Masters Tour Summer 2024: All Decks, Lineups, and Meta

The last 2024 Masters Tour, held this last weekend, marks down the end of the qualifiers cycle for the Hearthstone World Championship. Players from Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific that classified for the event through the ranked queue competed for $50,000 dollars and 2024 World Championship invites.

To get the coveted invite for an event as big as this (particularly now that Hearthstone returned to China, and they also increased the Worlds prize pool), all 16 players brought their best lineups and most refined decks for this small tournament meta.

In smaller tournaments with fewer players, the meta is often more restricted, and doesn't have enough space for a varied number of archetypes when you compare it with the ranked queue. In general, players adapt to the theme of the tournament, as they can face 4 different classes. At the MT Summer, the most dominant strategy was board presence.

The meta welcomed 13 different archetypes and 7 different classes:

MT Summer class distribution:

Priest: 13.

Druid: 12.

Rogue: 12.

Warlock: 10.

Paladin: 8.

Shaman: 5.

Death Knight: 4.

Demon Hunter, Warrior, Hunter, and Mage: 0.

As for decks:

Overheal Priest: 13 | 15-7 | 68%.

Miracle Rogue: 9 | 9-7 | 56%.

Insanity Warlock: 9 | 15-18 | 45%.

Handbuff Paladin: 8 | 17-14 | 55%.

Tempo Druid: 8 | 13-12 | 52%.

Playhouse Rogue: 3 | 5-2 | 71%.

Rainbow DK: 3 | 3-11 | 21%.

Evolve Shaman: 3 | 3-8 | 27%.

Concierge Druid: 3 | 5-2 | 71%.

F/U DK: 1 | 3-0 | 100%.

Highlander Druid: 1 | 4-4 | 50%.

Painlock: 1 | 2-3 | 40%.

Overheal Priest

Overheal Priest (or Hedanis Priest) was the biggest surprise at this tournament. It is way less popular in the Standard ranked queue, but was the most popular deck at this event. That's because of the tournament format (4 decks, 1 ban), which encouraged most lineups to focus on strategies with a strong board presence.

Another reason for this was Handbuff Paladin, which was "the deck to beat" at this tournament. It is not only the most popular deck on the ranked queue, but also the least vulnerable one in terms of inherent weaknesses. As Overheal Priest has countless sweepers to clear extensive boards with Injured Hauler, and a solid late game with multiple copies of Aman'Thul and cards like Creation Protocol and Rest in Peace, it was the best bet. It performs really well against any decks that focus on building extensive boards and winning the game with them, and is still solid against late-game decks.

Miracle Rogue

The new way to play Miracle Rogue (with Griftah, Trusted Vendor) focuses on getting the Amulet of Warding to deal 6 damage to the opponent and using it "infinite" times with the Sonya Waterdancer, Tidepool Pupil, and Breakdance combo. This combo cycles itself infinitely, and, when you don't have mana to play it anymore, you can just return Sonya to your hand safely.

On top of it all, this combo also gives you infinite 2/1 Rush minions that may help you clear any board. Rogue lists are slowly leaving the Playhouse Giant kit behind because of how consistent this combo is, and, instead, they're playing cards that help you stall the game a bit more, like Mixologist.

Insanity Warlock

Insanity Warlock also got infinitely stronger after we added Tidepool Pupil. The Pop'gar the Putrid + Crescendo combo, for instance, is a lot stronger when you have extra Crescendos because of Tidepool Pupil. Furthermore, you can also clear any board and heal your hero to full with it.

The amount of damage this deck can deal directly from your hand is insane. When you combine it with board tools like Crazed Conductor, it is quite easy to deal enough damage to win the game very early on.

Handbuff Paladin

This is the classic ranked queue deck that is "the deck" to beat right now. It has a few (and some versions bring none) cards from the new set. Its game plan centers around drawing as many units as possible and mulliganing after its two greatest stars: Painter's Virtue and Muscle-o-Tron.

It also builds a very strong board and can deal a lot of damage directly from the hand with buffed Leeroy Jenkins, Southsea Deckhand, and Outfit Tailor.

Tempo Druid

This is the alternative players found for Druid after Concierge was nerfed. It is a bit too "fair", but still has powerful combos, like Chia Drake + Swipe, which completely destroy many boards.

