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The Best Decks for Every Class and Analysis of the Early Hearthstone TITANS Meta

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

TITANS has taken Hearthstone by storm. The expansion is powerful and there are lots of new decks everywhere. Yet, it does not look completely overpowering, as some of the top old decks remain competitive. The Titans themselves fit into almost every deck, but games also end before or in spite of their appearance. Overall, this has been one of the strongest mid-year expansion launches when it comes to added power while not completely negating everything that has come before.

In this article, I will delve deeper into the first days of the TITANS meta, and look at what is going on with each class in the game, complete with sample decks that you can take to the ladder right away. We are still in the honeymoon period of a new expansion, and the meta will still change as the decks get more refined. I can already see tens of potential improvements to the most common lists, but those need to be tested before they can be endorsed in full. As always, craft with care!

Death Knight

The TITANS Death Knight set did not open many opportunities for the class. It’s Plagues or nothing. Indeed, Plague Death Knight has been a popular deck on the ladder on the first days of the new expansion, but the performance of the deck is quite mediocre. It seems to be stabilizing at a slightly above 50% win rate, so if you’re having fun with the deck, you can play it and maybe even climb the ladder slowly.

Unholy/Frost Plague Death Knight – #127 Legend (Lutero94) – TITANS

Deck Import

This has been the top-performing Plague Death Knight list on the first days. You have a good defensive toolkit, a lot of Discover options, and even Sylvanas, the Accused to steal some Titans for yourself. I love Sylvanas in this meta.

The other Death Knight archetypes have not received much attention yet. They all look viable, and possibly even better than the Plague list.

Blood Death Knight, for example, has embraced The Primus and also added Sylvanas, the Accused because Titans are cool, no matter whether you play them from your hand or steal them from your opponent.

XL Blood Control Death Knight – TITANS

Deck Import

Demon Hunter

Demon Hunter’s main theme in TITANS is card draw and synergies around that. So far, they have gone largely untested because there is not a lot of faith in the new cards being able to challenge the old staples Relic Demon Hunter and Outcast Demon Hunter. Outcast Demon Hunter carries on with the old list, but Relic Demon Hunter has been more eager to adopt some new tools.

Relic Demon Hunter – Edelweiss – TITANS

Deck Import

In this list, Edelweiss has included Runic Adornment, Jotun, the Eternal, and Argus, the Emerald Star. Especially Argus is a major improvement and should be a priority craft if you want to play this archetype. The other new cards are also doing fine.

One card that I am missing from this list is Astalor Bloodsworn because Astalor is still a serious force and one of the top cards in the decks where he is included. Prosecutor Mel'tranix would be a prime candidate to cut to make way for Astalor’s return.

There are some minor tweaks still to be made to Relic Demon Hunter, but it looks like the deck will continue to enjoy success in the new expansion with a couple of new tricks up its sleeve. The tweaks may end up being quite expensive, as it is mostly a question of switching some Legendary cards around. I think Argus and Astalor will be in the final version of the deck, together with some combination of Jotun, the Eternal, Photographer Fizzle, Xhilag of the Abyss, and Felerin, the Forgotten. I don’t think Prosecutor Mel'tranix will become a staple. If you want to play Relic Demon Hunter right now, use your existing cards when possible before crafting tools that have an uncertain future.

Druid

I had great expectations for Druid based on the theorycrafting event. For some reason, Druid has not received all that much attention with the live release. Perhaps Treants are not exciting enough of a theme? Because Treants are where it’s at. Druid is one of the few classes where their Titan plays no key role. Don’t get me wrong, Eonar, the Life-Binder is a wonderful card for a Ramp Druid deck. It’s just that no such deck currently exists. Druid still ramps a little, but it’s just to drop down a game-winning double-double Drum Circle before the opponent has enough mana to handle it.

Treant Druid – McBanterFace – TITANS

Deck Import

McBanterFace led the Treant invasion in the theorycrafting event, and he has continued to lead it on the live servers. This deck is all about that crazy swing turn with Taunt minions that completely stops aggro decks and destroys control decks before they can respond.

