Hearthpwn

Exactly this. 

One of the devs mentioned they will be looking to adjust every couple weeks so changes could much more frequent. To what extent I'm not sure.  

Keep in mind coming into BDP, Paladin was #1 and quickly fell to the basement on launch and never really recovered. Blizzard can easily give and take to the classes. However some classes fair better then others even with reduced quality of buckets (Rogue especially followed by Mage). So my guesses are really based on a mix of current bucket offerings and adaptability of classes to changes. But ultimately my guess is still a guess!

Expansions live now so I'm eager to see how the statistics settle after a couple days. 

Treat it as a Vanilla 3/5 for 4. its serviceable. 

7 mana is slow, but right now in arena in terms of neutral threats it's up against Slated thresadon and Volcanosaur. The raw stats is good enough to be at least average for its mana cost since Ancient of War is identical stats with taunt as upside. This would be slightly worse then Ancient of War, although more threatening. 

Another meta report in the books, onward to the next expansion ! https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-game-modes/the-arena/227116-arena-rastakhans-rumble-meta-class-analysis

Introduction

With the new expansion, Rastakhan's Rumble (RR), just about to launch, I’d like to offer some of my insights and predictions into the upcoming Arena Meta. RR offers several cards that potentially could impact the Arena scene, however due to the lack of an offering bonus on the new set (Confirmed by Dev); we might not see that many new RR cards to choose from. Also, let’s keep in mind that the impact of certain cards will go up and down due to whichever bucket Blizzard initially starts the card off in. If a card is grossly misbucketed (Pre nerf Giggling Inventor), then the card will be picked often and it’s impact will be more significant. With that said, I’ll go over some of my general class rankings and key cards. 

Meta Notes (Patch notes Dec 19th) https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/22835076/arena-updates-december-19-2018

• MCT has been removed from Arena! 
• Bonus offering rate to RR cards +50%
• Some removed cards from Arena have returned example: Snipe
• Some cards have been re-bucketed example: Dragon Roar moved to higher bucket
• Druid has plummeted in win rates
• Bucket Spreadsheet by SeeWhyKai: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rkYDUa4fTHBbw5CedRfpHy8s2bRc8pGOUv2tgWAPH88/edit#gid=983062125  

Meta Notes (Updated Dec 9th)

• Most neutral cards have lower appearance rates, this is most likely due to card dilution from a new set. 
• Most common neutral cards across all classes: Tar Creeper , Nesting Roc , Fungalmancer, Fire Plume Phoenix and Violet Wurm
• Most popular cards from RR is Dragonmaw Scorcher and Amani War Bear  
• Dragonslayer (18.9%), Mind Control Tech (9.7%) and Fungalmancer (30.3%)
• 4 attack - 3 drops, 5 attack - 4 and 5 drops are favorable for common trades.  
• Minimal Heals and taunts introduced in the meta puts strain on the existing cards in the card pool.  
• Polarized play style of Hunter and Warrior, makes for frustrating results since no deck matches well against both aggressive and value oriented decks. I would suggest a faster mid-ranged style, giving up some late game value for a more consistent early game to hold off Hunters, but still having enough finishers/draw to beat value oriented Warriors. 

Class Tier List

Tier 1 

Warrior - Still #1 couple days into the new expansion. Dragon Roar is one of the most common cards in Warrior drafts, and have a better win rate then Omega Assembly. Warpath, Execute and Supercollider have slightly lowered appearance rates. Sul'thraze is showing mediocre performance, so take your time evaluating it against it's options when its offered.  

Hunter - The dark horse of the expansion, Hunter has finally made it out of the basement. Baited Arrow has been extremely good as well as Headhunter's Hatchet. Fast aggressive hunters can beat Rogues and Warriors before they can stabilize. The set did not provide a lot of good neutral taunts or heals so this works in Hunters favor.  

