Guide to Beat ‘Hearthstone’ Blackrock Depths Heroic, Normal, and Class Challenges – Tips and Decks for Blackrock Mountain Adventure’s First Wing

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So, the Blackrock Depths Wing of Blackrock Mountain Adventure (BRM) for Blizzard’s Hearthstone (Free) has been officially released, and many of you are getting ready to take on the many challenges in the adventure. But, as you know, it’s dangerous to go alone, so take this guide to help you get through the first three Bosses in both Normal and Heroic Difficulties as well as the two Class Challenges.

First off, here’s some other Hearthstone-related guides on TouchArcade:

Blackrock Mountain Adventure Card Reveal

Tips and Decks to Beat the Arachnid Wing and Class Challenges

Tips and Decks to Beat Heroic Arachnid Quarter

Free to Play Decks to Beat the Heroic Arachnid Quarter

Tips and Decks to Beat the Plague Quarter and Class Challenges

Tips and Decks to Beat the Heroic Plague Quarter

Free to Play Decks to Beat the Heroic Plague Quarter

Tips and Decks to Beat the Military Quarter and Class Challenges

The Grim Guzzler/Coren Direbrew

The first boss, Coren Direbrew, is a Warrior whose Hero Power is Pile On! (which sounds like a wresting move to me) that states “Put a Minion from Each Deck into the Battlefield." His special cards are Dark Iron Bouncer, Get ’em, and Guzzler. Because of his power, the Mana curve in this encounter is all over the place, so you won’t be using a typical deck. Instead, you’re going to want to build a deck with huge 6+ mana guys because Direbrew’s deck is filled with those kind of minions and you don’t want to be at a disadvantage every time he uses his Hero power. As he’ll be getting your minions on the board for you, it saves you all your mana for removal. So, take care of his big guys and control the board with your spells and use your minions to hit face constantly.

The Guzzler’s Deck in Normal Difficulty consists of:

1x Baron Geddon
1x Mogor the Ogre
1x Dark Iron Skulker
2x Grim Patron
1x Ancient Brewmaster
2x Dark Iron Dwarf
1x Core Hound
2x Force-Tank MAX
1x Succubus
1x War Golem
1x Elite Tauren Chieftain
2x Dark Iron Bouncer
1x Whirlwind
1x Inner Rage
1x Brawl
2x Execute

Classes that are a good match for this Boss are Hunter, which comes with big creatures and plenty of removal spells to keep his guys from hurting you, Mage, whose spells can easily keep the Guzzler’s minions in check. Druid also works well because of his huge creatures and plenty of buffs, like Mark of the Wild, as well as removal spells like Starfire.

One deck you can use is a pretty typical Freeze Mage. You can use this deck for both the Normal and Heroic Difficulty:

1x Foe Reaper 4000
1x Kel’Thuzad
1x Malygos
1x Sneed’s Old Shredder
1x Sylvanas Windrunner
1x Ysera
2x Doomsayer
2x Abomination
2x Deathlord
2x Sludge Belcher
2x Sunwalker
2x Explosive Sheep
2x Blizzard
2x Cone of Cold
2x Flamestrike
2x Frost Nova
2x Arcane Intellect
2x Polymorph

The reward for beating the first Boss is Grim Patron.

Grim Guzzler Heroic Difficulty

The biggest difference between Normal and Heroic for the Guzzler, other than his Decklist, is his Hero Power because he gets TWO minions for every one of yours he summons on the board. In addition to his 30 Health, he also has 15 Armor.

The strategy to beat him in Heroic is not much different from the one used in the Normal difficulty. Because of the increased pressure you’ll have from having to deal with two minions each turn, you’ll have to maximize the effectiveness of your minions. To that end, avoid any minions with Battlecry, as it won’t trigger when summoned by Direbrew’s Hero Power, and don’t bother with Charge as the minions are ready to battle the turn they are summoned by Pile On!. The Guzzler fights to hold on to board control, so if the board is slipping from him, he’ll play Get’em, that summons 4 Guzzlers, to slow you down, and then he’ll go for Dark Iron Bouncer and Brawl to clear the board out.

