7 Budget Theorycraft Decks to Play on Day 1 - Forged in the Barrens

With Hearthstone's newest expansion right around the corner, theorycrafting season is in full swing as players try to identify the kinds of decks they want to be playing after cracking packs. With that in mind, we've rounded up a handful of theorycrafted decks that don't require you to spend all your hard-earned dust to craft Legendaries that may or may not end up being worth it.

Thanks to the Core set and duplicate protections, it shouldn't be too hard to quickly acquire most of the cards in the decks we've chosen to spotlight.

Core-only Zoolock

To start things off, we've got a deck that you can play without opening a single pack. As long as your classes are sufficiently leveled, you'll have access to every single one of these cards the minute the Year of the Gryphon goes live. Trimutius explains that they had a personal challenge to build a Zoo deck using only only Core set cards and while, by their own admission, the deck isn't incredibly powerful it still has a lot of fun synergies (Ritual of Doom and Nerubian Egg seems nice).

Contact Burn

Don't call it a Miracle, because no one's getting healed today. This deck looks to abuse Field Contact's synergy with Pen Flinger and Pen Flinger's synergy with cheap spells to dig through the deck and find burn to throw at the opponent's face until they are dead. Pen Flinger is also great for triggering Efficient Octo-bot's Frenzy so you can fit more cards into a single turn.

Token Druid

ghig's looking to get off to an aggressive start in the Barrens, making use of Core set cards like Landscaping, Nordrassil Druid, and Arcane Anomaly to provide more cheap bodies to buff. Staple token cards like Gibberling, Power of the Wild, and Soul of the Forest are also here to give the archetype a boost in the Year of the Gryphon.

Face Hunter

If you're looking for fast games, you could try this Face Hunter list that uses a few new Barrens cards to lob in extra damage. We may miss Kill Command (at least as long as we're the ones playing Hunter), but Piercing Shot does a decent impression. Wound Prey is great for getting early damage alongside board presence, and can also give us more damage by triggering the Frenzy of Oasis Thrasher.

Spellemental Shaman

Spellemental Shaman is a burn deck that uses Shaman's Spell Damage cards to pack damage on burn spells while splashing just enough into Elemental synergies to gain tempo from minions like Arid Stormer and Gyreworm. Novice Zapper, aside from being a powerful 1-Drop, works wonders with Landslide, while Kindling Elemental is a good early play and can help you cheat out an early Arid Stormer. Talented Arcanist does great work with any of our burn spells, and Diligent Notetaker can help us find more burn by copying a key card.

Watch Post Priest

You don't have to only play aggro decks if you're on a budget, you can also play aggravating decks like this one. While there are definitely better ways to use Rally!, this Priest deck wants to use the resurrection spell to recur Far Watch Post and Mor'shan Watch Post so they can continue pestering your opponent with their effects. The deck also has potent buff spell Power Word: Fortitude to make a small guy a big threat, and Focused Will to turn a Watch Post into something that can attack. Core set cards like Thrive in the Shadows can help find a key spell and Shadowform can help control the board and finish off the opponent.

Taunt Druid

This is a defensive midrange deck looking to use Razormane Battleguard to cheat out big Taunts, then use Arbor Up to make our board even more threatening. This deck also has Menagerie Warden to copy Beasts like Toad of the Wilds, Teacher's Pet, and Thickhide Kodo, all of which can be tutored and discounted by Living Seed.

Have an idea for a budget Theorycraft? Create your own deck and share it in the comments!

What kinds of decks are you excited to try when Forged in the Barrens launches?