Rogue - A solid 2nd place right - Walk the Plank is performing better then Assassinate so it's a good pick if you see the two up against each other. Serrated Tooth has also found a bit of use and has decent performance given the options it's up against. It's a tough meta for Rogue since Hunter is rearing its aggressive head, so keep an eye on good heals and taunts. 

Tier 2

Warlock - With Hunter being played more heavily, Warlock seems to be barely holding on. Demonbolt seems to be extremely popular and performing better then Siphon Soul. Drafting heals and taunts along with AOEs will be imperative for your drafts to do well.  

Mage - Blast Wave seems to be making a splash right now for this class adding another AOE to their tool set. It's performing slightly better then Blizzard and is almost seen as often. Pyromaniac is also performing as one of the classes best cards.  

Tier 3

Paladin - Tiered down by micro adjustments since it was busted in the Witchwood Expansion, the class has seen better days. A New Challenger... and Bloodclaw has been doing quite well for the class, but the class still requires it's Silver Sword win condition. The new Farraki Battleaxe seems to be average at best, so i'd stay away if the other options are viable.

Priest - Mass Hysteria has one of the worst played win rates for Priest. It's a yolo card and probably only gets used in really bad situations. The class relies on a slower meta to thrive so having Rogue and Hunter hanging out at the top makes for a tough environment. 

Tier 4

Shaman - Rain of Toads makes its way into a lot of Shaman decks and has been doing well. Likkim has also been performing well, but shows up less often. However, the class just can't get out of the basement. It's win conditions, Unstable Evolution relies on RNG, and it's other win condition Bloodlust requires board control and setting up. 

Druid - The new Mark of the Loa and Savage Striker has been performing well for Druid. The problem with the class is that Ultimate Infestation is so much better then every other card for Druid, it really relies on it to do well. Side note, Webweave has surprisingly good performance. The class most affected by the most recent patch changes, Druid has slipped from the upper half to the bottom of the tier list. 

 Thoughts and predictions from Dec 3.  

Halazzi, the Lynx - (1) - Draw 3x 1/1s to come up on top, you'll likely get way more then that as Hunter. This card offers tons of value and initiative.  

Auchenai Phantasm - (2) - This is a cheap alternative to the better 4 mana Auchenai Soulpriest. You can never have too much of that card and this is slightly cheaper to combo with your Squashling

Drakkari Trickster - (2) - Good stat line with potential draw card into an out. The problem is the card is reciprocated and a potential random card from your opponents deck is probably scarier then a random 2-drop from say Tanglefur Mystic. I'm not a huge fan of that level of variance so it's slightly lower then the Mystic for me.  

Gurubashi Offering - (5) - Total garbage 

Ice Cream Peddler - (3) - 3/5 almost always which is fine. The armor even if gained isn't even that impactful most of the time.  

Arena Patron - (4) - Needs the right board to get value and it needs multiple kills to get overwhelming. Feels bad. Much worse then original.  

Booty Bay Bookie - (3) - The coin is too impactful in the early game, and the 3/3 stat line is just not that powerful on turn 2 against all the 3/4 or better 3 drops. 

Scorch - (2) - Nice removal for Mage with high likelihood of getting reduced with Elemental synergy.  

Serpent Ward - (5) - An upgraded Leper Gnome, still bad though, not sure what you would take this over.  

Shieldbreaker - (3) - Pre nerf Ironbeak Owl laughs at this card. It's still okay though.  

Spirit of the Lynx - (3) - Card seems good and potentially has a lot of synergy with the class, but i'm wary of a 3 mana 0/3 for a Hunter class that prioritizes aggressive cards.  

Arena Fanatic - (3) - Hardly ever be insane, but a 2x minion hit is the bare minimum for this card to be worth playing. I can see it doing okay in some slower match ups, but it's not overwhelming the turn it's played and the 4 mana slot is too important to play a 3/2 usually, so this is a late game card, so it potentially doesn't work out well (low hand size in late game occasionally) 

Arena Treasure Chest - (4) - You need the right deck for you to get value from the body and 4hp. The delayed draw 2 cards is not worth the initial 4 mana, so you'll need to utilize the body somehow.  

