Hearthpwn

Mecha'thun!

Maybe I'm just having bad luck with my draws, but even against aggro where this is supposed to shine I am getting steamrolled at rank 5.  Can't win a game.  The whole one mana minion/carpet package just seems really hard to pull off.  I like the idea of this style of priest though, i'm just not sure if it can work.

Hello ababyduck, 

well to be quite fair, I've kept playing the list and I'm around something like 52 or 53 % winrate out of 30 games at rank 5 in standard ladder, which clearly shows that this list is far from being a high tier one in the current meta. I wouldn't recommend it in this state for players who wish to climb the ladder in a fast way, I've decided to share it because I've had fun with it and I figured other priest fans might like it too. 

However, concerning aggro matchups, I think it remains decent, considering you have access to many tools to remove early boards. I have good winrates against murloc shaman and zoolock for instance, but the list struggles against rogue, because it doesn't run any ooze or harrisson. 

The games I managed to win against aggro usually followed the same scheme, you fight for early board control, you eventually reach a turn where you cleaned his minions and you still have one taunt alive on board. Usually when that happens, you have one or two 1-mana copies in your deck created by the spirit, and from this turn, your opponent will have a really hard time to get past your taunts. You can see it as a "snowball" gameplan. Don't hesitate to setup your spirits for your next turns, you can play one on turn 3 if you have hecklebot in hand and another taunt for turn 5 for instance ! Playing carpet on curve is usually hard for them to deal with, and if you have lackeys in your hand you have some spicy turns to turn the tables. 

I'm still trying to work on the list, I've tried to add one mass hysteria to target conjurer's mage, but I do hear you and I'll try to edit it later today with better changes to try and make the list more consistent. 

SHIIIIITYYYYYYY

Hello OnlyPriestPlayer ( I like that nickname ! :d ) ,

well there are a few subs that can fit in madame lazul's place. I'd say it depends on which matchups you'd like to improve, for instance, you could add another Shadow Word: Pain to have yet another remove tool against aggro lists, or you could try to replace lazul with another value cards that you'll want to use mainly against slower lists. The card with the most similar effect I can think of would be Chameleos but if you don't have it it's no problem, as other value cards can fit. Maybe the new Shadowy Figure could be a good sub, I haven't tried it in the list, but the deathrattles you have there, especially convincing infiltrator could work pretty well with this card. 

Anyways, Madame Lazul is not really a key card in the list, to be honest I've included it mainly to try and steal Dr.Boom hero cards from my warrior opponent, but it's quite situationnal. Since the effect of the card is quite unique, but not core to the list, pretty much any low cost card could fit there, you can either try a small removal spell, or add another minion to have more chances to draw them. 

 I just thought about the new neutral minion called EVIL Cable Rat, obviously its effect is quite diffrent from lazul's one, but I think it works well with the gameplan of the list, and gives you access to a 1-mana lackey that will get proced with magic carpet. This minion has some poor stats, but its effect can offer you some value trades, and might even be better than lazul in some games. 

If you have other questions, feel free to ask ! :) This deck works decent against aggro, but has a hard time against hard control lists, maybe adding a way to draw cards instead of lazul would be a good idea, try it out and let me know how it goes ! 

what is a good substitute for madame lazul;