Hearthpwn

(Note: this deck was tooled for top 10 ranks to legend, which included mostly aggressive Pirate decks. Since the new season began, there have been a greater variety of decks, including Midrange Jade Shaman, and I have replaced Chillmaw with Dragonfire Potion. I noted previously that the potion shines more versus midrange decks. Depending on the meta, those two cards can be swapped with each other)

Introduction:

Recently hit Legend with this list (seems we Dragon Priest players are an endangered species on ladder). If you want to play midrange and grind out control decks while tilting aggro decks, play Dragon Priest!

This list features double Twilight Drake and no Azure Drake. Azure Drakes are simply too slow in tempo, and Twilight Drakes give more consistent turn 4 plays as well as are much more effective vs Rogue, a difficult matchup. We have Brann Bronzebeard and discover mechanics for value anyways.

This is a very solid deck that with a bit of luck, is capable of winning even the most difficult matchups. Going first, a perfect curve of Dragon Priest is unstoppable.

Tech Decisions:
Acidic Swamp Ooze here mainly for the Pirate Warrior matchup which is nearly unwinnable if they get Upgrade!. Also useful against Shaman and beating Gorehowl in Control Warrior, one of the few ways Control Warrior can win.

Darkshire Alchemist also for the Pirate matchup, also useful vs Shaman and in general more useful as a 4/5 body than Holy Nova. I am extremely proud of including this card and it was one of the very last additions to the final list!

1 Book Wyrm as sometimes the 2nd one will have no targets. Instead, there is Chillmaw which can seal games against aggro, and while not the best, is still a threat versus slower decks.

Notable cards not in final list:

No Dragonfire Potion. Turn 6 is too slow for aoe, and 5 damage is often overkill. Dragon Priest is a midrange deck and the deck needs to be playing proactive threats as often as possible to maintain board control. While admittedly great against Rogue's concealed minions, I ran into significantly more aggro decks in the ladder (which also keeps Rogue down). I admit, this is a controversial card to not include, and I did run 1-2 copies for many games (and many wins), but there were too many situations where it was not as useful as a simple threat.

No Holy Nova. Similar to Dragonfire Potion, I'd rather have a proactive threat. This card is very poor in all non aggro matchups while Darkshire Alchemist is useful in all matchups. While admittedly a strong combo with Northshire Cleric, 5 mana is quite a lot for this deck to not be playing a minion, and you don't need to gain THAT much draw.

No Entomb and 8+ Dragons: the meta is simply too slow for these high value cards and this deck is a midrange deck. Big dragons can be discovered through Netherspite Historian.

Fun cards that I've tried!

1 copy of Potion of Madness actually performed amazingly well for a long time. It has obvious targets in aggressive decks, and against slower decks you can target Brann Bronzebeard or Bloodmage Thalnos and get massive card advantage over your opponent. For just 1 mana, it allows priest to deal with 1 health minions extremely well. It was eventually cut because there were too many games that it was a dead card for a lot of the game, and I would rather play a proactive card instead.

1 copy of Kabal Songstealer. Similar to the potion above, this card has great targets in every single meta deck out there, from Doomsayer and Acolyte of Pain and Bloodmage Thalnos in the slow decks to Flametongue Totem in Shaman, and is great against Edwin VanCleef and Questing Adventurer in Rogue! It even does decently against Frothing Berserker and Gadgetzan Auctioneer on top of being a solid 5/5 body. This card was eventually replaced by Darkshire Alchemist, but if Grimy Goons decks ever became popular, this card is a great inclusion in the deck.

Best Matchups:
Shaman, all variations, Priest, Mage, Control Warrior, Jade Druid

Even Matchups:

Pirate Warrior, Dragon Warrior

Difficult Matchups:

Renolock, Miracle Rogue

Playstyle:

Dragon Priest is the only viable midrange deck among the sea of Small-Time Buccaneer, primarily due to their ability to contest the early game with Twilight Whelp, Wyrmrest Agent and Shadow Word: Pain. With Twilight Guardian and Power Word: Shield along with Kabal Talonpriest to increase the health of taunt minions, you can seal off aggressive decks while healing beyond range of their burn spells. 

Against slower decks, you have a great 1 through 5 curve with resilient minions that are difficult to remove and you can gain tremendous value through healing high attack minions, discovering big dragons, and Dragonid Operative. Brann Bronzebeard can be a great turn 3 tempo play against decks with few answers or bad answers, such as Druid and Warlock.

People often say that Priest can't deal one damage, but they actually can - if they have a Northshire Cleric or Netherspite Historian on board! Keep in mind these small minions, along with Twilight Whelp, can take down the numerous 4 health threats of the meta alongside a Blackwing Corruptor. 

Always keep track of how many dragons you have in your hand. This decklist features no "mom and pop dragons" such as Ysera, so often times you will need to decide what dragon you can play and what you need to hold. In the mid game, you may need to hold on to Twilight Drake as your activators, while late game hold on to Twilight Whelp - activating Book Wyrm or Dragonid Operative is more powerful than a 1 mana 2/3.

Finally, note that Priest has little draw power outside of Northshire Cleric, so in value games where you start running out of threats, spam that button! Using 2 mana to heal a 5 attack minion can be more valuable than playing a 2 mana 2/4.

Mulligan and Matchup strategies:

Generally, always keep all 1 and 2 drops in all matchups, except Power Word: Shield, and only keep Shadow Word: Pain vs aggressive decks. If you have a dragon and an early dragon synergy card, always keep the dragon - even if it's a high cost dragon. 

