Episodes
Thursday Dec 01, 2016
Future-Proof Tempo Mage Deck - Episode 83
Thursday Dec 01, 2016
Thursday Dec 01, 2016
Hello!
- Jarret is the guest this weeek!
- Topic: Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Jarret’s Futurist Tempo Mage Deck keeps the punches rolling swiftly, and avoids cards that’ll cycle out of Standard next year.
Challenger Deck: Dan Patriss’ Beastmaster Hunter, Andrew Brown’s Warlock Demon Zoo, Craig’s Dragon Priest
Futurist Tempo Mage
Creatures
- 2x Babbling Book: Don’t underestimate this 1/1. His Battlecry fuels your deck and adds unpredictability.
- 2x Mana Wyrm: Probably the best class 1-drop in the Classic or Basic set. With its 3 health, this minion can get out of control and even become a win condition.
- 1x Bloodmage Thalnos: Deceptively powerful, Thalnos gives you cycle, spell damage, and a token: incredible value for 2 mana.
- 2x Cult Sorcerer: Because Mage has burst, C’Thun was never relevant in the class, but a 3/2 body with spell damage is perfect.
- 2x Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Anything that makes cards cheaper is good. She allows Tempo Mage to maintain the board, race aggro, or finish off control decks.
- 1x Barnes: Barnes is all about tempo. The dream is pulling Ragnaros, but most of the other minions in this deck have some utility and demand attention from your opponent.
- 2x Water Elemental: Water Elemental may seem like a control card, but its massive 6 health and text allows Tempo Mage to own the board or slow down weapon classes.
- 2x Azure Drake: Azure Drake is the first card I craft on free-to-play accounts. Tempo decks need card draw, and Azure Drake provides the bonus of spell damage and a decent body for 5 mana.
- 1x Archmage Antonidas: I usually think Antonidas is too slow for a tempo deck, but he can win games against control decks and transform useless spells that may come from Babbling Books and Cabalist’s Tome. If Mean Streets slows down the meta, this Legendary will become Tempo Mage’s win condition.
- 1x Ragnaros the Firelord: I don’t need to explain why this card is good, so I’ll complain about the lack of a comma.
Spells
- 1x Mirror Image: This spell is useful for protecting Antonidas or other minions, especially against weapon classes and midrange decks.
- 2x Arcane Explosion: If Shaman and Zoo continue to rule, expect Arcane Explosion to be in most Tempo Mage decks.
- 2x Frostbolt: Mage’s most useful spell. Frostbolt can win the board for you or essentially “Sap” a big minion. Its 2 mana cost allows it to easily be combined with spell damage minions or Fireballs to finish off an enemy.
- 2x Arcane Intellect: As Flamewaker moves into wild and after the Yogg nerf, this card’s utility is somewhat decreased. However, you still need the ability to refill your hand when you run out of gas against slower decks.
- 2x Fireball: In some matchups, Fireballs are your win condition. Combine them with spell damage, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Arcane Missiles, and Frostbolt for up to 24 damage. In a pinch, they can also protect you from many of the game’s most powerful minions.
- 2x Polymorph: Malygos, Savannah Highmane, Ragnaros, Tirion, Sylvanas, Edwin, and Grommash all want to ruin your day. To them, we say “Baaa.”
- 1x Cabalist’s Tome: Like Arcane Intellect, Cabalist’s Tome is not as good if you’re not playing Yogg, Flamewaker, or Arcane Giants. On the other hand, refueling with cards that are good on average, especially later in the game, can help you pull out a win.
- 2x Flamestrike: Midrange Shaman and Hunter, and Zoolock are likely to continue to be popular in 2017. Flamestrike will win games against these decks.
Substitutes
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back-ups and alterations you can use, which all keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- Kabal Courier: You lose a little tempo with a 2/2 minion for 3 mana, but the ability to pick the right card for the situation may make up for it. If this card was Mage-only, it would be an auto include.
- Counterspell: If played perfectly, this Secret can win games against Hunter, Freeze Mage, Priest, etc. However, 3 mana for an unpredictable effect doesn’t make the cut.
- Firelands Portal: A card that can flip the board is always useful. 5 damage for 7 mana isn’t ideal, but Firelands Portal is a good alternative to the 1-mana spells when the meta is slower.
- Medivh, the Guardian: Medivh is a valid alternative to Antonidas. If the meta is faster, and you’re not running Barnes, he’s probably better.
- Arcane Giant: I didn’t include Arcane Giants in this deck for multiple reasons: I expect the card to be nerfed during rotation, a vanilla 8/8 isn’t as good in Mage as most other classes, and Giants (like the other minions in my sideboard) have bad synergy with Barnes. However, if the meta leans towards midrange or control, 2 of these could become a win condition.
- Arcane Missiles: 3 random damage isn’t as good without Flamewaker, but if flood decks and tokens continue to be common, this card is useful, especially combined with spell damage.
