Hearthpwn

UPDATE:

The new season has just started and I was back to rank 7 (2 stars) as I finished last season rank 3 (2 stars). Thanks to this deck, I am now back to rank 5 (2 stars), losing only twice to quest rogue (which is our worst matchup). Won every other games, beating Baku Rogues, destroying Warlocks and over-valuing Spiteful Druids. It's been a super easy climb (maybe the easiest I've had so far). This deck is not for beginners and requires a good knowledge of the meta and what your opponents will try to do (so you can mulligan accordingly and save the right cards for the right time).

Also, I have set up HSReplay and will now be able to share games against different matchups with you. I started posting some below:

- Versus Baku Rogue: https://hsreplay.net/replay/go49uvec6cRihg9Twq8vYD

- Versus Control Mage: https://hsreplay.net/replay/pQv7tBFCGrDNci9Rs6Z55V

- Versus Cube Warlock: https://hsreplay.net/replay/uj5wKxSMJiRXXxqb4BoVsk

- Versus Spiteful Druid: https://hsreplay.net/replay/VEjxwnBLvmQeN6xc9Bi4fW

- Versus Even Paladin: https://hsreplay.net/replay/JCVheVZcm3oUw6qV2tZLTj

INTRODUCTION:

Guys, I've been having so much fun with this deck that I couldn't resist sharing it. I am currently winning 23-5 and it's only the beginning :) Anyway, here is the story of this deck:

Couple of hours ago, I was getting tired of the current meta (full of Warlocks, Spiteful/Taunt druids, even Palis and Mages). I decided to see if I could come up with an effective "Steal" priest deck (similar to the one I used to play before the new expansion). Yeah I know, I just love the priest class...

Anyway, I spent some time thinking about the deck and the different cards to include in order to make it fun and effective at the same time. I came up with this list and decided to give it a try on the ladder (I was back to rank 5 after testing a bunch of lower tier decks). Surprisingly, the deck ended up being super strong and able to beat almost all my opponents (23-5 so far).

ABOUT THE DECK:

Stealing Minions:

Basically, the key idea of this deck is to be able to steal valuable minions from your opponents. To do this, the deck includes:

- 2 Twilight Acolyte and 2 Cabal Shadow Priest (these cards combo very well together)

- 2 Mind Control + 1 Shadow Visions (that can give you one more Mind Control)

- 1 Shadow Madness (that can be used to steal cards like Hadronox or even Voidlord).

- 2 Mind Control Tech


Out-valuing your opponents:

On top of all these steal cards, your deck also includes strong minions such as:

- 2 Twilight Drake : Solid early game minion that helps with the dragon synergy.

- 2 Primordial Drake : Solid taunt minion that also deals damage to other minions.

- 1 The Lich King : For even more value.

- 1 Alexstrasza : Helps to lower the health of your opponent (or increase yours)

- 1 Ysera : A great card that creates a lot of value, above all when played at the right time.


Reaching fatigue:

In most of your matchups, your opponent will reach fatigue before you (taunt druids, Warlocks, etc...). However, the deck includes Archbishop Benedictus which you can use to make sure you won't lose to fatigue. It has been a super valuable card to me when facing Control Mages or Taunt Druids.


Board control:

I know that in most matchups, controlling the board is important. To do this, I have included:

- 2 Duskbreaker : Great when playing against paladins or tempo mages.

- 1 Mass Dispel : Make sure to use it at the right time.

- 1 Gluttonous Ooze : To destroy weapons

- 1 Shadow Word: Death : To deal with big minions (like when a giant is played turn 4, or when a druid plays its Spiteful Summoner).

- Taunt minions: 2 Stonehill Defender (awesome card that also creates value) and 1 Tar Creeper

- All the other cards mentioned earlier (Mind Control Tech, Twilight Acolyte, Cabal, etc...)


Healing:

I understand that some matchups can be tough, this is why I have included:

- 2 Divine Hymn : This card combo very well with Northshire Cleric and heals you (and your minions) for 6.

CONCLUSION:

This deck is super fun to play and definitely strong. However, the most important thing is to understand your opponent strategy, mulligan well and save your key cards for the right time.

If you guys are interested in a more detailed `matchups` guide, make sure to vote for the deck and I'll add it ;)

MATCHUPS GUIDE:

Hadronox druid:

Ok guys, so I like to see things in a pragmatic way (this is how I usually define my game plans and strategies). In this matchup, the strategy of your opponent is composed of 4 steps/phases:

Step 1: Playing as many taunts as possible before being able to play Hadronox

Step 2: Play Hadronox and kill it

Step 3: Play Witching Hour, summon back Hadronox and Cube it

Step 4: Play Witching Hour, summon back Hadronox and Cube it

(which is a total of 7 Hadronox, if you were wondering).


So as your opponent is using 4 steps, let’s use 4 steps too that will focus on countering his.

Step 1: How do we counter his step 1? Well, we can’t stop him from playing taunts. However, we can do two things:

- Putting pressure on him by playing our minions and controlling the board. As we start playing bigger and bigger minions, he might be forced to use his Naturalize to remove threats (which is a great thing as he won’t be able to use it to kill Hadronox).

- Making sure that we steal his Lich King. Why? Because this is a key card in his strategy as he wants to be able to bring back as many of them as he can and play Anti-Magic Shell to boost his board and kill us. So no Lich King to bring back = no board boosted = less things to worry about.

Step 2: If he plays Hadronox and can’t kill it, then steal it and you basically won the game. However, if he plays it and kills it, keep controlling the board and play your 2 Mind Control Tech to steal 2 of his minions. This will put pressure on him and he will be forced to play Witching Hour, which takes us to step 3.

Step 3: After your opponent plays Witching Hour, he will definitely cube his Hadronox to fill his board. This will be the perfect timing for you to steal his cube (with Mind Control) which will give you 2 Hadronox. From here, your opponent might have reached fatigue (or be really close to it). Keep controlling the board and play Alexstrasza to lower his health to 15 (he might still have a lot of armor but this will scare him).

Step 4: When he plays his last Witching Hour, you can steal his Hadronox (if he doesn’t have cubes left) or repeat step 3 he cubes it.


Guides for other matchups will be added soon (as I need time to write them).