Hearthpwn

Hello fellow Hearthstoners! Some of you may not be interested in this, but i am writing this guide solely towards the newer players on the forum, who are looking to get into competitive hearthstone, and wish to climb up the ranks! By no means am i that good at the game, but i think i picked up some extremely valuable information while i climbed with this deck, to rank 1 4 stars in seasons 4 and recently hitting legend in season 5. It is my strong desire to share some of this knowledge to those who wish to improve, and hopefully may impact their ladder climb! Of course it would also be wonderful if the veterans picked up a thing or two. Majority of this information you may have seen before, but hopefully it may shed some light to the newer players.

For those who are interested im currently ranked 25 Legend NA

http://imgur.com/DuzMsrj

Lets get started!

What is miracle rogue??

Miracle is a term used in magic, where you draw incredible amounts in one turn. 'Miracle Rogue' utilizes gadgetzan auctioneer, as well as cheap to no cost spells that the rogue class was blessed with, to generate extreme card advantage, and thin the deck incredibly quickly to setup for the finisher 'leeroy shadowstep combo'.

Why should i choose miracle rogue??

It all started with my background, me being a pretty damn good yugioh player, we would have to play 10-12 rounds during tournaments, each round being best of three. It was here i realized that in any competitive scene, consistency really is key, and consistency can be used in two ways describing decks;
the first being the win condition of the deck itself. can you pull it off on a regular basis? does the deck brick every other game?
the second being the various popular match-ups you will inevitably face. can my deck fair well against the current 'meta' decks? does it have difficult match ups? 

Of course, no deck is perfect, every single top tier deck in hearthstone does indeed have a bad match up, and in a RNG based game such as this, brick hands will occur to ANY deck, however the key is, to minimize those issues as much as possible, in order to provide yourself the best 'chance' to succeed in a competitive environment. And this is the reason why we will be choosing miracle rogue! Contrary to popular belief however, it is VERY likely you will win some games without the use of gadgetzan, and those who say 'oh i didn't draw gadgetzan by turn 5 i lose' don't know what they are talking about! 

Is miracle rogue a budget deck??

No. Its really not. I understand that some of you either are newer, so your card collection isnt as developed, or your not willing to drop 20-50$ to build an adequate collection, yes of course you can build a cheaper version of the deck, but simply put, the deck simply will not function on nearly as powerful a level as it could when fully built. It is all about maximizing your chances at success, and for me, i simply cannot bear to use an inferior replacement, that small difference between a arcane golem and a leeroy for example, really makes ALL the difference at higher level play.

Tl;dr lets get into the guide!

Decklist;

http://imgur.com/LRRdBdJ

For those who are familiar with miracle rogue, you may notice a few odd choices in the deck, or thereof lack of some of the 'key' cards others utilize. I will run over every choice and explain to the best of my ability, or my reasoning behind the choices. Decklist taken from xuxo!

2 x Backstab

This is a key component in the deck. If your running a miracle rogue with one or less backstabs i highly recommend you check yourself into the nearest mental institution. Why is this card so key? its 0 cost, 2 damage spell, comboes ever so nicely with gadgetzan. sets up your combos with si/eviscerate/vancleef whatever it may be, the versatility of this card is not to be underestimated. also absolutely wrecks zoo.

2 x Preparation

Another key component in the deck, this is the reason why miracle rogue is possible. comboes with some of your higher mana cost cards such as fan of knives or saps or eviscerates, generates immense card advantage through gadgetzan or can even be used as a combo starter or finisher, yes you will dead-draw this card occasionally, but the payoffs are farr too great to ignore.

2 x Shadowstep

Used generally at the end with leeroy as a finisher, capable of putting out incredible amounts of burst, but what seperates the mediocre miracle rogue players from the creme de la crop i find, is the amount of creativity you can use with this card. this card is insane in my opinion, probably top three most broken cards in the deck. why? well aside from the obvious interactions with leeroy, you can combo this with si7 agent to create insane amounts of tempo swings and board prescence, especially against zoo, or perhaps comboing this with earthen ring far seer to create insane amounts of heal, which can be mandatory in matchups such as zoo/hunter/paladin/mage, which oftentimes could be decisive factor in changing the outcome of a game. you lacking card draw? consider shadowstepping azure drakes or gnomes, to get that extra deck thinning which may lead to that elusive leeroy or gadgetzan draw. no conceal? no worries, simply shadowstep that gadgetzan and keep it safe, whats even better it costs 2 less mana! which usually means you get off that extra spell or monster summon when you explode next turn.

