Welcome to the Cathedral of Light, Disciple!

(Table of Contents)

This is the bastion of all aspiring servants of the Light and friends of the Priest Hero Class. In this temple's wings, you can become an adept in several aspects of the Light that will help you on your journey. Your tour of the Cathedral will start in the Three-Arched Main Gate, where you will learn all you need to know about the Priest Hero, Anduin Wrynn. Then you will step into the Lay Nave, where you can join your other brothers in faith in a lecture about the class cards. The way you can use them and combine them to a great effect can be taught in the glorious Chancel. A walk around the Cloister can make you decide which deck archetype you will fight with and if you dare step in the depths of the Holy Sanctuary, you might even find the most treasured and glorious decklists of all!

 The Lore

(Delve deeper into the Lore at www.wowpedia.org) 

The Priest Class

"Priests are devoted to the spiritual, and express their unwavering faith by serving the people. For millennia they have left behind the confines of their temples and the comfort of their shrines so they can support their allies in war-torn lands. In the midst of terrible conflict, no hero questions the value of the priestly orders. These masters of the healing arts keep their companions fighting far beyond their normal capacities with an array of restorative powers and blessings. The divine forces at the priest’s command can also be turned against foes, smiting them with holy fury.

As light cannot exist without darkness, and darkness without light, some priests tap into shadow to better understand their own abilities, as well as the abilities of those who threaten them."

 

Anduin Wrynn

 

      

Additional Lore: Wowpedia

 

 The Hero Powers:

 

   

 

Lesser Heal is the default Priest Hero Power. It heals a hero or a minion of your choice (including enemy ones) for 2 health. It is preferably used to heal your own minions, which generally makes enemies aim killing a Priest's minions in 1 turn. It synergises with Northshire Cleric to create the only real Priest-specific draw engine. You should never forget that in Hearthstone a heal cannot be used to heal a minion or hero above their maximum health.

Mind Spike and Mind Shatter are enabled through the use of the ability card Shadowform. They deal 2 or 3 damage respectively to a hero or minion of choice and they are the strongest Hero Powers available to any class except INFERNO! for Warlocks (and of course Priests with Thoughtsteal). They are the staple of the Shadow Priest archetype and they offer increasing value as the game progresses. Sadly at the moment with the meta being fast, the tempo loss generated by the use of Shadowform is hard to manage and for the time being Shadow Priest decks remain unsuitable for real competitive play.

Card Name	Type	Mana Cost	Attack / Hit Points	Card Description
Prophet Velen	Minion	7	7 / 7	Double the damage and healing of your spells and Hero Power.
Vol'jin	Minion	5	6 / 2	Battlecry: Swap Health with another minion.
Cabal Shadow Priest	Minion	6	4 / 5	Battlecry: Take control of an enemy minion that has 2 or less attack.
Lightbomb	Ability	6	-	Deal damage to each minion equal to its Attack.
Mindgames	Ability	4	-	Put a copy of a random minion from your opponent's deck into the battlefield.
Shadow of Nothing	Minion	0	0 / 1	Mindgames whiffed! Your opponent had no minions!
Shadowbomber	Minion	1	2 / 1	Battlecry: Deal 3 damage to each hero.
Shadowform	Ability	3	-	Your Hero Power becomes 'Deal 2 damage'. If already in Shadowform: 3 damage.
Auchenai Soulpriest	Minion	4	3 / 5	Your cards and powers that restore Health now deal damage instead.
Holy Fire	Ability	6	-	Deal 5 damage. Restore 5 Health to your hero.
Light of the Naaru	Ability	1	-	Restore 3 Health. If the target is still damaged, summon a Lightwarden.
Lightwell	Minion	2	0 / 5	At the start of your turn, restore 3 Health to a damaged friendly character.
Mass Dispel	Ability	4	-	Silence all enemy minions. Draw a card.
Resurrect	Ability	2	-	Summon a random friendly minion that died this game.
Shadow Madness	Ability	4	-	Gain control of an enemy minion with 3 or less Attack until end of turn.
Shadowboxer	Minion Mech	2	2 / 3	Whenever a character is healed, deal 1 damage to a random enemy.
Upgraded Repair Bot	Minion Mech	5	5 / 5	Battlecry: Give a friendly Mech +4 Health.
Circle of Healing	Ability	0	-	Restore 4 Health to ALL minions.
Dark Cultist	Minion	3	3 / 4	Deathrattle: Give a friendly minion +3 Health.
Inner Fire	Ability	1	-	Change a minion's Attack to be equal to its Health.
Lightspawn	Minion	4	0 / 5	This minion's Attack is always equal to its Health.
Shrinkmeister	Minion	2	3 / 2	Battlecry: Give a minion -2 Attack this turn.
Silence	Ability	0	-	Silence a minion.
Temple Enforcer	Minion	6	6 / 6	Battlecry: Give a friendly minion +3 Health.
Thoughtsteal	Ability	3	-	Copy 2 cards from your opponent's deck and put them into your hand.
Twilight Whelp	Minion	1	2 / 1	Battlecry: If you're holding a Dragon, gain +2 Health.
Velen's Chosen	Ability	3	-	Give a minion +2/+4 and Spell Damage +1.
Divine Spirit	Ability	2	-	Double a minion's Health.
Holy Nova	Ability	5	-	Deal 2 damage to all enemies. Restore 2 Health to all friendly characters.
Holy Smite	Ability	1	-	Deal 2 damage.
Mind Blast	Ability	2	-	Deal 5 damage to the enemy hero.
Mind Control	Ability	10	-	Take control of an enemy minion.
Mind Vision	Ability	1	-	Put a copy of a random card in your opponent's hand into your hand.
Northshire Cleric	Minion	1	1 / 3	Whenever a minion is healed, draw a card.
Power Word: Shield	Ability	1	-	Give a minion +2 Health. Draw a card.
Shadow Word: Death	Ability	3	-	Destroy a minion with an Attack of 5 or more.
Shadow Word: Pain	Ability	2	-	Destroy a minion with 3 or less Attack.

