Crush Chapter 1 of Hearthstone Galakrond’s Awakening E.V.I.L. Campaign in Heroic mode with these decks

Players are blasting through Hearthstone’s newest single-player adventure, Galakrond’s Awakening, which  with all the zany fun we’ve come to expect from the Hearthstone developers. Through the first two chapters, the adventure has been well-balanced — the normal difficulty is just right for the premade decks provided. But things get more interesting is Heroic mode where the challenge ramps up and you have to build a custom made deck from your own cards.

Since the decision to use this format limits the replayablilty of the adventure, I decided to go in blind and not “net-deck” — i.e. I didn’t just grab a deck from the internet. You can find great net-decks for this encounters at all the usual suspects (Hearthpwn, Out of Cards, Hearthstone Top Decks, etc.), but here I’ll focus on the home grown decks I made to beat each encounter.

While I tested each deck several times to ensure my first win wasn’t a fluke, using any of my decks won’t guarantee victory. I still don’t win every time, but I did win, and the W is all you need you. Sometimes, the Heroic boss is going to get an unbeatable mulligan or the RNG isn’t going to fall your way. It’s still Hearthstone.

But you should be able to defeat each boss with these decks plus a little patience and practice. So without further ado, let’s check out how to beat the Galakrond’s Awakening Chapter 1 for the League of E.V.I.L.

Opponent: Sir Finley

My Hero: Priest

Deck code: AAEBAZ/HAga4A9MK1gq3F92rA9msAwy7A8kG1wqSD4kU6r8CyccCy+YCl4cDgpQDn6kDhLEDAA==

Sir Finley brings every Murloc card in Hearthstone to this encounter. It’s a basic swarm strategy where he reloads the board again and again with cards like Tip the Scales and From the Depths, a custom card which resurrects three Murlocs that died this game. He also has two copies of Everyfin is Awesome, which can make even a benign board lethal in a big hurry.

His deck contains more resource generation than you’ll normally see in a swarm deck. Finley starts off with the Unite the Murlocs quest, and with all his Murlocs, it completes fast. This gives him Megafin to refill his hand. Underbelly Angler and Murloc Knight are key cards that you must answer.  Just when you think you’ve finally survived the onslught, here comes Neptulon for even more Murloc generation, and Anyfin Can Happen reloads the board yet again. Any of his random generators can give him Old Murk-Eye. That’ll end your game real quick.

I chose a Priest deck for this encounter. Since Finley plays his Quest on turn one, I also included a Quest, Activate the Obelisk. You want to mulligan for the Hungry Crabs. This card is a great tempo swing and gives you early command of the board. The more you can clear Sir Finley’s Murlocs with your own minions, the better off you’ll be.

Try to keep one Dragon in your opening hand as there are some key Dragon synergy cards, like Duskbreaker, but I cut the number of Dragons to an absolute minimum. I put a ton of board clear in this deck, but Sir Finley can still refill more times than you can use it, so consider each use precious. Dragonfire is  your best AOE since it should leave your board mostly intact. The Shadow Word: Death is intended for Megafin or Neptulon. I like to cast Grave Run on a Convincing Infiltrator, but Primordial Drake is a good target, too. The AI isn’t super smart about using Excavated Evil and will usually give it back to you toward the end of the game.

Opponent: Chenvaala

My Hero: Warrior

Deck code: AAEBAYwWHkuiBN4F9wWRBv8H/rwCh78Cm8ICvMMC08MCoscCws4CnfAC8vECxfMCjvsCoIAD2IwDkp8Dn6EDoaED/KMDn6QDqKQDgqgD8qgDl60D260D/7QDAAA=

Chenvaala is what every Freeze Mage has ever hoped to be. Most of his cards freeze your board in one way or another, which limits your options. It ensures his two Snap Freeze cards will be able to destroy your minions, and Ice Cream Peddler will always give armor. Don’t worry too much abut Ice Cream Peddler. Once you’ve got the game in hand, that extra armor won’t make much difference. His Hero Power summons a 4/4 for 1 mana, but it’s Frozen. That gives you a turn to deal with it, but often you can’t due to other pressure points he has on the board, like his two Animated Avalanches. A 4/4 and two 7/6s for eight mana is a tough board to deal with, and you have to do it at least twice. Take advantage of the AI, which isn’t too smart and will sometimes use Blizzard against a single minion.

