I recently got back into playing Hearth after taking a break because of school. One thing I'm trying to figure out is what arena is like now. Are there any classes that are a higher tier than others? I'm aware that it always depends on the draft and cards you're offered, but if anyone has an idea of a general tier guide to the Witchwood arena I'd appreciate it!
Also I accidentally posted this to Standard format threads, I know it should be in arena :/
1. Paladin: Has an absurd amount of value with SILVER SWORD and spikeridged steed. Also has decent draw, heal and swing turns with its weapons. The fact that stonehill defender lets you access both of your classes’s most powerful legendaries doesn’t hurt either.
2. Rogue: Pure tempo class. Doesn’t take many of its good cards to succeed but you better kill your opponent quickly before they outvalue you. Has access to easy removal like vilespine slayers and envenom weapon to continue smorcing.
Tier 2:
3. Warrior: Warrior feels suprisingly good after witchwood patch. With its rush cards and weapons/removal it can compete in the value game quite well. Its abundance of taunts also help keep smorc classes like rogue at bay.(looking at you tar lord)
4. Mage: Still a clown fiesta class with plenty of rng to bail you out of every situation. Just remember to play all your cards to their best value. Deciding to use board freezes to smorc can work sometimes and especially when you know you can’t outvalue your opponent.
5. Druid: Ultimate Infestation lul.
Tier 3:
6. Warlock: Hero power makes sure you are never really out of steam. Also has access to the most brutal clears and removals in the game. Lack of healing can screw you over at times. Dark possesion into Jaraxxus is always nice.
7. Shaman: Volcano, hex and lightning storm are awesome just use them at the right moments where overload won’t screw you over.
8: Priest: You’re probably going to end up discovering or stealing better stuff then whats in your deck most of the time. The shadow words are really good and mind control can end games sometimes. Pray to yogg I guess.
9. Hunter: Pretty much outclassed by everythinf. Really can’t do much except smorc right now but rogue does it better. Spellstone and weapons give nice swing turns but mau not win the game outright.
I mostly agree with TheWD987, but I'd place the classes like this:
Tier 1:
Paladin:
With Vinecleaver, Silver Sword and Spikeridged Steed as well as the neutral under-bracketed Paladin legendary Stonehill Defender you will usually do quite well playing Paladin, just make sure you don't go too ham on the big weapons, 1 of each or 2 of either is enough, more makes it clunky. Steed you can basically take as many as you want :P
Rogue:
For some reason Rogue is great in this meta, Rogue has been a great arena class for a while now, but I feel it may be as good as it has ever been in this meta. You can skip 2s, but you need quality 3s like Tar Creeper or Hench-Clan Thug and you should aim to make sure you draft some stuff that help fill up your hand such as Elven Minstrel and Stonehill Defender (Pick Pocket is too much of a tempo loss most of the time so don't pick that highly). Sap is amazing right now, Kidnapper too, Vanish is still bad tho :P
Tier 2:
Mage:
Burn mage seems to be consistently the best Mage archetype right now with 1 or 2 Pyroblast at the top and maybe a Fireball or two you are almost guaranteed to go 7+ wins. Water Elemental is as good as ever, generally elementals are pretty awesome in Mage at the moment so you should take that into consideration while drafting. If you get lucky and high-roll a deck with stuff like Flamestrike, Meteor and Blizzard you may try to go for the control route instead and such put higher value to Polymorph than you would normally, though I think I'd still pick the 1st Fireball over 1st Polymorph. For some reason Blizzard is very common now so everyone plays around it making it less good than it used to be so don't pick that too highly, you'll usually see 2 or 3 per draft.
Druid:
Basically Druid is good right now because greedy control decks are good right now and you can get Ultimate Infestation as well as easily get some quality big drops, tho I usually make sure I don't draft too heavily since I am aiming to draft at least 1, but hopefully 2 Ultimate Infestation. Of course Spreading Plague helps you get to T10 and there are some other strong tools for Druid to get to that long game such as Witchwood Grizzly into Witching Hour even tho that last one has quite anti-synergy with Spreading Plague I feel there are some nice alternatives for Druid to make the game go long. Starfall is really key in Druid right now, it's probably the second most important card after UI.
