One of the most important things for new and returning players is the choice of one of the free Hearthstone decks that Blizzard gives. Since everything is pricey in Hearthstone, your choice of the free deck matters a lot. Unlike some other mods of Hearthstone, like Hearthstone Battlegrounds, Standard gameplay is really dependent on the type of decks you own. The good news is that you can try all six of them out for a week and then decide which one you like the most. Do note that these decks are not equal by any means, and that’s what we are going to explore here.
Obviously, some decks are stronger and have a better winrate than others, but that shouldn’t be the only deciding factor. You should also take into consideration how much you actually enjoy playing the deck. Also, maybe the biggest factor is how much Dust you can get if you decide to Disenchant the whole deck and the type of Legendaries you get with each pick. This is important since you never know when this deck is going to start boring you or if you just really want to play another deck and desperately need more Dust. That said, here are our free Hearthstone deck suggestions.
Paladin – A Legendary Invitation
Dust Value: 9380
This is our favorite pick, and it has also been one of the most powerful Hearthstone meta decks for several months now; it just doesn’t fall off. Moreover, it holds the biggest value of Dust out of all the free Hearthstone decks. This means that even if you don’t want to play this deck in the future and are bored of playing Paladin, you can trade the cards for decent Dust in order to make a completely different deck. The fact that this is a free deck is really surprising since you don’t really need to add anything to make it work really well.
Legendaries: As we mentioned, this deck has all the Legendaries it needs to be a very powerful meta deck. The Countess is probably the top game changer and will secure you the endgame. The Leviathan is just a very handy Colossal minion that provides you with extra power and utility. Blood Matriarch Liadrin will secure some early game rushes and is a good addition to the aggressive playstyle. Finally, The Purator is a card that will replenish your hand; this is very important since you will play a lot of your cards early on since it’s an aggro deck. Overall, all these Legendaries are very useful and top-tier when it comes to the Hearthstone meta.
Hunter – Mister Mukla’s Beastly Band
Dust Value: 8720
Hunter is in a very good place in the current meta, and we don’t see it getting weaker anytime soon. The overall feel and power of the current Hunter decks is very competitive, and it’s been a safe choice for the past several months. This is a pretty fun deck that focuses on summoning big minions as a winning combination, but there are more meta and less expensive Hunter decks like the Secret Arcane Hunter. Moreover, you will probably need to buy Aggramar, the Avenger, since it’s arguably one of the best Titans in Hearthstone and it goes extremely well with every Hunter deck. Nevertheless, this deck is still a very viable option, even without a lot of additional cards.
Legendaries: As we already mentioned, this is a “big minion” deck. Mister Mukla will be the first on the list to count on. The early-game advantage of having a 10/10 minion for 6 mana is pretty powerful. Next, Hydralodon can cause chaos and force your opponent to deal with it immediately. The killing blow is usually dealt with King Krush and having Stranglethorn Heart to revive all the mentioned Legendaries is the ultimate endgame play. Overall, a powerful deck that fell off a bit by the new Titan meta.
Mage – Arcane Power
Dust Value: 8520
Mages have always been viable and a fun option, especially for beginners and returning Hearthstone players. The main idea of this particular deck is to start off a bit slow and defensive, then start casting small damage-dealing spells in combination with extra Spell Damage to OTK your opponent. The Arcane Bolt and Spell Damage (or Vexallus) work really well and get the job done of downing your opponent from 30 to 0 HP in a turn or two. Some of your other spells, like Solid Alibi and Cold Case provide you with that extra survivability so you can get to the “boiling point” of having enough firepower to go into offense.
Legendaries: In our opinion, these are some of the best Legenderies out there, since they can work with a lot of different Mage decks. Aegwynn, the Guardian, Infinitize the Maxitude, and Commander Sivara is really versatile and essential in a lot of Mages decks. Vexallus is the “specialty” card here that will make your Arcane spells deadly. For example, casting five Arcane Bolts (which you can get with this type of deck) and having Vexallus in play will deal 30 Damage to your opponent. Overall, this is a pretty fun and deadly deck that has a lot of cards that can be used to create other Mage decks, which is very important since one deck can bore you really quickly.
Shaman – Totemic Mastery
Dust Value: 7920
This is a pure Aggro deck. If you like to play as Shaman and enjoy the aggressive playstyle the most, then seriously consider this deck. That said, we have played with the Shaman Totem deck, and it got boring very fast. You pretty much have very straightforward offensive capabilities with no special, cool effects or twists in the deck. It may be a good beginner-friendly Hearthstone deck if you enjoy just rushing your opponent, but the extent of it. To be honest, the free Paladin deck is superior in almost every way. It is meta, and it has more interesting cards that add variety and spice to the game (like the The Countess).
Legendaries: Again, the same problem you have with Druid Legendaries is present here. You will get Magatha, Bane of Music, Rotgill, The Stonewright, and Grand Totem Eys’or that are very “glued” to this deck, meaning they are very useless outside of a Shaman Totem deck. The only real thing that this deck has going for it is that it still has a decent winrate, other than that, the Legendaries are not versatile at all, and the whole gameplay of the deck itself gets really boring really quickly.
Warrior – Embrace The Pain
Dust Value: 7520
Since Warrior class has been getting a lot of love in recent months, this deck isn’t all that bad. There are a lot of cards here that work well with other Warrior decks, but there are two main problems: The current Warrior relies too much on Odyn, Prime Designate and everything needs to revolve around this card in order to have a competitive edge. Another issue with this deck is that the Dust value is much lower compared to some other free Hearthstone decks.
Legendaries: As far as Legendaries go, there isn’t much to be said. Remornia, Living Blade
and Grommash Hellscream are for sure the most powerful cards in this deck, while Thori’belore and Decimator Olgra fulfill sustainability and board-clear roles. These Legendaries are not that good considering the current Warrior meta we talked about before, so you won’t get much value from these cards outside of this specific deck. That said, while it’s not one of the best free Hearthstone decks, it’s not a bad pick if you love playing as a Warrior.
Druid – Rampart Growth
Dust Value: 8520
We are going to be honest; this deck is not our favorite choice. Druid class has been kind of bad in the last couple of months, and this deck is a bit outdated. There are much better, similar-style alternatives. You will get a couple of good but outdated Legendaries. Playing with these big minions is fun, but the overall deck is a bit outdated. If you really like this playstyle and see yourself playing with this deck for a long time, by all means, go for it, but in general, it’s not a top pick when considering other free Hearthstone decks.
Legendaries: The main reason this deck is not good is mainly because Druid is not in a good spot right now. While Rythm and Roots and Sesselle of the Fae Court are very cool Legendaies and even though we adore Colaque and Neptulon the Tidehunter, they are very hard to integrate into another Druid deck, and this will likely be the case in the next few months. By the time the rotation happens, these cards will no longer be in Standard play. Combining that with a bad place in the current meta, you can see why this is one of the worst free Hearthstone decks.
Conclusion
There is a lot to consider when choosing a free Hearthstone deck. Again, the main thing you should be looking for is the fun factor, Dust value, winrate, and reliability. We will continue to update this list as the new expansion, Showdown in the Badlands, rolls out.