Hello, people of Blogspot! This is Somnus21. I have been playing Heathstone on the Asia server ever since the first season of its official release, and started playing on the America server roughly two seasons after. I have not once spent any money on Hearthstone, but still have a lot of fun. A common question that is asked by F2P (free-to-play) players like me is: "How do we compete with those control players who threw a thousand dollars in Blizzard's face?"
Well, I'm here to tell you that there are competitive decktypes for people like us. And in this article, I am going in-depth to each of these decks.
ZOO
Of course, Zoo qualifies as a very strong archetype despite being very cheap, needing only rares, commons, and Naxxramas cards. The tactic of the deck is to make board trades, while going for face if needed. With card choices meant for value, and a draw engine with no equal, Zoo has been very common in all seasons.
Undertaker Deathrattle Zoo is probably the most common of all it's variants, but what about people like me, who can't build it because we only have the first wing?
Well, there is still a pretty good Zoo build for us despite not having Undertakers and Baron Rivendare, which is Void Terror Zoo.
Somnus21's Void Terror Zoo:
At a total dust cost of 1900 dust if you go for Big Game Hunter, this deck efficiently goes through ladder. If you don't want to craft BGH, though, you could just go ahead and run an extra Cleric and bring the cost down to 1500.
Not much to say here; just play it like you would play Zoo; decide whether it's better to trade or go for face, and always check for lethal.
Deck Tech:
Soulfire- This is a staple in most, if not all Warlock decktypes just because it's really good. It can be used as burst damage or removal.
Power Overwhelming- This card synergizes with Nerubian Eggs, allowing them to trade with another creature then morph into 4/4 Nerubians. Can also be used as burst damage, but you won't usually need to use this for that purpose.
Abusive Sergeant- Value card that synergizes with Nerubian Eggs and Argents, allowing them to get more value trades.
Argent Squire- The Divine Shield allows it to trade well and needs two Mage pings to be dealt with. Great value out of this card.
Flame Imp- Basically here just for aggression. In my testing there were too many games before I made this choice where I lacked just 1-3 damage to win, and this card perfectly remedied that and gave me less games with that result. It can also trade quite well with 1/1s and 0/3s. It also takes two pings to die, making it a better choice than Leper Gnome here.
Voidwalker- Able to hold super-aggro decks at bay for 1-2 turns, which is important for the mirror and for other face matchups.
Nerubian Egg- Star of the deck. This deck gets great value out of these, and a Turn 3 Power Overwhelming on this to trade with a 3/3 (Earthen Ring, SI7) or 3/4 (Cultist) gets you way ahead on tempo.
Haunted Creeper- 1/2 for 2 mana isn't great, but it at least trades with Leper Gnomes and other 2/1s while giving you 2 1/1s for your trouble. It also synergizes well with your Knife Jugglers.
Knife Juggler- Synergizes with your low-drop units, and gives you an anti-face deck tool, since it kills 2/1s slightly effectively. If you think your opponent can't answer it, and you have 2 1-drops, you can Coin into it on Turn 1, but if you can, try to hold it until you can get to throw some knives immediately, so you can at least get value out of it.
Ironbeak Owl- HandLock has become VERY common now that one of it's worst enemies, Hunters, are gone. When they set up those 8/8 taunts, if you don't have this in your deck, it's pretty much game over for you.
Dire Wolf Alpha- Synergizes with Eggs. Value card as it allows your 2/1s to trade with 3/3s, or 3/2s to 7/4s (Stalagg). Also for face damage.
Shattered Sun Cleric- Used to trade effectively. Turn 2 Creeper/Egg followed by Turn 3 Cleric will put you ahead of the opponent. It's at 1-2, but it all depends if you have...
Big Game Hunter- The meta has shifted into control, and you'll need this to clear away big taunts/threats so you can proceed with your onslaught. This is only optional though, if you don't have it, it's totally fine to run 2 Clerics.
Harvest Golem- One of the best commons in the game. Keeps the pressure on with a resilient 2/3 body and a really good deathrattle effect. Staple for the deck to work, but unlike Nerubian Eggs and Creepers, you don't want to activate this on your own most of the time; you want your opponent to do that so you can keep the pressure coming.
Void Terror- Synergizes with Eggs. Normally you do NOT want this to eat up anything other than the Eggs, as a silence on Void Terror means you wasted one minion for nothing.
Dark Iron Dwarf- Value card as it synergizes with Eggs, and is a resilient 4/4 body.
Defender of Argus- This deck wouldn't work without him. Used not really for the taunt, but more for the boost in power for the trade value.
Doomguard- Mostly used as a finisher, and you won't usually discard much for this, as you'd have used all your cards by the time you do need to play this.