- Harrison Jones: Expect Spirit Claws, Fiery War Axe, and Eaglehorn Bow to remain popular in 2017. And with weapon buffing being more common in Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, weapon destruction will be even more valuable.
- Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End: Post-nerf Yogg isn’t nearly as powerful, but it can still be a potential comeback card, or at least make losing less agonizing.
- Kabal Chemist: Kabal Chemist could be good for Tempo Mage, but too many of the potions may not be useful enough for this type of deck.
The Duel
Community
- Questions: Most-Anticipated card of Mean Streets?
- iTunes Reviews
- Donations (More info)
Card of the Week
This is a FAKE card designed by Josh. It is NOT real. You can find more of my made-up cards on Twitter.
Josh’s card: Jarret’s card:
Extra Rogue Secrets:
Farewell
Friday Sep 30, 2016
Pickpocket Rogue Deck - Episode 79
Friday Sep 30, 2016
Friday Sep 30, 2016
Hello!
- Drew is on the show this week
- Topic: Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Cards got nerfed, Josh will be on the Con Before the Storm Hearthstone podcasts panel!
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Craig’s Dragon Priest deck puts an aggressive twist on the standard control class.
Challenger Deck: Drew’s Pickpocket Rogue uses the element of surprise and a few key combos to outsmart and outvalue opponents.
Pickpocket Rogue
Creatures
- 2x Swashburglar: Don’t use on Turn 1 — this is a combo piece. Best with Brann or Gang Up in faster matchups. Shadowcaster works well too.
- 1x Bloodmage Thalnos: Early game draw, late game board clear with Fan of Knives, or used to bump up damage from Backstab, Eviscerate, or Shadowstrike. In most match-ups right now, use as an extra Loot Hoarder.
- 2x Loot Hoarder: Mulligan for this, you want card draw and early game board presence.
- 2x Undercity Huckster: Mulligan for this, starts your combos, provides good board presence early on.
- 1x Brann Bronzebeard: Combo with Earthen Ring Farseer, Swashburglar, Ethereal Peddler, Defender of Argus, Shadowcaster, Azure Drake, and even Nefarian.
- 2x Earthen Ring Farseer: Heal face for 3, combo with Brann for 6 healing. Keeps play going with a solid body for the board.
- 2x SI:7 Agent: Keep in mulligan if you have Coin or Backstab. Play as a tempo 3 drop. Rogue staple.
- 2x Defender of Argus: Turns a board into a wall. Wonderful target for Shadowcaster, because you can have a 3/4 taunt, a 4/4 taunt for 6 mana since you would already have the Defender of Argus on the board as a target. Amazing with Brann too.
- 2x Azure Drake: Draws a card, boosts spell damage, great with Brann and removal spells. Almost never a bad Turn 5 play.
- 2x Ethereal Peddler: The reason this deck works. It turns a bad concept (filling your hand with cards with no synergy) into a working archetype. You lose tempo by using substandard cards, but the cost reduction from this makes it the tempo swing in your favor again. Use with Brann for even more shenanigans.
- 2x Shadowcaster: The ultimate shenanigan. With all of the battlecry effects, this card makes them more work even more often. Use on Brann to get two Branns that only cost 1 mana to use with other battlecries. Use with Defender of Argus for even more taunts and buffs. Use with Swashburglar to steal even more cards (it essentially just gives you another Swashburglar, so not incredible value, but still value). Note that since Brann makes battlecries trigger “twice” not “double,” it doesn’t help to have more than one Brann on the board at a time.
- 1x Nefarian: Gives two spells, which are usually pretty good. Good as a late game threat too, which is nice against control decks. If it survives for a Shadowcaster the next turn, you can get some insane value.
Spells
- 2x Backstab: Mulligan for this. Early game removal. Rogue decks start with this and then start building a new deck.
- 2x Eviscerate: Mulligan for this. Early game removal. Don’t be afraid to use it as 2 damage if needed.
- 1x Gang Up: Use on really good minion steal or on Swashburglar for faster matchups. Can also use it if an opponent plays a great card to copy before you kill it. Don’t use it on Reno Jackson unless you are literally at the end of your deck.
- 1x Sap: Good for getting rid of Barnes-products, taunts, Flamewreathed Faceless tempo shifts, pesky deathrattles that threaten to go off, or just to prolong your life through tempo. Good against Druid’s Innervate shenanigans too.
- 1x Fan of Knives: Good against Zoo. It at least cycles, even better when combined with Bloodmage Thalnos and Azure Drake.
- 2x Shadow Strike: This plus Loot Hoarder can kill a certain 4 mana 7/7. Great against Darkshire Councilman, and anything else with 5-6 health. Can even get the party started on the enemy’s face (though I would generally save this for removal).
Substitutes
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back-ups and alterations you can use, which all keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- Grand Crusader: This is a battlecry card that gives Paladin cards, which is great, but it is a 6 mana 5/5 which I think is too slow in this deck. Perhaps it is better in a more controlling deck.
