Hearthstone's Year of the Hydra, the 2022 Core Set, and Voyage to the Sunken City are almost here, so it's time to give Rogue a review of what's to come. Below you will find our thoughts on Rogue as they pertain to the brand new Hearthstone year. We're going to go over the archetypes we expect to see play, the heavy-hitting cards, a general overview of Rogue's other cards, and a theorycraft deck for you to try out on Day 1.
Before we jump straight into our review, we've got a few pieces of content you may want to check out.
- If you haven't seen the whole Core Set for 2022, check out our guide.
- All the cards have been revealed for Voyage to the Sunken City.
- You can build decks with all these cards in our deckbuilder.
- Need a set rotation refresher? Learn more about card set rotations in Hearthstone.
- Open your card packs early by creating your own Fireside Gathering.
- Check our pack opening simulator to test your luck.
Now with that done, let's jump into it!
With that covered, let's get to it!
Year of the Hydra Rogue Quick Impressions
- Voyage to the Sunken City is pushing Rogue to embrace a Pirate archetype that, while slightly different from something like Pirate Warrior, is still designed to run as many Pirates as possible.
- Rogue's Core set collection is mainly unchanged, but with a few key additions for Thief Rogue.
- Despite no new SI:7 cards, we expect Questline Rogue will still be a presence in the meta.
- Rogue has also received a new removal minion and Dredge spell that we expect to see play across archetypes.
- Overall, Rogue has a lot of powerful options heading into the new year. We rate it an 8/10 for its power level. This means we believe that the class will be one of the powerhouses of the coming meta, and could have multiple Tier 1 or Tier 2 decks to choose from.
Rogue Power Level
Year of the Hydra Rogue Archetypes
Rogue is getting a huge influx of Pirates for a Pirate archetype that will likely be its most played deck on Day 1, but watch for overlooked archetypes like Deathrattle Rogue, Thief Rogue, and SI:7 Rogue to make use of some of the class's new cards, too.
- Pirates - Pirate Admiral Hooktusk is a powerful finisher for what could be a strong, very annoying tribal deck.
- Deathrattle - Most of Deathrattle Rogue's key tools come from the past year, but there's a chance some new cards make important contributions to the archetype.
- Thief - Tess Greymane is back!
- SI:7 - Questline Rogue hasn't gotten any new minions for its sort-of tribe, but it hasn't lost anything, either.
With our quick archetype overview out of the way, let's talk more in depth about each of them.
Pirate Rogue in Year of the Hydra
Pirate Rogue is an identity that the class hasn't had in Standard since Rastakhan's Rumble gave it Raiding Party. This time, the emphasis is on playing as many Pirates as possible to feed Legendary finisher Pirate Admiral Hooktusk or Dredge weapon Swordfish.
The beats don't stop there, however. Cutlass Courier is efficient, persistent card draw that synergizes both with Swordfish and Rogue's Hero Power, and Bootstrap Sunkeneer is very good removal attached to a Pirate body. Rogue also got strong 1-Drops: Filletfighter from the expansion and Buccaneer from the Core set. We're going to see a lot of different Pirate Rogue decks in the coming days, as the archetype fleshes itself out and figures out what, exactly, it can get away with.
Thief Rogue in Year of the Hydra
Voyage to the Sunken City is primarily concerned with Pirate Rogue, so it's not surprising to see no new Thief cards in the set. However, the newly revealed Core set has a couple of fun additions for Rogue players much more interested in burglary. Hench-Clan Burglar is a minion who provides solid fuel for the archetype, but the real headliner here is Tess Greymane, the original Thief Rogue finisher who can repeat every single card you've played from another class that game. While slow, Tess gives Rogue players an additional reason to try out the archetype.
While strong versions of the deck will likely still lean on Maestra of the Masquerade and her synergy with Double Agent and Wildpaw Gnoll, there's plenty of room in those decks for what the Core set has given back to Thief Rogue.