The most popular Druid deck on the ladder costs less than 2,000 Dust. Instead of pursuing one big swing turn, Treants can also be used more aggressively:

Aggro Treant Druid

Deck Import

Blood Treant is finally a real card. You play it together with Conservator Nymph for a nice 3/4 + 5/5 board for three mana. And some Health, but who counts that, anyway.

The deck is capable of climbing some of the ladder, but it begins to fail in Diamond. I think there are several potential improvements to the list, though, so I think this archetype will be one of the strongest budget decks in TITANS. In particular, Aquatic Form does very little in the deck and it is missing Drum Circle altogether. With some more testing and refinement, this will be good and cheap.

Hunter

Hunter looked formidable in the theorycrafting event, and it has not disappointed on the live servers. The Hunter Titan, Aggramar, the Avenger, comfortably fits into every Hunter deck in the game. If you’re a Hunter player, that is one safe craft already this early.

As a Hunter player, you have some sweet options available to you. The two main ones are the good old Hound Hunter (with Aggramar, of course!) and Secret Face Hunter. There are no stats for a regular Face Hunter, but I would not count that archetype out either.

It should be noted that Hunter has been this strong even though Always a Bigger Jormungar has been bugged: if you overkill the enemy Hero with it, it only deals the overkill damage and leaves your opponent alive! This is on Blizzard’s radar and should be fixed soon.

This is what Hound Hunter currently looks like:

Hound Hunter

Deck Import

Hound Hunter has always been able to absorb the best bits and pieces from new expansions to its ever-expanding roster of expensive cards. The deck costs almost 20,000 Dust by now, and that was not helped by the addition of Aggramar, the Avenger. At least Always a Bigger Jormungar and Titanforged Traps are a little less expensive additions. If you want to play with something old that yet includes something new, Hound Hunter still works great.

For some more straightforward (?) action, Secret Hunter has joined the fray:

Secret Face Hunter – #39 Legend (StarfallMW) – TITANS

Deck Import

Starstrung Bow promises some huge damage straight to the dome, but what has surprised me a little bit is that Aggramar, the Avenger is actually the better card even in this archetype. Really, Aggramar just goes into every Hunter deck.

Mage

The TITANS Mage set focuses on spell school synergies. The more spell schools, the merrier! And for the ones Mage does not natively have access to, you have Discover tools to find them too. As you play more different spell schools, your synergy cards gain power. In particular, Inquisitive Creation becomes a formidable board clear, and Sif, well, Sif is just going to sif all over your opponents as you blast them apart. Elemental Inspiration is not a bad card, but it is simply completely overshadowed by Sif’s dominance as a win condition.

Spell School Mage – #1 Legend (DreadEye) – TITANS (Updated)

Deck Import

While Norgannon has a more minor role to play in this deck, it is still one of the better cards in it. For the most part, if you have a Titan, you put a Titan into your deck.

There are more than a dozen versions of this deck. The early learnings are that Lady Naz'jar is still bad, Norgannon is good, and The Sunwell and Sir Finley, Sea Guide look interesting and need more data.

The other Mage archetypes have taken a back seat to the newcomer, but they are not dead. Burn Mage with Vexallus or Aegwynn, the Guardian still exists, and may yet prove to be faster than Sif. It looks like Sif is quite competitive though, and I think Sif will win because of her flexibility to answer various situations.

Mech Mage is also just waiting for people to start testing the effect of the new Mechs on the deck. The old list is still around and can win games on low ranks, but the spearhead of Mage testing has all been focused on the countless small variations of the spell school theme. Maybe you will pick Mech Mage up and show that it can be improved. There is still more to Mage than what we have seen so far.

Paladin

Poor Paladin got close to an unplayable main theme in their set. The Earthen are just bad. Like, really bad. I am surprised that they showed up on the surface bad.

However, Paladin as a class is fine. Pure Paladin is not poor at all, and TITANS brought a bunch of new Mechs to the game as well, and Mech Paladin is already showing signs of resurgence.

