League of Explorers Heroic F2P Guide

[Bob21117 15]

Hi there, my name is Bob and I want to share this achievement with you.
I successfully cleared the heroic mode of the League of Explorers adventure with the only Basic and LoE cards.
I also posted my decks in the respective threads here on Icy Veins and added some advice for all people, who are as insane as me and want to achieve the same – or who simply do not have the cards to try more expensive decks.

Have fun reading the guides and maybe even trying some of these decks on your own.
I want to give credit to Tommy J and chaosprism, whose decks often inspired my own, although I almost always altered them.

And I also want to give credit to the new Discover mechanic, Animated Armor and the stupid A. I., as without them my task would have been MUCH harder.

Link to my gallery of last turn screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/7jSEg/all

Link to my guides for the Blackrock Mountain adventure: https://www.icy-veins.com/forums/topic/12416-blackrock-mountain-heroic-almost-f2p-guides/

Link to my guides for the Naxxramas adventure: https://www.icy-veins.com/forums/topic/12450-naxxramas-heroic-f2p-guide-0-dust/

Cheerio,
Bob
 

 

---

Heroic Zinaar
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/zinaar-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Zinaar's Hero Power gives him a mana crystal and a card every turn; in exchange, he gives you a Wish card. Those 0 mana spells allow you to either Discover a spell, a minion, or a 4-mana minion. Therefore no card draw or other Discover effects are needed in this match as they would only overstuff your hand.
Just try to stall with removal and taunts to eventually get lucky with some game changing Wish cards.

F2P Mage (0 Dust)

2x Arcane Missiles
2x Goldshire Footman
2x Mirror Image
2x Arcane Explosion
2x Frostbolt
2x Frostwolf Grunt
2x Kobold Geomancer
2x Forgotten Torch
2x Frost Nova
2x Ironfur Grizzly
2x Animated Armor
2x Fireball
2x Polymorph
2x Summoning Stone
2x Flamestrike

Mulligan for Animated Armor, then Goldshire Footman, Kobold Geomancer, Frostbolt and Forgotten Torch.
Remove Dunemaul Shaman as soon as possible to protect your Animated Armor.
Zinaar's minions will mostly ignore Animated Armor, but he will use Roaring Torch against it.
Difficulty: Easy (may take up to 5 tries).

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 2x Sen'jin Shieldmasta and 2x Water Elemental instead of 2x Animated Armor and 2x Summoning Stone.


Heroic Phaerix
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/sun-raider-phaerix-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Heroic Phaerix starts with a 3/8 Rod of the Sun, which makes him immune to any damage while he is controlling it. You have to get rid of the Rod to damage him, but it will be resummoned for the opponent each time it is killed.
Silencing or transforming the Rod will stop this circle and make the fight much easier.
Phaerix's deck includes a lot burn and removal: Fiery Waraxe, Tol'vir Hoplite, Fireball, Arcanite Reaper and Holy Fire, which can end the fight very quickly.
Phaerix will mostly attack your face and ignore your minions, but do not overextend until after the first Flamestrike.
Because of the high pressure Phaerix will put on you, while you still have to figure out how to deal with the Rod, it is highly recommended to use a Reno Jackson deck list.

F2P Shaman (0 Dust)
Source: http://www.hearthhead.com/deck=137669/loe-no-cost-solver-heroic-phaerix

1x Ancestral Healing
1x Frost Shock
1x Goldshire Footman
1x Rockbiter Weapon
1x Voodoo Doctor
1x Acidic Swamp Ooze
2x Flametongue Totem
1x Frostwolf Grunt
1x Jeweled Scarab
1x Windfury
2x Hex
1x Ironfur Grizzly
1x Razorfen Hunter
1x Shattered Sun Cleric
1x Silverback Patriarch
1x Dragonling Mechanic
1x Gnomish Inventor
1x Rumbling Elemental
1x Sen'jin Shieldmasta
1x Windspeaker
1x Bloodlust
1x Darkscale Healer
1x Djinni of Zephyrs
1x Frostwolf Warlord
1x Stormpike Commando
1x Fire Elemental
1x Reno Jackson
1x Stormwind Champion

Mulligan for Flametongue Totem, Hex and Reno Jackson.
Turn 1: Goldshire Footman.
Turn 2: Frostwolf Grunt, Jeweled Scarab.
Turn 3: Hex the Rod.
Stall until you can Hex the Rod and only then kill Hoplites.
Use Windfury and Bloodlust for the finish.
Only play Reno Jackson after you already drew one Flametongue Totem and one Hex.
Difficulty: Hard (may take more than 10 tries). If you can get Reno's Battlecry on turn 6 or later, the fight will actually be quite easy, but it still might take several tries.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: Just use a Basic Shaman deck. You might want to include Jeweled Scarab.


