The list is outdated! You can find the latest list of decks here!
Blizzard has just shared a list of new / returning players deck lists! If you’re a new player (or playing on a new account), you will get to choose one of those deck lists when you advance from “new player” ranks to the regular ranked system. Alternatively, if you haven’t played for at least four month before March 17 (so from around mid-November), you will also get to pick one. The decks will be given out starting with the upcoming patch, on March 26!
Those decks only contain Year of the Dragon and Basic/Classic cards. No Year of the Raven cards, because those will rotate out very soon. Whichever you pick, you get a full deck. All of the cards will be added to your collection permanently and you will be able to use them in other decks too.
While the choice is ultimately up to you, there are some clearly better and worse decks out there. If you’re looking for the strongest deck that will likely remain good next year, Galakrond’s Guile (Galakrond Rogue) is probably the way to go. Galakrond Rogue is a Tier 1 deck right now and it doesn’t really lose much. And what you get is basically a full, competitive build (it will probably change a little next expansion, but it should be easy to keep up). You also get Kronx Dragonhoof, an auto-include in Galakrond decks, which I would imagine will remain somewhat popular. It’s a build you can easily take to Legend if you’re good enough.
And when you’re looking purely at value – the best choice would be Reno’s Riches (Highlander Mage). Not only the deck looks pretty solid (not as good as Rogue), but it’s a great way to get into other Highlander decks too (and I imagine that they will see some play over the next year), since it gives you two strong Neutral Legends – Zephrys the Great and Dragonqueen Alexstrasza.
The worst choices are Paladin and Shaman. They are neither strong, nor contain multiple strong Legendaries (Shaman has Kronx, but that’s about it). I could see picking the other 5 (Druid, Hunter, Priest, Warlock or Warrior) if you really want to play a given class. They seem to be pretty viable – not too strong, but should be playable until Legend. That said, they wouldn’t be my first recommendations.
Anyway, here’s a full list of decks:
- Format: dragon
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- 1Arcane Breath1
- 1Learn Draconic1
- 1Ray of Frost1
- 2Ancient Mysteries1
- 2Frostbolt1
- 3Arcane Amplifier1
- 3Arcane Intellect1
- 3Conjurer’s Calling1
- 3Flame Ward1
- 3Frost Nova1
- 3Ice Barrier1
- 4Azure Explorer1
- 4Fireball1
- 4Polymorph1
- 6Blizzard1
- 6Dragoncaster1
- 6Reno the Relicologist1
- 7Flamestrike1
- 8Power of Creation1
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Hi, thanks for this article ????
Any advice on what would be the most efficient deck now that AoO is released ?
Thx
I quit playing when argent tournament came up, and now i have returned about few months ago. I didnt pay any real money, i have bought pakcs from uldum and dragons, galakrond adventure – all for gold, crafted cards i needed. Currently climbing on ladder to about rank 10, so im not the best player 😀 but i worked for every card i have. Blizz is doing good thing for players who are returning, like me, but after those few months i feel little annoyed, that new guys are getting for free stuff, that not so long ago i’ve struggled to get.
I think this is a little annoying and unfair… I understand that they want players and I see what they are doing but to give decks with Zephyrs, Dragonqueen, Kronx, and tirion is really annoying. All of those cards are cards I spent time crafting. I get it and why they are doing it, it just doesn’t seem fair.
get outta here dude, you know hard it is to get my friends to play Hearthstone PURELY because they don’t want to spend that time that you’re willing to spend crafting cards they might not even like?? This is only a positive, now you don’t have to fork over a minimum 62.99 CAD to maybe have a chance at putting together a semi-decent competitive deck as a new or returning player.
lmao imagine thinking this is annoying and unfair. This is objectively a bad opinion.
Lmao imagine thinking that someone who thinks this is unfair has an objectively bad opinion. If someone wants to play competitively, they should be willing to put in the effort to grind and craft. This is basically socialism, but at least Blizzard isn’t taking the dust of experienced players. The point is, it’s okay if they want to give free decks to new/returning players but they should offer it to every single player because it’s not a loss to them anyway. The pay to play people are probably going to continue to pay and nothing will change, except they will expand their customer base. And this way, if someone like Ozzey grinds their asses off to play competitively and right after successfully constructing their first deck, new players just get given almost the exact same deck like “Here, 90% of the work that these other guys did is done for you.” It wouldn’t cost Blizzard anything at all to give everyone these cards, which will still serve the purpose of getting more new players but also be fair.
Imagine starting a new game and wanting to have some sort of bonus just for playing it. If you want competetive decks just grind for them or invest. People always want charity.
I know that it’s a little unfair, but that’s how life works, I’m afraid. However, you should know that in the long term it’s positive thing for anyone. The more new / returning players they bring, the longer the game will stay relevant, which should be the priority for all players.
I also have a bunch of friends that I’d like to introduce to HS but never could, because they don’t want to spend a lot of money to get into the game. With a free deck, they can easily get to feel the game with a solid deck without having to spend anything at the start.
