One of the big complaints about Hearthstone is the price to play when you first start. There are a ton of legendaries released, and if you are unlucky you may have not received much in the way of playable cards. This is unfortunate, so we’ve gone ahead and created some budget decks that should serve you well if you are in the ranks around 50 – 20. They should also be viable between Rank 20 and 10, but as you get closer to 10 (and meet more competitive meta decks), the road road is going to be much more difficult and only a couple of them will manage to continue to climb steadily after that. Some of them, however, might work even up to R5 if you master them and make a few upgrades!
Luckily for new players, Blizzard has been giving out quite a lot of freebies recently – we’ve been getting free packs, Legendaries and other goodies during expansion releases and events. Still, it’s hard to deny that despite that, the game is quite expensive. F2P players should easily be able to build one or two full meta decks per expansion, but the issue is that they can’t play whatever they want. So once they commit to crafting some cards, if they want to switch to another class – tough luck! That’s why we think that those budget decks can come really handy. No matter if you want to do Daily Quests for another class, test a deck before crafting a full version or just play around with different options, they should be a good option for new and F2P players.
Budget Deck Rankings
When it comes to Saviors of Uldum budget lists, we’ve got quite a few good options. If I had to rank the budget decks, I’d say that they would look like that:
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Budget Decks in Saviors of Uldum
Saviors of Uldum is the second expansion of Year of the Dragon. On the one hand, we’ve just lost a MASSIVE amount of strong budget cards in the last Standard rotation. On the other hand, Saviors of Uldum has brought quite a lot of great, new options (budget deck building usually gets better later into the rotation, because we have more cards to work with). We’ve also had cards like Archmage Vargoth or SN1P-SN4P given out to everyone for free. Especially the latter makes a lot of budget decks stronger – given that cheap builds are usually Aggro/Midrange, SN1P-Sn4P fits prefectly into lots of them. That’s why I’ve decided to keep him as a part of budget builds. Realistically, most of players do have it, since he was given out for free just a month before Saviors of Uldum launch. However, if you are a new player or just came back after a longer break, there’s a SN1P-SN4P replacement at the bottom of every guide (it’s not key card in any deck).
All in all, we have quite a few strong budget options this time around. Many of the decks are close to the full meta builds, with just 1-2 cards difference. Most of them can be easily upgraded just by adding a few more expensive cards, and the upgraded decks can easily take you all the way to Legend.
Whizbang the Wonderful
I’ve seen a lot of mention about Whizbang, and yes you can craft it as a budget option. There’s some disadvantages to the card, you don’t get to choose the deck you get to play and it will take longer for you to learn how to play any particular deck due to the random nature of the card. However, it is a good option if you like the variety and the fun of playing multiple different decks you wouldn’t normally have access to. Check out our Whizbang Deck Recipes List Guide to learn all about him!
Budget Player Goals
I encourage you not to make your goal to go to all the way to Legend. It’s a tough climb even if you have a meta deck, let alone if you are running a budget deck. There’s no real reason to do it, and it will likely make Hearthstone a far more grueling experience than it needs to be (there are no win-streaks which help immensely when climbing). Rank 5 is a fine goal if you are getting close to a meta version of any of these decks, and you get nearly the same rewards at rank 5 as Legend does at the end of the season.
Cheap Hearthstone Decks
Our rule is that we don’t include any Epic or Legendary cards in our budget decks (the current exception is SN1P-SN4P, as explained above). You might have opened up some, however, so we always have a potential upgrades for every deck (which means that you might be able to use your Epics/Legends too). There is a deck for EVERY class!
Be sure to click on the deck name at the top of each deck for a full guide! It includes mulligan, strategy, as well as upgrade paths for each of the decks.
Token Druid was always one of the better and cheaper options for Druid. While slower decks often use many Epics / Legendaries (especially if they are build around some sort of combo) which you can’t cut, Token version – even if it runs some expensive cards – can usually switch them out.
Token strategy in Druid is nearly as old as Hearthstone itself. The class could always take advantage of wide boards thanks to Power of the Wild and Savage Roar, and most of expansions feature some ways to flood it too (or even more buffs). The goal is to produce a solid board, have some minions survive to your turn, and then buff them or just drop Savage Roar and kill your opponent.
Druid fans playing on budget should be really happy this time around, because our budget version of the deck is basically a full-fledged version. That’s right – the only Legendary commonly played in Token Druid right now is SN1P-SN4P and it was given out for free during Rise of the Mech event. If you, however, started playing in Saviors of Uldum or came back after a long break and don’t own him, don’t worry – the deck is still good! Read the part on the bottom for a replacement.
- 1Tracking2
- 2Bomb Toss2
- 2Fireworks Tech2
- 2Venomizer2
- 3Spider Bomb2
- 3Unleash the Hounds1
- 3Ursatron2
While Bomb Hunter is a relatively new build (it only got popular in Rise of Shadows, even though most of the cards were introduced back in Boomsday Project), the idea of an aggressive Hunter deck that snowballs the board dates as far back as Undertaker Hunter in Naxx. Unlike a classic Face Hunter build, Bomb Hunter heavily relies on board to deal damage. You can’t just charge into your opponent’s face every turn – you want to stick a Mech and then keep Magnetizing onto it to deal more and more damage. That’s the snowball part I was talking about.
What makes the deck so good are Goblin Bombs, which don’t really look that scary by themselves. However, since they are 0/2’s that deal damage to your opponent on death, they don’t really want (and sometimes can’t) clear them. If they don’t do it, however, you will keep buffing and buffing them, and at one point either they will have to do it or you will just kill THEM. While this strategy has some vulnerabilities, it can punish slower decks that can’t handle your early game minions quite well and just die by the time they get to their late game power peak.
