30 Decks to Try Out on Day 1 of United in Stormwind

A curated list of 30 decks to try out on day 1 of United in Stormwind

After completing the comprehensive United in Stormwind preview article, it’s time for theory-crafting! We encourage you to read the card preview as it is likely to shed light on many of our decisions regarding deck building.

Our first Data Reaper Report for United in Stormwind is scheduled for Thursday, August 12th! We will note that should there be balance changes within the few days of the expansion, the Data Reaper Report could be delayed. We will provide an update in such a case on our Twitter.

Once again, we remind you that you can help us perform our analysis by contributing your Hearthstone game data. This can be done using Firestone, which provides us with all its user data (with an option to opt out). Alternatively, you can contribute data through our Hearthstone Deck Tracker plugin. Installing the plugin is very easy and will only take a couple of minutes of your time. We appreciate and thank all our contributors for keeping this project going. We remind our existing plug-in contributors to check on their plug-in and make sure that it is still active. Sometimes, with big patches, the plug-in deactivates inadvertently.

Remember that while we have extensively worked to produce the featured decks, they are still untested, and nothing can replace the post-launch refinement that is backed up by real-time game experience and data.

If you have a limited collection, we highly recommend that you DO NOT make big crafting investments on any theory-crafted deck. Wait at least a few days to see what strategies end up being strong and fun before making a significant commitment.

Disclaimers, done. Business, begins.


 

Peddler Deathrattle Demon Hunter

We’re not fans of the Demon Hunter set. We think it pales in comparison to other classes and doesn’t seem to possess the cards that can push a deck to the forefront of the meta.

But Persistent Peddler does offer a notable upgrade for Deathrattle Demon Hunter at the 4-mana slot. It is stronger than Piloted Shredder by some distance and has great synergy with Razorfen Beastmaster. Deathrattle DH is probably the safest pick to be the most viable deck within its class.

Jace Inquisitor Demon Hunter

Is Jace a worthwhile build-around card that can turn around Inquisitor DH’s standing in the meta? This is our attempt to maximize his usage, by running as much damage as possible within the Fel spell package, including Metamorphosis. Jace should be able to clear the opponent’s board, heal us and provide some immediate damage. What we don’t like about him is how weak he seems to be on an empty board.

There are some neat little things in this deck. Felgorger is often going to draw us a 0-mana spell that we can play immediately or save for a later turn (perhaps with Metamorfin). Il’gynoth can turn our defensive cards into more damage, and carries synergy with Warblades, Skull and Felgorger. At the top, we’ve got the trusted Inquisitors. There is a lot of damage and burst in this deck.

Quest Boar Demon Hunter

It’s the Final Showdown! The quest that encourages the utilization of Glide and doesn’t offer us an immediate way of winning the game when it’s completed. And yet, it has birthed one of the funniest theorycrafts we’ve ever done. Behold the power of the Sword of a Thousand Truths! We think there is some synergy between Final Showdown and Elwynn Boar.

So, what is this deck trying to do? Draw cards to activate the first phase of the quest, spend them leisurely. Glide is the most ideal way of completing the next two phases, but a combination of other forms of card draw are also possible (Sigil and Tuskpiercer help you stack draws). Find Elwynn Boar (should be easy with Tuskpiercers). Copy and shuffle it with Northshire Farmer. Spend your Artificer combos to clear the board and gain life. Get the quest completed. Draw the rest of your deck, and most of it will be free including whatever draw you have left. Play the 7th Boar, kill it with Teron and you won the game!

Easy peasy lemon squeazy.

Data Reaper Report - Druid

Anacondra Shell Druid

Druid got some interesting cards, but the one that looks like the most obviously busted one is Best in Shell. This card should end up in multiple Druid strategies, whether they’re fast or slow. Anacondra Druid should be one of them. The card is amazing with Arbor Up since it’s so difficult to clear on the turn it’s played, and then it’s just a win condition by itself against aggressive decks, especially when it’s paired with Solar Eclipse. 28 health in taunts is just game over.

