Old Guardian's blog

While having a large collection is useful in Hearthstone, it is by no means necessary to succeed in the game to a fairly high level.

Many streamers have completed free-to-play Legend climbs, where they start a new account and work towards a single top-tier deck and climb to Legend in a matter of days. The current favorite way to do so is to choose the free new player Rogue deck and build from there, and it is indeed the most effective way to reach Legend quickly.

However, my approach is a little different. I climb to Legend with cheap decks from a variety of classes, most of the time without a single Epic card, although some of the classes are only playable if you add a couple of Epic cards in the decks, and some classes cannot be played on a budget at all.

During Ashes of Outland, I have climbed to Legend with budget decks twice: after the first nerf patch and after the second nerf patch. I believe my approach is closer to a genuine free-to-play player experience: playing multiple classes but not having all the cards to build the meta decks for any of them. (I would expect long-term F2P players to be able to build a couple of full meta decks for every expansion, but they would probably still need to play budget decks for some of the classes.)

Ashes of Outland is actually a fairly nice place to be on budget decks. There is, of course, Demon Hunter, which is the strongest budget class ever thanks to a plethora of free cards, but success is not limited to one class. In fact, the majority of classes can reach Legend right now with budget or semi-budget decks.

In this post, I will take a look at a collection of Legend-capable budget decks for multiple classes.

Budget Tempo Demon Hunter (840 dust)

Deck code: AAECAea5AwT5rgPMugPWvgP5yAMNlwb9pwOLugO9uwPXuwPgvAO6xgPHxgPZxgPXyAP3yAP+yAPyyQMA

Tempo Demon Hunter is incredibly powerful and fairly easy to play. My budget version includes the Raging Felscreamer / Priestess of Fury package, but also some actual tempo plays with Questing Adventurer and Mana Burn.

Mana Burn at the right moment is back-breaking and the card is extremely good at protecting your Questing Adventurer. Without access to the expensive power cards – Warglaives of Azzinoth, Kayn Sunfury, and Metamorphosis – the Questing Adventurer package gives the deck the power it needs to succeed.

Gameplay video:

Budget Aggro Demon Hunter (720 dust)

Deck code: AAECAea5AwLMugPUyAMOlwb9pwP5rgOLugPXuwPgvAPWvgO6xgPHxgPZxgP3yAP5yAP+yAPyyQMA

The deck can also be built as a faster version without the Priestess of Fury package. In this variant, controlling the tempo of the game is even more important, and well-timed Mana Burns and Questing Adventurers are the keys to success.

Gameplay video:

Budget Face Hunter (1240 dust)

Deck code: AAECAR8AD6gCyQSIBZIF7QaXCNsJ/gzzpwP5rgP7rwP8rwOiuQP5ugP/ugMA

Face Hunter remains a powerful alternative for climbing the ladder. Thanks to Scavenger’s Ingenuity, the deck also works without Toxic Reinforcements, so it is one of the cheapest ways to climb to Legend with something else than Demon Hunter.

Gameplay video:

Budget Dragon Hunter (1280 dust)

Deck code: AAECAR8AD6gCyQThBJcI/gyKrQP5rgP7rwP8rwPnsAP/sAOFsQOHsQP/ugPZvgMA

Dragon Hunter struggles more on a budget than Face Hunter because giving up on Stormhammer and Rotnest Drake hurts. The upcoming nerf to Priestess of Fury may help the deck a little because then Evasive Wyrm can kill a Priestess.

Gameplay video:

Budget Midrange Hunter (1200 dust)

Deck code: AAECAR8AD6gCtQPJBJYGlwjFCP4M+a4D+68D/K8DorkD/7oD1r4D174D2b4DAA==

This is the deck that I completed my Legend climb in May. The deck targets Demon Hunter and Warrior by playing cards that make them as uncomfortable as possible, including early Enrage minions.

Unfortunately, it has an abysmal matchup against Priest, so increasing Priest numbers may make life difficult for it.

Gameplay video:

Budget Spell Druid (2260 dust)

Deck code: AAECAZICBP0C05wDsawDrroDDf4B9wPmBcQGuZQD4p8D3KID26UD5boD6LoD7LoD7roD77oDAA==

I played the same Spell Druid list in April and in May and had excellent results both times.

Without access to Rising Winds, I have opted to ditch Moonfires (not enough reliable draw to use them) and went for Worthy Expeditions instead. This gives the deck access to surprising tools, or sometimes just Rising Winds.

Gameplay video:

Budget Galakrond Priest (2700 dust)

Deck code: AAECAa0GAvYHyMADDh7cAZcCyQbTCpmpA5+pA9qsA/KsA/6uA82vA5O6A5u6A6+6AwA=

Galakrond Priest is known for its plethora of Legendary cards, but it is actually possible to play the archetype without any, apart from the free Galakrond, of course.

The budget version is a bit more control than the full-cost version because it cannot steal the opponent’s win conditions as quickly.

Sethekk Veilweavers give the deck access to surprising resources and provide the needed power to push through when you don’t have your Galakrond.

Gameplay video:

Budget Galakrond Rogue (1440 dust)

Deck code: AAECAaIHAs0Dy8ADDrQBlwaIB90Ij5cD9acDua4D/q4Dqq8Dzq8DgrEDubgDu7gD1r4DAA==

I struggled with Budget Rogue a lot. The Secret package without Hanar just did not seem to be good enough and eventually I moved to a vanilla Galakrond Rogue with Questing Adventurers and Cursed Vagrants as win conditions. Cursed Vagrant has proved to be hilarious, because most decks have no good way to deal with it. Except Priest. Sadly, the budget version is far worse than the full-cost version against Priest.

Gameplay video:

Budget Spell Mage (2480 dust)

Deck code: AAECAf0EAk3CoQMOuwLJA6sE7QSWBZ+bA/+dA7+kA/SrA/GvA8G4A4y5A4G/A97EAwA=

Spell Mage has been surprisingly good on a budget. Lots of direct damage and stall give me some Freeze Mage vibes when playing the deck.

There are three Epic cards in the deck: two copies of Apexis Blast (the archetype payoff card) and one Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron. If you run out of options, Box can always bail you out.

Gameplay video:

Budget Warlock Zoo (1040 dust)

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

Zoo is already a cheap deck to build, you only need a couple of Magic Carpets. Nonetheless, I decided to experiment with Carpetless Zoo, and the charge variant turned out to be playable even without the Carpet. I went 10-6 with this deck, but I only won games where I had the Scrap Imp by turn six at the absolute latest, so I don’t know how I really feel about the deck. Nonetheless, it is another option for a budget player.

Gameplay video:

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.