Hearthpwn

I started playing a slightly different list than I finished with. I got the original list from another article here, 'Not Another Renowock! by fabjx, near the end of the prior season. I played it then from Gold 3 to Diamond 1 full stars. I lost that game in my one shot during the final days of last season, as well as several matches to follow and did not have time to get back to rank 1 full stars to try again.

Then I started this season with the same 'Not Another Renowock' by fabjx list and played it to Diamond 3 before switching some cards out. My record with the old build (while the tracker was on) was 68.3% over 41 games recorded between Gold 10 of the prior season and Diamond 3 of the new one.

After I made changes from that list to this one, my record was 83.3% over 12 games from Diamond 3 to Legend. No, not a statistically significant sample for this list (nowhere near 30 games), but it did perform better for me than the earlier list, which was a statistically significant sample of 41.  It got me to Legend, so, here it is.

Its neither a brainless nor a brain surgery deck, so for those who like to think through their strategies, but not have to make 20-40 complex mana-cheated plays in one turn, this may be for you. My goal writing this guide is NOT to convince anyone that its a be-all, end-all climber, but my experience with it was great, and I can share the important things I learned so that if you are playing it for the first time, you don't have to learn the hard way.

Even though this is the FIRST deck I have piloted to Legend, I would give the same advice on crafting as with my many fun, theory crafted decks of mine listed here in the past... don't go dusting everything and shelling out all your dust to make this if you do not have most of the cards. There are many, many Renowock builds and you can certainly sub things.  I list potential subs at the end of the card section.

The obvs, they need little explanation except that for Zephrys, the Great, when his battlecry is duplicated by other cards in the list (all of them), you do NOT get to choose... the computer chooses. I can't say how random that is, but it seems to favor cards you can cast that turn, so, be aware of that.

Also, for Zephrys the Great, he is your only card generator to deal with secrets and weapons. The meta is so diverse at the moment, that as tech, none of the weapon or secret removal is as consistently needed as other tech cards in the deck. Of course, you might lose a game here or there to those types of builds, but if you are able to hold him (or duplicate him) for those types of answers, you will also win some, so, just be aware.

With his claim to always have your perfect card, Perfect Tommy is obviously BB's Zephrys the Great.

John Lithgow's Dr. Lizardo, 'possessed' by the 8th dimension's John Worfin, makes a great Shudderwock!  If you don't know this card, you probably have not been playing long enough to have the cards to make this list. Technical things to know are that he is limited to duplicating a total of 30 battlecries. The other cards in the deck are mostly battlecry cards, so the later you play them, the more you get out of them.

Little known tidbit: Shudderwock identifies as they/them, given they are connected to so many other cards.  Dr. Lizardo HAS multiple personalities, but of course, that isn't the same thing at all, and he identifies as Lord!  The jaws that... the claws that... ah, criminy, I'm such a monkey boy, I can't even remember! I mean its not like its a line from one of the most entertaining cult classic movies of the 80s, lol.

Shudderwock will stop generating battlecries if one of them kills him, transforms him, or returns him to your hand. None of the cards in this deck will do that normally (there are no transforms, no random destruction or damage, and no self bouncing effects). The edge case is if you choose a creature with an earlier Zephrys the Great that has one of those, so be aware of that when choosing, or when playing one randomly generated by Brilliant Macaw.

For those who may know of it but have not played it a lot, because Shudderwock's battlecries occur in a random order from the order they were originally played, it is not always possible to predict if desired combos of battlecries will occur from triggering in the best order.

Among the most powerful combinations are to have the Saronite Chain Gang effect trigger (making a second copy) followed by either a Zola the Gorgon effect or Grumble, Worldshaker. Both can put another Shudderwock into your hand, and the latter one will cost only 1 mana, so, can be played immediately after the first if desired when at full mana. There are other possible combos, but this one is probably the most powerful one consistently.

As a win con, the better you track all possible battlecries, the better you can predict the outcome. This is also important for tracking if it might win you the game (or keep you in it) just by being played. For example, Lifedrinker deals 3 damage and restores 3 life to your hero. Tracking certain damage like that, and possible damage from random battlecries (like from Bru'kan of the Elements to understand both the definite and possible reach of Shudderwock.

