Hearthpwn

Rise of the Shadows guide and deck update is online

I strongly recommend you to read the guide before playing the deck. This deck is hard to pilot and not everyone can play it properly. In right hands this deck is unstopabble.

First of all: Prove (legend of season 41. other ones will be posted in the comments If I take the screenshots). It is still sucessfull deck even in 2018. I hit Legend with it in S41 EU, S45 Asia and now S48 Asia from rank 5 to legend and on EU it helped me a lot on ranks 4-1 where I was switching the decks a lot.

My list that I made is aimed to have succes against anything but you can definitelly improve some matchups by switiching cards. Remember to adapt the list to your local meta and if you have any further questions, ask me here in the comments under the deck. Dont be greedy though. It is kinda hard to build a succesfull deck or switch some cards and for Reno Mage this statement doubles.I highly recommend you to read this linked guide from Element91 on Reddit which explains Reno Mage playstyle and mentality overall. His deck is also aimed to have succes against wide variety of decks

https://hsreplay.net/decks/mFyzNE70issuYi6Vm2bcsc/#gameType=RANKED_WILD&tab=overview

https://www.reddit.com/r/wildhearthstone/comments/a9ooy4/element91_reno_mage_guide_part_1_general/

Last update

02.05.2019 Reno Mage in Rise of Shadows: Yet again my Reno Mage built appears again on HS.Replays with some data backed up

Packages

• Hero Power package: This package is aimed to try new cards and cool comboes with introducion of Rastakhan. It is mostly aimed against a slower part of the ladder while still being decent against Aggro: - Sindragosa, - Medivh, the Guardian, - Medivh's Valet [/card], - [card]Explosive Sheep - Arcane Keysmith. + Daring Fire-Eater + Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk, + Spirit of the Dragonhawk + Blast Wave +  Waterboy
• I pity fast decks: Package for your aggresive matchups improvement: - Sindragosa, -Medivh, the Guardian, - Skulking Geist , + Zilliax, + Tar Creeper,+ Blast Wave inclusion of Baron Geddon is also considerable.
• I'm kinda Greedy: Basically this package is aimed to be greedy af xD - Mad Scientist, -  Mind Control Tech + Pyros + Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk
• I will make Combo decks suffer: The hybrid between Mill and Control Mage: - Sindragosa, - Medivh, the Guardian, - Mind Control Tech + Duplicate, - Azure Drake +Baleful Banker + Deathlord + Research Project

Mulligan:

• Aggro+Midrange:

The goal is to drag them to the late game,where they are going to run out of resources and going to be outcontroled

So Mulligan for: Mad Scientist,Doomsayer,,[card] Arcanologist [/card], Explosive Sheep,Volcanic Potion,Kazakus(Potion for 1 or 5)

• Control:

Here we can afford a little bit slower start

Mad Scientist,Doomsayer,Arcane Keysmith,Coldlight Oracle,Polymorph even Frost Lich Jaina for turn 9

• Combo:

All cards that will get you closer to your Reno,removals and Iceblock so they wont OTK you or make an Insane board. Dirty Rat andPotion of Polymorph are your cards to date. Also Coldlight Oracle can screw them and burn few cards)

Comboes of the deck:

1. Brann Bronzebeard+Kazakus+Manic Soulcaster
2. Atiesh+ Any high cost spell including Kazakus Potion for 10 mana
3. Ragnaros the Firelord after Frost Lich Jaina is also Ragnaros, Lightlord xD
4. Icy Touch activators are not only enemy minions but also Bloodmage Thalnos, Sindragosa's tokens and Polymorph
5. If you really wanna be a Mill Mage Brann Bronzebeard+Coldlight Oracle+Manic Soulcaster is here for you :P

Matchups:

Priest: Most common: Big, Inner Fire in some Shell(Dragon,Deathlord one),Reno Priest,

Big Priest: Is now the most difficult Priest matchup after Raza nerf. We are looking here obviously for polymorphing his threats so they appear in his ressurect options. Outvalue him through Kazakus 10 mana potions. The best Polymorph option are value genrating cards like Ysera and The Lich King + Ragnaros the Firelord

Inner Fire/Topsy Turvy Priest: What can I say. Destroy any minion he plays. Combo disruptions like Rat and Potion of Polymorph are valuable. :D

Reno Priest: This is probably the strongest deck in Control vs Control matchup. Not only because Arcibishop is hella good in this matchup, but also because 1 mana Heropower of Shadowreaper Anduin thanks to Raza is still really powerfull. Then you just add Deathrattle or Dragon package and voila! You have basically the deck that cannot be killed easily. In this matchup you just need to milk all your value from your deck. If you want to improve Control matchups like this, then add Zola instead of Ooze. Brann Bronzebeard+Kazakus+Manic Soulcaster is one of the comboes that are definitelly to go.