- Nexus-Champion Saraad: Alternative to Nefarian. A bit slow, requires a hero power to be useful, and has substandard stats at 5 mana 4/5. That being said, if you can get him to stick, he will be consistently giving you cards to use. Might pair him with Sir Finley Mrrgglton to get a more useful hero power for the kinds of matchups that this card would struggle in.
- Shifter Zerus: How about some randomness with your randomness? Does maintain cost decreases from previous Ethereal Peddlers.
- Tomb Pillager: This card is even better than it looks as a tempo card. It trades up, it has the potential to draw out removal like Shadow Word: Death, and it gives a coin back for even more tempo. Swap it in for Defender of Argus if larger, slower decks are in the meta.
- Crazed Alchemist: Alternative for Bloodmage Thalnos. Weird as it sounds, this is helpful to remove enemy minions, as it makes trades more favorable sometimes, and anytime you swap a damaged minion’s health, it is no longer damaged, allowing the use of Backstab or Shadow Strike.
The Duel
Strategy Advice for Playing the Pickpocket Rogue Deck
(Meta comments are current as of Sept. 2016. This was written by Drew.)
You have to know how to play other classes at least in theory to play this archetype, because you want to be looking for common combos, such as Divine Spirit and Inner Fire from Priest.
Your worst matchups are going to be Priest, Shaman, and Warlock. They have incredibly wide variance in their selection of good vs. bad cards.
The best matchups are probably Warrior, Druid, and Mage, because they have really good standalone cards. You are never disappointed to steal Bash or Shield Block. Druid has a lot of large minions, but the Ethereal Peddler discount makes them so you can play multiple large minions in one turn. Mage secrets are nice to play because they have no idea what to do, and their thinking is sometimes biased towards what secrets they actually have in their deck, instead of the full range of Standard secrets.
Playing Against Priest
Priest has cards that only have healing triggers, really bad cards like Power Word: Glory, and other extremely situational cards that might be entirely useless. Weirdly enough, Purify isn’t terrible, since it allows you to get rid of a terrible Priest card and to draw one of the cards from your deck, which is probably much better. In all seriousness, Purify is actually pretty good, because a Shadowcastered 1/1 minion can be silenced to be full-sized again. And I will say that Priests that are built to Thoughtsteal and other things like that are hilarious to play this deck against. I mean, you’re probably going to lose, since they get Rogue cards and you get Priest cards, but it is pretty funny when you have a bunch of Priest minions on your side and they have a bunch of Rogue minions on their side.
Right now, the most prominent deck is the Barnes-silence deck. You want Sap if it comes to your hand, as well as your standard early game removal. Don’t waste it on small damage (like Northshire Cleric, unless you want to play a minion, so it can’t ping, heal, and draw off of it).
Playing Against Shaman
Shamans give overload cards that screw up your curve and are sometimes so cheap that Ethereal Peddler can’t reduce their cost that much, since a lot of the mana cost is in the overload. A LOT of cards require totems too.
Get early game removal. If you don’t, and they curve out, you will lose by turn 6. Sap isn’t bad, especially against Flamewreathed Faceless. At this point in the meta, Flamewreathed Faceless isn’t a standard include, but Sap can also be used to get rid of a buffed Tunnel Trogg, a Thing from Below, and so forth. Later in the game, don’t feel bad about playing a Defender of Argus on one minion to save some health.
Playing Against Warlock
Warlocks have terrible downsides to their cards unless they synergize, which is not likely (such as discarding cards, destroying your own minions, hurting yourself, destroying mana crystals). In fact, the best card you can probably get from Warlock is Renounce Darkness, because the discounts stack, and they’re random cards anyway.
Early game removal is necessary against Zoo, and the two-health minions are more valuable than the one-health minions, to deny card draw from Mortal Coil. Fan of Knives is also great in the Zoo matchup. The current meta deck for Renolock isn’t as strong, but it has some dragon synergy, so if you think you are playing against dragon Renolock, save Gang Up for Twilight Guardian if you have Nefarian in hand.
Playing Against Warrior
The tier 1 deck is Dragon Warrior right now, so you should try to keep a low curve minion as well as Eviscerate or Backstab. If you keep Backstab, do keep Bloodmage Thalnos as well. The reason for the low curve minion is Faerie Dragon can’t be killed with a spell, and it is really inconvenient to hit it with your face if you don’t have an early minion. Coin + SI:7 Agent is ideal. Don’t keep Fan of Knives, as the other Warrior decks (Control, Worgen OTK, C’thun, Patron) are usually trying to draw with Acolyte of Pain and things like that anyway. Your best use of Fan is on a blank enemy board for cycle probably. If you see Emperor Thaurissan, you are probably facing Worgen OTK, and you need to create a taunt wall, so use Shadowcaster on Defender of Argus and start taunting as many minions as possible. It is very hard for it to win if you have a bunch of taunts.
