Jaytonic’s Flood Paladin – 85% Winrate to Legend

TQS8dZdWell Met! My name is Jaytonic and I am a manager of team Vicious Syndicate. I have been playing Hearthstone since early Beta and have hit legend several times. I try to fit in a lot of tournament play as well. Throughout my time playing Hearthstone I’ve fallen in love with the community and with the help of Vicious Syndicate have been able to give back through creating content and hosting tournaments!

Due to my limited playtime/full time job I have morphed into an aggressive style player. If I want legend I need to climb the ladder quickly  with a high win rate. Decks such as Hunter, Paladin, Zoo and Druid are my most played. Out of all of them, I have found this specific Paladin list to be the most efficient in climbing the ladder in terms of win rate % and time played per game. On one day of climbing I was able to get an 85% win rate while playing an average of 7 minutes per game! The dream is real boys.

TGT Meta

  • Punish other flood lists (Shaman, Paladin, Zoo, Token Druid)
  • Dodge Rogue, Patron and Dragon Priest

In the first few days of the expansion, all hell broke loose as players everywhere tested out all kinds of whacky decks. However, as is the case in most metagames, several lists quickly found themselves at the “top tier,” notably Dragon Priest, Totem Shaman, Midrange Paladin, and perhaps the most surprising of all, Secrets Paladin. A common tactic of many of these decks was flooding the board with minions to overwhelm your opponent with constant pressure. I have always loved this concept (even in previous card games) and so was very excited to adapt my own flood list for an aggressive Paladin archetype. Of the new decks, the biggest threat to this deck is Dragon Priest due the the overwhelming amount of early taunts and high health minions they can establish. Overall, my success with this deck was definitely a meta call – during my climb I noticed very few Patron Warriors/Oil Rogues, and was lucky enough to dodge many Dragon Priests. If you see that these are flooding the ladder, switch decks! There is no point in playing into a swarm of unfavored matchups.

The Mindset

Win Condition/Playstyle:

Although this is an aggressive deck, it’s more accurate to compare it to the standard Zoo Warlock lists. You do want to end games quickly – usually the matches average out to 6-7 minutes – but this is done via heavy board control rather than burn or going face at all costs. Depending on the matchups, you may need to straight up race them, but in tempo/midrange/control matchups the board control is everything.

Mulligans/Curving Out

It is EXTREMELY important to maximize the value of your mulligan! I go in-depth into which cards are keeps in the mulligan section below, but keep in mind that one of the only biggest ways to lose with this list is to not have any early game curve. The list is set up to encourage a decent curve, so try to fill it out in the mulligan with the 1-2-3 dream!

Playing for Board Over Value

There are a few cards in the list that encourage maximizing value (Gormok, Abusive Sergeant, Coghammer, Quartermaster). While it is true that activating the battlecry effects off of these cards is insane value, sometimes you are in a situation where you might be better off to play them on curve as vanilla bodies to gain board presence. (Quartermaster on 5 is a TERRIBLE play – I haven’t had to do it yet, but keep in mind that it is an option). Knife Juggler on turn 2 is sometimes the play even though it will very likely be removed – forcing the opponent to play defensively early on is good for our tempo – especially when they are on the coin.

Gaining & Keeping the Board

Your minions with divine shield can trade favorably and survive those trades, especially in the early game. Take advantage of this in order to clear your opponent’s board early and cement your board advantage.

Sticky Minions/Flood

Argent Squire, Shielded Minibot, and Echoing Ooze are very annoying to remove from the board. This forces the opponent to pass initiative onto us as we are often the ones who are making proactive moves..

Early Trades

Using Abusive Sergeant, Seal of Champions, Divine Shields and Weapons as well as Knife Juggler RNG is VERY important in establishing control of the board in the first few turns. Typically, if you do nothing but hero power for the first 3 turns, the game is lost (Which is what makes Priest and Warrior matchups so difficult – their armorsmith, acolyte, and clerics punish many of our early game plays. Try to minimize their value with one-shot kills via Abusive or Seal of Champion plays).

