[S12 Legend] Shadow/Fatigue Priest
- Last updated Jun 25, 2015 (Blackrock Launch)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 15 Minions
- 15 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 7260
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 3/26/2015 (Undertaker Nerf)
- user-13653231
- Registered User
-
- 6
- 11
- 29
-
Battle Tag:
N/A
-
Region:
EU
-
Total Deck Rating
236
Update 2 (BlackRockMountain): -Not the best meta for this deck. Have not gone past Rank 2 this season with Shadowpriest. With this exact version I have an exact 50% win rate over 24 games at Rank 4! So, if you dont mind that winrate above rank 5 and still wanne play for fun, give it a try!
- See the old (not updated) writeup from season 12 for further info on how the deck works!
Old S12 Writeup. Not updated for matchups like Grim Patron or Demon Zoo, TempoWaker Mage...
Update 1: - Added Mulligen.
- Swapped Velen's Chosen for Recombobulator at the moment. Prime targets are Antique Healbot, Cabal Shadow Priest and silenced Doomsayer
So I just got Legend (SEASON 12!) with this version of Fatigue/Shadowform Priest and therefore decided to make the list public.
The goal of this deck is, to play as defensive and conservative as possible, and simply outlast your opponent and in the end outvalue or even fatigue him, when you literally dealt with every single of his cards. Of course there are also games, where you overpower your opponent earlier with creatures and you are able to go on the offensive, but the genreal gameplan in every matchup remains a defensive, value oriented one! Shadowform is one of those cards thtas holds just insane and nearly endless value, when you are able to set it up correctly. In the past it was very tricky to make it happen, because you often lose alot of tempo setting it up, especially when your opponent manages to play on curve all the time himself. And not only that, you also lose your ability to heal, making you more vulnerable to all-in, race, or burst taktiks from your opponent. But GvG brought two important tools/cards, that can make up for the tempo and healthloss and bring you back into the game, where you can now begin to collect this insane Shadowform value every turn. Those cards are Antique Healbot and Lightbomb, as strong burstheals and boardwipes. In combination with all the other Priest removal and a big wall of Taunts, Shadowform/Fatigue Priest has now actually become viable on ladder!
The deck however is not easy to play. To be good with it you need alot of practice and experience, aswell as good understanding of the very precise gameplan you have in alot of matchups. Since Priest, and even more so this deck, is very responsive by nature, you need to make sure to have/use the correct answers for as many of your opponents threats and boardstates as possible. If you either can´t find them, or missplay by using the wrong removal/trade option, it will only get harder... But for me, this is also part of the beauty of playing it: From the start of you basically plan with your whole deck, aswell as your oppents whole deck and have to make sure your answers match his questions better/more efficient, than the other way around.
Writing a complete Matchups guide for all of the common matchups on ladder, is a bit too time comsuming for me, so unless this will get more attention, I will leave you for now with the decklist only, to experiment yourself with xD But I will answer questions below. (And by the way: there are some other Fatigue/Shadowform decks here on the forums that allready explain alot of the important stuff well, so you one can always compare with those ;) But having played alot of Shadowform Decks since GvG (and even long time before GvG), from my own experience this is the most consistent one I have played so far (also taking into account the meta I was/am facing)
Possible Techs: IMO most of the slots here are not interchangeable. If there is any room for tech, then I think Shadow Madness and Velen's Chosen are the first ones to look at. Sure, I tested alot of stuff, but most notably I had Kezan Mystic over Shadow Madness, when I was facing alot of Mages. Velen's Chosen at one point was substituted with Mind Control Tech, Wild Pyromancer or Shrinkmeister
Mulligen: (note: Mulligen is one of my weak spots in Hearthstone, so despite having experience with this deck, some choises might still be wrong. Down below I have listed the 6 cards I look the most for in order of general priority)
Face Hunter: Doomsayer, Holy Smite, Deathlord, SW:Pain, Healbot, Senjin
Midrange Hunter: Doomsayer, Holy Smite, Sw:Pain, Deathlord, Senjin, Belcher
Mech Mage: Doomsayer, SW:Pain, Deathlord, Holy Smite, Senjin, Belcher
Priest: Doomsayer, Deathlord, Senjin, Shadowform, Belcher, Thoughsteal
Combo Druid: Lightbomb, Doomsayer, Deathlord, Senjin, Belcher, SW:D
Control Warrior: SW:D, BGH, Thoughsteal, SW:P, Shadowform, Shadow Madness
Handlock: BGH, SW:D, Senjin, Lightbomb, Belcher, Thoughsteal
Zoolock: Doomsayer, Holy Smite, Deathlord, SW:Pain, Holy Nova, Senjin
Midrange/Control Pala: Doomsayer, SW:Pain, Deathlord, Senjin, Holy Nova, Belcher
Oil Rogue: Sw: Pain, Lightbomb, Senjin, Belcher, Deathlord, Holy Fire
Midrange/Control Shaman (not too sure, because was facing too few): Deathlord, Shadowform, Sw:Pain, Senjin, Holy Nova, Cabal Shadowpriest
Last but not least: As with alot all decks, you profit the most from it when you can find a sweetspot in the meta. So just throwing it out there: If all you face is Combodruid and (good) Handlocks you might wanne change Decks... In my case, when I started playing this early this season, I somehow wasn´t able to break through rank 4 on ladder and eventually started experimenting with other stuff. But just 2 days ago I picked it up again at Rank 5, and then powered through to Legend.
