Hearthpwn

Introduction

Greetings. Mulligan here with a full write-up on the Mech Priest deck I played last season. After playing standard decks for the past few seasons, I got bored and a little frustrated as well. I then decided since the format split and the new set Whispers of the Old Gods are upon us and will release the end of this month or early May, that if I'm going to play on ladder, I may as well have fun doing it. So I decided to revisit Mech Priest. Last time I tried the deck was right after The Grand Tournament came out. I was trying to get Elise Darkbane and Fjola Lightbane to work along with spare part synergy from cards like Clockwork Gnome, Tinkertown Technician and Mechanical Yeti. It didn't work out and I put the deck down but I loved playing it.

The main reasons to not play Mech Priest are that, like many other Mech and tempo decks, it tends to run out of gas fairly quickly, even with Northshire Cleric as a draw engine. The other reason is that Dragon Priest exists as a decent midrange option for the class. I knew if I was going to pick up the deck again I needed to address the problem of running out of threats to play. Enter Elise Starseeker and Brann Bronzebeard. Elise gives the deck a late game win condition on her own. Pairing her with Brann allows you to activate Golden Monkey more consistently. As far as Brann goes, Elise is not the only reason he's in here. He has excellent synergy with your Discover minions such as Museum Curator and Gorillabot A-3, allowing you to get additional value and keep the threats coming. Between Elise and the Discover minions, this deck very rarely runs out of gas. Another reason for going back to Mech Priest was that I wanted to try and improve as a deckbuilder and with help from the Advanced Deckbuilding thread on the competitive Hearthstone subreddit by u/sparkalaphobia, I feel like I learned a ton and improved a bit overall.

Regarding Dragon Priest, I believe Mech Priest does have a few things that differentiate it from it's midrange counterpart, namely a lower and more consistent curve. Although modern Dragon Priests also run Elise for  their late game along with Brann, they have an overall higher curve and are more prone to missing their drops due to the requirement needed for Dragon synergy. If Dragon Priest does curve out, however, it is quite a bit stronger than this deck and can beat any deck.

Now that I've given a little backstory and introduction to how I started playing this deck, it's on to the guide itself. Below I have some videos containing the deck tech as well as gameplay against the most relevant decks in the current meta. Most of the games are wins since I'm trying to give the deck as much exposure as I can since I feel it is very good in this meta (and hopefully to spark discussion on the future of a Tempo style of Priest in the upcoming Standard format). I tried to keep continuity and give people the option to either read this written guide or watch the videos, whichever anyone is more comfortable doing as I pretty much say the same thing in both, but there might be a few small things I miss on the written guide that you may find in the gameplay videos or vice versa. I will also have Win/Loss records for the different decks I faced during my climb when discussing the mulligans and matchups for each class down below. For anyone wanting to know, I played this deck exclusively last season (Season 24) from rank 16 up to rank 5. I also tried to get as much gameplay as possible from the higher ranks on ladder (ranks 10 through 5).

 

 

Mech Priest Gameplay Videos

 

Card Explanations

2x Power Word: Shield - Core card in Priest and this deck is no exception. Keep with a 1 drop and sometimes with a few 2 drops if on Coin.

2x Northshire Cleric - Priest's staple 1 drop and no exception with this deck. The only time you don't drop this turn 1 is vs. Warrior as they can get value of Fiery War Axe
unless you can Power Word: Shield it on the same turn. In the mid to late game, it's usually best to wait until you can immediately draw off of it. Combos very well with
Holy Nova

1x Zombie Chow - I used to play 2x Cogmaster. I went with the rule of playing only one Zombie Chow to prevent dead draws late game (it's even worse than Cogmaster in this
regard) so I could have an extra deck slot, which became Defender of Argus. Performs just as well as Cogmaster at it's job: to contest early minions. Talk about Zombie Chow
vs. Cogmaster.