Bomb Hunter didn’t really get anything new in Saviors of Uldum (no new Mechs it wants to play were printed this set), but it’s still a solid deck and a strong budget option (and just a few Legends away from a full meta deck that is placed around high Tier 2).
Mage is one of the three main Secret classes in Hearthstone (while Rogue also got a few, it seemed like a one-time thing), and probably the best one historically. Mage had a viable tempo deck built around Secrets in many metas, thanks to multiple synergies the class got. It is an aggressive deck that relies on establishing early board tempo by cheating out Secrets / playing oversized minions / taking advantage of having Secrets on the board to activate your minions’ effects.
And Saviors of Uldum was a perfect expansion for Secret Mage fans. The deck has got not one, but two strong synergies, as well as a new Secret! Arcane Flakmage and Flame Ward give the deck very necessary tools to come back after opponent takes over the board, while Cloud Prince is an amazing, flexible “Fireball on a stick” – for just 1 more mana you get a 4/4 body on top of the usual removal / burn damage.
The deck is quite close to a full meta version, although there are some minor changes that would make it better. Even the full meta deck, however, is not very strong right now. It’s still fun and can produce some solid results, but especially in the current Warrior-heavy meta, it’s not the best option.
Aggro Paladin took a massive hit last rotation, when Blizzard has decided to Hall of Fame Divine Favor. Going all-in and then still ending up with a full hand against slower decks was the deck’s main strength, and with that gone, it sort of disappeared from the meta. However, there’s a chance for it again. Between the buff to Crystology (which makes it probably the most efficient card draw in the entire game) and a bunch of new cards in Saviors of Uldum (Brazen Zealot, Sandwasp Queen and Salhet's Pride), Aggro Paladin is back on the radar.
That said, being completely honest, “back on the radar” is still far from “back in the meta”. Full version of Aggro Paladin is playable, but it still isn’t incredibly powerful. The budget version is obviously even worse, but during my playtesting I was able to snatch a few wins against full meta decks (and even against its biggest nemesis, Control Warrior).
Combo Priest is one of the “original” combo decks. I remember builds playing Divine Spirit + Inner Fire combo as far as Classic Hearthstone, and while they didn’t work for very long time, once people got better at deck building and we’ve got more tools from different expansions, the deck became popular. Some kind of Combo Priest was present in nearly every meta and viable for the last 2-3 years. Of course, every expansion and especially every rotation, viable builds look differently, but the general idea remains the same
Since most of the key cards in Combo Priest are Free, Common & Rare, it’s very easy to make a cheap deck around them, so it’s usually the best option for budget players. Saviors of Uldum in particular has brought a bunch of great cards to the build, to the point when it became one of the strongest meta decks. However, while some of them made it to the budget decks (e.g. Injured Tol'vir and Neferset Ritualist), others great additions are more expensive (Psychopomp, High Priest Amet). If you own some of them, you can easily make yourself a Tier 1 meta deck. But even without them, it’s still a solid option and one of the best budget decks available in Uldum.
Tempo Rogue is one of the most popular decks in Year of the Dragon. During Rise of Shadows, the class was so strong that it has seen not one, not two, but three nerfs. Even after a big chunk of the deck getting hit, new builds popped up and they were still strong. The situation didn’t change much in Saviors of Uldum – Tempo Rogue is still a solid build, but players have decided to take an even more aggressive stance when building it. They cut some of the long game cards like Spirit of the Shark or Heistbaron Togwaggle and went for more face damage with Hooked Scimitar and another 1-drop – Pharaoh Cat. Those two additions have proven to be working quite well so far.
Budget version of Rogue is not very far off from the real deal gameplay-wise. However, you’re missing some quite important Epics & Legendaries. What used to be a quite cheap deck in the past now costs up to 10k Arcane Dust, which is way, way out of budget for lots of players. This version should, however, work okay until you can build the actual deck.
Murlocs have been one of Hearthstone’s most prominent tribal synergy strategies since its introduction. Murlocs are typically designed to benefit from each other and begin to quickly snowball as each one is added to the board. This, along with the generally low mana-cost of the cards, pushes most Murloc strategies to be aggressive.
While initially best in Warlock, Blizzard started introducing Shaman support (and later also Paladin support) for Murlocs in Goblins vs Gnomes. Murloc Shaman would continue to get fairly regular additions as sets came out, but the problem was always quantity. There were never enough powerful Murlocs in Standard to create a competitively viable Murloc Shaman deck… until Rise of Shadows. With a few new Neutral options, as well as Shaman’s own Sludge Slurper and Underbelly Angler, the deck was finally viable. While Saviors of Uldum did not introduce any new Shaman Murlocs, it has added two solid Neutral options that this deck will gladly take advantage of – Murmy and Fishflinger.
- 1Flame Imp2
- 1Grim Rally2
- 1Sinister Deal2
- 1Soulfire2
- 1Voidwalker2
- 2EVIL Genius2
- 3EVIL Recruiter2
- 3Neferset Thrasher2
Zoo Warlock is an archetype that dates back to the early days of Hearthstone. The deck always revolved around low-cost minions (the deck can have a low curve because of Hero Power that lest Warlock draw more cards whenever they need) and various means of leveraging a favorable board state to trade up into opposing minions before making a lethal push.
Because of its low-curve, Zoo Warlock has long been a favorite of budget-minded players sacrificing very little for the sake of keeping costs low. Additionally, the deck has long served as a powerful teaching tool for new players eager to learn about core Hearthstone concepts such as Tempo, trading up, and timing a push for lethal.
Saviors of Uldum has introduced quite a lot of new Zoo Warlock tools, and luckily – most of them are cheap. The biggest change compared to the previous expansions is a new Lackey support. While EVIL Genius has seen play in the deck already (just because it was good), we now have an extra way to generate Lackeys (Sinister Deal) as well as a massive pay-off card (EVIL Recruiter). There’s also a new self-damage mini-package with Neferset Thrasher and Diseased Vulture. Sadly, the second part is Epic, which means that it’s not a budget option, but it’s the best upgrade you can make for the deck (and Thrasher is still good enough even without Vulture).