 

Legendaries

                                                                                                                                                         Prophet Velen                                                                Vol'jin

• Prophet Velen doubles the power of your healing and damaging abilities and also that of your Hero Powers. Keep in mind that Spell Damage is taken into account before the multiplication, which practically means that any Spell Damage you have on the board is also doubled when you play Velen. He is used as a finisher and usually played as a combo either turn 9 with Mind Blast or turn 10 with Mind Blast + Holy Smite. If 2 Velens are on the same side of the board at the same time (i.e with Thoughtsteal, Mindgames or Faceless Manipulator), their abilities are calculated multiplicatively, raising their power exponentially. Three Velens will give you 8 times the damage and healing.

•  Vol'jin is an extremely useful control minion that fits the theme of health manipulation the class revolves around. He swaps health values with another minion on the board (friend or foe), leaving it at 2, his initial health pool. At his best -when dealing with big enemy threats- he is a force to be reckoned with, because he ends up having an extremely cost-efficient Vanilla body while at the same time leaving a powerful enemy card with a convenient 2 health for Holy Smite or simply trade. On the other hand versus aggro decks he is very difficult to play and extract good value from, ending up being a worse Fire Elemental with the additional minus of his extra health being silenceable. Since his power level depends on the strength of the enemy minions he is rarely played right away at 5 mana, adding him to the list of a plethora of Priest cards that are reactionary and condemning the class to stray away from tempo to control for at least one more expansion.

Epics

                   Cabal Shadow Priest               Lightbomb                       Mindgames                     Shadow of Nothing

• Cabal Shadow Priest steals enemy minions with 2 or less current attack, so as an advanced combo you can steal strong minions you have reduced to 1 or 2 hp after switching their stats with Crazed Alchemist. The value on the actual card does not matter, so you cannot steal for example a Loot Hoarder buffed by a Flametongue Totem. The effect is permanent and the minion you steal cannot attack the same turn it is stolen unless it has charge. With the arrival of Goblins VS Gnomes, Cabal Shadow Priest found her soulmate in Shrinkmeister and can now steal minions up to 4 attack as an 8-mana combo. 

•  Lightbomb is an AoE damage spell that deals to each minion (friendly ones included) damage equal to their attack. It is affected by Spell Damage and -in theory- synergises well with the class because Priest minions tend to have more health than attack so they can survive the Lightbomb to be healed up from a Circle of Healing. In reality it will be used as a tech removal depending on the meta and the frequency of appearance of cards like Giants that have equal attack and health (and as a result die from it), or aggresive minions with high attack in mid-range decks. As an aggro stopper and/or reliable AoE it rarely works and it doesn't pose a threat to the old-and-proven Auchenai Soulpriest + Circle of Healing combo.

• Mindgames summons a minion from your opponent's deck straight into the battlefield. As you don't actually use the respective minion's card, any Battlecry effects will not be activated. Note that the minion is summoned from the remaining cards in your opponent's deck and not in random out of their 30-card decklist. This means that if your enemy has no remaining cards in their deck or no minions left in it, Mindgames will fail, summoning a Shadow of Nothing instead. When you summon a minion through Mindgames, the respective minion's card will remain in the opponent's deck and will not be used.

• Shadow of Nothing, see above.

                                                                                                                                                            Shadowbomber                                          Shadowform

•  Shadowbomber is a card that seemingly comes from the future and fits in perfectly in extreme aggro decks Priest doesn't seem to benefit from right now. However, as cards like this and Mind Blast begin to stack up, there might be potential for all-out damage to the face Shadow-themed decks an expansion or two down the road. 