Zombie Chow vs. Cogmaster (assuming a 2 drop Mech)
Chow - Hunters, Midrange Paladin, Aggro Paladin, Dragon Priest, Zoo, Renolock
Cogmaster - Midrange Druid, Mage, Secret Paladin, Murloc Paladin, Control Priest, Aggro Shaman, Warrior
even - Rogue (Cogmaster trades with 3 drops. Chow is harger to kill)

1x Shadow Word: Pain - flex slot #1 in this deck. Reasons I chose to play it: great against minions that Mech Priest's minions struggle to kill on their own. Doomsayer,
which is played in two decks we are not favored against - Murloc Paladin and Freeze Mage, and Deathlord. Also good against cards like Imp Gang Boss, Sludge Belcher, Twilight
Guardian, Flamewaker, Tunnel Trogg, Totem Golem, Violet Teacher, Grim Patron, Acolyte of Pain, Knife Juggler and Shielded Minibot. It always finds a good target vs. every
deck in the meta right now with it being weakest against Druid.

1x Annoy-o-Tron - flex slot #2. Annoy-o-Tron doesn't fight for board that well, but it's good at protecting your more valuable minions that aren't that resilient such as
Mechwarper, Shadowboxer and Northshire Cleric. It's a Mech and it's excellent against Control Warrior and, more importantly, Hunter because this deck lacks healing.

2x Mechwarper - core card in any Mech deck. The mana acceleration it offers can be downright broken at times, allowing to flood the board with Mechs you normally wouldn't
be able to play.

2x Shadowboxer - core card in any Mech Priest. Similar to Northshire Cleric it combos ridiculously well with Holy Nova (even better than Cleric). I have no problem playing
both copies if my whole board is hurt and using Nova to get a ton of ping damage in matchups against minion based decks. One of the reasons you choose Priest as your class to
build a Mech deck with.

1x Shadow Word: Death - you need some type of cheap single target removal that deals with big threats. This card is a huge tempo swing, often killing minions for twice it's
cost or more. Since it's only 3 mana it allows you to develop your board at the same time. Another core card in my opinion because Entomb is NOT cheap.

1x Velen's Chosen - people will wonder why I'm not playing two copies of this card. As much of a blowout that it can be, I don't want to play multiple copies of cards that
can end up being dead in your hand. There's also no guarantee you will have a minion to buff on turn 3. That said, I think one is definitely core, but not 2. Great card in
any Priest deck since it allows minions to trade up and survive and it's the only way to buff Holy Nova.

Brann Bronzebeard - I started using Brann at first to combo it with Elise Starseeker, but after playing with him and realizing how much synergy he has with other cards in the
deck, I am sold on him being a core card. Getting Discover to go off twice is huge in certain matchups such as Control Warrior. Mech Priest had a tendency to run out of gas
in previous iterations, but Brann patches up that weakness very well, along with Elise, giving you the ability to go into the late game against any deck without running out
of threats. Also combos well with Argus, Loatheb and Dr. Boom. (with the goal of combo w/Elise)

2x Dark Cultist - core card in any Priest deck. The stat line and Deathrattle are still ridiculous and works even better in a more minion based Priest deck like this one. You
often don't care if he dies as long as he got value beforehand. Keeping it alive isn't wrong though as this deck values something that can do 3 damage early on.

Elise Starseeker - your late game win condition if your opponent manages to stabilize in the midgame. Between her, Brann and your Discover cards, you can confidently go into
fatigue against the most common Control decks like Priest and Warrior and still be able to pump out threats the whole way through. The fact that you can double your chances
of going off with Golden Monkey if you combo Elise with Brann arguably makes your late game win condition better than theirs since you have a decent draw engine in Northshire
Cleric. Another big reason why Mech Priest no longer struggles with running out of gas.

