Top 3 Decks of Season 21

Everyone assiduously works at perfecting their given craft: carpenters strive to become better builders; authors endeavor to become improved writers; Hearthstone players try to improve their game. It is within the latter that everyone reading this article wants to improve upon and with close to seven hundred cards and five expansions, educating oneself on the intricacies of the game can become an arduous task. Much like the carpenters hammer and the author’s pen, I’ve provided a tool for those who wish to improve their craft and within this article is a concentrated resource that will help you become the Hearthstone player you’ve always dreamed of! Just kidding! It’s only a top 3 list I came up with in less than an hour and then decided to post. Enjoy!

Secret Paladin:
Ever since the demise of the Patron Warrior, the Secret Paladin has been anointed the new broken deck of the ladder. It has dominated since its manifestation and many have misconstrued it as being over powered because of its prolonged success. If you examine it closer though, you’d realize it’s not as broken as many perceive it to be and in fact it doesn’t see as much play in the highest tiers on ladder. Overall, it is a strong deck but a deck that can be beaten, learning the secrets combinations and playstyle help greatly when going up against this wraith-like juggernaut.

Good Against:
The reason this deck has consistently been at the top, week in and week out is because it competes with virtually every archetype within the game. It doesn’t dominate any given class but it also doesn’t get dominated by anything. If you’re looking for a solid deck to climb through the ranks with then this your deck; it’ll give you a solid 60% win rate and it’s fun to play, what else could you ask when trying to grind your way to the top?

Bad Against:
Like I’ve already iterated, this deck doesn’t get dominated by anything. It does have an unfavorable matchup against Freeze Mage which has the ability to outlast the Secret Paladin’s devastating turn-6 play. Luckily though, no one plays Freeze Mage anymore because of its deficiencies against Druids and Warriors and its playstyle being thoroughly mundane.

Aggro Shaman:
I can’t believe it myself: a Shaman archetype has made the top-3 list for two consecutive seasons! A once forgotten class has finally come into relevancy and thanks to the Hunters demise, the aggro Shaman has become the popular deck choice for competitive free to play Hearthstoners. Essentially, it’s a face deck with more spells which unfortunately to me, is not a fun way to play the game. I enjoy a good back in forth with minions on board and I don’t like walking a tight rope and just getting by with 5-health points left and nasty taste in my mouth because I felt like I just sodomized my opponent.

Good Against:
Much like the Secret Paladin: Aggro Shaman competes with every archetype. Due to its explosive spells and burst potential, the Aggro Shaman can melt faces in a matter of turns. Just go to the face with the early game minions and unleash hell in the mid-late game with your plethora of stockpiled spells. Some of the most popular meta decks out their like Control Priest, Oil Rogue, and Paladin don’t stand a chance, so if you’re looking for that special deck to get over that last hurdle, this might just be it!

Bad Against:
Because it is such an explosive deck, Aggro Shaman can falter easily after it has blown its metaphorical load of damage. Super swarmy decks like Face Hunter and Zoolock can sometimes out damage the Aggro Shaman and super slow decks like Control Warrior can withstand the early game onslaught. So if you’re going up against a lot of these decks try teching in some beefier minions to add some “curve-consistency” to the deck.

Control Priest:
Priest decks are some of the most fun to play. The ability to drop powerful minions and then heal them with the hero power is the quintessential essence of what makes the Priest class so fun to play. New cards like the Museum Curator and Entomb have elevated this deck to the top tier and its late game potential is rivaled by none, making this a slow but consistent and fun deck to play on ladder.

Good Against:
Paladins and Druids, two of the most popular classes on ladder, get absolutely curb stomped by this deck. The ability to sustain early and clear the board late makes this a perfect matchup against those classes. Just make sure you don’t waste valuable resources early and you should have little problems transitioning into the mid-late game stages against any class.

Bad Against:
Unfortunately, this deck also gets curb stomped by two other very popular decks on the ladder right now: Aggro Shaman and Maly/Reno Warlock. This deck essentially feasts on the opponents minions and if the deck doesn’t have any/ lacks good ones, then the Control Priest will falter because its main win condition is using the opponent’s resources.