You can play the Pure Paladin list from the last expansion, but you can also go for a new twist. Thanks to Crusader Aura and Amitus, the Peacekeeper, Pure Dudes are now strong!

Amitus Dude Paladin

Deck Import

Amitus, the Peacekeeper is the strongest card in this deck, by the way. Yeah, those Titans are pretty good.

Mech Paladin is still going through a lot of experimentation, but this is the most up-to-date version of the archetype:

Mech Paladin – #182 Legend (Taki) – TITANS

Deck Import

Radar Detector continues to be the strongest card in Mech Paladin after more than one year. I think it might even be possible to build a budget version of this archetype as long as you have a pair of those Epics. Crusader Aura looks weak with Mechs, but other than that, the archetype still needs a lot more data to find the perfect build.

Priest

This iteration of Pogo-Hopper did not produce a meta tyrant, either. Astral Automaton looks weaker by the day. Dedicated attempts to use it and attempts to include it in a Control Priest shell have all failed.

Undead Priest is also struggling. You can add Aman'Thul into the deck, but it is not a perfect fit. Aman'Thul is strong enough to work even there, but it barely improves the deck.

That leaves Priest with only one option. We need the famous Hearthstone player Zetalot2 to save us, and he did:

XL Control Priest – #28 Legend (Zetalot) – TITANS

Deck Import

Priest has one of the strongest control toolkits currently in the game, including the ability to copy both their own – Creation Protocol – and their opponent’s – Power Chord: Synchronize – big win conditions. Shadow Word: Ruin can answer big threats early, and Aman'Thul adds even more late-game power to the deck. Control Priest is also the one true home for Ignis, the Eternal Flame.

Control Priest dearly loves its new cards, and you do not have to guess twice what is the most powerful card in the deck right now. Well, yes, it is indeed Aman'Thul. The leader of the Pantheon has taken leadership of Priest as well and is leading them to a control journey for TITANS.

Rogue

Many people doubted the TITANS Rogue set. In one sense, they were right. TITANS Rogue does not feel like traditional Hearthstone Rogue. You do not draw nearly as many cards nor do you need any better than a boomer APM. However, Rogue is a strong class and it still has some tricks up its sleeve.

Mech Rogue – #197 Legend (NoHandsGamer) – TITANS

Deck Import

The main Mech Rogue list makes no fancy moves to draw. It has Scrapbots and Mimiron, the Mastermind, which is totally bonkers. Mimiron’s Gadgets win games, and a lot of them. If you want to play Mech Rogue, Mimiron is the card you need to craft. You can live perfectly fine without V-07-TR-0N Prime, it is only the third-best Legendary card in the deck behind Mimiron and Ini Stormcoil. Ini has never had a home as good as Rogue, where she can work together with Lab Constructor to create truly miraculous boards.

Shaman

For some inexplicable reason, Blizzard will not let go of Overload as a mechanic. Yet, even TITANS has not been able to make Overload a thing. There are more and more great Overload cards, but the mechanic is inherently so bad that Blizzard will need to go to unprecedented lengths if they want to make it a meta option in Standard.

The best Shaman deck that you can play right now is Festival of Legends Totem Shaman. No new cards. Just totems.

I guess you really want to give new cards a try too though. Here, this Clark’s deck is the best I’ve got for you:

Nature Overload Shaman – #43 Legend (Clark) – TITANS

Deck Import

Just a word of warning, this deck currently sports a below-50% win rate. Only slightly below 50%, mind you! But yeah, things are not looking great for new Shaman cards. Golganneth, the Thunderer is great though. It would just need a good deck around it.

Warlock

Warlock is embracing its control side with the new set. Sargeras, the Destroyer is a great card that can permanently remove minions from the game and summon infinite threats, sometimes with Taunt. Mortal Eradication and Chaotic Consumption are useful control tools. However, the main way to win is to beat your opponent to a pulp, and TITANS helps with that too thanks to Forge of Wills and Loken, Jailer of Yogg-Saron.