I was unsure whether to include Warrior in Tier 2 or not, it's actually quite strong....if you get the Spellstones. You'll pretty much always be offered a whole lot of weapons during your draft so that alone makes Warrior miles better than it has been for most of Hearthstone history, but with 2-4 Lesser Mithril Spellstones in the deck it becomes an easy 7+ win deck. However, you do need to survive long enough to get value out of those spellstones which can be limiting and is the reason I placed it as Tier 3. It's easy to get rushed down as Warrior now since you're likely to draft a lot of weapons thus less likely to curve out nicely and more likely to kill stuff using your face, luckily there aren't that many aggressive decks right now.
Warlock:
Personally I have not had much success with Warlock, I've never been great at playing Warlock in arena so not much for me to say here other than I've faced some strong Warlock decks at high wins, they actually quite often use the Possessed Lackey into Doomguard or Voidlord strategy we've seen so much in constructed and they normally have a Twisting Nether which can be quite devastating if you're not careful playing around it. I've also heard and seen streamers perform good with Warlock which is why I place it higher than Shaman.
Tier 4:
Shaman:
I haven't played too much Shaman this meta because I've quickly noticed it's not exactly great, yeah you see a few strong decks littered with elemental synergy and Volcanos + Lightning Storms whenever they need it, but those are quite rare, mostly Shaman feels like a 3 win class right now.
Hunter:
Hunter is so bad right now that I considered making it it's own tier....tier trash....but I guess sometimes, maybe once every 50 drafts, you'll get a Spellstone Hunter deck which is great and you are lucky enough to get 2 secrets before turn T5 while also having 2 Lesser Emerald Spellstones in hand. If you can do that you'll probably win, but it's not often you get to do that, not even in constructed so it's not really a reason for playing Hunter. The aggressive strat doesn't seem to work out too good in this meta so it's hero power is worse than ever and control hunter is...well still not a thing :P
What is Hearthstone to you? A fun and semi-competitive game with wacky effects and crazy RNG outcomes or just a card game you wanna grind as many wins you can get as fast as possible in?
I recently got back into playing Hearth after taking a break because of school. One thing I'm trying to figure out is what arena is like now. Are there any classes that are a higher tier than others? I'm aware that it always depends on the draft and cards you're offered, but if anyone has an idea of a general tier guide to the Witchwood arena I'd appreciate it!
Also I accidentally posted this to Standard format threads, I know it should be in arena :/
Bring back the Sorry emote!
go to Hsreplay.net and choose the arena tag.
My experience so far:
Tier 1:
1. Paladin: Has an absurd amount of value with SILVER SWORD and spikeridged steed. Also has decent draw, heal and swing turns with its weapons. The fact that stonehill defender lets you access both of your classes’s most powerful legendaries doesn’t hurt either.
2. Rogue: Pure tempo class. Doesn’t take many of its good cards to succeed but you better kill your opponent quickly before they outvalue you. Has access to easy removal like vilespine slayers and envenom weapon to continue smorcing.
Tier 2:
3. Warrior: Warrior feels suprisingly good after witchwood patch. With its rush cards and weapons/removal it can compete in the value game quite well. Its abundance of taunts also help keep smorc classes like rogue at bay.(looking at you tar lord)
4. Mage: Still a clown fiesta class with plenty of rng to bail you out of every situation. Just remember to play all your cards to their best value. Deciding to use board freezes to smorc can work sometimes and especially when you know you can’t outvalue your opponent.
5. Druid: Ultimate Infestation lul.
Tier 3:
6. Warlock: Hero power makes sure you are never really out of steam. Also has access to the most brutal clears and removals in the game. Lack of healing can screw you over at times. Dark possesion into Jaraxxus is always nice.
7. Shaman: Volcano, hex and lightning storm are awesome just use them at the right moments where overload won’t screw you over.
8: Priest: You’re probably going to end up discovering or stealing better stuff then whats in your deck most of the time. The shadow words are really good and mind control can end games sometimes. Pray to yogg I guess.
9. Hunter: Pretty much outclassed by everythinf. Really can’t do much except smorc right now but rogue does it better. Spellstone and weapons give nice swing turns but mau not win the game outright.
I mostly agree with TheWD987, but I'd place the classes like this:
Tier 1:
Paladin:
With Vinecleaver, Silver Sword and Spikeridged Steed as well as the neutral under-bracketed Paladin legendary Stonehill Defender you will usually do quite well playing Paladin, just make sure you don't go too ham on the big weapons, 1 of each or 2 of either is enough, more makes it clunky.
Steed you can basically take as many as you want :P
Rogue:
For some reason Rogue is great in this meta, Rogue has been a great arena class for a while now, but I feel it may be as good as it has ever been in this meta.
