It’s been over a month now since the release of Classic Mode and those of us interested in a trip down memory lane have already made the Legend climb under grueling, star bonus-less circumstances. I’ve returned from my trials with a set of observations that should help you pick out the best decks in the format.
Keep in mind that while Classic meta might seem settled because we’ve already been through it years ago, it’s not necessarily the case. We’re already seeing some deck preference differences and innovation. And there still might be a “unicorn” deck or two, waiting to be discovered. So while this Tier List is accurate for now – we’ll update it in case that happens.
Tier 1 – Best & Best to Play
These are the decks you should play if you want to win. Everything else begins with a sacrifice in percentages.
Combo Druid: 14 is Magic
Let’s get the controversial pick out of the way quickly, shall we? Most would put Miracle Rogue to the top spot, and it would be a perfectly serviceable choice, but it comes with so many caveats that it made me opt for the more straightforward deck in more ways than one to top this list. Don’t worry, we’ll discuss why in the very next section – but for now, let’s sing Druid’s praises.
Early mana cheat into consistent pressure, which you can then leverage into a two-card combo which adds up to half of your opponent’s health total – something you can do twice, by the way: it is a fairly easy deck to play effectively and you will auto-win many of your games based on the template above. It’s also more difficult to tech against it than it would be against Miracle Rogue as you have an easier time to shore up your anti-aggro matchups as Valeera does. Though the absolute best Hearthstone players could outperform it with Miracle Rogue, the mere mortals among us can wield Token Druid as a much more potent weapon. The combination of Force of Nature and Savage Roar is a heck of a thing.
I used a janky midrange build for my climb but the standard choice is the token-based variety, with a ramp-based version with larger minions a viable but slightly worse alternative to consider.
4,680
- 0Innervate2
- 2Wild Growth2
- 2Wrath2
- 3Savage Roar2
- 4Keeper of the Grove2
- 4Swipe2
- 5Druid of the Claw2
- 6Force of Nature2
- 7Ancient of Lore2
- 9Cenarius1
Miracle Rogue: The Best Deals Everywhere
Draw your whole deck and burst down your opponent with the usual Rogue stuff. This is the deck most would consider the best in the format, and as discussed above, if you’re gunning for Legend 1 (and actually capable of getting it), you can pick it as a more than serviceable alternative. The real divider is what you can get done in the games where you don’t draw Gadgetzan Auctioneer and have to pull off the miracle without your draw engine. Though it may seem like you always draw it alongside Conceal, it isn’t actually the case, and the deck is really rather susceptible to board-based aggression.
My winrate against Miracle Rogue was 62.5% (15 to 9) across my Legend climb using Druid and the presence of otherwise potentially iffy decks like Zoo or Face Hunter on the ladder will also make your life difficult as the Rogue player. It’s an interesting and very skill-testing deck to play, with a very high ceiling, but be prepared for a long and arduous learning phase should you want to master it.
- 0Backstab2
- 0Preparation2
- 0Shadowstep2
- 1Cold Blood2
- 1Conceal2
- 1Deadly Poison2
- 2Blade Flurry1
- 2Eviscerate2
- 2Sap1
- 2Shiv2
- 3Edwin VanCleef1
- 3Fan of Knives2
- 3SI:7 Agent2
Tier 2 – Strong & Steady
Each of these decks is rather potent with specific niches in the metagame to target which can be worth the sacrifice of not playing the best ones.
Zoolock: Never Stop Never Tapping
Warlock’s Life Tap is such a stupidly strong ability that it enabled two very separate competitive archetypes in the Classic days. Zoo came out better from the extensive data collection of the last month, and it’s easy to see why: tempo is king in this game, and a deck with a near-guaranteed perfect use of mana on the first three turns will almost always be on the front foot against its opposition.
Play cheap critters, buff them, take over the board, deal face damage, transition to Doomguards (preferably playing them with an empty hand), keep tapping to refill and push through any damage you may still need. Though you can and should hold the board, the double Soulfire/double Doomguard package offers a decent chunk of burn to play with, not to mention the occasional Leeroy Jenkins tech, which definitely isn’t mandatory.
Midrange Shaman: An Overlooked Gem?
Shaman’s strong Druid matchup and its corresponding relevance in the meta was one of the big surprises so far in the Classic metagame. The wide boards and the burst potential match up surprisingly well with Malfurion’s shenanigans and there’s enough to work with here to maintain a reasonable winrate against the other, traditionally worse matchups.
