Category: Hearthstone

I have built several Budget Dragon Hunter lists after the release of Galakrond’s Awakening. Most of the time, a Dragon Hunter without Rotnest Drakes and Stormhammers has still been doing fine, but in the current meta – after the second balance patch of Ashes of Outland – I found myself struggling with the archetype.

Eventually, I was able to build a list that wins roughly half of the time, but it is still not a great deck for climbing. I figured I’d post about it anyway, because it is playable, and one key innovation in the list ended up working in another budget Hunter deck I built afterwards, which I will showcase in the coming days.

That key innovation is combining Scavenger’s Ingenuity not with Stonetusk Boar, but with Burrowing Scorpid. There are very few decks in the meta that can handle an 8/5 Stealth minion – ironically, the full-cost Dragon Hunter with Rotnest Drakes is one of those decks though.

What would be interesting, and yet untested, is whether Burrowing Scorpid could also improve the full-cost Dragon Hunter deck.

Budget Dragon Hunter decklist

Deck code: AAECAR8AD6gCyQThBJcI/gyKrQP5rgP7rwP8rwPnsAP/sAOFsQOHsQP/ugPZvgMA

This is where I ultimately ended up. Scaleriders are back to ping away early-game minions, and Scavenger’s Ingenuity now tutors for either Phase Stalker or Burrowing Scorpid.

You may also notice that I have cut Primordial Explorer. After reviewing my games and stats, I noticed that Primordial Explorer was underperforming without Stormhammer: with the hammer, it provides you with a sweet stream of Dragons to keep hitting, but without the hammer, it is such a low tempo play that it hinders the deck more than it helps it.

Budget Dragon Hunter mulligan

Mulligan is the same as before: Dwarven Sharpshooter, Blazing Battlemage, Scavenger’s Ingenuity, and Phase Stalker.

Faerie Dragon can work against Rogue or slow decks.

Budget Dragon Hunter upgrade path

The deck is now somewhat different from the main meta version.

The straightforward upgrades are still there: Stormhammer to replace Eaglehorn Bow and Rotnest Drake to replace Evasive Wyrm. Now you’d probably also want to reintroduce Primordial Explorer to the deck instead of Big Ol’ Whelp, when you add the Stormhammer.

Scaleriders are typically replaced with Imprisoned Felmaws (or one Felmaw and a Dragonbane) and Burrowing Scorpids with Stonetusk Boars, although I’m not sure whether the latter is an improvement.

Budget Dragon Hunter gameplay

Finally, here is a gameplay video of the deck that showcases how to draw and play some 8/5 Stealth minions for four mana.

Zoo Warlock is almost a budget deck right out of the box: Magic Carpet is the only Epic card that is strictly mandatory for the standard builds, and then you can tune it up with the Legendary cards Zephrys the Great or Kanrethad Ebonlocke if you like, but they are not mandatory.

However, I have wanted to find out just how mandatory the Magic Carpet is, and while it does indeed seem mandatory for the most common version of Zoo, the Charge variant seems promising even without it: if your minions can do things immediately even without the Carpet, the Carpet might not be as necessary for success.

Therefore, I built this Carpetless variant of Charge Discard Zoo, and was actually able to climb with it with a 10-6 record from Diamond 4 to Diamond 3.

Carpetless Budget Zoo decklist

Deck code: AAECAf0GAA8woQKIBeMFzgfCCIidA/2kA/2nA/muA7W5A7a5A8e5A96+A9++AwA=

The dust cost of this deck is just 1040! Now, that’s one cheap deck.

You really want your Imprisoned Scrap Imp and Hand of Gul’dan to buff up your minions and draw lots of cards by discarding Hand of Gul’dan with Expired Merchant or Nightshade Matron.

The deck comes with the full suite of Charge minions: Stonetusk Boar, Bluegill Warrior, and Wolfrider. Sometimes you may have to use them for removal, but their main function is to get buffed up and go face.

With no Magic Carpet in the deck, Rocket Augmerchants can give your other minions Rush to enable trading, and EVIL Genius can provide you with Lackeys that can also be proactive by giving other minions Rush or by dealing direct damage.