Be One Step Ahead of Your Opponent

You should continuously be asking yourself the following questions:

  • If I make this play, how can he punish me?
  • What is my next turn likely going to be?
  • How will you deal with their turn 5 Belcher?
  • What AoE do they have left, and how can you avoid them from getting most value?
  • What is their absolute best case scenario, and how do I most effectively deal with it?
  • How do I win the game/set up lethal?

Thinking like this and having these thought processes will not only make you a better player with this deck, but improve your overall skill in Hearthstone also. The more awkward you make the turn for the enemy, the more tempo advantage you gain. Force your opponent to play reactively while you flood and apply more pressure. Just keep in mind that your resources are not unlimited!

Going Face

There comes a time in every Paladin’s life where the decision must be made: Is it time to punch their face? Setting up lethal is a keystone playstyle of this list. Think ahead as to what they can possibly do to prevent you from winning: save cards such as Owl & Equality(Often with Consecration), and sometimes even Gormok to push through taunts. Remember that Gormok can go face through taunts too!

Remember to use your mana and weapon swings wisely and get the most out of Blessing of Kings and Truesilver. Equipping a Truesilver over a 2/2 Coghammer, for example, might be necessary to get in the right amount of damage over the next two turns. Blessing of Kings is a great tool to use for trading in the midgame, can be used as late game burst, or to combo with Ooze; however, it’s best use is when the buffed minion can connect to the opponent’s face twice. Being able to set up plays like this can shut out many games.

Hero Power

There are many scenarios where you are left with 2 mana, and you have to decide between the options of Hero Power, Shielded Minibot, Ooze, or Juggler. Knowing when to “press the button” and begin the dude march depends on many things, such as what their removals are (try to make reads on this and play around their best-possible-scenario), is very important. If you’re holding a Quartermaster, the value of making a dude increases, and if you’re trying to bait/play into AoE, hero power is your go-to answer (as well as Divine Shields). The opponent may trade poorly to ensure your recruits do not survive long enough to get Quartermaster’d.

Taking Risks

Knife Juggler – Playing this card on turn 2 with a muster for battle in hand can often times be the correct play. Depending on whether you have other options, it always causes the opponent to react and has very high rewards if ignored. Hero Power, Muster, and Ooze can combo with this card to get you some game-winning-snipes in the midgame, which makes this card just too good to not play.

Playing into AoE – Sometimes you just have to make the dive and flood the board. Obviously baiting out their AoE spells first is optimal, but other times the game is unwinnable unless you simply try to run them down with minions. If you can confidently assume they don’t have it (bait it out with some hero power/argents/leper gnome boards – many players will want to clear these things ASAP), it may be time to scream YOLO and go all in.

DO NOT TAKE THIS RISK if you have other outs! It is very easy to play your muster before you can combo with Quartermaster, then throw your hands in the air, saying “Of COURSE he’s got the Fan of Knives…” – don’t psych yourself out into thinking they are incredibly lucky to have it. Most classes these days mulligan aggressively for their AoE versus Paladin… the best we can do is play around it by trying to bait it on early boards and hero power recruits.

Make the Winning Play – In the lategame, there are often situations where you can either trade into the board, or push for lethal on the next turn. Think about this option carefully, as you may not be presented with this opportunity again – Sometimes making this risk is the only way to win. Play to win, not to survive another turn (unless you can topdeck something huge).

