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)
- user-13772928
- Registered User
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Battle Tag:
Cronus#2787
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Region:
N/A
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Total Deck Rating
42
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*
Introduction
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 Wild + Faceless 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 -
Wild Wrath - Low Budget Druid - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/37113-wild-wrath-low-budget-druid
Cloak and Dagger - Low Budget Rogue - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/39477-cloak-and-dagger-low-budget-rogue
Pulsating Light - A competitive guide - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/38510-pulsating-light-a-competitive-guide
Druid Options Deck - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/37817-firebat-druid-options-deck
Change Log -
28/4/14 - Added a change log. Made some spelling corrections. Added Soulbound's completed decks.
How much weaker would you feel a Sunwalker would be in place of Cairne Bloodhoof since I don't own him in my collection?
I'm having an amazing time starting with druids, and your page is full of good tips. Rawr! Uh, thanks, I mean.
I've been playing this deck -Gadgetzan Auctioneer +Sunwalker for the last 4 days.
I don't think it is the most original deck but the write up is excellent!
Thank you!
The problem with most classes and especially Druid is that most of the deck is filled up with staple cards (Inntervate, Yeti/Sen'jin, Wrath, etc.), this means that there is very little room to work with and few card choices that can be made to make a deck original.
The purpose of this post was to help people understand and learn about the Ramp Druid Archetype, so the deck was just an example of one of the decks I've been playing so that people knew the general idea and the general cards that are used. I often change the deck up quite a lot, and Stampeding Kodo is one of the cards that I have replaced Gadgetzan Auctioneer with and it seems to work well.
Also, the Meta slots can be experimented with to make your own variation of this deck through trial and error, seeing what works and what doesn't.
Handlock is a bit of a coin flip, but there are not many of them lately with all the Zoo and Hunter decks. With HandLock you have to use your Big Game Hunter and The Black Knight effectively. Be sure to use them on the late game Molten Giants that get buffed with Defender of Argus.
Ragnaros the Firelord and Faceless Manipulator can also be good answers to giants. Just be sure to watch out for Shadow Flame and the late game burst damage from Leeroy Jenkins and Power Overwhelming.
With HandLocks you have to race them and play more aggressively and race them. Take advantage of the fact that they have to be at low health to play 2/4 of their Giants. Keep them at 14/15 Health if you can and then try and burst them down; this makes it awkward for them to play molten giants and taunt them up, Finally. you can use yourKeeper of the Grove to silence the taunted up Twilight Drakes, and then use your hero power to pick them off.
Hope this helped,
- Cronus
What do you think about stampeding kodo in place of the autioneer?
That would make sense if you are facing a lot of Zoo and Hunter in the meta (Will kill keeper of the grove in the mirror match as well). As auctioneer is one of the 4 meta slots, I think that this would be a fine change :) Remember though Auctioneer is one of the best ways to draw cards in the late game, however I'm sure it would be a fine swap :) Nice Idea.
This has got to be the most well explained deck in hearthpwn. Great job!
I'm missing all of the ancients and cairne but have enough dust to craft either cairne or all 3 ancients. Which would you suggest I craft?
Thanks in advance.
A general rule for crafting is to:
1) Only craft legendaries first, as they are harder to get than rares and epics to obtain
2) Craft the neutral cards first so they can be used in more than one deck.
On that note, I would suggest Cairne, an awesome card that is often considered a 4/10 and will fit in a lot more decks (Warrior Control, Priest Control, you name it). The Ancients will come eventually though card packs :)
Yeah Bloodmage Thalnos 100%, gratz on the new legendary! :) Thalnos fits perfectly into every deck you play, and he will fit into a lot more.
Another great deck, Proud to have the Soulbound logo on it.
Cards such as Nourish, Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Wild Growth (Turn 10) can be used to draw a lot of cards. Bloodmage Thalnos also draws a card when he dies. What deck's have you been paying against?
Awesome guide thanks.
Very good guide, thanks.
Hey Cronus -- I just wanted you to know that I think you did an outstanding job here. I've played this deck, and it's not bad... I have some trouble here and there but overall it's enjoyable. That aside, you did an excellent job with this write-up, kudos and thank you.
Cheers.
This Deck sucks too, good thing i wasted dust on druid cards
Sorry to hear that. Maybe a bit more practise with the deck and learning the plays will help you. If you personally dislike this deck then read the guide and learn about some of the cards for the druid, then you may be able to create an awesome deck of your own! :D
Thinking about quit playing duruid. I've tried and went down from 9 rank to 14. I only win two matches, the rest of them i have a full 5+ mana hand, and a 5+ mulligand after the first. Idk if im the guy with the worst luck in all hearthstone or what
You might be titling, take a brake and come back to playing ladder afterwards. Everyone has bad days and bad matches, just take the time to practise with the deck and get used to the plays. Druid is generally a slow class, with little on no 3 drops in most of the druid decks; thats why cards such as innervate and wild growth are used.
I know, i've mostly played only druids since the closed beta. But in actual meta was so hard with my old deck... But indeed, i've played an arena run, calm down myself and just after that climbed again to rank 11. May just a bad day early cuz this run from 14 to 11 was really good against almost evry deck i face (huntards/zoo/control war). Actually i even goes well against other druids
Btw i have 1 lore and 2 war so i run that way insted of 2 lore 1 war, and don't have Black night/Cairne. So i run the optionals you suggested, really a good work, apreciate both the efforth on the guide and the reply.
Pd: Srry if it's too bad my english, not my native lenguage.