The Wailing Caverns mini set is out for not even a week old, and new decks are still popping up here and there. The meta is slowly shaping up, and while we don't have a clear picture about it yet, we're understanding how the mini set impacted the game.
Here's another collection of Legend decks to try on ladder. While some come from high legend players and are definitely going to be top performing archetypes from now on, others are takes on rather underplayed or underperforming decks that currently see less play than they were meant. In the end, it doesn't matter what are your taste: you'll find something to enjoy for sure!
Brian Kibler's Freeze Hero Power Mage
Truly a song of (Wild)Fire and Ice(Mage). Many people said that Mage got shafted pretty badly by the mini set, but the good ol' reliable Kibler has out back. Right after hitting Legend with his own take on a tempo-oriented Frenzy Warrior, the Dragon Master jumped right on Jaina (pun intended) in order to find a way for her to see the light of day. As some players speculated, an interesting take would combine the Hero Power package with the Freeze package, and that exactly what Kibler did.
As you might imagine, this deck features the new Floecaster and Frostweave Dungeoneer (which will always summon two 1/1s, given that the only non-Frost spell is Wildfire), as well as Shattering Blast (great with Headmaster Kel'Thuzad).
Menagerie Paladin
Uther got hit very hard by the last round of nerfs in Hand of A'dal and First Day of School, two cards which saw play in every single Paladin deck and that still see play, which shows how strong and important they are.
The list you can see below features the usual pre-patch menagerie build, which relies on solid standalone minions like Carousel Gryphon, Holy Elemental and Alexstrasza the Life-Binder and aims to close the game with a very consistent N'Zoth, God of the Deep. New inclusions are Seedcloud Buckler (arguably the best Paladin card of the mini set, especially for the potential it holds) and Party Up!, which is a way to flood the board after a removal and, more importantly, another way to corrupt your Gryphons instead of Dragonmaw Sky Stalker.
Gaby's Control Menagerie Priest
"Let's be honest, priest is still the giga nuts :D"
Mullahoo's Secret Rogue
To be completely honest, the Wailing Caverns mini set is yet to impact Rogue as a class - partly because Savory Deviate Delight, Shroud of Concealment and Water Moccasin are not very amusing, and partly because Miracle Rogue is just that good and doesn't allow other strategies to flourish within the class.
Unfortunately, the Secret Rogue list we're showcasing does not feature any new cards, but we just wanted to give our Rogue players something different to play with!
DrakeD0g's Elemental Shaman
This deck comes straight from r/CompetitiveHS, where u/DrakeD0g wrote a really in-depth guide about general information, card choices and mulligan guide. Elemental Shaman received interesting support in the Wailing Caverns mini set in Wailing Vapor and Primal Dungeoneer, so seeing people trying to showcase their own take on the archetype is really interesting.
What do you think of this list? You can find DrakeD0g's guide both on the deck's page and on Reddit.
Ike's Control Menagerie Warrior
As you might have read in our Wailing Caverns set review, Kresh, Lord of Turtling is definitely one of the cards we were looking forward to playing the most. While the meta is slowly shaping up and no hierarchy is set in stone, Warrior seems to have multiple direction to follow in order to answer what's good: Conditioning Handbuff Warrior won't probably disappear; Control Warrior and Frenzy Warrior received an extra reason to see play.
We're very excited to see what the future has in store for Garrosh.
Orange's Weapon Frenzy Warrior
Wrenchcalibur Bomb Warrior apart, it's been a while since the last time we saw a Weapon focused concept behind a Warrior list. While pro player Ranlit suggested that Mor'shan Elite should definitely be part of this deck, we still think this is an acceptable starting point for everyone to build the archetype.
This list runs lots of card draw and Weapon-related tools like the old Nitroboost Poison and the new Man-at-Arms as early payoff card. Imprisoned Gan'arg and Sword Eater's Fiery War Axe is definitely a good target, but Whetstone Hatchet and Kresh, Lord of Turtling's Turtle Spike's high durability are great for Doctor Krastinov and Nitroboost.
What are you currently playing on ladder right now? What are your impressions on the early Wailing Caverns meta? Let us know in the comments!
Comments
I watched Kibler play his Ice and Fire deck yesterday. I feel like the deck could use some changes.
First if you plan to use Kel'thuzad still, I think adding in Archdruid Naralex is a must. The chance to get a 3 mana board clear is just too good. The cards provide much needed tempo, and the spells are all great in different situations.
I think the Coldarra Drake needs to be dropped from the deck. It's good that it effectively draws out removal/trading but it often is just a Boulderfist Ogre.
I think Floecaster doesn't do much. A minion that maybe costs less, and requires other cards to put out pressure just doesn't do much for the deck. I know that it's one of the new cards and should be core, but it just doesn't feel strong enough for a deck that tends to stall out.
Lastly Glacial Racers are ok as a vanilla 1/3, but often are just that and don't do much.
My personal opinion take on the deck: Use Frostweave Dungeoneers as 1/2 AI on a stick. A 3 mana 2/3, draw a spell. If it happens to be frost, you get additional tempo.
Yes this is more expensive but helps do multiple things. Provides many more means of additional tempo, utility, and tutoring. In addition Dungeoneers have decent synergy with Olgra! (enraged Mankrik) so even if it isn't a cold spell it's additional tempo. If the deck gets too top heavy, or you lack the draw, feel free to put the starscryers back in.
Thanks for the suggestions! The fact that you motivated them is great too
Been loving the different variations of control warrior. They all feature Kresh, Lord of Turtling obviously, but it's quite interesting to see some with or without N'zoth, C'thun and Saurfang. Or just add all 3 for that extra greediness
I think that the best Control Warrior list is yet to be figured out. I personally like CW to be back in the meta without being utterly oppressive as it was in Rise of Shadows, but I am looking forward to tomorrow's VS meta report to see what mistakes I made in the last week lol
I feel like what made control warrior utterly oppressive was the risky skipper combos. Without as much burst armor gain, they are overall less oppressive. (Though they can still generate tons of armor if they are careful and calculate when they use it, in the past warrior has just been "here's my armor gain, good luck punching through it)
There is no way I cannot agree with you. I like this iteration of Control Warrior because it actually wants to take the board at some degree (N'Zoth, God of the Deep, Overlord Saurfang, Rattlegore).
LOL Thanks I guess? :)