Twice Legend#6 Razakus Dragon (guide)
- Last updated Oct 24, 2017 (Triggered)
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Wild
- 20 Minions
- 9 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Highlander Priest
- Crafting Cost: 15240
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 10/1/2017 (Evergreen Nerfs)
- sxavalentine
- Registered User
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- 9
- 45
- 94
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Battle Tag:
sxavalentine#2316
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Region:
EU
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Total Deck Rating
87
Hi guys, here i introduce you my own version of razakus priest. I used it to reach Legend for my first time ever, and incredibly i managed to climb up to 6 (end up 35 at the end of the season) with 61W and 39L at legend rank. Is quite consistent, but not very easy to play. As i promised, since it reached more than 20 upvotes i'm gonna add a guide.
This season is going even better. I reached legend at the speed of light: 112 - 60 from rank 16 to legend, with a wopping 65% winrate.
Would have been slighty faster i guess if i didn't forget to change deck every now and then when i switched from standard to wild.
But the stats are the following (in brackets the results from rank 5 to legend):
rank 16 to legend 112-60 wr 65% (62-36 wr 63%)
vs Druid 12-15 wr 44% (8-9 wr 47%)
vs Hunter 9-7 56% (4-4 wr 50%)
vs Mage 5-1 83% (2-0 wr 100%)
vs Paladin 6-7 46% (5-5 wr 50%)
vs Priest 42-12 78% (24-8 wr 75%) SICK !!!
vs Rogue 11-6 65% (8-4 wr 67%)
vs Shaman 11-2 85% (2-0 100%)
vs Warlock 8-3 73% (5-2 wr 71%)
vs Warrior 9-7 53% (4-4) wr 50%
here the screenshoots of the global stats:
and here the screenshots of the stats from rank 5 to legend:
Compared to last season, i made a few changes:
1) i removed Gluttonous Ooze and put Tar Creeper. Im still not very sure about this change:
Tar Creeper pros:
- useful even vs not weapon classes
- if you are facing a weapon class, but opponent has no weapon, a 3/5 taunt is better than a 3/3 with no effect.
Tar Creeper cons:
- it doesnt really have cons, it's just that i can't use it to destroy weapons, and i would like to keep that option too, but looks like there is no space for both
2) i put back Skulking Geist. Druid is the class giving me more troubles. One of the reasons is because you don't know if you are facing a jade druid or a token druid. They are completely different, is not like facing paladin (recruits or murloc, but they are still aggressive decks), priest (EZ big or razakus, both two slow control decks), shaman (evolve or aggro). So yes, mulligan vs them is quite complicated. Since most of the times (i would say a good 85% of the time) is a token druid, for a long time (until rank 1 this season) i decided not to play Geist, but for the remaining 15% felt quite bad and hopeless play against them. The only way to win was usually park Ysera on an empty board, protect her for a while and then kill him with her powerful cards (something like this https://hsreplay.net/replay/8h5NaMXk2WhaW4v3t6G3Zm)... but that didnt fit priest playstyle of having answers for everything, so... welcome back in the decklist buddy.
3) i cut out Twilight Guardian O_O. Yes, i did. I needed a free slot for Geist, and among all the cards, Guardian was the most expendable. Among all the dragons is the less valuable, also, if resurrected with kazakus potion dosn't get taunt. So far i haven't experience problems needing a dragon activator without him. I might change my mind again in the future, we'll see.
General mulligan:
Usually Raza the Chained is a must keep, unless you are facing some hyper aggro deck that needs to be dealt with from the very beginning (like the pirate warrior pre FWA nerf...Raza was basically a free heal for 2 before dying).
A must keep under any circumstance is Kazakus: vs aggro his 5 mana potion can possibly turn the tides in your favour, and in control match up is quite useful too for when you dont have a turn 5 to draw 2 cards (considering your draw engine is limited to Bloodmage Thalnos, Azure Drake and Northshire Cleric) and maybe summon a 5/5 or resurrect 2 minions.
Northshire Cleric is a keep specially if you go first and you presume to fight vs an aggro deck.
