Four New Battle-Ready Decks In Patch 21.6 – Which One Is The Best And Are They Worth It?

Which One Is The Most Valuable?

Let’s start with this part, because this question is much easier to answer since it comes down to pure math. I’ll take a look at each deck and give you two values. The first one is how much Dust it would cost for you to CRAFT this deck. The second one is how much Dust you would get for DISENCHANTING the entire deck. I’ll list them from least valuable to the most valuable. I’ll also add a list of notable Epic and Legendary cards that you might be missing – that’s also a factor you should take into account when picking one of them.

4. Druid – Swarming Squirrels

• Crafting Cost: 6,480 Dust
• Disenchant Value: 1,500 Dust
• Notable Cards: Greybough, Cornelius Roame, 2x Composting, 2x Oracle of Elune

3. Paladin – Knights of Stormwind

• Crafting Cost: 6,860 Dust
• Disenchant Value: 1,625 Dust
• Notable Cards: Blademaster Samuro, Highlord Fordragon, Mr. Smite, 2x First Blade of Wrynn

2. Hunter – Dwarven Defense

• Crafting Cost: 7,260 Dust
• Disenchant Value: 1,730 Dust
• Notable Cards: Defend the Dwarven District, Professor Slate, Rinling's Rifle, Barak Kodobane

1. Rogue – Agents of SI:7

• Crafting Cost: 7,440 Dust
• Disenchant Value: 1,775 Dust
• Notable Cards: Find the Imposter, Tenwu of the Red Smoke, Edwin, Defias Kingpin, 2x Secret Passage, 2x Greyheart Sage

Overall, the decks value is slightly lower compared to the ones we had last time around. The most expensive deck cost ~8.5k to craft, right now it tops at ~7.5k.

As you can see, the Druid deck is the least valuable, while Rogue is the most valuable. However, you need to keep in mind that the differences aren’t that big. Even if we look at pure crafting cost, the difference between them is less than 1k Dust. Looking at the disenchanting value, we get 275 Dust difference. That is a bit of Dust, but unless you want to purchase them literally only to disenchant them, it probably won’t make you purchase one over the other.

Another way to approach it would be looking at the Legendary and Epic cards they contain. For example, if you’re missing some of them and thought about crafting them, buying it here instead will save you a lot of Dust. For example – if you wanted to play Questline Hunter, but you were missing Questline itself and let’s say Barak Kodobane – it might be worth your purchase. If you don’t care about a given Legendary (e.g. you already own it), it’s only worth 400 Dust. But if you would otherwise craft it, its actual value goes up to 1600, and that’s a massive difference.

When you look at the Epics & Legends, keep in mind that some of them are from Deadmines mini-set (if you play to purchase the entire thing, you WILL get them, so they’re only as good as their Dust cost) and some of them are from last year, so they will rotate out pretty soon (in 5 months or so).

Overall, if you want to decide purely by the Dust value, Rogue is the way to go. But I don’t think that should be the only factor and you should take the cards you’re missing yourself into account too.

Which One Is The Best?

Now, this is probably the more important question if you want to actually play one of the decks instead of simply disenchanting most (or all) of it. Sadly, it’s also a more difficult one to answer, since the mini-set is releasing very soon and I obviously can’t predict how the meta will shape. I have to base it on the current meta and assume that the balance of power between those archetypes doesn’t change much. Which might actually be true, because it doesn’t look like the cards mini-set brings will have THAT much of an impact (we’ll see some shifts, of course, but perhaps not a general overhaul).

If we look at the current meta, Aggro Taunt Druid is most likely the strongest archetype in the game, no matter what rank you look at. And it makes this much easier, because if it’s the best deck in the game, it also has to be the best deck in this bunch. While this particular build sold is not the standard one (Cornelius Roame is very rare, but they had to fit something to pump the Dust value up, while Annoy-o-Tron seems to be a staple and it’s not preset here), it contains all the necessary cards to build one. We don’t yet know how Druid of the Reef will perform, but I honestly think it might be pretty good assuming it works with Oracle of Elune.

Then, the situation gets a bit more difficult. That’s because the other three archetypes are very, very comparable in terms of their power level. They’re all Tier 2 decks with very similar win rates – in the range of 50.5%-51%. If I had to pick the strongest one among the three, it would probably be Questline Hunter, but it all depends on the rank you’re on, what decks you’re used to playing and other factors like that. And even then, we’re talking about maybe 0.2% WR margin that might shift around when the meta changes after Deadmines. In other words – if you’re choosing between those three, looking at the power level won’t get you very far. With one exception…

The only notable thing is that while Hunter is basically a meta build (you can take it straight to the ladder), and Rogue is also very close (Scabbs Cutterbutter is played instead of Edwin, Defias Kingpin, but I honestly think that new Edwin might perform even better) – Paladin is not. Meta Handbuff Paladin is actually more expensive. It doesn’t run Mr. Smite, obviously (since the card isn’t out yet), but it does play Legendaries like Cariel Roame, Varian, King of Stormwind and sometimes Moonfang, which are NOT present in this build. It’s very possible that this cheaper build will not perform as well as a full meta build and you will still have to add extra Legenadries. If you won the ones I’ve mentioned before – that’s great, it’s not a problem. But if you don’t – it’s very likely that Paladin will be the weakest one from the bunch.

So ultimately, given all of that into account, if I had to rate them, I would put them in this order:

1. Druid (Swarming Squirrels)
2. Hunter (Dwarven Defense) OR Rogue (Agents of SI:7)
3. Paladin (Knights of Stormwind)

Conclusion – Are They Worth It?

If you want to decide purely on the Dust value, you should pick Rogue (Agents of SI:7). If you want to decide purely on the power level, you should probably pick Druid (Swarming Squirrels). Probably because we don’t know how exactly the post-Deadmines meta will shape up, but I can’t imagine that Aggro Druid will suddenly become bad. However, just like last time, ultimately the deciding factor would be what deck

But are they even worth it to begin with? Well, yeah, I do think that they are. If you bought some other pack bundle, $15 would get you 15 packs on average, and that’s 1500 Dust on average if you get rid of all of the cards. Normally those bundles would come with something extra, like a random Legendary card, so you have to add a bit more. Those decks are between 1.5k and 1.8k Dust, so the value is pretty much comparable, Battle-Ready decks might be a bit less valuable on average, but it’s not a big difference.

That said, there’s one big upside to them compared to packs – you know exactly what you’re getting. When you buy packs, they’re completely random, you might not get what you want or need at all. In this case, you can carefully analyze what cards you own, what do you want to play, and THEN pull the trigger – or not. That’s the biggest value behind battle-ready decks and the main reason to buy them. If you want to open let’s say Find the Imposter to play Questline Rogue, unless you get lucky, you might need to open hundreds of packs before you find it. Here you can just buy it straight up without any RNG.

Whether you think that’s fair or not is up to you. I think that knowing exactly what you’re getting for your money is great because it lets you make an informed decision. Nothing is down to luck, if you don’t want what’s offered and you don’t think it’s worth $15 – just don’t buy it. That’s much better compared to packs, where $15 might get you absolutely nothing or 3 Legendaries you wanted.