Rank 5 Mill Rogue - 73% Winrate
- Last updated Dec 31, 2017 (Kobolds Patch)
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Wild
- 10 Minions
- 18 Spells
- 1 Weapon
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Mill Rogue
- Crafting Cost: 6420
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 12/18/2017 (Kobolds Patch)
- OzzyHS
- Registered User
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- 14
- 39
- 63
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Battle Tag:
Ozzy#1977
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
607
Edit (12/31/2017):
Changed the deck list to what Dog is currently running.
Hello! I have been a Rogue player for around 2 years now, primarily Miracle, Oil, and Mill. I enjoy decks that require some sort of brain power to pilot, and not just "punch face, trade this" etc. This is currently the deck I have been using that has allowed me to reach rank 5 within a few days of play.
This deck may look familiar, as this is the same deck that Dog was able to pilot to rank 1 legend. I felt like this deck hasn't garnered enough attention, so I wanted to give it some!
Here is proof of my stats:
Mill Rogue Guide - by OzzyHS
Hi everyone! You may remember me from not too long ago when I released a deck that reached the front page of Hearthpwn: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/927961-legend-highlander-priest-90-wr. After I made that deck, I took a little bit of a break but now I'm back! So just a little background, I've been playing hearthstone since the release of Naxxramas. To give some perspective, that's 3 and a half years ago! However, I never really touched ranked until around GvG. I originally loved Ramp Druid. Now, back in the day, that deck was actually not awful like it is right now. Keeper of the Grove, Shade of Naxxramas, Ancient of Lore, and old Force of Nature all made this deck really great at the time. I got golden druid in about 3 weeks (grinded 30 wins a day) and proceeded to find another class I enjoyed. I messed around with post-wild Freeze Mage and loved the concept of combo'ing and using your resources to stall the game out so you could get a big finisher. Freeze Mage, however, felt very one dimensional in most situations, and I wanted something a bit more. Well, that's where Rogue came in! I started playing Oil Rogue and instantly fell in love. I knew that this was the right class for me. I played that and reached rank 12. Yeah yeah, not that great, but I was proud! Eventually, Oil Rogue faded and a new deck emerged; Mill Rogue. I've been playing Mill Rogue on and off for the past 2 years, with some Miracle Rogue sprinkled in there. Mill Rogue is my all time favorite deck in Hearthstone, and I think it has some serious potential to be strong this year.
Deck Synopsis
So if you don't really understand Mill Rogue, here's the basic idea; get your opponent into fatigue. Simple as that. Stall out the board with early removals and stalls such as Vanish, Doomsayer, Sap, Blade Flurry, and Kingsbane.
Playing Mill Rogue
Now, playing this deck to perfection is nothing to scoff at - It's a very difficult deck, if not the most difficult deck in Hearthstone (just my opinion). The reason why this deck has such a low winrate on statistic sites, is because many players don't know how to play this deck.
I can't really give you a straight forward answer on how to play this deck, simply because every single situation is going to yield different results. Should you play Coldlight Oracle? Should you play Doomsayer? Should you Vanish? Every single play is going to require a read on the meta. You can't simply read a guide and be perfect at this deck, and that's just the cold hard truth. This deck will take many games to become good with. Now, if you're still reading this far and haven't been turned away by that, then I applaud you! I can give some general tips on how to play this deck, but as I said, these tips won't be 100% accurate simply due to the fact that every game is different.
The basic idea is that you want to survive. Simple as that. Use your clears as you see fit. For example, your opponent is a paladin going into turn 4 with a 2/1 and a 1/1 on the field. Is it a good idea to play Doomsayer? Yes. It is. Reason being is because the current Paladin deck in the meta is aggro. On turn 4, the Paladin has the option of either playing Call to Arms, Blessing of Kings, sometimes Corridor Creeper, or a mix of random cards. So the only answer that he will have for Doomsayer is Blessing of Kings. If he Blessing of Kings'd, then that saves you 7 damage that would have otherwise been going towards your face. As I said earlier, your objective is to survive.
It's really hard to explain how to play this deck simply through text, which is why I plan on making a video explaining every play I make. Only thing I can really say is that playing this deck comes with a lot of trial and error. If you do however, have any specific questions and game play decisions, feel free to leave a comment and I will try to reply to it.
Card Choices
- Kingsbane: This card is what made Mill Rogue viable again, no questions asked. Being able to get a 9 attack (that's on the low side) weapon with life steal and infinite value is just insane. Another thing which makes this card so incredibly powerful in mill, is that you can play the game so you never take a point of fatigue. It's quite simple too - Break Kingsbane with 0 cards in deck -> Draw Kingsbane -> Play it, attack -> Play a second copy of Kingsbane via Valeera the Hollow's passive -> Play the drawn Kingsbane next turn (the original one). This combo alone has won me so many games that I could've lost simply due to the fact that the opponent cannot keep up with this cycle. They will eventually lose to fatigue no matter what.
