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It Is Zilliax Time! The Best Early Whizbang’s Workshop Meta Decks

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

Whizbang’s Workshop is here and Zilliax Deluxe 3000 has taken the ladder by storm. The card is in almost half of all decks and sees play in several different variations. It is an incredibly flexible and powerful Legendary card that will continue to shape the meta for the next two years. So, if you have not yet crafted any Whizbang cards – and you might be right to do so, as the meta will take some days to settle – there is one card in the set that you cannot go wrong with, and it’s Zilliax.

Other than that, the rotation has not had as much of an effect as one might have expected. Multiple decks survived the rotation, and they are now more powerful than they were in the previous six-expansion meta. A couple of new things are at the very top, but many classes struggle to find ways to use their new cards. Whizbang’s Workshop is a less scripted expansion than the previous ones, so maybe it just needs more time to mature. Or maybe it just does not have enough synergies in a four-set meta.

In this article, I take a look at what the first days in Whizbang’s Workshop have been like. Who is doing well? Who is struggling? What are the best deck lists? Let’s take a look at it all!

Death Knight

Death Knight came to the new expansion in a great position: Rainbow Death Knight and Plague Death Knight were both excellent decks that would not lose much of anything in the Standard rotation. Indeed, they are both fairly strong in the new meta.

Rainbow Death Knight comes in two varieties, one based on its pre-Whizbang list and the other making a heavier use of the new handbuff tools. The old list started out stronger on day one but is on a downward trend, whereas handbuffs are rising and look like they will replace the old list.

Rainbow Handbuff Death Knight – #572 Legend (Cantelope) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

This deck uses Death Knight’s new strong Undead handbuff package: Lesser Spinel Spellstone and Amateur Puppeteer to buff Undead minions in your hand, and Shambling Zombietank, Darkthorn Quilter, and Nerubian Swarmguard as the payoff cards. I had great expectations for the Quilter, but having played this deck myself and looking at the stats to confirm, it is actually the Swarmguard that does the heavy lifting. Getting your handbuffs effectively tripled thanks to the summoned copies is just so incredibly strong.

You can still play a mostly pre-Whizbang Rainbow Death Knight and just slap in Rainbow Seamstress for some additional synergies, but the future has arrived for the class in the form of handbuffs.

Plague Death Knight rolls on as before. The early winner has been Vicious Syndicate’s theorycraft list that adds Scarab Keychain, Plucky Paintfin, and Zilliax Deluxe 3000 from the new set to the established list.

Plague Death Knight – Vicious Syndicate

Deck Import

Demon Hunter

The expectations for Demon Hunter were much lower, and the class is trying to find its identity in the new expansion. So far, all somewhat successful attempts at making Demon Hunter work have been focused on the synergy between Umpire's Grasp, optionally Raging Felscreamer, and Window Shopper. By discounting Window Shopper, you also discount the Demon you Discover, and this tempo swing can win games. Especially if you can Discover some copies of Magtheridon, Unreleased.

Demon Hunter’s problem is consistency, or lack thereof. It can build some great boards, but it cannot do so fully reliably. As long as Window Shopper is the key tool for tempo gains, that reliability remains elusive, and will get worse as new expansions are released during the Standard year.

Tempo Demon Hunter – McBanterFace – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Druid

Almost all the new Druid cards are focused on the Spell Damage theme, but it looks too slow for the ladder. It just cannot survive long enough to pull off the OTK, which itself is a fine and perfectly functional win condition that may come as early as turn seven. If the meta shifts to something slower, Spell Damage Druid will be ready. Hearthstone meta just never changes to something slower.

Meanwhile, the most competitive Druid archetype is Highlander Druid.  The power of Reno, Lone Ranger and Rheastrasza cannot be denied, and Reno Druid is perfectly happy to add Zilliax Deluxe 3000 into the mix with Perfect Module and Twin Module for some big Lifestealing Rush minions.

Reno Druid – #748 Legend (Taki) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Hunter

I played some Face Hunter in the theorycrafting livestreams, and it felt very strong in the event. This time, the success has been repeated in live ladder play as well, and what a beautiful token aggro deck it has become.

