[S28 Top 50 Legend] Shadowcaster Yogg Rogue (Fu...
- Last updated Aug 29, 2016 (Karazhan)
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Wild
- 19 Minions
- 11 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Reno Rogue
- Crafting Cost: 13500
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 7/19/2016 (Old Gods)
- kitsel
- Registered User
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- 2
- 8
- 19
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
N/A
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Total Deck Rating
152
Edit: With Karazhan out, this deck is now officially back under construction!
For now, I've decided to remove the two hucksters for Swashburglars and Teacher for Barnes. Swashburglars are great - having a 1 drop is extremely nice and has already set me up nicely a few times. It's great to not have to pass turn 1 every time. Getting the card right away instead of having to suicide is also nice, and makes it less vulnerable to stuff like Cabal Shadow Priest while still being just as good of a Shadowcaster target. It's also a better late-game topdeck as you don't need to wait a turn to use the stolen card.
Barnes, on the other hand, I'm not sure about. If he's a whiff, then worst case you just get a 3/4 and a 1/1 which isn't that bad. Stuff like Azure Drake is decent (spell damage), Thalnos, Pillager, and Xar'il are good, and Sylvanas or Rag can be flat out game-winning. He'd be even better if I took the Swashburglars back out for Hucksters. However, Teacher is also very strong and I'm not sure if Barnes is consistent enough in this deck.
Added Defender of Argus due to a suggestion by @Hueuebi.
Hi, I'm Kitsel! I'm an NA legend player that decided to try to get legend with a deck that almost noone else is playing. This is a tempo-focused Rogue deck that I used to reach legend in Season 27 (June 2016) and 28 (July 2016). It toes the line between tempo and midrange (and has a relatively weak start for a "tempo" deck) but since it has to be identified as one, that's the one I've picked. It's a deck that I've never met anyone else playing and that I haven't shared with many people, and it ended up being my favorite grind to legend ever. It is a heavily modified/tweaked version (~10 different cards at this point) of a deck that I saw Orange running on stream just a day or two after the WoG release, but he quickly stopped playing it. However, I feel the need to credit him as the basic idea came from his stream.
I posted this deck early last season but I had it as private for a long time and never seemed to show up on the public list no matter what I did, so I'm reposting it!
Proof of Legend:
Top 50 Legend S28 (July):
Top 200 Legend S27 (June):
The deck is extremely versatile and decision-heavy, which makes it a really fun playing experience. It has no truly terrible matchups and is able to go toe to toe with both control and aggro. I don't believe it's tier 1 or even tier 2 in power, but it is an effective deck that is a lot of fun and has no "hopeless" matchups.
General Strategy
The general idea of this deck is to use your weapons and removal early to try to contest the board until you can generate a swing turn. This deck has only a few large threats so they must be played carefully - tossing a Rag onto an empty board against a warrior is usually not the best decision, and often the goal is to bait out removal before throwing down the real threats. This deck looks a lot like both N'zoth and Miracle rogue, depending on the hand you're dealt. This may change if the deck becomes popular but at this point almost everyone mistakenly assumes it's one of them and makes bad plays. I get my Tomb Pillagers sapped all the time because they assume that's my big threat, for example.
The deck shines mid-game and the plays you choose to make here are what is going to decide the game. Use your shadowcaster wisely and get ready to adapt. You never know what you're going to get from Huckster or what duplicates you're going to end up with.
Shadowcaster!
This is the core of your deck. Knowing how and when to use her will decide many of your games. Knowing when to copy a huckster for fatigue games, bloodmage for draw/spell damage, or hold on for a bigger cash in (duplicating rag or yogg is hilarious, and duplicating rag can often lead to a surprise lethal) is important. Shadowcaster can even be used to duplicate herself, and I recommend that whenever possible. Not only can you make infinite 1/1s with any left-over mana as long as one shadowcaster lives (which can lead to a GIGANTIC Edwin turn), it also leaves you with a 1 mana copy, allowing you to copy Rag or Sylvanas same turn, or even Yogg if you have a coin and he doesn't destroy himself.