Aggro Warrior is a tempo-oriented, aggressive build, which was always the best budget option for the class. Warrior is usually associated with the expensive, Control builds that all cost over 10k Dust (“Wallet Warrior” term became a thing for a reason). But given that those decks always rely on Epics & Legendaries, it’s simply impossible to build them on budget.
Saviors of Uldum, however, has brought back the faster, Aggro/Tempo Warrior builds. While players have attempted to do it ever since Witchwood (when Rush Warrior became a potential archetype), it didn’t really work that well until now. The archetype has got a bunch of new, strong cards like Temple Berserker, Bloodsworn Mercenary, Livewire Lance and Restless Mummy. However, as you can see, two of those are Epics. And sadly for budget players, the two Epics are strongest of the bunch and basically required to play the best version of Aggro/Tempo Warrior. Which means that while the deck can still be built on budget, it will lose a substantial amount of its power. If you manage to upgrade it to a full meta version, however, it should serve you quite well as a solid ~Tier 2 deck.
Wild cards will return soon and everyone gets copies. So will you update decks inluding these?
Hey! When is this going to be updated? I’d like to make a budget deck, but I don’t want to use all my dust to create one that is much weaker now… I hope you see this comment 🙂 Keep up the great work!
The aggro paladin deck has been surprisingly successful I climbed from rank 20 to rank 10. Thanks for the decks Stonekeep. ????
why did it turn my emoji into question marks >:(
What emoji did you try to put? Maybe it’s not recognized on our site or something (not sure).
But I’m glad that you had a nice climb with the deck 🙂
Awesome work 🙂 (looking forward for your disenchanting and crafting guide for the new expansion)
Budget decks were just updated for Saviors of Uldum meta! I really like this batch, I think that we have some really strong options.
Comments below this one might be outdated.
When can we expect an update? 🙂
Update budget deck pls 🙁
Absolutely adore this site, and since finding it a few years back, I haven’t touched any other Hearthstone sites since! The degree of professionalism placed into every guide and the speed at which this site’s content is updated after huge game updates and expansions is unrivaled by any other sites out there.
Necessary praise aside, will these budget decks need updating after the Rise Of Shadows nerfs and the new classic set cards, or have there been minimal changes to the meta and included cards?
Considering Archmage Vargoth is given to everyone for free, is he not a good option for budget token druid?
Yes, you’re right, and it’s discussed on the deck’s page! If you have Vargoth (and everyone who plays the game right now does), replace Cult Master with it.
However, it’s a limited time promotion (you can only get it until July AFAIK), so it’s better to not assume that everyone has it in case someone checks out the budget guides after it runs out 🙂
I have to say: crafting Whizbang is probably the smartest decision I’ve made in this game, if for no other reason than he keeps my games entertaining.
That said, I do truly appreciate these budget deck lists–especially this new format with the strategy and upgrade/sidegrade information. I’m already seeing so many things I want to try out… Thank you all so much for doing this and for writing it so quickly.
Budget decks were just updated for Rise of Shadows meta! Big thanks to Martian & Roffle for doing it so quickly.
Comments below this one might be outdated.
We’re currently working on the new budget decks! They should be ready some time next week.
Thank you guys and gals! No rush. The new expansion has only been out for 2 days. It takes time to see where the meta will be going, and to learn how to incorporate new cards. Keep up the hard work.
Hi,
Will these decks be updated for Rise Of Shadows/Year of the Dragon?
Thanks.
EDIT: Please ignore my comment above.
I completely forgot that I’d already asked this on you “Rise Of Shadows Deck Lists” article.
Didn’t mean to spam, lol. 😛
Thank you for this! 😀 Murloc deck seems to be the cheapest for me.
I dusted a golden legendary earlier and thought i should craft a midrange Hunter without Rexxar but there are so many viable budget decks out there, which makes me think if there is a better budget deck that suit a newbie like me…
P.s: i have Uther, Jaxxarus along with Bloodmage Thalnos and Harrison Jones as well.
You can go budget otk paladin but it takes some learning fun deck and you can turn it into a tier 1 deck
I’m going to ask at risk of sounding like an idiot, But are the dust cost based on what you would get if you disenchanted the deck? Because none of theses decks cost anywhere near those prices to craft. And if so why mark the price like that? I don’t understand.
No the dust cost just means how much it would cost to craft every single card in the deck.
So, the best budget decks from this list are Midrange Hunter and Zoo Warlock. And if i mean the best, i mean the best by far.
We’ll be working on updating these soon after the expansion is released!
It would be nice 🙂 If you can, please include more cards replacements in each deck. Obviously if someone is forced to make budget deck, he doesn’t have all cards. Not only all legendaries and epics but also not all commons and rares.
Budget decks can be already considered “replacements” for meta decks. If you don’t have some cards, just craft them. The very reason for budgets is that you can build one from scratch for around 1500 dust.
if someone has some legendaries and epics put some of them to replace a common or a rare to the descriptoon of the deck
Can we please have multiple budget decks for each class?
Can you add each deck bbcode ?
nevermind i got it
Any changes after the nerfs to Giggling Inventor???
Stonehill Defender for value generation
Rotten Applebaum for cost/benefit taunt
You put token Druid twice under deck recommendations.
Hello, please, when will be updated for new expansion ? Thanks a lot.
Being worked on currently!
Ok. Thank you. Warlock seems to be a greatest choice for new players ?
Right you are
Hi,
Thanks for this guide, it helps a lot !
Dude Paladin deck is very dependent of “LightFused Stegodon” and “Lost in the Jungle” cards, that will be soon unavailable due to extension turn over.
