Hearthpwn

After seeing a bunch of the druid cards released for Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, and also the interesting mechanic of the Jade Golems in Jade Lotus, it's time to merge the new mechanic with a much older deck design from Nostam from much older times - resulting in this deck which should easily vomit the entire deck onto the board while using Jade Idol to keep you from actually hitting fatigue.

The deck is actually a lot of fun to play, as there's sufficient draw in the deck to allow you to outpace most control decks, which this deck is a hard counter for that archetype.  Unfortunately, it's weak to Pirate Warrior - which is the current toughest matchup.  Everything else I've been able to deal with fairly well.

I'm still working with the deck and trying to figure out how to counter the meta.  Guide may not be completely in sync with the deck list, but is accurate for the included cards.

Starting out

For the muligans, I'll generally keep most of the cards 3 mana or less, with the exception of Brann Bronzebeard, as that's going to give me either the early game control, or the draw needed.  I've also kept Bloodmage Thalnos to YOLO on turn 2 because he tends to get killed, making him a slightly slower Novice Engineer.

Against aggro, I'd focus more on getting the control spells and early minions to trade with.

General Stragegy 

In no particular order, here's some rules of thumb for the deck:

• Keep board control at all cost, and try to keep growing the Jade Golem while maintaining board pressure.
  
  
• If you have 5 or 6 minions on the field, trade off the lower attack/HP minions so you can threaten empty space as additional golems.
  
  
• YOLO high value minions (like Brann Bronzebeard and Fandral Staghelm) if it can disrupt the opponent's and give you breathing room to stabilize.  If you can severely punish leaving the legendary on the field, all the better.
  
  
• If you're running low on cards, or need to create a distraction, play the first Gadgetzan Auctioneer as soon as you can get 2-3 draws.
  
  
• Only coin out Wild Growth if you have a Jade Blossom.  Don't play Wild Growth after about Turn 6 or 7, as that two mana will turn into 3 cards with a Gadgetzan Auctioneer.
  
  
• There's a ridiculous amount of draw in the deck, but don't prioritize card draw over Jade Golem generation.
  
  
• Before clicking into infinite Jade Golem mode, try to clear your deck of as many non-Jade Idol cards as possible, which will help make the second Gadgetzan Auctioneer play much more consistent, while also helping to ensure that at least four Jade Golems get produced on the same turn the Gadgetzan Auctioneer is played.
  
  
• While I don't foresee Blizzard making the Coldlight Oracle based fatigue decks a thing, your play pattern for this specific archetype should change to:
  • Dumping all minions onto the field (except for [card]Gadgetzan Auctioneer) as quickly as possible.  This includes your legendaries.
  • Hold Gadgetzan Auctioneer to repopulate the board after a late game board clear.
  • Only play Jade Idol for the minion if there's more than one in your hand.
  • Feral Rage should always be played for armor.
  • Wrath should be retained until the Jade Golems get big enough to handle the board themselves.
  • Swipe should be retained for use as finishing burst.
  • The above should allow you to beat them by flooring the average mana cost of your cards (which should prevent you burning cards), and also give you a swarm of slightly perturbed Jade Golems.

Jade Golemsmithing

When generating golems, you want to start as early as possible, so ideally you will hit at least a 4/4 Jade Golem by the time you're at 10 mana.  To help with the generation is Brann Bronzebeard, which should be thought of as a Jade Golem generator, unless RNG has shat upon you and you absolutely need the card draw.  So that means the first Jade Idol you see should always be played for the Jade Golem, and the Jade Golem cards should be played on curve, or with Innervate for tempo shenanigans.

Jade Idol
One of the few cards to always keep in your opening hand, as Jade Druid doesn't have the luxury of pretending it's something else like Fatigue Druid does.  Always play the first one as the Jade Golem, and always contemplate what the adding the three Jade Idols to your deck will do to your future draws.

Jade Blossom
This card is a high priority play because it's a mana crystal and Jade Golem, so it's not incorrect to play it on curve, nor is it wrong to play it later in the game, assuming that the minion is at least a 3/3 or bigger (so the mana isn't completely wasted).  Keep in mind that you will not get Excess Mana, so weigh playing the card off of how efficient the mana is for the minion, and whether or not it will put you to 10 mana on your next turn.

Jade Spirit
Try to play Jade Spirting on curve, or on turn 3 with The Coin if you have a second to follow up on turn 4.  Jade Spirit is also one of the cards I'll attempt to combo with Brann Bronzebeard because it's cheap.  That said, Jade Spirit is definitely the weakest of the Jade Golem cards, and it's something I'm currently looking into.

Jade Behemoth
This is one of your solutions to aggro, in addition to the removal spells.  The 3/6 body isn't bad either, and makes playing on curve not a horrible thing to do. When playing Jade Behemoth, consider the board and the opponent's deck to see if it'd be better to play Aya Blackpaw instead.

Aya Blackpaw
The real Jade Golem generating nightmare of the deck, and one that you actually want to play on curve.  If the opponent is dumb enough to bounce Aya Blackpaw, thank them with the free golem =D

Over 9000 Cards Drawn

As from the original deck that I took inspiration from, this deck has the possibility to draw out most of you deck by Turn 10, outpacing the draw rate of many other decks.  The other advantage to this extreme card draw is making it easier to drain your deck of all cards that aren't Jade Idol, making going infinite easier.

