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Best Hearthstone Decks – Standard Meta Tier List – The Great Dark Beyond (December 2024)

By: Stonekeep - - Updated:

Important note: We still have issues with deck codes. Instead of using “Copy Deck Code” button, use the code posted BELOW each deck!

Our Hearthstone meta tier list ranks the top decks for The Great Dark Beyond expansion. We always try to include one of the best deck lists for each archetype. However, if you’re looking for an alternative, we also link archetype pages so you can check out different versions.

If you win 5 games on the Hearthstone ladder, this is the card back you will receive this month (Season 129):

 

Meta Tier List Rankings

If you are curious what the absolute best decks are right now, here’s a list of them below. This list of deck rankings is based on various sources including Vicious Syndicate, HSreplay, as well as our own ladder experience. The provided decks are sample lists and aren’t always the only option when building for that particular archetype (for a full list of decks, click the link below description).

Tier 1 Decks

Aggro Shaman

Zilliax Deluxe 3000:

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Zarimi Priest

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AAECAa0GCubkBc/2BcmABsekBsOoBumoBrrOBtfSBovWBszhBgqi6APIxgWFjgbGnAbxnAaWoAbqqAbrqAbz4Qbc8wYAAQPzswbHpAb2swbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==

Pirate Aggro Demon Hunter

Zilliax Deluxe 3000:

AAECAea5AwaU1ASongbHpAbEuAbXuAb8wAYM6Z4G7p4G7Z8G/KgG17oG1sAG2MAG9sAGkMEG1cEGrcUG5OoGAAED87MGx6QG9rMGx6QG6N4Gx6QGAAA=

Fire Elemental Mage

AAECAf0EAsv+BcLqBg6x/gXf/gWKjwbUlQbxmwaYnQayngbTngbBnwbMogbb4wbt5gaZ6gbf6gYAAA==

Starship Aggro Demon Hunter

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AAECAea5Awbk5AXHpAbEuAb8wAaQwQbk6gYM6Z4G7p4G7Z8G17gG17oG1sAG9sAG1cEGrcUGo9wGnd0GweoGAAED87MGx6QG9rMGx6QG6N4Gx6QGAAA=

Beast Token Hunter

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AAECAR8E1/kFzp4Gx6QGus4GDZf2Bcj2BYWOBsuOBtKOBuelBvGlBvKlBv+lBpKmBozBBrThBoHmBgABA/OzBsekBvazBsekBujeBsekBgAA

Handbuff Paladin

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AAECAZ8FCObkBcj4BY3+BcekBtOpBtG/BubmBsn0BgvJoATLxAW4xQXYxgW5/gX4lQbOnAa0ngbQqQbRqQabywYAAQPyswbHpAb1swbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==

Jormungar Hunter

AAECAR8Ey44Gzp4GjsEG4uMGDamfBOOfBN/tBZn2BdL4BYu/Bs7ABvfJBrzhBr/hBtzjBq3rBuTrBgAA

Tier 2 Decks

Dungar Druid

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AAECAZICCJ/zBamVBvajBsekBoviBq3iBqrqBuntBguunwTb+gWaoAagoAbvqQbDugbVugbQygbzygad4wad6wYAAQP0swbHpAb3swbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==

Asteroid Shaman

AAECAaoICJegBObkBY31BZCDBuaeBqilBr2+BqrqBgvq5wOzjQaFjgacngaopwakwAaX4QaY4Qb44gbk6gaN+AYAAA==

Secret Hunter

Zilliax Deluxe 3000:

AAECAR8G458Ex6QG3LgGgeYGguYG5uYGDOjoBd/tBeryBeT1Bfz4BcuOBs6OBu2bBpCeBvGlBv2oBtfzBgABA/GzBsekBvKzBsekBujeBsekBgAA

Weapon Rogue

AAECAaIHAA+SnwT3nwTTsgXawwW/9wXJgAbIlAa9ngbungatpwbuqQa2tQazwQaM1gak4QYAAA==

Tempo Priest

AAECAa0GApnABtfSBg6i6APIxgWi6QWWoAbXugbOwAaMwQaQwQbVwQaL1gaO1gbz4Qai4wbk6gYAAA==

Pain Warlock

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AAECAf0GBvnGBaGSBoCeBsekBqTKBubmBgyEoATO5AXO+gXEngbQngajoAamqAacswaeuAbDuAbi5gbw5gYAAQPxswbHpAbyswbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==

Buttons Death Knight

AAECAfHhBAiT+wXWgAb/lwa/vgakwAaowAaWywa6zgYLtIAFgvgFhY4GkqAG/7oGx8kG/8kGkMsG2+UG3eUG5OoGAAA=

Libram Paladin

AAECAZ8FBo3+BdK5BtG/BojmBubmBqXoBgy4xQWFjga8jwaqlgbRqQbUuAbi3wbt3waS4Aac6Aaf6Aai6AYAAA==

Discover Hunter

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AAECAR8E1/kFx6QGp9MG4uMGDamfBN/tBeT1BZf2BdL4BcuOBpCeBsufBsK+Bs7ABpXiBq3rBtfzBgABA/OzBsekBvazBsekBujeBsekBgAA

Shaffar Rogue

AAECAaIHBMj7BZHmBqvqBsn0Bg2RnwT2nwT3nwTfwwW/9wXJgAbungbZogatpwbAqAa2tQaM1ga85QYAAA==

Wheel Warlock

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AAECAf0GCKzpBab7Bej/BYCeBsekBuqzBqrqBuntBgv0xgXI6wXX+gXxgAaEngb3owaVswaJtQacwQaTywbe5gYAAQP1swbHpAb3swbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==

Sonya Rogue

AAECAaIHBq3pBdOeBoqoBrOpBr2+BqfTBgyRnwT2nwT3nwTfwwW/9wXI+wXungbZogatpwaQtAa2tQbk6gYAAA==

Tier 3 Decks

Taunt Druid

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Rainbow Death Knight

E.T.C., Band Manager (Sideboard):

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Starship Hunter

AAECAR8G+IIGp9MG9t0G3+MG4uMGquoGDKmfBPDoBd/tBcufBsK+Bs7ABtDABovcBp/dBpXiBuHjBq3rBgAA

Reno Druid

E.T.C., Band Manager (Sideboard):

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AAECAZICHq6fBP3EBf3fBZ/zBdv6BYWOBqmVBruVBr+VBsGVBtecBticBtqcBpqgBqCgBqKgBsekBq+oBuqoBu+pBsO6BtK6BtW6BqS7Boa/BvPKBrrOBvflBvHmBqrqBgAAAQbRngb9xAXzygb9xAXp7Qb9xAX1swbHpAb3swbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==

Starship Rogue

AAECAaIHBoukBY6WBoqoBvbdBu3nBqrqBgz2nwT3nwTfwwXI+wXIlAbZogatpwaGvwaL3Aae3Aaa5gbk6gYAAA==

Odyn Taunt Warrior

E.T.C., Band Manager (Sideboard):

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AAECAQcI/cQFpfYF2IEGqZUGx6QG+skG9t0GquoGC47UBLT4BYuUBoegBuypBtW6BqS7BtDKBvPKBovcBrDiBgABBoigBP3EBazRBf3EBdGeBv3EBfSzBsekBvezBsekBujeBsekBgAA

Starship Death Knight

E.T.C., Band Manager (Sideboard):

Zilliax Deluxe 3000:

AAECAfHhBA6H9gT9xAXw6AX8+QWT+wXt/wWUlQaplQb/lwbHpAa9sQb23QbC6Aaq6gYIhY4Gu7EG/7oGkMsGi9wGpdwGnuIGoOIGAAEG+4AG/cQFqLgG/cQF6e0G/cQF9bMGx6QG97MGx6QG6N4Gx6QGAAA=

Mech Taunt Warrior

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Reno Priest

E.T.C., Band Manager (Sideboard):

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AAECAa0GHr6fBPCfBLvEBf3EBbvHBc/2Be33Bcz/BdWABqmVBsOcBuWcBqOdBtGeBpigBpqgBsekBq+oBtmwBsK2Boa/BpnABtDABpDBBtnBBtfSBovcBoXiBqrqBuHrBgAAAQaGmAb9xAXCtgb9xAX34Qb9xAX0swbHpAb3swbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==

Reno Warrior

E.T.C., Band Manager (Sideboard):

Zilliax Deluxe 3000:

AAECAQceiKAEiaAEjtQEkNQE/cQF8M0FtPgFkPsF2IEGhYIGkIMGi5QG95cGnJ4Gn54Gz54G0Z4Gh6AGx6QGr6gG7KkG0LAGw7oG1boGwr4Gjr8GusEG+skG88oGp9MGAAABBpbUBP3EBc+eBv3EBb2+Bv3EBfWzBsekBvezBsekBujeBsekBgAA

Stonekeep

A Hearthstone player and writer from Poland, Stonekeep has been in a love-hate relationship with Hearthstone since Closed Beta. Over that time, he has achieved many high Legend climbs and infinite Arena runs. He's the current admin of Hearthstone Top Decks.

Check out Stonekeep on Twitter!

Leave a Reply

681 Comments

  1. Nickus89
    February 17, 2020 at 11:02 AM

    And here I am smiling after warning about Embiggen druid’s power before it became popular and after getting mocked for saying that priest Galakrond is not bad at all 🙂
    There are at least 2 more strong decks waiting to be discovered by the community.