RUSHLOCK
RushLock has come in many brews, most of which really didn't work for me. However, I eventually came up with this monster of a deck:
At the cost of 1160 dust, this deck has been winning me a lot of games. It does well against a lot of matchups, and it's nemesis, the Hunter, is gone. It only really loses to Taunt Druids and HandLocks, and even with those matchups, there's only a one-turn leeway on whether RushLock wins or loses. This deck should go entirely for face, but should eliminate threats like Undertaker and Clerics so that the opponent cannot stabilize. This deck brought me from Rank 18 to Rank 4 in roughly three hours, where I was stopped by the Taunt Druids.
The game plan is to go for face ASAP; don't trade unless it will cost you the game if you don't. Try not to drop Wolfrider on Turn 3 if you can still keep pressure, but do it if you can't drop anything else. Keep your Soulfires, Arcane Golems, and Power Overwhelmings in hand for your burst turn, which should be at Turn 6-7 on average.
There's not much to say for each of the card choices here, as they are just all here for one purpose: face damage. Young Priestess is here, though, to make your units less susceptible to class boardwipes. You are going to melt a Druid's face if you Coin into double Priestess Turn 1.
Mage: One of your worst enemies. Mulligan for units above one health and Young Priestesses. Aggro is a nightmare matchup, with Arcane Missles, Jugglers, and their hero power, they are MEANT to kill your deck. Just try to get face damage in with your minions before they die, and go for burst, as this deck has zero lifegain. Freeze Mage, though, will depend on whether or not they draw Ice Barrier/Block, Mirror Image, and Frost Nova early enough to stop your early game. If they get to Turn 7 at a moderate life total, you pretty much lost already, because after the Flamestrike, you should expect them to plop down Ice Block, which will negate your burst turn.
Warrior: Mull for Soulfires, Squires, and Leper Gnomes. Soulfire their Armorsmiths or Frothing Berserkers; you do not want to let go of board control, because you're dead if you do. Beware of Geddon, Whirlwinds, and Brawls.
Priest: Mull for 1-drops, Faerie Dragon and Soulfires. Aggro them as fast as you can, Soulfire their Clerics, and deal with their Undertakers immediately if it's Deathrattle Priest. If it's Control Priest, the game is mostly decided on whether or not they can Auchenai Soulpriest + Circle of Healing on you.
Paladin: Mull for Priestesses, Dire Wolf Alphas and 1-drops. Aggro them! Paladin Control is very slow, and you usually CAN kill them Turn 5. If you know he has four mana next turn, go for the hero power and don't place down any creatures for that turn.
Shaman: This matchup depends on whether or not Shaman draws their Lightning Storms or Feral Spirits. Go for face, but clear their spell-damage totems. You more often than not will win against Shaman Control, but with Deathrattle Combo Shaman... Just deal with their Earth Elemental as soon as possible.
HandLock: HandLock means you need to rush. Play something with Divine Shield or above one health on Turn 1 so your unit can dodge Mortal Coil, and play your 2/1s on Turn 2, so that you can disrupt your opponent's draw. Go for burst even if they're not lethal yet if you think they can put down Giants + taunt-enabler the next turn. This matchup could go well for you or your opponent.
Zoo: This is one hard matchup. Deal with their Jugglers early, and if you can get board control, do so. This is where your Jugglers will put in a lot of work, so mulligan for them. You can win this as long as your opponent's Juggler doesn't ping out more than one of your minions. Also, don't let their Voidwalkers stall you. You want Flame Imp on Turn 1 to deal with that.
Rogue: Not much to say about Rogue, with the Leeroy nerf, Miracle builds have become slower. They have lots of quick removal for your units though, so try to mulligan for Young Priestesses to keep your units out of ping-range. Backspace is an easy matchup, since Mukla's Bananas will help you aggro, and Coldlight Oracle will help you stock up your burst damage. For both matchups though, dealing with SI:7 Agent is important.
Druid: Token Druids take time to setup, and the best thing you can do is take advantage of that and kill them before they setup. Taunt Druids, however, are really hard to beat. Like the Tokerino matchup, the best thing you can do is attempt to overrun them before they plop down taunts. if you clear taunts with minions, try not to waste even a single point of damage, as every point of damage counts here.
Hunter: Not worth discussing too much anymore, as they are not very common in the meta anymore. If you do come across one, though, keep only 3-4 minions on board and as much as possible make them above one health. If you suspect Explosive Trap, trade some of your minions with his before you attack his face. You've got this now that Buzzard is out of the picture.
I will add more budget competitive decks I get to try out, so check around once in a while, since I will always have new content every now and then for my readers. Ta-ta for now!
