The road from a 0-3 to a 12-0 isn't easy. But with the right tricks up your sleeve, you can succeed on this journey.
Arena is a great way to test out your skills in Hearthstone. The drafting mode offers players the choice to make a custom deck of 30 cards. Each card has to be picked from a choice of three, leading to a wildly different experience each time.
With Festival of Legends, Blizzard managed to shake up the Arena meta quite a bit. Andthere are a bunch of really interesting class choices for those that want to dabble in the mode.
So, without further ado, here are the best Arena classes in Hearthstone currently.
10. Hunter
All about going face with big beasts, this is one class that's a party animal.
So, for this expansion, Blizzard decided to go really in the “Big Hunter” direction. And news flash for them, it’s not really working out too well.
Hunter’s currently sitting at a shocking 38.1% win rate, according to HSReplay.net data, which isn’t great at all. While much of their cards don’t work well for the Arena format, there are a couple that really stand out.
- The existing synergy between Arrow Smith and Jungle Jammer is quite nice.
- Especially when paired up with Bunch of Bananas and Barrel of Monkeys.
- These spells work well together and can lead to some pretty significant results.
In general, you’ll wanna pick Hunter if:
- You’re really experienced with the class, and can perform well, even though it’s relatively on the weaker end currently.
- Would like to try out the spell package Blizzard has added with Festival of Legends. The inherent synergy present there is strong, it’s not mind-blowing still.
- Want to try out the new Hunter cards that have been added in the expansion like Harmonica Soloist. It may be underrated due to its poor stat line, but it can still provide around 4.5 worth of value for only 3 mana.
So, while Hunter didn't get any super powerful cards compared to other classes, they still have some solid options to work with.
9. Druid
For a class that's all about protecting nature, they sure do like to attack others a lot.
The main themes for Druid in this expansion are about gaining Attack/Armor. This is mainly doneby improving your Hero Power over the course of the game. But that’s not all, because Druids have also gotten a sizable Big package.
The reason why the class is still on the lower-end for Arena right now is pretty clear. Gaining attack/armor traditionally aren’t the best strategies.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re decent, but with other classes being powerhouse cards, simply gaining +1 Attack or +1 Armor each time you Hero Power just cannot keep up.
And with Big Druid, that’s never really been able to work in Arena because Druid traditionally doesn’t have the removal to play a late-game control class, where they can afford to miss turns due to how big their deck is. With all that said, Druid got real good cards this expansion.
- Drum Circle is a big board or a big board buff.
- Groovy Cat, if played early on enough, can completely change the game by making your hero power +2 attack.
- Summer Flowerchild is a solid statted 5 that generally draws 2.
- Timber Tambourine is a little slow, but has a ton of potential by just playing stuff on curve.
All of these cards are great cards that provide a ton of tempo or value for their cost.
If you’re looking to play Druid, these reasons should be why:
- You’re sure you can draft cards that include some of the stronger options Druid has gotten, like Drum Circle.
- You can play Druid well enough to succeed in the late-game, even with the class’s inability to counter strong late-game threats.
- You’re not committing too much to the “improving your Hero Power” game plan, since that doesn’t lead to much success.
8. Rogue
Rogues got cards that deal with weapon damage and combos. But, weapon damage and using the dagger to gain advantage isn’t nearly as strong as it once was, and the Combo synergy isn’t really a thing in Arena.
It exists, but it’s not something you can rely on. So ultimately, looking at their FoL cards, they’re mostly mediocre. They don’t have a single card that breaks an 80, and only 2 cards that break a 70.
The class, which was once considered the king of Arena, definitely seems to be struggling against better competition these days, which is a bit of a shame. Much of this comes down to the classes’ poor additions, most notably in FoL.
- Beatboxer would be much better if it were minions only, the fact it needs the combo and can hit the hero hurts its reliability, but is still the best card they have.
- Harmonic Hip-Hop is a solid removal, but that’s it for top cards. This is a horrible set overall for Rogue, the worst set by far of any of the classes in FoL.
- Breakdance can be seen as a 1-mana generate a card, give your minion Rush or Windfury. To me, a better Rocket Boots, which would be a low to mid-tier card.
With that said, Rogue should only be a consideration for:
- Long-term players of the class who are able to make the most out of its combo arsenal.
- Anyone that generally is used to making the best use out of its Hero Power.
- Or for players that have the tempo-based game plan the class offers down to a T.
7. Paladin
Paladins may be blinging out with their amazing cards in Standard but Arena is a completely different disco.
