Hearthstone is not the cheapest game to play, although it can technically be F2P (free to play). In order to play competitively without spending money, you will need to maximize your gold. Doing so means collecting your daily quests and crafting only cards necessary to complete decks.
Right now, everyone has access to a small collection of powerful wild cards that can help F2P players upgrade their decks. But, unfortunately some of those decks require dust-eating support cards.
Here, I am going to try to highlight some of the better budget decks available right now, and hopefully include one for every playing style (control, combo, and aggro). Inevitably aggro ends up being much easier to construct with limited gold.
Budget Token Druid
How much dust is needed: 2,960 dust
| Class Cards | # Needed | Neutral Cards | # Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acornbearer | 2 | Mecharoo | 2 |
| Dreamway Guardians | 2 | Evil Cable Rat | 2 |
| Power of the Wild | 2 | Harvest Golem | 1 |
| Beeees!!! | 2 | Microtech Controller | 2 |
| Blessing of the Ancients | 2 | Sn1p-Sn4p | 1 |
| Savage Roar | 2 | Explodinator | 2 |
| Soul of the Forest | 2 | Replicating Menace | 2 |
| Swipe | 2 | ||
| The Forest’s Aid | 2 |
Deck Summary
Aggressive decks are rather straightforward: play minions and attack. That said, it’s not always that easy.
With this deck, you are aiming to develop a wide board, and then do two things:
- Protect them (Swipe and Soul of the Forest)
- Pump them (Savage Roar, Power of the Wild, Blessing of the Ancients)
This version leverages the mechs to provide additional creature stability. All of them either create creatures upon entering the field (battlecry) or exiting the field (deathrattle).
Mulligans
Prioritize finding the 1-drops (Acornbearer, Mecharoo), or you could roll with 2-drops if you have the coin. Either way, you want to get on the board as soon as possible.
SN1P SN4P
Cheating a bit here with SN1P SN4P, but many people received a copy during the Rise of the Mech event. If you did not, then you can always try substituting Harvest Golem. Or Wrath if you find yourself wanting more removal.
Gameplay
This is not the exact version listed here, but watching this video will give you idea of how to play the deck. You may also find that the cards included in this list more align with your current collection.
Different Youtuber, same strategy:
Budget Bomb Hunter
How much dust is needed: 3,280 dust
| Class Cards | # Needed | Neutral Cards | # Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tracking | 2 | Mecharoo | 2 |
| Bomb Toss | 2 | Galvanizer | 2 |
| Fireworks Tech | 2 | Upgradeable Framebot | 2 |
| Venomizer | 2 | Harvest Golem | 2 |
| Spider Bomb | 2 | Sn1p-Sn4p | 1 |
| Unleash the Hounds | 1 | Explodinator | 2 |
| Ursatron | 2 | Replicating Menace | 2 |
| Wargear | 2 | ||
| Missle Launcher | 2 |
Nothing new with this deck, as all of the cards have been around since the last expansion. Hopefully that means you have most of them in your collection already.
Deck Strategy
Go face!
Yeah, that about sums up what you need to know to play this deck. There are decisions to be made about what to play each turn, but just make sure you hit their face before the rope expires or you hit the End Turn button.
What you will find with this deck is that you will be able to snowball your opponent each turn as long as you can keep minions in play. Take care to play around potential board clears (e.g., Mage can hit you with Flame Ward on turn 3, or not until Blizzard at 6).
Quest Druid will clear you on turn 5 (Oasis Rager), and Shaman will most likely ignore you.
Game Play
Budget Combo Priest
How much dust is needed: 1,680 dust
| Class Cards | # Needed | Neutral Cards | # Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circle of Healing | 2 | Lightwarden | 2 |
| Silence | 1 | Injured Tol’vir | 2 |
| Topsy Turvy | 1 | Neferset Ritualist | 2 |
| Inner Fire | 2 | Wild Pyromancer | 2 |
| Northshire Cleric | 2 | Acolyte of Pain | 2 |
| Power Word: Shield | 2 | Injured Bladesmith | 2 |
| Divine Spirit | 2 | ||
| Holy Ripple | 1 | ||
| Extra Arms | 2 | ||
| Hench-Clan Shadequill | 2 | ||
| Mass Dispel | 1 |
Deck Strategy
The strategy for this deck is relatively straightforward: build up a creature’s health (Divine Spirit), and then make its attack equal to its defense (Topsy Turvy, Inner Fire).
Upgrades
If you find yourself with 800 dust, then crafting two Psychopomps would be a great way to upgrade this budget deck. You could save up for Amet (1600 dust), but I would only invest in him if you are committed to this deck.
Gameplay