As with any expansion or wave of nerfs (or buffs) on Hearthstone, a question keeps coming up: "What are the legendary cards to craft first?" We will try to help you spend your dust in the best possible way by offering you the legendary cards that we believe should be "almost" essential in the contemporary meta of the Descent of Dragons expansion.
We will also add the legendary from other expansions that are essential to craft because they have a key role within some decks.
For each legendary, we tell you if we consider it simply a good craft option, i.e. a good card that is not essential in any archetype, or if it is essential, i.e. it is essential to have an optimized version of some decks.
Descent of Dragons Legendaries to prioritize
- Without surprise, it is a neutral card that is the most played since the arrival of the expansion: Kronx Dragonhoof, Galakrond's faithful associate. It is an almost obligatory addition to all Galakrond decks to which it offers great power with its Devastations.
- Another very versatile neutral card, Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, which can be found in all the Highlander decks of the moment. It can be found in the very good Highlander Mage, as well as the very powerful Highlander Thief.
- Flik Skyshiv: we conclude this top 3 with this Rogue card. Present in no less than 17% of the decks, it is an excellent choice in all decks. By destroying all copies of a minion, wherever they are, it can eliminate major threats, including in your opponent's deck.
- Frizz Kindleroost: Interesting in all decks with a strong Dragon base, this Neutral card is not present everywhere, but it can offer you a huge value if you can play it early enough.
- Malygos, Aspect of Magic: Essential in the Mage decks of the moment, this Dragon offers you a very good Battlecry with the only restriction of having another Dragon in your hand.
- Ysera Unleashed: This Druid Dragon will allow you to win games while adding a really pleasant random effect to them. Dragons are rarely weak, so with the addition of draw cards, Ysera will always be fun to play!
- Dragonbane: Much less played before the nerfs, Dragonbane has become more interesting now. Present in the Secret Highlander Hunter deck which is working very well at the moment, it adds a nice source of damage to her class.
Legendary cards you should keep an eye on
- Deathwing: For 8 manas, you get control of the board. Nothing simpler than this card, which can, however, be easily countered by a servant with Toxicity, which remains not that much present in this meta. The Warrior can count on him for management, and, if he survives, to inflict big damages to the opponent.
- Valdris Felgorge: The Handlock is rather popular at the moment, and Valdris is one of the important cards of this archetype. Allowing you to increase the maximum size of your hand, while drawing 4 cards, he is one of the main drivers in the late game.
- Goru the Mightree: Used only in the Druid Token deck, his Battlecry reinforces your strategy, even once this minion leaves the battlefield. Only to be crafted if you want to play this deck!
- Veranus: The Hunter Dragon allows you to control the board efficiently while allowing you to put down a powerful enough creature.
Rogue, Shaman, Warrior, Warlock — these three classes are going to be hit by the nerf hammer! In Battlegrounds, some buffs should make former heroes come back on the front of the stage.
Top Legendaries from other expansions
- Zephrys is a must for all Highlander decks. The advantage it offers is simply too important to do without it. Some non-Highlander decks even have the luxury of playing it because the card is incredibly powerful. It can be used to solve a large number of problem situations, from turn 2 to the last turn.
- Siamat is a card with a lot of power that can react to many situations. Whatever effects you choose, you will gain a huge advantage over your opponent. It also has the potential to deal with huge threats thanks to the Rush, the Divine Shield, and the Windfury.
- Heistbaron Togwaggle is a fairly important card in the Tempo Rogue. The Rogue now uses the Deathrattle much more, but Togwaggle is still an excellent card in this class.
- Catrina Muerte is one of the three key cards from the Resurrection Quest Priest deck, which is very powerful at the moment. If you want to test the deck, it's is mandatory.
- As well played in the Rogue as in the Warlock decks, and, with less success in the Dragon Druid, Malygos is a sure bet in most metas and is a major asset for most OTK decks.
- Kalecgos is extremely important in today's Mage decks, and can be widely considered a crafting priority. The Mage Highlander deck, in particular, benefits greatly from its presence!
In theory, the three legendary cards above are pretty good but they're dedicated to specific archetypes:
- Reno Jackson the Relicologist: playable only in the Mage Highlander, this minion remains a very interesting card to clean a board for Mage Highlander deck !
- Dinotamer Brann: Very powerful, it is however only useful in the Highlander Secret Hunter deck at the moment. Craft it only if you want to play this deck.
- Jepetto Joybuzz is already played in Battlecry or Combo decks but remains unplayable within Aggro or Midrange decks.
- Zul'Jin is THE card that allows the Hunter to beat Control decks. Do you plan on playing Hunter? Then, you need it.
- The OTK Holy Wrath Paladin deck can't be played without Shir'vallah, but that's the only use of the card within the current meta.
- Zilliax is simply the most played card in Hearthstone. Polyvalent and versatile without being overpowered, this card is really strong except maybe in aggressive decks.
- Since it can generate a swarming legion of Microbots, SN1P-SN4P is a hell to deal with. Also, since it's a Neutral minion you can play it within any deck.
- Lord Godfrey is a minion with a very powerful AoE effect for the Warlock. To craft if you want to play this class.
- Stargazer Luna is a very good draw engine, and thus a very important asset of Mage decks. Don't hesitate to craft it if you want to play this class!
- Since its nerf, Luna's Pocket Galaxy isn't the strongest card of the Mage class anymore. However, it's still determinant in most Mage archetypes.
- Shudderwock is a mandatory card within Shaman Control decks. If you love the class, then don't think and craft them.
- Barista Lynchen can be added to any deck containing good Battlecry effects. Present in the Galakrond Shaman, the Galakrond Warrior and in several Highlander decks, it is a safe card to craft.
- Houndmaster Shaw used to be played a lot when it was released but it slowly became less and less popular. With the new Highlander Hunter deck, this legendary card makes its big return!
- Leeroy Jenkins will always fit within aggressive decks until it rotates out of Standard mode — especially since Rogue can easily abuse from its power with Shadowstep.
- Edwin Van Cleef is one the Rogue win conditions against control-oriented classes such as Warrior or Druid.
- Harrison Jones often depends on the meta. If a lot of decks are playing weapons, then Harrison is pretty strong. Otherwise, it might be a dead card.
- Antonidas is slowly becoming popular especially since new Mage archetypes often need more fuel to end the game. Also, since the current Mage style is heavily focused on the board, the possibility to generate range targeting spells will help you get the final ticks of damage that you need.
- Alexstrasza was released with Hearthstone Basic Set... and it's still played. Playable both defensively and aggressively, it fits all control decks — especially Combo ones.
- Thalnos will be always played since spell damage combined to draw mechanic is probably one of the most versatile combo of the game.
Check our 75 decklists for Descent of Dragons!
The new Hearthstone extension, Descent of Dragons, is available since December 10. Here is our selection of decks made by professional players or streamers, to have fun once your boosters are open.
