Well, this is it. Forged in the Barrens is here and it is a brand new meta. A meta where Far Watch Post is one of the most talked-about cards in the game, Jandice Barov is stronger than ever, and Deck of Lunacy is the best card anyone can have in their mulligan. Whether you were prepared or not, some things just always end up being surprising.
I took a deep dive into the early statistics of Forged in the Barrens, and in this article, I will present some of the best decks in this brand new meta. The usual caveats apply: we are two days into a new expansion and there will still be many changes to these decks and many new archetypes left to discover. You should be wary of making major crafting decisions this early in a new expansion because some archetypes may still fall apart and your cards may end up being useless.
That said, let’s see what rules in the early days of Forged in the Barrens!
#6: Control Warlock
The lone control deck in the current meta is Control Warlock. Turns out that if you can defend yourself against aggro and dismantle any control competitors with Tickatus, you will drive all of your control competitors far, far away.
The optimal Control Warlock list has not been found yet, and there are several questions about what it should look like. Here are some early observations about the archetype:
- Free Admission and Envoy Rustwix are probably going to be cut, they just seem weak.
- Lord Jaraxxus is the superior supplemental win condition, not Envoy Rustwix, and it is hard to see the deck including both in the long term.
- Cascading Disaster and Kazakus, Golem Shaper compete for the four-mana slot, and we do not have a winner yet. Kazakus, Golem Shaper has turned out to be a good card though, so if you’re looking for a Neutral Legendary that you can play in multiple archetypes, he’s your man.
- Ogremancer is weaker now than it was in Darkmoon Faire, but it may still barely be good enough.
- Taelan Fordring is very strong.
- Tamsin Roame is average. It is unclear whether she will remain in the deck. Her effect is great, if the right Shadow spells are there to copy. The best Shadow spells to make use of her effect may not exist yet.
Control Warlock’s performance is currently trending down, so the archetype will need some innovations to stay alive, but it is the best, and only, viable control deck in the meta right now.
#5: Deathrattle Demon Hunter
(Deck list found on HSReplay. Original creator unknown.)
Deathrattle Demon Hunter is proving to be more competitive than I had anticipated. It crumbles against Druid and has a hard time against Rogue, but other than that it is looking quite good. The Deathrattle minions make it hard to drive Deathrattle Demon Hunter off the board, and it has beautiful synergy with Watch Posts: Trueaim Crescent can sling Far Watch Post and Mor'shan Watch Post right on top of enemy minions. Who said buildings can’t attack? Demon Hunters do not believe in such faerie tales.
Death Speaker Blackthorn is one of the strongest cards in the game right now. Its only downside is that Deathrattle Demon Hunter is the only deck it goes into, so its fate is tied to this one deck. If Deathrattle Demon Hunter fails in the end, Blackthorn will be useless.
#4: Watch Post Rogue
- Format: gryphon
- Player:
8,640
The deck that has caused the most commotion so far is Watch Post Rogue popularized by Feno. How is that even a thing?
The deck has a simple plan. Play Far Watch Post. Maybe play another Far Watch Post. Perhaps just a small Mor'shan Watch Post too.
The Watch Posts disrupt the opponent’s early game, and can be followed up by the cards that really win the game: Kazakus, Golem Shaper and Jandice Barov. Jandice Barov got a major buff, as most of its low-rolls rotated out of Standard, and if you can drop a Shadowstep or two on it, it can just take over games.
Optionally, add in an Efficient Octo-bot to discount your hand and do everything a little faster.
Finally, Wicked Stab (Rank 1) and Pen Flinger can join the fray and finish off the opponent.
Yet, despite Watch Post Rogue getting a lot of attention and being a scary foe, there are even scarier decks around!
#3: No Minion Spell Mage
No Minion Mage or Spell Mage has turned out to be one of the strongest decks in the early Forged in the Barrens meta. The most common builds abuse Deck of Lunacy as much as they can: an opening hand of Deck of Lunacy and Refreshing Spring Water can provide so many threats and such huge tempo that most decks just fall behind.
In these early days, the strongest cards are not cards from the new expansion, but old cards liberated by the rotation.
However, Spell Mage can also win games without Deck of Lunacy. Mage still has a bunch of burn left with Wildfire, Runed Orb, Fireball, Apexis Blast, and even C'thun, the Shattered, and pursuing such a burn path seems almost as effective as Deck of Lunacy: it does not come with similar high-rolls, but it wins in consistency.
Even if you don’t enjoy total mayhem, you can still play Spell Mage successfully!
#2: Token Druid
What’s one Savage Roar, anyway?
