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 Druid a review of what's to come. Below you will find our thoughts on Druid 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 Druid'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!
Year of the Hydra Druid Quick Impressions
- The headliner for the new expansion is Big Spell Druid, supported by a Legendary with a King Phaoris-like effect (but in reverse), and a new Naga who can be played for "free" if you have big spells in hand.
- With the return of Fandral Staghelm in the Core set, Choose One Druid becomes a lot more interesting (because now you don't have to choose).
- Beast Druid remains a powerful aggro deck and receives a new 1-Drop from Voyage to the Sunken City.
- Could Naga Druid have enough to support to make things work?
- Overall, Druid has a variety of archetype options heading into the new year, with a few seeming to be fairly strong. For the class as a whole, we rate it a 7/10 for its power level. This means we think it will have at least one powerful deck active in the meta.
Druid Power Level
Year of the Hydra Druid Archetypes
Coming off a year (and then some) of powerful Ramp, Druid looks like it might slow down a little with both Lightning Bloom and Overgrowth taken away from them. However, this also opens up the class to try new things to replace these auto-include cards, and the class is not lacking for directions to move in with the expansion and Core set.
- Big Spells - An archetype built around a number of high-Cost spells and using them to gain extra tempo thanks to minions who like Big Spells.
- Choose One - Druid's class-specific mechanic is getting even more assistance after the last few expansions sprinkled in Choose One payoffs, as Fandral Staghelm returns to Standard.
- Beast - Frostsaber Matriarch and Oracle of Elune are still in Standard, so expect to see this deck plug in new cards to replace the ones it lost and keep chugging on.
- Naga - With a couple of new "cheap" Naga friends, Druid could be one of the classes to build around this minion tribe.
With our quick archetype overview out of the way, let's talk more in depth about each of them.
Big Spell Druid in Year of the Hydra
Hedra the Heretic has the potential for huge tempo swings, so long as you've cast a lot of expensive spells with her in hand. With this build-around in mind, we can look at the more expensive spells that Druid will have access to. There's the new draw spell Miracle Growth alongside old favorite Scale of Onyxia, both of which provide good tempo, especially if you have them in hand when you play Green-Thumb Gardener, who's trying to do his best Anubisath Defender impression but kind of sucking at it.
Beyond that, one synergy we're looking at is Celestial Alignment, since playing Alignment with Hedra in hand gives her an 8-Cost minion to summon while reducing her Cost to 1 (any future spells cast just summon 1-Drops, we assume, but could use the Spell's "true" Cost instead). Honestly, the archetype doesn't have a lot of support in the form of expensive spells right now, so we're guessing that, for the near future, Big Spells will be a partial synergy in some slow Druid deck or sit out the upcoming meta.
Choose One Druid in Year of the Hydra
The Choose One mechanic has received a number of interesting tools in the past few expansions, from minions who double your choices like Jerry Rig Carpenter and Raid Negotiator to Cost reduction from Pride Seeker. However, none of those cards could have done for the archetype what Fandral Staghelm is poised to do. Fandral is a persistent effect that boosts not only Choose One spells and minions, but also Hero Powers like Wildheart Guff's Nurture. This one synergy alone makes us pretty sure that Fandral will be included in slower Druid decks.
Alongside Fandral comes Living Roots, the best non-Jade 1-Cost Choose One spell, and 5 Mana Nourish means that any slow Druid can curve a turn 4 Fandral into turn 5 Nourish just like in the old days. While Choose One is unlikely to be an archetype unto itself, it does have a bevy of useful tools that should be a boon for a number of Druid decks.
Beast Druid in Year of the Hydra
Beast Druid has been doing fairly well for itself since the introduction of Frostsaber Matriarch, and we guess that it will continue to be the number 1 option for aggressive Druid players in the upcoming meta. This is partly because the deck is so strong already, and partly because the rotation of Arbor Up means token-style swarm decks are more likely going to need to lean on Heart of the Wild for AoE buffs.
To fill any gaps left by departing Beasts, Druid is getting a souped-up Dire Mole in Bottomfeeder. Bottomfeeder is not as flexible as Druid of the Reef, but can give the deck something to Dredge up, and plays really well with Oracle of Elune. Mounted Raptor could also be included thanks mostly to the amount of solid 1-Drops in Standard.
Naga Druid in Year of the Hydra
Seaweed Strike is really the only reason that Druid would want to build a synergistic deck with the new minion tribe, as it is a decently efficient removal spell when activated. Dozing Kelpkeeper is the main candidate to trigger the Strike's Naga clause, but there are also a handful of Neutral Naga who could play well in Druid decks built around spells and the Nagas who love them. Like the Choose One package, we'd expect Naga to be a support package for another archetype (like Big Spells or Ramp), rather than a strategy all its own.
Year of the Hydra Druid 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 first going to go over the heavy-hitters: the cards from Druid's new cards whose flashy abilities could make an impact to start this year off.
Colaque's Impact in Year of the Hydra
He'll give you shellter.
Colaque is a large, mostly defensive minion whose Shell will slow down opponents. However, he doesn't do a whole lot himself. The power of the Immune keyword has been seen in Raid Boss Onyxia, a drop-dead gorgeous 10-Drop who can overwhelm your opponent's resources while cleaning up the board the turn she comes down. Colaque, instead, encourages the Druid player to turtle up and hope to buy some time to find removal. This Colossal minion is, truthfully, not very exciting, and probably won't be worth a slot in most decks.