Decklist Explanation

Cards Included

  • 1 Abusive Sergeant – Trades all day. I’d love to fit two of these in, but Leper Gnome is often a better 1-drop and needs two spots.
  • Argent Squire – Due to the lack of OP 1 drops, this is the go-to pick as it’s shield can often combo with buffers to establish early board control.
  • Leper Gnome – Although this is not a rush/hyper aggro list, the Leper Gnomes are a solid turn 1 play that puts your opponent on the defensive from the bat. Can get punished by cruel task/argent squire/shielded minibot
  • 1 Equality – Included as a 1-of the sneak wins vs heavy control & other flood lists (with consecration). We often have many tokens on the board so it can be used for mid-game trading
  • Echoing Ooze – FLOOOOD. The two 1/2 bodies are a lot more proactive in gaining the board than playing Haunted Creeper or Annoy-o-tron. It combos very well with our buff cards as well which is a stronger comeback mechanic after a board wipe.
  • 1 Ironbeak Owl – Sometimes, you just gotta hoot-hoot that 8/8 taunt and steal some games. Awesome against aggro lists, mad scientists, doomsayers, armorsmiths, etc. Sometimes worth to save for big threats such as Sylvanas or Tirion if you can afford to.
  • Knife Juggler – Staple in aggro paladin lists. Our flood heavy cards + hero power have great synergy with it.
  • Shielded Minibot – Probably the best 2-drop in the game. Coining one out with a solid turn 2 play is extremely frustrating to deal with.
  • 1 Coghammer – This card helps you dictate trades and get some serious board control. It could be useful to stall as well if you’re digging for a specific topdeck.
  • Muster for Battle – Bread & Butter of the list. Flood the board with dudes, get a weapon to secure board control, all for three mana. Value.
  • 1 Seal of Champions – Trade all day! Be careful for Earth Shock when playing this. Can be used as late game burst.
  • 1 Argent Horserider – Very versatile card. The 2 damage does not seem like much, but this card opens up a lot of plays that can swing the board early on as well as lategame with a Blessing of Kings.
  • Truesilver Champion – Staple. Too good to not include, and it fits the theme perfectly.
  • 1 Blessing of Kings – I’d like to fit two of these in but the four mana spot is too heavy. Perfect for trading, good burst, and excellent synergy with divine shield minions.
  • Consecration – Staple board clear. Absolutely necessary in this flood-heavy meta, and is a sometimes-significant 2 damage burst as well.
  • 1 Gormok the Impaler – My favorite new card in the set. I couldn’t wait to test out a flood list that can exploit his overpowered effect – this specific deck works very well with it. Trust me, it straight up wins games.
  • Piloted Shredder –  Shredder was OP, is OP, and will be OP. It completely wrecks face tank classes such as warrior/druid/paladin/rogue, and sometimes carries you against control.
  • Solemn Vigil – Reload. The effect is very interesting and has some funny situations with our deck. Against aggro, we can often pull this off for free on a turn 3 or 4, while against control we can play it for 5 mana and still get value. On average playing it for 3 mana is very possible and is worth, and sometimes you can pull TWO off for free which gives us insane power.
  • Quartermaster – Our finisher card. If all things go according to plan, slamming down a Quartermaster straight up wins us games. Having two in the deck further increases the chances of drawing it in time for a good opportunity; however, it also increases the chances of clogging your hand with two. In these situations, getting minimal value off of them is okay, but try to go for the dream. Another great thing about this deck is that most aggro paladins don’t even include Quartermaster as they prefer to run chargers and burst. Punish your opponents for not playing around it for free wins!

Tech Choices

In light of the unstable meta right after TGT release, tech cards can be excluded. Once the dust settles and matchups are more predictable, we can start to cycle them in. That being said, being able to make these calls yourself while playing on the ladder is a necessary skill while climbing the ladder.

  • Harrison/Ooze – These became staples pre-TGT. There are still many warriors, paladins and hunters in the meta that can feed value to these cards, but I will not include them yet.
  • Kezan – Secrets are a “thing” these days. Punish them with this card – it can take the place of a Shredder or Gormok if you are absolutely running into secret classes. Keep in mind that it only steals ONE secret, which makes it slightly worse against the new Paladin secret list.
  • BGH/Aldor – In the current meta, flood decks and aggro is everywhere. However if Handlocks and huge dragons become an issue, consider swapping out some Coghammer/Horserider for these cards.
  • Divine Favor – If all you face is control decks, swap in two of these in favor of Solemn Vigils.

