Before I start, I want to say that issues with deck codes are sadly still present. Any deck with Zilliax Deluxe 3000 (and let’s be real, that’s a lot of decks) won’t have its code working. The issue turned out to be more difficult to solve and the dev bandwidth I have access to is very limited. Believe me when I say it that I try to solve it as quickly as possible but it might take some more time. As a workaround, I always try to post a working deck code whenever I can. This post will be no different – for every deck running Zilliax, I will paste a working deck code BELOW the deck itself. Use it instead of the usual deck code box. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.
It’s been another slow week in Hearthstone. The only real news we got was that January season won’t count for the sake of 2025 esports (it won’t give competitive points for finishing at high ranks). And… that’s it. The mini-set really can’t come soon enough.
As for the meta itself, I covered some developments last week, but this one caught me off guard once again. It turns out that the most popular deck is… Aggro/Swarm Shaman. Yes, the deck is back. It came out of nowhere and now it’s the #1 deck on the ladder once again. After Sigil of Skydiving got nerfed a few weeks ago, people have just kinda dropped the deck without extensively playtesting the post-nerf version. But it turns out that the card, while great, was not necessary. With less board flood potential and no Charge minions, Zilliax was also switched from the nerfed Pylon Module + Ticking combo to a more standalone Haywire + Power combo (4 mana 5/7). The deck has a really good matchup spread with basically zero counters. Even the worst matchups are somewhere between 40-45% win rate. So if you’re looking for a deck to consistently climb with, that’s probably your best bet. Oh, and by the way, the deck plays exactly zero cards from the latest expansion. Fun, right?
That said, Cycle Rogue is still the deck to beat if you’re playing in high Legend. The new version is much simpler than the Sonya one, but it’s still not the most straightforward deck to play, that’s why it loses both popularity and win rate as we go down the ranks. I’ve even seen people running Plague Death Knight at high Legend just to counter it (previously I haven’t seen Plague DK in high Legend for a really long time).
Rainbow Death Knight, Asteroid Shaman, Elemental Mage and Handbuff Paladin remain other popular/strong decks you can often meet when climbing. Hunter is quite strong on paper, but underrepresented, especially the Handbuff/Jormungar/Grunter build (however you want to call it). The same goes for Zarimi Priest – statistically, it’s one of the best decks in the game, but it has a measly 2.5% play rate. Compare it to Rainbow DK which is a low tier 2 deck (not terrible, but not great), but with over 8% play rate. It goes to show that the strongest decks aren’t always the decks people want to play.
Anyway, there’s also a new format of Twist going on – XL Wonders. Well, “new” is not exactly the right word. Not only it’s just the extension of the previous format, but both of them are repeats in the first place. The interest in the format is almost zero. As you can see, I don’t have any decks to share. It’s not because I don’t want to – I genuinely can’t find people posting anything online. So far I found a single deck, and the format has been out for almost a week now. That’s not a perfect way to measure the format’s success, but come on, it’s really bad.
As I’ve said at the beginning, the mini-set can’t come soon enough. We’re approaching the middle of the month so it’s surely finally time to get an official announcement. I expect it in the coming days, most likely on Tuesday, with card reveals over the course of the week into a full release on January 21. If they decide to push it by another week, that will be really bad. It’s the longest we’ve gone without a major HS update in quite a while.
Below is a full list of the Legend decks from last week, sorted by the highest placement.
If you want to see all of the current top meta decks, go to our Hearthstone Meta Tier List post!
