Hearthstone Wiki:Archived/Meta/History

See also: Common deck types

The meta of Hearthstone has changed with every balance patch and expansion, but also changes spontaneously as new decks are refined, discovered or popularized or as they rise against the existing meta. The most notable decks and characteristics of each era are listed below.

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Basic & Classic (March 11, 2014)[edit source]

Overview: The Basic and Classic era had the fewest tools, and so had few well-defined decks compared to today's standards. Most decks focused on the strengths of each class's Basic cards. One powerful strategy was using a pre-nerf Force of Nature, where the Treants had Charge, with Savage Roar for a sudden 14 damage from hand. Players such as Trump already established on YouTube the main archetypes for each class - Board Clear Mage, Mana Efficiency Druid, Handlock Warlock, Weapon Rogue, Control Shaman, Weapon Warrior, Control Paladin, Card Advantage Priest, and Aggro Hunter.

Curse of Naxxramas (July 22, 2014)[edit source]

Overview: As a small set of only 30 total cards, many Classic decks got little changes. However, the power of Undertaker led to a very aggressive variant of Deathrattle Hunter which dominated the meta well into the next expansion. The controversial Shade of Naxxramas was also added, now a card seen by players as unfair as "something you can't interact with that just keeps growing".

Aggro Hunter

Goblins vs Gnomes (December 8, 2014)[edit source]

Overview: With Goblins vs Gnomes, many neutral cards such as Mechwarper, Piloted Shredder and Dr. Boom were criticized as being overtuned and found homes in many decks. Many Tempo oriented decks arose as a consequence of this strong neutral set. Also, the aforementioned Piloted Shredder began pushing out Chillwind Yeti in it's spot as "powerful, well-statted minion", due to it's Deathrattle. With the beginning of Wild format, Chillwind Yeti again reprized the role in Standard format.

Blackrock Mountain (April 2, 2015)[edit source]

Overview: Blackrock Mountain is remembered as the time of Patron Warrior, a deck notorious for its lack of counters and its ability to pull off insane Burst from hand. Emperor Thaurissan enabled many similar OTK decks, such as Exodia Mage. This expansion also saw the beginnings of Dragon Priest.

The Grand Tournament (August 24, 2015)[edit source]

Overview: The Grand Tournament's central themes of Inspire and Joust failed to take off as archetypes of their own, but value-oriented cards such as Justicar Trueheart and Nexus-Champion Saraad found use in Control decks. However, Wyrmrest Agent and Twilight Guardian pushed Dragon Priest into legitimacy. After the nerf to Warsong Commander brought down Patron Warrior and made it one of the worst Basic cards alongside Magma Rager, Silverback and a few others, Mysterious Challenger almost single-handedly carried Secret Paladin to the top.

The League of Explorers (November 12, 2015)[edit source]

Overview: Reno Jackson created a slew of powerful Control decks with a variety of options, and Elise Starseeker helped push this as well, giving additional late-game value. Tunnel Trogg filled out the early game of Aggro Shaman, which would proceed to dominate the next few expansions. Anyfin Can Happen gave rise to Murloc Paladin decks. This was the rise of Highlander decks, also known as Reno Lock, which would remain pertinent up until Knights of the Frozen Throne at least.

Whispers of the Old Gods (April 26, 2016)[edit source]

Overview: The release of the Old Gods began the rotation of Standard format, kicking out Naxx and GvG. C'Thun and the cultists forcibly created an archetype on their own. This set saw the beginnings of Evolve Shaman, but this was lost in favor of the infamous Flamewreathed Faceless, which rounded out Aggro Shaman as a powerful deck. Y'Shaarj planted the idea of Big Priest, N'Zoth was another finisher in many Control decks, and Yogg-Saron was well-known for its absurdity and (literal) madness. To this day, Flamewreathed Faceless is still credited as the most balanced card ever created by Blizzard.

One Night in Karazhan (August 11, 2016)[edit source]

Overview: Karazhan is remembered for the loved and hated card Barnes, which would find many decks with Y'Shaarj and no other minions. Both Secret Hunter and Secret Mage would find popularity with Cloaked Huntress and Medivh's Valet - the latter being another card that stayed important at least until Knights of the Frozen Throne. Discardlock also was created through Malchezaar's Imp and Silverware Golem.

