I haven't seen a survey like this being conducted post-GvG, so here it is. Please rate the power and performance of each class in Arena after GvG (1 is worst and 5 is best).
I initially made this a single-choice poll, but then decided that a result where most of the votes were split between Mage and Paladin would not be very informative. This way we can actually have a proper ranking by consensus of all the Arena classes.
I don't agree with placing Rogue dead last ; I'd actually say it's one of the strongest classes right now. Past 6 wins, all you see is mages (50% of opponents or more), paladins and rogues. This might be because good Rogue decks prey on greedy value decks.
For me, Warlock, Hunter and Warrior are the worst, depending entirely on having excellent drafts (good aggro picks for Warlock, high synergy deck or limitless efficient removal for Hunter, and a healthy number of low-cost weapons for Warrior) since their hero power does not affect the board in any way. It's just too easy to get eaten alive by both value and tempo decks with average drafts using these characters.
Mage and Paladin sit at the top of the food chain, having powerful class cards, common board wipes, and an impacting hero power that does not cost life to use (as opposed to Druid and Rogue who have to trade health to control the board).
Next would be Shaman (good class cards and power, but mostly being rare or epic slots, making them depend more on good drafts than Mage and Paladin), Priest (awesome hero power, but pigeonholed on drafting high value decks to make the most of it), Rogue (excellent tempo options, and cheap, efficient removal) and Druid (sometimes has trouble establishing early control, but unmatched in mid-late game options).
One last note on Priest and Shaman : both classes have many awful, extremely conditional class cards (Inner Fire, Ancestral Healing, Lightwell, Totemic Might) which makes them traps (in my opinion) for inexperienced drafters. In capable hands, though, they can shine.
Rogue definitely is not dead last. If you look at ArenaMastery's stats since GvG, Rogue is actually in third place after Mage and Paladin. Shaman and Priest are tied for fourth.
being player who has made around 5-6 12 runs with 5 classes (made my fif the yesterday, those classes being Shammy, Priest, Warlock, Hunter, Mage), I find the classes with built in draw options and/or hateBears to be the most affective in arena. my first 12 win was with Shammy, my favorite arena class and I only had one hex, one purple (Earth Elemental, and it took me around an hour and a half to smoke he opponets. I plead guilty to the fact that this was near the end of closed beta but I still take pride in it. Pally used to be good and I cld make an average of 9 wins off of it, but it has begun increasingly dependent on the Equality draw, which, with the release of GvG, became much less common. Great idea for a poll though! Excited to hear others thoughts!
^Priest is very strong if used properly, and you don't need rare cards or combos for him to be good. It's just that you need a rather different mindset when playing him. Your aim with Priest is not to "trade" minions but to have each your minions at least 3-for-1 because of health buffs and constant healing. Quality over quantity is very much the key here.
Health buffs are cheap and plentiful for Priest - common cards include Dark Cultist, Temple Enforcer, PW:S and Velen's Chosen. On most arena runs you must be very unlucky to not get at least two of these cards (if not more).
I haven't seen a survey like this being conducted post-GvG, so here it is. Please rate the power and performance of each class in Arena after GvG (1 is worst and 5 is best).
I initially made this a single-choice poll, but then decided that a result where most of the votes were split between Mage and Paladin would not be very informative. This way we can actually have a proper ranking by consensus of all the Arena classes.
I don't agree with placing Rogue dead last ; I'd actually say it's one of the strongest classes right now. Past 6 wins, all you see is mages (50% of opponents or more), paladins and rogues. This might be because good Rogue decks prey on greedy value decks.
For me, Warlock, Hunter and Warrior are the worst, depending entirely on having excellent drafts (good aggro picks for Warlock, high synergy deck or limitless efficient removal for Hunter, and a healthy number of low-cost weapons for Warrior) since their hero power does not affect the board in any way. It's just too easy to get eaten alive by both value and tempo decks with average drafts using these characters.
Mage and Paladin sit at the top of the food chain, having powerful class cards, common board wipes, and an impacting hero power that does not cost life to use (as opposed to Druid and Rogue who have to trade health to control the board).
Next would be Shaman (good class cards and power, but mostly being rare or epic slots, making them depend more on good drafts than Mage and Paladin), Priest (awesome hero power, but pigeonholed on drafting high value decks to make the most of it), Rogue (excellent tempo options, and cheap, efficient removal) and Druid (sometimes has trouble establishing early control, but unmatched in mid-late game options).
One last note on Priest and Shaman : both classes have many awful, extremely conditional class cards (Inner Fire, Ancestral Healing, Lightwell, Totemic Might) which makes them traps (in my opinion) for inexperienced drafters. In capable hands, though, they can shine.
Rogue definitely is not dead last. If you look at ArenaMastery's stats since GvG, Rogue is actually in third place after Mage and Paladin. Shaman and Priest are tied for fourth.
http://www.arenamastery.com/sitewide.php?date=26
However, these statistics only apply to users of that site's tracking service, who tend to be well above average in terms of skill.
being player who has made around 5-6 12 runs with 5 classes (made my fif the yesterday, those classes being Shammy, Priest, Warlock, Hunter, Mage), I find the classes with built in draw options and/or hateBears to be the most affective in arena. my first 12 win was with Shammy, my favorite arena class and I only had one hex, one purple (Earth Elemental, and it took me around an hour and a half to smoke he opponets. I plead guilty to the fact that this was near the end of closed beta but I still take pride in it. Pally used to be good and I cld make an average of 9 wins off of it, but it has begun increasingly dependent on the Equality draw, which, with the release of GvG, became much less common. Great idea for a poll though! Excited to hear others thoughts!
Current Ladder Climber Decks:
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/252615-prophetic-priest-ladder-climber
^Priest is very strong if used properly, and you don't need rare cards or combos for him to be good. It's just that you need a rather different mindset when playing him. Your aim with Priest is not to "trade" minions but to have each your minions at least 3-for-1 because of health buffs and constant healing. Quality over quantity is very much the key here.
Health buffs are cheap and plentiful for Priest - common cards include Dark Cultist, Temple Enforcer, PW:S and Velen's Chosen. On most arena runs you must be very unlucky to not get at least two of these cards (if not more).