Feel free to get creative with Shadowcaster. Occasionally, copying that 0/1 that the midrange shaman just hexed instead of copying an SI:7 and spitting out the 1/1 taunt will save you. Sometimes copying something you wouldn't ordinarily think about can win you the game, including huckster cards:
Shadowcaster is extremely flexible - she plays well with Xaril toxins and there are tons of good copy targets. Huckster generates a card, Edwin becomes even better as a 1/1 for 1, Xaril poisons are great and can fuel Yogg, and a 1 mana draw + spell damage from drake comes in handy. Skulker is just a solid card that's ALWAYS a great copy target. The key here is judgement. You don't want to hold onto your shadowcaster so long that you have nothing to clone, but you also don't want to give up and clone something like a violet teacher unless you have to.
Mulligans and Matchups
Druid
Mulligans - Backstab, SI:7 Agent, Edwin, Preparation, Eviscerate, Huckster
C'thun druid tends to have strong plays early so you want to have an answer to an early innervate play. Druids are especially vulnerable to a huge Edwin as most run no removal at all. If you can get your hands on Prep, a spell, coin, and Edwin, it's usually worth it to keep all of them and use that spell (whatever it is) just to make that 8/8 Edwin. Druids have a lot of big, high value taunts that are perfect sap targets. A sap on an Arakkoa or Ancient can seal the win for you. There are no specific copy targets you're looking for, although Huckster and Thalnos/Drake are both great options.
Warrior:
Control/C'thun Mulligans - Backstab, SI:7, Prep, Shadow Strike, Huckster, Thalnos
This is a pretty tough matchup. You need to bait removals and make your rag or Sylvanas stick long enough to copy it or pray to Yogg that he saves you. Typically you're going to have to feed the War Axe minions anyway, so Hucksters make nice targets. I really like to keep Shadow Strike here as a way to deal with Bloodhoof Brave, Elise, etc.
Tempo: Backstab, SI:7, Prep, Evis, Teacher
Board control is key here. Try not to leave them with convenient Ghoul or Ichor turns. Shadow Strike deals with Bloodhoof pretty well. Keep yourself at safe health, as this deck plays both Rag and Grommash.
Dragon:
SI:7 plus a combo generator are EXTREMELY important. An early Faerie dragon can literally end the game for you right there! Early Alexstraza's Champions can be tough too. You need to deal with their incredibly strong 2 drops and then take initiative back. Don't be afraid to get aggressive and sap something like a Blackwing Corrupter if you're behind! Saving sap for the Drakonid Crusher while you're losing does you no good. Obviously, you'd prefer to save it for the big drop, but sapping away his 6 drop does nothing when you've got no taunts and few heals and you're behind on board control.
Shaman;
Aggro - Backstab, SI:7, Prep, Evis, Sap
This is a tough matchup as well. Most of Shaman's early minions have 3+ health, diminishing SI:7's usefulness early game. Our deck also runs zero taunts, so if they get you low there's often nothing you can do even if you establish board control. You need a good opener and some luck. Skulker can help clean totems, though it won't kill Totem Golem, Wolves, or Troggs. Sap works great against the decks running Flamewreathed.
Midrange - Backstab, SI:7, Prep, Shadow Strike, Tomb Pillager
This matchup is slightly better than Aggro. Skulker makes quick work of totems, Shadow Strike takes care of Thing from Below, Sap deals with Flamewreathed. However, They can build a board from nothing and often you'll just run out of removal and get overwhelmed.
Warlock:
Mulligans - Backstab, SI:7, Fan, Huckster, Skulker, Evis
Zoo is a pretty good matchup. Skulker absolutely demolishes a Zoo board, and you have FOUR different AoEs to work with (up to 6 if you count shadowcaster copies of Skulker). Often Zoo will feel quite confident if you use an early Fan or Skulker and will fill the board, only to get shadowcaster -> Skulkered, or another Skulker/Fan. Copy Skulker if you can. Try to maintain the board as much as possible here and grind them down. Don't leave them with a board presence to PO or Argus up.