1x Defender of Argus - flex slot #3. I cut the Cogmasters I was running to fit this guy in and I've never looked back. Argus has been an absolute all star, especially since
it can buff the Attack of my minions, which is a rare commodity in Priest. The real reason I put Argus in is to help against Hunter, which this deck struggles against, but it
also happens to be good against decks that rely on burst with minions such as Murloc Paladin and Druid, so you don't get cheesed as much out of games that you should've won.
Another card that combos great with Brann.

1x Gorillabot A-3 - flex slot #4. Gorillabot has performed well overall and you get value from the Battlecry for the most part. I'm still not quite reasy to call this a core
card, but it's close. Getting guys like Sneed's Old Shredder or Foe Reaper 4000 can be huge, but even midrange Mechs like Clockwork Knight and Mechanical Yeti are fine too.
Of course, double value is always nice with Brann. All that being said, I don't think it's impactful enough to play 2 copies of this card, especially because I run...

2x Piloted Shredder - the best 4 drop in the game. Dragon Priest has Twilight Guardian and we have this. Core in any Mech deck and almost every other deck in general, IMO.
Helps you fight for board to the point where opponents sometimes ignore it because it takes too much to remove it. Not much else to say.

1x Holy Nova - I feel that one copy of this card is core in more tempo based or midrange Priest decks such as this one as well as Dragon Priest. It's not a powerful AoE on
it's own but where it truly shines is if you and your opponent are about even on board and you can bring their entire board to 2 health and then Holy Nova, healing your guys
and clearing theirs. Holy Nova only gets better in this situation when you have Shadowboxer and/or Northshire Cleric on board which is actually fairly common. I feel 2 is
far too clunky though although some Mech Priest lists in the past have run 2 copies.

Loatheb - this is barely flex slot #5. The reason why I say this is because Loatheb helps out so much in several matchups where we are not favored, particularly Oil Rogue,
Freeze Mage and Murloc Paladin. Loatheb is also very good against Warrior and Druid. He also helps set up 2 turn lethals if you manage to get board control, which you need
especially against the aforementioned decks, and often nearly guarantees that your board will come back to you next turn. I have no intention of cutting Loatheb any time soon.
An extremely useful minion.

1x Upgraded Repair Bot - one of the main reason you choose to play Mech Priest over other Mech decks. It's effectively a 5/9 as you have a Mech on board more often than not.
All the Mechs in this deck are good targets, with Annoy-o-Tron being the worst one as you can use the buffed mech as a source of damage to kill off opposing minions and just
keep it healthy with your Hero power. Don't be afraid to play this without getting the Battlecry value, especially if you are trying to proc Discover with Gorillabot.
A 5/5 for 5 mana is still very good.

1x Cabal Shadow Priest - this is probably the best 6 drop you can play in Mech Priest. In the current metagame, there are very few matchups where Cabal Shadow Priest won't
find a target to steal. In fact the only matchups where there are little to no good targets to take with Cabal are Druid and Oil Rogue specifically. Even taking something
like a Keeper of the Grove, a 1/2 Slime from Belcher or even a 1/1 Living Roots token or Boom Bot is OK against Druid as they have less damage with Savage Roar. The stats are
a bit overwhelming for a 6 drop but when you get value almost all the time, a 4/5 along with whatever you steal is often good enough. That said, I feel 2 copies would be too
clunky for this deck, much less any other 6 drop I might play (e.g: Piloted Sky Golem)

1x Entomb - The card that has been core in every Control Priest deck since LoE finds it's way into Mech Priest. I feel this card is one of the two necessary evils you have to
play in Mech Priest. There are threats that decks play that your minions just aren't going to be able to deal with on their own. Worse yet, there are times where you will
lose board control and this card is an insurance policy for when opposing decks play one of their main big threats. Be sure to watch the games because I talk about what
targets you need to use Entomb on in certain matchups, but some examples include only using Entomb on Ysera vs. Control Warrior and Dragon Priest and only using it on Old
Murk-Eye, Murloc Warleader and Sludge Belcher vs. Murloc Paladin. An amazing card that needs to be used correctly in order to make it to the late game against some decks, but
you will often find that this will be one of only two cards in this deck that you'll be holding in your hand a lot which is why I only play one copy.

