The Journey to Un’Goro expansion has been out just long enough for us to start getting a good idea about the upcoming meta, and it’s clear that Quest decks are a bit hit. Of course, things are still settling, but at the very least, we have a decent understanding of which decks work. We’re sure there will be plenty of shuffling as the meta progresses, but as of right now, these are the Quest decks that work.
The Viable Quests
There are two extremely strong Quest decks–Rogue’s Quest and the Mage Quest have both been extremely successful, and have already seen quite a bit of play. I’ve talked about them at length in other articles as well, there isn’t much left to say. They are both very strong, if not meta-defining. The Rogue Quest deck currently feels like it’s in around half of all ladder games–if that’s not successful, I don’t know what is. The Mage Quest deck, while not as popular, may be the strongest control deck in the history of Hearthstone. Pure one turn kills, every time the combo is assembled. No outs other than Ice Block. Both these decks are extremely strong, and far better than merely ‘viable.’
The other Quest decks that are strong enough to see play are the Shaman Quest and the Warrior Quest. While the Shaman Quest isn’t particularly popular right now, there’s no denying that it’s quite strong. I’ve been playing it myself, and it is an aggressive deck in a meta that favors aggression. Perhaps it will get weaker as the meta becomes more solidified. For right now, however, it is quite successful. The Warrior Quest is also quite strong, and will only gets stronger as players continue to try to find the ideal balance. Control Warrior has so many tools available that mixing them into the Quest deck has produced something remarkably powerful.
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The Bad Quests
It’s still a bit too early to say whether cards are definitively bad or not. That being said, it seems that a few of the Quests are…bad. Druid’d Quest is absolutely terrible in ranked play. It loses to all aggressive decks, as well as pretty much every control deck. The big problem is that it adjusts the cards in your deck, not your hand. When you play the five mana quest, you can’t do anything else that turn. You begin playing two minions a turn on turn seven or eight, and by that point, the game is pretty much over. And even if it isn’t, you only get that value for a couple turns, then you have an empty hand. Playing one big minion a turn isn’t game-winning, typically, regardless of its mana cost.
The Warlock Quest has also proven to be extremely bad so far. Infinite value sounds great, but it suffers from the same slow issues. It doesn’t do anything the turn it comes down, which is pretty relevant for a five mana card. Especially one you threw away six cards for. And, as it turns out, two 3/2s a turn aren’t that hard to deal with. They are significantly easier than, say, Jaraxxus’s Infernals.
The Jury is Out
These remaining Quests are currently in the “bad” camp, but I can see potential for them in the future. We’ve got the Hunter Quest, Priest Quest, and Paladin Quest. There was a lot of hype for the Hunter Quest, but it turns out that, once again, a free 3/2 every few turns isn’t very good. It’s essentially a dumbed down version of the Warlock Quest that requires you to play a lot of crappy cards. The reason the jury is out on this one is that playing cards can often be manipulated. If someone can make an incredible Starving Buzzard, Stampeding Rhino deck, there’s a possibility this could work.
The Priest Quest is a really cool concept, but it’s an extremely slow control deck without a distinct win condition. Sure, overpowering your opponent with lots of minions and N’Zoth sounds pretty cool. However, in the current meta, that sort of control deck gets overrun. Even if you can fend off the aggressive decks, you lose to the Mage Quest, or even the Warrior Quest. It just doesn’t work right now. But Deathrattles are extremely strong, and so can 40 health be. It wouldn’t shock me too much if a great combo Priest comes out of their Quest.
Now, the Paladin Quest. I really want to put in the bad section. I playtested it myself, and I absolutely hate it. I was pretty lucky in many of my games, and got the quest finished by turns 5/6 often. However, Galvadon is fairly lackluster. He dies to quite a few board clears, and can’t break through taunts. I faced Warriors who Brawled, Warlocks who put up taunt walls, and Mages who froze me. Even the fast decks aren’t great, because by the time you get Galvadon out, you are dying. If he isn’t strong enough to win the game alone, you lose. I’m not sure what it would take to make this deck great. Maybe an Equality + Consecration tech, or something. But such a strong minion always has potential.
