The second Hearthstone expansion of 2022 is about to go live and Blizzard's doing something a little bit different for this one. There's a murder mystery afoot in Murder at Castle Nathria and the investigation has led to 135 new cards, which include new keywords, exciting new Legendary minions, and an intriguing new mechanic that could potentially change Hearthstone forever going forward.
Today, we're taking a look at seven new decks from Hearthstone's most recognizable pros and streamers. We recently played against some of these decks ourselves during the recent Hearthstone Theorycrafting Livestream and we can certainly vouch for their effectiveness. If nothing else, they'll prove to be a lot of fun.
Keep in mind that this expansion's deck, as well as decks for the next two Standard years, will likely be longer than usual thanks to the introduction of Prince Renathal, which allows players to build 40-card decks.
NoHandsGamer's Miracle Rogue
Source: Blizzard
- 2x (0) Backstab
- 2x (0) Preparation
- 2x (0) Shadowstep
- 2x (1) Blackwater Cutlass
- 2x (1) Door of Shadows
- 2x (1) Gone Fishin'
- 2x (1) Shattershambler
- 2x (1) SI:7 Extortion
- 2x (1) Yoink!
- 2x (2) Double Cross
- 2x (2) Serrated Bone Spike
- 2x (2) Sinstone Graveyard
- 2x (2) Wicked Stab (Rank 1)
- 2x (3) Efficient Octo-bot
- 2x (3) Loan Shark
- 1x (3) Prince Renathal
- 2x (3) Shroud of Concealment
- 2x (3) Sketchy Information
- 1x (4) Edwin, Defias Kingpin
- 1x (4) Necrolord Draka
- 2x (6) Gadgetzan Auctioneer
- 1x (8) Shadowcrafter Scabbs
Deck ID: AAECAaIHBO2ABPuKBPbdBJfvBBKq6wOr6wOu6wP+7gPT8wOh9APr9gO9gASRnwT2nwT3nwSgoAS3swTj0wTc2gT03QT13QTBgwUA
If I've said it before, I've said it a million times in Hearthstone's eight years of existence: Miracle Rogue will never die. It will always live on in some form. It may take on a slightly different shape, but the core concept, constructed around Gadgetzan Auctioneer, will live forever.
The latest Miracle Rogue, illustrated perfectly here by NoHandsGamer, uses Sinstone Graveyard (the Rogue's first Location card) and a pocket full of Coins generated from cards like Loan Shark to build gigantic skeleton minions with Stealth. Unless the opponent has some Taunts or some removal cards that get around the Stealth effect, those Skeletons will strike hard and likely end the game in a few hits.
Be careful to play around new Mage Secret Vengeful Visage, though. Otherwise you're going to have a bad time.
Dekkster's Pure Paladin
Source: Blizzard (via James Ryman Art)
- 2x (1) Holy Maki Roll
- 2x (1) Knight of Anointment
- 2x (1) Promotion
- 2x (1) Sinful Sous Chef
- 2x (2) Battle Vicar
- 2x (2) Great Hall
- 2x (3) Alliance Bannerman
- 2x (3) Muckborn Servant
- 2x (3) Service Bell
- 1x (3) Stewart the Steward
- 2x (4) Buffet Biggun
- 2x (5) Elitist Snob
- 1x (7) The Countess
- 1x (7) The Leviathan
- 1x (8) Lightforged Cariel
- 2x (9) Lightray
- 2x (10) The Garden's Grace
Deck ID: AAECAZ8FBOCLBLCyBIbiBMLiBA3M6wPw9gPQrATQvQTavQTi0wSA4gSB4gS/4gTM4gS55AT97gSMgwUA
Pure Paladin was a popular archetype a few Standard years ago, but once the primary Paladin tools rotated out to Wild, it was assumed that players would never see a deck like it again. That has now obviously been proven false thanks to the introduction of several new Paladin toys.