Would you have some tips to replace these cards ?
Btw, you probably want to replace the current midranged hunter deck with the other more secret oriented deck that used Spellstone and only 7 minions. You could replace Deathstalker Rexxar with a highmane or something.
Really good idea. Your deck is much better than the version from budget list.
I am sorry but I don’t know where to post regular questions so I will post this here.
I want to build a secret mage style deck I have looked into deck formulas listed here and have not found anything within that vein so if someone can post a budget secret mage that would be awesome ps I have a little over five hundred dust saved so feel free to add some non budget cards near that amount thanks!
Do you have any epic or legendary mage cards?
If you look up the “non budget” tempo mage, how far off are you from this?
What secrets do you have?
Let me know and will make you a list.
Thank you (:
In answer to your question I have written down every Mage related epic and legend I have as well as every Standard legend and epic
I built Tempo mage once and did not like the flow of it yet I do want to play mage as I have heard she is an important class to learn.
Anyway here is the list
Mage Epic:
Book of Specters x2
Primordial glyph x2
Arcane Keysmith x2
Pyroblast x 2
Counterspell x2
Other secrets:
Explosive Runes x2
Frozen clone x2
Mirror Entity x2
Ice Barrier x2
Mage Legends:
Frost Lich Jaina x1
Aluneth x1
Archmage Arugul x1 (sorry I pulled one of these and was only able to craft one of the other two)
Standard Epics:
Doomsayerx2
Nightmare Amalgramx2
Blaze Callerx2
Spiteful Summoner x2
Primordial Drake x2
Charged Devilsaur x2
Mountain and Sea Giant x2
Standard Legends:
Prince Keleseth x2
Genn Greymane x1 not to brag but he is a gold genn btw lol lucky pull
Countess Ashmore x2
Baku x1
The Lich King x1
hope this helps and thank you so much!
Hello 🙂
I crafted the Budget Elemental Mage Deck a few days ago. It is so much fun 🙂
I am a new player and haven’t got aluneth yet and no dust left. I enchanted all of my free legendaries for this deck.
My question is at this point, if it is still worth it to collect dust for Aluneth even, if this card will leave the rotation with the new expansion coming next year. I don’t know how long it will take to collect that much dust. How much dust do you get if a legendary leaves the rotation and become a wild card?
Thanks a lot 🙂
Basicly, average dust cost of a pack is one hundred, and due to quests you usually can collect 180 – 170 gold in three days. So, if you will win six to nine games, while completing the tasks, you will collect 1600 dust in 24 days. This will leave you with a really useful legendary for the next eight (Isn’t it?) month. I think, that’s worth it, at least, if you’r going to use it)
(Btw, this sounds hard, but crafting a legendary in a month is really not so hard)
(I’m not really an english speaking man, so often do either logical, or grammatical mistakes, sorry)
Yep, sorry mate 🙂
Okay, thank you very much 🙂
As a new player, you don’t want to sink dust into a legendary card. For starters, a deck can eaisilly get boring, and you might want to play something else. So while it might take only 24 days to save up for a legendary, you’ll be getting NO cards in that period of time, to further expand and enhance your collection, or to make new decks. Also, this deck is not very powerful, with no meta version. I’m doubting Aluneth’s place in this deck. In addition, that legendary card fits in little or no decks outside of this one, and could easily faze out of the meta. So overall, crafting a legendary can totally ruin your experience, and until you get a larger collection, I’d only recommend dusting cards that you never expect to use. (Sorry for typos, I typed this quickly on a phone)
Elemage is not a strong deck right now. However you can still buy aluneth for secret tempo mage that is stronger.
Don’t bother crafting aluneth,it’s not worth it,the best legendaries to craft right nowpath are probably Baku/Genn.
First let me say thank you so much for this guide! The decks are not only cheap to build but also very easy to pilot.
Would you mind putting up a budget murloc deck please?
That would be awesome
Thank you again!
They could do so but the deck won’t be strong enough.
Murloc package in a budget would lack in power to finish the game.
You would miss so much “Warleader” and “Gentle Megasore”.
For the priest deck would lady in white work?
it could, the only minions who would suffer is the bone dragons
that is unless she overides the Twilight drakes (i dont know how they interact with her)
the twilights will become 1/1 and still get the hand buff though so you could have a 1/7 twilight with LIW
just crafted your preist dragon deck and it worked like a charm (: I mean sure it all depends on the draw ie you can’t win them all but when this goes off it is hard to stop thanks much!
guys, best budget decks right now are midrange hunter, dude paladin, tempo mage (not this elemental mage), combo priest and zoolock. Combo priest is inconsistent and a very tricky deck to play.
here is the meta tempo mage http://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/witchwood-tempo-mage-deck-list-guide-standard/
Is Budget rogue a good deck to craft for, Im currently using budget mage, but i also want to use rogue from time-to-time, or is mage just a wayy better option.
Спамеры совсем ебанулись. Это англоязычный сайт по игре, алло, гораш!
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Muitobom os Deck Budget , adorei .. Valeu <3 , Um abraço aqui do Brasil !
The decks are great, good job, love the website 😀 Just a question: Could we get some tips on upgrades to these decks? Expensive cards that we might have to use in these decks. Or this doesn’t makes any sense? haha ty!
Look at the meta versions of these decks (most of them have a meta version), and make substitutions based on the cards with the highest winrates.
