Exploring Hearthstone's Blood, Unholy, & Frost Rune Death Knight Deck Strategies in Standard

Hi everyone, Pezman here. You've seen me on the forums, but as a new addition to the Out of Games team, I wanted to start with an article about a topic near and dear to my heart: Death Knight! I've been playing this class almost exclusively for the past few weeks, and I've found it to be fun, versatile and competitive. Today I'll walk you through some Death Knight decks that I've been enjoying, in the hopes of expanding your options when it comes to Hearthstone's newest class.

We'll start with the deck that I think has been the most consistently powerful deck for Death Knights since they first arrived: Triple Blood.

Triple Blood Rune's Consistency

All versions of this deck are just packed with premium removal and life gain, enabling you to withstand aggro and outlast control. Here's my current list:

Let's examine some of the key cards that make this deck really pop.

Photographer Fizzle is a great way to give yourself even more late game resources against control decks, but you really want to be intentional about what you store for later. Beefy lifesteal minions like Gnome Muncher and Hollow Hound and discover effects like School Teacher and Mechagnome Guide are ideal. If you manage to copy one or both of your Vampiric Bloods, you can reach 75 health (even more if you get a good target for The Primus's Blood Rune ability). If you ever find yourself needing that Steamcleaner, you can kiss Fizzle's Snapshot goodbye, but a game where you really need both is pretty rare.

I LOVE Audio Amplifier. Being able to play a Gnome Muncher on the same turn as a Corpse Explosion or Screaming Banshee can be huge. Plus, the extra hand space can be very useful for Fizzle's Snapshot, as well as all the cards you can generate with your many discover effects.

Ignis, the Eternal Flame is just a boss. I am low-key obsessed with this card. This is also why we run a Rustrot Viper in this deck.

E.T.C., Band Manager is the sideboard we've been waiting for since forever. In this deck, he jams with Steamcleaner (mostly for Plague Death Knights), Alexandros Mograine to tip the scales against control, and Smothering Starfish for those tricky boards you can't deal with any other way. I've also used Theotar, the Mad Duke here, but he's pretty hit or miss these days.

Let's move on to a new deck that I've been finding SUPER fun: Plagues!

A Trinity of Plague

As you may have read in FrostyFeet's recent article, Plague Death Knight got a nice bump in the last balance patch, which made Rune requirements a bit looser rather than changing the stats of the cards. Frosty's list takes advantage of this by running all the Plague cards along with Lord Marrowgar (previously impossible), while mine is more focused on getting your opponent to draw into all those Plagues. The core strategy is the same, so I'll focus on the differences.

Frozen Over and Selfish Shellfish are here to make sure your opponent draws ALL that delicious Plague-y goodness. Both cards are great because they each have a secondary value: the Shellfish is a cheap big body, and Frozen Over obviously helps you draw through your own deck, too.

Death Growl is just a great card here, used most often on Distressed Kvaldir to get more Plagues going. Your hero power means you can always generate at least one minion to get the deathrattle, and that minion is definitely dying this turn and therefore avoiding a potential silence effect. You also have Selfish Shellfish and Chillfallen Baron as targets for this spell.

This deck also takes Sickly Grimewalker out for a stroll. The fact that it gives Poisonous to any undead you "summon" (as opposed to "play") means poisonous Risen Footman, Undead Peasant, etc.

We obviously do not run Steamcleaner in this deck, but Plague Death Knights have become so common that many other decks are. You can actually win after a Steamcleaner is played if you have more Plagues to shuffle in, or if you manage to just maintain a strong board presence. Maybe look for The Scourge off Nerubian Vizier or Necrotic Mortician.

Finally, I felt like I should offer you a Frost Rune Death Knight to round out this round up. I've only played this deck a bit, but it can definitely win some matches and it's pretty fun.

A Frosty Trio of Frozen Runes

As you can see, I've opted for the combo version where you aim to copy your face damage cards with Lady Deathwhisper, then burst your opponent down in one or two turns. To be honest, I don't see many Frost Rune decks nowadays, and those I do encounter are usually only double Frost Rune with some Blood Rune cards like Gnome Muncher for sustainability.

The cards you most want to either generate with Discover effects or copy with Lady Deathwhisper: Horn of Winter, Glacial Advance, Howling Blast.

Don't forget what a powerhouse Frostwyrm's Fury can be. I think it's one of the main reasons they removed triple-rune cards from discover pools.

That's all I've got for today. What do you love about Death Knight? What decks are working for you? Let us know in the comments below!