Hearthpwn

Mulligan for affordable cards, obviously.  Deciding when to keep removal over creatures is very matchup dependent (I may add a mulligan guide later, if this stays visible).  The three divine shield creatures are cheap and sticky (though I will toss C’thun’s Chosen  if I don’t have coin or a couple other playable cards). 

Blood Knight  is a great keep whether you have any shields in hand or not, especially if your opponent is playing any of the common creatures with divine shield.  He is fine to play as a 3/3 on curve, but if he eats even one shield, a turn two or three 6/6 forces the board pretty well against most classes.  Even if you draw removal, that helps you later. Keep in mind that if your opponent has spoiled C’thun, he may be best to hold till their C’thun’s Chosen hits the board.

If you are a skeptic of Blood Knight, by all means, try subbing in whatever you prefer.  Mind Control Tech is a good candidate.  Brann Bronzebeard is a safe sub here, too. But think how often you see Argent Squire and C’thun’s Chosen in the opponents' decks in this meta.

Rationale: Most people find it quite satisfactory and understandable that it is OK to play a singleton of something like Mind Control Tech on curve as a vanilla 3/3 when you keep or mull into it. They are fine playing a loner MCT in their lists even though it has a very situational battlecry and rarely synergizes with the rest of a deck, but for some reason they have heartburn with applying the same concept to a card like Blood Knight. Your whole deck does not have to be built around this card to get value from it.  Its very good as a vanilla tempo 3/3, and its surprise value when it does drop large and strip opponents bubbles (quite common in the teen ranks for sure) or feed selectively off yours is immense.  

LIkewise, the two Argent cards, see routine play without BKs in the same setup, so they should not be thought of as being here only to support it.  They are good on their own.

Youthful Brewmaster has proven to be great in both the early game as a vanilla two drop or to bounce theJeweled Scarab or  on t3 or 4, and in the mid to late game on bigger battlecries, to heal, or restore bubbles. Playing Reno and immediately bouncing him can be devastating.  Getting N'zoth or C'thun back late can also be big.  For those who are skeptics, use Brann Bronzebeard instead, but he rarely gets more than one proc of his ability nor is he as aggressive an early drop.

Beckoner of Evil, Twilight Elder, Disciple of C’thun, and C’thun’s Chosen  are the only four direct buffs for C’thun. Because of this, the Jeweled Scarab  may occasionally prefer to choose any offered Twilight Elder  or Disciple of C’thun.

Thoughtsteal  can also randomly assist. But this small package is only intended to get him to 10, not to some mega size.  Twilight Darkmender  and Twin Emperor Vek’lor  are included, so getting to 10 is important.  Getting anything past 10 on him is not crucial.  

Rationale: I have heard those who say it ''feels bad" to play a C’thun for anything less than the outright win, but unless you are playing around something like Entomb or  Gang Up, in what Hearthstone multiverse does playing any X/X that deals X damage for 10 (and the sum of the three Xs is always => 18) not represent amazing value?  Even in the rare situation where you might feel forced to play it before it hits 10, its still great value, especially if you have board presence to set it up or clean up after it.

Twilight Darkmender  and Reno Jackson  are the main fast healing.  Thoughtsteal  and Jeweled Scarab  can occasionally help out, but that’s not really the plan. 

Youthful Brewmaster is useful in the deck for bouncing either of the above, as well as many of the other cards. But don't be afraid to play it on curve if you have no better options. Like the Blood Knight, it is intended to help with early board presence if that is when you have it available, regardless of losing its battlecry. 

Note, while the deck has no greedy duplicates, stay frosty when others play Excavated Evil, as it can rob you of the chance to Reno.  By the same token, be aware you can use yours against other Priests the same way.

Besides the three spot removal spells (Shadow Word: Pain, Shadow Word: Death, and Entomb) there are a couple creature based spot removals.  The Disciple of C'Thun and Argent Horserider crossover from the other two packages to act as direct damage.  

Acidic Swamp Ooze can remove a weapon (or two if bounced by theYouthful Brewmaster. Against Warrior, it is likely better held for the inevitable [cardGorehowl[/card].  Same for the Paladin's Ashbringer.

And while not immediately obvious, Thoughtsteal and Jeweled Scarab can both produce removal spells or creatures that deal damage or destroy creatures.

