Fresh Theorycraft Decks for Forged in the Barrens' Nerfs & Buffs Patch - 9 Decks to Try on Day 1

Hearthstone patch 20.2.2 has just landed, and it has brought us a lot of balance changes!

Before Blizzard had said anything about the next patch, we were definitely expecting nerfs, of which they brought 5 to the table (see our thoughts on the nerfs). The big surprise though was buffs, and a whole lot of them - 10 card buffs (see our thoughts on the buffs)! Outside of the Rise of the Mechs event from a couple of years ago, they are the most buffs we’ve seen in the game - way to go Team 5!

After all these changes, the meta is very likely to shift, and you’re probably wondering: “Avalon, what should  I play now?” - don’t worry guys, I gotchu! Here are a handful of decklists, each one containing at least 1 buffed card, so that you’ll be able to net deck at ease. Enjoy and let us know if you’ll find any success!

Deathrattle Demon Hunter

This deck is nothing new under the sun: sure, it was not great, but it was played even before the balance changes. Same reasoning goes for Razorboar, which was (and is) the to-go play on turn 2 alongside Wandmaker. Buffing the signature 2-drop can only improve the deck, and we suggest you should mess around with it.

Worth noting is that even a bad player like myself was able to hit Legend with it before the patch, so this pretty much guarantees you that you’re not going to jam crap on ladder!

Menagerie Druid

A decklist showcased by our BloodMefist in his most recent memes article. While this balance patch is not going to change any of the cards included in this list, the cost reduction of N'Zoth, God of the Deep will certainly favor the deck since it will reach its most relevant swing turn earlier than it used to be. BloodMefist wrote a wonderful guide about how you can pilot this Menagerie Druid, so you should definitely check it out!

Corrupt Priest

An archetype promoted by famous Hearthstone streamer Brian "Please don't call me 'Brian 'Brian Kibler' Kibler'" Kibler when Darkmoon Races came out - to be fair, he was passionate and persistent enough to even find good results with the archetype, but after the release of Forged in the Barrens it fizzled away in favor of the better Control Priest.

Now that Dark Inquisitor Xanesh got fixed buffed, we think it’s the perfect chance for you to explore the archetype again.

Control Shaman

Now that Tidal Surge is finally a card that you can reasonably include in your deck, it is time to jam some Control Shaman! This list is stacked with healing and stalling effects so that you’ll be able to survive Aggro’s early pressure and close out games with C'Thun, the Shattered. To be fair, we genuinely don’t expect Shaman to become tier 1, but at least it should feel quite more comfortable to play.

Elemental Overload Shaman

It is time to see if Lilypad Lurker and Unbound Elemental’s buffs are enough for a Midrange archetype to pop up and slice through the competition. As many of you might already know, pre-patch Elemental Shaman was not a bad deck, it was just missing a few pieces in order for it to be decent. We hope that these two changes will help the archetype to find more success on ladder.

Zoo Cute Warlock

Following Fiendish Circle’s buff, we showcase a creation of ours, that takes inspiration from a Wild deck named CuteLock, which relies on 0-Cost minions like Desk Imp and Murloc Tinyfin and crazy draw effects such as Hand of Gul'dan in order to go wide as fast as possible and capitalize on its reward cards, namely Wicked Whispers and the new Ritual of Doom.

Deck of Chaos Warlock

Deck of Chaos finally playable???? We genuinely don’t know, but if this is going to end up as a Luna's Pocket Galaxy 2.0, well, we want to be the first ones to abuse it - amiright guys?

Control Warrior

Since the release of Forged in the Barrens, Control Warrior has always felt inferior to its Rush counterpart, mainly because the rotation took away Garrosh's survivability tools, making it a lot more clunky than it was in the Year of the Phoenix.

Here's what the future Control Warrior could look like: lots of removals for the early game, the Frenzy package for the mid-game and Rattlegore into Faceless Manipulator to seal the Control mirrors.

Bonus: RegisKillbin’s Menagerie Frenzy Warrior

The Quilboar tribe tag addition gave a few classes the chance to explore the very few, but sometimes significant interactions coming from this change. One of the said classes is Warrior, which is able to bring back Quilboars, and namely Razormane Raider, with both Overlord Saurfang and N'Zoth, God of the Deep.

Do you like these decks? What are you going to play in this new meta? Use our deckbuilder to upload your creations and share them with the community!