Hearthpwn

Hello!

I'd like to share the deck that I used to reach Legend rank 14 in the December 2014 season. If you've ever played the old Miracle Rogue, this will most remind you alot of it. It rolls with the same concept of cycling through your deck, while controlling the board and looking for your finishers. In this case, your finishers are Ragnaros and Dr. Boom.

 

There are however some stuff that are different. One of them is that Gadgetzan Auctioneer is now gone. The miracle is gone! Whatever shall we do? Well, to be fair, old miracle rogue never really NEEDED the Auctioneer to win a match. This deck substitutes the Auctioneer with Sprint, and is less reliant on cycling your cards. There are no super situational cards in this deck, such as Shadowstep, Cold Blood or even Sinister Strike. Alot of the times, those cards would be dead in your hand, until you drew your combo. This deck focuses more on having reliable, consistent cards, and has actually managed to be better than the old miracle deck in my experience.

Preparations are still in the deck. Why? Without the auctioneer, prep is certainly just a card disadvantage, right? Sure. But it's also extremely useful for tempo. You can do small stuff, like Prep > SI:7 > Fan to wipe an aggro board in an early turn and assume board control, or you can prep a sprint early on to have cards for basically the rest of the game.

One of the strongest plays you can do is Prep > Sap > Ragnaros in the late game, giving you instant board control, which this deck plays so hard for. The only other deck that I have noticed having trouble with has been Hunter aggro. All other decks has been easily beaten, especially the traditional decks that are countered by miracle, such as warrior or priest.

Another deckbuilder, Sparkaz, has had a very similar idea to mine. If you wish to check out his version of the deck, take a look at http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/154662-spark-tempo-miracle-s10

General guide for popular opponents

A lot of people seem to be having issues playing against certain decks, and are sometimes confused by mulliganing and at which speed to play at. All of this obviously depends on your opponent. I'll attempt to take the most popular deck of each class and make a short guideline, showing how I've personally had success against them.

Control Warrior: Mulligan for Deadly Poison and mid-game minions. Deadly poison is mainly to deal with the Acolyte of Pain, and you don't really need removal for any other early minions that a warrior pulls out. Your early minions are weak, because they die to any of his weapons. Your goal in this match-up is to go for high-value early game and aggressiveness late game. There will be big swing turns, with Prep+Sprint, Prep+sap+Rag/Boom, BGH and so on. These are all your moments to start going aggressive and killing him. Remember that a control warrior usually has more late-game than you, so if the game goes on for too long, you will lose. If you're meeting a lot of warriors, replace an Earthen Ring Farseer with Harrison Jones or Sabotage, whichever you prefer.

Control Priest: Mulligan for Deadly Poison, Sap and Eviscerate. This is because the only reason a priest has to win against you is with hard pressure, and the only way to really apply pressure from a priest is Circle + Injured Blademaster. If you can deal with that, you should be okay for the rest of the game, playing very slowly and not over-extending into Auchenai + Circle.

Aggro/deathrattle Hunter: Mulligan for Backstab, SI:7 Agent, Deadly Poison, Fan of Knives and Preparation. One of the hardest match-ups in my experience. The way you win is by getting board control as early as possible, which is why you're keeping the tempo-removal. Around turn 5, you should have established board control. From there, you have to rely on your minions to deal damage to his face, while your spells and taunts handle his minions. Play this match-up very aggressively. Using prep simply for the combo for SI:7 Agent on turn 3 is not unseen.

Control Paladin: Mulligan for anything early. Similar to Control Priest, except there's no injured blademaster, so you're not really in danger. The only way a paladin has any chance to win is if he gets an insane board-clear with Equality, or if you have drawn absolutely horribly. Expect the Quartermaster and keep his dudes clear.

Zoo Warlock: Similar to Hunter, you want to mulligan for your early tempo-removal, Backstab, SI:7 Agent, Deadly Poison and so on. The tactic is basically the same, except this deck is less aggressive, and thus gives you more time to stabilize. Don't be afraid to use your dagger for board control, as long as you're 6 health or behind a taunt, you're generally safe from death.

Handlock (Second popular warlock deck say hi): Pretty tough match-up for us, but can certainly be won. Mulligan for any early minions (Except for Thalnos) and Sap. The trick is to get your minions out as early as possible to deal damage to the warlocks face, while you use your spells for his minions. When you get to the late game, you should be able to burn him down with spells, like Eviscerate and Blade Flurry, or even a Rag-shot. The longer the game, the harder it is for you to win. If you're meeting a lot of Handlocks, replace a Farseer with a Black Knight.

Midrange Shaman: Mulligan for Deadly Poison, Backstab, Fan of Knives and SI:7 Agent. One of the easier match-ups for us, because we have access to a lot of AoE and tempo-related removal. Treat the shaman kind of like an aggro deck, where you attempt to get board control as early as possible. Your BGH is generally not very good in this match-up, and can just be put out as a 3-drop. Deadly Poison is king for Feral Spirits.

Mechmage: Mechmage is very similar to Zoo and Hunter, so you still want to mulligan for the early removal. Backstab, Deadly Poison, Preparation, Fan of Knives and SI:7 Agent. As the usual aggro tactic goes for this deck, you want to get board control as early as possible, which can certainly be hard against this deck. Pretty tough match-up, but can be won.

Ramp Druid: Unlike its more fast counterpart, a pretty easy matchup. Mulligan for Sap and Eviscerate, following the logic of the priest, that the only way this deck can win is if you let it get early pressure with innervates or wild growths. The Sap and Eviscerate are meant to deal with any early minions that he can fish up. When you go into late game, you should be pumping out as many minions as possible, as the druid typically won't be able to deal with them.

Double-combo Druid: Mulligan for Sap, Eviscerate and Deadly Poison. About a 50-50 matchup, and comes down to the draw most of the time. Your AoE is not much worth, so if you can use it to kill a Shade of Naxxramas, that's swell. Often, you'll get pressured very hard until you just die to combo, while other times, the druid won't have much that challenges your high-value minions. Attempt to be aggressive, especially towards the end, but almost always keep their board clear.

Rogue Non-Miracle mirror: The best way to win this match-up is to play to your own weakness, which is pressure. If you pressure your opponent, using your early and mid-game minions, you should be able to win. Board control is almost everything. Try to use all your mana every turn, on the biggest stuff possible. I don't have too much experience in the mirror matches, so can't say much more.

Legendary replacements

While it's very hard to just replace a legendary in a deck and have it perform nearly as well, I'll do my best for the budget peeps out there! I can't guarantee that the cheaper version will do as well, but it'll somewhat replicate the effect.

Bloodmage Thalnos: Bloodmage Thalnos is possibly the easiest replacable legendary in the deck. Don't replace him with Kobold Geomancer, as would be many peoples first impression, as that card is pretty bad. Instead, go for a Loot Hoarder instead.

Edwin VanCleef: A pretty sick card in these rogue decks, for obvious reasons. Even if you just coin him out, he's one of the best 3-drops in the game. With preps, backstabs and lots of cheap spells, he just becomes even better. I recommend replacing him with a Sap, or if you got Sylvanas, possibly her. The reason for this is that you can't really replace Edwin with a similar card, so you just have to replace him with another good card. These are some that did not make the cut.

Ragnaros the Firelord and Dr. Boom: If you're missing either of these cards, you'll have to change a pretty big concept of the deck. These boys are the finishers, so you'll need a completely new way to win the game. Assassin's Blade and Tinker's Sharpsword Oil are good replacements for a new finisher, but they won't be as consistent as the legendaries. If you go for these cards, you should probably be playing a bit more aggressive aswell.