Hearthpwn

 

Alright this is where this deck will stay for the foreseeable future. Here's the bottom line. After ~100 games of playing this deck the sad story is you aren't going to do well past about rank 11-10. It just isn't going to happen. If you wanted a easy trip to the higher ranks, let's face it you would be playing Quest Rogue. Until this insufferable face meta gets changed, this deck is mainly for fun purposes. Aggro Druid is a superior deck list compared to this one to be completely honest with you. It keeps up with the current meta and if you want to win but still want to play Druid, that is what I'd advise you to use. I apologize for any inconvenience but after so much time invested I was really hoping for something to break the ice but nothing I have tried is able to cover all the bases. But hey, that's pretty okay. If we have good results against decks that aren't pure, shit-face aggro I'll take the victory. Until Quest Rogue is altered however, this is where the list is staying.

Edit #1: 

- Now includes some detailed match ups according to my experience and mulligans to go with them.

- Removed Giant Anaconda from the list as it is just hard to play around and get consistent results in wins.

Edit #2:

- Added new match-ups as I play the deck more and updated Quest Rogue as I have more success against the most powerful meta deck.

- Teched in Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound. Going to try and see if having a secondary win condition doesn't help the consistency of the deck.

Edit #3: 

- Removed most of the little baby minions from this deck, along with a good amount of minions with battlecry. Working towards supporting Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound as much as possible. Lessening the probability that we pull something weak.

- Improvements to the roughest match-ups as I win more games against the fastest decks on the meta right now.

Edit #4:

- All the experimental bullshit aside, this is where I am leaving this deck to be picked up by someone else.

Mulligans/Match-Ups

So before we begin with the cards, I'd like to talk to you about playing quests. With any quest deck actually, there are a couple things you need to realize when looking at a deck list, or making a list of your own. The 1 mana spell of the quest always begins in your opening hand. With this in mind, you may have figured out that there's one less card you get to mulligan away. As a by-product of this, mulligans when playing quest decks can be rather difficult, as you only have 2 chances to sort out what your opening turns are going to look like. With our specific deck here, we want to try and find any cards around the 2-3 range and throw away anything larger than that.

Quest Warrior: The new warrior deck is pretty relaxed compared to the tempo quest decks. Most of the cards that get played you're going to become familiar with, cards like Alley Armorsmith & Direhorn Hatchling. Basically just low attack/high health types. Since they have generally low attack, the pressure from this deck is low early on which is perfect for us since we take a while to get our bigger minions on the board. You out-value the deck by an incredible amount late game so it's a pretty easy match up. Mulligan priority is something like: Wrath > Wild Growth > Innervate > Mire Keeper > Elder Longneck > everything else.

Quest Shaman: You know every card that's going to be in this deck, no surprises here. Going second against this deck is rough. Primalfin Totem is difficult to deal with especially if you have no minions on the board. Basically pray for your taunts. If you have taunts then Murlocs aren't that hard to deal with. Save Wrath for Murloc Warleader no matter what. Ramp can become a second priority as you have to try and not let their board get out of control. Mulligan looks like this. Wild Growth > Wrath >  > Swipe > Innervate > Mire Keeper everything else.

Elemental Shaman: An interesting match up, but similar to Murlocs you know everything they have in their deck. Taunts aren't going to win the game single-handed here. This is more of a skill luck match up. Whoever plays draws better is going to win here. Beware of the surprise Flamewreathed Faceless, remember that card still exists. Ramp hard while he plays his little elementals and start dropping heavy rain when his big elementals come out. Mulligan priority is something like: Wild Growth > Innervate > Mire Keeper > everything else.

Quest Rogue: Good luck. This is the fastest smorc-ing of your life. Sacrifice three virgin, christian lambs at midnight by the light of a cigarette lighter and pray for taunts. You really need your taunts here. However this match up is not unwinnable. You can survive if you just try your best to keep their board clear/as clear as possible. You cannot stop them from completing their quest in most cases. If you can take out their minions they have on the field you can delay their quest by another turn. However I have had much great success by simply ramping hard and already having 12/12 and 10/10 minions to face up to an army of 5/5s. Mulligan looks like this. Wild Growth > Wrath > Swipe > Innervate > Mire Keeper everything else.

Quest Paladin: Not a terribly difficult one now that I have more experience. Paladin makes some scary large minions with spells this is true, but if you survive until they run out of spells, the rest of the game is easy. The minions they buff can last quite a while and get pretty big. However if you drop an Innervate into something large, they do run out of steam eventually. Mulligan looks like this. Wild Growth > Innervate > Wrath > Mire Keepereverything else.