• Shadowform replaces Anduin's Hero Power, as described in the Hero section of the thread. Keep in mind that multiple hero powers can be used in the same turn, so you can Lesser Heal + Shadowform + Mind Spike for 7 mana, or Mind Spike + Shadowform + Mind Shatter which deals 5 damage for the same amount. Even using all 3 Hero Powers is possible in the same turn given certain circumstances (a stolen Innervate i.e.). Hero Powers are unaffected by Spell Damage but their Power is doubled with Prophet Velen.

Rares

                 Auchenai Soulpriest                      Holy Fire                    Light of the Naaru                   Lightwell

• Auchenai Soulpriest has a unique ability that changes all of your own heals into damage. She is used extremely often combo'd with Circle of Healing for an effective, early game board wipe that however hurts your own minions as well. In fact, many of the Priest heals for which you cannot select a target, like Holy Nova, Circle of Healing, Holy Fire and Lightwell work against you while she is on the board. As a result, she is best used with her Circle of Healing combo when you have no board presence (or there is a Nerubian Egg that needs popping), with your Hero Power Lesser Heal and with neutral cards with targetable heals like Earthen Ring Farseer and Voodoo Doctor that you can actually select an enemy character to damage with. As from Goblins VS Gnomes, there is finally a targetable healing spell for Priests, Light of the Naaru, that can be used in conjunction with her too. When she turns its heal into damage, Lightwarden spawns as well, making it a potent combo (proving at the same time that as long as she exists, Priests can't be given a bigger targetable heal). There's also the case of Zombie Chow, which acts like a free Mind Blast if killed after you drop her on the board. Note than when a heal is turned into damage through this card's effect, it is affected by Spell Damage and is not considered a heal for cards like Northshire Cleric. 
  [WARNING: If for whatever reason you end up with a Mistress of Pain on your side of the board and you deal damage with it while there is an Auchenai Soulpriest active, you will trigger an infinite loop that will ultimately kill you. This is NOT a bug and -unless Blizzard change their minds- it's working as intended.]

• Holy Fire deals 5 damage and heals your hero for 5. The healing component isn't affected by Spell Damage (no heal does), but is doubled by Prophet Velen, who makes this a deadly 10 damage 10 heal ability.

•  Light of the Naaru is  the first targetable healing spell for Priests. When used to heal a character (friend or foe) and that character isn't at full health after it resolves, a Lightwarden spawns. At first glance it doesn't seem like much, but used in conjunction with other Priest cards it forms some really potent combinations. Auchenai Soulpriest can turn it into extremely cheap removal with guaranteed Lightwarden spawn, Injured Blademaster can absorb the heal to spawn the Lightwarden and it can even be combo'd with Prophet Velen as it is cheap enough. Besides those combos, there is the obvious synergy with any high health minion Priests are bound to have be it through Power Word: Shield, Divine Spirit or the more recent Upgraded Repair Bot, and of course Northshire Cleric.

• Lightwell heals a damaged friendly character (hero or minion) for 3 health at the start of your turn. It is rarely used and only finds place in buff priest decks that revolve around Divine Spirit and Inner Fire due to its high HP that combos well with those cards and its self-sustaining nature. For the same reasons, it is also used in conjunction with neutral buff minions like Master Swordsmith, Defender of Argus and Shattered Sun Cleric that can give it some form of attack. It is -like the whole deck archetype- highly susceptible to silences. Beware when using it in conjunction with Auchenai Soulpriest as it will actually damage your own damaged minions and hero!

                          Mass Dispel                        Shadow Madness                 Shadowboxer      Upgraded Repair Bot

• Mass Dispel silences the entire enemy board and recycles itself. Pretty straightforward card albeit a bit too slow to be used in current Priest decks. It's possible that we will see more of it in aggro/tempo Priest decks if they ever become a thing.

• Shadow Madness temporarily (1 turn duration) steals an enemy minion with 3 current attack or less. Unlike other minion steals, like Cabal Shadow Priest and Mind Control, the stolen minion can attack the turn it is stolen. As a result, Shadow Madness gains additional value when stealing deathrattle minions like Harvest Golem and Loot Hoarder and suiciding them into other enemy minions to get the deathrattle benefit, while acting like a pseudo-AoE on the enemy board. Its synergy with deathrattles made it gain popularity with the arrival of Naxxramas. It is sometimes used in combos with Youthful Brewmaster and Ancient Brewmaster to place an enemy minion in your hand. In Goblins VS Gnomes, the synergy with Shrinkmeister extended its reach up to 5 health, making it more viable and giving access to some insane combos like stealing Sylvanas Windrunner.

•  Shadowboxer is a card that is pretty straightforward. Ideal 2/3 stats for a Priest on a 2 drop? Check. Mech trait? Check. Synergy with heals for a (minor but still sometimes useful) effect? Check. But its most useful characteristic of all is that it can be actually dropped right on curve unlike most Priest cards. If Priests get a few cards like this that work well without the need to be used reactively, tempo Priests might gain power. Interesting fellow.

