10-02-2015
, 02:15 PM
10-02-2015
, 02:16 PM
10-02-2015
, 05:50 PM
10-03-2015
, 01:52 AM
Aceium asked me to share my list and im more than honored so here is the current na deck:
10-03-2015
, 03:53 AM
10-16-2015
, 10:56 AM
Any dragon builds successfully fitting Justicar and Confessor? I wanted to craft Confessor just because it seems really fun, but no idea how I would fit it into my current build.
This is currently what I'm running:
Could definitely be far from optimal. Mostly just think Confessor seems like a really fun card and would like it to work.
This is currently what I'm running:
Could definitely be far from optimal. Mostly just think Confessor seems like a really fun card and would like it to work.
10-18-2015
, 10:50 AM
10-22-2015
, 10:04 PM
Just posted in the general thread a lot about priest, and i wanted to share some thoughts on building a control priest deck.
Why play control priest?
Control priest is one of the few true control decks that is top tier competitive in hearthstone. The game plan from turn 1 is all about controlling the board - its the best way to utilize your heal hero power, which is unique in that when the priest hero power is good it's REALLY good, and when it's not useful, it's the WORST. (If you're at full and passing early game turns with no board, it feelsbadman)
Priest is also one of the only classes (warrior being the other, and KINDA druid) that has comeback potential once you've been dropped into lethal territory. Coming back from near defeat is a lot of fun, as is the fight to stabilize vs both face/aggro as well as combo/midrange decks.
If you don't like longer drawn out games, or decks that have limited burst so you can't seize a weakness and pounce, priest probably isn't for you. If you like the notion of INTERACTIVE DECKS that don't LEEEEEROY your opponent to deal 30+ damage in one turn, then maybe priest IS for you!
How is control priest in the meta?
Priest is capable of dealing with all kinds of cancer. Since they can heal and all. (Ok, lame joke) Seriously though, due to a wide variety of tools, priests are one of the few classes that have both elite single target removal as well as various board controls/aoes. They also have solid card engines to fight longer games.
Control priest deals with aggro, midrange, and even other control decks (minus super super control decks) well. The only matchup that tends to be quite bad are the super combo decks, where you lack enough aggression to pressure and just die to 30+ damage in one turn. Lucky for priest, charged frothings are no longer possible, which means the only combo deck that tends to terrorize is freeze mage. Luckily not many people play freeze mage.
Why not dragon priest?
Dragon Priest is a totally fine deck archetype. It plays a little differently, as it is less reliant on combos and more reliant on a solid curve and value minions. It's all a matter of preference; I believe classic control priest is actually stronger both in the mirror as well as vs. a field of decks, but they do different things and I wouldn't fault anyone for playing dragons.
In general, because dragon priest plays 4 taunts (minimum) they tend to have an even better time vs super aggression. (Whelp into Wyrmrest shuts down opponents, especially if you can back it up with a Twilight Gaurdian) From the other perspective, I feel as though Dragon Priest deals with token decks (like midrange paladin) a lot worse than control priest.
What are the core cards for control priest?
The backbone of a control priest is built around the following cards:
Northshire Cleric - Almost every priest deck uses these as the card engine. A 1/3 body is fantastic vs early aggro, but mainly is important because you can draw a card when you utilize your hero power. Clerics by themselves are generally enough to completely fuel a deck, although there are a few cantrips that are typically run.
(Power Word: Shield) - Wanted to lump the spells together, but I guess I'll just go by mana cost. PW:S is just a cute, cheap cantrip that also serves a very very significant role. It helps keeps minions alive so that they can be healed, it can be a combo activator (more on this in a second), helps thin your deck, and often allows easy 2 for 1s or whatnot on an already played minion prior to a trade. I can't imagine not running them to be honest.
Wild Pyromancer - The joke is this is the best priest card of all. Yes, it's not a priest card - that's the joke! Because priests are capable of healing the pyromancer, it allows a minion that can pump out aoe whenever necessary. The synergy with PW:S (above) is obvious, but due to the wave aoe, has the secondary synergy with damaging your own minions and then healing them to draw cards.
Injured Blademaster - The staple 3 drop, the 4/"3" body isn't anything special, but because it has 7 health but damages itself, it's a high health minion (very important for priests) that immediately can draw a card if a Northshire is in play already. The reason high health minions are so valuable is because they are more likely to survive combat (obviously) which then allows the player to utilize the hero ability. As noted above when you are able to use this ability it's probably the best in the game, so IBM is a core card. Also has synergy with...