You will also want to have a sense of whether your opponent's deck type runs Dirty Rat and Mutanus and track that to gain a sense of how safe you are to hold it in a light hand, and whether to hold minions to protect it (at the expense of adding their battlecries to the stack).

Speaking of Shudderwock interactions and 'possible' battlecries, it is important to know that Brilliant Macaw's battlecry, when triggered by Shudderwock, will act the way Brilliant Macaw does and trigger the most recent battlecry played before Shudderwock, NOT whatever battlecry was originally duplicated by it. So you may want to track and exploit that also, especially if you have a good 1 drop from Grumble, Worldshaker to play first.

If Lithgow's Lizardo/Worfin is the deck's centerpiece, Christopher Lloyd's John Bigboote ("That's Bigboo-tay!") is his dutiful henchman, Riff-Raff to his Frankenfurter.

This card is brilliant in a highlander deck. It essentially becomes a second copy (with a 3/3 body) of any other battlecry card, including legendary ones like Zephrys the Great. Always remember your most recent battlecry. And consider if (at times) it may be wise to hero power and pass, or play a non-battlecry card and pass, if getting that second battlecry a turn or two later is better than your other options.

As mentioned in the earlier spoiler, important to know that any discover battelcries will randomly discover (you do not pick from the cards offered, the computer does and you will not even see them). When you play it after Shudderwock, it does what Shudderwock does, but starting with a 3/3 body instead of a 6/6 body.

Penny Priddy, played by a young and beautiful Ellen Barkin, is an identical twin, so she makes a great Zola!  This card, similar to Brilliant Macaw, allows you to duplicate other cards in play to your hand (and they are shiny!).  That battlecry goes on the stack for Shudderwock, and then the battlecry of the creature duplicated becomes available to you again when it is played from hand, also adding to the Shudderwock stack. Or, you can play Zola after Shudderwock to get another one.  Versatile!

Note, this card is very versatile, and, also like Brilliant Macaw, should not be held too greedily. Tailor what you want from it to what your deck needs most in the matchup.

For example, in many matchups, the Dirty Rat effect or the Mutanus are critical, either for disruption or, sometimes, to even have a chance to win.

Or, just play it on anything, to get it out of hand and its effect on the stack.  Its one of those which, in combination with Saronite Chain Gang, can put another Shudderwock in your hand when you play that, or a second copy of any of your other minions on the board, if the random timing works out.

I should add, this is a good third play on a turn that starts with Bolner Hammerbeak if your hand has room.  In that scenario, she will trigger the second card played's battlecry a 3rd time that turn, and if you have mana to replay it as a 4th card, it will then trigger two more, one from itself, and one from Bolnar.

BB's New Jersey, played by Jeff Goldblum, has the beak for Bolner and science is his hammer, earning him an invitation to the team.  This is a Shaman class card that becomes a slightly tweaked version of Brann Bronzebeard.  While it is obviously best played in a turn you can follow it with at least one battlecry, it is well statted, as a 1/4 for just two mana, and while it becomes an instant magnet for removal if played too soon, that does make it a great soft 'taunt' saving you another 4 life, or one of your other minions from a destruction effect.

Although it has no battlecry of its own, it will trigger the first battlecry played each turn a second time, from itself.  For example, if you play Snowfall Guardian as the first battelcry on a turn Bolner Hammerbeak is in play, after Snowfall Guardian finishes its battlecry (freezing everything else and buffing), Bolner Hammerbeak will then act like he has the same battlecry, freezing the rest of the board (including your new Snowfall Guardian) and buffing itself.

This effect is especially interesting when the second and later battlecry cards are played, as if you have inexpensive battlecry cards to play, once they trigger theirs (one that stacks from the true battlecry, and one that does not from Bolner), Bolner Hammerbeak will trigger the first one played that turn again for each additional natural battlecry. He becomes like an echo effect for the first battlecry, allowing short chains of expensive battlecries for cheap. 

So if the first battlecry triggered is Zephrys the Great, you get his, Bolner's, and one more for each additional battlecry minion played with the six mana remaining. (you can get several of these, with varied results as the mana available drops!). You can also get one from bouncing the first Zephrys with Zola, and replaying it will get you two more, with 1 mana left for a possible fifth!