•  Upgraded Repair Bot is (for mechs only) what Temple Enforcer never achieved to be for the class. Its vanilla stats (5/5 for 5) are better than a 6/6 a turn later, it can be used in more mid-rangy decks and in tempo decks and its ability grants an additional health point. Great card that left us wishing Priest got another mech with Goblins VS Gnomes rather than the untimely Shadowbomber which could fit in an upcoming expansion. Mech Priest sees in Upgraded Repair Bot a great tool and a reason to try the archetype, but for the time being it seems just a bit less effective (due to the general reactive style of most of the class's cards) than some other classes' mech decks. More time for the expansion metagame to set in and more playtesting is required, though.

Commons

                      Circle of Healing              Dark Cultist                 Inner Fire                               Lightspawn

•  Circle of Healing heals ALL minions on the board (friendly or not) for 4 health. It is usually used as a combo with Injured Blademaster, to place a powerful 4/7 on the board really early, or with Auchenai Soulpriest as a potent board clear. Its value when used in conjuction with Northshire Cleric is also really high as it can very often mean drawing multiple cards in one go. Healing enemy minions also gives you cards through Cleric's ability which must also be taken into account.

•  Dark Cultist is an amazing card that offers a solid 3/4 body and a nice deathrattle for 3 mana. The fact that his deathrattle needs another friendly minion on the board to activate hints towards tempo-Priest decks and his sheer power was enough to support the deathrattle Priest archetype with Naxxramas. Beware: Deathrattles activate in the order they were placed on the board, so in order to buff a Damaged Golem through Dark Cultist's ability, you need to have played the Harvest Golem before the Dark Cultist, assuming they both die at the same time!

•  Inner Fire is a way to deal lots of damage to the enemy hero and it is almost exclusively used in decks that revolve around it, with very few exceptions. It combos with Divine Spirit and it offers best value when buffing high toughness minions like Mogu'shan Warden, Lightwell, Oasis Snapjaw, Gurubashi Berserker, Maexxna or even Baron Rivendare. To ensure that the combo does find its target, the best timing to use it is just before the minion attacks and NOT the turn it is played. Because minions tend to be instantly removed, people started playing the combo on Stormwind Knight to exploit his charge. Beware that Inner Fire takes into account a minion's current hp and not max hp, so healing your minion before buffing it ensures maximum value. As it so happens with all buff cards, it is especially weak against silence effects, which probably means it will remain obscure even after GvG.

•  Lightspawn is a 4 mana 0/5 minion that has a unique ability that changes its attack to always match its current HP. This means that when placed on the board it will start as a 5/5 and it will get weaker as it gets hit by enemy minions/abilities. Attack buffs will not have any effect on it while its ability is active, so cards like Master Swordsmith are useless on it. On the contrary, cards like Young Priestess will end up buffing its attack value as well. It is a prime Divine Spirit target and as such it is used in Inner Fire decks. Surprisingly it is a fine Inner Fire target as well, because when silenced (and it is especially weak against silence, turning it into a useless 0/5), Inner Fire can re-enable it. With many ways to be countered, Lightspawn should remain largely unused, even with it supposingly comboing with all health augumenting cards added with new expansions, like i.e. Dark Cultist with Naxx.

                  Shrinkmeister                        Silence                             Temple Enforcer                    Thoughtsteal

•   Shrinkmeister is an amazing 2 drop that isn't really a 2 drop. Ideally used lategame as a combo with Cabal Shadow Priest or Shadow Madness, it also considerably improves Shadow Word: Pain usability making it able to kill enemy minions on the 4-attack safe spot. Finally, it can be simply used to favourably trade minions by lowering the enemy attack. Arguably the strongest card the class got with Goblins VS Gnomes expansion.

• Silence is a single-target silence for 0 mana. Simple card that finds its way in decks from time to time. It is used way more than the second class-specific silence option, Mass Dispel, due to its 0-mana cost in a class that cannot afford to lose more tempo but can spare a card or two. 

• Temple Enforcer is mainly used in Inner Fire decks as a late-game minion that offers a menacing 6/6 on the board and a buff for minions to be targeted by the Inner Fire, or Lightspawn. However, it hasn't really found a use outside these decks and remains on the sidelines. It might find a place in tempo decks along cards like Dark Cultist, as it is meant to be played when you are ahead on board, a place that Priests don't usually find themselves being mostly a reactive race.

• Thoughtsteal is a draw 2 cards for 3 mana, much like Mage's Arcane Intellect but it is unique in the sense that it doesn't draw from your deck but from the enemy's instead. This is both an upside, as it doesn't get you closer to fatigue damage, and a downside, as there are cards in enemy decks that have absolutely no use for a Priest like Blade Flurry or Shield Slam. Note that it doesn't remove the cards you draw from the enemy deck so that it doesn't get them closer to fatigue either. If the enemy has only 1 card remaining in their deck, then it only draws 1 card, and when they have 0 cards remaining you can still use it but it won't draw at all. Its total unpredictability makes it fun to use -it has provided many highlights- but also unreliable and luck dependant. Despite that, it has found its way into many Priest decks because it turns your deck into a 32-card deck and gives Priests even more late-game power stealing strong cards in control vs control matchups.