It doesn't have many ways to deal damage directly from your hand, as it doesn't play Concierge, Go With the Flow and Seabreeze Chalice. However, it offers you a more consistent game plan that focuses less on combos, with good cards like Marin the Manager, Yogg-Saron, Unleashed, and Zilliax Deluxe-3000. That's what makes it more versatile, and it has less polarized matchups against a wide variety of opponents.

Playhouse Rogue

It's important to set Miracle and Playhouse Rogue apart (even though they are quite similar) because the Playhouse Giant kit significantly changes the way Rogue plays the mid-game. This kit offers you more play lines, and thus doesn't limit the entire strategy that much.

So, cards like Everything Must Go! and Gaslight Gatekeeper may get in the way of the combo-centric part of the list, and the fact it doesn't have ways to copy Playhouse Giant means that decks that can deal with Giants early on have a big advantage in the matchup.

Even with "better" stats than the most popular Rogue version, the best ranked Playhouse Rogue list only got to top 7, whereas all players from top 1 to top 6 played the Miracle version.

Rainbow DK, Evolve Shaman, and Nature Shaman

I decided to discuss all three of these decks at once because they were the worst-performing decks in the entire tournament. Rainbow DK couldn't execute its game plan multiple times, and many times relied on Corpsicle to deal the last bit of damage it needed. This, in turn, was really slow, and gave the other decks too much room to breathe and come back to the game.

Razzle-Dazzler turned out to be a below-average win condition for the current meta in terms of power level.

Evolve Shaman and Nature Shaman simply failed to meet the tournament's power level. Evolve Shaman can't create a board wide enough and resistant enough to set up a good Wave of Nostalgia turn, and Nature Shaman, despite unpopular, still wants to abuse Tidepool Pupil. Unfortunately, it is a lot worse than its peers, Miracle Rogue and Insanity Warlock, so the fact it showed up at all is surprising.

Concierge Druid

Druid was strong at this tournament, but, unfortunately, it was only the 5th best deck in the format. And, as this is a 4-deck format, it was difficult to justify picking this class instead of Handbuff Paladin and Insanity Warlock, which were its direct competitors in players' lineups.

The Concierge Druid version was consistent throughout the tournament, but was vulnerable against decks that fought for the board very early on.

FFU DK

Only one player brought this deck, and they didn't lose a single match in the tournament. Unfortunately, OgO's lineup choices were below average, and we couldn't see this deck in action, but the fact this strategy didn't rely on Corpsicle already made me want to test it out on the ranked queue.

Highlander Druid

Just like the deck above, only one player brought this deck, but this one performed a bit more "average" - a very respectable top 4. Highlander versions of Druid and Warrior became unpopular ever since the Unkilliax Zilliax Deluxe-3000 version was nerfed, but Maur1 piloted it incredibly well, with a lot of skill. It seems to be their favorite pet deck.

Pain Warlock

This deck is also one of the most popular decks on the ranked queue, and yet only a handful of players brought it to the tournament. Insanity Warlock is simply the superior Warlock list, particularly in a competitive setting, where players were ready to fight for the board (Overheal Priest was the most glaring example of this).

Pain Warlock struggles a lot in matchups in which the opponent is also fighting for the board and representing a lot of damage in hand. That's because this deck needs you to have 9-13 life very early on to get more value out of its cards.

definition

Definition didn't make it very far in the tournament because their Handbuff Paladin list didn't quite work. All the tech cards they brought for control matchups clearly didn't help the deck, as it performed way below average against other opponents who also fought for the board. They ended up losing two series without winning a single Paladin match.

uikyou

Uikyou had serious issues with its Druid and DK lists. They only won against definition, and the lack of extra damage in their Tempo Druid list when compared to Concierge versions led to very close losses.

maur1

Maur1 managed to get to the top 4, and was the only player who performed well with a non-meta deck, their Highlander Druid. Even though its win rate wasn't impressive (4 wins / 4 losses), they got a win with it in the semifinals, and it seemed to be quite fun. It's rare to see a list with Night Elf Huntress getting so far in a high-level tournament.

furyhunter

Furyhunter's standout deck was definitely their Concierge Druid, which got them a win without many issues every time they played it. This player started with a 2-0 in their group, but their Warlock deck didn't perform well in their top 8 match, which resulted in a 2-3 score. All 3 losses were with this Warlock list.

