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The Great Dark Beyond Meta Report – This Is What the New Expansion Brought to Hearthstone

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

The Great Dark Beyond is here and it is time for a brand new meta! Also, Prince Renathal has left the Standard format again, so we’re back to playing with 30-card decks and having 30 Health to start the games with. The combined effect of these two changes means that Hearthstone feels refreshed again.

Renathal’s departure is a major boon for the new expansion. Renathal had a major effect on the late Perils in Paradise meta, and The Great Dark Beyond starts from the unenviable position of being the sixth set in a full six-set Standard format. It is hard to have a major effect when the card pool is so big, and we can see The Great Dark Beyond struggling to create meaningful change within some classes and archetypes. However, the new set has its instant successes as well, alongside a number of potential decks that wait to be refined further.

Fire Elemental Mage

Without a doubt, the most influential early deck has been Fire Elemental Mage. Elemental Mage was already a popular budget deck, and it received incredible improvements from the new expansion: Solar Flare, Spontaneous Combustion, Saruun, and Blazing Accretion are the four best-performing cards in the deck. I’m not sure if such a power spike has ever happened before: an existing archetype gets four new cards, and each and every one of them is stronger than anything the deck had before.

Solar Flare is often a cheap or even free board-clear spell that leaves your own minions intact, Spontaneous Combustion is a cheap damage spell that can go face, Blazing Accretion is incredible card-draw tool with a body attached, and Saruun gives you outs in games that would otherwise be lost as it gives you a lot more reach: the dream scenario is drawing a Saruun-buffed Overflow Surger that can give you up to +7 Spell Damage all by itself. On a Forged Molten Rune, that’s 20 points of damage going straight to the dome.

Fire Elemental Mage – #57 Legend (Clark) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

This new build uses one Legendary card, Saruun. However, you can skip Saruun despite its power. Using two copies of Sleet Skater instead of Saruun and Molten Rune keeps the deck available to almost everyone, and still retains almost all of its strength. You won’t have the potential Spell Damage finisher, which is also why you don’t need the Molten Rune, but you have a little more control over the board and can go under the Saruun version thanks to your additional freeze effects and armor.

Odyn Warrior

The main counter to Elemental Mage is Odyn Warrior. The deck is largely the same as before the new expansion, but it received key board-clear tools from The Great Dark Beyond: Hostile Invader and The Ceaseless Expanse. The versions of the deck that have adopted these new tools have become the strongest lists of the archetype.

Elemental Mage can fill the board many times and has some reach with direct damage spells as well. A Warrior deck with countless board clears and a wealth of armor is the perfect counter to that.

Odyn Warrior – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Deck code: AAECAQcGpfYFofsF2IEGx6QG+skGquoGDI7UBPDNBbT4BYuUBpyeBoegBuypBtW6Bo6/BvPKBsHhBrDiBgABA/WzBsekBvezBsekBu7eBsekBgAA

The Many Forms of Death Knight

Death Knight is the most exciting, or at least the most varied, class in the game in the early days of The Great Dark Beyond. Many Death Knight decks found success in the first hours of the new meta, and some of them look like they are here to stay.

Death Knight received two powerful new cards in the expansion, Airlock Breach and Exarch Maladaar, both of which have proven to be as strong as expected. Airlock Breach provides 10 Health and a pair of 5/5 Taunt minions, which is wonderful for stabilization on turn six. And if you have the Corpses to spare, Exarch Maladaar can give you anything on turn six from Climactic Necrotic Explosion to Reno, Lone Ranger. Furthermore, any slower Death Knight decks can make use of The Ceaseless Expanse, which looks set to be one of the expansion’s big winners.

Highlander Death Knight can make use of all three, alongside Eredar Brute, for a strong combination of survivability and early threats.

Rainbow Reno Death Knight – #88 Legend (Pizza) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Deck code: AAECAfHhBB6H9gT9xAX8+QXt/wWFjgaLkgaUlQaplQb/lwbLnwaSoAbHpAavqAbLsAa5sQa7sQb/ugbDvgakwAamwAaowAa6wQb/yQaWywa6zgan0wag4gbC6Aaq6gbt6gYAAAEGu7EG/cQF9bMGx6QG97MGx6QG7t4Gx6QGoOIG/cQF6e0G/cQFAAA=

Another slow Death Knight deck that has seen play early in The Great Dark Beyond is Blood/Unholy Control Death Knight. However, The 8 Hands From Beyond have so far failed to impress, and as the Highlander version of Death Knight has risen in popularity, the non-Highlander Blood Control is fading towards the background for now.

Blood/Unholy Control Death Knight – #6 Legend (Madoka) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Deck code:

AAECAfHhBAqT+wXt/wWDkgaLkgbHpAa9sQa6zgbC6Aaq6gaw6wYKh/YEgvgFhY4GlJUGkqAGu7EG/7oGoOIG2uUG5uUGAAED9bMGx6QG97MGx6QG7t4Gx6QGAAA=

For a more midrange strategy, Death Knight has been experimenting with its Starship and Yelling Yodeler. There are several different takes on the archetype. There are slower variants that are either Rainbow or Blood/Unholy/Unholy and there’s also a slightly faster Blood/Unholy/Unholy version with Death Growl. I don’t know what to make of these yet, but the Death Knight Starship overall looks viable and there is a bunch of experimentation going on around it.

Rainbow Starship Death Knight – NoHandsGamer – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Deck code:

AAECAfHhBAzw6AWT+wXt/wWLkgb/lwbHpAa9sQakwAaWywb23QaK4gaq6gYJhY4GkqAGu7EG/7oGw74GkMsGi9wGnuIGoOIGAAED9bMGx6QG97MGx6QG7t4Gx6QGAAA=

Unholy/Blood Starship Death Knight – #198 Legend (mio) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Death Knight can also opt to ignore the new expansion altogether and opt for a Frost/Unholy plan with Razzle-Dazzlers and Leeroy Jenkins. This is as aggressive as Death Knight gets in the current meta. It has also been the early best performer for the class, but aggressive strategies tend to find a lot of success early on in a new meta, so whether it lasts remains to be seen.