The deck is extremely dependent on Imprisoned Scrap Imp: I did not win a single game where I did not find it. The more aggressive the matchup, the earlier you need it, but it is not absolutely mandatory to have it on turn two. Scrap Imp on three or four can still win games against many opponents, and sometimes it can be even later because you have so much potential charge damage from hand.

I am still evaluating the performance of multiple cards in the deck. Flame Imp, EVIL Genius, and the full package of four Augmerchants are all choices that I am not yet fully confident about. What I am confident about is that a Discard Zoo without Magic Carpet has to be built around the full Charge package: Carpet builds often run only Stonetusk Boar as a Charge minion.

I will post about the deck again if I find a better list, but I wanted to share this version already because it has felt playable and gives budget players some more alternatives.

Carpetless Budget Zoolock mulligan

You mulligan hard for Imprisoned Scrap Imp and Hand of Gul’dan in every matchup. If you have Hand of Gul’dan, you can keep Expired Merchant. That’s it.

Carpetless Budget Zoolock gameplay

Finally, here is a gameplay video of the deck in action. I hope it showcases how to pilot the list.

Galakrond Warlock had a strong run in Descent of Dragons and it continued in early Ashes of Outland because the deck happened to naturally run the best card against Demon Hunters, Sacrificial Pact.

However, after Sacrificial Pact was nerfed to only target friendly Demons, so you can no longer eat the Demon Hunter’s Demons for free and heal while doing so, the matchup flipped and became favored for Demon Hunters. This pretty much destroyed Galakrond Warlock as a top tier deck.

I spent several days working on a post-nerfs version of Galakrond Warlock and was eventually able to partially resurrect the archetype. Yes, it remains playable with minor changes, even though it took a huge hit.

Galakrond Warlock decklist

Deck code: AAECAf0GBsUEzAj8owORsQPjtAPxvwMMowHECJ2pA+WsA+isA+qsA+usA+ysA/6uA6qvA9a+A+m+AwA=

I tried a lot of things to recover some strength to the Demon Hunter matchup after the nerfs. Acidic Swamp Ooze proved to be ineffective because Demon Hunters swing those Warglaives so wildly that there is not much left of them to destroy after the first turn. Overconfident Orc could not stop the scourge either. I had some success with Khartut Defender, but ultimately it was too expensive and clogged my hand and did not allow me to cycle through my deck fast enough. I had somewhat more success against Demon Hunters by cutting Zephrys and Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, but then I started to else in other matchups because I did not have enough threats left in the deck.

Eventually, I ended up with two copies of Mo’arg Artificer and Frozen Shadoweaver. Mo’arg can amplify your healing from Nether Breath: when you cannot stop the damage anyway, at least you can heal back up. Frozen Shadoweaver buys you an extra turn that Taunt minions are unable to do against Demon Hunter by stopping all of Demon Hunter’s attack-based synergies for a turn. Both cards are among the weakest in the deck, but they are the most effective anti-Demon Hunter tech that you can include right now, so they are, unfortunately, necessary.

Against Demon Hunters, you try to keep your head above the water and eventually swing the game in your favor with Galakrond or Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, or even a regular Alexstrasza healing your own face and adding a big minion on the board.

In slower matchups, your gameplan is completely different.

Often, the key cards are Galakrond, Alexstrasza, and Nether Breath. The slower the matchup, the more you want to save Nether Breaths for face damage. When you drop the Alex and swing with your Galakrond weapon or hit with minions on the board, you’re almost there. Alex can be followed up with Kronx and two Nether Breaths from hand for 13 damage. Sometimes you can include Zephrys in the mix or alone for Inner Demon or Fireball or the like.

Sure, there are variations where you win with a big board or with Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, but do not underestimate the amount of burst damage Galakrond Warlock is capable of.

Galakrond Warlock mulligan

You always keep Dragonblight Cultist, it is such a versatile card for every matchup.

Other than that, if you’re looking to defend, you look for Dark Skies and possibly Frozen Shadoweaver or Devoted Maniac.

If you’re looking to be aggressive, keep Galakrond.

