Hearthpwn

Been climbing the ladder for a couple months with decks like this. Stole some of the write-up from previous versions--I'm not sorry.  This was supposed to be Not Even An Epic Druid, but post nerf, it does really need a Branching Paths.

Its worst match-ups were Odd Pally and decks with lots of health gain like Control Druids and Shudderwock Shaman.  Now that those have all been nerfed, this deck should be stronger than ever.

 

The basic idea is to get out on the board early and make boards that are costly and/or difficult for your opponent to clear.  Unlike normal Token Druid, this deck doesn't really do the OTK-ish near-impossible to clear board fill that well.

Instead, you will fill the board CONSTANTLY.  More like Odd Pally with slightly bigger minions or Zoolock with a promote theme.  Get out early, take board control and maintain it.  When you get board control, trade liberally(but not stupidly).  This deck has SO MANY BODIES, you can trade more than them I promise.  There are lots of strong buffs from basically every class, so clearing out your opponents minions pretty much every turn makes it really hard for them to get their buffs in play effectively.  Knowledge about which buffs your opponent likely runs in his/her deck is VERY valuable for maintaining board control in this meta.  Think it through where you can.

Replicating Menace is quite good at punishing a Turn 5 Dragon's Fury or something similar.  Use Replicating Menace and Wargear to get chip damage or to go tall against decks that struggle with big minions.  Savage Roar and Power of the Wild are obviously for the finishing blow, but an early Savage Roar after The Coin+Microtech Controller can chunk out a good 12 damage if left unblocked by taunts (i.e. against Big Spell Mage).   ALWAYS look for those big 12+ damage chunks against mages and rogues.  Their health gain isn't great so each time you chunk them before AoE/Vanish clears the board is worth it.  Don't get discouraged at the second, third, or fourth big AoE board clear.  This deck has SO MANY BODIES, you will often draw more board fill than they will draw board clear.  Let them run out of board clears if you have to.

You want multiple good chunks against your opponents face, this doesn't have the  OTK-ish feeling that Token Druid sometimes has unless your opponent draws literally nothing to slow you down. I also tried running Soul of the Forest instead of the Nourish and Ultimate Infestation: it didn't suck, but I got wins easier this way.  With the lack of healing in the recent meta and with ramp druids getting nerfed, this strategy is stronger than ever.  Nourish is to be used for draw only.  ONLY.  Even if you put Ultimate Infestation in this deck.  DRAW ONLY.  I tried with Ultimate Infestation, believe me.  Draw only.  You have nothing high-cost you want.  It's for refill.  Ultimate Infestation helps A LOT with low-rolled hands in bad match-ups...but you're probably losing those anyway. Ultimate Infestation keeps you in the game and makes you FEEL like you have a good chance to pull this off, but statistically it did very little to actually win games for me so I cut it. Still, it has merit against control decks.

Prince Keleseth used to be in this deck.  He's surprisingly strong with the magnetic mechs ('cuz he totally needed to be STRONGER. Obviously). Bronze Gatekeeper becomes a +2/+6 for 3 mana while Wargear becomes a +6/+6 for 5 mana.  Replicating Menace will give your minion +4 attack for 4 mana like Blessing of Kings, with the added benefit of a deathrattle that makes recovering from board clears a lot easier. I ran this in an earlier version to Rank 5 a couple months ago.  Still viable, imo, if you like the Keleseth angle.

There's a lot of early high health early minions to survive Odd Mage's hero power, Odd Pally trades, and Zoolock.  If Odd Pally falls out of the meta, Druid of the Swarm and Amani Berserker can become something else.  Whirliglider did surprsingly well in other iterations of this deck.  The two bodies for two mana  AND mech synergy is definitely worth it.  Explodinator or Grim Necromancer for another board fill might be appropriate too, especially if more control decks become popular.  People like to leave the Goblin Bombs up--this makes it a great buff target that is mech-compatible.

 

Mulligan Strategy:

In general, you want 1 and 2 drops.  Against aggro, Mark of the Wild is great for asserting early board dominance and maybe Power of the Wild if you have plenty of bodies in hand.  That early buff makes your minions INCREDIBLY hard for your opponent to remove on 2-4 mana. 

Against control decks (mages especially) consider going tall with Upgradeable Framebot and look for Nourish.  They often only bring 2x Polymorph or 2x Voodoo Doll for single-target removal, so your 3rd big minion is a nightmare for them.  You will want to refill whenever you get a chance because you will often go 10-13 turns (in winning games) against control decks.  You don't need to keep the magnetic cards in the mulligan, but if you already have a 1 or 2 drop in hand as well as Upgradeable Framebot, it can be worth holding Replicating Menace to make sure you have an early buff AND AoE recovery.

 

 

"But Billy, you haven't mentioned Hunters once.  What's a Rasta-meta write-up without a Hunter section?" Hunters are different.  They need their own context. 

On Rasta Hunters:

Deathrattle Hunter plays like a control deck with the worst possible hand.  Mulligan for silence, use it early.  Don't give them a good Mind Control Tech.  EZ win 80%+

 Secrets/Hybrid/Spell Hunters will take some practice.  First, If a Hunter gets a fully charged spellstone and the deathknight near on-curve they will probably win.  Bet that's shocking to read.

But if their hand ISN'T perfect you can swing into traps if you do it right (you probably should not have been doing this so early already).  Swinging with your first 1 or 2 minions on turn 2 or 3 followed by a Microtech Controller, Tar Creeper, or Whirliglider + 1-drop takes away their secret advantage (ideally before Eaglehorn Bow) and gives you the board control.  If you can't follow-up to assert board dominance, leave the traps like you normally would until you are sure you can get through.  DON'T FORGET THE DEATHKNIGHT on or near Turn 6.  Rasta Hunters mulligan for it ambitiously, and it shows in the statistics.  It's basically Blizzard but without the freeze, so this deck is already well suited to play around it--so make sure you do. Get buffs in to get over 2 health, trade away low-health minions to get something out of them before the aoe, etc.  Replicating Menace can punish a too-greedy early deathknight by instantly refilling and giving you a good Power of the Wild and/or Savage Roar to get in a big chunk.

Silences are most useful for Phase 2: Deathstalker Rexxar.  They can get you past that yuuuge 8-mana Taunt monstrosity on your winning turn with enough mana for both Savage Roars.

Hunters with the early deathknight will likely overwhelm you eventually.  Take advantage of their limited mana if they're using the build-a-beast often by getting your buffs and taunts in play.  This will give them more things they need to do to clear your board and reduce the likelihood they can build all the requisite abilities into their beasts before you get your Savage Roar opportunity.  It will also make it harder for them to deal with your growing board on limited mana.  Again, you don't want to go into long games against any Hunters.

Spellstones are tough.  If you play out to the board well enough early, this is usually manageable.  Tar Creeper goes a long way in this match-up, I often keep it on the mulligan.  If you get hit by a good Explosive Trap early, stop triggering traps and just prepare for the spellstone turn.

Lastly, Hunters do a lot of buffing now.  Clear out their beasts whenever you can.  You can fill an empty board faster than them (usually), so ending the turn on an empty board isn't as bad as it feels.

 

 

 

Oh, and Mark of Nature.  Try it.  Seriously.  Fungalmancer damage for 3 mana.  You essentially lose a 2/2 for 2 so that you can Fungalmancer for 3 mana. I like those four words: "Fungalmancer for three mana".  Also, you only need one body on the board, not two. Try it.  (Also, the taunt one is good against Odd Pally, but you WANT to use for the damage)

Edits-Formatting/clarity, added Mulligan section, Hunters Discussion.