Examples:
Rogue – Prince Keleseth and vilespines
Druid – Whispering woods and branching paths – malfurion too eventually
Mage- Jaina and blazecallers (Jaina has insane synergy with elementals)
Priest – Shadow visions (alternatively you could build the spiteful deck with spiteful summoners and free from amber)
Warlock- Hooked reavers, Prince keleseth, Gul’dan
Shaman – different class is a good upgrade
Paladin – Call to arms (insane card for that deck) and later sunkeeper tarim
Warrior- Town criers are a good craft for that deck
Nice list. I would also add that although Warlock is currently very strong, it’s decks are also very expensive. If you are short on mana and are looking to upgrade a single class, I would suggest Druid, Rogue, Mage or specially Paladin instead. Priest isalso good, but it doesn’t have a tier 1 deck right now. As for Shaman and Warrior, both classes remain at the bottom and are not worth the investment if you are a FTP or budget player with low mana avaliable.
Lady in White dragon deck is amazing…
Lady in White turned out to be a bad deck for many reasons, best priest deck rn is control priest with mind blast
I have lady in white from firsts packs and I really love to see her play. For.me it’s amazing card but most of the time she doesn’t work… Of course it’s nice to throw on the table 9/9 steambot but too often she is too slow… She works as a nice additional card for deck with double heal and inner fire ( steambot cost 4 and have 9 health so it’s possible to do otk with it). I have in this deck weapon for priest and lyra as well so it sometimes works ( but most of the time lady in white is far in the deck to have any usage from her).
What you are playing with LiW.that is so good? Maybe I’m doing something wrong?
Lady in White could be good with more support but mind blast control is best right now.
Hi All im noob here. Good post! Thx! Thx!
If any new player see my comment, plz do not make the midrange hunter deck, it is not the hunter’s world.
Midrange Hunter has been a budget staple for a long time, so I’m not sure what you are talking about.
I did not judge your article, it is very helpful, I made my decks based on it, the problem is not hunter, no one can form a better budget deck for hunter, but in current environment, hunter is just too weak, New player would switch to other class after he beyond the newbie level.
Anyway, these decks are not expensive, and play different class would be more interesting and helpful.
i got rank 15 for the first time with a slightly upgraded midrange hunter. I used a 4k dust elemental mage and tried different variations of mage but i was hardstuck rank 16. 1.2 k dust midrange hunter got me rank 15
Every dude paladin deck user should uninstall heartstone so the normal people can enjoy it.
Dude Paladin has been a thing since forever – they’ve just swapped Quartermaster for Tarim, Level Up and/or Lightfused Stegadon; it’s always been a “normal” HS archetype – it’s just a bit stronger now than it has been for a long time.
It’s still beatable mind; I have few problems with it when running Control Warlock – especially with Despicable Dreadlord. Taunt-heavy decks generally do well too.
And who are you to judge whet other people should play? If you don’t like playing this deck than don’t. I can say the same about cubelock, about face Hunter, face mage, quest rogue or any other deck if I don’t like them. If you are playing ranked than you use every opportunity to take down your opponent. If you don’t like that style you can always play normal and give up if you face ‘cancer’ deck. But don’t tell other people why should they play. They will play with the deck that’s give them fun and satisfaction. That why hearstone was made , to give fun (and of course money to blizzard).
Yeah and cube locks they make the games not even fun and impossible to rank up
These are great. Would be nice to have some budget odd and even decks (if they exist). Budget odd decks seem to be quite good, and baku is a good legendary for budget players.
If you own Baku, I belive odd Paladin is the cheapest deck. Odd hunter can be good too, yet weaker than Paladin and you may need Leeroy Jenkins.
Thank you so much for this list. It helps a lot.
I LOVE THIS BUDGET DECK SECTION! Thank you so much for writing this up and caring for us, F2P players. Please keep this section up-to-date as the meta changes and perhaps provide a 2nd/3rd alternative for each class whenever possible. Keep up the good work!
Just a heads up: Elemental Mage is still listed with the Secret Mage deck list.
Fixed, thanks!
Can we get some updates please?
We’ve updated four decks, we still need time to finish the rest.
You guys are doing great! Thanks for the work you do in updating, on top of playing yourselves!
Can we please get updates on these decks, pirates are almost non existent with patches nerf yet almost all these decks contain Golakka. It was nice to see them get rid of the creeper after nerf but golakka is somehow still in these decks and needs to be removed as well.
Yeah, i’d also love to see all of these decks get slightly adjusted and maybe even a new deck or two.
I’ve asked for it also few weeks ago, but with no response. I assume that this will be updated after next patch.
Can we get some update for post-nerf decks?
Which of these decks is the strongest? Please answer
Secret Mage and Zoo I would say.
I disagree, though secret mage is very strong in ladder indeed this version doesn’t run alluneth (the 6 mana mage weapon) which really hurts the deck.
In my opinion inner fire priest is the best closely followed by zoo warlock and midrange hunter. After that mage and druid and the other decks are pretty trash.
Inner fire without Shadow Visions I really disagree… Zoo is strong, surely if you manage to put in Keleseth and maybe Gul’Dan.
Elemental mage (not secret tempo, check ‘other budget options’) with Jaina and Baron Geddon (?) also works really well for me.
I already have the full Budget Midrange Hunter deck and I am loving it, great guide! But, Is it worth crafting Secret Mage now or should I wait until April 2018 for the rotations and then spend my dust on updated budget decks? I suppose what I’m asking is, will these deck lists be updated very soon after the rotation or will they remain outdated until a few weeks after the rotation, if I’m making any sense? Thanks for any helpful repsonses.
Whoops, forgot to ask if these lists will be updated to address the nerfs to Patches and Creeper etc. Sorry for the unintentional spam, just really interested to hear from site admins and better players! 🙂
Mage won’t be viable after the rotations I don’t think, except if blizzard make a few new cards that support it. If you do have the dust or most of the cards you could craft it but I wouldn’t recommend this version as it doesn’t run the weapon which hard carries quite a few games.
Cuse I dont have raza it’s realy bad but is it any deck I can came to rank 10-5 with?? Now I dont use ut at all, I’m playing the Budget jade deck
I got shadowreaper anduin as free deth night.Is it any good Budget deck with him?
