Hearthpwn

So with the rotation in a couple of weeks some of my favourite cards will be leaving Standard, namely Mogu Cultist and Shadow Sculptor.

I've tried making the Highkeeper Ra combo work in just about every Rogue shell possible, mainly utilising the draw engines of the Stealth package (with Greyheart Sage) and the Ticket package (with Ticket Master and Stowaway), sometimes in the same deck, but Rogue's complete absence of board wipes generally leaves you in a precarious position in the late game if your opponent starts to flood the board. I've tried teching in Animated Broomstick and Lake Thresher, I've ran Patient Assassin alongside them for extra removal etc etc. Its always the same story.

So here I am, with the rotation looming and finally a list I'm happy with. The idea is to draw our deck with Shadow Sculptor and Secret Passage while keeping the board relatively clear with Pen Flinger, Prize Plunderer and our removal spells (Coerce, Backstab, Brain Freeze, Fan of Knives and whatever we can pull from Wand Thief). There are many nuances to the deck which I couldn't possible cover in a quick guide but I'll list a few things that should help:

Although the deck's main wincon is summoning Highkeeper Ra, there are times when you are better off using your Shadow of Death on something big, just be aware of your matchup and don't get caught drawing all of your shadow minion into a board wipe. The same goes for Togwaggle's Scheme, sacrificing part of the combo for adding a high impact minion into your deck may be a better choice.

The combo requires 4 cards (minimum) and can be done from 9-mana, it also requires your deck to be empty*, your board to be empty (unless you have Daring Escape) and is done over 2 turns (unless you have Preparation and Swindle or Fan of Knives); Mogu Cultist, Shadow of Death x2 and Shadowstep or Daring Escape are needed to summon the big man, you will also need Togwaggle's Scheme to add extra copies into your deck for a never ending stream of destruction. Knowing your matchup will help you decide which route you want to take.

If you have the combo in hand then burning your deck is often a recommended play, just make sure not to burn yourself too far into fatigue. 

Shadow Sculptor and/or Secret Passage are imperative for emptying our deck so keeping one or both in your mulligan is recommended against slower decks. Against aggro Secret Passage can be kept but Shadow Sculptor is far too slow. Against aggro you also want to be looking for removal options and probably Wand Thief as she can offer board wipes.

Against Tickatus Warlock you win by throwing Shadow of Death at their Envoy Rustwix, it isn't uncommon to fill your deck with 20+ primes as Kanrethad Prime will keep bringing back your Rustwix's. Togwaggle's Scheme on Tick will put the corrupted version into your deck allowing you to burn their deck, but this is a lot slower and not as effective. However it is worth knowing.

*Theoretically it will be possible to start the combo without an empty deck using Daring Escape to return the Mogu Cultist cards to your hand, however I have yet to try that method and am unsure of which machups it would benefit. For example, you have 1 card in your deck and you cast 2x Shadow of Death on your Mogu Cultist,  you can then play card draw if possible to put your Mogus into play until the chain is stopped by the last card in your deck. Play Daring Escape, then next turn play the Mogus from hand to summon Highkeeper Ra. This would allow you to get the combo off a turn earlier if you have already used both Preparation.

Anyway, get out there before it's too late and enjoy the borderline erotic beauty of zapping your opponent for 20 with Hearthsone's greatest boy, Highkeeper Ra.

Edit: Replaced 2x Foxy Fraud and 1x Dirty Tricks for 2x Armor Vendor and 1x Zephrys the Great. This is to increase our odds against aggro and to give better synergy with Daring Escape and Secret Passage.