Playing Against Druid
The top tier deck is Malygos right now, and the problem with this one is its reach usually exceeds what you can keep your health above. It also has Yogg-Saron, so just expect a weird and fun game. There is also Token Druid, and that one you’ll want to save your Fan of Knives + Azure Drake or Bloodmage Thalnos to clear the board. It has several reset options too, though, so you might just hope for a stolen Swipe or Starfall.
Playing Against Mage
The main deck right now is Tempo mage, and it is going to be a more consistent tempo game than you can probably play, unless you are lucky with your steals. Save your Eviscerates for Flamewaker.
Playing Against Paladin
Paladins are hit-or-miss, because while the cards you get are good, there are two distinct types of cards you get for Paladin, control and token. Sometimes you get too much of a mix, and the synergy just isn’t there. Luckily, the cards are pretty good, so something usually works, and Paladins have the best legendaries in the game, probably. Tirion Fordring for 6 mana? Yes, please. Gang Up on him and you win.
Murloc Paladin and N’zoth Paladin are the dominant types, and the key for both of these will be to win before they do. Tempo out, but don’t overcommit or your board will be cleared with Equality. If you can Gang Up a really good minion of theirs, do it, but one note: Ivory Knight is not as good as you think, because it gives you Rogue spells, not Paladin spells, and that means you won’t heal for much because we have really low-cost spells.
Playing Against Hunter
Hunters are similar to Paladins in that they can be very hit-or-miss. A Call of the Wild for 6 mana is amazing, though. And then sometimes you get a Ram Wrangler and a bunch of spells with no beasts to trigger them.
I actually think Hunter is one of our best matchups with regards to tempo right now, since we can basically out tempo most of their decks. Sap on a Savannah Highmane is a huge setback, but be aware that turn 8 Call of the Wild is a serious problem and can end you if you leave any minions on the board on turn 7. Mulligan for early game removal and keep Shadow Strike if you get it.
Playing Against Rogue
Finally, there is Rogue. This is a pretty bad match-up, because Ethereal Peddler doesn’t work on Rogue cards, obviously. That being said, you often get good cards when you steal, because you’re playing Rogue for a reason. I don’t mind having more Rogue cards to use, because I love Rogue. Rogue cards don’t exactly have synergy with each other, they just have efficient, tempo-based cards, so it isn’t the worst scenario. I’ve won some of the matchups just because this deck has a decent tempo backbone. Short story, long: I don’t think that the Rogue mirror problems are a reason to NOT play this deck.
The usual archetypes that are played right now (Fall 2016) are Miracle (usually with Leeroy, though an Arcane Giant variant has shown up recently), N’Zoth (sometimes combined with Pickpocket-style), Malygos, and some variant of this pickpocket deck type. Because of all the taunt-possibilities, Miracle is often stymied. Gadgetzan Auctioneer is a good clue you are playing a Miracle Rogue, though the Malygos Rogue also runs Auctioneer, so you might look out for Shiv, which is only in the Malygos variant usually. N’Zoth is a problem, but it is really just a type of tempo deck, so sometimes you can out-tempo them if you get a good draw. If they land N’Zoth and you weren’t lucky enough to steal Vanish, it is probably over. The pickpocket archetype is having the same problems you are, so it is really up to luck.
That being said, focus on drawing cards, because you’ll need the card advantage. Keep Loot Hoarder and Undercity Huckster. You want to make them take some initial damage while keeping the cards flowing to your hand.
Other Variations of this Deck You Can Try
(In order of Drew’s opinion of viability)
- Brian Kibler’s: Best pacing and balance of value and tempo. Not too greedy on stealing, just solid cards. Pretty consistent.
- Trump’s: Super aggro. Can sometimes run out of gas, but solid curve with good cards
- Drew’s (This one!): More fun than the others because of craziness. Definitely less consistent against aggro, but wins most control matchups.
- Kripparian’s: Really greedy, as this includes literally every way you have to gain cards from opponent’s class. Less consistent.
- Day9’s: Could be good in certain matchups, but suffers from worst of both worlds of aggro and greedy. Runs out of gas and is very inconsistent.
Community
- Questions: Wild and Crazy Predictions for Hearthstone at BlizzCon
- iTunes Reviews
- Donations (More info)
The Dust Bowl
Card of the Week
Farewell
Friday Jul 08, 2016
The Yogg-Saron Hunter Deck - Episode 75
Friday Jul 08, 2016
Friday Jul 08, 2016
Hello!
- Tony is on the show this week
- Topic: Deck battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: None. There is no news. Nothing happened. At all.
What is a Deck Challenge?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Craig’s Dragon Priest deck puts an aggressive twist on the standard control class.
Challenger Deck: Tony’s Yogg-Saron Hunter goes for the unconventional win.
Tony’s Yogg-Saron Hunter Deck
Creatures
- 1x King’s Elekk: Effectively doubles your chance of drawing Yogg-Saron and gives some minor Beast synergy.
