The Happy Hearthstone Podcast

Ben’s Super Heavy Naga Druid - Episode 89

News Chat

• Un’Goro is in full affect! Be on the lookout for all the details as we get closer to Mid-April.
  • March 23-26
  • More cards are coming… Still unsure about exact timeframe, but they mentioned on stream there could be new cards each day, and definitely cards coming at HCT
  • Possibly more streams
  • Definitely more cards
• New cards
  • Nether Portal - 5 mana - Open a permanent portal that summons 3/2 Imps - (Token says: At the end of your turn, summon 2 3/2 imps) (Token is untargetable with no way of removing it)
  • Sherazin, Seed - When you play 4 cards in a turn, revive this minion (token is not targetable)
  • Lakarri Sacrifice - 1 mana Warlock Legendary Quest Spell - Quest: Discard 6 cards, Reward: Nether Portal
  • Sherazin, Corpse Flower - 4 mana legendary Rogue minion - 5/3 Deathrattle: Go dormant. Play 4 cards in a turn to revive this minion.

Topic

Deck battle!

 

What are Deck Battles?

• We do these Deck battle episodes once a month.
• Guest hosts bring on their favorite deck onto the show, and break it down for you.
  • What cards, how it works, and why they like playing it.
• Best of 3 battle against me, live on the show.
• Twist: I always use the current Reigning Champion Deck of the show
  • The last deck a guest host brought onto this show and won with.

 

The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!

• Decks that have beaten 3 challengers in a row!
• Dan Patriss' Beastmaster Hunter Deck (Mar 2014)
• My Very Own Warlock Demon Zoo Deck (Mar 2016)
• Craig's Dragon Priest (Sep 2016)

 

Defending Champion Deck

• Zerotio’s Weird Reno Mage
• Episode 86
• Has 1 out of 3 wins to get in the Hall of Fame

 

The Challenger's Deck

The Theme

• • Naga Sea Witch - The most underrated card in hearthstone
  • Started with the question - If you could play any 2 cards in hearthstone on the same turn, which would you choose?
  • Answer- GO ABSOLUTELY HAM

 

• Theme - Go nuts with legendaries

 

 

How It Wins

• • Cheating out insane amounts of value by some sick card combos. Huge Threats on top of Huge Threats

 

• Best win condition comes from being able to add +10/+10 to a minion already on board for lethal

 

 

The Key Cards

• Naga Sea Witch
• Aviana
• Kun
• Arch-Thief Rafaam
• Fight promoter

 

The Duel

 

• Reminder of the defending deck

• Trash talk

 

• Best of 3 series

• We'll be right back.

 

The Aftermath

• Who won
• How close was it?
• What were important moments?
• What went wrong/right for the challenger deck?
• Was this a good representation of the challenger deck's strengths?
• Congratulate the winner

Community

The Dust Bowl

 

• Andrew

 

• • Card to keep - Rat Pack
  • Card to dust - Hidden Cache
• Ben
  • Card to keep - Counterfeit coin
  • Card to dust - Streetwise investigator

 

Question

None this week. Send yours in to thehappyhearthstone@gmail.com

 

iTunes Review

None this week.

