6 Amazing Budget Hearthstone Decks to Celebrate the Final Days of Alterac Valley

As the Alterac Valley meta winds into its twilight days, and with Voyage to the Sunken City looming on the horizon, it's the perfect time for Hearthstone players to save their Dust for new cards and Gold for packs. We've assembled an assortment of budget decks for climbing, fun, memes, or nostalgia to serve all your deck-playing needs.

Decks for Climbing

Thanks to Hero cards, the Questlines of Stormwind, and new Dragons, a Budget player's best bet for climbing the ladder is to punch their opponent in the face early and often before those powerful legendaries can outvalue them. Our trio of aggro decks should look very familiar to anyone who has ever played Hearthstone on a budget, and are the best way to get to Legend on the cheap.

Face Hunter

Face Hunter is still likely your best chance to hit Legend without breaking the bank, but this particular list goes in a different direction than most recent Face Hunter lists with new spell Furious Howl to refill a hand that's probably going to be very empty. The deck also has Voracious Reader or, as we like to call her, "slower Furious Howl." The curve is low, the deck is aggressive, the hero is Rexxar. Smorc, smorc, smorc.

Aggro Shaman

The best parts of Elemental Shaman and Doomhammer Shaman combine to serve up a deck that gets on the board early, then swings in for a lot of damage late. Brilliant Macaw is a flexible tool, getting you extra card draw, extra Elemental discounts, or extra board freezes. Play fast, and pray they don't have Solar Eclipse Cenarion Ward.

Zoolock

This deck is one half "reliable climbing deck" and one half "weeping send-off" for Nightshade Matron and Hand of Gul'dan, the loveliest card-draw engine this side of paradise. This resilient board-swarm deck always has another wave of tiny minions, and plenty of ways to abuse Ritual of Doom.

Saying Goodbye

Speaking of weeping send-offs, we've got two budget decks for those of you who are more interested in spending last moments with loved ones than in getting all the way to Legend.

Mok and Tonk

Deathrattle Hunter has been a powerhouse in the past, but never in Mokky's time in Standard. Did that stop us from trying so very hard to make the archetype work? Absolutely not, so in honor of all she's (kinda) done we've cooked up this list that has plenty of good Deathrattles for the soon-to-be departed minion to copy. She won't go out on top of the meta, but she'll surely go out on top in our hearts.

A Big Finish for Grand Finale

Hot Streak and Grand Finale was a good enough combo that the deck actually found a home on the fringes of the meta for a while, and became a fun way to play the game on a budget. Well, Confection Cyclone is still here to give us plenty of small Elementals to feed a Finale, and Shivering Sorceress gives us the potential for an even earlier Finale turn, so let's give this not-really-meta-breaking spell one last show before the curtain drops for good.

Meme of the "Week" - Dragons!

Lady Prestor is the ultimate meme build-around, and got significantly better in Standard with the release of Onyxia's Lair providing a slew of powerful Dragons for minions to transform into. This Demon Hunter deck runs a lot of cheap minions and card draw to find the Lady, play her, then reap the benefits of a 0 Cost Raid Boss Onyxia or Kazakusan. Additionally, the pseudo-Dredge of Sightless Watcher will get you ready to play when Voyage to the Sunken City releases.

What budget decks will you be taking on the ladder, and will they be for climbing or for sentimentality? Share your thoughts in the comments!

If you have your own Budget decks to share, be sure to add them to our site via the deckbuilder and write up a guide to help others achieve your success.