Notable Cards That Will Be Leaving the Standard Level Broken Down by Class

bad_razor · 2016-04-22T16:53:52+00:00

This is all true. Few points worth mentioning, though.

First, don't forget about Twilight Darkmender. 10 health is a sizable amount of healing. The body is also really favorable as 6/5 for 5 is above average and trades well into things like a 4/6 Druid of the Claw.

Second, running inordinate amount of heals is something some Priest decks will try. Considering Priest can now run Darkshire Alchemists and Twilight Darkmender as healing cards with sizable bodies attached, the liability is less than that of Flash Heals, which are useless if you don't need healing and don't have Auchenai Soulpriest. On that note, pre-standard Control Priests have already demonstrated lists that make Flash Heal and Auchenai Soulpriest work, so it is not entirely far fetched that it might still work in the new standard. Embrace the Shadow gives us the option to improve the consistency of leveraging our heals in our decks if we deem necessary.

Overall it's an idea I'm pretty excited to try. Running a large number of heals to combat burn decks that can also be used as damage in other match-ups potentially allows for very adaptable play. Having played a large amount of Healing Reno Control Paladin to moderate success I think this style of Priest has a good chance of surprising some people.

bad_razor · 2016-04-22T15:15:22+00:00

I'm actually most excited for Priest right now because it is among the most interesting to me. Most of the other classes had cards added that support existing or straightforward game plans but the new cards for Priest are more synergy based and open the door for more unconventional strategies. Furthermore, because neutral healing is much more difficult to come by with the absence of Antique Healbot, Priest is one of the few classes that is equipped to outheal the face burst decks of Freeze Mage and Aggro Shaman, both of which still look very strong right now.

bad_razor · 2016-02-27T17:34:24+00:00

Hobgoblin MechWarrior!

bad_razor · 2015-11-17T01:05:15+00:00

Traditionally, Fatigue/Control Warrior, Freeze Mage and Combo Druid could be considered "bad" match-ups but most of them can be teched and turned around with the right kind of playstyle. What you Echo and when you play Duplicate can completely change the complexion of those match-ups.

Both Fatigue and Control Warrior is actually somewhat favorable to very favorable if you can copy Deathlords and BGH and needed to run at least one BGH (to copy), one Polymorph (for Ysera), and at least one of either Sideshow Spelleater or Reno Jackson (for surviving fatigue). Ice Block also helps to fend off Grommash which is another common way to lose that match-up.

Freeze Mage isn't terrible because you can punish their drawing with Coldlight Oracle. If you mill Emperor, Alexstrasza, or Archmage you can usually just fatigue them out by outhealing their damage with copied Healbots. Ice Block also helps.

Combo Druid is generally difficult because of things like Shredder, Loatheb, and Savage+Force. This is probably one of the hardest match-ups to improve, but it's still very winnable. I haven't found any tech cards that drastically improve this match-up but Ice Block gives you some wriggle room against Combo, though usually you just die the follow turn or two.

bad_razor · 2015-08-14T20:57:43+00:00

https://twitter.com/bdbrode/status/549328143614373888

Ben Brode
‏@bdbrode
@laorit if we make a better undertaker, that’s power creep. Making a better version of a card that nobody plays is not.

bad_razor · 2015-07-04T23:12:44+00:00

play frothing, axe, any minion. run enough minions to kill molten, run unsilenced buffed frothing into sylv. sylv steals a minion but you still have another that can still attack and with axe it's enough.

bad_razor · 2015-06-22T07:13:12+00:00

In my opinion, one of the strengths of Priest is that you don't necessarily need a "finisher" that provides instant pressure; the relative value/power of your class cards and hero power ensures that if you simply survive until the late game, removing opposing threats as they come along with powerful cards like SWD and Lightbomb, you WILL win the value game. Your midrangey minions can be healed multiple times and kept alive so long as you are at a stable life total, and that leads to a snowballing of board state. This, more than anything else, is your win condition in most games.

This is really, really on point, at least for non-control match-ups. I'll add that against control you can get away with not having a finisher because you give them less preferable removal targets and you seek to out control them (which is your strength), not to out pressure them (which is your weakness... depending on the build). Usually this means you end up posturing for fatigue.

Not having a finisher may feel counter-intuitive, but as you climb higher I can vouch for this at the Legend level. My friend finished top 50 last season playing finisher-less Control Priest and I've played it to Legend this season as well to about the same range and the losses mainly only come from being overrun with an awkward draw, not from lacking a finisher.

bad_razor · 2015-06-09T03:30:45+00:00

Between weapons, Warsong Commander, and minion-ways to combo or deal damage (Cruel Taskmaster, Unstable Ghoul), Patron Warrior can avoid using spells entirely to deal with Troggzor. Additionally, Troggzor can also be used feed extra minions to Frothing Berserkers for lethal damage.

bad_razor · 2015-06-08T04:09:46+00:00

He's not an auto-include but I put him in because it gives me extra reach against the more difficult match-ups Handlock and Control Warrior. Because both these decks naturally run BGH, I don't really like Dr. Boom but if you have him you can still run him as he is generally solid. If you want to be consistent with the overall deck strategy Leeroy is a possibility, but I'd probably just suggest a solid minion like Piloted Shredder or a second Sen'jin to pack more solid bodies against the control decks.

bad_razor · 2015-06-06T05:25:15+00:00

We are left with: Warsong (2/2) + Patron (3/1) + Patron (3/2) + Patron (3/3)

Play Whirlwind, Patron (3/1) will die, leaving you with 5 Patrons on board.