    • Gibilan
      February 17, 2020 at 11:14 AM

      Embig druid isn`t that powerful so calm yourself down. You brag about that on every article. And Galakrond priest? Wtf !? It runs 2 Galak cards, you barely can call that Galakrond priest. It`s just the same resurrect priest – the quest

      • Nickus89
        February 17, 2020 at 12:40 PM

        I don’t brag, I stated the obvious. You can’t deny it is true. Embiggen druid is still powerful, especially if it hits 2/3 main cards in the early game. As for Galakrond priest, it is ment Galakrond itself, the card. Not full invoke package needs to be played to make it work and that is exactly what I was saying. So far statictics say this version is performing better than quest version, so my statement so far is correct.

        • Gibilan
          February 17, 2020 at 1:00 PM

          You talk like in Embigg you get every game the holy grail of hands. That`s not the case. If you look on statistics it even dropped. Not talking about the popularity of the deck. So yeah i maintain my statement, it`s not that powerful. And about Galak priest it`s okish, nothing special. So tone down a notch “Nostradamus”.

          • Nickus89
            February 17, 2020 at 1:11 PM

            Perheaps you need to learn some english first and stop being offensive.
            Embiggen druid has it’s weaknesses, especially super fast, aggressive decks. No doubt about that. The fact still remains that despite those weaknesses and despite the meta teching against it, it still maintains solid winrate which just proves it’s strength. Is the strongest deck in the meta? No. But you can’t say it is not strong. And the same goes for resurrect priest, which was not even a discussion. Topic was priest Galakrond, not the deck or any archetype itself. Learn to read.

          • Gibilan
            February 17, 2020 at 1:29 PM

            Wow. Learn some english and learn to read. Nice one! I get now with whom i`m talking. Have a “gud” day SIR.

          • Nickus89
            February 17, 2020 at 1:46 PM

            The way you behave and the way you communicate without proper argumentation proves it all. You have been noting but offensive without even aknowledging what the discussion was all about. If you think you can call others names and they will silently stood by, you are wrong. It is obvious to me that you didn’t even read properly. Learn some manners, bye.

        • Trollguy119
          February 17, 2020 at 1:43 PM

          Nickus89, ur not exactly bragging but ur coming off as a bit of a know-it-all. Btw, what are the two other strong decks u think haven’t been discovered?

          • Nickus89
            February 17, 2020 at 1:57 PM

            That was far from a point which I tough was obvious with the inclusion of smiley. It should convey cinism, but apparently is not that obvious, so I apologise for a misunderstanding. I am far from knowing it all, but I will not allow being mocked at or being insulted so I will defend myself. I always try to provide an argument for my statements which in my opinion is crucial for any successful debate. Be it either constructive critic or agreement.

            As for the decks. One such deck is probably overload shaman. It was even mentioned as strong deck in report by Iksar a few days ago, but is not seen anywhere or recognized by the community. The rest I am not sure about. There are always some decks making appearance later in the expansion so it is quite natural that not everything is yet discovered.

          • WarKing
            February 17, 2020 at 2:13 PM

            You didn’t come off as a, know it all, but that’s just me; to me it seems like your are just letting others know you where right and that you where teasing the community a little, which the community needs to not explode every time someone points out the obvious. Also for the record I thought Imbiggen Druid was going to be a fail, but after a few games of getting pounded, I realized it was a good. “Opened minds grow faster then closed minds”

    • DangerousDuck
      February 18, 2020 at 7:21 AM

      What also is actually a strong deck is Highlander shaman

    • Finearel
      February 19, 2020 at 2:21 AM

      @Nickus89
      To be honest, after reading through your conversation with gibilan, I actually think you are the reason he rubbed you the wrong way. Whether your want to hear it or not, you come across as a typical know-it-all and smartass. I don’t know you in real life and I don’t know if you write like that only on hstopdecks/the Internet, but I can tell you it just makes you instantly dislikeable. Try to avoid the kind of sentences like „See, I was right after all“, „YOU can’t deny this“ „Learn English and learn to read“ (while making mistakes in the same sentence). These are not quoted, rather analogous examples.
      I apologize if you think I am just trying to provoke you, but I really just read through your exchange and could help but give my opinion on the topic.

      • Nickus89
        February 19, 2020 at 4:17 AM

        I appreciate and respect your constructed criticism. At the same time however, I don’t really see how any of the sentences would come out as “know-it-all”. If those sentences weren’t supported by the argument or a smiley (signalling cynical or sarcastic language), than I would agree with you. But giving an argument to any kind of statement sentences is how every constructed debate usually flows and how majority of professional scientific articles are usually written in. “Can’t be denied” is quite common phrase actually and talking about statistics and strengths of particular decks falls into this category. Sure, some sentences and words might be expressed better, but the message would remain the same.

        The part about learning to read was more about reading comprehension since I clearly stated that neither of the decks are top tier or that I was talking about Galakrond card, not the deck archetype, but the responses were aggressively oriented towards the exact opposite. I know I make grammar mistakes (English is not my native language after all), but I try to improve myself. At the same time I also understand that English is not the native language for many other users of the site or even people on the internet in general, so I will never criticise anyone in that regard.

        What I learned tough is that apparently cynical and sarcastic language is too hard to understand for majority, especially online, and thus should probably be avoided. I never said anything similar to “see, I was right after all” in a serious tone, yet that is exactly what was somehow understood.

    • Finearel
      February 19, 2020 at 2:21 AM

      @Nickus89
      To be honest, after reading through your conversation with gibilan, I actually think you are the reason he rubbed you the wrong way. Whether your want to hear it or not, you come across as a typical know-it-all and smartass. I don’t know you in real life and I don’t know if you write like that only on hstopdecks/the Internet, but I can tell you it just makes you instantly dislikeable. Try to avoid the kind of sentences like „See, I was right after all“, „YOU can’t deny this“ „Learn English and learn to read“ (while making mistakes in the same sentence). These are not quoted, rather analogous examples.
      I apologize if you think I am just trying to provoke you, but I really just read through your exchange and could help but give my opinion on the topic.

  2. WarKing
    February 9, 2020 at 10:20 AM

    I have a question, are all tier one decks equally strong or is it strongest deck on top then gets weaker as it goes down?

  3. WarKing
    February 9, 2020 at 10:10 AM

    I feel like zoo Warlock should be a tier one deck right now, I win 77.7% of my matches with it.

    • FantomZ
      February 12, 2020 at 5:36 AM

      Whats your rank? Im getting %50-55 WR at rank 5. This deck is going to T3

      • WarKing
        February 12, 2020 at 5:14 PM

        OH i’m not that far down the ladder i’m only tier 12. you think Zoolock is a Tier 3 deck?

        • FantomZ
          February 13, 2020 at 5:09 AM

          Yes i think it is T3. This meta has much better decks like Embiggen Druid,Highlander Rogue etc.

          • WarKing
            February 13, 2020 at 9:44 AM

            True, but its still use full enough to get to rank 10 but farther then that.

          • FantomZ
            February 13, 2020 at 10:24 AM

            You can even climb to Legend if you play so good and a lot. But other decks will be easier.

          • WarKing
            February 13, 2020 at 7:13 PM

            I did try to go farther but I Don’t think Zoolock can make it past rank 9. but I would recommend this deck to get at least to rank 15.

          • FantomZ
            February 16, 2020 at 2:08 AM

            Oo i thought you are talking about Galakrond Zoolock xD.

    • Myqj
      February 14, 2020 at 10:50 AM

      I’ve been beating up zoolocks with a dragon hunter build and that isn’t even on the tier list lol.

  4. Slider313
    February 6, 2020 at 1:20 PM

    this article is garbage, I played galakrond rogue, galakrond warrior and highlander hunter and lost with all 3 in a row…..you might want to rethink the name of this site

    • Slider313
      February 6, 2020 at 1:56 PM

      treant token went 1 and 1

      • FoxyDonkey
        February 8, 2020 at 9:37 AM

        “I played with these decks and did poorly so there must be something wrong with the decks, they suck!”

        Yeah. Okay. Let’s go with that.

      • BFury
        February 9, 2020 at 11:06 AM

        I didn’t like the rogue deck either, the meta is changing around it i feel. i’m playing a different deck that i uploaded on my profile and i’m winning a ton.

      • Bastthekittygod
        February 13, 2020 at 5:59 AM

        Wow, played two games. You really must know the ins and outs of the deck, retard. I’m currently 32 wins out
        It of 41 sample games. You must be bad.

    • BlightDL
      February 11, 2020 at 2:53 PM

      The issue isnt the decks its probably you slider lets be real.

  5. FantomZ
    January 22, 2020 at 12:15 PM

    Hey stonekeep, according to you which deck should i craft? Highlander Rogue or Highlander Mage?

  6. Kraftwerks
    January 17, 2020 at 10:56 AM

    Why is Druid and Nozdormu bugged? Its so frustrating Blizzard can’t fixed this.

    Every time its drawn as a part of the Ysera crap, you lose your turn and you lose. Its such crap.

  7. FantomZ
    January 16, 2020 at 2:54 AM

    Hey stonekeep do you recommend me the Dragon Druid? Is it good way to craft a deck? wanna know somethings about this deck.

    • OldManSanns
      January 16, 2020 at 10:32 AM

      Dragon Druid is a very fun deck to play, but its EXTREMELY non-competitive in the current meta. It has a ~45% win rate on HsReplay right now, and generally loses to all of the archetypes mentioned above except Face Hunter.

      Honestly, though: you should hold off on crafting anything for another couple weeks. This new expansion will be out then, and it has the potential to drastically change the meta.

      • FantomZ
        January 16, 2020 at 8:30 PM

        Understood. I am looking for a deck that i can play it really long time. Like highlander hunter and zoo warlock but i have these decks. So i wanna make a deck that never gets old. Can you tell me a deck about this? Thx.

