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MSG Mill Rogue

  • Last updated Aug 15, 2017 (Frozen Throne)
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Wild

  • 13 Minions
  • 17 Spells
  • Deck Type: Ranked Deck
  • Deck Archetype: Mill Rogue
  • Crafting Cost: 8620
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 3/11/2017 (Aggro Downfall)
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  • Battle Tag:

    ShatteR#21625

  • Region:

    EU

  • Total Deck Rating

    313

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Mill/arcane giant rogue

THIS IS A REALLY HARD DECK TO PLAY AND REQUIRES A LOT OF PRACTICE!

 

This deck is my take on mill rogue, after I played  mill for more than 300-400 wins I specialized this  deck around 2 things:

  1. Being able to play Reno Jackson as soon as possible
  2. As an alternate win condition(expecially against Jade druids), playing multiple Arcane Giant 

General strategy/overview

The general strategy is the same as with every mill rogue deck:

In the first few turns you remove your opponent's minions, then use Coldlight Oracle + Gang Up to draw your(and your opponent's) whole deck while controlling the board, then kill him/her with fatigue damage.

 Mill rogue is heavily favored against most control decks,good against midrange decks, around 50-50 against combo decks, but a terrible choice against aggro decks, so only play it if you have the nerves to lose a lot.

It takes a lot of practice to be good, a good player with a control deck can punish a bad mill rogue, and you can only beat most midrange decks if you're really good.

The Arcane Giant strategy/Jade druid matchup

Means streets of Gadgeztan has brough mill rogues a wonderful thing: Jade Idol,what makes druids essentially un-millable while they have this card.

The strategy against Jade druid can go two way:

  1. You try to mill all of their Jade Idol wich is very very inconsistent(I did it a few times, it feels awesome).
  2. Arcane Giant strats:
  1. Remove minions, play on tempo as much as you can
  2. You mostly use your Coldlight Oracle with Shadowstep to draw cards and to destroy minions via Sap or Vanish.
  3. After you played a bunch of spells you play Arcane Giant +1 or both Gang Up.
  4. Draw some more cards
  5. Something like: Vanish + 3-7 Arcane Giant
  6. Cue the sax

Note: This method is very hard to pull off too but it gives you a far better chance than trying to mill all of their idols :D

 How to mill rogue:

Coldlight management/tips:

I think this deserves a topic of It's own, since they are the most important cards in the deck.

  1. Don't play Coldlight Oracle before Gang Up unless you have the other/The Curator or Shadowstep  in your hand unless you're desperate for cards/removal.
  2. You shouldn't play Coldlight Oracle  after 1 Gang Up if It's the last in your hand and you don't have Shadowstep or The Curator, because if you don't draw one for several turns you just fueled the enemy and might as well killed yourself.
  3. You shouldn't play 2 Gang Up against midrange decks up-until the late game to maximalize the chance of Reno Jackson being active if needed.
  4. You shouldn't play Brann Bronzebeard+Coldlight Oracle unless you can bounce Brann Bronzebeard back or very close to fatigue.

Reno Jackson

It's not a rare thing to see Reno Jackson pop up in mill rogue and there is a fair reasoning why you want to play him:

  • His effect triggers off your remainig deck, not the deck at the start of the game, so you draw trough your deck extremely fast with Coldlights then you play him later in the game when your deck is low on cards, so he activates.
  • I made deck with a lots of singleton cards to make the effect as consistent as it can be, and in my experience He triggers very often around 10 cards left(of course depending on the number of Gang Up used, and the number of Coldlight Oracle drawn).
  • You should use a decktracker to see your remaining cards, so you can know/calculate the chance to activate Reno Jackson.

What to do with Prince Malchezaar?

If you see your opponent's Prince Malchezaar at the beginning of the game you should reconsider yout tactics if you want to win.

 Card usage/tips:

  • Backstab:-Very effective ,cheap removal.
  • Preparation:-Maybe the best rogue spell, in this deck is particulary useful when comboed with Vanish.
  • Shadowstep:-Most commonly used to bounce Coldlight Oracle or Brann Bronzebeard, but also useful for healing cards.
  • Eviscerate:-In this deck removal, only use it for face damage if your hand is full or setting up lethal/actually killing the enemy.
  • Gang Up:- Coldlight Oracle or Arcane Giant
  • Sap:-Very strong on it's own, even better in mill rogue.If your opponent's hand is full, the sapped minion gets destroyed completely.
  • Fan of Knives:-Best used with Bloodmage Thalnos for board clear,or you can just cyle it against control decks.
  • Shadow Strike:-3 mana 5 damage removal, too effective to not include.
  • SI:7 Agent:-Very high tempo card, in this deck use it for removing minions.
  • Dark Iron Skulker:-Rogues only "real" board clear at the moment,most-effective against Shamans/zoo.
  • Vanish:-It's mill rogues board clear,  also works as a bounce effect on your minions.The same mechanic as with Sap, if your opponent's hand is full the minions get destroyed.
  • Mistress of Mixtures/Earthen Ring Farseer/Refreshment Vendor:-Since Blizzard decided to not give rogue any healing or taunts we have to use theese.
  • Bloodmage Thalnos:-Spell damage AND cylce for 2 mana? Sign me up! Best used with Fan of Knives, but you can use it with any damage spell or just cycle it if your hand is bad.
  • Doomsayer:-Best used in the early game to clear smaller minions,but can be really useful if you drop it after Vanish.
  • Brann Bronzebeard:-One of the best cards in the deck, you can use it for additional draw/mill with Coldlight Oracle, but he can be very useful with healing cards.
  • Coldlight Oracle:-You know what are theese for.
  • Reno Jackson:-Full heal in the mid-late game.
  • The Curator:-He is the 3rd Coldlight Oracle in the deck, adds consistency, also a big taunt.
  • Arcane Giant:See above.Also, you can just play it for pressure against any deck where you don't want to gang it up. 

Cards that you can consider playing:

  • Azure Drake:-Awesome card, for the same reason as Thalnos, you should   cut Dark Iron Skulker, also synergy with The Curator
  • Violet Illusionist:-She can protect you from fatigue damage or let you freely trade with your face.I played her when I started milling, she was very useful but dropped her because when i got  better she became unnecessary.I would cut Dark Iron Skulker or one of the heal cards for her.
  • Edwin VanCleef: -He can be a tech choice against aggresive decks, as he can win the game aroung turn2-3 if you draw lucky.You should drop Arcane Giant or SI:7 Agent if you want to play him.

Cards that you should NOT play:

Mill rogue is not a minion based deck, that's why you don't see Mountain Giant ,Twilight Drake or Clockwork Giant(in wild) or the cards above.They doesn't bring you any closer to your win-condition(fatigue), so they doesn't work.

 Matchups:

Druid

  • Jade: See above, unfortunately despite the addition of the Arcane Giant it's still an unfavored matchup, around 30-70
  • Aviana-Kun-Maly/C'thun:-I haven't met a single of theese with mill, but you should try to burn as any cards as possible, if you mill the combo enablers, it s gg(the malygos version can do a lots of damage even without aviana/kun so keep your health total as high as possible).
  • Astral druid:-But I did met 2 of theese actually, this matchup is the ultimate meme party .I won both matches,Sap and Vanish is just too strong against their big-ass stuff. Spare Arcane Giant after Deathwing because he has to trade that down(best if you play multiple giants).The only way to loose this matchup is not drawing Coldlight Oracle on time when they draw Astral Communion very early.

Mage

Unfortunately tempo mage is on the rise again which is a bad matchup for us

  • Reno mage:-Very favored matchup(70-30), be careful for their burn(12-15 max. depending on what they have already used).Also,try not to cycle too hard, because they can add 2-3 extra cards to their decks with Manic Soulcaster and Forgotten Torch, that could mess with your gameplan.Otherwise it should be a piece of cake.
  • Tempo mage:-Bad matchup(40-60), remove all of their minions on sight(especially Flamewaker!!), you never want to use both Gang Up before Reno Jackson.Try to be above 15 hp constantly and put pressure on the board(vendor,giant,curator,si:7 agent), so they have to use burn on your minions.
  • Freeze mage:-Favored(60-40), but also very skill-intensive matchup from both players side.You should try to burn as many cards as possible,and keep track on what you have burned(like if you burn both frostbolts, his icelances can only be comboed with each other or if you burn Emperror).Try to be above 20 hp at all times, but save heal after Alexstrasza.Only Gang Up once to have Reno Jackson ready when he is needed.Sap Doomsayer before drawing,so you might mill more important cards.

Priest

  • Dragon priest:-Very favored matchup(65-35), but you can loose if you don't draw Coldlight Oracle soon enough.They don't have any burn from hand, they can't even steal from you(besidesEviscerate which is not a terrible amount of damage).Try not to cycle too much without a reason, because Drakonid Operative can give them Gang Up.1 Gang Up is easily beatable, if they steal 2 Gang Up,do the same as if they have Prince Malchezaar (see Malchezaar section), if they steal 3 or more they win if you don't run Violet Illusionist.
  • Reno priest:-Dominating(80-20).They are just too slow and usally play very slow but impactful minions(Ysera/Confessor Paletress).Play as they have stolen 1 Gang Up, because of the possibility of getting one from one of the priest's steal effect, but very easy matchup regardless.