The joke is that we’re so crazy about Solar Eclipse/Best in Shell, that we just want more Solar Eclipses in our deck. We need them for Germination, Arbor Up, Cenarion Ward and now Best in Shell. So, we just added Kiri to have a 3rd copy. Day 1 of the expansion things? Probably, but worth trying if you have it.

Oracle Taunt Druid

The 2nd most promising Druid card? It must be Oracle of Elune, which encourages a minion-centric token deck as the one we’re featuring. We’re looking to maximize Oracle’s synergies and make it the strongest possible card it can be. The main “combo” is playing it alongside Razorfen Battleguard, and then playing a taunt that gets discounted by up to 4 mana. It could be Dreaming Drake, Fangbound Druid, Thickhide Kodo, Annoy-o-Tron or even Greybough. This combo can end games on the spot against faster decks, so we prioritize mana cheating (Innervate/Bloom) over our ability to buff minions afterwards (leaving Sow the Soils out).

Both Living Seed and Fangbound Druid can help us discount a beast to the point it’s copied by Oracle as well. Park Panther and Pack Mule offer strong targets for this. Notice that all our beasts can be played on 3 if we draw them with Living Seed on 2.

Finally, we have our draw. Composting should be great with our vomit-esque playstyle and running both Bloom and Innervate will help get it off. What’s another card draw option that works great with mana cheating? Daddy Roame.

Spell Quest Druid

Can we win a game of Hearthstone with Guff the Tuff? We have little faith in this quest’s ability to do so, especially if it goes the incremental progress route of a “midrange” deck. It feels like Lost in the Park has gotten the least amount of support in Stormwind.

So, we’re trying to turn Quest Druid into a Ramp deck and a Spell deck. Why do we want to run a spell-heavy shell? Fungal Fortunes. Why do we want to ramp? To get to alternative stabilizers in faster matchups such as Best in Shell and Cenarion Ward combined with Solar Eclipse.

This approach isn’t in a rush to complete the quest, and is more focused on gathering the resources required to leverage the quest optimally. In slow matchups, we want to have enough damage to kill defensively minded opponents. This means we’re running Mark of the Spikeshell. At 9 mana, we can play Guff, Eclipse and Mark. This adds two more Guffs to our hand, and that sounds more like a plan that carries inevitability.

Data Reaper Report - Hunter

Daddy Face Hunter

We think the Hunter set is one of the weaker ones this expansion, but that doesn’t sour our opinion of Face Hunter specifically. This deck looks sick with just a few perfect additions.

Aimed Shot is arguably stronger than Kill Command and is the missing 3-mana spell in our kit that we can now draw with Barak. Of course, that doesn’t mean we’re giving up on Mankrik, but it’s a nice boost in the 5-drop’s consistency.

Pack Mule is a very intriguing option for Hunter as well. It doesn’t work perfectly with Scavenger’s Ingenuity (the copy doesn’t receive the buff), but it’s very strong with Wrangler and provides Face Hunter with a way to blockade the board on turn 5. Since we’re running more beasts, we’re comfortable running two Scavs. They may not be perfect with Mule, but they’re great with Wolpertinger and Trampling Rhino, and the only reason we couldn’t run two is that we didn’t have enough beasts in the deck alongside Wrangler.

At the top end, we’ve got Cornelius Roame. The thought of playing Rhino on 5, pressuring the opponent and then playing Roame on 6 to reload and develop another must kill target is very tempting. With double Scav and Roame, Face Hunter has so much gas. Draw me cards, Daddy!

Raza Quest Hunter

Meta defining or overrated? The throwback to Raza Priest is causing a lot of excitement but making Quest Hunter work is not as easy as it looks. We have two problems: 1. How do we survive against aggressive decks with Hunter’s weak defensive kit? 2. How do we keep enough gas in the tank to fuel our hero in the late game to finish off decks packing life gain?

The featured list attempts to find the answers. The good spells are there, but we’re not overly desperate to run damaging spells that are too situational considering the early game inconsistency issue we’re likely to run into. The questline rewards don’t provide us with cards, so we’re stacking as much draw and generation as possible, and we always want plays on turn 2 and 3. Anything that doesn’t either progress the quest or give us guaranteed gas is not included. Kodobane, Roame and Malygos are our late game draw engines (shoutout to Orange for the Malygos idea).