        • OldManSanns
          January 17, 2020 at 10:02 AM

          By “never gets old”, I assume you mean something that I expect to be successful on ladder for several months (as opposed to a meme-y deck that is entertaining to play but not necessarily competitive). With that assumption: I’d give a good look at either the Galakrond Rogue or Highlander Rogue decks. Both are like your Highlander Hunter: they rely on a bunch of strong cards rather than any specific strategy, so there’s a lot of room adaptability. Both are also extremely rotation-proof.

          Runners up would be Face Hunter and Handlock. I don’t think they’re as strong as the latter, but they are pretty good and fairly rotation-proof and you might like them more because both will play a lot different than your other 2 decks, whereas the Rogue decks might seem to your Highlander Hunter.

          • FantomZ
            January 17, 2020 at 9:17 PM

            Thank you so much for your answer. I was thinking about highlander rogue and you replied me. I decided to craft it so thank you.

  8. Beerdserkr
    January 14, 2020 at 3:37 PM

    I’m finding the slower control variant of Galkarond warrior far stronger than the aggro, at least in my meta.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      January 14, 2020 at 11:48 PM

      Yeah, both versions are viable, and it mostly depends on the decks you face. According to HSReplay stats, faster version has higher win rate on average (at least at R10-Legend, those are the ranks I’m usually pulling stats for – it still has a big sample size, but it ignores the lower ranks where people play decks least optimally) and that’s why I’ve decided to feature that one.

  9. Axeliloadi
    January 14, 2020 at 12:40 AM

    Updated January 2020* 🙂

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      January 14, 2020 at 3:30 AM

      Yep, thanks. Didn’t manage to invent a time machine… yet 🙂

  10. 808mafiabruh
    December 29, 2019 at 11:53 PM

    In what world is Highlander hunter tier one bruh lmfao?

  11. Shandar
    December 29, 2019 at 6:47 PM

    Where are there constantly decks that aren’t playable in standard on this list? There have been a few after the expansion released, and now Galak Zoo lock is the same. When I make the deck and try to play, it says you can’t play it in standard. Am I missing something?

  12. Chattman69
    December 20, 2019 at 8:51 PM

    Any thoughts on Galakrond Leeroy Jenkins Priest reborn deck ?

  13. FantomZ
    December 18, 2019 at 10:54 AM

    When this list will be updated?

  14. Chattman69
    December 17, 2019 at 4:57 PM

    The deck that can beat quest shaman should top it at tier one and it’s the dragon Galakrond with a discovery cards twist.

    • Bastthekittygod
      February 13, 2020 at 6:16 AM

      Quest shaman isn’t all that strong anymore considering galakrond shaman. It’s too slow. Toxic hunter, tree Druid, pirates, any aggro deck really destroys the deck along with most quest decks with the exception of quest Druid. That’s broke

  15. Chattman69
    December 17, 2019 at 4:53 PM

    Why is this list inadequate. Your tier one deck is missing quest. It’s the unbeatable deck. Do you work for blizzard posting this garbage. You calm yourself a legend. More like a copy cat.

    • Chattman69
      December 17, 2019 at 4:55 PM

      Be a real man and respond and not delete this post.

    • Wonka472
      December 18, 2019 at 6:01 AM

      Galakrond shaman isnt unbeatable!!
      Even with quest it’s winnable.
      I play Malyhandlock on rank5 and got 100% winrate against shaman.

  16. FantomZ
    December 15, 2019 at 9:06 PM

    Stonekeep what about quest galakrond shaman?
    Which one is better also?

  17. Warpig
    December 15, 2019 at 7:42 PM

    Why is Zephrys in Holy Wrath Paladin? It isn’t a Highlander deck. Am I missing something on this?

    • FantomZ
      December 15, 2019 at 9:05 PM

      You can still use it at the late game. When your deck has no dup.

      • Warpig
        December 15, 2019 at 9:58 PM

        Well I’ll be… I just assumed it meant no duplicates from the start. Thanks much for the info!

  18. Tyrande1997
    December 13, 2019 at 7:13 AM

    sorry maybe is obvious but I can’t see it, how do u play Luna’s Pocket on turn 5?

  19. TheTekin
    December 13, 2019 at 4:43 AM

    so, these galakronds will be here for 2 years, right? am I the only one who thinks they are so much powerful? KoFT had hero cards but they were acceptable and “beatable” if you play right. once my opponent becomes galakrond, it’s really hard to beat it with non-galakrond tribes such as hunter.
    I was rank 20 when uldum starts, and I was 9 when galakronds arrive. now, stuck on bottom of 10, thanks to the milestone. I am not sure if it’s even possible to pass 5 now as a f2p player.

    • HuntingFor90
      December 13, 2019 at 9:11 AM

      Play wild then, I’m free to play and I’ve never ended a season below rank 5 in wild. Your cards go a lot farther in wild since there are less new impactful cards each expansion. Once you have the core wild cards created for decks you like you will use them for much longer than in standard

      • Spidermannerdlikeme
        December 13, 2019 at 12:10 PM

        It’s annoying also because this meta is gonna last for a long time as this will rely on invoke which is prob this expansion, I’m also really mad because all explorer classes besides mage (which would be shaman) are all my favorite classes

      • Spidermannerdlikeme
        December 13, 2019 at 12:11 PM

        Well in wild it’s hard to play slower decks because you usually die before turn 5 or 6

    • Spidermannerdlikeme
      December 13, 2019 at 12:10 PM

      It’s annoying also because this meta is gonna last for a long time as this will rely on invoke which is prob this expansion, I’m also really mad because all explorer classes besides mage (which would be shaman) are all my favorite classes

  20. Maximum
    December 13, 2019 at 12:59 AM

    What about mech hunter, dragon hunter and murloc shaman???

  21. AlmondMilk
    December 12, 2019 at 5:01 PM

    Heartstone got your back when shamen been S+ tier for 3 metal and seems to be unstoppable.

  22. Rolioli
    December 12, 2019 at 3:48 PM

    What is the wisp in the death rattle rogue for

  23. Jimmmeh
    December 12, 2019 at 1:56 PM

    This new Highlander Hunter doesn’t feel like tier 1 tbh – more like solid tier 2. Seem to need a very good curve and my opponent a poor draw to win with it. Still trying to work out when is the best time to trade and when to go face.

  24. OldManSanns
    December 12, 2019 at 11:15 AM

    48 hours into the expansion, and I’m already sick of Galakrond Shaman. The early winrate stats are just obscene!! I understand that its still early, meta has yet to stabilize, etc etc, but come on. Of the top 5 deck archetypes on HsReplay right now, 3 are Galakrond Shaman. and the other 2 have mid-30s win rates against Galakrond Shaman meaning they’re likely to be forced out soon. And since its value is in rush minions and battlecries and (not counting those disgusting double 5/6 taunts for 5 mana), there’s not really any viable tech strategies or counter play possible. It all makes me want to just sit out until there’s a balance patch.

    /rant.

  25. WarKing
    December 11, 2019 at 1:10 PM

    When will this be updated?

  26. FantomZ
    December 8, 2019 at 3:47 AM

    Can i ask something?
    Stonekeep will Evolve nzoth and swashburglar be removed? And when?

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      December 12, 2019 at 8:27 AM

      Hey, sorry for not replying, I didn’t look at the comments here earlier. Yes, the cards have already rotated out, but we didn’t want to update the meta tier list for 5 days between Wild cards rotation and a new expansion. We just made an early update.

      • FantomZ
        December 12, 2019 at 9:09 AM

        Thanks for replying. Also what about cthun rogue? Is it nice deck now? What do u think

        • Stonekeep - Site Admin
          December 12, 2019 at 11:23 AM

          Are you talking about Wild? Because C’Thun is not a card available in Standard, and this is a Standard Tier List.

          I’m not really familiar with how Wild meta looks like or which decks are strong there, but I haven’t heard anything about C’Thun Rogue being strong.

          • FantomZ
            December 12, 2019 at 11:39 AM

            I was meaning about wild. Also can you add the invoke mechanics into deck builder? Thanks.

  27. FantomZ
    December 4, 2019 at 5:33 AM

    Stonekeep, sir,
    I think Secrey Mage and HandBuff Paladin are really nice decks rn. Also tempo mage has rly low win rate.

  28. FantomZ
    November 30, 2019 at 4:49 AM

    Hello, what do you think about
    Mill rogue
    Mogu rogue and
    Choose one druid? Which one is funniest and better for ladder.

  29. FantomZ
    November 19, 2019 at 8:49 AM

    Stonekeep, i want to make a deck to play it for long time. Can you please tell me a deck that will always be funny and good for ladders? I want to use it for a long time. Please help.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      November 19, 2019 at 8:58 AM

      I’m afraid that there is no way to tell what deck will be good in long term. Right now we don’t even know what decks will be good after next expansion launches, let alone next year after Standard rotation.

      Some decks like Zoo Warlock, Midrange Hunter, Control Warrior, Tempo Rogue etc. seem to be most consistent – they have been good in many metas in the past, and there’s a solid chance that they will still be viable in the future. However, they way they’re played changes. They do share some key cards (e.g. Tempo Rogue always plays Backstab, Eviscerate, Sap, Edwin etc.), but builds and strategies change from expansion to expansion.

      And one more thing – everyone finds different decks fun, so I can’t really give you a “fun” deck – something that’s fun for me might not be fun for you 🙂

      • FantomZ
        November 19, 2019 at 9:04 AM

        Yes i understood. According to you, should i make nzoth warlock or choose one druid?

