Hearthpwn

Dreamhack Austin 2017 Hearthstone tournament, the first open major in the Journey to Un'Goro era, ended yesterday, and I could not find a thread about it on Hearthpwn, so I made this one.

Dreamhack published the decklists from Austin's top 16 playoffs very quickly, so it is nice to have a chance to take a look at the tournament meta right away.

Regarding classes, it is notable that everyone in the top 16 brought Warrior - 11 Taunt Warriors and 5 Pirate Warriors to be specific. Close by, 13 players brought Paladin and 10 players brought Rogue. Also, not a single player chose to go with Warlock, which was the only class without any representation.

The most popular tech choice was to include silence, usually in the form of Spellbreaker. I guess Spikeridged Steed has seen enough spotlight time by now to make that inclusion very tempting.

The top performer was the new discover-based Burn Mage. Gunther Mage, Discover Mage, whatever you choose to call it. That deck did some amazing things for every player in top 16 who had in in their lineup.

There were also some nice off-meta decks in top 16. Secret Mage, Midrange Token Paladin running Stand Against Darkness and Lightfused Stegodon, and Elemental N'Zoth Control Shaman all made an appearance.

Resources:

Edited VODs on Dreamhack's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAf6ac3Tw4SLFpLRrorJTmdxji3OZChbo

Live stream videos on Dreamhack's Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/dreamhackhs/videos/all

Top 16 decklists from Dreamhack: https://grandprix.dreamhack.com/top-16-decks-from-dreamhack-austin/

Analysis of the top 16 meta (minor spoilers up to top 4): http://www.kilkku.com/oldguardian/2017/05/dreamhack-austin-2017-hearthstone-top-16-decks-and-analysis/