Hearthpwn

HS Replay for this deck: https://hsreplay.net/decks/a6nhOwASYd66uSCVNtFlRb/#tab=overview

Hey Guys!

So, you've probably already seen my Token Druid V2.0. In that deck, I put my own spin on the already popular archetype. I was able to reach legend a few days into Rise of Shadows, and from the great feedback you guys gave, and over 50000 games played on HS Replay, It found its way into the meta.  

Over the past 7 days, however, the meta has changed dramatically. Tempo Rogue has risen, and Control Bomb Warriors have come together in an attempt to squash Token Druid as we know it. We must fight back stronger ladies and gentlemen. I took it upon myself to create the ultimate Token Druid deck, that anyone can play, and to reclaim the RoS throne for us Token Druid players once and for all. 

So here's a bit of background information about Token Druid V2.0:

-Lowest two winrates were against Rogue (49%) and Warrior (51%).

-Highest winrate against Hunter (69%)

-60% winrate against all other Token Druids.

VERSION 3.0

When I first began to formulate a V3.0 for the deck, I looked at the flaws in the list, and it's bad matchups. These were, as I mentioned: Rogue and Warrior. What I found was missing from the deck in order to overcome these two prominent classes was consistent board refill against Warrior, and a sharp enough opener to beat Rogue. (Yes, even if they coin SI:7 Agent on turn 2) 

What these two classes have in common are weapons, so Acidic Swamp Ooze was an auto-include. I even experimented with having 2 copies, but it seemed too wasteful of a slot, and it harmed the deck in other matchups.

For the board refills, Wispering Woods was an obvious choice, which I left out of the prevous version. Even though we don't have Keeper Stalladris, it's still easy enough to get 5 or 6 wisps on the board on turn 4, which is exactly what we're looking for.

On the aggressive side of things, i realised that Knife Juggler paired great with the newly added Wispering Woods, as well as all of the other swarm-type cards, like Microtech Controller and Landscaping. The excess in 2 drops in the deck means that you'll always be able to curve out on the early turns, which is vital for crushing any opponent.

GAMEPLAY

As gameplay goes, not a whole lot has changed from Version 2.0. The deck should feel a lot more consistent, and you should have a lot more steam when reaching the mid-game (turns 4-7). For late-game, we now have 2x The Forest's Aid, which means we can fill up the board four times thanks to twinspell, which is impossible for control warriors to deal with.

Against control classes like warrior, it's so important to play around board-clears, which i'll go into in further detail later on. This means holding onto certain cards in your hand if you think there's a chance your board could get wiped (like going into turn 5 vs priest - Mass Hysteria). If you manage to bait out all of the opponent's board clears, they'll have no answers when you consistently refill with tokens, and that gives you a perfect opportunity to Savage Roar, and OTK them. If you're careful to not over-extend on the board I can assure you that you'll have much more success playing the deck, or any aggro deck for that matter. 

MATCH-UP GUIDE

Here are some tips for playing against other top meta decks:

Tempo Rogue: You want to play as aggressively as you can in the early turns to make it impossible for them to come back. This means you're looking for Acornbearer, Dreamway Guardians, Landscaping, Argent Squire, Dire Wolf Alpha, Knife Juggler and Microtech Controller. You especially want Acidic Swamp Ooze, as this is the key to winning the matchup, and will improve your winrate against rogue massively. Drop it as soon as they play Waggle Pick, and you should also be able to send a minion back to their hand from its deathrattle. From there you should have enough tempo to steamroll them and win the game.

Control/Bomb Warrior: This deck has four board-clears; 2x Warpath and 2x Brawl. Playing around these is vital, and can be done by playing cards like Soul of the Forest and Eccentric Scribe, which give you value on board after your minions die. It's also very useful to have Acidic Swamp Ooze as well, as it can get rid of a Wrenchcalibur, Supercollider or a Weapons Project. For the mulligan, you'll want the same cards that I stated for rogue. You want to keep demanding an answer from the opponent with swarm cards like Wispering Woods, and once they're all out of board wipes, you drop The Forest's Aid and try to burst them down.

Murloc Shaman: Against other aggro decks, it's important to fight for board control. You almost never want to go face until you've clearly got possession of the board, by making value trades after using buffing spells like Blessing of the Ancients, Power of the Wild and Soul of the Forest. The mulligan is the same, but instead of looking for an ooze, you want a Swipe. It's great for killing an opponent Scargil on turn 4, or a Murloc Warleader and a few other smaller minions. 

Zoo Warlock: This is a harder matchup than murloc shaman, but the gameplay tips are roughly the same. It's important to try and get a board early, and Swipe gets some insane value as most of their deck is just 1-drops. Try and kill their Magic Carpet as early as possible, before it gets too much value. Use cards like Soul of the Forest to make favorable trades, and don't worry about over-committing to the board as they don't run any clears.

 

This deck is not meant to be a budget deck, but it just happens to be really cheap, with no legendaries (except Archmage Vargoth, which you get for free), so you probably already have all of these cards anyway. 

 

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, let me know down in the comments below. 

 

Jamie G  :)