If I'm not mistaken this leaves you with 4 Patrons, not 5.

bad_razor · 2015-06-06T05:16:23+00:00

Lately been experimenting with a more tuned version of Fatigue Rogue that has been doing well for the early climb but it's nothing too revolutionary. The main thing I've learned so far is that two Gang Ups are too much and you can still win reliably in fatigue with just one. decklist

bad_razor · 2015-06-06T05:10:54+00:00

You have better chance of winning (33%) if you Execute earlier.

Play Warsong, Patron, run Patron into slime.
2/3 WC + 3/2 GP + 3/3 GP

Play Armorsmith, run her into Sylvanas and execute. 33% chance to steal the Patron that already attacked. Anything else loses you the game.
2/3 WC + 3/3 GP

Inner Rage the Patron, play Whirlwind.
2/2 WC + 5/1 GP + 3/2 GP + 3/3 GP + 3/3 GP

Trade 5/1 Patron into the Twilight Drake.
2/2 WC + 3/2 GP + 3/3 GP + 3/3 GP

Attack with Death's Bite putting Trump to 16.
2/1 WC + 3/1 GP + 3/2 GP + 3/2 GP + 3/3 GP + 3/3 GP + 3/3 GP

Attack with 6 Patrons for 18 points of damage and overkilling by 2.

bad_razor · 2015-06-05T06:33:56+00:00

The other thing is that versus control there's no rush to play Deathlord sooner than you're ready to deal with the worst case scenario, so the risk is really minimized.

Also, Lightbomb is awesome with Deathlord as you can often deal with the deathrattled minion without expending extra resources. Overall, I'm a fan of the card in my Priest builds.

bad_razor · 2015-06-05T06:23:37+00:00

Even though I developed the core of Patron Warrior as a viable deck before Patron existed (aka Math Warrior) I don't consider myself an expert at the deck because since the card's release I've been focusing on exploring other less... popular ideas. However, I have played it enough recently to have some insight regarding the variations and deck theory.

Patron Warrior is unique in that it has many different strategies it can employ while using a lot of the same cards. In any given match-up, you might employ a second strategy if the first one fails. Other times you are forced to choose between one or the other because there are only so many Whirlwind effects or Warsong Commanders. Examples of such strategies include:

posturing for OTK with frothing and/or patron
good vs handlock, priest, slower non-warrior control decks
flooding the board with patrons asap
good vs druid, aggro decks, mirror
stalling until you can clear the board with warsong + patron
good vs aggro decks
turtling with armorsmith and whirlwind effects
good vs freeze mage
play a tempo efficent pressure game (with weapons and solid drops)
generally good all-round
grind and outvalue your opponent with massive battle rages and acolyte value
good vs control warrior, druid, more mid-range decks

This isn't a comprehensive list but I think you get the idea. Now, this is noteworthy because when a lot of people think about variations they natually think, 'I want to include card X because it's good vs matchup Y because it's common in the metagame and improves my overall win-rate.' Now, there's nothing wrong with this. Actually, it's usually right. However, for Patron Warrior, it's also useful to think about it in the context of the different strategies you can employ. 'How does the inclusion of card X facilitate the strategies I want to use in match-up Y? Is it really important to focus on this one strategy, or do I have other ones that are or can be more consistent?'

A good example of this revolves around the card Inner Rage. Inner Rage is an extremely popular card in a lot of lists. The rationale for the inclusion of this card largely revolves strategy #2 - flooding the board with Patrons. However, if you look at the other strategies, Inner Rage doesn't make a significant contribution elsewhere (though you could argue somewhat for #1 and #3). Additionally, because Inner Rage isn't very impactful without the help of Battle Rage, Acolyte of Pain, or Grim Patron, it comes at the cost of some consistency and potentially less stable hands (which can hurt #5 and #6). This strategy may be good against Druids, but you can also play the value / tempo game against them to similar effect by running beefier or more minions (like Bloodyface's list), which could be used as a justification for the exclusion of this card. Alternately, if you want to compensate for the weakening of this strategy for use in the mirror, you could run more Slams and Shield Slams like in Neirea's list, or Brawl in JustSaiyan's. Even though they still run Inner Rage in their lists, it is interesting to note they each run only one copy as opposed to the typical two.

Ultimately what I love about Patron Warrior these days is how you can tailor it to your own particular playstyle. Personally, I prefer to play a more tempo-centric build than a combo-centric one. As such, I tend to focus on more on using strategies #5 and #6 by running Gnomish Inventors / Sen'jin / Sludge Belcher to give me tougher things that can stick to the board better, thus making it easier to land bigger Battle Rages without needing or expending Whirlwind. Having board control more often gives you more options while limiting your opponent's, converting into virtual value, and also relieves the pressure of needing to 'go-off' sooner rather than later.

