ADDICTED TO CRYSTAL (core rogue) - LEGEND
- Last updated Jun 19, 2017 (Un'Goro Launch)
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Wild
- 19 Minions
- 11 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Quest Rogue
- Crafting Cost: 5040
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 5/24/2017 (Un'Goro Launch)
- dontbemad
- Registered User
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- 8
- 32
- 65
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Battle Tag:
dontbemad#2121
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Region:
EU
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Total Deck Rating
449
Hi guys,
I am a semi-professional HS player from Germany who hits legend every season and usually aims for top 200 finish.
Before Un'Goro I really hated the Rogue class and it's playstyle, I never played it and my rogue was level 22 with zero ranked wins. When I watched Dog's stream in the first night of Un'Goro, where he hits rank 1 legend with quest rogue, I fell in love with the deck. I played it since day one and belieave me, I tested all versions which existed until today: moroes, violet teachers, doomsayers, oracle, fans, eviscerates, shiv, bluegills, wisps, crabs, swashburglars, bilefins etc. but I never got a positive winrate until now. One reason was that the deck just was not refined, the other reason was that the deck is just so hard to play correctly so it took me about 500 games until I got the feeling that I have mastered it (meanwhile my rogue is lvl 60 and got more than 300 ranked wins :D). It almost took me 2 months to come to this point and also to find the most refined or best current version of this deck so I decided to post my experiences to help other people who loves to play quest rogue. I started my climb out of dumbster yesterday at rank 4500 with this list and came up to 2000 with just a single loss (against quest warrior). I will post my future results up to high legend of course.
When it comes to the playstyle, mulligan and match up's, I could honestly write a book about this deck but I will start with some tips and tricks for now but will upload a full guide if necessary:
Mulligan:
against possible aggro decks (warrior, druid, paladin for example):
cards you can keep:
Fire Fly, Backstab, Glacial Shard (must keep vs warrior), Prep, Tar Creeper, Shadowstep
cards you should only keep with coin:
Tol'vir, Igneous Elemental
against possible slower decks (Priest, Rogue, Mage for example):
Fire Fly, Prep, Shadowstep, Mimic Pod, Igneous Elemental, Novice Engineer
Card choices:
From my opinion, quest rogue has been refined so far that there are 26 core cards with 4 flexible spots for tech choices:
In my case, I chosed 2x Tar Creeper, 1x Tol'Vir and 1x Backstab because it improves my match up vs any kind of aggro deck.
Best possible other cards for flexible spots are:
2 x Bilefin + 2 x Swashburglar (better if you are facing a lot of slower/control decks)
Tips & Tricks:
It is not always correct to play quest in turn 1:
If you start without coin VS druid or warrior, always mulligan for Fire Fly and play it turn 1 instead of quest. You won't fall behind on board which helps a lot in those match up's! If you do have Igneous Elemental as follow up, you can play your quest in turn 4 or 5 before playing the flame elementals + 1 x bounce card!
In general, you best bounce targets are : Fire Fly and Novice (more in slower match up's).
Against Pirate Warrior, the dream bounce target is Glacial Shard since they can't do a shit if you can freeze them while completing quest so always keep Glacial + bounce cards in mulligan!
Vs Druid, you always have to wait until they play living mana before you play vanish! you would be surprised but I can confirm that druid players do the missplay to play living mana into vanish at ALL ranks!
Also consider to keep deckhand in mulligan vs aggro decks, it is necessary to play it early on just for trade their board with weapon + charge and Patches.
Tar Creeper into Tol'Vir can completly shut down the early game aggression of druid, pw or murlocs (your bad match up's until now) so always keep both with coin in mulligan in those match up's ! You can complete quest later on - not a problem!
In slower match up's, you should always keep mimic pod and play it on curve or in turn 2 with coin before you start to bounce anything ! You should also never waste a prep for mimic pod before you have completed your quest! Always keep it for quest or Vanish.
Not sure if this really needs to be mentioned but I heard that there are people who play crystal core into counterspell so: VS mage you should never play crystal core first if a secret is up! Play prep, pot or coin first to check counterspell and even if you do not have any other spell available, you need to wait until you will draw one or the game is auto loss!
There are a lot of more things to consider in different match up's but that is it for now, I can write more if this get's upvotes.
edit: close to top 200 already
Make sure to follow me on twitter for updated decklists.
UPDATE - 06.06.2017:
I started to play ladder 2 days ago and climbed from rank 16 to 5 in just a few hours.