1x Lightbomb - Another card that has been core in every Control Priest ever since it was released back in GvG gets a slot in Mech Priest. Due to the high health minions that
this deck runs, the symmetrical effect often doesn't have a negative effect on our side of the board. The health buffs in this deck also keep our minions from dying when
using Lightbomb. Anyway, this is the second necessary evil I feel you have to run in Mech Priest, otherwise there are common board states in the metagame that you will end up
losing to. Dr. Boom is the main target for Lightbomb but it can take care of other situation like if you've lost the board against another aggressive deck like Zoo or Secret
Paladin and they've managed to flood the board. Just like Entomb, this is another card you'll often have sitting in your hand until you can use it as insurance policy, but
Lightbomb can force so many decks into topdeck mode along with you and gives you a chance to get back in the game.

Dr. Boom - this card needs little explanation. Best 7 drop in the game right now until the format split happens. Playing your Dr. Boom before your opponent can play theirs on
curve is huge. Playing it on an empty board or just uncontested in general is huge. Having the additional Mechs in the Boom Bots to proc Gorillabot's Discover is amazing. You
can even combo him with Brann Bronzebeard on turn 10, but that shouldn't be your goal.

 

Tips & Tricks

• IMPORTANT: Diversify your damage. Meaning if you have a 1 power minion already out and you have the choice between putting out Curator or a 2 power Mech, you should choose the 2 power Mech. This is especially true if you have a turn 3 play and/or you are up against another tempo/aggressive deck. There are exceptions (no turn 3 play, vs. Control). This isn't Zoo - Priest doesn't have many ways to buff Attack values. Zoo is more forgiving in this aspect, so you can get away with just playing the drops you have.
• You will also have to take risks when playing this deck sometimes and overextend a bit more than you might be used to doing because of the lack of burst.
• Don't be afraid to play Gorillabot or Upgraded Repair Bot for no Battlecry value if that means you get board advantage.
• Sometimes sacrificing Dark Cultist is right just to get the buff on another minion (like something with Deathrattle), even if it doesn't trade evenly with another minion.

 

Matchups & Mulligans

Druid (Midrange: 9-6, Ramp: 1-2)

Mulligan for 1-2 drops (best to worst: Zombie Chow, Northshire Cleric, Mechwarper, Shadowboxer, Annoy-o-Tron, Museum Curator). If you're on the Coin, keep Dark Cultist and Piloted Shredder. Keep Power Word: Shield if you have a 1 drop. Only keep Velen's Chosen if you already have a 1 and a 2 drop in hand.

Playing your early game minions on curve takes priority over everything else. Druid often can't clear your board and develop theirs at the same time because their minions cost so much. Since we're a tempo deck, we're favored against Druid for the same reasons other tempo decks like Zoo are. We can flood the board and often there's nothing Druid can do about it. When you are losing, you often are just sitting waiting to die from the combo once Druid draws it. The only way this situation comes up is either Druid was able to keep up with your early minions (this rarely happens) or your board got blown up by Azure Drake + Swipe, so try to prevent the latter from happening if possible.

Hunter (Aggro: 1-4, Hybrid: 1-3, Midrange/Camel: 3-3)

Only mulligan for your 1 and 2 drops (best to worst: Northshire Cleric, Zombie Chow, Annoy-o-Tron, Shadowboxer, Mechwarper, Museum Curator, Shadow Word: Pain). Never keep a 3 cost or higher card vs. Hunter. Consider tossing Power Word: Shield if you don't have a 2 drop, even if you have a 1 drop. Shadow Word: Pain is okay against the most common 2 and 3 drop cards Hunters play (Knife Juggler, Mad Scientist, Argent Horserider, Leokk, etc.)

