Weasel Priest: Against All Odds
Weasel Priest does the improbable: it uses an objectively bad card to beat decks full of good cards. Its win condition — dilute the opponent’s deck with the aforementioned bad card until they fatigue or concede — is both hilarious to watch unfold and altogether new. And to achieve all this it uses many more cards that have in the past been deemed objectively bad. How in C’Thun’s name did this happen?
For months, queueing into a Priest would lead players to a safe assumption: this is probably Raza Priest, or, to a lesser extent, the tempo-oriented Spiteful Summoner Priest. Now — thanks to a brilliant creation by Abar, iterated on by Savjz and further popularized by Thijs — a turn-one Awaken the Makers is a fringe possibility that will signal the start of a long, crazy game in which weasels run wild.
Abar, Associate Producer for the Hearthstone Championship Tour, dubbed his creation “Turbo Weasel” for its innovative use of Weasel Tunneler, that fedora-wearing, lazy-eyed weasel with a crooked smile and ominous deathrattle that's been around since the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan era, but never quite like this. In Abar's words, you shuffle “weasels and garbage into [the opponent’s] deck with Psychic Scream, Archbishop Benedictus their deck, [and] now both players are playing with the same deck except you have a pile of card draw and are way ahead in fatigue.” Nice.
Play to Your Win Weasel Condition
Savjz took the idea and ran with it, iterating with cards that out-value the opponent in the late game, rather than going the fatigue route. It’s hard to lose a game, of course, if you can deny your opponent tempo as they top-deck Weasel Tunneler.
That’s the cool thing: it doesn’t have a win condition, per se. Rather, it interacts against the opponent’s win condition, diluting the deck with weasels and often forcing a concession in lieu of an outright win. On his Twitch stream, Asmodai was asked how you play to the deck's win condition. His response: "you make your opponent lose faith in humanity." When it works, it’s a blast to play with and excruciating to play against. The two, I'd wager, go hand-in-hand.
That said, the deck is not consistent or even competitive. But it works sometimes, thanks in large part to a meta slowed down by Voidlord and various late-game combo decks. We absolutely do not recommend you expend resources to build the deck yourself, especially considering that, again, it's full of bad, expensive cards. Instead, we suggest you kick back and enjoy the highlight reels from the safety of YouTube and Twitch. Do what you will, but know that we warned you.
We’re going to look at Savjz’s list. The gameplan isn’t exactly straightforward, but I like to think of it in three distinct stages: first, complete the quest, then generate weasels, and finally out-value your opponent into submission.
Minion (20)
Ability (9)
Playable Hero (1)
Loading Collection
You always keep Awaken the Makers and mulligan for two early deathrattle minions to maximize the odds of getting Twilight’s Call value, not to mention a quick quest completion. With Amara, Warden of Hope in hand you’re then safe to focus on sending as many Weasel Tunneler into your opponent’s deck as possible. Extra weasels can be generated in myriad ways: with Carnivorous Cube, Mirage Caller (which can copy a Carnivorous Cube’s deathrattle, by the way), Twilight’s Call, Herald Volazj, or even by pulling weasels from the opponent’s deck with Crystalline Oracle. Once you deem that your opponent's deck is thoroughly diluted (counting the number of Weasel Tunneler that die will help you make this read), you’re safe to start out-valuing the opponent — healing with Amara, Warden of Hope, applying pressure with N’Zoth the Corrupter and Shadowreaper Anduin, and gaining resources with Elise the Trailblazer. The bounce effects of Youthful Brewmaster and Zola the Gorgon let you multiply the value and further demoralize your opponent.
Wild, Wild Weasels
The deck has proven a favorite among streamers, whose viewers appreciate the novelty of its gameplan, its penchant for wacky interactions, and the fact that it’s built around a card deemed horrible by all traditional metrics of judgment. Weasel Priest simply breeds highlight videos. Kripp’s encountered it first in the Wild format, and the resulting game was one of unreal odds. Just one example: he used Mulch on the opponent’s N’Zoth the Corrupter and — out of the hundreds of minions in the card pool — his opponent got...another N’Zoth.
Thijs played an almost twenty-minute nail-biter against a Tempo Rogue that summoned Prince Keleseth on turn two.
And out of Savjz’s many highlights, I particularly enjoyed two games against Control Warlock opponents. In one, he nearly concedes, hovering over the button after his opponent plays N’Zoth. In another below, he steals THREE copies of The Darkness from his opponent with Crystalline Oracle.
