Hearthpwn

After having great success on the ladder with the regular Firebat/AtaK Rogue already I decided to try and make up for the few downsides it has by implementing some cards to help me climb the ranks more consistenly.

I'm not going to claim I went on a 500+ Game winstreak, got Legend within 15 minutes and had amazing, sensual intercourse with a Young Priestess in my dreams after starting to play this deck because as you all propably know sometimes you just get f*cked by a good starting hand, but it did me well in climbing the ladder and improved my winrate by quite a bit.

I mainly tried to make the deck a little more comeback friendly should you start out with a trash hand. 

By doing so the whole deck got a little slower (cut the Loot Hoarder and the Edwin VanCleef since I found I usually didn't need the extra Card draw from the Hoarder and Edwin was a dead card in my hand more then 50% of the time) and more mid-endgame oriented whilst giving you a way of recovering from early game damage (Alexstrasza).

Unlike the regular Elegance Malygos Rogue this Version runs 2x Conceal and cuts one Sap.

I've found that on ladder people will go great lenghts to kill your Gadgetzan Auctioneer and since we're not only running Malygos but also Alexstrasza who is very prone to being targeted by Big Game Hunter being able to Conceal them for a turn has won me many games. 

Some Combo Choices:

• Malygos + Sinister Strike = 8 DMG
• Malygos + Sinister Strike + Preparation + Sinister Strike = 18 DMG
• Assassin's Blade + Deadly Poison + Malygos + Blade Flurry = 10 DMG to the BOARD + to the HERO
• Malygos + Backstab = 7 DMG to Minion on the Board
• Turn 9 Alexstrasza on the opponent, Turn 10 Malygos + Sinister Strike + hit face with Alexstrasza = Win
• Turn 10 Malygos + Conceal = 10 Mana +5 Spell DMG next turn (2x Eviscerate next turn will be 18 DMG alone)
• Turn 9 Malygos + Preparation + Conceal, Turn 10 Sinister Strike, Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, Eviscerate = 36 DMG

As you can see, once Malygos is on the Board and concealed the opponent is basically dead unless he clears the board somehow. 

So how do you survive long enough to get off a Malygos combo?

Early Game & Mulligan Choices:

Against Aggro-Decks i usually Mulligan for Backstab, Deadly Poison, Blade Flurry, SI:7 Agent, Earthen Ring Farseer & Fan of Knives.

If you have The Coin you basically never want to use it on Turn 1, even against Aggro. If you're playing a Zoolock he will most likely throw out a Taunt (0/4 or 1/3) on Turn one against you, then follow it up by some  2 HP card. If you have a SI:7 Agent coin him out on Turn 2 to kill the 2 HP creature. If you have a Backstab, just Backstab said creature and equip your Hero Weapon. 

Unlike other Rogue decks, this version can and has to fight for Board control trough the early stages until there's a concealed Auctioneer out. 

You will get a feel for how to control the board while still being cost effective after a few games.

As a general Rule against all Matchups do NOT leave either your Gadgetzan Auctioneer or Malygos on the Board unconcealed unless you either strongly assume that your opponent will not be able to get rid of them during his turn or there's no other option left. 

It is entirely possible to win games without drawing Auctioneers with this deck, but you need to be conservative with your spells and don't waste your weapons (Deadly Poison or Assassin's Blade) on punching your opponents face in the early game unless you want to Blade Flurry after.

Since this is somehow a bastard child of Miracle + Tempo rogue you have to play it like one. Control the Board and don't trade inefficiently whilst getting in small stabs on your opponent until he's low enough for a Malygos finisher.

 

Good Matchups:

• Zoo (others claim this is a mediocre matchup for the Elegance Rogue at best but somehow i consistently win it)
  
• Aggro Hunter (enjoy watching them Unleash the Hounds for one card all the time)
  
• Aggro Paladin (pff...)
  
• Shaman (Deadly Poison + Blade Flurry is the hardcounter to Feral Spirit)
  
• Aggro Warrior (don't let them buff their Frothing Berserker)
  
• Midrange Mage (Sap their Water Elemental to slow them down)
  
• Control Priest (unless they Mind Control your Malygos...)
  

Mediocre Matchups:

• Miracle Rogue (very draw dependant on both sides)
• Tempo Rogue
• Sunshine Hunter (Sap the Savannah Highmane or wait till they Taunt it then Big Game Hunter + any spelldmg or Deadly Poison or Assassin's Blade + Blade Flurry
  
• Ramp Druids (very draw dependant on both sides, keep your Sap for their Ancient of War and make sure Malygos stays out once played to deal with the taunts)
• Murloc Warlock (if they have a nice starting hand... you've all ran into one at some point...)

Hard Matchups:

• Handlock
• Shadowform Priest
• Control Legend Stack Warrior
• Icy Winds Rush-Mage

For the original Version of the Deck that brought both Firebat and AtaK to #1 Legendary see http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/44975-firebat-ataks-rogue-elegance

Firebat made a Spreadsheet with Mulligan choices that is still mostly applicable for this version of the deck:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aj4nH2Lf5o-KdGlaNmh5OU8yS3RocEFaOG9MZ01VcEE&usp=drive_web#gid=24

If you want to try this deck don't miss out on Firebats explanations!

 

Enjoy!