Renolock is one of the hardest matchups, but it's an infrequent one. Try your best to make your Rag/Edwin stick, because they're your only real threat. If you allow them to Reno and Jaraxxus, you're probably in trouble.
Hunter
Mulligans: Backstab, SI:7, Huckster, Shadow Strike/Evis
This is a really tough matchup. Often you'll feel like you're winning on board, only to get outvalued later in the game by Highmane, Call of the Wild, and Houndmaster. Try to keep their board clean and just grind them down. Sap on Highmane wins games. Keep necessary removal for Call of the Wild as well, you need to be able to deal with it. Skulker, SI:7 and Thalnos/Drake are your copy targets here. You need targeted damage or amplified removal to stay ahead. Your health can drop in the blink of an eye.
Mage:
Mulligans - Backstab, SI:7, prep, Shadow Strike, Evis, Thalnos
This is a very hit or miss matchup. You want to keep their board clean of Water Elementals, Flamewakers, and Mana Wyrms. Thalnos is your friend here, as he'll make a backstab kill a Wyrm, a backstab + dagger poke kill a Flamewaker, and a Shadow Strike kill a water elemental. Establish tempo and don't let up. Huckster is a great copy target here as Mage cards are in general pretty good.
Priest:
Mulligans - SI:7, Backstab, Edwin, Prep, Evis
The main thing to focus on here is be careful with your copies!! They are vulnerable to both Cabal and Shadow Madness. Try to suicide Huckster or any copies away before turn 6. This is a relatively good matchup, but it's going to come down to hand size, so you really don't want them grabbing a huckster or a 1/1 Rag from you. Try to get them to waste removal on your smaller stuff, as they probably don't know you have Rag, Yogg, and Sylvanas waiting to drop. You have a lot of 4 attack minions that they can't do much about, so try to use them and protect them if you can. Often, you'll want to make your Edwin 4/4 just to avoid pain and death, although he can also be used as bait for removal so you can drop a Rag.
Paladin:
Mulligans - Huckster, SI;7, Backstab, Tomb Pillager, Drake
You want to take control of this matchup early. If you can force them to use one of their equality combos on an early board or to Forbidden healing when they don't have board control, you can snowball that lead to victory. However, early aggression is dangerous because you lack a great way to deal with Doomsayer. Be cognizant of Doomsayer while trying to apply early pressure. Copy Sylvanas or Rag if you can. Stealing Tirion is critical to this matchup.
Replacements
I've tinkered around with many variations of this deck. If Zoo and Midrange Shaman are less prevalent, Dark Iron Skulker can be removed for an extra Tomb Pillager or Violet Teacher. The deck is a bit top heavy and ends up with no early plays occasionally with that second skulker in there, so as soon as the swarm goes away (totems, zoo) I would highly recommend throwing that 4 drop back in there. Skulker is a pretty weak card that I'd just run as a one-of normally. However, he singlehandedly beats zoo (especially if you can then shadowcaster him or use him after you've fanned and they think they're safe to spam the board) and can clear a board full of totems all at once as well. Teacher is probably replaceable as well - the deck started out more as a token/spell/yogg deck and slowly changed, but the Teacher was never removed.
Sylvanas can be replaced by Cairne Bloodhoof. Cairne is great against the control matchup as he really messes with brawl (especially if you can shadowcaster him) but he is extremely weak against Aggro. Sylvanas still poses a threat, and if she can be shadowcastered, she presents a huge threat as an instant low mana steal with the damage toxin or backstab. The deck originally had Cairne, and I was even able to hit top 100 with Cairne, but it became clear that Sylvanas was better pretty quickly. Thanks to ZBOZZ for the suggesting that I replace Cairne with Sylvanas!
