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Best Descent of Dragons Decks - Hearthstone

Our evolving guide to the very best Hearthstone decks to play in Descent of Dragons.

James Law avatar
Guide by James Law Former Guides Writer
Published on

Descent of Dragons has finally arrived, and with it we’ve been gifted a tonne of new decks, reworks to existing ones, and - of course - plenty of dragons.

A few Highlander decks are still knocking around, but there’s been a big influx of Galakrond-based decks climbing the meta. It’s all thanks to the new Invoke keyword which grants him many different hero powers, and in turn, a variety of forms.

To help you navigate the early stages of the new Descent of Dragons meta, we’ve put together a guide outlining the best meta and experimental decks. Expect many of these archetypes to change over time, as well as the deck lists too.

Once the meta settles we’ll update this page with new and revised deck lists, and keep you up to date with all the tweaks. To stay on top of things, make sure you bookmark this page!

The usual advice applies for this expansion:

  • Use these deck lists as starting points in the early weeks, and let the improved deck builder fill in anything you’re missing from your collection.
  • If you’re not convinced just yet and want to wait for the meta to settle, we can help you with that too. Our Budget Descent of Dragons Decks page is up and running, so head on over there to try some new stuff out while the meta settles down.
  • If you’re after a quick overview of the ever-shifting meta, our Deck Tier List is a perfect resource for keeping up with things.

With that out of the way, here's our round-up of the best Descent of Dragons decks. Again, we’re always refining them, so keep an eye out for changes:

Druid Decks

Druid has taken a bit of a hit this expansion. The Token Druid deck is now based on the new Treant synergies brought into Descent of Dragons, and it sees a decent win rate, but other decks have overtaken it big time.

Other Druid presences in the meta include Dragon Ramp Druid and Quest Druid. Dragons have been a pretty big part of this latest expansion of course, but it appears the Druid class just couldn’t keep up with the faster, more value-oriented decks. Quest Druid didn’t receive anything at all in the expansion though, so we’re not seeing it played as much. Even so, it looks like it’s got a lower win rate than in Saviors of Uldum, but you’ll likely catch some enemies off-guard.

Meta

Hunter Decks

Hunter has had a good old time in Descent of Dragons, continuing on from the class’ strong run in Saviors of Uldum.

We’ve got multiple strong Highlander decks, as well as an improved version of Quest Hunter and a new Dragon archetype in a midrange/aggro mold.

The best decks make great use of Zul'jin’s huge Battlecry, and Hunter’s other tools gained have been a bit more understated in Descent of Dragons. Most of the decks have been bolstered subtly, but the Dragon package has potential in numerous decks. Stormhammer is a particularly powerful card, losing no Durability when you have a Dragon in play which allows you to keep dealing damage to your enemy without fear of running out.

The Quest has received Shu'ma, the constant value generator, and Veranus has offered a decent AOE board-weakening effect for your opponent, although its requirement for a follow-up makes it less powerful than it seems.

Meta

Outliers

Mage Decks

Before Descent of Dragons, it looked like Mage might be on the rise once again, with its Highlander archetype surging back to the fore like it was before Luna’s Pocket Galaxy got nerfed. Unfortunately for Jaina, this didn’t quite pan out. Highlander Mage is still doing alright, and Dragonqueen Alexstrasza is always a welcome addition. Malygos, Aspect of Magic has worked fine too, and a Dragon package has been added into the deck. In many other metagames, Mage would do extremely well, however at the moment the power level of the decks you’ll run into is just too high. You can still find success with one of these Mage decks though, and it’s well worth giving them a go - they’re fun decks and enjoyable to get to grips with.

Meta

Outliers

Paladin Decks

Dragon Paladin is so close to being a thing. Annoyingly, despite the developers’ best efforts, it’s never quite got to the top of the meta. Even so, it’s been pretty fun to try out so far, and the Paladin class’ various Dragons and unique mechanics has led to some decent decks, despite their failure to completely dominate the meta.