Uh u can play with a budget dragon-filled deck
Hi there,
built Midrange Hunter and im quite happy with the Deck. Recently crafted 2 Corridor Creepers as you recommended. Is cutting Hounds really the way to go? Quite liked the Synergy with huner’s Mark and helped to turn some lost games into wins. I felt like cutting the Hyena… good idea or is it definetly Hounds? And why is it Hounds? 😛
Yeah I would also consider replacing hyena, I also tried it and it is very difficult to make it work. Hounds is much better right now.
If you do end wanting to rank with the mage i made it to rank 11 in about 3 days. I played this game for a few months a few years ago and with that knowledge and this deck its been enjoyable experience. Thanks i hope to push to rank 5 by the end of month. I hope it’s possible
It’s mentioned that Corridor Creepers are good for nearly all of them; but what do they replace if I craft two? I’m trying out each of the decks, and want to put them in but unsure exactly where.
So also replace minions that not have a ton of synergy and arent overly impressive from bottom to top
Naga corsair
Bloodfury or demonfire
Devolve, bloodlust, squire, primalfin
One mana cards or defias
Shieldraiser elixir
Chaingang champ jailor
Bearshark flanking strike hounds
Dont use in jade
Highly disagree with the zoolock and evolve shaman replacement recommendations. In zoolock considering you dont run keleseth youd really want to use the 2 mana cards. Demonfire can create your turn 1 demon ( voidwalker/flame imp) into a big boy in the early game and provides additional removal. You could add a vicious fledgling to the deck and that combined with bloodfury can by itself win you the game sometimes. You should replace the blood imp and fire fly with creepers and fledglings( or techs).
In the evolve shaman argent squire is a really important card since it provides a strong turn 1 Play that can trade into your opponents 1 health minions, and primalfin is just a great card at making tokens and the 3 health make it often hard to remove on your opponents turn ( after you play it) + it has good synergy with flametongue. You usually dont need 2 devolves, but one is a good tech, replace the other one and maybe a jade spirit or chain gang. The 2 blood lusts are a must since you don’t have powerful minions like aya and the pirate package, making a board swarm into blood lust one of your main win conditions. Hope this helps.
I’m building a secret made, and I wonder if I could benefit from putting archmage antonidas and what to replace for corridor creeper. The deck is complete and I have 1120 dust to spend (without purchasing corridor creeper)
Antonidas is not that good right now tbh , corridor creeper is the most powerful card of the expansion and its used in almost every deck , its a good choice for crafting
So what cards should I replace with corridor creeper?
Mirror entity is not nearly as good as counterspell or explosive runes, so I would replace this card or cobalt scalebane. Just don’t put anything slow into this deck.
You could take out Bonemare.
No antonidas its too up, the stansardard deck runs valet creeper aluneth instead of bonemare scalebane and entity so replace a bonemare and a scalebane
Antonidas is too slow not up
Budget Midrange Hunter looks fun. I have Deathstalker Rexxar and wanted to know if it could be squeezed into that deck.
Sure, it’s not optimal but you can cut a Flanking Strike for it.
You said that Corridor Creeper can be put in Budget Hunter, but what should I replace with?
unleash the hounds
Thank you for these decks. I completed my Secret Mage and its so fun to play! I dont care about my rank, I just want to play a little with each class and this page its my guide to it. Thank you so much <3
Glad you are enjoying the deck!
In budget mage deck, what cards would I replace with Primordial Glyphs? Also any other cheap additions? I got 2k dust left. And should I put in Corridor Creeper into this deck, and if yes, what to replace? Thanks for reply.
yoyyooyoyyo u should take out fireball for PG
Cobalt Scalebanes is what if replace, but mirror entity is okay too
Ok, these are budget decks, but i think Corridor Creeper is Must Have.
We agree, it’s mentioned in most of the guides as a must craft.
I love these decks ! I chose the mage one because i find it very fun. And btw the guides on each deck are very good, very well made. Congrats on you mr. 😉
Glad you liked it, and good luck with the Mage deck!
just for anyone wondering about the priest deck specifically its really hard to play but is probably one of the best besides mage im at rank 4 atm and just needed a priest deck for some quest so i made the one here and i didnt climb much but i had a 5-4 win rate with is so its something to keep in mind that it can work in the right hands
I’m brand new to the game but played ALOT of mtg, I saw the cost on the deck and had to try it as a ftp player, even in the hands of a noob, still stomps at low tiers
Is it still worth spending my dust (I have 1500) to make a low-cost deck like the mid hunter, even with the ranked being in the final?
Or is it worth keeping my dust and the gold until next year?
Ps: And if I make it, how much time he is still being a good deck?
Craft secret mage. It’s more stable.
Why the mage is more stable than the mid hunter?
And what ranking can I get with him?
Thank tou for awnser.
If the option is between these two decks it is better to think well. The ideal is to opt for a more enjoyable style because in reality neither of the two is particularly good.
– Tempo mage is bad against aggro and dragon priest, but good against the remaining priest decks, warlock control, jade and druid ramp. Also with the next rotation Medivh’s Valet and Firelands Portal leave standard. There is also talk of the possibility of Iceblock also leaving for the hall of fame.
– Hunter is weaker than tempo mage, being bad against warlock control, priest… (any long game oriented deck) but is good against aggressive decks like tempo mage, tempo rogue, zoolock etc, but thats true when you run the pirate packet… After the next rotation it loses no cards (but upgrading is much more expensive).
– Also, in any of the lists is essential the addition of Spellbreaker.
So what you recommend?
Maybe i should wait a little more and gather more dust to craft something more useful? Thanks for the help, I am really missed you here.