His Heroic Deck consists of:

1x Mogor the Ogre
1x Grim Patron
1x Ravenholdt Assassin
1x Ancient Brewmaster
2x Dark Iron Dwarf
1x Spiteful Smith
1x Venture Co. Mercenary
2x Core Hound
1x Force-Tank MAX
1x Stormind Champion
2x War Golem
2x Boulderfist Ogre
1x Succubus
1x Dark Iron Bouncer
1x Elite Tauren Chieftain
1x Whirlwind
1x Execute

Dark Iron Arena/High Justice Grimstone

High Justice Grimstone is a Rogue whose Hero Power is Jeering Crowd: Summon a 1/1 Spectator with Taunt. His deck is FULL of Legendaries minions and no spells, and he’ll pump out a Spectator every single turn so expect to have to get rid of those guys often. Aggressive decks work the best for this Boss as he doesn’t really have much defense other than the Spectators. However, don’t let him get board control with those Legendaries because when ten Legendaries interact each turn, their weird triggers and abilities can give you nightmares for many days to come.

To beat this Boss, go with a Class whose Hero power can get rid of the Spectator easily to allow you to hit face more, like Mage, Rogue, or even Druid (although not as optimal). Go with mostly low-cost minions and keep hitting face while making good traits to get rid of the Legendaries (most of whom have relatively low health).

Grimstone’s Deck is the same in both difficulties:

1x Alexstrasza
1x Baron Geddon
1x Bloodmage Thalnos
1x Cairne Bloodhoof
1x Deathwing
1x Dr. Boom
1x Emperor Thaurissan
1x Feugen
1x Flame Leviathan
1x Foe Reaper 4000
1x Gelbin Mekkatorque
1x Gruul
1x Hogger
1x Illidan Stormrage
1x King Mukla
1x Lorewalker Cho
1x Maexxna
1x Millhouse Manastorm
1x Mogor the Ogre
1x Nat Pagle
1x Nozdormu
1x Onyxia
1x Stalagg
1x Sylvanas Windrunner
1x The Beast
1x Tinkmaster Overspark
1x Toshley

Use this Priest Deck if you’re having a hard time beating Grimstone in either difficulty:

1x Emperor Thaurissan
1x Vol’jin
2x Auchenai Soulpriest
2x Northshire Cleric
2x Grim Patron
2x Lightbomb
2x Light of the Naaru
1x Resurrect
1x Mindgames
1x Shadow Madness
2x Thoughsteal
2x Divine Spirit
1x Holy Nova
1x Holy Smite
2x Circle of Healing
1x Mind Vision
2x Shadow Word: Death
2x Power Word: Shield
2x Shadow Word: Pain

The reward for beating the second Boss is Gang Up.

Dark Iron Arena/High Justice Grimstone Heroic Difficulty

The differences between this Boss’ Heroic and Normal difficulty aren’t that many. Mostly, he’s harder to kill because he has 15 Armor in addition to his 30 Health. His Deck is the same as in Normal difficulty, so all that I’ve said in the earlier segment on Grimstone, along with the decks described, apply here too. Overall, know that on his first turn he’ll have 4 mana, so be prepared for some early big minions, and make sure you control the board by any means necessary. Use powerful AOE spells, such as Flamestrike, or spells like Sap to keep the board under control.

Emperor Thaurissan

Now, Emperor Thaurissan, a Priest, is a very different encounter from the previous two because of what I found to be a very fun twist: you can’t remove his wife, Moira Bronzebeard, from the board because if you do, you get hit with his Hero Power, “Deal 30 Damage," and perish (I tried Faceless Manipulator out of curiosity, but unfortunately having a Moira on my deck didn’t keep the Emperor content and he smacked me down). Moira is a 1/3 and she’ll never attack minions unless they have Taunt. Thaurissan will play cards like Unstable Ghoul, which damage minions when they die, and therefore the threats to Moira can come from the Emperor’s deck as well as from yours. Thaurissan’s deck is quite Aggro, and he’ll play a lot of low-cost minions (1-4 mana). That means you’ll have to deal with clearing the board while not killing Moira and also protecting your health without playing strong Taunts. He’ll also be playing Flameheart, which gives him more armor, making killing him off even harder.