Note that playing this deck leads to a graphics bug that can leave you unexpectedly in fatigue. The weasels that go back and forth from each deck make the decks on the right of the screen appear full, even as they thin or deplete. Keep an eye out for this to avoid untimely fatigue damage, like Thijs did while trying to weasel a win against a Quest Mage.
A deck built on the back of a 1-mana 1/1 with a quirky deathrattle — who would have thought? Weasel Priest, or Turbo Weasel Priest if you prefer Abar’s coining, is a thrill to play and watch. Again, this is absolutely not a deck we recommend you use resources creating — it’s actually quite inconsistent — but it’s the most fun I’ve ever had spectating Hearthstone precisely because of those odds. Weasel Priest is the underdog archetype, one I hope the meta allows me to cheer on far into the future.
I liked when thijs played this
this is not the only use of this weasel card. it is good against Highlander decks and spell hunter as it negates their condition. the hunter will have 2 minions (or more in their deck and the highlander deck will be full of weasels. Of course, the hunter could always counter this by drawing 1 cost minions (but why would htey have this card if their deck is supposed to have no minions) this is another one of those cards that actually has a use, it is just a complicated one to figure out.
This deck wins by drowning the other player in despair.
Because of this deck, I'm sad I disenchanted my Herald Volazj ages ago. It looks like a fun deck to play, but no way am I spending the dust to remake something that much of an edge card.
I dusted mine too.. but it works without it.. you can multiply enough weasels with the other cards.. I’m having a blast.. I just threw in a second brewmaster
I've been using Archbishop Benedictus in it's place. Works really well when you've rushed yourself to fatigue. Plus, you get all your weasels back.
Finally not StanCifka
Except he explicitly does not think that, but sure, make up whatever dumb crap you feel like. It's the Internet after all.
If all (or at last most of) HS' decks could be innovative and fun as this...
*chuckles in Icy Touch*
Aw crap, my hidden secret that I've been climbing ladder with now has a huge spotlight on it! It works a little better when your opponent has no idea what is going on or what you are capable of. You copy so many merged cubes with hidden goodies that they didn't even know was possible. Every game is unique and fun, like when you get a Tirion from Crystalline Oracle and Cube + Mirage it a few times for seven Tirions!
In Warcraft 3 I would rush to bat riders and harass the enemies bases and expansions, killing their mains out of nowhere. I'd hide my main in the woods and spread out buildings and it'd turn into a 40 minute bat rider vs. hero war. If you like that kind of gameplay, you'll love this deck. Many, many games turn out to be very unique with all sorts of craziness going on in a 20 minute all out war, often going to a nail-biting end.
I'd like some tips though from other people who have been Wielding the Weasel. I'll share mine:
-The deck listed is an outdated version. You need 2 Mistress of Mixtures. If you're below legend, you need 2 Dragonfire Potion. Half of the games I play against aggro and the dragonfire potions are essential. Always save the coin 100% for Turn 5 into Dragonfire Potion against aggro!!! You will lose so many games doing a clever, cute play with a coin and then losing on turn 5. When you could have Dragonfire Potion'd.
-Always, always mulligan for cheap deathrattles. Always. I know that Twilights Call looks tempting to pair with your one creature. I know having a Dragonfire Potion in hand from the start feels safe but don't keep it. Always mulligan exclusively for 1, 2, or 3 deathrattle minions! You'll lose a lot of games when you keep just one and never draw the second.
I cut the Doomsayers and N'Zoth without any problems. I never had a turn free where I could just comfortably N'Zoth with no taunts. Even if you do, you'll get 3-5 card 1/1 drawing minions and this deck always has problems with maximum hand size anyway. You shouldn't have a problem with draw.
I've added one Shallow Gravedigger with good results. Thinking about a second. I cut Potion of Madness, it ruins the Shadow Visions sometimes and it was only useful in niche situations. Volazj is so-so, it's not necessary per se. I cut Youthful Brewmaster. With this deck, you are constantly on the defensive and you have to play removal and then add creatures to contest or replenish. You really don't have that much time for cute Brewmaster or Volazj tricks unless you are playing Warlock.
There are many unique ways to win with this deck, that you have to tailor based on the matchup and what cards you have. You will lose many of the first 25 or so games with this deck. This deck is VERY punishing, one small mistake can cause you the loss. It's all about learning from that mistake and not making it again in the future.
Here's different ways you can win:
-Weasel them to death. Mirage Caller a Weasel, then Cube it. Maybe mirage caller again. This works very well against Raza priest if you can do it quick enough. Unfortunately it's not reliable because you may not get any weasels. As a backup, see if you can Psychic Scream multiple copies of something into their deck. You'll lose if they get Raza at 5 and Anduin at 8 so push hard for that. While the main theme of the deck is Weasels, I find myself using weasels less and less as time goes on. Nowadays rarely does my game win based on packing weasels into their deck. There is just too little time and too many other things to be doing.