I built the exact build as seen up there and honestly this deck is effective. The thing is for some people that would make people say that this is bad is either the lack of silences or the shadowforms. For the people complaining about shadowforms, the chances are you are probably trying to play it right away. A general rule of thumb for me is that if my opponent has no minions or only like 1-2 weak minions (like 1/1 or near that,) then shadowform is probably a good option. If your opponent has a decent board, dont use it unless you can use the hero power right after to kill a minion. If you have board control or want to set it up turn 3, probably throw out deathlord instead. Double lightbomb is very needed because of all the boardwipes your opponent wont expect (seriously people dont expect THAT much removal from a priest.) TACTIC: not many people know about this, but I discovered this tactic in arena when i drafted 2 shadowforms once (got 7 wins for that.) If you cast your hero power, activating shadowform gives you a new heropower THAT YOU CAN USE ON THAT SAME TURN. You can use this to heal for 2 and then damage for 2 on the same turn, or you can deal 2 and then deal 3 on the same turn. when im in my first shadowform, i am able to use my hero power to kill a 3/2, play shadowform again and then kill a 3/3 on the same turn while keeping the 3 damage heropower. It is a really dark combo not many players know about (see what i did there?) This tactic alone gives this deck more versatility and a more secure way of getting shadowform without falling far behind. One thing I noticed is that people sometimes tend to rush you because you cant hero power heal yourself. 2 things that make that hilarious. 1) looking at a mage play, destroying a minion usually means preventing it from dealing damage from its attacks. healing yourself erases 2 damage, but destroying a 3/2 prevents 3 damage. In all honesty, shadowform just makes you able to prevent more damage and keep a board (when it deals 3 damage, you are in a great spot because of all the control you can do.) 2) the deck is meant to stand up to that. It plays heals like healbots and much removal. It even plays cards that hurt them and heal you. Not to mention they only rush successfully if they can hit you in the face. this deck has many taunts to help with that and when in shadowform, you can also eliminate their board easier while establishing yours. This goes on to even fatigueing your opponent. So yea it is really solid. It is also fun to yank out dr boom from your opponents deck with deathlord and then doing serious board damage with a lightbomb (or BGH or whatever.) In the end, this deck is great, but some luck may be needed. But hey, luck is a huge part of hearthstone (hence the term "RNG".)
I'd wait and see. Especially with the first wing releasing today, you should at least see if / how Emperor Thaurissan shakes things up. What cards do you need to craft??
I'm almost certain it will be viable after BRM, perhaps even more so than now, but it's difficult to say which if any BRM cards would be included in this, so it may be you shouldn't go crafting the less central cards. I don't really see combo decks being a particular weakness for this style of turtle priest. It's ridiculously easy to keep a strong board of taunts and stay at 30 health or near enough to make no matter. Your removal is also great, and your opponent's Emperor should go down as fast as it gets on board. This deck works as long as you can sacrifice one turn to play shadowform without letting the opponent gain too much momentum. After that, your hero power is by far the most powerful one in the game and that value can't really be matched.
I don't think you can replace Lightbomb in this. Based on experience playing this it's the single most effective control card you have.
A very interesting deck. It's quite fun to find a deck that is virtually an autowin against hunter. On the other hand it is an auto loss to druid. I have no problem getting the druid to the end of his deck, but as soon as he finds the 4 card Force of Nature, innervate, savage roarx2 you are completely dead to it. Taunts do a good job keeping him at bay in the early game but virtually any token left on board as decks run thin ensures that he has lethal from his hand even if you're at full health. This is frustrating given how much time investment you have to put in.
I find that a standard priest build can be a tough matchup as well as midrange mage.
a little advice, dont play Deathlord against warrior, if you havent Shadow Word: Death on hand :)
i have same experience with this deck. Try to add 1 sheep. aggro is no problem. Taunts and heal keep me safe. The biggest problem is warrior and combo druid.
Isn't BGH a bit unnecessary in your deck? The only matchup where i see it becoming relevant is against Handlock, and vs everything else your deck seems to have sufficient removal for big stuff. Double death, double holy fire, double lightbomb and vol'jin along with BGH feels like you are over-saturated with big-stuff removal when there just aren't that many threats in the current meta for some of these cards not just to sit dead in your hand.
I managed to reach legend in February with shadow priest, but my list only ran 1 death, 2 lightbomb, 1 vol'jin, 1 mind control and 2 holy fires in regards to removal for big stuff. That seemed to be very sufficient for me: just interested to hear your opinion on whether you get a bit saturated with dead removal for massive threats, and then get killed by their piloted shredders or azure drakes.