Other cards that quite often i decide to keep are Netherspite Historian and Curious Glimmerroot, but let's see specifically class by class
VS Druid:
After nerfs, Jade Druid lost a lot of popularity in wild, in fact as i said, around 85% of the times is an aggro druid. Despite this, IF you get a Skulking Geist in your starting hand, i would say is better to keep it...just in case. But let's say that you know what kind of druid you are about to face for some reason (sniping, second match in a row with the same opponent, you have superpowers).
If it's an aggro your primary targets for the mulligan are Doomsayer, Kazakus and Golakka Crawler. Potion of madness does very little vs their horde of 1/2 minions, while the pair Thalnos + Spirit Lash is wort keeping if you are lucky enough to get both, so that you can clear their board (or most of it), draw and heal yourself consistently.
VS Jade Druid: mulligan hard for Skulking Geist, keep only Kazakus and/or Raza the Chained. Try to draw as much as you can to get Geist asap. While you are still waiting to draw him, don't waste your Shadow Word: Death on ghouls or other stuff that you could somehow trade in the near future. Same thing (actually, even more) for Shadowreaper Anduin : delay him as much as you can. Try to keep Entomb for Aya Blackpaw.
Dirty Rat (specially when you are ahead with the board) can be devastating for druid: pulling out a minion with battlecry "summon a Jade Druid" means really a lot.
Another card that can win games alone vs Druid (since not many run Mulch or Naturalize) is Ysera: if played after a Doomsayer turn, 100% guaranteed will be a huge pain in the ass for them.
Here is a replay vs aggro druid: https://hsreplay.net/replay/iE5D7apWUvCCnQYYXxFJGG
Here is a replay vs Jade druid single handed by Ysera: https://hsreplay.net/replay/8h5NaMXk2WhaW4v3t6G3Zm
Here is a replay vs Jade Druid won thanks to Geist: https://hsreplay.net/replay/p8cJZjPG5ucZ7GsJHPzn8k
VS Hunter:
It can be a Naga Giant, or a classic Face Hunter (lately are gaining popularity again). The first one is an easy matchup (of course, if they coin Naga on turn 4 and swarm giants there is very little you can do), but as general tips, if you understand you are facing a Naga Hunter (it takes 2-3 turns to understand), try avoiding going face, since those 1/2 dmg you are gonna deal won't help you winning the game, while will help him a lot to discount his Molten Giant. Of course if he has a secret this rule doesn't apply: attack and get rid of its Freezing Trap. With Shadow Visions go straight for Lightbomb, and be patient when you are leading the board: dont do anything that could punish you (like attacking with a Drakonid Operative while he has a secret and no board: better play a small minion and pass, so that the small minion will be bounced back to your hand), you have all the answers you need, just wait and counter, wait and counter...that's it.
Vs face hunter, Doomsayer, Potion of Madness, Kazakus and Reno Jackson are your best friends. Raza the Chained (unlikely as i said before, when you face pirate warrior) is great vs Hunter because makes his hero power useless. Apart from this there is very little to be said, like every Face Hunter, you'll win as soon you gain board control and become the one dictating the trades.
Here a replay vs Naga Hunter: https://hsreplay.net/replay/hw6HrwyqZC2C66Rx9BUWP6
Here a replay vs Face Hunter: https://hsreplay.net/replay/6YjHkZiTdfvrjUYAgQaYf7
VS Mage:
95% of the time will be an Exodia Mage. Surprisingly this is a favorable match up. You may think that being so slow, Mage has all the time to draw his combo pieces and kill us. But we have many answers to them. First of all: while most of the priest are impotent to Doomsayer+ Blizzard / Frost Nova if they don't draw Shadow Word: Pain, we can count also on Book Wyrm and Kabal Songstealer. Believe me, it's a big difference, basically we are never gonna lose the board. Dirty Rat is the best counter to Exodia Mage: keep it always if offered during the mulligan, but better save him for the turn after they play Emperor Thaurissan (even better if you can combo it with Brann Bronzebeard to double your chances to pull Archmage Antonidas). With Drakonid Operative, it might be tempting go straight for Ice Block, but there is a big problem: after their combo you'll be left with a maximum of 6 hp,no board, having to answer to a board filled with 4 or 5 Sorcer's Apprentice, Archmage Antonidas, and with your opponent holding 2 Fireball . So, unless you already popped both their Ice Block and you have a way to burst them, or he ran out of cards, you will still lose. Sometimes is better to go for Coldlight Oracle (dont be afraid to mill yourself, even if you mill Raza the Chained andShadowreaper Anduin, as long you mill his Archmage Antonidas you will win...again, better if you combo it with Brann Bronzebeard). For the same reason, is higly recommended to use Entomb on their Coldlight Oracle. That's it. So, briefly: never lose the board, never trade and try to mill him whenever you have the chance. Oh, and another thing: with Netherspite Historian, is not a bad idea to pick Nozdormu if offered.