Note, as the only 'mana cheat' in the current list is via Grumble, Worldshaker, the only other way to follow this with Shudderwock is to keep The Coin so you have 11 mana available. Obviously, don't be greedy about holding The Coin for this, just saying, be aware if you want that option. Its not always good to play multiple Shudderwocks on one turn anyway; depends on the battlecries loaded and needed.

Caveat: as this was one of the cards I swapped into the original list for the last 12 games only, there may be interactions I have not encountered. If you run into any really good or bad ones, please comment and let me know! I can tell you that while this works in the deck on its own, its 'battlecries' are triggered effects, not true battlecries. They will not stack for Shudderwock. But the card is still capable of some heavy lift shenanigans on its own. Just don't count on the additional battlecries from Fozzy Bear's wocka wocka wocka.

Like others in this list, the card is a powerful battlecry multiplier. By returning your minions to hand AND reducing their cost to just 1, you can reuse them easily to set up chains with Bolner Hammerbeak and/or stack them (again) for use by Shudderwock or Brilliant Macaw.

As one of the most powerful cards in the deck, with super stats for 6 mana and a tremendously OP battlecry, one that sets up the other Legendaries for insanity, this card is our Buckaroo Banzai! Brain surgeon, rock star, scientist, and leader of a team of crimefigthers. Like Buckaroo Banzai, Grumble, Worldshaker is a leader in this deck, calling on the many members of his team to rise to each occasion and maximizing their utility.

This is the only pure 'silence' card in the deck. We do not run Devolving Missiles because it is Arcane, not Nature and random, not targeted. We do not run Hex, which is Nature and targets, but is too expensive in the already costly curve. One other advantage of Earth Shock is that it does deal 1 pt of damage. Though minor, this can be important. Against Pirate Warrior, it may be best to hold this for a turn three Southsea Captain or Defias Cannoneer rather than spend it on killing a 1/1 or 2/1, although the choice depends on a lot of variables.

While not a true Silence card, this is often used to that very purpose. It can potentially remove taunt from a board full of Spreading Plague's 1/5 Taunt Locusts (a common problem against most Druid builds) and is one of the decks only ways to mess with a Resurrect Priest's minions (besides Hex from Zephrys the Great, or any other board containing either trouble deathrattles or tribal synergies.

The one non-Nature spell in the trio, this draw card will get you up to two of your three Murlocs. As such, the math on this card is important to remember.

If you have drawn none of your Murlocs, you have a 2 in 3 chance of getting Mutanus, whether you need him or not. As there are three possible combinations of two cards, and only one of the combinations is free from Mutanus, you have only a 1 in three chance of getting the board clearing combo of Toxfin and Firemancer Flurgl.

Keep that in mind when choosing between playing Ice Fishing or dealing with removing board threats via other options in hand. It is also a deck thinner, which loses that capability over time, creating some urgency to play it.

Of course, you should play Ice Fishing as early as safely possible, when you have 0 or 1 in hand, just to thin the deck to increase access to other useful cards, unless you prefer to hold the spell to protect those cards from Mutanus and Dirty Rat. But the longer you hold it, the lower the odds of its thinning power/drawing power being maxed. Plus, even if they are Rat/Mutanus targets, in hand, they help protect your other larger cards from those.

One of the best board clear options available to Shaman. A two card, three mana combo, it clears the enemy's board (assuming no deathrattles or reborn effects spawn more).

As they are accompanied in the list by Mutanus, this makes Ice Fishing unreliable for pulling that combo until one of the other two have been drawn.  See the Ice Fishing spoiler for the math on the odds.

A key Meta card. Good not only against Quest decks if their owner triggers the final reward before they can play it same turn, but also to take out key combo pieces (e.g.: any minion in a resurrection deck, any deathrattle card, like a Prime, a Mecha'thun, etc.). As a rarely capitalizable bonus, it can also trigger the earlier Murloc combo a second time if it survived in play. You sometimes need to get this battlecry off more than once to really have a chance, such as with Warlock, Rez Priest, Druid and some buff or menagerie Paladins.

Essential Meta Tech. Key to mulligan for this against matchups which we know rely on certain battlecries. Or even just certain minions they prefer to time the play of, which we want to force out and deal with. Like their Mutanus. Can be helpful to delay a minion based quest from processing.