-Elise + Shadow Visions. This is much more powerful than it looks on the surface. It's tough because Shadow Visions are so incredibly useful - you'll want one to grab a Dragonfire Potion or Psychic Scream if necessary. But if you can combo Elise into Shadow Visions the Un'Goro Pack, it can often be a game changer. This works best in slower, value matchups where the game is dragging on back and forth with each person playing small-ish minions and removing them. Un'Goro packs can be very good, unfortunately they can also give you unplayable cards which sucks. Also hand size is always and issue which makes it tough. But in the right matchup, it can absolutely mean the reason for victory.
-Cube an Amara. This is something I've recently discovered and it can be very powerful in the right situation. It's often a last ditch strategy against Warlocks and Mages. First, you have to make sure they don't have silence. Often the opponent will silence something dumb early not understanding the full power of the deck. You Amara for full life and immediately cube it at full health. Your Amara will almost never survive a turn. Now the opponent sees a Cube with 2 Amaras in it, and without silence, has no interest in breaking it. So it survives, and then you Mirage and/or Volazj it into many Cubes. You can use Shadowreaper Anduin to kill your own 1/1 cubes to get two 8/8 Amaras. Make sure there is board space. You want to stagger out the Cubes so that some are broken and 8/8 Amaras, some are 1/1 Cubes, and one is the 4/6 Cube. This way they can't just kill everything and Twisting Nether. This can often turn the game and give you a win.
-Use their own cards against them. This is where crystalline Oracle comes in. It works well especially with Hunter and Warlock (get your own Void Lord or great removal).
If you are playing aggro, you just have to take what deathrattle cards you can get. If you are playing Priest or Warlock though, you can hold and pause and pick the best selection of deathrattle cards based on the matchup. Crystalline Oracle if they are minion based. Plated Beetle and Mistress of Mixtures for any aggro matchup is a must at the start. Loot Hoarder is a go to for 1 spot for card draw. I like going for Shallow Gravedigger in a slower, value based matchup to get better cards. Weasels if it's a combo deck like Raza priest.
Versus Aggro you just need to survive the onslaught and they will get upset that you went from 3 life to 40 life and often give up. Especially Hunters. Paladins will keep on going so you'll probably need a second Amara. It's tough, but if you can wait until Turn 8 to Amara then you can Zola too to get it back.
Paladins are hard to beat, and good ones who know what they are doing is even worse. Go for psychic scream and maybe swap in Spirit Lash.
Cube/Control Warlocks are your toughest matchup. I'd love tips on how to beat them or change the deck to help. Fighting them with this deck is god awful. You'll probably need 4 Psychic Screams (2 from Shadow Visions) because you don't want their Doomguards or Void Lords dying. If they die they can be resurrected twice. If you need to, send back a lot of void walkers to mess up their weapon and Recruit a Demon guy. Still, you'll rarely win without some real creativity (Cubed Amaras).
Quest/Control Mages: You'll only win if they draw poorly. You can't beat Jaina in any circumstance.
Beast/Spell Hunters: You're favored once you learn the matchup, and they don't get an excellent draw to kill you before you can Amara.
Shamans: Don't do your fancy cube tricks because they will Devolve. Kill all totems around Turn 5 to prevent evolve. Psychic Scream if they do get a bunch of evolves off.
Rogues: Favorable, unless they get Keleseth early. Keleseth bumps their minions to 6 life, which is a major problem for Dragonfire Potion and quite annoying. You can beat the Kingsbane rogues by Psychic Screaming when they play their +2 attack at deathrattle minion.
That's my experience so far with this deck, I absolutely love it and find it very viable in many situations. As I get better my win rate is going up and the joy at the end of a grueling, 20 minute back and forth game with so many unique cards is amazing. It's so worth it.
Would love to see your updated decklist
I just played against this deck and conceded with about 15 weasels up in my junk. It is horrifying. Thank the makers that it doesn't work very often.
Hemet, Jungle Hunter required for counter play
Very Funny Deck
The casual 16080 dust trolldeck....
Makes me wonder if a weasel hunter variant is possible. I guess the issue there is the hunter getting reweaseled and not having enough card draw.
Surely this is the first time in mankind that the term "reweasled" has ever been used.
I would like to like this post twice, but a comment will have to do. You are truly praise worthy. Kudos
easy answer. Get Starving Buzzard and use Weasels for draw. OP miracle Hunter