Hearthpwn

This deck counters many of the popular decks in the current meta, with many useful answers against Aggro Shaman, Zoo, and Control Warrior. Usually, you’re looking to stall the game with board clears such as Holy Nova, Excavated Evil, and the combo with Auchenai Soulpriest and Circle of Healing. Along the way, playing deathrattle minions such as Shifting Shade and Sylvanas will create a huge late game threat: N’Zoth the Corrupter. Against control matchups, Entomb is a very useful card that not only silences, and destroys a minion, it also adds a late game threat to your own deck. Justicar Truehart is a must-have in this deck, since the massive amount of healing can in games against control matchups. Your final win condition, if all else fails, is Elise Starseeker, by transforming useless cards (Power Word: Shield and Circle of Healing) into random legendary minions.

 

Warrior (70:30): There are many Warrior decks in the current meta, ranging from Tempo Warrior, to the good old classic Control Warrior, to Pirate Warrior. Control Warrior should be an easy matchup, since you can Entomb their big cards, and steal cards from their deck with Thoughtsteal and Shifting Shade. Pirate Warrior can be a bit more tricky, since Priests don’t handle weapons very well. Since both these matchups are very different, try to Mulligan cards that will have an effect on both decks.

Keep: Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain, Shadow Word: Death, and Museum Curator

Card(s) to watch out for: Grommash Hellscream

 

Shaman (60: 40): The only Shaman decks being played right now are Aggro Shaman and Midrange Shaman. Against Aggro Shaman, the game will depend on if you draw your board clears and your heals. If you do, this matchup will be a breeze. Shadow Word: Pain and Shadow Word: Death are great counters to many Shaman threats, such as Totem Golem, Tunnel Trogg, and Flamewreathed Faceless. Midrange Shaman will play out similar to Aggro Shaman, but healing and board clears will not be as necessary. Try to keep a small board presence on the board, and stay out of Doomhammer/Rockbiter range.

Keep: Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain, Shadow Word: Death, and Flash Heal

Card(s) to watch out for: Doomhammer/Rockbiter

 

Rogue (30: 70): Rogue is the toughest matchup for Priest, since they are usually have an OTK archetype. Against Miracle Rogue, your best chance is to heal every turn, and save your board clears for Gadgetzan/Conceal. Try to stay above 20 health if possible, and keep a solid board presence to keep up the pressure. Entomb Tomb Pillager if necessary, since you don’t want to give your opponent the Coin.

Keep:  Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, and Shadow Word: Pain

Card(s) to watch out for: Malygos, Leeroy

Druid (N/A): Druid is one of the worst classes in the meta right now, due to many nerfs to their core cards. The only viable Druid deck right now is C’thun Druid, which I haven’t faced with this deck, yet.

Keep: Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain, and Museum Curator

Card(s) to watch out for: C’thun

 

Warlock (80-20): The two main Warlock decks being played right now are Zoo and Renolock. Zoo should be an easy matchup, since you have a ridiculous amount of board clears. Forbidden ritual gets hard-countered by Wild Pyromancer, and Shadow Word: Death is an easy counter to Sea Giant. Flash Heal is a key card in this matchup, which can be used to heal yourself out of lethal range, or used with Auchenai Soulpriest to kill off a minion, such as Darkshire Councilmen. Although you have many board clears in the deck, know when to use them. Don’t play Wild Pyromancer turn 2 as a “tempo play,” as it will likely die and you’ll have wasted a chance to kill off many 1/1’s. Renolock is the complete opposite of Zoo. Their plan usually is to let their opponent bring them down to around 10 health, clear the board, reno, and be left with a handful of cards while their opponents have nothing. This isn’t much of a problem for Priest, because our game plan was to stall the game anyway. Play the same way as you would against a Control Warrior. Entomb their big cards, clear the board, and play deathrattle minions. The only problem you may have is when the Warlock plays Lord Jaraxxus, in which case you have two options. Your first option is to burst him down with a huge OTK with Auchenai Soulpriest (this is why knowing the amount of heal in your deck is a good idea), or playing Golden Monkey, which will usually come down to which legendaries you get.

Keep: Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain, Flash Heal (No need to keep a board clear because you will likely draw it anyway at some point in the game)

Card(s) to watch out for: Leeroy, Lord Jaraxxus

 

Priest (55-45): Control Priest and Dragon Priest are the only viable Priest decks in the current meta. Against Control Priest, you want to play your big cards at the very end, after your opponent has played both their Entombs. Justicar Truehart is a key card in this matchup, since the game will usually go to fatigue and the massive amounts of healing will outlast your opponent. You should also try to Mulligan for Elise Starseeker, and get the Golden Monkey ASAP. Dragon Priest is more tempo-oriented, but the dragon synergy isn’t usually a problem for us. Shadow Word: Pain is a great card in this matchup, since it can kill off Twilight Whelp, Wyrmrest Agent, and Twilight Guardian. Always save one Entomb for Ysera, and try not to play any big cards that could be Entombed.

Keep: Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain, Museum Curator, Shifting Shade, Thoughtsteal, Elise Starseeker

Card(s) to watch out for: Ysera, Entomb

 

Hunter (N/A): Surprisingly, I only played Hunter 2 times, both which were Face Hunters. This deck outlasted them easily, with all the heals in the deck. Even though I have yet to play a Midrange/Beast Hunter, the game should probably play out the same way as a Midrange Shaman.

Keep: Keep: Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain, Flash Heal

Card(s) to watch out for: Call of the Wild

 

Mage (50/50): Tempo Mage (without Yogg), Tempo Mage (with Yogg), and Freeze Mage are currently the popular Mage decks. Tempo Mage is usually played out like Aggro Shaman. Shadow Word: Pain will be a great card in this matchup, since it can deal with Flamewaker, Mana Wyrm, and Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Tempo Mage with Yogg will play out a bit slower, and this game will usually come down to Yogg’s randomness. Remember to play N’zoth after your opponent plays Yogg, since Yogg is usually a board clear and will kill all of your minions. Freeze Mage will require a completely different play style. Since it is an OTK deck, try to keep your health above 20, and save a few heals for the turn after Alexstrasza. Thoughtsteal and Shifting Shade are great cards in the matchup, since they can give you more options from your opponent’s deck. Besides these 3 mage decks, I’ve also played against a Malymage, which ran right over this deck. Their OTK Combo is Malygos + Frostbolt + Frostbolt + Ice Lance + Ice Lance, and there is almost no way for Priests to deal with it. Fortunately, Malymage isn’t a popular deck at the moment.

Keep: Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain

Card(s) to watch out for: Yogg (duh…), Alexstrasza

 

Paladin (70/30): Control Paladin is the most popular Paladin deck currently, along with a few Murloc Paladin decks. Control Paladin will play out a lot like Control Warrior. You should aim to Entomb their big cards (Tirion, Sylvanas, Cairne) to prevent them from getting N’Zoth value. If your opponent is smart, and doesn’t play their big cards, your game plan should be to draw the Golden Monkey, and finish the game off with random legendaries. Your main problem will be dealing with Justicar Truehart, since 2 1/1’s each turn will give the Paladin a lot of tempo.

Keep: Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain, Museum Curator, Shifting Shade, Thoughtsteal, Elise Starseeker

Card(s) to watch out for: (Justicar Truehart, N’Zoth)

 

Overall, this deck performs very well against most decks. The crafting cost for this deck is a bit high, but all the legendaries are solid and neutral, which means you can play them in multiple classes. The one epic in the deck, Cabal Shadow Priest, is actually not needed, since it doesn't fit in the theme with N’Zoth, but it is a great value card which is why it’s included. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments. Thanks for reading!