World of Warcraft Classic, the reintroduction of WoW’s most memorable and nostalgic timeline, will be released on Augusth 27th. From there on, players can relive the golden times of the most successful multiplayer online game and experience how WoW played out right after its original release.
As we all know, Hearthstone was built upon the Warcraft universe and the World of Warcraft itself. In this upcoming series, we want to honor the beginnings of both World of Warcraft and Hearthstone and thus feature a “vanilla” deck for each of the nine available Classic WoW classes. Want to know more about your favorite class? Not sure what you want to play on release? Check out our first three decks featuring Mage, Priest and Paladin!
Check out Druid, Hunter and Warlock decks here!
Check out Rogue, Shaman and Warrior decks here!
Mage
3,780- 1Arcane Missiles2
- 1Mana Wyrm2
- 2Arcane Explosion1
- 2Frostbolt2
- 3Arcane Intellect2
- 3Cone of Cold2
- 3Counterspell1
- 3Frost Nova2
- 3Ice Barrier1
- 3Ice Block1
- 4Fireball2
- 4Polymorph2
- 4Sorcerer’s Apprentice2
- 5Blast Wave2
- 6Blizzard2
- 7Archmage Antonidas1
- 7Flamestrike2
- 10Pyroblast1
The Mage class of World of Warcraft not only resembles the most memorable RPG class archetype in existence; it also shaped the definition of spellcaster classes in many games that came after Blizzard’s multiplayer online game.
In Hearthstone, Mage’s ability to purely deal damage has been translated into different ways to interact with basic gameplay.
The three different spell schools, Fire, Frost and Arcane are only present in Hearthstone flavor. However, almost all Mage spells transport a certain Warcraft playstyle. Frost spells like Frostbolt, Frost Nova, Cone of Cold and Blizzard sacrifice damage for freeze effects in return, while Arcane and Fire spells like Fireball, Pyroblast or Arcane Missiles only have one purpose: destruction.
The damage numbers and the limitation to minion damage make Mage as versatile in Hearthstone as it always has been in World of Warcraft, may it be with area damage against multiple targets during leveling, or as a one-shot-threat thanks to Pyroblast in PvP.
Unlike Hunter, the Secret mechanic in Mage’s toolkit realizes different self-cast spells. In this deck’s case, Counterspell, Ice Barrier and Ice Block showcase both offensive and defensive solutions who are particularly useful against PvP attacks.
Another interesting card is Arcane Intellect. Multiple classes are able to apply stat buffs, and Mage is one of them. Arcane Intellect increases – you guessed it – Intellect and thus critical strike chance as well as mana pool. But not all stat buffs equal card draw in Hearthstone. Mark of the Wild, for example, applies a direct buff instead.
As usual, we needed to put at least some minions into the deck to make it theoretically viable. Mana Wyrm has been a Mage staple for a long time in Hearthstone, and while these wyrms have been introduced with the Burning Crusade, we cannot let go off one of the most important minions of Hearthstone’s Mage.
Another staple is Archmage Antonidas, one of the most powerful Mages in the Warcraft universe. With that many spells in our deck, Antonidas surely will be able to assist us in this deck and – in spirit – during our Classic WoW adventure, haHAA!
Priest
- 0Silence2
- 1Flash Heal1
- 1Holy Smite2
- 1Inner Fire2
- 1Northshire Cleric2
- 1Power Word: Shield2
- 2Divine Spirit2
- 2Lightwell2
- 2Mind Blast2
- 2Shadow Word: Pain2
- 2Shadowform2
- 3Holy Nova2
- 6Holy Fire2
- 7Prophet Velen1
- 7Psychic Scream2
- 9Mind Control2
The other class that serves the Holy Light are Priests. Usually more peaceful and disciplined in their approach, they also are able to unleash shadow magic against their enemies.
The core abilities of Priest and their translation into Hearthstone cards couldn’t be more clear: Abilities like Holy Smite and Holy Fire represent the Discipline skill tree, which is based on damage through holy magic, while Flash Heal and Holy Nova lean towards the collection of Holy talents.