- 1x Yogg Saron, Hope’s End: Saves your bacon in unwinnable games. The king of RNG.
Spells
- 2x Hunter’s Mark: Efficient removal, combos nicely with On the Hunt, Explosive Trap, and Quick Shot.
- 2x On the Hunt: A bit of removal, a Beast, and Hunter’s Mark’s best friend.
- 2x Bear Trap: Gives you a minion, pumps up Eaglehorn Bow, and has Beast synergy.
- 2x Explosive Trap: The only AoE spell in the deck, necessary to hold Aggro decks at bay.
- 2x Freezing Trap: Great for eliminating beefy minions, especially 9 and 10 mana minions.
- 2x Lock and Load: Card draw AND gives you minions, usually Beasts.
- 2x Quick Shot: Removal. Basically Hunter’s version of Frostbolt.
- 2x Snipe: More removal, almost always a surprise, and it pumps Eaglehorn Bow. Hunter’s version of Flame Cannon.
- 2x Eaglehorn Bow: The key to the deck and your most efficient way to control the board and hit an opponent.
- 2x Animal Companion: Gives you a Beast, but doesn’t impact Elekk’s search effect and pumps up Yogg-Saron.
- 2x Deadly Shot: Usually kills any minion, especially with other removal in the deck.
- 2x Kill Command: Hunter’s Fireball and great removal with 1 Beast and 10 spells that generate Beasts.
- 2x Unleash the Hounds: Not exactly AoE, but close; good counter to Zoo.
- 2x Call of the Wild: The deck’s true finisher.
Substitutes
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back-ups and alterations you can use, which all keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- Tracking: Almost, sorta card draw in Hunter. Not in the deck because it could get rid of Yogg, Call of the Wild, or Eaglehorn Bow. Maybe include one.
- Multi-Shot: Very situational, but can be a game breaker. Not great with tons of removal.
- Gladiator’s Longbow: A great control card, a bit pricey and can conflict with lots of extra durability on Eaglehorn Bow.
- Emperor Thaurissan: Probably should be in the deck; makes Lock and Load better. Makes Elekk worse.
- Harrison Jones: In a weapon heavy meta, quite good but adds inconsistency.
- Arcane Shot: More removal, good with Lock and Load.
- Snake Trap: So many beasts packed into one spell!
The Duel
Community
- The awesome stats site that Tony mentioned on the show, Vicious Syndicate
- Questions: Emotes, Tavern Brawls
- iTunes Reviews
- Donations (More info)
Card of the Week
Farewell
Thursday Jun 09, 2016
The Angry Dragon Priest Deck - Episode 73
Thursday Jun 09, 2016
Thursday Jun 09, 2016
Hello!
- Craig is on the show this week
- Topic: Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Dreamhack
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Chris’ Warlock Dreadsteed deck just earned its spot on the throne in the previous episode and faces its first challenger today!
Challenger Deck: Craig’s Dragon Priest Deck puts an aggressive twist on the standard control class.
Creatures
- 2x Northshire Cleric
- 2x Twilight Whelp
- 1x Museum Curator
- 2x Wyrmrest Agent
- 1x Blackwing Technician
- 2x Auchenai Soulpriest
- 2x Twilight Guardian
- 2x Azure Drake
- 2x Blackwing Corruptor
- 1x Justicar Trueheart
- 1x Sylvanas Windrunner
- 1x Chromaggus
- 1x Ysera
Spells
- 2x Circle of Healing
- 2x Power Word: Shield
- 2x Shadow Word: Pain
- 1x Shadow Word: Death
- 1x Shadow Madness
- 1x Holy Nova
- 1x Entomb
Substitutes
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back-ups and alterations you can use, which all keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- Mass Dispell
- Holy smite
- Thoughtsteal
- Elise Starseeker
- Shifting shade
- Excavated Evil
- Harrison Jones
- Nefarian
- Cabal Shadow Priest
The Duel
Josh’s Perspective
Craig’s Perspective (No Audio)
Community
- Questions: Classic Legendaries, Wild Mode
- iTunes Reviews
- Donations (More info)
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Contact Craig and get inspired by his fitness journey on his blog!
- What do you want to see in future episodes?
DECK GUIDE:
Are you ready to have your face mauled by angry dragons? Doesn’t sound pleasant, does it? Maybe you should just play this deck so you’re the one doing the face-mauling!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Craig. Thanks!
Dragon Priest
A lot of Priest decks tend towards the control side of the spectrum, but I like decks that get started quickly. So this Dragon Priest deck has a hint of aggro in it that lets it race out against control and out-punch another aggro deck thanks to its Taunts and heals.
Minions
Northshire Cleric: Decent stats for a 1-drop, and the incredible potential of the card-draw effect that even your opponents can unwillingly trigger makes this card high value.
Twilight Whelp: Sometimes Zombie chow, sometimes Worgen Infiltrator, many times best held to enable dragon synergy in mid to late game.