You can skip 2s, but you need quality 3s like Tar Creeper or Hench-Clan Thug and you should aim to make sure you draft some stuff that help fill up your hand such as Elven Minstrel and Stonehill Defender (Pick Pocket is too much of a tempo loss most of the time so don't pick that highly).
Sap is amazing right now, Kidnapper too, Vanish is still bad tho :P
Tier 2:
Mage:
Burn mage seems to be consistently the best Mage archetype right now with 1 or 2 Pyroblast at the top and maybe a Fireball or two you are almost guaranteed to go 7+ wins.
Water Elemental is as good as ever, generally elementals are pretty awesome in Mage at the moment so you should take that into consideration while drafting.
If you get lucky and high-roll a deck with stuff like Flamestrike, Meteor and Blizzard you may try to go for the control route instead and such put higher value to Polymorph than you would normally, though I think I'd still pick the 1st Fireball over 1st Polymorph.
For some reason Blizzard is very common now so everyone plays around it making it less good than it used to be so don't pick that too highly, you'll usually see 2 or 3 per draft.
Druid:
Basically Druid is good right now because greedy control decks are good right now and you can get Ultimate Infestation as well as easily get some quality big drops, tho I usually make sure I don't draft too heavily since I am aiming to draft at least 1, but hopefully 2 Ultimate Infestation.
Of course Spreading Plague helps you get to T10 and there are some other strong tools for Druid to get to that long game such as Witchwood Grizzly into Witching Hour even tho that last one has quite anti-synergy with Spreading Plague I feel there are some nice alternatives for Druid to make the game go long.
Starfall is really key in Druid right now, it's probably the second most important card after UI.
Priest:
Priest is good because greedy control decks are good in this meta and no one does that better than Anduin.
Mind Control is amazing and the Unidentified Elixir is surprisingly good, you should also pick Holy Nova somewhat highly and make sure you either have some strong late game value cards like Temple Enforcer, Bone Drake, Free From Amber, Nightscale Matriarch and Obsidian Statue or have cards that refill your hand such as Thoughtsteal, Devour Mind and to some degree Crystalline Oracle.
Shadow Madness and Auchenai Soulpriest are cards that most commonly help you control the board.
Tier 3:
Warrior:
I was unsure whether to include Warrior in Tier 2 or not, it's actually quite strong....if you get the Spellstones.
You'll pretty much always be offered a whole lot of weapons during your draft so that alone makes Warrior miles better than it has been for most of Hearthstone history, but with 2-4 Lesser Mithril Spellstones in the deck it becomes an easy 7+ win deck.
However, you do need to survive long enough to get value out of those spellstones which can be limiting and is the reason I placed it as Tier 3.
It's easy to get rushed down as Warrior now since you're likely to draft a lot of weapons thus less likely to curve out nicely and more likely to kill stuff using your face, luckily there aren't that many aggressive decks right now.
Warlock:
Personally I have not had much success with Warlock, I've never been great at playing Warlock in arena so not much for me to say here other than I've faced some strong Warlock decks at high wins, they actually quite often use the Possessed Lackey into Doomguard or Voidlord strategy we've seen so much in constructed and they normally have a Twisting Nether which can be quite devastating if you're not careful playing around it.
I've also heard and seen streamers perform good with Warlock which is why I place it higher than Shaman.
Tier 4:
Shaman:
I haven't played too much Shaman this meta because I've quickly noticed it's not exactly great, yeah you see a few strong decks littered with elemental synergy and Volcanos + Lightning Storms whenever they need it, but those are quite rare, mostly Shaman feels like a 3 win class right now.
Hunter:
Hunter is so bad right now that I considered making it it's own tier....tier trash....but I guess sometimes, maybe once every 50 drafts, you'll get a Spellstone Hunter deck which is great and you are lucky enough to get 2 secrets before turn T5 while also having 2 Lesser Emerald Spellstones in hand.
If you can do that you'll probably win, but it's not often you get to do that, not even in constructed so it's not really a reason for playing Hunter.
The aggressive strat doesn't seem to work out too good in this meta so it's hero power is worse than ever and control hunter is...well still not a thing :P
What is Hearthstone to you?
A fun and semi-competitive game with wacky effects and crazy RNG outcomes or just a card game you wanna grind as many wins you can get as fast as possible in?
Thanks for the help. Really appreciate the in depth explanations
Bring back the Sorry emote!