Who has had good luck this season climbing the ladder, without using a high tier (or Raza Priest) meta deck?
Every time I switch to anything other than a top tier meta deck, I just free fall back towards the rank floors. The climb already seems abnormally hard this season, probably because there are several different decks and different archetypes that are very viable options.
I am currently (and by currently, I mean going on 3 weeks now) stuck in the 10-6 ranks. I can grind my way up, but the only thing that seems to work is just going aggro, either with an actual aggro deck, or just fast play with a tempo deck. It has been a lot of win 3 or 4 games, and lose a game or two, but I have hit rank 6 on several occasions (and been back at rank 10 on several as well).
To be honest, the play style is boring me to death! Just go Face is fun for a while, but it gets old fast. I don't even mind just smashing face, if it wasn't just "Play some Murloc's, drop a Megasaur, Bonemare, win" ... or "Play some beasts, a Houndmaster, Bonemare, win" or "Little minion, Little minion, Buff, Buff, win"
Long story short, it seem that playing anything that even resembles control, or isn't geared to win by Turn 7 is horribly inconsistent. I have a few homebrew deck lists that I know have potential, but they are all slower decks, and I can't get near a consistent 50%+ win rate with any of them. Taunt Druid, Dragon Priest, Silence Priest (running similar lists to popular netdecks, but none 100% copies) ... they might win a game or two, or they might lose 5 in a row ... especially if those 5 games are of the Turn 5 lethal variety.
Any deck ideas? Something that actually requires thinking about what card to play, rather than just curvestone deck? Not really looking to just copy and paste a list, but would love to see something that has been played with success to try to get some ideas from.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I wanna glide down, over Mulholland I wanna write her, name in the sky I wanna free fall, out into nothin' Gonna leave this, world for awhile
Ive gotten legend last two seasons with control warlock. This most recent time I included Marin the Fox. Not sure if that counts as off meta but it certainly isnt tier one
KFT neutral minions are so good that I have been able to craft winning tempo zoo decks with every single class using a handful of class cards, enough to give it variety. Given these are curvestone, and every one includes 2x scalebane, 2x bonemare, but I've really enjoyed the ability to run tempo zoo in all 9 classes. Each definitely plays a little different.
Btw, my unexpected winning card of the week is young priestess. Really good underplayed 1 drop
It's very easy with big druid right now. I'm currently at rank 3 and had from rank 18 to that rank only about 10 losses (2 in 18-10 region - 3 in 10-5 and 5 in 5-3).
The "problem" is that the meta is so very clearly defined right now, and the decks that are good in the meta are so _refined_, that it's hard to compete unless you are using one of the best decks. I have "problem" in quotes because I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, it's just a fact. So, yeah, you're going to have trouble with a homebrew deck vs months of an entire community refining the top decks into performing the best they can. That said, if you can find a hole in the meta and exploit it with your homebrew... that's awesome and never stop trying. :) But, you can't be _too_ surprised when it doesn't work out.
I just run Big Priest. Only decks i cant beat are Raza, jade drood, and evolve shaman. Everything else is cake walk.
I actually do really well against evolve shaman and jade druid with my big priest deck. Raza priest is a coin flip. If you don't already, try running Lyra, I've found those extra spells really help.
It's very easy with big druid right now. I'm currently at rank 3 and had from rank 18 to that rank only about 10 losses (2 in 18-10 region - 3 in 10-5 and 5 in 5-3).
I'm kinda hosed on any of the "Big" decks ... I don't have all the Legendary's needed for the decks, and I hated to craft them this close to them rotating. (And, my first BIG Hearthstone mistake was dusting Barnes right after I started playing. At that time, I knew nothing of the game, and though "What would I even need a 1/1 copy of a minion for?")
I'll probably just keep floating around here in the 10-8 ranks until the last few days of the season, and then try to push my way to 5 with something fast.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I wanna glide down, over Mulholland I wanna write her, name in the sky I wanna free fall, out into nothin' Gonna leave this, world for awhile
I got really frustrated with my higher tier decks which I was having really bad draws/mulligans with constantly and switched to quest hunter after falling back down to rank 10 from rank 6 full stars. I can't say it has been a success, but it has been more of one than I expected. I'm sitting right at 50%, which sucks for climbing but at least it's more fun than endless 15 minute razakus mirror matches one after another.
