[KotFT] Shadow Word: Combo
- Last updated Aug 10, 2017 (Frozen Throne)
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Wild
- 7 Minions
- 22 Spells
- Deck Type: Theorycraft
- Deck Archetype: OTK Priest
- Crafting Cost: 10660
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 8/5/2017 (Quest Rogue Nerf)
- XIII
- Registered User
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- 6
- 14
- 35
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
N/A
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Total Deck Rating
617
Before anything, this is a theorycraft. No one knows how the future metagame will be shaped and if that kind of archetype will work. My goal is simply to share an idea in anticipation of the future KotFT expansion. So, please, don't come to me in few weeks to say : "Hey, it doesn't work !"... Thanks for your comprehension.
What is the gameplan of the Shadow Combo Priest ?
The objective of this deck is, first, to survive up to the late game thanks to board clearing spells. Then, either Prophet Velen or Malygos have to be summoned. There are many ways to achieve that : directly from the hand if there is no other choice, from Barnes and Shadow Essence if they are still waiting in the deck, or thanks to Eternal Servitude if one of them got destroyed. Once it's done, it only remains to use Holy Smite and Mind Blast to burst down the opponent in one turn. Another way to win, against agressive decks, is to exhaust them with several Obsidian Statue.
Are there other synergies ? What are the minions ?
Prophet Velen : He doesn't only double Holy Smite and Mind Blast damages, he also works with Dragonfire Potion, Spirit Lash (Deals 2/Heals 4 per minion), Holy Nova (Deals 4/Heals 4) and Voidform. In addition, he doubles the healing from Lesser Heal or Greater Healing Potion.
Malygos : He works with fewer spells but has a greater impact on them : Holy Smite, Mind Blast, Spirit Lash (Deals 6/Heals 6 per minions), Holy Nova (Deals 7/Heals 2) and Dragonfire Potion. It can be noted that the last one doesn't affect him since he's a dragon.
Bloodmage Thalnos : Same as above (except he does die on Dragonfire Potion). He can provide a better board clear and works especially well with Spirit Lash in early/mid game. The deck also needs to draw and that's why he fits, plus he's not that bad to get on Barnes' battlecry.
Barnes : Amazing to get an early Prophet Velen / Malygos / Obsidian Statue that can quickly be re-summoned with Eternal Servitude. He may also be used as a low-mana combo starter in late game. Getting Bloodmage Thalnos or Acolyte of Pain on him isn't bad since it cycles the deck.
Obsidian Statue : It combines a taunt, a heal and a big minion clear, which is exactly what is needed against aggressive decks. Exhausting them won't be hard because multiple copies of them can be summoned through Barnes, Eternal Servitude and Shadow Essence. Its deathrattle makes it, moreover, a solid choice also against control decks.
Acolyte of Pain : As drawing cards are needed in the deck, I prefered him over Northshire Cleric since he's better to get on Barnes, Shadow Essence and has a decent synergy with Spirit Lash (without needing a Circle of Healing). In addition, he's a great target for Power Word: Shield.
And what about the spells ?
Shadow Visions : One of the best Priest card at the moment. Its main purpose is to look for the right answer at the right moment, but it can also be used to provide another copy of important spells like Mind Blast, Eternal Servitude and Shadow Essence.
Dragonfire Potion : The biggest Priest's AoE that generally resets the board on Turn 6, as good in agressive matchups than in control ones. It doesn't affect Malygos, which can lead to a monstruous board clear if summonned through Eternal Servitude.
Greater Healing Potion : That one has already been proven useful in the previous metagame, mainly in Control Priest against Mage decks and agressive other ones. Its utility here is the same, it helps surviving and temporizing. In my opinion, it's a better card than Flash Heal because it's a more solid choice on Shadow Visions and it's insane with Prophet Velen. It can also be used on a very damaged Malygos, for example, restoring him to full health.