Banana Buffoon - (4) - It is a much worse Shattered Sun Cleric. A 3 mana 2/2 is a sure fire way to lose the early board.  

Bloodclaw - (3) - This card feels really punishing really early. It's a weapon too so it will promote more attacking. I don't it's worth while, but its still a weapon and early control.  

Blood Troll Sapper - (1) - Great stat line and really annoying ability that converts your minions into additional damage even after attacking. 

Cheaty Anklebiter - (2) - I'm actually a fan of this card. It's decent value for a 2 mana card and pings and heals will be premium judging by the cards in this set.  

Demonbolt - (1) - 3 Minions makes this an Assassinate. Anything less makes this insane. It's also another large removal for Warlock, something they seriously lack, so it's value increases even more.  

Devastate - (2) - Decent removal for 1 mana. It's nice to have cheap minion reach thru taunts instead of always relying on face. 

Dozing Marksman - (3) - This card has some potential actually, especially in the early game where it really benefits from any minion buff and instantly becomes an early threat. 

Dragonmaw Scorcher - (1) - Card is insane. A Neutral AOE ping and a mini Dread Infernal. It's a Dragon which has good / bad things about it, but seems mostly good now since Dragonslayer is diluted among the new cards.  

Dragon Roar - (1) - Another insane card for Warrior. The new Dragons from this set are mid sized or bigger, while even the "bad" Dragons have some uses in Warrior. (Ex. Nightmare Amalgam for mech synergy, Ebon Weaponsmith for weapon reduction) Temporus is still the worse Dragon, but this card will more then likely produce a high value minion that might synergize with each other.  

Flash of Light - (3) - Cycle and heal seems okay. It's worse then Rocket Boots most likely but still not bad.  

Former Champ - (1) - Excellent split body on turn 5. I prefer this distribution compared to Silver Hand Knight

Half-Time Scavenger - (2) - Stealth makes this good. The overkill isn't as useful, and since it remains stealth until you attack with it makes it a card that potentially can take advantage of better trading situations. The problem with this stat line in general is that 3 attack most likely will not be enough for minions in the early game. 

Headhunter's Hatchet - (1) - Really strong weapon for Hunter on turn 2, and with lots of beasts at their disposal this is often a 2 mana non overloaded Ironforged axe

Helpless Hatchling - (5) - The reduction can potentially work out, but a 1/1 with a situational deathrattle doesn't really scream draftable.  

Mosh'ogg Enforcer - (4) - Let me change your mind. Smashy! List goes on. It's a huge wall to help you stall, but 2 attack is so brutal especially for an 8 cost minion. This is something that needs to fill a need in your deck for you to take this otherwise i'd stay away from this.  

Ornery Tortoise - (3) - Nice tempo early, but it does feel a bit underwhelming with only 3 attack on turn 3 which won't take care of all the 3/4s floating around.  

Pounce - (3) - Seems okay and has synergies with some of the new cards in the set. Should perform fine.  

Regeneratin' Thug - (2) - It's a bit annoying and makes for good value trades. Still wary about the 3/5 stat line for turn 4.  

Rumbletusk Shaker - (4) - 4 mana for a delayed double 2 drop? Compare this card to Cursed Disciple and you'll see how bad it is.

Scarab Egg - (4) - Needs an activator for 3/3 worth of stats. Sure it's okay, but needs some help. Not even as good as the old Nerubian Egg

Serrated Tooth - (3) - Not really something Rogue needs, but sure it works and has a pretty powerful death rattle on command basically for 2 mana. 

Spellzerker - (3) - Not that bad and potentially really solid in Rogue where they can ping and boost their spells.  

Stolen Steel - (2) - Rogue with weapons potentially stronger then 3 attack? Seems really good. Can high roll into something dumb too. 

Wartbringer - (3) - It's a fine 1 drop with potential to sneak in some damage, although unlikely. 

