Editor’s Note: With the new Standard Format in 2016 for Hearthstone, we highly recommend going for cards in the Classic set and Whispers of the Old Gods (Standard Format). Here are budget guides, also from Sheng, to get you started!
- Budget Standard Standard C’Thun Druid
- Budget Standard Midrange Hunter
- Budget Standard C’Thun Mage
- Budget Standard  Aggro Paladin
- Budget Standard C’Thun Priest
- Budget Standard C’Thun Rogue
- Budget Standard Midrange Shaman
- Budget Standard Zoo WarlockÂ
- Budget Standard Combo Warrior
Introduction
Greetings, I’m Sheng, a Legend rank constructed and 7.5 win-average arena player. I run HearthstoneCoaching.com where our coaches have helped students around the world reach many of these same achievements.
If you’re new to Hearthstone, or just have a limited collection of cards—I feel your pain. It is often difficult to find cheap but viable decks to play on the Hearthstone ladder. Given this dilemma, I’ve set out to help those of you with a limited collection by creating budget decks for each class.
Requirements
- Reach Level 10 to unlock all of the Basic cards for this class.
- Complete the Naxxramas, Blackrock Mountain, and League of Explorers expansions.
Note: Don’t forget to check out our New Player section – featuring Crafting/Disenchanting and Free to Play guides!
Guide Breakdown
Now that you know the criterion for building these decks, here’s what each guide includes, for every class.
- Introduction
- Requirements
- Deck Playstyle
- Card Choice Breakdown
- Mulligan Guide
- Gameplay Video
- Upgrades
- Conclusion
I’ve spent significantly more time on these guides this time around, and recorded and edited myself playing each deck, as I’ve received feedback that this is helpful.
I’ve also brought back the upgrades section in case people want to see what an unhindered version of the deck looks like that may be capable of reaching Legend rank. This time it includes direct substitutions, so you don’t have to wonder about what cards to keep or take out. It’s very clear.
The Guides
Basic + Adventures Midrange Druid (LoE Edition)
- Midrange Druid is a tempo-oriented deck whose goal is to out-value opponents through the course of the game using efficient minion trading and spells. Its primary win condition is savage-roar, and spells like innervate and wild-growth give Druid the ability to put out large threats several turns before opponents can answer them efficiently.
Basic + Adventures Face Hunter (LoE Edition)
- Face Hunter’s goal is to kill our opponent as quickly as possible. While this deck’s goal may seem simple enough, what distinguishes a good aggro player from a poor one, is the ability to maximize damage over several turns through efficient use of spells and Hunter’s Steady Shot hero power.
Basic + Adventures Tempo Mage (LoE Edition)
- Tempo Mage is a tempo-oriented deck whose goal is to out-value opponents through the course of the game using efficient minion trading and weapons.
- When effective, this style of play snowballs to card-advantage in the late-game, which can overwhelm opponents. Tempo Mage is the most powerful of our League of Explorers adventures decks as it utilizes some of the most mana-efficient minions available. In addition, all of the removal spells in this deck double as direct damage that can be used to burn our opponents down.
Basic + Adventures Token Paladin (LoE Edition)
- Token Paladin is a deck that focuses on putting many minions on the board in order to fuel a large frostwolf-warlord or to provide targets for buff spells and minions. While this deck is susceptible to board clear, when left alone, these small minions can quickly overwhelm a slower deck.
Basic + Adventures Midrange Priest (LoE Edition)
- Midrange Priest is a tempo-oriented deck whose goal is to out-value opponents through the course of the game using efficient minion trading and removal spells.
- When effective, this style of play snowballs to card-advantage in the late-game, which can overwhelm opponents. Priest’s hero power is especially useful when northshire-cleric is on the board. This synergy creates a card-draw engine that can allow Priest to draw multiple cards on a single turn with healing spells.
- League of Explorers introduces entomb, which allows Priest to deal with our opponent’s win conditions extremely effectively.
Basic + Adventures Raptor Rogue (LoE Edition)
- Raptor Rogue is a deck focused around the Deathrattle mechanic. Most of the cards in this deck are designed to synergize with a new card from League of Explorers called unearthed-raptor, which has the ability to clone Deathrattles from friendly minions.
Basic + Adventures Bloodlust Shaman (LoE Edition)
- Bloodlust Shaman is a token deck that focuses on putting as many minions on the board as cheaply as possible. Its primary win conditions are bloodlust and frostwolf-warlord, both cards that benefit from a large minion count.
Basic + Adventures Midrange Warlock (LoE Edition)
- Midrange Warlock is a tempo-oriented deck whose goal is to out-value opponents through the course of the game using efficient minion trading and removal spells.
- When effective, this style of play snowballs to card-advantage in the late-game, which can overwhelm opponents. Warlock’s hero power is extremely powerful later in the game, when you have you have enough mana to play cards drawn from Life Tap.
Basic + Adventures Midrange Warrior (LoE Edition)
- Midrange Warrior is a tempo-oriented deck whose goal is to out-value opponents through the course of the game using efficient minion trading and weapons.
- When effective, this style of play snowballs to card-advantage in the late-game, which can overwhelm opponents. When behind, Midrange Warrior also has some capacity to race opponents with charge minions and weapons.
Don’t have League of Explorers?
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Check out my previous Starter deck series that don’t require any dust to build.
Decks with Basic + Naxxramas Cards Only
Decks with Basic + Naxxramas + Blackrock Mountain Cards Only
Conclusion
Deck construction was one of the hardest things for me to learn when I first picked up this game, so I hope this will help you newer players bridge that gap faster than I did. As always, I’d love to answer your questions on this thread or on the guides themselves. Enjoy!
Editor’s Note: Be sure to check out the New Players section, other Beginner and Budget Decks, and our most popular section – Monthly Top Meta Decks.
Coaching Lessons
If you’re interested in reaching Legend rank, or earning unlimited gold from arena, my team at HearthstoneCoaching.com would love to help! We’ve provided over a thousand hours of excellent coaching to students around the world. 
Want to Become Better at Other Games?
I also run RankOneCoaching.com, where our top coaches will develop a personal plan for you to achieve your dreams in other games. Personal lessons are an in-depth experience and most students improve significantly after just one full session!