Control Warlock. You might get blasted by Razakus Priest and Jade Druid (if you don't get lucky with Skulking Geist) will be problematic, but with good draws and careful play you'll be able to keep a clear board vs tempo decks and win.
i feelyou man!! i run intothe same problem with ny home brew decks. after rank 15 they get into 50% winrate column whichbisnt ok for me. i get really stressed when i lose stars, so i play most of my games on the fun side instead.
Meta decks are meta decks for a reason. Just wait a couple weeks for K&C to hit, then you will have a better chance with something new (assuming the meta changes---a bit worried on that). My only grind to legendary was with a non-meta deck in the second week of Ungoro, though a week or so after I did it, a deck similar to mine became a top-tier meta deck, so not sure if that counts.
I actually pride myself on getting to rank 5 each month without a tier 1 (or sometimes even tier 2) meta deck. And actually some the decks you have tried I've actually gotten to rank 5, so it's definitely do-able.
November 2017 - Silence priest (almost all the silence cards, i even ran 1 ironbeak owl, Ancient Watcher, Humongeous Razorleaf, inner fire/divine spirit, kabal talonpriest, Priest of the Feast, and lots of draw to find your combo pieces). Went from rank 10 to rank 5 in 2 days and most games were over by turn 8, sometimes 6.
October 2017 - Midrange Hunter (pretty standard build with the DK. Knowing the right combinations of beasts to generate was crucial to rank up)
September 2017 - Dragon Priest with inner fire and divine spirit - This was before the nerfs when Rogue was everywhere.
And I'm sure you could also probably do it with a buffadin deck, murloc paladin, agro druid.
I had success mostly because I knew the meta and could almost predict what my opponent would play before he played it. Then it was just a matter of hoping to get the right cards to counter whatever they were going to play).
Here is the silence priest deck I ran this month -
Who has had good luck this season climbing the ladder, without using a high tier (or Raza Priest) meta deck?
Every time I switch to anything other than a top tier meta deck, I just free fall back towards the rank floors. The climb already seems abnormally hard this season, probably because there are several different decks and different archetypes that are very viable options.
I am currently (and by currently, I mean going on 3 weeks now) stuck in the 10-6 ranks. I can grind my way up, but the only thing that seems to work is just going aggro, either with an actual aggro deck, or just fast play with a tempo deck. It has been a lot of win 3 or 4 games, and lose a game or two, but I have hit rank 6 on several occasions (and been back at rank 10 on several as well).
To be honest, the play style is boring me to death! Just go Face is fun for a while, but it gets old fast. I don't even mind just smashing face, if it wasn't just "Play some Murloc's, drop a Megasaur, Bonemare, win" ... or "Play some beasts, a Houndmaster, Bonemare, win" or "Little minion, Little minion, Buff, Buff, win"
Long story short, it seem that playing anything that even resembles control, or isn't geared to win by Turn 7 is horribly inconsistent. I have a few homebrew deck lists that I know have potential, but they are all slower decks, and I can't get near a consistent 50%+ win rate with any of them. Taunt Druid, Dragon Priest, Silence Priest (running similar lists to popular netdecks, but none 100% copies) ... they might win a game or two, or they might lose 5 in a row ... especially if those 5 games are of the Turn 5 lethal variety.
Any deck ideas? Something that actually requires thinking about what card to play, rather than just curvestone deck? Not really looking to just copy and paste a list, but would love to see something that has been played with success to try to get some ideas from.
I wanna glide down, over Mulholland
I wanna write her, name in the sky
I wanna free fall, out into nothin'
Gonna leave this, world for awhile
Ive gotten legend last two seasons with control warlock. This most recent time I included Marin the Fox. Not sure if that counts as off meta but it certainly isnt tier one
KFT neutral minions are so good that I have been able to craft winning tempo zoo decks with every single class using a handful of class cards, enough to give it variety. Given these are curvestone, and every one includes 2x scalebane, 2x bonemare, but I've really enjoyed the ability to run tempo zoo in all 9 classes. Each definitely plays a little different.