Frost/Unholy Buttons Death Knight

Deck Import

Overall, there is a lot to be excited about when it comes to Death Knight. Frost/Unholy Buttons deck and the Rainbow Reno deck look quite strong, and the Starship decks look promising, even if their final version has not been reached yet.

Nostalgia Shaman

Shaman got one of the more interesting new mechanics in The Great Dark Beyond in Asteroids, but Asteroid Shaman has failed to become competitive on the ladder so far. It’s just nowhere close. Maybe after some more work. For now, Shaman does have a competitive ladder deck, albeit one that uses no new cards whatsoever. It’s the good old Nostalgia Shaman.

Nostalgia Shaman

Deck Import

Deck code: AAECAaoICuXkBfboBY31Bc6cBpyeBsekBqTABvzABrrOBqXTBgqQgwazjQbDjwbQngaopwbrqQacuAa/vgbWwAbR0AYAAQPzswbHpAb2swbHpAbu3gbHpAYAAA==

Starship Pirate Demon Hunter

As expected, Pirate Demon Hunter remains in the game and it is enhanced by the addition of Demon Hunter’s Starship pieces. Shattershard Turret and Felfused Battery give you a Windfury Rush Starship that also gives +1 Attack to all of your other minions when it attacks: perfect for pushing through the opponent’s defenses and buffing your Charge Pirates. Warp Drive completes the package with card draw that also discounts the drawn pieces for even more explosive Charge turns.

Starship Pirate Demon Hunter – #24 Legend (Unknown) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Deck code:

AAECAea5AwSU1ATHpAbEuAb8wAYN6Z4G7p4G7Z8G/KgG17gG17oG1sAG2MAG9sAGrcUGo9wGnd0GweoGAAED87MGx6QG9rMGx6QG7t4Gx6QGAAA=

The deck is above a 50% win rate, although not by much. Also, the Priest Tourist package in this list has been cut down to only Brain Masseuse, which makes it hard to justify keeping Aranna, Thrill Seeker in the deck at all. With some more refinement, Pirate Demon Hunter could still emerge as a truly scary aggro deck. Right now, it is viable, but not as scary as it could be.

Discover Hunter and Egg Hunter

Hunter is still trying to find its way around the new expansion. The trio of Rangari Scout, Exarch Naielle, and Alien Encounters looks set to find its way into many Hunter decks, such as this Discover Hunter by maxiebon that was also piloted by Homi all the way to #41 Legend.

Discover Hunter – #41 Legend (Homi) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

I’m still waiting to see if the Discover trio can be combined properly with Eggs. Hunter got the Extraterrestrial Egg in The Great Dark Beyond, and there should be a good Egg Hunter list out there somewhere. This is the most common one I have seen so far, but it still leaves something to be desired:

Egg Hunter – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Gorm the Worldeater has been surprisingly mellow in this list and Detailed Notes have not impressed either, but the Egg itself is solid. The Ceaseless Expanse never stops surprising as it seems to work in this list too. Definitely a potential deck that can be refined further.

Wheel Warlock

The Warlock set looked like a bit of a mess with its random Demons, and those random Demons indeed have not found a way to succeed, at least for now. Warlock is in a bit of a pickle overall, with only one semi-competitive deck so far: the return of Wheel Warlock. Wheel Warlock is happy to grab Eredar Brute, Kil'jaeden, and The Ceaseless Expanse from the new expansion for additional defense, a deck that will never run out after playing the Wheel, and another good board clear. It is still not a top-tier archetype, but it’s playable at just above a 50% win rate.

Kil’jaeden Wheel Warlock – #5 Legend (NoHandsGamer) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Dollhouse Druid

Druid is one of the classes that got a Starship, but Druid’s Starship does not look too hot. Maybe not going for a roundtrip around the ladder in that. In fact, the best-performing early Druid deck is a new version of the good old Spell Damage Druid that just blasts away with Seabreeze Chalice. The new expansion added Ethereal Oracle and Arkonite Revelation to its toolkit, and while those additions have not made it a top-tier deck, they have made it somewhat more competitive. It is on the verge of falling below a 50% win rate as the ladder gets more refined though.

Dollhouse Druid – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Quasar Rogue

The most anticipated, perhaps feared, deck that turned out to be not that great. Quasar Rogue has failed on the ladder. There are some top players who still consider it great, maybe even broken, so I cannot rule out the possibility that as players learn the archetype, its performance will improve. Rogue as a class is known for decks that are extremely difficult to play, but that manage to break the magic 50% win rate in the hands of top players. Maybe Quasar Rogue will be one of those. For now, it struggles to break through 40%, much less 50%.

Quasar Rogue – #134 Legend (Onkrad) – The Great Dark Beyond

Deck Import

Conclusions

The Great Dark Beyond is off to a fairly good start. Some of the new archetypes have failed for now, but may still find success after refinement. It is a little curious how Libram Paladin, Asteroid Shaman, and Quasar Rogue have all disappointed in the early days. On the other hand, Elemental Mage is affordable and surprisingly strong, and some of the Starships may be competitive after all despite looking weak in the pre-release events. There is a lot of Hearthstone to be played in this new meta!

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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One Comment

  1. Sonriks6
    November 6, 2024 at 1:08 PM

    The Ceaseless Expanse is in half of the decks, with this +50% play rate will see a kinda nerf? Lets see in the upcoming days/weeks.