Top 30 Legend Aggro Druid [Analysis]
- Last updated Dec 4, 2015 (Explorers)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 20 Minions
- 10 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 4300
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 11/4/2015 (Warsong Nerf)
- KRUPSSTONE
- Registered User
-
- 5
- 8
- 24
-
Battle Tag:
KRUPS#1745
-
Region:
US
-
Total Deck Rating
1940
MY TWITCH CHANNEL: WWW.TWITCH.TV/KRUPSSTONE
MY TWITTER
Before you write this deck off as a copy of someone else's deck or as unoriginal I would like to start off simply by stating that I did not make this deck. This is pretty much almost card for card the exact same aggro druid deck list that has been floating around for the last month or so. The sole purpose of this post is to go into detail of why I think that this deck is the best aggro deck in the game as well as one of the best overall decks in the game. I ran this deck up to 28 legend during the October 2015 season.
WHY THE DECK IS SO GOOD:
When I first saw this deck I was a little confused because most of the cards, 25 of the 30 in fact, already existed pre-TGT. My initial thoughts were that surely the addition of Living Roots and Druid of the Saber couldn't have created an entire new archetype. In fact, I was pretty much convinced that Druid of the Saber was a very mediocre card, but I ended up being completely wrong about that.
Let's take a look at Druid of the Saber. Each of the modes on the card, on their own, are pretty unexciting and not all that powerful. If there was a card that was just a 3/2 stealth for 2 mana we most likely would not play it in any competitive deck, and the same goes for a 2/1 charge for 2 mana. However, when we are presented with the choice to choose between these two cards a whole new realm of possibilities opens up for us. If we need a minion that is difficult to interact we have it in the form of a 3/2 stealth, if we need a removal spell or burst damage we have it in the form of a 2/1 charge. Simply, the fact that we are given the option to choose the mode on this card as well as many other cards in our deck helps make this deck more robust than your standard face deck. It is very rare for an aggro deck in Hearth to have the options that this Druid deck provides.
This theory also applies to a few other cards in the deck. Keeper of the Grove, Living Roots and Druid of the Claw. The fact that we get to choose between two very different modes of operation with all of these cards ensures us that we have an answer to the problem at hand. A Taunt Minion and a Charge Minion pretty much achieve the exact opposite things, and being able to have either one at our disposal in the same card is extremely powerful. The same goes for be able to choose between dealing two damage and putting two 1/1 minions in play with Living Roots. Druid of the Claw and Living Roots are basically the Deion Sanders of Hearthstone, they play both offense and defense.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's get to what I consider the absolute best card in Hearthstone. Innervate is hands-down the best card in the game. Innervate is like cheating. If this card were in Magic: the Gathering it would banned in almost every format. In my opinion Innervate should probably be nerfed to only giving you one mana but I feel like Blizzard will never do that because it would be too similar to The Coin. Prior to the existence of aggro druid, Innervate had not been utilized in an aggro deck, and the reason why that is so profound is because in previous Druid decks you almost never cast a turn 7 Savage Roar + Force of Nature with your Innervate simply because it wasn't going to be lethal. Now all the sudden with this deck we are able to push enough damage in the early game to where a combo on turn 7 is lethal, and it happens more often than you would think. If you look at almost every extremely successful deck in Hearthstone they all have some sort of really strong combo and in my opinion this is the most powerful combo in the game.
Innervate also interacts with Fel Reaver in a very scary way. This deck can play an 8/8 on turn one with double Innervate and on turn 2 with an Innervate and a coin. Let that sink in for a second. An 8/8, on turn 1. If your opponent doesn't have answer to that in three turns they are done for.
With the rise of Paladin on the Ladder, Swipe is one of the most efficient board clears, but the reason why it is so good in an aggro build is that because most of the time you can set up Swipe to be able to go to the face while still clearing all or most of your opponents minions. The ability to be able to do four points of damage to the face and clear the table is EXTREMELY good for an aggro deck.
CHOOSING YOUR TECH CARDS:
There are a few tech choices that you can make to combat various strategies. The first being to opt to play Flame Juggler over a copy of Knife Juggler. The reason for doing this is the 2/3 body is better against aggro decks, and it still allows you to be aggressive in the early game.
I have Savage Combatant in my decklist but this can be exchanged for a Loatheb to help fight control decks. Loatheb will protect you from AoE and other removal spells and it still provides decent stats for the mana investment.
If you want to tech in a Mark of the Wild you can bring this card in to help combat aggro decks, as it provides the deck with another taunt while still allowing you to push damage on curve.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DECK:
As I said earlier, this post was more about why I thought the deck was good as opposed to how the deck should be played etc. If you are looking for more information on how to play the deck properly I highly suggest you read this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveHS/comments/3nhklt/day_1_legend_aggro_druid_guide/
Hopefully you enjoyed my two-cents on this deck, and I hope that it suits you as well as it has suited me!
CHEERS,
KRUPS
In regards to the thought of nerfing Innervate, i can see why you would want to. I think we should wait before flailing more nerf bats around, but if innervate applied only to creatures it would feel much more fair to me. Just a thought.
In early game that knife juggler + living roots is really good against paladin (and annoy-o-tron mech decks) and definitely worth it, but in most other matchups your reasoning is sound. Especially against Warrior knife juggler can sometimes work against you because it might hit acolyte. I made it to top 50 legend EU with this deck at the first half of last season, either way the deck is superb. But I got to admit I didn't play that much with PotW because I faced like 50 % paladins, maybe I'll try laddering with PotW to see how it feels in the current meta. Would be nice to hear other opinions & viewpoints as well! :)
Nice guide, gonna try playing this to legend this season.
Have to say I was playing secret paladin at rank 12 and I cam across this deck. Annnnnnnnd I lost. So props to this deck it is definitely legit
Any combination of cards that give you 400 dust.
Try a second Savage Combatant.
Have you tried some Mech inclusions like Mech-Warpers instead of Sabers?
There are some decklists that run mechs, if I can find you a good one I will post it here for you in this thread. Thanks for commenting!
Real pala killer.
Innervate IS in magic. It's called dark ritual.
It's the perfect hybrid child of Dark Ritual and Lotus. Absolutely filthy and I love it.
It's only legal in Legacy though. So the power level is high in that format.
In standard and modern (the two most popular formats), there are no such cards, and there will never be another card like Dark Ritual printed again :D
Well you have to invest a mana in Dark Ritual, which makes it considerably different.
How is that different? They both net you two mana?
"like dark ritual" well there are cards like dark ritual in modern. Pyretic and desperate ritual exist albeit strictly worse.
OP beat Secret Paladin! This deck must be amazing!