Historically, I feel like tempo mirrors have been pretty dull, often being decided by who plays first or who manages to put down a key card first. Rush throws that out the window completely because, for once, being the first to play a minion isn't necessarily a good thing. It's much easier to regain board control because both players can dictate trades from their hands, and so many of your cards are significantly less powerful when the opposing board is empty.
Then there's the fact that early on, both players are using their health as a resource for trades. But at the same time, both players have reach, so you can't just focus on the board. It can just turn into a face race late in the game as players get down below 20 health, and you have to know exactly how much damage you can send to face within the next few turns. Suddenly a minion or two on board paired with Leeroy and an Arcanite Reaper in hand can just end it.
You also really have to play several turns out because both weapons that fit into this deck (Blood Razor and Woodcutter's Axe) have deathrattle effects. Making sure that you curve into your Blood Razor deathrattle on a turn where you can drop a Marsh Drake or Muck Hunter, for instance, is pretty crucial.
Anywho, this deck has been a very pleasant surprise to me. I think there are a lot of directions players can go with it in terms of deckbuilding. I even just played against somebody who used the spellstone and it seemed very powerful in certain matchups. I'll be interested to see how it evolves as it gets refined.
Historically, I feel like tempo mirrors have been pretty dull, often being decided by who plays first or who manages to put down a key card first. Rush throws that out the window completely because, for once, being the first to play a minion isn't necessarily a good thing. It's much easier to regain board control because both players can dictate trades from their hands, and so many of your cards are significantly less powerful when the opposing board is empty.
Then there's the fact that early on, both players are using their health as a resource for trades. But at the same time, both players have reach, so you can't just focus on the board. It can just turn into a face race late in the game as players get down below 20 health, and you have to know exactly how much damage you can send to face within the next few turns. Suddenly a minion or two on board paired with Leeroy and an Arcanite Reaper in hand can just end it.
You also really have to play several turns out because both weapons that fit into this deck (Blood Razor and Woodcutter's Axe) have deathrattle effects. Making sure that you curve into your Blood Razor deathrattle on a turn where you can drop a Marsh Drake or Muck Hunter, for instance, is pretty crucial.
Anywho, this deck has been a very pleasant surprise to me. I think there are a lot of directions players can go with it in terms of deckbuilding. I even just played against somebody who used the spellstone and it seemed very powerful in certain matchups. I'll be interested to see how it evolves as it gets refined.