Several area of effect oriented cards also help:  Holy Nova, Baron Geddon, C’thun himself, Excavated Evil, and Doomsayer. The latter is a concession to both the feedback (appreciated) and further playtesting that insisted Yogg was not a good board clearing option in this deck and that the little pessimist that could was a must play.

Also, Wild Pyromancer. The list might seem light on triggers but there are five trigger spells directly in the deck, six if you get coin. It climbs to 8-10+ triggers when you count Thoughtsteal/Jeweled Scarab/Shifting Shade effects). (Note, not counting Excavated Evil as a trigger; it was hotfixed to prevent it from triggering the Wild Pyro).

N’zoth, the Corruptor  is the heart of the long game strategy to win before fatigue becomes the only way.  Huge Toad, anything from Museum Curator, Shifting Shade, the occasional rattle from Jeweled Scarab  or Thoughtsteal  or Entomb, Infested Tauren, Cairne Bloodhoof, and Sylvanas Windrunner all come back from the dead. 

If you feel like subbing more rattle in, I recommend The Skeleton Knight. I don't own one, but often pull it off the Curator and it does well. 

Cards:

Entomb:  Next to Sylvanas Windrunner and Reno Jackson, this is one of the most important cards in the deck, certainly the most important Priest card.  It is so important to be able to hold this until the best play is available.  Against C’thun decks. For example, that is most always going to be C’thun, with maybe the following exception.  Against any deck (including C’thun), Sylvanas Windrunner is the prime target.  If you have to use it on a target, it needs to be very high value, something there is no other answer against, because you only have the one in this Reno Jackson build. If I had to be greedy and double a card in the list, this is the only one I would double.  I won’t do it, because I value Reno Jackson too highly, but just saying, if you feel the greed, this is the card to be greedy with.

Jeweled Scarab:  This is a pretty important card in the deck.  It can offer you a second 3 cost Shadow Word: Death, a second Thoughtsteal, a 2^nd Twilight Elder, Mind Control Tech, Brann Bronzebeard, Disciple of C’thun, or some more synergy with N’Zoth, the Corruptor via Harvest Golem.  If you need a silence, it might offer the Ironbeak Owl.  If you need an extra 3 healing, Earthring Farseer. One card which can be a huge plus or drawback, depending on the matchup is Shadowform.  Wolfrider and Argent Horserider can serve as removal, and if you need a Blood Knight you might get one.  More synergy for it if you have it already from Scarlet Crusader and Silent Knight.  For those really wanting draw, Acolyte of Pain and Coldlight Oracle can appear, though I personally avoid draw in the deck as part of the fatigue plan.  Even Tinkmaster Overspark can occasionally be worth the gamble, when the board is right.  Bottom line, this is a card with a full range of potential utility via some RNG.  As such, it is often better held until you know what you need, though it’s certainly fine to drop t2 if you need a t3 play.

Museum Curator: Best drop is Sylvanas Windrunner, which you take almost every time, unless you need some other answer.  Generally take something you can play soon, although certainly avoid obvious crap picks.  A not so obvious worse than usual pick is Wobbling Runts… what is usually good about its rattle is bad in this deck, because the runts can clog your board if you want to play N’zoth, the Corruptor when they are down.  Chillmaw is good even without the 3 damage AoE (though you can sometimes activate it off the Thoughtsteal/ Shifting Shade).  Deathwing, Dragonlord is nice if you get him late, but can be dead if offered too early. The Skeleton Knight can be good.

Shifting Shade: The rattles RNG is highly variable, but its worthy of the spot because of the kinds of cards that are in almost all decks, like more Sylvanas Windrunner, etc.  Plus the possibility of a second C’thun or N’zoth, the Corruptor, or even Reno Jackson, really big updside.

Huge Toad: This card gets less love than it should.  It’s one of the few two drops that can deal 4 damage on turn three (or turn two with coin, though I usually save coin).  As such, it can take out two cards, or 3/4, etc.  This is a decent two drop to help with early board presence.  Even if it draws an answer, it still nets a point of damage on something, even after the card for card trade.