  30. DrkPndm0nioum
    October 24, 2019 at 9:53 PM

    Pls help, I crafted the wrong deck..
    If I would have known about the second shaman, my dude would still have Vessina and a good playable evolve shaman..
    This is really frustrating, because at one side you want to have one of the best decks that is also cheap enough.
    But at the other hand you may lose many value for crafting it. ????‍♂️
    How long is this evolve deck going around actually?
    Could it be a few weeks now or just a couple days?
    Also is there a way to prevent getting rekt in this scenario?
    (If I knew that, I would’ve kept Vessina and crafting all the Low-Roll cards xD
    And also the Sea Giants there would’ve been just 800 dust not 48???????? in legendarys..
    But the positive thing is.. in one month it’s still playable for good mostly, if thez don’t nerf mogul with eight mana cost xP )
    This is really awfull don’t getting that washed away ????‍♂️

    • DrkPndm0nioum
      October 24, 2019 at 9:55 PM

      Facepalm*
      4800 Dust*
      Thumb down*

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      October 25, 2019 at 5:25 AM

      Wild cards will be around until the next expansion. That said, I would hold onto crafting too many expensive cards that are played in new decks. For example, investing a lot in N’Zoth deck is not very wise, because N’Zoth will 100% be gone very soon.

      But sorry, I don’t really understand what are you asking about besides that. Did you craft a wrong deck or something?

  31. Raymoney
    October 22, 2019 at 2:19 PM

    Maybe the Meta is stale… The games themselves are not.

    Who could have guessed at the start of the year that Highlander decks and versatility would make such a comeback…

    And still one set to go!

    Cheers!

  32. Raymoney
    October 22, 2019 at 2:15 PM

    Evolve Shaman beats Quest Evolve Shaman by far… In a one on one.

  33. Nephilim99
    October 14, 2019 at 12:16 AM

    “you can Maly + Innervate + Swipe for 21 face damage ”

    Am I missing something? Maly/Swipe will do 9 face damage

    • OldManSanns
      October 14, 2019 at 4:28 PM

      >>“you can Maly + Innervate + Swipe for 21 face damage ”

      I think he’s assuming you also have 2 moonfires in hand. (4+5) + (1+5) + (1+5) = 9+6+6 = 21. If you’re playing Malygos Druid, most games you are trying to hold Maly in-hand and bide your time until you can OTK your opponent, which is usually some combination of 2 moonfires, 1-2 swipe(s), and sometimes a faceless to duplicate your Maly.

  34. Maximum
    October 13, 2019 at 8:03 PM

    What about tempo warrior, murloc Paladin and mech Hunter???

    • OldManSanns
      October 14, 2019 at 4:43 PM

      By the raw numbers, it doesn’t look like tempo warrior and mech hunter are as successful–which surprises me, because my Bomb Hunter is just chewing up most of these greedy N’Zoth decks to the point where I feel guilty playing it. Murloc Paladin is the exception–looks like it should place around Rez Priest and Highlander Paladin in turns of competitiveness. Perhaps an intentional omission given there were already 2–frankly more interesting–Paladin decks listed?

  35. Nickus89
    October 12, 2019 at 1:49 AM

    Agree with everything, except for Druid not having answer to N’Zoth. An addition of baleful banker allows you to go infinite with Elise, Kun, Zephrys and an extra card of your choice. So far, I haven’t lost a single game against N’Zoth builds.
    Also, midrange N’Zoth warlock shows some promise as well, I would either add it or replace control warrior that seems to be struggling.

    A correction note: Kun gives 10 armor, not 7.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      October 12, 2019 at 5:20 AM

      Apologizes about the Armor error – fixing it now (I just got the 7/7/7 number stuck in my head :D).

      As for the Baleful Banker – right now, Banker decks report lower win rate than regular builds. According to stats we have so far, I don’t believe that adding Banker to your deck is beneficial. You can still get N’Zothed before you can, and it’s not a great card to have in other matchups (especially getting it in your early hand, where you REALLY want stuff to come back after skipping the first 4-5 turns). But of course, we just have stats from the first few days, things can change when we get more. Maybe it’s just that people don’t know how to play the Banker builds correctly yet.

      And then, when talking about the answers I meant AoE board wipes like Brawl, Plague of Wrath, Plauge of Death, Equality + Pyro, Twisting Nether etc. I could have made it more clear.

      But thanks for your input, I’ve added a mention of Baleful Banker in the deck’s description and I’ll be looking at the deck closely when updating the tier list after meta stabilizes.

      • Nickus89
        October 12, 2019 at 5:40 AM

        I find it really surprising myself that Baleful Banker versions report lower stats (I did see the statistics, so I believe you :)) . I mean, it is just one tech card (two if you add in Emperor Thaurissan as well). Since the only difference to original deck is replacement of either Worthy Expedition or King Phaoris and Cenarius with obove mentioned cards, one could deduce that would only improve specific matchups. Especially since Worthy Expedition isn’t exactly shining. One explanation might be that players are going for infinite Kun no mather what, when in reality, in certain matchups the deck should be played as original quest druid.

        As for the answers, isn’t Zephrys just that? Especially if you go infinite. However, my preferred strategy that has been working marvelously when it comes to N’Zoth boards in particular is to counter their board with my own Kun, Elise, Baleful, Hidden Oasis boards (discounted by Emperor) . Since you gain 10 armor, heal for 12 and put a 6/6 taunt on the board every turn, they can’t just kill you.

        • Stonekeep - Site Admin
          October 12, 2019 at 5:55 AM

          I can’t say that I have enough experience in the matchup (haven’t played the Baleful version of Quest Druid yet) to judge. Maybe the version is great against N’Zoth builds after all, and better overall, but people just haven’t learned how to play it correctly yet – it happens! I’ll definitely test it out soon – there’s just so much to play now that I didn’t get opportunity to playtest everything yet (given that between the event and Blizzard/Blitzchung drama, there was a lot happening this week).

          Early tier lists are tricky to make, because I have to base them on my limited experience and limited stats available. So I often end up placing decks or writing their descriptions based on “gut feeling” more than extensive experience. But I don’t really know a better way to do it 🙂 When I update it ~two weeks later, I usually have enough stats to work with that I’m more confident in the list. I can’t leave it hanging for that long, though.

          And yes, Zephrys is an answer! But it’s a hit or miss one, because it might not be active yet at the time your opponent drops N’Zoth. Sometimes you get those perfect games with 2x Nourish, lots of cycle etc. and then Zephrys is active early, but other times it’s not until way past your opponent’s Turn 10.

          P.S. Could you link me the build you’ve been playing?

          • Nickus89
            October 12, 2019 at 6:04 AM

            I completely understand. There is so much going on at the moment and it would be surprising if you could playtest everything. I have to admit, there are plenty of decks on this list I haven’t tried myself. After all, the wild cards are out for less than a week and the meta is still developing. There might even be a new deck or two in few weeks when people playtest everything.

            As for the list, I just replaced Worthy expeditions with one Baleful and Emperor Thaurissan. The rest is the same.

  36. Fystiki2
    September 4, 2019 at 1:53 AM

    Erm sorry, but how the hell is combo Priest tier 1? Name me one meta deck that this is favored against. Quest Shaman will wipe the floor with you, control Warrioelr needs EXTREMELY bad luck to lose against you, pretty much any hunter deck breaks no sweat beating you… The deck seems too dependant on drawing the Legendary on curve and on all the games I have played, this has NEVER happened! Maybe it’s my bad luck, but all meta decks I have come across were able to handle my early aggression without breaking a sweat, perhaps the meta has shifted because silences are all over the place and even quest shamans run Hex, at least around rank 10 in the EU ladder. Murloc Paladin seems a lot better for aggro players. Also, for all the hype this deck is getting, it seems that Noone is playing. All priests I come across are quest decks. Sorry, but even plain Ole token Druid is better than this deck. Don’t waste your dust and time.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      September 4, 2019 at 5:56 AM

      Name me one meta deck that this is favored against.

      Stats for Combo Priest, from last 7 days, Rank 10-Legend: https://i.imgur.com/oMFgPF6.png

      Also, for all the hype this deck is getting, it seems that Noone is playing. All priests I come across are quest decks.

      https://i.imgur.com/HwMobgB.png

      at least around rank 10 in the EU ladder

      Maybe that’s the answer to your question. The deck is more difficult to play than it might seem. And I didn’t build this tier list around Rank 10.

      • Fystiki2
        September 4, 2019 at 8:34 AM

        It’s not that it’s difficult to play. I can see how this can win against slow decks, but in the rank 10 range which is full of Highlander Hunters and Quest Shamans, this deck doesn’t stand a chance. I did get a fairly big win streak with it, but it turned into an even bigger loss streak soon after. It all seems to depend on getting Amet on curve and popping off after that, but like I said in my original post, he just gets silenced or Hexed. If you wait in this kind of meta to play a combo round for draw etc, you’ll be dead before you know it. Anyways, that’s my experience. I have seen people play this deck with EXTEMELY good draws and get wins in higher ranks, but around rank 10, it is trash. The data that you provided in your first link confirms it since all the decks that Combo Priest has a below 50% win rate, seem to be the ONLY ones played at this rank. Just a suggestion though, perhaps you should opne this kind of posts with a disclaimer anouncing the rank range that the data comes from (I take it it’s five to Legend?) and that the data – meta in other ranges can be completely different. Maybe it’s an EU thing, but those red decks are the ONLY ones that I see played. Usually I get like two or three Shamans in a row, followed by a control Warrior and then a few hunters, Wash, rinse and repeat ad nauseam. Thanks for the reply and the data. Sorry about the tone, I wasn’t doubting your research. Keep up the good work!

        • Stonekeep - Site Admin
          September 4, 2019 at 9:28 AM

          Yes, the deck’s basic game plan is simple, but there are a lot of decisions which can lead to losing or winning the game. Trust me, it’s really more nuanced than it seems a lot of time.

