11 Budget Theorycraft Decks for Day 1 of March of the Lich King

March of the Lich King is slowly plodding its way into release, and the hype could not be higher. "Look at all those interesting and potentially powerful Legendaries," is what a lot of people are saying. Not us. We're highly skeptical of any Legendary, no matter how shiny, and prefer to wait to see which ones will actually be good, and which ones will stink. "Crafting is for crazies" - this is our motto.

To that end, we've devised 11 budget theorycraft decks (one for each class) to play as soon as packs are opened and collections are full of Commons and Rares - decks that don't need a single Epic or Legendary from expansions, that you can play almost immediately and without worrying which of the rarer cards you'll open or be forced to craft. Crack packs, pick your favorite, and go have fun.

Death Knight

This UUF (pronounced "ooph") Death Knight deck is built to make maximum use of the Corpse mechanic that is central to the Death Knight's class identity by feeding in lots of Corpses with cheap minions like Body Bagger and Ram Commander or cheap minion summons like Plague Strike and Vrykul Necrolyte, then spending those Corpses with guys like Corpse Bride and Battlefield Necromancer to make Stitched Giant cost a lot less.

Demon Hunter

Aggro Demon Hunter is always lurking, and we're trying to make it happen again with new Outcast payoffs Fierce Outsider and Vengeful Walloper. On a related note, we feel that "wallop" is an underused word in today's society - when's the last time you can remember turning to your significant other and saying, "Janice, if those neighbor kids won't stop burning me in effigy on their lawn, I'm going to head next door and give them a good wallop"?

Druid

Druid, surprisingly, has a very good package for an aggressive Undead deck thanks to Lingering Zombie (it's just a flesh wound) and Nerubian Flyer giving it some cheap bodies to buff with Harold F. Nature and Pride's Fury. Vrykul Necrolyte and Arms Dealer are more of that Undead synergy that can snowball quickly.

Hunter

Here's a secret you should know about us: as long as Twinbow Terrorcoil is in Standard, we're never going to stop trying to build decks around him. Case in point, this Naga Arcane Hunter deck that uses the new Arcane spells Eversong Portal and Conjured Arrow along with Spell Damage sources Rainbow Glowscale and Silvermoon Fartrider to get even more value out of the Terrorcoil.

Mage

Thanks to Arcane Defenders, Big Spell Mage finally has an 8 Cost target for Arcane Brilliance, so now is as good a time as any to brush off your Grey Sage Parrot and Deepwater Evoker. Thanks to Arcane Wyrm and Arcsplitter, we don't have to put cheap removal spells in our deck, clearing the way for our big spells to find their way into our hand through various means. The Mailbox Dancer Barbaric Sorceress combo is also here, just make sure your Arcane Bolts don't get in the way.

Paladin

Paladin is positively percolating with an abundance of alliteration in the new set, what with Sanguine Soldier, Daring Drake, and Feast and Famine. A Divine Dragon deck is what the doctor demands. We're buffing our bruisers and boosting our brethren by bursting bubbles and stealing stats with salacious spells and that's enough alliteration for today. We're exhausted.

Priest

This Aggro Priest uses cheap Shadow spells to feed aggressive minions Crystalsmith Cultist and Defias Leper to win the board early, then close out with damage from Shadowed Spirit and Brittleskin Zombie; potentially getting them back from Rez effects like Amulet of Undying, Animate Dead, and Bonecaller.

Rogue

Rotten Rodent has some potential, we think. To try it out, we've got a bundle of Deathrattle cards from Foul Egg to Burning Blade Acolyte, while Swiftscale Trickster does his usual business with Smokescreen (and The Sunwell as an added bonus).

Shaman

Evolve Shaman might be able to make use of the new Zombie summoners it got: Unliving Champion and Deathweaver Aura can both give the deck more small bodies to Evolve into larger bodies, or to feed the Infuse of Convincing Disguise. The deck's so into the Undead synergy that it's running Grim Necromancer for the extra Undead bodies. And, since Deathweaver Aura is a Shadow spell, that's all the more reason to run Multicaster and Coral Keeper.

Warlock

Discard Warlock is an older deck, but it checks out. This Zoo-style Implock uses the high-end of Savage Ymirjar and Soul Barrage to provide some late game oomph after the early onslaught of Imps puts its opponent on the backfoot. We've got plenty of fun new ways to play with Discard synergies, but it should be noted that, if history is any indicator, Walking Dead will get a lot worse after turn 5.

Warrior

Enrage Warrior may have found its footing in the last few months, mainly thanks to Weapons Expert, and now the deck is getting some more card draw in the form of Light of the Phoenix. While it doesn't have the upside of Battle Rage, this new spell should be a pretty good deal for Enrage Warrior decks, and should help it find more threats before the game gets out of hand. We're also getting into the buff side of things with Anima Extractor and Blazing Power.

Have your own idea for a theorycraft deck? Post it to the site with our deckbuilder, and don't forget to include a guide!

Are you planning on making your own budget decks when March of the Lich King goes live? Share your thoughts in the comments below!