At ranks 4-1, Hunter compromises over 32% of the decks being played
If you add up the bottom 5 classes by popularity (Druid, Shaman, Mage, Warrior and Warlock) they are less popular - about 30.6%
Odd Paladin is seeing a resurgence as it is widely accepted to be the best "Hunter killer" deck on the ladder
A few choice quotes about the classes suffering the most:
Warrior:
At higher levels of play, Odd-Taunt Warrior has been quickly kicked out of Tier 1, while the more vulnerable Odd Warrior has sunk all the way to Tier 3. The rise of Odd Rogue has not been enough to offset these negative trends, and Garrosh will now be hoping that the meta wakes up and transitions to a more favorable spot for him.
Warlock:
Warlock continues to fall as the previous rivalry it’s had with Druid now looks more like a convenient alliance. Druid has kept many hypothetical counters to Warlock out of the way, and now that they are gone, Gul’dan is bleeding games at an alarming pace. Even-Warlock has now dropped to Tier 3, while Zoo Warlock is sinking deeper into irrelevance. Only Cube Warlock is keeping its head above the water thanks to a couple of very strong matchups (Exodia Paladin, Spell Hunter).
Rogue:
Outside of Odd Rogue, things for Valeera may seem bleak, but the class is stronger than it appears. As Tempo Rogue is embracing Hooktusk builds, its win rate continues to rise. We think it’s a pretty good deck with Tier 2 potential, though it does need Spell Hunter to significantly decline before it can thrive (and it’s part of the reason why it performs much better at legend).
Mage:
Things look genuinely grim for Jaina, and unlike Valeera, she doesn’t have a good excuse for it. Big-Spell Mage’s win rate is collapsing, and neither Odd Mage variants appear to be breaking out. Rather than mediocrity, the Mage class could be sinking into something worse.
Shaman:
Shaman is a one-deck class. That one deck is strong and has also improved in its performance over the past week thanks to a few favorable meta trends, but Even Shaman is all that’s left of the class. Don’t expect anything surprising to emerge over the next few months.
Druid:
Is there any hope for the Druid class? Miracle Druid’s numbers are still too low to confidently evaluate, but while individual success has been seen with the deck, we wouldn’t hold our breath about its chance to break into the meta. Its projected win rate is still deep in the Tier 4 territory. Other experiments with the class could have a tier of their own, and APM Priest is waiting to welcome them there.
My personal view is that this is a very unhealthy meta. It's absurd one class represents almost a 1/3 of all decks being played on the ladder, while 5 classes are left with such poor numbers.
Making too big of a deal over hunter's popularity is a mistake. Hunter is always popular - even when it's bad it's mid-tier in popularity. It's a cheap class to make decks for and it's straightforward aggressiveness is fun for a lot of people. It's one of the most popular classes in World of Warcraft as well, being simple and fun to play.
Hunter is the most powerful class in Standard format right now, but not by much. So I'd recommend no more than a mild nerf.
Apologies if anyone already posted this...
You can read the report here.
Here are the highlights:
A few choice quotes about the classes suffering the most:
Warrior:
Warlock:
Rogue:
Mage:
Shaman:
Druid:
My personal view is that this is a very unhealthy meta. It's absurd one class represents almost a 1/3 of all decks being played on the ladder, while 5 classes are left with such poor numbers.
Making too big of a deal over hunter's popularity is a mistake. Hunter is always popular - even when it's bad it's mid-tier in popularity. It's a cheap class to make decks for and it's straightforward aggressiveness is fun for a lot of people. It's one of the most popular classes in World of Warcraft as well, being simple and fun to play.
Hunter is the most powerful class in Standard format right now, but not by much. So I'd recommend no more than a mild nerf.