Incredible Control Rogue - Guide Included
- Last updated Jul 6, 2016 (Old Gods)
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Wild
- 22 Minions
- 8 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Reno Rogue
- Crafting Cost: 13080
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 4/28/2016 (Old Gods)
- benjacobkramer
- Registered User
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- 10
- 37
- 43
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Battle Tag:
bkram1#6520
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
833
Effective and incredibly fun - The opponent won't know what to do!
For the past few seasons, I have been experimenting with creating a 'control' rogue in order to reach level 60 with the class. It was great to see cards like Reno Jackson come out with League of Explorers which supported Valeera, allowing her to survive into late game. Now I have been tinkering around with some of the new cards and they seem to work great with my vision of Rogue.
I would love it if Kripparian would try this deck. He has been experimenting with something similar but I feel like this is the one for him. It is fun, crazy and successful. Please let me know if he tries it out as I would love to see it in action.
I should clarify that this deck does not revolve around using Valeera's hero power. It is terrific early in game but this deck was not designed around buffing the weapon and destroying minions. I did not want to play rogue and lose games when I did not draw a buff for the weapon before using Blade Flurry. I wanted to build a deck where it didn't feel bad to play a card without a combo. Instead, the deck is designed in a way in which you must control the board using valuable minions and removal in order to retain health and survive into the late game. After the first four turns, you usually won't need your hero power.
You should always have more than enough options to wipe out there early game and take control of the board in order to allow you to drop your late game monsters, C'Thun and N'Zoth, the Corruptor.
Obviously the meta has not been defined yet but I have had great success with this deck. I am sure you could find decks which will allow you to grind out games faster with a higher win rate but if you want a deck that is successful and allows for fun, satisfying victories, I suggest giving it a shot if you can afford it! If you want a deck to go to legend quickly, please look into the shaman decks as they seem to be the best bet to get there fast with a good win rate.
This deck is capable of being competitive but at its heart it is a fun deck that will hopefully inspire a new, more refined rogue deck. Think twice before disenchanting your cards if you think this deck will take you to legend instantly - it requires a bit of thought but it is a blast to play.
Please submit screenshots or videos of the deck in action!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why don't no Shadowstep?
Although I can really see how this card would be amazing in this deck, I just can't find the space. I am happy enough with using the toxins from Xaril, Poisoned Mind when I get them. This allows you to have the fun of Shadowstep without taking up one of the precious card slots.
Why is N'Zoth, the Corruptor in this deck?
The beauty of N'Zoth, the Corruptor is that you don't feel bad playing those situational deathrattle cards on curve because you fee like you have a chance of getting them back again. I think this helps you to out tempo the opponent in situations where you might want to hold a card back for later. It has synergy with Journey Below, Undercity Huckster, Tomb Pillager, Xaril, Poisoned Mind, Shadowcaster, Bloodmage Thalnos, Jeweled Scarab and Sylvanas Windrunner. Even if you only get one or two, that usually amounts to a lot of stats over a few bodies with strong effects. If you can use a toxin or Shadowcaster to recast N'Zoth, the Corruptor again, the opponent will usually be stuck. This actually ends up happening a lot as people don't prioritise killing N'Zoth, the Corruptor.
Card Choices
Backstab - This is a great card to look for in the mulligan. It is very versatile allowing you to kill a minion early on or trade up with a smaller minion. It is also great for enabling combo for SI:7 Agent or Eviscerate.
Journey Below - I have been pleasantly surprised with this card. It is a terrific turn one play or turn 10 play. I usually try not to be too greedy and pick a card to fill in the curve. Allows for combo and has great synergy with N'Zoth, the Corruptor. Anub'arak is great on turn 10.
Betrayal - Surprisingly great AoE. Highly recommended. No one plays around this one. Has so much potential to punish a greedy board.
Eviscerate - Similar to Backstab, a great card that allows you to control the early game or trade up later in the game. Look out for in during mulligan.
Sap - I prefer hard removal but it is great tech against shamans and druids getting huge minions out early. Also good for Doomguard.
Undercity Huckster - Turns out this is a great card that allows you to control the early game board and draw a card. It doesn't really matter what you receive but it usually does the trick. It also has great deathrattle synergy.