 Velen's Chosen

•  Velen's Chosen is a very good buff card that allows good trades while boosting a minion's health significantly for the class that can benefit the most from high health values. Unfortunately it is also the class that can probably benefit the least from the Spell Damage component, but it's still a nice plus. A strong buff card in a game where buff cards are not that strong: it ultimately balances out as a mediocre-to-good card.

Basic

                        Divine Spirit                               Holy Nova                              Holy Smite                             Mind Blast

• Divine Spirit is usually used in conjunction with Inner Fire for massive damage swings on the enemy hero. It is sometimes used separately as a straight up hp buff but it's only effective against classes that have no direct removal, like Druid. As a buff, it is naturally weak to silence effects. Given the popularity silences got in Naxx, which does not seem to cease in GvG, Divine Spirit will most probably remain away of competitive Priests' decklists.

• Holy Nova is the main Priest AoE ability that deals 2 damage to all enemy characters (minions + hero) while it simultaneously heals all friendly ones for 2. Although it synergises with many Priest cards like Northshire Cleric and despite being faithful to the healing theme, its high cost and low relative offensive power means that the Priest class is weak to decks that flood the board with minions. As a result, Priests have to rely on the Auchenai Soulpriest + Circle of Healing combo (which discourages tempo decks due to its double-edged nature) or Wild Pyromancer for effective board clear.

• Holy Smite is a pretty straightforward card with multiple uses, usually to finish off an enemy minion. A solid 2 damage for 1 mana, it is the equivalent of Arcane Shot for Priest and almost never a bad choice for any deck. It is sometimes used in Prophet Velen and Malygos decks to nuke the enemy hero, as its low cost allows it to be played with the above cards the same turn they hit the board. In GvG, it can be also used in a new potent combo through the addition of Vol'jin

• Mind Blast is a finishing ability, usually paired with Prophet Velen for a devastating 10 damage turn 9 combo but finding its way to some decks even on its own. It is wise to always mulligan this card and use it only to end games unless you are using it as part of the Velen combo or when you have significant Spell Damage on board. Cards like this and Shadowbomber seem ideal for aggro decks, but the overall toolset of the class still falls short for that.

                        Mind Control                           Mind Vision                       Northshire Cleric               Power Word: Shield

• Mind Control is a really potent ability that permanently steals an enemy minion. However, its huge mana cost and the fact that it only generates real value when used on big minions that are not that common on this fast metagame, have made it go almost extinct, and it is only used as an 1 of in some decks that have no other end-game alternatives. The stolen minion cannot attack the same turn Mind Control is used unless it has the charge ability.

• Mind Vision is a unique ability that copies a card in your opponent's hand. You can still activate it when the opponent has 0 cards in hand, but that will only consume the card with no effect (but offering you some value in certain cases like triggering an enemy Counterspell or cycling a card with Gadgetzan Auctioneer). It can be used to copy the enemy's most powerful cards that they hold in hand for too long and/or to know what to prepare for.

• Northshire Cleric is arguably one of the most powerful 1 drops in the game, with good stats (3 health is always useable for Priest) and a great ability for the cost. It is the Priest draw engine and a solid opener that can often leave the opponent at a loss about how to answer, especially if they can't kill her in 1 go (or don't have a 3 attack minion). It synergises with any heal, like Lesser Heal, Circle of Healing, Earthen Ring Farseer etc, and also triggers off opponent's heals, something that may make them reluctant to use them.

• Power Word: Shield is a really potent card that not only recycles itself and can protect your important minions by adding +2 health to them but can also be used in various combos with Lightspawn, Wild Pyromancer, Northshire Cleric etc. Especially in the case of Wild Pyromancer, both cards are used in many competitive Priest decks to offer additional board clear options. Bear in mind that Power Word: Shield does increase your minion's maximum health along its current HP if it is damaged. For example, using it on Injured Blademaster will raise his maximum hp to 9 even when he is 4/3.

                                                                                                                                                                  Shadow Word: Death                                   Shadow Word: Pain

• Shadow Word: Death and Shadow Word: Pain are the main Priest removal tools. Since the one targets minions with 3 current attack or lower and the other minions with 5 current attack or higher, they leave a 4 attack blindspot that is really dreadful for Priests. A powerful 4 attack minion can devastate a Priest that usually has no answer for it. For example, an Injured Blademaster + Ancestral Healing combo can decide a game turn 2 if you play against a Shaman. GvG offered a way to cover that weakness with the addition of Shrinkmeister, that can be used alongside Shadow Word: Pain to cover the 4-attack blank spot. Another issue with Priest removal is that both Shadow Words are single targeted so they don't work well against decks that flood the board like Zoo. That's one more reason why [card]Auchenai Soulpriest[/card] + Circle of Healing is considered more or less mandatory.