Secret Hunter
Secret Mage
Discardlock
Unicorn Priest (page does not exist)

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan (December 1, 2016)[edit source]

Overview: Gadgetzan is remembered for the rise of the Pirate all across the meta, to the point where Bloodsail Corsair was a legitimate card for Druid decks for Patches the Pirate. While the Grimy Goons archetype only found much success in Paladin, Jade Golems began to see play, most notably in Druidand Kazakus breathed new life into Reno Jackson decks. Aviana and Kun the Forgotten King proved to be a devastating late-game finisher for Druids, and from them rose the most powerful deck in Hearthstone history.

Journey to Un'Goro (April 6, 2017)[edit source]

Overview: Un'goro is most known for the new Quest mechanic, which, while not successful for every class, proved extraordinarily powerful in the ones that worked. In particular, Open the Waygate turned Archmage Antonidas and four Sorcerer's Apprentices from a rare joke to a legitimate win condition, while the much-maligned The Caverns Below pushed the boundaries on design hard enough to warrant two nerfs. Priest was able to finally make use of Purify if only for a fleeting moment, thanks to a slower meta and some excellent spell support.

Knights of the Frozen Throne (August 10, 2017)[edit source]

Overview: The introduction of Hero cards once again pushed the power level, slowing the metagame even further as decks worked to play these expensive powerhouses. In particular, Shadowreaper Anduin took the game by storm, combining the original version of Raza the Chained for massive damage. The usual aggro gap was filled by Tempo decks, which utilized Prince Keleseth and the heart of the cards for a major power boost throughout the game.

Kobolds & Catacombs (December 7, 2017)[edit source]

Overview: this expansion ended the Year of the Mammoth. It introduced the Recruit mechanic, and gave many classes the tools they needed to advance into Aggro, such as Divine Favor to Paladin and Oaken Summons to Druid. Marin the Fox would stay in the meta for a long time, and would make a dramatic comeback against Mecha'thun decks in The Boomsday Project. Every class received a Legendary weapon. Among many weapons still remembered in Wild, including especially Kingsbane, which has a whole deck archetype built around it. Also added were cards that get better as you keep them in your hand - Spellstones, and Unidentified objects, such as Unidentified Maul.

The Witchwood (April 12, 2018)[edit source]

Overview: This expansion marked the start of the Year of the Raven. The Witchwood is best remembered for introducing Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater, a pair of build-arounds so impactful they had to be rotated a year early. Odd Paladin and Even Paladin were the best decks as soon as the expansion released, with Even Paladin even surpassing Cube Warlock. Both decks were very powerful to the point that Odd Paladin's Level Up! and Even Paladin's Call to Arms were both nerfed. Odd Rogue, Odd Warrior, Even Shaman, and Even Warlock also became popular decks both in standard and in wild, however, Cube Warlock was still favored and widely played throughout the Witchwood. Odd Hunter also became competitively viable specifically due to its favorable matchups against Cube Warlock, as the Warlock struggles to summon any threats before the Hunter inevitably achieves an early victory. Murloc Paladin also emerged as one of the top decks with Even and Odd Paladin, as the Murloc synergy cards in Journey to Un'goro such as Gentle Megasaur and Rockpool Hunter proved to be very oppressive under the meta after the rotation.

The release of Shudderwock brought Shudderwock Shaman into play, featuring Lifedrinker, Grumble, Worldshaker and Saronite Chain Gang. Decks that aimed to kill the opponent in one turn often used Murmuring Elemental and Fire Plume Harbinger in conjunction with Shudderwock. Although Shudderwock was very powerful and seen in many competitive tournaments, its power level was not its main concern, the long-lasting animation times were. Witching Hour finally made Taunt Druid a competitive deck, utilizing Hadronox, Master Oakheart, Dragonhatcher, and plenty of taunts such as Primordial Drake and Sleepy Dragon, Taunt Druid proved to be effective against almost every deck archetype, contesting the board against aggro decks through Ironwood Golem and Oaken Summons, having plenty of removal such as Lesser Jasper Spellstone and Naturalize against midrange decks, outvaluing the control decks through Carnivorous Cube and The Lich King, and pressuring the Combo Decks with Master Oakheart and Malfurion the Pestilent.

