By NPH Pasca and WickedGood
THE END IS COMING!
The Specialist format is doomed as the Masters program will adopt a new version of Conquest. This is effective right now for Grandmasters and Battleriff will move on after their current season, but we do not know when it will be applied to Qualifiers. Until then, we will keep documenting the Specialist metagame for those who go agane.
The scope of the current report is Maters Qualifiers Bucharest 46-60, or week 4.
Data summary from Offcurve:
Shark Rogue holds the top spot firmly. It’s the most popular deck in the format and still has an impressive win rate. It also benefits from the lack of a hard counter in the meta. Bomb Warrior is much more polarizing but still top tier. Zhym’s list was a very popular (and successful) choice this week. Cyclone Mage has a lower win rate but is almost as popular so it counts as “meta defining”. Its play pattern is also unique, so it’s one of the decks that everyone sideboards against.
Bomb Hunter isn’t one of the most popular deck, and players don’t tech against it anymore. Its 60% win rate in top 8 brackets is unequaled. Midrange Hunter continues to be very popular despite mediocre performance, but it keeps some kind of balance in the top tier (Mage would probably be better than Rogue without it). Aggro/Token Shaman and Secret Hunter have also won Qualifiers. Their win rate suggests that they deserve more representation.
Control Warrior, Holy Wrath Paladin, Murloc Shaman and Token Druid are simply underwhelming. Mech Paladin has good potential but low representation. Flidow is the only player trying to make Deathrattle Rogue work, and he’s having honorable performance with it.
Meta defining decks:
Shark Rogue (Hi3)
Bomb Warrior (Zhym)
Cyclone Mage (Dennis | Supersam710)
Qualifier winners:
Bomb Hunter (BabyBear)
Midrange Hunter (INS4NE)
Aggro Shaman (Odemian | Player671)
Secret Hunter (ZhangFei)
Token Shaman (FinalS)
Top 8 capable:
Control Warrior (Tommyvy)
Deathrattle Rogue (Flidow)
Holy Wrath Paladin (DeadDraw)
Mech Paladin (Kevin)
Murloc Shaman (Sattors)
Token Druid (Rpbalance)