The deck Archetypes:

 

1. The Control Priest

This deck archetype has been traditionally the most successful and it still is, though the arrival of GvG did change one thing: What has been an extremely strict archetype cardwise with decks sharing A LOT of cards (and only a few different cards from variation to variation), has now opened up a bit as new combos appeared and not all fit in a 30-card list. The old, tried and tested ones still stand strong: Auchenai Soulpriest, Injured Blademaster and Circle of Healing is a powerful triad of cards that combo well to offer the class both an effective board clear to fight aggro and really good early board presence, Wild Pyromancer and Power Word: Shield are also often present as the Pyromancer's effect is augumented by Power Word a lot and the class can use any AoE it can find in the neutral pool. These 2 combos aside, GvG added new ones: Shrinkmeister is a perfect addition that combos with Shadow Word: Pain, Cabal Shadow Priest and even Shadow Madness. Shadow Madness has also found a new friend in Recombobulator, although the dynamic brewmaster duo still synergises fine with it. Holy Smite seems even more appealing with Vol'jin being a great control legendary. Northshire Cleric is a strong 1-drop that can offer some nice draws useful to any deck when used with the class' heals. The decklist is finally filled by other individually strong cards like Holy Fire, Azure Drake, Shadow Word: Death, Dark Cultist etc. Holy Nova can offer an additional AoE with some synergy due to its heal and cards like Sylvanas Windrunner and Ragnaros the Firelord are still strong minions for the endgame, with newer ones like Dr. Boom, Troggzor the Earthinator and Loatheb sometimes stealing their spots. As with all competitive deck archetypes, tech cards are also sometimes present, the most notable ones being Big Game Hunter, The Black Knight, Harrison Jones and Lightbomb. Finally, Cabal Shadow Priest is still finding its space in these decks even outside the Shrinkmeister combo as it can steal tempo and its 4/5 stats are not negligible.

2. Inner Fire Decks

2a. Typical Inner Fire Decks

Inner Fire decks are based around Inner Fire OTK or high damage combos and are trying different ways to utilise it to maximum effect to kill the opponent. This deck archetype has a lot more variety than the competitive one and is surprisingly strong in the lower ranks where decks lack silences -this archetype's bane- and/or are not that well balanced. The usual way to enable high damage Inner Fire combos is to use it alongside Divine Spirit and/or Power Word: Shield on high toughness minions. This is the reason why in such decks, otherwise underused minions like Mogu'shan Warden, Lightwell, Shieldbearer, Oasis Snapjaw are not only used but also often become a winning condition. Stormwind Knight is also a minion of choice because due to his charge and relatively high hp he can be dropped and used to combo with Divine Spirit, Power Word: Shield and Inner Fire all in the same turn. Special mention to Lightspawn which is a staple of that kind of decks as it can potentially offer an OTK if for whatever reason it survives on your side of the board long enough to buff it. This archetype really is an outcast refuge, as the high number of high attack minions usually means that if the enemy doesn't have silences and has to waste hard removal early on stuff like Lightspawn and other buffed minions, in the end game even cards like Gruul paired with heals can prove effective (Gruul is an actual Hearthstone card, I swear)!

2b. The Buff Tempo/Aggro Variant

This deck used to be extremely powerful -essentially a top deck- back in the day, when the meta was slower, Defender of Argus and Shattered Sun Cleric were still unnerfed and zoo still undiscovered. It is probably the only true Tempo/Aggro Priest deck type available for the class even in GvG along with a certain low-curve Deathrattle Priest deck (see: 5a), even though with the addition of cards like Shadowbomber and the existence of cards like Mind Blast Blizzard hints that they want to explore the possibility of a full aggro face-Priest with shadowy-themed cards. This particular variant is in essence a low curve Inner Fire deck that uses all kinds of buff cards to overwhelm the opponent. Shieldbearer and Lightwell are low-cost high toughness minions that are valid Inner Fire targets and are hard to remove early, especially when healed. Buffed through Master Swordsmith, Shattered Sun Cleric and Defender of Argus they can also get enabled to attack outside Inner Fire, that can then be saved for later. This deck ABSOLUTELY NEEDS board presence and since Priests can't draw 2 cards a turn unlike a certain class, you need your minions to stick, or replace them right away. For that reason, this kind of decks play almost zero removal and rely exclusively on minions, so goodbye Shadow Words! The upside of this deck is that you usually have a lot of minions on board from turn 1, so silences being single target don't hurt you as much. What did hurt this deck however as I already mentioned was the nerfs on Shattered Sun Cleric and Defender of Argus, plus the fact that current meta aggro decks can often outspeed it and beat it in its own game (zoo does its job better and more reliably). Essentially, if you ever fall behind in tempo, you are dead. That being told, if you want a deck to use your Young Priestess and Lightwarden in and kill people hitting them in the face with a giant platter made of pure light, look no further! It still works in the lower ranks and it still is really fun. 

