Cards every Hearthstone deck needs.

In Hearthstone each deck can be different. It can be molded to strive for a particular objective or work to counter an annoying strategy. Even then players make personal choices for what cards they like and what cards they think might make an impact in their games. Though each deck has its own meta and those ideas are strong, there are quite a few neutral minions that fit into almost every deck possible. Hearty board presence, a silence, or perhaps the ever-lifesaving divine shield/taunt. Let’s go through some of those cards and break down why they might go in certain decks.

2 Drops

Ironbeak Owl
First on this list and rightfully so. Ironbeak Owl’s silence is just too good to pass up. Having at least one, if not two of these little birds in your deck can shut down your opponents in a big way. At a cost of two mana for a 2/1 minion, it’s an alright pickup. However, silencing a minion like Sludge Belcher or another powerful legendary can completely negate an opponent’s board. At such a cheap cost, Ironbeak Owl is a must.

Knife Juggler
At the cost of two mana, Knife Juggler is quite a good pickup, at the very least for its attack and defense of 3/2. It primarily shines in decks like Face Hunter, Warlock Zoo and Aggro Paladin, providing nice little pieces of RNG damage, but in doing so it opens up different ways of controlling the board. If your opponent has a nice set of minions out and your Knife Juggler throws a few points of damage out, suddenly you might be able to actually finish them all off, rather than taking two turns.

Loot Hoarder
Like the Ironbeak Owl, this 2/1 for 2 is there mainly for its card effect. It’s a nice card that can fill holes in many decks as it helps provide a bit of board presence, and then, once it’s served its purpose of laying down some damage or sacking, you get a nifty new card from your deck.

Mechwarper
This one, a 2/3 for two, is a little healthier than something like a Knife Juggler, but is one of those necessities for a mech deck. A 2/3 for two is a helpful enough minion to have on the board but when you’re trying to get some high level mechs out, it’s one of the cards that lays the deck’s foundation.

Acidic Swamp Ooze
This is a card that actually is a bit of a coin flip. Not all decks have weapons, but decks like Warrior and Rogue, even Paladin, will abuse them. If you’re up against someone like a Mage it’s at least a 3/2, but really handy at neutralizing opponent weapons. If you’ve got some space, throw it in, unless you’re confident you can deal with weapons.

4 Drops

Sen’Jin Shieldmasta
This little number fits into nearly every deck. More known as Tazdingo! than anything else, this 4 drop for 3/5 is simply the optimal taunt minion. It’s not too high a cost, but low enough that you can coin it out on turn three for early board control. What makes a taunt minion good is that it has a high health stat. Attack is great for clearing the board, but if it takes minimal effort for your opponent to clear, it’s just a silly card.

Chillwind Yeti
Akin to the Shieldmasta, Chillwind Yeti is a great 4 drop. For the cost of 4 mana (often times by using a coin) you get a 4/5 to help dominate the board. It often takes multiple sacks or spells to take this beast down, making it very worth it to have two in just about any deck.

Dark Iron Dwarf
This one is a 4/4 for 4, so not too bad without the effect, but it grants a minion +2 attack during that turn. It’s awesome for decks like Paladin that thrive on buffing up your minions, but it also fits easily into Warrior, Hunter and Warlock.

6 Drops

Sunwalker
Bringing a taunt AND a divine shield into play makes for a very difficult barrier to get around. It’ll force Mages to use Polymorph and Shamans to Hex (a huge pain in the ass), but otherwise it takes quite a bit to take this sucker down. First the shield, then the 4/5 taunt. It’s one of those cards that can save your game in a tight spot.

Off Limits

These cards I also consider great for nearly any deck, however they require you to purchase expansions, so I’ll mention them, but I won’t assume you’ve bought them.

Loatheb
A 5/5 for 5, this Legendary minion makes all spells cast by the opponent on their next turn to cost 5 more mana. Up against some of the spell heavy decks like Mage, this card can really jam up your opponent’s tempo. Imagine having a sweet strategy to clear your opponent’s board and take control only to have something thrown in the cogs, completely mucking it up.

Emperor Thaurissan
Reducing the cost of all of the cards in your hand by one a turn is an incredible power to have. At 6 mana cost, this Legendary works well in decks that like to play cards, so all of them. Being able to get a larger combo in your turn can drastically turn the game around, so if you need some more 6 drops, feel free to throw in the Emperor.

Sludge Belcher
One of the most annoying taunts in the game, Sludge Belcher can completely slow down an opponent’s advances. This 3/5 for 5 comes with a gnarly deathrattle: Summon a 1/2 minion with taunt. So after spending multiple cards to destroy the Belcher, your opponent immediately has to deal with ANOTHER source of taunt.

Robert Wery