Vs Shaman:

There are a LOT of Shadow Word: Pain targets, and correct use of this card can make or break a game. Obviously, a great target is Totem Golem, but also important is Flametongue Totem. The latter can be EXTREMELY problematic with a pirate opening and Patches along with Feral Spirit, and it is extremely difficult to retake the board once they have one. A third target would be Small-Time Buccaneer, but first make sure they don't have those other two cards first.

Against Midrange Shaman, keep this card for Flametongue Totem and Jinyu Waterspeaker. Remember that you have lots of minions to fight with their small minions, but only 2 Shadow Word: Pain. Also, make sure to play a Kabal Talonpriest or Blackwing Technician before their turn 3 in order to kill their Mana Tide Totem. If you're running into a lot of these, replace Chillmaw with Dragonfire Potion.

Vs Miracle Rogue:

Keep Shadow Word: Pain vs Small-Time Buccaneer. It's often the only target for it in the deck. Also keep Shadow Word: Death going 1st against them, as they'll often make a big Questing Adventurer  or Edwin VanCleef with more cards and the coin. Try and apply as much pressure as you can. If the game goes too long it will be very difficult to win.

Vs Reno Mage:

Keep Northshire Cleric, but don't play it unless you can keep it alive. You can easily outvalue mages with this card. Also look for the 10 mana play of Brann Bronzebeard, Netherspite Historian discovering Dragonid Operative, then playing Operative. However, don't hold back Operatives if you need to develop threats.

Vs Renolock:

A very difficult matchup as it's difficult to keep up with the warlock hero power and play around their AOE abilities. Keep Northshire Cleric in the opening and keep it safe to keep up with their card advantage while allowing you to play around AOE by using your hero power instead of developing threats. Try and discover cards that deal face damage as often the warlock will take calculated risks knowing the priest's limited burst damage. Without high value plays involving Cleric or Brann Bronzebeard, you may be forced to take a risk and go super aggressive without playing around Reno Jackson or Twisting Nether.

Vs Jade Druid:

Keep threats and curve out the best that you can, making tempo plays whenever you can. Although Jade Behemoth is a great Shadow Word: Pain target, don't be afraid to use it on 2/2 and 3/3 Jade Golem if it spends your mana more efficiently. If the match turns into a value game and you don't have enough pressure, try to hold Shadow Word: Death for the Jade Golems at 7/7 or larger - your minions can somewhat fight the 5/5 and 6/6. Finally, don't be afraid to use Blackwing Corruptor to burn the face early if you need to develop a 5/4 on the board.

 

Will add more in future if people are interested!

THOUGHTS ON LACK OF AREA OF EFFECT SPELLS

A lot of people have since commented on this list having no AOE and their success with running Holy Nova or Dragonfire Potion. There are a number of issues with those two cards. These thoughts below are general principles on why this deck has a low number (either 0 or 1) of AOE spells.

1) AOE is primarily for aggressive matchups. Versus decks slower than aggro Warrior or aggro Shaman, you would much rather be playing a large minion. Even against midrange Shaman, the deck Dragonfire Potion was hailed as the destroyer of, a Darkshire Alchemist is a better play most of the time for its 4/5 body. The deck has no need for AOE against them anyways and has extremely good tools versus midrange Shaman (strong early game, Book Wyrm, Shadow Word: Pain, etc. And against Reno decks, those AOE spells are near useless. HOWEVER! Dragonfire Potion specifically can be better than Chillmaw in certain matchups, and I am currently running it for the Midrange Jade Shaman matchup.

2) This deck has no Azure Drake and there is less space for reactive, situational cards. If you look at decks that run AOE, such as Lightning Storm, Volcanic Potion or even Fan of Knives, the common denominator is that all these decks require card draw so that even if the situation does not call for a reactive spell, they have enough cards to have the option to play other cards. This deck does have that luxury as it is designed with tempo in mind, and each turn you do not spend mana strengthening your board state is a wasted turn. 

3) Similar to the last point, AOE is counterproductive to the game plan of Midrange decks. The other deck in the meta that could be called midrange is Dragon Warrior, and they only run Ravaging Ghoul which doubles as a 3/3 body, and Midrange Shaman, which runs card draw and has a hero power that puts bodies on the board. 

4) Unlike most other classes, the Priest hero power only has an effect on the board when you have minions. In a Midrange deck that wants to have board control, it is vital to have threats you can play and then heal later. With the lack of draw power in the deck, it is more important to minimize the number of spells. The 6 spells in this deck are all extremely powerful and that is right on the border of how many spells you can include in this type of deck.

5) AOE is best used when behind on the board, or on an even board. Turn 5 or Turn 6 is "late game" for this deck, and by then it will be too late to AOE the board. Against all those aggressive decks, after you clear the board with AOE, they have burn spells and weapons to finish you off. Instead of AOE, I would much rather have large taunt minions in Wyrmwest Agent, Twilight Guardian, and Chillmaw combined with the hero power.

6) Taunt minions fulfill the role of AOE versus many small minions. A single Twilight Drake, Twilight Guardian or Book Wyrm can trade 2 for 1 or even 3 for 1 against those very same minions AOE spells are good against in the current meta.

7) The Rogue matchup is already difficult, and this deck wins that matchup by applying pressure with its strong minions before they assemble enough combo pieces, similar to how it defeats Jade Druid. Dragonfire Potion is strong against Conceal, but poor against a large Questing Adventurer, Edwin VanCleef and Azure Drake. Again, having a proactive threat to play is generally more useful.