F2P Mage (0 Dust)

1x Goldshire Footman
1x Mirror Image
1x Voodoo Doctor
1x Acidic Swamp Ooze
1x Frostbolt
1x Frostwolf Grunt
1x Jeweled Scarab
1x Novice Engineer
1x Arcane Intellect
1x Forgotten Torch
1x Frost Nova
1x Ironfur Grizzly
1x Shattered Sun Cleric
1x Silverback Patriarch
2x Animated Armor
1x Fireball
1x Gnomish Inventor
2x Polymorph
1x Sen'jin Shieldmasta
1x Water Elemental
1x Booty Bay Bodyguard
1x Darkscale Healer
1x Ethereal Conjurer
1x Gurubashi Berserker
1x Summoning Stone
1x Lord of the Arena
1x Reno Jackson
1x Flamestrike

Mulligan for Animated Armor, then Polymorph, then Reno Jackson.
Turn 1: Mirror Image, Goldshire Footman.
Turn 2: Frostwolf Grunt, Jeweled Scarab, Novice Engineer.
Turn 3: Ironfur Grizzly, Silverback Patriarch, Arcane Intellect.
Turn 4: Animated Armor.
Turn 5: Polymorph.
Stall until you can stabilise with Animated Armor, Polymorph the Rod and only then kill Hoplites.
Only play Summoning Stone and Gurubashi Berserker after the first Flamestrike and hope for no second one.
Only play Reno Jackson after you already drew one Animated Armor and one Polymorph.
Difficulty: Hard (may take more than 10 tries). If you can get Reno's Battlecry on turn 6 or later, the fight will actually be quite easy, but it still might take several tries.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: Just use a Basic Mage deck. You might want to include Jeweled Scarab.


Heroic Escape
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/temple-escape-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Heroic Escape cannot possibly be won by dealing with each and every enemy minion, simply because they are much too powerful early on.
Instead just focus on preserving your health by playing taunts and disabling the enemy minions.

F2P Mage (0 Dust)
Inspiration 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWB7X_lNygA&feature=youtu.be
Inspiration 2: http://www.hearthhead.com/deck=137525/loe-nocost-solver-heroic-temple

2x Goldshire Footman
2x Mirror Image
2x Frostbolt
2x Frostwolf Grunt
2x Jeweled Scarab
2x Forgotten Torch
2x Frost Nova
2x Ironfur Grizzly
2x Silverback Patriarch
2x Fireball
2x Polymorph
2x Sen'jin Shieldmasta
2x Animated Armor
2x Booty Bay Bodyguard
2x Lord of the Arena

Mulligan for Goldshire Footman, Mirror Image, Frostwolf Grunt, Frost Nova and Animated Armor.
Turn 1: Goldshire Footman or Mirror Image.
Turn 2: Choose card draw. Taunt or Frostbolt.
Turn 3: Swing Across. Restart if you failed and hold no Animated Armor. Play removal, but no taunt because of the incoming Rolling Boulder.
Turn 4: Removal, taunt, Animated Armor (right of Rolling Boulder).
Turn 5: Choose card draw. Animated Armor or Frost Nova.
Turn 6: Animated Armor, Taunt.
Turn 7: Animated Armor, Taunt.
Turn 8: Take the Shortcut. Animated Armor, Taunt.
Turn 9: Animated Armor or Frost Nova.
You can use Jeweled Scarab to Discover more taunts, Frost Nova or Ice Barrier and Ice Block.
Difficulty: If you have at least two of four cards in time (2x Animated Armor, 2x Frost Nova), this match will be very easy.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 2x Water Elemental instead of 2x Animated Armor.