Deathrattle Rogue in Year of the Hydra
While Deathrattle Rogue didn't get any cards that are overtly designed for the archetype, they did get one minion who might work exceptionally well in specific builds: Swiftscale Trickster. The Trickster's synergy with Smokescreen is potentially powerful, and could be worth attempting to build around.
Meanwhile, the archetype still has Counterfeit Blade, Sketchy Information, and Snowfall Graveyard, so once they get some good Deathrattles, Rogue will be ready to go. As far as the Core set is concerned, only Tomb Pillager is a contributor to this archetype.
SI:7 Rogue in Year of the Hydra
Questline Rogue benefits from the idea of "addition by non-subtraction," in the sense that all of its SI:7 cards are still in Standard and are all still strong enough to see play. The deck can find new additions from Rogue's expansion cards, but is not in need of a major makeover.
Year of the Hydra Rogue Heavy-Hitters
With a fresh Core Set and the Voyage to the Sunken City, there are a ton of cards to talk about in our review. We're going to go over the heavy-hitters: the cards that we think are going to make the most impact to start this year off.
Crabatoa's Impact in Year of the Hydra
Now, Crabatoa hasn't always been this glam. He was a drab little crab once.
Rogue's shiny new Colossal is an efficient, fairly large minion who can control the board the turn he's played while feeding Rogue's addiction to aggressive weapons. His lack of overt synergy with any other card in the set is a bit of a downside, but we have a feeling that this decapod is universally reliable enough to make it into a variety of Rogue decks that can bounce him back for seconds with Shadowstep if needed.
Our opinion is that Crabatoa is just a good card, flexible enough to improve plenty of different decks that can find one slot for him, but not something that's going to dominate the meta on his own.
Pirate Admiral Hooktusk's Impact in Year of the Hydra
You see, the name's the thing. No one would surrender to Pirate Admiral Westley.
Pirate Admiral Hooktusk is not your every day Pirate finisher, mainly because she costs 8 and doesn't have Charge. However, that doesn't mean that she lacks utility in the archetype. While we bet that Rogue will find success with ultra-aggressive Pirate decks that lean more on cheap bodies and Swordfish, there's always room to go long if you can find ways to survive.
Azsharan Vessel and Sunken Vessel look like the best spells to play with Hooktusk and get her Battlecry ready to go, but there's plenty of tempo-positive Pirates to go around for a slower Pirate deck leaning on Ransoms and Shadowstep to finish the game. Pirate Admiral Hooktusk, while slow, can make up for it by filching from your opponent just what you need. Opponent turn their deck into Treasures from Kazakusan? There's a nab for that.
Bootstrap Sunkeneer's Impact in Year of the Hydra
Hey, I'm sinkin' 'ere!
Bootstrap Sunkeneer is a very powerful removal effect whose only downside is that Dredge exists. Even with that, the ability to sink your opponent's scariest minion to the bottom of their deck is a huge tempo swing, one that they will likely to have spend time and resources to overcome. That's great for you, since you either need time to play Pirate Admiral Hooktusk, or you need to remove a pesky Mo'arg Forgefiend without triggering its Deathrattle so you can punch in for lethal. There's plenty of times when you'll want his unique way of dealing with problems, and we expect this minion to see play across all types of Rogue decks.
The Rest of Rogue in Year of the Hydra
Now that we've looked at the archetypes and main cards that Rogue is going to have access to in Year of the Hydra, let's talk about what we hope to see from the class and some of the other cards that will fill in the gaps for those archetypes.
We've mentioned Swordfish, but we think that this card could potentially be one of the all-stars of a variety of Pirate Rogue lists. Swordfish isn't just a tutor for Pirates, it's also an aggressive weapon that does an incredible amount of damage for its Cost. Think about it this way: it's a Stormforged Axe with upside.
Gone Fishin' is a tidy little draw spell that we expect to see in a lot of Rogue decks. With Secret Passage gone, Rogue can lean on this, plus its cheap Tradeables, to find the cards it needs.
