Hearthpwn

Hello guys,

there are countless deck profiles all over the internet, but let's be honest: The overwhelming majority of these decks is clickbait. We see headlines that include words like "[LEGEND] deck xy", "85% WIN RATE" or "deck XY of [insert name of famous streamer here]". No matter if the decks are actually good, it can be quite annoying and even disappointing when you are a Priest player and hope for a new viable deck. Then there are these people who offer you w
riting a guide for likes...

So I thought to myself: "Why not upload an honest deck profile with proof, a long description and everything?" So I did exactly that. I tracked the stats of exactly 100 ranked games with my N'Zoth Priest deck.

Even though it has to be said that this deck just isn't good enough for laddering after all of that testing and playing, I hope that this deck profile helps and encourages some other Priest players to actually try to tinker around with this deck.



As you see, I went 52-48 - not really stellar honestly. But you can believe me, this deck is better than the win record suggests, let me explain:



Before I break down the matches and match-ups, I want to make some remarks and write down some thoughts - in other words, this is the TL:DR version (which still is way too long ;) ):

1. I started playing this deck in Ranked mode without doing actual testing before. This is insofar important to mention as it has manipulated the win rate a bit, as I started out very badly. I ran two Mind Control Techs, Baron Geddon, a Bog Creeper and some other different cards compared to the current version of the deck. The first few versions of this deck were very creative, but presumably less viable. Still, the deck has its own twists like Prince Malchezaar.

2. The first six games were played before the last nerfs.

3. I changed the deck A LOT. And if you want a good tip regarding deck building, let me tell you: DON'T CHANGE YOUR DECK TOO OFTEN! Have faith in your deck and give it some time to prove itself, don't change your deck reactively after playing 2-3 games. I did that at around the 50-game mark and the results were terrible, I actually got to a negative win rate. Because of all the changing, I believe that I could have gotten to a win rate of at least 60%. But that is just a claim/guess obviously.

4. I don't recommend this deck for laddering, as you don't win enough games to make up for the increased length of each game. But I recommend this deck for everyone who wants to have some fun in these darker times (from the view of a Priest player) and who wants to really crush their opponents.

5. The final list includes Prince Malchezaar, whom I included in the last 14 games. He really helps you beating Control/Midrange by giving you an alternate win condition. And he didn't make my starts worse at all. I started off 8-2, then proceeded to lose the next four games, the games 97 to 100. Two of these were completely avoidable, I believe. Which brings me to the next point...

6. Only a very little amount of games felt unwinnable, which is a good thing. You actually can beat (almost) every deck with this one, but you really need to be focused while playing. Single mistakes get punished hard and you really need to ponder when to play your removals, when to go face and when to trade.

7. Since including Malchezaar, I didn't draw N'Zoth as often as before (obviously). So if I have to say what I consider changing or improving, I'd say that I would take out Cairne Bloodhoof for either Refreshment Vendor or Ancient Harbinger for consistency *kappa*. No, it would be either Vendor or a Holy Nova/additional card draw, although this deck draws well. A second Entomb is also an option for Cairne, which think of from time to time.

8. Malygos decks cause problems for you. In fact, every combo deck is favoured against you, but not unbeatable. And unfortunately there were many of these around. Especially Malydruid was devastating against me. I played it 5 times and won once. Malyrogue is a bad matchup as well, Malylock is way easier, as your opponent has less low-costed spells to win in an instant. Murloc Paladin is also very hard to beat.

9. I don't play the Auchenai combo, it frustates me too much. Also, deck space is limited. If would run it, then I'd run Pyromancer and Cleric, too. But the meta doesn't allow that currently.

10. You actually mulligan the same almost every time. You want Loot Hoarders, Doomsayer, SW: Pain and your Ooze. Against Shaman, you keep an AoE in your starting hand when you have another early drop. Against Hunter you should keep a Darkshire Alchemist.




Let's break down the classes and their decks:

Mage (8-9):

Tempo Mage is challenging to play and actually your only Mage matchup. I consider this matchup to be a coin flip. If you can start off with SW: Pains and other low-costed removals and minions, you win easily. But if you don't get your answers, you lose very fast. Don't tech in answers against Tempo Mage, unless you play at the start of the season like I did. Then you are better off doing it.


