+49
Favorite this Deck

The Gonkening

  • Last updated Dec 19, 2018 (Level Up Nerf)
  • Edit
  • |

Wild

  • 9 Minions
  • 20 Spells
  • Deck Type: Ranked Deck
  • Deck Archetype: Unknown
  • Crafting Cost: 10520
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 12/4/2018 (Boomsday)
View in Deck Builder
  • Echo_
  • Registered User
    • 7
    • 38
    • 117

  • Battle Tag:

    Echo#11883

  • Region:

    US

  • Total Deck Rating

    274

View 22 other Decks by Echo_
Link:
BBCode:
Export to

So with Gonk, the Raptor being rated as the worst loa (and even rated so low that it got the Magma Rager award), I decided to give a go at making Gonk work. The whole point of the deck is to assemble a lot of Gonks and smack yourself against anything that moves or breaths.

How to Play

Similar to 95% of druid combo decks, the first step is to ramp and gain armor. Cards such as Wild Growth, Nourish and Branching Paths are all great at bringing you into the late game faster. Once you have done this, the next goal is to draw into the cards needed for the combo, this being Gonk, the Raptor, Dreampetal Florist, cards to copy Gonk such as Prince Taldaram or Faceless Manipulator and as many cards that can increase your hero's attack, such as Pounce, Claw or Malfurion the Pestilent. From there drop the Dreampetal Florist and try to discount Gonk, the Raptor or the Faceless Manipulators. Then, once the opponent has any form of board, simply drop Gonk, copy him a bunch, give yourself a lot of attack, then clear the board and attack face with the remaining hits.

Match Ups

Similar to most other combo druids, this deck excels at killing slower decks, but due to a new expansion being out and not a lot of aggressive decks in the meta yet, I'm not sure how great the match ups for it is. Out of the two aggro decks I've played against (zoolock and Odd paladin), I was able to win both games by just controlling the board with a T7 Gonk and Pounce. I'll try to keep this area updated as I play more against other match ups.

Mulligan Guide

So in your mulligan hand the three types of cards we want to try finding are ramp, cycle or armor gain. As such Wild Growth, Nourish (if you have Wild Growth, Wrath are all typically great in the opening hand.

For aggressive decks, keeping removal such as Swipe or the Lesser Jasper Spellstone are all great for just keeping the enemy off the board. 

As for control, keeping slower ramp cards such as Nourish, Ultimate Infestation and Predatory Instincts are all good to make the deck run faster.

Substitutes

Of all the decks I've made, this is probably the most expensive ones but most of the cards can be substituted out.

Flobbidnous Floop and Prince Taldaram are both great for providing multiple gonks for cheap, but the cards can either be replaced for a Carnivorous Cube to provide more ways of making Gonks or more ways of keeping the board clear, such as Wrath, depending on whether you are seeing more aggro or control decks. 

Malfurion the Pestilent is a great card for not only keeping you safe, but it also provides a lot of attack for cheap. Because of this, the card is hard to replace, so I'd either run Gnash if you are not running Prince Taldaram and if you are, running more removal such as Wrath is always a good idea. Another interesting choice could be to also cut both Spreading Plagues for two Witching Hours and Wrath. This will turn Witching Hour into 3 mana summon a Gonk, the Raptor which is a really good rate.

Gonk, the Raptor is necesary, sorry if you wanted to try the deck without it. Granted, the cards kinda in the title so you should have expected it to be a main card.

Branching Paths and Ultimate Infestation are not needed for the deck, but not having them would make the deck function incredibly different. If you do not have them, I'd priorities making Ultimate Infestations as they are absurdly good for druid as a whole. Granted, the same applies for Branching Paths, but this card can just be replaced by either more removal or more ways to get on the board early such as Saronite Taskmaster

Dreampetal Florists and Faceless Manipulator are also both pretty important for the deck as both are important combo pieces. The Faceless Manipulators can be replaced by Carnivorous Cubes for a similar effect, but it takes more cards to make it work, whether it be Naturalize or Greater Jasper Spellstone.

Gameplay

So since someone made a video of this deck (first time I'm freaking out), here's some gameplay if you are interested in seeing the deck in action!

Final Verdict

Personally I have had good results with this deck. I was able to take it to 7-5 on a winstreak the entire way, and only once I got down to rank 4 did I start having issues with other decks. Granted this may just be because there is a new expansion and people are trying out worse decks (in a similar manner in how I took a Big Priest running Zerek, Master Cloner from rank 14 to rank 6 fairly easily during Boomsday launch). That being said, this deck is incredibly fun and if you have the cards for it, I'd recommend trying it. I think it can find some spot in the meta once it stabilizes, maybe not this exact list, but something along the lines of it.

Edit:

With the recent nerfs to Wild Growth and Nourish, I'm not sure how good this deck is going to be. It is significantly slower and depending on how the meta shapes up post-nerf, it might just be too slow. That being said, in the mean time I've cut the Wild Growths and a Nourish for Saronite Taskmasters to help cover for the early game (and doubling up by giving a body for Gonk to eat) and another Wrath. Not sure how good these changes will be in the long run, but it's kind of hard to scope out how druid will feel in general because the nerfs are essentially taking malfurion into the backyard and shooting his kneecaps.