1 x Conceal

Conceal is a rather interesting card. It seems that half the rogue players use two, and some use one. yeah its an excellent way of protecting your gadgetzan, or simply stealthing some of your minions to ensure mass damage next turn, but for me, every time i would have a 'dead/brick' hand, conceal was always one of the cards that would contribute. As for me, yeah its great having that turn 5/6 gadgetzan conceal play, but i found it quite uneeded to win. Seems a bit 'win more' to me.

2 x Deadly Poison

4 damage for 1 mana? sign me up. used as board removal or to start comboes.

1 x Blade flurry

Blade flurry is a rather interesting card. combined with a drake/thalnos/poison it can be game changing, othertimes it will be a dead card. i think the amount of potential this card has is enough to warrant a permanent spot in the deck, especially with the surge of aggro decks seen at lower ranks. the problem with this card is that it cannot be used until turn 4/5 unless you have prep. it is good yes but it is slow.

2 x Eviscerate

4 damage that bypasses taunts for 2 mana? sign me up

2 x Sap

Another interesting card. i think this is one of the most potent cards in the deck. Why is that? yes. this is another one of those cards that will likely contribute towards the 'dead/brick' hands you will face. However, the amount of tempo swings this card creates is insane. if you put it this way. your opponent plays a minion, for simplicity sake we will just say a yeti. yeti costs 4 mana. sap costs two. they play the yeti. u sap it. next turn they will either have the option of using 4 mana, which is a lot in the mid/early game, usually their whole turn, to play that yeti, or play something to counter your board. most times that yeti will not be dropped again for another couple turns, at the least. so for two mana (cost of sap) you effectively make your opponent waste 8 mana! (2 yeti drops) this effect is only GREATLY enhanced when used on their bigger minions, prime targets being ancient or lores/war/cairne/ any 4-5+ mana minion is an extremely efficient use of sap. so while your opponent cannot play that minion again since you sapped it, you will still have sufficient mana do summon other monsters/use spells and thus tempo swings are created in your favour. Aside from this, of course it is used to get rid of taunters so your leeroy comboes can go through unopposed.

2 x Shiv

Used as deck thinning, comboes well with gadgetzan drawing 2 cards, can be used as pinpoint removal, with drake/thalnos, bypasses taunts. great versatility

1 x Thalnos

Key card in the deck, deck thinning, turns your fan of knives into blizzard, blade flurry with poison into flame strikes, eviscerates can take out lores/yetis/black knights/geddons, that 1 spell power makes an incredible difference. cycles itself. can be used as combo starter

2 x Fan of Knives

A lot of other decks only run 1, i can see the merits, as the mana cost is high, i put two in to combat aggro decks, again similar reasons read 'shiv' above.

2 x Earthen Ring Farseer

Mvp of the deck in many cases. farseer and si7 agent contrary to popular belief, is the core of your early game survival. the heal is almost a necessity against certain decks, and as you dont have many early game drops, a 3/3 body is great, being extremely resilient, will almost always force out a spell from the opponent. great synergy with shadowstep!

1 x Edwin van cleef

Such a powerful card, you can easily make a incredible threat early on, with your cheap spells, nice synergy with coin. Almost autowin against zoo if you mulligan into this going second. you can also combo shadowstep with this, 1 more mana and you get 4 more damage!

2 x Si 7 Agent

Its seen in every single variation of a rogue deck for a reason. Card is nuts.

1 x Gnomish Inventor

Tech addition, may seem strange, but card draw is so great in this deck. This deck also lacks 4 drops, and 2-4 body is quite threatening, comboes with shadowstep, although not reccomended, its an option.

1 x Leeroy

Main finisher, its leeroy nuff said. Do i need to mention the interaction with shadowstep?

2 x Azure Drake

Insane card. Again, theres a reason why this card is seen in so many top tier decks, it cycles itself, spellpower is ever so great in this deck, and a 4/4 body is beautiful. excellent card, probably one of the best neutral cards in the game at the moment.

2 x Gadgetzan Auctioneer

This card makes the deck possible! enables some insane draw potential in one turn, 4/4 body isnt bad either. Only problem is that its ugly as fuck.