Fan of Knives - Good AoE that allows you to control the early board. I have experimented with replacing this with other three drops such as Earthen Ring Farseer or Edwin VanCleef but this is really good against paladin or hunter. Don't be afraid to use it as card draw again control decks.
Shadow Strike - Another great tool that allows you to control the board throughout the game. I see this as a replacement for big game hunter in a lot of ways. Terrific card.
SI:7 Agent - More great early game control.
Tomb Pillager - Amazing card that allows you to ramp into your late game or combo. More synergy,
Xaril, Poisoned Mind - Blown away with how good this card is. Almost all of the toxins are great and allow you to control the board or combo. More synergy again.
Dark Iron Skulker - Great AoE that no one expects. Combos well with Brann Bronzebeard against all of those pesky divine shield Paladins.
Shadowcaster - Another terrific card that allows you to abuse battlecries and deathrattles. The best targets are Blade of C'Thun for 1 mana removal, Sylvanas Windrunner or Twin Emperor Vek'lor. It doesn't feel fair playing with this card.
Blade of C'Thun - More hard removal for those tough guys. I really appreciate having this card in the deck. It often allows you to get your C'Thun over the 10 mana line. If you manage to kill the opponents C'Thun, they might as well concede.
Beckoner of Evil - Great stats and kicks on your C'Thun, great card.
Bloodmage Thalnos - Works great with Fan of Knives and allows for card draw. Save it for combo against aggressive decks. More synergy.
Jeweled Scarab - allows you to curve into turn three or snag the perfect card for the situation. The perfect turn two play as rogue has plenty of great three cost cards.
Brann Bronzebeard - Works well with all of the C'Thun buffs and allows for some other crazy situations. Apart from that, the stats are great and allow you to control the early game. Don't be afraid to play this on turn three as a regular minion.
Disciple of C'Thun - Great card that allows for you to swing the game on turn three and keep control of the board. Brann Bronzebeard combo works great on turn six.
Twilight Elder - Another card with great stats and allows you to get over the 10/10 line.
C'Thun's Chosen - This card trades so well. I have been pleasantly surprised by it. Even without the C'Thun synergy it is great.
Refreshment Vendor - Another great card, good body for clearing aggro minions. Effect works well with Brann Bronzebeard.
Crazed Worshipper - Keeps you safe from pesky aggro decks and helps you get to 10/10. Seems pretty good. It is a spiritual successor to Sludge Belcher.
Emperor Thaurissan - I recently put this in as the deck allows for adequate card draw for discounting. Gets the opponent flustered and makes them do silly things. Seems to be working alright.
Reno Jackson - The deck was built around him in a way, allows you to compete against aggro decks in order to drop the game winners.
Sylvanas Windrunner - Synergy with Unearthed Raptor, Shadowcaster and N'Zoth, the Corruptor. Don't feel bad about playing it on an empty board, it will be coming back anyway.
Twin Emperor Vek'lor - The new Dr. 7. Works great with Brann Bronzebeard or Shadowcaster. So difficult for them to get through it.
C'Thun - Allows for massive board clearing and lethal. Terrific card. Don't be afraid to play him with low stats because you can get him back.
N'Zoth, the Corruptor - In many ways, this is even better than C'Thun. Most classes will not be able to compete with a full board of great minions.
Mulligan
Always keep
If you have some of those cards or the coin
Against Hunter or Paladin
Against Druid and Shaman
You should find yourself with a decent starting hand more times that not. If you are missing a two drop, supplement it by using the hero power.
Replacement Cards/Tech Choices
I have experimented with including the following cards, supplement them in if you are missing any or would use them as recommendations if you would like to tweak the deck.
Shadowstep - Could allow for some incredible situations via battlecries. Requires more testing.
Shiv - card draw and early game but possibly too weak.
Unearthed Raptor - Great synergy with the deck. Don't be afraid to play it on a small target or without the effect as it has great stats on curve.
Burgle - Great for generating some cards.
Edwin VanCleef - Can work well in this deck with Xaril, Poisoned Mind.
southsea squid face - If we were to includeFan of Knives, this would certainly be in. It allows for so great trading with hero power to control the board. This deck feels like it already has enough 4-drop cards.
Assassinate - Hard removal, might be required after the loss of BGH and the prevalence of huge minions at the moment.
Gadgetzan Jouster - Great for controlling the early game. Useless late game. The deck gets by without any 1 drop minions.