Museum Curator: The discover mechanic is great for Hearthstone. Giving a random choice allows you to mold each game according to your needs. I swap between this card and Shadow Word: Pain based on the relative speed of the meta.
Wyrmrest Agent: The best proactive turn-2 play in any priest deck, this card enables the deck to show presence early and compete against zoo and aggro for board control.
Blackwing Technician: Playing a 3/5 on turn 3 is better than playing one on turn 4, this is an “it’ll do” card not so much a strong contributor in this slot.
Auchenai Soulpriest: Here to make up for the loss of Light Bomb, Auchenai offers AoE, unexpected burst potential and increased potency for board control.
Twilight Guardian: A 3/6 with taunt is a good friend to any priest.
Azure Drake: 3 damage Holy Novas are really strong. Keep in mind that when healing is converted to damage, spell damage is also included. Auchenei Soulpriest + Azure Drake + Circle of Healing does 5 damage.
Blackwing Corruptor: Cheaper, slightly weaker Fire Elemental? Yes please.
Justicar Trueheart: When the game goes into extra innings, the increased healing on your basic hero power is a great way to keep your minions and yourself in the mix.
Sylvanas Windrunner: Make their late game into YOUR late game! A pro-active option to confuse the board for your opponent and much stronger in a meta with less silence options.
Chromaggus: A refuelling tool for slower match ups.
Ysera: The strongest dragon in the deck. Many games she’ll just activate your other options, but sometimes she’s your only option for a chance to win and the ruler of the dreamworld delivers.
Spells
Circle of Healing: This is here to replace Velen’s Chosen by restoring lost stats instead of buffing. Great synergy with Northshire and Auchenei.
Power Word: Shield: Excellent card that allows cycle and draw in one step.
Shadow Word: Pain: The flexible nature and low cost of this removal card is great, there are very few decks that avoid providing worthy targets.
Shadow Word: Death: BGH without the minion, flexible removal. This is a strong card.
Shadow Madness: An interesting removal tool that uses the priest mechanic of turning your opponent’s strength against them.
Holy Nova: When your minions take a bruising early, this spell and Circle of Healing keeps them going, and can keep your hand filled with Northshire Cleric.
Entomb: Make their late game, YOUR late game (again)!
The Substitutes
Mass Dispell: A subjective inclusion. AoE silence can be very strong for maintaining or establishing board control against sticky creatures.
Holy Smite: Flexible as damage or removal of early minions. Shadow word pain is more flexible, so slot this in when having trouble with fast starts
Thoughtsteal: For a meta of slower opponents, “borrowing” resources from your opponent can give you insight into their strategies, and add more value to your deck.
Elise Starseeker: Useful against much slower decks to provide more threats in heavier control matches
Shifting shade: Like Thoughtsteal, this card gets you a peek in your opponents deck and value to add to your list.
Excavated Evil: Great against “flood” decks, a reasonable alternative to the Auchenai circle combo.
Harrison Jones: An excellent tool against Shamans and Warriors, less consistent against Hunters. Try to aim for buffed weapons with Rogues.
Nefarian: A Ysera alternate. Nefarian produces immediate value with the spells, while being a threatening minion.
Cabal Shadow Priest: With the nerf to Keeper of the Grove, and loss of Shrinkmeister, there are less minds to change these days, but Cabal is still a great value when you land the battle cry on a good minion.
Sunday Mar 13, 2016
The Dreadsteed Warlock Deck - Episode 68
Sunday Mar 13, 2016
Sunday Mar 13, 2016
Hello!
- Chris is on the show this week
- Topic: Deck battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Whispers of the Old Gods!
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Andrew’s Warlock Demon Zoo deck entered the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame last episode, so this week, the Challenger deck must battle through a gauntlet of all the previous Hall of Fame decks before ascending to the throne!
Challenger Deck: Chris’s Dreadsteed deck is all about delaying as long as possible and eventually overwhelming the enemy with unkillable minions.
Creatures
- 1x Sir Finley Mrrgglton
- 1x Zombie Chow
- 1x Dark Peddler
- 1x Doomsayer
- 1x Explosive Sheep
- 1x Ironbeak Owl
- 1x Nerubian Egg
- 1x Big Game Hunter
- 1x Deathlord
- 1x Imp Gang Boss
- 1x Baron Rivendare
- 1x Defender of Argus
- 2x Dreadsteed
- 1x Refreshment Vendor
- 1x Antique Healbot
- 1x Sludge Belcher
- 1x Justicar Trueheart
- 1x Reno Jackson
- 1x Lord Jaraxxus
- 1x Mal’Ganis
Spells
- 1x Sacrificial Pact
- 1x Mortal Coil
- 1x Power Overwhelming
- 1x Darkbomb
- 1x Demonwrath
- 1x Hellfire
- 1x Imp-losion
- 1x Siphon Soul
- 1x Twisting Nether
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back ups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- 1x Stormwind Champion
- 1x Raid Leader
- 1x Faceless Manipulator
- 1x Sense Demons
- 1x Shadowflame
- 1x Sideshow Spelleater
The Duel
Community
- Question: None this week!
