The Pre-Release Tavern Brawl is out today. You might be wondering what deck you should take to the Tavern Brawl, when there’s no guarantee you’ll find that legendary in the Pre-Purchase Bundle, or that epic card that’s required for a specific strategy. Perhaps, you haven’t bought the bundle at all, needing to build a deck only from cards released in the last year.
Well, if you want to get those first 6-win runs regardless, you’ve come to the right place. This article contains 14 Tavern Brawl deck concepts. Some of them have commons and rares from the new expansion. Some have none. Some can go either way. We’ll give you the details.
Death Knight’s solid Core set makes it a good option for those without bundles. Frost Death Knight can boast a perfectly functional deck with just three sets. No expansion cards and a decent Buttons package with Razzle-Dazzler. Terrible Chef is a good card in the archetype. Not our invention, if you’re wondering.
Blood Death Knight could be a smart call in the early Tavern Brawl meta, as Pirate Demon Hunters (and perhaps other aggressive decks) are expected to be very popular. If you did buy a bundle, we highly recommend running Airlock Breach alongside Headless Horseman in a BBU build. If you didn’t buy a bundle, you can still run the same build with Vampiric Blood and no new cards.
If you want to target Aggro even harder, you could opt to run Meltemental over Marin and Zephrys or Hematurge.
Pirate Demon Hunter (Standard)
Pirate Demon Hunter (Starship)
Pirate Demon Hunter is expected to be one of the most popular decks in this format, as it barely loses anything in rotation. Quick Pick and Burning Heart are the only notable losses. We can easily replace them with a couple of cards that are “next in line” in terms of current power level, which are Bloodsail Recruiter and Coconut Cannoneer. The first list runs no new expansion cards.
Alternatively, we could add the small starship package, which looks like a promising addition to the archetype next week. Warp Drive, Shattershard Turret and Felfused Battery are a bunch of commons and rares, so you can pick them up through a bundle without any issues.
Combo lovers, we haven’t forgotten about you. Concierge Druid looks like a promising option to counter anti-Aggro decks in this format. The absence of Lifebinder’s Gift and Funnel Cake means that Concierge is likely preferable to an Owlonius build. A couple of commons should be perfect fits in this deck: Ethereal Oracle and Arkonite Revelation. This deck has some decent board clearing capabilities, so the Pirate Demon Hunter matchup could be competitive.
Token Hunter looks clean without any expansion cards, so it’s another solid option for bundle-less players. For those eager to play the class with a bundle, we’ve added a Discover Hybrid list that might be able to work. Alien Encounters is a very good fit for this archetype on paper, as it helps us establish more beasts on the board at a cheap cost. Should you be lucky enough to open an Exarch Naielle, you can cut Leeroy for it.
If you’re looking for a playstyle that’s completely new and fresh, Arkwing Mage could be the deck for you. This is a deck we’re planning to feature in next week’s theorycrafting article, and it happens to only run commons and rares from the new expansion. The only card missing is Greedy Partner, but we believe the deck can function without it.
The game plan is to cheat out Arkwing Pilot with either Artificer or Sea Shill. ‘Buy One, Get One Freeze’ can copy a Pilot and create a full board with just two extra spells. Petty Theft is a decent Pilot enabler, which allows us to run Snatch and Grab and Robocaller. Troubled Mechanic helps us tutor the Draenei package.
Keep in mind that this deck is untested compared to known entities like Pirate DH, so there’s a risk involved.
A Lynessa Pipsi Paladin looks feasible. We just need to replace some Pipsi targets and handle the loss of Prismatic Beam and Horn of the Windlord. Eredar Brute could be a very powerful taunt against Pirate DH, shoring up the loss of Beam indirectly. Hammer of the Naaru is a serviceable follow-up to Sea Shill. Flash of Light and Hand of A’dal make up for the loss of Hi Ho Silverwing.
Priest was challenging, as Control Priest archetypes seem unplayable while Zarimi Priest is too dependent on last year to work. We did figure out an Aggro Pain Priest deck centered on the Perils set. Sauna Regular is our Thirsty Drifter in this deck. Orbital Halo and Ethereal Oracle are the new expansion cards (a common and a rare). Oracle is a very strong enabler of Hot Coals. Play low to the ground and contest aggressive matchups, while trying to rush down slower decks.
We think Rogue can abuse Dig for Treasure to maintain game plan consistency in a lower power format. Weapon Rogue’s critical curve remains intact: Turn 1 Dig, turn 2 Dagger, turn 3 Swordshiner, Turn 4 Shipment). The challenge is filling up the rest of the deck with spells and locations that don’t interfere with our minion tutor. That does force us into Assassinate, but hey, at least it means no taunt can stop us from hitting face, right?
The same concept applies to Shaffar Rogue. The Dig/Shaffar/Buccaneer core remains and is the most important element of the deck, so it’s just about filling the rest of the deck with serviceable spells and locations. Breakdance is not as big of a loss as you might think. We did include Lucky Comet, which is a new expansion epic, just in case you do find it in your bundle. We think it’s a great card for the archetype, but it is theoretically replaceable. If you find just one in the pre-order bundle, or none, replace it with Sap/Assassinate.
Shaman’s sets from the last year are strong, so the class is in a good position to perform well in this Brawl. Pirate Shaman can circumvent the loss of Horn of the Windlord by lowering its curve and playing more into Wave of Nostalgia. Spirit Claws helps us activate Dangerous Cliffside. Space Pirate enables Claws. First Contact is the other new expansion card. Both are common.
We can take a slower approach with Rainbow Shaman and a solid Razzle-Dazzler plan. Ultraviolet Breaker is a common card that helps us contest the early game of aggressive decks. First Contact can be found here too. The rest of the deck leans exclusively on the Perils and Whizbang sets. Hagatha should be amazing in a lower power format. She makes a lot of sense with Cactus Cutter unavailable.
Warlock was probably the trickiest class to create a functional deck for. Its sets of the past year are relatively weak, and it is very dependent on the older sets. Pain Warlock without Imprisoned Horror doesn’t sound great on paper, but maybe Vona can shine in a watered-down format. Infernal Stratagem is the only new card here (rare). If you happen to open a Healthstone (epic), you can add it instead of a Voidwalker.
Mech Warrior is another deck that loses almost nothing to rotation, which makes it a very promising option for bundle-less players. In fact, it loses less cards than Pirate Demon Hunter, with Needlerock Totem the only one requiring a replacement.
Our tip is to add removal to stabilize against aggression. Bash could be strong against snowballing early minions. Bladestorm is another good option to deal with pesky Pirate Demon Hunters. Another Brawl can’t hurt. Run Marin if the format feels surprisingly greedy. If you happen to open a few packs and find Hostile Invader, it could be a good card to jam in, even though the deck doesn’t have that many spells to activate its spellburst.
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That’s it for now. We wish you the best of luck in hunting those packs!
We’ll see you again for The Great Dark Beyond’s theorycrafting article, on November 4th!
The Vicious Syndicate Team
noooo not a bad mage again
Hi, thanks for the article, but the deck links all seem to be broken – they just link to the set of all standard cards on the Blizzard website
Cheers!
Never mind, I’m dumb