Quest Hunter: Pretty typical match up after Rogue. Look for your taunts and the game plan is pretty straight-forward. Their deck can either be all 1-drops, or have some adapt tech in there so be aware and ready for either. Even if they manage to activate their quest fairly early, it is not hard to deal with. If you survive the turn 5 8/8, you're pretty much in the clear. Not as bad as Quest Rogue. Your quest is stronger so attempt to complete it fairly quickly. Mulligan looks like this. Wild Growth > Wrath > Swipe > Innervate > Mire Keeper everything else.

Dinomancer Hunter: An a-typical match up since anything that isn't a quest deck is just less common as you start getting into real ranks. Not as fast as the quest variant of Hunter. It's pretty much just standard Hunter you're used to but the difference from the quest deck is the cards they run curve up into things like Savannah Highmane & Call of the Wild. Not terribly difficult if you find your taunts. Mulligan looks like this. Wild Growth > Innervate > Wrath > Mire Keepereverything else.

Quest Druid: Quite an uncommon match up actually. I guess it's not as smorc-y as people prefer so they don't play it. Basically just whoever activates Jungle Giants first wins. Ramp hard and fast; your win condition is in your Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound. The tech difference should be a surprise to your opponent and catch them off-guard. You should expect to see cards like Volcanosaur or Giant Anaconda, so be wary. Mulligan is all about ramp: Wild Growth > Innervate > Mire Keeper > everything else.

Jade Druid: The jade cancer prevails. With how cheap the typical deck is, it's no surprise that you can give a bunch of adolescents DINOSAURS to play with, and they'll still play nothing but jades. Not a terribly difficult match up since your quest out-values jades. You have to finish the game before the jades get too big though. Play against this deck similar to any regular match up for Druid. Ramp hard and work towards completing your quest as fast as possible (Within reason). Mulligan is all about ramp: Wild Growth > Innervate > Mire Keeper > everything else.

Warlock Quest: Not as bad as you might think. Lakkari Sacrifice is quite difficult to complete and it doesn't compete well against Jungle Giants. Your ramp will get you past the intimidating early game. With all the cards they're discarding, the deck is very self-destructive. They will likely discard many important cards and be left praying for top-decks. Keep their board clean with your larger minions and keep tabs on what cards they discard. Mulligan is all about ramp: Wild Growth > Innervate > Mire Keeper > everything else.

Mage Quest: Do you require my assistance? This one is a strange one. It's hard to tell you how to play against this kind of deck. A deck that is almost completely revolved around RNG. Their quest literally forces then to RNG their way to 6 spells and then they all end with Archmage Antonidas. Mainly you have to use your brain here. I know right. A lot of these decks run and discover secrets. Counter-play to secrets is limited, but trying to at least guess which secret it is can be crucial. You have to play around many board clears, removal, hard removal, stalls; it's difficult. The only saving grace this match up has is that mage is slow like you. The pressure is off but you have to end the game before they can assemble Exodia. Use your quest immediately by the way, because your quest can be subject to Counterspell or even Mana Bind. Mulligan is all about ramp: Wild Growth > Innervate > Mire Keeper > Nourish > everything else.

Quest Priest: A pretty easy matchup. Not what you expected to hear right? Well a bunch of deathrattle minions is kind of annoying, but it isn't enough pressure to win easily against our deck. Their quest takes about as long as yours to complete but you have an ace up your sleeve. Alexstrasza is in this deck for a reason. After the Priest sets their health to 40, you can slam it back down to 15. Other than that, play basically how you would play the Quest Warrior matchup. Mulligan is all about ramp: Wild Growth > Innervate > Mire Keeper > everything else.

Card Decisions

Edit #1: 

-1 Giant Anaconda

+1 Charged Devilsaur

Edit #2:

-1 Charged Devilsaur

+1 Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound

Edit #3:

-2 Tortollan Forager

-2 Shellshifter

-2 Menagerie Warden

-2 Stonehill Defender

 -1 Stranglethorn Tiger

 

 +1 Coldlight Oracle

+2 Elder Longneck

+2 Mire Keeper

+1 Swipe

+1 Dark Arakkoa

+1 Baron Geddon

+1 Stormwind Champion

Edit #4:

-1 All The Bullshit

 

+1 All The Good Shit

Cards I Included

Innervate 

You're playing Druid, you're playing this card. That's about it.

Earthen Scales

The reason that Feral Rage isn't in this list. This card just ends up being more valuable with what you're doing. The reason that you even use either is for the armor but this card gives you so much more armor. Even though you require a large minion to get the most value, playing one of the taunt minions I put in this deck on turn 3 instead of gaining a little armor on turn 3 has been working quite well.

Jungle Giants

Summon big boys to get the biggest boy. Something you should definitely consider, you do not have to play your quest turn 1. Especially if you are holding Wild Growth, you should play that first. Don't wait too long to play your quest though. Your curve into your minions is very important.