As for tempo Mage and Reno Mage, they are a very small percentage of the Mage population, so I dont think a guide is really needed. Also they are very favourable match up too, so you should be able to defeat them without problems.
Here is a replay vs Exodia Mage: https://hsreplay.net/replay/pwQeXwuhMPFo8YV3iwRYmb
VS Paladin:
Though match up (after all Aggroadin is Tier1), because of Paladin ability to constantly refill the board, and quickly turn a relatively inoffensive board into a threatening one. During the mulligan, always keep Doomsayer, Kazakus, Northshire Cleric (if you go first, starting second is rarely useful) and Shadow Word: Pain. Golakka Crawler may not be a bad idea too, since many Aggroadin use the pirate package, but it's a bit of a coin toss. In any case, is a good tempo play to start trading his early pieces. Trade, trade, trade... all the time, giving priority to the Silver Hand Recruits (for instance, he has a Shielded Minibot without shield and a recruit, and you a Kabal Songstealer: go for the recruit, otherwise you are left with a 5/3 killable with an adapt like poisonous or +3 attack or Quartermaster's buff). It will take you a lot of time to stabilize, until then trade repeatedly, even if it means “waste” a 5 attack minion on a 1/1. With Drakonid Operative your best picks are Consecration and Muster for Battle. Spirit Lash and Potion of Madness play a very important role in this match up, and they are very good pick with Shadow Visions, specially Spirit Lash: if comboed with spell damage can be a huge swing. Try to save as much as possible Entomb for the turn after he plays Tirion Fordring.
The Murloc Paladin is similar: he can finish you much more quickly, but it also run out of steam more easily.
Here is a replay of an intense match vs Aggroadin at legend#63: https://hsreplay.net/replay/CM52chRXHNnTxqSAHDhLLT
VS Priest:1) Vs other Razakus Priests. Our deck is very different from their: what we lack in draw power, we gain with the much higher quality of our minions. And trust me, they have a very hard time to clean our board with so many dragons and/or 4 attack minions, that's why priest is our easiest match up (78 fucking % winrate in 54 matches!!!). Ysera is usually a sentence to death (specially if you previously baited an Entomb). During the mulligan is mandatory to keep Raza the Chained, since the first we can draw both him and the DK hero usually wins. I sometimes keep even Shadowreaper Anduin. Drakonid Operative is another great card for our start, since he can give us Raza the Chained or Shadowreaper Anduin, plus being a dragon they usually use their Shadow Word: Death on him. Dirty Rat can be used relatively early to try to put down their Raza the Chained or Prophet Velen (don't do it if you have no answers for a possible big minion). Don't play Bloodmage Thalnos if you have another minion on the board (other than Doomsayer) and they haven't play Potion of Madness yet. Try to minimize their draw as much as possible and keep them under pressure. With Netherspite Historian the best pick of course is always Drakonid Operative, but Alexstrasza can be quite useful too if you already have a large board of dragons.
2) Vs Big Priests. With Shadow Visions, your primary targets are either Potion of Madness (for the Barnes turn) or Entomb. Don't waste Entomb on their Ossidian Statue. Yes, they are annoying but not very threatening. Keep them for Ragnaros the Firelord, Ysera or The Lich King. With Kazakus, if you draw him early, go for the 5 mana potions: definetely polymorph effect, the other is up to you. If you draw him late, go for the 10 mana total polymorph (again, the other one is up to you). You should find this match up very easy, they really have to high roll to beat you. Just be patient, you have all the answers you need in your deck, let them be propositive and play reactively and you should be fine.
