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Frost Giants - Ladder Climber

  • Last updated Jun 1, 2014 (Live Patch 5506)
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Wild

  • 9 Minions
  • 21 Spells
  • Deck Type: Ranked Deck
  • Deck Archetype: Unknown
  • Crafting Cost: 6680
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 6/1/2014 (Live Patch 5506)
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Intro

This was originally built based on Otter's otter pops deck here. I've made adjustments to suit my playstyle which coincidentally evens out the win rates based on match-ups. Druid, Warrior and some Handlocks can be difficult in the original deck by Otter, these changes brought my win rate against them up to the ~50% mark while bringing the win rate against Shockadin and Zoo down to ~70% instead of automatic. It still shines against Miracle rogue at over 85%. These numbers are based off of a 77 game sample size between Ranks 1-5 on the NA Ladder. Overall win rate was 65% and rising as this deck has a bit of a learning curve.

What it's all about

The main idea of the deck is to prolong the match and thin your deck until you have Alexstrasza and Pyroblast in your hand with Ice Block protecting you from being burst down while you're charging your primary weapon. However in this variant of the deck, the win condition is a little more flexible as you've got giants potentially very early making Alexstrasza a backup plan or emergency heal after losing an Ice Block..

I've opted to part with the Doomsayers, Loot Hoarders and Azure Drakes in Otter's deck. Instead we use Coldlight Oracles to accommodate the draw engine, and giants to provide an intimidating board while continuing to lock down the opponent with frost CC. Oh, I also cut one Acolyte of Pain and one Mirror Image for 2x Cone of Cold which provide even more board CC and help make up for the lack of Doomsayers against aggro.

 Why I like Coldlight Oracles:

  • The starting phase of Miracle Rogue and Handlock are very slow and since we have no reason to rush, keep an eye on how many cards are in their hand. When they get to 9, playing a Coldlight forces two of their cards to be burned - since we see their burned cards we're getting excellent information about how the rest of the match will play out.
  • The Drakes and Loot Hoarders that I was using in Otter's original deck I felt were doing very little aside from drawing cards and potentially forcing answers which Coldlight does as well, but is usable on turn 3 and potentially gives the benefit of forcing opponents discards.
  • I generally don't care that my opponent is drawing cards from the Oracles as well. Their plays will be limited since we're continually freezing their board. I'm not crazy about using them against Zoo match-ups but if you're in a bind and need to draw that Blizzard, it's not the end of the world.

How do I drive this thing?

The most important aspect of piloting this deck is understanding your match-up and not panicking. In the early stages, you want to focus on thinning your deck while slowing your opponent's damage. You don't need to board clear everything as long as you can keep most of it frozen until you get giants or your Pyroblast combo out. Patience is key for this deck, if you've got an Ice Block you don't need to freak out about your opponent's potential reach.

Match-up notes and mulligan thoughts (WIP)

Disclaimer: Mulliganing in this deck is a bit of a troll. You want to have draw in all of your match-ups but in this particular deck all of our draw engines come from 3 drops. This is a fairly slow deck so you should consistently have a grip full of CC options to propel you into the end-game.

Miracle Rogue:

Ice Block really messes with Rogue's as their burst damage usually comes from Leeroy Jenkins three times. Other minion threats like SI:7 Agent and Edwin VanCleef are typically frozen to oblivion or directly removed if necessary. Additionally, any Giants we play on the board in the mid-game are usually sapped once or twice, but after that they are forced to remove at all costs since they aren't running taunt and you (hopefully) have a secret or two hovering over your portrait. Many of my matches against Rogues lead them into fatigue before the killing blow is dealt. Just be patient and look for your Ice Blocks and Ice Barriers to keep you out of reach.

 

Ideal mulligan vs Rogues:

Coldlight Oracle is a solid early card to have in this matchup as many rogues get dangerously close to the hand cap. Mountain Giant isn't a horrible card to start with as you can typically get it on the board right before they want to Auctioneer which makes them think twice. Arcane Intellect is an obvious choice for the extra draw.

 Zoo:

Mirror Image is a solid opening card here but we're only running one in this deck so don't count on mulliganing it. I try to shoot for a Frostbolt for direct removal on a Knife Juggler and a Frost Nova or Cone of Cold are definitely keep worthy as well to slow them down.

 Handlock:

As I understand it, the meta for Handlocks is changing away from Jaraxxus/Alex in their decks because everyone is going for deep reach damage that ignores their benefits. While this deck has some great combo's with reach, we're sometimes spending our Fireballs and Frostbolts to finish off their Giants after they've thawed which can put us in a very awkward place drawing fatigue with a Pyroblast and Alexstrazsa in our hand that we aren't really able to use. In addition to our late game problems, it can be difficult to 'guess' at whether you're against Handlock or Zoo. Here's my advice: "When in doubt, the zoo will pout." I almost always assume I'm against Zoo as it's easier to draw into a decent start against Handlock. 

 

If you KNOW you're against a handlock, I'd mulligan into as much draw as possible: Coldlight Oracle Acolyte of Pain Arcane Intellect I also really like Mountain Giant but be careful of getting into a situation where you're going to lose all your giants to Shadowflame. Also, see the above notes on why I like Coldlight Oracle - I've successfully burnt 3 cards from a Handlock in one game thanks to my two Oracles.

 Control Warrior:

In my experience, there are only two ways to win against Control Warriors.

A) Get nut draws against his horrible and go to town at his face with all the spell combos you can, finishing with a turn 10 Pyroblast.

B) Fatigue him to death, use spells exclusively on Legendary Parade removal. Don't freak out about his high armor. Let him have all the free cards he wants from his Acolytes -- in fact, help him out and ping them down then drop your Coldlight Oracles.

 Shockadin:

Coming soon.

 Druid Ramp or Token:

Don't be too afraid of early threats, get an Ice Block up by around turn 6, then re-assess the situation. (Unless of course he drops a Violet Teacher, kill that wench at all costs!)

If you've drawn your giants go that route, most of the time you're going to get 2-for-1 or better from Druid removal of your giants, some of them might even blow their win conditions in order to deal with the threat. If you don't have giants but you're sitting with some good combo's and you're don't have Alex yet, you don't necessarily have to wait - string a small barrage at his face and see how he reacts.

 Shaman:

Coming Soon.