(Circle of Healing) - A bizarre 0 mana spell, when this spell sits in your hand with no combo it's useless. But it's the ultimate combo card!!! With northshires on board, Circles are capable of 0 mana draw X (1, 2, 3, 4, ... so on!) which makes this card the most potentially broken cards in the game. Synergizes with pyro as a 0 mana deal 1 damage to everything; if you play it with the IBM, it's a 3 mana 4/7 (which is on par with a 5 mana card, like Feugen) although yes does require 2 cards. And finally...
Auchenai Soulpriest - The MVP of any priest deck, it's the one card that enables using your hero power offensively. (Shadowform does this as well, but shadowform is a terrible card) A 3/5 for 4 mana is slightly bad stats (the yeti is probably the classic line for good stats, as it has collectively 9) Aside from being able to ping something for 2 damage, an auchenai circle is essentially a 4 mana flamestrike, which is the best comeback mechanism in the game. It's also the only priest card that enables burst / bypassing taunts to go straight to the face, which is why it's so important.
So that's 12 cards that I would consider uncuttable. Let's review some other near-staples...
Shadow Word: Pain, Shadow Word: Death - Almost no one runs SW:P. It's reasonable; 2 mana, hard removal for most early game minions. The reason why most people don't use it is it typically doesn't confer any massive advantage, (sometimes slight tempo gain) never 2 for 1s and is a somewhat pricey Pyro proc. When the meta is super fast or is laden with dangerous 2/4s or the like (like Imp Gang Boss and Flamewaker, the 2 primary targets, but also Murloc Knight, Water Elemental, etc.) it's something you can tech in. I consider it slightly overcosted since typically it just trades 2 mana for 2 mana, and is 100% reactive without any upside. (Like vs Knife Juggler or Shielded Minibot, or even Mana Wyrm, Secretkeeper, etc!) SW
is another matter; since Priests don't run BGH (3 spot is too contested, it only having 2 health goes against priest high health mantra, etc.) the Death(s) are your big minion removal. SWD is played far more often given the WIDE net of minions it can hit, but also because it almost always confers an advantage of some sort. If they spend 8 mana on a Rag, you can deal with that Rag for just 3 mana! Or a Tirion, a ~Boom (minus the whole boom bots, sadly) even Slyvanas, Loatheb, Justicar, etc. Even in a real fast meta there are a lot of 5+ power minions and so I very often run 2. A lot of very good players only run 1. This is more or less up to the user, but I'd consider 0 pains and 1-2 deaths standard, with sometimes switching this up a bit.
Holy Nova - Nova is expensive AOE. The big plus of Nova (why it differs from a 5 mana consecrate) is the health gain on both minions and self often matters a lot. If you can ever get a Nova as a cantrip (or more!) it's suddenly super valuable. It also can be the lifegain required vs face hunter or the like (turn 7 nova/heal face!). Some lists run 2, but because of the bevy of aoe (and sometimes nova is very bad, like vs control decks or even vs some midrangey stuff) I almost always run just 1. Pyro-Novas let you board wipe 3 mana.
Cabal Shadow Priest - I *almost* put them in the staple category, but there is some discretion allowed with CSPs. A 4/5 for 6 mana sounds like a bad deal, but the swing gained from stealing a minion is very often game winning. The only reason there is discretion is they are yet another reactive card that is very underpowered when played without a target. (But sometimes necessary) The other problem is there are a LOT of good/necessary 6 mana cards, between Lightbomb (will discuss that next), Slyvanas (combos with Death to function as a mindcontrol for 1 less mana!), Justicar (very strong with the Priest hero power, especially with an Auchenai on board), etc. Some lists run just 1 and I think that's fine.
Lightbomb - In today's meta not playing lightbomb is not really an option. It's a total board wipe. The only question is whether to run 2 or just 1. There is slight synergy as well if you play cleric and then lightbomb and heal it, it serves as a 9 mana cantrip. Expensive but sometimes necessary!
~ Other cards sometimes run...
Flash Heal / Light of the Naaru - More combo pieces, oh boy. These serve as the cheap procs for pyro (remember how I said shadow word pain was a little expensive as a combo piece? These are half the mana!) but also have some utility. The combo with auchenai enables them to be used offensively as very cheap lava bursts or frostbolts, they can be comeback burst heals vs super aggressive decks, and LotN can be played as a regular lightwarden, which can be very important.
