Hearthpwn

Update: A new series of instructional videos is being added for Season 21, check back within 24hrs (Dec 28th).

 

Holy 4000 - S21 - Instructional Part 01 (vs Warlock Mage and Paladin)

Holy 4000 - S21 - Instructional Part 02 (vs Druid Warlock and Paladin)

Holy 4000 - S21 - Instructional Part 03 (vs 3 Mages and Warlock)

 

< - Past season videos below - > 

 

Holy 4000 - S19 - Instructional Part 01 (vs Secret Paladin)

Holy 4000 - S19 - Instructional Part 02 (vs Secret Paladin)

Holy 4000 - S19 - Instructional Part 03 (vs Tempo Mage)

Holy 4000 - S19 - Instructional Part 04 (vs Tempo Mage)

Holy 4000 - S19 - Instructional Part 05 (vs Secret Paladin)

 

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional part 01 (vs Tempo Mage)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional part 02 (vs Control Priest)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional part 03 (vs Firestorm 3.0 Mage)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional part 04 (vs Aggro Hunter)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional part 05 (vs Patron Warrior)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional part 06 (vs Tempo Mage)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional part 07 (vs Ramp Druid)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional part 08 (vs Control Hunter)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional Part 09 (vs Handlock)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional Part 10 (vs Control Pally)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional Part 11 (vs Demonlock)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional Part 12 (vs Midrange Hunter)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional Part 13 (vs Midrange Hunter)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional Part 14 (vs Control Warrior)

Holy 4000 - S16 - Instructional Part 15 (vs Freeze Mage)

MarineKing replies to questions and comments about Holy 4000 Priest deck (no gameplay)

 

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Instructional part 01 (vs Control Priest)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Instructional part 02 (vs Demonlock)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Instructional part 03 (vs Ramp Druid)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Instructional part 04 (vs Midrange Paladin)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Instructional part 05 (vs Shockadin)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Demo part 01 (vs Oil Rogue)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Demo part 02 (vs Mech Mage)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Demo part 03 (vs Mech Shaman)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Demo part 04 (vs Aggro Druid)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Demo part 05 (vs Ramp Druid)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Demo part 06 (vs Ramp Druid)

Season 15 - Holy 4000 - Demo part 07 (vs Control Warrior)

Most cards should be fairly obvious, so I'm only going over a couple of cards choices that might seem strange.

 

We are going to be running 1x Silence because it's a 0 cost card with a guaranteed value in any matchup that will aid in getting the better trades early. It is essential that we have the stronger board in the early game, so using a silence even for a small threat (such as creeper or Juggler) is fine. Remember, we are going to be winning the game by having higher value minions, so you don't have to sit on Silence waiting for a huge play later. The other reason for Silence is because Sylvanas has become really popular. Sylvanas currently is the 2nd most played legendary in the game (after Dr.Boom). If you use Silence on Sylvanas, you are basically saving your own minion and denying an enemy minion all for 0 mana. Silence is just too good not to run at this time.

 

1x Shadow Word: Pain is fine, we don't need 2x because you will be removing with superior trades more so than spells.

 

2x Shadowboxer is very important because we need low cost mechs that have 3hp. Don't worry about trying to get value off the Shadowboxers ability, the fact that it's a 2/3 mech for 2mana is value enough.

 

2x Mind Blast is a new addition post-LoE release. This card is normally bad in the typical control style Priest deck, but in THIS particular deck it works very well for closing out the game. It's highly unpredictable and counters a lot of the new decks running Reno Jackson (because people will wait for their HP to be very low before playing the Reno, never expecting that a Priest will deal big spell dmg from hand). I had so much success running one copy of this card that I decided to run 2x.

 

1x Enhance-o Mechano has made it's way into Holy 4000 for the first time because it provides some amazing results whenever you have 2 or more minions on the board. In fact I've had amazing success just playing it with 1 minion on the board, because buffs like taunt and divine shield are more useful in the current meta than in the past. It synergizes nicely with this deck because we run a pretty sticky board, so the chances are higher that you'll have something to buff.

 

Upgraded Repair Bot is a huge value as you are getting a total of 14 stats for 5mana. You will want to play this card at any time you have a mech on the board to get that 4+ hp. But, this card is also a solid value just as a 5/5, so if you don't have a mech and need a play then play the Repair Bot naked. This is better than waiting to draw into another mech that can proc the 4+hp, don't lose tempo being stubborn.

