The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion is here, and I’ve already started work on new decks. These three are the best I’ve come up with so far, and while they’re not quite perfect yet, they got me quite a few wins on the ladder.
Stealth/Jade Golem Rogue
Hidden in the shadowy corners of Gadgetzan, the Rogues of the Jade Lotus plot out their devious schemes. Combining the power of the Jade Golems with their natural ability for stealth, these devious scoundrels plot their attacks against the Grimy Goons and the Kabal.
The first deck I played, spurred by the 
fact that I got two copies of Shaku, the Collector out of my first 30 packs opened. The idea behind the deck is to use Stealthed minions to build up a board presence, and then snowball opponents on the back of my Jade Golems.
Now, I know that I said that Jade Golem Rogue would be the worst deck to come out of the expansion, but so far, it’s actually been somewhat good. It can go toe-to-toe with Mid-Range decks, and so far, I’ve actually defeated all the Priests, Mages and Warlocks I’ve faced.
The only decks I’ve lost to have been Pirate Warrior and Aggro Shaman, and while I’ve been playing at a somewhat low rank (because of the reset), I think that it may turn out to be one of the better decks of the expansion.
The Pros: Incredibly powerful mid-to-late game. Can generate more resources than the typical minion-based decks.
The Cons: Can have trouble regaining board control against aggressive decks.
Notes: I was a bit worried that the Shadow Sensei would have trouble finding targets, but between Shaku, the Shadow Rager, the Shadow Swarmers and the Lotus Assassins, I’ve actually managed to land the buff in nearly every game.
The Gadgetzan Ferryman has also been surprisingly good, as Rogue’s advantage over other Jade Golem decks comes from its ability to bounce Golem generators back to the hand. Now, while a Youthful Brewmaster could have pulled this off as well, the Ferryman’s 3 health has made it surprisingly good during minion trades.
Grimy Goons Paladin
Dismayed by the crime that permeates Gadgetzan’s streets, Paladins from all across the world have banded together to purge the city’s evil. Striking a tentative alliance with the seemingly well-intentioned Don Hon’Cho, the Paladins begin their righteous crusade against the Jade Lotus and the Kabal.
The second deck I played, Grimy 
Goons Paladin is another counter to the Jade Golem Druid decks permeating the meta. In this deck, you use the classic Paladin Board clears (such as Pyro/Equality) to deal with pesky golems, while using hand-wide buffs to make big minions of your own.
The Dopplegangster plays a big role in this deck, as being able to summon a trio of 5/5’s or 6/6’s early in the game allows you to actually out-tempo Jade Golem Druid. Another card that was surprisingly powerful was the Grimestreet Protector, as the Divine Shields it provides help tremendously with value-trading.
This deck struggles a bit against Pirate Warrior, because it doesn’t have any really good ways to counter early aggression. I think that Wickerflame Burnbristle (the Paladin Legendary) could probably help a lot in this aspect, but since I don’t own the card, I can’t say for sure.
The Pros: Incredibly powerful in the mid-game. Can out-tempo Jade Golem decks due to cheap but powerful minions (especially the Dopplegangster).
The Cons: Can have trouble regaining board control against aggressive decks.
Notes: As I mentioned above, Wickerflame Burnbristle would probably be an excellent addition to this deck. If you have him, I’d probably swap him out for Cairne, who doesn’t have any really powerful synergies in this deck (other than being a good, solid minion).
When playing against a Mage, try to get your Dopplegangsters to at least 5/5, so they can’t be cleared by Flamestrike; against Priests, Shamans and Warlocks, go for 6/6 to counter Dragonfire Potion, Elemental Destruction and Felfire Potion respectively; against everything else, 4/4 should be enough.
Mid-Range Warrior
Upon arriving in Gadgetzan, there were many Warriors who sailed in as Pirates. These no-good swashbucklers raid and pillage the Gadgetzan docks, slaying those who stand in their way. After a large shipment of weapons was hijacked by these scallywags, Don Han’Cho ordered the Warriors under his command to go out and protect his investments.
Mid-Range Warrior is a deck with 
one goal: defeat the ever-present Pirate Warrior. This goal is accomplished by playing a lot of Taunt minions that are buffed by cards such as Stolen Goods or the Grimy Gadgeteer.
Because of how early you can get taunts onto the board (as early as turn 2 in many occasions), this deck can stall Pirate Warrior long enough to draw into powerful board clears such as the Ravaging Ghoul.
Public Defender and Alley Armorsmith are the main Taunt minions the deck plays, but it also runs a copy of Bloodhoof Brave for a little extra consistency. To buff these minions, the deck runs one copy of Stolen Goods, a copy of Grimestreet Smuggler, a pair of Grimy Gadgeteers and Don Han’Cho himself.
The Pros: This deck is spectacular against Pirate Warrior and other Aggressive Decks that don’t run a lot of hard removal.
The Cons: Struggles a bit in the late-game against control decks and Jade Golem Druid.
Notes: I’ve been running Varian Wrynn to give me some late-game tempo against very aggressive decks. He has a tendency to be hit-and-miss, however, so you’ll probably want to replace him with Garrosh Hellscream in most cases. (I don’t have Garrosh, or else I’d do this too. I haven’t been running Bolster, because it would rarely hit more than one minion, and that’s not good enough.