- iTunes Reviews
Donations
- Corey (Gainsdalf) – $20
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Contact Chris on Twitter and check out his photography!
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
You can’t stop the demon horse from Xoroth! Chris walks us through the awesome Dreadsteed deck that uses Reno Jackson and plenty of removal to stall and swarm down the enemy with Dreadsteeds!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Chris. Thanks!
Reno Dreadlock
Since this is a Reno deck, there are a lot of cards to cover (because Reno requires you to not have duplicate cards), so let’s dive right in! You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. If you want a breakdown of the cards I’ve included in this deck, and the strategy behind them, read on. The main goal of this deck is to trade early with small minions and use AOE to control the board; then lay down Dreadsteeds with Baron Rivendare to keep your opponent off the board; and finish them off with Mal’Ganis, buffing your Dreadsteeds to 3/3s. There are a couple alternative win conditions in the deck as well, including Jaraxxus, and some tools to help you win the fatigue game.
One of the win conditions of this deck is to simply outlast your opponent’s deck (sometimes in fatigue). Unfortunately, the Warlock’s hero power hinders that ability. Sir Finley Mrrglton comes to the rescue. In matchups where going the distance matters, you are looking for Armor Up, Lesser Heal, or even Shapeshift. If you aren’t offered any of those, at least you’re changing your power up, which will allow you to keep hero powering after you don’t want to draw more cards or take any more damage.
Never drop Justicar before dropping Sir Finley Mrrgglton. Justicar is here to improve your survivability in fatigue matchups. I’ve had games where I’ve ended up with 40+ armor vs. Control Warrior, who will be unable to answer your board presence.
x2 Dreadsteed
The deck is built around this guy. Priests aside, the only way to deal with this guy is silence. Most decks only have one silence, and it feels pretty bad silencing a 1/1, so it rarely gets silenced. Once you get a Dreadsteed on the board, it’s there for good, and can be used as a ping every turn. This is the only card that there are 2 copies of in this deck.
Once Dreadsteed is on the board, Baron Rivendare will multiply your Dreadsteed. I usually try to wait to drop Baron Rivendare until I have a couple complementary spells in hand, such as Mortal Coil, and Sacrificial Pact. But once you have 4-5 Dreadsteeds, remove Baron as soon as you can. Having six Dreadsteeds on board slows down your ability to close out the game because you’re only able to have one additional minion on the board at a time.
x1 Mal’Ganis
Mal’Ganis buffs all your demons +2/+2, and makes your hero invincible. Once he’s on the board, your opponent has to deal with him, or he just loses the game. But, if all has gone according to plan, once Mal’Ganis gets on the board, your opponent will never be able to keep anything on the board again. If you have 5 Dreadsteeds on board, that’s 15 damage on the turn you play Mal’Ganis.
Jaraxxus is one of your win conditions in control matchups. The pressure he puts on your opponent is insane. 2 mana for a 6/6 demon every turn?! That’s unreal! He can also be used to heal you back up to 15 in some situations, though that’s far less successful and will usually only buy you a turn or two; but if it comes down to it, do it. It’s better than dying.
Healing is good, right? Sacrificing your minions usually isn’t. However, when your minions come back infinitely, sacrificing one is a win-win, especially when Baron Rivendare is on the board, duplicating your Dreadsteeds every time they die. It also has the benefit of killing your opponent’s Jaraxxus instantly. When facing Renolocks, if you can avoid playing any Dreadsteeds, giving away that you have Sacrifical Pact (it’s a common card in Dreadlock decks), you can sometimes kill them instantly the turn after they play their Jaraxxus.
x1 Reno Jackson
Has your opponent gotten you a little low on health? Well, as long as you’ve drawn at least one of your Dreadsteeds, this guy has you covered. Aggro decks will straight up concede after you play Reno. And plus, he takes away the downside of Life Tap. Reno is the reason there is only one copy of every card except for Dreadsteed in this deck. His heal only works if there is only one copy of each card left in your deck when you play him, but getting healed back to full health is worth the trade off.
Those are the most important cards. Now I’ll go over the rest of the cards briefly.
1x Mortal Coil
This card can be used on a Dreadsteed when Baron Rivendare is on board, or to kill off an enemy minion. Either way, it will draw you a card if it killed a minion.
Use this to remove a problem minion by buffing one of your guys to be able to deal with it. Works great with Dreadsteed to give it more oomph.
1x Zombie Chow
Since we don’t care about our opponent’s health at the beginning of the game, this guy is great! One mana for a 2 / 3 is a great deal, and helps you win the board early on.
1x Darkbomb
Just a simple, three damage removal spell. It’s a good card.