 

Foe Reaper 4000 is a huge card that serves several purposes. Basically it is the card that will destroy all other spam board decks, since every time it atks it's basically a full board clear. It's also the card that allows us to compete against a control enemy as we go into the mid/late game. Traditional mech decks run out of power after the first few turns because they rely on a low curve spammy style of play. Our deck doesn't have that weakness, we have larger mech minions that curve deeper and deeper into the long game. Most opponents will make the mistake of using their hard removals to keep up on tempo, assuming that this is a low curve aggro deck that doesn't have any big threats. They will usually not be prepared for something this heavy to hit the board. Foe Reaper is a really REALLY hard threat to deal with if they don't happen to have a hard removal on hand. They almost can't play anything on the board because Foe Reaper will almost certainly win the trade. It's also just outside of BGH range, but hits the face too hard to ignore. 

 

Protip: make sure you hit the weakest minion on the board and let the splash damage the stronger minions. This way the Reaper takes less damage, while still giving out a lot.

 

Some people will ask for a Foe Reaper 4000 replacement, but unfortunately (like most legendary cards) this card is unique in what it does and the role it plays. There's really no similar replacement that does the same thing because there's no other card quite like it. Having said that, you can successfully run Holy 4000 without Foe Reaper and attain ranks into the high legends (this has been done and proven by many of the people who have used this deck to climb the ladder without owning Foe Reaper). I have provided a list of viable replacements in the Card Replacements section, so please refer to that.

Circle of Healing doesn't make the cut because we aren't running BladeMasters or Auchenai. Shadowboxer and Cleric's abilities alone are not enough reason to justify running a Circle Heal.

 

Clockwork Gnome is rejected because it can be removed with hero power and we don't have enough reliable card draw to just spam out replacement minions on command. We have to get some value off everything we play, as much as possible. This means we will be staying away from any minions that don't provide at least 3hp. Remember this is a mid-range deck, not an aggro spam deck.

 

Annoy-o-Tron is rejected because although it solidly protects our board, we aren't trying to protect our board. We want minions trading into minions, we just want the better end of the result. Annoy doesn't really do anything for trading upward. This card can't fight so we don't want it. Holy 4000 is limited on card draw, so every card has to do some work.

 

Emperor Thaurissan is rejected because although he's an AWESOME powerhouse card, he just doesn't have a place in Holy 4000. First of all he's not a mech so he can't be played cheaper with Mechwarper, nor can he be buffed by Repair Bots. 2nd of all, he's more powerful in decks that hold lots of cards in hand, which we usually DON'T. With Holy 4000 being a somewhat aggressive mid-range tempo deck, we are usually emptying most of our hand with only a few cards being in hand at any given time. This means that Emperor Thaurissan's effect just doesn't net much value (it might reduce up to 2 or 3 mana worth of cards only). Lastly, Emperor Thaurissan's biggest strength is that it enables devastating spell combos and as it happens we don't run many spells and almost no spell combos at all. So yea, don't run Emperor Thaurissan in this deck, you will not be impressed with the result.

 

Sneed's Old Shredder is not a horrible replacement for Foe Reaper 4000, but is still less preferred because although it serves the purpose of being a mech that curves into the late game, it does not serve the purpose of clearing out an entire board with 1 attack the way Foe Reaper 4000 does. Sneeds is also highly unpredictable, which is fairly big gamble for this deck. This is a very precise deck that is calculated to win on value trades. Sneeds brings in an non-calculated variable. Having said that, Sneeds is still viable in the Holy 4000 deck, just prepare to laugh if it's being piloted by Thalnos : )

This is a carefully calculated deck, designed to give you the upper hand in trading blows. Our goal is simple, out trade the enemy and exhaust their hand of cards by forcing them to use removals on threats that are cheap for you to play but slightly too strong for them to ignore.

 

The perfect start is the turn 1 Northshire Cleric because the enemy will probably waste too much effort trying to get rid of it, when actually we don't care much about the Cleric. You will have just enough cards to keep the pressure on without needing to draw off the 1st Cleric you play. If you have a choice to either draw a card or play a card early, use your 2 mana to play a card. The tempo is more important than the card draw. The exception is, if you can kill something, save the Cleric against any foreseeable threat on the board with a heal and draw at the same time. But most of the time, dropping a mech on turn 2 is the more correct line of play.

