The Rise of Shadows expansion added some cards that helped revive old archetypes as well as create new ones in Wild. Rise of Shadows cards also helped bolster the top decks currently in the meta already. The new Wild archetypes in Rise of Shadows help to spice up and further diversify an already very spread out meta game.
Aggro Druid
While there’s nothing new about the Token/Aggro archetype for Druid, the new cards have greatly increased its power level. Leading the pack is the new one drop Acornbearer. It’s a solid one drop and adds more tokens for you to buff. The Squirrels inside also synergize nicely with Mark of Y’shaarj.
Dreamway Guardians also creates nice tempo on turn two by generating 2/4 in stats. It also helps against other aggro decks thanks to the Lifesteal, being able to heal a lot when they receive buffs.
Lastly is the addition of Blessing of the Ancients. It’s a relatively cheap Twinspell that keeps the board buffs going in a deck that sometimes just needs more buffs.
Murloc Shaman
Murloc Shaman is certainly an old archetype but one that really fell out of relevancy. The deck struggled with value and maintaining pressure. Thanks to new Murloc cards in Shaman, the deck is now a viable aggro archetype.
Sludge Slurper is both a one mana murloc and a Lackey generator. Lackeys have proven to be quite good in a deck that wants to play aggressively. Secondly is a card that plays for value, Underbelly Angler. It provides the potential of generating huge amounts of murlocs should it not be immediately removed. On top of the value, its great tempo being a 2/3 at two mana.
Scargil is a new Legendary murloc that makes all of your murlocs cost only one mana. This synergizes amazingly well with Underbelly Angler, and can also be used to push for lethal with one mana Warleaders.
Darkest Hour Warlock
This is the first deck that creates an entirely new archetype for the Warlock class. Darkest Hour provides amazing combos with the new cards provided for Warlock and giant minions. It allows you to generate the late game board of something like Big Priest as soon as turn four thanks to Bloodbloom. Bloodbloom is really what makes the combo, as six mana is pretty steep for Darkest Hour’s effect.
Rafaam’s Scheme generates cheap minions you don’t mind destroying for Darkest Hour. You also run cards like Fiendish Circle and Implosion, because they generate tokens that come from spells so they don’t ruin Darkest Hour’s effect.
Because of how early the combo can be pulled off, there really isn’t an answer to the board state. Though if the potential for removal is there, a couple of Nerubian Unravelers summoned off of Darkest Hour can prevent almost any chance of losing the board.
Togwaggle Druid
The nerf of Aviana to 10 mana had people think the viability of a Druid deck that ran her was dead. However, thanks to Jepetto Joybuzz, Aviana rises to power once more. Getting a one mana Aviana is insane value, allowing you to do full combos as soon as turn eight with ramp.
The combo that’s better suited for Jepetto Joybuzz is Togwaggle Druid. Jepetto draws cards at random, and having a one mana Togwaggle can win games as well.
The deck has shied away from the raw draw into the combo build of Star Aligner Druid, and can be played as a simple control Druid. Juicy Psychmelon is guaranteed to at least set up the combo. It can draw either Togwaggle or Jepetto, as well as Aviana or Kun the Forgotten King. Drawing both Togwaggle and Aviana is unfortunate, but still makes the combo possible, just a little more fair.
Quest Tempo Mage
This is another new archetype created thanks to Rise of Shadows cards. It combines the power of Tempo 
Mage with the ability to take an extra turn from Open the Waygate. A lot of the new Rise of Shadows cheap spells generate new spells. Combine all of this with Mana Cyclone, and you never run out of cards to play.
Mana Cyclone is the key of winning with the deck, as it synergizes with Eelemental Evocation to create a free 2/2 minion that refills your hand with random spells. The deck can then put out the new Magic Dart Frog or the old Flamewaker to clear boards and start pushing damage to face.
The quest can be completed rather quickly without losing tempo with Sorcerer’s Apprentice. With the volume of spells, drawing Arcane Giant can easily set up a Quest on curve lethal. Giants essentially deal an additional 8 or 16 charge damage.
The meta will continue to shock and awe as other new archetypes get refined. It’s a good time for Wild players as the popularity of Big Priest goes down thanks to the increase in aggro decks.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.
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