The Echoes of the Infinite mini-set is here, and it is once again time to get excited about Hearthstone, or is it? New cards always promise new decks and new fun experiences, but two days in, we are seeing more echoes of 2025 than echoes of a bright future.
2025 Hearthstone had a massive power-level problem. Whether it has been a soft reset being pursued by the designers or something else, the expansions of 2025 have fallen flat one after another, requiring major buff patches to make them attractive. Even the latest expansion, Across the Timeways, was basically fully relaunched in the first balance patch that massacred old decks that were still dominating the meta.
We are now in 2026, but Hearthstone is still living the Standard year of 2025. The Standard rotation only happens with the first full expansion of the year, and I am placing all my hopes on that one. The power level has now been lowered. The cards from 2025 will get a new chance when the sets from 2024 are gone. But Echoes of the Infinite is still part of 2025 from Hearthstone’s perspective, and it is the last weak set we have to slog through or hope that Blizzard rescues with a patch.
In its launch state, Echoes of the Infinite is the one of the least essential Hearthstone mini-sets of all time. And that is saying a lot, because mini-sets in general have struggled to find their spot in the meta. The contrast to one year ago could not be higher, because back then we got the StarCraft mini-set that was the strongest mini-set of all time and even too meta-defining.
Most mini-sets have at least had some potent Legendary cards that make them more enticing, but Echoes of the Infinite breaks with this tradition by placing most of its power in a few common cards. Chronikar for Aggro Demon Hunter is the sole exception, and while the card is fine, it does not look mandatory so far, even for its own archetype. As an upside, this means that you can acquire most of the top cards easily from card packs even without purchasing the mini-set itself. But on the other hand, the Standard rotation may make more cards playable, so perhaps you will need the mini-set in the long term anyway.
Now that I got all of that out of my system, let’s take a look at the new cards that do see play.
Imbue Rogue – Popular, But Weak?
The most popular new archetype from the mini-set is without a doubt Imbue Rogue. Eventuality and Jagged Edge of Time have made Imbue fully accessible for Rogue, and you can now get cheap or free minions from other classes and even Rewind them if you don’t like what you get, all from your Imbued 1-cost Hero Power. Just think of the value!
This randomness-meets-tempo approach has proven to be attractive in the early days of the new mini-set, and it also hits the sweet spot of for-fun archetypes: while it cannot reliably hit a 50% win rate, it is also not that far from it, so you win enough to tolerate the performance level if you enjoy the gameplay.
There are many variants of the archetype, and Elise versions seem to be the best-performing ones. The six-mana slot is hard for the deck to fill, and Gnomelia, S.A.F.E. Pilot is an excellent and affordable option to secure a functional Elise. The other main option is Opu the Unseen, which is not as readily available.
- Format: raptor
- Season: season-142
- Posted By:
11,520
Sideboard
Good for experiencing the Rogue Imbue effect, less good if you want to climb.
Aura Paladin – The Winner of the Mini-Set
Aura Paladin was already a viable deck, and the mini-set has made it blossom with the addition of Acceleration Aura. While the text of the card is not exactly clear about it (given that previous Auras count your current turn), you will get additional mana for three turns from the card. This acceleration allows this midrange deck to be that much faster and has given the deck a clear performance boost to become one of the absolute best decks on the ladder.
- Format: raptor
- Season: season-142
- Player:
- 15,460
Sideboard
Dragon Warrior and New Tools
Dragon Warrior received several potential upgrades in the mini-set: Time-Twisted Seer, Dimensional Weaponsmith, and Prescient Slitherdrake.
The early data indicate that Time-Twisted Seer is unlikely to make the cut and Dimensional Weaponsmith‘s fate is still uncertain, but Prescient Slitherdrake is very good. A 4-mana 6/9 Elusive is a lot of stats that early. Its effectiveness decreases rapidly as the game goes on, but if you are able to land it on turn 4 or 5, you can expect good things to happen.
Overall, Dragon Warrior is a solid deck for the meta right now.
- Format: raptor
- Season: season-142
- Posted By:
- 5,520
Bubbling Under: Demon Hunter with Broxigar or Chronikar
Demon Hunter has not quite reached the popularity of the above three decks, but it also received interesting new tools from the mini-set: Press the Advantage and Remnant of Rage are strong cards, and both of them are dual-class cards, too (DH/Druid and DH/DK)! Demon Hunter has access to both and can use them to good effect. Demon Hunter also received one of the mini-set Legendary cards, and it is so far the strongest of them: Chronikar. That said, it doesn’t look mandatory, so if you can’t afford the whole mini-set, you won’t be losing much.
Demon Hunter can use these new cards in at least two different archetypes, either a Broxigar list with the dual-class cards or an aggro list that uses the new Legendary and optionally the other new tools, especially Press the Advantage.
- Format: raptor
- Season: season-142
- Player:
- 6,400
- Format: raptor
- Season: season-142
- Player:
- 11,340
Remnant of Rage in Death Knight
Remnant of Rage looks like a card that will appear in a lot of decks in both Demon Hunter and Death Knight. In Death Knight, it has found its way into Blood/Unholy Control as well as Frost/Unholy Aggro. So far, Blood/Unholy Control looks like the stronger of the two, and one of the strongest decks on the ladder overall.
- Format: raptor
- Season: season-142
- Posted By:
- 17,280
Sideboard
- Format: raptor
- Season: season-142
- Posted By:
- 8,520
Sideboard
No New Cards Needed
While some of the top archetypes have adopted some new cards from the mini-set, many of the best decks on the ladder did not pick up anything new. In particular, Cliff Dive Demon Hunter, Hagatha Shaman, and Protoss Priest are excellent decks that use no new cards. You can also play variants of the other decks without any of the new cards and do just fine.
- Format: raptor
- Posted By:
- 12,040
Sideboard
- Format: raptor
- Season: season-142
- Player:
- 14,440
Sideboard
- Format: raptor
- Posted By:
- 9,400
What Next?
Echoes of the Infinite seems like a pretty weak mini-set. Maybe more things can still be figured out, but so far, the main results of the mini-set have been clear improvements to the win rates of Aura Paladin, Broxigar Demon Hunter, and Aggro Demon Hunter. Yet, none of them are dominant on the ladder; their improved performance is just a minor twist in the grand scheme of things. Imbue Rogue is very popular, but it’s mediocre at best. And other decks running new cards (such as Dragon Warrior and Blood/Unholy Death Knight) are in a similar meta spot compared to their pre-mini-set versions.
I guess expecting another StarCraft-level mini-set was not realistic. It looks like Blizzard had a goal of resetting the power level of the game in 2025, and the cosmetics sales saw them through the year with no loss in revenue. It is not fun to be looking forward to a new release to save us for months and months, but my honest impression of 2025 and this final piece of it is that Blizzard has a lot to prove when the Standard rotation arrives. If they can deliver with the first set of 2026, I will still second-guess whether this transition could have been achieved in some other way, but I will have a fun year ahead. If they fail the first full set of 2026, I don’t know what they are doing.
While waiting for the next set, I hear that Paladin and Demon Hunter are fun this time of year. And if you don’t care too much about climbing efficiently, Imbue Rogue gives you a lot of random stuff to play with.
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