Sir Finley Mrrgglton - Works well with the deck but I abandoned it because there just isn't space. It is totally unexpected when you combine it with Justicar Trueheart. Works surprisingly well, especially if you get Warrior or Priest power. Rogue hero power is useless late game.
Shifter Zerus - Don't have this card but could work great.
Loot Hoarder - Similar to Bloodmage Thalnos but we have enough early game.
Twilight Geomancer - This could possibly work but the stats are undesirable. More testing needed.
Blood Knight - Could be used as tech against the paladins if they become a large part of the meta.
Earthen Ring Farseer - This is a great replacement card, good body and effect.
Polluted Hoarder - allows you to cycle through the deck and get to those big guys. I have played around with swapping him with Southsea Squidface but the card draw and deathrattle synergy is great.
Spellbreaker - It feels like we have enough removal and too many 4 drops to fit him in.
Twilight Summoner - More testing required, front runner for replacing Polluted Hoarder.
Cyclopian Horror - A great card against aggro, usually better than a Sen'jin Shieldmasta.
Big Game Hunter - If you need more removal.
Corrupted Healbot - No space for him, otherwise would put him in. Doesn't matter that we heal them as we are all about controlling the board and making it into late game.
Harrison Jones - If weapons come into the meta, we will need to fit him in somewhere.
Stampeding Kodo - another great card against aggro and combos well with Brann Bronzebeard.
Spiteful Smith - Another forgotten card, great stats and effect for controlling the board.
Ancient Harbinger - If the effect was at the end of the turn it would be great. We have enough card draw without this.
Cairne Bloodhoof - Great deathrattler card, would love to fit this in.
The Black Knight - I feel like the time has never been better for this guy. It seems like an auto include with the new druid cards and almost every deck running a taunt of some sort. Don't feel bad playing it something as small as Mirror Image. It almost always sees value.
Skeram Cultist - More testing required though seems overpriced.
Baron Geddon - Unexpected board clear and decent body. Highly recommended.
Doomcaller - I usually try to wait for C'Thun to die first but if you have nothing else, play him on curve. He is a monster that demands the opponents attention.
Deathwing - The ultimate board clear. Works well with deathrattle cards. Unfortunately you give up your hand so it is unreliable.
Screenshots
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Submitted by maxster98
Submitted by Nyxann
Submitted by RHR1111111111
Submitted by cocozeta
Submitted by Svatex
Submitted by darkspear743
Submitted by AzGhort
Gameplay Videos
Please feel free to submit yours to the collection!
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How to Defeat Shaman
Testimonials
sasailolka
I can't believe I'm saying that but... Hearthstone is like... fun to me again?
This is the juiciest deck I've ever played, i don't know why but it brings me pure joy.
MeCiccio
I played this game 3 times in a row and in these 3 games i had more fun than the whole 6 months between loe and wotog.
GuntherDaPenguin
One of the strongest decks I've played this season, and I've played almost all the new decks so that's saying a lot. Played around 30 games with this, 26 wins to 4 losses. I gotta say man, thanks for this. I never played Rogue before this season but I guess it's time for a level 60 rogue and golden potrait.
Fearchara
Just registered on this site only to write a comment for this deck. dude, this shit is RIDICULOUS fun. the most fun deck I've ever played in this game. its not only fun, its fucking good too.
ChuckD113
This deck is absolutely absurd. It's so much fun to play and really, really hard to play against. There are a lot of answers to get you to turn 8 and by that point, your hand will be stacked with big, late-game threats.
Anty121
Been having a blast playing it. Looking forward to the changes you keep making to it as you progress with it!
Ziltoid2
Superfun deck and seems to work decently (8-3). WARNING: Requires thinking
Unreal Robbin
Rogues my favorite class! after days and days of frustration. I tried to bring back miracle, tried a n'zoth rogue. I've finally found this really fun competitive deck. THANKS SO MUCH.
JulianUF
I played a Reno Rogue deck for the past two months. It wasn't amazing, but it was pretty fun. I tried out your deck yesterday and I immediately fell in love. Whereas my old deck just tried to get good value out of cards (trade prince, anubarak, multiple reno's) and slowly grind the opponent out until I can either safely anubarak them to death or outheal all of their burst, this expansion has brought so many amazing new tools that really shine and help control Rogue actually close out a game.
