KotFT Theorycraft Series: Overview
- Last updated Aug 8, 2017 (Quest Rogue Nerf)
Wild
- 30 Spells
- Deck Type: Arena
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 48000
- Created: 8/9/2017 (Quest Rogue Nerf)
- PizzaMan0
- Registered User
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Total Deck Rating
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Greetings traveler. Rather than keeping my preparation for the new set to myself, I decided to share my thoughts and ideas here. I am just your average legend player, but I have played card games throughout the past decade (mostly MTG and hearthstone) and feel that I have the experience to analyze new sets pretty well. In the last meta, I was one of the first people to not only recognize how strong aggro murloc paladin was in the early meta (unfortunately I posted my decklist a few hours after Thowlenos hit rank 1 legend EU with a similar list), but I was also one of the first people to start jamming hungry crab in my decks. This set seems to be not only very well designed and flavorful as a whole, but quite powerful. There are more cards that I deem playable in this set than I initially expected given the amount of cards in the standard format after the set launches. Hopefully I can stimulate discussion about the various archetypes and help others get ideas for their own decks.
Over the next 24 hours, I plan to create a bunch of possible decks that I think look interesting/powerful to me (some decks will obviously be more powerful than others). Generally when I make new decks I start with an existing "stock" list, remove the tech cards and try to see how the new cards would affect it. Afterwords I think of possible tech cards that could benefit the deck in certain metas and make note of them. I will try to make around the same amount for each class, but some classes have more options than others. Once I brew up all the decks I can think of, I will try to analyze what archetypes seem the strongest to me and make a tier list that I will post here.
If anyone is interested in my thoughts on the cards in regards to the standard format. I made a spreadsheet where I rated and recorded my thoughts on all of the new cards.
Conclusions from theorycrafting:
Aggro Decks: It seems that not much has changed here from the last meta. Token Druid, Pirate Warrior and Token Shaman seem to be the clear best aggressive decks still, despite Zoolock, Secret Hunter and Tempo Mage gaining some ground. Pirates gained very little from this expansion while the two token aggressive decks both made upgrades in their list (druid of the swarm/crypt lord in druid and rattling rascal in shaman). I expect that Token Druid will be the premier aggressive deck since it seems to be the best choice at beating greedy anti-control decks whilst having good matchups against pirate warrior and can hold its own with Token Shaman (closer matchup, dont know who is favored after expansion)
Anti-Aggro Decks: From the decks I was able to assemble, It seems there are two clear paths to beating aggressive decks right now. Lower-curve midrange decks like Corpsetaker Paladin and Tempo Warrior look to be quite strong vs the top tier aggressive decks in the meta. Corpsetaker paladin is filled with sticky minions that not only make taking board early as aggro very difficult, but cards like spikeridged steed and bonemare are too thicc for aggro decks to typically break through; the only answers seem to be spellbreaker in pirates and devolve in token shaman. Tempo warrior is able to utilize whirlwind effects alongside some of the best anti-aggro cards in the game (war axe). The other option to beat aggro decks are removal stuffed control decks. Paladin, priest and warrior definitely offer the tools to make suitable control decks to answer aggro. Druid and warlock may be overlooked, but it may turn out ultimate infestation and defile offer these classes the ability to build suitable control decks with powerful win conditions
Anti-Control Decks: Typically when looking to beat control decks, combo and midrange decks come to mind. Jade druid, Big druid, Burn Mage, Dragon Priest and Miracle Rogue all were viable options from last meta, and I expect them all to be relevant. Specifically I expect that Jade druid and Miracle Rogue to be the best decks at beating control with the addition of their new hero cards and other upgrades. I would not sleep on decks like Quest Mage. Jade Shaman and Jade Rogue; any of these three could prove to be effective as well.
Top 3 decks for the early meta:
- token shaman
- corpsetaker paladin
- jade druid