New expansion – Descent of Dragons – has been out for a few days already… and a nerf patch was already announced. It might down in history as the quickest nerf in the history, just like Galakrond Shaman might be one of the stronger decks ever – it’s rare that a single deck dominates the early meta so hard. But the game is not all about Galakrond Shaman – in fact, it’s far from the only Galakrond build that works pretty well. While the nerfs will most likely upset the current balance (which is good), we still have a few days of the current meta.
Galakrond Hero cards are one of the main selling points of this expansion. Everyone got them for free, and they all share one auto-include Legendary – Kronx Dragonhoof – so building them is relatively easy and doesn’t cost you a kidney. I’ll try to rank Galakrond cards from the strongest to weakest, talk a bit about each one of them and showcase some of the best builds so far.
#1 – Galakrond Shaman
Number one isn’t really a surprise – anyone who played Hearthstone for the last few days knows how powerful Galakrond Shaman is. While I think that the deck would be a little less oppressive after the meta settles (we’ve already found out that both Holy Wrath Paladin and Quest Hunter have solid matchups against Galakrond Shaman, and maybe other decks could tech against it, right now the numbers are just insane. Not only it’s the #1 deck in terms of win rate by far, but if you combine play rates of both versions (Quest and non-Quest, although non-Quest is way more popular), it makes up for ~60% of the meta at Rank 1. Yep, exactly – 60%. I don’t ever remember seeing a deck so popular. So I can’t really argue with the decision to nerf it as quickly as possible.
Galakrond Shaman is powerful for a few reasons. First and probably most importantly – Galakrond’s Hero Power and Invoke cards. Summoning 2/1 with Rush is probably the strongest HP in the context of Invoke cards. It’s a bit like a mix between Warlock’s and Warrior’s. It puts less stats on the board than Warlock, but they have Rush, so you can immediately attack like Warrior can (but you also have a minion + you don’t need to face tank anything). It gets even better because Shaman has two strongest Invoke cards available – Invocation of Frost and Corrupt Elementalist. The latter is especially powerful, since it’s the only card that Invokes twice. Because of that, the class doesn’t really pay any “penalty” for running Invoke cards – they are all strong and, to be honest, cards that you might just want to put into your deck even if not for Galakrond.
While we’re at Invoke cards, Shaman’s “If you’ve Invoked twice” card is also very strong. Again, it’s a high tempo play, and it helps the class greatly against faster decks. A single Dragon's Pack can seal the game against Pirate Warrior, for example.
Another reason is definitely Galakrond himself. Because of what I’ve said above, it’s very easy to fully upgrade him, and then his effect is insane. Summoning two 8/8’s with Rush for 7 mana is insane tempo gain, and the 5/2 weapon lets you be even more aggressive. You see the pattern here? Tempo, tempo and once again tempo. That’s why Galakrond Shaman is so strong. For a while now, HS is mostly a tempo game – oldschool kind of Control or Combo decks aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be. The faster you can get onto the board, the more stats you can put, the more you can do with your mana the better your position is. And that’s what Galakrond Shaman excels at.
And finally, Shaman already had a bunch of decent cards / combos. It was one of the strongest classes in Saviors of Uldum, even if we ignore Doom in the Tomb event. Mogu Fleshshaper + Mutate combo, for one. Shudderwock is also big in that deck, since it repeats all the Battlecries, including Galakrond’s. Of course – Corrupt the Waters Quest is also good, but while early in the expansion Quest version seemed solid, right now stats indicate that it’s not really worth it – a Questless version is simply better.
Here are a few Galakrond Shaman builds – just keep in mind that the deck will 100% be nerfed next week, so I don’t recommend crafting anything to play it right now. You should try them only if you own those cards already or really don’t care about your Arcane Dust.
9,400
#2 – Galakrond Warlock
The second strongest Galakrond is… Warlock! But let’s be clear here. Difference between #2, #3 and #4 is very slim – those three are very close. However, there’s a massive gap between #1 and #2. Shaman is a Tier 0 deck, it’s the strongest deck in this expansions without any contest. Warlock, on the other hand, is probably a mid-low Tier 2 deck. Yep, the difference between those is that big. Now that everything is clear, let’s proceed to the deck.
Galakrond Warlock is solid probably for a similar reason to Shaman, but not to the same extent. Summoning 2x 1/1 minion for every Invoke is pretty good. It adds a lot of tempo to the board, and also opens the deck for some interesting synergies. But because those don’t have Rush, it’s so much slower than Shaman’s, not to mention that Invoke cards for Warlock are also weaker.
The thing I like about Galakrond Warlock most, and something I didn’t expect at first, is the fact that it can run both a Zoo-like build, but also something closer to Handlock. Zoo builds are obvious – summoning a lot of small minions was always what the deck wanted to do. Generic, token-based Galakrond decks are the best Zoo builds we have right now, and they’re actually pretty decent. But in the Handlock version, summoning a bunch of 1/1’s also has some cool synergies. The best one by far is Plague of Flames. It makes clearing the massive boards so easy. Another board clear synergy is Lord Godfrey – it’s very easy to have a target to start the combo if you summon a lot of 1/1’s. You can also cycle your Mortal Coil on one of them if you really need to. And – of course – Faceless Corruptor is a staple in both versions.