Warlock: Most common:Cubelock,Renolock,Zoolock,Controllock,Evenlock,Mechathunlock,The Darkest Hour Warlock

Renolock: The most powerfull warlock deck right now is Renolock. The reason behind it is the fact that it is basically a deck of 30 amazing cards. It can combat any type of deck and in a good hands can win an unwinable matchups like Kingsbane Rogue. To beat the Renolock you need to get the maximum value of your deck. Try to play around Deathlords and Rats and sneak the Coldlight when he has 8+ more cards in hand. This game will definitelly go to fatique and you will need to adapt your gameplay. He also have Hand and Deck disrupting things so adapt your gameplan to it. While this matchup involves RNG as any other matchup, the skill level of both Reno players matters a lot.

Cubelock:  Cubelock is still an explosive Control-Combo deck. Drag him to the late game and make sure that his Guldan will summon only Voidwalkers. Polymorph cards are amazing in this matchup, as well as Reno and your threats like Medivh,Jaina and Ragnaros.

Zoolock and Discardlock: Extremely scary in early and midgame. Weak in late game. So make sure you drag him there thanks to boardclears and minions. Then apply pressure and win.

Controllock: Give him the same treatment as Renolock because it is just version that is a little bit weaker.

Evenlock: This deck has some oldschool Handlock vibe to it. Manage your removals right and you should exhaust him pretty succesfully. Potion of Polymorph is often played on turn 3 or 4 to prevent early Mountain Giant.

Mechathunlock: Your combo disruption tools are there to help you win the game. Also they tend to not play around Coldlight Oracle and Research Project so feel free to mill them)

The Darkest Hour Warlock: Yup. Another Highroll Big deck enters the game. Mulligan for Coldlight and Project and play them. They relly on having a big stuff in the deck so it gets pulled out. Prevent it thanks to these cards. Treat this matchup overall as you would treat the Big Priest one and you will realise that it is way easier to manage in late game than Big Priest.

Druid: Most common: AvianaKun combo Druids,Aggro/Token, Jade Druid, Mill Druid,Hadronox Druid, Kripps Hakkar Druid,Big Druid

AvianaKun Combo Druids: Oh boy this matchup can be frustrating. It all comes down to who will get to their wincondition faster. Afternerfs this statement is not true. Your wincondition in this matchup, is disrupt his combo. Regardless the Druid combo,this can be archieved trough Brann+Dirty Rat, Potion of Polymorph landing on Aviana. But if you managed to fail in that pray for you Arcane Keysmith to discover Explosive Runes or another Potion of Polymorph. Current combo versions that are know are these( TogAzalina,Malygos, Ragnaros OTK)

Kripparians Hakkar Druid: Same as for AvianaKun Druids: Dirty Rat,Potion of Polymorh together with Brann and Arcane Keysmith are your winconditions. Time them right.

Aggro/Token: Exhausting him with your AOE spells and Reno is the key to win

Jade Druid: Do what you have to do to stay alive and then Skulking Geist his wincondition. If you play newer version of the deck either tech Skulking Geist, or exhaust him so he has Jade Idols only and then Overwhelm him trough Kazakus Polymorph and Ressurect shennanigans.

Mill Druid: This is actually a pretty winable Mill matchup If you manage to Skulking Geist [/card] his 1 mana spells and draw [card]Manic Soulcaster

Hadronox Druid: This might be a matchup where you can struggle due to the fact that Wild version runs N'Zoth that summons Hadronoxes back. The crucial combo is Brann Bronzebeard+Kazakus+Manic Soulcaster. You are searching for 10 mana spells and especially the ones that are Polymorphing the board and are summoning some threats. Also the key cards are Polymorph and Potion of Polymorph which will make a Sheep which is a beast and which will be added into poll of Witching Hour

Big Druid: Might do some highrolly turns but with well managed removal tools, This matchup is easy win

Mage: Most common: Aluneth Tempo Mage, Exodia varriations, Reno Mage, Odd Mage

AlunethTempo Mage: This matchup is 50/50. The key is to play around his secrets as much as possible possible and just exhaustiung him.

