Welcome, welcome, please do come in! The Open Beta for Hearthstone has begun (yay!), so if you haven’t done so already then be sure to download the client and get playing because the sooner you start the better! At least that’s what a Paladin friend of mine used to say and nothing he says is wrong. Probably.
If you want to read the preview for Hearthstone, may I suggest you head on over to this article!
If you’ve already started then that’s fantastic! You may, or may not depending on your skill level, be struggling a bit and if so then check out this guide about some basic decks to get you started and rolling in the right direction. The key is to remember to keep your card synergy when building yourself a deck, and when playing to ensure that you keep maximum board control.
You’ve got the basics nailed down? Groovy, then let’s start looking at some more specific deck types. As with the last article remember that these decks, whilst relatively good, are merely meant to provide you with a solid base upon which you can easily build on and to give you some idea of how to approach a certain strategy.
The strategy I’m going to be looking at today is the rush strategy. Rush, beat down, zerg, whatever you wanna call it, these decks are all about hitting the enemy with everything you’ve got and getting the enemy hero to low HP before they can pull out their big guns. Ideally, as with most rush decks, this deck uses low mana cost cards, dropping cards which cost 2-3 mana and overwhelming the enemy with as many of them as possible.
Of course it’s not as simple as dunking a load of 2 mana cards into a deck and hoping that there’ll be success. Rather the cards that are selected need to be aggressive, whilst also not being easy to kill. Choosing a load of cards that are 2/1 is not good due to some classes, such as the Mage, being able to easily get rid of them with their unique class abilities. Instead you need to use cards such as Bloodfen Raptor, a 3/2 card, to avoid such quick removals.
It’s important to note that, even though these are rush decks, your aim should never be to go straight for the enemy hero. Instead your focus needs to lie on clearing the board, not allowing the enemy to build up a force that is strong enough to stand against you. With a rush deck, or let’s be honest any deck, the moment you lose board control is the moment you lose the game be that in the second turn or otherwise. Only once you’ve control of the board should you attack the enemy hero.
Enough of that, let’s get a talking about the decks!
The first thing to note with a rush deck is that when you’re shown the cards that will be your hand, you need to make sure you don’t take any cards which are higher than five mana. Send them back, and hope that you get something which you can use on the second or third turn. In order for a rush deck you to work you need a strong hand.
With a rush deck you generally want to be the first to place a minion onto the board. You want to be sure that the first minion you place cannot be easily dispatched so ideally you want a minion which costs more than two mana, and has more than one hp. The Bloodfen Raptor pretty much fills that role, having HP to be strong enough to take a beating or two, whilst also being able to deal enough damage to get rid of most early game board threats. The Acidic Swamp Ooze is another great choice, and is even better than the Bloodfen Raptor due to the Battlecry that will remove the enemy hero’s weapon. Even though this minion has such a good Battlecry effect, don’t save it and wait until the right opportunity, especially if you don’t have any other good two mana cards to play.
Once you have placed your first minion don’t be afraid to use him to destroy any minions that the enemy places on the board. Just be sure to use your minions wisely, and try not to let too many give their lives for no reason. In a rush deck every single minion you play needs to be used to its full effect.
It’s important to note that even though these are rush decks, you should never attack the enemy hero unless the board is free, or you know you can kill them within that turn. I see too many players trying to go straight for the enemy hero, instead of dealing with the threats in front of them. Indeed a spell such a fireball, a card which deals six damage to a target of your choosing, should very rarely be used on the hero.
To put it simply, clear the board and only once you’ve done so go for their throat.
With regards to weaknesses, be weary of minions of with taunt. Due to the very nature of the rush deck, we’ll be using minions which are cheap and weak. Minions who have taunt usually have a lot of HP, and can be hard to beat down. Just make sure you take care of them quickly, before more spawn onto the map.
One more thing before we begin, just note that the following cards:
Demolisher
Faerie Dragon
Sylvanas Windrunner (which is a legendary)
Twilight Drake
Master Swordsmith
Are used in all of my decks. These cards aren’t included in the basic packs, and can be crafted. I wouldn’t recommend crafting the Windrunner, however she’s the only legendary I have and I find her useful, the other cards however are definitely worth crafting. Anyway, let’s get started.
Summery and strategy
I actually don’t like the Mage class that much, mainly because I hate playing against them and I feel it’s a bit too cheap, however this deck is one of my favorite rush decks to use. It’s fun and it has loads of options for play and counterplay. Of course, there are a few weaknesses, mainly being that it is easy to be overpowered by the enemy dropping a series of Taunt cards. If you stay alert though, and clear the enemy minions as they come, then you should be fine.
