Hearthpwn

My greetings!

Are you tired of relying on the combination of Force of Nature and Savage Roar for lethal? Do you hate when you get both cards in your starting hand? Maybe you also kind of hate Shade of Naxxramas and how it can die in multiple ways while only a 2/2?

Unleash the power of Blackwing and surprise your opponents by playing Ysera on turn 9 instead of combo with Malfurion, Dragon Tamer! In my opinion, this Dragon Ramp deck can be very fun to play and is competitive even in Legend rank! As evidence of its competitiveness, I started a sample with the deck around Legend rank 1300, I believe, and achieved a highest rank of 561.

The Gameplan:

Turns 1-3: Basically just try not to let your opponent build a large, difficult-to-remove board. Focus on taking out early threats and ramping up your mana curve to either get out big threats early or use Wild Growth(s) so that you can get to your more threatening minions more quickly. Given the opportunity, ramping out a threat during the early game (for example, playing Innervate + Innervate + The Coin + Dr. Boom) might allow the player to take the board quickly and easily win.

Turns 4-6: During these turns, or perhaps during turns 3-5 if you used a Wild Growth, make use of the deck's great medium-cost minions to develop a valuable board, remove the opponent's minions, and/or use Taunts to slow down aggressive decks.

Turns 7-9: Use threatening and valuable high-cost minions to develop a fantastic board and/or gain card advantage over the opponent. Against more aggressive decks, use combinations of removal, healing, and counter-aggression to achieve victory. Against slower decks, aggression after gaining board control or playing for value and card advantage may be effective ways of defeating the opponent.

The Decklist:

Innervate x2: A useful card for ramping out big threats.

Zombie Chow x1: Playing a [Zombie Chow] on turn 1 can be an effective way to combat early aggression, and this deck can lack early game.

Wild Growth x1: Another ramp card. You can think of it as allowing you to skip a turn with a certain mana crystal total available.

Wrath x2: Great for dealing with early game threats, putting a dent in a big threat, or even cycling in matchups where removal might not matter much. Think of it primarily as a removal tool.

Darnassus Aspirant x2: Acts as both a potential ramp card and as an early-game minion that can help counter aggressive decks. The opponent may also rush to remove it because of its effect.

Big Game Hunter x1: I've recently even seen Zoolock playing [Big Game Hunter]. It can be such a massive tempo swing to get a 4/2 on board AND remove something like Dr. Boom for only 3 mana.

Blackwing Technician x2: Do you kind of hate Shade of Naxxramas and how it can die to things like Consecration, Arcane Missiles, Flamewaker + a spell, Knife Juggler + Muster for Battle / Unleash the Hounds, Blizzard, etc? Allow me to introduce you to Blackwing Technician. Instead of being a 2/2 when you play it, it actually can be a 3/5 if you have a Dragon in your hand. Bye, Shade.

Swipe x2: Say goodbye to Paladin boards. It's useful in other situations too. Don't forget that you can also target the opposing hero instead of a minion with Swipe.

Keeper of the Grove x2: The 2-damage option can be great for removal and the silence can be critical for minions like Sylvanas Windrunner.

Twilight Guardian x2: Piloted Shredder may be a strong card, but when you're looking to increase a deck's survivability and challenge the opponent to win on the board, Twilight Guardian might be more effective. Remember that Twilight Guardian is both a Dragon and a dragon-synergy card. It can enable other minions' Dragon-based bonuses, but it cannot enable its own.

Azure Drake x2: Many combo Druid decks run Azure Drake(s), so seeing this Dragon in a Druid deck is not uncommon. It allows you to play a threatening minion, potentially get more value from Swipe and/or Wrath, and draw a card.

Blackwing Corruptor x2: Sure, 3/5 Blackwing Technicians and 3/6 Twilight Guardians may be nice, but the use of Blackwing Corruptor may be the single most logical reason to play a Dragon-based deck. It can be thought of as a Fire Elemental with slightly worse stats for 1 less mana whose effect is conditional. Playing it on curve with the effect allows you to develop a minion with the stats of a 4-cost minion AND remove perhaps a 3-cost minion, for only 5 mana. Unleash the power of the Blackwing on your foes and take control of the board with Blackwing Corruptor!

Druid of the Claw x2: Can act as removal or reach, but more often I play him in the 4/6 form with Taunt. Playing Druid of the Claw can be an impediment to aggressive decks.

Ancient of Lore x2: Using the Ancient of Lores for card draw may help keep the deck from running out of steam, and the healing may be critical for defeating aggressive decks or staying out of lethal range against Freeze Mage or Combo Druid.

Dr. Boom: If only you could get Turn 2 Dr. Boom every game.

Chromaggus: Whoooooo 6 attack instead of 7! Chromaggus may be very troubling to players who count on Big Game Hunter to remove big threats, and if this Dragon is left on the board for even 1 turn it can result in major value. Imagine drawingDr. Boom the turn after you play Chromaggus and getting 2 copies of it.

Nefarian: It may be vulnerable to Big Game Hunter, but at least this Dragon has a useful Battlecry effect. Maybe it'll even get the Force of Nature + Savage Roar combo when facing Druid!

Ysera: What a card advantage generator! If your opponent dares to leaveYsera sitting on the board un-silenced for multiple turns, they may get hit by a slew of powerful "Dream" cards that can decimate their board. Even if silenced, a 4/12 can still remove a lot of common minions.

Mulligans:

In general, look for cards like Innervate, Wild Growth, and Darnassus Aspirant, as well as opportunities to ramp out minions early, and clear ways to play Dragon-synergy minions on curve with the bonus. Consider keeping Swipe against Paladin as well.

 

Have fun, and may you always play Turn 3 Ysera!

 

AzureYeti is a multi-season legend-ranked player and writer. 

http://www.hearthpwn.com/members/AzureYeti
http://www.twitch.tv/azureyeti