Azsharan Vessel is a little expensive, but good for Pirate Rogue decks that need to activate Hooktusk's Battlecry. Pirate Rogue has access to efficient Dredge effects to make drawing the Sunken half fairly painless.
Blood in the Water is inefficient and clunky, and unlikely to see play except in combination with Swiftscale Trickster.
Neutral Cards for Rogue in Year of the Hydra
Two Neutral Pirates from Voyage to the Sunken City stand out as decent additions to a Pirate-heavy deck. Tuskarrrr Trawler is a solid body who helps to fix curves or find Sunken Treasure, while Pufferfist is a very powerful board control tool for a class with access to a variety of cheap Weapons, including its Hero Power.
On the slower side of things, we would be remiss if we didn't mention Queen Azshara, a Legendary whose Battlecry Rogue can abuse with Shadowstep and its bevy of cheap spells to generate multiple Ancient Relics, most of which are fairly absurd. To ensure Queen Azshara finds her way to hand, Crushclaw Enforcer works as a fantastic tutor that can also be used in Swiftscale Trickster decks.
One Rogue archetype that supposedly got no love was Mill Rogue, especially since the new Core set sent Clockwork Giant back to Wild. However, Rogue could still build an interesting Mill deck around triggering the Shellfish's Deathrattle with Sketchy Information while Snowfall Graveyard is active (possibly with a Far Watch Post on board), then repeating the Deathrattle with Counterfeit Blade. Southsea Scoundrel pairs well with Brann Bronzebeard, so maybe there's hope for Mill Rogue.
Azshara Thief Rogue - A Theorycraft Deck for Rogue in Voyage to the Sunken City
Anyone can brew up a Pirate Rogue, so instead we're pivoting towards a slower, more value-oriented deck that looks to combine Queen Azshara with cheap spells and bounce effects. Specifically, we're looking at Tidestone of Golganneth as the new Academic Espionage or Horn of Ancients for a big Colossal to pair with Tess Greymane and Contraband Stash. In a pinch, we guess we could pivot to the other Relics, but where's the fun in that? Bounce effects like Shadowstep and Shadowcrafter Scabbs give us a chance for multiple Relics.
We've decided that the early tempo of a doubled Double Agent or a cheap Wildpaw Gnoll makes for a better deck, so we've let Maestra of the Masquerade make us over. The deck also has a small Pirate synergy with a single copy of Cutlass Courier, whose effect can find Edwin, Defias Kingpin, Bootstrap Sunkeneer, or Hench-Clan Burglar. We're particularly excited about Edwin's synergy with the Tidestone, should we decide to take it.
Final Thoughts
Rogue is always a class with flexible tools and the ability to try out a variety of archetypes, and the Year of the Hydra will bring no change to that trend. Pirate Rogue, with its Legendary finisher, is the headliner, but watch for Thief and Deathrattle archetypes to potentially blossom. And finally, Questline Rogue will still make its presence felt for another year. The chameleonic ability of Rogue to adapt to its pool of cards, no matter what archetype is pushed or what new toys it receives, makes us very confident in rating Rogue's power level as an 8 out fo 10 for the upcoming meta.
Thanks for taking the time to read our review on Rogue for Year of the Hydra. Do you agree with our take? Let us know your thoughts on our review and Rogue in the comments below. Love you.
More Out of Cards Year of the Hydra Reviews
We've got more to talk about for Hearthstone's Year of the Hydra that officially begins on April 12. Check out all of our Standard class reviews!
More Wild Reviews for Voyage to the Sunken City
We've been hard at work preparing additional insights into the new Voyage to the Sunken City cards with a Wild spin. Check out all the classes released so far down below.
Comments
Pirate Admiral Hooktusk is gonna be the new Tickatus but much more annoying depending on the current game situation. I really enjoy this direction for pirates other than extreme aggro, so gonna have a lot of fun with Hooktusk for the foreseeable future.