Hearthpwn

deathwing is quite interesting. I guess hes kinda the last defense to try and turn things around.

UPDATE - 5/12

Summary so far (Sorry Guys been much busier than I expected, I intend on revisiting this weekly idea VERY SOON!)

Here is what I have gathered.

http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/class-discussion/druid/8984-legendary-big-ramp

This deck above is posted on the first page of this thread. It is TERRIFIC vs Zoo. Kudos.

Aggro mage is fantastic as well. Unfortunately the issue we now face with Aggro Mage is we are seeing less hunters. I predict the face hunter will make a strong comeback in the next few weeks though after the nerf mindset settles down. I say this because the popular decks are Shaman,Druid,Miracle,Warrior. The aggro hunter has a great matchup against the first 3. Once hunter is back in the META MIX, I expect Aggro Mage will once again be VERY STRONG (as it was as little as two weeks ago!)

Warrior Control with a few Senjins squeezed in. Gives the warrior enough time to build up the combos.

Ramp Druid has a decent matchup as well. The Zoo Lock should have issues clearing the Sunwalkers efficiently. After this a follow up with Ancient of War could be GG. I do not feel confident either way quite yet.

I have been talking to a few of my rank 5+ buddies recently. Seeing a ton of Zoo again. What other contributions do you guys have regarding Zoo? We have to make an assumption at some point saying we will see mostly Zoo sprinkled with shamans (just an example, but helps prepare the community!) I know I have been tracking my games and specifically putting the type of deck as well. What have you guys been seeing? I would assume mostly Zoos.

Interesting point on inner rage, basically you would use it to hit a flameimp and have the pyro finish off? Maybe we go back to the way of auctioneer warriors?

Quote from DaLighzic »

Interesting point on inner rage, basically you would use it to hit a flameimp and have the pyro finish off? Maybe we go back to the way of auctioneer warriors?

No, and no to Dr_Smash as well.

(therapist:  "Would you say you're a negative person?")

(patient on couch:  "No.")

=D

1.  Re:  Dr. Smash:  When Dr. Smash says "most decks", yeah, I have to disagree there.  If you don't have activators or combos going off Wild Pyromancer, Acidic Swamp Ooze works just as well most of the time.  Ridiculous!  you say?  didn't understand Dr. Smash's point?  you say?  Oh, I understand, I think, I mean hey, Pyromancer, Gadgetzan, Azure Drake, Acolyte of Pain, Stampeding Kodo, Abomination, there are just cards that generically you sort of try to cram into decks.  But you don't get your synergies by just popping Pyro in a deck.

Take Pyromancer, the *obvious* thing is to cram Inner Rage in.  But forgoing Cruel Taskmaster is DRASTIC, man.  It's a 2-drop 2/2 that gives board presence, plus it targets enemy minion for 1, or conditionally targets your own minion enabling you to do 2 more to an enemy target.  That's . . . nuts.  Like, if you didn't have Armorsmith and Acolyte of Pain, maybe, but you *do* have those cards, typically targeting your own minion isn't going to wreck your game.

Then you consider Pyro combos with the rest of Control Warrior.  Functionally you're getting another Whirlwind effect out of it, which is something you can really straight out abuse with, again, Armorsmith, and Acolyte of Pain.

So what I'm saying is that you start thinking about running Inner Rage, well okay.  But you start thinking about removing Cruel Taskmaster, and it's like "woah!  hold up there cowboy"  Sure Inner Rage is better for Pyro, but it's not like you get so fixated on the filling that you forget the bread for the sandwich.

2:  Re:  Dr. Smash:  Well, not to poke holes in that last post, because point taken - Pyro *is* one of those cards that should be looked at for most decks, because it's so utility.  But it's not a *good* card for a lot of decks.  Warlock Zoo, Warlock Giant, not so much; Paladin typically runs Pyromancer anyways with Equality and even weenie Paladin finds a place for Pyro with its spell loadout; Rogue has lots of low-cost spells particularly Backstab . . . but then things get a bit dicey.  Like would you just fling Pyro into a Druid deck?  I'd have to say yes for ramp with Mark of the Wild, or even a possible for token with Violet Teacher and Moonfire or whatever - but when you start talking about decks like Watcher Druid, it's a question of what you're taking out.  Like, do you want to remove Explosive Trap for Wild Pyromancer, or Mana Wyrm, or what exactly?  So that's why I say yeah you know - if Pyro fits sure, but let's not be prescribing Pyro as the new penicillin eh?

Re:  Auctioneer warrior &c - it's not a "hard counter", I say, move away from that whole "hard counter" philosophy, where Pyro is a hard counter for Flame Imp with double trigger off Pyro or whatever.  Think more like this - you dropped an Armorsmith into Cruel Taskmaster, punched a Shieldbearer, now drop Pyro into activator to clear the taunt, gain 3 armor, and enable Cruel Taskmaster to punch out Knife Juggler or whatever.  Honestly, did you *really* think running Wild Pyro plus two spells is a good "counter" to a 1-drop Flame Imp?  No way, it's FAR too slow, you have to milk it for a lot more than that.

TL; DR:  Sub in a card to meet the meta if you must, but make it a card that works for your deck.  Avoid simple solutions, and complex ones.  Flow like water, reflect like mirror.  And most importantly (stares earnestly at reader) buy my book, "zenfordumiez", it haz teh answers u want - no, the answers you need and deserve.  

The whirlwind conundrum is definitely and issue. Personally I do not love Pyro in a warrior deck. He has decent synergy with AoP and armorsmith but I like the current popular control warrior just fine.

I mentioned the auctioneer deck because of the inner rage. You are right about it not necessarily being a counter, I just see the only way to consistently play inner rage is in an auctioneer deck. I say that because I am not into the whole Wombo Combo Enrage Warrior Decks, and would rather spend that card to remove and cycle. Or even set up Grom to win later.

I agree though, taskmaster has too much value to take out IMO.

I'm rank 7 NA right now, I would say now I rarely see any hunter, but mage is taking their place. The fight against aggro decks is so boring :(

I second... and love pyro in shaman decks.

 Above are my matchups this season with ramp druid. Logging started at rank 10, atm I'm rank 5 and have dipped into rank 4 several times.

Zoolock/Murlocks are still the biggest archetype and I think the numbers are correct about that. Some of these matches are from before hunter nerf and there are noticeably less hunters now than before nerf. The other noticable thing is that there are more priests, more paladins, and more rogues. However, I feel I find a lot less warriors than last season.

Also on the Wild Pyromancer discussion: Yes, it does a swipe-effect with lightning bolt, but only if you have no creatures on your board. Don't get me wrong, it's a great card and works for a lot of sweet stuff (wrath on a harvest golem with pyro is sooo sweet for instance), but do remember that it does have a downside.

Wow, great job keeping track I love seeing that! Aggro Warrior OP ;)

I agree with Khayzard that Tempo Rogue is a hard counter to zoo. It's the best option in a zoo heavy metagame if you want to both crush zoo and still have a reasonable matchup vs. most decks.

The combination of both cheap and even free removal with cost-effective taunts really punishes zoo. 

Yeah I think golems are a good zoo counter.  Also my Paladin deck does well against zoo with Divine Shield + Redemption.  

My Miracle Rogue > Control Warrior