Journey to Success: Three Hearthstone deck types that may rise from Un'Goro expansion

When Blizzard first announced Hearthstone’s transition to the Year of the Mammoth, we immediately wondered which common deck types would be ushered out. But now that the Journey to Un’Goro expansion has been revealed, the focus shifts towards which new deck types will take advantage of its new mechanics.

While many of those new decks will be fun to try, only a few will be viable in the pro meta. And while the pro meta is often unpredictable, Hearthstone has been around long enough to get a general idea of which winning strategies will see the most play. With that in mind, here are some decks likely to rise to prominence in the Year of the Mammoth.

Giant Quest Mage

The Year of the Mammoth bids farewell to the Freeze Mage, with Ice Lance heading off into the Hall of Fame. That means there’s room for another Mage deck to fill the void, and nothing fills the void quite like giants.

The central element of this deck is the new Open the Waygate quest. Mage has been given more than enough tools to generate new spells, such as the 1-mana Babbling Book, the new 2-mana Primordial Glyph spell and Shimmering Tempest minion, the new Mana Bind secret that copies an opponent’s spell, and the 5-mana Cabalist’s Tome.

Completing the quest isn’t the difficult part. The trick is staying alive until the Mage’s win condition is in play. That’s where classic Mage combos like Frost Nova/Doomsayer or board-clearing spells like Flamestrike and Blizzard can maintain control of the board. It also helps that the new 2-mana Arcanologist minion allows Mage players to potentially draw out their life-saving Ice Block, giving them insurance against aggro decks.

With so many spells cast over the course of the game, the 8/8 Arcane Giant’s cost will almost always reduce to zero, creating an easy summon. Mages looking to live dangerously can wait for their Ice Block to get popped before dropping down the equally-powerful Molten Giants. There’s even room to summon an extra giant through the new Molten Reflection spell, with enough mana left over to play Time Warp.

With Time Warp granting an extra turn, the giants all become active, at which point Alexstrasza can reduce the opponent’s HP to 15 and leave them at the giants’ mercy. The influx of Taunt minions can possibly hinder this strategy, but there’s a potential three active giants in play after Alex’s Battlecry effect. If that series doesn’t actively win the game, at the very least, it’s going to hurt a lot. And with few other ways to deter this onslaught, expect to see many more giants in Mage decks going forward.

Discard Quest Warlock

The Discardlock already enjoyed some popularity after One Night in Karazhan, with minions like the 1-mana Malchezaar’s Imp and the Discard-activated Silverware Golem composing most of those decks. Un’Goro goes a step further with the Discard mechanic, guaranteeing a steady stream of 3/2 imps with the completion of the Lakkari Sacrifice quest.

While discarding six cards sounds daunting, an old friend in the Classic set serves as both a quest-completer and a win condition in himself: Deathwing.

Under certain circumstances, Deathwing can discard the six required cards to complete the Lakkari Sacrifice quest by himself. That not only gets the imp assembly line rolling, but also flanks them with a 12/12 dragon. With Deathwing around to complete the quest, Warlock players can focus on board control by using spells like Siphon Soul or Twisting Nether. Bolder Warlock players can even utilize a highlander deck so they can fit in Kazakus and his powerful spells.

Discard plays don’t have nearly the downside that they used to, thanks to effect from minions like Silverware Golem and the new Cruel Dinomancer. The new Clutchmother Zavas minion even encourages this mechanic by getting a +2/+2 boost every time it gets discarded. With fewer risks and higher rewards, look for the Discard Warlock to see a rise in play.

N’Zoth Quest Priest

It’s sad to see dragons go, but indeed, many dragons appear to be rotating out, leaving Priest with fewer and fewer early game options. Fortunately, Priests can now sell their souls to the Old Gods and come crawling back to N’Zoth the Corruptor.

With a sharp increase of Deathrattle minions, Priest players can easily complete the new Awaken the Masters quest and get a fresh 40 health by summoning any number of the new Deathrattlers (the 1-mana Crystalline Oracle, the 4-mana Tortellan Shellraiser) in conjunction with the older ones (Loot Hoarder, Shifting Shade). Spiritsinger Umbra can push things along further by activating any Deathrattles on the board, potentially becoming a Priest staple as well.

With a fresh 40 life granted from Amara, Warden of Hope, the Priest is then safe to play N’Zoth. This will fill the board and offer the invaluable Deathrattle effects of the Crystalline Oracle and Shifting Shade to refresh the player’s hand.

The downside to the N’Zoth Priest is that it lacks a truly big bopper. The Deathrattle minions sticking around in Standard are strong, but many of the more reliable heavy hitters, like Sylvanas Windrunner and Chillmaw, are rotating out to Wild. Deathwing, Dragonlord is the most powerful Deathrattle minion, but without good dragon synergy, there’s no reason to pack it into this particular deck.

The N’Zoth Priest is still nothing to sneeze at, though, and Amara’s life-saving potential means it will be see a lot of play. And there’s a good chance it’ll replace the Dragon Priest as the Priest deck of choice, regardless of how powerful Drakonid Operative is.

Ozzie Mejia will do the Time Warp again. Follow him on Twitter @Ozz_Mejia.