Card of the Week

Elise the Trailblazer

Reflection and Prediction - Episode 88

News Chat

• New expansion has officially been announced: Journey to Un’Goro!
  • As previously rumored, the new expansion will be all about Un’Goro, which is a zone in WoW that’s similar to Jurassic Park. It’s a pocket of the world where dinosaurs still live. There’s an “adventurous” undertone as Elise Starseeker was involved with the announcement as well.
  • It will have 135 cards. (Spells, minions, etc.)
  • It will release in early April
  • There is a new tribe called Elemental. This is similar to Murlocs or Pirates where these cards can play off of each other. And some old cards (I assume Earth Elemental, Fire Elemental, and Al’Akir) will inherit the Elemental tribe tag.
  • A new keyword called ‘Adapt’ will appear on some cards! This is a new mechanic that is most like Discover. So when you play a card with Adapt, three options will pop up out of 10 possibilities. And you get to choose how you modify the card played.
    • The card they presented as an example is a 5 mana 5 attack 4 health Druid beast minion named Verdant Longneck. And its text reads “Battlecry: Adapt.” So the effect appears to come at about a 1 mana premium.
    • There are 10 possible adaptations: Taunt, Divine Shield, Windfury, +3 Attack, Can’t be targeted by spells or hero powers, Deathrattle: Summon two 1/1 Plants, +3 Health, +1/+1, Stealth, and Destroy any minion damaged by this minion.
  • Volcano - Rare Shaman Spell - 5 mana - Deal 15 damage split among all minions. Overload: (2)
  • Pyros - Legendary Mage Minion - 2 mana - 2/2 - Deathrattle: Return this to your hand as a 6/6 that costs (6) -- THAT card reads Deathrattle: Return this to your hand as a 10/10 that costs (10)
  • Gentle Megasaur - Epic Neutral Beast Minion - 4 mana - 5/4 - Battlecry: Adapt your Murlocs
  • You can currently preorder the new expansion. For $49.99, you’ll get 50 packs on day 1, and you’ll unlock a prehistoric cardback today!

Topic

We’re going to try out a new episode type today, and if you want to get better at Hearthstone, I think you’re really going to enjoy this. We’re going to do a bit of reflecting and a bit of predicting. We’re going to talk about what has been happening in the game of Hearthstone over the past month (the meta, decks that have been strong/prevalent, etc.), and then we’re going to look ahead to what we think could be expected over the next month. Because the laddering seasons are broken up by each month, my hope is that this will equip you with the tools you need to plan ahead for March and be best equipped for what’s to come. And we’ll mostly be talking about Standard ranked play, because that tends to be the format that most people play.

 

Reflect

• Over the past month, even though we’re several months out from the expansion itself, and the meta should be all but settled
  • Of course, our Tier 1 decks seem to be more or less grounded in their spots
    • A lot of Shaman, Aggro and Jade (with Jade on the rise)
    • A lot of Warrior, mostly pirates, a little bit of control
    • Your Reno trademarks are prominent but keep seeing techs
    • Aggro Rogue, Miracle Rogue, Dragon Priest, Jade Druid bringing up the rear of our top meta decks
• Now with all this being in place, the amazing thing is that this far out from new cards, we’re actually continuing to see more iteration. It’s been deceptive, because the iteration hasn’t so much been totally new decks coming out of nowhere, but more along the lines of huge changes to already standing archetypes.  And I think there’s a lesson to be learned here.
• First big thing we saw in February was the rise of “Water” decks.  
  • Tossing it back to you maybe → what are “Water” decks and why are they called this.
• So as the Winter NA HCT championships were approaching, the community was pretty much expecting a carbon copy of the EU championships which had happened the weekend before.  But, what we got was the tasty treat of Murlocs showing up all over the tournament.
  • The big highlight was Luminocity’s Fr0zen punching a ticket to the Bahamas using a Murloc Pirate Warrior, and just cleaning up the competition with it.
• Since then, Finja and his friends have shown up in all sorts of decks on the ladder.  Menagerie Druid, Finja Rogue, Water Mage, and of course Anyfin Paladin.
  • Tossing it back to you → have you seen decks like these, familiar with any of these lists.  Encountered Finja on the ladder.
• Story of the Finja swing turn with Rogue and the power of the turn following Finja.
• Reflection → I think this Finja phenomenon can teach us something about theorycrafting.  I think that the Hearthstone community at large is guilty -- myself included -- of accepting a meta as being completely “settled.”  It’s amazing that this far out from the expansion, with so many powerhouse decks sitting at Tier 1 for week after week -- completely refined, apparently -- something like this could pop in and shake things up so dramatically.