We dislike Lock & Load. It’s more likely to generate you a minion than a spell and is an unbelievably poor draw early. Just find it off Pandaren Importer or Wandmaker if you need it.

Pack Runner is still important since it’s our major defensive tool against aggressive decks. Consider not playing the quest on turn 1 if you have Pack Runner in hand. Especially on coin, and especially if you’re facing an aggressive deck.

Thousand Truths Hunter

What better way to utilize Elwynn Boars than in the class that can repeatedly tutor beasts? Scavenger’s Ingenuity, Selective Breeder, Leatherworking Kit and Warsong Wrangler can all find your Boar copies as soon as possible.

The Pack Runner package is built exclusively defensively. Keep an eye out for Devouring Swam. It can help you duplicate boars but can also allow you to draw boars through Leatherworking Kit and Pack Runner.

Quest Spell Mage

There’s a lot to like about Sorcerer’s Gambit. The reward is game ending. The questline provides you with fuel twice, which makes completing the next phase less difficult. What don’t we like about it? We’re less likely to have Flow in the opening hand! But this deck has grown on us as we’ve continued to iterate on it.

The biggest problem when it comes to deckbuilding? Finding frost spells that are playable. Beyond Brain Freeze, we’ve opted for the best survivability options in Flurry and Cone of Cold. We also dropped Font of Power because we don’t need the value.

The addition of First Flame and Fire Sale should be a massive boost in Mage’s survivability, and Ignite’s damage potential means we don’t have to put Mask of C’Thun in our deck. We’ve debated between running one or two copies of Ignite and opted for one. Experiment as you please.

Fire Spell Mage

But what if we drop the quest, the mediocre frost spells, and just run the good ol’ Spell Mage? While a similar list to what we’ve seen during Barrens can definitely end up being the best choice (just adding Fire Sale, First Flame and perhaps an Ignite), we’re offering an alternative take built around the full Ignite burn plan.

For Ignite to work as a serious win condition, we need a lot of draw. Rigged Faire Game helps us with that, and might be an easier secret to activate thanks to Fire Sale. You still run a list of 30 cards that is likely to perform better against aggressive decks compared to its Wailing Caverns iteration, but we avoid situations where the opponent eventually overwhelms us with stats to the point our biggest nuke (Mask) cannot effectively be directed to their face.

Fire Miracle Mage

Stormwind opens the possibility of Mage decks with some minions having success and exhibiting competitive viability. This list combines the Spell Mage shell with the new Fire Mage draw package centered around Sanctum Chandler, to produce a build that draws cards relentlessly. Chandler works fantastically well with Incanter’s Flow.

With the extra removal and survivability, we could realistically clean up the board while setting up Grand Magus Antonidas. This legendary is just way too spicy not to try and build around since it provides Mage with unbelievable reach and burst that is difficult to play around. Don’t forget that the deck has plenty of damage outside of Antonidas thanks to Ignite.

In this list, we’ve also opted for two Ignites, since we want more fire spell density to activate both Chandler and Uncle Tony reliably. Fire away!

Data Reaper Report - Paladin

Divine Buff Paladin

At the center of Paladin’s set is a blooming hand buffing archetype built on divine shield synergy. The concept is neat. First Blade and Catacomb Guard are very powerful payoffs. But there are some clear requirements to make things work. If we want to support Prismatic Jewel Kit, which has an amazing ceiling in terms of value, we need to run a lot of card draw.

There is some very powerful draw in the set. Alliance Bannerman is probably the best Paladin card introduced here. It works perfectly well with what the deck wants to do. Daddy Roame should be powerful in this deck because we can buff it and make it more difficult for the opponent to remove. Varian is a perfect fit in Paladin, and we’ve taken care of his consistency by running multiples of every keyword. Pack Mule is another form of draw that allows us to maintain the size of our hand. Every buffing deck wants Pack Mule: that card is a cracked Chain Gang.

