This is the deck i have been working on for the past few weeks. Druid is by far my favorite class, and after testing the deck, and constantly swapping in and out some cards, this is the final draft i came up with. Very efficient deck, with so far 83% win rate in masters 3 (I hate those damn turn one scrubs). This deck's main strength is the midgame. It powers through the early game by sniping out key cards using wrath and claw, keeper of the groves and sometimes swipe.
In the midgame, yeti, druid of the claw and to a lesser extent ancient of lore make up a strong wall that is often not that easily removed. Once you have the board advantage, keeping it is VERY easy as you have a ton of removal. Mark of the wild helps to keep board advantage, by transforming yeti from a strong creature, to a unstoppable force (minus assassinate/hex/poly/etc. :P).
In the late game, the deck focuses on burning down the remainder of the enemy HP. Most of the time, after mid-game, the enemy is left with around 15-20 (at most) hp. At 10 mana, in one turn, you can dish out between 8-12 damage, which means it doesn't matter how many big taunts he puts up.
Nourish and ancient of lore make up your main card draw engine, as well as starfire/wrath to a lesser extent. Ancient of lore is also used for healing about 50% of the time, because nothing pisses off a rogue more than seeing you jump from 5 hp up to 20 in 2 turns.
edit 19/09 Edited the deck based on some feedback, and alot of testing. I was able to fit in 2 azure drakes and 2 dalaran mages by replacing the faerie dragons and brewmasters (this was a hard decision). I also swapped around the ancient brewmaster for an ironbark owl (this was also tested heavily as spellbreaker and both end up working just fine.) I would also love to test out bloodmage thalnos, but I dont have enough dust at the moment
I drew druid for my daily quest so I came to the forums to see if there was a decent build here, not a druid player normally.
I tried your build and lost my first two games in a row. I had nothing to deal with a swarm deck (swipe is only 2 cards, no substantial taunts, too many brewmasters trying to "replay" 7 cost cards).
I guess you must have incredible luck with draw OR that your 83% win ratio is untrue.
What type of swarm decks are giving you issues? This deck has alot of answers to swarms actually. swipe is one, starfall is another, and hero power, claw and wrath all handle small creatures before turn 4-5. Not even counting keeper of the grove that can normally kill off a single creature once he comes into play, and usually at least another when/if he gets to attack.
Also, big taunts usually hurt swarm decks. Druid of the claw in bear, or yeti/keeper of the grove with mark of the wild will usually end up costing them alot of resources to deal with.
Finally, one of the main reasons I don't usually have a problem versus swarm decks is because once i get to the mid-late game, where normally vs a rush deck you would be under 10 hp, i can use ancient of lore to heal myself up, and by that point they are often out of steam.
If this didn't help you, then maybe this deck/druid just isn't your style. I'll answer any other questions you have :)
Hey man, after seeing your deck i started working on one based and i found it very solid, already won a lot of games including two swarms (warlock swarm and warlock murlocs)
I added some early game control, Claw and Shieldbearer can stop some early aggression, the Owl is one early silence when needed, Harvest Golem and Acolyte of Pain gives you good early trades and Novice Engineer for trade and card draw.
Innervate can speed up your game and the rest you already know.
Hey slipknabos. I do like your deck build, it is quite similar, and it seems like it is essentially the same concept. I used to run owl/acolyte of pain, but I ended up changing them for a few other things. Innervate I personally dont like because while it can give you a good lead sometimes (innervating into druid of the claw/yeti) i find that often a) it ends up being killed off by a kill spell, making it a 2 for 1, OR i draw them late game, where they serve very little purpose.
I don't like shieldbearer, but I understand the reasoning. I do think you are lacking somewhat in beefy minions though, as if your druids and yetis die, you dont have anything to threaten your opponent with.
Overall a decent build. I appreciate the feedback :)
Illidan is there because it's my strongest 6 drop, but you can easily change him with another Harpy and i also added two Azure Drakes because of the card draw and the spellpower that will burst starfall and starfire in the endgame.
Since the deck isn't a swarm or fast paced deck, I don't think illidan would fit, mostly because you wont be able to play more than 1 other card the turn you play him, and if he survives more than a turn, the extra summons are the least of your opponent's problems.
I strongly suggest using either nourish or ancient of lore, as they are the main draw power of the deck, and running maybe one of each or two of either, will allow you to cut out on novice engineer which is a very weak body, and almost never a threat. ancient of lore also helps heal you up vs burn decks. It has saved me vs many mages and rogues, as well as murlock decks.
I would suggest changing your owl for a second keeper of the grove, as having options is always better, and keeper has a very strong body, which can turn into a 4/6 with mark of the wild (equivalent to a druid of the claw).
i agree with azure drake. i had him in the deck before, but i had mixed feelings about him. He usually doesnt survive, but when he does, it pays off.
You should try out the deck with these/similar changes and see how it works out :)
I enjoy Slip's deck more as a spin-off. Covers up many weaknesses and seems a bit more unique to play.
Owl is low cost and actually works better than a second Keeper, 2 mana fits into many more plays compared to a 4 mana drop for silence. Novice Engineer is cheap as well, provides more for early game and lets you clear 2 HP cards by working with Druid hero power, also funnels in cheap mana costs late game for Illidan.
Should definitely fit in Ancient of the Lore, card draw too strong.
