Hearthpwn

Hello there,

with this profile, I am trying to build a solid Mid-Range Priest deck. For that purpose, I am going to analyse and reevaluate my deck each time I finish 20 ranked games. I will update this, so stay tuned:

Overview (all test stages):

Matchups (based on my experience):

Druid: Jade Druid (slightly favourable), Aggro Token Druid (-)

Even though I am perfect against Jade (3-0) and every win was dominant, I would not say that the matchup is extremely favourable. Shortly said, you will win against Jade, if you manage to build up a board that can't be cleared by his AoEs (mainly Swipe and Promordial Drake[/card]. In two of my matches I dropped Lyra the Sunshard "naked" on turn 5 while being ahead on the board and she won me the game in the next 1-2 turns due to generating so much value and tempo. Reminder: I won all three games on turn 8 and I assume that you will lose more than you win the longer the game goes on.
Aggro Druid should depend on whether your opponent has Crypt Lord and/or you have SW: Pain, but it shouldn't be too bad for you.

Hunter: Mid-Range Hunter (even right now, probably slightly favourable because of Tar Creeper now)

A pretty straightforward matchup, in which board advantage is key. Both of you are able to that equally well on average, so this matchup has been even as a result. However, as I removed that second Potion, which was cloggy and unneeded at times and included Tar Creeper, you should fare better now. The Creeper soaks up a Huffer without dying, allows your Cleric and Radiant Elemental to generate value plays and becomes a 4/6 monster on your opponent's turn when buffed by Shadow Ascendant - needless to say, this dodges Kill Command. Moreover, you have a comeback mechanism in your remaining Potion and Bonemare and also ways to gain more steam with cards like Curious Glimmerroot, Lyra and Devour Mind. I predict, this deck will be favoured now against Hunter and so far it seems to hold true.

Mage: Quest Mage (slightly favourable), Tempo Secret Mage (slightly unfavourable)

A win against Quest Mage comes down to two things: Dirty Rat and early pressure. The Rat is really helpful here, as he pulled nice stuff out from my opponents here. If you get Antonidas, it is a safe win. If you pull the Apprentice or even an Arcanologist, it is super good as well. Beware of Doomsayers though. This is also a great matchup for cards like Devour Mind or Curious Glimmerroot. Being able to pull out an Ice Block, valuable spells or great minions like the Apprentice and Antonidas yourself is very helpful.
I believed that Secret Mage would be a good matchup, but it has not been that way. He has more often than not managed to get me "juust" low enough health-wise that he can burst me down. However, if you know the matchup, this is a winnable one, too. Play around Counterspell (with the Coin, PW: Shield etc.) and Mirror Entity (Fire Fly etc.), keep track of what he has played already and try to stay out of lethal range. Be aware that Dirty Rat can pull the 5/5 Kabal, so don't play it unless you have outs.

Paladin: Murloc Paladin (slightly favourable), Aggro Keleseth Paladin (slightly unfavourable), Control Paladin (-)

You win against Murloc Paladin, when he doesn't have the perfect curve. And you lose, when he has it. Still, I believe the former happens more often, which makes it slightly favourable. Think about every possible card your opponent could play in the first 3-4 turns. Think about the Tidecaller, Vilefin Inquisitor, Warleader, Hydrologist, Rallying Blade etc. 
SW: Pain is a good card here, just like Potion of Madness and obviously your auto-keeps like Cleric/Fire Fly into Ascendant.
Aggro Paladin has caught me by surprise in the first of two matches against it and in the second I just would have needed 2 more HP to completely win it (read a "taunt"). After that second match, I knew I had to try Tar Creeper. Trade favourably here, empty your hand up to that point where you have the same number of cards as him, so that he can't play Divine Favor efficiently. That means, hold on to your Devour Minds until you can play at least one of the cards you got from it. If you manage that, you win this one.

Priest: Highlander Priest (favourable), haven't seen any other deck types luckily (Dragon kills me)