Mojomaster Zihi - (4) - Could do stuff in your favor. It's at least going to disrupt the flow of the game, hopefully to your advantage.  

Zul'jin - (1) - As far as heroes are concerned, this feels a bit weak. For Arena I don't think we'll see this card often. More so a constructed card.  

Krag'wa, the Frog - (2) - Requires some set up but feels like a nice value engine. For a class that lacks card draw, having your powerful spells returned to your hand for a small price while dropping a body, feels quite good. 

The Beast Within - (4) - Some instances where the random attack might be good such as bypassing a taunt, but relying on it just isn't a good strategy.  

Treespeaker - (4) - Needs one hit on a Treant for this to be good, but it's just something that doesn't happen often. Haven't seen a lot of playable Treant cards right now.  

Bloodsail Howler - (4) - 1/1 rush pirate. It's pretty fair if you have 1 Pirate on the board, but right now I'm not expecting a lot of Pirates to be drafted.  

Mass Hysteria - (3) - This card looks like a hot mess. Would work well if you had 2 big minions next to each other or a poisonous minion that can kill a big minion. Very situational, but potentially really high value board clear.  

Spirit of the Rhino - (2) - I actually think this is pretty good. There are some nice draftable Rush minions in this expansion and for a 1 mana investment you have full immune on those minions is just insane. It's very situational and deck dependent but Warrior is a great class for Rush synergy to work well in.   

Da Undatakah - (3) - Situational but a strong card in the right deck. It'll never be that bad unless you play it as a 8 mana, 8/5, so outside of this situation, it'll at least be an average card, potentially insane card.  

Mosh'Ogg Announcer - (1) - Great stat distribution and a protection ability. It smooth kills 4/6s on turn 5 and even 6/6s on turn 6. Very strong card with a built in semi immunity. 

Snapjaw Shellfighter - (2) - The ability is potentially good (protecting valuable minions), but sometimes can be horrible (8/8 into a 1/1). Overall, the stat distribution is solid for a 5 drop, and the health can make it a good minion to trade off several small drops.

Splitting Image - (1) - Probably Mage's best secret to date. This is going to be very infuriating to play against, and it'll definitely cost you games. Imagine a minion with Taunt protected by this secret ? You'll just end up losing the game afterwards.  

Linecracker - (1) - Great stats, and a huge threat given it's ability. The health means it has a chance to stick around and potentially develop it's attack power. From previous big minions with weak attacks, I can potentially see the issue with this card being weak and ignoble, but after 1 swing, it can instantly be a huge 10/x minion. 

Mark of the Loa - (2) - Fair flexible card, nothing busted about it, just a solid card overall. 

Bog Slosher - (2) - Overall feels pretty good. There will be situations where you don't want to bounce back your minion, but the buff makes even totems a good target to return back. Seems pretty good. 

Regenerate - (5) - I mean.... waste of a deck slot.  

Sand Drudge - (2) - This card seems like a huge problem card since it snow balls like crazy for Priest. Potentially could make Priest much stronger in the early game.  

Captain Hooktusk - (4) - Depending on what shapes up for the rest of the expansion we could see more draftable Pirates. Right now it's only really looking like Ticket Scalper that might see consistent play.  

Gonk, the Raptor - (3) - Stat distribution is fine, but the ability doesn't feel impactful enough. We've been seeing a lot of cards that synergize with Hero power killing a minion, so maybe we'll see some more support cards.  

Bloodscalp Strategist - (3) - A fine card with a nice upside (although a bit situational considering the amount of weapons Hunters have right now). Most secrets are in the higher buckets so it's hard to take them over quality minions often, but having the ability to discover a Freezing Trap or Venomstrike Trap for cheap can be really high value.  

Elemental Evocation - (5) - Not seeing how this works consistently in Arena right now. 

