Hearthpwn

Hey guys,

today I got a rather interesting deck approach for the Priest class: A pretty aggressive Mind Blast Burst Priest.

It plays in a Midrange-y way and tries to win the game by pounding your opponent's HP enough with your pesky early-game cards and mid-game stallions like Bonemare and Cobalt Scalebane in order to get into lethal range - which turns out to be at least 10 damage, but in the overwhelming majority of cases 15-20 damage (1-2 copies of Mind Blast generated with Shadow Visions)!

The big strength of this deck is not how good it is (there are better), but rather the surprise factor. Almost nobody factors in being sniped down by Mind Blast, especially not by 3+ copies. Keep in mind that this deck requires thinking ahead and knowing the current meta decks in order to know when to drop certain crucial cards like Auchenai Soulpriest or Wild Pyromancer. It is easy to misplay, because almost every card in this deck can be used in two completely different ways (clarification later).

With this deck, you look to win in 7-10 turns. Against Warlock for example, a class you are highly favoured against, you will pretty much always be able to win in 9 or fewer turns. Shadowreaper Anduin allows you to extend your longetivity and lethal reach in case you didn't manage to win quickly enough. Still, the DK is not that vital to the deck and could be replaced by either Dragonfire Potion or Mass Dispel (mostly to remove buffs from those Druid taunts and to cycle).

This deck has certain cards that are very important to win the game and your goal has to be to get them as often as you can. That is also the reason why I run a huge amount of draw. These include:

Shadow Visions (never keep in your Mulligan unless your other cards are perfect though), Auchenai Soulpriest and Bonemare later on.

Cards like Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric and Acolyte of Pain are there to draw all the cards and clear boards. The Pyro gets very good against classes like Shaman for instance.

If you are not aware of how some combos in this deck work, let me clarify them for you - you will see how many cards work in different ways here:

0. Shadow Visions --> Mind Blast: Not really a combo per se, but keep in mind that you can and mostly also should increase your burst power that way. Dropping up to 20 damage with up to 4 Mind Blasts can seal victories. Don't play your Mind Blasts if not needed! Your opponent shall not get the idea to play around them!

1. Wild Pyromancer + any, preferably cheaper, spells: Every played spell results in a 1-damage AoE with the Pyro on board. Added up, this can turn into a powerful board clear. Luckily, the Priest class is the best in triggering the ability most often, as you can heal and/or give your Pyromancer additional health in the process. Against token decks, he is the guy you want to play - especially while having the coin. The best spells to use him are Power Word: Shield and Binding Heal - in case you need one more Whirlwind and some instant healing.

For instance: Imagine you face Token/Evolve Shaman and they (expectedly) start out better than you. On turn 4, you trail behind while your opponent has played the Flametongue Totem, one "Murloc Totem", just dropped Saronite Chain Gang and else has some 1/1 tokens on the field to really set up for an Evolve play soon. Now you enter turn 5 (he had the Coin at the start...)

You have saved your Wild Pyromancer before in order to kill all his minions with three or less health, because you know how the deck is constructed, which turns out to be just the perfect number. You proceed to drop Pyromancer + PW: Shield + PW: Shield + Binding Heal and now have successfully cleared his whole board and regained 5 health, while having a super dangerous 3/5 minion on the board that needs clearance.

It seems inconsistent, but you can trust me that it really is not in this deck. Getting the Pyromancer is the hardest part. If really, really needed you can "set up" for such a board wipe with Shadow Visions and discover another cheap spell...

2. Auchenai Soulpriest + Circle of Healing: One of the oldest combos of the Priest class, but still a super cheap, albeit a bit inconsistent, one. As the Soulpriest turns your healing into damage, Circle of Healing becomes a super cheap Flamestrike that nukes your opponent, but also you. It deals 4 damage to every minion on the field! With Shadow Visions, you can discover another Circle if needed for more emergency.

3. Auchenai Soulpriest + Binding Heal: Binding Heal doesn't have to be used in a defensive way all the time. You can also use it for clearing off an enemy minion at the expense of 5 health - which you will do more often than not. With Auchenai Soulpriest, the card deals 5 damage to a minion of your choice, but also reduces your health by 5. This can be a strong combo on turn 5/6, especially when you know that your opponent won't have answers for Auchenai next turn. This combo can pave your way to a nifty Bonemare-induced attack.

Now we get to the strong draw-power of the deck...

4. Wild Pyromancer + Acolyte of Pain + spells: Each time the Acolyte gets damaged, you draw a card. And the Pyromancer deals 1 damage to each minion after each played spell. Using these two minions together can result in some pretty nifty draws. If you manage to combo these two, your win chances rise significantly. 

5. Northshire Cleric + Circle of Healing: These cards alone are used only when trailing hard and digging for that one card that would win the game (mainly a Mind Blast). In rare cases like the aforementioned, it might make sense to heal up a full board of opposing minions in order to get a last push in card draw.

6. Wild Pyromancer + Cleric + any spell + Circle of Healing (throw in an Acolyte for the ultimate draw): Play the combo in the mentioned order! This will result in each minion on the board with more than 1 health to be damaged. Playing Circle afterwards results in huge draw which can easily reach 5+ cards, which will mostly be enough to finish your opponent off.

Honourable mention:

7. Patches + Bonemare (turn 8): You have been unlucky and got Patches in your starting hand for example and haven't really found a good use of that ping damage. Keep him for the Bonemare combo to deal instant 5 damage!

8. Auchenai Soulpriest + Mistress of Mixtures: Only here, because of the fact that this combo doesn't see too much play in reality, as your Mistress will mostly be used in the early-game. Still, keep in mind that having 1-2 Mistresses on the board, while for example nuking the board with Circle of Healing/Auchenai, will deal 4 or even 8 damage to your opponent (AND you!). Also, just killing it off with your Auchenai-altered hero power can finish an opponent off with 4 or less health.

I hope, you like this guide and the deck. I would really appreciate it, if you could give me an upvote and also write down constructive criticism. 

Sincerely, 
Macropod