I have to say, this deck feels amazing in this meta. Everything has great synergy.
I have played the shit outta Dane's list already, so I was pretty familiar with the play style before even trying this on standard ladder. It feels fluid and cohesive compared to other deathrattle rogue decks that I have played.
I predict that this archetype will have a solid presence in the meta before the upcoming rotation.
Awesome list!
2
Hey, I actually just updated the deck again! I decided that Cult Apothecary wasn't good enough, so I switched back to Novice Engineer.
As for your consideration of adding 2 Cone of Cold and Oracles, you can try testing them and see which cards you prefer! My list isn't the best there is, but I consider it perfect for my own personal playstyle.
If you'd like to hear my opinions on those cards though, here are my thoughts:
I chose Acolyte over Oracle, it is mainly because it is a playable card on Turn 3, and the matchup with slower decks (such as Warlock) is already good enough that I don't need the Oracles. I see both Acolyte and Oracle as equals in terms of viability, but in the current meta, Acolyte helps a lot against Paladins.
Not a huge fan of Cone of Cold in the Paladin matchup because it doesn't hit the whole board. I'd go for Dragon's Fury and Flamestrike if I wanted additional stalling. But that would be bad in other match-ups, so I've limited myself to just one Dragon's Fury. Cone of Cold is good against slower decks like Warlock and Priest, but I find that the matchup is already good so the additional stalling isn't necessary.
2
Primordial Glyph is a good option if it is within your preferred playstyle. As for me, I like having the Loot Hoarders to draw further into the deck and find the cards I need, and I don't want to lose to poor RNG from glyphs :P
2
If Aluneth is included, it is likely to overdraw with all the other drawing cards. If we cut some drawing cards, then we become more reliant in drawing into Aluneth. Also, there is not much we can do if Aluneth draws into fatigue.
2
I feel you. Against Mill Rogue, all we can do is pray we don't overdraw important cards xD
3
This variant does not use the Mage Quest.
If you still insist on using this variant, the best card that can substitute for Zola is Manic Soulcaster if you want to preserve the functionality. Otherwise, you could replace it with Cone of Cold but just know that if one of the Simulacrum ends up at the bottom of your deck, you are likely to lose the game.
2
You are correct that in that you want to duplicate a non-replicated Sorcerer's Apprentice. However, you may still want to keep one of the two originals because the combo can still be used like this:
(7)Archmage Antonidas + (2)Sorcerer's Apprentice + 2x (0)Sorcerer's Apprentice + (1)Molten Reflection.
If you throw away all the original Sorcerer's Apprentice too early, and either Zola the Gorgon or Simulacrum is at the bottom of your deck, then you would have to go into fatigue in order to pull off the combo. It's never good to go into fatigue Ice Block cannot protect you from fatigue damage.
If you happen to get a 3rd copy of the Apprentice, then it is okay to throw away all the originals, but it may still be good to keep because you can then use this combo:
(7)Archmage Antonidas + (2)Sorcerer's Apprentice + 3x (0)Sorcerer's Apprentice.
In my opinion, if you already have Molten Reflection in your hand, instead of making a 3rd copy of Sorcerer's Apprentice, you can instead copy a draw minion or a [card]Doomsayer/card].
There is a lot of flexibility for the combo :)