Shadow priest works man!
- Last updated Sep 21, 2016 (Karazhan)
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Wild
- 11 Minions
- 19 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Shadow Priest
- Crafting Cost: 3860
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 9/12/2016 (Karazhan)
- aleathas
- Registered User
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- 2
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Total Deck Rating
119
Hey guys as I had mentioned before, I only play priest as class, and always try to find a way to make priest somehow playable in this meta as I like the challenge.
This deck is working very well for me and have unexpectedly high winning rate and also much fun compared to boring dragon and resurrect priest decks.
If the deck gets certain amount of likes, I am going to give full guide for how to play it.
One important tip is that you must use your 1-mana cost cards efficiently in order to benefit from board clear or heal - it is very important.
Shadowform is amazing since you already have lots of heal and it provides you a win condition: either by doing constantly 3 damage to your opponent's face or cleaning the board - believe me you no longer hate 4 attack minions!
Hope you enjoy it; waiting for the feedbacks.
Cheers :)
More tips (UPDATE):
First of all guys, you should keep in mind that there are much easier ways to get to Legend rank. Priest is just hardest class to climb in this meta, yet I strongly have to emphasize that the Karazhan expansion made priest somehow more playable - just ignore Purify. Priest of the Feast is what we needed against non-stop aggro decks such as zoo and hunter - also so great against other classes.
ONE THING TO REMEMBER: Do not forget the use Yogg-Saron, Hope's End against OTK decks such as worgen warrior. 30 HP will not save you so try to get some armor or secrets with yogg. Once they fail with charge and face combo - you win.
Jeweled Scarab is a very good card. ALWAYS keep it for mulligan. If you are facing aggro, just drop a 3 mana minion to win time. Against control, Shadow Word: Death or Thoughsteal is amazing and have so much value. If you have more than 1 Shadow Word: Death in your hand, use the golden one so that your opponent will not know that you have more than two. Also you can get Shadowform which is a bit more situational - I sometimes need it for fast upgrade, early three damage is just tremendous.
Hunters:
I have a high winning ratio against Hunters. Just try to survive and use your Priest of the Feast in a way to maximize the efficiency of your heal. If you survive after two Call of the Wild, you win. Thoughsteal might also provide you a good board clear with Quick Shot etc. You can Mind Vision to steal Call of the Wild at turn 7 or later on.
Zoo locks:
Versatile match. Survival is also essential here and Pyromancer is a great card since you will also kill Possessed Villager and Argent Squire. Remember that full board clear is very important in terms of preventing your opponent to play Power Overwhelming for annoying burst. They usually don't risk discarding it with Doomguard and that gives you enough time to control the game.
Control Warrior:
I rarely loose against control warriors. Anyway, here are some important tips. If it is going armor and armor for monkey, do not use Acolyte of Pain it is all about going to be fatigue. One other important thing is that you can save one of your Entomb for the monkey and with 3 damage hero power, you will have the advantage when it is all about the minions. I also sometimes burn their cards with pyro if he uses Acolyte of Pain.
Aggro shaman:
Extra Shadow Word: Death helps a lot. If you manage to survive early game, try to keep your HP as high as possible and watch out for doomhammer burst damage. Remember whether your opponent used any Rockbiter Weapon!
Malygos Druid:
Beware of burst from Malygos damage. If they use Emperor Thaurissan, I usually go for Yogg to get some secret or armor etc. Otherwise they might OTK you.
Overall, f you think you are going to die next turn, go for Yogg instead of heal. Try to calculate how much damage your opponent can do next turn.
I am not having any problem against Mages and also can deal with Rogues easily. I will be writing more about the type of classes that I find challenging.
** (UPDATE): I thought I had updated the page, yet it apparently didn't work, so here are some tips that I think that might be helpful.
When to use Shadowform?
This is very important. Against control decks, I immediately go shadowform for the maximum value. Against aggro decks it is better to drop 3 mana minions such as Acolyte of Pain or another one from Scarab to slow down your opponent. Also if you are going for the 2nd shadowform, ALWAYS use it in a way that you use your hero power twice. It has a good value and also might ruin their plan.
Mulligans
Generally speaking, I always try to have 1 mana spells as much as I can do and always keep Jeweled Scarab. It is a very good card against aggro decks. Even 1/1 minion on board at turn 2 is useful, e.g. it kills Firebat. Also if you have 2 of Priest of the Feast, you can drop it at turn 4 for 3/6 body since your opponent MUST deal with it. It gives you a huge amount of time.
Zoo lock:
Pyromancer is a must. You need a board clear as soon as possible. Also Excavated Evil is a good choice to keep. Darkshire Alchemist is a good choice as well. It is not only healing but also it is minion that you opponent usually trades with and it gives you an additional time to survive.
Hunters:
Again Pyro has a good value here, however, Feast is also a sort of a must to have one. Hunters are doing damage every turn no matter what.
Control decks:
Keep Shadowform for sure. The faster you go damage, the more you have a chance to control the board.
If you go second, try to use your COIN for Pyro or Feast. Free AoE or heal.
Shamans:
Many of the shamans are face and aggro so keep pyro and Excavated Evil.