Hearthstone Standard Legend Decks of the Week
AAECAebwBgiN9QW5/gWzjQbTngbHpAa6zgan0wat4QYL4s0F5eQF9ugFh/sFkIMGw48G0J4GqKcG/agG66kG0dAGAAED8bMGx6QG8rMGx6QG6N4Gx6QGAAA=
AAECAfHhBBD8+QWT+wXt/wWDkgaLkgb/lwbHpAa7sQa9sQa6wQa6zgan0wbx5gbC6Aaq6gbblwcHh/YEhY4GlJUGkqAGubEG/7oGoOIGAAED9bMGx6QG97MGx6QG7t4Gx6QGAAA=
- 0Backstab2
- 0Preparation2
- 0Shadowstep2
- 1Breakdance2
- 1Dig for Treasure2
- 1Gear Shift2
- 1Tar Slick2
- 2Fan of Knives2
- 4Dubious Purchase2
AAECAc6LBQqf8wXd+gWplQaXoAbHpAa9vgaxwQb23Qaq6gbblwcKrp8E/d8F2/oF2JwGmqAG76kGw7oG88oGi9wG++UGAAED9LMGx6QG97MGx6QG6N4Gx6QGAAA=
AAECAZ8FBubkBcekBtOpBtG/BubmBtuXBwzJoATLxAW4xQXYxgWt6QW5/gX4lQa0ngbQngbQqQbRqQbJ9AYAAQPyswbHpAb1swbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==
AAECAZ8FCPboBY3+BZmOBs6cBsekBtK5Br2+BrrOBguQgwaFjga8jwaqlgbUuAaGvwbBvwbpyQaM1gal4Qbk6gYAAQP1swbHpAb3swbHpAbo3gbHpAYAAA==
AAECAZICBp/zBamVBvajBsekBtW6BoviBgyunwTb+gW+mQbYnAaaoAbvqQbDugbQygbzygat4gad4wad6wYAAQP0swbHpAb3swbHpAbu3gbHpAYAAA==
Hearthstone Wild Legend Decks of the Week
AAEBAQcKhReOzgKT0APlsASMtwSX7wT9xAX6yQaq6gbblwcP+AfP5wKO7QP5jAT6jASJoATvzgSO1AS0+AWh+wWFggacngafngbRngbzygYAAQOOzgL9xAXG9QP9xAWl9gX9xAUAAA==
- 1Altar of Fire1
- 1Felstring Harp1
- 1Gul’dan’s Gift1
- 1Kobold Librarian1
- 2Darkbomb1
- 2Defile1
- 2Demonic Project1
- 2Gnomeferatu1
- 3Dark Skies1
- 3Domino Effect1
- 3Full-Blown Evil1
- 3Hellfire1
- 4Pop’gar the Putrid1
- 4Soul Rend1
- 4Wing Welding1
- 5Cataclysm1
- 5Rin, Orchestrator of Doom1
- 5Symphony of Sins1
- 6Dreadlich Tamsin1
- 6Entitled Customer1
- 8Void Contract1
- 9Sargeras, the Destroyer1
- 10Table Flip1
- 0Raise Dead1
- 0Zilliax Deluxe 30001
- 1Sir Finley, Sea Guide1
- 2Dirty Rat1
- 2Tidepool Pupil1
- 2Zephrys the Great1
- 3“Health” Drink1
- 3Mixologist1
- 3Prince Renathal1
- 3Timeline Accelerator1
- 4E.T.C., Band Manager1
- 4Hysteria1
- 6Bob the Bartender1
- 6Reno Jackson1
- 6Theotar, the Mad Duke1
- 10Reno, Lone Ranger1
- 100The Ceaseless Expanse1
AAEBAf0GKMMWrs0C8tACzukC1IYDgIoD/KMD66wD184D+OMD2O0D6+0DgvsDsJEEj58E26ME5bAEuNkE38IF/cQF9MYF+cYFyOsF0/oFpvsFgJ4G0Z4G7qEGnaIGx6QGr6gG8KkGlbMGibUGwr4Ghr8Gk8sGyegGquoG25cHAAABBoCKA/3EBevtA/3EBfGzBsekBvezBsekBu7eBsekBuntBv3EBQAA
- 1Crystology1
- 1Knight of Anointment1
- 2Order in the Court1
- 2Redscale Dragontamer1
- 2Seafloor Savior1
- 2Sir Finley of the Sands1
- 3Enter the Coliseum1
- 3Holy Cowboy1
- 3Runi, Time Explorer1
- 3Spirit of the Badlands1
- 3Time Out!1
- 4Nozdormu the Timeless1
- 5Holy Wrath1
- 6Lumia1
- 7Amitus, the Peacekeeper1
- 8Lightforged Cariel1
- 8Prismatic Beam1
- 0Zilliax Deluxe 30001
- 1Sir Finley, Sea Guide1
- 2Astalor Bloodsworn1
- 2Tuskarrrr Trawler1
- 2Zephrys the Great1
- 3Lord Barov1
- 3Mixologist1
- 3Overplanner1
- 3Prince Renathal1
- 3Timeline Accelerator1
- 4E.T.C., Band Manager1
- 4Grillmaster1
- 4Lorekeeper Polkelt1
- 4Royal Librarian1
- 4Saronite Chain Gang1
- 6Bob the Bartender1
- 6Horn of the Windlord1
- 6Reno Jackson1
- 6Theotar, the Mad Duke1
- 7Velen, Leader of the Exiled1
- 10Reno, Lone Ranger1
- 22Molten Giant1
- 100The Ceaseless Expanse1
AAEBAZ8FKLMDwxabywLZ/gLPhgODoQP8owOHrQOT0AP21gP53gPM6wPgiwTlsASpswS42QTa2QTA4gTipAX9xAX26AWN/gWWjgaZjgacjgbOngawoQa0oQadogbHpAavqAaGvwbDvwaPzwbK5Qbw5gbJ6Aaq6gau6gbblwcAAAEGswP9xAWbywL9xAXPhgP9xAXxswbHpAb3swbHpAbu3gbHpAYAAA==
AAEBAZ8FBP3EBdK5BsG/BuTqBg3Z/gL9uAPruQPA0QPM6wPi0wTBtgbUuAbt3waS4AbJ5Qac6Aaf6AYAAQOgzgL9xAX8owP9xAX6sAP9xAUAAA==