          The stats I’ve shown have Quest Shaman as a good matchup (63%). Maybe if you face builds that tech against Combo Priest than it’s a different story, but I’ve never seen a Quest Shaman with Hex (Earth Shocks are also rather uncommon, but I see them from time to time). You’re right that Hunters are Priest’s worst matchup and they are more common in around Rank 10. But besides Hunters, Warriors are the only bad matchup for the deck, and I wouldn’t even call it terrible – ~45/55 matchup is far from unwinnable. Stats indicate that Combo Priest is a Tier 1 deck no matter what rank you play it at, and it includes Ranks around 10. Sorry to hear that your personal experience with the deck wasn’t that great, but you might take a 60% win rate deck and then go on a 10 games losing streak with it. That’s Hearthstone for you.

          I usually use stats from R10 to Legend, because I feel like those ranks are good enough to produce meaningful data (unlike R20, let’s say), but they apply to a bigger part of the readers than just R5-Legend or Legend alone. But on top of stats, I base those on my own experience (usually in R4-Legend), as well as reading thoughts of pro players / streamers and talking with some (and they basically play exclusively in Legend). I can note that in the post.

  37. MJT3ll3r
    September 3, 2019 at 3:15 PM

    Great write up as always. Personally Iam not convinced of quest druid though. Iwin against it most of the time and I don’t really enjoy piloting it myself. It is decent and popular, but I wouldn’t call it the best right now.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      September 4, 2019 at 6:01 AM

      I think it’s a great deck, might not be #1 right now, but it was really hard to tell so early after the nerf patch. I’ll update the list once again ~2 weeks or so from now when the meta is figured out 🙂

  38. Medo
    September 3, 2019 at 6:00 AM

    Really nice post stonekeep keep it up. One question tho, do you think quest malygos Druid is better than just the normal quest?

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      September 3, 2019 at 1:45 PM

      Definitely not – regular version is much better than Malygos build! Malygos one is more fun in my opinion, but that’s another story :p

  39. Maximum
    September 2, 2019 at 11:11 PM

    What about highlander zoo since that deck seems to be pretty good at the moment, or is it to new

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      September 3, 2019 at 4:01 AM

      I didn’t think about it as a different archetype, just a subset of Zoo Warlock. It has the same playstyle, shares basically the same card pool etc. But in general, it reports lower win rates than normal Zoo. We’ll see, I’ll consider making it a separate entity with the next update (if it will be good enough, that is).

  40. Beerdserkr
    September 2, 2019 at 9:11 AM

    This is your personal tier list? It’s a bit different than the statistics show on hearthstone replay.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      September 2, 2019 at 11:44 AM

      Yes, and no. I base it the stats, but I also consider my experience (as well as experience of pro players / streamers). HSReplay is not the best source for a tier list. They just average win rates of every single deck from a given archetype, which is definitely not the best way to rate its power.

      Don’t get me wrong, I use HSReplay all the time, and for individual deck stats they’re the best. But for entire archetype stats, not so much. Pure stats aren’t always best when they aren’t curated.

      I’m not saying that this is perfect, but I think that it should be closer than HSReplay. The closest one would probably be Vicious Syndicate, though, because they have a team of experts on top of stats.

      • Beerdserkr
        September 2, 2019 at 1:50 PM

        Right on, makes sense! I frequent vicious syndicate as well. I think all sites are really sleeping on Highlander Warrior, I suck at the game and I am doing really well with it with thd limited time input into the game, I made rank 8 last month and I am already rank 10 I have full confidence that if I played every day this month for a couple hours I could make legend this month, for the first time ever lol ;p

        • Stonekeep - Site Admin
          September 2, 2019 at 3:15 PM

          I do think that Highlander Warrior has potential, but sadly the sample size for this deck is pretty low and since I’m doing this one on my own, I don’t have enough time to test every deck through and through 🙁 That’s why the best thing I can do is put it into the “Off-meta” category on the main page. Once there’s a bigger sample size and I get some more experience with the deck (playing it or against it) I might include it.

  41. The Groosalugg
    August 31, 2019 at 6:23 AM

    Is combo priest not tier 1? It’s done well enough to get nerfed.
    I haven’t come across any big spell mage decks before during ranked, are they really tier 1? Same for bomb warrior, I used to come up against it loads and now I never play against it.

    What about quest warlock? I’ve come up against this a few times but rarely ever zoo, it does well against control warrior.

    • Albatrauz
      September 2, 2019 at 1:53 AM

      I think that Combo Priest should be tier 1, lots of ladder has the deck and sees lots of play in Hearthstone Grandmasters. Sand Witch mage (Big Spell Mage) is half a meme, but very similar to Highlander mage. Big Spell Mage is basically Highlander Mage, just NOT highlander and features Naga Sand Witch, which makes it theoretically tier 2.

      Bomb Warrior is like control warrior, and it’s still viable, just that Control Warrior is so similar yet better that people still prioritise the control variation.

      • The Groosalugg
        September 2, 2019 at 2:14 PM

        I see the list has been updated since my comment and priest is now tier 1.

        I’m not sure if this list is supposed to be in order as control warrior is dropped down to 4th which is what I’m playing atm and I’ve come up against many quest druids and needless to say their quests ended in their death. In one match I did a massive cock up as my finger slipped and I dropped an Omega Devastator (pre turn 10) instead of a Plague Wrath when he had a Cenanarius and 4 others on the board which caused me to take one hell of a beating but I still won. I do want to build a quest druid on my Asia server as I got Untapped Potential and Cenarius but don’t have enough dust to form the rest.

        Surprised to see token druid on the list at all as I played this last meta and it served me well but soon as Uldum released my deck became obsolete and I couldn’t win at all.

        Murloc paladin is tier 2 on this list but it trashed my warrior deck pretty easy unlike many of the other tier 1s.

        Still don’t see any mention of Warlock with quest and Dr Morrigan as I’ve come up against this a few times and it’s beat my warrior.

        • Stonekeep - Site Admin
          September 2, 2019 at 3:25 PM

          I think that you’re judging the decks’ strength too much based on the deck you play. Having bad matchup vs Control Warrior doesn’t make the deck bad, having good one against it doesn’t make it good.

          And to be honest, your experience is pretty curious. Yes, Quest Druid is a good matchup for Control Warrior, but not a free win. It’s maybe 60/40 at best. Druid can easily win if they put pressure and Warriors don’t draw their AoEs in time. On the other hand, you pain Murloc Paladin as a bad matchup, but it’s very similar to Quest Druid. They both take off in the mid game and you need AoEs to stop them – if you get them, you win, if you don’t – you lose.

          I wasn’t sure whether to put it on the list or not, but I actually had some solid experience with the budget version of the deck (I was playtesting it when I built our budget deck guides), so I’ve decided to try a non-budget version (which is not that different, by the way) and I had a solid run with it, it worked especially well vs Hunters.

          There’s no mention of Warlock with the Quest, because it’s a terrible deck. Again – you’re looking at the decks as a Control Warrior player, but you need a broader perspective for this kind of tier list. Quest Warlock’s only good meta matchup is Control Warrior. It sucks against the rest of meta, it has no other solid matchup. You could probably build a deck that wins against Control Warrior 80% of time, but loses against most of the other decks and it just wouldn’t be a good deck.

          • The Groosalugg
            September 2, 2019 at 7:01 PM

            You are right that I am basing my opinion based on my own plays only as I don’t have anything else to compare atm.

            It’s like last meta bomb hunter was a tier 1 deck and cheap to build so I made it, I’m a new player and it was my first competitive deck. I was rank 20 and it couldn’t get me past 14. Then I built druid and it got me to 4 until Uldum came out. But at that time we were no mentions of mage in the meta and apparently the big tournament (whatever its called) was 1/3 mage players and was won by mage. I also had a decent collection for a mage deck. Since Uldum I dusted everything to make warrior as its a sure thing and I can rebuild again by winning more.

            What is the budget deck you speak of?

            I started playing the other 2 servers recently and looking for cheap decks I can build on them so I can climb. On my Asian server I got enough dust to build the full Combo Priest minus the 1 mana fetching legendary. Not to mention a good start towards Quest Druid.

            On my America server however my cards have been crap but I got Supreme Archaeology and Dr Morrigan so I hoped it’s a viable alternative but I guess not. Then Archvillain Rafaam popped up on my Asia server which was an annoying divide, needless to say he is dust now.

            I don’t want to get into another token druid situation as I crafted Whispering Woods (now dust) and Keeper Stalladris and he has no use anymore, though I managed to keep him from being dusted thus far.

            • Stonekeep - Site Admin
              September 3, 2019 at 3:58 AM

              I understand your position – it’s hard to build a variety of meta decks when you’re a relatively new player (unless you spend A LOT of money, of course). I’ve been playing since Closed Beta, I buy pre-order every expansion and I sometimes still wouldn’t have Dust to craft off-meta / fun decks so I mostly focus on the meta stuff (that’s what I need to play for the most part anyway). But playing only a single deck will always skew your perspective of the meta. For example, Quest Paladin has a very good matchup vs Control Warrior, it would probably be #1 if we judged it that way. But if we look at the deck in general, its strengths, weakness, matchups etc. it’s only okay – somewhere in Tier 2.

              I mean, here’s the thing about decks like Quest Warlock. They are bad meta decks, hovering around 40-45% win rate (whereas the best meta decks have 50%+), so it’s hard to climb ladder with them, but you sometimes face them, because they’re still fun to play. And if you get good enough, you might even climb to Legend with them – but the amount of effort necessary to do it will be WAY higher than if you would be playing a viable, meta deck. So as long as you open the necessary cards and don’t have to craft them specifically for that deck, I would recommend playing around with it. But if you need to spend thousands of Dust to finish a “bad” deck like that, I don’t think it’s worth it, especially if you’re a new player and try to play somewhat competitively (care about your rank).