But there’s another sneaky synergy when divine shield is involved: Connecting Conviction. Therefore, we appreciate Noble Mount. It’s so tough to clear and can proc Jewel Kit twice.

Stormwind Libram Paladin

Can Libram Paladin reinvent itself? We’re most curious about a build that is more defensive in nature and cuts the secret package. Lightbringer’s Hammer provides us with early game removal and recovery, something that defensive Paladin decks might have been missing. City Tax activates our Lord Barov and Libram of Justice much more consistently, which means we can bring this card back to deal with an opponent’s intimidating board very efficiently.

The additional draw makes this build more feasible. Varian isn’t too restrictive to build around, and there are some divine shield minions that this archetype has had success with before. Finding Murgur Prime with Varian is great. Taelan either draws Varian, or Varian draws Taelan, which draws Liadrin. Drawception!

Dude Quest Paladin

Building Quest Paladin was a tough undertaking because the requirement is so restrictive and doesn’t intuitively work with the reward. Tour Guide is one of the few 1-drops that carries real synergy with the reward.

Our main concern was to not run out of cards. The questline rewards are weak when it comes to resources, so Taelan/Roame are worth experimenting with. Bannerman goes in. Wandmaker is an early body that gives us a bit of value while activating Pen Flinger. Blessed Good is great for that purpose as well. Broomstick gives us comeback potential with Barov or our jacked-up dudes.

Three slots are dedicated to the game plan post-quest completion. Lothraxion is obviously too good to pass up, but we think Day at the Faire is worthy of a spot as well. It’s so powerful after completion, helping us close out the game, and it’s not that bad at contesting board before (though it’s obviously less ideal).

Data Reaper Report - Priest

Shadow Control Priest

The biggest question regarding United in Stormwind’s Priest set is whether Shadow Priest could be a competitive meta deck. We think it can be if it takes a page out of Mind Blast Control Priest back in Witchwood. The featured list has some creative choices that you might not expect, but we’re trying to imitate the old style of ‘controlling and burning’.

When it comes to controlling, the potential of Shadowcloth Needle is obvious. Since we’re no longer playing for fatigue, we can run the draw package that makes it work (Reading/Thrive/Insight). Shadow Word: Death could also be a very powerful Shadow spell in the new expansion considering the number of impactful big threats that are being introduced.

When it comes to burn, this is where things get creative. Beyond Void Shard, which should be a solid nuke for the archetype, we’ve added Circus Medic and Alexstrasza! What we like about Circus Medic and Alex are their versatility. Since our healing isn’t up to the level of a Holy Control Priest, having them available in the case our opponent is trying to burn us down can be useful. This is also why we’re running Lightshower Elemental, as it provides a ton of healing not tied to Holy spells.

But if we’re going on the offense? Corrupt those Medics and start sending damage to the opponent’s face until you can finish them off with Alex. We have quite a lot of burn, and we can also find additional damage through our discovers.

N’Zoth Control Priest

Not feeling the Shadow? How about some Barrens-flavored N’Zoth Priest? Forgefield is an intriguing addition to N’Zoth decks, and players are likely to try it. Pandaren Importer looks good in every Priest deck and should take its card generation up another notch.

This build is also very much geared to beat quest decks. Southsea Scoundrel is left off as we have enough power behind N’Zoth, and you really don’t want to give quest decks fuel. Illucia is there to steal quest rewards. Mutanus is there to eat them.

PP Quest Priest

Can we curve out our way to victory? We’re a little skeptical that Quest Priest will become a competitive deck, mostly because the quest requirement makes for clumsy deckbuilding, but we’ve made a crack it.

The main point we’re trying to make with the featured build is that the most important thing about our game plan is that we don’t skip a turn. We’re playing value minions at the 2 and 3-mana slot to find plays later, not to outvalue our opponent. Therefore, our hot take is that Raise Dead isn’t worth the inclusion. Any card we’re committing that doesn’t help us progress the quest is a luxury.