The Countess is the fun piece of this deck, as she'll grand players free Legendaries that they can Discover and play for nothing. Needless to say, this can swing the game in the later turns. Just don't drag this out too long, because going full Paladin means leaving behind valuable late game card tools like Kazakusan.
LanguageHacker's Skeleton Mage
Source: Blizzard
- 2x (1) Wildfire
- 2x (2) Amplified Snowflurry
- 2x (2) Arcanologist
- 2x (2) Frozen Touch
- 2x (2) Volatile Skeleton
- 1x (3) Brann Bronzebeard
- 1x (3) Forensic Duster
- 2x (3) Frostweave Dungeoneer
- 2x (3) Ice Barrier
- 2x (3) Nightcloak Sanctum
- 2x (4) Cold Case
- 2x (4) Reckless Apprentice
- 1x (4) Varden Dawngrasp
- 2x (5) Famished Fool
- 1x (5) Spammy Arcanist
- 2x (6) Deathborne
- 1x (7) Magister Dawngrasp
- 1x (8) Kel'Thuzad, the Inevitable
- 1x (8) Mordresh Fire Eye
Deck ID: AAECAf0ECNjsA53uA6CKBKWNBMagBJjUBLrkBKjvBAvS7APT7APW7AOhkgTonwTb3gT67AS88ATJkQWCkwWEkwUA
We're seeing a variety of Skeleton Mages (including our own) from various streamers, but it's LanguageHacker's version that has us intrigued. He mixes together the Hero Power win condition with the best of the Volatile Skeleton generators. Don't forget that if you have Volatile Skeletons already on the board, you can use the new Deathborne spell to not only remove them and activate their Deathrattle, but also generate brand new ones.
Once the skeletons wear down the opposition, ride Magister Dawngrasp and Mordresh Fire Eye to victory.
RegisKillbin's Topiary Druid
Source: Blizzard
- 2x (1) Living Roots
- 2x (1) Planted Evidence
- 2x (2) Capture Coldtooth Mine
- 2x (2) Composting
- 2x (2) Moonlit Guidance
- 2x (2) Natural Causes
- 2x (2) Thorngrowth Sentries
- 1x (3) Brann Bronzebeard
- 2x (3) Herald of Nature
- 2x (3) Plot of Sin
- 2x (4) Widowbloom Seedsman
- 2x (5) Flipper Friends
- 2x (5) Nourish
- 1x (5) Wildheart Guff
- 2x (7) Scale of Onyxia
- 1x (7) Topior the Shrubbagazzor
- 1x (10) Sire Denathrius
Deck ID: AAECAZICBO/eBImLBOnQBJjUBA3PrATB3wTW3gSB1ASvgASt7AO14wTanwSwpQSB9wP2vQSozgSy3QQA
The key to victory with RegisKillbin's Druid deck is all in drawing new Legendary minion Topior the Shrubbagazzor. Once this gets played early in the game, the rest of the Druid's Nature spells will generate a 3/3 Rush minion. The best case scenario is that these new minions help maintain board control. However, they have a dual purpose.
With a lot of 3/3 Rush minions presumably dying, they're going to keep feeding Sire Denathrius. In the late game, he can be combined with Brann Bronzebeard to wipe out the opponent in a single stroke.
(We tried our own Nature Druid deck, if you'd like to check that out below.)
Warshack's Wildseed Hunter
Source: Blizzard
- 2x (1) Batty Guest
- 2x (1) Irondeep Trogg
- 2x (1) Peasant
- 2x (1) Vicious Slitherspear
- 2x (2) K9-0tron
- 2x (2) Quick Shot
- 2x (2) Spirit Poacher
- 2x (3) Aimed Shot
- 2x (3) Ramming Mount
- 2x (3) Stag Charge
- 2x (3) Wild Spirits
- 2x (4) Piercing Shot
- 1x (4) Twinbow Terrorcoil
- 1x (5) Ara'lon
- 1x (5) Barak Kodobane
- 1x (8) Collateral Damage
Deck ID: AAECAR8E5e8DgckE0+QE+ZIFDdzqA/T2A/f4A8X7A8OABLugBOGkBIiyBL/TBMHjBMzkBNDkBNTkBAA=
Compared to the other classes, the Hunter's Wildsteeds don't look particularly flashy. They do have one thing over that put them ahead of a lot of other decks, though. They strike fast. In fact, if you play Spirit Poacher, Wild Spirits, and Stag Charge early, you're going to take an insurmountable control of the board before your opponent can know what hit them.