              Here’s the list of budget decks with guides: https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/hearthstone-budget-cheap-decks/ The only expensive card they use is SN1P-SN4P, because he was given out for free not that long ago, but there’s also a replacement for him at the bottom of every guide in case you don’t own him. Of course they are not the best given the restrictions (no Epics & Legends), but I believe that it’s possible to climb with them – R5 should be easily achievable with some, Legend would be harder, but also possible after some upgrades.

          • MJT3ll3r
            September 3, 2019 at 3:12 PM

            I take offense to your remark about quest warlock. 😉
            I piloted quest mechatun lock to r3 in both wild and standard last season. 🙂

          • The Groosalugg
            September 3, 2019 at 4:35 PM

            I have only bought a welcome pack on my Europe server thus far so I’m amazed to have any completed decks but I’ve started playing Asia/America last week to give me more variety and let me unlock more packs. I only aim to climb to rank 5 so I can get my golden epic and that’s good enough for me.

            In Europe I have the full control warrior, a secret mage deck but some other mage cards for future and a bomb hunter minus Leeroy. Plus I did have the full token druid until it immediately died on Aug 7th and I dusted my wisps.

            I only hit rank 25 2 days ago on the others but in Asia I’m already climbing with Priest and have half a token druid deck, but it costs a lot of dust to finish it so it’ll be a while for that one. I expect to reach 5 before the end of the season, the priest deck is really fun and provides some wild matchups.

            On America my collection is not so good, it was looking the way of the warlock but as we said already, plus its expensive to build. I do have a Vessina however so I may be able to build Aggro Overload Shaman with it as I’ve seen a recent decklist without any other legendaries.

            Unfortunately I wasn’t forward thinking enough when they gave free legendaries out and I only ever logged in in Europe to get my free Archmage and Snip Snap, crafting them now would be like getting kicked in the balls.

  42. SANDRG
    August 15, 2019 at 10:54 PM

    I feel like there should be an option to sort the comments shown by newest first or the one with more likes or relevance by implementing some kind of like/vote system cause most times old comments below are the ones where people express their views and thoughts regularly which is not seen by most people surfing through the article and latest comments and thus miss the opportunity to interact with them.

  43. Tsavizard
    August 13, 2019 at 5:56 AM

    So I got hunter quest as free login gift and opened rogue quest in my total of 15packs so far… is any of them good? i have tried all streamer versions of quest rogue but barely get any wins. I fell from 10-11 to 20 from inactivity and constantly face control warriors, quest druids and few zoolocks. most of them have the full deck (which surprises me that they got t1 full decks and are r20. I managed to get 1600dust and i dont know what legendary i may need, highlander decks are expensive (dont have siamat/zephrys highlander class cards).

    • SANDRG
      August 14, 2019 at 12:56 PM

      Both of the quest is not that good right now and the meta is still looking like more warrior and mage. I would suggest you to wait for sometime till the meta settles down and we get a clear picture of whats top tier.

  44. GameBUG99
    August 11, 2019 at 12:40 PM

    Why isn’t Plot Twist Quest Warlock in here? It’s a playable deck in ladder.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      August 11, 2019 at 3:32 PM

      It really isn’t.

      https://i.imgur.com/zX0g8F7.png

      • Shadowsekiro
        August 12, 2019 at 2:28 AM

        Hey stonekeeper do you know a replacement for the floop legendary and cenarius because I don’t use that much druid

        • Stonekeep - Site Admin
          August 12, 2019 at 5:52 AM

          I’d probably play 2x Mark of the Loa as a budget option, but the deck will lose a lot of late game punch if you replace both of those. Should still be viable, you might just lose some slower matches because you didn’t have a way to finish out the game.

      • GameBUG99
        August 12, 2019 at 6:39 AM

        Oh

        • GameBUG99
          August 12, 2019 at 6:42 AM

          Well, I guess people in rank 20-15 don’t have good decks because I have at least a 50% winrate with my quest warlock deck.

          • Stonekeep - Site Admin
            August 12, 2019 at 5:19 PM

            Yeah, the win rate I’ve posted was from R10 – Legend. And it got even worse since I’ve posted it – right now it’s at 40.8%. Warlock’s Quest has the worst win rate – 2% lower than the second worst Quest right now (which is, surprisingly, Hack the System with ~43% – I thought that Mage’s will be second worst, but it’s pretty close at ~44% :p).

            It might still be playable at lower ranks (like most of decks), but I really can’t put it on a list of best ladder decks.

          • Nickus89
            August 12, 2019 at 10:30 PM

            To be honest, Mecha’thun version of this deck is doing quite well. There is much more than just the cards statistic on the surface. A lot of people are plying suboptimal lists or don’t know how to navigate the deck properly. From non-Mecha’Thun versions, I would say that Kibler’s is the most optimal one or close to, but is far from the easiest deck to play. However, Mecha’thun version seems to be much better and can’t be dismissed just like that.

            • Stonekeep - Site Admin
              August 13, 2019 at 4:17 AM

              I never dismiss cards just based on statistics, but in this case – come on – no matter how difficult the deck is, if it’s good, it won’t have a 40% win rate. Decks like Patron Warrior or Miracle Rogue often had win rate lower than their true power (because players who didn’t know how to play them lowered that), but they still registered an average of 50-52% at their peaks.

              If we look at the win rate in Legend only, which should include people who know more about the deck on average, it’s still only 43% for Archaeology. Which is better, but still far from great. Mecha’thun also has only 45.5% win rate, and the win rate is actually bumped by Mecha’thun Warrior (which is a significantly better deck than Mecha’thun Warlock). “People playing suboptimal list” is also a bad argument, because same can be said about any other deck. No deck has been optimized yet, and even if some were, a lot of people aren’t actively looking for the best deck every day and just play whatever they played on the first few days.

              Sure, a few people had solid runs with Mecha’thun Warlock during the first days of the expansion, but it doesn’t make it a great deck. The only good matchup is Control Warrior, and while popular, it’s still only 10-15% of the meta. Most of the other matchups are bad, with faster decks being the worst offenders. Murloc Paladin, Zoo or any kind of Hunter just destroy it. It is just not doing well and again – I’m not “dismissing it like that”. I always do a lot of research before calling the deck bad, and RIGHT NOW Quest Warlock (Mecha’thun or not) is just bad. Things can still change once the meta stabilizes, but currently those are the facts. And I honestly don’t think that it’s going to change, because compared to other Quests, Warlock’s looks really bad. It’s probably the hardest one to finish, and the pay-off isn’t spectacular unless you high-roll (making the deck even less consistent).

          • GameBUG99
            August 13, 2019 at 10:48 AM

            But you are kind of dismissing it. I don’t see Quest Plot Twist Warlock or Quest Warrior in the Off-Meta Decks, yet I see Quest Hunter, which I remind you, is worst then Warlock quest because 20 summoning minions is harder than drawing cards, and after you complete the quest, it hard for you to draw all the cards you spent summoning minions. Plus, drawing a zero mana card is always better than 2+ attack. Also, a lot of Quest Mage is just Cyclone or Conjurer Calling Mage with the quest. Those decks are already good, the quest is just an extra late-game help. Quest Plot Twist Warlock needs some defense cards, like board wipes and taunts, so they can survive to late game, where they shine. These are the things Quest Warlock players would know because they know their matchups. That is something statistics can’t show you. Just give the community some times and learn how to play with the new cards. And please add all the decks on Top Standard Deck, because they are still standard decks and you have an Off-Meta section for a reason.

  45. EpicSabretooth
    August 11, 2019 at 10:18 AM

    I’m pretty sure the standard Cyclone Mage is better than any of the new stuff Mage is doing.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      August 11, 2019 at 12:34 PM

      Actually, Cyclone Mage is reporting quite weak win rates for now. But the sample size when I was compiling the early tier list wasn’t big enough to even put it on there (I would have to just guess and I don’t want to do that).

      I will update it once again after the meta is more stable (probably a ~week from now) and we’ll see then.

  46. WaluPL
    August 11, 2019 at 3:00 AM

    Playing one copy of each card in 2019 monkaS. Playing 10 mana to always remove board with zephrys Pepega.
    Playing rng box- no consistency LUL.
    Aggro loves to see that. Also it’s not even good vs all types of Warrior. Look next week. I predict bomb warriors rise mech hunters, tempo rogues and good new druid witch looses to aggro. Aggro the way to go or just play Conjour Mage to farm warriors. The reality of hearthstone. Also don’t craft anything btw. except druid and new zoolock. Be safe.

  47. Taznak
    August 9, 2019 at 6:58 PM

    Welp, looks like I was completely wrong to rate Reno the Relicologist one star. Thanks for the update Stonekeep, this is great stuff as usual ^^

    On a side note, I’m ready to start making Control Warrior nerf predictions. I think the card that is most likely to be nerfed is Brawl (up to 6 mana), because
    A. It’s way better than comparable AoE spells like Twisting Nether, and
    B. Blizzard loves nerfing cards from the Classic & Basic sets.

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      August 10, 2019 at 5:40 AM

      I knew that Reno’s effect is strong, but it wasn’t enough to carry the deck. However, Zephrys turned out to be absolutely amazing. It’s on a similar level to the OG Reno – weaker vs Aggro decks, but stronger vs decks against which you don’t need healing that much. And with both of them combined, Highlander Mage turned out to be viable. At least right now, because there’s still a lot that can happen.

