So Hearthstone Classic is releasing this Thursday. It will contain the first 240 cards Hearthstone ever released, back in 2014. I’m guessing this version of the game is coming out for two reasons, the first being that a lot of people are leaving the game due to it’s huge LUCK factor (random number generator (RNG) winning games) that was much less of a factor in the early days and the 2nd reason is that World of Warcraft Classic has been so popular.
Now, original Hearthstone had 9 classes. I’m going to list them out along with popular deck archetypes. Then I’ll run through counters for each individual deck.
Shaman – Midrange
Huge minions copied and revive buff
Counters: “Kill minion” cards, silence
Rogue – Miracle and Tempo
Miracle more common
Counters: Kill all minions on board, multiple taunt minions, stay above 24 health
Mage – Freeze Mage (rarely there was also an Aggro Mage with Mana Wyrm)
Frost bolt, Pyro, Alex
Counters: Kill minion card (for Alexstraza), generally healing cards to reup after they burn you down (they usually can’t burn more than 15 damage)
Paladin – Midrange Paladin
Healing, Tyrion Fordring
Counters: No direct damage and deck is weak on minions, clear the board constantly and you win
Warlock – Zoolock and Handlock
Zoolock Counter: board clears, healing, taunt
Handlock Counter: Sap (if rogue), lots of cheap minions (assuming Handlock doesn’t draw board clears)
Hunter – Face and Midrange (Sunshine)
Buzzard + Unleash Hounds
Face Counter: big taunt minions (these can be debuffed though), healing healing healing, board clears, DO NOT PLAY TOO MANY MINIONS (to avoid combo)
Druid – Ramp and Token
Savage Roar, lots of damage
Counter: Stay above 18 health, taunt minions, trade favorably
Priest – Control Priest
Control Priest counter: Zoolock (the priest has a lot of cards to deal with BIG minions, not a load of small ones) or Face Hunter