DeadDraw

DeadDraw made an unfortunate choice for their lineup by bringing Nature Shaman into a meta with a lot of board presence and healing. Tidepool Pupil certainly made many decks a lot stronger, but Nature Shaman can't take advantage of this card as well as the other classes. It is easy to fill Pupil with irrelevant spells when you're playing the combo and lose damage as a result.

Jarla

Jarla also made the unfortunate choice to bring Shaman to the tournament. In this specific meta, as we mentioned before, strong boards were definitely the norm, and Nostalgia Shaman miserably fails to build a decent board when the opponent has fewer units. That makes it impossible to set up a good Wave of Nostalgia turn.

McBanterFace

McBanterFace's lineup was the "standard" lineup for the tournament. They brought 4 good decks, with good cards, and the proper amount of tech cards, as well as some nice piloting. They eventually were eliminated in the semifinals, after their Rogue deck failed twice in a row, by the player who would win the entire tournament.

Gyu

Gyu lost in the top 8 with a solid lineup, but somewhat questionable deckbuilding decisions. Their decks were very similar to what you see in the Standard ranked queue daily, but their opponents were just better prepared to mirror matches with strong boards.

Superman(Gaby)

Beloved by the public and the casters, Gaby, unfortunately, got a bit lost when picking their decks and decided to play Nature Shaman. They ended up with a 0-4 score with this deck and were eliminated very early on.

Photon

Pain Lock wasn't the best choice for Warlock in this specific tournament. It just had too many openings and could lose the game out of nowhere in board control matchups, as it needs a lot of life to work. The same goes for PlayHouse Rogue, which doesn't have all the tools the Miracle version has. Thus, both decks failed Photon.

GamerRvg

GamerRvg was this tournament's runner-up and played practically the same lists as the big winner. These two players faced each other two times, as they were in the same group, but on day 2 GamerRvg won the match. As their lists were a bit less refined, GamerRvg ended up losing finals, more specifically the mirror matches. They still got the most important prize at this tournament, though: the 2024 Hearthstone World Championship invite.

Maxiebon1234

Maxiebon1234 brought the same lineup and lists as GamerRvg (their Handbuff Paladin lists were exactly the same, card per card), as we mentioned, but Maxiebon1234 refined their lists a bit more and piloted them slightly better. They ended up winning first place and the 2024 Worlds invite.

Mesmile

Group D was the "easiest", as 3 players in it brought Death Knight and 2 others brought Shaman. Unfortunately, Mesmile was one of these players and their lists were simply not prepared for the tournament meta. Their DK deck lost 5 games and cost them the competition.

멍멍이(OgO)

The standout deck in OgO's lineup was their Buttons DK deck, which was entirely different from Rainbow DK - they brought Frost Rune and one Unholy Rune, and no Corpsicle at all. This was the only unbeatable deck at the tournament, as it won all of its 3 matches, but, unfortunately, we couldn't see more of it in action. OgO's Shaman deck performed terribly, and ended up with a score of 1-6.

西陵珩

I believe the only way we'd ever get a DK list in the top 8 was through this last group, as 3 of its 4 players brought it. At least one of them had to pass. Apart from OgO, who picked Shaman and had some terrible luck with it, DK lists were the worst-performing decks at this event.

Incurro

Incurro "lucked out" in this group, as they had to face 2 Shamans and 3 Death Knights, so they just need a coherent and well-built lineup to make it into the top 8. In the playoffs, however, the inconsistency of their Warlock deck with a few questionable techs cost them important matches, and eliminated them straight away.

MT Summer showed to the world how decks like Miracle Rogue, Overheal Priest, Concierge Druid, and Handbuff Paladin should be played at a higher level.

As for Priest, this event could make the Zarimi versions a bit more unpopular because of Overheal Priest, which was incredibly popular at this tournament. Personally, the most accessible lists in this event were definitely the Paladin and Tempo Druid lists, then Concierge Druid right below them. It's worth checking out OgO's DK list, which was the only undefeated list at this event, but only if you have leftover resources from this set. The next balancing changes are not that far way either, so keep an eye on what's strong right now to make good decisions and not invest too many resources on a deck that will most likely be nerfed!

Miracle Rogue has performed way below average on the diamond and above ranked queue. Its numbers only get interesting when you look at the top 1000, top 500 legend players, who probably just pilot their decks better. Build this deck at your own expense and risk, as it will only reward you if you put time into it, besides your dust, cards, and other resources.

What were your favorite decks from this event? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below!

Thank you for reading and see you next time!