Heroic Chieftain Scarvash
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/chieftain-scarvash-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Heroic Scarvash starts with two Troggs, which have to be dealt with quickly. His hero power interferes with the mana cost of your cards: On odd turns you cannot play any minions. On even turns you cannot play any spells.
Scarvash's deck consists of a lot of 4-drops, meaning he often gets rather slow starts apart from his initial board advantage.
Tunnel Troggs are no threat because Scarvash has only one Overload card: 1x Lightning Bolt.
It might be a good idea to avoid leaving an injured minion on Scarvash's board because of 1x Rampage.
Scarvash's deck contains 2x Dart Trap, so be very careful using your hero power.
Summoning Stone is a very risky play because Scarvash will answer it with 2x Confuse.

F2P Mage (0 Dust)

Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiqfXhWJ37I

1x Elven Archer
1x Mirror Image
1x Voodoo Doctor
1x Acidic Swamp Ooze
1x Bloodfen Raptor
1x Frostbolt
1x Frostwolf Grunt
1x Jeweled Scarab
1x Murloc Tidehunter
1x Arcane Intellect
1x Brann Bronzebeard
1x Forgotten Torch
1x Frost Nova
2x Animated Armor
1x Chillwind Yeti
1x Dragonling Mechanic
1x Fireball
1x Gnomish Inventor
1x Polymorph
1x Sen'jin Shieldmasta
1x Water Elemental
1x Darkscale Healer
1x Ethereal Conjurer
1x Frostwolf Warlord
1x Gurubashi Berserker
1x Summoning Stone
1x Reno Jackson
1x Flamestrike
1x Stormwind Champion

Mulligan for Animated Armor, then a 3/2, then Reno Jackson.
Turn 1: Do nothing, not even Mirror Image!
Turn 2: 3/2 minion.
Turn 3: Frost Nova, Frostbolt, Forgotten Torch.
Turn 4: Animated Armor.
Scarvash's minions will mostly ignore Animated Armor, but he will use Starfire against it.
Difficulty: Hard (may take more than 10 tries). If you can get Reno's Battlecry on turn 6 or later, the fight will actually be quite easy, but it still might take several tries.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: Goldshire Footman, Kobold Geomancer, Razorfen Hunter and Lord of the Arena instead of 2x Animated Armor, Ethereal Conjurer and Brann Bronzebeard.


F2P Priest (0 Dust)

2x Holy Smite
2x Northshire Cleric
2x Power Word: Shield
2x Acidic Swamp Ooze
2x Bloodfen Raptor
2x Shadow Word: Pain
2x Shadow Word: Death
2x Shattered Sun Cleric
2x Chillwind Yeti
2x Sen'jin Shieldmasta
2x Darkscale Healer
2x Gurubashi Berserker
2x Holy Nova
2x Lord of the Arena
2x Stormwind Champion

Mulligan for Shadow Word: Pain. If you have it, mulligan for a 3/2.
Turn 1: Do nothing.
Turn 2: Play a 3/2.
Turn 3: Shadow Word: Pain the Burly Rockjaw Trogg and trade your 3/2 into the Stonesplinter Trogg.
Difficulty: Hard (may take more than 10 tries).


F2P Warlock (0 Dust)
Inspiration: http://www.hearthhead.com/deck=138915/loe-nocost-solver-scarvash

2x Corruption
1x Elven Archer
1x Soulfire
1x Voidwalker
1x Voodoo Doctor
1x Acidic Swamp Ooze
1x Bloodfen Raptor
1x Bluegill Warrior
1x Dark Peddler
1x Frostwolf Grunt
1x Jeweled Scarab
1x Kobold Geomancer
1x Murloc Tidehunter
1x Brann Bronzebeard
1x Drain Life
1x Ironfur Grizzly
1x Raid Leader
1x Razorfen Hunter
1x Shadow Bolt
1x Shattered Sun Cleric
1x Chillwind Yeti
1x Dragonling Mechanic
1x Gnomish Inventor
1x Ogre Magi
1x Sen'jin Shieldmasta
1x Darkscale Healer
1x Frostwolf Warlord
1x Reno Jackson
1x Stormwind Champion

Mulligan for Corruption, then a 3/2, then Reno Jackson.
Turn 1: Corruption the Burly Rockjaw Trogg or restart.
Turn 2: Play a 3/2.
Turn 3: Trade your 3/2 into the Stonesplinter Trogg or Shadow Bolt or Soulfire.
Difficulty: Hard (may take more than 10 tries).

Deck changes for Normal Mode: Goldshire Footman instead of Brann Bronzebeard.