 

Predict

• The big nerf patch hit the scene just three days ago.  I remember 2 days out from the end of the season, all the pros were sort of acting like that was the last day, knowing that the patch would roll out the next day and make things so unpredictable.
  • Might want to re-cap what the balances actually were here.
• Already, I think we’re seeing some pretty big changes as a result of the 2-card balance patch.  
  • The comeback of Zoo and Tempo mage seems inevitable - the former powerful 1-drop decks
  • Aggro Shaman will have to reinvent itself again -- lean on Doomhammer perhaps
  • Aggro Warrior might just settle in with the Finja package - will certainly slow down a bit with the Buccaneer nerf
  • Jade Midrange Shaman will surge in popularity
  • Added strength to any deck that can contest the Buccaneer efficiently
    • Potion of Madness in Priest
    • Whirlwind effects in Warrior
    • Ping effects in Tempo Mage
    • Token Removing Hero-powers in Druid / Mage / Rogue
• Overall reflection → perhaps not any totally new archetypes, but the balance of power will be shifting around for sure, and the return of some former-favorite archetypes seems likely.
• And, creative iterations are always possible.  The Finja inclusion showed us that nearly 3 months out, and in an extremely refined meta, some sleeper ideas can still be sitting there, nearly untapped.

 

Community

Question

Scott here, aka straydog/thegaryscott/nopunintended. I have a question for the podcast. Reno will soon be gone! Do you think they will replace him with another highlander deck heal?  If so what would the text be?

If your deck contains no duplicates:

- set a characters health to 15?

- set your health equal to your opponents?

-double your characters health?

-????

Also,I really appreciate y'all accepting my friend request, spectating helps me out a ton. Anyways, thanks for all the hard work, the time spent streaming, and everything else you contribute to the HS community.

 

Straydog#1963   <<<<

 

Inkmaster Solia

Kazakus

Raza the Chained

Krul the Unshackled

 

iTunes Review

No reviews

Card of the Week

Amara, Warden of Hope 

 

Guest Plugs

• Twitch - twitch.tv/ignatiusHS
• Twitter - @ignatiusHS
• Podcast - KCFiresides Hearthstone Podcast
• Great content on Tempo Storm and Good Gaming .com

 

How to Build a Deck - Episode 87

News Chat

• Nerfs incoming!
  • Small Time Buccaneer is now a 1 mana 1/1 with the same effect (+2 attack while a weapon is equipped)
  • Spirit Claws is now a 2 mana weapon with the same stats and effect (1 attack, 3 durability, has +2 attack when you have spell damage on board)
  • Rank floors - 15, 10, 5
  • These will go through with the next patch later this month
• UN’GORO (Hearthstone Expansion LEAKED: Lost Secrets of Un'Goro)
• YEAR OF THE MAMMOTH
  • (They cite an example of how they could have had missions where you played as the Grimy Goons going through the line of lackeys for the Jade Lotus)
  • Just like the Prelude mission to Karazhan, these single player missions will be totally free
  • Cycle of releasing content will be the same time frame (April, July, December)
  • Instead of expansion, adventure, expansion, there will be THREE expansions with adventure-like quests and missions included in each of them!
  • What does this mean?? More cards, more content, more GREATNESS
  • Each expansion will still be “buy packs” centered, but there will also be optional single player missions that explore the narratives of the style
  • Maeiv Shadowsong will be available as an alternate Rogue portrait after the next expansion releases. Just win 10 games in standard ranked or casual then!
  • Tons of other details, so be sure to check out the news article if you haven’t yet
  • For full details, check out the full blog post: http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/20475356

 

Topic

How to Build a Deck!

Great decks in all CCGs have similar elements, whether they are aggro, control, combo or midrange decks.  Here are some of those elements that you need to consider when building a deck or modifying a net deck.