- Doomerang: Some of you may be confused as to why Doomerang is in this deck. It seems so odd considering you want to keep your weapon in play at all times. Well, Doomerang synergizes with Kingsbane in a really strong way. Firstly, the Doomerang will apply your lifesteal from Kingsbane to it's target. Secondly, Doomerang will not break Kingsbane and put it in your deck like you might suspect, it actually brings it back to your hand. Why is this so good? Well, you can essentially get 2 hits in 1 turn, as well as retain some durability. If you play Doomerang when your Kingsbane is on 1 durability, it will hit the target, possibly healing you, then come back to your hand on 3 durability. You can then play it again the same turn and get a second hit in.
- Valeera the Hollow: Pretty much a staple in any rogue deck now. It works even better in Mill because you can do a multitude of things with her passive. Double Coldlight Oracle, double Deadly Poison, double Doomsayer, double Kingsbane as explained above, double Southsea Squidface, etc.
- Elven Minstrel: With the introduction of this card, you no longer need to play The Curator like old Mill Rogue used to. Not to mention, you can run 2 copies! This just allows you to get your Coldlight Oracles faster, as well as allowing you to find your Cavern Shinyfinders, thus getting your Kingsbane into action earlier.
- Edwin VanCleef: Now, this card isn't SUPER important like all the others, but it is good nonetheless. Basically gives you a 3rd win condition (mill, Kingsbane, and this) if your opponent can't handle it. Generally speaking, you can get a 6/6 or an 8/8 Edwin VanCleef super easily.
- Blade Flurry: This card hasn't really seen play since it's nerf back in early 2016. It does hold a really nice spot in this deck though! Rogue is notorious for not having the greatest of board clears. With this aggro heavy meta, you pretty much need board clears in order to survive. Although this weapon doesn't apply the life steal effect, it is still very powerful. You can very easily make this card a 5-9 damage AoE. If paired with Cavern Shinyfinder, you can get your weapon back after you destroy it.
- Cheat Death & Evasion: The new rogue secrets are still somewhat up in the air in terms of viability. They do work really nicely in this deck though! Firstly, Cheat Death. This card ensures that you can play a Coldlight Oracle without fear of not being able to bounce it back. If they do kill it, you get it for 1 mana! If they don't, you can possibly Preparation into Vanish the following turn (if the board allows for it, naturally). Also, Cheat Death ensures your opponent cannot play an AoE very efficiently. This is exceptionally great vs Control Lock and Dragon Priest, as they sometimes run Abyssal Enforcer and Duskbreaker. As for Evasion, this is basically just a stall card. Let's say you're on turn 8 and your opponent has lethal on board. You don't have an answer. You play Evasion and can live another turn. Turn 9 you can play Valeera the Hollow, stalling for another turn and healing 5. This gives you 2 draws that could save the game for you.
Mulligan
Generally speaking, you really want to mulligan for your early survival cards. Cavern Shinyfinder, Doomsayer, Backstab, Kingsbane, Deadly Poison (only with Cavern Shinyfinder or Kingsbane in mulligan), Leaching Poison (only with Cavern Shinyfinder or Kingsbane in mulligan), Elven Minstrel (if starting with The Coin), Evasion (if fighting a very aggro heavy deck (Paladin, Hunter, Mage)). You almost never want to keep Coldlight Oracle in your starting hand unless you are 100% certain you are fighting control and anticipate them drawing cards in the early game.
Closing Out The Game
So you survived the onslaught of cards from your opponent and are now in fatigue. What now? Well, now you equip your (hopefully) huge Kingsbane with lifesteal, and swing face. Don't forget to duplicate the Kingsbane as I explained earlier. Hopefully you were able to keep some of your clears (Vanish, Sap, Doomerang, Blade Flurry) and can keep your opponent's board squeaky clean. You should just be able to win after you hit the fatigue, simply due to Kingsbane being so incredibly powerful.
Video(s)
Submitted by @kiwiinbacon
Submitted by @daaannnnaaaaaaaa
Submitted by @Kadakk
MORE COMING SOON
So this was my guide! I hope you learned something and if you have any specific questions, drop them in the comments. You may have noticed that I didn't include replacements or matchups in this guide. Reason being is:
1. I don't like limiting players collections, and I want you guys to experiment and figure out what works for you. If you find that certain cards aren't working or you don't own some cards, go ahead and replace them to your own judgement. If you still do have questions about replacements, let me know!
2. The meta is so messy right now and frankly I don't know the statistics at the moment. I'd prefer to not give false information and confuse you guys. If the meta calms down, I might add a matchup guide. Don't count on it though.
