Razakus - Full Guide - EZ Legend
- Last updated Jan 6, 2018 (Kobolds Patch)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 15 Minions
- 14 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Highlander Priest
- Crafting Cost: 10400
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 12/26/2017 (Kobolds Patch)
- user-27789785
- Registered User
-
- 1
- 7
- 16
-
Battle Tag:
N/A
-
Region:
N/A
-
Total Deck Rating
101
Hi guys !
After a quick research on Hearthpwn, I haven't been able to find a real guide to the uncontested best deck in the current meta : Razakus Priest. So here is my attempt. It's my first guide so let me know what you think. :)
I'm not using HDT so no deck's stats for this guide but I give an honest opinion regarding every match up I've played during my climb to legend this season.
Possible tech card changes :
- Gadgetzan Auctioneer in place of Lyra the Sunshard. For now, I feel Auctioneer better, so I decided to cut Lyra.
- Acidic Swamp Ooze or Gluttonous Ooze can find a place.
- Gilded Gargoyle is a bit slow but can do the job
- Kabal Talonpriest is ok
- Tortollan Shellraiser could be considered if meta was more aggro than today
- Holy Fire feels to heavy for me but is a possibility
- Doomsayer feels meeh at the moment...
- Golakka Crawler if pirates come back one day...
- Dirty Rat I personnaly dislike this card, but some love it and it can do some good stuff from time to time.
- Eater of Secrets if too many Secret Mage/Hunter, but it's not really the case.
- Gnomish Inventor or Coldlight Oracle if you lack Bloodmage Thalnos for example.
- Greater Healing Potion not really needed at the moment
Possible cut :
Mass Dispel - Curious Glimmerroot - Lyra the Sunshard
No-go card :
- Holy Nova, Wild Pyromancer is just better
- Pint-Size Potion irrelevant without Shadow Word: Horror
- Shadow Word: Horror pretty much useless except against Paladin, but the deck doesn't need it to do well against them
- Cabal Shadow Priest way too situational
General Mulligan advices :
Always keep : Raza the Chained, Novice Engineer, Loot Hoarder, Acolyte of Pain, Northshire Cleric
- Power Word: Shield with a minion to play in the first 3 turn
- Bloodmage Thalnos if you have no card draw in your opening hand
- Curious Glimmerroot if you already have a good starting hand to go with
- Tar Creeper, same logic
- Kazakus if you have card draw next to him. Some would always keep him but I personnaly think it really depends on hand and match up.
Mulligan per Match Up :
Warrior : There's pretty much zero Warrior out there at the moment but if I find one, I would guess he's a pirate warrior. You can add to the "always keep" : Potion of Madness, Shadow Word: Pain, Tar Creeper, Holy Smite, and eventually Shadow Visions if you had none of those spells. If you decided to tech an ooze, obviously it's a keep in this MU.
Shaman : Pretty much the same as Warrior, there's not a lot of Shaman today. You can keep some of the following cards : Potion of Madness, Shadow Word: Pain, Tar Creeper, Holy Smite, Shadow Visions if none of those spells, Wild Pyromancer is also crazy good with cheap spells.
Rogue : A more frequent deck in the meta as Keleseth Rogue. Shadow Word: Pain, Tar Creeper, Holy Smite, Shadow Visions if none of those spells. You can also keep Potion of Madness but since most of the early pressure from Rogue doesn't die to it I'd rather search for something else. Kazakus is a possible keep as well here.
Paladin : Just like every aggro Match Up : Potion of Madness, Shadow Word: Pain, Tar Creeper, Holy Smite, Shadow Visions if none of those spells, Wild Pyromancer is maybe your best card vs this deck. It's also the only match up where I keep Spirit Lash in hand.
In this specific MU, I prefer to reroll Raza the Chained if I got zero tool to deal with early pressure.
Hunter : Against tempo beast, look for the same cards. Potion of Madness, Shadow Word: Pain, Tar Creeper, Holy Smite, Shadow Visions if none of those spells, Wild Pyromancer.
If you know it's spell Hunter I go for card draw, Curious Glimmerroot and Tar Creeper are good too, Shadow Word: Death to deal with Barnes into Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound.
Druid : The most common druid decks at the moment are some kind of ramp druid. It changes with players but the most frequent ones are Bid Druid, Jade Druid, OTK Druid. Go for Shadowreaper Anduin along with the "Always keep" cards. Kazakus is super good to keep here.
Aggro druid is not as popular as it used to be but if you encounter some, same mulligan as every aggro deck : Potion of Madness, Shadow Word: Pain, Tar Creeper, Holy Smite, Shadow Visions if none of those spells, Wild Pyromancer.
Warlock : Mainly Demo cube nowadays. Go for Shadowreaper Anduin along with the "Always keep" cards. Kazakus is super good to keep here. With a good opening hand you can also keep Silence of Mass Dispel even though if I prefer to reroll them. If you know you opponent runs Mountain Giant keep Shadow Word: Death.
If Zoolock, look for Shadow Word: Pain, Tar Creeper, Holy Smite. Auchenai Soulpriest can be good if you have also Circle of Healing.
Mage : Potion of Madness, Shadow Word: Pain, Tar Creeper, Shadow Visions if none of those spells. Curious Glimmerroot is a decent pick in the match up. Same for Auchenai Soulpriest with Circle of Healing. If you have no answer to Mana Wyrm you can consider keeping Silence.
Priest : "Always keep", Shadowreaper Anduin and Kazakus.
How to play - general advices vs Control :
Basically, the faster you get your combo the faster you win. Optimize your card draw to go full "machine gun mode" ASAP and win. Once Anduin/Raza is in place, you usually don't need to control board with your hero power (doesn't mean never need to do it !). Use spells in that regard and most of the time go face with the rest cause once the combo is in place, you're always close to lethal.
NEVER use Radiant Elemental before killing turn. It's a mistake I see so frequently. You don't need to do so in slow match up even if you have nothing else to play ! A 2/3 tempo play won't win you the game anyway. Played with Prophet Velen it represents an amazing amount of damage that can easily OTK.
The only time I use this card before killing turn is when I play it with Lyra the Sunshard in a losing position. It can sometimes completly reverse the situation but of course highly RNG dependent.
On the other hand, don't hold on too much to Holy Smite. It's a good piece of your killing combo but it's not needed at all to do 30+ damage.
Use coin to be mana efficient every turn. If you can play something every turn, keep it and get extra damage with your combo. It's irrelevant to use it to get a Curious Glimmerroot one turn earlier anyway if you play nothing T3 after that.
How to use Kazakus is really what you need to think about every game in a different way. What do you need at the very specific moment you play it ?
Still looking for combo pieces ? --> 5 mana card draw (except if my hand is full of it or if i'll run out of cards really faster than my opponent) and a tempo play like 5/5 or revive for example. If you face an empty board, polymorph is a great pick aswell.
I go more in details in every match up section.
How to play - general advices vs Aggro :
Getting your combo isn't necessary vs aggro decks. You just need to keep on not dying until they run out of steam. I prefer not to greed vs those decks. I think it's better not to hold on to a card for more value, except if I'm high enough on health (22+), but don't overreact. Use your removals mana efficiently and get your life back up using Priest of the Feast and spells. Psychic Scream is a massive add from Kobold expansion.
Once you reached T6 try to always remove every minions because of Bonemare. You can also try to bait Bonemare with Shadowreaper Anduin in hand.
Unlike control MU, don't hesitate to drop combo pieces like Radiant Elemental to draw early with Power Word: Shield or a freeHoly Smite to remove early threats. Prophet Velen combined with Spirit Lash can board clear + full healing if you get there. A yolo Lyra the Sunshard on T5 can also tank damages for you.
How to play - Specific Match Up advices :
Warrior : If playing against pirate Warrior, try as much as possible to kill pirates every turn so he can't boost his weapons using Bloodsail Cultist. Use Silence on Frothing Berserker or Bloodsail Raider if needed.
Kazakus potion : 5 mana AOE > draws or 5/5 (according to the situation) > revive or deal 5 > freeze or armor if nothing else.
Didn't play much of this one, but I won all of them.
Shaman : Keep Shadow Word: Pain for Flametongue Totem or Mana Tide Totem. Try to keep your big removals Dragonfire Potion and Psychic Scream for after his Thrall, Deathseer but always keep track of his potential damage with Bloodlust.
Kazakus potion : 5 mana AOE > draws or 5/5 (according to the situation) > revive or deal 5 > freeze or armor if nothing else.
Only played one Shaman with this deck and it was a really easy win with decent draws.
Rogue : In Keleseth match up, play style is more or less the same. If you dodge Prince Keleseth on T2, it's a pretty easy match up. Harder if you don't but still winnable. Once Keleseth is played, don't overreact killing him with Shadow Word: Pain cause you'll need this card for bigger dudes. Always have Bonemare in mind around T7. Count the Shadowstep in order to avoid some Leeroy Jenkins combo lethal. Play slow and don't rush for lethal, time plays in your favor.
Kazakus potion : 5 mana AOE or draws > draws or 5/5 (according to the situation) > revive or deal 5 > Polymorph > freeze or armor if nothing else.
Even if I'still have a positive ratio on my Rogue games, you can also die by T6 if he got you with some serious insane draws. It happens, don't let it get to you and go on to the next game.
Paladin : I think Eboladin is a really good match up for this deck. Wild Pyromancer equals board clear with cheap spells. Spirit Lash does a fantastic job too. You have to find the balance between having a full hand and killing his stuff. I usually like to keep my handsize around 4 cards max to avoid huge comeback with Divine Favor. Once you get board control AND a small hand size, it's won. If you can't play enough cards he can eventually comeback. Deal with Knife Juggler ASAP, this card can do so much damage in this deck, it's actually crazy. As always, keep Bonemare in mind around T7.
Kazakus potion : 1 mana AOE > deal 3 (if no aoe) or draw > draw
Later on, could be 5 mana AOE > 5/5 or deal 5 (to get Corridor Creeper) > revive or deal 5 > freeze or armor if nothing else.
I must be around 90% winrate in this MU with only one loss I think... It was a Val'anyr face into buffed Leeroy Jenkins (out of 6 cards in hand) lethal... I was sooo mad ! x)
Hunter : Priest has always been favored in this match up and it's still the same with Razakus. Think about Houndmaster, don't trigger his traps if you don't need to, keep hard removals for Lesser Emerald Spellstone if you can and it should be fine. Priest of the Feast really helps in mid game.
Spell Hunter is a pretty fine match up too. Same logic for your removals, for the rest it really depends on wheter or not you have Shadow Word: Death to deal with Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound when he gets on the field.
Kazakus potion : 5 mana AOE > 5/5 or revive > draws or deal 5 > polymorph > everything else
I have only two losses against Hunter... Spell Hunter with Barnes on T3 and T4... Hard times... ^^
Druid : Really straight forward match up. Draw, draw and draw until you get your combo, then kill him. Even if he gets a ton a ramp early on, you can still win without too much problems. Druid needs time to play his stuff and that give you all you need to draw your win condition.
Aggro druid : I personnaly always mulligan for ramp Druid in my ladder games and hope for the best if it ends up being aggro. And even like this I maintained a positive win rate against that deck. It runs out of resources really fast so all you need is one board clear and a way to deal with Living Mana and you'll be fine.
Kazakus potion (vs control) : 5 mana draws > 5/5 > polymorph > revive > AOE
Kazakus potion possibility (vs Jade) : 10 mana Polymorph > AOE > deal 8 > 8/8
Kazakus potion (vs aggro) : 5 mana AOE > 5/5 or revive > draws or deal 5 > polymorph > everything else
Warlock : Here aswell, draw as much as possible win you the game. Silence his Possessed Lackey, Carnivorous Cube or Spiritsinger Umbra. You don't care about silencing Voidlord, if anything, it makes his Bloodreaver Gul'dan less effective in this match up. Potion of Madness is obviously good on a Possessed Lackey. The most difficult situation you can get to is when he manages to get his Carnivorous Cube on his Doomguard or Mountain Giant. Keep Psychic Scream for trully overwhelming board pressure.
Zoolock : Well, probably my worst MU cause as for druid, I always mulligan thinking it will be control and when it happens i'm like "Well! I guess I'm dead !". His minions are tougher to deal with than paladin ans it can be pretty difficult. A lot of the game depends on your early draws. It's still not an automatic loss !
Kazakus potion : 5 mana draws > 5/5 > AOE or deal 5 > revive > polymorph (can be super good with only one enemy minion)
Kazakus potion alternative : 10 mana polymorph > AOE > deal 8 > 8/8 but I prefer to use Psychic Scream
Mage : Can be a tough match up if he gets those special draws... Always check for Counterspell with cheap and "useless" spells as Coin, Circle of Healing (if no Auchenai Soulpriest), Silence, etc. Explosive Runes is a real pain cause it basically kill every minion you could play, so try to draw with it. If you deal with early pressure you should win easily.
Freeze/Quest mage : Once you've identified your opponent as one of those mage, face is the place. You never need to trade stuff with your minions, that's just giving him more time, he will do the trades. Even you have a one health minion that die to ping, if he has to ping it, it's still 2 mana that he can't spend on drawing or setting is defense. Keep Silence, Mass Dispel or Shadow Word: Pain to deal with Doomsayer.
Kazakus potion (vs Secret Mage) : 5 mana AOE > 5/5 or deal 5 > draws > revive > polymorph
Kazakus potion (vs Freeze/Quest) : 5 mana 5/5 > draws > deal 5 > polymorph > revive
Priest : It's usually the first who gets is combo cards together who win the game. When Raza the Chained / Shadowreaper Anduin is in place, you should most of the time ping face each card you play. T10 Prophet Velen + Radiant Elemental + Mind Blast is already 24 direct damage, so you can easily OTK your opponent with some low cost spells you have in the deck.
Never play Acolyte of Pain, Loot Hoarder, Bloodmage Thalnos if you have another body with them because of Potion of Madness. If you do you should be able to proc them in the same turn using Wild Pyromencer or Voidform.
Even if dragon Priest makes your Dragonfire Potion pretty much useless, I think Razakus is just a stronger deck overall. Northshire Cleric is a super strong opening against Dragon/Aggro priest but complete waste in miror match up... So your call to drop it T1 or not ! :)
Kazakus potion (vs Razakus) : 5 mana draws > 5/5 > revive > AOE or deal 5 > polymorph
Kazakus potion alternative : 1 mana deal 3 > everyting else (if you already have all your combo pieces and don't need draw)
Kazakus potion (vs dragon/aggro) : 5 mana AOE > 5/5 or draws > deal 5 or revive > polymorph
This is the end of my Razakus guide. I really hope you like it. Feel free to comment and have fun getting legend with it ! :)
Following your muligan advice from here, so idk maybe i am throwing out spells too quickly, but to be fair Half the deck IS spells and not alot will help out vs early board pressure and minion swarms. And I'm pretty sure its in your guide that vs such early pressure to not wait for that card value and just play the minion. You'd be surprised how many times a single obsidian statue wins me the game by giving me 2 turns. Funnyyou mention paladin because most of the time thats exactly my issue. Yesterday i faced 5 paladins back to back using nearly the same deck and had the same problems everytime. This deck isn't as fast as you think unless you are lucky enough to have raza and anduin. otherwise you just try not to die until you get one or the other that you need or both.
But i think i have just incredibly bad luck here and I probably misplay alot. It just seems really really coincidental... This is really unfortunate because i love the way the deck is suppose to work, and i know it DOES at some point but apparently not for me. Ill stick with own brand of Nzoth Razakus, which in my experience survives better.
idk i think im beter off not using this deck, It looks like you either get the 2 cards or lose which is just waaaay to top deck based. And while the card draw is designed to et things faster seems like the whole thing would be better off if it took out those cards and replaced them with a diffrent way to win so you arent so DEPENDENT on the deck giving you the 2 cards. Or if you took out half the other crap and added MORE card draw because right now its so incredibly incosistent.
Nice detail. Great effort.
+1
If I don't have Prophet Velen. What is my next best option if I wanna play this deck?
Great Deck I only had to replace Curious Glimmerroot with Gnomish Inventor it still works great! :)
Mind the advises!! They are pointed exactly where they should! :D
Then you just don't know how to play it.
It's just almost always a guaranteed win if you drop raza+anduin on 8.
But it's still easy to survive + OTK if you draw them later.
Wtf
+1 for this very detailed deck
Everything seems very well explained, but you don't explain the combo anywhere..... Please could you explain it with regards to Lyra and Velen.
Combo for otk is, already played raza and anduin shadow reaper, hero power (2) + velen+hero power (4)+ holy smite (4) + hero power (4) + mind blast (10) + hero power (4) = 28 (if you have the coin or something to plays add 4 more of damage.
Probably because this one has been around awhile now.
The combo requires a 0-mana hero power for Shadowreaper Anduin. You achieve this by playing Raza the Chained. Once that has been achieved and you have 10 mana available, the combo is as follows:
You can expand on the combo by playing additional 0-mana spells like Silence and Circle of Healing for more Hero Power pings, but usually 28-damage burst is enough to OTK the opponent.
You can also play Radiant Elemental after Velen if you have it and some 1-mana spells.
Lovely! Here take my upvote for helping me guide through the ladder :)
Thanks the deck!:) really nice and works very well.
Same exact deck as fenos.....
I’ve been running Obsidian Statue, N’Zoth, Stonehill Defender, and Cairne. Why this version over that?
You put in a lot of effort! +1 FOR YOU! NAGenji#1625 :DDDDD
What would you take out for Gluttonous Ooze? I know Mass Dispel is the most likely candidate, but I really like it for the current meta.