Heroic Archaedas
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/archaedas-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Archaedas will put a 0/5 Statue on his side of the board and a 0/2 on yours every turn. They will fill your board eventually and increase the risk of a potentially deadly Shattering Spree.
There are two big threats in this fight: Shattering Spree and Animate Earthen. If there are enough Statues on the board both spells can end the fight very quickly. If Archaedas uses Animate Earthen in the first 4 turns, the fight is probably lost.
You have to get rid of all Statues as soon as possible. To accomplish that you can do two things in particular: 1. Put various buffs or buffing minions into your deck. 2. Generate lots of tokens to fill your side of the board. The best classes to accomplish this are Shaman and Paladin.

F2P Paladin (0 Dust)

2x Blessing of Might
2x Humility
1x Holy Light
2x Jeweled Scarab
2x Murloc Tidehunter
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Raid Leader
2x Razorfen Hunter
2x Shattered Sun Cleric
2x Blessing of Kings
2x Consecration
2x Dragonling Mechanic
2x Keeper of Uldaman
2x Truesilver Champion
2x Guardian of Kings
2x Stormwind Champion

Mulligan for Jeweled Scarab, Murloc Tidehunter and Razorfen Hunter.
Fill your board with tokens, use Blessings on Statues and Humility on Earth Elemental. Use Murloc Tidehunter, Jeweled Scarab and other Batllecry minions to trigger the Paladin Secret Sacred Trial.
Difficulty: Easy (may take up to 5 tries).

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 1x Holy Light and 2x Sen'jin Shieldmasta instead of 1x Brann Bronzebeard and 2x Keeper of Uldaman.


F2P Shaman (0 Dust)
Inspiration 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6AK4iHOv1Y&feature=youtu.be
Inspiration 2: http://www.hearthhead.com/deck=138767/loe-no-cost-solver-archaedas

2x Ancestral Healing
2x Rockbiter Weapon
2x Flametongue Totem
2x Jeweled Scarab
2x Murloc Tidehunter
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Hex
2x Raid Leader
2x Razorfen Hunter
2x Shattered Sun Cleric
2x Dragonling Mechanic
2x Rumbling Elemental
1x Windspeaker
2x Bloodlust
2x Fire Elemental
2x Stormwind Champion

Mulligan for Murloc Tidehunter, Flametongue Totem, Razorfen Hunter and Shattered Sun Cleric.
Fill your board with tokens, buff the Statues, Hex Earth Elementals. Use Murloc Tidehunter, Jeweled Scarab and other Batllecry minions to trigger the Paladin Secret Sacred Trial.
Difficulty: Easy (may take up to 5 tries).

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 1x Windspeaker instead of 1x Brann Bronzebeard.


Heroic Slitherspear
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/lord-slitherspear-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Slitherspear's hero power generates minions of growing strength on each turn, thus applying constantly rising pressure. At the same time Slithering Archer's Battlecry deals two damage to all of your minions, making it very hard to establish any board control.
Because of Slitherspear's enormous advantage in board presence it is no use fighting for board control. You have to try to rush him while reducing the incoming damage.

F2P Mage (0 Dust)
Inspiration 1: http://www.hearthhead.com/deck=141458/loe-nocost-solver-lord-slitherspear
Inspiration 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp6lfFNtm2k

2x Arcane Missiles
2x Mirror Image
2x Frostbolt
2x Forgotten Torch
2x Jeweled Scarab
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Frost Nova
1x Ironfur Grizzly
2x Animated Armor
2x Fireball
2x Polymorph
2x Sen'jin Shieldmasta
2x Ethereal Conjurer
2x Frostwolf Warlord
2x Summoning Stone
2x Flamestrike

Mulligan: Animated Armor. Additionally you can keep Jeweled Scarab and Summoning Stone.
Slitherspear will almost always attack your face and ignore Animated Armor. Keep it alive and it will keep you alive. Avoid attacking minions, prefer face damage.
Use Jeweled Scarab and Ethereal Arcanist to discover Frost Nova and other freeze or burn spells. Combine them with Brann Bronzebeard for a second discovery.
Combine Frostwolf Warlord with Mirror Image and Brann Bronzebeard to create a huge minion.
Difficulty: Easy (may take up to 5 tries), IF you play Animated Armor on turn 4.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 2x Water Elemental instead of 2x Animated Armor.


