Galakrond Warrior is one of the best decks in Hearthstone right now, but it contains a fair number of Epic and Legendary cards. Is it possible to cut down its cost without sacrificing performance?
I started testing Galakrond Warrior with a full budget list that included no Epics or Legendaries whatsoever, but unfortunately, I was unable to make it strong enough. However, adding four Epics to the mix helped the deck immensely, and I can confidently say that the archetype is completely playable at 2920 dust if you include Town Criers and Scions of Ruin in the deck.
Budget Galakrond Warrior decklist
Deck code: AAECAQcCkAPFwAMOFhzUBI4F+wyd8AKz/AL0pwPYrQParQP+rgOqrwPSrwOrtgMA
The key to building a budget deck is to find a different twist compared to the full-cost version of the deck. If you cannot find that, you are simply playing a watered-down version of the meta deck, which can still be reasonably good, but it will always just feel worse than the full version.
The twist in Budget Galakrond Warrior is Frothing Berserker. Frothing allows you to snowball in some matchups and end games even faster than the full version is capable of. Frothing also benefits from the absence of Risky Skipper, because you generally want to keep it as healthy as possible, especially in a meta where ways to deal three damage are abundant, but ways to deal four damage are rarer.
I tried Frothing without Town Crier and Scion of Ruin, but then it just did not work out, and in fact, a full budget version is better off without it, but a full-budget version is simply not good enough overall. Town Crier and Scion of Ruin allow Frothing to shine.
Budget Galakrond Warrior mulligan
You always want to keep your main one-drops, Town Crier and Eternium Rover. Temple Berserker is usually a good keep as well.
If you face aggressive decks and need to defend, Ritual Chopper and Armorsmith are good cards to keep. In slower matchups where you want to be aggressive, Bomb Wrangler can be more effective, and sometimes you can even keep Galakrond itself in such matchups.
Budget Galakrond Warrior tips and tricks
Try to keep your Frothing Berserker healthy: there are not that many ways to deal four damage in the meta right now, so Frothing can dodge some major removal tools if it avoids all damage.
Temple Berserker can have good synergy with Battle Rage: if you trade with it, the Reborn token comes out pre-damaged and ready to give you a card from Battle Rage.
Because you cannot copy Charge minions with this list, holding on to Inner Rage is not important. Use it to push damage, sometimes to trade, or even to activate Acolyte of Pain or Bomb Wrangler. Likewise, you do not need to hold on to Kor’kron Elites, because you cannot copy them anyway. Be proactive.
Budget Galakrond Warrior upgrade path
There are several variations of the full-cost Galakrond Warrior. Some come with Eternium Rovers, the number of Battle Rages varies, and some include more specific tech cards, such as Injured Tol’vir. However, there are also a number of staples that are missing from the budget version. The upgrade path shows you how to add in the staples, after which you can tech the final slots to your liking.
The first upgrade you should do is to improve your burst damage capability. You can add Leeroy Jenkins and Bloodsworn Mercenary to replace Kor’kron Elites. Now you have access to some serious burst with an Inner Raged Leeroy and a copy of it!
The next step is to improve your card draw and area-of-effect damage potential to help you find those key pieces. Replace the Temple Berserkers and Frothing Berserkers with Risky Skippers, Kronx Dragonhoof, and another Bloodsworn Mercenary: now you have the full package to get to your Galakrond, draw a bunch of cards or gain a bunch of armor, and deal a lot of burst damage.
You can see that there are still a couple of differences between the example list and where you are now, namely Eternium Rovers in your deck and another Battle Rage and an Injured Tol’vir in the example. These slots can be used to tech against whatever you are facing.
Budget Galakrond Warrior gameplay video
Finally, here is a recap of the guide in video format and gameplay with the deck. I hope it gives you further insight into how to pilot the deck.