Deck Recipe

Deck Recipes are premade card lists which players can use when creating a new deck. When creating a deck from a Deck Recipe, cards which the player does not possess can be substituted, with alternative suggestions provided.

Deck Recipes are intended to give newer players an easy way to explore new deck types, simultaneously helping them to learn about synergies and deck building. They also provide a guide to reliable and competitive playstyles for each class. For experienced players, they can provide a convenient starting point when creating new decks, and ideas for new deck types to explore. Deck Recipes are comparable to deck lists found online, but integrated into Hearthstone itself, and with the cards automatically selected from the player's collection.

Deck Recipes are significantly more advanced than basic decks, and are generally aimed at players who have already expanded their collections a fair bit, due to the variety and rarity of cards featured in each Recipe. New players will usually lack the cards to fill Deck Recipes, and should generally use the basic decks or create custom decks based around Basic cards until their collection has grown somewhat.

Deck Recipes only include cards usable in Standard format, ensuring their validity in all types of play.

If Whizbang the Wonderful is in your deck, the deck will be replaced with one of the random non-Classic deck recipes at the start of the game.

Details
Each Deck Recipe is a class-specific deck list, most having a specific theme. Each Recipe has a title, description and art taken from a fitting card.

Each class has three Deck Recipes, one 'classic' and two 'themed'.


 * Classic Recipes comprise only Basic and Classic cards, and are intended to provide a foundation for the class. They generally feature less specific mechanics than themed decks. In some cases they illustrate what may be considered the general playstyle of the class, while in others they simply present a strategy that is easier for newer players to learn. These Recipes are usually the best starting points for newer players, since the cards are more readily available to them, and the goals of the decks simpler. Classic Recipes sometimes represent competitive decks, but are focused on ease of card collection and play rather than performance at higher levels.
 * Themed Recipes are themed around specific mechanics, and usually feature a lot of synergy between cards. Themed Recipes are intended for more advanced gameplay than the Classic Recipes, and usually match decks currently popular in the game's meta. Including cards from any Standard set, themed Recipes may be harder to fill, and the specific goals of the decks make some understanding of the design necessary when substituting cards. Themed Recipes are recommended for intermediate players wishing to explore new deck types, or advanced players seeking a convenient template for deck experimentation.

Despite their intention as learning tools for newer players, most Deck Recipes feature a number of high rarity cards, including legendaries. All classic Recipes feature one legendary minion, while some of the themed Recipes feature several.

Many Deck Recipes share a number of cards in common with the other Recipes for that class. Such cards are usually fairly key or 'core' cards for the class, and their indication in multiple Recipes can generally be taken as an indication of their versatility, unusual power, or inherent synergy with the class' Hero Power and/or other cards.

Use


When creating a new deck, players are given the choice of creating a blank "custom deck", or using one of three Deck Recipes available for that class. Clicking a Deck Recipe previews the deck list in the right hand pane, along with the deck's description in the bottom pane. Recipe cards which are missing from the player's collection are shown in blue.

Upon choosing a Deck Recipe, the player is taken back to the usual collection screen, where they will find a new deck filled with all the cards from the Recipe that they own. Golden copies of cards will be included instead of regular copies wherever possible. Any missing cards are still highlighted in the deck list in blue, and right-clicking will bring up the crafting interface for that card. Left-clicking a missing card will open the card replacement window, providing two alternatives that the player already owns to replace the missing card.

Once all missing cards are replaced, the Deck Recipe process is complete.

Lists
The lists below are the deck recipes available in-game at the moment. For the previous or removed recipes, see Deck Recipe/Patch changes.

Druid

 * Comments

Cards common to multiple decks include Innervate and Wild Growth, helping to quickly ramp up the druid's mana supply, or put a powerful minion into play a few turns in advance; and Swipe, a powerful combination of single target and AoE damage.


 * Classic Druid is a control deck primarily revolving around surviving long enough to reach higher mana levels, where the druid will be able to play out a steady stream of powerful minions, overwhelming the opponent.

Hunter

 * Comments


 * Classic Hunter is a mid-range deck, focused around Beast synergy. It has some cheaper cards capable of contesting the early game, as well as powerful minions like Savannah Highmane and King Krush for the later game.

Mage

 * Comments

Cards common to all decks include Frostbolt and Fireball, providing either single target removal or burst damage to end the game, and Flamestrike, very effective for removing large numbers of small or medium enemy minions. Mana Wyrm is a good early game play, especially in combination with cheap spells like Frostbolt and Arcane Missiles, which is also useful for countering early game aggression. Arcane Intellect is good for any late game deck, providing a cheap source of card draw.


