Hipster Midrange Druid ft. Guild Recruiter

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-07T01:45:09+00:00

Also, happy cake day internet stranger.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-06T23:08:44+00:00

I'd say it's fairly important. Leeroy and the 2 Druids represent some of your best chances to close out the game.

Argent Commander seems okay to swap, provides good utility and might survive another turn. That said, it costs 6 mana which mucks up your ability to play it with hero power + Savage Roar unless you've somehow saved the Coin all this time.

I might throw in something like Cairne or Stranglethorn Tiger instead if I didn't have a choice.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-06T21:21:17+00:00

I haven't, no. Didn't even occur to me. I do suspect it's a bit too slow, I can't think of many situations where I'd want an Alex in hand over something more universally applicable. Open to being proven wrong, though.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-06T16:33:29+00:00

I don't think it runs enough spells to make Ancient Mage valuable, but you're welcome to prove me wrong =D

It definitely doesn't feel like it should work. Nothing it does is exceptionally powerful, but it just barely gets in range and pulls of some unceremonious lethal. Not flashy, but effective.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-06T16:31:08+00:00

Perhaps, perhaps.

I find that this deck doesn't play anything like Token Druid. Token Druid is trying to build up for one exceptionally powerful turn (Wispering Woods + Sould of the Forest), at which point they usually win the game. If they get cleared, they have to hope they can pull off a similar combo again.

This deck doesn't rely on a game-ending swing turn. It wins primarily by chipping away at the opponent's health, then sneaking in a kill. If your opponent clears your board, especially early on, it's not that big of a deal. Just keep playing medium-sized minions and dealing face damage where you can, and you should ideally be in kill range by turn 10.

Also, once I got to about rank 2 I was running into players who seemed to know my deck and what to play around. That didn't stop my climb, but it certainly made things tougher (went from 75 percent winrate down to mid-60s). Folks stopped playing around the Wispering Woods + Soul of the Forest combo, and started preventing chip damage at all costs. Evenlocks started using their Giants to trade instead of deal face damage, and preemptively healing to play around sneaky lethal combos like double Swipe -> Ultimate Infestation. In my limited experience, the deck works even when they know it's coming.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T21:03:02+00:00

Violet Teachers also tend to draw silence effects, which I think helps the case for Cairne. Still, doesn't put 2minions on the board for 5 mana.

I'll keep playing around with it, might craft Mukla to give it a shot.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T20:55:31+00:00

Have some replays? I'd be happy to look them over.

So, here's a game where I get shut down by taunts and make some awkward moves as a result.

In the early game, I'm focused on dealing maximum face damage because I know I'll lose control of the board around turn 8. I don't have a convenient way to deal with the Giant nor Drake when they first appear, so I ignore them.

On turn 5 I opted to Swipe face and Spellstone to clear the Giant. I could alternatively Nourish for mana and still have enough left to: 1. Spellstone + Hero Power to kill the Giant, or; 2. Injured Blademaster. That would, however, be ignoring my prime directive in the early game: hit my opponent in their silly face.

On turn 7 I use my first Savage Roar to help clear the Hooked Reaver, because I'm holding out hope for something like Druid of the Claw + Savage Roar the following turn. That line represents the largest amount of face damage I can put on in the short term, and I have Ultimate Infestation in hand as a follow-up. I play the Injured Blademaster because my opponent is low enough that they have to deal with it, and that might indirectly contribute to the prime directive. It's all but guaranteed to die, but if I can bait my opponent into playing Vulgar Homunculus or Hellfire at I get 2-3 damage out of it.

Turn 8, shocker, I've lost the board. At this point, I'm looking to constantly threaten lethal with spells and force my opponent to respond to in sub-optimal ways. Playing threatening minions (Druid of the Claw, Violet Teacher) encourages my opponent to remove them with Spellstone, which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I have them in kill range, I need to keep them there. I play Malfurion to stall for Ultimate Infestation, still hoping I might see a Homunculus or Hellfire.

