Hello everyone. First of all let me start by telling you the exact definition of the term "meta".

Actual definition of meta

Abbreviation of Most Effective Tactic Available. Mostly used when comparing tactics in a game, but can be used in other things as well. It can change over time as new tactics are explored or can change by a change in the rules of a game or availability of new resources. In real life changes to gamerules are usually to make the game more interesting (soccer rules change for offside, usage of time compensation in some courses). In computer games this is done by patching to balance the game or fix bugs

Now what this means is that the "meta" is not defined by what is most popularly used, most annoying, most unfair. The "meta" literally means the tactic that is proven to work the best or most effective tactic available. The meta cannot be defined by what the majority of players uses because a large percentage of players are either, unskilled and cannot tell the difference between a good and bad tactic, inexperienced and have not experienced enough of the game to make a logical decision on what the meta is, or ignorant, many players are simply ignorant to what meta truly means.

A mid level player can sometimes have valuable insight but just does not have the skill to determine what is best used especially in varying situations.

A meta can be SOUNDLY or DEFINITIVELY determined by a large enough sample of COMPETENT, COMPETITIVE, HIGH LEVEL players. The top players (not necessarly top players on ladder but the most skilled. Players that either win consistently or have attained many cards from challenges with few wins.) can determine the meta because they are top players. They have a knowledge above the average player and know which tactics work and which do not. Which is why lower-tier cards do not appear in tournaments/challenges very often. Because they are less consistent and perform more poorly compared to the higher-tier cards and smart/top level players won't use those cards.

The community is plagued by the idea that "meta" means MOST POPULAR, MOST OP, MOST ANNOYING. Examples such as RG. Many people are saying the RG is coming back into the meta and has become a huge nuissance to the community... but has it? The only reason RG performs well on ladder is because many players over level the card due to it being a common and then bully lower level cards. This does not show skill, and is not a "meta" because it is a tactic relying not on the abilities of the card itself but on the fact that the game is based on a level up system. If the RG is the same level as all other cards, it actually under performs compared to many deck styles.

If we take all this into consideration and look at the top decks (i chose ladder to make a list since it is easier then finding the most used challenge decks.) then we can determine what is meta. What i have found is that there is no definitive meta and that deck diversity is quite large.

Here is a link to the top 100 decks by deck type and usage rates.

TOP 100 LIST