These games will go fast more often than not. Anticipating what the Hunter could play on their turn is of utmost importance. You have to allow that to dictate what you will play on your turn. Example: play Mechwarper or Shadowboxer if you anticipate a 2 health minion to be played. Kill everything the Hunter plays at all costs. Leave no damage on their side of the board. If you're against Aggro or Hybrid Hunter and your health falls below 20, heal your face every turn for the rest of the game. Don't try to save your minions - let them die off in trades because staying alive is what matters most. You need to negate their Hero power as much as possible.

Mage (Tempo: 9-3, Freeze: 2-3)

The mulligan will remain the same against either Mage. Loatheb, Piloted Shredder and Dr. Boom can be kept specifically if you are on the Coin and you absolutely know it's Freeze Mage. Otherwise, you want your 1-2 drops as well as Dark Cultist if you are on the Coin (best to worst: Northshire Cleric, Shadow Word: Pain, Zombie Chow, Shadowboxer, Mechwarper, Annoy-o-Tron, Museum Curator)

Shadow Word: Pain is so huge in either matchup. You never toss this card as there are so many good targets. Flamewaker, Mana Wyrm, Mad Scientist, Acolyte of Pain, Doomsayer, the list goes on. Against Tempo Mage, Flamewaker is the number one target. Against Freeze, Doomsayer is the number one target, arguably the ONLY target.

In terms of the matchups themselves, you want to fight for the board and grab it as early as possible against either deck. Against Tempo, whoever wins the board and can keep it wins the game. Save Lightbomb for Dr. Boom and either Entomb or Shadow Word: Death their Antonidas. You will win more often than not if you use said cards in that matter and force Tempo Mage into topdeck mode, even if you are already in topdeck mode because we have slightly better card quality. Against Freeze, you need to be aggressive while at the same time being aware of the different board clears they have access to on set turns so as not to overextend too much. You also need to save certain cards for specific situations: only use Loatheb either after Alexstrasza or after Antondias, preferrably the former. Holy Nova should also be saved for after Alex. Try to have a board already when Emperor Thaurissan comes down so you can use your minions to deal with him, unless you can set up 2 turn lethal, then use Shadow Word: Death in that scenario. Cabal Shadow Priest should be used on Mad Scientist or Acolyte of Pain against Freeze and on Mad Scientist or Flamewaker against Tempo. 

Paladin (Secret: 8-5, Murloc: 2-1, Midrange: 4-2)

The mulligan is the same as in other matchups. You want your 1 and 2 drops as well as Dark Cultisit if you're on the Coin (best to worst: Zombie Chow, Northshire Cleric, Mechwarper, Shadowboxer, Shadow Word: Pain, Annoy-o-Tron, Museum Curator). Keep Power Word: Shield with a 1 drop as usual. I would consider tossing Velen's Chosen unless your first two turns are already set, you have the Coin and you think something will live. 

I'll get the Murloc Paladin matchup out of the way first. Despite the record, we aren't favored against them. We are even as long as we save key cards for specific situations. Like Freeze Mage, you want to be as aggressive as possible while being aware of their board clears. I like to bait Murloc Paladins into using their Wild Pyromancer + Equality board clear by developing a somewhat threatening board, but holding back a few minions just in case they have it (usually 1-3 minions I keep in hand, Discover ones are even better). Shadow Word: Pain is for Doomsayer only unless they have Acolyte of Pain down and they are low on cards. I would not exactly throw it at a Murloc Warleader unless Entomb was used already for some reason and I am somehow being pressured on life total (this should never happen). Speaking of which, Old Murk-Eye is your number one target for Entomb, followed by Murloc Warleader and Sludge Belcher in that order. Loatheb should only be used to either set up next turn lethal with your board or to prevent Anyfin Can Happen from being played IF your opponent has lethal. Make sure to keep track of what Murlocs have died in the game!! Annoy-o-Tron and Defender of Argus should be used in the same way as Loatheb: only play them to prevent lethal. Prioritizing Taunt is important when choosing minions you Discover just like Hunter.

