5 Spicy Standard Hearthstone Decks to Start the New Meta Off Right

Finally, the nerfs are here: one of the worst metas of the Year of the Phoenix is over and now everyone's back at the drawing desk. This is a beautiful chance to get back to the ladder and experiment with new lists. For that purpose, we rounded a few sweet Standard decks that'll surely entertain you!

Kibler's Highlander Demon Hunter

The Dragon Master decided it was time to add Illidan to his personal collection of funny, yet viable, archetypes to climb the ladder with. This deck, obviously carried by the insane power-level of the highlander cards Zephrys the Great and Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, relies on a remarkable token package with Nethrandamus on top of it. A notable inclusion is the new Zai, the Incredible, a minion we think has great potential but just seems to be... in the wrong class.

Hand Buff Hunter

Hand Buff Hunter has never been a top tier archetype. Back in Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, it was heavily pushed with cards like Don Han'Cho and Hidden Cache but it never made the cut. Ashes of Outland and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire tried to invert the trend, printing many very cool cards: Scavenger's Ingenuity had to be nerfed because it was too good and still sees solid play; Zixor, Apex Predator is a very interesting unit that represents Rexxar's Deathrattle aspect too; Scrap Shot is a burst with an upside.

Dominate your board starting with the early game and win through sheer aggression or set up out-of-nowhere lethal with Trampling Rhino + Trueaim Crescent or a swarm of little beasts powered up by Don't Feed the Animals and supported by Tundra Rhino.

Avalon's Pure Dude Paladin

An absolute unit of a deck coming from an amazing player. You have little to no value generation, but you don't need that; Your goal is to build a resilient board starting with the early game through sticky minions like Shotbot or [Hearthstone Card (Goody two shields) Not Found] and buffing them with all the tools Paladin has. Mulligan tip: always keep Aldor Attendant or First Day of School - having a 1-drop increases your odds of winning tenfold.

Moreover, you have a large Silver Hand Recruit package. If you're not able to close the game early, an on-curve Lothraxion the Redeemed is able to carry you all the way to the mid-game for the win. Balloon Merchant is another great card; If you're able to combine it with Air Raid, you're guaranteed to stomp on aggro. 

Ike's Menagerie Shaman

Tasty Flyfish and Skyfin are two cards I'm really sad they've never seen competitive play. Menagerie strategies are my favorite and I have to say Darkmoon Faire really made me happy with their additions, but we can still do better. This list is quite aggressive, the deck wants you to go wide starting with the early stages of the game with value-oriented cards such as Storm's Wrath and Bloodlust. Moreover, you also have decent value generation with the likes of Underbelly Angler and Magicfin.

Round1Boy's Highlander Warrior

Lots of removal, the good old Risky Skipper-Armorsmith combo, Kobold Stickyfinger for those pesky Shamans for the (probably) rising Bomb Warrior and C'Thun, the Shattered if the game goes to the distance. As you can see, the deck is pretty flexible and can easily adapt to many match-ups. Even if you're not always favored, with the right mulligan you should stand a chance against anyone.

Did you like these decks? What are you playing on ladder right now? Let us know in the comments below and don't forget to upload your creations on our deck database via our deckbuilder!