I think that Warlock might have some potential in the upcoming meta. The deck has some good matchup, but it’s not that great against Shaman, nor against its current counters which are also pretty popular. Once Shaman is gone, counters might see less play, which might in turn push Galakrond Warlock up. Or maybe now. Who knows? Either way, I find the build pretty fun, especially the Handlock version.
#3 – Galakrond Rogue
To be honest, Rogue was pretty hard to rate. On the one hand, if we count those Deathrattle builds running a small Galakrond package as “Galakrond decks”, then it would be #2. On the other hand, if we ignore those, it might even fall down to #4. So I’ve decided to go for a middle ground and put it at #3, but like I’ve said, 2-4 are very close to each other anyway, so ultimately it doesn’t matter that much.
When it comes to Rogue’s Galakrond, I’d say that it has its major upsides and downsides. HUGE downside is the quality of Invoke cards. Both Praise Galakrond! and Seal Fate are… let’s get this straight, they’re very weak. Galakrond’s Hero Power is also not that great. While getting random Lackeys is not bad, it doesn’t compare favorably to others which give you IMMEDIATE tempo. And, as you can imagine, Tempo is very strong in Rogue.
On the other hand, Rogue has a very powerful Invoke synergy card – Umbral Skulker. While it might not seem as good as some others, it has weak stats and only gives you 3 mana, anyone who has ever played Rogue knows how high the class values Coins. Activating Combo cards, drawing with Gadgetzan Auctioneer, making a bigger Edwin VanCleef or Questing Adventurer, having more mana for Malygos combos… Yeah, all of that. So while the card wouldn’t be nearly as great in other class, it’s just amazing in Rogue. Another bright part of the Galakrond builds is the Galakrond himself. Unlike his Invoke cards, his effect is exactly what Rogue wants – tempo. Drawing 4 cards and discounting them to 0 lets you have a a very strong turn. In case you run cards like Malygos or Auctioneer, you also have a chance to get them and often just win the game.
Another cool thing about Rogue’s Galakrond is that he fits into so many different builds. Adding Lackeys doesn’t have synergy with any specific cards, so you don’t need to build your deck around it, and both Skulker’s and Galakrond’s effects also fit into many decks. Below I’ll showcase both “pure” Galakrond Rogues, as well as any other decks that runs a Galakrond package.
#4 – Galakrond Warrior
Oh Warrior. I have to say that I have overestimated the deck’s power. As it turns out, Pirate Warrior is a significantly better Aggro deck now. On the other hand, playing Control build with Galakrond is… not really the best idea. Dr. Boom, Mad Genius is still in Standard, and you don’t have enough sustain to face tank everything.
Thanks to the Hero Power, Warrior’s Galakrond naturally fits into aggressive decks. Dealing 3 damage to the opponent every time you drop one is strong. Of course,you can’t ALWAYS do that, because sometimes you need to use them for board control. But the damage stacks really quickly. It’s also one of the Galakronds you want to be come ASAP, even ignoring the extra upgrades. Armor Up is nearly useless for a fast Warrior build, while dealing 3 damage per turn can close out games quite quickly. At the same time, a huge disadvantage of Warrior’s Hero Power is that it leaves nothing on the board. All other Galakronds produce some minions – even Priest, which is incredibly slow.
Warrior’s Invoke cards are okay, but not amazing. Ritual Chopper is a 2 mana for 4 + 1 damage weapon, which is pretty good if you’re going face, but both hits are awkward when removing minions. 4 damage is often wasted on curve (because 2-3 would suffice), while 1 damage might not be enough to do anything after. Awaken! is, in theory, a 3 mana Swipe, but it still has some restrictions – the biggest one is, like always, having to use your health as a resource if you want to hit something big. Both Invoke synergy (Scion of Ruin and Galakrond’s effect are solid, they also have an incredible synergy between each other. I didn’t play the deck much, but whenever I drew Scion from my Galakrond, I basically always won. 3x 7/6 for 3 mana is just too much for most of the decks to handle (while you’re also hitting them in their face constantly).
We’ve seen a few approaches to the deck, but Aggro build (including Galakrond/Pirate hybrid) seem to be the best ones after all. But I found the “handbuff” build more fun. Here they are:
#5 – Galakrond Priest
And finally… Priest. Remember how I’ve said that there’s a huge difference between 1 and 2-4? Yep – there’s another gap between 4 and 5. Priest’s Galakrond is by far the weakest one. In fact, while the best builds from Galakronds 2-4 get up to 55% win rate according to HSReplay’s current stats, Priest doesn’t even reach 50%. Wait, there’s more – it barely reaches 40%. The best build at R10-Legend is at 41% win rate. Of course, you can’t treat those early stats as the final tier list, but the difference is just so big. 10%+ lower win rate than 2-4 and 20%+ lower win rate than Shaman’s Galakrond. Yep.