Novice Engineer
The battlecry card draw, and cheap cost, not only helps to get you going early on, but also gives you a minion to help contest the board state.  A possible replacement may be Loot Hoarder and that's something I'm looking into.

Bloodmage Thalnos
Not only does Bloodmage Thalnos synergize with Wrath and Swipe but can also be played strictly to cycle a card, effectively making Bloodmage Thalnos a slightly slower Novice Engineer - keep in mind the deck you're facing because of the Swipe synergy and whether or not it may be more advantageous to hold Bloodmage Thalnos for board clearing instead of cycling.

Azure Drake
One of the best draw cards in the game, and with the draw as a battle cry and spell power, and can help extend Swipe's reach - especially since Azure Drake tends to survive better than most of the other minions in the deck.

Gadgetzan Auctioneer
With as many spells in the deck, Gadgetzan Auctioneer actually gets to see play.  Don't be afraid to play the first one if you can line up 2-3 draws.  As Gadgetzan Auctioneer is a high priority target for your opponent, you can use the initial card draw as part of a larger attempt to disrupt the opponent so you can setup a play a turn or two from now.

Mana Acceleration (or even more draw!)

With almost a third of the deck dedicated to ramping, You should have no problem getting ahead of your opponent and getting the 1337 Jade Golem Infinity Salt Quarry up and running, and then using the rest to help thin your library down to greatly increase the odds of only drawing Jade Idol.

Innervate
Use it to smooth out the curve, or force the opponent to deal with something.  Before playing Innervate, consider if you'd rather have another card from a Gadgetzan Auctioneer, or if playing something earlier is going to help you against the current matchup.  Also, don't innervate the ramp cards out unless you really need to dig for answers, or you really need a Jade Golem on the field NOW. 

Wild Growth
I generally play this as I can until about Turn 6, then hold until turn 10 for use with Gadgetzan Auction or if I need to dig.  With the auctioneer, Wild Growth turns into  2 mana draw 3 card, because it will spawn Excess Mana which procs the Gadgetzan Auctioneer twice.

Nourish
One of the best druid draw tools available, most of the time I will play this for card draw, and not mana.  When played for ramp, you actually get 2 full mana crystals, so max mana will get increased by 2, and current mana will also get increased by 2 - which is unique amongst all the ramp cards.  When playing out a play involving Fandral Staghelm, adjust for the increase in mana, which means you can make a 10 play of Fandral Staghelm => Nourish => Feral Rage which will give you 3 cards, 8 armor, and allow you to hit something for 4 damage, for example.

Everything Else

The remainder of the deck are your tools to help keep board control, and also the legendaries that synergize well with the deck.

Wrath
If you really need to use the 3 damage to kill something right now, you can do it, but try to get the draw from Wrath if possible.

Swipe
4 damage to a single target, 1 damage to everything else, and better if you have a Bloodmage Thalnos or Azure Drake on the field, giving you a possible way to deal with aggro... albeit much later in the game.  Keep in mind that unlike Wrath, Swipe can go face, which means application as a finisher, or a better place to allocate four damage if the opponent's board is full of 1 heath minions.

Feral Rage
While used as removal, Feral Rage is the only card in the deck that can heal you by granting you 8 armor.  The flexibility is crucial, and the modal functionality is why I like it try to save the card for playing with Fandral Staghelm... assuming I'm not forced to play it first.

Fandral Staghelm
With so few synergistic cards in the deck (at least in the current iteration), it's better to take advantage of throwing a card with a giant "KILL ME NOW!" sign painted on it, and get off one card (even if it's a lone Wrath) than not get the minion on the field.  Ideal combo is with Nourish or Feral Rage.  If you can pull off the combo of Gadgetzan Auctioneer + Fandral Staghelm + Jade Idol you should be closing in on victory.  Also don't plan for that to happen... unless you're still holding an Innervate and RNG has allowed this to occur.

Brann Bronzebeard
There's enough battlecries in the deck that you're either going to get more Jade Golems or more cards - or with a bit of luck both.  I generally play Brann Bronzebeard as a Jade Golem generator.  That said, Brann Bronzebeard feels a bit like a win-more card here.

Other Cards Under Consideration

Starfall
While often overlooked, the removal utility that Starfall can bring should not be underestimated.

Mulch
Because sometimes things just need to die, and this deck isn't built to take advantage of Naturalize.

Arcane Giant
There's enough spells that it's likely cheap, and having a bigger minion cover for you while you're getting Jade Golems ramped up is part of what made Kun the Forgotten King so appealing, but unlike Kun the Fogotten King, there's no mana requirement.

Moonglade Portal
The extra healing and minion would definitely help stabilize against aggro, and it's something I'm considering.

Raven Idol
I've played with it before, but my RNG with the spells is not good.  I get that it's really good value with Fandral Staghelm, but it's competing against a bunch of cards that have a more immediate impact to the board.

Wrapping it up..

I've been having a blast with the deck since MSoG, and it's breathed life into the druid again.  Hopefully decklists can be revived and this isn't another C'Thun druid that appeared initially... then died off.  Either way, it's quite fun to draw so many cards and flood the board with this many minions =D 

Thoughts/comments/suggestions?