Hearthstone’s new Forged in the Barrens expansion has been out for nearly a week now. And if you’ve spent any time messing around in ranked Standard, you’ll probably be more than familiar with at least one of the decks mentioned in this article.
So far, Forged in the Barrens has produced some of the freshest play Standard Hearthstone has seen in ages. As is to be expected early in the lifespan of an expansion, some decks become refined quicker than others. In other instances, some decks may debut out the gate in need of a serious nerf—take Ashes of Outland’s week one Aggro Demon Hunter as an example.
It looks like at least one potentially nerf-worthy deck has already surfaced with Forged in the Barrens. All throughout the Hearthstone community, people are calling for a change to the first deck on our list today, No Minion Mage.
Here are some of the best decks to try out during the first week of the Forged in the Barrens meta.
No Minion Mage
Copy this code to use this deck in Hearthstone: AAECAf0EBMfOA+veA5PhA+afBA3BuAOMuQOBvwPgzAPNzgOU0QP30QP73QPQ7APR7AP8ngT9ngT+ngQA
Also referred to as Spell Mage or Lunacy Mage, this deck is crushing it. The version of the deck posted above has a 60-percent win rate at the time of writing, according to HSReplay.net, while other versions of the deck with over 100,000 games played have a solid 55-percent win rate.
If you’ve played any ranked Standard at all this week, you’ve almost undoubtedly played against this deck. The strategy revolves around doing a hard mulligan for Deck of Lunacy and cards that get Deck of Lunacy in your hand faster. After playing Deck of Lunacy, the spells in your deck all transform into ones that cost three more mana, but they keep their original mana cost.
As you can imagine, having a deck full of low-cost, high-value spells can cause some chaos. Playing Deck of Lunacy on turn two makes you feel like an absolute god. On the contrary, having a Mage player drop Deck of Lunacy on turn two against you makes you want to surrender immediately. Don’t be surprised if we see a minor nerf to Lunacy in the coming weeks.
Libram Paladin
Copy this code to use this deck in Hearthstone: AAECAZ8FBITBA4PeA/zoA6iKBA3KuAP9uAPquQPruQPsuQPKwQOezQOfzQPM6wPO6wPP6wPb7gPIoAQA
Big surprise, Libram Paladin is still one of the most powerful archetypes in the game. During the entirety of Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, Libram and Libroom Paladin were forces to be reckoned with. The archetype has returned and is wreaking havoc on anyone who’s unfortunate enough to play against it in ranked Standard.
Though Libram Paladin’s current success could be due to the fact that it was so easily refined since so many of its tools are from past expansions, the deck’s 63-percent win rate is nothing to scoff at. In the event the meta does become more refined and this version of Libram Paladin is no longer viable, odds are at least some version of the deck will be decent during the entirety of Forged in the Barrens.
If you’re a Paladin player from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, then you probably already have nearly everything you need to craft this deck. Give this one a shot, but if you’re unsure about your love for Paladin, hang on to your dust for now.
XilinhungHS Anti-Mage/Control Priest
Copy this code to use this deck in Hearthstone: AAECAa0GCMi+A/vRA53YA7/gA/voA9TtA7SKBLWKBAuTugOvugPezAPi3gP73wP44wOZ6wOe6wOtigSFnwTBnwQA
Dekkster is one of the best Hearthstone content creators out there right now and was able to hit Legend during the first week of Forged. In the video above, you can see Dekkster showcase a Control Priest deck made by XilinhungHS. Dekkster has had ample success with this deck against Spell Mage and Libram Paladin, in particular.
Part of what seems to make this deck so successful is how well it’s able to deal with threats—think Control Priest the way class fantasy would imply Control Priest should be played. You’ll be using spells to deal with your opponent’s threats all while keeping your health in the safe zone.
Though you probably aren’t running into this deck very much on ladder just yet, it seems to be a great option for dealing with No Minion Mage. In the above video, you can see how Dekkster pilots the deck against Mage and implement his tactics into your own gameplay.
Since we’re still so early into the lifespan of Forged in the Barrens, you’d be wise to save all of your dust. Though it may be tempting to craft Deck of Lunacy and get in on the action, you’ll be disappointed if it gets nerfed in a week or two.
