Eight Budget-Friendly Theorycraft Decks for Day One of United in Stormwind

The eve of a new expansion is an exciting time, but it can also be a little stressful as we're never sure which expensive cards we'll open in packs, which decks will be good, and what Legendaries to craft in the early going. To take away some of that stress, we've gathered eight theorycrafted budget decks to try out when the new expansion launches so you don't have to worry about crafting Legendaries that later turn out to be terrible. All of these decks are made from cards that you should already have in your collection, or cards that it won't be too hard to find in packs of the new expansion.

Handlock

Handlock got a lot of support from United in Stormwind, and luckily for us many of those cards are either Rare or Common. Goldshire Gnoll, Spice Bread Baker, Dark Alley Pact, and Package Runner care very much about having a lot of cards in our hand, while Stockades Guard can turn any pile of stats into an imposing defensive minion. We're also running Runed Mithril Rod for the potential to reduce the Cost of some of our bigger cards, with the classic Soul Fragments package giving us extra "draws" to proc it sooner. We've even got one copy of Encumbered Pack Mule as a way to increase the number of cards in our hand.

Commencement Warrior

Commencement Warrior was another Big winner from United in Stormwind, thanks mostly to Cowardly Grunt doubling the number of big minion cheaters the deck can run. The deck also got access to large roadblock Mo'arg Forgefiend for extra defensive measures in addition to big minions Scrapyard Colossus and Deathwing the Destroyer, to name a few. Heavy Plate is a good way to gain time against aggressive decks, and because of Tradeable we can ship it back if we need something else.

Divine Buff Paladin

Alliance Bannerman is an insanely good card, and as long as we're doing handbuffs we might as well pack in Prismatic Jewel Kit, Invigorating Sermon, and Overlord Runthak to get as many stats on our minions as possible. Handbuff Paladin is always a fun time with the potential to get very out of hand if it gets a good draw. We're hoping that, thanks to Knight of Anointment and the Tradeable Impatient Shopkeep, that this deck will have enough draw to get its buffs going. The deck also runs two copies of Encumbered Pack Mule for twice the buff proliferation.

Miraculous Deathrattle Rogue

Deathrattle Rogue got a pair of intriguing payoff cards, but this deck only runs one of them. Sketchy Information is good at triggering Deathrattles, and we've curated this list to give it good options. Option A is Ticket Master, for some free 3/3 bodies, but we also have a solid Option B with Loan Shark, for Coins, and Nerubian Egg for spiders. The rest of the deck is built like a Miracle Rogue, but we have some new spice: Pandaren Importer is a potential treasure trove for budget decks, giving us better access to spells we couldn't run, and Traveling Merchant could be a very good big minion in a deck that can easily fill up the board with small bodies thanks to cheap minions and a Plush Bear or two.

Beast Druid

Beast Druid is eventually going to be viable, we swear. United in Stormwind gave the archetype some real legs, thanks to a couple of powerful early game minions. Vibrant Squirrel is a good 1-Drop whose Deathrattle can get us free bodies later in the game, while Wickerclaw is a scary 2-Drop that threatens to get bigger if not dealt with. The real game-changer for this deck is Park Panther, a 4-Drop that makes it much easier for us to answer back against an opponent's early pressure and start building our own pressure. Rustrot Viper and Encumbered Pack Mule are more new beasts; the latter has synergy with Razormane Battleguard to swing tempo early.

Overload Protector Shaman

If you completed the free Rewards Track for Forged in the Barrens, you received two golden copies of Primordial Protector, a souped-up version of Spiteful Summoner that has mostly been used in Druid decks since its release. This Shaman deck was built to change that, pairing the Protector with Tidal Wave to summon 8-Drops. The rest of the deck is built around a heavy Overload theme to get good value out of Spirit Alpha and Charged Call. Primal Dungeoneer can draw the Protector, or a decent second option in Canal Slogger; we also run Guild Trader for Spell Damage, and because it gives Shaman slightly more options for drawing cards.

Elemental Fire Mage

Elemental Mage may still have some legs, thanks to the new draw engine Sanctum Chandler that plays well with cheap Fire spells like Hot Streak, First Flame, and Second Flame. It'll have you asking, "Could I be drawing any more cards?" And here's a neat trick for you: Hot Streak reduces the Cost of the next Fire spell played that turn by 2, and by some strange coincidence this deck happens to be running an expensive Fire spell named Grand Finale. To get a big Finale, we're running as many Elementals as seems reasonable: Confection Cyclone, in particular, is one we'd like to use to set-up for the big turn. Pandaren Importer, Runed Orb, and Wand Thief are included to give us more chances of finding Fire spells.

Murloc Demon Hunter

This is less of a serious theorycraft and more of a PSA that Demon Hunter now has two Murlocs in its class, so we may as well make use of them. Both Metamorfin and Furious Felfin have the ability to gain extra stats, and they're cheap enough to play well with the Neutral core of Murlocs. We're particularly interested in Fel Barrage as a cheeky way to find lethal if we put enough pressure on our opponent. The rest of the deck is a combination of cheap ways to deal damage and cheap ways to draw cards.

Looking for other (expensive) theorycrafted decks to accompany you into Stormwind? Arm yourself with more community decks.

Have your own idea for something awesome? Create your own budget deck and share it in the comments! Don't forget to include a guide!