Hearthstone Deck Comparison

I did some research of my own instead of waiting for another answer. I played 4 games with my Level 5 Mage (leveling her up to level 8 in the process). In none of the games did I manage to use the whole deck, but I wrote down all the cards that I drew throughout all 4 games.

First, to confirm Resorath's answer, none of the Level 2, 4, and 6 cards of the Mage ever showed up in the deck, but the original 5 cards that the Mage starts with all showed up in at least 3 games out of 4. So I can conclude that none of the later Mage cards are included into the basic deck as you level up.

Second, exactly ten other cards showed up in 2 to 4 games each out of 4, while no other cards ever showed up. So, only 15 different cards ever showed up for the Mage, some twice, making up the deck of 30. That means, it's not random, and the cards are set in for each basic deck. Most likely, they are tailored to each class. (For the curious, for Mage they are: Murloc Raider, Bloodfen Raptor, Novice Engineer, River Crocolisk, Raid Leader, Wolfrider, Oasis Snapjaw, Sen'jin Shieldmasta, Nightblade, and Boulderfist Ogre, plus the original 5 Mage cards)

Both of those conclusions could be very good coincidences, but, eyeballing the probabilities of these coincidences, I firmly believe that those conclusions are correct.

So, I did not experiment with all 9 classes, but I found my answer: The basic decks were pre-made by the creators of the game, and they do not change as you level up. I guess the results for the other 8 can be found the same way.

Cards to consider adding vs aggro decks:

• 1 Blizzard - I would highly recommend you put these in, due to the fact that they both freeze all your opponent's minions, AND do 2 damage to all of them, killing a large number of aggro creatures and stalling others.

• 2 Vaporize - If you're keeping the board clear of smaller minions, this'll help you take care of bigger minions if used properly.

• 1 Arcane Missiles - Can 2 for 1 against aggro rush decks, assist in taking down 2 toughness or greater minions. Cons - Based on RNG.

• 2 Mirror Image AND/OR 2 Ice Barrier AND/OR 2 Frost Nova - One of the biggest counters to an aggro deck is stalling it out, especially in a Mage deck where you can pull a turn 7 flamestrike. These 3 cards are all excellent for stalling, as Mirror Image basically prevents 2 creatures from doing damage, even charge creatures, Ice Barrier, being a secret, can cause your opponent to play abnormally, such as playing a smaller minion than they would have because they're afraid of Mirror Entity. In addition, it basically heals you 8, even if you're at full health, which is pretty solid vs an aggro deck. Frost Nova is likely the weakest at stalling an aggro deck, due to not effecting charge minions at all, but is more relevant typically late game, due to effecting all of your opponents minions out currently.

• 2 Cone of Cold - While Arcane Explosion is generally considered a bad card, Cone of Cold is relevant at times, due to the fact that those minions it doesn't kill with it's 1 damage will still be frozen for a turn, making it still a relevant card in the late game.

Cards to change out:

• 1 Gadgetzan Auctioneer -> 1 Acolyte of Pain - Gadgetzan Auctioneer isn't necessarily guaranteed to draw you a card when you play it, and is a high costing 5 drop, with not very high toughness. Alternatively, Acolyte of Pain is almost always guaranteed to draw you a card, unless silenced or straight up destroyed, and, when combined with your hero power, will be able to trade for 2 toughness or less creatures well.

• 1 Argent Squire -> 1 Mana Wyrm - Mana Wyrm is one of the best 1 drop minions in the game, very often 2 for 1's, or at the very least, trades up. Argent Squire CAN 2 for 1, but only against 1 toughness creatures. In addition, it doesn't have ANY impact late game, whereas a mana wyrm can.

Cards to consider taking out:

• 1 Sunfury Protector - While not the worst card, this is the kind of card that doesn't really do anything unless you have other cards to go with it. In this case, those other cards happen to be minions. When combined with a Chillwind Yeti, or better yet, a boulderfist ogre, it can be very powerful, but without one of those, it doesn't necessarily do much. If you still like the synergy of it with minions such as these, I would recommend replacing it with Defender of Argus, as you're almost never going to be playing Sunfury Protector before turn 5 or so anyways, and Defender of Argus is more relevant with minions such as Acolyte of Pain and Mana Wyrm

• 1 Azure Drake AND/OR 2 Boulderfist Ogres - If Aggro decks are really your only weakness, I would consider removing some of these more expensive creatures. Boulderfist Ogre is particularly useless against aggro decks, because they will just proceed to ignore your ogre, since they likely have you far lower at the point you play it than you do them, and you can only use it to kill one minion of theirs a turn.