Best Classic Decks: A Hearthstone Tier List for Classic

• S Tier
  • Miracle Rogue
  • Combo Druid
• A Tier
  • Face Hunter
  • Zoo Warlock
  • Freeze Mage
  • Control Warrior
• B Tier
  • Aggro Paladin
  • Midrange Shaman
  • Aggro Shaman
  • Handlock
• C Tier
  • Control Priest
  • Control Paladin
  • Worgen OTK Warrior

Miracle Rogue has come out on top in the Classic game mode. Although the deck saw plenty of play in 2014, it was not until late into the year that players begun to truly understand the deck's power just weeks before it was hamstrung by nerf to the Mana Cost of Gadgetzan Auctioneer. Now, players have a much greater overall understanding of the game, allowing Miracle Rogue to reach its full potential.

The deck revolves around the powerful combination of Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Conceal to set up turns where large number of cards can be drawn in a single turn, allowing for powerful combinations of burst-damage cards like Eviscerate, Cold Blood, and Leeroy Jenkins to be easily assembled and used to swiftly defeat opponents.

Midrange Combo Druid was one of the best decks of 2014 and now with the Classic Game mode, it is like the deck never left. Its heavy abuse of Mana acceleration tools like Innervate and Wild Growth continually steal wins from opponents, justifying the nerfs these cards faced in the past.

The deck uses its Mana acceleration mechanics to rush out mid-sized minions onto the board throughout the game, to control the board and pressure opponents. Upon having access to 9 Mana, the deck aims to use the iconic combination of Force of Nature and Savage Roar to burst down opponents to close out games.

Face Hunter finds itself highly rated against the current S-tier decks. Its high damage out put allows it to disrupt decks by putting them on the defensive early, finishing off opponents before their strategies can be fully executed.

The deck renowned Face Hunter decks aims to consistently deal damage to opponents every turn. Through the use of Charge minions, weapons, spells, and the Steady Shot Hero Power, the damage of Face Hunter is almost unstoppable, resulting in fast-paced and explosive games.

Zoo Warlock, Hearthstone's original board-centric Aggro deck, find itself well situatated in the A tier. Its contant board pressure can greatly disrupt opponent's strategies, preying on those that lack the ability to deal with wide boards, making it a good choice against the current S-tier decks.

The deck focuses on playing cheap minions with good stats to popular board and them, bolstering its position with buffs from other minions. The Life Tap Hero Power allows the deck to maintain its aggression and drawn into one of its many burst-damage cards like Soulfire and Doomguard to close out games.

Freeze Mage, known for its high skill cap, has greatly benefitted from players having years of practice in playing the game. This greater understanding of the game makes the deck more accessible, and as strong as ever, solidifying its position in the A tier.

The deck makes great use of Freeze mechanics and Secrets to grearly slow down the game as it draws through its deck. Once it has drawn enough burn-damage spells, it can quickly go on the offensive and burst opponents down through the use of cards like Frostbolt and Ice Lance, all while under the protection of Ice Block.

Control Warrior is the strongest Control deck available in the Classic game mode. Its large amount of single-target removal allow it to stay in control of the board, whilst also having access to Brawl if things get out of control. Its monopoly on the Armor mechanic through Armorsmith, Shield Block and Armor Up! also make it great at not dying, making it a great choice against Aggro decks and burn decks like Freeze Mage alike.

The deck plays a very reactive playstyle, using cards like Fiery War Axe, Shield Slam, and Execute to deal with any threats that come its way, all whilst mitigating damage with Armor. Upon safely reaching the late game, the deck can begin to unleash powerful late-game threats like Ragnaros the Firelord and Grommash Hellscream to finish off opponents as they begin to run out of resources.

Aggro Paladin situates itself into the B tier as the strongest Paladin archetype in classic. Its playstyle is a hybrid of Zoo Warlock and Face Hunter, making it a formiddable Aggro deck, but lacking the powerful Hero Power that the other decks use to support them.

The deck focuses on using cheap Divine Shield minions, and Charge minions later in the game, and combining them with cheap attack buffs like Abusive Sergeant and Blessing of Might to rush down opponents. The reckless aggression is rewarded by the use of Divine Favor, providing fuel to continue the aggression for extended periods of time.