With the Year of the Raven rotation, many powerful decks were no longer playable in Standard, such as Highlander Priest and Pirate Warrior, most of which were very favorable against Quest Rogue. Following the rotation, Quest Rogue, with the introduction of Vicious Scalehide, became popular once again. The warrior quest also gained popularity now being the win condition of Control Warrior. With the rotation of many dragon synergy cards such as Drakonid Operative and Netherspite Historian, Spiteful Priest fell out of favor. Spiteful Druid took its place and became incredibly powerful, featuring two copies of Ultimate Infestation, Spiteful Summoner, Grand Archivist, but remaining to be aggressive with many neutral minions such as Glacial Shard and Cobalt Scalebane.

In wild, Even Shaman quickly became one of the best decks in Hearthstone's history, having access to Totem Golem and Flamewreathed Faceless, compared to Aggro Shaman, wild Even Shaman trades away Tunnel Trogg, Feral Spirit, and Bloodlust in return for a 1-mana hero power and thus synergy with Thing from Below and Draenei Totemcarver. Compared to Standard Even Shaman, Wild Even Shaman is more aggressive and trades the more expensive finishers such as Hagatha the Witch, The Lich King, and Bonemare for a more aggressive Jade package, with Jade Lightning, Jade Claws, and Aya Blackpaw. Even Shaman became the aggressive deck of choice in wild despite being mediocre in Standard. Odd Paladin in Wild becomes more synergy focused on Silver Hand Recruits, with Warhorse Trainer, Quartermaster, and Muster for Battle. Odd Rogue gains a pirate package with Swashburglar and Patches the Pirate similar to rogues in the Year of the Mammoth.

Giant Hunter with Naga Sea Witch remains the midrange deck of choice, usually being able to win by turn 7, and control decks such as Reno Warlock and Highlander Priest generally stay the same with the only addition being Rotten Applebaum.

Patch 11.1.1.24589 nerfed Spiteful Summoner, Naga Sea Witch, Possessed Lackey, Call to Arms, Dark Pact, and Crystal Core. The effected decks included Cube Warlock, Spiteful Druid, Quest Rogue, Giant Hunter, Even Paladin, and Murloc Paladin. As a result of the nerfs, Spiteful Druid stopped seeing play altogether, with Taunt Druid being the only competitively viable Druid deck until the release of The Boomsday Project. Giant Hunter was also completely abandoned. All other nerfed decks kept seeing play, albeit with less power. Even Paladin abandoned its Silver Hand Recruit package in favor for a Corpsetaker package, featuring Corpsetaker, Windfury Harpy, and sometimes Tirion Fordring. Control Warlock contested Cube Warlock's position in the meta and sometimes saw play.

Following the patch, Tempo Rogue, Token Druid, and Murloc Mage emerged to fill in gaps in the meta, but Odd Paladin, not yet nerfed, was, without doubt, the best deck in the meta at the time. Wild's power level decreased and allowed for some new decks to show their true strength. Kingsbane Rogue, as a result of the nerfs, started seeing more play in both formats, taking advantage of Leeching Poison and various weapon buffs to exploit slower decks. With Cube Warlock nerfed, Odd Hunter also fell out of favor as it struggled to deal enough damage to decks with more healing such as Taunt Druid and decks which could deal damage faster, such as Odd Paladin.

The Boomsday Project (August 7, 2018)[edit source]

Overview: The Boomsday Project saw the release of many powerful neutral cards, such as Giggling Inventor, and Zilliax, which remains a staple in most Control decks.

Giggling Inventor was one of the most played cards in the Year of the Raven, for being a good stand-alone card whole also having mech synergies. Giggling Inventor also single-handedly made Mossy Horror and Blood Knight viable tech cards during the first 2 months of the expansion. It was played in almost every deck at the time.

Quest Rogue also benefited from Giggling Inventor, as its Battlecry was not only powerful on its own but also synergized with Crystal Core, as the Annoy-o-Trons would become 4/4's. Paired with Lab Recruiter to prevent fatigue and generate infinite value, Quest Rogue becomes competitive again after two nerfs. Quest Rogue was very matchup-reliant, Quest Rogue almost guarantees victories against Combo Druid and Control Warrior, but struggled against more aggressive decks like Odd Paladin and Zoolock without optimal draws.