The puns are real boys.

Card Exclusions

  • Defender of Argus – Probably the card I want to fit in the most. Unfortunately the 4 mana spot is VERY tight and I often get a lot more value from Gormok the Impaler, so I had to give up this spot.
  • Divine Favor – This list often curves out very well and encourages playing many little minions, so this card seems to be a natural fit. However, against other aggro cards this can often be a dead card, especially if you draw both, which will sometimes cause a straight up loss. This deck often dictates the trades on board, which gives Solemn Vigil a lot more value against both aggro AND control, which made me prefer it.
  • Zombie Chow – Although this is a go-to for most board centric decks, the drawback can often push the opponent out of lethal. Argent Squire is a better fit for the list as it can combo with the buffers and survives AoE wipes from Consecration and Holy Nova.
  • Chargers – This is not a burst-centered deck; it’s all about controlling the board. Leave your Arcane Golems and Leeroys at the door. These are excluded for the same reason as in Zoo (doomguard can be compared to Quartermaster). Argent Horserider’s charge effect, on the other hand, is extremely useful for trading due to his divine shield.
  • Blessing of Might – Although this card can be used to combo with our divine shields, it has relatively low impact by itself… I can’t find a spot for it in this deck. Abusive is just better.
  • Heals – We don’t want to prolong the game; healing is often a huge loss in tempo. Aggro matchups are better dealt with via early board control and coghammer/muster, and there is no time for any heavy heal drops like Tuskarr or Guardian of Kings
  • Silver Hand Regent/Warhorse Trainer – I tested these cards in the early stages of the list but found them to be underwhelming in terms of tempo. Argent Horserider and Seal of Champions are more proactive cards that help the main goal of the deck more than these.
  • Murloc Knight – I love it, but it’s too slow and Shredder takes its place in this type of list. This card is too weak to things like Death’s Bite and Truesilver whereas Shredder can facetank those twice, usually.
  • Justicar – Similar to Murloc Knight, this list encourages early kills over stretching out the game
  • Creeper/Annoyotron – No room. Ooze fits the theme of this deck a bit better.
  • Loatheb – I would love to have him in the deck to play around AoE, but I can’t find where to fit him…
  • Boom/Tirion/Lay On Hands – Including these type of cards changes the archetype of the deck…at that point I’d rather just play standard midrange paladin.

COMBOS

  • Muster for Battle + Quartermaster
      • Bread & Butter of this list. The reason it curves out to two Quartermasters is that there will often be a few dudes on the board at the start of your turn. Getting just one dude buffed with a Quartermaster can be a very value play; imagine a board full of them! WELL MET!
  • Knife Juggler + Muster for Battle
      • Pew pew pew! If you’re feeling lucky, or even if you’re not, this is pretty good value – Built in Arcane Missiles which can provide huge tempo swings in early game or game-winning snipes lategame. Also great with Equality.
  • Echoing Ooze + Blessing of Kings / Seal of Champions / Coghammer
      • This does not happen as often as we would like. Be careful about saving this combo, some matchups require you to use them on curve for board control. Solid comeback mechanic after board wipe.
  • Equality + Consecration / Knife Juggler / Solemn Vigil
      • Bread & Butter board clear. This is our only outs against Dragon Priest, Handlock, Patron, and pretty much anything that involved many big creatures trying to mess with our dudes.
  • Argent Horserider + Abusive / Blessing of Kings
      • Trade value! Tempo swings created by these cards can steal the board against bigger minions (druids, priests, warlock)
  • Gormok the Impaler + Muster for Battle / Echoing Ooze
    • The lategame value of flooding the board while having an instant 4 damage is insane. A great comeback mechanic if the game drags on and your board gets wiped. Not many people play around the potential 4 damage to face!

Mulligans

There are some ground rules for the mulligan with this list. It is crucial to curve out well in the early game in order to easily gain & maintain the tempo into the mid and lategame.

