By Spike, Regular Contributor
Wild’s pretty crazy right now- Odd Paladin is the top deck, but there are a few decks that are chasing their way up. Some old faithfuls like Raza Priest, Secret Mage, Aggro Druid, Kingsbane Rogue, and Discard Warlock (Discolock) are still hanging in there, while some very interesting decks, mostly Combo decks, have started to appear in the meta, even if they aren’t the best. Decks that shouldn’t work as well as they do, such as Odd Shaman, Odd Mage, Dude Paladin, and Secret Hunter have appeared as contenders, and all in all, there’re a lot of interesting decks to look at.
Opinions expressed herein are the author’s, based on the author’s own experience playing Wild, as well as based on publicly available statistics.
First, I’m not doing a tier list article. After the change to Voracious Reader, along with optimization of decks with new cards from Darkmoon Faire, the meta is pretty volatile outside of the top half dozen or so decks. With the mini set coming soon, along with the potential for more nerfs, there just wasn’t a point to making a tier list right now.
Each class gets a small overview, and then I’ve linked some notable decklists and given a quick overview of the decks. Some of the lists are mine (any linked to HSTD from Spike2the9th), some of them are from HSReplay’s decks section, and a handful are from other players using deck building sites. I’ve tried to note any reasonable alternatives. This will be in 2 parts, with this one covering DH, Druid, Hunter, Mage, and Paladin, while the other half covers the remaining classes.
Demon Hunter
Quite frankly, Demon Hunter isn’t in a great position in Wild right now. Odd DH is maybe a Tier 2 deck (if we say Odd Paladin is Tier 0), Soul DH in Wild uses one or two Wild cards… and the rest is Standard lists being used in Wild. Odd is probably the only one you’ll realistically see often, and I’ve linked a popular list below, as well as my list.
https://hsreplay.net/decks/ubx8T9MvdGne90q20gEP1b/#gameType=RANKED_WILD
That’s the popular list, which is a bit more consistent. It’s a super easy deck to play- play minions, maybe buff minions, equip weapons, hit face. If you need to clear something, Pen Flinger is in the deck for a reason.
Personally, I think replacing a Guardian Augmerchant and a Crimson Sigil Runner with 2 copies of Double Jump isn’t a bad idea, because easier access to Silence or AoE is always nice, but this list works well enough if you enjoy hyper aggro.
Here’s my list, found at (https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/odd-dh-12/).
As you can probably tell, it’s an odd (pun intended) list. Small Pirate package? Voracious Reader? Ace Hunter Kreen? All really weird choices.
Well, this list isn’t optimal at the moment. I’m testing a lot of stuff, and probably am going to drop Guardian Augmerchant, Pen Flinger, and Ace Hunter Kreen for 2x Dreadlord’s Bite and a Double Jump to streamline it, but this list is interesting and a slightly less SMORC deck, as Kreen allows you to fight for board control more, and the Pirate package give more board presence. I use Voracious Reader because it’s more consistent than Acrobatics, and my list tends to try and dump hands as fast as possible.
You can run Relentless Pursuit, I just don’t like it that much. Feels a bit too slow. Wrathscale Naga and Satyr Overseer are also options, but also- slow.
Next up, Wild Soul DH. Not that many lists are floating around and Brann isn’t showing in HSTD for some reason, so, simply put- take whatever Soul DH list you use in Standard, remove either the Relentless Pursuits or the Wandmakers, and put in Brann Bronzebeard and Loatheb. Bam, you’ve pretty much built Wild Soul DH.
Druid
Aggro Druid is a behemoth. There’re three versions of it, one being the list with the high-risk, high-reward choices (2 copies of Echoing Ooze, 2 copies of Wriggling Horror, AND Infectious Sporeling), the version running Wriggling Horror, and the version I use, which is the most aggressive version. They don’t play all that different, but here’s the lists.
Wriggling Horror version (https://hsreplay.net/decks/w5r1EJsf3x7vd0lMOC7s5f/#gameType=RANKED_WILD), and my version (https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/wild-aggro-druid-12/).
As you can probably tell, the deck’s focus is simple- put cards on board, buff them, reload with Voracious Reader, hit face. The Wriggling Horror list is not quite as fast, but does have a few cards (Echoing Ooze and Weblord) that shore up matchups against Midrange decks quite effectively.
