How to play a completely free – yet surprisingly powerful – beginner's Rogue deck.
Our Beginner Rogue guide for Hearthstone features the best deck list, with Mulligan advice, strategy tips, card combos and more.
The beginner Rogue deck we’re highlighting in today’s article works by controlling the game using spell cards and weapon damage in order to thin down the opponent’s board as much as possible. While clearing out the trash in this way, you also begin the process of fielding your own minions onto the board, growing a more powerful board presence as you go.
In our guide to playing this starter deck (which uses only the most primitive cards in the game), we’ve got a deck list that you can import straight into your game, along with some basic strategy advice. We’ve also got some tips for choosing the right cards for your starting hand, then provided an overview of all the combos you have to play with.
If you need any more help getting started with this deck, sign up and ask away in the comments. We’ll do our very best to help you out and get you started on your own path to Legend rank! You can find more helpful articles over at our regularly updated Hearthstone Guide too.
Beginner Rogue deck list and strategy
This is a very common Rogue deck list for beginner players, and won’t require you to craft a single card for your collection:
| Rogue | Neutral |
|---|---|
| 2 x Backstab | 2 x Acidic Swamp Ooze |
| 2 x Deadly Poison | 2 x Bloodfen Raptor |
| 1 x Sap | 1 x Kobold Geomancer |
| 2 x Fan of Knives | 2 x Ironfur Grizzly |
| 2 x Assassinate | 2 x Shattered Sun Cleric |
| 1 x Assassin’s Blade | 2 x Chillwind Yeti |
| 1 x Sprint | 2 x Gnomish Inventor |
| 1 x Ogre Magi | |
| 2 x Sen’jin Shieldmasta | |
| 2 x Boulderfist Ogre | |
| 1 x Stormwind Champion |
Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.
Deck Import ID: AAECAaIHBvEF9gSlA+MHzQOgBQyWDdkC+wS0AlrgBJ4JmwXYAYoHywO0AQA=
Early on in the match you want to use your removal options such as Backstab and Deadly Poison to stop the opponent in their tracks. You then seek to populate your own side of the board with your two and three Mana creatures, before growing your board further from there.
Later on in the match you have access to both beefier removal in the form of Assassinate (and Sap, to a lesser degree), and big fat cards like Boulderfirst Ogre. You also get a stronger weapon in the form of Assassin’s Blade – whack a Deadly Poison on there and you have a truly intimidating weapon for the late-game.
Apart from that starter advice, take a look at the combo section towards the bottom of this page. This breaks down all of the combos contained in this particular version of the beginner Rogue deck, and will help you squeeze more power from it!
More great beginner guides:
- 1. Beginner Druid – Beginner Rogue deck list guide
- 2. Beginner Hunter – Beginner Hunter deck list guide
- 3. Beginner Mage – Beginner Mage deck list guide
- 4. Beginner Rogue – Beginner Rogue deck list guide
- 5. Beginner Shaman – Beginner Shaman deck list guide
- 6. Beginner Warlock – Beginner Warlock deck list guide
Beginner Rogue Mulligan guide
You’re trying to take the initiative from the very start of each match with this deck, so you must get a solid start every time.
For this reason, look to prioritise keeping your two Mana minions such as Acidic Swamp Ooze and Bloodfen Raptor, while also digging for a Backstab and a Deadly Poison. Combined, these card options will provide you with the solid early-game removal and board presence that you need to get over the finishing line.
Beginner Rogue tips, card combos and synergies
Here are the most fundamental combos that are contained in this deck. Getting to grips with all of these will help you climb a little higher on the ladder this month!
– Cards like Kobold Geomancer and Ogre Mage make your spell cards stronger. That means Backstab does three points of damage instead of two with one of these characters in play, and Fan of Knives likewise does twice as much damage.
– Deadly Poison on any weapon is a powerful boost, but if you can save one of these cards for Assassin’s Blade you’ll arm yourself with a 5-Attack weapon that can hit the opponent – or their minions – four times! The boost from multiple Deadly Poison cards stack as well.
– Acidic Swamp Ooze will destroy any weapon that the opponent might be playing at the time you put this minion into play.
– If you have another minion on the board, you can use Shattered Sun Cleric to grant it an extra point of Attack and Health.
– Stormwind Champion provides a different kind of buff to your other minions. The stats are boosted up for as long as the Champion is out in play, but as soon as he’s taken out by your opponent, you’ll lose the extra Attack and Health he’d granted.
