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Wrath of the Forest - A Guide to Ramp Druid

  • Last updated Apr 28, 2014 (Live Patch 5170)
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Wild

  • 18 Minions
  • 12 Spells
  • Deck Type: None
  • Deck Archetype: Unknown
  • Crafting Cost: 8960
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 4/22/2014 (Live Patch 5170)
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  • Battle Tag:

    Cronus#2787

  • Region:

    N/A

  • Total Deck Rating

    42

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Welcome to Soulbounds  Guide to Ramp Druid. Here we will be Discussing the Ramp Archetype and go through some Specific Card Choices. First things first Yes you can get to legend with this deck.

  • Pros 
  • Druid is one of the best, most versatile classes in the game 
  • Getting ahead in mana can lead to instant wins
  • Druid is one of the best control classes in the game
  • The druid hero power is also quite versatile - Pick off a 1 health minion, Attack face and gain 1 Armour
  • The card-pool of the druid is extremely good
  • Cons
  • Can get off to a slow start
  • The best cards are usually the most expensive to craft
  • Lacks some good hard removal
  • Savannah Highmane... *Sobs Quietly*


I
ntroduction

First about me, Hi, I'm Cronus and I am a member of Soulbound, an up and coming Deck Building team. I have been playing Hearthstone for a few months now, I spent the test seasons and season 1 building up my card collection and having fun. In the next season I plan on playing the ladder. So here it is, Soulbounds Ramp Druid Guide. This will be quite a long guide, so I've hidden each section in spoilers to save you scrolling though the page. If you want to see a particular section then click the spoiler. 

About this Deck and Druid in General.

The mana acceleration or 'ramp' style of the druid play is a very unique archetype in itself. The archetype uses cards such as Wild Growth, Innervate and Nourish to accelerate their mana and get ahead in the game. These plays can lead to early board control, resulting in an early lead. Once the druid gets into the late game , cards such as Ancient of Lore and Ancient of War can be used as well as Ragnaros the Firelord to dominate board control and card advantage.

Main Strategy - Control

The main strategy of this deck is to use the early turns to either get ahead in board control with cards such as the famous Innervate - The Coin Combo to play a turn 1 Sen'jin Shieldmasta or Chillwind Yeti. Alternatively, you can use the lower turns to ramp up or accelerate your mana, with turn 2 playing Wild Growth, you can go into Keeper of the Grove, Chillwind Yeti or Sen'jin Shieldmasta on your next turn (Turn 3 of the game but your mana will be at 4). 

As you progress to the late game you can use cards such Ancient of War and Ancient of Lore to keep board control and card advantage. Also, cards such as Cairne Bloodhoof and Ragnaros the Firelord can be used to put good bodies and threats on the board.Win Condition -

The Ramp druid win condition uses board control to keep card advantage and eventually chip away at your opponents HP. Ragnaros the Firelord is a good finisher in this deck and it gets instant value. Playing Ragnaros on an open board will hit the face for 8, and playing him on a board where there is a strong minion out can get you out of tight situations; especially if you have baited removal before playing him.

Mulligan Strategy

Cards you generally want to keep:
Innervate
Wild Growth
Sen'jin Shieldmasta OR Chillwind Yeti
Acidic Swamp Ooze (Against Hunter, Paladin, Rogue and Warrior)

 

Cards you don't want to keep:
Healing Touch
Big Game Hunter (Unless facing Handlock)
Faceless Manipulator
Late game cards

 

VS Aggro - Mulligan for Innervate, Mark of the Wild, Taunts and anything that will slow them down and give you board control. Keeper of the Grove is good for picking off minions such as Huffer or Knife Juggler. Always swap out late game cards, in this match-up tempo and board control are key :) Sen'jin is a good card in this match up, it will force them to trade a few cards to get past him.

 

VS Control - Mulligan for Innervate, Wild Growth and a good 4 drop (Sen'jin, Yeti or Keeper of the Grove). Always swap out Mark of the Wild; while it is a good tempo gainer it can sometimes buff your minions up to then get hit by The Black Knight or Big Game Hunter 

 Specific Card Choices and explanations -

Mark of the Wild - This card is a great tempo gain in most match-ups.You can give your minion +2/+2 and take out a troublesome minion. For example buffing a Chillwind Yeti to a 6/7 with taunt and then taking out a Sen'jin, Fire Elemental or any other troublesome creature. Also, this card is very powerful in Aggro Match-ups and can often soak up a lot of damage and trade with 2/3 minions. Don't use this card when you have a feeling that you opponent has a way to deal with it, otherwise they can snag themselves a 2 for 1.

Wild Growth - This is one of the key cards in the Ramp Druid deck. this card will allow you to get ahead of your opponent in mana and can sometime outright win you the game. Being 1 or 2 mana ahead of your opponent is a huge deal, meaning that you can play Cairne Bloodhoof where they can only play a 3 or 4 drop. From here you can then snowball out for a win. Timing and mana efficiency are crucial with this card; while its great to play this on turn 2, don't play it on turn 3 IF you have other options.

Healing Touch - This card is great in the current meta, with a lot of aggro decks, and can often be a card that wins you a game. 8 Health for 3 mana is good and it allows you to get of kill range to a lot of popular combos and finishers (Leeroy Jenkins, Grommash Hellscream etc.) Also, this card can be paired with Gadgetzan Auctioneer to gain life and draw a card. Also, if circumstances permit, it can be used to heal up your Ancient of War.