Midrange Shaman, Hearthstone's first token deck, can achieve victories in any matchup. Between the use of Bloodlust and the combination of Rockbiter Weapon and Doomhammer, are always ready to take wins from opponents at a moments notice. However, the reliance on specifc cards for most of its damage can result in the deck being much less consistent than other burst-damage decks like those found in S tier.

The deck aim to constantly add minions to the board, aided by the Totemic Call Hero Power. With minions on board the deck can utilise cards like Flametongue Totem and Rockbiter Weapon to make even the weakest minions threatening, often making opponents waste resources to keep the board clear. The consistent chip damage from small minions paired with multiple burst-damage make Midrange Shaman a well-rounded deck capable of winning in tight situations.

Aggro Shaman's ability to burn down opponents makes it a good fit for the Classic meta, where healing options are scarce. The deck's mix of board presence and direct damage are both its strength and its weakness, allowing for almost unbeatable draws and ones that are very difficult to win. However, the interaction between 1-Mana Rockbiter Weapons and the Windfury mechanic means that the deck always has the possibility of pulling out a win.

The deck focuses on developing a quick early-game board with minions like Leper Gnome and Argent Squire, which can then be buffed by Flametongue Totem to enact strong early-game damage. Should the deck lose control of the board it can transition into dealing the remaining damage entirely from hand through the use of cards like Lava Burst, Leeroy Jenkins, and Doomhammer.

Handlock, famous for its ability to play large numbers of big minions, has suffered with its return in the Classic game mode. Greater overall understanding of the game means that most players are great at playing around Handlock's tricks, in particular its use of Molten Giants, leaving it a shell of its former self.

The deck uses its Life Tap Hero Power to manipulate both its Health and its Handsize, allowing for accelerated access for big minions like Mountain Giant and Molten Giant. These minions can then be given Taunt via Sunfury Protector or Defender of Argus to create a strong defensive position that can then be turned into aggression to deal huges amounts of damage to opponents.

Control Priest is a deck that makes the best of a bad situations, and is the source of years of memes regarding the Priest class. While as a control deck it is viable for shutting down Aggro decks, its lack of real win condition or proactive tools make it a sitting duck for most Midrange and Combo decks, resulting in its rating in C tier.

The deck aims to reactively deal with anything opponents throw their way through the use of hard removal tools like Shadow Word: Death and AoE spells like Holy Nova. The deck closes out games through pure value, using Mind Control to effectively steal any large threats and use them against opponents, as well as using Thoughtsteal as a way to gain additional cards while maintaining a Healthy amount of cards in deck.

Control Paladin, offers a more proactive gameplan than Priest and Warrior, providing itself with a soft win condition via minions. However, it is hindered by the fact it does not have good access to good single-target removal, leaving it reliant on cards like Aldor Peacekeeper and Stampeding Kodo, this weakness is worsened by the fact that the deck has finite healing, making it more vulnerable to consistent damage sources compared to Priests and Warriors.

Control Paladin aims to slow down opponents through the use of minions like Aldor Peacekeeper, which, paired with the Reinforce Hero Power, allows small amounts of pressure to be put back onto opponents as the board is kept under control. Over time, the Health of opponents can be slowly chipped away, allowing them to be eventually finished off by powerful cards like Tirion Fordring or Ragnaros the Firelord.

Worgen OTK Warrior is one of the true OTK decks in classic, being able to exceed deal 30 damage entirely from hand. This burst-damage means that the deck has the potential to burst down any deck in the game. However, the deck has to cut removal tools in favour of card draw, and when combined with the deck's high skill cap, make it weaker than the Control Warrior alternative.

The deck focuses on the use of cards like Armorsmith, Acolyte of Pain, and Battle Rage, combined with self-damaging cards like Whirlwind to simultaneously draw cards, gain Armor, and keep the board clear. Once most cards have been drawn, the can use the powerful combo of Raging Worgen, Charge, Inner Rage, and Rampage, to deal up to 32 points of damage from hand.