So I finally gathered enough Dust to craft Aya Blackpaw, which has felt like the missing piece in some competitive decks that may finally help me get to Legend. But... which deck to craft?
Jade Druid feels like a decent choice (even though it has Jade Idol, ZOMG NERF IZ UNDERCOSTED AND OP WTF BLIZZ), but Shaman is of course everywhere and I feel the winrate is comparable. I'm torn.
What have your experiences been? What's the deck that will best survive the meta shift?
Sigh. Here we go again. Jade didn't ruin control, it merely forced other control decks to find ways to win that weren't fatigue. Because Reno is the only viable control oriented deck at the present (blame Kazakus and Patches, NOT Jade Idol), and because Renolock is the only Reno based control deck with end game burst/big finisher, it's easy to point the finger at Jade Idol for "ruining control."
Exceeeeept that's a half truth. Control decks are always more attrition based. Remove minions with most efficient removal tools until you arrive on a stable board position from where you can then win. That's what control does. Yes, some control decks have alternate winconditions that can ignore such a thing but that simply happens to be the Renolock with the Leeroy combo. But that's only because Warlock has the innate drawpower to run a combo like that reliably. Aside from also having the card to make it so over the top with Power Overwhelming. The other wincondition that warlock always ran, Jaraxxus? It's nothing else than what I've described. Clear the board until it's a stable game situation and then slap your big threat on the board, in this case one that keeps generating value, similar to Jade druid. With the difference Jaraxxus first of all can only played by himself not with anything else the turn he activates. And the stuff he spawns has a fixed value while only spawning once a turn. Plus Jaraxxus puts himself at risk by capping HP at 15.
Just in comparison that is a far more fair lategame option compared to Jade which in essence does the same aka put a timer on the game because there are not enough removal options available to deal with it.
Renodecks /can/ win through fatigue but that's not neccessarily what they aim to do just because they can. Attrition is not the same as fatigue.
Basically you are creating a false equivalence where every control deck that doesn't aim to instantly finish you with some kind of burst combo is a fatigue deck which is flat out wrong. This is partially because not every deck is even capable of such combos. Control doesn't win versus Jade not because they can't fatigue them but because their removal can't keep up with the endless generation of threats. Heck Midjadeshaman is strong but as a control deck you do not neccessarily end up struggling versus them as much as druid because you know that their threat generation is for one, finite and for another their drawing power sucks.
The problem in itself isn't purely based on the Jade Idol, the blame lays partly there the other part rests on the auctioneer which lets druid cycle through their whole deck with hardly any effort at all thus keep up with their threat generation.
Control isn't simply "remove all your threats until you run out and then win by default." It's "remove your threats efficiently and turn card advantage into board advantage and then take over the aggression." Why was old Control Priest made better by Elise? Because it previously had no late game finish and was simply the first scenario I described. It OFTEN relied on simply running an opponent out of threats, and just dealing a tiny amount of damage at time.
I've lost to Renolock, Reno Mage, mid/control Shaman, as a Jade Druid player. They were able to remove my threats and then turn that into board advantage, which I could go face with my 8/8s or just die the next turn. Jade Idol didn't ruin control, so stop saying it did.
If Jade Idol had "ruined" control, it would be just as prevailing in the meta as Pirate Warrior or just about any Shaman deck, due to the effectiveness of a deck with a "ruined" mechanic in tournament play. As it is, Jade Druid has a place in a tournament toolbox, but it isn't as pervasive on the ladder as other decks. And as Schrute pointed out, a whole bunch of other control decks can deal with it effectively.
It seems to me (and I could be wrong) that a given control deck's effectiveness is multiplied by the player. An experienced player that can better manage their hand and the board state is going to have more relative success than one who has not had more development in those areas. This is not to say that cards like Jade Idol are not a factor, or that "you're doing it wrong, git gud," but to try and push all of the problems of an area of the meta onto one card feels reductive, at least from my perspective.
I think if Team 5 see Jade Idol and its ilk as a problem in the meta, they'll put something in Un'goro to try and counter it, even if it's some sort of lazy, badly designed gesture (looking at you, Golakka Crawler).
After seeing some of the new elementals this card might be ok.
It lets you activate other elemeantals three times.
My guess is that the mage quest will be about elementals and reward something like a stronger Kalimos, Primal Lord
This is my feeling, as well. It seems that Mage is getting a lot of Elemental synergy which could really help them compete with Jade & Shaman decks for a place in the meta. Time will tell.
I feel like the mulligan step might be the most important part of playing this deck. You need a strong start so badly. Can a pro provide some tips on that part of the match?
This isn't a bad idea! One of the reasons this deck idea appealed to me is its flexibility. You can definitely play it as straight Control, or you can roll with your opponent's deck choice and lean more towards Aggro if you feel they're doing something more slow-paced.
In my experience, you can out-pace a control deck if you focus on doing as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible. Hero Power, an early Bow, and quick minions like Webspinner, Mad Scientist, and Piloted Shredder are big helps with this. Hold onto Quick Shot, Hunter's Mark, and traps so you can deal with taunts or other threats, and they'll be using most of their damage on removing your minions while you're whittling down their health. Hence why I classify this deck as Midrange rather than Control!
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Got it on my only restart.
"How did that get past QA?!?"
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The wincon is your opponent ragequitting.
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I'm trying this version, under the name "From Outta Nowhere." Great guide!
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So I finally gathered enough Dust to craft Aya Blackpaw, which has felt like the missing piece in some competitive decks that may finally help me get to Legend. But... which deck to craft?
Jade Druid feels like a decent choice (even though it has Jade Idol, ZOMG NERF IZ UNDERCOSTED AND OP WTF BLIZZ), but Shaman is of course everywhere and I feel the winrate is comparable. I'm torn.
What have your experiences been? What's the deck that will best survive the meta shift?
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I feel like the mulligan step might be the most important part of playing this deck. You need a strong start so badly. Can a pro provide some tips on that part of the match?
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This isn't a bad idea! One of the reasons this deck idea appealed to me is its flexibility. You can definitely play it as straight Control, or you can roll with your opponent's deck choice and lean more towards Aggro if you feel they're doing something more slow-paced.
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In my experience, you can out-pace a control deck if you focus on doing as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible. Hero Power, an early Bow, and quick minions like Webspinner, Mad Scientist, and Piloted Shredder are big helps with this. Hold onto Quick Shot, Hunter's Mark, and traps so you can deal with taunts or other threats, and they'll be using most of their damage on removing your minions while you're whittling down their health. Hence why I classify this deck as Midrange rather than Control!
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That's the best board I've ever seen. I love the madness of Kel'Thuzad.
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I love this deck, but can I get some advice on how to face off against Warlocks, specifically the new Malygos hotness?