1x Dark Peddler
With this being a Reno deck, sometimes, you just want a chance at a second Mortal Coil, another Zombie Chow, maybe you want some more removal in Soulfire, whatever you need, there’s a good chance you’ll be offered something that can answer the board state with this card.
1x Doomsayer
Great removal. Great stall tactic. Most of the time, your opponent will just have to skip their turn, or waste removal getting rid of it. And in the Renolock matchup, playing this after Twisting Nether is a very tempting turn for your opponent to play Lord Jaraxxus, setting you up for lethal if you have Sacrificial Pact in your hand.
Pair this with Hellfire or Demonwrath to clear your opponent’s board. This can also be paired with Baron Rivendare and something like Mortal Coil for a 4 damage board clear, which will also give you a lot of Dreadsteeds.
1x Ironbeak Owl
Every deck can use a silence. Whether it’s to get through a taunt (not too common a concern with this deck, silence a pesky deathrattle (I probably use it on Sylvanas more than anything), or even getting rid of one of your Dreadsteeds when you have one too many, you’re going to want a silence.
1x Nerubian Egg
With the way Warlock AOE works, damaging all minions (or all characters) equally, Nerubian Egg is going to break giving you a 4/4 Nerubian that can be used to trade.
Since almost every deck runs Dr. Boom, this card is a necessity. Even if there isn’t a Dr. Boom, there may very well be a large minion that BGH can remove for you.
1x Deathlord
Your opponent is almost always going to be the one removing this, which means you have the first crack at the minion that he gets out of it, and will often be able to get rid of it before it can threaten you. You’ll also often deny your opponent a crucial battlecry. You also put them down a card, which can be pivotal in the fatigue game.
1x Demonwrath
This is an interesting AOE spell. It does damage to all minions except for demons, so it works great after Imp-plosion to finish clearing your opponent’s board without eliminating the minions you just put on the board, or lets you take some minions out without killing off your Dreadsteeds for that turn, letting them get past a taunt and hit a more important minion.
Imp Gang Boss is Warlock’s best 3 drop. Any time it takes damage, it puts an imp on the board. More board presence will help you from being overrun until you get your Dreasteeds set up.
At some point, you’re going to need some taunts to keep the pressure off, or more commonly, you’ll need to buff your Dreadsteeds to deal with what your opponent put on the board. Either way, Defender is great.
1x Hellfire
It took me a long time to understand that this is actually a good card. It may hurt you equally, but that’s not the point. It’s used to get threats off the board, and can sometimes help you get rid of Baron Rivendare while getting the remaining Dreadsteeds you wanted on the board.
1x Imp-losion
Do 2-4 damage to a minion and put the corresponding number of imps on the board? Yes, please! It feels so good to roll a four with this card.
Since you’re not concerned with your opponent’s health until the late game, giving your opponent 4 health is of little consequence, but it can help out a lot for you.
The Anti-kill Bot. Second only to Reno Jackson in the healing department. This guy is another lifesaver.
Best taunt in the game. Unless silenced, it will never take fewer than two attacks to kill Sludge Belcher.
1x Siphon Soul
Use this as large target removal. Has the added bonus of healing you for three.
When the board needs to be reset (except for your Dreadsteeds, of course) this card is guaranteed to get the job done. And it has one of the prettiest animations in the game.
Possible Additions
Since this is a Reno deck, there’s some wiggle room for cards included in the deck, keeping in mind that at some point you’re going to want to buff your Dreadsteeds to deliver more damage, and finish off your opponent more quickly, or trade with larger minions.
If you don’t have Mal’Ganis, Stormwind Champion can still give you a pretty large body, while still giving your minions a boost.
1x Raid Leader
Because Mal’Ganis gives your minions +2/+2, you might need another minion to help buff them.
Didn’t get enough Dreadsteeds from Baron Rivendare? Want to further buff your minions by copying Stormwind Champion, or does your opponent have something you could use? Faceless Manipulator can serve a lot of purposes.
1x Sense Demons
If you want to make sure you get your Dreadsteeds into your hand so you can heal up with Reno, this card can really help with that. It draws 2 demon cards from your deck and puts them in your hand.
1x Shadowflame
If you’re facing a lot of warlocks with demons, Demonwrath isn’t going to do much for you. Shadowflame is a fantastic replacement. It also synergizes really well with Power Overwhelming. Trade with a minion, or go face with a minion you’ve cast Power Overwhelming on, and then hit it with Shadowflame to deal its attack to all enemy minions. That’s pretty dang good.
If you don’t have Justicar or Sir Finley, or you just want to have one of those spaces for another card, this card is a good replacement for them. It still replaces your hero power (unless you’re facing another Warlock), and in the Control Warrior matchup, you can wait for them to play their Justicar, and then you can gain 4 armor per turn as well.
Final Thoughts
If you like controlling the board, infinite value (true infinite value), and a variety of cool interactions, try out this deck! The fun of watching Dreadsteeds infinitely stampeding onto your board is worth it by itself.