Some of you may be wondering, certain cards were ommited from the deck, the main ones being;

2/1 x Cold Blood

This card is of course extremely strong, 4 damage for 1 mana, why is this card not used? the main reason was that every single 'brick/dead' hand ive ever had playing this deck, this fucker was in there. Yes its a good card. Yes it works so well with leeroy, yes its a cheap spell to use with gadgetzan. Is it needed to win though? no. usually between shadowstep leeroy/eviscerates even your simple monsters, your burst potential should be through the roof. the only time i miss this card is against a warrior who just opens every single amoursmith/shield block in his deck.

2/1 x Coldlight oracle

Never liked this card, i can see the draw being nice to speed through your deck, it may be good against handlock, burning some key giants or drakes, nice synergy with shadowstep. But spending three mana to let your opponent draw two? for a 2-2 body? nah il pass, Isnt a bad card by any means, i replaced this with a gnomish.

1 x Assasin's Blade

12 damage for 5 mana? potentially 20 damage for 5 mana? seems great right? this card costing 5 mana is the reason why it was ommited. simply put. we have too many things to play on turn 5 that we rarely play this. drakes/gadgetzan/ farseer/si7 + spell all adds up to 5 mana, so this card seems, while powerful, too slow for our liking.

1 x Bladeflurry

The second bladeflurry i would only consider if i ran the assasin's blade. fan of knives was my replacement in terms of aoe.


So, youve built the deck, congratulations, you are one step further to becoming a monster hearthstone player. One of the main problems most people have with this deck is mulligans! Everything is extremely situational, and of course varies from matchup to matchup. I will do my best to offer my insights. It will be split up into two section's, with coin, and without, and be organised into tier's, of course tier 1 is best, tier 3 is worst. I will only highlight popular matchups

Without Coin

Warrior Control

Tier 1;

Si 7
Backstab 
Deadly Poison
Auctioneer

Tier 2;

Eviscerate
Farseer
Drake
Gnomish
Thalnos

Tier 3;

rest.

Aggro Warrior

Tier 1;

Si 7
Backstab
Farseer
Deadly Poison
Eviscerate

Tier 2;

Eviscerate
Shiv
Thalnos
Shadowstep (with Si or farseer)

Tier 3;

rest

Ramp Druid

Tier 1;

Si 7
Backstab
Deadly Poison
Sap (If you know they are HEAVY ramp)
Auctioneer
Eviscerate

Tier 2;

Drake
Gnomish
Farseer
Thalnos (can be tier 1 if you have a backstab or eviscerate)

Tier 3; 

rest.

Token Druid

Same as above, can try to prioritize aoe.

Mirror Match

Tier 1;

Si 7
Backstab
Deadly Poison
Auctioneer
Farseer
Leeroy

Tier 2;

Drake
Thalnos
Sap

Tier 3;

Rest

Zoo

Tier 1;

Si 7
Backstab
Farseer
Flurry

Tier 2;

Thalnos
Shiv
Eviscerate
Prep (if you have a fan or thalnos, or to initiate comboes for your si7)
Fan of knives

Tier 3;

rest.

Handlock

Tier 1;

Si 7
Backstab
Deadly Poison
Eviscerate
Sap
Auctioneer

Tier 2;

Farseer
Drake
Leeroy
Thalnos

Tier 3;

rest

Paladin (Aggro) who plays anything else?

Same as Zoo, prioritize shiv/fan of knives. poison is bad.

Shaman

Tier 1;

Si 7
Backstab
Eviscerate
Auctioneer
Deadly Poison

Tier 2;

Blade Flurry (if you have a poison)
Fan of Knives (if u have a thalnos/drake/prep)
Drake
Thalnos
Seer

Tier 3;

rest

Face Hunter

Tier 1;

Si 7
Far Seer
Eviscerate
Shiv
Shadowstep (if u have a farseer)

Tier 2;

Backstab
Fan of Knives
Auctioneer
Leery
Thalnos

Tier 3;

rest

Priest

LOL free win.

WITH coin

Simply put, prioritize Si 7 above everything else. You can consider keeping the 'heavier' monsters such as drake/auctioneer/gnomish against slower decks. I would almost never mulligan away a vancleef with coin.

So. now that you know how to properly mulligan, how do you actually beat some of these decks? il briefly outline the sort of playstyle you should be adopting from deck to deck.