First you need to keep in mind that during the first month after the release of a new expansion the most successful decks will almost always be the most aggro ones (e.g., usually hunter is good for the first month and then decays). However, in this meta it is likely that aggro is to stay +/- as it is due to Creeper Corridor and Patches. However, it is already known decks that can give a good counter to aggro, as the case of warlock control.
Knowing this you need to answer the set of answers:
1 – What style of play gives me more pleasure in playing?
2 – Against what do you see more play in rank mode? And what is good and bad against it?
3 – What is my goal? To have a single good deck, or to have variety (even with weaker decks) to avoid getting bored?
4 – What cards do I already have? (sometimes it is possible to make decks better than the typical budget ones because you already have the core cards or some epic-legendary ones)
5 – Which cards will leave the end of year (March-April) standard? Do I lose to investment I’m making now?
After answering this you will set your expectations and you will have an idea of what you really want to do and how far you can go with that in rank mode. It is important to be aware of the relevance of various cards such as Creeper Corridor and Patches, what you lose if you do not use them and what can be used instead when you run your list and when you run against a list with it (e.g. if you like aggro and it is very expensive to use the pirate pack, you can use Golakka Crawler to give counter to those who use it if you see many pirate decks). Budget slots may also include more tech cards than the rest and alternative strategies that no one is waiting for (and if your oponent does not expect it, he/she can not play around it).
Hey so im a returning player, I was really active but stopped playing around when mean streets hit; so i have all the cards before there but only some from the newer expansions. I was wondering if you would recommend the best budget deck right now just because im not totally familiar with the meta (and dont know alot of newer cards); also is there a crafting guide for the most versitile new legendaries? I have Lich King and 8000 dust but dont want to spend on anything without knowing the meta
try midrange hunter
Well, patches and southsea deckhand are in almost every class as an aggro deck… but here’s a list:
-Druid, Priest, Hunter, and Warlock hero cards are found in most decks of the respective classes
-Lich Kind is Good
-Patches for aggro (with southsea deckhand and corridor creeper)
-Bonemare is a pretty good common
This is a bit general because I don’t have the time to get in detail of every class, but I just wanted to send a reply while I’m here.
Hope I helped 😉
Can you make a budget otk dragon priest list please!! I’ve seen some for 3k dust. For a non priest player it’s hard to know what sacrifices to make.
Just add THE dragon that puts an heroe to 15 HP and 15 dmg spells
Thnks!! Nice deks
As a player on a budget, I really appreciate when you guys do these lists. Just noticed token druid was listed as a recommended deck, but there’s no list given here for it.
It’s listed in the Jade Druid description, which I realize is a bit confusing. I’m going to work on a better system for displaying classes with multiple decks. Here’s the deck: Budget Token Druid!
thanks for updating these decks, these are great budget decks!
lit worked so well
this website is the reason i started to like hearthstone, keep it up. when you guys planning to update new stuff?
Glad to hear that! We’re working on these right now, should be done this week.
When will the changes hit these budget deck lists, knc is out and i wish you guys can update the list so we can deal with the meta. Your guys response and work is appreciated.
We’re going to start updating these very soon, glad you like the site!
Will there be a change to the decks when the expansion comes out and when will the change happen? 🙂
THANK YOU MAN! NICE 😀
Why is “Budget Elemental Mage” removed from this list?
I found it the best one here, it was really cheap and yet really effective especially for someone who got Frost Lich Jaina from The Prolougue.
Can you put deck code here?
It’s still there, it’s in the description for Secret Mage, but here’s the link: http://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/budget-elemental-mage-deck-list-guide/
Oh, I haven’t seen it there, but still, it’s better when it’s displayed here.
Great work on the page btw, well done admins (Y).
Are the reevaluation complete yet? Just asking as the last comment dated back to September.
I’ve made a bunch of changes and updates!
Thanks! Loving this site alot! 🙂
Is the reevaluation ready? I still have mixed feelings about innervate in aggro druid. Do you think it’s worth it to run it with teacher?
I second this comment! I’m eager to know what you guys want to do to the decks.
Can i put The Black Knight in any of these decks i just got him in a Pack
He’s not so great right now, and he doesn’t really fit into most of these decks.
I would say with all the Lich King running around these days, hes not so bad to run as a tech
Hello,
will you be making any changes to the budget and basic (0 dust decks) since crucial cards (like war axe) are being nurfed?
Yes, we’ll reevaluate these decks after the nerf!
is the reevaluation completed yet? :^)
I recently bought Karazhan and I wante dto inturduce Maelstrom Portal to the midrange shaman deck, what card should I take out?
Will this get an update after the druid nerfs? (:
Okay, they released what they’re gonna change:
https://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/21029448/upcoming-balance-changes-update-91-9-5-2017
– Innervate – Now reads: Gain 1 Mana Crystal this turn only. (Down from 2)
– Fiery War Axe – Now costs 3 mana. (Up from 2)
– Hex – Now costs 4 mana. (Up from 3)
– Murloc Warleader – Now reads: Your other Murlocs have +2 Attack. (Down from +2 Attack, +1 Health)
– Spreading Plague – Now costs 6 mana. (Up from 5)
Great post! Have nice day ! 🙂 crssw
Hi, I would like to make space in secret mage and elemental mage decks for Medivh and Frost Lich Jaina. What would it be better to cut out?
Thanks
Medivh can fit in pretty well to a Secret Mage deck, I would take out a Cryomancer as the freeze synergy in a Secret Mage deck, especially one without Frost Nova, is kinda bad (Cold Wraith’s stats justify its inclusion though they can also be substituted). Meanwhile, Frost Lich Jaina can replace a Faceless Summoner in the Elemental Mage deck, seeing as it is not necessary for such a deck and Frost Lich Jaina can easily generate minions with her Hero Power. I would even replace the second Faceless Summoner with a second Flamestrike in order to achieve more board clears and greater survivability.
Is there a chance there will be codes for copying the decks?
Thanks a lot!