I think this is completely fair, and I have been playing this for 4 years and I will not be receiving any of the free decks, but I have friends that are excited to get back into it because then they wont be behind. It seems fair enough to me, we have had the time and resources to obtain all the free events packs and daily quests. and some of these more casual players don’t have the time or dust to craft say Tirion, Kronx, ect. like we do. Not only that but us older players will be getting free packs and more resources with Blizzards new ranked system they are making. I doubt half of these new or returning players will receive half the rewards from ranked that we will.
With all the free stuff they give to new/returning players, they won`t make many of them stay. Because at the end of the day, even with all that free stuff they will always be behind.
They will still be behind but, at least they aren’t as behind as they could have been, and yes some players will stop playing soon after but also there are people (I have friends) who just got the free deck and they are not going to stop playing anytime soon especially with the new year coming in, it will give them some what of a fresh start since 3 of the sets will rotate out and they a bit of cards from this xpac. I think it was smart move by blizzard to do this because I can say first hand that half of my friends will now be playing hearthstone and they won’t be stopping any time soon, in fact they play more then I do these days. lol
Yes, they will play in the start of the new year etc. But how about after that ? You think Blizzard will make a habit of giving stuff for free ? What will happen when they realize that they want to play other strong decks( and trust me, they will ), that they need to invest time/money in it ? What about them? Like i said many will quit. Just watch what your friends will do the next expansion. P.s i mean no hate :), i know that they need new players but i would like them to make something that will make those new players stay for a longer period of time, not just for some short period. Stay safe
I mean, Me and you are still playing so I think that’s enough proof, but I will keep an eye on my friends and see, but they understand the concept of the game, they know the free decks will only be good till April 7th when Ashe of Outlands comes out, then they will have to find something new and grind a bit, and they seem pretty ok with that.
I too don`t get why they invest so much into bringing new players that play the game for a couple of weeks, maybe months and then quit. I understand that they need “fresh meat”, but they should make sure to keep the veterans happy. They are imo those who pay Blizzard`s bills. But as Stonekeep said below “that’s how life works, I’m afraid.”
Question: Suppose you own an account which gets a free deck. If i have for instance the galakrond rogue without togwagggle and i choose to pick the galakrond rogue deck. Will i get only togwaggle?
You will get duplicates that you can disenchant.
No kalecgos, Siamat, Malyos and Amazing Reno in mage and no Flikk in rogue i guess they don’t want to give too many legendary for free.
as if decks worth 6k to 8k dust isn’t enough already -__-
Hey I was wondering how you receive the deck. I logged in to the America server which I know I havent played in a long time but didn’t get any notifications.
nevermind March 26th got it haha
Rogue might pick up some extra value whenever Edwin eventually gets hall of famed, too. Maybe play it for a while, then get 1600 free dust for it at some point
But yeah, either a Galakrond deck or highlander mage seem like the best choices, both give you key legendaries usable in several decks.
i had friends who stopped playing some years ago, they logged to play battleground a
and pick kael thas…. :/
When did they log in? If they logged in on March 17 or later, they will still get it.
I don’t get it, “added permanently” means they can also disenchant it? (I envy them)
Back to the basic. If anyone pick Highlander Mage Deck based on it’s “best value”, then, won’t they need to also stick to play Highlander type at all times? I really don’t think it’s the best choice, since there are other decks better than Highlander.
But if the sole purpose is to give abstain players a taste of Hearthstone nowadays, then it’s not a bad choice.
I stand corrected. The choice is not mine, and won’t be mine.
Best Value, yes. Highlander Mage.
Best Deck, Rogue.
The other is below average.
It means that you get the cards just as if you crafted them or opened them in your packs. You can play them in other decks and yes, you can disenchant them if you wish to.
I feel that Mage is the best value, because you get two competitive Neutral Legendaries – Zephrys and Dragonqueen. And while someone would have to focus on Highlander if he wanted to take advantage of those, those cards have seen play in non-Highlander builds too (especially Zephrys).
No Flik Skyshiv for Rogue deck?
Weird that they’d do this now and not after the huge rotation that’s gonna shift everything and at the very least, will see some of these cards leave these decks in favor of newer better cards. To say nothing of these decks not being viable at all. And you have to pick 1? Now? For a new player who probably doesn’t know anything (no disrespect)? How competitive will these remain come Apr 7?
I mean, they would never give someone a viable deck for every single class (because then pack sales would drop so much). So a new player would have to pick something anyway, no matter when it is. Casual players probably won’t care what’s best and will pick the class they want. And those who care a bit more will google it and e.g. find this post 🙂
And the most likely reason why they didn’t wait and build competitive Ashes of Outland decks is that because they don’t want them to be TOO competitive. I think that those are meant to be a “starter” deck for new / returning players, Blizzard still wants them to buy packs from new set and upgrade the deck with them 🙂 I would hope that they will update them to include Ashes of Outland cards closer to Expansion #2 to keep them relevant.
PICK MAGE= PROFIT
my bad i thought it would be the outrageously expensive highlander decks
I have a friend who logged in to check out battlegrounds in Nov/dec but hasn’t played since. Do we know if he can wait until he hits the 4 month mark to get the free deck or is it only for players who haven’t played since November no matter what?