Murloc Paladin is sticking around, as is Holy Wrath Paladin’s OTK potential. A fun one to try is Pure Paladin though - a Paladin deck that requires only Paladin cards, no neutrals. These are all performing solidly in the meta so it’s well worth giving them a shot.

Meta

Outliers

Priest Decks

Thought Priest would get back into the meta for Descent of Dragons? Unlucky pal. Combo Priest is still kicking about with a middling win rate, but all the class’ additions haven’t quite cut the mustard. The Galakrond for Priest isn’t nearly as good as other class’, despite its potential for infinite value. Galakrond, the Unspeakable just doesn’t have a deck it fits in at the moment. Regardless of this though, Murozond, the Infinite is a massively fun card to play with, and it’s worth the time and effort if you’ve already got the cards.

Meta

Outliers

Rogue Decks

Rogue received some pretty cool tools in Descent of Dragons. Galakrond, the Nightmare is one of the more enjoyable of the Galakrond cards to play with, despite the deck’s occasional struggles to draw the right card at the right time.

Necrium Apothecary has turned out to work out great in Rogue, as its Combo effect allows the class to draw out a Mechanical Whelp and gain a big wedge of stats if the Deathrattle can be triggered. Combined with Necrium Blade, you might end up with a couple of 7/7s on turn 4 ready to hit face. It’s going to lose out pretty badly after the Standard format rotation, so make use of Necrium Apothecary and all things associated with it while you can. Maybe one day, a Waxadred deck will be viable too.

Meta

Outliers

Shaman Decks

Now this is where the magic happens. Shaman’s Galakrond deck is ludicrously powerful, and took over the meta almost immediately upon the release of Descent of Dragons. It’ll be nerfed soon, but the impact it’s had on the metagame can’t be overstated. Summoning two 8/8 minions with Rush, as well as getting a 5/2 Claw and being able to replay that all with Shudderwock means Galakrond, the Tempest has a hugely powerful impact on the game.

Murlocs are still kicking around too, although there’s very little new or interesting in that deck. Murloc Shaman does find itself as one of the cheaper decks available though, so if you’re strapped for cash then give it a go.

Meta

Warlock Decks

For Warlock, it’s Zoo or bust. We’ve not seen a whole lot of weird decks coming out of the class, despite the powerful cards it received from the latest expansion.

Quest Warlock, formerly known as Plot Twist Warlock, is unfortunately still seeing some really low win rates, but we’d recommend giving it a shot anyway considering how satisfying it can be when things go right. The control tools Warlock received haven’t been quite enough to push a hard control Warlock archetype, but the likes of Valdris Felgorge and Zzeraku the Warped have given the class the chance to bring back the old favourite Handlock.

Galakrond, the Wretched is zoo-focused, but with a lot of low-powered Demons in Standard format at the moment, it’s hard to reliably summon big minions with the card’s Battlecry, meaning it’s mostly useful exclusively for board-flooding purposes in a pinch.

Meta

Warrior Decks

Pirate Warrior is back, to the delight of aggro fans and Patches, the Pirate (probably). The new Legendary Weapon Ancharrr gives Pirate Warrior the chance to go all-out aggressive and concede if it doesn’t work. Skybarge is another fun little addition that lets Warriors highroll into an easy win or suffer a shoddy defeat depending on their draws.

Warrior’s Galakrond, the Unbreakable is doing fairly well too, finding its own archetype within the Pirate mold, but also in its own aggro style. At least the ladder isn’t filled with Dr. Boom, Mad Genius and Control Warrior anymore, right?

Meta

Outliers

That wraps up the latest edition of our guide to the best Descent of Dragons decks for launch week.

We'll be continually adding in new decks and guides to this article over the coming weeks, and will make sure the articles contain the very best new deck lists. Keep this page bookmarked for all the latest.

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About the Author
James Law avatar

James Law

Former Guides Writer

James was part of Rock Paper Shotgun's guides team from 2020-2021, bringing his expert knowledge about FPS games, Hearthstone, Path Of Exile and more from his time at Metabomb. He's also a dab hand at Hitman 3, and making his own jam - things which may or may not be related to one another.
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