Hey! If you click on the decks name, it will take you to a separate page for that deck where you can find the code.
Click on the deck title and it will take you to a page with the code.
Thank you Evident, I always love to read the budget section.
It’s great that you keep this updated and many players like me benefit enormously from this effort.
Another section I’d love to read, or something just to keep in consideration, is a selection of decks that uses only Classic + Un’Goro + KFT so that what we invest in term of dust will still be there in the next rotation.
Keep up the good work!
Hello, tahnk you for the decks and the great work. We beginners really apreciate it.
Just have a question. Of all of these budget decks, what is the best one?
I think Pirate Warrior, Evolve Shaman, and Token Druid are likely the best.
Having tested several of the decks, I second this. I’ll also say that Zoo Warlock has been performing surprisingly well for me.
well there is not a real answer to that question because people play differently however that pirate deck is a god one and it was used by amaz (a pro) he just added patches the pirate
These budgets are awesome, even reached rank 5 with the hunter list last season. Will be really really happy to see more budgets for Knights of the Frozen Throne. Good work for real, your efforts werent for nothing!
It’s awesome to hear that, I’m working on updating them. I even have some of my writers working on a bunch!
Thats awesome! By the way would you please write somewhere in the beginning of the page that the decks are ready when they are. Just checked and saw some decks are still being updated. Cant wait to play with them :D!
what is the best budget deck for farm gold ?
Whichever deck you need to complete quests, you make them accordingly
The arena is the best place for that. If you are a newer player, it is also the best place to learn about deck building, board control and tempo.
Also the arena evens the playing field and takes budget out of the equation. After all both of your decks are worth 150 gold.
For the elemental mage deck, if i have blazecallers, what do you think they would replace in the deck?
Replace the faceless summoners
i have 1600 dust what deck should i make
MILLHOUSE MAAANNNASTORM
Tinkmaster overspark
I want to make quest Rogue eventually but being free to play that could be sometime down the road. MY big challenge right now is dust to make these and I have cards that I’m not sure if I should DE them or not which would help out. I’m probably a good 300-400 dust short.
I am f2p as well, I have quite a few expensive decks. It really came down to rng for me, pulled a couple golden legionaries which DE for alot of f’n dust. I wouldnt DE any cards you dont have dups of for dust though. Never know when a new deck might come out. GL
I have around 1700 dust and I’m not sure if I should go for the warrior pirate or for the elemental shaman. The only legendary card in my possession is Baron Geddon, is it good to replace something for him or not?
Barron geddon is crap craft it and create pirate warrior
the Elemental Shaman deck is a solid one i have had a 12 game win streak going with it before starting to tweak it for the higher ranks
Thanks for posting!
This really helps out people who lack legendaries needed for better decks, but still provides a solid fallback option.
I’m having great success with the Elemental Mage deck, it’s a massive improvement over the disorganized rubbish I was playing with previously.
Keep up the great work!
No problem, glad it helped you!
I’d like to say that the elemental buff paladin listed in this article isn’t good. And doesn’t work, I built it and tried it and was hard stuck rank 10. The deck is too slow to beat aggro decks excluding pirate warrior, and isn’t good enough against other slow decks. I had extreme trouble against most meta decks.
I mention in the article that most of these decks aren’t going to get passed rank 10 very well. The Paladin list being one of them.
I just want to say thank you for putting the work into this section, it really helps us poor folks enjoy the game more! Even if you dont follow the list directly it definitely gives an idea of what a successful deck build looks like.
i was wondering if you can create another priest deck because c’thun decks arent seeing play since a long time maybe a budget silence priest would be better.
Here. Try this.
https://m.imgur.com/lauzRS3?r
You can replace Lyra with another card and the cost is around 2000 dust.
Hard to master but lots of fun.
Thanks for this compilation. It’s really appreciated.
I got Swamp King Dred yesterday out of a pack. What can i replace in the hunter deck with him?
personally i would get rid of both fireflys and add 1 more bat and dred
Yeah this is fine, you could also just cut the Ravasaur Runt.
Gollaka krawler
It’s a tech choice vs control; if you are playing a lot of control swap 1x golakka crawler for 1x Dred
What the fuck? How does adding Preparation help that Rogue deck?? The only spells you have are Eviscerate!! What the fuck???
I was referring to needing Preparation for the Quest Rogue deck, not the deck listed in this post.
The preparation is for the quest rouge and you are hoping to draw it before you complete the quest to play the quest the same turn you play the last minion to complete the quest.
Thanks for the awesome budget decks for every class! If you happen to have Leeroy, what card in the warrior deck would you replace?
i would drop a naga corsair. dont wanna jack up the curve too bad to get him in.
Naga Corsair would be one, you could also cut Acidic Swamp Ooze or Golakka Crawler.
For the pirate warrior deck – firefly.
Thank you for your nice effort to help . Great guide.
Great guide, thanks for the hard work of those less fortunate to not be able to use a lot of dust.
I always make Decks for my son who loves to play Hearthstone too.
These Budget Deck Guides are always a big help for me to make Decks for him with his current Card Collection.
Keep up the good work, it is much appreciated.
Thanks, glad to help. I hope your son is enjoying Un’Goro!
Hi admins,
Your site has fantastic articles delivered in a timely manner and it has become my favourite HS resource.
I find it a shame that with such a wealth of information it is rather hard to sort through. For example if an article I saw 2 weeks ago came back to mind I’d have to rifle through the site to find it, not knowing if it will be on page 3 or 5 or whatever.
Perhaps you can implement a “Table of Contents” of sorts, a little like the weekly roundup but just a permanent sidebar or the like where we can browse the headlines of articles for easy access?
Hey, I’m glad you like the site! I’ve been mulling over some design changes, I’ll see if I can fit something like this in.
Thanks for this guide I’ll try these decks soon.