I did the following changes cause I did not queued into aggro decks, only mages and mid palas on ladder:
- Backstab
- Tol'Vir
+ 2 x Swashburglar
Proof and decklist from my twitter:
https://twitter.com/dontbemad_HS/status/871473689153417216
UPDATE - 19.06.17:
I hit legend with quest rogue yesterday evening with an updated and refined list:
- 2 Boar's
- 2 Tar Creeper
+ 2 Backstab
+ 2 Bilefin
Tar Creeper kind of sucks after the quest is finished and Backstab's doing the same job in early game - you can kill minions like Wyrms, Murlocs and Flametongue Totem (with weapon charge in turn 2). It turned out that you are also not have to rely on the Boar's, in some matches it is great when you can quickly close a game with their charges but after playtesting without them I have to say that you often do not need this charge damage after quest is complete to win a game. Bilefin's are just so strong against aggro when you can bounce the murloc after quest finish! The extra 5/5 taunt won me so many games against token druid, murloc palas and other aggro decks!
Proof and decklist from my twitter:
swash is a tech choice and it's strong vs slower decks. I played 1 x Tol'Vir and 1x Backstab before which is better tech against aggro.. it depends on what you face on ladder.
i see no point in igneous elemental
its very slow
how can it be slow ? it is actually the fastest way to complete quest if you coin it on turn 2 or playing it on 3. if you can directly trade it (let it die) on the following turn you will have 2 x 1 mana minions in hand, one more fire fly and all you need is literally one single bounce card to finish the quest. igneous elemental on curve is always nuts.
still think that 2xmurloc + pair of crabs is better choice than combo with elementals because its much cheaper to get value out of it.
Given the number of evolve chamans on the ladder, I would just say that you have to be careful against them, and not count on this card for the quest : Devolve will fuck you up pretty badly.
vs Hunter - deckhand and weapon is enough to clear their early game board - prep vanish also helps a lot in mid game and I would keep tar creeper in mulligan. just keep their board empty and you can't loose
When i saw this article, i was really happy because just like you, i used to never play rogue before (6 ranked wins). And now i'm at 270 wins.
The tech question is the only problem in this deck : vs paladins and warriors u just want to tech crabs, and, vs mage the secret eater. But the version u proposed is very stable, and i used to not believe in the power of the swashburglar, but he saved me so many times...
Anyway, thank you for this article, it was a real help for me.
Just an FYI you guide keeps referencing Tol'Vir - since you've removed it from the deck might be time for an update... even if it's just
striking outthose references. Either way having a blast with this deck - Thanks!good luck, you have to beat -16 from my answer below :D
(rank 25 commenters really nails it)
Greetings!
I've been testing this list but I'm having a lot of trouble against any kind of aggro. I'm tempted to replace the Igneous elementals because they are useless, any suggestions?
wow dude your comment shows that you have zero knowledge about this archetype. igneous elementals are 2 of the most important core cards in quest rogue, it is always the best play to coin it out on turn 2 since fire elementals are the easiest way to complete the quest so you always need igneous on board asap.
this list is already teched against aggro so if you are loosing, it is just about your own missplays, not about the deck cause there are only 4 flexible spots and those are anti aggro already.
I guess you are one of these people who thought q rogue is autopilot because it looked so easy when you lost against it. sorry but it's not the case - play like 100-200 games to improve your match up against aggro but don't change the list.
Thanks for your kind reply sir. Out of all your assumptions I really liked the one implying I autopilot the deck.
I'm gonna take all your feedback and improve my terrible gameplay with these specific answers provided.
Thanks again!
How does this deck perform against taunt warrior?
can be tricky if you are slow with your quest. you win if you can complete it within first 6 turns and play around brawl. best option is to bounce fire fly to generate minions in this match up. in general you should be favoured, I only lost a few games vs taunt warrior.
Hunter > 9000
Splendid Deck! Although it feels unfair to play it or against it... Understand how the deck works and what are it's weaknesses helped me a lot to play or fight Crystal Rogue. This Deck has it's place in the meta and it's far from unbeatable. And the nerf is neight... I feel it coming;-)
wtf so many downvoted comments
ps deck is great
i am still losing so many matchups against seemingly absurd decks. i draw bad, consistently bad. and my opponents draw perfectly. maybe this deck works for some of you, but definetely not for me. correct mulligans, correct plays. still get rushed down by mages and, worst game ever, by a jade druid. like wtf???
Best as I can figure, you just have to hope you draw your 'recyclers' early and save your charge minions for the lethal turn. That's Novice Engineer is often the best choice for recycling - it is basically the only draw in the whole deck.