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How Good Is the Twist Wonders XL Format? The Best Decks and Meta Report

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

For October 2023, the Twist format is Wonders XL. This is basically the same format as in September, with two important differences. First, you can now use between 30 and 40 cards in your deck, and your starting Health will match your deck size. Enter with a 40-card deck and you start at 40 Health. Second, all the best decks from the September season were nerfed in the final days of the season, which opened up the meta for new candidates.

Other than that, the deck-building rules remain the same. The Wonders format covers Hearthstone expansions from the beginning up to Mean Streets of Gadgetzan (2016) with the addition of the new straight-to-Wild set Caverns of Time. Therefore, only a few Standard-legal cards that are Core set reprints of older cards can be used in the format. Beyond that, you need to own Caverns of Time cards or cards from sets that are at least seven years old. That’s a pretty huge barrier to entry.

But is it worth it? Is the meta balanced? Are the decks affordable? Is the meta fun? Let’s explore the current meta decks and then come up with answers to these questions.

The Rise of Paladin

In September, the Wonders format was dominated by Discard Warlock, Jade Rogue, N’Zoth Warrior, and Jormungar Face Hunter. All four were nerfed in late September, and the patch left behind some smoldering ruins. Warrior is gone. Face Hunter went back to Undertaker builds, but it also struggles. Discard Warlock is a shade of its former self. Jade Rogue is still around, but it is not the top deck anymore.

The current best deck in the format is Handbuff Paladin, and this is the best version of the deck:

Handbuff Paladin – #2 Legend (ESheepCity) – Twist S02 (Wonders XL)

Deck Import

In the Wonders era, removal cards are not easy to come by. Handbuff Paladin can make many big threats, so even if your opponent is able to remove some of them, there are more and more coming. Finally, huge Charge minions can finish the job.

The deck is a little slow to get started sometimes, but Wickerflame Burnbristle can help you stabilize. This is also an era where Loatheb is still around, and Loatheb can ruin any control deck’s plans like no other card. Suddenly, the opponent is just locked out of responding, and thanks to handbuffs, the Loathed that hits the board is not going to be a 5/5, it might as well be a 10/10 and a huge lethal threat for the following turn.

It is not a cheap deck. That’s six Legendary cards, none of which are available from Core. Even if you have a good existing collection, the deck uses Runi, Time Explorer and Bronze Dragonknight from the new Caverns of Time set. Both cards are among the best cards in the deck as well.

There is a variant of the deck with fewer Legendary cards that is built around Small-Time Recruits, but its performance is far weaker and I cannot recommend that one. That said, Don Han'Cho and Brann Bronzebeard do not look like essential cards, so you might be able to replace them with something cheaper, like Grimestreet Informant or even a Stonetusk Boar.

Having Fun with Handlock

Handlock is the most popular deck in the format, and it is the second-best deck that you can play. As long as you play the right variant, anyway. Running 40 cards to get that 40 Health is huge for Handlock, as you do not need to go quite that low to get your Molten Giants into play. Big threats are ready to hop on the board and Handlock also has the toolkit to answer a wide variety of threats itself.

XL C’thun Hand Warlock – #35 Legend (라리루라라) – Twist S02 (Wonders XL)

Deck Import

The best way to play Handlock is to play the C'Thun variant. Your Giants are formidable threats, and you also get to use Eyestalk of C'thun and Twin Emperor Vek'lor to stabilize against aggressive decks. C'Thun itself provides potentially game-ending burst damage should you choose to go down that path instead of just clobbering everything down as Lord Jaraxxus.

You can also play a more traditional Handlock:

XL Hand Warlock – #3 Legend (Doyle) – Twist S02 (Wonders XL)

Deck Import

In this variant, you have your Giants, some mana cheating with Voidcaller, and sweet burst damage from Leeroy Jenkins + Power Overwhelming + Faceless Manipulator, either with the coin or with a discount from Emperor Thaurissan. This feels like an old-school Handlock deck more than the C’Thun variant that has been bolstered by the C’Thun buffs in Caverns of Time. The C’Thun version is somewhat stronger, but the difference is not huge, so you can safely go for a nostalgia trip if you want to.

The Challengers: Rogue and Druid

Warlock and Paladin are by far the most popular classes in Twist Wonders XL. However, they are not the only decks that can find success. It can be difficult to get a clear picture of the Twist meta because the format is less popular than Standard or even Wild, but there are at least two clear challengers who can win games.

First, there is Jade Rogue. It is the only one of the four September meta tyrants that was able to survive the nerfs more or less unscathed.

Jade Rogue – #1 Legend (Siroco) – Twist S02 (Wonders XL)

Deck Import

The regular Jade list is currently stronger than the C’Thun list, which lost a lot of power with the Blade of C'Thun nerf.

Second, there is Malygos Druid. Malygos Druid is the most recent innovation for the Twist meta, and it might yet be able to take over the format. Sample sizes are still small, but the deck looks scary.

Twist Wonders XL Malygos Druid

Deck Import

Now, this is one nostalgic combo deck. Play Aviana to make your minions cost one mana. Follow that up with Kun the Forgotten King to refresh your mana crystals, and off you go. Malygos now costs one mana, as does Faceless Manipulator and Alexstrasza. Spells still cost mana, except for, well, Moonfire, but you’ll just need to figure out a path to get the damage you need from these pieces, and boom!

More Decks That Are Hard to Evaluate Properly

Did I mention that we have some sample size issues when it comes to Twist? The perceived meta is slow to change. From a three-deck meta of Handbuff Paladin, Handlock, and Jade Rogue, to a two-deck meta without the Rogue, to a three-deck meta again with Handbuff Paladin, Handlock, and Malygos Druid, there are not that many popular lists. Beneath the surface, we can see a number of candidates who want to play but are unable to reach popularity either because they start failing when adopted by more people or because players just don’t know about them or don’t want to play them.