The big theme for Paladins this time around is Divine Shield, but being Arena, you aren’t that likely to have much Divine Shield synergy. So it comes down to their cards being independently strong, which a lot of them are.
- Disco Maul has the easiest to trigger of the Weapon Upgrades and is great on curve. Annoy-o-Troupe, even as an Epic, will be a great late-game card in the same vein as Voidlord for its repeating down on a theme.
- Harmonic Disco is a great mid-game tempo swing. Funkfin and Jitterbug, while rated low by the community, do bring Divine Shield energy to the table, which is great. The class offers some really strong cards this time around.
- Funkfin is particularly great. It starts as a 4/2, then becomes a 2/2 after pinging off the shield. That by itself should put it over most 3-drops with mild upside. The effect is just a bonus.
- With Disco Maul, the most likely scenario is you play this on 2, hit something, play a minion on 3, hit something, minion gets +2/2. While a 2/2 on 2, it curves so well into a good power-play.
- Harmonic Disco. The Dissonant version is better. It’s a lot more consistent to get, bare minimum, a 6/6, and likely a 6/8 or things with Divine Shield. The 5 mana version is also good. There are some cards that can benefit from +1/1, but there’s a lot more strong battlecry/poor stat cards that impact the overall quality.
Consider going for Paladin if:
- You don’t plan on over relying on its Divine Shield energy because there isn’t a lot of it going around.
- You can make a decent mid-range deck by selecting some of the important cards like Funkfin and Disco Maul.
- You want to opt for more control strategies with Annoy-o-Troupe as a good late-game stabilizing tool.
6. Demon Hunter
DH got some really good cards this expansion. Their all-encompassing theme is removal, either from weapons or rush minions. The only card that isn’t tied to Rush/Weapons is Taste of Chaos, which is just a great removal.
Since so many of their cards are removal, you’re naturally going to get real good cards from this. Glaivetar is a Truesilver that draws a card, and can draw more with Outcast cards.
In terms of Finale, DH has bonuses and problems with this. The 1 mana Hero Power allows for more precise mixing and matching to set up a Finale, so in some regards they do this better than other classes.
- Taste of Chaos remains a good all-around pick. Discover at the end of a turn is worse than Discover when you need to find an answer. Still, this is basically a Runed Orb for one mana less, and you often do have that extra mana to fill in on turns.
- Glaivetar is also a solid addition to any deck. A 4/2 weapon draw a card, that’s going to be great. You probably won’t trigger the Outcast effect, but that doesn’t really matter.
- Going Down Swinging, while tough to draft, is a solid addition too. Consider it a 6 mana spell that deals three damage to all enemies. Sounds good, right?
This means that you should play Demon Hunter when:
- You’re confident you can make good use out of its removal package.
- You’re looking for longer-games that involve you chipping away at your opponent’s minions with the DH’s many available removal tools.
- You don’t mind dealing with some of the inherent issues that come with the Finale mechanic and the class’s 1-Mana Hero Power.
5. Mage
Mage got Big Mage Spell synergy cards, while not getting Big Mage Spells. The only ones in standard after the rotations are Firelands, Arcane Defenders, and Deathbourne. Point being, even if those cards were good in Arena, which they generally aren’t, there isn’t much that they can copy.
As for the cards themselves:
- Holotechnician is probably the most busted card in the set, as it’s a Vilespine you can activate every turn if protected.
- Beyond that, Synthesize is great because of a lot of cards for 1 mana, plus how strong some of the RNG elementals can be.
- Cosmic Keyboard is great because you pay a small cost for the potential tempo swing, much less than other classes.
- And Volume Up and Audio Splitter are good for their abilities to generate a lot of cards for their value.
This makes Mage a good class in the situation that you:
- Want to play a deck that curves out well, with strong initial starters like Synthesize.
- Would like some good removal and draw options with Holotechnician and Volume Up.
- Don’t want to opt for big spell options because frankly, there aren’t that many available.
4. Death Knight
DK follows with its rune themes, with Blood being about hand-buffs and health manipulation, Unholy being about board spam, and Frost being about powerful removals.
This set is focused on Blood. This is a minor detriment to DK because Blood is the weakest of the three specs.
Overall, the cards are solid for DK. There are a couple of real good cards, one Blood and one Frost, but most of the cards are built around Constructed synergies that you won’t be able to get in Arena.