What started off as a super unfavourable matchup, now is one of the best. After starting off 1-2, I managed to steamroll to a 5-0 record against them after recent changes. Knowledge of your Highlander matchup is absolutely vital in order to win consistently. Basically, you take the initiative from the get-go. But you can't just mindlessly do it, as you have to be aware of how he can regain the control.
Most Highlander builds run the following key removals (one copy each obviously): SW: Pain, SW: Death, Dragonfire Potion, his DK, Kazakus (if he makes an AoE spell) and the optional Spirit Lash
Don't overextend on the board until he has played Dragonfire Potion, the Kazakus spell and his DK. DON'T drop Bonemare before he played his DK (and favourably also SW: Death). Usually, his first removal wave will come on turn 4-6 (usually turn 5 is Raza time), as you will have built up a dangerous board with Shadow Ascendant mostly and 1-2 more minions. After that wave, you remake the board with up to 3-4 minions and in the meanwhile get more cards through Glimmerroot and Devour Mind.
This time, you watch out that none of your minions surpasses 5 attack. If they play their DK anyway, good for you, you win now. If they opt for the other big AoE now, you go all-in with minions below 5 attack. This means, you can go for Lyra or Twilight Drake for example. At this point, you can also decide to use Inner Fire to push for damage and also get him to play his Death Knight/SW: Death.
After he played his DK, you can proceed to drop Bonemare and push hard - this mostly pays off even if he SW: Deaths you. Try to hold onto another minion in your hand in order to have something to buff with Bonemare, like Northshire Cleric. You don't drop the Cleric without a way to draw at least one card in this matchup.
Dirty Rat can and should be used to try to get Raza or Velen out. Try to have removal for the minion that gets pulled out or at least the better board. Mindbreaker can be an absolute game-changer here. If you get to the point where he has no removal and guns you down with his hero power, you proceed to play Mindbreaker and win. The cards you got from Devour Mind prove to be useful here as well, also you get to know whether he has drawn specific cards like his DK, Kazakus or Raza.

Rogue: Tempo Rogue (slightly unfavourable), Miracle Rogue (-)

You want the dream opener here consisting of Cleric/Fire Fly and Shadow Ascendant and cards like SW: Pain (for Southsea Captain, Vilespine Slayer) and also SW: Death if he goes with that 8/8 to 12/12 Van Cleef early. You try to build a solid board, try to play more for tempo than value (for example use Shadow Visions to discover answers mostly) and hope he doesn't Shadowstep Keleseth. If you don't drop behind too much in the early game, your chances to win are really big.
I faced one Miracle Rogue and he started with an 8-8 Questing Adventurer super early, which meant that I lost hard. In theory, this matchup should be in your favour, unless he has ridiculous openers, as you simply have the faster deck.

Shaman: Token Shaman (even), + 2 Devolves and Bloodlust (slightly unfavourable)

Two aspects are key here: Using your Dragonfire Potion efficiently and keeping his board small, so that evolve is not effective. Be aware when he tries to bait you into playing Dragonfire and watch out for him having Bloodlust in hand. Devolve is disgusting for your deck, but luckily most people run only one copy of it. Even him having two doesn't stop you from keeping his board small. But two copies make it hard for you to contain his Doppelgangster + Evolve (+ Thing from Below) combos after you have cleared his smaller minions from the start, as your board will be weakened more than you want to. Dirty Rat is dangerous, but can also pay off really well by pulling Doppelgangster or Aya (when followed by removal). Play it, when your opponents hand size is rather small.

Warlock: Demonlock (extremely favourable), Zoolock (even)

Against Demonlock, you hold onto your Dragonfire Potion until after he played his Death Knight Gul'dan. In the early game, you play around Defile and if possible around Zealot + Defile (Don't have a 1-health minion on the field). Because you can't do the latter all the time, you don't overextend as much as possible. You did well, if Defile doesn't kill your whole board, but only a part of it. More often than not, Devour Mind gets you great outs to his deck. For example, getting Zealot provides you a free win, as the minion deals 6 damage paired with the Potion, which kills every demon on the board. Abyssal Enforcer and Dreadlord pose threats he has to clear, as his HP will be rather low. You will get time to build up a good Inner Fire play, which then he has counter with Siphon Soul, use that as a bait or even as a push where Bonemare acts like a finisher. Lyra is able to get off well either, as your opponent's deck is super slow. Save SW: Death for a Mountain Giant. And if all of that doesn't lead to a win, Devour Mind and Mindbreaker surely do. Mindbreaker is broken in this matchup - and you like it.
Play against Zoolock like against any other quicker deck. The strength of Zoo compared to Demonlock is that he can make you play Dragonfire Potion, because you have to. Then, he can proceed to win with his Death Knight (yes, I saw it in pretty much every Zoo build out there).

Warrior: Pirate Warrior (favourable), Taunt Warrior (slightly favourable)

As against Demonlock, Taunt Warrior is beaten by cunning play around his key cards and then using Devour Mind for great value (his taunt minions are quite neat nonetheless) and Mindbreaker to completely seal it. Don't overextend because of Brawl and sometimes even Sleep with the Fishes.  
Pirate Warrior is quite easy, because you can keep up with his tempo and let him run out of steam. The nerf hit the deck hard.

