Best Hearthstone Classes January 2019
Here is a look at the best classes in Hearthstone right now, as well as some of their best decks.
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Hearthstone has a wide variety of classes for players to choose from. Each class is based on a World of Warcraft class, all of which are based on classic fantasy archetypes. This means anyone should be able to find a class in Hearthstone that they can relate to.
Be warned, however, not all classes are on a level playing field. Due to the nature of balance in competitive card games, every expansion there will be certain classes that simply outperform the others in terms of win-rate. Here is a look at the best classes in Hearthstone right now, as well as some of their best decks.
Hunter
Hunter is by far the winner of the Rastakhan’s Rumble expansion which was released on December 4. The addition of Hunter Hero card Zul’jin has catapulted the class into top tier territory. All 76 players who attended the European wing of the Hearthstone Championship Tour this month brought a Hunter deck. But what exactly is it that makes Hunter so powerful in its current state?
Zul’jin is a 10 mana cost Hero card that awards five armor when played. Zul’jin also has a Battlecry that causes you to cast all spells you’ve played in the game with random targets. Zul’jin sees the most play in Secret and Spell Hunter, which are Hunter’s most successful decks.
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Since Secret and Spell Hunter both focus on using spells to amass a board full of minions while also taking out your opponent’s threats, playing a late game Zul’jin can be devastating. You essentially force your opponent into a position where they have to get rid of every threat you’ve already thrown at them again. The value generated by Zul’jin is some of the best value in the game.
Since most of the Hero cards rotate out with the Frozen Throne expansion in April, Zul’jin will become even more powerful. Many speculate that more Hero cards will be added in April for the other classes with whatever expansion we get with the rotation. Hopefully that’s true, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
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Paladin
If you’re playing competitive ladder and you aren’t playing against Hunter, you’re probably playing against Paladin. This class has been the most successful in the game since the release of the Witchwood last April thanks to the addition of the Odd and Even deck archety
Numerous Paladin decks have been nerfed over the course of the past year yet Odd and Even both always seem to recover. The improved Hero Power that Odd Paladin gets is too much for most classes to deal with unless they get good removal early on. Even then, both Odd and Even Paladin can rebuild their board faster than any other decks in the game.
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Odd Paladin has the luxury of the improved Hero Power, which allows players to summon two Silverhand Recruits instead of one. Even Paladin has the ability to summon a Recruit for just one mana. Couple this with the fact that both decks are full of low-cost minions and spells that allow you to buff those minions and you can see why decks that even have fantastic board clear would struggle against the continued onslaught.
Odd Paladin is a cheaper option than Even Paladin and you might even say it’s a bit faster. Even Paladin has a few more borderline Control elements with the addition of packages like Pyromancer Equality and Sunkeeper Tarim. Even Paladin also has more late game value minions with the inclusion of cards like the Lich King. Make no mistake, however, Even Paladin is still very much an aggressive deck.
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Priest
Priest is a deck that surprised everyone after the first few weeks of Rastakhan’s Rumble. Though the class is not as popular as Hunter or Paladin at the moment, it is very successful thanks to how well it plays against both of those classes.
Control is one of the most fun archetypes within Hearthstone. The idea of a Control deck is usually to outplay your opponent by answering every threat they have and then decimating them in the late game once you’ve run them dry. The issue for most Control decks in the current meta, is they can’t make it to the late game against classes like Paladin and Hunter.
What Priest is able to do that most other classes can’t is stay alive longer thanks to its built-in early game healing. Thanks to priest Hero Power, it is able to survive the early onslaught better than other classes. Most Control Priest lists also run high-value early game minions that your opponent will have to get rid of instead of attacking your face.
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An unanswered Northshire Cleric paired with Power Word: Shield can be a nightmare for aggro decks. The newest Dragon variation of Control Priest also runs Duskbreaker, which is some of the lowest cost board clear in the game. Duskbreaker allows you to deal three damage to all other minions as long as you have another Dragon in your hand.
Most Control Priest lists run the Shadowreaper Anduin win condition. This means you’ll be stalling until late game and then using your buffed-up Hero Power to blast your opponent in the face until they’re finished.
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If you wanted to play super competitively, now isn’t the best time ever in terms of class choice. Thankfully, so many of the cards that are used in meta decks right now will be gone come April. Everything from Knights of the Frozen Throne, Ungoro, and Kobolds will no longer be legal in Standard play.
This means we can expect whatever expansion comes next to impact the meta game in a big way. Hopefully this will lead to other classes being more viable for the remainder of 2019.