The fun in Warshack's deck comes with the potential Collateral Damage finisher, which can put an exclamation point on a deck that hits fast and hits hard.
Dragonrider's Relic Demon Hunter
Source: Blizzard
- 2x (1) Battlefiend
- 2x (1) Fury (Rank 1)
- 2x (1) Peasant
- 2x (1) Sigil of Alacrity
- 2x (2) Battleworn Vanguard
- 2x (2) Bibliomite
- 2x (2) Chaos Strike
- 2x (2) Relic of Extinction
- 2x (2) Spectral Sight
- 1x (3) Lady S'theno
- 2x (3) Relic of Phantasms
- 2x (3) Relic Vault
- 2x (4) Dispossessed Soul
- 2x (4) School Teacher
- 2x (5) Relic of Dimensions
- 1x (8) Artificer Xy'mox
Deck ID: AAECAea5AwKq3QT7vwQOxuIEquIEsN4Er94EheUE5NAEivcDyZ8Etp8EtKAElrcE9PYDwvED0p8EAA==
The Demon Hunter is a getting a new gimmick for this expansion in the form of Relics. On the surface, they don't look especially remarkable. However, the Relic cards have an interesting trait that they'll buff any future Relics played. Sure, Relic of Phantasms summoning 1/1 minions doesn't sound scary, but by the late game, this thing can summon 8/8s and 9/9s.
Artificer Xy'mox should be the big win condition here. You'd better hope so, anyway, because the Demon Hunter's game is all about speed. If it whiffs, it'll fall into fatigue quickly.
Ozzie's Thief Priest
Source: Blizzard
- 2x (0) Illuminate
- 2x (1) Call of the Grave
- 2x (1) Psychic Conjurer
- 2x (1) Suspicious Usher
- 2x (1) The Light! It Burns!
- 2x (2) Amalgam of the Deep
- 2x (2) Mysterious Visitor
- 2x (2) Sketchy Stranger
- 1x (3) Cathedral of Atonement
- 2x (3) Copycat
- 2x (3) Identity Theft
- 2x (3) Invitation Courier
- 1x (3) Murloc Holmes
- 1x (3) The Harvester of Envy
- 1x (4) Theotar, the Mad Duke
- 2x (5) Clean the Scene
- 2x (5) Drakonid Operative
Deck ID: AAECAYCRBQS42QTF5AS/8ASGgwUNhvcDjoEEvp8EorYEssEEktEE8tsE+dsEuNwEutwEkt8Er+0Eh6QFAA==
We're going to end on what's become a tradition, where I reject the pros' decks and substitute my own. I'm not going to pretend my deck is the best. Heck, I'm not even going to claim it's particularly good. I will say, you're going to have some fun with it.
That's because it includes infuriating thievery tools like Copycat, Identity Theft, and Theotar, the Mad Duke, which are cards that specialize in taking cards from your opponent and putting copies of them in your own hand. Oh, and there's my personal favorite, The Harvester of Envy. If you play a card that you copied from your opponent while this guy's in play, you'll also swipe their original card. That's one roundabout way to steal a potential win condition.
What decks are you using for the first day of Hearthstone's Murder at Castle Nathria expansion? Join the conversation and give us your best decks in the comments.
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Shacknews
replyOzzie Mejia posted a new article, Hearthstone: Murder at Castle Nathria: 7 decks to try on Day 1
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I played a bunch yesterday with thief rogue and got to the point where I stopped getting bonus stars. Kinda wish I had another day to get legend with it. Opening both preorders today.
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