      Brawl might be a good candidate, but I’d really like them to nerf Dr. Boom too. The problem is that a simple mana cost nerf probably wouldn’t cut it in his case. Even at 10 mana people would still probably run it (just like they run Elysiana just for the Control mirrors). While it would require some playtesting, I was thinking about removing the part about Mechs having Rush (since it’s a BIG part of the card’s power) and adding some minor Battlecry effect instead. E.g. “Summon two 1/1 Boom Bots” to reference the first Dr. Boom.

      • Taznak
        August 10, 2019 at 11:12 AM

        I think increasing Dr. Boom Mad Genius’ mana cost to 10 specifically would be a very big deal, delaying a Control Warrior from being fully operational by one turn. Control Warrior already has a very awkward turn 9, which can be exploited by playing giant minions that would be prime targets for Omega Devastator’s Battlecry right before Warrior’s turn 9. After that, on turn 10, Warrior can do crazy powerful things: with Dr. Boom already online, you can Omega Assembly, Omega Devastator, Dyn-o-Matic, and rush both minions into any board your opponent might have left over. The story would be very different if turn 10 made you choose between playing Dr. Boom Mad Genius, or playing your Omega Devastator plus something else, but without Rush and delaying the point where the Dr. Boom hero power comes online. Then again, changing its battlecry that gives mechs Rush into something else would also do a lot to bring the card’s power level down to a better place.

        Ultimately, nerfing just about any of the cards that Control Warriors put in their decks would reduce the power level of the deck: Eternium Rover, Omega Assembly, Omega Devastator, Dyn-o-Matic, etc. Yet I agree that Dr. Boom Mad Genius is the right one to nerf. It’s kinda crazy that a 7 mana card has the highest mulligan winrate in the deck, higher than great turn 1 plays like Town Crier and Eternium Rover. It’s the most powerful card in the deck by Drawn winrate as well, and if you nerf Warrior’s other tools and keep Dr. Boom Mad Genius as is, then Warrior is gonna fall off a cliff when the April 2020 rotation sends him into Wild. I just think that this card is less likely to be nerfed than Brawl because Blizzard has so far shown to be more trigger-happy with nerfs to Classic & Basic cards ^^

        • Skoopy
          August 13, 2019 at 5:12 AM

          First i totally agree with your wish to nerfes to warrior. But i think it will hit Mage too.
          You are right saying that nerfing one Card is not enough. I checked some carddata 1 day ago, on highest winrate cards. well… the like top 15 or top 16 highest winrate cards are the complete controlwarrior deck. Dr. Boom to 8 or 9 mana wouldnt be enough though. They need to nerf more stuff, like Rover or Brawl you mentioned. Social media and streamers are talking a lot about Pocket Galaxy back to 7 mana, and Conjurers Calling to 4 mana. I even heard about HoFing the Mountain Giant. I understand with all of These and agree if they would do that. Some Quests can handle Warrior decent now. But lategame wise its nearly impossible.
          Iam playing at rank 1 for some days now, and warrior is really out there. Last 2 days around 15-20% of all decks are CW.
          Iam not sure by a gamedesign and Balance perspective whats good here. but Luna is the most broken Card. Discounting so many cards by a lot. Its probably one Card and one or two topdecks, winning you every single game. Really sick… but what to do? Galaxy to 6? Conj to 4? Boom to 7/8? Brawl to 6? Would that all help?
          Warrior will stay Tier 1, they have to much good stuff, followed by control stuff for each single manaslot. Thats why the 8-drop taunt mech is so good. filling this spot. also as mech with Boom rush. I just hate warrior. annoying to play against.

          • Taznak
            August 14, 2019 at 5:34 PM

            Hey Skoopy!

            I disagree about nerfing Mage (you can read my reply to SANDRG in this same comment thread as to why). As for card winrates, I’m not surprised that 15 of the top 16 winrate cards are Control Warrior cards, but that doesn’t really tell us much. If Control Warrior is the highest winrate archetype, and it plays a bunch of cards that no other archetypes use, then naturally all of those cards that only see play in Control Warrior will have a very high winrate. You can have a completely unassuming card like Shield Block that most people would agree doesn’t merit a nerf, and it’s gonna have a huge winrate because the card is played in a DECK that is overpowered. A ton of Control Warrior cards having high winrate only really tells us that Control Warrior has a high winrate.

            As far as game design and balance: To see how card nerfs affect a deck, you have to think in terms of what the best alternative for the nerfed card is. So, imagine you nerfed Restless Mummy to 5 mana, how does that affect Control Warrior? Well, it would get replaced by Militia Commander, which is a bit worse. The nerf is relevant, but not huge. Compare that to nerfing Warpath to 3 mana. What does Warrior replace Warpath with? There is no good replacement, you either play the more expensive version of Warpath or just remove it from your deck and lose a ton of AoE removal capacity, making you much more vulnerable to decks like Token Druid or Murloc Shaman. Any nerfs to Warrior’s AoE removal spells, or to its key Mechs like Dyn-o-matic and Omega Devastator, would be pretty painful because there are no obvious replacements for those.

            When a deck is overpowered, the idea is to nerf it until it’s not overpowered anymore, yet still viable. You could achieve that in a number of ways, such as a devastating nerf to a key card (e.g. nerfing Dr. Boom Mad Genius into the ground, making it utterly unplayable), or multiple smaller nerfs. Regardless of how you do it, the idea is that the deck’s overall power falls until it’s no longer out of line, and once that happens, a bunch of cards that used to be oppressive will cease to be. For instance, Waggle Pick felt pretty oppressive in the opening month of the Rise of Shadows expansion and EVERYONE was running weapon removal against it, but then Blizzard nerfed Rogue cards like Preparation and Raiding Party, and then Waggle Pick no longer felt oppressive, even though it wasn’t directly nerfed. It’s the overall power of the deck that’s the problem, and nerfs to any of the cards the deck uses will help reduce that. Galaxy to 6, Conj to 4, Boom to 8, Brawl to 6: Yes, yes, yes and yes, all of those nerfs would reduce the power level of the decks that use them 🙂

          • SANDRG
            August 15, 2019 at 12:57 PM

            The problem depends on the way these cards are nerfed, they are done in a more linear way . I mean blizz should be more creative in nerfing the cards rather than nerfing it to a unplayable state and suddenly that deck is low tier. When the cards are printed they intend to have some power level and if they are to be nerfed later for that power level why print the card in the first place rather i would like it to have that kind of power without breaking the meta and having a healthy gameplay. I mean rather than increasing the cost or removing a text they should think on what else can be done which will bring the cards power level down but not to a point where its just garbage and it has the intend game plan and power level which was imagined before printing the card.
            Rather done just increasing the Pocket Galaxy to 6-7 mana they can increase the minions cost to 3 or do something else, similarly for Dr. Boom rather than increasing the cost ,the text can be changed where rush only applies to Mech with 5 or less attack and for CC as previously done they can increase the 12 mana pool with worst stat minions so there’s a risk in it when you are CC-ing a minion and FROST NOVA freezes both yours and opponents board.

          • SANDRG
            August 15, 2019 at 1:02 PM

            I do think mage is a problem and not the Mountain Gaints itself and moving it to HOF will only decrease the classic set by one more good minion which was never a meta breaking problem before.

    • Carleman
      August 10, 2019 at 3:42 PM

      Dont feel bad about your call on Reno, i called the obelisk would eventually get nerfed…

    • Golfguy33
      August 11, 2019 at 12:39 AM

      This took me a few days to tweak but is doing very well for me!

      ### Next Level Reno Mage
      # Class: Mage
      # Format: Standard
      # Year of the Dragon
      #
      # 1x (1) Ray of Frost
      # 1x (2) Ancient Mysteries
      # 1x (2) Doomsayer
      # 1x (2) Frostbolt
      # 1x (2) Novice Engineer
      # 1x (2) Zephrys the Great
      # 1x (3) Arcane Intellect
      # 1x (3) Conjurer’s Calling
      # 1x (3) Counterspell
      # 1x (3) Flame Ward
      # 1x (3) Messenger Raven
      # 1x (3) Splitting Image
      # 1x (3) Vulpera Scoundrel
      # 1x (4) Arcane Keysmith
      # 1x (4) Fireball
      # 1x (4) Polymorph
      # 1x (5) Cloud Prince
      # 1x (5) Luna’s Pocket Galaxy
      # 1x (5) Zilliax
      # 1x (6) Blizzard
      # 1x (6) Khartut Defender
      # 1x (6) Reno the Relicologist
      # 1x (7) Archmage Antonidas
      # 1x (7) Flamestrike
      # 1x (7) Siamat
      # 1x (8) Power of Creation
      # 1x (8) Tortollan Pilgrim
      # 1x (9) Alexstrasza
      # 1x (10) Kalecgos
      # 1x (10) Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron
      #
      AAECAf0EHk1xigGcArsCyQOrBMUElgXsB7gIvuwCxvgCoIADtogD55UDg5YDn5sDoJsDip4DoaEDpaEDwqED/KMDi6QDkqQDv6QDhKcD3akD9KsDAAA=
      #
      # To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

    • Golfguy33
      August 11, 2019 at 12:50 AM

      Reno has been a rockstar for me, but the MVP is the Puzzle Box! ????

    • SANDRG
      August 13, 2019 at 3:03 AM

      i think even mage will be hit with a nerf directly or indirectly by them moving giants to hall of fame or nerfing a card

      • Taznak
        August 14, 2019 at 4:54 PM

        Kibler made the same point about nerfing Mage, but I disagree. Data has to be a crucial consideration when it comes to deciding whether to nerf a deck or not, and the data doesn’t tell me Mage needs a nerf. HSReplay tells me that the most popular Warrior deck archetype, Control Warrior, has a 61.9% winrate with its most popular decklist. The second most popular archetype, Aggro Warrior, has 59.83%. The most popular Mage archetype, Control Mage, has 55.68%, followed (in popularity) by Highlander Mage with 57.12%. For reference, Secret Hunter’s winrate is 59.81%, Mech Hunter’s is 59.38%, Murloc Paladin’s is 58.42%, Quest Paladin’s is 58.02%, Combo Priest’s is 59.39%, Murloc Shaman’s is 59.7%, and Tempo Rogue’s is 57.99%. Warlock and Druid also have archetypes with comparable winrates to Mage’s.