I chose a Highlander Taunt Warrior for this encounter. The basic idea is you build a huge wall and let Chenvaala break his icy minions on it. If you can get Armagedillo to stick for a two (or more) turns, the wall gets even better — but even a single turn of Armagedillo will help. It doesn’t matter that your minions are frozen and can’t attack: Fire Plume’s Heart will take care of that dealing eight damage for two mana every turn. It answers Chenvaala’s Hero Power and whittles away at his health.

You have  some comebacks in this deck. You need to get tremendous value out of Brawl and Plauge of Wrath. I didn’t have room for an activator for Plague of Wrath, so you’ll need to trade minions to make sure it will kill his board. Zephyrs the Great should provide another board clear, but Tirion Fordring could be a good choice. Ramming Speed and Mind Control Tech also help when you get behind on the board. If you can survive long enough to complete the Fire Plume’s Heart Quest, you’re in great shape.

Opponent: The Amazing Reno Jackon

My Hero: Rogue

Deck code: AAEBAYO6AgT6DoUXgcICwK4DDbQBxAHtAs0D+AeGCf4N+Q71D97EAtzRAuD6As6MAwA=

I thought Reno would be an easy boss. His Hero Power casts a random spell of the same cost after he casts a spell. But random effects can hurt as well as help, and Reno’s random spells can take out his own minions as much as yours.

But I was wrong to underestimate Reno

His minions are all from the Elemental tribe, which has excellent synergy — cards like Steam Surger, and Servant of Kalimos are always activated. He buffs his spell damage through Azerite Elemental and Celestial Emissary. He gets hand refill with Mana Cyclone and life gain with Arcane Artificer.

Keeping any kind of board presence is a challenge in this fight. Fire Plume Phoenix and Blazecaller give spell=like removal in addition to all the spells Reno runs and generates. When all else fails, Reno casts In a Snap, a custom spell for this encounter that removes all your minions. No Deathrattles, no Reborn. Poof! They’re just gone. Though they come back in two turns, by that point, he’ll have taken control of the board with his Elemental army, or you might be dead. Reno isn’t shy about putting pressure on you by targeting your Hero’s face with his arsenal of spells.

If you don’t run some sort of Silence or transform, you’ll have to deal with all the evolution forms of Pyros. One Arcane Devourer left on the board can become a lethal monster in a single turn with all cheap spells Reno has. Kalecgos is yet another big problem. Bonfire Elemental and Elemental Allies keep his hand loaded with cards, not to mention card draw from random spells. Reno never has a problem with card draw or suffers from a small hand.

I noticed throughout my game that he always had eight or more cards in hand, and it gave me an idea. I created an old Mill Rogue. The game plan of Mill Rogue is to fill your opponents hand with cards, and force them to draw. When they go over ten cards, any additional ones draw are burned. They don’t go into your opponents hand and none of their effects are triggered.

The key to this deck is your Coldlight Oracles. Lab Recruiter gives you up to eight to play, and Shadowstep ensures you get at least two uses out of two of them. Combo at least one with Brann to burn lots of Reno’s cards, but watch your own hand as you don’t burn your own cards. In addition to the Coldlights, Dancing Swords and Deathlord force card draw. You won’t have many minions on the board, which means Reno’s random spells will kill his own more often than not. Mistress of Mixtures and Ancient Healbot provide healing if you get behind — and Healbot with Brann down is a fantastic 16-point heal. Vanish, discounted through Preparation, is your board clear and also fills your opponent’s hand.

Missing cards? No problem!

Even if you don’t have every card I included in my deck, you can still defeat these bosses, but the smaller your collection, the more difficult it will be. Look at what the missing cards do and see if you can recreate the function in some other way. Understand that these decks are aligned with my preferred play style. Perhaps you’ll have more success with other net decks  if those fit your play style better. If you do find a deck that works great, be sure to come back to the comments and share it.

See it in action

If you want to see these decks in action, I’ll be playing them on the Blizzard Watch Hearthstone stream on Tuesday nights. We also post videos of the streams to our YouTube channel in case you miss any of the shows.