ManaGrind Tournament Wrap-Up: 11/18/13

by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

Eric Dodds made a comment during the Hearthstone Fireside Chat at BlizzCon 2013 that parity was a very real thing at high levels of play, and the ManaGrind tournaments continue to prove that, week in and week out. We’ve seen a number of different classes become dominant in short stints over the course of the last few months, and this weekend was no different.

Top Four – North America

1. Eldorian – Warlock Aggro

2. Morlu – Paladin Aggro

3. Realz – Rogue Cantrip Aggro

4. Vexx Juk3d – Warlock Aggro

Top Four – Europe

1. Forsen – Priest

2. Judoki – Paladin Midrange

3. p0rn – Mage Early Midrange/Rogue Cantrip Aggro

4. [MG] Wuaschtsemme – Rogue Midrange

The Evolution of the Meta

The competitive Hearthstone metagame changes at an absurd pace. It seems like just yesterday, Jotto was complaining endlessly about Sen’jin Shieldmasta and the deluge of midrange decks. Today, the competitive scene’s a totally different game, with new and horrifying aggro decks coming out of the woodwork. If you’re someone who is tired of seeing these devastating rush decks, there’s some potentially good news.  Warlock is, in my opinion, as fast as it’s going to get, at least for now. Fireblast and Dagger Mastery, both great abilities in their own right, don’t do much to boost the the speed at which either class can put out minions.

Lifetap, however, is a totally different animal. The card draw ability effectively ensures that, once a Warlock is on top of you (basically turn two) they’re not going to be shaken without some incredibly lucky draws. They simply repopulate the board too quickly. The synergy of this ability with rush decks is incredible, and it allows this particular Warlock deck to chew threw other noteworthy aggressive setups, specifically Mage and Rogue, two decks featured constantly in competitive play. It is, essentially, as fast as it gets.

I’d expect that, in the coming weeks, we’ll start seeing a lot more stall/control oriented decks come to prominence, as they’ll have the best odds of beating Warlock aggro. A well-placed Sen’jin Shieldmasta can do wonders against 3 2/2 creatures, and healing minions such as Earthen Ring Farseer will allow players board presence and much needed health regeneration. It might be that, in two months time, we’ll all be complaining about beefy minions with taunt, while we wait for aggro decks to rise once more. That’s just how quickly the metagame changes.

On the Topic of Not Sharing Deck Lists

The winner of this weekend’s European ManaGrind tournament, Fosen, elected not to share his deck list with the ManaGrind staff. There’s been a lot of outrage in the comments section of the article pertaining to it, and ultimately, it doesn’t appear ManaGrind can really force him to share. That said, I have to wonder, what’s the big issue? If someone comes up with a deck designed to work around the current meta and wins, why is that individual responsible for sharing his or her hard work with everyone else? It can be assumed that, should Fosen share his deck list, it will be copied by others and he might end up having to run against it.

It might make him a poor sport, but there’s some wisdom in what he’s doing, and it hardly hurts the community.

The Importance of Sideboarding

In our last ManaGrind Wrap-Up, we talked about just how useful Acidic Swamp Ooze can be as a sideboard card. This week, we’ll talk about another amazing sideboard option, Sunfury Protector.

There are a lot of choices at the two drop slot, depending on what you want to do. While I wouldn’t main Sunfury Protector in most of my decks, this Blood Elf can be a fantastic counter to the current aggro heavy meta, both because of her unique ability to give adjacent units taunt and her statline. Three health on turn one (with The Coin) or turn two is a lot. That much health means that, in a vacuum, Sunfury Protector can favorably trade with most of the one drop aggro minions, along with a handful of other two drops. She can also deal with more dangerous minions such as Faerie Dragon and, more importantly, Knife Juggler. If your situation is not as grim, she can be held in your hand until a situation arises where you desperately need a taunt. She’s useful in this respect in most decks, but she really shines with Paladins and Shamans because of their unique ability to generate board presence with their hero powers. Think of her as Defender of Argus Lite.

If you’re looking for more content about the competitive scene, be sure to check out ManaGrind’s site, and keep an eye on their Twitter account for more information about weekly tournaments. Are you a bad enough dude or dudette to come hang out and have a good time this Saturday? If so, consider signing up for ManaGrind’s weekly North American tournament this Saturday! Or, if you live in Europe, get in on the action this Sunday!