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)
- Echo_
- Registered User
-
- 7
- 38
- 117
-
Battle Tag:
Echo#11883
-
Region:
US
-
Total Deck Rating
274
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.
well i liked this deck it's a lot of fun honestly mate! agreed with you bout Floop's Glorious Gloop. it may be good if you don't have any Dreampetal Florist, but with that card you can always discount your manacost to fit into 9 mana (if you discount Faceless Manipulator then full combo gonna be 7+0+1+1+0+0 and with 8 dmg on our face you only need 4 enemy minios to deal 32 dmg).
as for Ixlid, Fungal Lord and Prince Taldaram you don't need too much copy effects, cause they can just turn into dead weight in your hand till you wait for Gonk. 2 Faceless and Floop if enough. also Taldaram is gonna rotate out of standard soon and that's a good reason not to craft him
Won my first game trying this idea out with a slight different list, I cut the spreading plague's for a faceless and ixlid and the 2nd dreampetal florist for a witching hour. Easily the most fun win of opening day =P
When I was originally making this list, I was going to try making a Witching Hour because 6 mana to summon 2 Gonks is a lot easier than the current set up, but it just makes using Malfurion the Pestilent really messy. If you have all the beasts die, only 1/3rd of the time you will get a Gonk which can easily ruin the deck.
That being said, I'm glad you have enjoyed the deck!
0-16 so far, but I do believe in this deck
Gonk is just testing your devotion to him, don't worry.
mate wouldn't it be easier to use Faceless Manipulator rather than Carnivorous Cube? i mean you need to kill your cube somehow and you may not always have Naturalize in hand
Or Prince Taldaram for a clean 10 mana combo that can bank attacks to OTK
Originally I had 2 cubes and 1 Faceless and I ended up cutting the Faceless because it felt like there was too many effects to duplicate gonk, but I'll try it out with Facelesses instead of cubes. The big reason why I was initially using cubes is due to the fact you can clog up the board and more easily set up swing turns against opponents who don't have access to a silence, such as Spell hunters. A lot of the time I also ended up popping cubes with the Spellstone too, but I can definitely see where the issue comes from of having to need to pop it.
As for Prince Taldaram, he would be decent to use if you were to cut both Ferocious Howls for 1 Wrath and the Prince, I just don't have the card so it didn't really occur to me during deck building.
Ok, my previous comment disregarded, put in the Gloop legendary for mana and Prince Taldaram?