These are the decks I’ve mainly played so far, but I’m sure I’ll create many more over the next few weeks. Hopefully, this article has given you some ideas for your own deckbuilding, and I’ll see you on the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan.
For example, the Jade Lotus have the Jade Spirit, a 4-mana 2/3 that summons a Jade Golem upon being played. Now, a 2/3 is pretty bad for 4 mana, however, the Jade Golem it summons will likely be a 2/2 or a 3/3. As a result, this card becomes a 4-mana 4/5 or 5/6, which is actually pretty good.
2-mana spell that deals 2 damage. If the Combo is enabled, however, it will also summon a Jade Golem. This card isn’t as powerful as Eviscerate in most Rogue decks, however in Jade Golem focused decks its power is much, much higher.
The Rogue Legendary—Shaku, the Collector—is a Stealth minion, but it has nothing to do with Jade Golems, so it’s hard to see where exactly the Rogue archetype is going to be focused. There are still a lot of cards that haven’t been revealed yet, however, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the future.
Golem it summons will be at least a 4/4 or 5/5, which makes this card an impressive 7-mana 9/9 or 10/10! Needless to say, this effect is super powerful, and will definitely help Shamans to control the board against more aggressive decks.
Golem or shuffle 3 copies of this card into their deck. This is a very powerful card, as it single-handedly prevents Druids from ever dying to fatigue again.
For the most part, Potions are just basic spells, similar to what has been released in previous expansions. However, there are some cards that interact specifically with Potions in a way that hasn’t really been seen before. For example, there is the Kabal Chemist, a 4-mana 3/3 that adds a random Potion to your hand when it’s played. Because Potions tend to be better than the average spell, this minion’s effect will be pretty good most of the time.
they help fulfill this goal in many ways. On the Board Clear side, they have the Dragonfire Potion, a 6-mana spell that deals 5 damage to all minions that are not Dragons. This is a very powerful Board Control Spell unless your opponent is running a Dragon deck, in which case Dragonfire Potion will do absolutely nothing.
As far as the Highlander effect goes, Priests have the Legendary Minion Raza the Chained. A 5-mana 5/5, Raza the Chained causes your Hero Power to cost 0 for the rest of the game as long as your deck has no duplicates. Needless to say, this is an incredibly powerful effect, as it allows the Priest to always be able to heal no matter how much mana he uses.
Potion Mages have is the Volcanic Potion, a 3-mana Spell that deals 2 damage to all minions. Mages have plenty of Board Clears already, but this card will still likely see some play.
Highlander Mechanic shows up in the Legendary. Named Inkmaster Solia, the Mage Legendary is a 7-mana 5/5 that makes the next Spell you cast completely free, as long as you have no duplicates in your deck. This is possibly even more powerful than Raza the Chained’s effect, since being able to play a Pyroblast for free on turn 7 along with a 5/5 minion is absolutely insane for Tempo.
Potion, a 6-mana Spell that deals 5 damage to all characters. This has no place in a Zoolock deck, but fits perfectly in a Control-style deck.
gang into one card. A 4-mana 3/3, Kazakus has a Battlecry that allows players to create their own custom Potion, as long as they have no duplicates in their deck.
o a Beast), however its stats are better for the Mana Cost.
but with one distinct change: they forego some tempo in exchange for more powerful buffs. For example, Warriors have the Grimy Gadgeteer, a 4-mana 4/3 that gives a random minion +2/+2 at the end of your turn. Obviously, this is a more powerful effect than the Trogg Beastrager’s, however, the Grimy Gadgeteer is a much weaker minion stat-wise.
random Taunt minion in your hand +3/+3. Now, Warriors don’t usually run many Taunt Minions, however this card combos with I Know a Guy, a 1-mana Spell that lets you Discover a Taunt minion. This combination guarantees that you’ll always have a Taunt to buff, but you’ll be spending 3 mana to do nothing, so it’s a fairly weak play.
effects, Paladins have low-tempo cards with very powerful effects. For example, Paladins have the Grimestreet Outfitter, a 2-mana 1/1 with a Battlecry that gives all the minions in your hand +1/+1. Needless to say, a 1/1 on turn two is terrible tempo-wise, but its effect is incredibly powerful.
For the cards you’ll be buffing, Paladins have the Meanstreet Marshal, a 1-mana 1/2 that draws a card when it dies as long as it has at least 2 attack. Now, this minion actually has good stats for its mana cost, but if you play it on turn one, you’ll have trouble making use of its Deathrattle. However, this problem can be solved thanks to Small-Time Recruits, a 3-mana Spell that draws three 1-mana minions from your deck.
Burnbristle is a 3-mana 2/2 with Divine Shield and Taunt. In addition, whenever Wickerflame Burnbristle deals damage he restores that much health to your hero. Now, like the Alley Armorsmith, this is a bit underwhelming at first. However, when given a couple buffs, Wickerflame Burnbristle becomes an absolute monstrosity.
Because the Grimy Goons revolve around the holding mechanic, it only makes sense that their tri-class legendary would do the same. Enter Don Han’Cho, a 7-mana 5/6 that gives a random minion in your hand +5/+5. Now, a 5/6 is pretty bad for 7 mana, but when you consider the buff it gives, Don Han’Cho becomes a 7-mana 10/11, and that’s pretty good.