  • If going first, go for the 1-2-3 dream. Even though Muster is a game winning card against many matchups, if the rest of your hand is Quartermaster and Blessing of Kings, it is incorrect to keep it. However, if your hand was Leper Gnome and Ooze, definitely keep it. In other words, try hard to get something to play on 1 and 2.
  • Only keep Seal of Champions or Horserider if you have a 1 + 2 play, or the coin. Think ahead about when the Seal will get the most tempo/value.
  • Think about how your cards will interact with each other. Keeping Knife Juggler with Muster is a very rewarding play if they can’t answer it. Abusive Sergeant can combo with Leper Gnome to take out an Armorsmith.
  • If you are given a 1 drop and 3 mana weapon, consider hard mulliganing for a 2 drop to fill out the curve. If we can pull it off, very few things will get in the way.
  • In some matchups, it will be weirdly appropriate to keep an Abusive Sergeant to play on turn 1 (great totem killer), Owl to prevent Mad Scientist value, or Equality to stand a chance against Handlock & Patron. Don’t get greedy if you are given these options as you have a good chance of getting punished with 4 or 5 mana card instead.

NEVER KEEP: Blessing of Kings, Gormok the Impaler, Solemn Vigil, Quartermaster

VS Aggro: Muster for Battle (very important) Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Echoing Ooze, Coghammer

**Keeping Consecration is SOMETIMES okay versus flood classes like Paladin, but I’d only think about it if there is a solid turn 1 and 2 play already.

VS Midrange/Tempo: Argent Squire, Shielded Minibot, Echoing Ooze, Coghammer, Argent Horserider, sometimes Muster

VS Control: Argent Squire, Abusive, sometimes equality/owl, Leper Gnome, Sometimes Truesilver, Piloted Shredder is an OK keep if you have a curve and the coin

In-Depth Matchups

Hunter

    • Midrange/Hybrid – Highly Favored
  • Muster for Battle (very important) Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer.
  • Make reads on what type of trap they are based on their deck. If they start with webspinner or have a generally slow start, it’s safe to assume their secret might be a freezing trap.
  • ALWAYS PLAY AROUND UNLEASH+JUGGLER! This combo can completely shut out our victory so minimize value by keeping fewer, higher HP minions on the field after turn 4.
    • Face – Slightly Favored
      • Muster for Battle (very important) Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer.
      • We have to race them after the first 3 turns of board control battles. Using weapons to clear board can end up backfiring if they can burn us out.
  • Always get the most out of your board before running into an explosive trap – using coghammer, Kings, and seal of champions helps this a lot.

Warrior

  • Patron – Highly unfavored
    • EQUALITY! Shielded Minibot, Abusive, Leper Gnome, Truesilver, sometimes Owl.
    • This is our hardest matchup by far. The power of their deck lies in punishing our little minions – at times even using our hero power can give them a significant advantage or even lethal.
    • Hope they don’t get god draws, apply constant pressure, and you might be able to pull off a win. Many patron players go all-in on their first wave to shut out the game, so if you can regain the board with an equality clear the odds tip in your favor.
  • Control/Dragon – Slightly unfavored
    • Shielded Minibot, Abusive, Leper Gnome, Piloted Shredder, Truesilver, sometimes Equality
    • Control warrior can be rough. If they curve out perfectly there is not much we can do. However they will often use their resources awkwardly on our small minions to stabilize, so keeping up pressure is important as always.
    • Many times the warrior can shut out our early victory. At this point we need to bait out a Brawl with hero powers, leper gnomes, Minibots. Once they brawl, we can use Muster + Quartermaster to attempt a comeback. Be careful for Chillmaw in dragon decks or the double brawl.
    • If you find yourself in the endgame with a warrior, you will likely both be topdecking and hero powering every turn. The warrior class is stacked with big minions like Dr. Boom/Alextraza/Ysera, but if they whiff and topdeck Execute while we flood the board with minions every turn, we can actually outlast and pull the victory.