The blood synergies are strong, but there’s no telling if you’ll have the right combo to get them to activate, which that lack of reliability hurts when focusing on that specific spec.
- Hardcore Cultist is the new Consecration on a stick. By itself, a 3 mana 2/1 that deals 2 damage is already good.
- With Arcanite Ripper, assuming you’re attacking things with 1 or more attack, on breaking you get a 3/3 Lifesteal minion bare minimum, and heals do exist to buff this up.
- Screaming Banshee, while not working at full Health, still gives you a 3/3 whenever it attacks. By the time it’s turn five, you’re bound to have taken some hits.
This makes Death Knight a great consideration for when:
- You’re fine with playing a more control-focused strategy.
- Want to make the best use of the classes' arsenal of removal and healing.
- Can navigate the environment well with the new sweeping Discover changes added to the class.
3. Priest
Remember when Priest used to be the worst Arena class? Good times, good times.
Overheal is a thing now, and many of the new cards are based around this. The small issue is, there just aren’t that many cards with Overheal effects. You have 3 in the new Core, and 2 in this set, one of which is legendary.
So taking cards to bank on Overheal and its benefit isn’t worth it, so the cards need to be valued on their own. In Constructed, I could see some of these being a lot better, but for Arena, most of these aren’t that great.
To Priest’s benefit, they get one of the top 5 cards in the expansion in:
- Harmonic Pop, whose only detriment is the lack of reliability due to being a Harmonic card, and it’s Rare so it’s not going to be that uncommon.
- Shadow Chord: Distort is another solid removal for Priest.
- Heartthrob and Fight Over Me are both good cards, and Heartthrob can be real good if you have any of the extra heal cards, including things like Sunfury Clergy.
Priest seems to be in a great position currently because:
- The class has some amazing control tools available to them. Especially the new Harmonic/Discordant card.
- With solid removals like Shadow Chord: Distort in the rotation, this card should be ideal for players that like the longer games.
- Just be careful not to get too focused on the Overheal mechanic since there just isn’t that much support for it currently.
2. Shaman
Now this is definitely a class you wanna keep an eye out for.
Shaman got overload synergy and luckily for them, one of the best cards in the set is an Overload card. The class started off a bit weak, but certain powerhouse cards have allowed it to rise to the top of the Arena rankings for this meta.
It offers quite a lot of traditionally strong Arena cards, and with some key options that allow for “infinite value”, it’s a great consideration overall.
- Pack the House is a 7 mana card that gives you, on average, 14 mana worth of stuff on the board, over 4 bodies, in a world without Flamestrike. It’s really, really overpowered.
- Brass Elemental is just an incredibly versatile removal option and sustain option, allowing you to get to T7 to Pack the House.
- Saxophone Soloist is also pretty amazing. Soloist’s ability to just keep on adding cards to your hand, to always let you be able to curve out, is going to be an underrated value in the card.
Opting for Shaman is a good option in general, but even better if you:
- Are good at controlling the game plan till around the mid-game. This is when you play your powerhouse cards like Pack the House.
- Know when to trade and when to go face, to make the best use of cards like Brass Elemental.
- Can succeed in keeping a strong focus on your game plan with Soloist, since it is a nearly endless amount of value in the right cases.
1. Warrior
Hail to the king, baby. Warrior stands at the top of the Arena meta right now, and good reason.
Warriors have Riffs. Yes, they suck for Constructed, but they’re actually really good in Arena. And honestly insane with the recent buffs.
Internal set synergy in Arena generally doesn’t work, but because the cards don’t have to be in hand, they are worth paying attention to.
They also have mild Menagerie synergy, but two of the key cards are Epic and Legendary. And the rare can’t come out on curve and is more a mid to late game removal card.
Overall, their best card is Roaring Applause, because you will have various minions, and you can pretty much guarantee 2 mana draw 2, and it’s easy to draw much more.
Other than that, they still have solid cards.
- Bridge Riff is a really good development + removal card.
- Drum Soloist is a good removal option for when you’re behind.
- Power Slider can get real good real easy in Arena.
- And Kodohide Drumkit, while weak as a weapon, the fact that you can build up the deathrattle and basically dare your opponent to develop while they know you can just wipe the board easily. There are mind games you can play with that.
Warrior is mainly at the top for a few key reasons:
- The recent buffs it received really put it over the top.
- The class was already decent before, but now it’s one of the top classes in Arena.
- The Riff package is simple to play, and can easily be added into most kinds of decks.
- The other support the class received translates well for the Arena format.
