Our one-stop guide to everything you need to know about Hearthstone in 2017!
Our Hearthstone Guide 2017 contains details of all the meta decks, expansions, mechanics and events that have been part of the game over the last 12 months.
Hello and welcome to our enormous guide to Hearthstone in 2017!
Over the last year or so we’ve accumulated a huge amount of guide information on the site, in addition to the deck guides that you’ll likely already know us for. We thought it was high time we gathered everything together in one place, then made it prominent on the homepage. That way you can grab all the help you need for the current meta, from one place.
Don’t expect beginner’s guides or how-tos on the basics of playing Hearthstone here (we’ll save that for a future beginner-focused article), but do expect to be able to quickly jump into everything we have that’s relevant to the game right now.
Some of these articles need a little dusting off, and we’ll be working our way through all of those over the next few days. Should you spot anything particularly off though, do drop us a line in the comments or use the contact page to get in touch with me directly.
Have fun!
John Bedford – EIC of geeksplatform
Navigation:
Use the following links to quickly navigate to the section of the guide you’re most interested in.
1. Standard, Wild and Beginner Decks – Whether you’ve a card collection that’s bulging at the seams or you’re just getting started, we’ve got a competitive deck for you.
2. Expansion Guides – All of our guide content for the most recent Hearthstone expansions, including the upcoming Kobolds and Catacombs!
3. Arena Guides – If the Arena side of Hearthstone’s more your thing, check out our growing collection of guides for this area of the game.
4. Seasonal Event Guides – More and more special events have been heading Hearthstone’s way lately, and we’ve got guides to surviving each one.
5. General Gameplay Guides – From the Standard rotation to the Hall of Fame, we’ve got the lowdown on all the latest general meta information you need.
Standard, Wild and Beginner decks
There are two different sides to Constructed play, and it’s worth outlining the fundamental differences for those who are catching up after a long break.
First of all you have the more popular Standard format, where deck lists are limited to only the most recent expansions. Then there’s Wild, where – as the name suggests – anything goes, and you can build your deck using any card from across the entire history of Hearthstone.
BEST STANDARD LADDER HEARTHTONE META DECKS
In the link above you’ll find advanced deck guides for the 30 or so decks that feature in Hearthstone’s Standard metagame at any given time. Reading through every one of these will give you a significant advantage over the competition, and we update the deck lists contained within them regularly as well.
Here’s the Top 10 if you just want to dive straight into the very best decks available for the Standard meta right now:
- 1. Highlander Priest
- 2. Jade Druid
- 3. Tempo Rogue
- 4. Aggro Token Druid
- 5. Evolve Shaman
- 6. Midrange Paladin
- 7. Murloc Paladin
- 8. Pirate Warrior
- 9. Secret Tempo Mage
- 10. Zoo Warlock
BEST WILD LADDER HEARTHTONE META DECKS
If you fancy taking a walk on the Wild side instead, make sure you consult our guide to the very best Wild decks being played in the game. Wild is by no means as popular as Standard, and so we tend to cover a smaller range of decks in this category. Nevertheless, we’ve essential guides for playing each one.
We are in the process of overhauling all of our Wild deck guides. The selection we’re highlighting below will grow rapidly in the weeks ahead of the first edition of this guide.
If you’re completely new to the game and are just working your way through the tutorials, you’ll likely need some basic decks to get going with.
You’ll unlock all of the cards you need to pilot each one of these decks just by hitting Level 10 with the character in question. Once you’ve done that, jump into these deck guides to get ahead of the game.
We’re growing this section of our guide all of the time, so check back regularly for updates and links to more in-depth articles.
- 1. Beginner Druid
- 2. Beginner Hunter
- 3. Beginner Mage
- 4. Beginner Rogue
- 5. Beginner Shaman
- 6. Beginner Warlock
You’ll get a chest stuffed with treasure for ranking up on either the Standard or Wild ladders each month, and the higher you climb the better your rewards. The guide above explains what you get for reaching each rank on the ladder.
Expansion guides
We’ve been busy producing guides for all of this year’s expansions, and there’s loads to learn about each one of the sets we’ve seen so far – not to mention the upcoming Kobolds and Catacombs!
Here’s everything you could need to know about what’s been happening in Hearthstone over the last year or so.
Kobolds and Catacombs
For everything – and we mean absolutely everything – to do with the next expansion coming to Hearthstone, hit the link above.
Hearthstone is getting some exciting new single-player content in the next expansion. Dungeon Run will see players embark on a heavily randomised roguelike adventure, facing off against a series of bosses.