Deck List
1 – Arcane Missiles
1 – Ice Lance
1 – Mirror Image (Get 2 of these)
2 – Frostbolt
2 – Acidic Swamp Ooze (a very important card, especially when going up against Warriors)
2 – Bloodfen Raptor
2 – Faerie Dragon
2 – Master Swordsmith
2 – Sorcerer’s Apprentice
3 – Arcane Intellect (Get 2 of these)
3 – Frost Nova
3 – Demolisher
3 – Kirin Tor Mage
3 – Raging Worgen
3 – Raid leader
4 – Cone of Cold
4 – Fireball
4 – Polymorph
4 – Mogu’shan Warden
4 – Spellbreaker
4 – Water Elemental (Have 2 of these)
5 – Gururbashi Berserker
5 – Nightblade
6 – Frost Elemental
6 – Sylvana’s Windrunner
7 – Flamestrike
7 – Stormwind Champion
Subtractions/Additions
Generally this deck is made up of relatively standard cards so you should be able to make it pretty easily. If you don’t have access to any of the spells, or minions, that deal frozen damage then just swap them out for some sort of single-target damage spell (such as Fireball) or strong minion with charge or taunt.
Summery and strategy
Combos is the name of the game with this deck. Whilst there aren’t as many combos as there could be, there’s still enough to do some damage. The aim with this deck, as with the others, is to overpower the enemy with low mana cost minions, using both the Rogue’s hero ability and the cheap minions to beat down the minions. One aspect which I particular love is the use of Deadly Poison on the Assassin’s Blade, only to destroy it with Cold Blood.
Deck List
0 – Backstab
0 – Preparation
1 – Cold Blood
1 – Deadly Poison
1 – Southsea Deckhand (Get two of these)
1 – Young Priestess
2 – Blade Flurry
2 – Shiv
2 – Acidic Swamp Ooze
2 – Bloodfen Raptor (Get two of these)
2 – Defias Ringleader
2 – Faerie Dragon
3 – Fan of Knives
3 – Headcrack
3 – Demolisher
3 – Ironfur Grizzly
3 – Questing Adventurer
3 – Raid Leader
3 – Shattered Sun Cleric
3 – Tauren Warrior
4 – Dragonling Mechanic
5 – Assassin’s Blade
5 – Booty Bay Bodyguard
5 – Gurubashi Berserker
5 – Silver Hand Knight
5 – Stormpike Commando
7 – Sprint
7 – Stormwind Champion
Subtractions/Additions
There aren’t really any subtractions for this deck. Defias Ringerleader is a card you may not have, however it is one which I highly suggest you craft if you want the Rogue to be your main class.
Summery and strategy
This deck is a little different and out of the ordinary. Do you remember how I said not to use cards with only one hp? Well in this deck I do the exact opposite of what I said. This deck uses Murlocs, which are cheap and weak cards, to beat down the enemy. I then use other Murloc cards to buff the weak Murloc cards. It’s a great deck if everything falls into place and you get a good hand. It’s one of those fun decks which you either have success with or get completely destroyed.
Deck List
0 – Soulfire
1 – Corruption
1 – Mortal Coil (Get two of these cards)
1 – Blood Imp
1 – Grimscale Oracle (Get two of these bad boys)
1 – Murloc Raider (Get two of these)
1 – Murloc Tidecaller
1 – Voidwalker (One of the strongest Warlock cards, you’re going to want two of these)
2 – Demonfire
2 – Bluegill Warrior (Get two of these)
2 – Faerie Dragon
2 – Murloc Tidehunter (Get two of these)
3 – Drain Life
3 – Sense Demons
3 – Shadow Bolt
3 – Demolisher
3 – Questing Adventuer
3 – Raid Leader
3 – Void Terror
5 – Silver Hand Knight
5 – Stormpike Commando
6 – Siphon Soul
6 – Argent Commander
7 – Stormwind Champion
Subtractions/Additions
The Blood Imp is an amazing card and if you don’t have it then I highly recommend crafting it. The Blood Imp, is what keeps the deck together as it gives an allied minion +1 HP at the end of every turn. Not only that but the Imp is a stealth minion, meaning it can’t be destroyed by a single target spell or minion. Even if you’re not doing a Warlock rush deck, then I highly suggest using Blood Imp, as it’s just that good.
There we have it, yet another round of decks to help you on your way to becoming the best Hearthstone player ever. I hope they help you out a bit. If you’re new to the beta then good luck! I can’t wait to see you on the battlefield!
So yeah did this guide help you out? Check out my other Hearthstone guides! Here’s one for players just starting out with Hearthstone
Here’s another guide on how to play Hearthstone in general.
Here’s one on some tips and tricks for mastering the arena!