Galakrond Warlock gameplay video

Finally, here is a recap of the guide on video alongside several games worth of gameplay with the deck. I hope it illustrates how to pilot this archetype in the post-nerfs Ashes of Outland meta.

With the nerf to Sacrificial Pact, there is one Warlock card that became viable again overnight: Lord Jaraxxus. Jaraxxus had been unplayable for some time because it could be destroyed by Sacrificial Pact from Zephrys the Great or even from the main deck of most Warlocks on the ladder, but now that Jaraxxus can no longer be destroyed at will, it has a chance to come back.

Jaraxxus is a natural fit into a Handlock deck, so I updated my Handlock theorycraft for the current meta and added Jaraxxus in it, and climbed a good deal in Legend with a 71% winrate.

Handlock decklist

Deck code: AAECAf0GBsUEiQaJnQPxrAPWuQPuvwMMjQjECNqWA9qbA6GhA+WsA+usA+ysA+6sA7+5A8S5A72+AwA=

The overall idea behind Handlock without Mountain Giants (which went to Hall of Fame) is to use various cards that benefit from having many cards in hand:

• Dark Skies deals damage based on the number of cards in hand
• The Dark Portal draws and discounts a card when you have at least eight cards in hand
• Twilight Drake gains health when you have more cards in hand
• Abyssal Summoner summons bigger Taunt Demons when you have lots of cards in hand
• Plot Twist draws more cards when you have more cards in hand

Plot Twist is a natural synergy card for Handlock that enables many things:

• Fel Lord Betrug and Plot Twist usually clears the board and leaves some Deathrattle minions behind
• Aranasi Broodmothers heal you when drawn
• Kelidan the Breaker becomes a Twisting Nether on a stick when drawn the turn it is played
• If you are missing an answer, it can be just a Plot Twist away

However, I have not included the Quest in the deck. The Quest makes your mulligans weaker, which is a major issue against fast decks like Demon Hunters. The late-game benefits are not sufficient to compensate for that. Jaraxxus already gives you a late-game Hero Power and it does not work well with the Quest.

The deck wins games with big minions, many of which have Taunt as well, so opponents will have a hard time pushing through them all. Demon Hunters with Warglaives giving you trouble? Let them facetank some huge Taunt minions if they insist.

With all the Demons in the deck being so big, Kanrethad Ebonlocke’s Prime version is a huge board in a box.

Lord Jaraxxus can grind out some slower matchups, such as Priests, and as it heals you to 15, it can be useful even against more aggressive decks.

Handlock mulligan

Typically, you mulligan for your early removal, Dark Skies and Unstable Felbolt, and keep The Dark Portal alongside them.

Against slow decks, you can look for The Dark Portal and Twilight Drake for some early pressure and Kanrethad Ebonlocke to get it out of the way of your The Dark Portal.

Handlock gameplay

Here are a couple of gameplay videos of the deck, showcasing various Plot Twist shenanigans and, of course, Lord Jaraxxus.

With the latest nerf patch making the game a little bit slower again, I ventured to the ladder with Quest Druid! Rogues have come out of their hiding places, and Druid is traditionally fairly good against Rogue, so I figured this old archetype might be playable again.

I went 9-6 with this deck in Legend for a 60% winrate, and felt like I could have done better as in the first games I was still looking for the right approaches to matchups. Demon Hunter is unfavored with Quest Druid still despite the nerfs, but I did well against everything else I found on the ladder, including many Rogues.

Just try to survive and complete your Quest and from there you have tons of value packed into every turn. Against Rogue, you need to get your Ysera to get some free dragon boards to overwhelm them because they have almost infinite value. Against most other opponents, your healing and regular minions will get the job done.

Quest Druid decklist

Deck code: AAECAZICBCT4oQP2rQPxugMNQFZf/gH3A8QGuZQDqaIDyKID76ID2akD+bUDxrcDAA==

I used this list, which is two cards away from the list that I originally theorycraft for the expansion. The major change here is the addition of two copies of Crystal Power to better contest Demon Hunters.