 

Turn 2 Shadowboxer or Mechwarper is ideal. If you have both cards in hand, play the Shadowboxer 1st since it's less valuable to us if it gets removed. We are going to try to summon 2 mechs in a turn using the Mechwarper if possible.

 

At turn 3 and up, when you have the choice to play either a Spider Tank, Dark Cultist or Velen's Chosen from your hand. Velen's is usually the BEST line of play if you have a valid target and the enemy doesn't have enough dmg on the board to kill it on their turn. The next best option is to play the Spider Tank if you also have a Repair Bot in your hand. Otherwise the Cultist is the best choice over Tank because if you trade kill it on the next turn, his rattle will buff the next minion you put down.

 

At turn 4 and up, if you have the choice to play the Enhance-o Mechano, Arcane Nullifier X-21, Piloted Shredder or the Gorillabot A-3, go with the Enhance-o first if you have 2 or more minions on the board. A-3 would be the next best play if you have a mech on the board (take advantage of that battlecry as soon as you can). Nullifier is usually a GREAT play if the enemy has small token minions on the board and Shredder is the optimum play if none of the above situations occur.

 

In the early turns, If you have the choice to either pain something or play a mech, play the mech if the mech can survive a trade. If it doesn't look like anything in your hand will survive the trade, use your pain.

 

Against Aggro decks, do not despair if they over take the board. Since your cards are more powerful and curve into the later game, there's a good chance you can retake the board a few turns later. Remember, against aggro playing a naked A-3 or Repair bot with no battle cry is often the correct play. If you have Foe Reaper 4000 in your hand, then you can just stall the game out with whatever you have until your Reaper hits the board. Get that Reaper out ASAP.

 

Against Control decks, don't over control the board. Make some trades, but if you have the opportunity to smack your enemy in the face for 4 or more dmg, do that instead of trying to clean up some small minion. Remember that every time you atk a small minion threat, you just healed your enemies face for that much damage. Only trade into the threats that can really mess up your board. This means attacking the creeper, harvest golem, web spinner, etc is usually wrong. Plan ahead and remember that you are running 2x Mind Blast, so the reach is definitely there.

Basically we mulligan for these cards regardless of the enemy: Northshire Cleric, Mechwarper, Shadowboxer, Dark Cultist and Spider Tank. We are going to toss back anything that cost more than 3mana. Keeping 2x of any of the above cards is great.

 

Now, if you have a Cleric then you can also keep the Power Word: Shield because you're going to use that on the cleric. If you don't have a Cleric then always toss the Power Word.

 

Always toss the Holy Nova, I don't care who you're playing against.

 

Detailed Mulligan sorted by Class - (which is just the same as above plus any needed changes)

 

Druid: Typical mull.

 

Hunter: Typical mull.

 

Mage: Keep the Shadow Word: Pain in hand specifically for their Flamewaker or Mechwarper in case it's a Mech Mage. Shutting down either of those cards is devastating to their early game tempo. If you did not mull a Shadow Word: Pain, then I would look for the Silence for Flamewaker/Mechwarper.

 

Paladin: If already mulled a 1, 2 or 3 mana minion then you may also keep the Silence to deal with any potential Secret Keeper that gets too big in the early game.

Priest: Mull for the Silence to shut down their Northshire Cleric. Priest will often try to draw cards early and/or buff the Cleric with Power Word: Shield, so using a Silence here can be crippling.

 

Rogue: Typical mull.

 

Shaman: Keep the Shadow Word: Pain to shut down early aggro from Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem. 

 

Warlock: Toss the Northshire Cleric vs Warlock because it's no good to us here. Vs Zoolock we can't waste time drawing cards and vs Renolock, Demonlock or Handlock the Cleric dies in 1 hit so we still won't get to draw cards off it. Instead you'll want to mull hard for Mechwarper and Shadowboxer. If you suspect you're playing against a classic Handlock, mull for Silence to deal with Drake and 1x Shadow Word: Death. Death'ing the first Mountain Giant early can be huge. You'll also NEED to keep a Shadow Word Death vs Demonlock because if a surprise Mal'Ganis or Demonheart buff hits the board, it's our only way to deal with it. Push in the damage early and let Mind Blast finish the game.

 

About using Mind Blast: we do not show this card until we have lethal because using it early could startle the enemy into playing their trump heal and we'd rather wait for them to sit on it, thinking they are safe at around 10-15hp.