Secret and Midrange Paladin play pretty much the same except the former is actually broken :P. Fight heavily for board control as both decks need the board to win. Anticipating what they will play on their turn is of utmost importance. If you think they're going to play Knife Juggler or Shielded Minibot, you'd better play that Mechwarper or Shadowboxer. Normally there is a point where you switch gears and go into aggressive mode by going face but I tend to prioritize board control for longer than normal because it's rare when Secret or Midrange Paladin can actually beat you if you are both topdecking. Lightbomb is typically for Dr. Boom or when they have lethal on board. Flood the board anticipating Mysterious Challenger when they are about to go into turn 6. Get board control and snowball it into a win.

Priest (Control: 7-4, Dragon: 2-4)

The mulligan is the same as against other classes: 1-2 drops, Dark Cultist on Coin and Power Word: Shield with a 1 drop already in hand (best to worst: Zombie Chow, Shadowboxer, Mechwarper, Shadow Word: Pain, Northshire Cleric). Piloted Shredder and Elise Starseeker should be kept on the Coin unless you know it's Dragon Priest. Elise should be kept against Priest no matter what unless you think it might be Dragon Priest. You need to save Shadow Word: Pain for Deathlord against Control Priest as we have a very hard time dealing with it otherwise. I like to keep Shadow Word: Pain for Twilight Guardian against Dragon Priest, but Blackwing Technician and Dark Cultist are fine targets. Northshire Cleric is also an okay target for either matchup (especially if they Velen's it).

Against Control Priest, you will usually have to keep their AoE cards and combos in the back of your mind when developing your early board. Cabal Shadow Priest is the backup plan for Deathlord and if that fails you just have to put down as much attack power onto the board as you can to overwhelm it. Northshire Cleric is tough for Priest to deal with if there's no Shadow Word: Pain in hand so feel free to play it turn 1. I try to bait Lightbomb by getting them to use it on a board that doesn't have Dr. Boom on it and then playing him afterwards to force them to have the second copy. Entomb is handled the same way (bait them to take a big threat we can actually deal with, so not a powerful Deathrattle). Annoy-o-Tron, Shadowboxer and Northshire Cleric don't get played after their turn 6 unless you can buff them up to 3 attack with Velen's Chosen (or Defender of Argus in Shadowboxer's case). Save Entomb for the possible Ysera just like against Control Warrior. This is a very back and forth matchup.

Dragon Priest is a tough matchup for this deck, especially if they curve out along with us. You really, really want to go first against Dragon Priest because if they curve out you will be fighting an uphill battle since their minions are even better than ours. If you can stay even on board with them, you will always have a chance and like I stated earlier, Dragon Priest is more prone to missing their drops than this deck is. Again, save Entomb for Ysera as we have ways of dealing with Nefarian or Chromaggus. Lightbomb is once again for when they have lethal with their board or for Dr. Boom.

Rogue (Oil/Malygos/Miracle: 1-3, Mill: Tie game, Raptor: 2-1)

Look for your 1 and 2 drops and keep Dark Cultist on Coin and Power Word: Shield with a 1 drop as usual (best to worst: Northshire Cleric, Zombie Chow, Annoy-o-Tron, Shadowboxer, Mechwarper, Museum Curator, Shadow Word: Pain). Loatheb and Dr. Boom can be kept if you're pretty sure it's Oil, Malygos or Miracle Rogue but only if you have the Coin and only if your early game is already somewhat secure. Piloted Shredder can be kept on Coin.