Shadow Essence : One of the card that brought me this archetype idea. Summon a copy of one of your huge minions (Prophet Velen / Malygos / Obsidian Statue) at a low cost, allowing sick combos. And if you happen to summon a 6-mana 5/5 Bloodmage Thalnos / Acolyte of Pain... Well, these aren't bad cards at all, it's okay to get them on it. This is very versatile!
Eternal Servitude : The second most important of the new cards (for this archetype) given by the Knight of the Frozen Throne. Basically, it makes summoning parts of your combos early-on totally fine, as it allows even bigger combos once resurrected. Plus, it's required in case you draw your parts near the beginning, and it has a nice synergy with Barnes. They definitely are necessary.
Spirit Lash : That card is totally underestimated. It's way too good against agressive decks as it will clear the low Health minions they usually play. Spell Damage can make it a decent board clear, but the most important feature of the card is the important heal it can bring. It's also a cheap activator to instantly draw a card with an Acolyte of Pain on the board.
Mind Blast : A dead card most of the game, that will also sound the death knell of the opponent.
Holy Smite : Even if that card is part of deadly combos, it has more versatility than its colleague. Against agressive decks, it can be used defensively to clear a minion at a low cost.
Holy Nova : Another AoE that helps surviving till the combos can be played. It synergies with the Spell Damage cards and it can deal some serious ones to the opponent Hero.
Power Word: Shield : Drawing is just too necessary. As you should always mulligan for your early minions, it shouldn't be too hard to play that card on them. At worst, it can be used on an opponent minion before playing a Shadow Word.
Shadow Word: Pain : Way too good in early game, whatever the matchup. That's a must-have.
Shadow Word: Death : The big game hunter, mandatory especially against Druids and Rogues. One exemplary should be enough, mainly because there is Shadowreaper Anduin in the deck.
Why Shadowreaper Anduin is present ?
His battlecry is great against most control decks or Jade Golem, while Voidform act as a finisher (especially with Prophet Velen) if the opponent built armor or didn't take enough damages from your minions. It comes on the same turn as The Lich King (among others) so he can be a great answer. I definitely think he's worth a slot, but it will depend on the metagame's pace.
ANDUIN THANKS YOU FOR READING !
Very fun deck! :)
7-1 so far
Been having moderate success with it. Having an easier time getting things going with just Prophet Velen vs. Malygos. Probably just because I've been getting Maly in early draws. I get a lot of Wow emotes from opponents as the Shadow Essence pulls Thalnos more often than not. 5/5 Thalnos is scary!
I'll keep at it. Hovering around Rank 12 in Standard right now. Fun deck!
Thanks for the awesome and fun deck. 6-1 and smiling.
Nice! Which rank?
Been away for a bit, legend priest player, going to run your deck, looks wonderful. I'll report findings from play. <3
Update: Just dealt 40 damage with a single mindblast. This deck is not only good, but its going to make some really great youtube moments as it develops in the meta. lol.
How did your opponent let you summon a Malygos and two Prophet Velen at the same time xD
How about replacing Shadow Word: Death with Prince Taldaram?
There are also 2 Acolyte of Pain, it doesn't worth it imo.
Haha funny deck name :P but i think Power Word: Combo would fit it better :)
But the combo brings despair, and thus shadow... Hmm...
Interesting deck. It seems a nice strategy, I will definitely try something like this out.
I think I will try something with less draw by adding more early game removal. I would remove power word shields. Add an Obsidian statue and a Lich King to increase your chance of summoning value units.
Maybe remove 1 of each: Holy nova, Spirit lash, Healing potion and smite. Put in 2x circle + embrace combo for removal.
I think this and hunter are going to be my first two DK decks to try
Im assuming one would hard mulligan for Barnes? Do you think you would keep Acolyte/Bloodmage in the opening hand? Maybe even keeping shadow visions would be decent for more flexibility.
