[KotFT] Shadow Word: Combo
- Last updated Aug 10, 2017 (Frozen Throne)
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Wild
- 7 Minions
- 22 Spells
- Deck Type: Theorycraft
- Deck Archetype: OTK Priest
- Crafting Cost: 10660
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 8/5/2017 (Quest Rogue Nerf)
- XIII
- Registered User
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- 6
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- 35
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
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Total Deck Rating
617
Before anything, this is a theorycraft. No one knows how the future metagame will be shaped and if that kind of archetype will work. My goal is simply to share an idea in anticipation of the future KotFT expansion. So, please, don't come to me in few weeks to say : "Hey, it doesn't work !"... Thanks for your comprehension.
What is the gameplan of the Shadow Combo Priest ?
The objective of this deck is, first, to survive up to the late game thanks to board clearing spells. Then, either Prophet Velen or Malygos have to be summoned. There are many ways to achieve that : directly from the hand if there is no other choice, from Barnes and Shadow Essence if they are still waiting in the deck, or thanks to Eternal Servitude if one of them got destroyed. Once it's done, it only remains to use Holy Smite and Mind Blast to burst down the opponent in one turn. Another way to win, against agressive decks, is to exhaust them with several Obsidian Statue.
Are there other synergies ? What are the minions ?
Prophet Velen : He doesn't only double Holy Smite and Mind Blast damages, he also works with Dragonfire Potion, Spirit Lash (Deals 2/Heals 4 per minion), Holy Nova (Deals 4/Heals 4) and Voidform. In addition, he doubles the healing from Lesser Heal or Greater Healing Potion.
Malygos : He works with fewer spells but has a greater impact on them : Holy Smite, Mind Blast, Spirit Lash (Deals 6/Heals 6 per minions), Holy Nova (Deals 7/Heals 2) and Dragonfire Potion. It can be noted that the last one doesn't affect him since he's a dragon.
Bloodmage Thalnos : Same as above (except he does die on Dragonfire Potion). He can provide a better board clear and works especially well with Spirit Lash in early/mid game. The deck also needs to draw and that's why he fits, plus he's not that bad to get on Barnes' battlecry.
Barnes : Amazing to get an early Prophet Velen / Malygos / Obsidian Statue that can quickly be re-summoned with Eternal Servitude. He may also be used as a low-mana combo starter in late game. Getting Bloodmage Thalnos or Acolyte of Pain on him isn't bad since it cycles the deck.
Obsidian Statue : It combines a taunt, a heal and a big minion clear, which is exactly what is needed against aggressive decks. Exhausting them won't be hard because multiple copies of them can be summoned through Barnes, Eternal Servitude and Shadow Essence. Its deathrattle makes it, moreover, a solid choice also against control decks.
Acolyte of Pain : As drawing cards are needed in the deck, I prefered him over Northshire Cleric since he's better to get on Barnes, Shadow Essence and has a decent synergy with Spirit Lash (without needing a Circle of Healing). In addition, he's a great target for Power Word: Shield.
And what about the spells ?
Shadow Visions : One of the best Priest card at the moment. Its main purpose is to look for the right answer at the right moment, but it can also be used to provide another copy of important spells like Mind Blast, Eternal Servitude and Shadow Essence.
Dragonfire Potion : The biggest Priest's AoE that generally resets the board on Turn 6, as good in agressive matchups than in control ones. It doesn't affect Malygos, which can lead to a monstruous board clear if summonned through Eternal Servitude.
Greater Healing Potion : That one has already been proven useful in the previous metagame, mainly in Control Priest against Mage decks and agressive other ones. Its utility here is the same, it helps surviving and temporizing. In my opinion, it's a better card than Flash Heal because it's a more solid choice on Shadow Visions and it's insane with Prophet Velen. It can also be used on a very damaged Malygos, for example, restoring him to full health.
Shadow Essence : One of the card that brought me this archetype idea. Summon a copy of one of your huge minions (Prophet Velen / Malygos / Obsidian Statue) at a low cost, allowing sick combos. And if you happen to summon a 6-mana 5/5 Bloodmage Thalnos / Acolyte of Pain... Well, these aren't bad cards at all, it's okay to get them on it. This is very versatile!
Eternal Servitude : The second most important of the new cards (for this archetype) given by the Knight of the Frozen Throne. Basically, it makes summoning parts of your combos early-on totally fine, as it allows even bigger combos once resurrected. Plus, it's required in case you draw your parts near the beginning, and it has a nice synergy with Barnes. They definitely are necessary.
Spirit Lash : That card is totally underestimated. It's way too good against agressive decks as it will clear the low Health minions they usually play. Spell Damage can make it a decent board clear, but the most important feature of the card is the important heal it can bring. It's also a cheap activator to instantly draw a card with an Acolyte of Pain on the board.
Mind Blast : A dead card most of the game, that will also sound the death knell of the opponent.
Holy Smite : Even if that card is part of deadly combos, it has more versatility than its colleague. Against agressive decks, it can be used defensively to clear a minion at a low cost.
Holy Nova : Another AoE that helps surviving till the combos can be played. It synergies with the Spell Damage cards and it can deal some serious ones to the opponent Hero.
Power Word: Shield : Drawing is just too necessary. As you should always mulligan for your early minions, it shouldn't be too hard to play that card on them. At worst, it can be used on an opponent minion before playing a Shadow Word.
Shadow Word: Pain : Way too good in early game, whatever the matchup. That's a must-have.