 

Mana Curve

 

In a game like HS with its strictly limited mana, curve is the single most important element of deck building.  Using mana efficiently turn after turn, more than anything else, produces a winning deck.  So it is important to build a deck with cards distributed across the mana cost slots.  Ideally, the distribution of cards will resemble a bell curve with a few things in the 0, 1, and 2 mana cost slots and a few things in the 8, 9, and 10 mana cost slots.  You are guaranteed a first and second turn in HS, so you should have some cards to play then (unless your deck specifically avoids them like Molten Giant Handlock pre-nerf).  Decks also need one or two bombs (see Reach/Burst below), so you should include those in the deck.  But the meat of most games is turns 3-7.  You should have the most number of cards in these mana cost slots.  While it is possible to run a deck with lots of cheap spells, because they are weaker, you have to either win quickly or you will die.  Conversely, you cannot win with cards too expensive to cast.  Even slow control decks like the previously mentioned Handlock, had some cheap cards.  

 

It is important to note not just the mana available at any one turn, but the mana available to you throughout the game.  On turn one you have one mana available and one total mana available throughout the game thus far.  On turn two, you have two mana available, but three total mana available throughout the game thus far.  This continues—turn three is three and six, four is four and ten.  Over time I have kept track and I have noticed that the player that comes the closest to spending 100% of their total mana available wins the game more often than not.  Other than life totals (which directly determines who wins), percentage of total available mana spent is the next closest indicator to who won than game (that is, it is the strongest correlative factor in winning).

 

Spend all of your mana every turn and you will do well, provided of course you make good gameplay decisions and you have a good deck.  Luck, yeah, that too.  

 

Value and Resource Conversion Rates

 

One thing that is important to figure out is the value of a particular card.  Some cards have contextual value, some have partially contextual value, and others have static value.  Jade cards, like Jade Lightning have contextual value—playing this card in different game states determines its value in an almost complete way.  Other cards, like Blackwing Technician have a partially contextual value—there is a lower and upper limit on the value of the card.  Then there are cards with static value, something like Chillwind Yeti or Lighting Bolt.  Their value is largely independent of the game state.  Figuring out the value of contextual and partially contextual cards requires an understanding the maximum and minimum value along with the probabilities of achieving those values.  Obviously figuring out the value of contextual and partially contextual cards is extremely difficult.  That is why it was hard to evaluate the Jade cards in theory, without playing the deck.  But in order to figure out of the value of a card you have to understand the value of the underlying resources.  

 

There are five basic resources in HS: life/armor, mana, cards in hand, cards in deck and attack (or damage)/health.  Cards in deck is a very abundant resource, as is life.  They are the least valuable.  Mana and cards in hand are the scarcest resource.  They are the most valuable.  There are cards and abilities that show us what these resources are worth compared to each other.  Generally the conversion rates between the resources are the same across classes, but some classes have better conversion rates than others.  For example, Druid does better at converting resources (other than health) into mana, while Warlock does a very good job converting mana and life into cards.  Let’s look at some of the easy conversions:

 

River Crocolisk and Chillwind Yeti set the minimum for mana to stats.  You get 5 stats for 2 mana with the Croc and 9 stats for the Yeti.  But these are the base rates.  Good cards regularly exceed these values.  Other rates are more fixed.

 

Druid shows us the upper limit of converting cards into mana.  The best you get here is one card in hand being equal to 2 mana (Innervate).  Mage shows us the best rate for converting mana into direct damage with Fireball and Frostbolt, 2 mana and a card for 3 damage or 4 mana and a card for 6 damage (note the ratios are the same, but Frostbolt gives you a toss-in ability).  Warrior shows us the value of armor with Shield Block 3 mana for 5 armor (note the card draw equals out the card spent).  These conversions are key to identifying good cards to build around.  Powerful cards will either break or be equal to the best resource conversion rates in the game.  

 

When you combine the resource conversion definition of value with the idea of context value, you see why people misjudged something like Dr. Boom.  They were not counting the average value of the Boom Bots correctly.  So here is what they SHOULD have realized.  You get 18 stats for 7 mana, guaranteed.  That is already quite good.  But then you get an average of 5 damage from the Boom Bots.  But this damage is random so use Arcane Missile as the conversion for random damage, making the Boom Bots worth a little less than two Arcane Missiles, so an additional two mana worth of value.  You actually get something like 18 stats for 5 mana (subtracting the Boom Bots' nearly 2 completely free Arcane Missiles from the total cost).  Using the resource conversion theory of value you quickly see why Dr. Boom is one of the two or three most broken, non-nerfed cards in the history of Hearthstone.