Parsti
I really really like the Deck, it has some pretty cool interactions and its fun to Play, even if you lose some games :)
Played around Rank 6-7 with this Deck and had some success and a lot of Fun.
Kaiwr
This deck made me finally love the rogue class ! Well done, good job !
oolyooly
Love this deck! I win 4 out of 5 games roughly and they are always eventful.
izzmad
first fun deck in ages. just slaughtered an enemy 30 cthun and had mine get 47 when i had brann already on board :D
JustJohn
This deck could very well be the first one I had fun with in over a year! Amazin, thank you
burtthaman
This deck is amazing and a lot of fun. I smile every time I play it :-)! I am fortunate enough to have all of the cards and I recommend anyone else who does to MAKE THIS DECK NOW.
RedlsDread
Thank you for the decklist, I have been playing it since yesterday and it is both very powerful and fun to play.
xystuspwn
This deck runs extremely well! I just had a game that I should have died 4 times, however because of how this deck is built I survived.
daVigi
Thanks for this super fun deck! I am having a blast playing this!
MurlocSlayer
Having a lot of fun with this deck so many possible combos.
Pomeshnue
Holy crap I am having so much fun with this deck.
VitRiddare
It's so great to have a deck with three win major conditions :D
freaki60
Going 8/0 now with this deck. (Rank 5)
Spiddey1979
this... is... SO UNREAL ! awesome
Gorade
Thanks for this awesome deck, currently about 11/3 with it and having a lot of fun. I think the last time I had this much fun was playing the old Miracle Rogue which to this day is my favourite deck.
Please comment any suggestions or fun experiences with the deck. I wrote this in a bit of a rush so if you have any questions or would like me to spectate you, I am more that happy to. I hope to include some videos and more if people are interested. Good luck and have fun!
holy shit i just played a 50/50 c'thun LOL. this deck is funny as hell
"Incredible."
Great deck. Sadly, it has too many legendaries, making it very expensive :(
Nice guide, though.
You can swap most of them out, see the replacement cards ;)
Absolutely amazing deck! Can't remember another deck I've been playing exclusively for that long (at the moment for about 3 weeks)
One change I'm thinking about (but never tried yet) is replacing Refreshment Vendor with Infested Tauren. "Healing" is similar (3 "healing" instead of 4 real healing) but the benefit would be to get a survival taunt when playing N'Zoth, the Corruptor in late game. On the other hand Refreshment Vendor allows to heal multiple times with Shadowstep, Bloodthistle Toxin or Shadowcaster... that's why I didn't dare to replace yet.
It is a tough decision, heal can sometimes be better because of the spell damage that shaman uses at the end.
Why have N'Zoth in a deck with so few DR minions? I think you have to choose between N'Zoth and C'Thun, otherwise you risk that none of them become good drops in the end.
Because you really don't need a lot of Deathrattle minions to get value out of N'Zoth. Sylvanas, Xaril and Journey Below are generally enough to make N'Zoth worth it, especially if you pull something like Cairne or Anub'arak from Journey Below.
You could certainly add a few more, but I've found with this deck that multiple smaller win conditions are more powerful than one or two large ones.
Allot of people think that to use N'zoth you have to have a deck with only deathrattle minions. Those decks DEPEND on drawing N'zoth. This deck uses N'zoth as one of many tools to wear down and kill an opponent. You only need 1-2 minions for N'zoth to be effective. N'zoth + Sylvannus is excellent all on its own, partially because by the time you hit turn 10, the enemy has used their best removal and what you keep has a good chance of sticking. I've been plenty successfull using n'zoth. I'll Brann + N'zoth, or shadowstep and hit n'zoth two turns in a row. Shadowcast a 1/1 copy of N'zoth so I can get third Sylvannus, there are LOTS of options, you just have to get creative. Xaril spits out a shadowstep clone card as well.. Journey below can let you get all sorts of deathrattle goodies. I've brann + Shadowcaster to get 1/1 copy of brann, used a coin and done a brann + n'zoth in one turn...just think a little.
Makes sense. Thanks for the reply.
If you only get sylv off of z'noth, it is still a huge turn 10. You don't have to play ultra greedy with him :)
Shadowcaster is so good, 90% of the games she gets insane value
Yeah this card fits very well the build and have awesome value. Was playing it last month instead of the assassinate.