I'll say right up front, if you don't like this card, feel free to sub it out.  It was one of the changes that helped improve my win rate, but I am going to experiment with Ivus, the Forest Lord in its place soon. 

Murloc agro is not super common, but Shaman is & almost all Shamans run the same three Murlocs in this list. Many decks/classes run Mutanus, so, it is unlikely to be a complete waste, as either a way to destroy it, or a sandbagged card that gets eaten as a whiff, protecting your others.  Even against pure agro decks that do not run Mutanus, its a fast drop (if you got stuck with it on Mulligan). Plus, it can always follow the first battlecry after Bolner Hammerbeak to be a third in a chain.

Pirate Warrior is still common after the Quest nerf. And Shadow Priest runs several pirates as well. Even some Rogue builds have one or more pirates. As with Hungry Crab, even when no pirates are present, it can easily follow the first battlecry after Bolner Hammerbeak to trigger a third in a chain.

The freeze effect helps control the board, while the draw helps replace the minion card played. In the event Shudderwock does not bounce any playable minions, this gives you a 1 cost spell you can play the same turn, if desired.

It is a drawless, conditional fan of knives, and the 4 toughness makes it a little sticky. Can be a good card to chain off shenanigans.

Helps blunt the onslaught when they overcommit; a bit random, but can sometimes be followed with Battlecry bucket shenanigans to take still more. After Bolner, you could even swipe almost half of their board, if you have room.

An unconditional Bunker Sergeant with taunt and big health. Also repeatable with shenanigans.

An obvious play in support of Shudderwock, but with Bolner Hammerbeak, its wording will create a second Bolner Hammerbeak, and if followed, a third.

Useful delay/threat combo which can even lock the opponent's board sometimes, especially if repeated on subsequent turns via synergy bucket shenanigans. Important to know that with Bolnar, you end up with a fully (persistently) frozen board... so, figure that in if playing that shenanigan.  Same if you play a second Shudder in the same turn as a first one after this battlecry effect is stacked.

Board sweep potential, shenanigans possible. 

AoE, life, defense, direct damage options all in one. Shenanigans possible with Bolner Hammerbeak and Shudderwock. If you have not used this before, the hero power swaps randomly each turn from 1 of the 4 powers chosen from (as battlecries), to one of the others.

If the battlecry is repeated via shenanigans, they are chosen randomly by the computer (2 of the 4), so, a 50/50 chance of any one particular power you may need, but only a 1 in 8 chance of getting 2 specific ones you may need.

The random effect on a Shudderstack can result in elemental taunts that may steal your desired Shudderwock target from Zola, or put extra 1 costers in hand from Grumble, its worth the risk for all the other game saving and finishing potential.

Note, for both stack considerations and just turn to turn use of hero powers, the fire element combined with whichever element heals is effectively at least half of a Lifedrinker.  Each triggered hero battlecry only has a 50/50 chance of hitting the 6 damage to the enemy or the heal, but if shenanigans let you get this off twice, that will tend toward what a Lifedrinker does once.  So when you play any series of Bru'kan of the Elements, Shudderwock, Brilliant Macaw (and maybe a few other battlecry duplicators, like say Bolner then Macaw) you get a combination of damage and heals over time that have a similar effect to multiple Lifedrinker battlecries, but with other 'bonuses' along the way.

Fetches one of your three spells, and, if that was a Nature Spell, an elemental. You available Elementals for fetching are:

• Zephrys the Great,
• Steelbreaker,
• Earth Revenant,
• Snowfall Guardian
• Grumble, Worldshaker.

Be aware when Ice Fishing is the only spell left, especially if you have already drawn one or both of the three murlocs, as if you have 8 mana, you can play this, follow it with Ice Fishing, then clear the enemiy board with the two Murloc combo.

3 pts of healing, damage and 3/3 stats in one thing that synergizes is solid. Its most lucrative use would be shenanigans. Bolner Hammerbeak followed by Life Drinker, and any 2 other minions would deal and restore 12 damage. More is possible if using cost reduced ones from Grumble, Worldshaker

Essential Tech against spellcasters. Shenanigans possible, and sometimes one of the best paths to victory, depending on matchup.

An ok 1 drop, but later in the game, can help trigger the Bolner Hammerbeak shenanigans or start them off to chain a bunch of armor.  You can always remove what you give the opponent with Platebreaker.

