Hearthpwn

I really wish this was a neutral; it would actually allow people to interact with some of the stupid OTKs that exist.

Quest mage IS an aggro deck... It's also really easy to play, and extremely powerful, which is why it is so popular.  The quest is simply too easy to complete, and the reward is too cheap to play.

If your tavern lays out with nice minions without having to refresh, you'll do very well with Millhouse, but if you have to roll even a few times... well, ugh.  I don't really get how people also manage to level him up so fast, since his levels cost more than everyone else's, at least not while also getting so many minions, but maybe they get luckier and don't have to refresh :p

Honestly, while there are certainly things to fix (there was a balance patch announcement where hopefully they'll get some of the problem cards) I think that this meta is better than some we've had in awhile.  Some of the more problematic cards have been nerfed in recent months, though there is still work to do, notably on some of the uninteractive combos that exist to make them less braindead in execution, like Open The Waygate or warlock Mecha'thun.

Now MTGA right now... ugh.  That IS the worst meta I've ever seen in that game, lol.  Hearthstoners have nothing to complain about compared to Magic players right now, hehe.

I've noticed a lot less Dragonqueen Alextrasza and Twin Tyrants randomly showing up and swinging games lately in arena.

It's pretty obvious the nerfs helped, but equally obvious that there's still work to be done to balance the class.

I 'well played' anyone who didn't netdeck and did in fact play well.  I almost never have to use that emote.

If I'm at a rank floor I concede against quest mage or odd demonhunter.  Anything else I usually play out.

Quote from JoBo >>

well levels are only really for golden basic cards...

 

 So far, yes.  They could in theory make them do something else.

I got legend the first time in December the year Hearthstone came out.  I made a post on this site complaining about several cards in face hunter, and how they needed nerfs.  Of course, all the butthurt facehunter players defended the cards, and were all like 'if it's so easy, build it yourself and get legend'.  Six days later, I had my legend cardback.  The deck is now unplayable because approximately half of the deck has been nerfed.  (Abusive Sergeant, Leper Gnome, Undertaker, Knife Juggler were all on the list.  I think there might've been a couple others, but it's been a long time)  This was before the wild/standard split.

I got legend twice after that, once over Christmas holidays when my brother-in-law and I were spamming Hearthstone games for days while he was visiting, and one other time just randomly laddering.  Both these times were in Wild, with the second one putting me at #20 on the server at the end of season.  I think I used mostly my custom reno warlock for both of those ones, but they were a couple years ago too.

I -might- do it again someday soon for the first time rewards, but a random classic legendary isn't really worth it.  I think the only ones I don't have are Brightwing and the new priest one that replaced Prophet Velen.  I can't even really be arsed to rank up anymore because the rewards aren't golden cards anymore, just a few random rares and packs whose combined average dust are less than the golden epic would cost to craft.

1-2: This is pretty much the same question.  And no, especially not with an almost total lack of counters.  Drop a Bloodbloom/Darkest Hour on turn 4-5 and you just win, even without a Nerubian Unraveler, because nothing on curve can hope to match that.  Hearthstone has a very bad tendency to make almost all of the answers cost more than almost all of the threats, leading to runaway board positions and the overdominance of aggro throughout the history of the game.  Other than some broken combo metas, aggro has always dominated the meta, or at least it has since season 4; I can't speak to before that.  (I started 1st week of Naxx)

3) I do agree that abusive combos need nerfing/counters, and I would agree with your second point that classes shouldn't be forced into one archetype, but I don't think that classes are forced into single archetype/decks.  Most people go to sites like this one to get their decklists, and have never built an original deck in their lives, so they aren't open to the possibility that other decks exist.  I've told players that I make my own decks, and they literally don't understand the concept; they're just like 'but where did you get it from?  what site?'  I reply that I MADE IT MYSELF, and the concept just goes over their head.

4) Definitely not.  More counter style cards need to exist.  It is hard to design them so that they are both balanced and fair against the combo, not useless when not facing the kind of deck you're teching against, and not overpowered either.  Dirty Rat is one that's often (and rightly so) hailed as an excellent design example of this.  It's fairly costed, it's a strong card, it's not overpowered, and it takes a lot of skill to know when to play it to have the best chances of success.