Against the more spell based Rogues (Oil, Malygos, Miracle), curving out early is of utmost importance. You want to force them to have the answer to your early game minions and get them to burn their hand up because their only true card draw is Sprint and Gadgetzan Auctioneer. Shadow Word: Pain should only be used for Violet Teacher and I would consider tossing it in the mulligan if you don't have your 1-2 drops in your opening hand. Against Oil Rogue, always clear their minions. Against Malygos and Miracle Rogues, be aggressive similar to Murloc Paladin and Freeze Mage.

Against Raptor Rogue, you want to fight for board but I usually just make sure I don't leave any Deathrattles up on their side. Nerubian Egg is the toughest one to deal with however and sometimes you have to leave it alive if you can't beat the 4/4. The matchup can get tough if they have exactly a 1 drop, Nerubian Egg and Unearthed Raptor on curve. My experience is that usually they don't and you can, surprisingly, deal with almost every other minion they play. I would say we are about even.

Shaman (Aggro: 3-1)

Just like most other matchups, keep 1 and 2 drops in your opening hand, keep Dark Cultist on the Coin (having a 3 damage source in this matchup is very useful) and keep Power Word: Shield with a 1 drop already in hand (best to worst: Zombie Chow, Northshire Cleric, Shadowboxer, Mechwarper, Shadow Word: Pain, Annoy-o-Tron, Museum Curator). Shadow Word: Pain shines as it deals with Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem. Defender of Argus and, to a lesser extent, Annoy-o-Tron are pretty good for blocking damage. You play the matchup almost exactly like Hunter. Taunts are top priority with your Discover cards. If they start using burn on your minions and not your face and they don't have a board, you are winning.

Warlock (Zoo: 7-2, Renolock: 3-8)

Look for your 1 and 2 drops as usual. Dark Cultist is fine on the Coin. Power Word: Shield can be kept if you have a 1 drop already (best to worst: Mechwarper, Shadowboxer, Shadow Word: Pain, Zombie Chow, Northshire Cleric, Annoy-o-Tron, Museum Curator). It's best to just mulligan for Zoo, but if you think or know it's Renolock, then keep Elise Starseeker.

Against Zoo, fight hard for board control. Whoever gets the board in this matchup usually wins the game. This is another matchup where anticipating the minions they will play next turn and playing a minion that will beat said minion is extremely important. This forces Zoo to have their attack buffs in hand if they want to trade, otherwise we will straight up bully their minions. You can get away with flooding the board as they don't run board clears. Clearing the board is especially important after their turn 3 as they can Defender of Argus whatever is left on the board. Entomb should be saved for Sea Giant or Doomguard. Lightbomb should be used for Dr. Boom or any board they have that represents lethal damage. Shadow Word: Pain is best used on Imp Gang Boss, but Knife Juggler and Brann Bronzebeard are also good targets. Cabal Shadow Priest is insane in this matchup as Zoo has plenty of good targets to take (read: all Shadow Word: Pain targets, Voidwalker and Nerubian Egg). You will have games where Zoo will auto concede when you Cabal the last thing on their board.

Renolock is our worst matchup. We have no good way of dealing with Twilight Drake or Sylvanas Windrunner. The only way to win is to either go all in and flood the board and kill them before they draw Reno Jackson or to put the game on playing Elise, getting off a Golden Monkey and try to overwhelm them with legendaries. The former very rarely happens and they often kill you with either Combo or by developing their own board or playing Jaraxxus before Elise actually ends up mattering. I usually save Entomb for Sylvanas and Lightbomb for when they either have lethal on board or they play Dr. Boom. Shadow Word: Death usually gets used on either Molten Giant, Mal'Ganis or Emperor Thaurissan if I don't have the board to kill him. You also have to make sure that Mind Control Tech gets no value. It will look like you're about to win most games and then it's just snatched away from you and you slowly get outvalued for the rest of the game. A very tough matchup.