The Initial Test (20 games):

- Record: 9-11
- played on Rank 5


Pros:

- Snowballing ability: In games that took 8 or less rounds I am standing at 6-3, cards like Fire Fly, Northshire Cleric, Kabal Talonpriest and Shadow Ascendant really can get you going
- Smooth feel: I rarely got the feeling that the deck was clunky, as I was able to play something in almost every turn - provided the game didn't take too long
- Pirate Warrior, Token Shaman, Midrange Hunter and also Tempo Rogue all seem to be pretty winnable in theory and reality (need more games to validify)

Neutral:

- Standing at 2-6 in games that took 10-12 rounds: Even though this is horrible, it is not as bad as it looks. All these games were very close and I believe with proper tinkering the potential to win more in this segment is certainly there. Also, misplays did their thing. For instance, three of the games were decided by him running out of steam and then bursting me down (Mage and Hunter). Tempo Mage should actually be favourable, but I lost both games to it etc.
- Druid: I won against both Jade Druids I faced by being ahead at the start and dropping Lyra directly on turn 5, which then netted me loads of cards, but I don't believe it is a favoured matchup, so that remains to be seen

Cons:

- Terrible performance in long games: 1-4 in games that took 14+ rounds, decks like Highlander Priest and Taunt Warrior were highly favoured --> Devour Mind provided loads of value, but it was not enough, the one win came against a Highlander Priest player who didn't draw Shadowreaper until the very end
- Paladin seemed very hard to beat, but I only faced a Murloc Paladin player that curved perfectly and a Aggro Keleseth Paladin focusing on 1-drops (huge props to the player and his deck idea), where I misplayed heavily

Changes I am going to make based on the experience:

+ Bonemare
+ Mindbreaker
- Cabal Shadow Priest
- Mind Control Tech

Even though I like the Shadow Priest alot, I have to admit that she rarely does something significant. Exceptions are against Hunter, maybe Tempo Rogue and Tempo Mage and also against Priest as she has 4 attack, but sadly not more than 6 health to dodge the Potion. Bonemare will be coming in, as the card is simply very good and due to the fact that I run quite some minions, it will also find a target consistently. Also, it provides more burst to a deck that is limited to rare Inner Fire shenanigans. I also considered a Bone Drake and Cobalt Scalebane at this point.

If you have not figured it out yet, I am bugged by the fact that I can't beat Highlander Priest at all (unless I pull his Raza with Dirty Rat). That is why I considered Bone Drake and that is also why I will now include Mindbreaker for MCT, who mostly did nothing and if he did, then not enough. I don't expect the card to stay in the deck though.

Cards I am evaluating closely during the next cycle:

Devour Mind, Dragonfire Potion (number of copies), Fire Fly (number of copies), Potion of Madness, Mindbreaker, Twilight Drake

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2nd Test (20 games): 

- Record: 11-9 (could have easily been 13-7, because of frequent DCs I lost 1-2 games I suppose)
- played on Rank 4 and 5


Pros: 

- Late-game performance was improved significantly by the inclusion of Bonemare and Mindbreaker, went 3-0 against Highlander Priest (compared to 1-3 before that), 2-0 against Demonlock, 1-0 vs Taunt Warrior, 1-0 vs Quest Mage
- beat all Jade Druid opponents since the start (3-0)

Neutral:

Is this still a Mid-Range deck? Performing solidly against Control, but rather bad against Aggro?


Cons:

- lost more games to Aggro decks than before: 0-2 vs Rogue, 0-1 vs Shaman, 1-1 vs Hunter, 1-1 vs Paladin, 1-3 vs Secret Mage
- I had problem with Burst damage from my opponent (but I also did think of burst damage when it was too late --> misplays): It can happen that I stabilize, take over and solidfy my board when I am at 10-15 health, which turns out to be too late, as Leeroy + Shadowstep (Rogue) and 2x Fireball (Mage) kill me then 

Thoughts:

I am not yet changing anything, because the deck performed solidly. Still, I believe I need a Taunt minion or two: Tar Creeper, Stonehill Defender[/card] are candidates here.

I am torn between these two trains of thought: 

1. Remove Devour Mind and Dragonfire Potion completely and include more cards that help you keep a board more (like let's say Cobalt Scalebane and Tar Creeper/Stonehill Defender), but also lose the ability to come back almost completely

- OR -

2. Give the deck even more value and protection. Elise the Trailblazer comes to mind as an inclusion for that purpose. With that, this deck becomes a Control build though - which is obviously nothing bad...

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3rd test (10 games, because of season end)

- Record: 8-2 (one win even came after I missed turn 4 and 5 in a Highlander Priest game!)
- played on Rank 4 and 5 
- Regardless of what I said, I decided to make a little switch: Tar Creeper IN, Dragonfire Potion OUT

Pros:

- I have not missed the 2nd Dragonfire Potion - the Tar Creeper helps you keep the board advantage and also keeps your HP out of lethal range for burst cards --> Hunter is now much easier, also Tempo Secret Mage should be easier as well (have only faced a Quest Mage though in the last 10 games of the season)

Cons: 

- Rogue is favoured, because you need specific openers and cards to win that matchup by countering his key plays, which you don't always get (the Shadow Words, a 1-drop into an Ascendant etc.)

Thoughts: 

I need to play more games to be able to evaluate the deck precisely. Therefore, I am sticking to the current build now - it also seems quite decent nonetheless. The Tar Creeper does a good job.