Heroic Giantfin
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/giantfin-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Giantfin's hero power automatically draws two cards every turn. This can be extremely oppressive since he gains the ability to flood the board with Murlocs every turn and then buff them as soon as you are unable to provide an answer. When not being buffed by one of the bigger Murlocs, the vast majority of his minions only have 1 health, making small board clears very effective.
Remove all Grimscale Oracles, Murloc Warleaders and Murloc Tidecallers but ignore the others.
Because of Giantfin's Murloc reviving spell you might want to concede, if Murloc Warleader or Old Murk-Eye are played on turn 3 or 4.

F2P Mage (0 Dust)
Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK71LXWYyls&feature=youtu.be

2x Arcane Missiles
2x Elven Archer
2x Arcane Explosion
2x Frostbolt
2x Huge Toad
2x Jeweled Scarab
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Dalaran Mage
2x Forgotten Torch
2x Frost Nova
2x Animated Armor
2x Water Elemental
2x Ethereal Conjurer
2x Frostwolf Warlord
2x Summoning Stone
1x Flamestrike

Mulligan for Animated Armor, then Jeweled Scarab. Giantfin will almost always attack your face and ignore Animated Armor.
Combine spells with Summoning Stone. Combine Discover minions with Brann Bronzebeard. Excellent spells are board freezes, Ice Barrier and burn.
Difficulty: Easy (may take up to 5 tries), IF you play Animated Armor on turn 4 and discover heal or freezes.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 2x Sen'jin Shieldmasta instead of 2x Animated Armor.


Heroic Lady Nazj'ar
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/lady-naz-jar-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Lady Naz'jar's hero power transforms all minions on the board at the end of her turn, but those on her side are increased in mana cost.
You will need some way to abuse this mechanic to turn the game in your favour: You need to play minions every turn, token-generating minions are excellent. Other Battlecry minions work as well because they already give value when played.
Always clear the board to deny Lady Nazj'ar benefit from her hero power.

F2P Shaman (0 Dust)
Inspiration 1: http://www.hearthhead.com/deck=141098/loe-nocost-solver-nazjar
Inspiration 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_Fhi4rjB3I

2x Elven Archer
2x Rockbiter Weapon
2x Voodoo Doctor
2x Acidic Swamp Ooze
2x Flametongue Totem
2x Jeweled Scarab
2x Murloc Tidehunter
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Hex
2x Ironforge Rifleman
2x Razorfen Hunter
2x Dragonling Mechanic
2x Windspeaker
1x Bloodlust
2x Stormpike Commando
2x Fire Elemental

Mulligan for Elven Archer, Voodoo Doctor, Murloc Tidehunter.
Difficulty: Medium (may take up to 10 tries).


Heroic Skelesaurus
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/skelesaurus-hex-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Skelesaurus' hero power grants him 0-cost spells and minions, which means he will very quickly pull ahead.
There are also three different Hunter traps AND Mad Scientist in his deck, adding even more unpedictiveness and tempo disparity to the fight. It is okay to let the three Snakes live as they fill the board and Skelesaurus might be unable to play any big minion.
Skelesaurus' permanent and ridiculous tempo advantage will give you nearly no chance to win the long game. That is why you have to try to gain and keep board control and tempo for the first few turns and then burst him down.
Side note: Skelesaurus once played Jaraxxus on turn 1 and used his new hero power every turn. The fact that I beat him more easily this way shows how ridiculously overpowered he is otherwise.

F2P Shaman (0 Dust)
Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LktGcuwj1W0

2x Murloc Tinyfin
2x Rockbiter Weapon
2x Elven Archer
2x Grimscale Oracle
2x Murloc Raider
1x Sir Finley Mrrgglton
2x Bluegill Warrior
2x Flametongue Totem
2x Jeweled Scarab
2x Murloc Tidehunter
2x Windfury
2x Hex
2x Bloodlust
2x Everyfin Is Awesome
2x Fire Elemental
1x Stormwind Champion

Mulligan for Murlocs. You need to play a minion every turn.
Discover Hex or Murlocs.
Focus on face damage early on, only kill the biggest threats.
You will need two of these combos to beat Skelesaurus: Everyfin Is Awesome into board control (at least 4 minions), Bloodlust (at least 4 minions), Flametongue Totem+Windfury.
Difficulty: Hard (may take more than 10 tries).


