Each week, we'll be bringing you the top performing decks from the most recent top level Hearthstone tournaments. This week, we'll be looking at week 5 of the Archon Team League. Nihilum has taken sole possession of first place with a 4-1 record, following an impressive come-from-behind victory over FORSENBOYS. While two of the top decks will look quite familiar, we have a newcomer in this top 3 list. With both personal and team pride on the line, this tournament gives us great insight into what the players thought the strongest decks are right now. With all of the deck lists available to us, we can see which archetypes were the most popular amongst the pros participating. If you want to know what the strongest deck types are right now, look no further!
1) Patron Warrior
Patron Warrior has continually made a strong showing in the Archon Team League, proving its worth as one of the strongest decks available when piloted by a talented player. After moving up the the #1 spot on this list last week, Patron keeps its place at the top. We're starting to see some tech cards like Shield Block make an appearance, but it's still the same deck you know and love (or hate.) Make no mistake about it: despite its immense popularity, Patron Warrior is not simple to play. Particularly in a tournament environment against skilled opponents, the player definitely needs to be on top of their game. When they are, Grim Patron, Warsong Commander and Frothing Berserker become some of the scariest cards in the game. This is a true combo deck, yet boasts a fair amount of removal with cards like Whirlwind, Cruel Taskmaster, Execute, and the weapons able to remove threats (with some of those doubling as activators for the Patron and Berserker as well.) If you're ready to GET IN HERE, this is the list that was played by Team Archon's Zalae this week:
2) Mid Range Hunter
We have to go back to the first week of the ATLC to find the last time this deck made the list, but Mid Range Hunter is back. Hunter seems to be one of the most consistent classes out there, always capable of doing something on the board and pushing through damage. Whether it's the early game of Haunted Creeper and Mad Scientist, the mid game power of Eaglehorn Bow, Loatheb, and Savannah Highmane, or even the comeback potential of Unleash the Hounds, this deck always offers the player a play to make at every stage. For this reason, more players have put their faith in Rexxar this week, and he rewarded them, as overall Hunters fared well in Week 5. If you're looking to have some Beasts do your bidding, check out the list that Team Liquid's SjoW used:
3) Freeze Mage
The deck has bounced around in its placement on this list, but Freeze Mage has always been one of the more popular choices for the pros. This deck looks to play very passively early on, simply stalling with cards like Ice Barrier, as well as the Frost Nova/Doomsayer combo to keep the board clear. The late game is an entirely different story, as Alexstrasza and Archmage Antonidas mean that just a couple spells can quickly decimate your opponent's life total. Ice Block serves as a way to guarantee an extra turn to set up the kill, while Emperor Thaurissan makes it that much easier to pull off. Freeze Mage is a very reactionary deck for most of the game, but absolutely explodes once it's ready to claim victory. It's not the easiest deck to pilot, but can be extremely effective in the right hands. If freezing people before flinging fireballs at them sounds appealing, take a look at the deck list StrifeCro used for Cloud9 this week:
That wraps things up for this week, but we want to know your thoughts. What decks have you been having the most success with? What archetype is most likely to become the new flavor of the month? Tell us in the comments below!
Want to know how things compare to the meta of weeks past? Check out our previous top decks articles!
July 30th, 2015: Archon Team League, Week 4
July 22nd, 2015: Archon Team League, Week 3
July 15th, 2015: Archon Team League, Week 2
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