        There’s other considerations as to why you might want to nerf a deck- maybe it’s really un-fun to play against, like Quest Rogue, or has very polarized matchups where winning or losing is mostly decided by who you’re paired up against in matchmaking. Polarized matchups are easy to check for, and I can tell you that Mage doesn’t suffer from those, with winrates between 40 and 60% in matchups against other popular archetypes. Do you feel like Mage archetypes are especially un-fun to play against? And if so, why? This could be a legitimate reason to want to nerf Mage, but other than that, Mage looks fine to me at the moment.

        • SANDRG
          August 15, 2019 at 11:07 AM

          Regiskillbin has data for you .

        • SANDRG
          August 15, 2019 at 12:06 PM

          Sorry about the short comment and might feel like it was mean but i was on a train so i couldn’t type a lot .
          And back to the topic the winrate only speaks for the deck as a whole and doesn’t talk about any single cards and the effect it has on the game when played on a certain turn which is really well explained by Regiskillbin in his video, which shows how often both LUNAS POCKET GALAXY (we all know how often mage plays pocket galaxy on turn 5 or turn 4 with coin and there’s data to prove the same) and CC is played on curve and how high the winrate spikes when played on curve and he even compares it to the BARNES power spike when played on curve.
          And talking about un-fun to play against is more about what cards they draw and how often it can escalate hard like if they can put 8/8 on turn 4 and then CC it to kill u by next turn or else if you are aggro they can just freeze your board till they can do this CC shenanigans side by side or put 1 mana KING PHAORIS by turn 5-6 fill their board while freezing yours .I mean unlike warrior they can steam roll both aggro and control if they draw right and that happens more consistently (as they can generate 2 more CC or RAY OF FROST depending on the situation from MAGIC TRICK) than anything and its more about cheating out big value early in the game when most cant deal with it and most times all these situations leads to frustration and un-fun. Its like u had the game all along but they won it out of nowhere, I mean we all can understand if that happened by a puzzle box but that’s not the case most of the time

          • Taznak
            August 15, 2019 at 3:35 PM

            Okay, I can definitely believe a big spike in winrate from playing Luna’s Pocket Galaxy on curve, similar to a Year of the Raven aggro deck with a turn 2 Keleseth or a turn 4 Barnes on Big Priest as you mentioned, so that can be pretty frustrating as there’s not a lot of in-game counterplay to that.

            At the same time, Mage decks’ winrates seem to be right where you’d want them to be right now, so nerfing Mage would risk leaving the class in a hole and reducing class diversity as Mage players switch to other, more viable decks and classes. Because preserving a diverse metagame is more important than nerfing obnoxious cards when it’s time to do a balance patch, Mage should not be nerfed right now, IMO. That said, if players refine Mage decks further and Mage winrate climbs to the point where they merit a nerf, Luna’s Pocket Galaxy should be the first card they should be looking at.

          • SANDRG
            August 15, 2019 at 10:41 PM

            I don’t know why but i cant reply to you @Taznak so i will write it here . Winrates are not the only things that’s considered when nerfing a particular card as we have seen with the Quest rogue ,even tho the rogue winrate was pretty below, the Quest was nerfed cause experience people had playing against was not fun and its the same when playing against mage most times you just feel like you cant do anything or lost as you see them coining a POCKET GALAXY by turn 4 and playing KING PHAORIS or multiple cards of a greater value for 1 mana by turn 6-7 when you consider how often other classes can deal with a such a huge board early on .
            Anyways am not here to argue , as its neither me or you who gonna make all these nerfs or balance changes happen 🙂

          • Taznak
            August 16, 2019 at 7:54 PM

            My final comment on this topic: Kripparian suggested what I think is a great solution to this problem, which is as follows:

            Make it so that if you pay X mana to play a minion, that minion shows a mana cost of X while on the board. So if you have a full hand and play a 3-mana Mountain Giant, and then play Conjurer’s Calling on it, you’d get double 3-drops. Or if you play Luna’s Pocket Galaxy into a 1-mana King Phaoris into Conjurer’s Calling on King Phaoris, you’d get double 1-drops. Same deal for Shaman’s 7-mana rush minion into Mutate, and so on. I’d definitely be on board with that solution.

          • SANDRG
            August 16, 2019 at 10:20 PM

            That doesn’t solve the problem with Luna’s Pocket Galaxy .KIng Phaoris summons minions based on the cost of the spells you hold, CC-ing King Phaoris is not the problem ,problem is when you can summon a full board of 4/5 ,8/8,and so on for just for 1 mana is high value and when done on turn 5-6 is meta breaking same with Tortollan Pilgrim, discover a spell and cast it for 1 mana is huge and when you see like this there’s a huge value bundled into a single card when played on curve which doesn’t need any kind of former settings to activate .
            Anyways as i told earlier, its neither me nor you who’s gonna make this nerfs or balance changes happen so it doesn’t matter either way someones gonna be at the top no matter what 🙂

  48. Andrew199020
    July 18, 2019 at 6:28 PM

    I don’t know what decks are popular to use nowadays but as far as I know, it’s still Murloc Shaman. (Because of the new card) Although in the first day of WCG’s Grand Finals for Hearthstone category, they often use warrior decks or mage decks.

  49. FAST44HS
    June 23, 2019 at 5:07 PM

    Can you update your book mage with the new version. Dragons are bad

  50. Stonekeep - Site Admin
    June 5, 2019 at 10:05 AM

    We’ve just updated our Standard Meta Tier List for the Post-Buff Rise of Shadows meta. Since the buffs are only out for 2 days, the best decks can still change. We’ll revise the tier list it once the meta settles.

    • Devkarven
      June 5, 2019 at 7:14 PM

      Weird question! Do you think mechanical whelp necromechanic and nine lives vs leroy, unleash the hounds and explodinator are enough different cards to classify mech and bomb hunter as different archetypes and well as classify them as different tiers all together, cause 90% of the time they are going to function the same (IE both produce bombs, both take advantage of deathrattle, both magnetic etc. ). was just wondering if those few cards warrant enough to tilt the deck to be able to even be classified as different decks when it feels like those are just customizations and meta choices and should have very simuliar results (In same tier). Just wondering if im missing something before I make choices in dust use thanks!

      • Stonekeep - Site Admin
        June 6, 2019 at 4:12 AM

        It really depends. The version of Mech Hunter I’ve featured here might not be enough to call it a different archetype – it’s close enough to just consider these changes tech choices etc. BUT, this is the first time I’m seeing such an aggressive version of Mech build. That’s why I’ve still decided to wait and see whether it will become THE version of the deck to play.

        Because you see, the most popular versions of Mech Hunter ever since Rise of Shadows’ launch were fundamentally different than Bomb Hunter. Bomb Hunter is an Aggro deck, the Mech Hunter was Midrange or maybe even somewhat of a Combo deck. It wasn’t just a few cards – the only thing they’ve shared in common was the fact that they both played Mechs.

        For example, look at this popular pre-buff version of Bomb Hunter (https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/bomb-hunter-shadows-post-nerf-8-legend-meati/) and Mech Hunter (https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/mech-hunter-shadows-post-nerf-1-legend-qige/).

        The two most important differences are the fact that Mech Hunter runs Nine Lives (so bases a big part of its game plan on that card), as well as Zul’jin. Since it runs Zul’jin, unlike Bomb Hunter which is a minion-focused deck, Mech build runs a bunch of spells too – most notably Unleash the Beast, Unleash the Hounds and Deadly Shot, all of which are reactive cards. Mech Hunter builds sometimes also include other removals (like Marked Shot here, or Secrets), which are not present in Bomb version. Also, since Magnetic is not as important to the deck’s game plan, it can run a lower density of Mech cards, which means that it can play cards like Springpaw or Animal Companion without hurting its game plan that much. In fact, Mech Hunter would not want to play too many Deathrattle Mechs, because it wants to always be able to hit either Oblivitron or Mechanical Whelp with Nine Lives. It already has Spider Bomb (which is also useful from Nine Lives sometimes) and Ursatron – adding more things like Mecharoo or Replicating Menace (or even SN1P-SN4P for that matter) could possibly mess up with this game plan.

        On the other hand, since Bomb version has a much more aggressive plan and relies on board tempo to win the game (it has basically NO reactive game plan), you need to play a) more “sticky” minions that you can Magnetize into (e.g. Mecharoo, Upgradeable Framebot, Explodinator). It also runs more Magnetic cards, since it’s your main game plan – for example, you never really see Replicating Menaces or Missile Launchers in Mech build. As a finisher Bomb version usually played Leeroy, Flark, or both, again something that you have never seen in Mech version.

        I was always surprised that others were calling both builds Mech Hunter, even though they were fundamentally different. Honestly, it would be like calling both Control Warrior and Bomb Warrior just “Control Warrior”. After all, they share like 2/3 of the deck.

        IF the new, more aggressive builds take over I will definitely merge them into one archetype and start calling both Mech Hunter. But this is literally the first time I’m seeing a build like that being successful, because before it looked way different. If the “old” Mech Hunter build sticks, however, they are two completely different archetypes and I will keep separating them.

    • DerLeo
      June 18, 2019 at 8:33 AM

      control shaman is listed twice, but shown is the same, i know there are different types of it, but just want you to know.