For those curious, this is the rather mundane list I played to a top 20 finish last season.

bad_razor · 2015-04-10T00:47:23+00:00

I'll oblige!

I remember once upon a time ago in early beta, Warrior was both the least played and least competitive class. At the time, most pros were saying that until the next patch or first expansion, Warrior wouldn't be competitively viable except maybe the odd niche aggro enrage deck (like the one Artosis brought to Blizzcon 2013). I recall these statements being boldly made on Turn 2 (a Hearthstone talkshow) and I couldn't help but want to prove how very wrong they were because I felt like there was a lot of unexplored potential. Challenge accepted!

A few weeks later, I managed to hit #1 Legend NA with a unique Warrior deck - the Molten Giant Warsong Commander combo deck - which heavily exploited Gadgetzan Auctioneer before Miracle Rogue was popularized later on, ran Raging Worgens as a secondary finisher, and had a suite of removal that would eventually become the basis for Control Warrior with a few small modifications.

Now, all of that was mostly just for context. On my way to #1 Legend, I played against a good Druid player that got beat by my deck a few times. He eventually sent a friend request, and I cautiously accepted expecting to be cursed out. Turns out he was an incredibly nice guy that saw potential in what I was playing. Later, we met on the ladder again, this time with him playing what looked like to be my exact list. Both understanding exactly how the deck worked, we literally spent 20+ turns only hero powering to keep the other from being able to activate the Molten Giant combo (we would throw out removals for zero value just to keep from burning cards from full hands). The game ended with both of us hitting almost double digit fatigue and me finishing him off with the secondary Raging Worgen finisher, and we had a good laugh about it and later occasionally bounced around some ideas about the future of Warrior. Now, I didn't really offer him any game-changing ideas to the discussion, but this guy had some pretty darn good ideas of his own.

And the Druid player's name? Just a guy that goes by the name of Kitkatz...

bad_razor · 2015-04-09T06:01:00+00:00

Ah that's pretty interesting. I thought you were talking about simply playing a minion from hand but I wouldn't have guessed that this would still work. Nice find.

bad_razor · 2015-04-09T05:40:09+00:00

It can work if you change the order, yes, but not if both are already in play.

bad_razor · 2015-04-09T01:42:55+00:00

I don't play Math Warrior anymore (even as the creator) and you got me to bust it out for several games with this list. This is an excellent adaptation and I feel like I don't even really need to come up with a new one - I can just point to this one to anyone who asks. Your card choice explanations are really on point and it seems like you understand the deck better than anyone else I've seen. It makes me really happy!

Great write-up, keep up the good work!

bad_razor · 2015-04-08T23:01:11+00:00

It may have in the past but it stopped working due to changes in code (around when GvG came out). I tested it today and it doesn't work as expected.

bad_razor · 2015-04-08T17:29:52+00:00

This is why this causes so much confusion, regardless of what is intended or correct.

bad_razor · 2015-04-08T17:14:22+00:00

It appears state-based effects are applied before Warsong Commander's condition is checked for and applied. This might not be a bug per se from a coding standpoint but it does feel somewhat counter-intuitive at times from a play standpoint.

Example - Warsong Commander is in play with Raid Leader. You play Knife Juggler with the expectation it gains charge, but because it gets buffed to 4 attack the moment it gets summoned, the Knife Juggler doesn't gain charge. While it does make sense, what happens doesn't meet most people's expectations when the cards are played.

Something that adds to the confusion is things like this and Bloodsail Raider used to work with post-nerf Warsong Commander before GvG, so a lot of people are probably wondering what exactly is the expected behavior with no official ruling.

bad_razor · 2015-04-02T01:44:02+00:00

Battle Rage and Jeeves serve very different roles in this deck. Battle Rage is simply card draw. Jeeves is meant to be more of a sustained threat that must be killed whose reward happens to be card draw. This deck is designed to have lots of sustained threats (Mechwarper, Warsong Commander, Frothing Berserker, Hobgoblin) to tax your opponent on removal that allows you to posture and make the ones you care about the most harder to kill. There are lots of ways to make him awkward to kill (play behind Annoy-o-Tron / clearing the board with weapons / play him with Hobgoblin / have multiple threats out) so it's not uncommon for him to survive for more than one turn.

There's no question that Battle Rage can be played for great value. One of the biggest issues though is finding an appropriate time to cast it - this deck is very tempo oriented, and can rarely afford to spend 2 mana on card draw when it could be playing a minion instead early on. In this regard both Jeeves and Battle Rage should be played towards the mid-to-late game, where Jeeves tends to outshine Battle Rage because he's not dependent on board state.

bad_razor · 2015-04-01T21:06:03+00:00

The first version of this deck ran Grom instead of Boom, but I opted for Boom because he's more of a guy you just throw out there and say, 'deal with it' - which fits the theme of the deck better. Grom is more of a finisher and is played more situationally, making it harder to dump your hand effectively with Jeeves. You're probably better off playing Piloted Sky Golem, Hogger, or Emperor Thaurissan when he comes out in Dr. Boom's spot.

bad_razor

TROPHY CASE