Another thing we’re doing is running 3 cards per mana cost once we hit 5 mana. This increases the consistency in which we find an on-curve play, whether by naturally drawing it or pulling it from our deck with the help of questline rewards. The 7-mana slot is awkward, but we really like the potential of Elekk Mount in helping us survive. Ogremancer and City Architect are prime targets for the buff, while Primordial Protector can draw it and threaten to connect with it on 9 (since the 7-8 mana slots are paired for the final phase, the order in which they’re played doesn’t matter as much).

At the 8-mana slot, Protector has a dual role. It procs the final quest, and it also draws the Purified Shard.  Therefore, we’re running two copies, while Taelan increases the consistency of drawing PP “as if” we have a 3rd. Polkelt is more awkward on curve.

Data Reaper Report - Rogue

SI:7 Quest Rogue

Find the Imposter seems like a fun quest to play, but there are some challenges related to building it. Though you do get a couple of Gizmo’s on your way, card draw seems to be a major problem for Quest Rogue as you cannot fit a functional Field Contact package into it. The slots for SI:7 cards, in addition to other core inclusions, make up too big a portion of the deck.

We may have found a solution, a card that was introduced recently and pretty much ignored: Shroud of Concealment! Not only does it provide you with draw, but it specifically draws minions. Half of your minions are SI:7 cards, which means it’s a nice boost to quest progression as well. Paired with Swindle, we think it makes sense to run Preparation in the deck as a result.

Shadowsteps help your late game, as a single Scabbs is unlikely to be able to finish games against defensive decks. Just stealth him on the turn he’s played, hit face, bounce him back to hand and repeat. Shadowsteps are obviously strong enablers to your other late game bombs as well: Kazakus, Jandice and SI:7 Assassin.

Burn Miracle Rogue

One of the more thought-provoking cards in the Rogue set is Garrote. Could Miracle Rogue forgo its Alex/Tenwu combo and focus on direct damage through spells? There have been experimentations with an Ethereal Augmerchant/Sinister Strike package during Barrens, and we wonder whether the introduction of Garrote could push more in that direction.

The one major issue of this build is that it’s got quite a few cards that do little but shoot the opponent in the face. Can Rogue maintain its early game board control and not pay too big a price against aggression by making this switch?

Oh, and if you’re queuing into a quest deck, take a harder look at what Vanessa can do for you.

Garrote Poison Rogue

Talk about a natural fit. Garrote should be a disgusting card in Poison Rogue, as it does what the deck is already doing which is ignoring the board and going face. We expect Poison Rogue to obliterate all sorts of janky quests out there, but the question will always be whether aggression is prevalent or not.

One other possible adjustment is running Malevolent Strike over Coerce due to its synergy with Garrote. Might not make a big difference. Might end up being worse. Should be worth trying either way.

Data Reaper Report - Shaman

Stormwind Elemental Shaman

Shaman received one of the best sets, with game changing cards that at times we still struggle to comprehend. Elemental Shaman is a safe bet for a top performer in the upcoming meta. Its ability to cheat mana at this point is sort of insane thanks to Granite Forgeborn and Auctionhouse Gavel. Yes, we think Gavel might be stronger than both Doomhammer and Whackhammer. Cheating mana does run the risk of running out of cards, which Daddy Roame helps with.

The deck also has life gain now. Canal Slogger is just busted. Does anyone remember Zilliax? How about a Zilliax that can be played on turn 4 and trade/heal for twice the amount?

And then there’s Bolner. Bolner/Dungeoneer is nuts. Bolner/Nimbus is pretty strong as well, especially with follow up. Bolner/Forgeborn makes your deck cost no mana. We didn’t even have space to run the Bolner/Revenant Risky Skipper combo. You get the gist.

Bolnaarj OTK Shaman

So, Shaman can OTK now thanks to Bolner. The setup requires you to have played one of each of the corrupted versions of Dunk Tank and Circus Medic. On turn 10 (or earlier if you get lucky with Gavel discounts), you play Bolner/Bloom/Y’Shaarj. You will receive two Medics and two Dunk Tanks. You throw the Dunk Tanks face, and once you play a Medic, it repeats the battlecry of Y’Shaarj, filling your hand with more Medics and Tanks. You can use Medics to kill Medics and keep the board space for more Medics while you continue to throw generated Dunk Tanks at your opponent’s face.