Wild Growth

You're playing Druid, you're playing this card. That's about it.

Wrath

You're playing Druid, you're playing this card. That's about it. 

Ironbeak Owl

Stole this idea too. Instant concede-generating win condition. 

Barnes

Many good options to generate from this card. Giant Anaconda is a great win. Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound is the obvious choice but there are quite a few others as well. 

 

Fandral Staghelm

This is a luxury pick. Not everyone has the dust for Fandral and I admit he is not necessary for this deck, but he is a must-kill that draws the attention of the entire game. He has synergy with a lot of valuable cards in the deck and the deck could use a good 4-drop.

Bright-Eyed Scout

I'll be honest I stole this idea from tempostorm but it's a solid addition. Another win condition that is completely luck-based but hey if you want to win against Quest Rogue you have to pull off some crazy shit.

Swipe

You're playing Druid, you're playing this card. That's about it. 

Nourish

You're playing Druid, you're playing this card. That's about it. There is a little more to say here. Normally I like the draw instead of the mana crystals. However all bets are off in this meta. Getting 2 mana crystals closer to your quest is invaluable. Typically you want to save your copies of this card for after activating your quest. Your minions costing (0) is cool and all but only playing one a turn won't win you the game. Play 3 (0) cost minions in a turn; that's how you win games. In a perfect world I would ramp with one copy and then save the other copy for drawing after the quest activates.

Wrathion

A mini The Curator that draws a card and has a like .01% chance to draw more than one. I know that's not the real percentage. 

The Curator

A good way to deal with aggro/insurance into late game. Instant draw into Alexstrasza + some really powerful beast in your deck. An important thing to note here. None of your low-cost minions are beasts. Why this is important is that you will not draw any junk from your deck with this card. You will always pull something valuable to the late game. 

 

Alexstrasza

Since you are playing a deck more geared towards late game, 15 damage to face is nothing to pass up on. Any deck that forfeits strength early to secure a strong late game gains value from this card. Typically it is used against your opponent as your health gaining options are better invested in Earthen Scales.

Nozdormu

I wanted something big to be pulled from Deathwing, Dragonlord and this card has 5 or more attack; plus NO ONE expects this to be in your deck. It's honestly a joke but seeing people shit themselves when this hits the board is more than worth it.

 

Tyrantus

Most people say this card is bad. I agree in that it is kind of lacking in power for 10 mana. But what if it cost (0) mana? Exactly. That being said this is also an experiment. I will consider what other options you have for 10 mana but with the idea of this deck being to complete your quest and summon your dinosaur for free, we need to fill the top end of the curve with something that sticks to the board and roars loud. 

Deathwing, Dragonlord

After keeping close consideration into what better players were implementing into their variants of this deck, this card is a nice tertiary win condition after Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound. Great to be pulled with that or either Giant Anaconda. 

Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound

Sometimes you just can't put all your eggs in one basket. I had pretty good success with the deck list how it was in edits 1 & 2. However I have run into a few inconsistencies in the supposedly easier match-ups. Sometimes you simply have 10 mana but you haven't completed your quest. If you draw into a Tar Creeper on turn 11 and have nothing else, you might just lose the game because of a loss of tempo. I'm subbing in this card to maybe alleviate some of those awkward instances in the game where you have no card draw to draw into your (0) cost minions. Maybe top-decking this card just might give you what you need. Even if your quest isn't completed, this can help you top-off your curve and also complete the quest. Your ramp throughout the whole game should aim towards this card as it can win the game on its own, quest or not. You should always be prepared for him to get removed immediately after being played, so we have to try and eliminate as many bad pulls for him as possible. For this reason, I have alleviated the lower portion of our deck with tiny cards with battlecries as their anti-synergy is just terrible. This is my favorite card in this deck and I will do anything to support it.

Cards I Did Not Include

Mark of Y'Shaarj

The 2-drops in this deck are pretty necessary, that is mainly why I forfeit this card. While the idea of drawing a card is good in this type of deck, I tried it myself, and more often that not had no minion to play it on and lost to aggro. In addition to this, none of your low-cost minions are beasts and I already explained why that is relevant.

Celestial Dreamer

I have seen this card pop up in multiple deck lists. I see the implications it has to this deck and appreciate the thought. So I entertained the idea of running this card a little bit until I found that most of the time you can't get off the activation. Situational cards like this I tend not to like for that reason. Even if you argue it for late game, there are just many more cards you want to draw other than this. Lastly, the 3-drops I included in this list are NECESSARY to combat aggro. If this card had taunt, maybe.