 

Warrior: Keep a Shredder because it's one of the hardest cards in our deck for Warrior to deal with early.

The Holy 4000 deck is very strong vs Secret Paladin, Renolock, Handlock, Aggro Druid, Face Hunter, Mech Mage, Tempo Mage, Midrange Hunter, Midrange Shaman, Control Shaman and all Rogue decks. These matchups can yield the highest win ratios once you get the hang of mastering the deck. Against the above deck types, I recorded an overall 78%+ win ratio.

 

Holy 4000 is decent vs Midrange Paladin, Control Warrior, Combo Druid, Ramp Druid, Dragon Priest, Demonlock and Aggro Shaman. These matchups yield about a 63% win ratio for me, which is pretty good considering every game of mine is a high rank game.

 

Unfortunately all decks have matchups that they are not super great against. Holy 4000 struggles vs Zoolock, Freeze Mage, Control Priest and slower Control Paladin decks (in that order). Zoolock being the worst matchup because they can play a cheap minion and then buff that minions atk via Abusive/Iron Dwarf which then means it will trade evenly with one of our more expensive mechs. In this manner they can overwhelm us by playing 2 minions per turn and keep trading with 1 minion, while we can only play 1 minion per turn. Foe Reaper is the clutch play, if you can manage to get that card on the field you are going to be in a very good position as Zoolock has no effective way to deal with that and 1 hit will practically wipe their board. Freeze Mage is another sadly poor matchup, since the only way to really beat them is with armor, big healing or Kezan (of which we have none). Against these decks I recorded a 40% or less win ratio.

 

 

As for Control Priest/Paladin, it all comes down to rather or not they draw into a board clear early. Auch+Circle (or Pyro+Equality) on turn 4/5 is basically going to cripple your tempo and you'll be too low on cards to catch up. It is for this reason that playing against those deck types is a coin toss. If they don't get those cards you probably win, if they do get those cards you probably lose. Against these deck types I recorded a 45% win ratio.

 

Obviously, you need to consider the current meta and this information when deciding rather or not you can keep playing this deck. If you are playing against mostly Zoolocks, Freeze Mages and Control Priest then it's time to change decks for the day. When you are seeing some other deck types then you may play Holy 4000. As of Season 19, I've been seeing mostly midrange decks in play such as Secret Paladin, Tempo Mage and Midranger Hunter and Holy 4000 really shines against those decks.

Shadowboxer or Spider Tank can be replaced with: Harvest Golem. Note: this is the preferred replacement if you also replaced Foe Reaper 4000 with Kel'Thuzad.

 

Gorillabot A-3 can be replaced with 1x Jeeves. Jeeves can be a good backup plan in case you run out of cards, which probably means your enemy expended a bunch of their removals to clear out everything you played. The Jeeves will do more for you than it will for your enemy though because you get the first card draws AND it's a mech which can work with your other cards. The enemy probably won't be able to get nearly as much value out of the effect.

 

Note: When you get Jeeves in your hand and it's past turn 6, start dumping all your current cards, even if you do it haphazardly. This is so that we can draw 3 new cards off the Jeeves. If you keep dumping your cards and drawing like that, the enemy is going to lose really fast unless they have some amazing board clears. We are not concerned with fatigue wars at all. You may play the Jeeves when you can draw 2 or 3 cards.

 

If you don't like running Enhance-o Mechano it can be replaced with a 2nd copy of Piloted Shredder.

 

 

Foe Reaper 4000 is a unique card to this deck, but can be replaced with: Kel'Thuzad, Sneed's Old Shredder, Piloted Sky Golem or Clockwork Giant (in that order).

Jan 27, 2015 - After considerable feedback and testing in ladder, Jeeves was replaced with Mechanical Yeti because many players were having difficulty getting solid value off it. I still believe Jeeves is a good choice for some players depending on their playstyle but for now it would easier for most people to go with the Yeti.

 

Feb 2, 2015 - The meta has now changed due to Undertaker's nerf and Mech Mage spam aggro is currently popular. In response to this Mechanical Yeti has been replaced with Shadow Madness and Silence has been replaced with Mind Control Tech. Shadow Madness responds quicker and more efficiently than the Yeti to prevent you from being overrun by a high number of aggro Mechs. Silence was removed because one of the main uses for it was to shut down Undertakers buffing, but it's no longer needed for that use and MCT was selected as the replacement because we are now seeing 4+ minions being played quite often.