The Vicious Syndicate Report’s also mentioned a newfound sleeper in the form of Burn Shaman, but the suggested build’s susceptibility to losing the board (and therefore a wrist-slitting matchup experience against Zoo to follow) made it feel rather weak in my playtesting experience – however, a retooled and more aggressive Midrange build seemed quite effective, which I will also include below.
Face Hunter: To SMOrc or not to SMOrc?
Send everything to face and weave in as many Steady Shots as possible. You know the drill.
Alongside Shaman, the revised reputation of Face Hunter is the other big development of the early Classic meta, with the VS report particularly pooh-poohing the archetype. Nevertheless, it still can be found with a healthy winrate in the high legend bracket of the HSReplay data, and it does serve as a pocket pick against Miracle Rogues. It is certainly not the top of the pile but shouldn’t yet be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Control Warrior: ResidentSleeper
You know the drill. Armor up, remove stuff, eventually play Alexstrasza and Grommash Hellscream to close out the match. Yawn a lot in the meantime and try to be as efficient as possible. Enjoy the occasional freebie Freeze Mage win along the way.
Warrior’s struggles against the two top dogs in the meta (not to mention its struggles against the slower Shaman decks) makes it less relevant than expected, and though it is still a serviceable deck, you’ll be facing a lot of problematic matchups along the way should you choose to stick with it on your climb.
- 1Execute2
- 1Shield Slam2
- 1Whirlwind2
- 2Armorsmith2
- 2Cruel Taskmaster2
- 2Fiery War Axe2
- 2Slam2
- 3Shield Block2
- 4Kor’kron Elite2
- 5Brawl1
- 8Grommash Hellscream1
Aggro Rogue: A Nasty Surprise
Just the surprise of the mulligan phase can give you a big edge with this deck, especially against Druids, while also maintaining some of the potent removal tools against Zoolocks and Midrange Shamans. Don’t underestimate Aggro Rogue: the archetype can compete effectively against the top decks and you will find a few extra percentage points along the way as your opponents will almost always make errors against you in the mulligan expecting Miracle Rogue. Coldlight Oracles are a worthy consideration.
- 0Shadowstep2
- 1Cold Blood2
- 1Deadly Poison2
- 2Blade Flurry1
- 2Defias Ringleader1
- 2Eviscerate2
- 2Sap2
- 3Edwin VanCleef1
- 3SI:7 Agent2
- 5Assassin’s Blade1
Tier 3 – Love Affairs & Lost Causes
These decks may be fun and part of what you loved about Classic but they are not exactly the most efficient when it comes to climbing. They can still have an impact in the hands of experienced pilots though!
Handlock – Giant Threats and Tiny Problems
One of the most iconic decks of the Classic era, Handlock suffers from the same issues as Control Warrior does, posting poor matchup percentages against the best decks in the format. When even Druids, long lacking hard removal, can rely on a Big Game Hunter to deal with your first Giant or a Keeper of the Grove to shut down a Twilight Drake, not to mention the potential inclusion of The Black Knight, it’s tough to leverage the big minions you get for essentially skipping the first three turns.
- 0Soulfire2
- 1Mortal Coil2
- 1Power Overwhelming1
- 4Hellfire2
- 4Shadowflame2
- 6Siphon Soul2
- 9Lord Jaraxxus1
Shockadin – Holy Aggression
Alongside Aggro Rogue, this is the other janky aggro deck that turned out to be better than expected so far. Can you imagine that Divine Favor was seen as OP and was moved to the Hall of Fame eventually? Voracious Reader says hi. Equality still plays an important part in the strategy to ensure a clear board in crucial moments.
Midrange Hunter – Slow and Steady
Lifecoach’s greatest legacy beyond the rope, this deck opts for more mid-range threats in a form of Savannah Highmanes (as well as few other cards) instead of added burn tools in order to prolong the game and redraw with Starving Buzzard. It really isn’t that good nowadays. Really, if you want to kill your opponent quickly, just play Face Hunter. And if you want to prolong the game and get into Midrange territory, what does it offer that Ramp Druid doesn’t?
Control Paladin – Broken Hearts
It pains me to say this but when your deck only counters other low-tier opposition, it’s probably not as good as you’d like it to be. Control Paladin’s niche role is mostly in my heart and nowhere else on the ladder: again, if you want big threats and sustained pressure, Druid is what you’re looking for. Healing, unfortunately, has never been as effective in Hearthstone as control players would have liked.
Tempo Mage – Burn, Baby, Burn
This is a deck for mulligan wizards. Let’s be honest, it is really rather bad because of its inconsistency but it is almost impossible to stop if it does get off its dream start with Mana Wyrm. This is the only real way to get an advantage over something like Zoo, which may not be the best approach when you’re trying to choose a deck for the quick climb.