There are several variants around, and I currently like this one the best:

Aggro Hunter - Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

All variants share the same Zilliax Deluxe 3000 modules: Pylon (+1/+1 to your other minions) and Ticking (costs (1) less for each minion in play). Here Zilliax becomes a flexible buffing tool that you can play for hardly any mana when you have a token board to either make your minions more resistant to removal and deal more damage or to enable value trades in case of token mirrors.

Leeroy Jenkins is also back, big time. This is not yet even the best deck for Leeroy. It is crazy how a minion that was part of the original game can still be this strong a decade later. Yeah, I know Magic: The Gathering has its Power Nine from the original set, but those are from an era where card design was not nearly as refined as it was in 2014. Leeroy just stands the test of time, showcasing how strong of a keyword Charge is.

Mage

Mage is in the gutter. I did not see this coming. Some previews had Mage as one of the bottom-three classes, but the class does not have a single viable deck right now. Spell Mage gets absolutely wrecked by Hunters and Paladins. The matchup is like Freeze Mage vs Control Warrior, which used to be the definition of a bad matchup. Now, Mage has two of them. Mage can shoot people in the face, but it has no time to do any of that as it gets overwhelmed by aggro.

Paladin

Paladin is the best class in the game, and it is not even close. I’m not sure what the other classes can do to compete, Paladin has such a well-rounded set at its disposal now. Furthermore, Paladin is still going through a lot of refinement. For example, there are many variants of Zilliax Deluxe 3000 being run in Paladin decks, from the 9-mana double Rush/Lifesteal Zilliax (Twin+Perfect) to discounted ones that either make a copy of themselves or buff your other minions (Ticking+Twin or Ticking+Pylon).

The current #1 Legend deck is an Excavate Paladin that Habugabu played there with a 75-25 record, an absolutely stunning performance. We are used to a world where 60% is an impressive win rate in high Legend, and Habugabu pulled off a 75% win rate with this deck.

Excavate Handbuff Paladin – #1 Legend (Habugabu) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

There are also more straightforward Handbuff Paladin decks that use both Leeroy Jenkins and Southsea Deckhand for some huge Charge minions. Bringing back Charge to the Core set can clearly be seen in the top decks, as Charge finishers are back in force in multiple decks.

Handbuff Paladin – #34 Legend (oyatsu) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Priest

Like Mage, Priest is also struggling a lot in the current meta. Paladin absolutely destroys Priest. However, unlike Mage, Priest might have some hope if Paladin gets nerfed, as it does not have another as miserable matchup. Anyway, there are currently no Priest decks that can reliably reach a 50% win rate. Overheal Priest that uses Timewinder Zarimi for an extra turn is the best Priest has to offer, but it struggles to get started too.

Zarimi Overheal Priest

Deck Import

Rogue

Rogue is another struggling class. The Pirate package has not been strong enough to stand on its own, and the best Rogue can do is to play some tricks with Gaslight Gatekeeper, Sonya Waterdancer, and Playhouse Giant. Draw cards, shuffle your hand into your deck and draw more cards, and play some Giants followed by more and more Giants and some giant-sized Breakdance, you get the idea. If Rogue gets going with this deck, there is no stopping it. But you can always just kill them first.

Playhouse Rogue

Deck Import

The Zilliax modules in this one are Pylon (+1/+1 to to your other minions) and Ticking (costs (1) less for each minion in play).

Shaman

Well, Shudderblock is a Legendary card, right? So, you can only put one copy into your deck. And Zilliax Deluxe 3000 is a Legendary card too. They’re a perfect fit for all your other Legendary cards in Highlander Shaman!

Highlander Shaman was one of the more competitive Reno decks before the rotation, and it got to keep most of its good stuff: Reno, Lone Ranger, Doctor Holli'dae, Golganneth, the Thunderer, and Sir Finley, the Intrepid. Out of all Highlander decks, Shaman is the true jack-of-all-trades, master of none. It has a little bit of everything from area-of-effect damage to single-target hard removal and healing. Add a few Legendary win conditions, and you have one of the most balanced decks in the current meta. It is still unfavored against Paladin, but who isn’t?

Reno Excavate Shaman – #40 Legend (RWBBYROSE) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Warlock

Warlock is having a great time in this meta. The only one raining on their parade is Paladin, which is an unfavored matchup for all Warlock archetypes. Other than that, Warlock is doing great.