Gibberling Druid is still here, and it is still strong, perhaps even stronger than ever before. Sure, Thorngrowth Sentries is slightly weaker than Dreamway Guardians, Pride's Fury is no Savage Roar, and Guff Runetotem might not ultimately belong in the deck (we’re still in the testing phase after all), but Token Druid got adequate replacements for all of its losses in Forged in the Barrens, so none of the fundamentals behind the deck have changed, and that makes it stronger in comparison to the post-rotation meta than it was back in Darkmoon Faire.
#1: Libram Paladin
(Deck list found on HSReplay. Original creator unknown.)
While Watch Post Rogue and Spell Mage are useful distractions, the true meta tyrant is still Paladin. Libram Paladin with Secrets is the best-performing deck in the game, and one that lacks any major weaknesses. It just kills everything.
Libram Paladin lost Salhet's Pride in the rotation, and the Secret package helps the deck maintain its card draw with Sword of the Fallen and Northwatch Commander. The deck does not even need Animated Broomstick anymore!
The really scary part is that there is still room to improve Libram Paladin. Most top-Legend Paladin decks right now use Kazakus, Golem Shaper, for example, but statistics are showing that Cariel Roame is stronger specifically in Paladin. Cariel synergizes well with other Paladin cards, and the Libram discounts can prevent your Kazakus, Golem Shaper from being active if you have any four-cost Librams in the deck.
Something old, something new, something four-cost, and something HEY LOSER! That’s the recipe for Paladin success in the Barrens.
But What About All the Other Classes?
There are four other classes in the game, and while they may still recover, the early days of Barrens have been hard for them.
Hunter has found itself in a strange position of weakness. Highlander Hunter was the lifeline of the class for such a long time, and there are no easy paths for it now. Beastmaster Leoroxx Hunter is actually the best-performing archetype for the class right now, but it is trending down. I believe a good Face Hunter can be built, but people are still playing around with Sunscale Raptor and Oasis Thrasher, neither of which are strong enough to see play.
Priest is just bad. Its spell-heavy control forms can barely reach a 50% win rate, and we have yet to see any remotely viable Tempo Priest decks. Maybe some can be found, or Priest will simply have to wait until the next expansion for some of that promised Shadow Priest support.
Warrior is struggling without a win condition. The most successful Control Warrior decks in Darkmoon Faire killed people either with E.T.C., God of Metal or Charge combos, and both of them died with the loss of Bloodsworn Mercenary. You can’t bring a C'thun, the Shattered to a Tickatus fight, either. There have been some experiments with faster Rush Warrior and multi-Legendary Control Warrior reminiscent of the old Wallet Warrior, but none have fully succeeded yet.
Shaman struggles again now that the un-nerfed Galakrond Shaman left Standard. Murloc Shaman has not found the success that was promised to it, but Aggro/Burn Shaman shows some promise. Perhaps there is something to it.
Remember that it is still early in Barrens, and there is much left to explore! The meta might look very different even a few days from now, but the decks featured in this post seem to have the highest chance of success.
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
I’m not super excelling with it yet, but I’m running a tempo priest ft. Knife Vendor, Illucia, and the strong early support of Freshman, Cleric, PW Feast, and Apotheosis. Crabrider to pick up special benefits from the buffs. Currently at Silver 2- but I started with 1 star per game so i’m climbing slow. Either way, it’s some of the most fun Hearthstone I’ve ever played- and i’ve been here since 2015
Interesting post! Thanks
OTK demon hunter still works. Talented Arcanist is a nice addition.
I don’t like building decks, so I mainly used the basic decks for each class, exchanging standard for golden cards and some few cards I didn’t like. With the default DH deck, I even played for more than 5 wins in some months.
The old basic decks had to be replaced with the patch. Instead of some “reset to default” option to reset a deck to its (new) starter version, you could only select “convert to standard”. Which kinda randomly choses replacements, even changing “inspire (old)” to something else instead of just “inspire (new)”. Or, my favourite was the conversion of the mage deck, where the resulting deck included a minion that brings one of your secrets into play – but no secrets at all. So, converting wasn’t an option.
So, deleting old decks and using the deck wizard to create core decks. But: there is no point in playing these. Might be the “new” bronze (7) meta, but they don’t work in the lowest rank there is in the game.
And don’t get me started on the new (core) DH deck. With the old one, I could win 1 out of 2 or 3 games, the new one has no equivalent to the legendary dragon, no board clear, nothing.
I never liked building decks. With the patch, I won’t bother with ranked anymore.
Thanks for this.