With Taelan available, all you must do is survive to turn 10 and find Bolner. One Bloom can be used defensively.  The rest of the deck is removal and life gain. The Dungeoneer package of Custodian/Slogger might become core to every Shaman deck.

Doom Quest Shaman

Command the Elements might be the quest that is the least obvious to build around, since the reward can lead to different playstyles. The featured list tries to take advantage of both the value potential of the reward, and the burst capabilities.

Doom Shaman isn’t really an aggro deck, so the quest could fit in, provided we build it more defensively. Our deck is built with very specific goals in mind. We want to have as much generation and draw as possible, to find our overload cards as quickly as possible. We want to have consistent plays on turn 2 and 3 so that we don’t fall behind in the early game. The only non-overload spells in our deck offer our late game win condition: Stormstrike and Rockbiter.

Remember that Doomhammer is an overload card, but in this deck, there’s no rush to play it on turn 5. Focus on completing the quest and surviving. The Shaman spell pool is filled with healing and removal, so Pandaren Importer should help a lot alongside Scorpid. Wandmaker is very likely to find you a fantastic complementary spell to your strategy as well.

Your ability to gather resources should be very strong, especially with Bolner chain combos. Not sure we need to specify what can be done with him alongside our value generators? Instructor Fireheart could also be a big quest closer, and Daddy Roame is Daddy Roame.

Finished the quest? Put a Rockbiter and Stormstrike on top of your Doomhammer and you can hit your opponent for 28 damage. 28 damage, Hat! There is no urgent need to do meaningful chip damage to close out the game, as you can see. Just get taunts out of the way and you’re good to go.

Tiny Toys Evo…

Oh wait, we’re already at 3 Shaman decks, right? We don’t need to feature this and have people playing it on Day 1, right?

Meta saved. For now.

Data Reaper Report - Warlock

Frag Handlock

We think Warlock got the best set in United in Stormwind, perhaps beating Shaman on tiebreakers thanks to the neutral card pool. Handlock looks like a very juicy proposition, and the many possibilities available has led us down several different paths and iterations. The first build runs a Soul Fragment package alongside Raise Dead and Flesh Giant.

Remember that in this deck, we’re not looking to play Jailers on 1, unless we’re facing an aggressive deck, so the purpose of Soul Fragments is to provide us with incremental healing and help us reduce the cost of Flesh Giants. Malicia is obviously great too and should be a back breaking follow-up to Entitled Customer. What a ridiculous card.

We also have a lot of removal and burst healing. Spice Bread Baker should be an amazing card in Handlock. Touch of the Nathrezim and Unstable Shadow Blast give us different breakpoints of health, making it difficult for our opponent to play around our removal.

Starting the game when going first, you’re mostly looking for Dark Alley Pact in non-aggressive matchups. On the coin, Anetheron and Goldshire Gnoll become very potent on turn 3. Remember that Dark Alley Pact is a Shadow Spell, so it works with Tamsin Roame too! What we like about Flesh Giants is that you’re often able to produce two big threats on the same turn in the mid-to-late game, making it more difficult for your opponent to deal with your board.

And even if they do deal with them, there’s always Jaraxxus.

Willow Handlock

This is a high-risk, high-reward variant without Soul Fragments, running a big demon package centered on Archwitch Willow. We’re also running Runed Mithril Rod, to potentially discount Willow or our big defensive demons and drop them earlier. The Willow package offers a huge density of threats that should be hard to keep up with, and Entitled Customer provides the big board clear to set them up for success.

Runed Mithril Rod certainly carries a risk, as you might be exposed to the opponent’s aggression, but its interaction with Backfire is very strong and we fully expect many players on ladder to try to abuse this duo. Another upside to Mithril Rod is that it can discount Jaraxxus, allowing us to develop an Infernal on the turn we play the Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion!

Fatigue Quest Warlock

Demon Seed is a quest we see more potential in than others. The questline isn’t easy to complete since navigating its phases while staying alive could be challenging, but the good news is that Warlock can entirely focus on survival and know it has the inevitability of the quest to kill the opponent from its own fatigue damage.