 

When building a deck it is extremely important to understand resource conversion rates, not just the Chillwind Yeti numbers but the values for direct and random damage, armor, heal, card draw, cards in deck, cards in hand, etc.  Between the hero powers and core cards in each class you can figure out the value of just about any card.  Some cards are extremely hard to calculate because of their high RNG (Yogg) and some are very contextually valued (Jade cards), but absent the extremes, knowing basic resource conversion rates can help you identify broken and powerful cards and these in turn help you build a deck.  Finally, it is important to note that hero powers, generally speaking, come out very poor in these resource conversions.  Warlock’s is the best, but many classes have pretty bad hero powers, absent synergy cards in the deck.  Priest and Shaman, for example, have very weak hero powers with Priest having the only context-dependent hero power (I guess Paladin’s is also context dependent--you have to have less than seven minions in play) and Shaman having the only hero power with RNG.  

 

Synergy

 

Synergy is crucial to building a good deck because you take advantage of contextual and partially contextual value cards and create situations that break them the most and break them more often.  If a Blackwing Technician is consistently a 3/5 for 3, it is a very good (though not insane) card.  Similarly, if Tunnel Trogg is always a 3/3 by turn 3, it is an insane card.  Synergy allows you to push the odds for high rolling contextual and partially contextual value cards to their limit.  This is what often breaks a deck.  In the pre-Warsong Commander nerf meta, Patron Warrior was as synergistic as any deck in Hearthstone history.  Nearly every card helped every other card be broken often and to a huge degree.  The result was probably the best deck in HS history (that or the pre-nerf Undertaker Hunter deck, another deck with bonkers amounts of synergy).  Only Patron Warrior’s high skill cap kept it from exceeding its 55% win rate against the field.    

 

Reach/Burst

 

Because HS places a great deal of value on the board, as opposed to, say Vintage in Magic, stalemates or logjams often occur.  Good decks of any sort must have a way of getting through these stalemates.  Aggro decks like Pirate Warrior, for example, usually has one or two big finishers, like Leeroy or Arcanite Reaper.  Midrange decks have their one to two big bombs like Call of the Wild or Ragnaros.  Control decks usually have their put away card, the card that all but ends the game for the opponent like Reno.  And Combo decks have their combo pieces (Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Edwin Van Cleef for example).  When building a deck it is important to incorporate some form of burst, a way to close out games.  Generally burst cards are cheaper in Aggro decks and more expensive in Control decks.

 

Versatility v.  Consistency

 

In building a deck it is important to figure out what the deck needs.  Does it is need a lot of the same type of card or does it need a broad range of cards?  Compare, for example, Pirate Warrior (MSG) with Reno Mage (MSG).  In Pirate Warrior you see very similar builds with a ton of 1 mana creatures, a ton of weapons, and a ton of weapon enhancements.  It is a deck of 30 cards, but really there are only 3 types of cards—cheap dudes, choppas/direct damage, and choppa enhancements.  This is a very consistent deck, but it has no hope of winning if the opponent can neutralize its main strategy.  

 

Reno Mage, on the other hand, by its very nature, has a broad range of cards.  But even in a Reno-style deck it is not 30 completely different cards.  Reno Mages all run burn, minion removal, stall, life gain, board control, and weapon removal.  There are 30 different cards, but they really only do those six things.  You can have a similarly versatile deck in non-Reno decks.  Midrange Hunter (LOE) was a very versatile deck with a wide range of different types of cards.