It really depends on the matchup and how well the deck will perform. Most of the time, Barnes should be solid... But keeping Holy Smite, Spirit Lash, Bloodmage Thalnos or Acolyte of Pain can be interesting. And Shadow Word: Pain is also an obvious keep against most decks.
Man, the deck seems very considered! The only thing i would've changed is maybe i would've cut 1 Holy Smite for an additional card draw in the form of Loot Hoarder or for an additional removal like Potion of Madness (i think it is a better removal than Holy Smite and you'll almost certainly spend 1 in such way), cause you don't really need 2 copies of it in your lethal combo when you have 2 Mind Blast and a possibility to ressurect 2 Prophet Velen or Malygos. Also you can discover and additional Holy Smite or Mind Blast by using Shadow Visions if you need.
And i think that 2 Holy Nova is too much alongside with 2 Dragonfire Potion and 2 Spirit Lash especially when you think about the situation on the board. In most cases it will act as 5 mana Consecration cause you won't simply have minions on the board to heal. Do you want a 5 mana Consecration? I am personally not. So i would've added a Loot Hoarder to increase card draw potential.
I will definetely try your deck. By the way, i would like to hear your thoughts about my version of the similar one.
The problem with Potion of Madness is that the minion you take has a chance to be discovered on Eternal Servitude, which isn't good at all. Same as Loot Hoarder, plus he can also be summoned through Shadow Essence or Barnes... I prefer avoiding having too much minions.
About Holy Nova, it's the card I dislike to most in the deck but... There isn't a lot of option. I thought about a version with Embrace the Shadow, Circle of Healing and Flash Heal, with Northshire Cleric instead of Acolyte of Pain... It could works too but it seemed less stable.
I can't really comment on your deck because it's not the same archetype at all and I would take too much time to think about this new one, sorry ^^ But thanks for your feedback!
Yeah, I totally agree about Potion of Madness, my bad. And I also was looking through priest spells and didn't found better replacement for Holy Nova either. So, it is the optimal list I guess, at least in theory.
-2*Power Word: Shield, -1*Greater Healing Potion, -2*Holy Nova, -2*Acolyte of Pain
+2*Circle of Healing, +2*Flash Heal, +2*Northshire Cleric, +1*Embrace the Shadow
That's the other version I thought about. What is your opinion on it? I think it wouldn't work, as I said.
well, i think Northshire Cleric is okay to swap with Acolyte of Pain for early game, but i will cry if Barnes pulls her :D
and yeah...Flash Heal in Wild #FeelsBadMan
Since you don't have any early game minions Northshire Cleric will hardly draw a card on its own (Power Word: Shield always does that and Acolyte of Pain too), it is only possible with a battlecry in the form of Circle of Healing. But do you want to heal enemy minions? Probably not. If only you remove them at the same turn or the next turn with Dragonfire Potion and it is the only realistic way I see, cause the only other way is to play Embrace the Shadow into another Circle of Healing the next turn. Too much requirements for it to work in my opinion. Moreover, Northshire Cleric doesn't synergies well with Barnes.
Cutting 2 Acolyte of Pain and 2 Power Word: Shield brings you into the world where you don't really have much card draw until you pull off Northshire Cleric + Circle of Healing combo, which has too many requirements as i said before: your opponent has to have minions on the board, they have to not be at full health, you have to have a removal for them, etc. Therefore your combo becomes inconsistent and unreliable.
And about Flash Heal... Unfortunately it is out of standard. There is only Binding Heal that is a really bad card in this deck, cause you don't want to damage yourself when you play it to remove an enemy minion after playing Embrace the Shadow. And since you don't have early game minions except Northshire Cleric you will hardly be able to play it for healing. Moreover, it can't go face.
Based on all of the above I would've said that 2 Power Word: Shield, 1 Greater Healing Potion, 2 Holy Nova and 2 Acolyte of Pain are far better and you shouldn't change anything until you have this deck tested in play.
Congratulaions on 20 upvotes by the way.