Hearthpwn

Good day everyone. Today, I will be talking more about the Jade Druid list which I used to reach rank 5. I'll be talking about mulligans, matchups, card choices and this deck's spot in the current meta, and why it is good. Let's begin. 

Firstly, I will start off by saying that Jade Druid is still finding its footing, and is nowhere near the powerhouse which it used to be. However, in this value-oriented metagame, it has become increasingly useful, especially in the lategame. Right now, the top few classes in the game are easily Mage, Warrior and Paladin. Shaman has also seen some notable rise in playtime and winrate. As of now, I'd rate Jade Druid as a mid-T2 deck.

Mage is the easiest matchup. You can gain enough armour in the mid-late game in order to negate their large amounts of burst damage, and your golems will outvalue Medivh. Furthermore, Counterspell only really matters in the earlygame, when you need to find ramp/card draw. Mirror Entity is downright useless against your golem army. The only way for Mage to win is to burst you down with cards like Mana Wyrm before you can stabilise with armour gain and giant golems. Keep ramp cards. Consider keeping Wrath if you're fighting a more minion-heavy mage.

Warrior is either a walkover or a 50-50. Taunt Warrior is easy to beat; they can't burst you down in time, and your golems will outvalue his Sulfuras hero power. However, Pirate Warrior is slightly tougher. You need to find cards like Innervate to bring out taunts early on, or simply ramp up fast and stabilise with armour. Golakka Crawler is the #1 keep against Pirate Warrior. Without Tar Creeper, this matchup is slightly tougher. Keep ramp cards, and Golakka Crawler. Wrath is also good against Acolyte of Pain.

Paladin is another 50-50 matchup. You can easily outvalue them in the lategame; however, cards like Sunkeeper Tarim and Equality can really mess you up. The early-game murlocs are also quite threatening. The way to win this matchup is to keep their board clear, and out-tempo/out-value them. Stonehill Defender is in the deck just for the Midrange Paladin matchup. Keep ramp, Wrath, and Stonehill Defender if you have a good hand.

Shaman is a 75-25 matchup in your favour. It all comes down to clearing out their threats, and ensuring that they can't develop a board. The loss of Spell Power is very noticable in this matchup, as many Shaman minions have 2 health, and Swipe can't kill them. You WILL outvalue them, especially with Stonehill Defender, so the main plan is to get to the lategame. I'd recommend swapping out Golakka Crawler with Bloodmage Thalnos if you face a lot of Shamans. Keep ramp, Golakka Crawler, and Wrath. Swipe is too slow without spell power.

Why Stonehill Defender? It's a very good value card, and single-handedly wins you the midrange/mirror matchups. You can discover one of 2 top choices: Jade Behemoth or Dark Arakkoa. Cards like Primordial Drake and Dirty Rat can also be useful in some matchups/situations. If you're fighting a lot of aggro, switch this out for Tar Creeper. 

The worst matchups for this deck are Midrange Hunter and Core Rogue. They're too fast for this deck, and the only way for you to win is to ramp up and develop late-game before they can either develop Savannah Highmane, or complete The Caverns Below. That being said, it's still not unwinnable. Don't give up!

Also, try to keep some cheap spells in your hand in the lategame for Gadgetzan Auctioneer. The best way to fight for earlygame is by developing an early Jade Spirit, either through ramp or Innervate.