The introduction of Mecha'thun also brought many new combo decks into the meta. With Mecha'thun Priest, Mecha'thun Druid, and Mecha'thun Warlock being the three most popular ones. Mecha'thun Priest's combo pieces were immune to Hemet, Jungle Hunter, and if Hemet was drawn early he can easily secure a win as early as turn 10. Mecha'thun Warlock possessed Cataclysm and had the advantage of not being required to empty the entire hand and board before playing the combo, this also partially protected Mecha'thun Warlock from Demonic Project as the Mecha'thun Warlock could simply keep many minions in hand. This could not be done with other decks featuring Mecha'thun. Mecha'thun Druid benefited from the fact that it had the least number of combo pieces, allowing for more cards securing the Druid's survival. Paired with already popular cards like Branching Paths and Spreading Plague, Mecha'thun Druid was on average the most effective and consistent deck out of the three.

A notably steady rise in the popularity of Druid was also observed in the first weeks of the expansion. The addition of Biology Project and Floop's Glorious Gloop spawned a miracle-druid build based upon Gadgetzan Auctioneer and cheap spells, drawing much faster than the previous versions of the decks. Dreampetal Florist established Togwaggle Druid and Malygos Druid as consistent and competitive decks, previously, these two combos could be only achieved in standard with a Twig of the World Tree which was vastly inconsistent, and in wild with Aviana and Kun the Forgotten King.

Zerek's Cloning Gallery formed the first competitive priest deck in the Year of the Raven, Gallery Priest. Gallery Priest aims to Utilizing Prophet Velen, Malygos, Radiant Elemental and Mind Blast to kill the opponent, while Lesser Diamond Spellstone, Eternal Servitude, Shadow Essence, and Zerek's Cloning Gallery to generate more copies of the minions in the combo.

Odd Paladin stays on top of the meta being the most powerful deck overall, with Odd Rogue contesting its dominance. Shudderwock Shaman also joins the various Combo Druid archetypes punishing slower decks with deadly combos. Rush Warrior, albeit gaining little new cards in this expansion, gained popularity due to the shifts in the meta bringing more favorable matchups into play. Control Warrior, especially the odd variant, found success combating faster decks, especially Odd Paladin.

In wild, the release of Star Aligner also brought Druid to the top of the wild meta. Using Star Aligner, Aviana, Kun the Forgotten King, and any 8 mana and 7 health minion, the full combo could be drawn with one Juicy Psychmelon. Accompanied with Brann Bronzebeard and Flobbidinous Floop, Star Aligner Druid can deal up to 64 damage in one turn. Star Aligner Druid dominated the entire meta until the balance patch in October and had the highest win rates in the history of Hearthstone.

Patch 12.2.0.27358 nerfed Giggling Inventor, Aviana, and Mana Wyrm. The nerf to Giggling Inventor was a very big change to the meta, which made Mossy Horror and Blood Knight fall out of favor. The nerf to Aviana was significant as an additional Innervate will be required to achieve any of the previous combos, and one Juicy Psychmelon would no longer draw all combo pieces, the nerf to Druid made wild Mech Hunter much more popular. The nerf to Mana Wyrm made Tempo Mage no longer a competitive deck in standard, but it was not as impactful as the other nerfs, as Tempo Mage was not nearly as powerful and popular as any of the popular Druid decks.

Rastakhan's Rumble (December 4, 2018)[edit source]

Rise of Shadows (April 9, 2019)[edit source]

With another Standard year rotation and the removal of sets from the Year of the Mammoth, Genn Greymane, Baku the Mooneater, Doomguard, Divine Favor, Naturalize, the Rise of Shadows meta became much slower than the previous metas.

Two decks that appeared at the start of the last Standard rotation, Tempo Rogue and Aggro Druid, reappeared. Tempo Rogue was by far the best aggressive deck in the meta. Rogue already had what was arguably the best Basic and Classic cards, and an unexpected combo with Raiding Party, Waggle Pick, and Dread Corsair gave Tempo Rogue a consistently explosive start. Combined with the synergy between EVIL Miscreant and Edwin VanCleef, Waggle Pick and Leeroy Jenkins, and a meta lacking early removal, Tempo Rogue performed so well that it was the only deck that had three cards nerfed with one balance patch.