 Paladin

  • Anyfin Paladin:-Very favored matchup(65-35).Your muclocs can mess up his Anyfin Can Happen, you also have a decent chance to burn 1-2.But be careful with Finja, the Flying Star, he can make a short work on you if he pulls murlocs and you can't answer them.You should kill  Finja, the Flying Star and Bluegill Warrior, but try to Sap the Murloc Warleader, because even if he has Anyfin Can Happen he can't effectively play it without the Murloc Warleader dead.
  • Any other paladin:-Most other paladin decks are midrange(dragon,secret,handbuff), you are decently favored against them(even more than mid-shaman or dragon priest), but non-anyfin paladin is so rare that i don't have much experience.Draw your Coldlight Oracle and you should be fine.

Warlock

-Unfortunately zoo is on the rise, but most warlock will still be renolocks.

  • Renolock:-Dominating(80-20).You can loose basically 2 ways:the first is not having an answer to Mountain Giant and it just murders you.The second is the Leeroy Jenkins combo.I have to say the first is more likely, you have a very high chance to burn a combo piece, and some renolocks don't even run the combo.Regardless try to be above 20 life(which is not too hard), burn cards and you're good to go.
  • Zoo:-Very bad matchup(20-80). A lots of small minions that they can play constantly, Vanish just delays them. Dark Iron Skulker and Bloodmage Thalnos + Fan of Knives is the MVP here.They tap a lot, so the fatigue part is not that hard, but the survival until that pont is.Coldlight yourself to Reno Jackson for the win.

Warrior

  • Pirate warrior:-Autoconcede(1-99).If you want to have a sick 10-90 against them play Edwin VanCleef
  • Dragon warrior:-Very bad(25-75).It's in a similar category as secret hunter, a very bad but possible matchup.They can apply a lot of pressure with aggressive midrange minions(eg.Drakonid Crusher).Agressive drawing to activate Reno Jackson, while removing his minions can work.
  • Control warrior:-Dominating(75-25).You can hit face every turn with your dagger to shred down some armor, hit Acolyte of Pain 3 times with dagger if they play it.Stay above Grommash Hellscream range and you should win easily.

Rogue

  • Miracle: -With MSG this matchup became worse than before, now it's around even.They like to draw a lot, let them do it in the early game while controlling the board.Sap and Vanish are the MVP here, they can shut down the biggest Edwin VanCleef and/or Questing Adventurer(Vanish even when concealed).Stay above 15 hp and keep track on what you have burned to calculate their lethal potential.
  • Malyrogue:-Slighly unfavored(45-55).They are much slower than miracle, but also have a ridiculous amount of burst.Track on what you have burned(if you burn Malygos it's gg,emperror is really good too) .Try to mill a lot,be around 25-30 hp if you want to win.
  • Water rogue:-Very bad matchup(25-75).They have a lots of burst in the form of chargers, Shadowstep,Cold Blood.Similar to zoo, clear the board as much as possible, then Coldlight yourself to Reno Jackson for a chance to win.

 Shaman

  • Mid-Jade Shaman:-Favorable(60-40).They became slower than pre MSG mid-shaman with the jade package, then the Spirit Claws nerf also hit them.If they don't get an insane start you should win,but always calculate for Bloodlust since it can cause a loss that you could have avoided.Mana Tide Totem is your best friend, but don't let them draw too much if you don't have a Coldlight Oracle.
  • Control Shaman:-Maybe it's the best matchup(85-15).Most control shamans just play on survive and a few big threats (Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound/N'Zoth, the Corruptor) or jades.Both versions are  very passive and slow,you just straight-up win unless Coldlight Oracle is in like your last 5-8 cards.The "crusher" version is very good too, you can just Sap or Vanish their big stuff to make them cry.

Hunter

You are not likely to run into any hunters, most of them will be some midrange with handbuffs or pre-MSG secret hunter with Alleycat.

  • Midrange hunter:-Unfavorable matchup(40-60).Their minions hold a lots of pressure, hunters hero power puts you on a clock, also a decent amount of burn(Eaglehorn Bow,Kill Command,Quick Shot), so the Reno Jackson plan applies here too.
  • Face/secret hunter:-Very unfavorable matchup(25-75).Same as midrange hunter but you just die faster.Secret hunter can also punish you a big time with secrets such as Cat Trick or Snipe.At least Dark Iron Skulker can kill stealth-huffer.Basically aggressive Coldlighting to Reno Jackson have a chance to work.

Check out my newer mill decks deck too!

http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/816268-ungoro-mill-rogue

http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/895875-shatters-koft-mill-rogue

 Useful article on the art of milling(pre-MSG meta)

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/5dshd4/fuolivers_12_win_mill_rogue_chinese_player_mill/