It's only a few days into the newest Hearthstone expansion, Festival of Legends, but we're already seeing some strategies rise to the top of the Standard meta in terms of power level and overall winrate. Here are the 5 decks for you to take out on the ladder and win with!
Or, if you're a contrarian, we've included a counter-pick for each meta deck, an off-meta (or off-off-meta) strategy that appears to do well against it - this brings our total to 10 decks for your viewing pleasure.
Blood Death Knight
Blood Death Knight retained most of its powerful tools, while other classes lost important pieces to rotation, so perhaps it's little surprise to see Arthas currently sitting at the top of the meta. Blood DK did benefit from the expansion with Screaming Banshee and Arcanite Ripper providing payoffs for the deck's many sources of life gain. Blood Death Knight is currently the most reliable deck to help you climb, with very few truly bad matchups in the meta (so far).
Counter-pick: Curse Implock
When a deck is as dominant as Blood Death Knight, sometimes countering it means breaking even. Enter Curse Implock, which doesn't necessarily pick apart DK's weaknesses - but it doesn't fold up and blow away, either. This deck's persistent source of annoying damage from curses can be enough to bring the mighty to their knees.
Frost Aggro Death Knight
For players who are looking for a change of pace from Blood Death Knight's slow and grindy value game, there's Frost Death Knight, a completely different deck from the class that brought you Vampiric Blood. Frostwyrm's Fury has been ending games since it was first added to the game, and it's a good choice if you're looking to punish unrefined decks trying to combat the other DK meat. There's literally nothing new in this list.
Counter-pick: Thaddius Warlock
The deck to make Frost DK shiver is a Warlock deck that can go Immune from burn damage with Mal'Ganis (and make Mal'ganis immune with The Jailer), or heal up that damage with Lifesteal spells and big Lifesteal Demons.
Pure Paladin
Ever since The Purator entered the game as premium card draw for a very specific archetype, Pure Paladin has been biding its time and waiting for the perfect moment. Now, with Jitterbug and Funkfin added to its arsenal, the deck can finally strut its stuff with a low curve deck that still retains plenty of refill thanks to Purator and The Countess.
Counter-pick: Silver Hand Paladin
If you want a deck that can beat Paladin (and Death Knight is out of the question), then your best bet is to play... Paladin. Silver Hand Paladin, to be specific. With Muster for Battle back in Standard, the deck can report for duty as the savior no one knew they needed. It even throws some of Pure Paladin's stuff back in its face with a Countess of its own.
Outcast Demon Hunter
Maybe Outcast-driven Demon Hunter decks finally have found their stage, thanks to Glaivetar and SECURITY!! bringing extra tools to the strategy. The deck has plenty of sources of additional Outcast cards with Felerin, the Forgotten and Illidari Studies, or can attempt to go infinite with Wretched Exile.
Counter-pick: Relic Demon Hunter
We're once again promoting internecine warfare by prescribing a Demon Hunter deck to combat a Demon Hunter deck. Relic Demon Hunter has the tools to stymie the Outcast's aggression and, given enough time, will flip the tables on Illidan with plenty of burn spells it can reduce the cost of with Relic of Dimensions, then copy with a Snapshot from Photographer Fizzle.
Totem Shaman
We'll admit that we're stretching the definition of "top" when opting to include Totem Shaman but please listen to our very convincing argument: we can do what we want. Thanks to the "reintroduction" of Grand Totem Eys'or and "totems" like Mistake, the deck can persistently put numerous threats on the board. There's even a little spice to be had with JIVE, INSECT!, a card whose slant rhyme title would make Emily Dickinson green with envy.
Counter-pick: Sister Svalna Priest
Not that you'd necessarily need to counter Totem Shaman, but if you want to you can do so with this Control Priest deck that redefines the phrase "infinite value." Love Everlasting and Sister Svalna are a match made on a Stairway to Heaven, and the new super-Seance Power Chord: Synchronize can grab extra copies of key minions Queen Azshara or Photographer Fizzle.
The cards in E.T.C.'s band are Photographer Fizzle, Theotar, the Mad Duke, and Rustrot Viper.
What top decks are you planning on playing in Hearthstone this week? Share them in our deckbuilder and show them off in the comments below.
Comments
I'd been running a more spell-focused Frost DK deck, and I thought, sure, I'll try this aggro one too. It's a great time to rack up some more DK wins.
That list is maybe two cards different from the in-game recipe. Does Team 5 update those as the meta rolls along, or has Frost Aggro been there since the class was introduced? Doesn't matter, thanks for the suggestion!