I'd like to gather some opinion here. Which 'popular' match-ups would you say warrant playing Northshire Cleric on turn 1 and which match-ups would you hold onto it until a later turn? I know it can be relative to the situation you're in (i.e. Zoo playing Flame Imp turn 1, you aren't going to want to play it). But still, what are your general thoughts?
Definitely turn 1 vs Hunter, Paladin and shaman. Sometimes against mage to snowball their frostbolt, and druids for wrath. Warrior/Rogue are more tricky due to turn 2 weapon (+backstab).
What do you mean by snowballing their frostbolt & wrath? In particular, these were the two match-ups I was curious about the most. Is it necessarily a good thing for them to to trade those spells for your cleric and in turn you lose out on your main draw mechanic?
Well I tend to find those two spells pretty powerful. For example I run 2x Piloted Shredder both Frostbolt and Wrath can oneshot those. But I tend to use Cleric more vs Mage, mainly because imo frostbolt can give you a major setback for 4 health minions or lower. Also sometimes mages attack the Cleric with fireball so it gives you a bit card draw.
A spell on a minion is, at worst a 1:1 trade. The fact that wrath and frostbolt cost 2 mana, while cleric costs 1 mana gives you a slight advantage in tempo.
And burst damage spells are more important than minions most of the time anyways. That means your other minions, the ones you don't want to be dealt with as easily; will have 1 less spell to worry about. That's why using a spell on mana tide totem, or acolyte is generally bad. But in the case of mana tide totem, it can be a necessity (which is why mana tide totem is a great card against control).
What do you mean by snowballing their frostbolt & wrath? In particular, these were the two match-ups I was curious about the most. Is it necessarily a good thing for them to to trade those spells for your cleric and in turn you lose out on your main draw mechanic?
depends on the follow up and the match up. If you have coin and a dark cultist or blade master follow up I'd say it's generally worth it. If you're likely to just throw it down and pass turn 2 I'd hold it, particularly against druid. I say that because druid will often just hero power pass turn 2 anyways, and giving them a target just gives them a better way to spend the mana. However if they have wild growth things get a little complicated for them. You either delay their wild growth a turn and get a chance to build your board or it gets weird for them on turn 3 because then they might waste their 4 mana wrathing with hero power. On a card for card basis the trade for a wrath or frost bolt isn't great but it's not terrible, the added advantage is the tempo it can give you. Delaying them building their board is an advantage but only if you can capitalize on it by dropping something decent yourself.
depends on the follow up and the match up. If you have coin and a dark cultist or blade master follow up I'd say it's generally worth it.
Exactly, this happens most of the times with the standard priest decks, due to the tempo you are most of the times forced to drop either Dark Cultist or Injured Blademaster. Most of the times it's a shame to waste a Circle of Healing or you don't have it in your hand. Thus making a turn 3 Frostbolt or Wrath for the opponent taking one of your better minions.
So basically what I'm getting, is if you have Dark Cultist, Blademaster, or even Wild Pyro to follow up priestess turn 1, then drop her. If you have her in hand, but a bunch of reactionary spells/heavy cards, just hold on?
Play northshire against warrior only if you have a PW:S. It's very difficult for them to remove a 1/5 northshire in the early game so you can expect it to live for a couple of turns.
Woow... so many value crimes in this thread. No the only class I would throw it out might be Paladin and even that's a bit iffy with coghammer and Seal of Light. Was more fun where basically all paladins didn't do anything until T4 but that's not the case anymore. T2 mini bot + T3 Muster and the Cleric is toast.
T1+coin PW:S is okay against some classes
T1 cleric -> t2 coin Injured + circle is okay against paladin and worth a gamble against warrior
In general there is not a reason to throw out Cleric if you don't know if you are gonna draw of him unless you feel like gambling with a circle turn after that.
Against Hunter and Zoo Cleric doesn't kill anything anyway and wasting T2 on healing the cleric can be really problematic since you would rather play a minion.
hmm I forgot about rockbiter weapon. But it seems that everyone has his or her own playstyle with cleric. If you indeed coin shield it, it becomes a harder threat to deal with. Plus it will increase the chance of getting some card draw out of her.
So why would you bother keeping cleric in the hand?
If they're removing it it makes their Drakes smaller and their Giants cost more. I see almost no reason not to play it t1 against Handlock. You're not doing anything else with it and your creatures aren't healing off hitting the handlocks creatures.
I don't agree with throwing it down against shaman T1. Enormous amount of cheap removal make this often punishable.
I love cleric turn 1 vs shamans, as if they turn two totem, you can either hit it and heal the totem, or hit it and heal the cleric depending on the totem. Also, cleric wrecks healing totem.
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I don't agree with throwing it down against shaman T1. Enormous amount of cheap removal make this often punishable.
I love cleric turn 1 vs shamans, as if they turn two totem, you can either hit it and heal the totem, or hit it and heal the cleric depending on the totem. Also, cleric wrecks healing totem.