 

Feb 12, 2015 - The meta is still fairly Mech Mage aggro heavy, but we are starting to see other classes being played more in response to the aggro which lead to less board spam of 4+ minions and more Sylvanas, Taunt and Buffing play. As such and after rigorous testing, I have decided to cut Mind Control Tech and re-add Silence. The Silence seems to be giving a guaranteed value in all matchups whereas the MCT is rarely a good play right now. Also, after testing I cut a 1xSpider Tank for another Mech Yeti. This is because the 3mana slot was too full with running dual Cultist, dual Tanks and dual Technicians. This often lead to playing a 3mana minion on turn 3 and then another 3 mana minion on turn 4 which wasted 1mana and put us off curve.

 

April 07, 2015 - With the release of BRM Face Hunter has become VERY common in the meta once again, which is good because it's one of Holy 4000's strongest matchups. As a result of so much Face Hunter, the Oil Rogues have gone away! Oil Rogue was a nightmare matchup for us and the meta has given us a temporary break from it. There has never been a better time to run Holy 4000. Tempo Mage is also pretty big right now, which is running 2x mirror traps and usually 1x spell bender, therefore be ready to play around both those with clerics and spare parts. 2x Resurrect was added because it's basically guaranteed to net you an even value or BETTER, this is really the MVP card right now for helping to bring this deck back from the dead in Season 13. I mean even if you revive a 2 drop, that's still good because we would be running more Mechwarpers and Shadow Boxers if we could anyway, we just don't because the game only allows for 2 of a card. So reviving one of those is like better than a standard use of 2mana. Also as the game goes longer and longer your changes to revive something bigger and bigger are doubled every 2 turns, so think about that when deciding when to Resurrect. 1x Technician was cut because we were running a few too many 3drops AND Technician doesn't synergize too well with Resurrect. 1x Mech Yeti was cut because we simply needed another slot for Resurrect and Mech Yeti was one of the least mandatory cards for Holy 4000.

 

May 29, 2015 - Some changes were made to optimize Holy 4000 for the current meta. Holy Fire, Piloted Sky Golem and Vol'jin were cut for now because people are currently playing less single big minions (slower tempo) and instead are now playing more small minions in a much faster tempo style. We don't want to play 6mana cards that can only hit 1 target when Zoo, Hybrid Hunter and Patron Warrior are so popular and have strength in large minion boards. Antique Healbot and Nullifier were added to give the deck more survivability in this more aggro meta. Lightbomb was added because a stronger board clear was really needed for when you need to regard board control.

 

June 16, 2015 - New videos uploaded for Season 15, top 100 legend achieved!

 

August 03, 2015 - New instructional series for Season 16 has been added. The series is ongoing. A Q&A video has also been added where I reply to questions and comments in more detail.

 

October 24, 2015 - New instructional series for Season 19 has been added. The series is ongoing. Various changes and improvements to the guide have been made so make sure to give it a re-read if you haven't in a while. Eydis Darkbane has replaced 1 copy of Dark Cultist because we have some spare part cards and a couple of buffs that can syngernize nicely with her. Althought it's not a big deal if you don't have Darkbane, she's more of a luxury. Dr. Boom replaces 1 copy of Upgraded Repair Bot, just because having 3 bodies is very good in this token dominate meta. In particular it's a strong tool against Secret Paladin. Since the Warsong Commander nerf happened midrange decks have become VERY popular in the meta and Holy 4000 does an excellent job of swatting those decks down. Secret Paladin for instance has become one of the hottest new trends and incidentally is one of our strongest matchups. Because of the recent meta swing with Patron Warrior being out of the picture, Holy 4000 has become VERY GOOD for climbing the ladder. It's the best time for this deck since it's inception back in Season 15. Take advantage of this and counter the meta NOW!

 

December 28, 2015 - Major revisions have been tailor made to fit the post-LoE meta. One if the biggest changes is the include of Mind Blast for finishing power. Eyedis Darkbane is no longer that viable because we've also taken out the minions that generate spare parts. Gorillabot A-3 has been added for the discover draw. Enhance-o Mechano has been added because the deck is more sticky than it used to be. Lightbomb is out because we now run Entomb which can take care of the enemies main threat (which was one of the mains reasons we used to run Lightbomb in the first place). Other minor tweaks to the decklist and guide have been made as well. See the video section spoiler for new season 21 instructional sets (ongoing til Jan 1st 2016).