Why Not N'zoth?
All of the deathrattle minions played in this deck are slow, and there are only 2 deathrattle taunts right now, both of which are mediocre and big tempo losses. Therefore, N'zoth does nothing the turn he's dropped. If you're staring down lethal or a big board, it's not going to help you. Yogg, on the other hand, is able to turn games around singlehandedly and can still win you the control matchup. Often, by turn 10 you're sitting at VERY low health and can't afford to just build a board presence without clearing or healing. He's clearly a very strong card against control, but I don't believe it's worth an include in THIS particular deck. It certainly merits testing though, as it could turn out better than I expect.
Go have fun with the deck! And feel free to PM me with questions or let me know in the comments how the deck works for you. Thanks!!
If you're playing a lot of games against decks where there's no opportunity to use Yogg, you can always scrap him for another Midrange drop like a Cairne or an anti-aggro minion. You'll lose a great tool against slower decks, but you'll probably improve your matchups against faster decks.
I am currently playing this deck in wild with some changes.
- 1 Azure Drake (It is a great card but I had way too many 5 drops.) + Loatheb (This card is AMAZING in this deck. Shadowcaster synergy is off the charts. - 1 Sap (mostly good against Shaman which is less seen in Wild) +1 Dr. Boom (because Dr. Boom) +1 Dark Iron Skulker (GG vs Zoolock and spamadin). +1 Violet Teacher (I felt like more 4 drops were needed). -1 Xaril, the Poisoned Mind (don't have it.) -1 Edwin VanCleef (don't have it.)
Currently doing okish, more changes required. I want to try and fit in Sludge Belcher, but there are already way too many 5drops.
Edit : I've entered a winstreak of 6 games so far.
Edit2 : at rank 7, my win streak was crushed by a priest. I used Shadowcaster to copy Loatheb twice, preventing him from Entombing both my Dr. Boom and my Ragnaros the Firelord. However he just entombed them the turn afterwards and I drew very slowly so I couldn't overwhelm him. :(
Edit3: I just faced off against a secret paladin with a perfect curve of T5 Sludge Belcher, T6 Mysterious Challenger, turn 7 Mysterious Challenger n2, turn 8 Tirion Fordring. I was winning with a fantastic lead, and was about to lethal him on turn 10 (he literally had 1 hp left, and I had a pretty huge board of Ragnaros and friends). He then drops N'Zoth, the Corruptor. I lost. But your deck putting up a fight against Secret Paladin in such an incredible way is really impressive.
I added N'Zoth instead of Earthen Farseer, so you get even more value versus Control Decks.
I know you've posted your reasoning for not using Brann in this deck but he seems far too good to give up based on his shadowcaster combo alone. Shadowcaster on Brann gives you two 1/1 Shadowcasters. So you could do this combo T8 for a 4/4 and a 2/4 on board and then pop Rag plus one of the 1/1's T9. Even if your board gets cleared, T10 you could play the minirag and the other minicaster to get one more minirag. In addition, Brann is an alright T3 play, double heals you with Earthen, and is a pretty huge removal magnet for opponents.
Something else I was curious about was the double Preparation. I love plays like Thalnos --> Prep --> Fan but do you not find it a bit of a dead card with so few spells?
(i just tried using this deck and bran is clearly too slow and win more condition - you can combo it like you said on turn 6-8 , but there is better ways to spend turn probably emperor would make sense and at this point reno as well and it will become entirely different deck, - this deck manouvres on the edge each turn without healing and taunts, so i don't think bran can ever work here, can't afford).
preparation is essential - your hand always full due to plenty card draw and deathrattles- preparation helps clean it, and gain tempo on board)
Anyways i am new to this deck so better to wait for author:) but it is really exciting to play - long since i had so much fun playing hearthstone:)
K I just started a game with this and totally forgot that the combo gives you extra 1/1 Branns not SC's. My bad. Ignore this comment.
