Hearthpwn

Hey wassup guys! The new Gadgetzan expansion has hit and man has it brought some new cool cards to Druid! After messing around for a bit I've concocted a Jade Druid deck! It's a unique twist off of the old Miracle/Mally Druid deck. Lets get into the card choices now shall we?

Card Choices:

Innervate - First one is a no brainer. If you're playing Druid, one of your best abilities is to cheat out big minions a couple turns early, and Innervate is the gold standard when it comes to ramp cards. Has additional synergies with your Auctioneers in enabling big draw turns.

Jade Idol - This is an important one. There is only one Jade Idol. You don't play this card in the way that you would think. This card is your lategame win condition. It's not a midgame card, it's not an early game card, and this is key when understanding when to play it. Since this card replicates itself there is literally no reason to run more than one, since it's often a dead draw. And repeating on the fact that it's a dead draw, you don't want to fill your deck with this card early as it will "corrupt" your future draws, so to speak. You only really play it early when it's necessary to cycle with your Auctioneer, otherwise it just sits in your hand. Think of it like a Golden Monkey. You don't want to play it early since it ruins all the synergies and other cards that exist in your deck, but once you are nearing fatigue it becomes a powerhouse.

Living Roots - Another simple card choice, this card is the early game minions you need to contest the board, and the lategame burn you need to remove minions or push for lethal. Extremely versatile and flexible card that also happens to cycle when combine with your Auctioneers. A must have.

Raven Idol - This card is that answer to the question you always had about Hearthstone: "What if I could run 3 Swipes?" or "What if I could run 3 Wraths?" or "What if I could optionally get Mulch when I'm playing against Control, or get Healing Touch when playing against aggro?"As an added bonus this card cycles with Auctioneer, fills out your early curve in addition to potentially giving you that extra removal/heal. Pretty much mandatory in spell heavy Druid decks.

Jade Blossom - This card replaces the two Raven Idols. Adding as many Jade cards as possible increases your Jade consistency, so this is much more important to have. Think of it as a better Mire Keeper once you start building up your Jade Golems.

Bloodmage Thalnos - This card is awesome. He is cheap cycle and he juices up your Swipe to deal 5 and 2, and your Wrath to deal 4 or 2. Also great when he's pulled out of Barnes.

Acidic Swamp Ooze - With the extreme prevalence of weapon decks on ladder such as Pirate Warrior, Aggro Shaman, Midrange Shaman, and even Reno Mage (with Medivh, the Guardian) and Reno Warlock (with Lord Jaraxxus) replacing our Thalnos with this card is a no-brainer. 

Wild Growth - Now I know what you're thinking: "Why run Wild Growth when druid got the new card Jade Blossom?! it does the same thing but has Jade Golem synergies!" And the reason is as follows. The latter card sucks. Ramping from 2 mana to 4 is way more important than ramping from 3 to 5. Also, when you are at 10 mana, Wild Growth can be used to cycle. Jade Blossom cannot (for whatever reason, could be a bug, but I'm assuming it's intentional). Also the mana cost can be important, both in the early and late game. Ramping on turn 2 and having turn 3 to develop is much better than hero power pass turn 2, ramp turn 3 and play an Azure Drake on turn 4. And in the lategame, being able to spend 2 mana to draw and then play a Rag is better than spending 3 mana, not drawing, and losing the game. Feel free to experiment with interchanging the two if you want, but in my experience the basic is better. Just run both. Super ramp early, cycle late. Simple enough.

Wrath - Standard early game removal. Also can cycle itself. Also can cycle with Auctioneer. 'Nuff said.

Feral Rage - Extremely flexible tool. Essentially acts as a Shadow Bolt if needed for removal or a Healing Touch if needed for survival. Depending on the matchups both are sorely needed, and this card can fit either situation. Also cycles with Auctioneer. 

Mulch - Before I was running two Moonglade Portals, but the more I experimented the more I realized that hard single target removal is very necessary in this deck. Big minions often take a combination of Swipes and Wraths to kill and you fall so far behind on tempo and card advantage that it often seals your defeat before you can reach the lategame. This kills big stuff, so no more problems.