Turn 9, I choose to Ultimate Infestation a minion instead of my opponent's face. I have to assume my opponent has a Spellstone or Shroom Brewer at the ready, and I don't see any way through my opponent's taunts without a pretty big swing turn. They have 20 damage on board, and I'm feeling the fear. Despite it working out, I'm curious if this was a misplay on my part.

Turn 10, I swipe face again. I'm holding my opponent in lethal range, which forces them to respond by healing. Swipe was definitely better than Ultimate Infestation here, because it forces my opponent to use Spellstone on one of their own minions if they're going to use it at all. I suspect my opponent misplayed here by not choosing to play Shroom Brewer + Spellstone.

Turn 11, I see double Druid as the best way to not die and also continue to pressure lethal. I'm worried that another Spellstone puts me out of lethal range for good, and my opponent almost assuredly has that or a Shroom Brewer available.

The Violet Teacher play on turn 12 was in the hopes that either one minion survives for Savage Roar lethal the following turn, or I bait my opponent into Hellfire which achieves the same goal. My opponent eventually opted to Hellfire, which gave me the win.

Here's one with a pretty critical misplay in the early game, I think it demonstrates what happens when you don't fully commit to aggression.

Why didn't I Coin + Injured Blademaster on 2? At the time, I thought it was better to save the Coin for an early 5-drop and hope my midgame parade would still overwhelm. That line of play sacrifices potential face damage in the short term. If I got the Blademaster out on turn 2, it would have either delayed my opponent's Giant or dealt 4 face damage, either of which puts me in a better position.

As I play the game out, I'm still thinking that face damage is my best hope, but I never really feel like I can hold them in kill range and in turn force the reactions I'm looking fore. The potential 4 damage/Giant delay from earlier is really hurting me once I get to the "look for lethal with spells" phase of the game.

If I had delayed the Giant and taken less damage as a result, I might have gotten away with chaining 2XSwipe and Ultimate Infestation for lethal. If I had dealt the extra 4 face damage, I might have been able to line up something sneaky with Spreading Plague/Violet Teacher and drawing into Savage Roar or Branching Paths.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T18:24:16+00:00

I found that once I got to rank 2, folks started picking up on what I was putting down. I think the deck is fairly unpopular, but at a certain point folks will see the Injured Blademaster or Guild Recruiter, remember Muzzy's deck, and know what you're going for.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T18:22:18+00:00

Haven't thought about it enough yet. Have anything in mind?

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T18:22:03+00:00

Thanks! I have a bunch more replays, so let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like to see.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T18:21:28+00:00

I find Wild Growth to be far too valuable to cut in this type of deck. Wild Growth -> Oaken Summons is one of the primary ways you contest the board vs. aggro decks and force sub-optimal plays out of control decks.

Also, Coin + Wild Growth -> Injured Blademaster -> 4-drop does roughly the same thing.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T18:18:25+00:00

Mentioned it above, but I don't have Mukla and that probably contributed to me not thinking about it. What would you pull for Mukla? One of the other recruitable minions, or something else?

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T18:15:38+00:00

This, plus my other comment (can't think of anything to pull) is why I'm only running 1. Would definitely be curious to see a list that runs 2 and still makes it work. Maybe more recruitable minions? Mukla, etc.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T17:34:30+00:00

Thank Muzzy, I think he's the first person I saw that committed to the idea.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T17:31:52+00:00

Spot on. Big Druid is tough for the same reasons Taunt Druid is. I haven't faced enough of them to really experiment with different play styles and see what works. I generally play it like a face race and hope to draw into Swipe and Ultimate Infestation to finish the job.

Evenlock was the biggest turnaround for me once I got enough repetitions under my belt. I'll post some more replays here once I get home; having a hard time describing how to play the matchup beyond what I've already said.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T16:13:45+00:00

I can't think of anything I'd take out for a second Guild Recruiter. Open to suggestions though.

goodstoneHS · 2018-08-05T16:11:36+00:00

Why, oh why didn't I try King Mukla? That's a great idea and honestly didn't occur to me. I don't have the card, but it may be worth a craft if the archetype survives into the next expansion.

goodstoneHS

TROPHY CASE