Boomsday Project Guide - Best Decks and more
Everything you need to know about Hearthstone's latest card set.
A new Hearthstone expansion is here, and The Boomsday Project owes more than a little to the high jinks of 2014's Goblins vs Gnomes. Mechs are back in the game in a big way with the launch of the new set, and are now firmly under the control of the infamous Dr. Boom.
As well as the usual flurry of new cards, there's also a new Magnetic keyword to play around with. Use this to meld Mechs together into new mechanical contraptions of unprecedented might. There'll also be a fresh dollop of single-player content for the game around two weeks after launch, and you can expect to find around 120 fiendish challenges to work through in the Puzzle Lab.
In our Boomdsay Project guide, we've got the lowdown on all the new content that's hit the game since it launched on 7th August. Our friends at sister-site Metabomb are also busy creating deck guides for the new expansion, and we'll be slotting them into this article as and when they're published.
Without further ado, here's everything you need to know about the Boomsday Project now we're into the full swing of things.
UPDATE: 10th AUGUST 2018: We've got a lot of new deck guides for you ahead of the first weekend of the post-launch meta. Once we've this weekend of play behind us we'll start ranking the decks within individual hero brackets so you have an idea of the relative power levels between them.
New cards
A total of 135 new cards are being added to the game with the launch of The Boomsday Project. The pool consists of the usual mixture of class-specific cards, as well as Neutral cards which can be utilised in every kind of deck.
New decks
Our friends at sister-site Metabomb are busy preparing theorycrafted deck lists ahead of the expansion launch. When the card set is live we'll update this section with our pick of the best decks for the new meta, with guides for playing each one!
If you're playing the game on a shoestring, Metabomb also has a round-up of the best Boomsday budget decks. That'll help you dip into the new card set without dropping a fortune on expensive cards.
Druid
Meta Decks
- Malygos Druid deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Token Druid deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Taunt Druid deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Togwaggle Mill Druid deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Big Druid deck list guide (Boomsday)
Experimental Decks
Hunter
Meta Decks
- Spell Hunter deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Big Hunter deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Secret Hunter deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Deathrattle Hunter deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Mech Hunter deck list guide (Boomsday)
Experimental Decks
Mage
Meta Decks
- Tempo Mage deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Control Mage deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Elemental Mage deck list guide (Boomsday)
Experimental Decks
- Exodia Mage deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Freeze Mage deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Hand Mage deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Spell Damage Mage deck list guide (Boomsday)
Paladin
Meta Decks
Experimental Decks
Priest
Meta Decks
Experimental Decks
- Combo Priest deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Deathrattle Priest deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Dragon Priest deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Malygos Priest deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Mech Priest deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Quest Priest deck list guide (Boomsday)
Rogue
Meta Decks
- Odd Rogue deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Tempo Rogue deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Deathrattle Rogue deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Miracle Rogue deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Kingsbane Rogue deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Pogo-Hopper Rogue deck list guide (Boomsday)
Experimental Decks
Shaman
Meta Decks
- Even Shaman deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Token Shaman deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Shudderwock Shaman deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Elemental Shaman deck list guide (Boomsday)
Experimental Decks
- Aggro Shaman deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Malygos Shaman deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Mecha'thun Shaman deck list guide (Boomsday)
Warlock
Meta Decks
- Zoo Warlock deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Control Warlock deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Cubelock deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Even Warlock deck list guide (Boomsday)
Experimental Decks
Warrior
Meta Decks
- Quest Warrior deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Odd Warrior deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Mech Warrior deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Control Warrior deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Big Warrior deck list guide (Boomsday)
- Mecha'thun Warrior deck list guide (Boomsday)
Experimental Decks
Whizbang the Wonderful
One of the new cards being added with Boomsday is called Whizbang the Wonderful. Add this Legendary card to your deck and it's the only card you need, as Whizbang selects one of the 18 pre-made Deck Recipes concocted by Blizzard and puts you in control of it when the match kicks off!
There's a lot to take in, so Metabomb's put together a Whizbang the Wonderful Deck Recipe List which has a snapshot of all 18 decks you may just find yourself piloting.
Mecha'thun
If you played much Hearthstone back in the Old Gods meta, you may remember a devastating end-game character called C'Thun.
Well, he's back - sort of - in the form of Mecha'thun. If you can destroy this ten Mana 10 / 10 Legendary minion with no other cards in your hand, deck or on the battlefield, he'll immediately destroy your opponent.
It's pretty spicy stuff, and Metabomb has created a Mecha'thun deck list guide which will be updated with the latest sneaky strategies for achieving this tricky effect with all nine heroes.
New keyword: Magnetic
There's an intriguing new keyword coming with the set called Magnetic.
Certain Mech minions will come with this keyword, and when you play them they can be fused with another friendly Mech that you have out on the board. If you choose to do this, the stats, effects and abilities of both minions will be combined into one single mechanical monster.
If you want to play your Magnetic Mech as a separate entity, just pop it to the right of the target. To blend them, put it down to the left and the game will automagically fuse them together to make a new contraption.
Omega cards
Certain classes in the game are getting hold of a new kind of card for Hearthstone: Omega cards.
These minions and spells cost a mid-game amount of Mana and have pretty good stats in their own right.
If you play them with ten Mana Crystals in the tank, however, then they gain an extra powerful bonus effect, encouraging you to hold them back and get extra value in the late-game.
Note that certain classes such as the Druid are not getting an Omega card. This is because Druids have the ability to rapidly increase their Mana reserves in ways that are not available to other classes, and could easily become overpowered as a result.
Legendary Spells
Hearthstone's never had Legendary spell cards before (not including last year's Quest cards), but they'll make their first appearance in The Boomsday Project. Each class is getting its own turbocharged spell, and these new arcane tools may well prove to be game-changers in the right deck.
Legendary Scientist
In addition to the Legendary Spell, each class is also getting its own unique Legendary Scientist from the Boomsday Lab.
One example given is Electra Stormsurge, the Shaman's Legendary Scientist. This character has pretty meagre stats, but has a Battlecry that causes the next spell cast on the same turn to go off twice. Given some of the Shaman's powerful damage spells, this character could prove to be a big part of the new meta.
Puzzle Lab
Modern Hearthstone expansions add a little extra single-player content into the mix, and for The Boomsday Project we're getting a mode called Puzzle Lab.
Puzzle Lab will consist of 120 different challenges, separated into four different categories. In one section of the mode you'll have to create a board state that mirrors the opponent's. In others you'll have to clear the board of all minions, or survive a particularly nasty barrage of damage from the AI opponent.
As with The Witchwood's Monster Hunt single-player content, Puzzle Lab won't go live until two weeks after the release of The Boomsday Project. This will both allow players to get stuck into the new core meta without distraction, while also giving Puzzle Lab the chance to have its own moment in the spotlight.