Paladin

  • Aggro/Flood/Secrets – Highly favored
    • Muster for Battle (very important) Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer, sometimes Consecration
    • These guys want to beat us at our own game. Unfortunately for them, we do it better.
    • Punish their early aggression with more valuable trades. After a while they will start to trade into you, at which point you will probably win.
    • Shut out their flood with consecration IF ALREADY AHEAD ON BOARD. Using a turn 4 consecration to clear their guys does nothing for our board control besides allow them a free turn 5.
    • Secret paladin CAN get a significant tempo advantage, notably when they use Mysterious Challenger. Research the common secrets and play around them as best as possible; saving an owl for Avenge can be a saving grace. Once the dust settles, reload the board and punish them.
  • Midrange/Control – Slightly favored
    • Shielded Minibot, Argent Squire, Ooze, Abusive, Leper Gnome, Piloted Shredder, Truesilver, sometimes Equality
    • Beware their Quartermaster. Don’t waste your Consecrations, but definitely deny them Quartermaster value whenever possible.
    • Try to save Ironbeak Owl for their Tirion, but using it on Sylvanas is usually okay if it maintains board control.
    • Use Muster + Quarter or Ooze + Buff to come back after board clears

Mage

  • Tempo/Mech – Favored
    • Abusive Sergeant, Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ooze, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer, Muster for Battle, Ironbeak Owl
    • Try to get strong minions out early, shoot for those Shielded Minibots to contest their early mana wyrms. This can get out of hand if they have godly starts but on average we will curve out more often than them.
    • Play around flamewalker/Goblin Blastmage as best as you can
    • Might have to save equality for Archmage, but if you can pull off a good board clear with consecration go for it
  • Freeze / Echo – Unfavored
    • Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Muster for Battle, Truesilver Champion, very rarely Blessing of Kings (only if you have a great curve planned out)
    • This is very difficult. Against freeze, try to rush them down before they can Alextraza to stand a chance.
      • Use Blessing of Kings to dodge AoE clears
      • Save Owl or Equality for Doomsayer or Archmage Antonidas
    • Against Echo, you have to try the best to play around Molten Giant, but often this is unwinnable unless we get lucky with Equality clears or Ironbeak Owl cheese.

Warlock

  • Zoo – Slightly favored
    • Abusive Sergeant, Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ooze, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer, Muster for Battle, Ironbeak Owl
    • We need to out-zoo the zoo. It’s definitely possible due to our heavy flood mechanics and their lack of AoE; just be careful to deny them minions every turn. Constant board control wins us this game.
    • Owl the egg. Just do it.
    • Early trades are everything
  • Handlock- Favored
    • Muster for Battle, Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer, sometimes Truesilver
    • We can often rush the handlock down before they get a chance to stabilize. If they kept some cards, they are probably molten/taunts or AoE so try to play around them.
    • Ironbeak Owl on a Twilight drake seems very valuable but only do this if you feel confident that you can deal with their bigger taunts later (Equality)
    • Equality + Consecration can steal the game turn 7 if we have a board. With this in your hand and/or Owls, it is likely correct to push damage to face.
    • If you cannot deal with Molten Giants, DO NOT PUT THEM IN RANGE! Always keep the warlock with just enough health to spend their whole turn putting the giant.
  • Malylock – Favored
    • Muster for Battle, Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer, sometimes Truesilver
    • Malylock is more removal and value based than handlock, and lack the Giants. Rush them down! Beware of Hellfire, try to save consecration for their Implosions, and make sure they cannot get more than 1 tick off the Emperor Thaurrisan.

Priest

  • Dragon Priest – Unfavored
    • Argent Squire, Abusive, sometimes equality/owl, Leper Gnome, Sometimes Truesilver, Piloted Shredder is an OK keep if you have a curve and the coin
    • The new dragon list has an insane ability to drop huge minions every turn, buff them, and heal them easily. We need equality clear to push through big boards, but try hard to be the aggressor and establish early board control.
    • Do not feed them draw through Northshire Cleric
    • Divine shields can steal us the board early on
    • Punish their greedy buffs with Ironbeak Owl
  • Freeze Priest – Favored
    • Argent Squire, Abusive, sometimes equality/owl, Leper Gnome, Sometimes Truesilver, Piloted Shredder is an OK keep if you have a curve and the coin
    • No ice block means we can easily rush them down. Didn’t see any of these on the ladder, but the general strategy here is to rush them down before they can OTK.