There are so many, I barely know where to start.  If people made their own decks, they'd realize that, but sadly it's all netdecks on the ladder, and if a card isn't in one of the half dozen or so that get set into the meta, then it doesn't get used.

DRUID: Druid is my least played class, but I think I'd have to go with Treenforcements.  One mana 2/2 OR taunt something and +2 health should see a lot more play in aggro than it does.

HUNTER: I'd probably go with Dwarven Sharpshooter here.  Dire Mole saw play, and this, minus the beast tag, is strictly better, and most people weren't using Dire Mole for the beast tag.

MAGE: There's a lot in mage, because it's the most played/netdecked class right now, so anything not in the stock lists is just not seeing play.  Arcane Amplifier, Azure Explorer, Chenvaala (imagine that in the mana cyclone deck), Rolling Fireball, Hex Lord Malacrass, and possibly Animated Avalanche, though that last one is debatable.

Paladin's got a few, but Shrink Ray stands out as probably the biggest one.  One more mana than Equality, and it sets attack to 1 as well, which is way better if you don't have a board or Consecration or something to combo with Equality, which does nothing on its own, and is still a decent card.

PRIEST: Chameleos is one that's always surprised me that people don't use more, but I don't have one to try, so maybe it's not as good as it seems.  Even never playing it, it gives you a lot of information, and occasionally highrolling some bomb in their hand to turn against them... even better.  Shadow Madness at 3 mana is ridiculous, but I haven't seen one outside of Zephyrs since the buff.  Shadow Word: Ruin is another amazing card I haven't seen anyone use outside Zephyrs.

ROGUE: Definitely going with Waxmancy on this one.  It's the Primordial Glyph of Rogue, and it almost never whiffs.  Even if it does, Witchy Lackey works really well on the rare piece of junk you get from it.

Shaman: Surging Tempest is another 'strictly better than Dire Mole that saw play' and I haven't seen anyone use it yet.  Vessina I've seen very occasional play, but it should be seeing a LOT more than it is.  Weaponized Lackey as well, but people are still butthurt that Shaman got nerfs awhile back, even though all of them except Sludge Slurper were reasonable.

WARLOCK: I've been having a lot of success with Twisted Knowledge.  If it were only one card instead of two, I'd value Waxmancy higher, but since it's two cards, even though I'd say the average warlock card is weaker than the average battlecry rogue/neutral minion, getting two chances makes up for it.  Warlock has some fantastic cards to discover, but it's also got a few real duds and if you get a couple of those in one pick, sometimes one of them gets basically wasted.  Crazed Netherwing and Dark Pharaoh Tekahn are great cards as well.  I haven't seen a single netherwing outside arena/RNG/discover, and I have seen Tekhan a couple times, but far less than he deserves.  I also haven't seen any Riftcleaver or Zzeraku the Warped outside RNG generation/arena, though they are much slower cards.

WARRIOR: I haven't seen a single person use Boom Squad.  I also haven't seen anyone use Hack the System.  I'm not sure how good that one is, since I don't have it, but it definitely looks promising.  I've also never seen anyone even try using Beryllium Nullifier, not even in Dr Boom mech decks.

NEUTRAL: Blazing Battlemage and Quicksand Elemental seem like natural additions to decks like Zoolock.  Grand Lackey Erkh can get some serious lategame value, obviously only in decks with lackeys, but it's not unreasonable to get 2-4 or more extra lackeys from him.

edit: for what it's worth, I've been playing since about season 4, been Legend a couple times, gotten lots of 12 win arenas (though oddly never with Priest) and am Diamond 9(7) this season.

I'll still play battlegrounds, and I won't be paying $20 for it.

I'm not sure how I feel about the new rank system, but the new rewards system is much worse.  No more golden rewards, and the replacements are less dust equivalent.

So guys, I just wanted to let you know that bots are illegal, and netdecking is gay.  Honestly people, make your own decks and stop spamming quest mage.