Key to winning against common Druid builds, useful also any Warrior, against Reno Paladins converting life to armor early or vs. anyone you have given armor too from Armor Vendor.

There are just some matchups almost unwinnable without this. Most decks play around it, with few or no 1 cost cards. But some rely on them. Shaman can Unstable Evolution you to death, Rogue can Togwaggle's Scheme Coldlight Oracles to mill you, Warlock and Druid use key 1 cost spells at times to trigger fatal deathrattles, and so on. It can hit your Earth Shock and/or any Windchill you may have held onto from Sleetbreaker, but if you know Wild at all, you should have a sense of when that is worth it.

A card that can be slow to dead, if you want something more consistent and faster, I suggest Living Dragonbreath as a sub.  Although not a battlecrier, it will always help you surprise attack with any of your self frozen (or enemy frozen) minions and it can drop earlier, if needed.  Other good potential follow this spoiler.

Druid: Most of these will be Guff based for shenanigans as soon as they get their mana up, but there are multiple variants, and sometimes they are combined. C'thun decks announce themselves. Mecha'thun decks do not as much. Malygos decks may not either. All of these have vulnerabilites to Dirty Rat and Mutanus, and to Loatheb (especially with Shenanigans to repeat and multiply). These are key mulligans against most druids.

There are however, agro Druids who will be aggressive early... to prep for that, you want Ice Fishing, or Primal Dungeoneer, and maybe any one of the list's three Red Lectoids, er, uh Murlocs (so Ice Fishing will get the others).

Skulking Geist can be a keep here if you have other playables and suspect its not agro druid[/card]. 

Hunter: The two most common variants of Hunter on my climb were Quest and Secret oriented.  Quest is the bigger challenge for this deck.  The first list I played had Far Watch Post, and Quest Hunter seems like one of the main matchups that miss it. 

Zephrys the Great is a good keep against both Quest and Secret Hunter, as is Reno Jackson. Dirty Rat is good, too, either as an early play for presence (and maybe to snag Barak Kodobane or to hold to try and snag Tavish (though they usually play around it).  I have also seen and defeated Beast-centric non-quest hunter decks, but not as often as the first two archetypes mentioned.

Mage: Time Warp mage has diminished, thankfully, since the nerfs. Secret Mage is still strong, but can be played around with some luck. Dirty Rat, Loetheb and Ice Fishing (or Primal Dungeoneer) can be good starts.  Mages get a lot harder to beat once Jaina gets played, so I find it helpful to mulligan toward an agro-ish start if possible, and adapt if it does not work out that way.

In Mage matchups, Earth Shock often becomes your second (or only) The Coin, to try and pop Counterspell, especially since silence does nothing to Jaina's persistent lifesteal aura effect on elementals.

Paladin: Dirty Rat is good against almost all pally decks (though a little dangerous if they are trying to mana cheat big stuff out). If you think it might be Libram Paladin or the paladin that slings out Knife Juggler and others, Earth Shock, Devolve (or Primal Dungeoneer to get one of them) are good.

Be aware several pally builds will play to mana hose you with either Far Watch Post or Nerub'ar Weblord (or both) which is why your spells are key. You will need Zephrys the Great at some point, likely to deal with Cariel's weapon (try to have room in hand to pick Harrison Jones if you don't have to settle for Acidic Swamp Ooze).

Priest: Shadow Priest is toxic to this deck, one of the few agro decks that can kill it before it can even get a Reno Jackson off with The Coin. Unless you luck into a slow open for them, its trouble. Devolve is likely the card you need most besides just playable minions (dropped with little regard for their battlecry, as there is no time).

The murloc combo (or a lucky Ice Fishing) is also good. You will still have to draw Reno Jackson (or a rare combination of other board stalling and life gaining options). If you DO have Reno and coin, do your best to stay alive without using the coin so you can Reno on t5. Remove anything you can, but prioritize cannons and more costly minions (anything 2 or 3 cost). This is because they can and will Raise Dead, so, you want them paying more to recast stuff to slow their roll down slightly.  This may cost you some life from what you leave out up front, but as a resource, if you have or get Reno, that wont matter as much as that you slowed their rez's down. 

Ideally, you need to stay above 10 if they have done any discovering, as two Mindblasts will finish you fast.  If they have three, sayonara, lol.