Exodia varriations: Coldlight Oracle, Dirty Rat and Potion of Polymorph are here to help you. Set up them correctly and you will win.

Reno Mage: The most common type is in Nzoth Shell. Trough value generating cards and comboes this matchup is easy while our comboes are far better than just swarming the board with Nzoth and value cards like Pyros

Odd Mage: New archetype formed in Rastakhan (in terms of success). Play this matchup similarly like against Control Mage or Reno Mage, it usually doesnt have enough good late game cards to keep up with our late game stage.

Rogue: Most common: Kingsbane Miracle,Mill, Tempo/Odd,Big Rogue, Thief Rogue, Quest Rogue

Kingsbane Miracle: No explanation needed. Just do what control deck have to do.

Mill Rogue: 99,999999% unwinabble. We are Control deck, control decks sucks against Mill Rogue. There is a slight chance where you can Dirty Rat his first Colglight, Potion of Polymorph second one but thats unlikely to happen.

Tempo: No matter what varriation (Keleseth or Baku one) just clear their board and drag them to the late game where this deck is superior

Big Rogue: Second strongest Big deck after Priest one. Make sure to Potion of Polymorph him in early game. Drag him to late game and start clearing his board over and over again with Kazakus 10 mana Polymorph potions. This deck can run out of resources kinda quickly especially if they are overcomitting.

Thief Rogue: It is kinda like Tempo Rogue but stronger against Control thanks to Tess. Just make sure you to get some value out of your cards and you should be ok.

Quest: The later she completes the quest, the better for you. Clear her minions to minimalise the chances of bouncing them back into her hand

Warrior: Most common: Pirate,Control Nzoth Warrior, DMH Warrior, Quest Warrior, Bomb Warrior

Pirate: A classical Control vs Aggro matchup. Exhaust them.

Control Nzoth Warrior: An easy matchup due to the more powerfull late game options

DMH Warrior: Now thats actually a winnable Mill matchup due to the fact that he may not clear Kazakus Potions on 1 turn. Especially if there is at least 4 of them thanks to the Brann Bronzebeard+Kazakus+Manic Soulcaster combo.

Quest Warrior: A Control Warrior with a different wincondition. The weakest spot of the deck is its unabilitty to Armor Up after the Sulfuras is played. Make sure you have some minions on the board and just start pushing some face damage.

Bomb Warrior: Not so powerfull deck is quite poiwerfull against Reno decks because of bomb shuffling mechanic. The key here is to play Frostlich Jaina, then heal trough Elementals and then overwhelm the Warrior with far more superior late game.

Paladin: Most common: Anyfin,Control Exodia, Buffadin, Call to Arms varriations, Odd Dude Paladin,Odd Mech Paladin

Anyfin: Your goal is to survive 2 Anyfin Can Happen. Polymorphing his Murclos really hburts him a lot.

Control Exodia: Kill him, kill him before he plays the combo. In Wild with access to Emperor Thaurissan he don't need to run Burgly Bully [/card]. [card]Skulking Geist is your MVP here. Dirty Ratting his combo pieces is really satisfying thing to do

Buffadin: Clear the board. Make sure your life total is above 20 health due to the charge minions like Chillblade Champion

Call to Arms varriations: Clear his board, and again, and again, and again. You need to exhaust them. Choose your boardclears wisely, draw cards and drag him to the late game to outheal his damage with Jaina and Reno

Odd Paladin in general: ^Same strategy as Call to Arms varriations. Even tho its weakened it is still powerfull enough. Im seeing some lists addinf greedier Mech package and Paladins legendary spell.

Hunter: Most common: Spell Hunter, Midrange Mecha Hunter, Big Beasts Hunter, Reno Hunter

Spell Hunter: The only powerfull turn of this deck is turn 4 Barnes into Y'Shaarj. If you deal with it with Polymorph or any other way then you basically win as long as you play well. Well we can succesdully say that this doesnt count.Deathstalker Rexxar together with Zul'jin are really amazing hero cards and will ensure that this matchup will go into fatique. Manage your resources right and go for greedy comboes.

