The Evolution of Archetypes In Rastakhan's Rumble - New Cards & Decks Spotlight

The Evolution of Archetypes In Rastakhan's Rumble - New Cards & Decks Spotlight

Rastakhan's Rumble brought us plenty of new, exciting cards to improve archetypes of the past, present, and future. Today we're highlighting archetypes you can play right now in Hearthstone's latest expansion and what new cards make them shine.

Druid

Our ferocious yet cuddly friends recieved some important cards this expansion. Da Undatakah brings more reliability through additional ways to win with Taunt Druid (Hadronox + Astral Tiger on him is huge for power swings) and Beast Druid received quite a few tools to improve it. Oondasta is a major force on the board, or you could bring out your Ironhide Direhorn a turn early with rush thanks to the addition of Stampeding Roar.

It's also worth mentioning the addition of hero attack interaction in Druid, though it hasn't yet begun to shine. Pounce, Savage Striker (removal!), and Gonk, the Raptor alongside his Spirit of the Raptor need to still be figured out.

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Druid Archetypes

Hunter

Hey mon! Hunters are looking very strong this expansion thanks to our new troll friend Zul'jin. We've seen a surge in Spell Hunter play (and winrates!) which has been a dream of many players for years. There are three main archetypes aspiring Hunters should look at - Spell Hunter, Deathrattle Hunter, and Beast Hunter. Hunters were very lucky in Rastakhan's Rumble, a mix of new and old! Though really, you should just join Team Zul'jin - let's turn the ladder into a hunting party!

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Hunter Archetypes

Mage

Mages ended up in our Rastakhan's Rumble Community Compendium Top 10 Cards with the addition of Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk and we weren't wrong - it's amazing. Hero Power interaction helped Odd Mage power itself into the top with some additional help from Blast Wave. Those also helped out another popular deck from our casting friends - Big Spell Mage.

The class also ended up with some Elemental additions thanks to Scorch, Arcanosaur, and Elemental Evocation but they have yet to see play. It does show though that Elemental Mage may survive the next set rotation, even if it will have a different playstyle.

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Mage Archetypes

Paladin

Although we're still seeing Odd Paladin at the high end of the ladder without any changes since Witchwood, that's doesn't mean there hasn't been innovation with the class. The biggest addition to the lineup, OTK DK Paladin, is thanks to two Rastakhan powerhouses - High Priest Thekal and Shirvallah, the Tiger. When combined with plentiful healing Paladins have access to through weapons and the new Time Out! spell, you get really efficient board control without taking damage! All of that when combined with copious amounts of Divine Shield, Paladins are making incredibly valued trades against even the fiercest of minions.

Even Paladin got a bit of love too though with the additions of Spirit of the Tiger and Mojomaster Zihi. Using your Spirit you can bring out beefy 4/4 minions after casting Blessing of Kings on something you already have on board (hey dudes!) or through wiping out your opponent's board via Consecration. You can pull off some pretty crazy stuff late-game by using Mojomaster alongside that, giving yourself good board presence that your opponent won't be able to easily respond to due to the lack of mana, overwhelming them.

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Paladin Archetypes

Priest

Bwonsamdi's Spirit of the Dead has been an entertaining addition to the Priest lineup. If your opponent isn't able to get rid of it, they've got some important decisions to make with regards to your board. The synergy with Zerek's Cloning Gallery of Boomsday fame is especially entertaining with you being able to add minions right back to your deck and popping them on out again with their effects intact. It's really led to Clone-themed Priest decks to have great success.

Outside of that though we don't have much going on with Priest right now. If you want to experiment with some of the other Priest cards, Surrender to Madness could very easily be paired up with Prince Keleseth for some lethal low-cost minions, or you could always give those spell-heavy control Priest decks some minion taunt love with Grave Horror.

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Priest Archetypes

Rogue

Yarrr Harr! Pirates got some serious love and three times the Patches the Pirate with the addition of Captain Hooktusk. When combined with Ticket Scalper you've got a recipe for that oh-so-desirable late-game card draw in Pirate Rogue. You can kick things up a notch with Cannon Barrage if you want to have some of that fun factor we had back in the Witchwood's Cannoneer Monster Hunt.

When you really look at it, the entire theme of Rogue in this set was Pirates with the exception of Gurubashi Hypemon, though he is certainly close enough to them to be considered an honorary Pirate. Raiding Party is another one of those cards that has been invaluable in a Pirate's arsenal and even has amazing potential with the bane of players, Kingsbane. It'll be a shame when Kingsbane leaves us in April.

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Rogue Archetypes

Shaman

Shamans were blessed with plenty of class-specific low-cost cards in Rastakhan's Rumble which have brought additional synergies to Overload, Battlecry, and Evolve. We're going to be primarily looking at the Overload flavor since it gets some crazy value through the new Spirit of the Frog. By using this card, it lets us reliably draw more powerful cards from our deck, strengthening what you already have on the board. Maybe that's additional tokens through Thunderhead, huge amounts of stats for Unbound Elemental, or some extra damage from our face through Likkim. Whatever the case, you are also going to be able to get our cards back next turn (provided there is 6 mana sitting around of course) through froggy Krag'wa, the Frog. SeemsGood

Shaman also ended up with a nice new neutral card, Murloc Tastyfin. It provides the class with some much needed draw in the aggro oriented deck and then when you throw in a Mojomaster Zihi into the mix you end up with a way to stomp out those pesky late-game decks and stick to our plan. Shudderwock of course also makes an appearance - how else are you going to flood the board with beautiful mrgl grgls?

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Shaman Archetypes

Warlock

Warlocks saw the addition of cards that played well into Discardlock and Zoolock. Zoo got frighteningly awesome with the addition of Grim Rally, the one new card that was only really needed to be added to the archetype. That's not the only thing from the expansion seeing play in Zoo though! Saronite Taskmaster which has also found its way into Odd Paladin variants has some beautiful stats for its cost. We've also seen success with Spirit of the Bat (works nicely with Grim Rally) and Scarab Egg (yay tokens!) in Zoo which makes it an exciting time to be a Warlock player.

On the other side of things, Discardlock got mega-awesome additions. Soulwarden helps us bring back cards we got rid of, High Priestess Jeklik can put infinite copies of itself into your hand, Reckless Diretroll gives some solid defence options, and Shriek is a nice board clear. That's not to say all are being played together in a package, that has yet to be seen, but Jeklik and Diretroll have found their way into a deck with Lakkari Sacrifice.

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Warlock Archetypes

Warrior

Which finally brings us to Warrior. Our plate-wearing friends are seeing success with Baku the Mooneater in Odd Warrior. The deck makes use of the many Dragons and Dragon synergies added during Rastakhan's Rumble to become a powerhouse. What are those you ask? We've got Dragon-in-hand interaction with Smolderthorn Lancer (removal!), Emberscale Drake (armor up!), and Crowd Roaster (even more removal!); and basic aoe with nice body in Dragonmaw Scorcher. Is Dragon Warrior back? Oh yeah it is!

We've also seen Akali, the Rhino become a standout in Tempo Warrior. Being able to bring out cards with a huge increase in stats that also won't be touched provided Spirit of the Rhino is sitting on the field is nasty.

Notable Additions

Rastakhan's Rumble Warrior Archetypes

Looking For More?

Are you looking for more decks to try than we have highlighted here? We've got plenty of options for you, all added by members of our community! If you have a great deck, don't forget you can add it to the site via our deckbuilder (and be sure to write a guide top help out fellow players!).

    

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