What this means for you as a deck builder is that there is still plenty of unexplored design space in Twist. In this format, more than in any other, you could find something completely new and succeed. Although most likely you won’t. The top decks are the top decks for a reason. They crush unrefined lists. But they have weaknesses, and if a deck like Malygos Druid was able to rise up all of a sudden, other decks can too.

One of the bubbling-under classes is Priest. I played a Reno XL Control Priest myself and had a great time with it. I played a regular version, but here’s a more popular Dragon version of the deck:

XL Reno Dragon Priest – #37 Legend (Churrasquero) – Twist S02 (Wonders XL)

Deck Import

Control Priest does have a rather major problem right now, though. It gets miserably crushed by Malygos Druid. Therefore, this archetype is currently on its way down, rather than up.

Things do not look completely hopeless for Priest though. Thanks to Dragons, Priest can also play a midrange game and be the aggressor against control and combo decks.

Dragon Priest – #32 Legend (yasudai) – Twist S02 (Wonders XL)

Deck Import

Yasudai’s Dragon Priest is a proactive Priest deck that can be difficult to drive off the board. I especially enjoy the synergy between Ship's Chirurgeon and Patches the Pirate. Yes, the Chirurgeon is a Dragon Pirate, something that I did not expect to ever see.

Paladin also has tools beyond handbuffs at its disposal. I played a lot of Anyfin Paladin in September, and it was a fun blast from the past. In the XL format, Anyfin Paladin still exists, but it has become a hybrid deck with elements of Control Paladin added to the deck:

XL N’zoth Anyfin Paladin – #66 Legend (Starrissm) – Twist S02 (Wonders XL)

Deck Import

The deck still runs the full Anyfin Can Happen combo, where you get your Murlocs killed during the game, often fighting for board control, and later resurrect them to Charge toward the face, and you can do it twice if needed. Just in case that is not enough to win the game, the XL version adds N'Zoth, The Corruptor and some Deathrattle minions for additional value. Paladin can compete on value all day.

You can also try to go really old-school with Paladin. The buffed Mysterious Challenger just might be good enough to bring Secret Paladin back:

Twist Wonders Secret Paladin

Deck Import

This deck has it all. The Christmas tree of Paladin Secrets. Knife Juggler and Equality. Tirion Fordring. Dr. Boom. It’s just pure nostalgia, and it might even work!

After the nerf to Trial of the Jormungars, Hunter has largely returned to Corbett’s Undertaker build.

Beast Hunter – Corbett – Twist Season 1 (Wonders)

Deck Import

It is not a bad deck, but trying to fight against 40-Health opponents is a steep hill for it to climb. It is a very budget-friendly deck though, and if you cut the Snake Traps for Cat Tricks, for example, you can make it even cheaper.

The most interesting Hunter deck I have seen in Twist in the current season is a slower one though. It’s N’Zoth Hunter!

Twist Wonders N’Zoth Hunter

Deck Import

With 40-Health decks seeing play, the meta has slowed down, and constant pressure can be a way to win games. N’Zoth Hunter packs the Deathrattle effects to keep threats rolling almost endlessly. Its defensive capabilities are limited, but if aggro decks have a hard time anyway, it may not have to worry about them.

Finally, Discard Warlock is still around in some way. It got hit hard by the nerfs to Tiny Knight of Evil, Chamber of Viscidus, and Dark Bargain, but the deck still exists. You can also cut the Dark Bargains from the list and replace them with Darkshire Librarians for a fully budget option.

Twist Wonders Discard Warlock

Deck Import

How Good is the Twist Wonders XL Format?

It is difficult to fully evaluate Twist Wonders XL. The player base is smaller than it was last season, and it feels like there are so many potential avenues that could still be explored. But that exploration takes time and losses, and why do that when you can grab a Handbuff Paladin or Handlock deck and just have instant fun? Even more crucially, that exploration requires a lot of cards that are at least seven years old. If you need to craft cards to explore deck ideas, it gets costly really fast.

It looks like the balance in Twist Wonders is still not great. Two classes, Paladin and Warlock, are far more popular than the others. Rogue and Druid look somewhat promising too. Shaman, Mage, and Warrior are completely absent, and Hunter and Priest are struggling. I’m sure there are undiscovered decks left in the format, but not so many that all classes could enter the meta.

Wonders XL is also more expensive than September’s Wonders format. The game is slower, and that gives powerful Legendary cards more room to shine. All the top meta decks use several Legendary cards, and budget decks are barely viable, if at all. As none of the expensive cards can be used in the Standard format, this is a huge barrier to entry to Twist.

It’s a shame, really. I have enjoyed Wonders XL a lot. It is an older era of Hearthstone where decks can run out of answers and resources. When you keep challenging them, they can just topple over. That does not happen nearly as much in the current Standard format. Less powerful answers, less card generation, and less card draw combine to produce a vastly different experience.

I think Wonders was a better format than Wonders XL. Wonders was faster. Wonders XL is on the verge of being too slow. This is a matter of opinion though. Both are slower than the current Standard format. More importantly, Wonders was a lot cheaper. As the format becomes slower, expensive cards become more important. This barrier to entry has been too much for most Hearthstone players.

If you have the cards to build some of the better decks, I do recommend giving Wonders XL a try. I have also attempted to present budget options to the best of my ability, but Wonders XL is not a particularly budget-friendly format. You can win some games with cheap Hunter and Warlock decks, but you will miss out on much of the XL experience. Hearthstone’s monetization is Twist’s worst enemy.

Old Guardian

Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian

Check out Old Guardian on Twitter or on their Website!

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