I feel like I get punished for it fairly often. Sure, it is eating removal/possibly overloading them and constraining future plays in exchange. The game can last quite a while against shaman though, and I'd prefer the guaranteed card draw.
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Hello everyone,
I'd like to gather some opinion here. Which 'popular' match-ups would you say warrant playing Northshire Cleric on turn 1 and which match-ups would you hold onto it until a later turn? I know it can be relative to the situation you're in (i.e. Zoo playing Flame Imp turn 1, you aren't going to want to play it). But still, what are your general thoughts?
Definitely turn 1 vs Hunter, Paladin and shaman. Sometimes against mage to snowball their frostbolt, and druids for wrath. Warrior/Rogue are more tricky due to turn 2 weapon (+backstab).
What do you mean by snowballing their frostbolt & wrath? In particular, these were the two match-ups I was curious about the most. Is it necessarily a good thing for them to to trade those spells for your cleric and in turn you lose out on your main draw mechanic?
Also, what against warlock, both hand & zoo?
Well I tend to find those two spells pretty powerful. For example I run 2x Piloted Shredder both Frostbolt and Wrath can oneshot those. But I tend to use Cleric more vs Mage, mainly because imo frostbolt can give you a major setback for 4 health minions or lower. Also sometimes mages attack the Cleric with fireball so it gives you a bit card draw.
A spell on a minion is, at worst a 1:1 trade. The fact that wrath and frostbolt cost 2 mana, while cleric costs 1 mana gives you a slight advantage in tempo.
And burst damage spells are more important than minions most of the time anyways. That means your other minions, the ones you don't want to be dealt with as easily; will have 1 less spell to worry about. That's why using a spell on mana tide totem, or acolyte is generally bad. But in the case of mana tide totem, it can be a necessity (which is why mana tide totem is a great card against control).
depends on the follow up and the match up. If you have coin and a dark cultist or blade master follow up I'd say it's generally worth it. If you're likely to just throw it down and pass turn 2 I'd hold it, particularly against druid. I say that because druid will often just hero power pass turn 2 anyways, and giving them a target just gives them a better way to spend the mana. However if they have wild growth things get a little complicated for them. You either delay their wild growth a turn and get a chance to build your board or it gets weird for them on turn 3 because then they might waste their 4 mana wrathing with hero power. On a card for card basis the trade for a wrath or frost bolt isn't great but it's not terrible, the added advantage is the tempo it can give you. Delaying them building their board is an advantage but only if you can capitalize on it by dropping something decent yourself.
Exactly, this happens most of the times with the standard priest decks, due to the tempo you are most of the times forced to drop either Dark Cultist or Injured Blademaster. Most of the times it's a shame to waste a Circle of Healing or you don't have it in your hand. Thus making a turn 3 Frostbolt or Wrath for the opponent taking one of your better minions.
So basically what I'm getting, is if you have Dark Cultist, Blademaster, or even Wild Pyro to follow up priestess turn 1, then drop her. If you have her in hand, but a bunch of reactionary spells/heavy cards, just hold on?
Play northshire against warrior only if you have a PW:S. It's very difficult for them to remove a 1/5 northshire in the early game so you can expect it to live for a couple of turns.
I don't agree with throwing it down against shaman T1. Enormous amount of cheap removal make this often punishable.
Since I play more undertaker priest than control, I usually play it turn 1 whenever I have it to soak up removal
A deck is successful not when it wins, but when it does what you built it to do.
Woow... so many value crimes in this thread. No the only class I would throw it out might be Paladin and even that's a bit iffy with coghammer and Seal of Light. Was more fun where basically all paladins didn't do anything until T4 but that's not the case anymore. T2 mini bot + T3 Muster and the Cleric is toast.
T1+coin PW:S is okay against some classes
T1 cleric -> t2 coin Injured + circle is okay against paladin and worth a gamble against warrior
In general there is not a reason to throw out Cleric if you don't know if you are gonna draw of him unless you feel like gambling with a circle turn after that.
Against Hunter and Zoo Cleric doesn't kill anything anyway and wasting T2 on healing the cleric can be really problematic since you would rather play a minion.
hmm I forgot about rockbiter weapon. But it seems that everyone has his or her own playstyle with cleric. If you indeed coin shield it, it becomes a harder threat to deal with. Plus it will increase the chance of getting some card draw out of her.
So why would you bother keeping cleric in the hand?
If they're removing it it makes their Drakes smaller and their Giants cost more. I see almost no reason not to play it t1 against Handlock. You're not doing anything else with it and your creatures aren't healing off hitting the handlocks creatures.
I love cleric turn 1 vs shamans, as if they turn two totem, you can either hit it and heal the totem, or hit it and heal the cleric depending on the totem. Also, cleric wrecks healing totem.
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I feel like I get punished for it fairly often. Sure, it is eating removal/possibly overloading them and constraining future plays in exchange. The game can last quite a while against shaman though, and I'd prefer the guaranteed card draw.