Rez priest is also very hard, and one of the few matchups where Dirty Rat before Turn 8 is not any good. The only strategy the deck really has that has worked for me is to agro out of the gate best you can.  Play things efficiently but try to squeeze in a Zephyrs that can pull multi-minion buffs (usually Power of the Wild first) followed by cards like Brilliant Macaw or Zola (or preceded by Bolnar) to get more than one and build toward a fast agro-style win. Works best if you get a lucky Earth Shock or Devolve in hand to break through a taunt, about the same time you are ready to Savage Roar or Bloodlust to kill them fast. 

Zephyrs' Hex and one Devolve alone are not likely to be enough to do more than slow things, which is why that fast agro-ish strategy can set up Earth Shock, Devolve or the Murloc poison sweep combo (or two out of that three in subsequent turns after Zephyrs buffs the board) to actually pay off.  This same strategy, Plan A against any big taunt cheater (any class), can be a good go-to against other slow decks once you learn the cards needed for it, too.

Rogue: The most difficult Rogue decks I faced either try to cheat crazy deathrattles early, or try to mill you by bouncing Coldlight Oracles and loading even more with cards like Togwaggle's Scheme. For both of these, Dirty Rat and Mutanus are friends, Mill Rogue in particular, you need access to their hand, as they will bounce them to protect them. You either need to force their tricks to drop where you can destroy them (or for Deathrattle cheats, silence or transform them, first).

Skulking Geist will help with mill, if you can get it off before they use the scheme. Save coin to coin into it if you can. There are also decks that use bouncy tricks to try and get The Caverns Below active. Your same cards can slow their plan while you build up enough minions and chip damage to Zephrys into a Savage Roar, Bloodlust or other finishing stroke.

Shaman: There are both Reno and non-Reno Shamans out there. The non-Reno's will often work to do most of what you can, but with less variability. And then there are murloc shamans. Its difficult to know which ones to focus on. For both most of the mulligans that are good for agro in general are good. Particular keeps are anything that builds toward early board control, presence, sweep or tribal disruption.

For the ones that are battlecry focused, they can be better at your own game, so, just play with their end game in mind and do anything you can to slow them.

Shaman also has some combo decks that seek to cheat out large, rattle minions. Like rez priest, unless you can transform them or use a Zephrys/Brilliant Macaw opening to build a rapid board, and have an Earth Shock or Devolve to slip past taunt for the kill, you will likely lose.

Warlock: You have to mulligan thinking Warlock could be either Demon Rez, Deathrattle abuse, Handlock, some form of Zoo/disco or any combination of those, lol. They are all out there. This is one of the few classes where the Reno cards are not much good early, they are better mid to late (except for straight up handlock, where Zephrys is better early than late).  Hand disruption is key, but requires good timing, and some of these builds run their own black & red Lectoids (Rat/Mutanus). 

This is probably favored toward Warlock overall, but not as terrible a matchup as Shadow Priest or Quest Hunter.  Right behind those, probably, depending which of the above you are up against, how soon you figure it out, and whether you can do anything or not.  The agro-ish alternative usually is not an option here just because Warlock has so much removal across all builds.  Skulking Geist is a good keep (with some early plays kept, too), to neuter Warlocks best cheap removal spells.

Warrior: As much trouble as many had with Pirate Warrior, this build can usually handle it. It wont be fast, usually, unless the luck is all on your side. But as long as you can stay alive and gradually stack your battlecries, especially Reno's, Bru'kan's and any similar ones from shenanigans, you will eventually win most of these.

The exceptions for me were when they got lucky on a Mr. Smite draw or drop, or on a Gorehowl random weapon. Its most important to always be keeping the board as clear as possible, (with the exception of using Dirty Rat to slow their trigger options, if possible), and to think ahead as to how you will deal with Defias Cannoneer, Southsea Captain, and Captain Rokara when she drops.

Use life gaining options like you know Mr. Smite and a Gorehowl are on the way, knowing that you have shenanigans to get them again. Don't forget the life gain possible from Bolner Hammerbeak tricks too, like chained Armor Vendor.

Demon Hunter: I saved this for last as I honestly haven't seen much of it. Sorry, can't help much on that one. I guess I need to stop writing this article and play at Legend ranks now to find out!