Hedra the Heretic's Impact in Year of the Hydra
One Wisp! A-ha-ha! Two Wisps! You see where I'm going with this.
The main build-around for Big Spell Druid, Hedra the Heretic could have a lot of fun with high-Cost spells like Scale of Onyxia, Miracle Growth, and Best in Shell, which are all spells that summon bodies when they're cast, and can be used to summon more bodies when Hedra is played.
There are two main issues with Hedra: one is the randomness of the minions she would summon. For instance, if you've played Scale of Onyxia, there's a decent chance she just summons another Hedra the Heretic, and no one wants that. The second problem is that Celestial Alignment is currently Druid's only spell in Standard that Costs 8 or more, so even if you build your deck around her you're unlikely to get an impressive return on investment. As it stands now, Hedra just doesn't have enough support to be a build-around. It's possible she makes the cut in a slow Druid deck that already runs big spells.
Aquatic Form's Impact in Year of the Hydra
Eat your heart out, Mr. Limpet.
Aquatic Form is, simply put, Druid's best card from Voyage to the Sunken City. If played correctly, it is a 0-Cost Tracking that can be even better than Tracking if you know what's on the bottom of your deck. It is likely to see play across all archetypes of Druid, and could be an All-Star combination with Capture Coldtooth Mine giving smart deckbuilders the ability to draw it on command. We're also pretty into the idea of it drawing up a Sunken Gardens in faster Druid decks. With the right planning, it can be a tutor for basically any card in your deck. Aquatic Form is powerful card selection in a class that can easily abuse that power.
The Rest of Druid in Year of the Hydra
Now that we've looked at the archetypes and main cards that Druid 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.
Azsharan Gardens is a tricky bit of handbuff that comes with an additional mini-Survival of the Fittest in the form of Sunken Gardens. Recovering Embiggen Druid addicts are all a little antsy to get their hands on this card.
Flipper Friends is an OK Choose One spell that probably works best when played with Fandral Staghelm on board. It otherwise might see play in Frostsaber Matriarch decks that, for some weird reason, don't want to play too many other Beasts.
Earthen Scales has been in the news recently as the key enabler of Linecracker Armor Druid in Wild, but it's not going to be nearly as powerful in Standard. It's a decent defensive tool for Druid decks that run big minions, but let's take a moment to gripe that it doesn't work well with Colaque, since Immune minions can't be targeted.
Neutral Cards for Druid in Year of the Hydra
Murkwater Scribe is a solid 2-Drop that can almost do a Nature Studies impression for spell-heavy Druids. There are some spells Druid could look to discount (Nourish or Celestial Alignment), that it could talk itself into running this minion. Naga Giant plays well with the high-Cost spells that a Ramp Druid might run anyway, and could be used in those decks as a big body to be played for cheap late in the game.
Beast Druid doesn't lose much, but what it did lose can be replaced by a number of new cards from the expansion. Amalgam of the Deep is a good way to generate additional threats in what is usually an aggressive archetype that sometimes runs out of threats, while Pelican Diver can be used as a proactive answer to minions that haven't been played yet (or as a way to use your Mana while dodging a removal spell). Piranha Swarmer has some fun synergy with Oracle of Elune, so it's got that going for it.
Barbaric Sorceress could have utility in Big Spell (this is the last time we mention Celestial Alignment, we promise) Druid decks to cheat the Cost of one of your clunkier spells while sticking your opponent with the bill. It's not at all reliable, but it could be worth a couple highlights.
Choose One Druid - A Theorycraft Deck for Druid in Voyage to the Sunken City
We had two ideas for Druid decks to theorycraft: one aggressive, one slower. To honor the triumphant return of Fandral Staghelm, we're sharing both of them! Why choose one, when you can choose both?
The first deck is an aggressive Beast Druid that uses Aquatic Form and Sir Finley, Sea Guide effects to find Sunken Gardens and extra copies of Bottomfeeder. Living Roots becomes the new draw target for Jerry Rig Carpenter, as the Saplings play better with Composting and the two damage is just good. Pelican Diver and Amalgam of the Deep are both good Beasts and should fit in nicely.
The second deck is a (wait for it) Ramp Druid running all sorts of scary Ramp stuff like Nourish and Wild Growth in addition to big beaters Naga Giant, Miracle Growth, and Raid Boss Onyxia.
Final Thoughts
Druid's got a lot of cards that play into a plethora of different synergies and strategies: from Beasts to Naga, from Big Spells to Choose One. With all of those archetypes represented, there isn't enough room for any one of them to stand above the others with just the cards from Core Set and Voyage to the Sunken City. However, Druid received a number of powerful cards that play well in many decks, and should be fine adapting them to most of the strategies that remain from the Year of the Gryphon. Aquatic Form will make just about any Druid deck a touch more reliable, while Fandral Staghelm will improve slower Druid decks that can make use of his ability. Don't worry about Druid, it'll be just fine.
Thanks for taking the time to read our review on Druid for Year of the Hydra. Do you agree with our take? Let us know your thoughts on our review and Druid in the comments below. Tell your friends we said Hi.
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
You can target your own Immune minions. That's why Raid Boss Onyxia+Provoke works.
A thought: does Sheldras Moontree work in conjunction with Hedra the Heretic? I would assume not but I’m curious.
Good point, but there's always playtesting to find out!