Last game, I've played Brann, then copied Blade of C'Thun, bladed the Ragnaros of my opponent and gave Stealth to Brann then play a HUGE 28 C'Thun the next turn! ^^
Rekt!
Blade of C'Thun buffs the shit out of C'Thun, he can be the only C'Thun minion in the deck and still get a 20/20 C'Thun easy.
Shadowcaster allows for some really fun situations. Glad that I found space for it again.
Hey i'll like to ask if Deadly Poison will fit in here, as sometimes i cant deal with early aggression without using my evis or sap, which kinda limits me a lot. Will prep fit in here as well? as this can synergise with Edwin, and im thinking of replacing betrayal or something for it.
Speaking of which, has Betrayal been any good? i've seen some people below my comment view it negatively and replace it with a shiv.
Thanks in advance for the reply~
Ay thanks, looks like i'll be keeping betrayal then :D
Yeah I prefer betrayal, it can do a lot of work in the right situation.
Really, really great job. I can't remember (I'm sure there were some, but it had to be a long time ago, Naxx or something) any other deck, that would give me so much FUN and being really COMPETETIVE at the SAME TIME. This is a fun tier of Natural Remedies, but it actually can crush almost everyone. I do appreciate the skills that it needs to work. I love to lose because of my mistakes and learn by it. Winning in a similar situation next time.
Of course I have experimented with it. There is not much place for it, since the deck is nearly perfect. I didn't really like Betrayal though. I don't like the fact, that it isn't affecter by Bloodmage Thalnos and Azure Drake. And it needs something I hate - a lot of RNG to enemy minions position themselves correctly. So I've removed it. The second card is Assassinate. It's just too slow. For 5 mana I'd like to do much more. It's really bad to kill a deathrattle for 5 mana, and there are so many of those right now... And it's another purely offensive card, that isn't affected by TWO spell damage cards - it's such a waste.
I've played dozens of games without these two and I've clearly felt an improvement. With Betrayal I was instantly sure; Assassinate was a less obvious, but apparently good choice.
As for the replacements: right now I'm using Shiv - this one sticks pretty well. It's cheap, it is affected by our previously mentioned two spell damage cards, it goes well with the weapon dealing 2/3 damage in total. It draws - and having so many options all the time, answers for everything (if you use your cards properly - the deck needs practice and isn't boring directly thanks to that!) is the best about this deck.
About the second card I'm not sure yet. Currently it's Twilight Geomancer. When I've seen this card being revealed, I thought: "My bored The Black Knight smiles widely and sends his regards, punk!" I've seen it as suiciding your C'thun. You drop it and the opponent instantly knows the target for his tauntkiller. But with those Twin Emperor Vek'lors and other Crazed Worshippers running around not many people would hold The Black Knight in hand just for that. And it isn't that common, as I've expected - forgot about the fact, that it's been useless and not-to-craft for a long time, since I've myself disenchanted a nerfed Leeroy Jenkins for him a long time ago. It may sound funny now, but back then Leeroy was considered dead (came back only because of Arcane Golem's ne... kill - funny, isn't it?) and Ramp Druid was ruling. But, coming back - C'thun is better to be neutralised, not to kill anyway - a successful Doomcaller is a catastrophe. So... it simply works like it was designed to - because it's good to drop anytime, and the deck has some moment of "nothing-to-do" (especially early turns vs control). But is it enough? I'll see, just have put it here.
As an other thing to try: I believe that having just ONE pair of cards would affect Reno so rarely, that it's worth considering. Especially with such drawing power. Did anyone count it? I mean - how often would you face a situation, in which you couldn't heal with Reno because of some card left in the pile...? Well, even without numbers - I've tested it in other decks and it is rare (ofc "rarely" doesn't mean "never"...). A Reno Druid have worked pretty well with two swipes. Just think about having two Shadowsteps (this cool effect works so well for this deck that I've even thought about putting a fucking Kidnapper in it :D) Disciple of C'Thuns in here. Much to try. You can see I'm a fan. Thank's again and I hope that anyone would gain from my longtalk.
--->TL;DR – Deck 9,5/10 – I recommend replacing Betrayal and Assassinate with Shiv and whatever you'd like to try.