Infested Tauren:  What makes this good on its own is better with N’zoth, the Corruptor.  Its two halves combined stats of 4/5 for 4 are OK, with a taunt thrown in to make it even better by vanilla grading standards.  It requires two ‘hits’ to fully remove (sticky).  But its best feature is that it puts a taunt up when N’zoth, the Corruptor comes out.  A small one, yes, but that is important.  It is also one of only two taunts you can drop Doomsayer behind, the other being Twin Emperor, which you probably will only do if he can’t trigger a twin.

Cairne Bloodhoof: In every N’zoth, the Corruptor deck, needs little explanation.

Sylvanas Windrunner:  Arguably the most important card in the game right now, taking the Dr. Boom slot for ubiquity, in not as unbalanced.  One of the few possible answers/counters to Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End and C’thun when played just before they are.  If she steals them mid proc, they start processing the other way.  Biggest Achilles’ heel is Entomb, and of course, she has agoraphobia (fear of the wide open empty board, lol).  Even if you swapped out the whole N’zoth, the Corruptor package, you want to keep this in.

Acidic Swamp Ooze: A combination early board presence drop with added utility against weapon classes.  No real explanation needed, except to add that the Youthful Brewmaster can get you a couple uses out of it, if deemed needed.  Warrior’s Gorehowl or Paladin’s Ashbringer can either one certainly warrant that.  For those who really hate the intentional lack of draw in the deck, you could sub Harrison Jones here, or elsewhere.

Argent Squire: It’s a solid, sticky one drop which helps the early game a lot.  For those who aren’t on board with it, I would suggest that Finley is probably the best alternative, because of his fat rear end and the switch to a potentially better hero power.

Argent Horserider:  Like the Argent Squire this is really intended more to help with early board presence, as removal, a 2/1 that deals two, like Disciple of C’thun.

Blood Knight:  There are a LOT of decks playing divine shield minions, not just agro paladin.  C’Thun’s Chosen’s are in all C’thun decks. Argent Squires and Argent Horseriders are in many, many agro builds.  All three of those bubbles in this deck do their own jobs well and are only peripherally meant as an occasional assist to the BK.  It is more important to strip opponents’ bubbles than make this big, though it getting bigger is a bonus.  If it has to be played on curve, as a vanilla 3/3, it’s no worse than a Mind Control Tech in the same position.  For those who don’t get it, feel free to sub MCT, but personally, I find the early game stripping of a bubble or two is more swingy than a random grab from 4+creatures, which involves a lot more RNG and has no early game value.  But it’s obvious that I am in a minority here.  No need to hate me for it, just sub if you don’t agree.  Another viable sub is Brann Bronzebeard, everyone’s favorite target.  I find he rarely gets a chance to do more than give you a second scarab or curator option, but that can be huge.  I certainly understand why many would prefer him.  There is always the dream of doubling C’thun.

Youthful Brewmaster:  I find this card preferable to Brann Bronzebeard because of his interaction with cards like Acidic Swamp Ooze and Reno Jackson, in addition to other battlecries… he just lets you get a second battlecry from more of the cards than Brann does overall.  He also effectively ‘heals’ cards, or lets you play something like Argent Horserider twice in one turn. And he gives you a safety valve for Baron Geddon.  If you really want Brann, I would sub him for the Blood Knight, and keep this card in. 

Reno Jackson:  In the current meta, where there is so much agro, and likewise, when some control decks just run you till both players are out of cards, there are few answers as good as Reno Jackson, especially when you can sometimes play him two or three times in the game (via either the Youthful Brewmaster or the occasional Thoughtsteal or Shifting Shade acquisition, or off a Hunter’s Freezing Trap).  About the only thing he can’t buy you at least a turn or two for are the one turn kills when they are set up, or if you have lost total control of the board.  This, for me, is an always keep on the mulligan.  For those who think he has no place in Priest… I just don’t agree.  There is no comparison between two heal a turn and up to 29 heal in one turn.  For the class considered by most to be the weakest, it feels to me like a card which to build priest decks around, to help turn some of the too-many losses into wins.  There are trade-offs, yes. The biggest one for me being that we don’t play Auchenal Soulpriest with Reno Jackson, as it can kill us.  Which is why I don’t have the Soulpriest and its combo(s) in the deck, and why I focus on every other AoE option available.  If you are comfortable juggling around the interaction, you can try it.  I prefer not.