This is the deck i have been working on for the past few weeks. Druid is by far my favorite class, and after testing the deck, and constantly swapping in and out some cards, this is the final draft i came up with. Very efficient deck, with so far 83% win rate in masters 3 (I hate those damn turn one scrubs). This deck's main strength is the midgame. It powers through the early game by sniping out key cards using wrath and claw, keeper of the groves and sometimes swipe.
In the midgame, yeti, druid of the claw and to a lesser extent ancient of lore make up a strong wall that is often not that easily removed. Once you have the board advantage, keeping it is VERY easy as you have a ton of removal. Mark of the wild helps to keep board advantage, by transforming yeti from a strong creature, to a unstoppable force (minus assassinate/hex/poly/etc. :P).
In the late game, the deck focuses on burning down the remainder of the enemy HP. Most of the time, after mid-game, the enemy is left with around 15-20 (at most) hp. At 10 mana, in one turn, you can dish out between 8-12 damage, which means it doesn't matter how many big taunts he puts up.
Nourish and ancient of lore make up your main card draw engine, as well as starfire/wrath to a lesser extent. Ancient of lore is also used for healing about 50% of the time, because nothing pisses off a rogue more than seeing you jump from 5 hp up to 20 in 2 turns.
edit 19/09 Edited the deck based on some feedback, and alot of testing. I was able to fit in 2 azure drakes and 2 dalaran mages by replacing the faerie dragons and brewmasters (this was a hard decision). I also swapped around the ancient brewmaster for an ironbark owl (this was also tested heavily as spellbreaker and both end up working just fine.) I would also love to test out bloodmage thalnos, but I dont have enough dust at the moment
I drew druid for my daily quest so I came to the forums to see if there was a decent build here, not a druid player normally.
I tried your build and lost my first two games in a row. I had nothing to deal with a swarm deck (swipe is only 2 cards, no substantial taunts, too many brewmasters trying to "replay" 7 cost cards).
I guess you must have incredible luck with draw OR that your 83% win ratio is untrue.
Two games and already calling me a liar? heh.
What type of swarm decks are giving you issues? This deck has alot of answers to swarms actually. swipe is one, starfall is another, and hero power, claw and wrath all handle small creatures before turn 4-5. Not even counting keeper of the grove that can normally kill off a single creature once he comes into play, and usually at least another when/if he gets to attack.
Also, big taunts usually hurt swarm decks. Druid of the claw in bear, or yeti/keeper of the grove with mark of the wild will usually end up costing them alot of resources to deal with.
Finally, one of the main reasons I don't usually have a problem versus swarm decks is because once i get to the mid-late game, where normally vs a rush deck you would be under 10 hp, i can use ancient of lore to heal myself up, and by that point they are often out of steam.
If this didn't help you, then maybe this deck/druid just isn't your style. I'll answer any other questions you have :)
Hey man, after seeing your deck i started working on one based and i found it very solid, already won a lot of games including two swarms (warlock swarm and warlock murlocs)
Here's my approach:
I added some early game control, Claw and Shieldbearer can stop some early aggression, the Owl is one early silence when needed, Harvest Golem and Acolyte of Pain gives you good early trades and Novice Engineer for trade and card draw.
Innervate can speed up your game and the rest you already know.
Hey slipknabos. I do like your deck build, it is quite similar, and it seems like it is essentially the same concept. I used to run owl/acolyte of pain, but I ended up changing them for a few other things. Innervate I personally dont like because while it can give you a good lead sometimes (innervating into druid of the claw/yeti) i find that often a) it ends up being killed off by a kill spell, making it a 2 for 1, OR i draw them late game, where they serve very little purpose.
I don't like shieldbearer, but I understand the reasoning. I do think you are lacking somewhat in beefy minions though, as if your druids and yetis die, you dont have anything to threaten your opponent with.
Overall a decent build. I appreciate the feedback :)
Thank you man, i found the same issues you pointed while playing some matches so i made some changes:
Illidan is there because it's my strongest 6 drop, but you can easily change him with another Harpy and i also added two Azure Drakes because of the card draw and the spellpower that will burst starfall and starfire in the endgame.
Since the deck isn't a swarm or fast paced deck, I don't think illidan would fit, mostly because you wont be able to play more than 1 other card the turn you play him, and if he survives more than a turn, the extra summons are the least of your opponent's problems.
I strongly suggest using either nourish or ancient of lore, as they are the main draw power of the deck, and running maybe one of each or two of either, will allow you to cut out on novice engineer which is a very weak body, and almost never a threat. ancient of lore also helps heal you up vs burn decks. It has saved me vs many mages and rogues, as well as murlock decks.
I would suggest changing your owl for a second keeper of the grove, as having options is always better, and keeper has a very strong body, which can turn into a 4/6 with mark of the wild (equivalent to a druid of the claw).
i agree with azure drake. i had him in the deck before, but i had mixed feelings about him. He usually doesnt survive, but when he does, it pays off.
You should try out the deck with these/similar changes and see how it works out :)
I enjoy Slip's deck more as a spin-off. Covers up many weaknesses and seems a bit more unique to play.
Owl is low cost and actually works better than a second Keeper, 2 mana fits into many more plays compared to a 4 mana drop for silence. Novice Engineer is cheap as well, provides more for early game and lets you clear 2 HP cards by working with Druid hero power, also funnels in cheap mana costs late game for Illidan.
Should definitely fit in Ancient of the Lore, card draw too strong.
http://www.youtube.com/user/vtxaishi
You're not going crazy, I edit 2~3 times each post