The problem with Priest’s Galakrond, and something I’ve been repeating ever since I’ve first seen it, is that it’s painfully slow. Gaining a random Priest minion is a solid value tool, but it adds zero tempo. Every other Galakrond’s HP is pretty high tempo – some are better, some are worse, but they give you some immediate advantage or at least a Lackey in case of Rogue, but Lackeys are fast and cost 1 mana. As a Priest, there’s a high chance that you will get a bunch of slow minions that you just don’t have time to drop. Galakrond Priest very often dies with a hand full of random minions that were completely useless. That’s right – in lots of games, Invoke cards could as well not do anything else than have their vanilla body. The fact that they are already pretty slow doesn’t help. E.g. other classes can afford to run Devoted Maniac, for Priest it’s just terrible. 4 mana 2/2 Rush that has no other effect lots of time. It’s like asking to get rushed down even by the slowest builds. Time Rip is similar – in lots of games it’s just Assassinate, in a class that’s known for its great removal. To be honest, only Disciple of Galakrond is solid, becasue in the worst case scenario it’s a 1 mana 1/2, so you put something on the board early. But at the same time, a 1 mana 1/2 doesn’t even fit the slow, grindy Galakrond Priest decks.
There’s also another approach you can take – you can try to use Fate Weaver‘s Battlecry to discount some cards and run some combos. Zetalot has attempted to play Leeroy Jenkins combos, for example (combo it with Grave Rune, Embalming Ritual and Shadowy Figure) but the deck is… well, not the best. I imagine that some Mind Blast combos would be sick, and MIGHT actually be a viable way to play the build (Prophet Velen / Malygos + 2x Mind Blast + 2x Holy Smite would be so easy to play with those discounts), but as we all know, the card has rotated out to Hall of Fame.
Ultimately, something I’ve been repeating many times throughout this article is that the current meta is driven by tempo. Most of the decks have incredibly powerful swings, can cheat out big minions for cheap, have very mana efficient cards and so on. Or at least run some combo finisher. At the same time, Priest offers infinite value. But why would you need it? The games rarely even get to the late game, let alone to fatigue. Oh yeah, combo decks get to fatigue, but they get there way before you and just kill you right after. Don’t get me wrong – I think that Priest’s Galakrond has its place. In fact, it will be the only “infinite value” Hero card left in Standard after rotation. But it’s only relevant in a greedy, grindy meta. We MIGHT get one next year, but right now it’s exactly the opposite.
But still, if you are fan of the Priest class, or maybe unpacked a bunch of Priest cards and want to play them in some deck, here are the best Galakrond Priest decks we’ve seen so far:
If Priest Galakrond’s hp would have been “add a random priest spell to your hand” I think it would have been an actually viable control archetype. Random priest minions have always been bad and will continue to be bad forevermore.
Hey stonekeep do you think you can make deckguides again after the nerf patch Or sooner? Because I found them very intresting 🙂
We’ll be making deck guides after the patch 🙂 Wanted to start this weekend, but don’t want to commit resources to something that might be useless in a few days.
*hands down* to accuracy review to control warrior before
I’ve tried it and warrior doesn’t have enough health to control the board.
Even Dr.Boom without dragons (pure mechs) is still better to control with steady armor gain, but it still lost it’s tempo with Shaman and Rogue. 2 to 10 wins only, and this is even without platebreaker.
(Imma try to wait for the nerfs before trying again).
But thanks to Pirate Warrior, I’ve found myself on higher ranks (level 2).
and boy does this place have so much pro players. (even drop to level 5 again)
>.<
I pretty much agree with the rating scale. Shaman Galakrond is obviously way above others, mainly due to very strong support cards (double invoke and Dragon pack). I would say however that the rest are quite close one to another, with priest included. I don’t really get why does Galakrond priest has such a bad winrate on HSreplay. With two of my versions, midrange dragon and control Grave horror, I have almost 60% and slightly above 50% winrate respectively.
I would also like to add that of all Galakrond decks, I find deathrattle rogue and handlock the most fun. I do believe tough that provided Galakrond handlock is not the best. In particular, it lacks dragon activators and as such should probably at least run Twilight drakes and Zzeraku (instead of Alexstrasza). I also prefer to include Khartut defenders in the current aggressive meta, but that’s not as crucial.
It’s very sad that priest got the worst galakrond, should have been “add a random priest minion, it cost 2 less” might have helped or even broken, i don’t know.
Maybe? In my admittedly limited experience playing the Whizbang Priest deck, it feels like the biggest problem is how unwanted most of the random minions are. E.g., you’ll get a Zerek, but without spell to combo him he’s just a 6 mana 5/5… 8 mana if you count the HP. Not to even bring up cards like Test Subject or Dead Ringer… The developers said this HP use to include spells but they took them out because they were too situational, but a lot of the priest minions feel the same way. I almost wish they did Discover instead… although that can easily become overly powerful; just look at Deathstalker Rexxar and Dr. Boom’s Drone Delivery.