Shadow Word: Death : The big game hunter, mandatory especially against Druids and Rogues. One exemplary should be enough, mainly because there is Shadowreaper Anduin in the deck.
Why Shadowreaper Anduin is present ?
His battlecry is great against most control decks or Jade Golem, while Voidform act as a finisher (especially with Prophet Velen) if the opponent built armor or didn't take enough damages from your minions. It comes on the same turn as The Lich King (among others) so he can be a great answer. I definitely think he's worth a slot, but it will depend on the metagame's pace.
ANDUIN THANKS YOU FOR READING !
+1 for taking the time for a great look at Theory Crafting and some of the thought processes behind crafting decks.
Mind saying which card you swapped out?
What about an injured blade master for a AOP? Does seem like it is drawn too much.
You can replace Acolyte of Pain, but definitely not by Injured Blademaster.
Yes Ysera is very interesting, but if you want such cards you also want Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound, and thus more Taunt minions like another Obsidian Statue or The Lich King... And then you completely drop the OTK part, ahah.
Thanks for the support/feedback otherwise =p - Shadow Word: Horror should depend on the type of decks you'll find. At the moment there is the new popular Taunt Druid and it's efficient against it, +Evolve Shaman, etc... so it's definitely a legit choice indeed
Some changes are needed according to other players and some of them have a very good winrate. As it was a list done before the expansion was out, if you play this this deck like this is the optimized version, well... You won't go far indeed.
I am so salty right now, I had to log into Hearthpwn to post my first and only comment. I've lost 15 games with this deck and won 2. Rogues have just destroyed me, this is not a good deck, you won't even make it to late game for a come back.
Refer to the first paragraph ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
instant loose against any warrior or mage, also can't win against anything but aggro decks as you clearly have almost no power except the aoe
this deck is a meme, rely on a few cards only and way too much luck, outside of the few first days (i wouldnt even say weeks), this won't work.
just my taste
I totally forgot about Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound, he's definitely a great card in that archetype oO But if you play him you might want more minions, like adding another Obsidian Statue + The Lich King and Ysera.
So I just went from rank 18 to rank 5 with only 6 losses in the process :D
The only change I made was -1 Acolyte of Pain +1 Shadow Word: Death because I absolutely hated how I kept summoning acolytes from my deck. The second death also helps with control matchups, especially the druid matchup which is one of the most difficult ones in my opinion. All in all, summons are a bit more consistent and big minions become easier to remove.
For those who are having difficulties with this deck, tempo is key! Don't waste your removals; you want to wait for the right moment to clear your opponent's board. It doesn't matter to heal until turn 5/6 if it means clearing a board and playing Velen or Shadow Essence on the next one. Keep track of what your opponent is playing. Drop Malygos and Velen if they've used their removals; both are expandable because you can just bring them back on your next turn. Also, try to search for Eternal Servitude with Shadow Visions as much as possible. The card is just nuts! It enables 4/6/7/10 damage board clears and full HP heals!
Good job, your winrate is quite awesome :D
Dude, thank you for making Malygos playable again!
I still wish a streamer would test that kind of list and try to find improvements, but they seem too focussed on other Priests ;_;
oh yeah, you are right, i watched Savjz yesterday and i copied your deck and paste in chat, but he wasn't interested T.T
so, i played this deck as i said (about20-25 games, won like 17 of them) and i think this deck is has potential but it's struggles against aggro decks, cuz your early removal is Holy Nova for 5 mana and Spirit Lash + Bloodmage Thalnos for 4 mana
so i made some changes:
-2 Acolyte of Pain and -2 Power Word: Shield
so let me explain: this deck is not about "I need to find my combo as fast as i can" it's about controlling the board from the beginning of the game and then play your Barnes and Shadow Essence to kill Malygos or Prophet Velen
-2 Holy Nova
Holy Nova is just too slow for the meta, i know that the meta is not formed yet< but a lot of KotFT cards used in the same decks from last meta and there are a lot of 3 health minions it's just not very official
+2 Circle of Healing and +2 Embrace the Shadow
this combo soooooo much better than Holy Nova and it's very flexible in a lot of cases (yea it's gonna be more difficult to pull this off cuz of the 2 card board clear but if you run 2 of these it will be more consistent). Not recommend to run Auchenai Soulpriest because it messes up the Shadow Essence combos
+2 Potion of Madness
so, this card is amasing against a lot of aggro and midrange decks...and thats it xD
but beware that this f*cking thing will mess up your Eternal Servitude
So i talked about game plan, just stay alive as long as possible, stall stall stall and then kill your oponnent with some cheap damage
This deck doesn't need that much draw, Bloodmage Thalnos is quite enough (and i even recomend to run Tainted Zealot over Bloodmage Thalnos cuz it's doesn't die to Spirit Lash and can stick on board, but doesn't draw a card)
Nice. I don't like holy nova and 2 acolytes on this deck, so gonna try this, but it does have potential, what rank where you playing at?
i was rank 15 then i started with this, climed to 13 with this version, and i went from 13 to 11 with my version
Tainted Zealot seems really good on Shadow Essence compared to Bloodmage Thalnos but you already cut a lot of draw... It's still a combo / control deck, right ? Drawing should be necessary... Well, I still didn't try my own deck, maybe I'm wrong but that's how I visualized it xD
It's pretty obvious my list isn't optimized, since it was done before even knowing the metagame. So thanks for your ideas! Hope we can find something stable soon.
you should really play your deck man! It's great, I've never enjoyed Malygos like this before, you are really on to something, I'm in to try the different tweaks but since I'm on a winning streak I'll keep playing it as it is.