Rogue (3-3):

Against N'Zoth Rogue you are a tad favoured, but against Miracle and the Malygos variant you are not. I still managed to get an even record though. Against Malyrogue, you want to get your Darkshire Alchemist. Look out for the Brann combo. Keep track of how many damaging spells and removals (Sap) they played. Try to play aggressively and go hard towards his face when he has no Saps anymore. Remove his Thaurissan immediately and always try to get out of lethal area by healing yourself a lot. Try to keep Entomb for Malygos, if he drops him alone. He loses, when you manage to have absolute board control while having lots of health. It's possible, but hard. The Miracle matchup depends on whether your opponent conceals his Auctioneer and on whether he actually gets him (which he will). It's the sad truth. But don't let that fool you, you almost never meet Miracle Rogues. If you'd do, you would need the Auchenai combo in your deck.



Warlock (7-4):

Very convenient matchups. You'll beat them almost every time. I lost three of my Warlock games, because of the fact that I faced two Renolocks and even a classic Handlock player (with Arcane Giants for Molten) while not running Malchezaar. He just needed to drop Jaraxxus after nethering my whole N'Zoth board to win. I faced Renolock again with Malchezaar and crushed him. You are very favoured against every kind of Zoo.


Priest (8-4):

Dragon Priest is relatively easy, Control Priest, too. Resurrect Priest and N'Zoth Priest are eventually even, it really depends on who of you players reads the plays better.


Shaman (6-5):

Pretty winnable as well, but you really need your removals here. If you don't get them, you lose quickly. Keep an Excavated Evil in your starting hand when you already have another early drop. Ooze is just in here, because of the Claws (and Gorehowl/Fiery War Axe). You should fight for board control all the time, because you need to avoid getting killed by a Bloodlust. Board control = win.


Druid (6-7):

Ugh. Malydruid was terrible to play against, it felt worse than any other matchup. You feel like you have gained the control of the game, just to get OTKed by a Malygos-Moonfire-Moonfire-Living Roots-Living Roots combo. He doesn't even need Thaurissan to inflict you up to 19 damage. You really need to bait out his damaging spells here. Watch out for Swipes, keep a SW: Pain for Fandral personally, because even Malydruid runs him sometimes. The key to winning here is to completely dominate the game from the start. A Druid has bad comeback cards, but the problem here is: We aren't the best when it comes to reckless, proactive pressuring. Beast Druid is 50-50. Remove his minions as well as possible, then he'll run out of Steam.


Hunter (6-8):

Hard to believe, but I think that Hunter isn't actually a too bad matchup. The negative win rate is due to the fact that I experimentized way too much in a time where I faced too many Hunters. You are favoured against Secret Hunters and it is maybe a 45-55 against Midrange. If you are facing many Hunters, then put in one Entomb for Cairne, in order to have answers to his Savannah Highmane. I actually lost like 3 games against weird variations of Hunter decks. One of these was a Starving Buzzard deck, which amazed me, because it seemed to work :D


Paladin (2-3):

I played against two Anyfin decks, two N'Zoth decks and one Secret Paladin Murloc deck. The last one absolutely crushed me and I went 1-1 in the other matchups. Against the N'Zoth variant, you have to keep count of his removals: Wild Pyromancer, Equality and Consecration - and also everything that comes out from the Ivory Knight (6 mana tells you that he got Avenging Wrath or the Coliseum e.g.). If he has played both Equalities, then proceed to play N'Zoth. Murloc Paladin is just hard.


Warrior (6-5):

Against C'Thun Warrior you are actually favoured, but you have to make sure that you Entomb his C'Thun or get him with Sylvanas. If you can bait out his Brawls before playing N'Zoth, you win easily. With Malchezaar, this gets way easier. Also, some Warrior players wait for way too long to play their Brawls, which seals the game for you. You win comfortably, when you keep 2-3 minions on the board all the time, which is not hard to achieve. Control Warrior is easy to beat, even though you run only one Entomb. Save Ooze for his Gorehowl. Pirate/Tempo Warrior are favoured against you. You really want to draw Ooze and Darkshire here.



So much about this deck, I would really appreciate it, if you could give me an upvote. Also feel free, to criticize/praise me and/or my deck ;)


Cheers,
Traambone