I've never been a fan of thoughtsteal, so this bias may come into my opinion that it is also unnecessary. The fact that you've hit legend with this shows that these two cards have worked for you, but I feel thoughtsteal is quite slow, and also a bit unreliable. The main battle with shadowform is to survive the first 10 turns, then the next 10-20 are just toying with them. Thoughtsteal seems to be a bit win-more in the lategame and lose-more in the earlygame. I ask for your opinion again on this.
Well done for making legend with shadow priest though, it's not an easy deck to design, pilot, or win quickly with, so you basically beat hearthstone on hard mode. For that you deserve an up vote :)
Depending on which matchups you want to improve, i'd either swap it for bomb lobber or Mind Control in this build. MC helps in particular against paladin, and Bomb lobber is more for druid, rogue and shaman, as it gives a good answer to midrangey things like azure drakes without using stuff like holy fire. (I personally don't use lobber, but it seems to fit here really well) Note that lobber can in effect deal 6 damage if you still have shadowform up, killing druid of the claw, shield maiden etc. if it's the only thing on the board. It also hits 4/4 or less shades, which is helpful.
It is a fair point that it's good to hold light bombs though. I have found it to be a problem when i don't draw enough of them, so having one less thing to use them on seems quite helpful. I guess this is also a bit more fatigue oriented than my list, so you're probably going to have to be prepared to answer their entire deck, and since virtually everyone runs Boom, BGH will only be dead if they draw Boom before you draw BGH or you draw BGH and they kill you without even dropping a boom.
The body is pretty helpful, but it's not that sticky, so often they'll just keeper of the grove battlecry it, fan+dagger/spell dmg or SI:7 combo it etc. Admittedly, lobber's is not much better, but at least 3 health will probably warrant a full card.
I'm sorry but this deck is just miserable in my opinion: The winning games take extremely long, there is no card draw, doomsayer is ineffective, getting good value out of removal spells(especially lightbomb) often requires the player wait another turn. It is just too counter-intuitive. The options for agro are just not there. casting an early shadowform in not only tempo loss, but is ensuring victory against hunters due to their hero power. yet, there is not enough to deal with later game focused control decks. If you try this deck, have fun making inefficient plays just to stay alive, only to get rushed down or run out of options. I do not know what providence guided you to legend, sir. I am happy for you; but I would not recommend this deck to anyone.
I personally haven't tested doomsayer, but it seems like it would work very well on turn 2 as a way to help you into the midgame. The worst case scenario is that they owl it, and even then it means ones less owl for your sludge belchers. Casting an early shadowform against an aggro deck is generally not the best idea, so that's why you don't do that :) On the contrary to your comment about not having enough to deal with control decks, I'd argue that he has too much for them. The deck isn't flawless, but I think you basically criticised the deck's best matchups: very heavily aggro or heavily controlling decks, and failed to accurately identify the difficult matchups, which are the more midrangey decks which put all of the cards into awkward spots. Having card draw also isn't a problem, you just have to use cards conservatively. The deck takes practice.
Hey man, thank for the deck, I tried a similar in idea deck before, but relying too much on shrinkmaisters + cabal or madness , it wasn't consistent at all, but after finding this I saw some very interesting ideas and made a control deck that recks EU, thank you , here's the deck . it has a lot of similarities, but also a lot of differences:
I am finding this deck to struggle really hard against midrange hunter using freezing traps and the secrets version of mage using mana worm for early game power and counterspell to prevent my board clears. Any advice?
try to switch recombulator for kezan mystic
I had the same problem, I mad a lot of changed, you can see them in my post a bit above this one, but the main one vs miid hunter is harrison instead of 1 Holy FIre
Love this deck, fun to play with and it's fun to play against (IMO). I don't have Vol'jin (yet) so I threw Prophet Velen in this deck for laughs. It works out well, since people are recognizing this deck and dropping BGH early because typically there's no targets. I don't recommend playing him on turn seven though, but after playing two Shadowforms I was able to deal 6 damage with my hero power in a few games, it's great!
Just wanted to comment again that my version went on another seperate 6 game winstreak. Winrate is 66% winrate after 20 games.
I feel this deck is lacking early game cards. Too little 1 and 2 drops. I spend early game mostly healing myself through hero power. What about adding some Shadowboxers or Wild Pyromancer or something like that? Any opinions?
Hi,
I love playing Priest but am finding this hard to play. Some questions:
1) When should I activate Shadowform? Early or later?
2) Do I ever want to mulligan for Shadowform?
3) Do I play Doomsayer on turn 2 if that's all I have? Mage keeps wrecking me with mirror entity and secrets.
4) Should I not have card draw for myself? I was thinking of Harrison maybe. I find this really lacks card draw.
5) Is the goal of the deck to make the opponent run out of cards? Seems like Coldlight would be a good addition then.
thanks. P.S. I'm at rank 6 now...
Thanks for the detailed reply - doing better with deck now - and its a lot of FUN! I'm winning more than losing :)