 

Consistent decks are easier to play.  You only do a few things.  And you do them over and over again.  Versatile decks, on the other hand, have a much high skill cap.  But the reward is that in the hands of truly great players they tend to perform better than the simple, consistent decks.  This, of course, assumes a well-balanced metagame.  In the Mean Streets meta, for example, Aggro Shaman is a very consistent deck—dudes, burn, weapons—but it is significantly more powerful than any of the versatile decks in the metagame.  

 

Tutors are ALWAYS broken

 

In Magic there is a card called Demonic Tutor.  It says: pay two mana and put a card from your deck into your hand.  This effect is exceedingly powerful.  All CCGs, including HS, have, at their core, randomness.  You cannot predict which cards you will draw until very late in the game.  So any effect that allows you to skirt this dilemma is very powerful.  Always be on the lookout for any Tutor effect or effects that lessen the randomness of your draw (like Tracking).  The Yogg Hunter deck was only possible because of King’s Elekk and its very weak Tutor effect.  Tutors are so powerful that even bad ones are very good and highly exploitable.

 

Conclusion

 

If you combine all of these principles—curve, synergy, burst, consistency or versatility, and tutors you get a very good deck.  One of the easiest decks in the history of the game to with was the Secret Paladin (LOE).  It had a great curve, it was highly synergistic, it was consistent (and easy to play), and it had a multi-card tutor.  It was probably not as broken as peak Patron Warrior or Undertaker Hunter, but it was the easiest deck in HS history to win with because it combined all of the features of a good deck into a simple to play deck.  

 

Hope this helps building your next winning deck. Don’t be afraid to take a net deck, tear it apart, and figure out what works.  It is important to know that playing a deck well produces better results in Hearthstone than piloting the perfect list.  Good play and a good list produce the best results, but because there are so few absolutely terrible cards in Hearthstone good play can overcome a few quirky choices.  Pros regularly hit legend with weird decks that never make meta game reports.

Community

Question

I think I should start to save the gold for the next expansion now. Do we know when it should come ?

-Raccoon Dad

 

iTunes Review

None

Card of the Week

Azure Drake

 

 

Zerotio’s Weird Reno Mage Deck Battle - Episode 86

News Chat

• Lots of talk about the meta, balance, and a TON of feedback from Ben Brode and the Hearthstone Design Team

 

• Biggest complaints are: Aggro and Shaman
  • Aggro: Feels bad to lose game after game without really having a chance if your opponent draws correctly and you don’t
  • Shaman: This class has been powerful and diversified (multiple strong ways to play it) for quite a while now.
• Big Brode Bullet Points
  • Worst diversification in HS was Undertaker Hunter, being played 35% of all games
  • 17% of all games have Shaman in it (30% at legend)
  • Highest winrate of any deck was Undertaker Hunter at 60%
  • Current winrate of Aggro Shaman is 53%
• What do you do with all this?
  • Let data inform your feelings
  • If you’re sick of Aggro Shaman, play Control Warrior/Shaman
  • Use a tracker! (So far this month, I’ve played 47 games. 4 of those were Aggro Shaman (9%), 10 were Pirate Warrior (21%))

 

Topic

Deck battle!

 

What are Deck Battles?

• We do these Deck battle episodes once a month.
• Guest hosts bring on their favorite deck onto the show, and break it down for you.
  • What cards, how it works, and why they like playing it.
• Best of 3 battle against me, live on the show.
• Twist: I always use the current Reigning Champion Deck of the show
  • The last deck a guest host brought onto this show and won with.

 

The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!

• Decks that have beaten 3 challengers in a row!
• Dan Patriss' Beastmaster Hunter Deck (Mar 2014)
• My Very Own Warlock Demon Zoo Deck (Mar 2016)
• Craig's Dragon Priest (Sep 2016)

 

Defending Champion Deck

• Jarret: Future-Proof Tempo Mage
• December 2016
• Episode 83 

The Challenger's Deck

The Theme

• Reno Mage, with an unexpected win condition

 

How It Wins

• Stall the game and setup Reno/Ice Block Combo and be ready for your “swing turn”

 

The Key Cards

• Reno Jackson & Ice Block + “Secret Weapon”

 

The Duel

 

• Reminder of the defending deck

• Trash talk

 

• Best of 3 series
• We'll be right back.