What you want to be doing is playing Aggro too while buffing Moira’s health to keep Thaurissan happy until you put him down. Also, you’re going to want to keep buffing Moira’s health as well as yours. If you buff her health, you’re protecting yourself from Thaurissan’s Hero Power while also being able to play a taunt or two if you’ve been drawing horribly and need to briefly stall his deck. If you aren’t close to winning by Turn 7,8, you are in big trouble because cards like Solemn Vigil will help him put so many minions on the board that you’ll be unable to turn the tide.

Thaurissan’s Normal Difficulty Deck Consists of:

2x Dark Iron Skulker
1x Dark Iron Dwarf
2x Leper Gnome
2x Flame Imp
1x Axe Flinger
2x Imp Gang Boss
2x Unstable Ghoul
1x Stonesplinter Trogg
2x Loot Hoarder
2x Magma Rager
2x War Golem
2x Solemn Vigil
1x Armor Plating
2x Flameheart
1X Fiery War Axe

A Priest deck is ideal for this challenge as it enables you to buff Moira at will (even using your Hero Power to do so) while dealing damage to Thaurissan. As long as you can keep Moira from dying, this Boss shouldn’t give you too much trouble. Paladin might work too (that was my first attempt), but the Priest’s Hero Power makes everything much easier.

Here’s an example of this deck you can use on both Normal and Heroic Difficulties:

1x Alexstrasza
1x Emperor Thaurissan
2x Crazed Alchemist
2x Dark Cultist
2x Antique Healbot
2x Shrinkmeister
2x Cabal Shadow Priest
2x Northshire Cleric
2x Light of the Naaru
2X Shadow Word: Pain
2x Power Word: Shielf
2x Shadow Madness
2x Silence
2x Divine Spirit
2x Shadow Word: Death
2x Holy Smite

The reward for beating Thaurissan is Resurrect and for completing the entire wing is Emperor Thaurissan himself.

Emperor Thaurissan Heroic Difficulty

Thaurissan, like the other Bosses, will have 15 Armor in addition to his 30 Health. Although Thaurissan’s Heroic Deck is different from the Normal Deck, the strategy outlined earlier will work in this match too, it will just be more difficult keep Moira from dying while keeping yourself safe from damage. Go again with Aggro decks that buff Moira and make sure you handle cards like Abomination and Unstable Ghoul quickly, either by silencing or returning them to their owner’s hand, because their deathrattle will kill Moira and, therefore, you.

Thaurissan’s Heroic Deck Consists of:

1x Abomination
1x Dark Iron Skulker
2x Dark Iron Dwarf
1x Flame Imp
1x Leper Gnome
2x Loot Hoarder
1x Fire Elemental
1x Imp Gang Boss
1x Flamestrike
1x Flameheart
1x Fiery War Axe

Class Challenges

After you defeat Emperor Thaurissan on Normal Difficulty, you’ll get the chance to complete the Hunter and Mage challenges. The class challenges are quite entertaining this time around.

Hunter Challenge

In this challenge you fight with a pre-con deck against Coren Direbrew.

The Deck Consists of:

1x Maexxna,
1x Core Rager
1x Emperor Cobra
1x Scavenging Hyena
1x Webspinner
1x Explosive Shot
2x Animal Companion
1x Quick Shot

Completing this Challenge will earn you Quick Shot.

Mage Challenge

Oh the fun of having a deck consisting of 30 Unstable Portals! This challenge sets you against High Justice Grimstone, and you get to cast Unstable Portals until you eventually cast Millhouse Manastorm, which will allow you to pretty much fill the board with amazing minions. Don’t be afraid to restart this challenge if you aren’t getting what you wished for because as this challenge is so RNG-dependent, bad luck will pretty much doom you.

Completing this deck gives you Dragon’s Breath.
I hope you’ve found this guide useful and that the decks and tips will help you conquer the Blackrock Depths and get those sweet cards. Of course, keep in mind that there are many more strategies and decks that can defeat the various Bosses, so feel free to use this guide as a springboard for experimentation.

Keep checking TouchArcade.com for more guides on BRM, including a guide coming very soon that will help F2P players by discussing free or cheap decks capable of beating Blackrock Depths.