 * Classic Mage is a solid control mage deck with an emphasis on damage from spells, helped along by some Spell Damage minions. This deck aims to control the board and delay attack until it can bring out Archmage Antonidas, which can generate endless Fireballs to win the match. Alternatively, use a combination of minions and spells to defeat the opponent without Antonidas. The deck has a mixture of other spell synergy minions such as Mana Wyrm and Sorcerer's Apprentice to benefit from the spell casting.

Paladin

 * Comments

Cards common to all decks include Equality and Consecration, a powerful combo to remove all enemy minions from the board regardless of their Health. Truesilver Champion is strong and useful form of removal, with its healing partially compensating for damage taken from attacking minions.


 * Classic Paladin is a mostly Basic paladin deck, with a lean toward heavier minions and the late game with Lay on Hands and Guardian of Kings. The deck has no specific win condition, although Tirion Fordring is a very strong play, with Ashbringer alone potentially providing a source of 15 damage.

Priest

 * Comments

Cards featuring in multiple decks include Shadow Word: Death, a powerful solution to higher Attack minions, Holy Nova, a versatile damage/healing AoE card, and Power Word: Shield, which helps with efficient trading, or restoring damaged minions. Mind control effects like Mind Control and Cabal Shadow Priest are trademarks of the priest class, providing excellent card advantage as well as great strategic potential.


 * Classic Priest is a solid priest deck with a focus on healing synergy and mind control effects. Auchenai Soulpriest provides some versatility for their Hero Power and cards like Circle of Healing. This type of deck is mostly reactive, waiting until the right moment to play out a highly efficient combo, or turn the opponent's cards against them.

Rogue

 * Comments

Cards common to multiple decks include the standard rogue removal spells Backstab, Shiv and Eviscerate; Sap for countering big minion and breaking the opponent's tempo; Sprint for card draw; and Deadly Poison and Blade Flurry, useful sources of damage alone, but even more so in combination.


 * Classic Rogue is an aggressive deck, focused on quickly putting out small minions and overwhelming the opponent in the early game. There is weapon synergy through the Pirates Dread Corsair, Bloodsail Raider and Southsea Deckhand - this can be activated through the rogue's Hero Power Dagger Mastery, or through Assassin's Blade. Edwin VanCleef is the sole big minion, presenting an alternate means of winning matches through creating a giant threat the opponent may not be able to counter, or at least some good value.

Shaman

 * Comments

Cards common to multiple decks include Rockbiter Weapon and Lightning Bolt, good sources of removal or burst damage; Earth Shock and Hex, for neutralising minions and removing powerful effects; Flametongue Totem for efficient trading; Lightning Storm for AoE removal; and Fire Elemental, a powerful minion with a very useful Battlecry.


 * Classic Shaman is a balanced deck relying on staple shaman cards. Al'Akir the Windlord is a possible win condition in combination with Rockbiter Weapon for double Windfury damage; Doomhammer is another, offer similar synergy with Rockbiter Weapon while also offering repeated removal and a larger and more reliable source of sustained damage. Bloodlust provides the other main strategy, potentially granting one turn kills with a full board of minions, or less ambitiously 10+ extra damage to win the game.

Warlock

 * Comments


 * Classic Warlock is a low-cost Zoolock deck. It aims to flood the board with cheaper minions, making the most of buffs and synergies to swarm the opponent, and maintaining board control through efficient trades, thanks to effects like Abusive Sergeant and Dark Iron Dwarf. Once the opponent nears lethal, the deck switches to burst to finish the game with Soulfire.

Warrior

 * Comments

Cards common to multiple decks include the staple weapon Fiery War Axe, primarily for early game and weaker minion removal; Whirlwind, for AoE removal, but often more importantly the damaging of the warrior's own minions; Shield Block, a tempo-slowing card that generates Armor; and Execute for big or problematic minion removal. All decks feature some amount of damage synergy, with cards that gain additional effects when damaged: Grom Hellscream is often the primary win condition of the deck, easily activated by Inner Rage or Cruel Taskmaster; Frothing Berserker is a powerful damage-triggered minion, and potentially a win condition in its own right; other minions like Amani Berserker and Raging Worgen also provide damage synergy; while Battle Rage generates cards from the many damaged characters.


 * Classic Warrior is a staple warrior deck mostly using the cards described above to provide damage synergy, weapons and a few solid minions.

Trivia

 * Deck Recipes were added to the game more than a month ahead of Standard format, but with decklists specifically limited to cards valid in Standard. The sole exception was Tide of Murlocs (Paladin), which included Old Murk-Eye, from the non-Standard Reward set, confusing some players. This was confirmed as an error and replaced with a second Guardian of Kings in Patch 4.3.0.12266.

Patch changes
Deck Recipes have been constantly renewed and removed throughout the updates. Most of major changes occur whenever a new expansion is released.

Deck Recipes were first introduced in Patch 4.2.0.12051.