Here is a replay vs Razakus priest: https://hsreplay.net/replay/YigyyAfMu6jPEyqxZ6MP6d
Here is a replay vs Big Priest (is a previous build slightly different): https://hsreplay.net/replay/J4ZyJDca7eiMhpgcjiwYBi
If anyone is wondering if this deck is still valid, it is. I tried it out last month for the first time, but could not get past rank 4 (was my first priest month). This month I got legend with the deck with a couple changes though, that I find very important:
- crawler -tar creeper -songstealer
+stonehill defender +twilight guardian +spawn of shadows
mvp change is spawn of shadows, everything else is debatable. spawn though improved my winrate a lot vs other control decks. without it I had 58% WR from rank 5 to 2, I dropped back to 4 again, put in spawn and went from 4 to legend with 64% WR. I like to run twilight guardian cause of the needed dragon synergy and stonehill gives you some more card draw.
Anyway, thanks for sharing the deck, it is a lot of fun!
Is your changes still viable?
hi personally i think there is many stronger cards than book wyrm elise trailblazer is just one good example did anyone else replace book wyrm and with wat did you use im just curous ? :D nice deck btw thanks :)
I used to play Elise traileblazer, but too many times i couldnt get the value out of the pack cause i already had so many cards in hand. Plus it doesnt interact with the board at all, hence why i swapped her with Kabal Songstealer...
Book Wyrm is good, can offer nice tempo swings at times and can remove nasty taunts. Plus it's a dragon. Anyway, get ready guys, time to remove Tar Creeper and play Duskbreaker. Hype :D
Why no warlock guide, plenty of them in wild these days.
Love the deck btw
Preface
I was dicking around in wild in the 20-16 ranks, either grinding priest wins or doing my quests. Why? Because standard is a fucking joke sometimes. (I couldn't get past rank 14 for the life of me this season, partly because I didn't have much inspiration in the pile of *** around me, also because I was also bad)
Ok. I've gone 14-1 with this deck every time I've used the decktracker, and I have 2 wins and 2 losses (I was dicking around in rank 17 on mobile) from when I haven't used it (I guess you'll just have to believe me). My only changes were a The Lich King for Ysera and Tainted Zealot for Bloodmage Thalnos. Zealot is just as good, if not even better than Thalnos. I don't think I would use Thalnos even if I had it. Anyway, lets break this down
vs Priest
- 5 W - 0L
4 of my 5 games against priest was Quest Priest. I believe 2-3 of those 4 used Reno in addition. Every-single-game was won by Entombing their Amara, Warden of Hope. We would fatigue around the same time, or perhaps they would fatigue before me. But replaying Amara, or having the ability to, would always win me the game. Stealing their own Reno Jackson via Drakonid Operative helped in one game as well. Using Dirty Rat was also a key play in at least two of the games, since you can pull key big cards like Amara or N'zoth. My Kazakus potion luck wasn't the best, but it is almost always best to just go for the 10-mana-polymorph play.
I'll leave replays just in case you care. (They are all < 25 minutes)
vs Paladin -
6 W - 0 L
None of the games were against the deadly, classic Aggrodin, but they were all aggro or handbuff oriented decks. Listen to the mulligans listed above, and you should be in good shape. However, be smart. Around my ranks ( I played at 15-14 mostly) you are going to find people who don't use secrets as inconspicuously as they should, along with people who over commit to boards. For a smart player, you can easily bait and use cards like Lightbomb and Dragonfire Potion to take them out. From there, build your own and watch them run out of steam.
vs Mage
- 0 W - 1 L
The only game I lost to Mage was a TTK mage. I don't beleive he had the Archmage Antonidas + Apprentice package. He opted for the flexibility of the Arcane Giant (and presumably Molten Giant) package. Here's why I lost
vs Rogue, Warrior, Druid, Hunter -
4 W - 0 L
This is very similar to the Paladin games. The only difference is that you are playing Tempo with a side of Control, rather than Control with a side of Tempo (if that makes any sense to you). These are all classes that can overpower and punish you if you are playing too passively as opposed to proactively, especially Keleseth Rogue. Rogue is already a class that benefits off of being able to trade the way it wants and controlling tempo, so recongnize a good time to clear the board (like turn 6-7 before he gets to play Bonemare), use Golakka Crawler and your Kabal Songstealer wisely, and play board clear at the first optimal moment instead of letting him build a better one.