 

The Aftermath

• Who won
• How close was it?
• What were important moments?
• What went wrong/right for the challenger deck?
• Was this a good representation of the challenger deck's strengths?
• Congratulate the winner

Community

Question

Jarret (from ep 83): Now that Mean Streets is out, what card where you "meh" about that you now love? For me it's Jade Swarmer. I didn't think about it's potential in N'Zoth Rogue; it's basically a more efficient and on-curve Twilight Summoner.

iTunes Review

That’s Incredible - 5 Stars - thegaryscott
Love this podcast. Listen every week.

Card of the Week

Molten Giant….. No… Seriously!

Guest Plugs

• Twitter: @ZerotioHS
• Twitch: Twitch.tv/ZerotioHS
• Hero Power: HeroPowerHS.com

Darkflight Warrior Deck Brawl - Episode 85

Hello!

• Andrew is the host this week!
• Topic: Deck Battle!
• Reasons to be happy this week
• News: Developer Stream

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: Josh’s Darklfight Warrior Deck, Greedy Priest deck, and the very first Warlock deck he ever brought onto the show.

The Darkflight Deck

Creatures

• 2x Alexstrasza’s Champion: This card is the single reason why I’ve been making Dragon decks for two years. Insanely good.
• 1x Netherspite Historian: This was love at first sight for me, and it’s only grown as I play with it. Slow, but always good.
• 1x Beckoner of Evil: I only use C’thun cards guaranteed to hit +2 stats, because getting C’thun to 10 will make or break this deck.
• 2x Blackwing Technician: Solid stats for early trades.
• 1x Brann Bronzebeard: Every combo in this deck is huge. C’thun buffs for instant 10/10, +10 more armor on Shieldbearers, or double Discover dragons. <3
• 2x Disciple of Cthun: Superstar for surviving the early game. Always keep in starting hand.
• 2x Cthun’s Chosen: Not ideal, but the best +2/+2 cthun option left.
• 2x Twilight Guardian: Gotta build that taunt wall!
• 2x Azure Drake: All decks. All the time.
• 2x Blackwing Corruptor: WTB Drakonid Operative, but this is a great 5-drop too.
• 1x Sylvanas Windrunner: Just here for value and to draw out removal before the big guns drop.
• 2x Ancient Shieldbearer: Your success is pretty closely tied to your ability to draw and proc this effect. Combo with Brann for immortality.
• 1x Twin Emperor Vek’lor: Stall, stall, stall!
• 1x Doomcaller: Sometimes you’ll have to use this as a desperate buff to hit the 10/10 stats, but you want to save it for the resurrect.
• 1x Nefarian: Value. All these top-end dragons are basically interchangeable. Just use what you have or prefer.
• 1x Ysera: Value.
• 1x C’thun: He’s not the game-winner in this deck. He’s just another big threat at the top-end. They can’t remove all of them.

Spells

• 1x Execute: Only run one copy after the nerf, but is plenty useful late and early, especially with little chippers like Netherspite Historian.
• 2x Slam: Always good. Don’t be afraid to use as only removal early against aggro.

Weapons

• 2x Fiery War Axe: Every deck would run this, if it could.

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.

• Beckoner of Evil: I bounce between Beckoner and Evil and Netherspite Historian, based on which side I’m having trouble proccing, Cthun or dragons.
• Netherspite Historian: Same.
• Brawl: This should be in the deck, but I’m crazy.
• Blood to Ichor: Equivalent to Slam, choose whichever you prefer.
• Chillmaw: All the top end dragons are hot-swappable. Just use the ones you have/like.
• Chromaggus: Same.
• Alexstrasza: Same.
• Shield Block: This is a great card in the deck and should probably be in it. I cut it after having a tough time getting both Cthun and dragons to proc.

The Duel

 

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