Hearthstone
Top Decks

Prince Renathal is Back in Standard and Here Are the Best Renathal Decks

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

Blizzard had some nice surprises in store for Hearthstone’s patch 30.6, which launched on Thursday. First and foremost, they brought a Murder in Castle Nathria Legendary back to the Standard format for a limited time! Prince Renathal, which allows you to play with a 40-card deck and start the game with 40 Health, is playable in the Standard format until the launch of The Great Dark Beyond expansion on November 5.

Prince Renathal had a divisive run in Hearthstone the first time around. On one hand, it slows down the games and makes it possible to play more midrange, control, and combo decks. On the other hand, it can slow the games down too much and make regular attacks feel pointless. The larger deck size reduces consistency, but if enough substitutes are available to play the same roles, its effect is minor. I just spent 2.5 hours playing some XL Highlander Druid and I only managed to complete 8 games in that time. Love it or hate it, the meta is different now, and Prince Renathal is at the center of it all. Enjoy it while it lasts, or bear with it until the new expansion starts from a clean slate in early November.

Here are the hottest Prince Renathal XL decks in the meta right now, starting from the best one:

One Deck to Rule Them All: Big Spell Mage

The early Prince Renathal meta has been dominated by Big Spell Mage. It’s a close fight between the 30-card regular version and the 40-card XL version, but the 40-card version seems to have an edge. The sheer power of cheating out Sunset Volley and Tsunami early combined with a higher Health pool that makes you less vulnerable to aggro decks is incredibly difficult to contest.

XL Big Spell Mage – #1 Legend (疏星｜往昔) – Perils in Paradise

Deck Import

Zilliax: Twin Module + Perfect Module

The XL version has room for some more powerful Legendary cards, and it turns out that Kalecgos and Norgannon are actually good additions to the archetype, at least when combined with ten extra starting Health.

Right now, if you want to climb the Standard ladder, XL Big Spell Mage is your deck of choice.

Pain Warlock, the More Pain Edition

Pain Warlock loves to take damage on its own turns, but going to a low Health total is scary. Adding more starting Health is the perfect solution! Take damage, never be at risk of dying, and still get to play your Molten Giants on the board. They can now be played for free at 18 Health as opposed to 8 Health, a stark difference.

The Prince Renathal version of Pain Warlock has rapidly replaced the 30-card version on the ladder.

XL Pain Warlock – Perils in Paradise

Deck Import

Zilliax: Pylon Module + Ticking Module

Ramp Druid But With More Starting Health

This is the deck that I recently played on the ladder (I found the list on a stats site), and it was a blast to play. The extra Health is just enough to stabilize against aggressive decks: you can get some ramp going and then have turns that make it impossible for the aggro opponent to finish the game, for example with Eonar, the Life-Binder. I also managed to shuffle Elise, Badlands Savior into my deck with Sky Mother Aviana, and madness ensued.

This deck has everything there is in Hearthstone. You defend. Against Warriors you attack. You save your removal pieces for the right moments so that the combination of your defensive tools and your huge Health pool can bring you to victory. And sometimes you do some crazy broken stuff with your heavy-hitting Legendary cards, which you have in abundance, from Marin the Manager to Reno, Lone Ranger.

XL Reno Druid – Perils in Paradise

Deck Import

Zilliax: Twin Module + Perfect Module

E.T.C.: New Heights, Crystal Cluster, Sleep Under the Stars

XL Highlander Warrior: The King of Inevitability

This is the ultimate control deck in Hearthstone. A deck that is comfortable playing a very long game, and then crushing you with an inevitable win condition.

XL Reno Warrior – #154 Legend (Youth) – Perils in Paradise

Deck Import

Zilliax: Twin Module + Perfect Module

E.T.C.: Armor Vendor, Zola the Gorgon, Incindius

The first hit you will experience comes from Deepminer Brann and Boomboss Tho'grun. Now you have a bunch of T.N.T. in your deck, ready to blow up your board, hand, and deck. If you somehow survive that, the deck has another hit coming from the ETC: Zola the Gorgon and Incindius. After Brann has been played, Warrior can pick up both of them, and then combine them into triple Incindius, each with double Eruptions. That’s 30 Eruptions, and unless you can kill each Incindius very quickly, they are going to be big Eruptions too.

