Field Contact might get hit. That's just an insane draw engine for Rogue that maybe the devs foresee it as a problem. Refreshing Spring Water likely won't get nerfed; you just need to kill the archetype it's strong in (No-minion Mage where it's just a free card to play) and it'll be fine in other Mage decks.