Written by: @spc_monkey and @ggnydra



Introduction to the Druid

Druid is one of the classes blessed by the developers with flexible hero power. His Shapeshift is good both on the offense and on the defense and the possibility to stack armor, clear the opponents’ early-game minions or to finish his big threats is great. Together with the other two hero powers allowing that deal damage to minions – Mage's Flameblast and Rogue's Dagger Mastery, his power is definitely in the top.

This flexibility goes beyond Druid’s hero power and is present in the class cards as well. Many of his class spells and minions allow you to choose between two options, thus allowing for optimal choices when cast, which makes the Druid a class that can either dictate and respond to the state of the game. Minions like Ancient of War and Druid of the Claw can be played in defensive and offensive modes depending on what’s needed while others like Ancient of Lore and Keeper of the Grove come in with different kinds of built-in utility. The same goes for Druid’s spells, regardless of if they’re direct damage sources (Wrath, Starfall) or minion buffs (Mark of the Wild/Mark of Nature).

Similar to the Paladins’, the Druids' collection of class spells encompass almost every effect in Hearthstone. In addition to the aforementioned 2-in-1 minions and spells, Druids cards are able to restore life (Healing Touch), act as hard removals (Naturalize), draw cards (Ancient of Lore, Nourish), silence enemies (Keeper of the Grove) and spawn tokens (Force of Nature, Soul of the Forest). The Druids also possess the unique ability to ramp their mana and gain additional crystals through Innervate and Wild Growth (although it has a ramping effect built in, Nourish is almost always used for card draw).

The Druids fit well in both the mid-range playstyle and the heavy control set-ups. Popularized by StrifeCro and examined in detail in the last section of this article, the former type of Druids rely on incrementally establishing board control through removal spells and buffing effects (Wrath, Swipe, Wild Pyromancer, Keeper of the Grove and Defender of Argus are key cards for the early and mid game) in order dominate the game.

The latter type also follows the same “control the board” idea for the early-to-mid stages but relies more heavily on big bodies and end-of-curve legendaries like Ancient of War, Ragnaros and/or Ysera to finish the game. Those are often duplicated by Faceless Manipulators and protected by Sunwalkers for maximum efficiency.

As both those archetypes can be very expensive, players with poorer collections often turn to a third type of deck – the Druid aggro. Displayed in the budget section below, the aggro deck relies on token generators that can be buffed through Mark of the Wild, Mark of Nature and Power of the Wild to deal quick and heavy beating.

Druids’ versatility also makes them one of the best decks in the current meta. Able to survive the early game pressure from Warlocks, heal away the direct damage of Mages and have all the right cards for late-game scenarios, a well-built Druid deck will always have good win rates if played correctly.

Basic deckbuilding

For your first steps playing as a Druid it’s better to focus on a more aggressive approach as the heavy control decks require a lot of epic and legendary cards to be efficient. The aggro builds, on the other hand, use many of the good basic and common in minions which are cheap to craft and usable in other decks as well. Add the Druid removal and buffing spells and you get a normal midrange deck. Look up our crafting guides if you’re confused how to best spend your dust.

One popular budget deck that we encountered on the lower ladder ranks is the token-based Druids. In case you’re not familiar with the term, “tokens” in other CCGs refer to creatures that are not cards by themselves but are rather spawned through other creatures or spells. In Hearthstone, examples of cards that create tokens are Imp Master, Razorfen Hunter, Silver Hand Knight, Hogger etc.

The deck on the right will require some crafting on your part but know that your dust will be well spent: apart from Imp Master (which somewhat situational card), every other minion or spell that you craft will be used in whatever Druid deck you decide to play in the future. Playstyle-wise, your goal is to populate the board through token generators, buff them up and look for good trades. In some cases, AoE buffers like Power of the Wild and Savage Roar will allow you to finish the opponent in one swing if you have enough minions on the board.



Crafting for the Druid

Building a Druid deck that be competitive in the high ranks of the ladder is an expensive task. Most of the high-ranked Druids have only a couple of free cards (Innervate, Claw, Swipe and Novice Engineer) and invest a lot in legendaries, rares and epic cards to become the hard-hitting builds they are.

The paragraphs below will guide you through the essential crafts for Druid (both general and class-specific) as well as examine the situational cards so you can more wisely spend your dust.





I. The essentials



Wrath is the versatile single-target removal of the Druid. The 3-damage option will kill most early game minions while the other choice will draw you a card immediately while finishing 1-health minions. In emergency situations, you can cantrip it away, i.e. deal 1 damage anywhere and hope to draw the card you need.

Wrath is a must craft regardless of what type of deck you’re playing as it’ll deal with most of the problems you’ll encounter. It snipes Harvest Golems, Void Walkers, SI:7 Agents and X/2’s that are buffed up through Blood Imp/Young Priestess (Flame Imps, Knife Jugglers, Shattered Sun Clerics). It allows for favorable trades when dealing with Defias Ringleader’s token, Argent Squires, Leper Gnomes, Paladin’s Recruits and large portion of the Murlocs. Don’t hesitate and just craft it.

Druid of the Claw is a one-of-two minion that is good for both offense and defense. The 4/4 charge option works like a poor man’s Argent Commander which can jump on the board to kill a creature immediately or deal the blow that finishes the opponent. The 4/6 taunt form, on the other hand, is great when you’re in need of solid defense. 6 toughness are hard to get through (there are exactly two minions for five mana or less that can trade with Druid of the Claw one-for-one) and if left unanswered with a removal, the Druid will often trade two for one. Next to Wrath, this is the other Druid common card that you need to craft immediately.

Keeper of the Grove is a great 2/4 for 4 minion with two excellent modes to choose from. The silence will deny the deathrattles of Sylvanas, Harvest Golem or Cairne, remove taunts, buffs, divine shields and Ysera’s end-of-turn trigger and will make Tirion a useless 6/6 for 8.

The other option lets you do 2 damage on arrival which is also great in every match-up. The Keeper will snipe most of the early game minions and will stay on the board, giving you a two for one trade more often than not. This battlecry can also do damage directly to hero’s face so it’s a good way to deal some damage past taunters or help with beatdowning the opponent.

Starfall is another versatile removal. It’s AoE version hits the enemy board for 2 damage which can do nasty things to aggro decks (even more so if there are no Blood Imps in play), especially now that Shattered Sun Cleric and Argent Commander, two of the most widely used minions, are in its range.

Even though it’s more expensive than, say, Consecration or Hellfire, Starfall retains its potency due to the synergy with other Druid cards. It can be Innervated on T3 before enemy’s board has grown fat or it can be played after Swipe to finish the surviving minions.

The single target version of Starfall is more rarely used and comes in play mostly in Druid mirrors where it can get Druids of the Claw down to Shapeshift range, clear Ancients of Lore or kill silenced Ancients of War. You will also find it useful against Shaman’s Fire Elementals, Sunwalkers or Sylvanas.