Warrior (Control: 12-5, Patron: 2-3)

Look for the same cards you would in your other matchups: 1-2 drops, Dark Cultist on the Coin, Power Word: Shield with a 1 drop in hand (best to worst: Zombie Chow, Annoy-o-Tron, Piloted Shredder, Elise Starseeker, Museum Curator, Shadow Word: Pain, Shadowboxer, Mechwarper, Northshire Cleric). You preferrably want Northshire Cleric with Power Word: Shield to play them together, otherwise it's best to hold her in you hand until you can get immediate value, unless you are trying to test for Fiery War Axe because your curve calls for Mechwarper to stay alive. Always keep Piloted Shredder or Elise Starseeker in your opener. Keep both of them if you have both in hand along with the Coin.

Elise Control Warriors are the most common variant right now. Their removal lines up well with our minions, but where we have the advantage is in Piloted Shredder, Annoy-o-Tron and our Discover minions. Choosing high impact Deathrattle cards that summon more minions take top priority when playing Museum Curator and Gorillabot A-3 (Cairne, Sylvanas, Sneed's Old Shredder, more Plioted Shredders etc), You will be given time to draw your entire deck and your late game is just as good, if not better than theirs since you have the potential to put two Maps in your deck with Brann. Make sure you don't overextend into Brawl and keep some threats in your hand at all times until both copies have been used. You will often have repeatable damage with your minions throughout the game, so don't worry about pressuring them too much. Just worry about keeping their Armor count down as best as you can. Anticipating their minions isn't as big a deal in this matchup. The only minion maybe worth playing around is Acolyte of Pain but between Dark Cultist, Shadow Word: Pain and Cabal Shadow Priest, I wouldn't let Acolyte of Pain influence your early turns too much. Elise Control Warrior runs less threats so you have enough removal to deal with the legendaries they do run before Golden Monkey comes down. Save Entomb only for Ysera. Lightbomb should be used for Dr. Boom but you can use it on a lone Grommash Hellscream if needed. Speaking of Grommash, keep Shadow Word: Death for him. The backup plan for dealing with Grommash is Taunt via Annoy-o-Tron and Defender of Argus (or if you picked up a Sludge Belcher from Discover). It's just a great matchup for us and the lower threat density of their deck allows us to comfortably go to the late game and even fatigue and we still win more often than not. About the only way they'll win is if we use our removal wrong or they get better legendaries than we do or they get to their legendaries way before we do.

Patron Warrior is a different story. We aren't favored in the matchup. You mulligan the same but there are only going to be a few tells that will let you know it's Patron (Unstable Ghoul, Frothing Berserker) and from that point you will need to be as aggressive as possible. Any minion with 2 power or less becomes a terrible play after Grim Patron comes down. Shadow Word: Pain should only really be used on Grim Patron unless they are low on cards and you can cut off their draw by using it on Acolyte of Pain. Lightbomb should not be used until they go all-in and play Grim Patron and Frothing Berserker with a few ping effects like Whirlwind and Inner Rage. This means you will have to use Shadow Word: Death and Entomb to deal with Grommash and Dr. Boom. Velen's Chosen combined with Holy Nova can clear a Patron wave as well but shouldn't be relied upon, but if you draw one be patient and wait to draw the other if you can. When playing your Discover minions, Sludge Belcher is a decent choice. Defender of Argus is the backup plan against a board of Patrons and buffing 2 power minions are preferred. Someone usually wins before Elise actually matters.

 

Conclusion

Thanks for checking this guide out if you read this far. I really appreciate it. Please give feedback as this is my first true guide that I've put together. I didn't plan to do any streaming with this deck but if this gets really popular or if I get a lot of requests, I'll definitely reconsider it. If it does, the streams will happen at twitch.tv/ohitsmulligan. Below are all the other places I occasionally hang out at online, with Twitter and YouTube being the best places to contact me if anyone has any questions.  Anyway, thanks again for giving this guide a look and a read and have a good one!

YouTube: youtube.com/ohitsmulligan
Twitter: twitter.com/ohitsmulligan