After you complete the Quest, Crystal Power first deals two damage to a minion and then heals it for five. If the minion has one or two Health remaining, it dies before it would get healed. You can also still heal your face with Crystal Power after completing the Quest: it does not deal damage to Heroes but allows you to target Heroes for the healing effect.

There is a lot of healing in the deck with Crystal Power, Steel Beetle, and Hidden Oasis, so you can come back from difficult positions and stabilize once you have enough mana and the Quest completed.

Ysera and Cenarius are the main win conditions. Archspore Msshi’fn is also playable in this deck as an early Taunt minion and later in the game as a 9/9 Taunt + 9/9 Taunt with Rush. Not that 18/18 stats for 10 mana is that special anymore, but it’s OK.

Quest Druid mulligan

You always keep the Quest and Crystal Merchant.

Against aggressive decks, you want Crystal Power (against Demon Hunter) and Wrath (against everything aggressive).

Against slow decks, you want Nourish. Nourish can also be kept against midrange decks if you have some early game already. Against Demon Hunter, it is too slow.

Quest Druid gameplay video

Finally, here is a gameplay video of me piloting the deck in Legend. It showcases how resilient the deck can be in the face of many, many threats – and how sometimes the opponents can still be too fast for you.

Spell Druid is one of the cheapest decks in Hearthstone at the moment, but most of the lists include either Rising Winds from the Galakrond’s Awakening adventure or a pair of Anubisath Defenders, which are Epic cards.

Therefore, I set out to find out how to build the cheapest viable Spell Druid deck and came up with a list that costs only 2260 dust and uses no adventure cards. I used the list as part of my budget climb and played it from Diamond 2 to Legend.

Budget Spell Druid decklist

Deck code: AAECAZICBP0C05wDsawDrroDDf4B9wPmBcQGuZQD4p8D3KID26UD5boD6LoD7LoD7roD77oDAA==

For such a simple archetype, there are surprisingly strong emotions around the right way to build the deck. Vicious Syndicate, for example, is adamant about cutting Exotic Mountsellers in favor of two copies of The Forest’s Aid, and some players swear by the Treant package of Force of Nature, Aeroponics, and Anubisath Defenders, which adds a number of Epic cards to the mix.

I spent a couple of hours reviewing statistics when building this list, and I have to say that it was one of the least productive endeavors I have ventured into. There are lots of different lists, but there are very little performance differences and it seems that most of the small changes to the deck simply do not matter enough to be visible even over thousands of games.

There are three cards in the deck that are far more important than anything else: Glowfly Swarm, Fungal Fortunes, and Overgrowth. They give you minions on the board, cards in hand, and ramp up your mana crystals.

Whether you have one or two copies of Power of the Wild or Soul of the Forest or whether you use The Forest’s Aid or Exotic Mountseller does not seem to make much of a difference. You can tech in BEEES!!! or Starfall, but those do not do much in the grand scheme of things either. Perhaps once there is even more data, some options will come out as better than others.

Honestly, the deck is mostly about cheating out big boards early and then using Savage Roar for lethal, and the large majority of games with it depend on what you get in your opening hand. There are real games to be played with the deck with some sweet Kael’thas action or staying just out of reach with good healing timing, but with this particular archetype, those are in the minority.

Budget Spell Druid mulligan

Always keep Glowfly Swarm, Fungal Fortunes, and Overgrowth. Keep a copy of Crystal Power or Wrath against Demon Hunter. That’s the entire mulligan strategy, and the more religiously you stick to it, the better your expected results are.

Budget Spell Druid upgrade path

If you can’t find a difference between the performance of various alternatives, are there any upgrades either?

Rising Winds seems to perform very well in all the lists it is in: it is extra card draw and helps you find your key cards, and it also synergizes well with Exotic Mountseller. Cut the Worthy Expeditions to add Rising Winds, and you have a meta list.

Another option is to go for Anubisath Defenders, Force of Nature, and Aeroponics, but so far the performance difference just isn’t there.

Budget Spell Druid gameplay video

Finally, here is some gameplay with the deck to showcase how to pilot it. Sometimes there are decisions to play around board clears, and there is also some healing timing action included. In some of the games with this deck, decisions like that will matter.