Sightless Ranger - (3) - Has initiative and potentially a decent upside. You can imagine the best likely scenario. You play this, it kills a 1/1, and leaves you with a 3/3, 1/1, 1/1, so basically a 5/5 over 3 bodies deal 1 damage. Worse case scenario it's 5 mana deal 3 damage. On average it's probably somewhere in the middle which is a fine card.  

 Seance - (4) - So first you need to be behind before playing this which is the first problem. But I can see some insane steals with this card, but a lot of the cards that are insane have immediate impact so you'll instantly be behind. Hard to draft this but it can work in some spots.  

Master's Call - (4) - A large percentage of the time it's a 3 mana discover a minion from your deck. Is that worth it ? Probably not.  

Wardruid Loti - (1) - Everything you could want in a card. It's a fair card in terms of mana value for it's level of flexibility, but this card is good in any spot almost.  

Big Bad Voodoo - (3) - Probably worse then Ancestral Spirit on average since there's uncontrollable RNG at work, but there's potential to high as well. On a decent sized minion, it's a new minion for 2 mana which is a good swing.  

Emberscale Drake - (3) - A fine card with minimal upside. Moreso a playable dragon for Warrior and a decent roll for Bone Drake

Griftah - (3) - Still a fair Chillwind Yeti, and you will get first crack at the discover card and you'll have some information on what they are holding. It might also give you an out to play into.  

Akali, the Rhino - (2) - Bit of an expensive card for only 5 attack, but the future value is just insane. It's a bit deck dependent but this card should be at least an above average card.  

Crowd Roaster - (3) - This is going to fill really bad to lose to since it's such a huge swing. It's similar to Blazecaller but it' can't target face and has worse stat distribution, but the trigger doesn't need to be set up 1 turn in advance. 

Stampeding Roar - (4) - Expensive and very situational for Arena. This is only worthwhile in the lowest bucket and with lots of BIG beasts in your Druid deck. 

Farraki Battleaxe - (3) - I feel it's too weak and slow for 5 mana, but it's still a weapon that fits into a unique mana slot for Paladin, so it'll find a spot depending on how this is bucketed. 

Spirit of the Frog - (5) - It's really situation, and doesn't guarentee you even draw a card from your deck. At 3 mana, it feels really hard to justify a situational spell tutor.  

Arcanosaur - (4) - More expensive and requires a turn to set up compared to Duskbreaker. Granted Elementals are easier to come by, it still requires a turn to prepare for a double sided AOE. Doesn't feel good at all.  

Grim Rally - (4) - Much worse then Power of the Wild, but it's a pretty unique card for Warlock and probably can find some fringe use in some decks.  

Totemic Smash - (2) - Cool card, it's at worse a Holy Smite with an upside. Easy pick depending on it's bucket.  

Princess Talanji - (4) - Very understatted, but works with cards like Devour Mind and Thoughtsteal. It'll need at least a moderate stat minion pull to be worth the investment.  

Haunting Vision - (3) - Slightly less flexible / more flexible then Primordial Glyph. On average it's probably worse since you need to discover and play it, or another spell right away to benefit from the spell reduction, otherwise it's a 3 mana "Discover a Spell" which is horrible.  

Predatory Instincts - (5) - I mean Oaken Summons actually pulls drops out of your deck and you gain armor for 4 mana and is rarely played in Arena. I get that this card can tutor out a beast and buff it's HP, but how consistent can you make a deck around this that works ? I'm not even going to bother.  

Murloc Tastyfin - (4) - Unless they reveal some playable Murlocs, this card is basically not playable since no one drafts enough Murlocs in Arena anyways. 

Spirit of the Raptor  - (4) - As a 1 mana "cycle" it seems okay, but I wouldn't expect repeat value from it since the Hero power is limited most of the time. 

Overlord's Whip - (3) - It's a lot of damage for 3 mana, but the attack is weak and the 4 charges is too many. It's also unlikely you will draft a deck that synergizes well with the ability so it's going to be a negative most of the time.  