If you use my list, that one copy of Wriggling Horror is a flex slot- I’ve used Wriggling Horror, Naturalize, and sometimes Moonfire. Most people use Sir Finley Mrrglton to swap the Druid Hero Power for something a little more suited to Aggro, like Warlock or Hunter Hero Powers, but I like the flexibility of one point of damage and the ability to gain a small amount of Armor.
Some lists run Southsea Deckhand instead of Bloodsail Corsair. Don’t. The deck doesn’t run Weapons to give Deckhand Charge, and one point of Attack isn’t worth losing one point of Health and Bloodsail Corsair’s Battlecry, which is actually quite useful against stuff like Big Demon Warlock or Odd Paladin lists that use Vinecleaver.
The other (fairly bad) Druid decks kicking around Wild are Malygos/Aviana/Kun, the Forgotten King Combo decks (sometimes running Untapped Potential) and Mill Druid decks, with the occasional Mecha’Thun Druid or Survival of the Fittest combo mixed in. I don’t play any of the Combo decks, I don’t play against them that much, and they almost never get their combo going against me, so I’m going to tell you to go elsewhere to find out about the decks.
List for Malygos/Aviana/Kun: https://hsreplay.net/decks/MkK5v3czsQwNxsjrvnEUtg/#gameType=RANKED_WILD
List for Mill Druid: https://hsreplay.net/decks/WHpKkMIoJEWiCJbo2QmHhg/#gameType=RANKED_WILD
Hunter
Hunter is in a really bad spot in Wild right now. Like, I don’t have any post-nerfs decklists bad. However, Odd Hunter and Secret Hunter both exist, as do Deathrattle Hunter and Even Hunter, so I’ve got lists. None of them are very good though.
Secret Hunter: https://hsreplay.net/decks/WHpKkMIoJEWiCJbo2QmHhg/#gameType=RANKED_WILD
Deathrattle Hunter: https://hsreplay.net/decks/8Gx9fIP0I4JK2FsSdJtK7c/#gameType=RANKED_WILD
Odd Hunter: https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1365310-legend-wild-odd-hunter
Even Hunter: I don’t have a list right now. It’s a terrible deck anyway.
Mage
Secret Mage is pretty much the only relevant Mage deck right now, though Odd Mage exists. With the addition of Rigged Faire Game, Secret Mage has become a Tier One powerhouse of a deck. I wrote an article on how to play it that has my list already (https://amiibodoctor.com/2020/12/21/wild-secret-mage-in-madness-at-the-darkmoon-faire/), but for more lists, just pick your favorite from https://hsreplay.net/decks/#gameType=RANKED_WILD&playerClasses=MAGE. They’re all fairly similar, both in cards and win rate.
Odd Mage is much more difficult to get a list for, and I don’t have a good one at the moment.
Paladin
Mech Paladin is still okay, Pure Paladin is mediocre, and Murloc Paladin is always a decent option, but Odd Paladin is living up to its abbreviation- it’s truly OP.
That can be put down to three new cards tipping it from just good to way too good- Lothraxion, Carnival Barker, and Oh My Yogg! I’ll be writing a guide to Odd Paladin soon, but for now, here’s my list (https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/odd-pally-9/), a more standardized list (https://hsreplay.net/decks/AfTHrHy8KewDJdGzWphJad/#gameType=RANKED_WILD), and a really strange list, just for fun (https://hsreplay.net/decks/HyGODj6230FkyI8iEqsJWe/#gameType=RANKED_WILD).
Mech Paladin is still good, the lists look somewhat like this (https://hsreplay.net/decks/Vod0Nr3NxaOiWT4m62PV1f/#gameType=RANKED_WILD).
Likewise, Murloc Paladin and Pure Paladin are around, but I don’t have good lists for them right now. Murloc Paladin has two versions (Tip the Scales and the more typical version, running a standard Murloc curve and Anyfin Can Happen), but they’re both somewhere around Tier 3.
At any rate, there’s a shallow overview of some of the Wild meta right now, along with deck lists. Until next time, good luck, and remember
Odd Paladin needs a nerf.
-Spike
Amiibo Doctor 