Mind Control, Mind Blast, Psychic Scream and Shadow Word: Pain showcase the life of Shadow Priest, which is intensified by an aura called Shadowform. This card rarely sees play in Priest decks but plays an integral part in Shadow’s playstyle in Classic WoW.
The one special spell about this deck is that it’s actually a minion! Lightwell is the final talent in the Holy tree of Classic WoW’s Priest. When activated, it served as a clickable but stationary source of healing. Sadly, this talent has rarely seen play simply because of bad healing numbers, and that converts to its Hearthstone equivalent.
Last but not least, Priest’s minions only play a supporting role, fitting the general playstyle of the class. Northshire Cleric, similar to the Argent Crusade minions in Paladin, showcases the lore behind Priests, as one of their headquarters in Classic WoW is Northshire Abbey, which lies in Northshire Valley, the starting zone for all human players.
Prophet Velen completes the deck, and while being a core card in many Priest decks in the last years, his Hearthstone job to help one-turn-kill opponents doesn’t really reflect his history in the Warcraft universe. As one of the three eredar leaders besides Kil’Jaeden and Archimonde, Velen decided to seek peace, not ally with the Dark Titan Sargeras and ultimately chose to join the Alliance together with the draenei, the exiled and remaining eredar from Argus.
Priest’s role in WoW Classic might not be as clear as one would think: They excel as healers in groups and raids, but also prove to be highly valuable as damage dealers, especially in PvP situations!
Paladin
Similar to Mage, the Paladin class is conceived as one of the most ancient archetypes in any roleplaying game. In World of Warcraft, the religious warriors fight for the Church of the Holy Light and use the Light to cast holy magic.
Paladins in Hearthstone double down on this fantasy, and not only that: They perfectly transport the three ways to play a Paladin in WoW: First there is the Protection talent tree, which enables Paladins to tank monsters. Yes, Paladin Tanks in Classic WoW aren’t really able to do as much in terms of generating threat as other tank specs, but the fantasy still remains. And in Hearthstone as well! The Divine Shield mechanic serves as a vehicle to convey the thought that the Light protects everyone who believes in it; minions like Sunwalker and Argent Protector are prime examples.
Holy Paladins are the second big archetype in WoW. They try to infuse and heal their allies with holy magic. Holy Light and Flash of Light are two of the most iconic Holy Paladin spells; in addition to that, buff effects like Blessing of Might, Blessing of Wisdom and Blessing of Kings offered different bonuses for different class archetypes. Another flavorful spell is Lay on Hands, which – up to this day still – is a powerful heal on a very long cooldown; the design of drawing cards as an anti-tempo play in combination with a large amount of healing couldn’t be transported any better in Hearthstone.
Last but not least, Retribution Paladins are the “damage dealers” of the class. They use their holy powers to teach the nonbelievers and to purge the heathens! This very archaic view of belief and religion in general is also perfectly showcased through Hearthstone cards like Consecration or Holy Wrath.
On the minion side of Paladin we may have the strongest fantasy affiliation compared to other Hearthstone classes. Argent Squire, Argent Protector and Argent Commander are all members of the Argent Crusade, an organisation formed from the Argent Dawn and the Order of the Silver Hand, who were the first Paladins of Azeroth. Led by Tirion Fordring himself, they chose to fight and eventually defeat The Lich King.
Two more exotic and thus neutral minions in this list are Blood Knight and Sunwalker: They both show non-Human Paladins, which have been a rare sight at the beginning of Warcraft. In fact, Blood Elf and Tauren Paladins were playable years after the initial release of WoW. However, they still appeared in the original lore of the game; a great example would be Lady Liadrin, Matriach of the Blood Knights, the Blood Elf Paladin league.
Again, Paladins transport fantasy and lore like no other class. In Classic WoW, they not only receive their mounts for free, but also are a very versatile and wanted Alliance-only class!
Prophet Velen wasn’t a part of classic WoW. He didn’t show up until the Burning Crusade expansion.
This is true! However, you can be damn sure that he existed while Classic WoW has happened, and as already said multiple times, we need at least some minions in this forsaken Priest list to make anything happen 🙂