Rogue

  • Oil Rogue – Highly Unfavored
    • Shielded Minibot, Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Echoing Ooze, Coghammer
    • This is another very difficult matchup due to the amount of tempo based removal spells they have. Often times they can laugh off our little minions and set up for some heavy burst lategame.
    • Bait out AoE and make reads on what they are holding. If we can manage to rush them down before they draw into Oil and AoE we can win.

Shaman

  • Flood Totem – Favored
    • Muster for Battle (very important) Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer, sometimes Consecration
    • This can often lead to topdeck wars; usually in this position we are winning.
  • Midrange – Favored
    • Shielded Minibot, Argent Squire, Ooze, Abusive, Leper Gnome, Piloted Shredder, Truesilver, sometimes Equality
    • Similar to the Midrange Paladin list, we often need to use Quarter + Muster or Ooze combos to come back after nasty Lightning storm wipes.
    • Force them to storm early. If they feel threatened enough to overload on turn 3 they will be re-flooded and rekt.
    • Always beware of tempo swings with Fire Elemental; try to not leave a 5/2 minion alive on turn 5, for example.
    • Apply constant pressure to prevent them from being able to play Boom on 7.

Druid

  • Token – Favored
    • Muster for Battle (very important) Argent Squire, Leper Gnome, Ironbeak Owl, Shielded Minibot, Coghammer, sometimes Consecration
    • Once we establish board control and become the aggressor, they need to get lucky swipes to stand a chance.
    • Consecration is best saved for board clears once they use Violet Teacher combos.
    • Feel free to use weapons for board control but keep in mind that your health should not sink below 14 once turns 7/8 come along.
  • Midrange/Combo – Favored
    • Argent Squire, Abusive, sometimes equality/owl, Leper Gnome, Sometimes Truesilver, Piloted Shredder is an OK keep if you have a curve and the coin
    • We can easily overload the board while the druid attempts to ramp up.
    • Please do not coin Knife juggler turn 1 and complain when they use Innervate + Keeper of the Grove
    • They always have swipe. Keep that in mind before throwing Muster for Battle on to the field
    • If you can get a Muster + Quarter combo off, you will probably win the game. Druids have a very hard time dealing with all these little minions.
    • Use divine shields and buffers to punch through their turn 5 taunt. Save equality and owl for lethal pushes or comeback mechanisms.
  • Ramp –  Slightly Unfavored
    • Piloted Shredder, Equality, Owl, Leper Gnome, Ooze, Squire, Abusive, Coghammer, Muster for battle
    • We can deal with a few taunts, but Ramp druids can just be ridiculous. Use equality to deal with innervated threats, and equality + owl to push through their lategame walls.
    • Gormok the Impaler is actually very important in this matchup for punching through taunts.
    • Muster + Quartermaster is our main win condition. Try to answer their Ancient of War with an owl or equality.

The list: //imgur.com/TQS8dZd

The proof:  //i.imgur.com/8jYJ5Ow.jpg

Stats on the day of the climb: //imgur.com/vWXWIrh

Hopefully this guide was able to help give a deep look into the playstyle of this deck. Many players will add you after the game and complain about how you are a “no skill lucker” but just screenshot them, giggle, and press that play button again.

BEWARE! This deck only works in specific metas. If you find yourself running into solid counters, simply switch to a different style of deck. It is important to be a well-rounded player with different deck styles under your belt, and even more important to be able to make meta calls!

Coaching

I offer coaching for $20/hour and am reachable at [email protected] – my areas of expertise are Druid, Warlock, Paladin, and Hunter.

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Twitter – @JaytonicHS

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