So, other than surviving, what we want to do is draw cards. That becomes even more important when we’re running Runed Mithril Rod. We think the weapon could end up being too greedy, but it’s worth testing initially. Backfire is obviously a core card for this archetype, and its synergy with Rod just puts it over the top, but we also think that Free Admission could be a sleeper card. It finds your minions, and many of them are extremely important at everything you want to do, especially when you reach the last 3rd of your deck and want to find Bristleback and Scavenger. It also makes both Soul Rend and Raise Dead stronger and gets you closer to fatigue.

Your goal is to survive the early game, draw like a maniac and manage your sustain and self-damaging tools. If this deck can do that consistently, it will be competitive.

Data Reaper Report - Warrior

Stormwind Rush Warrior

Already reigning supreme in early-to-mid game board control, the main additions to Rush Warrior from the Stormwind set appear to be late game oriented, filling up a weakness in its resource game plan that some matchups expose.

Harbor Scamp is the best Warrior card in the set, and we have little doubt about that. In Rush Warrior, it will be drawing your Sword Eaters, which is just a crazy boost to the deck’s consistency.  Pack Mule makes yet another appearance, and it isn’t surprising that the deck running Conditioning would be interested in a cracked Saronite Chain Gang.

The higher end of the curve gets filled up. Daddy Roame works extremely well with both Conditioning and Runthak. Lothar is a 7-drop threat that demands a response, perhaps making it less likely that your opponent will be able to deal with Troublemaker.

This deck just looks very clean, and very ready to thrive at Stormwind.

Saurfang Quest Warrior

Quest Warrior looks to have a smooth and fleshed out game plan, and its reward should be game ending in most matchups. Juggernaut fits the defensive plan very well, which is complemented by a bunch of strong early game pirates.

The only pirates that are a little on the weaker side are Stonemaul Anchormen, so it made sense to build around them more through Saurfang and Stage Dives. The first reward draws you a weapon, so we made a 1:1 split between Outrider’s Axe and Bulwark. The thinking is that even though Axe is obviously the stronger reward due to your desire for resources after the first phase, the 2nd Outrider’s Axe was going to be useless every game, while Bulwark can offer stalling in the mid-game.

Silas N’Zoth Warrior

There are a few additions to Control Warrior that may turn it into an absolute unit. Provoke encourages the utilization of big and powerful minions, since it can turn them into AOE that immediately affects the board. Cards such as Kresh, Mutanus and Rattlegore become far less punishing to drop down.  Mo’arg Forgefield is a very tempting N’Zoth target, and the armor gain makes for a perfect fit in the archetype. Harbor Scamp on turn 2 is very likely to find you a Cargo Guard follow-up, so it’s a tremendous draw for the early game.

Our armor gain is generally insane, so it makes sense to run the Silas OTK combo, which has already exhibited success towards the end of Barrens as Silas is a strong enough card by itself. Tank up and burst them down? Sounds like a plan.

 


The Data Reaper Podcast will return to discuss the early expansion impressions of the meta! Follow us on Twitter for updates on when it will occur, if you want an early scoop on developments before August 12th when the Data Reaper Report #204 comes out.

 

Enjoy your time in Stormwind.

The Vicious Syndicate Team

4 Comments

  1. So, Trying the elemental deck, really liking it. I put Fireheart in place of Roame. I think this deck is fine in getting enough cards, and Roame felt too slow because you need to kill the enemy really fast and wasting 6 mana and a turn to put a 4/5 is not enough. Also, Fireheart gets discounted with the weapon which felt great (got it at 1 mana and helped me finish a warlock that healead a lot!). What u guys think?

  2. For Quest Spell Mage , do you think Ice Barrier is a better alternative than cone of cold?

    1) this deck has plenty of minions removal, cone of cold won’t be missed.
    2) Ice Barrier can be played into empty board and increase survivability

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    But the DECK ITSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
    When you notice a deck in profound refinement,
    The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
    Its pilot is engaged in rapt contemplation
    Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of its name:
    Its ineffable effable
    Netdeckable
    Deep and inscrutable singular name.

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