Btw, my unexpected winning card of the week is young priestess. Really good underplayed 1 drop
Whenever I tried off meta deck, I was beaten as a shit. So I understand your pain.
Recently, I did try silver hand buffladin:
It was a better experience than other things I did try (i.e. both aggro and rump taunt druids, jade deathrattle rogue).
I just run Big Priest. Only decks i cant beat are Raza, jade drood, and evolve shaman. Everything else is cake walk.
It's very easy with big druid right now. I'm currently at rank 3 and had from rank 18 to that rank only about 10 losses (2 in 18-10 region - 3 in 10-5 and 5 in 5-3).
The "problem" is that the meta is so very clearly defined right now, and the decks that are good in the meta are so _refined_, that it's hard to compete unless you are using one of the best decks. I have "problem" in quotes because I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, it's just a fact. So, yeah, you're going to have trouble with a homebrew deck vs months of an entire community refining the top decks into performing the best they can. That said, if you can find a hole in the meta and exploit it with your homebrew... that's awesome and never stop trying. :) But, you can't be _too_ surprised when it doesn't work out.
Catch me on YouTube and Twitch: https://www.youtube.com/c/Hindered https://www.twitch.tv/hindered_
My take on the Patches Raza Bonemare Creeper nerfs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wysTG125huM
Rank 6 seems about right for the ladder limit of a homebrew deck unless you are a very, very good deck builder.
"Why, you never expected justice from a company, did you? They have neither a soul to lose nor a body to kick." -- Lady Saba Holland
I'll probably just keep floating around here in the 10-8 ranks until the last few days of the season, and then try to push my way to 5 with something fast.
I wanna glide down, over Mulholland
I wanna write her, name in the sky
I wanna free fall, out into nothin'
Gonna leave this, world for awhile
I got really frustrated with my higher tier decks which I was having really bad draws/mulligans with constantly and switched to quest hunter after falling back down to rank 10 from rank 6 full stars. I can't say it has been a success, but it has been more of one than I expected. I'm sitting right at 50%, which sucks for climbing but at least it's more fun than endless 15 minute razakus mirror matches one after another.
Control Warlock. You might get blasted by Razakus Priest and Jade Druid (if you don't get lucky with Skulking Geist) will be problematic, but with good draws and careful play you'll be able to keep a clear board vs tempo decks and win.
I've no clue what I'm doing...
i feelyou man!! i run intothe same problem with ny home brew decks. after rank 15 they get into 50% winrate column whichbisnt ok for me. i get really stressed when i lose stars, so i play most of my games on the fun side instead.
MILL ROGUE
Control Mage is fun.
Meta decks are meta decks for a reason. Just wait a couple weeks for K&C to hit, then you will have a better chance with something new (assuming the meta changes---a bit worried on that). My only grind to legendary was with a non-meta deck in the second week of Ungoro, though a week or so after I did it, a deck similar to mine became a top-tier meta deck, so not sure if that counts.
I have no idea if it will actually have a positive winrate, but a version of firebat's devilsaur big priest looks fun!
Don't mind me, just the UK National Champion.
I actually pride myself on getting to rank 5 each month without a tier 1 (or sometimes even tier 2) meta deck. And actually some the decks you have tried I've actually gotten to rank 5, so it's definitely do-able.
November 2017 - Silence priest (almost all the silence cards, i even ran 1 ironbeak owl, Ancient Watcher, Humongeous Razorleaf, inner fire/divine spirit, kabal talonpriest, Priest of the Feast, and lots of draw to find your combo pieces). Went from rank 10 to rank 5 in 2 days and most games were over by turn 8, sometimes 6.
October 2017 - Midrange Hunter (pretty standard build with the DK. Knowing the right combinations of beasts to generate was crucial to rank up)
September 2017 - Dragon Priest with inner fire and divine spirit - This was before the nerfs when Rogue was everywhere.
And I'm sure you could also probably do it with a buffadin deck, murloc paladin, agro druid.
I had success mostly because I knew the meta and could almost predict what my opponent would play before he played it. Then it was just a matter of hoping to get the right cards to counter whatever they were going to play).
Here is the silence priest deck I ran this month -
Quit complaining and just have fun with this game!