Priest surges in the Hearthstone Wild Open

The Hearthstone Wild Open was one of the first big tests for Hearthstone‘s Wild format. With all sets available rather than just the ones in the current Standard rotation, what would players bring—and how entertaining would it be?

In the end, one class proved to be the biggest surprise: Priest. Six of the eight players brought a Priest deck, with three different archetypes chosen.

Combo Priest, with Divine Spirit and Inner Fire was most popular. Finalist “Control”, “Bertik”, and the Chinese pair of “Lvge” and “SHRoyalBaize” all brought very similar lists.

With the addition of powerful new cards like Lyra the Sunshard, Shadow Visions, and Radiant Elemental, Combo Priest has found a home in the Standard meta even if it is niche. Add in some of the powerful Wild cards, like Velen’s Chosen and Deathlord, and you have a potent deck indeed. Light of the Naaru is a great combo with Lyra too.

“Noriggon” brought a Prophet Velen OTK deck, with the Wild Open living up to its name. Embrace the Shadow combines with Flash Heal and Light of the Naaru for a nasty damage combo.

The other list was Masinc’s Reno Jackson-focused highlander list. Reno didn’t play perhaps quite as big a role as some might have thought, wiith Masinc and Noriggon the only ones to play it. They both brought Reno Mage and Reno N’Zoth Warlock.

While all those control decks were cool and fun, however, the eventual winner “Alb787” went full aggro. Token Druid and Pirate Warrior were tied with Combo Priest for the most popular deck, with Aggro Shaman not far behind. Alb rounded out his lineup with Midrange Token Paladin. Being able to combine Lightfused Stegadon, Muster for Battle, and Quartermaster is what Wild is all about.