Should be double stats to make it playable. Double health only seems terrible :O  

High Priest Thekal - (2) - Solid Stats for 3 mana and has synergy with heal cards to extend your life total. It's a bit weak for a legendary though. 

Masked Contender - (3) - A bit of an awkward card to make use of. It's a bit better then average in Mage or Hunter, but otherwise it's just an average card.

Blast Wave - (3) - Compared to the old Demonfire and Volcanic Potion this card blows, but it potentially can be insane to get rid of 1/1 tokens. It's a bit over costed and weak, but can be set up for maximum benefit with the mage hero power as well. 

Likkim - (2) - Fine card for Shaman giving them access to a ping with upside. There's quite a bit of good overloaded cards right now so this could easily be a cheaper Fiery War Axe. 

Revenge of the Wild - (3) - Bit situational, but can give insane value for only 2 mana. It's a win more card that requires the board, or you can set up  the board with cards like Hunting Mastiff and reap the rewards with this.  

Soup Vendor - (3) - A fine card with passive stats, the upside is good, but seems relatively unlikely with most of the classes. 

Amani War Bear - (2) - Solid card, probably better then Sunwalker even. We'll probably see this card very often.  

Rabble Bouncer - (3) - For this card to be above average you probably need a discount of 3 mana. With only 2 attack, it's more of a speed bump then a threat, but can be a nice tempo play when you are flooded by tokens. 

Walk the Plank - (1) - Probably slightly worse then Assassinate, since the 1 mana trade off might not be worth it when you really need this to work. With that said, hopefully it gets bucketed lower then Assassinate and this will give Rogue another hard removal option.  

Saronite Taskmaster - (3) - The card looks really good and we all get flashbacks to Zombie Chow, but the draw back on this card is pretty heavy and unlike Zombie Chow, it's relevant in the early and late game. 

Gral, the Shark - (2) - At worst, it's a properly statted card and effect (eat a 1,2,3 drop minion), at it's best it's absolutely bonkers. It's weak to silence but a potential 9/9 + draw a Violet Wurm for 5 mana, is just insanity. 

Hakkar, the Soulflayer - (5) - Bad stats and effects for Arena, but probably still worth taking over other bad cards even just for the 9/6 body sometimes.  

War Master Voone - (3) - Need to see a bit more dragons to make this card worthwhile. Even just 1 copy is good value. Waiting to see more Dragons in this new set to make the call, but it's a borderline average card.  

Untamed Beastmaster - (2) - Generic 3/4 stat line which is great and a potentially very relevant upside. Not much to dislike about this.

Gurubashi Hypemon - (2) - Nice 7 drop for Rogue with a pretty good effect. The fact it's a discover card makes it more flexible. Could be healing, buffs, bonus damage, etc. It's a solid card and has combo and spirit synergies. 

Grave Horror - (2) - I feel Priest has a good chance at making this card very ridiculous. At 8 mana, it's about average, and at 7 mana, you're into excellent value town. It's also an insane late game tempo swing if you can get the cost down considerably. 

Raiding Party - (3) - My guess is worse then Mimic Pod and Forge of Souls on average. Most Pirates are generic stats and don't impact the board state in anyway. The 3rd card off the combo would make this excellent value, but is still dependent on drafting 2 Pirates and a Weapon that hasn't been drawn yet. Not always a sure thing, but can be OK depending on the deck.  

Spirit of the Tiger - (4) - More of a constructed card, less so an Arena card. At 4 mana, it's expensive and most of Paladin spells will come down to having the board to buff up. You'll rarely get a single large minion, so you might end up with a couple small minions. 

Zandalari Templar - (3) - Paladin's version of Hooked Reaver. It's a lot harder to gain life then it is to lose life, so there's that. It's a fine card as is, with the potential to be insane, but the healing part isn't that easy to come across.  

Firetree Witchdoctor - (3) - Again, more dragon in hand synergy type cards. Pretty wide variance for the spells since they are probably all classes. The dragon in hand is also less likely to show up unless the new expansion gives us a couple playable dragons to draft.