Shadowverse Meta Analysis – Starforged Legends #1

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Introduction

It is week 1 of the new format with the recent balance changes and the release of Starforged Legends. SFL has brought a lot of good support cards to many decks and at the time being, the meta seems somewhat balanced where most classes have a strong deck and nothing is overpowering or considered to be a “tier 0” deck. It will be interesting to see how the meta settles as there does not seem to be a clear top deck like what we have seen in previous formats.

Tier 1

OTK Forest

Finally OTK Roach is back on top of tier 1!! With the recent support Forest received with Airbound Barrage, Spring-Green Protection, and Cassiopeia, Forest can now deal with early threats that do a lot of chip damage and has additional bouncing tools to add consistency to the combo.

Aggro Forest

This is somewhat of a new deck from the expansion as it is very aggressive with the early followers. The deck is pretty good as it can overwhelm your opponent, though it does have a much weaker late game. Personally I think OTK Roach is just the better deck so I am not sure how this deck will fair in a couple weeks as the meta settles.

Aggro Sword/Blood

Not too big of a surprise seeing the best 2 aggressive classes, Sword and Blood, seeing tier 1 as aggressive decks are always overstated and favored when there is a fresh meta as it punishes unrefined theory-crafted decks. These decks did get some support and especially Sword has even more storm than ever.

Midrange Dirt Rune

I actually haven’t seen too much of this deck on the ladder despite it being a tier 1 deck. The times I have faced it, it did not impress me that much and I was able to take them down with not too much difficulty. This deck seems honest but not strong enough to likely be a tier 1 deck in the near future.

Keeper Dragon

This deck has been seeing the most play recently and will probably climb to the near top spot of tier 1 in the next analysis. With the traditional ramp to end game storm in addition to board clear and chip damage, this deck seems to do it all. Personally I don’t have an outstanding win rate with the deck but on paper it looks strong and a lot of players are favoring it at the moment.

Midrange Shadow

Midrange Shadow got a bit of support mainly with Ceres of the Night. Similar to how midrange Shadow was before, it is still a solid deck and looks like it is in a good spot at bottom tier 1 or top tier 2.

Tier 2

I won’t go much into the tier 2 sections, everything looks about right with it.

What to look out for

One deck that is left out of this rating is the Lord Atomy/Deathly Tyrant Shadow deck. You can read more about this deck at my other post here.

I think with Staircase to Paradise the deck is very real and can be a high tier 2 or bottom tier 1 deck. The potential to go off on a turn 3/4 8/8 and constantly bring it back with a 13/13 storm waiting is just so much pressure and decks have a hard time dealing with it. We’ll see if it makes an appearance in the next tier rankings.

About the Author

TheJordude is a professional Hearthstone player for compLexity Gaming as well as one of the top western Shadowverse players and content producers. Along working towards a finance degree while doing marketing work on the side, TheJordude looks to become a dominating force in the Hearthstone and Shadowverse scene. You can find content regularly from him on his social media channels. Follow him on: