(RANK 5) Hand Druid Does Have Legs!
- Last updated Apr 18, 2018 (Witchwood)
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Wild
- 12 Minions
- 17 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Plague Druid
- Crafting Cost: 5500
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 4/13/2018 (Witchwood)
- MattSeal
- Registered User
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- 4
- 7
- 11
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Battle Tag:
MattSeal#1944
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
405
Lots of people were worrying about he viability of hand Druid but I think it has potential in this evolving meta.
Right now, at rank 5 I’m mostly seeing tempo rogue, a couple aggro pally’s, buttloads of elemental mage (thanks Dog), and MY JAWS THAT BITE MY CLAWS THAT CATCH shaman
We've seen a major shift in the meta since the beginning of this expansion, mostly seeing aggro paladins, cube locks, and taunt-druids
Game plan:
Play hand- refilling cards early game to bring out big minions like Mountain Giant , Twilight Drake , and the new Bewitched Guardian . Witchwood Apple is your friend!
Use standard control-Druid cards to stay alive against aggro and even out board control while buffing numerous tokens and taunts from Witchwood Apple , Wispering Woods , and Spreading Plague .
Modifications
10 upvotes
Wow, thanks for all the support on this deck! I apologize for not getting some guide/card choice information, its been a busy week!
Some of the main problems I've been seeing with this deck is its either too slow to compete with crazy aggro decks like Baku the Mooneater Paladin and Hunter, but not control-y enough to deal with Cubelock and some Baku Warriors.
One of the main things that leads to success especially higher up in the ladder is deck adjustment for sort of "mini-metas" that can vary from day to day or between rank ranges, for example on Monday I can play only odd paladins at rank 5-4, but then on Tuesday from ranks 4-3 it can be all priests. This requires adjustments to your deck that really can separate good players from bad.
One thing I've opted to do for this list is to not modify the base list at all, since this is what has brought me some success and what I'm basing the following card replacements on. Feel free to tinker with this deck.
Cards to be Replaced:
Fire Fly : If you are playing lots of control, this small 1 drop will probably not do much for you. It will get cleared easily and might be better replaced by another burst-potential card
Tortollan Forager : This card is included because it allows for a nice 2 drop that keeps your hand at the same size and can generate some value. But, if you are not finding success, it can also be replaced
Ultimate Infestation and Nourish: Sometimes, if playing more aggressively, I found that one copy of UI or a Nourish can refill my hand and give a boost to my Twilight Drake s and Bewitched Guardian s. However if you feel that this is not needed, and you are playing this deck more slowly, especially without the two cards mentioned above, these cards can be omitted.
Power of the Wild : This card is often not included in many decks, but I find it extremely useful for buffing up your wisps against an easy Defile clear. Once again, if playing a slower version, this card may not be as great.
Lesser Jasper Spellstone : This card is undoubtably strong, but it could be replaced as well if you want more punch. Most likely with Naturalize
Card Replacements:
These are cards that can replace the cards mentioned above, or holes in your deck if you are missing cards/dust.
The Lich King : No surprise here, this is just a generally great card. Amazing 8 drop, taunt, large body, value generation, and Ironbark Protector power creep.
Splintergraft : Some players have been reporting success with this card. Generating a 10 mana Bewitched Guardian , The Lich King or others can be great lategame for a slower version of this deck. I haven't tested it with Mountain Giant , so I'm not sure if this gets the mana reduction as normal. If it does, this could be an amazing play as well.
Savage Roar : In a faster version of this deck, this card can be a great finisher. Many are reporting success with this card as well.
Void Ripper : In a similar vein to Savage Roar . If you want a finisher, you can bait out a Spreading Plague and use this card to get up to 30 burst damage.
Wispering Woods : A second of this card could be quite good, in a more aggressive version or even in the slow version. Easy pick for a replacement.
Naturalize : A very strong pick, most likely a replacement in a more control version of this deck. Often with this deck I found myself having a hard time dealing with large minions, and without Silence , which also might be worth running, this can help deal with that. Against aggro it is obviously not great, since you are giving them more cards, but in control it is amazing, with mill and fatigue potential.
Be sure to check out the comments on this page, several talented players have posted their own versions of this deck they are having success with.
Showcases:
Kiwiinbacon created a couple showcases for this deck, which I very much appreciate. Here is the first of the two.
User Whitebeard1 also created a showcase, worth checking out as well!
AllArounder (Whitebeard1)'s Deck Showcase
Thanks for your patience with this guide/deck and thanks again for all the support. Enjoy!
Branching Paths
Deck sux. Seven games and no win. Faced pallies, rogues, mages and loses even to shamans. I didnt even face warlocks lol
Can someone please explain why I have gone from tank 18 5 stars to rank 20 zero stars. That’s 0-10 give or take. I keep getting wrecked by aggro decks. Almost every deck at this area are them.
Always try a new deck casual or in some situations you can go ranked but in some cases like trying a whole new deck type I suggest you should go casual
Sea Giants are way stronger with wispering woods. It got me to legend: https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1099844-legend-token-druid
For those having trouble with Cube Lock and Even/odd Paladins
This deck is doing well.
Why not?
Hmm. I have 55% winrate with this deck and I actually got to rank 7 on a winstreak. Not too bad, I'm going to try and theory craft some changes and test it out in casual matches. I'll let you guys know if it works and I can create a decklist. Super fun though, I love this archetype and it's actually not too costly because I already had most of the cards even though I'm free to play.
I have [9-3] 75% with this exact deck, not so bad
https://youtu.be/W-cWT0hVzww
I think Wispering Woods can be cut , I have not done much with it
The drop from [card]Tortollan Forager [/card] were very useful
You need wispering woods I'm pretty sure. It refills your board, and imagine if you have 7-8 cards in your hand on turn 4. It's pretty easy to get value and a really good tempo play if you have a big hand. There are drawbacks because of the low health but honestly I think it's still a nice card.
i though the same , but in like 10 game I didnt manage to pull off a good combo from it, probally wasnt lucky
The exact deck list makes it difficult to pull off a Wispering Woods combo simply because of the lack of stickiness, board presence (in the very early game when you don't pull off the mountain giant), and the amount of board removal.
I suggest putting in 1 Soul of the Forest to make your board sticky and to play Wispering Woods simply to create board presence, not in an attempt to pull off the combo. If you end up having a wide board, then you pull off the combo.
Hope this helps :)
I decided to play my version of Hand Druid in more of a control type of manner.
The changes I made compared to the original list are as follows:
Removed Fire Fly x1, Stonehill Defender x1, Power of the Wild x2, Lesser Jasper Spellstone x2, and Ultimate Infestation x1
Added Naturalize x2, Savage Roar x1, Wispering Woods x1, Soul of the Forest x1, Starfall x1, andIronbeak Owl x1
In my version, you don't rely on Mountain Giant to be your only way of winning. If you can pull it off on Turn 3 or 4 though, it is highly recommended. Instead, in the early game you want to put out your tokens (Fire Fly, Tortollan Forager, and Stonehill Defender) to create an early board to answer your opponents minions while still retaining your hand size and possibly getting extra big minions/taunts from Tortollan Forager and Stonehill Defender.
For the mid game, using the spells to control the board and bringing out Twilight Drake, Bewitched Guardian, and Mountain Giants to serve as your main threats and tools for value trading will be the most likely course of action.
For the late game, setting up the board through Wispering Woods and Soul of the Forest is a good way to keep your board sticky if ever the enemy has board clear. If the enemy goes wide, Spreading Plague into Soul of the Forest is also a good way to set up for the finisher.
If you are able to retain a wide board by the next turn, Savage Roar and Branching Paths is your go to finisher and hopefully is already enough for lethal.
Extra Info:
Ironbeak Owl was chosen over Spellbreaker in order to combo it with Savage Roar and Branching Paths if ever there's a big taunt in the way.
Naturalize can also be used to mill your opponent if ever they end up having a large hand (i.e. Cubelock).
Starfall is also a great to clear the board especially when paired up with Swipe (idea came from somebody else).
Warning: Hand Druid is obviously not a Tier 1 deck as of the moment (hopefully it gets good cards by the next expansion because I find the archetype really fun). It is highly advised to not use this deck if you plan on climbing high into the ladder.
Can you make a deck and send me the copy code
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Try removing Branching Paths, Fire Fly, Nourish?, Stonehill Defender, Tortollan Forager; add: 2X Ironwood Golem, 2X Crypt Lord... and 2X Oaken Summons to cheat those. Consider: Soul of the Forest, Cobalt Scalebane, Frostwolf Warlord, Savage Roar, Witchwood Grizzly, Wrath... I have good results with this (still a budget version). ...But, what do I know, as I'm rank 15. Though I my say I achieved numerous wins vs. Baku Hunter and several against Baku Paladin... Don't know how strong the deck is, but it's fun as hell.
crist u are pretty wise i like your type of people :D
Cutting branching paths? why would you even consider that
Spent 4 hours to complete 3 druid wins with this deck. So happy I wasted my dust for this.
Yeah, already asked OP to change the rank 5 remarks in title after the performance data shown by this deck on hsreplay.net, but he ignores it. Everything for the clicks and the top 10 thread. Another victim. Sad :(