F2P Mage (0 Dust)

2x Arcane Missiles
2x Mirror Image
2x Frostbolt
2x Forgotten Torch
2x Jeweled Scarab
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Frost Nova
1x Ironfur Grizzly
2x Animated Armor
2x Fireball
2x Polymorph
2x Water Elemental
2x Ethereal Conjurer
2x Frostwolf Warlord
2x Summoning Stone
2x Flamestrike

Mulligan for Animated Armor, then Jeweled Scarab.
Animated Armor might not live as long as in other fights because of Tail Swipe. Try to Discover Duplicate, Spellbender or Echo of Medivh to counter that.
Combine spells with Summoning Stone. Combine Discover minions with Brann Bronzebeard. Excellent spells are board freezes, Ice Barrier and burn.
Difficulty: Hard (may take more than 10 tries).


Heroic Steel Sentinel
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/the-steel-sentinel-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

The Steel Sentinel's hero power reduces the incoming damage for him and his minions to one. The attack value of your minions is completely irrelevant, making cards that summon tokens valuable as well as cards with transformation effects.

F2P Mage (0 Dust)
Inspiration: http://www.hearthhead.com/deck=142320/loe-nocost-solver-steel-sentinel

2x Arcane Missiles
2x Elven Archer
2x Mirror Image
2x Acidic Swamp Ooze
2x Arcane Explosion
2x Frostbolt
2x Jeweled Scarab
1x Murloc Tidehunter
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Frost Nova
2x Animated Armor
2x Polymorph
2x Water Elemental
2x Etheral Conjurer
2x Summoning Stone
2x Wobbling Runts

Mulligan for Animated Armor, then Jeweled Scarab. Steel Sentinel will almost always attack your face and ignore Animated Armor.
Combine spells with Summoning Stone. Combine Discover minions with Brann Bronzebeard. Excellent spells are the Polymorphs, Ice Barrier and Echo of Medivh. Still good are Arcane Missiles/Explosion and board freezes.
Difficulty: Easy (may take up to 5 tries), IF you play Animated Armor on turn 4.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 2x Sen'jin Shieldmasta and 2x Flamestrike instead of 2x Animated Armor and 2x Wobbling Runts.


Heroic Arch-Thief Rafaam
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/arch-thief-rafaam-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Rafaam will steal your deck and you will have to make do with a spare deck full of bad and situational cards.
Rafaam's hero power is Unstable Portal, making every match completely unpredictable.
There are two viable strategies to this fight:
1. Build a very expensive deck to overstuff Rafaam's hand, gain an early lead on the board and hope, that he does not get anything too powerful from his hero power.
2. Build a very cheap deck with Discard effects to empty Rafaam's hand quickly and hope, that he does not get anything too powerful from his hero power.
Whichever way you choose, you should include the most useless cards you possess, ideally Rares because of the Rare Spear you will get.
Your best (and possibly only) chance to win is to play Rare Spear on turn 1 and never use up all its charges.
It is unlikely that you will be able to keep board control. As soon as you have a big weapon and an Ancient Shade on the board, you should go face and hope for the best.

F2P Paladin (0 Dust)
Inspiration: http://www.hearthhead.com/deck=142304/loe-nocost-solver-rafaam

2x Humility
2x Light's Justice
2x Sacred Trial
1x Sir Finley Mrrgglton
2x Holy Light
2x Magma Rager
2x Ancient Shade
2x Eerie Statue
1x Nightblade
2x Stormpike Commando
2x Summoning Stone
2x Wobbling Runts
2x Core Hound
2x War Golem
2x Fossilized Devilsaur
2x Anyfin Can Happen

Mulligan for Rare Spear. If you cannot play it on turn 1: concede.
Try to gain early board control by putting high cost cards into your (then stolen) deck and gain value from the secret (Flare), weapon (Harrison Jones) and beast (Hemet Nesingwary).
Tokens synergise with Explorer's Hat. Make heavy use of this value generator.
Difficulty: Medium (may take up to 10 tries), IF you get the Rare Spear on turn 1, otherwise the fight's difficulty will be ridiculously high.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 2x Ogre Magi, 2x Darkscale Healer, 2x Archmage instead of 2x Eerie Statue, 2x Fossilized Devilsaur and 2x Wobbling Runts.