If you read it this far here's a TL;DR. This deck rapes priest, holds its own against aggro and tempo, and is SUPER fun to play. It got me from rank 17 to 10. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the deck u/sxvalentine.
Silly me. Forgot to add my screenshot.
Im glad it's working for you man, but to say that tainted zetalot works maybe even better than thalnos in this deck it's a a bit exagerate. Thalnos may not be a key card for the deck, but it's still the indiscuss champion of drops 2 when it comes to versatility.
What should I replace for Ysera. I happen to have The Lich King
Again, i run Ysera because it's a dragon and has 4 atk, plus her 0 mana spell are great with voidform. Vs many decks you'll never play Ysera, is there mainly vs priest (and works great, 42-12 my score this season vs them). Lich king would generate much less value. I would try with Free from Amber, Confessor Palestress or even Champion Nexus Saraad. But Ysera its Ysera
big priest runs The Lich King so it could be a decent replacement
Ysera is much better than Lich King in this deck (it's dragon, dosnt die from your own Anduin and is much harder to remve, specially by other priests). Sure, it's a very powerful card, but not many decks can play it. If this deck shouldnt work out for you you might regret the choice. Maybe wait a bit, see if you are enjoying play it, then craft her.
Loot Hoarder instead of Thalnos... well, i lost count of the comebacks i did with Thalnos + spirit lash. That's the main reason why i run him, rather than the card draw.
Perhaps i would craft Thalnos before Ysera, as you can run him also in rogue, shaman, druid. You would lack the powerful late game minion, but you will perform better vs aggros.
I hit legend #6 last season, this month i hit legend and after that i didnt bother keep playing ladder. Well, ok, if you are keen to try this deck for sure Ysera is much more important than Thalnos. But don't under extimate the little 1/1, is one of the strongest cards in the game, and its classic. Totally worthed 1600 dust
Wow, lucky you. Yes, definetely no doubts about turning golden Hogger in Ysera. Enjoy the deck at its full potential and let me know how it goes.
I replaced Book Wyrm for Skulking Geist (because on Ladder i meet many Jade Druids) and Brann Bronzebeard for Elise the Trailblazer (more value for Shadowreaper Anduin)
Book Wyrm is a core card, one of the best dragons and most useful effects of the deck. I personally almost never encounter Jade Druids, 95% of the time are token druids, that's why i dont run Skulking Geist. But if you want to play it, i would remove one between Gluttonous Ooze and Kabal Songstealer.
As for Elise the Trailblazer, i used to run her too, but then i swapped her with Kabal Songstealer because:
1) has no impact on the board
2) it reduces the chances to draw Anduin and/or Raza (it's a deck that draws very little)
3) when i draw the pack, too often i have already a full or almost full hand, so i can never get the full value out of the pack.
What do you think about putting in Justicar Trueheart in this deck? What would you take out? I also replaced Gluttonous Ooze with a Cobalt Scalebane. Mostly because I don't have the ooze, can't really say it makes a big difference.
Yes, Gluttonous Ooze is a flexible card. Helps vs hunter and paladin, pirate warrior now is (finally) a memory from the past and Oil Rogue its quite rare nowaday. I tried before to play with Kabal Courier but is good only in control matchups and quite underwelming vs faster decks. Probably the best solution is Tar Creeper, same drop, same defensive purpose, but helpful even vs non weapon classes (and even when no weapon is equipped by weapon classes).
Justicar Trueheart on the other hand would be (very situationally) useful only vs some midrange, to double the free heal in the turns before Anduin, but its too slow vs aggro, almost useless vs control and always a terrible vanilla 6/3 for 6 mana after Anduin is been played.
Took this deck from rank 18 to rank 15 in a few hours. Kudos, upvote!