As an experienced mill rogue player, what are your thoughts on The Darkness ? Could you fit it in this deck?
In this deck you often burn opponent cards - I don't know if burnt candles count on waking darkness or not. If no - its not viable in this deck.
I'm not trying to bash you or the integrity of the deck, but how can you possibly say "He has a stronger background and understanding of the deck" when you have never seen me play Mill? That just doesn't seem fair to compare 2 sides of things when you don't even know one of the sides.
'Mill Rogue' ;) Kingsbane OPOP.
Works great 5/0 (100% winrate) so far on rank 15/14 :)
Can you shadowstep the boomergang?
I'm slightly confused on the question asked? If you mean Doomerang, then no. Doomerang is a spell, you can't Shadowstep spells.
I have a Edwin VanCleef but do you think Sonya Shadowdancer would be better?
Sonya Shadowdancer is better in decks that are more minion reliant. If you'd like to experiment with her, you can try out @Pym166's deck: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1001900-s45-spiders-ambushes. It's still a mill deck, but it relies more on minions and Fal'dorei Striders
I get rekt everytime by aggroladin or zoolock, even if the match is funnier agains greed controls... I will try to merge this deck with my good old wild mill rogue, so thks for the list, will be usefull for sure :>
You're welcome for the list :) Also, I would recommend using this deck at the lower ranks where control is more prevalent. Around 5-3, I've noticed that it's almost all control warlocks, which this deck absolutely destroys (I think I'm around an 85% win rate vs them).
Can you tell me what are your thoughts about putting in Fal'dorei Strider instead? I know it may not be the best for the scope of the deck, but with the hard drawin you can have a quite good board to pressure opponent or to trade maybe against more aggroish decks... let me know. Great deck tho I'll play it fo sure as I'm a rogue and mill lover :P
Interesting question;
I would have change a Southsea Squidface for a Fal'dorei Strider maybe?
In my opinion, to be consistent, you have to put in 2 fal'doreis... I also thought to cut squidface, but cutting both may be too much... So what to cut next? I was asking because I didn't play this deck at all... After I play some games with it I think I should get a better idea... I'll let you know what will work for me ;)
If you put a second Fal'dorei Strider maybe cut Edwin VanCleef should be an idea.
Let us know!
-1 Southsea Squidface -1 Edwin VanCleef for +2 Fal'dorei Strider should be fine. Don't forget though - You don't only have to use the Shadowsteps for the Coldlight Oracles. If you notice the game is going to be more tempo based, then use the Shadowsteps on other things. Sometimes I will Shadowstep back a Cavern Shinyfinder simply due to the fact that the game is going to be decided not by mill, but by weapon usage.
I have not tried this list in particular, but I tend to beat hunter with my mill rogue, my version is a little heavier on minions, so it occasionally masquerades as tempo, which helps it against the hunter and other faster matchups. In those games I basically rush face with kingsbane after buffing it. And use any draw I can get to get kingsbane back after it isn’t used up. Vanishes and doomsayers become like freezes in combo Mage decks. I also run a little bit of burst that I normally use eviscerate as a board control tool, but against aggressive decks it becomes a tool for face. With the list here Though that matchup isn’t harder, because you don’t have as much damage as quickly. So either you can tech your list or you can play very careful with boardclears. Hunter right now usually creates board in bursts with Spellstone and zero cost minions. When they do you can clear the board. Also if they played two secrets or more you should Doomsayer into their turn five to stop the best five mana card in The game from being played (Spellstone is op and Ian why hunter is viable). Once they use Spellstone vanish really hurts them too, because often that can kill a card, plus it reduces their tempo, allowing you to survive until giant kingsbane.
Played a similar deck i put together myself a few days ago, and there is no way this deck is reliable enough to work in the current meta. (Mill itself is pretty terrible against hunters generally, which the ladder is crawling with between rank 8-1) Opted for a more spider oriented mill deck with the darkness rather than one with the kingsbane package.
I love the idea of kingsbane rogue but it requires too many pieces for survival without the option of vilespines, eviscerates and spider tempo spikes.
I run a version of this with all that but faldorei, and faldorei is super slow. I went for a little more tempo and more draw over more survivability, but the idea still works, it does not mill or fatigue opponents as often as this version, but it has those strategies in its back pocket against control. I basically treated the mill part as tech against slow Mage, which is common at low ranks where I am playing, but there is evidence that mill works in the higher rank meta, if you tech and play it right.
Nice deck, that rogue rocks. Warlock just had no chance. Many Opponent Cards became destroyed when his hand was too full and my wheapon got 13 attack with lifesteal. On turn 10 Doomsayer on clear board and oppenent gave up. And thank you for the Video and the good description!!!