Midrange Mecha Hunter: Boomsday brought a new deck for Hunter. With new Mechs in the pool Midrange Hunter have been ressurected and it is actually slaying. General strategy is to exhaust him. Our value and heals and boardclears are superior. The only thing  that he does better is Tempo Plays. Make sure to deny that with your cards and you will come out as a winner.

Big Beast Hunter:  Treat it like a Big Priest or Big Rogue and you should be Gucci.

Reno Hunter: Looking for a kinda longer game than against a typical Hunter. Embrace the true power and value of your deck and you should come out of this fight as a winner.

Shaman: Most common: Aggro/Murloc Shaman, Malygos Shaman, Control Ressurect Shaman, Shudderwock Shaman, Reno Shaman, Even Shaman, NoFunAllowed lists

Aggro/Murloc Shaman: A classical Control vs Aggro matchup. Exhaust them. With an addition of Rise of Shadows there is a similar archetype built around Murlocs and not Overload package. Treat it the same way as Trogg overload version.

Malygos Shaman: Potion of Polymorph hitting hisEmperor Thaurissan or Dirty Ratting his Malygos = GG

Control Ressurect Shaman: We are far more stronger Control deck than him. Easy matchup as long as you manage your resources right.

Shudderwock Shaman: There are currently 2 versions of this deck. If we are talking about Jade version, go for Hero Jaina as soon as possible while picking up polymorph potion from Kazakus for his Shudderwock turn. If we are talking about OTK version, pressure them as hard as you can. Brann Bronzebeard+Coldlight Oracle or Dirty Rat might be game winning here.

Reno Shaman: This is the type of matchup where you will use all your powerfull comboes. Reno Shaman is extremely good against Control because it never runs out of steam thanks to Hagatha and Shudderwock which might be brought back by Baleful Banker or Zola. So simply what you are looking here for is to destroy him trough your board presence and value. Best picks for Kazakus Potions are board clears, Summonings on the board and adding some Demons to your hand.

Even Shaman: Even Shaman is Midrange type of deck and it should be treated that way. Drag him to the late game with clearing his board and staying alive and then start beating him with your legendaries.

NoFunAllowed lists: Usually revolve around Shudderwock. Time your Dirty Rat

Card replacements

Arcane Intellect or Research Project instead of Coldlight Oracle 

Dr. Boom,Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk or Dragoncaller Alanna instead of Sindragosa. You can also replace her with Baron Geddon which will improve your Odd Paladin matchups but hurt your Control matchups.

Zola the Gorgon instead of Gluttonous Ooze for even more value.

Manic Soulcaster can be replaced by Zola the Gorgon or Baleful Banker

Witchwood Piper instead of Azure Drake

Arcane Keysmith can be replaced by these cards:Zilliax, Giggling Inventor, Tar Creeper, Deathlord

Hex Lord Malacrass is an Odd choice but I see him being played as a replacement for some of the late threats.

Overall you can switch some cards and adapt the list to your local meta. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

Why no *insert card name*  in the deck?

Pyros: Mad Scientist is just waaay more usefull.

Emperor Thaurissan: We dont want cheaper spells. We want 10 mana Kazakus spells with Atiesh to summon Tyrantus and not 9 mana spells which will summon Dragonhatcher. It may be imcluded as a deck experimentation but generally speaking he is not that impresive in Control decks (except Renolock)

Inkmaster Solia : Because she is the worst Highlander card right now. All Kabal legendaries are about mana cheating. And Raza or Kruul can cheat out waaay more mana with their effects than Solia can. Also anti synergy with Atiesh

Toki, Time-Tinker Such a good Hero Power in Monster Hunt and such a bad effect as a card :(. She is not good nor statwise nor with her effect. It is more like meme card

Luna's Pocket Galaxy This card is a win more card in this specific deck. It would probably go instead of Firelands Portal but Firelands are really good in terms of tempo and value possibility with Medivh. Control decks tend to not spend all their mana on the turn anyway so this Mage legendary spell is not good in this deck.