Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
We’re a few days into the big balance patch, and well, it shifted the meta more than the recent mini-set did. The whole ladder feels different now — faster, more aggressive, and a lot more tempo-focused. Therefore, I’ve gone through the most relevant decks, played a bunch of them myself, and put together a quick breakdown of what’s actually worth playing right now. So yeah, feel free to check them out and enjoy the final days of the season, everyone!
Pirate Rogue
Pirate Rogue might not be the most popular archetype at lower ranks, but it’s truly shining in Top Legend. This is one of those decks that quietly climbs the ranks while everyone’s distracted by shinier, greedier lists.
Like, even the Crystal Cove and Watercannon combo can win games on its own — especially when you’re curving out smoothly. Plus, if your Hearthstone economy isn’t letting you craft five Legendaries per patch, this is one of the few strong choices that won’t bleed you dry. Budget players, rejoice.
Some greedy builds have been slotting in Shoplifter Goldbeard, but I believe it’s an overkill. Fyrakk the Blazing is way more reliable and just as good. And if you’re worried about running out of gas in slower matchups, Shaladrassil gives you a cheeky backup win condition — especially since you can still activate it with Fyrakk, which I also predicted to be the best card of the mini-set in my Embers of the World Tree review.
Imbue Paladin
If you’ve been laddering lately and feel like every other opponent is playing Paladin, you’re not imagining things. Turns out, Paladin now has the highest winrate across all ranks and regions according to HSReplay.
The recent changes cleaned up the clunkiness that used to hold this deck back. It’s faster, smoother, and way more consistent now. Honestly, if you’re just looking for something reliable to farm wins regardless of the rank you’re currently at, this is probably the safest pick.
Imbue Paladin is essentially a modern Midrange deck, really. What’s also worth noting is that the Imbue package doesn’t even take up much room, which means you’ve got plenty of space to tech in cards that match the current meta. And that adaptability is why it’s performing so well, which makes it a nightmare to counter.
Fishing Aggro Priest
Let’s call it what it is: Face Priest. And yeah, it slaps.
Fishing Aggro Priest has been steadily rising in popularity ever since the Arkonite Defense Crystal nerf opened up space in the meta — and now it’s arguably in its best form yet. If you’re into one-drops with big stats, tempo snowballing, and early board dominance, this deck is your new best friend.
The game plan is brain-off in the best possible way. You drop overstatted one-drops, follow up with Menagerie Mug buffs, and just keep hitting. It’s fast, ruthless, and surprisingly difficult to stop once it gets rolling.
The biggest selling point, though? It completely farms Imbue Paladin. That’s a huge deal right now, since Paladin is basically half the ladder. On top of that, it beats Protoss Mage, Dollhouse Druid, and even holds its own into Rogue. Basically, it’s strong against everything people are actually playing, which is exactly what you want from a ladder deck.
Rainbow Menagerie Death Knight
You want tempo, curve, and cards that are just straight-up annoying to remove? Rainbow Menagerie DK has all that and more — and right now, it’s looking like the best Death Knight deck in the format.
This list does exactly what you want a meta deck to do: it beats Rogue, it beats Paladin, and it doesn’t take weird setups or greedy combos to get going. You just play good stuff, generate a bit of value here and there, and pressure your opponent into inefficient trades until they crumble.
Even though Cinematic Necrotic Explosion rotated out with the Year of the Raptor shift, the Rainbow setup still works, and works well. Your main payoff is Rainbow Seamstress, but the real strength of the deck is how cleanly it curves and how perfectly its stats line up with what people are playing right now. That’s it — no crazy philosophy behind it.
Honorable Mentions: Cycle Rogue, Dollhouse Druid & More
Since we’re still not even a full week into the patch, it’s kind of hard to build a full list of “safe” decks just yet. The patch was pretty big, and things are still moving around. But I still wanted to leave you with a couple of archetypes that look promising — even if they’re not dominating the ladder right now.
These are mostly decks that got nerfed or slightly pushed out of Tier 1 / High Tier 2, but they’re still solid enough to try, especially if you’re not really feeling this whole aggro/midrange meta.
And yes, I decided to put Cycle Rogue in “honorable mentions” because with the way the meta is shifting, I believe it’s just going to get worse and worse. It’s already struggling to keep up with early pressure, and that’s not going away anytime soon. It’s not terrible against Paladin, but against all the other decks… meh.
So, that’s the current state of the ladder — aggressive, efficient, and still settling. The decks listed above are already doing well, but we’ll probably see things shift again soon once players adapt and refine the slower lists.
Until then, pick something that fits your style and gives you clean matchups into Paladin. And if you’re unsure what to craft or how to manage your resources, the Hearthstone ranked guide and card rarity breakdown are worth a look.