I have experimented with multiple Budget Hunter decks this season. An upgraded Dragon Hunter was playable, but not great. Fully budget Face Hunter was a little better, but still not top tier.

However, this time I hit the jackpot. Combining the Boar package from Face Hunter and Dragon package from Dragon Hunter results in this fun little hybrid deck that costs only 1320 dust and I played it from Diamond 5 to Diamond 2 with a 62% winrate during my budget climb.

Dragon Hunter core is still strong and provides ways to apply pressure while maintaining board control several turns into the game, and the Boar package adds burst damage and early big minions to the mix.

Budget Dragon Boar Hunter decklist

Deck code: AAECAR8AD6gCyQThBIgFlwj+DIqtA/muA/uvA/yvA/6vA/+wA4WxA/m6A/+6AwA=

The Boar package in the deck consists of Scavenger’s Ingenuity, which can tutor and buff your Beasts. There are two types of Beasts in the deck, Stonetusk Boars for Charge damage and Phase Stalkers for pulling out Explosive Traps.

Finally, the package culminates in Scrap Shot, which is ideally used after you have played any Phase Stalkers from hand and can buff up your Boar for more damage – often usable immediately on the same turn you play Scrap Shot!

This package is complemented by a regular Dragon package with its elusive minions and Corrosive Breaths that can contest the board through the mid-game.

Budget Dragon Boar Hunter mulligan

You mulligan for your early game: Blazing Battlemage, Dwarven Sharpshooter, Scavenger’s Ingenuity, and Phase Stalker.

In slow matchups, you can also keep Faerie Dragon for a threat that is difficult to remove.

Budget Dragon Boar Hunter upgrade path

By far the biggest upgrade you can make to the deck is to replace Eaglehorn Bows with Stormhammers. They just let you swing a lot more.

After that, you should replace Evasive Wyrms with Rotnest Drakes for an earlier pressure play.

Meati has built a similar list to this, and in the most popular version of it, there are Imprisoned Felmaws instead of Scrap Shots, but Meati himself has moved on from those. I do not consider Felmaw an upgrade over Scrap Shot at this time, and at least my sample of some tens of games puts Scrap Shot above Felmaw in performance.

Budget Dragon Boar Hunter gameplay video

Finally, here is a video of me piloting the deck. I hope it showcases the strengths and weaknesses of the deck.

After mediocre success with a fully budget Dragon Hunter, I started experimenting with the Stonetusk Boar package. It is something I mentioned already when playing the previous deck as something that I want to explore, and I started the exploration journey with a Face Hunter deck.

Before the rotation, Face Hunter was not the cheapest budget deck: Toxic Reinforcements was mandatory to achieve success, and that meant an additional 800 dust to craft tow Epic cards. Toxic Reinforcements is still good, but thanks to the Boar package, it is no longer mandatory.

The Boar package is simple: Scavenger’s Ingenuity tutors Beasts from your deck and buffs them up, so you build a deck with only two different Beasts: Stonetusk Boar for Charge and Phase Stalker for pulling Secrets from your deck. Then your Scavenger’s Ingenuity will always tutor for one or the other.

Add in Scrap Shot, and you can buff a Boar in hand to some quite sweet numbers. For example, a 4/4 Board from Scavenger’s Ingenuity becomes a 7/7 with Scrap Shot, and with Scrap Shot going face, that means potential to deal 10 damage for five mana.

The Boar package can be put in different shells. Meati has built a full-cost Dragon Hunter that includes it (and I’m in the process of building a budget one), but it also goes nicely into Face Hunter.

I played this budget list from Diamond 6 to Diamond 5 with a 55% winrate during my budget climb.

Budget Boar Face Hunter decklist

Deck code: AAECAR8AD6gCtQPJBIgFkgWXCNsJ/gzzpwP5rgP7rwP8rwOiuQP5ugP/ugMA

This deck costs only 1240 dust, so it is one of the cheapest budget decks available. Not Demon Hunter cheap, but cheap nonetheless.