On the other hand, Aggro Druid was much slower than its Wild counterpart, or even its Standard counterpart at the start of the Year of the Mammoth. The Forest's Aid and Blessing of the Ancients gave Aggro Druid enough mid-game and late-game sustainability that it, slowed down with the rest of the meta. Acornbearer, Power of the Wild, and Whispering Woods still provided enough power for Aggro Druid to be popular in the meta.

Other popular aggressive decks of the meta included Murloc Shaman with Underbelly Angler, Zoolock with EVIL Genius, and Mech Hunter with Ursatron. Until the first balance patch of Rise of Shadows, none of these decks could surpass Tempo Rogue in terms of power.

With the help of one of the only remaining hero cards, Dr. Boom, Mad Genius, Warrior performed exceedingly well at the start of the Rise of Shadows meta, being especially oppressive in the late-game. The release of Blastmaster Boom, Clockwork Goblin, and Wrenchcalibur sparked the creation of Bomb Warrior. Along with the previously existing Control Warrior, the two decks were the control decks of choice.

Archivist Elysiana was widely played among slower decks due to the slowness of the meta. Youthful Brewmaster was also popularly paired with Elysiana. This meant that 50-card decks could be regularly encountered even in competitive tournaments. To put that into context, each player can take up to 45 turns before the turn limit is reached, and with 50 card decks, excessive armor gain, and limited card draw, competitive matches can regularly reach the turn limit.

Khadgar Mage was commonly used to counter the slower Warrior decks. Khadgar Mage used Book of Specters to draw cards efficiently, then used Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake, Astromancer, and Conjurer's Calling to generate a massive board. With Khadgar, an even larger board could be generated. The deck also used several cards with high costs and discount mechanics, such as Rabble Bouncer, Sea Giant, and Kalecgos to further exploit Conjurer's Calling. Mana Cyclone was another way Khadgar Mage could generate massive amounts of value in the early-game.

In Wild, many additions were made to already existing decks. Odd Paladin gained Never Surrender, Highlander decks gained Barista Lynchen, and Ressurect Priest gained Katrina Muerte and Archmage Vargoth. Murloc Shaman also gained Underbelly Angler and Toxfin.

One new deck stood out particularly. Darkest Hour, used in conjunction with Bloodbloom, Fiendish Circle, and Rafaam's Scheme is able to summon many large minions extremely early into the game. Although Darkest Hour Warlock was very much luck-based, it was consistent enough to regularly see play in the higher ranks of Wild, but would not pick up more popularity until later in the year with changes to other decks in the meta.

Another new deck was Cyclone Mage. Cyclone Mage used Mana Cyclone to quickly complete Open the Waygate. In support of Cyclone Mage, Sorcerer's Apprentice provided discounts to small spells and often reduced their costs to 0, Flamewaker could provide a constant source of damage, Stargazer Luna provided consistent card draw, and Arcane Giant provided an immense board presence. Arcane Giant was especially powerful after playing Time Warp.

Overall, the Wild meta at the start of the Rise of Shadows meta consisted of Odd Paladin, Odd Rogue, Even Warlock, Murloc Paladin, Jade Druid, and Control Warrior as previously existing decks, and Murloc Shaman, Darkest Hour Warlock, and Cyclone Mage as new additions to the meta.

Patch 14.2.2.31022 nerfed Preparation, EVIL Miscreant, Raiding Party, and Archivist Elysiana. Those changes affected mainly Tempo Rogue and Control Warrior. Tempo Rogue immediately became less popular than Mech Hunter and Murloc Shaman, the other aggro decks in the meta before the patch. Although Tempo Rogue was still viable, it was not nearly as powerful as it was before the patch. Control Warrior Was affected less, as it already held an advantage in fatigue with Archivist Elysiana, and making more copies of Elysiana was only useful when facing other decks that could also copy Elysiana with two-mana cards like Seance and Youthful Brewmaster. Overall, the patch did not change many aspects of the meta.