Slower Control Warlock decks are slowly fading away and more proactive decks like this one are taking the spotlight:

Control Warlock – #75 Legend (Gaboumme) – TITANS

Deck Import

Amorphous Slime can bring out Thaddius, Monstrosity, who in turn can make Sargeras, the Destroyer cost only one mana while also acting as an activator for Forge of Wills to summon an 11/11 minion with Rush. I think you can see how this can be a powerful combination on turn six or seven. This is the main Warlock archetype right now.

There are also some Curse Warlocks around, and they have adopted many new cards too:

TITANS Curse Warlock

Deck Import

Would you believe it if I told you that Sargeras, the Destroyer is the best card in this deck? Having seen the performance of the other Titans, I guess that is quite easy to believe. In addition to Sargeras, the deck makes good use of Chaotic Consumption, Mortal Eradication, Thornveil Tentacle, and Drone Deconstructor that can enable a Defile all by itself.

Curse Warlock has been playable for a long time without being top-tier, and it looks like the deck will remain that way in TITANS as well. The power level has increased, but Curse Warlock got just enough tools to keep up with the arms race.

Warrior

We were promised a Control Warrior. Odyn, Prime Designate arrived at the game. But we’re dead if we try to play an eight-mana card that does nothing. Control Warrior looks bad. It looked bad in the theorycrafting event, and it certainly does not look any better in the more ruthless live meta. Maybe in the next expansion.

In the meanwhile, the best Warrior deck is Festival of Legends Enrage Warrior. No new cards are needed. Maybe you can fit in a Steam Guardian, but I’m not sure if it even improves the deck.

The most promising new Warrior deck is the Blackrock 'n' Roll Warrior that uses Steam Guardian to tutor and discount Blackrock 'n' Roll in order to play huge minions for the rest of the game. The deck is vulnerable to aggro decks and without enough Rush minions and board clears, it can also be vulnerable in the mid-game.

None of the decks that have enough stats about them look good. There are two approaches to overcome their shortcomings, but we’ll need more data to know if either works.

First, you can add more early-game minions to the deck, like FunkiMonki:

Blackrock Warrior – FunkiMonki – TITANS

Deck Import

This approach allows you to play multiple cards per turn, and hopefully turn the tide with numbers. It also still maintains some top-end threats.

Alternatively, you can add more proactive mid-to-late-game cards to the deck so that you lower the odds of not finding a suitable answer:

Old Guardian's Day 1 TITANS Blackrock ‘n’ Roll Warrior

Deck Import

I played this deck on the live ladder myself with some good success, but it is still early in the expansion, so the deck is not yet tested against refined opponents.

Conclusions

The early TITANS meta looks like a fun mix of old and new. We have Pure Paladin and Totem Shaman rocking their old lists and still doing great, we have Hound Hunter, Relic Demon Hunter, and Thaddius Warlock play recognizable archetypes that also make good use of new cards, and we have Sif Mage, Drum Druid, Mech Rogue, and Secret Hunter bringing brand new things to the meta. Those are currently the best decks in the game, but there is plenty of ground still to cover in TITANS, and we have not yet seen everything the expansion will have to offer!

Old Guardian

Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian

Check out Old Guardian on Twitter or on their Website!

Leave a Reply

3 Comments

  1. Strangiii
    August 4, 2023 at 1:26 am

    Lab Constructor nerf to 5 mana in 3, 2, 1
    Can’t see how that’s not going to happen.
    Also Mimiron health down to 4, at least if they want games to last longer than turn 5.

  2. Itsn
    August 4, 2023 at 12:17 am

    I haven’t looked at high legend or anything but I’m convinced nature shaman is only bad due to being high skill floor like Miracle rogue or naga mage.

  3. Banaani
    August 3, 2023 at 3:18 pm

    This is a weird expansion as most classes only got one deck archetype. Like Death Knight only got plagues, and the titan. That’s it. Is this because they added too many classes and now can’t develop two deck types for each class per expansion? And each deck is now more expensive as you need two epics per deck and the titans are so overpowered they are auto includes in all decks!