Barnes - This is the hidden gem of the deck. Initially I was trying out Fandral Staghelm to get Jade Idol, Raven Idol, Living Roots, Feral Rage and Wrath value but oftentimes it was too conditional and slow. Barnes is much better. He has 5 good pulls out of 11. Getting Auctioneers for cycle, Aya for Golems, Bloodmage for spellpower and draw, or just getting a Rag. Even his bad pulls still give spellpower or provide taunt. Overall, he's a very good option in the deck and greatly improves it's consistency.

Fandral Staghelm - Since we're cutting a lot of the good Barnes pulls (Auctioneers, Thalnos and Rag) Barnes doesn't perform well at all. Fandral is your value engine, combining him with Wraths, Feral Rages and Nourishes can be game winning. 

Jade Spirit - The most lackluster card in the deck. I tried removing it multiple times for Mire Keepers, but ultimately it's initial Jade Golem setup is important. The first one played is a worse version of a Razorfen Hunter. After that it starts incrementally becoming better, which is the theme of the deck, but it doesn't make it's annoying wail any less insulting. 

Swipe - Standard Druid board control spell. Excellent when combined with Bloodmage Thalnos at 6 mana and Azure Drake at 9 to clear pesky 2 health boards.

Azure Drake - Solid body. Check. Cycle. Check. Spellpower. Check. Must have. Check.

Nourish - This is another card I've considered replacing but found it's usefulness too compelling. More often than not you'll be using this to refill your hand and draw 3 cards. On very rare occasions with a hand that can setup an early Rag, you might consider ramping, but for the most part it's just a big draw card. 

Aya Blackpaw - One of the core legendaries in the deck. She is your first big startup to the Jade Golems. Even with no prior buffs she's still giving 5/3 + 1/1 +2/2 bodies which is 8/6 total stats for 6 mana. Once you drop her in the midgame after a couple Behemoths and Spirits your board starts getting really scary. She also has the aforementioned synergies with Barnes. Auto-include.

Gadgetzan Auctioneer - Another core card of the deck. With all your cheap spells this beast lets you cycle through your deck at record speed and get to that lategame Golem swarm ASAP. If your last 3 cards in your deck are all Jade Idols, you can infinitely summon golems until your board is full or you run out of mana (whichever happens first). Also a great pull with Barnes and can combine with Innervates on early turns to gain a massive amount of tempo. Since the Ravel Idols, 1 Living Root, and Barnes is cut, the double Auctioneer isn't as useful. Replaced one with a Nourish for more overall draw consistency.

Jade Behemoth - The most usable out of all the Jade Golem cards. Decent body. Has taunt. He has good stalling power in the early-midgame and he represents a serious threat in the lategame. 

Moonglade Portal - An extra spell that packs some healing with it. The only reason I'm running this over Sylvanas Windrunner or Emperor Thaurissan is because this deck often has trouble reaching lategame with it's weak minions until they start ramping up. The heal is pretty nice. Also, it cycles with Auctioneers.

Ancient of War - This card has slipped into the list in place of the Moonglade Portal. As great as the healing was, it often didn't impact the board enough to save you from Pirate Warriors rushing face, or Midrange Shaman's smacking away with Thing from Belows. This giant taunt wall can often prevent that extra weapon swing, and also absorb some big threats from your opponent to give you enough time to stabilize and swing back the board in your favor with your Golems.

Ragnaros the Firelord - Increases the winrate of every deck you put him in (except Combo decks). Great body, great effect, great pull out of Barnes, great quote to shout out loud as he lethals your opponent. Just all around a great card. Having more Jade synergy is just more important. Cut for an extra Jade Idol.

Guide:

Mulligan hard for early ramp/removal. Living Roots is an auto-keep as is Wild Growth, Wrath, and Innervate. Never keep Jade Idol, remember, we want this card in the lategame. Control the board with spells until you start curving out with your minions. Once you stabilize and hit your stride in the midgame you'll notice your Golems start to take over. Use your Auctioneers for a big draw burst to get a ton of minions down. Once you're out of cards, endlessly flood the board with golems until your opponent, who by now, is likely out of removal, loses.

And that's it! Thanks for taking the time to check out my deck and be sure to give it a like if you enjoyed it!