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With the new Heirs of the Omen set, Havencraft unlocked a brand-new synergy: Crests. They give you access to powerful effects, with one big drawback : your followers can’t attack.
So how do you win? By repeatedly wiping the board and letting the Crest of 10364120 chip away at your opponent’s leader each turn!
Since the set’s release, this deck has performed very well, quickly becoming the reference point for Control in the current meta. It has even or favorable matchups against most classes, with one notable exception: Izudia OTK. That deck can kill anybody if given enough time, and since it can easily heal back the chip damage from our Crest, it’s Havencraft’s toughest opponent.
If you like the Control playstyle, or want to prepare against it in Ranked or tournaments, let’s take a look at how Havencraft Crest works.
How to Play the Havencraft Crest Deck
This Crest list is fairly standard. The cards themselves don’t change much between builds, only the ratios depending on the meta.
For example, if you face a lot of Swordcraft, you’ll want more copies of 10164130. In a Control-heavy meta, adding another 10304120 helps push extra damage in the late game.
Your key cards to mulligan for are 10161210 and 10364120. You need the extra draw for flexibility, and 10364120 is literally your win condition.
Against Swordcraft or Abysscraft, also keep early AoE tools like 10361310 or 10164130.
In the early turns, set up your Crests. Alongside 10364120, you want to find 10204120 and 10264120. These three are your permanent Crests, the rest have countdowns. Once established, your plan is simple: clear the board every turn without attacking, letting your Crests burn the opponent instead.
Cards like 10363210 can add extra reach, dealing 4 damage and healing you for 4 once the board is cleared.
A personal favorite is 10263310. At first glance it looks bad, but in this deck, reaching five Crests makes it basically free value. If you need to play it earlier, try to pair it with 10362210 to mitigate the downside.
Havencraft Tips and Strategies
Collect all your Crests!
Think of it like Exodia in Yu-Gi-Oh: you need to assemble your five pieces to lock down the game. Once you do, it becomes much easier to stall, heal, and burn the opponent each turn. Remember that many Crests have countdowns, so you’ll eventually need to replace them.
Be careful with 10361110 and 10362110 early on. Their Crests can make it harder to stabilize against fast decks. Play them later, when you can afford to maximize Crest synergy without hurting your setup.
Crests trigger in the order they were played. Ideally, play 10204120 before 10364120, so its AoE resolves first, then your burn hits the opponent’s leader.
Save two Evolution Points for 10364120 and 10264120. Without their Crests, your win condition collapses, and the deck becomes very fragile.
Know Your Matchups
Control decks live and die by matchup knowledge.
- Race matchups (Runecraft, Abysscraft OTK, mirror): Find your Crests as quickly as possible and try to kill them before their combo comes online.
- Aggro decks (Swordcraft Loot, Abysscraft Aggro): Focus on stabilizing the board and preventing them from snowballing early.
- Combo decks: Know their damage ranges and stay safely above lethal. For example, Swordcraft’s 10124110 can hit 12 damage at 9 play points, 14 at 10 with 90021330, and even 16 with two of them and a bonus play point.
Budget and Possible Inclusions
A budget Havencraft Crest is almost impossible. So let’s highlight the must-have cards:
- 3× 10364120 (core win condition)
- At least 2× 10204120 and 2× 10264120
Other Legendaries are valuable but at least more replaceable. For example, 10304120 can be replaced with 10162220 for a similar role. 10364110 can be replaced with 10262120 to keep banishing options
Adjust flex slots depending on your collection, meta, and play style.
Closing Words
If you enjoyed Priest Control in Hearthstone, you’ll love Havencraft Crest. Once 10364120 is online, this deck can outlast almost anything, answering threats turn after turn while slowly burning the opponent down.
Since its release, Havencraft Crest has been meta-defining, even showing up in nearly 40% of players’ lineups at SVO Qualifier 2. Whether you want to play it or prepare against it, this is a deck you absolutely need to understand.
