Guardian Druid deck list guide - Forged in the Barrens - Hearthstone (April 2021)
If anyone has a Guardian Ape reference, make it here.
Guardian Druid came about as a new deck in Scholomance Academy, built around the Guardian Animals card. It was so strong that the spell got nerfed to 8 mana, but the ability to summon two 5-cost Beasts is extremely powerful.
The spell might sound situational, but given the amount of powerful 5 mana Beasts, Guardian Animals is a great card to build a deck around. Lake Thresher, Teacher's Pet, and Twilight Runner are the champs here, offering AOE damage, Taunt, and card draw respectively. This combination, along with Survival of the Fittest and the Darkmoon Faire's Corrupt mechanics, give Guardian Druid a lot of ways to deal big damage.
Guardian Druid deck list and strategy
Here is the best version of Guardian Druid available to play in Hearthstone right now.
| Druid | Neutral |
|---|---|
| 2 x Lightning Bloom | 1 x Malygos the Spellweaver |
| 2 x Nature Studies | |
| 2 x Solar Eclipse | |
| 1 x Lunar Eclipse | |
| 2 x Wild Growth | |
| 1 x Thickhide Kodo | |
| 2 x Overgrowth | |
| 2 x Teacher's Pet | |
| 2 x Twilight Runner | |
| 1 x Forest Warden Omu | |
| 2 x Nourish | |
| 2 x Celestial Alignment | |
| 2 x Druid of the Plains | |
| 2 x Cenarion Ward | |
| 2 x Guardian Animals | |
| 2 x Survival of the Fittest |
Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.
Deck Import ID: AAECAZICBKPRA4ngA7XsA7WKBA3ougOSzQObzgO60AOT0QPe0QPw1AOK4AOk4QO+7APA7AOJnwTanwQA
General strategy
Guardian Druid is a fun one to pilot. It's centred around drawing out your big plays in the mid-game, but you can survive and overwhelm your enemy late on with the various spells and buffs available in this deck. In particular, Survival of the Fittest is an absolute banger and can carry you to victory with giant minions and a huge amount of longevity.
Early game: Survive at first. You don't have a huge amount to challenge the board early on, but your ramp cards should be able to help with that. Aggro is tough, but you can go Nature Studies into an early Overgrowth if you draw well. Otherwise, just stay on board with abilities like your Hero Power and gain mana ramp.
Mid game: If you get the chance to Coin/Lightning Bloom out Guardian Animals then do so as soon as possible. Along with an Overgrowth you might be able to retake board control with ease thanks to a Rushing Lake Thresher, or you could even draw more cards thanks to Twilight Runner.
At this point, you might just be able to completely roll your opponent. If you have minions on board and have ramped your mana a bit, Survival of the Fittest might seal the deal. Alternatively, Strongman becomes 0 mana when you Corrupt it, making a giant wall.
Late game: Even if the pressure isn't too much for your opponent to handle, you should've taken a chunk out of their resources or health. After this, every single one of your minions will be giant, and you always have the bonus late-game option of Y’Shaarj, the Defiler to get ready-corrupted copies of your Corrupt minions, so you can fill the board again with Carnival Clowns, buffed up by Survival of the Fittest.
More great Druid guides:
- 1. Best Budget Decks - Hearthstone: Best Budget Decks for Ashes of Outland
- 2. Tier List - Hearthstone deck tier list (Ashes of Outland)
- 3. Embiggen Druid - Embiggen Druid deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
- 4. Token Druid - Token Druid deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
- 5. Treant Druid - Treant Druid deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
- 6. Quest Druid - Quest Druid deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
Guardian Druid Mulligan guide
These are the cards you’ll want to have in hand at the start of the match when playing Guardian Druid:
- 1. Overgrowth: Always a good keep, Overgrowth sets you up for some big plays later on.
- 2. Guardian Animals: Despite its high cost, Guardian Animals can do amazingly to win you the game early on.
- 3. Strongman: A surprisingly good card to hold on to, you can discount it to 0 by Corrupting it.
Guardian Druid tips, card combos and synergies
Keep an eye out for these little tips when playing Guardian Druid:
- Teacher's Pet, Lake Thresher, and Twilight Runner are the three minions you'll be whacking out with Guardian Animals - remember they get Rush so you can trigger their bonus effects immediately.
- Overflow heals not only you, but your opponent and all minions on board too - don't put them out of lethal range!
- Remember to play out Anubisath Defender after casting an expensive spell. It's a 0 mana 3/5 with Taunt (or more when combined with Survival of the Fittest!).
- Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate is a great card to play late, but it’s often best to wait until you’re in a sticky situation, as he can get you out of it.
- Carnival Clown can grow to a board of 12/12 Taunts if you Corrupt it and use two Survival of the Fittests on it.
- If you discount a spell with Nature Studies, it won’t trigger Corrupt when the cost is the same as the card you’re trying to Corrupt, so be careful.