Nourish - This card is a really good card when used correctly. On turn 5 you can ramp your mana to 7 and then next turn play Ragnaros the Firelord. More importantly, in the late game this can be used to draw 3 cards from your deck, still leaving you with 5 mana to use the rest of your turn; innervate can also be useful here. Unlike Wild Growth, you gain FULL mana crystals with this card, as opposed to empty, meaning that if you use this card to ramp your mana, you will still be left with 2 mana to use on turn 5.

Ancient of Lore- This card is one the the best druid cards available, a 5/5 body with the option to draw 2 cards or heal character for 5. If you draw 2 cards from this and your opponent spends 1 card to remove it, it will put you 2 cards ahead instantly. This can be used in aggro match-ups to provide more heal along side Healing Touch.

Ancient of War - This card is also an incredibly powerful card for the druid. Although you will rarely ever play him in attack mode, the defensive mode can be a godsend in most match-ups and be hard to get around. When playing this card be sure that you have baited out Hunters Mark against hunters and The Black Knight against other druids. If your opponent uses Hex or Polymorph on him then you can always bring out Ragnaros the Firelord after.

Acidic Swamp Ooze - Pretty self explanatory, a lot of weapons in the game, this card deals with them. With Warriors I tend to save it for Gorehowl.

Bloodmage Thalnos - This card is amazing in some situations, especially against zoo and hunters. A Spell boosted swipe with 5 damage to one minion and 2 to the others can be devastating for your opponent. This card also combos well with Wrath, dealing 4 damage to a minion for 2 mana or 2 damage and draw a card - great for picking off that annoying Knife Juggler behind a Voidwalker.

Big Game Hunter - Pretty self explanatory again kills minions with 7 or more attack. Great for killing Rag and Alexstrasza. Also, this card is very powerful against the Handlock match-up, killing any giant. Finally, this card can also trade up behind a taunt (Druid of the Claw or Ancient of War)

Sen'jin Shieldmasta - The reason behind 2 senjin and 1 yeti is because of the current rush and aggro meta. This card will often trade for 2 of your opponents cards. Also, this is another target for the Innervate-The Coin play.

Faceless Manipulator - This can also be an amazing card in the control match-up, copying the opponents Rag and the Big Game Hunter'ing it. Another great combo is to Mark of the Wild an opponents minion with 5 or 6 health and then use Faceless Manipulator on it before playing Big Game Hunter to take it out.

Gadgetzan Auctioneer - This card is a tech card that we have chosen because of it incredible ability to draw cards. As well as putting a 4//4 body on the board, this draw engine will make your opponent waste a removal or minion on it almost instantly. Paired with all the low cost spells (Innervate, Wrath, Mark of the Wild, Wild Growth, Healing Touch etc. this card has the potential to draw a LOT of cards.

 

A great combo is created when playing Wild Growth on turn 10 with Auctioneer on the field. Wild Growth activates (+1 Card), produces Excess Mana, a 0 mana spell that draws a card (+2), meaning that for 2 mana you have drawn 3 cards.Cairne Bloodhoof - This card is one of the best legends in the game and is often called a 4/10 creature. While is it weak to silence, its a perfect target for a Mark of the WildFaceless Manipulator combo on turn 7 after you play it. If it gets silenced that it is a Yeti at worst.

The Black Knight - Pretty self explanatory again, destroys a minion with taunt, can be useful in the druid mirror match and Taunts that are hard to get around, also a good body.

Ragnaros the Firelord Rag is a great finisher and is hard to deal with when your opponent has used their hard removal on your other minions (Ancient of War, Druid of the Claw etc.)

Popular Combos -

Some of the popular combos of this deck include:

Mark of the Wild + Faceless Manipulator + Big Game Hunter to buff a minion, copy it and then kill it.

Mark of the Wild + The Black Knight as hard removal.

Mark of the Wild + Big Game Hunter to buff a minion to 7 attack or above and then kill it

Mark of the Wild on Cairne Bloodhoof + Faceless Manipulator for 2 6/7's with taunt and an awesome deathrattle

 

Gadgetzan Auctioneer + any low cost spell to draw 1 card

Gadgetzan Auctioneer + Wild Growth on turn 10 to draw 3 cards

 

Faceless Manipulator on Ancient of War for 2 Walls

 

and of course, Innervate + The Coin + Yeti/Sen'jin on turn one.

 

Legendary/Epic Replacements -

Bloodmage Thalnos can be replaced with Kobold Geomancer for the spell power or Loot Hoarder for the draw, personally I'd go Kobold Geomancer.

 

Cairne Bloodhoof can be replaced with Boulderfist Ogre (Some people even run Ogre over Cairne because it doesn't lose to silence.

 

The Black Knight can be replaced with a good 6 drop of your choice, perhaps Sunwalker

 

Ragnaros the Firelord has no solid replacement, if you have any other late game threats then sub them in, otherwise I might run Cenarius or another Ogre

 

Ancient of War can be replaced with Sunwalker

 Meta Slots -

Meta Slots are places in your deck that are used for swapping out cards to adapt to the current meta game. In this deck there are currently 4 meta slots that be be swapped out for other cards to combat certain play styles:

 

Acidic Swamp Ooze - If there are no weapons popping up then it might be a good idea to swap this card out for something else.


Gadgetzan Auctioneer - Allthough this is a great draw engine in the deck, it can be swapped out for a faster card.


The Black Knight - If the number of Taunt creatures drop for some reason, then this card can be replaced.


Chillwind Yeti/Sen'jin Shieldmasta - If the aggro decks are less common than the control decks, then swapping 1 Sen'jin Shieldmasta for 1 Chillwind Yeti can be good.

Our Completed Decks -

Change Log -

28/4/14 - Added a change log. Made some spelling corrections. Added Soulbound's completed decks.