Wild Pyromancer:  Most of the removal in the deck is focused on some form of Area of Effect, because the creatures are meant to help in the one on one removal battle.  Wild Pyromancer is just one more piece to that AoE package, even if its one of the less spectacular.  The deck has more triggers and potential triggers than first glance reveals, though.  True there are only 5 trigger spells directly in the deck (Shadow Words Pain and Death, Thoughtsteal, Entomb, and Holy Nova, the latter for which WP acts as spell power), but up to four more triggers are available via cards obtained off the Thoughtsteal, Jeweled Scarab, and Shifting Shade.  Plus one more if you have coin.  That's a total of up to 10 spell triggers.  Sometimes you will also Discover or Deathrattle into more card advantage cards (like those from a second Thoughtsteal or thought stolen Scarabs, etc.) which can grow the number of spell triggers even higher.  With your ability to heal the Wild Pyromancer, you can use it up to three times in a turn, more over other turns.  Given this setup, it factors into choices of whether to use a spell as removal or a creature… all other things equal, use creatures where possible and save the spell as a trigger for this later if you haven’t played it yet.  But, even as a vanilla two drop it is a 3/2, which is a good aggressive play on curve sometimes.  If you have to play it that way, don’t feel bad, man.  That’s often what its best for. 

Baron Geddon:  This is another of the creature based AoEs.  Serving an important role along with the Doomsayer, Wild Pyro[/card], Holy Nova, Excavating Evil, and C’thun.  This is a card which is a little better in Priest than other classes because your heal ability will let you keep creatures with big enough hind ends in play even taking two each turn, and/or let you heal the face damage.  Against a class like hunter, if they have a secret in play which you think is Freezing Trap, but no they have not drawn another answer, you can just let it sit there and clock them each turn until you can trigger it with something else (preferably a battlecry guy, like Reno Jackson).  If he has done his job, but you don’t want to keep withering, he can be brewmastered back the next turn after attacking.

C’thun cards:  These are all self-explanatory, and touched on in the spoiler above. This C’thun’s cultists are only trying to get him to 10/10, to empower the Twin Emperor and the Twilight Darkmender.  Anything more is just gravy.  There are a few more options, which you can sub in at other slots if you want to increase the C’thun package’s weight.  I personally am fine with how the balance dilutes the top end of each of C’thun and N’zoth, the Corruptor, but for those who prefer to weight it in one direction or the other, go for it.  It’s even fine to completely remove one package to totally beef up the other (with the exception of must-have Sylvanas Windrunner).  I found that easier to do by removing deathrattles and N’zoth, the Corruptor and adding C’thun cultists, but that was partly because I don’t own some of the rattle card options like Deathwing, Dragonlord or The Skeleton Knight.  In the end, after experimenting, I like the balance a bit better in a meta with a balance of other C’thun and N’zoth, the Corruptor decks.  If I was seeing mostly C’thun decks, I could see weighting it more toward that side, but even then, there is real value to being able to recur at least the 2^nd Sylvanus… even if you have few other N’zoth, the Corruptor ‘targets’.

Notable Exclusion (not already mentioned above): Justicar Trueheart was in this at one time... I took it out for two reasons.  One is that it was so easily killed, that it was too big a tempo loss to play it and have it die every time right away.  The other is that as great as its ability is in non Reno Jackson builds, I find that you can really only play one or the other well... the argument some have had that Reno has no place in Priest (which I disagree with) is true of Justicar in builds that are using Reno.  Reno and Darkmender do not synergize well with Justicar.  Likewise, the choice to leave out the Soulpriest factors into this analysis.  For those of you who believe Reno does not belong in a Priest deck, you are welcome to play Justicar, Soulpriest, etc. to your heart's content.  They just are not in the gameplan here.

I made one Hunter deck parodying the Mad Max movie call Madd Rexx: Whispers Road for fans of that movie.  

Fans of M. Night Shyamalan movies might like my old M. Knight Redeemalan guide (dated deck, though).   

Fans of Bob Dylan may like my Everybody Must Get Pwn'd decklist and guide.

I have a full guide for Aggro Freeze Mage (pre-WotG, too).

There are others...feel free to look.  I welcome followers, too.  Thanks!