F2P Warlock (0 Dust)
Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvVYcdcN_Qg

2x Murloc Tinyfin
2x Sacrificial Pact
2x Corruption
2x Murloc Raider
2x Reliquary Seeker
2x Soulfire
1x Sir Finley Mrrgglton
2x Stonetusk Boar
2x Voodoo Doctor
2x Succubus
2x Magma Rager
2x Ancient Shade
2x Eerie Statue
1x Nightblade
2x Summoning Stone
2x Wobbling Runts

Mulligan for Rare Spear. If you cannot play it on turn 1: concede.
Try to empty the opponents' hand to minimze his options by including very cheap cards and Discard effects like Soulfire and Succubus in your deck.
Difficulty: Medium (may take up to 10 tries), IF you get the Rare Spear on turn 1, otherwise the fight's difficulty will be ridiculously high.

Deck changes for Normal Mode: 2x Elven Archer and 2x Grimscale Oracle instead of 2x Eerie Statue and 2x Wobbling Runts.


Heroic Rafaam Unleashed
https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/rafaam-unleashed-guide-with-cheap-decks-for-the-league-of-explorers

Rafaam's hero power makes him untouchable for three turns and then produces an overpowered 10/10 minion you have to deal with immediately. This mechanic can make the fight quite long and annoying.
Both your and his hero power are to some extent random leading to situations where you just cannot win, e.g. Scarvash on your turn 4, Faceless Manipulator on a hero power minion or your hero power not producing single target removal in the early turns.
Your hero power will eventually produce two spells for single target removal and two spells for board control. Because it generates cards you will never need card draw in this match.
Important information that I nearly oversaw once is Phaerix's (the minion) interaction with taunts: As long as Phaerix is alive all of Rafaam's minions are immune. This means, taunts will no longer work, because they cannot be targeted. Instead you can always attack Phaerix or Rafaam directly.
There are two viable strategies to win this fight with basic decks: You can either control all of Rafaam's actions with spells and your special hero power to outlast him (Priest). Or you can establish permanent board control via minions and eventually end the fight with burst damage (Shaman).

F2P Priest (0 Dust)
Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GggkCBU2lUA

2x Mind Vision
2x Power Word: Shield
2x Divine Spirit
2x Jeweled Scarab
2x Museum Curator
2x Shadow Word: Pain
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Shadow Word: Death
2x Darkscale Healer
2x Excavated Evil
2x Gurubashi Berserker
2x Holy Nova
2x Summoning Stone
2x Entomb
2x Mind Control
1x Rafaam

Mulligan for Shadow Word: Death. Then keep Jeweled Scarab, Museum Curator.
Combine Brann with your Discover minions. Try to Discover Shadow Word: Death, Thoughtsteal and Sylvanas Windrunner.
Use your special hero power as often as possible to find even more answers to the 10/10s.
Keep in mind that Rafaam's deck includes Entomb meaning that your first big minion is likely to get stolen.
Turn 2: Jeweled Scarab, Museum Curator.
Turn 4: Shadow Word: Death.
Turn 8: Shadow Word: Death, Entomb.
Difficulty: Medium (may take up to 10 tries).

Deck changes for Normal Mode: Replace Arch-Thief Rafaam with Voodoo Doctor.


F2P Shaman (0 Dust)

2x Rockbiter Weapon
2x Elven Archer
1x Windfury
2x Flametongue Totem
2x Jeweled Scarab
2x Murloc Tidehunter
2x Hex
1x Brann Bronzebeard
2x Razorfen Hunter
2x Shattered Sun Cleric
2x Dragonling Mechanic
2x Rumbling Elemental
2x Windspeaker
2x Bloodlust
2x Fire Elemental
1x Everyfin Is Awesome
1x Arch-Thief Rafaam

Mulligan for Hex. Then keep Jeweled Scarab, Murloc Tidehunter.
Combine Brann with Jeweled Scarab. Try to Discover Hex.
Use your special hero power as often as possible to find more answers to the 10/10s.
Do not play too many expensive minions at the same time. Combine Fire Elemental with Windfury.
Fill your board with cheap minions and play Bloodlust even for only 20 face damage. Rafaam will play Flamestrike and Twisting Nether eventually so you have to push through a lot of damage quickly. You still have the potential to reflood the board.
Difficulty: Medium (may take up to 10 tries).

Deck changes for Normal Mode: Replace Arch-Thief Rafaam with Everyfin Is Awesome.