Hearthstone: 3 Budget Lists with Into the Emerald Dream!

A free-to-play player doesn't always get to enjoy a new set completely if they don't have legendary cards or enough Arcane Dust to build a new deck. Into the Emerald Dream was no different: most lists with this set cost around six to eight thousand Arcane Dust each, and usually play two or more legendary cards.

So, we, at Cards Realm, rummaged through the meta to find three very competitive decks that cost half of what the other meta decks do. Most of the cards we'll mention below are rare or commons - you probably already have them in your collection, so you won't have to spend your precious resources.

Without further ado, let's go!

Token Hunter plays just a few epic cards and no legendary cards. It is a great option for new or free-to-play players, but it is not the cheapest list you'll see today!

This list centers around filling your board with minions as fast as possible so you can take advantage of AoE buffs like Menagerie Jug, Amphibian's Spirit, and R.C. Rampage.

Remote Control, Patchwork Pals, Workhorse, and Terrible Chef are just a few cards that show how efficient this deck is at filling your board.

It isn't difficult to pilot, as this is your only game plan.

Win Condition

Your main win conditions are your buffs. You won't be that powerful if you just fill your board: you also need to buff your minions as much as possible to win.

However, logically, you should focus on building a solid board before you use your buff spells.

Mulligan - Opening Hand

As you need to fill your board with minions before you do anything else, you should ignore any buffs in your opening hand. Maybe, if you're really comfortable with this list and the rest of your hand, you can keep Amphibian's Spirit, but you must have enough minions to keep it active at all times.

In general, I highly recommend you look for your 1-cost and 2-cost minions when you mulligan. Terrorscale Stalker is an option too if you're considering activating an Extraterrestrial Egg or Nerubian Egg's Deathrattle on turn 3.

This is what your opening hand should look like:

This is the cheapest deck you'll see today! Menagerie Death Knight only costs 2100 Arcane Dust. It does play one single legendary card, King Mukla, but this card is in the core set, so it's available to everyone for free.

Your biggest investments are the two copies of Hideous Husk, which is an epic card. Other than that, you'll only have to craft rare and common cards.

Menagerie Death Knight is a bit similar to Token Hunter, as it also puts many minions on the board to win, with cards like Dreadhound Handler, Creature of Madness, Sanguine Infestation, and Hideous Husk. Furthermore, one of Death Knight's mechanics is Leeches - we'll use them to put pressure on our opponent.

Of course, as you'll summon many creatures on the board, AoE buffs are still interesting. That's why this list plays Monstrous Mosquito and Menagerie Jug.

And, because you'll have a lot of minions, it'll be just a matter of time before they die or are removed. This will reopen Horizon's Edge again and again and give you Undeads. The idea is using this resource to make the most out of Foamrender, Rite of Atrocity, and Morbid Swarm.

Win Condition

Unlike Token Hunter, this deck doesn't rely completely on buffs. In some matchups, they'll be essential to win, but, in others, you can win solely with Foamrender and Horizon's Edge, which will deal a lot of damage.

Mulligan - Opening Hand

Dealing damage as early as possible is your priority, so, for your opening hand, you should look for small minions and start dominating the board. Murmy, Fire Fly, Creature of Madness, and Dreadhound Handler is a great opening hand.

Finally, Handbuff Death Knight is the only deck in this list that will force you to craft a legendary card, so it is a bit more expensive than the others, but still quite budget-friendly. This legendary card is Nightmare Lord Xavius - you can swap it for Rite of Atrocity, but I don't recommend it. This change will make this deck a lot weaker and force you to rely on luck a bit more, as Lord Xavius specifically Discovers an Undead from your deck and Rite will give you two completely random options.

Handbuff Death Knight is quite straightforward: the goal is to buff your minions while they're still in your hand. Lesser Spinel Spellstone, Blood Tap, and Amateur Puppeteer are your main ways to do that.

An interesting combo to buff your minions even more is Brittlebone Buccaneer and Amateur Puppeteer (including its Miniature). Because they'll have Reborn, their Deathrattles will activate twice.

If you do this, your minions will become nearly unstoppable. Remember, Shambling Zombietank and Nerubian Swarmguard summon identical copies of themselves when you play them. As for Rainbow Seamstress and Gnome Muncher, they have Lifesteal and will help you survive. They also attack on the same turn you play them.

Other minions will give you even bigger advantages when you buff them. Toysnatching Geist discounts the cost of the Undead you Discover with it, and Darkthorn Quilter can deal a lot of damage to the board. If it is big enough, it will clear the enemy board and even deal damage to the enemy hero directly.

Win Condition

Your win condition will always be your minions and your buffs. Darkthorn Quilter's effect, Rainbow Seamstress and Gnome Muncher's Lifesteal, and a solid board of Shambling Zombietank and Nerubian Swarmguard copies will always be your best options to win.

Mulligan - Opening Hand

This list only plays a few cards that help you fight for the board early on, so you should get as many of them as you can when you mulligan. Morbid Swarm, Dreadhound Handler, and Chillfallen Baron are great openers. Chillfallen Baron also draws you more cards so you can buff even more cards in your hand.

These lists show that you can still build and play competitive lists even if you don't spend any money on this game. Now, you just have to pick one and give it a try! I hope you like them.

What did you think of these lists? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!