Compared to Highlander Druid, Warrior is a much slower deck that needs to work harder to survive against pressure strategies. However, once it gets to a higher mana total and can feel comfortable in its defense, its looming inevitability will win the game.

XL Highlander Shaman

Highlander Shaman has built a reputation as a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. The deck can defend and heal, and it can even apply some pressure at times: Turbulus and Wish Upon a Star buff your hand, deck, and battlefield, which can mean both immediate and sustained pressure. It is also even better with Prince Renathal.

The biggest question Highlander Shaman faces is what can it contribute that Highlander Druid cannot? Druid has weaker survivability, but Renathal gives the Druid enough Health to survive until it ramps up, and then it can roll away with the game from there. Shaman is better in the early game, but does not bring that many great things for the late game. Deckbuffs are one thing that Shaman has going for it, so if a better early game and a buffed deck interest you, that can be a reason to play Shaman.

XL Reno Shaman – Perils in Paradise

Deck Import

Zilliax: Twin Module + Perfect Module

E.T.C.: Dirty Rat, Dehydrate, Rustrot Viper

XL Highlander Priest

You may be noticing a trend about these Prince Renathal decks by now. Most of them tend to be Highlander decks. 40 starting Health is just so good for Highlander decks, and there are enough cards in a 5-set Standard format to support going for 40 cards in a Highlander deck too. Highlander decks have already made some sacrifices in consistency, and ten additional cards do not make them that much worse, so it’s almost all upsides for them. Druid and Warrior are at the forefront with Druid’s ability to ramp up and get some crazy turns going and Warrior’s unparalleled inevitability in the late game. The other classes make do with what they have, and one of those classes is Priest.

If you enjoy copying some cards both from your own deck and from your opponent’s deck, then Priest is the class for you. By the time you play your third Aman'Thul, many opponents are ready to concede. You can’t exactly stop the Brann train although you may be able to copy the cards and play your own and turn the game into something very strange. If you love to play Priest, you will do fine in the Renathal meta, even if you do not have a top-tier deck.

XL Reno Priest – Perils in Paradise

Deck Import

Zilliax: Virus Module + Perfect Module

E.T.C.: Pendant of Earth, Puppet Theatre, Rustrot Viper

XL Highlander Hunter

Highlander Hunter has always been a bit of a strange one. Whereas most Highlander decks are defensive in nature, Hunter is a little sad if the game goes long enough to play Reno, Lone Ranger. I have sometimes even played Highlander Hunter without Reno, and to be honest, it did not feel bad at all, no matter how crazy it may sound. You see, the real payoff card for Highlander Hunter is Theldurin the Lost, which can turn the game around in the mid-game and enable you to roll to victory with some good old midrange pressure.

This list is a bit more traditional though and keeps Reno. Over a large sample size, it is still the smart thing to do to win some of those games that go on a bit longer. Much of the time, you should be able to win through pressure, and you have a good selection of late-game bombs in case your plan A fails. If the game goes very long, you are at a disadvantage against most other Highlander decks though.

XL Reno Hunter – Perils in Paradise

Deck Import

Zilliax: Twin Module + Perfect Module

E.T.C.: Dreamplanner Zephrys, Mystery Egg, Rustrot Viper

Old Guardian

Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian

Check out Old Guardian on Twitter or on their Website!

Leave a Reply

2 Comments

  1. X15d
    October 14, 2024 at 3:54 PM

    Second the highlander druid, i feel like its really the most fun deck we had in standard for a really long time. Warrior and mage feels extremely difficult to play against though

  2. Inner Peace
    October 14, 2024 at 2:06 PM

    Why no one is experimenting with highlander paladin T.T .