 

Shellshifter

The new "choose one" Druid minion for the Un'Goro expansion. Its synergy with Fandral is somewhat rough in design as taunt + stealth is a little counteractive. However it is good in its adaptability. While it is tempting to use 5/3 stealth to push for your quest, trust me that is the wrong idea at early points in the game. You want the 3/5 taunt to deal with aggro and stall for your bigger 5-attack minions that are better at controlling board. However later into the game this card is nifty to use in its Raptor Form if you are searching for a 5-attack. I exclude it for the anti-synergy with Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound.

Druid of the Claw

You're playing Druid, you're playing this card. That's about it. This is a good card and all, but I have trouble seeing the use of it in this deck. If we did not have Shellshifter, we would run this card. But the important thing is that it has 4 attack. It doesn't activate your quest and 5 mana makes it too late to defend against aggro. Shellshifter comes out 1 turn earlier and often saves you from the onslaught of face decks. 

Stranglethorn Tiger

While this is a fine option for completing your quest, really the only reason you ran this card was to play it on turn 5 into a turn 6 Menagerie Warden. While this combo is perfectly fine, it is too slow. By now, Quest Shaman has a board full of murlocs that you need to deal with NOW. Quest Rogue already completed their quest and is about to kill you. Turn 6 is too late to win back a lost game. I speak from experience here.

Menagerie Warden

See above.

Lunar Visions

I ran copies of this card in the early stages of testing cards in this deck. It seems like a good idea to have card draw in this type of deck and usually you pull large minions with and get substantial value. However including this card I found the problem of a hand cluttered with spells and no minions. Don't get me wrong, this card is great to play against control but it gets utterly destroyed by aggro. Druid as a class has trouble retaking the board after being overwhelmed. It is essential to always have a board presence so you do not fall behind aggro decks. Even with Nourish, you wouldn't want that to be your turn 5. You would much rather place a minion to establish board presence.

Verdant Longneck

If it had taunt I would use it but it doesn't. Battlecry doesn't work well with Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound.

Ancient of War

You're playing Druid, you're playing this card. That's about it. The only reason I don't include this card is because there are just more things I want to do at this stage in the game. Even if I ramped up to 7 mana pretty early, I'd rather play The Curator with 7 mana. Additionally, instead of stopping at 7 cost for the big minions that are going to win me the game, I'd much rather go bigger into the 10 cost. Also it isn't a beast.

 

Cenarius

If I'm casting this card it's typically because I've outlasted aggro long enough to make it into late game anyways, or that I'm playing it for (0) and making like 14/14s & 9/9s. This card is just overkill for (0) but it isn't a beast and for 9 mana I want something with better stats.

Bittertide Hydra

This card pretty much fits the bill. Activates the quest, and it's a beast. However against aggro it loses you the game. Playing this card is suicide simply because Hunter is going to remove it is by slamming it with a lot of tiny 1 damage cards. You take 3 damage to face every time he hits it with a raptor. It's high risk/high reward.

Hemet, Jungle Hunter

I have honestly considered this card a lot. Playing this after you finish your quest literally dumps every spell and small minion out of the deck and makes Nourish draw perfectly to win you the game. This is on the watch-list for a very reasonable edition into this deck. 

Volcanosaur

This is probably the only adapt minion I feel comfortable playing in this deck. If I take Giant Anaconda out of the deck then this card is coming in basically. I really want to give that card a chance to shine though. So unfortunately this card is benched for now. I have played this deck with 1 and 2 copies of this of it and it usually comes in pretty clutch with adaptations so it's a realistic option honestly. Unfortunately you can only have 30 cards in a deck at a time. Menagerie Warden is really good with this card but you want to copy your Stranglethorn Tiger on turn 6 instead of copying this later on.

Primordial Drake

I really do not like the stats on this card for an 8-drop. 2 damage to all other minions doesn't do much this late into the game. I'd much rather draw Alexstrasza from The Curator then accidentally draw this. Doesn't activate the quest. Isn't a beast. Isn't even a dinosaur. Get this out of here.

Giant Mastodon

I have run this card several times in the deck and it usually works out really well since it has taunt. Really the only reason you wouldn't is because it's not a dinosaur so it isn't as cool. I mean, if you want to use this card honestly you can I just don't.

Soggoth the Slitherer

This was the first thought I had when I saw Tyrantus was of this card. It is the obvious comparison. It has taunt but the stats do not compare to the dinosaur. Unless someone makes a case for it, I don't see myself using it.

Ultrasaur

This card is just bad. 

Guide Conclusion

Feel free to give your comments/recommendations from your own experience trying out the new druid cards. I just feel I had something really solid after playing many games with many different variants of the deck so far. This guide took about 3 hours to create and I did it all in one sitting, so be generous please. This is my first deck/guide I've ever had the courage to post so let me know what I could improve on and how you think the list works. Let me know what you are using in your own decks, and we can figure out what is best together.