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Genn and Baku Are Back in Standard, But Are They Any Good Anymore?

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater are some of the most powerful Hearthstone cards in the history of the game. Originally released in 2018 as part of The Witchwood, Genn and Baku were so dominant that they were rotated out of Standard a year early, already in 2019. Now, they are back in Standard for a limited time, until July 23, and they are ready to establish dominance once more. Or are they?

Both cards continue to see play in the Wild format in decks like Even Shaman, Even Paladin, Odd Demon Hunter, and Odd Warrior. Genn has proven to be the steadier of the two, and Even Shaman has been a powerful deck in Wild for years. Baku’s fortunes have moved up and down more, but while Odd Warrior is not quite the armored powerhouse it used to be, Baku continues to find ways to stay at least somewhat relevant, for example, in the form of Odd Demon Hunter. Even if not great right now, those Odd decks still have potential.

However, Wild provides a lot more support for Genn and Baku than Standard. When you add either card to your deck, you are cutting your available card pool in half, only having access to even-cost cards with Genn and to odd-cost cards with Baku. The vast card pool in Wild can accommodate this easily, but the smaller card pool of Standard – and a mere four-set Standard at that this early in the year – can prove to be an obstacle. And an obstacle it has been! Neither card has been able to dominate the meta, although Genn has put in a valiant effort.

In this article, I will take a look at the best Genn and Baku decks in the current Standard format. There are some decks around that can give you a glimpse into their former glory, even if they are more successful in Wild than in Standard right now.

Even Warlock

The strongest Genn deck in the Standard format is Even Warlock. The deck is largely a Handlock with Dark Alley Pact and Endgame playing a key role in summoning and resurrecting big Demons on the board. There are the usual Mountain Giants and Molten Giants in the deck too, both for playing on the board and as fodder for Wing Welding.

The more recent versions of the deck make use of E.T.C., Band Manager to include some odd cards in the mix and circumvent the deck-building limitations imposed by Genn.

Something like this is the best-performing variant of Standard Even Warlock:

Standard Even Warlock

Deck Import

ETC: Domino Effect, Symphony of Sins, Sargeras, the Destroyer

Zilliax: Ticking Module + Perfect Module

Even Shaman

Even Shaman has been a Wild meta deck for years. It has not found its footing in Standard quite as well, but after a slow start, experimentation with the concept has started in Standard format too. Summoning cheap Totems to discount your Thing from Below and Sea Giant and act as targets for Backstage Bouncer has some strength, and the Totems themselves can also become a threat thanks to buffs from Zilliax and Flametongue Totem.

Even Totem Shaman – Legend (Jambre) – Whizbang’s Workshop Mini-Set

Deck Import

Zilliax: Ticking Module + Pylon Module

More Even Decks: Hero Power Druid, Hunter, and Rainbow Death Knight

Even Warlock and Even Shaman are the most promising Genn decks in the Standard format, and the only ones I would consider for climbing the ladder. However, there have also been some other attempts that look interesting and strong enough to hover close to the magic 50% win rate.

First, there’s Hero Power Druid. You are going to use your Hero Power as a Hero Power Druid anyway, so why not use a cheaper Hero Power while you’re at it? From its small sample size, the deck looks quite polarizing: the matchups it wins, like Death Knight, it wins big, but it also takes a real beating from the likes of Paladin and Rogue. That’s rarely a recipe for success, unless you happen to hit the perfect meta counter.

Standard Even Hero Power Druid

Deck Import

Zilliax: Ticking Module + Perfect Module

Second, there’s Even Hunter. This Secret Hunter list can effortlessly weave in some Hero Power shots to speed up the game. Like Even Warlock, it makes use of ETC to circumvent some of the dekc-building restrictions and still run Product 9 in an Even deck.

Even Hunter – Legend (FunkiMonki) – Whizbang’s Workshop Mini-Set

Deck Import

ETC: Bunch of Bananas, Kill Command, Product 9

Zilliax: Haywire Module + Power Module

Finally, there have been several attempts to build an Even Rainbow Death Knight. Many of Death Knight’s best cards are even-cost cards, so the class should not be sacrificing too much for that cheaper Hero Power. That said, the tradeoff just does not seem worth it: even though Even Death Knight is not bad, a regular list seems to be a bit better still.

Standard Even Rainbow Death Knight

Deck Import

ETC: Rustrot Viper, Foamrender, Yogg-Saron, Unleashed

Zilliax: Virus Module + Perfect Module

The Best of Baku: Odd Control Warrior

Whereas Genn has a couple of decks that can climb the ladder, at some pace, anyway, and a number of decks that may find a way to become relevant with some more tweaking, Baku looks weaker in Standard. Much like in Wild, the stronger Hero Power just does not bring the bang it used to several years ago, while the cheaper Hero Power brought by Genn remains relevant.

The only Baku deck that has reached a 50% win rate so far is Control Warrior, and it seems to be on a downward trend, so that 50% may be history already by the time this article is published. Control Warrior has some nice Odd tools with the Riff package and Odyn, Prime Designate, and it also likes more survivability. However, the Riff package is not the main meta way to build the deck, and the Odd variant is clearly weaker than the regular version.

Standard Odd Control Warrior

Deck Import

Zilliax: Twin Module + Perfect Module

Odd Highlander Decks

In addition to Control Warrior, most Odd decks are Highlander decks. Reno, Lone Ranger and Maruut Stonebinder are available for all Odd Highlander decks, Paladin can use Spirit of the Badlands, and Demon Hunter can grab Gunslinger Kurtrus. The Highlander plan just fits really well with Baku. At least in theory. In practice, you are giving up on a lot by first cutting your available card pool in half and then using only single copies of the remaining cards. Maybe too much. Still, if you want to play with Baku, these Highlander decks are a natural choice.

Odd Highlander Warrior is a bit of an odd choice to bring to the ladder because the regular Highlander Warrior is a fine deck. The Odd variant is simply weaker, and struggles to reach a 50% win rate.

Standard Odd Highlander Warrior

Deck Import

Zilliax: Twin Module + Perfect Module

Highlander Paladin is in a similar position to Highlander Warrior. The regular deck is already fine, and by turning it into an Odd deck, you are making it worse.

Standard Odd Highlander Paladin

Deck Import

Zilliax: Twin Module + Pylon Module

The most interesting Odd Highlander deck is Demon Hunter. Highlander Demon Hunter used to be a pseudo-Highlander deck as it ran duplicates of Window Shopper and Umpire's Grasp. This practice was ended by the change to recent Highlander synergy cards that required your deck to start without duplicates. Highlander Demon Hunter has not succeeded since. Therefore, it is intriguing that the Odd version performs better than the regular version. Highlander Demon Hunter may not be on its way back to the meta, but it is inching closer to a 50% win rate, and that development is thanks to Baku the Mooneater.

Standard Odd Highlander Demon Hunter

Deck Import

Zilliax: Haywire Module + Perfect Module

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!

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