3. The Shadow Priest

The Shadow Priest archetype is probably the easiest of all to define. Does a deck contain 2x Shadowform? It's in the club! The question is: Are 2 copies of a card enough to justify spawning an entire archetype? Actually, yes, not only thematic-wise but surprisingly gameplay-wise as well. Whoever has played around with Shadowform enough will probably tell you that it is one of the hardest cards to truly know when the best time for it to be played is. Also, it was given to the class that has the hardest time to offset the tempo loss it generates when used. By default, as the Hero Power is reusable, it offers more value the more you use it, so Shadow Priest decks always aim late. Also, it is best used on minions rather than on the enemy hero so it should preferably be used in control decks. As such, Shadow Priest decks share 2 common traits: 1)The struggle to regain tempo and survive long enough to capitalise on their superior Hero Power and gain board control. 2)The fact that they need a way to utilise that board control once they get it. This is the reason why many of those decks use end game options like Prophet Velen + Mind Blast, Alexstrasza, and late-game legendaries in general that once dropped in a favourable board and versus an exhausted enemy they can seal the deal. In GvG, Shadow Priests did quietly get some good cards to work with in the neutral pool, even though the choice of class cards Blizzard added with it indicated they probably just want to abandon the archetype rather than support it. Antique Healbot gives Shadow the much needed heal it needed to prolong the game and Lightbomb does work well in an archetype that builds board late. Explosive Sheep is also bustable by the Hero Power and adds AoE clear that is much needed. Is that enough? Not really, but we can't know for sure until some good amount of time has passed since the low number of Shadow decks doesn't help to test and evolve the archetype.

4. The RNG Priest (Randuin Wrynn)

Priest has some really luck-dependant (RNG) class spells, like Mindgames, Mind Vision and Thoughtsteal. Those cards alone can ensure that 2 games will never be similar one to the other and maximize the fun! So, what happens when you mix those spells with neutral cards exclusively luck dependant? The result is Randuin Wrynn, an extremely fun deck used by popular streamer Noxious to produce countless highlights! The deck is sadly expensive beyond imagination (17k+ dust) as it uses a lot of legendary cards. Its main attraction is Lorewalker Cho, it is not afraid to drop a Millhouse Manastorm and it will often go bananas on you with King Mukla! Basically if a card has a random component, it can fit this deck nicely!

5. The Tempo Priest

5a. Deathrattle Priest

After the fall of Buff Inner Fire decks (see: 2b), Priest was never able to play Tempo in classic Hearthstone again, at least not in high ranks. This changed with Naxxramas, where the addition of a really strong class tempo card, Dark Cultist and also 2 very strong neutral tempo early drops, Undertaker and Zombie Chow, gave Priests the incentive to try again. The result was Deathrattle Priest, named by the simple fact that its backbone is made of those 3 cards, all deathrattles, and that Undertaker does benefit from stacking even more deathrattles. Deathrattle Priest lists vary A LOT by mana curve, with some decks having a really low curve and essentially being aggro-ish, trying to incorporate Mind Blast, Baron Rivendare + Auchenai Soulpriest + Zombie Chow shenanigans and even Nerubian Egg, while others featuring Sludge Belcher, Sylvanas Windrunner, Feugen / Stalagg and more mid/late game options. The slower variant seemed quite effective to the point of being valid even in high ranks which is normal since the class has more late game options but sadly it received 0 tempo options to back it up in GvG. All the new stuff that could help a tempo archetype in GvG revolve around mechs, which means that Deathrattle Priest did not gain much but Tempo Priest gained a new deck variant. This leads us to:

5b. Mech Priest

Mechs, introduced in GvG expansion, are tempo by nature, as one benefits from the presence of others. Priest doesn't have a lot of class cards that can be used in a tempo deck outside Dark Cultist and underused/weak cards like Lightwell and Temple Enforcer, but Blizzard saw to it that Temple Enforcer was mechanised and buffed in the form of Upgraded Temp... ehh... Upgraded Repair Bot. That and Shadowboxer, a decent on-curve mech drop, along with the simple fact that -in theory- a minion healing Hero Power is best used to maintain board control/presence is sure to make people try the Mech tempo branch. The deck is surely good, but how good exactly in comparison to all the other classes' mech decks (as all got 1 or more in GvG) remains to be seen in the months to come.

(The decks are divided into categories based on the archetypes analysed in the Light/Shadow section. You can see why a certain deck fits the specified archetype by reading its description in the section above.)

