Hearthpwn

Malygos Rogue is one of the few remaining Hearthstone decks in Wild that has been playable since Beta. This miracle deck is one of the slowest variants of the archetype, but with incredible power and consistency if it can survive long enough to play its namesake card. This combo deck aims to win through assembling a number of damage-dealing spells alongside Malygos's absurd spell power for a one-turn-kill (OTK). The deck abuses the powerful draw engine of Gadgetzan Auctioneer combined with mana generation from coins, Preparation and Emperor Thaurissan to power this out as quickly as possible.

Malygos Rogue can be viewed as a slow charging but lethal cannon; the deck will never kill very quickly, but it has the potential to deal well over 30 damage in a single turn without attacking at all, meaning it can ignore any taunts or defensive minions the opponent relies on to survive. This makes it a natural predator of control decks, especially those with weak early game pressure. Consequently, Malygos itself is one of those decks with little to no early game pressure, and without a single taunt or healing card in the deck, it's easy to see how this combo-control deck has a difficult time with dedicated aggro decks.

Malygos is a challenging deck to play, to say the least. Calculating exactly how much damage you'll be able to deal based on the amount of mana available in the final turns of the game, balanced against the resources you'll inevitably be required to spend as removal or as fuel for Auctioneer... just the thought will drive many away. For those dedicated to mastering the archetype, it's a truly rewarding experience, as metagame has ever made this deck completely unplayable. The swings from Malygos + Prep + Fan or from huge miracle turns can break many games wide open; the trick is knowing how to steer the game into a place where these turns are as impactful as possible.

Un'Goro brought Malygos a number of tools to give this generally troubled archetype a shot in the arm. Chief among these is Razorpetal Volley, a spell that lets you spend 2 mana to invest in two 1-mana ping effects for later use. No Rogue deck takes advantage of these Razorpetals better than Malygos Rogue does, as they act as either fuel for Auctioneer or as fireballs alongside the big dragon himself. Razorpetal Lasher provides one less Petal but instead gives a much-appreciated body for early trading, while still helping the cause in the long run.

While Malygos will never be a high tier deck while Pirate Warrior remains top dog, it can certainly snipe some control players out there trying to prey on Pirates.

~Write-up by Tagonte