![]() ![]() The most recent round of changes to the Standard format dealt a brutal blow to Freeze Mage decks, which have been a common construction since the beginning of the game, by removing one of its win conditions in “Ice Lance.” Blizzard’s Team 5 has provided another, more dramatic route to one turn kills with the quest card, “Open the Waygate. Crucially, this is a deck that can be quite strong without strategies that revolve around specific legendaries or epics, which has unfortunately become more and more difficult as the meta develops. “Nesting Roc” adds crucial midgame support, since 4/7 for 5 mana is a great statline, and with cards like “Alleycat” and “Rat Pack,” Hunter has an easier time than most classes keeping two minions on the board to trigger its taunt. ![]() It works especially well with “Stampede,” which similar to “Lock and Load” but for Beasts. Barring Deathrattle synergies, the minion-summoning “Jeweled Macaw” is a strictly better version of “Webspinner,” which used to feature in most hunter decks, since it gives you another beast immediately on playing it. Synergy with Beast-class minions has always been an important aspect of the Hunter dynamic, and the dinosaur-themed Un’Goro expansion introduced a huge number of beasts into the game, which has helped push a midrange, minion-focused Hunter strategy back into viability. Once the premiere “aggro” class, cards like Patches the Pirate and “Spirit Claws” allowed Warrior and Shaman to “go face” - ignore the opponent’s board and simply attack them directly - earlier and more efficiently than Hunter, and the class lacked powerful late game tools to make up for it (especially after Blizzard nerfed the infamous “Call of the Wild” card). Hunter was arguably in the weakest position of any class by the end of the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan meta. “Evolving Spores” also adds flexibility as the only way to apply the new Adapt mechanic to your entire board no matter what kind of minions you have. “Mark of the Wild,” Savage Roar, and the more recent “Mark of the Lotus” will buff up all of the minions you generate, working especially well with Violet Teacher. ![]() “Living Mana” is a new and interesting way to generate tokens, leaving your opponent the interesting decision of denying you minions or mana. “Eggnapper” is showing up frequently in new deck lists thanks to its aggressive stat line and a deathrattle that leaves behind two 1/1 raptors. Un’Goro has brought token druid back, however, and it now rivals “Pirate Warrior” in its aggression (in fact, if often includes the typical pirate package for cheap aggro minions, and the value of “Patches” summoning himself). Removing Charge from the treants created by Force of Nature killed that plan, however, forcing Druid decks to find new ways to win. This often went hand-in-hand with cards like “Violet Teacher” to flood the board with as many “token” minions (generated by a card effect rather than played as a card) as possible, maximizing the value of Savage Roar. “Force of Nature” plus “Savage Roar” was once the most feared/hated combo in Hearthstone, allowing Druids to deal a whopping 14 damage for 9 mana and two cards, even from an empty board. We’ve selected one new (or newly-revived) deck type for each class that we’ve enjoyed playing around with so far, in the hopes of inspiring your own deck-building experiments. Although many in the community are voicing legitimate concerns about the growing economic barrier to being competitive, the game’s design feels quite healthy in a vacuum, with every class exploring a variety of apparently viable new deck archetypes. Journey to Un’Goro, Hearthstone ’s latest expansion, has definitely achieved that shake-up. ![]() In a few weeks, the strongest contenders will emerge and the meta will reform, but until then, this period of wild experimentation is peak enjoyment for many Hearthstone players. If the designers did their job right, the infusion of new cards and mechanics should force players to throw their codified, communal understanding about what makes the best decks - the metagame, or “meta” - out the window. Blizzard The time directly following a new expansion’s release are always the most exciting time to play a collectible card game like Hearthstone. ![]()
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