Aggro Warrior – Surprise SMOrc MKII
Once again, a deck masquerading as a slower archetype to gain some edge in the mulligan. It is cute, and you certainly have big weapons to work with, but you can only wield one at a time, and other classes pull off this trick in a much better fashion on account of their superior Hero Power for this kind of strategy.
Freeze Mage – It’s Cold Out Here
A cool deck with some utility against Miracle Rogues but with a piss-poor matchup against Druids, not to mention the legendary awfulness that is their Control Warrior encounter. It’s a unique deck with a playstyle you should definitely experience, and much like Miracle Rogue, it can be quite potent in an experienced player’s hand, but since I opted to focus on the floor rather than the ceiling of decks in this guide, Freeze Mage unfortunately belongs to the bottom tier.
- 1Ice Lance2
- 1Mirror Image1
- 2Frostbolt2
- 3Arcane Intellect2
- 3Frost Nova2
- 3Ice Barrier2
- 3Ice Block2
- 4Fireball2
- 6Blizzard2
- 7Archmage Antonidas1
- 7Flamestrike1
- 10Pyroblast1
Control Priest – Hero Power and Emote
In fact, Freeze Mage would be dead last in shocking fashion if not for the eternal whipping boy of Classic, Control Priest. Not enough threats and consistency, overly situational if potent removal, and just a bunch of Mind Blasts to finish off the game: it’s a great candidate for a challenge run but not much else. If Blizzard ever decides to balance Classic format, Priest will surely be the first class to get a buff.
Yellorambo
Luci Kelemen is an avid strategy gamer and writer who has been following Hearthstone ever since its inception. His content has previously appeared on HearthstonePlayers and Tempo/Storm's site.
Check out Yellorambo on Twitter!
First of all, thank you very much for this article, which allowed me to climb the classic legend rank.
Fortunately the Classic meta is not too volatile, so most of your advice still holds true.
my two cents for anyone who wants to climb to classic legend too:
1.) For the final push (from diamond 5 on) expect a lot of warlock zoo decks. This makes sense, because faster decks allow for more games.
2.) If you want to play warlock zoo yourself, play Elven Archer over Mortal Coil, because you need the body as a target for all your battlecries.
3.) Moreover, cut the Dark Iron Dwarves. You want to drop your hand to the board quickly, so you can play Doomguard and Soulfire without discarding. One Scarlet Crusader and one Ironbeak Owl will serve you much better in the Dwarf slots. Access to silence against a large taunt or Edwin can win you otherwise unwinnable games.
4.) I also replaced one Abusive Sergeant with an Amani Berserker. The 2/3 with Enrage trades well with all those 2/1 and 2/2 your opponents have, and also can be punishing against the pings from Knfe Juggler, Fan of Knives and Swipe. The Sergeant on the other hand is bad as a one drop and becomes weaker as the game goes on. Given the importance if a good opening it is definitely weaker than Leper Gnome.
5.) As for Druid, I found The Black Knight very servicable in the mirror match, while Big Game Hunter seems only important against Handlock (quite rare on the ladder) or maybe Edwin (Keeper o.t.G can handle this anyway).
6.) When playing Ramp Druid you do not always have Wild Growth and/or Innervate in your opening hand, so Harvest Golem seems a nice backup, especially against faster decks. And if you happen to have both in hand, you can still go Coin-Wild Growth into Harvest Golem on the draw or Innervate-Harvest Golem on the play. So Big Game Hunters and Sunwalker(s) go out for Harvest Golems and Black Knight.
7.) For the second Sunwalker in Ramp Druid I tried different cards (Sylvanas, Starfall, Abomination), but I still have not found the perfect card for the slot
8.) The Violet Teacher in token druid seems odd, as the deck only has 6 cheap spells (Innervate, Wrath, Power of the Wild). The cheaper creatures compared to Ramp Druid help a lot against faster decks, but Violet Teacher never really paid off for me.
9.) Miracle Rogue (+practice) seemed the best deck of the bunch, but given the frequency of zoo warlocks between Diamond 5 and 1, I cut the 2 Shiv for a second Blade Flurry (so good with Deadly Poison and/or spell Damage) and a Betrayal to make sure I get into the late game where I have the mana to pull off the namesake miracles
Has Al’Akir been removed from Classic? Can’t access him from classic deck builder.
This classic mode is some so boring… its like arena on some steroids
But only the Classic mode allows you to quickly and easily do daily and weekly tasks.
Thanks a lot for the classic metagame report <3
My favourite deecks are Control priest, Handlock and Aggro Rouge xD
*decks