Resurrect Priests:
Well, I do not suggest you to kill the Blademaster immediately. Because those resurrects might give you a headache. Your priority is to kill the useless minions. Keep Thoughtsteal and Entomb against priests. I sometimes even Entomb the Blademaster so that my opponent will not get a resurrect value from it.
Possible Replacements:
You can try -1 Holy Smite and -1 SWD for +2 SWP.
I think Yogg is a sort of a must for nowadays because of the annoying OTK decks. I mean 30 HP will most of the time not be enough to save you.
*** UPDATE (2 replacements):
Hey guys. I appreciate the feedback. I just changed two cards in the deck - you can modify this deck in anyway you want but it also really depends on the ladder and the meta that you are in - whether you face more aggro or control etc.
My replacements are -1 Holy Smite -1 Shadow Word: Death for +2 Forbidden Shaping, I mean it worked well for me for two reasons: first of all it combined pretty good with Pyro and Feast since it is a free spell against aggro decks - and sometimes we need it for the full board clear and the other reason is against control I always drop 8 drops at late game - DO NOT do it at turn 10 without using hero power or 2 mana card, 8 mana minions are much better. You can also use it at desperate situations for a body. Lack of SWD might be a problem but you can get it from Scarab and also Tinkmaster Overspark is very good at late game against single drop big minions.
Hey Aleathas!
I like the concept of your deck idea, but I wasn`t happy with everything you have put into the deck so I made a few changes and it is working suprisingly well! Just crushed a Hunter and a Zoolock with the deck, two matchups I was particulary worried about before testing the deck: VOD Shadow Priest Rank 4
I put in some Arcane Giant and Shadow Word: Pain, while decreasing the number of Thoughtsteals and getting rid of the Mindvision altogether.
Youtube-Player:
Arcane Giant really makes sense with this deck and I watched your games, glad that it worked out! At the moment I try forbidden shaping and it also worked nicely but I agree that 1 thoughtsteal could be sacrifaced instead of holy smite because sometimes it is really useless against aggro decks and 3 mana is a bit expensive in some situations.
I have to say that the Thoughsteal can be godlike but one is definitely enough. In the match against the zoolock the Steal gave me Knife Juggler and Forbidden Ritual, I was quite happy with that! haha...
The version I'm using for a couple weeks now and _climb_ with it
The thing is, what I learned is that Thoughtsteal and Darkshire Alchemist are incredibly slow cards, and if you really play one control after another, than just play Elise Starseeker
Darkshire sometimes prevent your opponent from having lethal and also a body that they have to deal with. Otherwise I agree that it is slow. Elise fits to this deck and worth to try. I don't know I really have good value from Thoughtsteal but I can remove one because I already sometimes get it from Scarab
Man I just crafted the 2 Shadowform for the previous version of the deck and then you go and add Forbidden Shaping.
Bruh! I ain't made of dust, you know!?
Shadowform is of course preferred over forbidden shaping. It is just a good alternative to use it for the reasons that I have explained above :)
why would u waste dust on priest then feelsbadman
man somebody punched me in the mouth with this deck last night while i was midrange shaman, had no idea what he was playing but saw this list and that's what he was using so good job, it's a very tilting deck to face lmao.
Haha. Full face shamans are still hard to deal with but I have no problem against midrange shamans either. Thank you :)
is there any place for Prophet Velen?
Nope. Too clunky and synergies aren't really there. Velen + hero power is only +3 damage for one turn (since in most cases he won't stick). Velen + double flash heal is +10 healing which is not really flexible enough to be good.
thanks!
Yes Velen is too slow and a bit useless unless you play OTK priest.
Shadow priest works man indeed. Thanks a bunch for this deck! Haven't ever laddered with priest before but this deck is super fun! 5-1 or 5-2 right now at rank 9-7. Small and mostly meaningless sample but I've beaten hybrid hunters and midrange/aggro shamans which I understand to be pretty bad matchups for most priest decks so FeelsGoodMan. Takes some getting used to the cards and their synergies so I've definitely made a few misplays but looking forward to practicing it more! GLHF and thanks again for the deck and guide.
UPDATE: Been playing the deck for a few hours now and already at rank 5. Feels really broken having darkbomb as a hero power and I love it! Going to try teching in those shadow word pains like you suggested since I've been seeing a lot of midrange shaman.
Yoga-Saron may be replaced by another similar letter ?
Went 0-5 with this deck. One zoo, one tempo mage, three aggro shaman. Not a single game lasted past turn 5. I don't see how you can possibly win against aggro without an absolute god-hand of like wild pyro, coin, pw:s, and smite as everything relevant in this meta has at least 3hp. Maybe in a different meta it would be decent.
Haven't been having much success against aggro with the original deck so i made a few changes....
- 2 Mind Vision (Pretty Useless vs. Aggro)
-2 Thoughtsteal (tbh my favorite priest card and amazing vs. control, but its pretty clunky vs. Aggro in this meta and you already have enough cards to deal with control)
-1 Entomb
+1 Elise Starseeker
+2 Shadow Word: Pain
+2 Arcane Giant (After clearing the board, dropping a giant down is pretty devastating for the opponent
Still testing these changes.
I am also a Golden Priest Player but I'm pretty average LOL
I like to employ Power Word: Glory vs aggro when playing priest.
That may work for other priest decks but since there are so little minions in this deck, it probably won't work that well.