Just pure face goodness and the Boar package. That’s it. Don’t go for the copy effects to multiply your Boars, they are just too slow and unreliable. Stick with the basics for better success.

Budget Boar Face Hunter mulligan

You mulligan for your early-game: Dwarven Sharpshooter, Blazing Battlemage, Scavenger’s Ingenuity, Phase Stalker, and Imprisoned Felmaw. That’s it.

Budget Boar Face Hunter upgrades

It is still a Face Hunter deck, and Toxic Reinforcements is still a spectacular Face Hunter card. You can replace Imprisoned Felmaw with that.

Imprisoned Felmaw has been the weakest card in the deck for me. It is a lot of fun if you get it on the board early, but it is a weak draw later on and not always effective even at the start, so it can go if a better substitute is available.

Budget Boar Face Hunter gameplay video

Finally, here is some gameplay material with the deck from my budget climb. I hope it showcases the ways to make the most out of the Boar package. Also note how good the pre-nerf Frenzied Felwing was, and how this deck should grow more powerful with the nerf.

Cheap control decks are hard to come by in Hearthstone, as they typically run a boatload of Legendary cards. Resurrect Priest is an exception in that it can be built fairly inexpensively: nut fully on budget, but you only need four Epic cards and no Legendary cards to build a working version of the deck.

I first built Budget Resurrect Priest for Galakrond’s Awakening, and have received numerous requests to update the list for Ashes of Outland. So, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work, and here is a fully functional Resurrect Priest on a budget!

Note that Blizzard will nerf Bad Luck Albatross soon. At the time I’m writing this, the exact nerf is not yet known, so it is uncertain whether it can stay in the deck or if it needs to be replaced.

Budget Resurrect Priest decklist

Deck code: AAECAa0GApibA8jAAw7JBtMK1gqClAOZmwOhoQOvpQPRpQOZqQOfqQPyrAP9sAOTugOWugMA

There are four mandatory Epic cards for building Budget Resurrect Priest: two copies of Psychopomp and two copies of Plague of Death are needed for the deck to succeed.

Other than that, it’s all rares and commons – and the free Galakrond that allows you to challenge other control decks – so the overall cost of the deck is 3340 dust.

One of the key cards in the budget version is Psyche Split: you can multiply your Sandhoof Waterbearers and even copy something from the opponent and Shadow Word: Death the original. If you don’t have nice cards, but the opponent does, why not grab some of those?

Other than that, it is Resurrect Priest as usual. Defend, survive, resurrect your key minions, and win. You outlast aggressive decks, and against slow decks, you usually fill their deck with Albatrosses and then win through tempo from resurrect effects and Galakrond minions. Sometimes you can also try to fatigue slow opponents, in which case you avoid playing the Albatrosses, but filling their deck with junk is typically the more reliable way.

Budget Resurrect Priest mulligan

Against aggressive decks, you look for your early defensive tools: Breath of the Infinite, Holy Nova, and Penance.

Against slow decks, you want to fill their deck with junk and grind them out with Galakrond, so you look for Bad Luck Albatross, Psychopomp, and Galakrond.

Budget Resurrect Priest upgrade path

I am actually not very impressed with the current Resurrect Priest decklists. It seems that the archetype is not seeing a lot of innovation even though it sees a fair amount of play.

Cutting Sandhoofs, not running Psyche Split, and including weak minions like Bone Wraith just seems quite inefficient, and statistics are showing the same.

The biggest individual upgrade you can make to the deck is to add Soul Mirror. Despite adding more stuff to your resurrect pool, the card is the best performer in Resurrect Priest decks. Cut a Mass Dispel to make room for it.

Another upgrade that I like is to add Catrina Muerte. You can cut Forbidden Words or perhaps a Mass Dispel to fit it in.

Other than that, I am not convinced that the current meta lists have any improvements in them. If you want to add Bone Wraiths, Archmage Vargoth, and Skeletal Dragons, you can, of course, do so, there are plenty of decklists all over the internet.

Budget Resurrect Priest gameplay

Finally, here is some gameplay material with the deck. I played this list with a 70% winrate from Diamond 10 to Diamond 6 during my budget climb.