Warrior Control

This matchup can be quite tough if you let him armour up too much, since your burst potential is greatly weakened without cold bloods, for this reason try not to be too liberal with your shadowsteps. Try to keep an early board prescence with your strong standalone minions and force him to make some bad trades. its important to keep his armour low, so that is why we MUST keep board prescence, drake/si/farseer is really great in this matchup. dont waste dagger charges. dont be afraid to sap a korkron or acolyte, it is a huge tempo swing in the early game. be wary of a brawl.

Aggro Warrior

Just pray you draw into your si agents/ farseers, if not then its going to be a rough game. do not hesitate to shadowstep your farseers/si7 agents to create board prescence/ keep your health topped up. rarely will you finish him with the full leeroy combo. if possible try to keep his hp above 12, to avoid the full damage mortal strikes, and similar to handlock, keep his health there until you can burst him in one go, if you are pressured with very low life then just go ham and race him down. of course keep his armour low. van cleef can be nice this matchup. their removal is very limited compared to the control warrior.

Ramp Druid

One of the easiest matchups this deck can have. They have literally no answer to a concealed auctioneer. Almost always keep auctioneer in your mulligan, as they wont be that threatening early game. Sapping an early innervated claw/yeti could be nice to generate some tempo in your favour. Van cleef can be EXCELLENT if you can bait out his keepers. save thalnos to combo with an eviscerate to kill those yeti's/sunwalkers/lores. Save sap for war if you know they are heavy ramp style. be wary with your life total, keep it above 14 at all times if possible. do not worry about going to town with your dagger on his monsters as his burst potential doesnt come in until very late in the game, unless he has innervates/growths.

Token

Same as above, kill that violet bitch at all costs. and the board clean if possible. nuf said. Fan/flurry with a poison/spellpower can be mvp in this matchup

Mirror Match
Is usually who draws better amongst two evenly skilled players. Farseer is MVP. might want to consider saving 1 charge of poison dagger with a flurry + spellpower or fan to kill a concealed auctioneer. van cleef is mvp in this matchup. sapping an auctioneer or drake can be gamechanging for you, as he wastes his whole turn next turn. damage to the face is extremely important in this matchup, try to preserve your health where possible.

Zoo

Can be extremely easy, or extremely hard, depends on your draws. backstab Si 7, or coin Si 7 usually is enough to secure early game board control for you, Van cleef is MVP in this matchup. if u can make him 8/8 or greater without being a spastic and using every card in your hand. game is usually over if u drop cleef early game. they have literal 0 outs to a big cleef without going extremely neg in terms of card advantage. Only problem with warlock is u never know which to mulligan for, as both are popular and both mulligans are vastly different. generally at lower ranks i mulligan always for zoo, above rank 3 i always mulligan for handlock.

Handlock

Your absolute worst matchup, possibly the only really bad matchup this deck has i feel. If the handlock draws well its usually over for you. But it is winnable. Keep his hp above 15 unless you can outright burst him. I tend to try to save my saps where possible until he uses a taunt on his drake/giant. Its imperative you try to create some early board prescence. Save your backstab's / eviscerates only for his drakes/giants. anything else is a waste. Be wary of a big shadowflame, try to kill the watchers where possible. this matchup can be extremely tough. but with enough practice its doable!

Shaman

Can be tough if he is able to develop a strong early board prescence, if you can make to turn 5-6 with a clean board you usually win. Try to get rid of his unbounds as soon as they come out. Do not waste any spells on his totems unless they are free spells, by this i mean shiv or fan.be wary of a turn 6 fire ele drop, as they wreck your early game minions. Thalnos is usually MVP this matchup. save poison for feral spirits, or blade flurry. blade flurry poison is usually GG outright if u can use it correctly. dont waste it on a bunch of totems, but save it where possisble until he drops flametounge or wolves. watch your health as their burst potential is quite high.

Paladin

Same as zoo. Try to just use your cards ASAP to play around a big favour. Be wary of a consecrate/equality t6. do not be tempted to hit all his 1 hp minions with dagger, try to use shivs if possible. Fan is MVP this matchup. every secret they play just assume its get down. dont face tank it. let a monster run into it if possible. life is very important. their burst potential is usually 10-12 tops.

That concludes the guide, thank you for reading and I sincerely hope this helps some of you guys out there.