Sludge Warlock survived the rotation fully intact, but it did pick up Doomguard from the new Core set to add some more burst. Yeah, Charge is still going that strong. So, if you have no new cards whatsoever, this one does not require any. Sludge Warlock is actually doing better now than it did before the rotation because much of the competition is gone. The only concern is Paladin, which is too much of an obstacle even for barrels of sludge.

Doomguard Sludge Warlock – #56 Legend (ChaboDennis) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

In addition to Sludge Warlock, a new Warlock deck has arrived with the expansion. I expected Handlock to perform better, but it has been lackluster. Instead, it is the Wheel of DEATH!!! Warlock that has become a top-tier deck alongside Sludge Warlock and Paladin. The deck has some Handlock elements to it with Dark Alley Pact and Table Flip, but its main game plan is to drop a Forge of Wills, Doomkin some mana crystals, play Wheel of DEATH!!! and drop a zero-cost Fanottem, Lord of the Opera on the board and make another 15/15 with the Forge. Most decks cannot recover from that. Against some of the slowest opponents that can clear that board, the deck can still win with the Wheel of DEATH!!! timer, if it can survive for just a few turns.

Wheel Warlock – #7 Legend (NoHandsGamer) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

The Zilliax modules in this one are Recursive (shuffle back to your deck) and Perfect (Lifesteal and Rush).

Warrior

Warrior’s Taunt Mech set has failed to impress. I have lost track of how many times Taunt Warrior has failed to become a thing, but I’m sure I would have many nickels if I got a nickel each time it was pushed and it failed.

However, Control Warrior does not need new cards. Control Warrior does not want new cards. Control Warrior is top tier playing its deck from the last expansion.

Odyn Warrior – #10 Legend (MrYagut) – Whizbang’s Workshop

Deck Import

Conclusions

Whizbang’s Workshop has been a bit of hit and miss.

For many classes, the expansion has not offered tools that would allow them to remain viable. Mage has nothing whatsoever. Priest is trying to refine overheal with an extra turn into something, but so far unsuccessfully. Rogue Pirates have amounted to nothing, and it barely lives with the power of Playhouse Giants. Demon Hunter hopes to Discover some good Demons or it’s out. Druid and Shaman have managed to incorporate some of their new cards into their existing Reno decks, but the new cards have not been able to stand on their own. Admittedly, Reno Shaman is a really good deck right now. Warrior is a top-tier class, but it does not play any of its new cards.

The new set has brought something interesting for Death Knight (handbuffs), Hunter (tokens), Paladin (charge and rush minions), and Warlock (Wheel of DEATH!!!). But so far, that’s it. The majority of classes are not succeeding because of their new cards. They are either failing, or living on with their old cards.

The current best decks in the game are:

  • Handbuff/Excavate Paladin (new)
  • Aggro Hunter (new)
  • Control Warrior (old)
  • Plague Death Knight (old)
  • Handbuff Rainbow Death Knight (new)
  • Sludge Warlock (old)
  • Wheel Warlock (new)
  • Reno Shaman (mostly old)

It’s an even split between new things and things we already played with for the last expansion. And this is right after a Standard rotation.

There are building blocks for many classes to make them more successful, and a good balance patch might get us into a brand-new, rotation-worthy meta. But right now, it’s mostly just some quick fun with new, aggressive Paladin and Hunter decks, or maybe with the Wheel Warlock, and not much else new. Unless you manage to build something new from the building blocks Blizzard gave us. It is still early, and there may be paths still unexplored. Either that, or we need a balance patch to open up space for non-Paladin classes.

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!

Leave a Reply

3 Comments

  1. Isshin
    March 23, 2024 at 1:59 PM

    I can only play the Reno Druid deck in Wild mode for some reason, is anyone having the same problem?

    • Meles
      March 24, 2024 at 2:11 PM

      Click on the deck name, choose “convert to standard”.
      Somehow the code creates a Wild deck, but all the cards are allowed in Standard.

  2. Sanart
    March 23, 2024 at 8:13 AM

    Mage spells its not doing good? i’m having a good time with that deck and winning a lot 😛