A new Keyword is coming with the next expansion, and it goes by the name of Recruit. You’ll find everything you need to know about how this new mechanic works in the article we’ve linked above.
Spellstones are a new kind of card for Hearthstone. These spells start off relatively minor, but become increasingly powerful as you fulfill certain growth conditions. Check the link above for the full lowdown – it’ll be updated continuously as the new expansion approaches.
Every single Hearthstone hero is getting their very own Legendary Weapon in Kobolds and Catacombs – even those that traditionally haven’t been able to wield them. We’ve got all the details – and card reveals – in that guide. Expect it to grow quickly over the next fortnight or so.
There’s more! A handful of Unidentified Elixir, Shield and Weapon cards are arriving with Kobolds and Catacombs. These provide two benefits when played, but one of these benefits remains obscured until the card makes the journey from your deck list to your hand…
Frozen Throne
Death Knight cards were introduced with this summer’s Frozen Throne expansion, and they provide each hero with an alternative portrait and hero power. They’ll be sticking around in the rotation for a while yet, so check out our review of the best ones to craft.
Adventures were removed from the game after the release of Karazhan, but the Frozen Throne reintroduced them (sort of) in the form of free mission content.
ICE CROWN CITADEL LICH KING GUIDE
If you manage to beat the Lich King with all nine heroes you’ll unlock a special Paladin portrait – it won’t be easy though, so check out our guide for a bit of extra help.
Journey to Un’Goro
We kept things pretty simple for this year’s first expansion, and retained the bulk of our expansion information in one simple hub.
Un’Goro introduced a new mechanic to the game which allowed minions to be put through the Adapt process when certain cards were played. Find out everything you need to know about these buffs in the article above..
Arena
In this section you’ll find links to all of our core Arena guides.
Completely new to this side of the game? Our starter guide contains some essential advice for drafting your deck, then increasing your winrate so you can bag some juicier rewards.
Who are the game’s best Arena classes at any given time? Use this article to make sure you pick a top-tier hero for your next attempt at Arena.
You’ve picked your hero, you know what you’re doing, but why are you doing it? Gold, cards and crafting dust is the answer. In this article you’ll find out what you’ll earn for achieving specific ranks in Hearthstone’s Arena mode.
Seasonal Events
Seasonal Events are becoming increasingly common in Hearthstone, and we’re growing our collection of guides as and when each one is released.
This year saw the Hallow’s End event make its debut in Hearthstone. You can find all of the detail about what happened in the guide we’ve linked above.
One of the special Halloween twists saw a Dual-Class Arena mode added to Hearthstone. After picking a hero, you got to pick an entirely new hero power to go with it!
HEADLESS HORSEMAN TAVERN BRAWL GUIDE
A fun but rather infuriating Headless Horseman event arrived with the Hallow’s End update. You’ll find everything you need to know about the event in the guide we’ve linked.
The Frost Festival arrived towards the end of the Journey to Un’Goro era and added a new Tavern Brawl to the game, along with free Arena tickets which also rewarded card packs for the upcoming Frozen Throne expansion.
General gameplay guides
Over the last few years we’ve produced a huge amount of useful guide content that goes far beyond the deck guides you’ve perhaps come to know us for. Here’s everything we’ve got on the site right now:
How exactly does the Standard format rotation work in Hearthstone, and what do you need to know about the upcoming restrictions for this corner of competitive play? Check out the link above for the lowdown on what to expect from the next year or so of Hearthstone.
We’re currently in the Year of the Mammoth, which is the name of the set rotation for the current period of Standard play. Check the guide above for everything you need to know about what that entails.
Basic and Classic cards are designed to remain in the rotation on a permanent basis, but what happens to the really problematic cards that just have to get booted from the game?
The answer from Blizzard is the Hearthstone Hall of Fame, and the guide that’s linked above explains who’s sitting on the “naughty step” at any given time.
Blizzard mercifully introduced a new deck import system to the game earlier this year. Rather than forcing players to manually enter deck lists from sites like geeksplatform one by one, you now simply copy a string of characters which are then picked up by the game when you try to build a deck. Magic!
The Daily Quest system in Hearthstone allows you to earn a decent dollop of change as you play particular heroes or fulfill certain win-conditions. We’ve got the lowdown on the most profitable quests in the game, and the rewards they provide you with.
Every now and then Blizzard likes to shake up the Tavern Brawl system by introducing an intimidating Heroic version. For a significant entry fee, players can lock down a Constructed deck and aim for big prizes.
If there’s anything else you’d like to see us cover on the site, do let us know in the comments and we’ll do our best to accommodate your requests!