I have 1 copy of shadow caster only.
Any replacement for the other copy?
Thanks in advance
OMG ! simply love this deck :) amazing and fun to play and good to rank.. well deserved upvote here.
btw: you got to have coldlight oracle (pretty much in every deck now - as its only potential wining condition against those nasty OTK wariors) plus it fits the theme here
i really want this deck to work but I'm 0-4 vs rogue hunter shaman druid
tried everything can't beat worgen combo to save my life.
really hard slog against zoo aswell
really can't advance on EU with this.
fun way to complete dailies though so i can't complain too much!
Worgen is indeed a tough matchup, though not AS bad if you can identify it quickly. You need to get extremely aggressive (to the point of shadowstriking face) because you have no taunts to prevent combo. If you identify them quickly enough and then play aggressively, it is a winnable matchup. Swap out the teacher for a taz'dingo or something if you're playing them a lot.
Zoo, on the other hand, should not be a problem at all! Your removals all line up pretty much perfectly. Backstab and SI take care of imp, jugglers, peddlers, wolf etc. You've got two fans, plus 3 ways to combo with spellpower to make it 2 damage. You've also got Skulker, which is pretty much a full board clear against zoo, shadow strike for their councilman, and tokens from teacher that trade well with zoo minions. You can add a second Skulker if you're playing THAT much zoo, but it really shouldn't be much of a problem unless you draw poorly, and Zoo pretty much crushes anyone who draws poorly.
Tried everything can't beat worgen combo to save my life.
Add coldlight oracle
Try dropping the Rag for Soggoth... If you keep Soggoth topped off there's little they can do vs. it.
Really original take, love it! Will be trying it to keep working on my golden Rogue, for some reason I can't really bother with miracle but this looks a lot more fun!
This deck is actually sick, it does better than Miracle right now in my opinion. It's not terrible against any deck out there right now, although shaman and zoo will be punishing without a good starting hand/draws. Yogg will straight up win games that are unwinnable, it's beautiful. I've played about 50-60 games so far and have at least went 50%, I'm working my way to golden Rogue, 30 games to go.
Anyways,
Overall solid deck in my opinion, however, I feel that Harrison would be a great addition in this deck as I've run into a lot of warrior and shaman and I feel like destroying their Doomhammer or Gorehowl would probably have netted me at least a few wins, or at least gave me a huge edge. What cards do you think might be able to be replaced for Harrison?
Probably Azure or Shadowcaster.
If you're playing against a lot of Shaman, Fatigue Warrior, or even Dragon Warrior, Harrison can be a great choice! I used him for a little bit in place of Sylvanas to try to counter Aggro Shaman, but I realized that Shaman and Fatigue Warrior are two of this deck's absolute worst matchups, with or without Harrison. I just take my medicine against them and hope for a good draw/Yogg. If I was to put him back in now though, I would replace Teacher instead of Sylvanas. Teacher is a great card, but isn't particularly strong in a meta chock full of Ravaging Ghouls and Revenge, especially when you have no way of buffing your apprentices like Druids do.
That said, if I was to put in weapon removal, I'd probably replace a huckster or a farseer with an Ooze. I love my hucksters, but they trade terribly early in the game and aren't super reliable - they can occasionally give dead or just plain bad cards. An ooze would be able to trade up a little better and can even remove an early War Axe from a Dragon Warrior, which is a complete backbreaker, while also allowing you to develop some minions as well when you destroy a weapon on later turns. Establishing Tempo against a Dragon Warrior who draws an axe is really difficult, especially if he's Faerie Dragon out there, which is hard to remove. Losing the card draw sucks, but this deck already has plenty.
what about nzoth theres 7 deatrattle and more if you shadow caster etc
Top 40 and top 200 were both on NA servers - I'm a pretty casual (mobile only, no deck trackers or win tracking or anything like that) and I just don't have time for two different accounts.
I posted on one of the original threads you made and it is awesome to see you still kicking butt with this deck!