1. Control Priest Decks

2a. Typical Inner Fire Decks

2b. Buff Tempo/Aggro Variant Decks

3. Shadow Priest Decks

4. RNG Priest (Randuin Wrynn) Decks

 5a. Deathrattle Priest Decks

 

5b. Mech Priest Decks

 

Quote from imakegreateggs »

Would be nice if you added something about the synergy between Auchenai Soulpriest and Zombie Chow (:

You posted 7 hours ago, my edit about Zombie Chow is 10 hours old ^^. So, got ya!

Quote from imakegreateggs »

Wow, must've missed that, sorry!

Great guide, many thanks (:

Hehe, no problem! Glad you liked it, and of course it will need a LOT of updating, especially the archetype and decks parts once the metagame settles and all wings are released... It is a strange time, the 1-week in-between releases makes things too unstable to really extract any conclusion about what decks will end up being good in the end...

Well I'm wondering if there is a 5th variant. The Thief or Robber Priest.

Many Priest decks include Thoughtsteal and either Shadow Madness or Cabal Shadow Priest. However it's the above being a win condition that seperates the Thief Priest from Competitive.

For example this deck below is popular in china. Yes it does contain some randomness, but is it so much randomness that it's a Randuin deck?

Love the below deck, hovering around Rank 9 with it.

9/4 Priest [China] Unknown Deck by user-16167051 - Sep 22, 2014 View Deck String Export to BBCode Export to Cockatrice Export to MarkDown Export to Html Clone this deck
Minion (15) 1x Dr. Boom 1x Loatheb 1x Sylvanas Windrunner 2x Cabal Shadow Priest 1x Recombobulator 1x Mind Control Tech 2x Sludge Belcher 2x Wild Pyromancer 2x Northshire Cleric 1x Sen'jin Shieldmasta 1x Shrinkmeister	Ability (15) 2x Shadow Madness 2x Thoughtsteal 2x Entomb 1x Holy Nova 1x Shadow Word: Death 2x Mind Control 2x Mind Vision 2x Power Word: Shield 1x Shadow Word: Pain
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@Mamizou

Well, I plan to update the thread before next season starts with what I think has changed with Naxxramas in terms of decks and archetypes, so they will end up being more than 4 anyway... The main addition was tempo Priest decks and their deathrattle variants. I will try the deck you suggested a bit and I'll find space for it somewhere... It's a control deck with mind control flavor,  I might have to separate control decks and competitive decks since there are more than 1 viable types now.

You should add Zetalot's Shadowpriest deck to competitive decklists when you update the thread.

Scox224, I decided to wait and see the Blizzcon tourney first before I update. I haven't decided yet on how I will incorporate the update but I think I will remove the Competitive part and stick to pure archetypes as there are bound to be more than 1-2 viable competitive decks as new cards get into the game (see: expansion).

Sounds good. I am not pushing for an early update or anything. I just want to see more Shadowpriests on the ladder, and maybe we will see more than 1 viable shadow build. People may be more willing to experiment if they can start with a core build that has proven itself at Legend.

Thanks for introducing me to the wonders of Randuin (as maestro'd by Noxious).  I watched one youtube video (but one is never enough, is it?) & fell under the spell.

It also changed my attitude toward the Priest class in general.  Frankly I had previously been mostly anti-priest & never played the class except for when the circumstances explicitly called for it.  As in Naxx & various dailys or arena runs.  I was browsing this forum in response to such a need, thinking that if I must play Priest, I ought to get a better deck for it.

Now I see that not all Priests should be considered as tarred with the same brush.   I still think that there are probably more people who rage at & about Priests than any other class.  Even hunter, which gets vocally despised more for it's efficiency than anything else.

I think that this anti-priest feeling has a lot to do with the "mind" cards and how easily they are abused... or overused.  The robber-priest archetype I guess.  I think this happens a lot with rather poor players, who generally lose in spite of their mind tactics, only leaving behind yet more bad feeling against the class as a whole.

Noxious, however, turns the whole set of mind cards into something entirely different... kung-fu mindgames maybe.  With the faithful and energtic help of his Pandarin sidekick, Lormaster Cho!

 

Updated card list with Goblins VS Gnomes cards. I will keep updating this thread over the next few weeks, so you can always come check what's changed from time to time ;).

 

EDIT: If there are any mistakes/typos you spot, please inform me to fix. Thanks!

Bumping as I finished updating the Card Mechanics & Combos section for Goblins VS Gnomes. Feedback is always welcome. On to the Archetype and Deck sections now!

These info hubs are amazingly helpful.  Thank you to everyone who works on them.

Quote from Ancient »

These info hubs are amazingly helpful.  Thank you to everyone who works on them.

I'm glad they are. As far as Priests are concerned, that's me. I sincerely hope Blizzard does something to diversify Priest decks so I can finally do some real work on the deck sections though... 

A very nice and detailed compilation! It gave me some new ideas to try, thanks!

I'm kinda curious, will this be updated any time soon?  Cause it seems like there are a lot of cool ideas here, just a shame that this isn't all up-to-date.