Thoughtsteal - I ping-pong love and hate with thoughtsteal. As I've told a friend before for arena, the better your opponent's deck, the better the thoughtsteal! (So at 12 wins its really really good!) The same is true on ladder. It's a very bad card vs fast decks as card advantage for the mana cost is almost never worth it, plus their deck typically wont help you very much. In the mirror, or vs control decks, man oh man it is a free card for a low relative mana cost. It's also another way to get cards to trigger pyro.
Velen's Chosen - A buff that isn't quite as amazing as PW:S, but good enough that it is played in a lot of priest decks. I'm not as high on Velens because it's another reactive/combo necessary card that requires having a board. But 2/4 for 3 is ridiculous, even if the spell power rarely matters. I also think the 3 spot is very competitive given you want some minions, SWD is 3 mana, and if you choose to play stuff like thoughtsteal etc. its hard to squeeze it in. But it's a valid choice.
Holy Champion - This card can get out of control if you have novas/circles with some minions in play. It also has flexibility to be a simple 6 mana 5/5, which sometimes is OK. I feel like I've shared thoughts on this guy before, and really is a matter of preference for how many 4 cost minions you want in a deck. If you want 4 (which is a bit bulky) you probably want to run 2 along auchenais.
Voljin/Confessor - Didn't want to talk about legendaries too much, but both of these cards are better the slower the meta. Voljin is the best way to deal with things like 8/8s or 4/12s (!) if you have ANY board at all. Voljin/Nova (or Voljin/Smite) or Voljin/Auchenai pings are all common and great combos for a clear. Confessor is basically a 9 mana slot machine. I don't play confessor; I think she's inferior to Ysera (I love Ysera) and I think it's too greedy to go with both. (Although defensible) She obviously can spiral out of control. (So can Ysera, but Ysera as a 12 mana toughness is much harder to clear than Confessor) So, they're judgment calls and not necessary, although both individually strong.
Shrinkmeister - I forgot to include this card earlier. A lot of decks include 1 (I generally do) specifically because the combo with Cabal is so strong vs targets that are otherwise GG for a priest. (Malygos/Ysera in particular) Very strong to grab belchers, shredders, etc. A 3/2 isn't great for tempo vs faster decks but if you are ABLE to get value from its battlecry with a minion on board it already has proved itself.
Dark Cultist - Really strong 3 mana card. It's a 3/4, which is the premier 3 mana stats, and its deathrattle is actually useful and sometimes relevant. Way back when undertaker priest was a thing this card was the super nuts, but as is it's a complementary 3 drop next to IBM. I cut them when faced with aggro because I'd prefer a taunt (and 2 vs 3 power is fairly equivalent) but in the grand scheme of things Cultists are better cards than deathlords.
~ Priest specific cards almost never run... (But maybe!)
Silence - Priests don't run silence (like owls) since there is never enough room. So why would you run a 0 mana spell?! Well, it's yet another potential pyro combo piece. That's about it. In my opinion Silence never justifies itself, but if you're playing stuff like Acolyte of Pains (will touch on those later in the post) you may want more cheap triggers. Also, in the current meta silence does have a lot of value, so it's something to consider. Probably not worth it though.
Holy Smite - Offers some minor direct damage and yet another cheap proc for pyro. If you want more anti aggro or you're using more +spell power it's certainly an option.
Inner Fire/Divine Spirit - In control priest you're not going for gimmicks like this. They are not an option, only included them because they've gained popularity in some dragon decks. In a different kind of priest deck with something like Tournament Medic I think they're viable but I would avoid at all costs in control priest.
Shadowboxer - Yes, it's a mech. No, mech does not matter for Priest. The reason it's included in the rarely category is that a 2/3 for 2 is a lot better (in priest) than a 3/2, and the card text has some very slight synergy. (It is kinda like a knife juggler, only not as good or reliable) Personally I've tried 1 and like every 2 drop other than Pyro it didn't really disappoint but it never really proved itself either.
Shadow Madness - A combo piece that gains value if you're playing 1 or 2 shrinkmeisters, this card was a lot better when Zoo was more popular. It has POTENTIAL to ~3 for 1 (often 2 for 1) but can sit in your hand as well. Typically you don't want your deck TOO reactive, and the 4 spot is already a bit clunky if you go with Auchenais AND Holy Champions. I almost never run 1 nowadays but because I have gold ones on all servers sometimes I just run them anyway.
Holy Fire - An expensive removal / potential direct damage / burst heal all in one! Holy fire is basically the kind of card that if it was 4 mana (~fireball with benefits) it would be the best card in the game, at 5 mana it would be fair and run more often, but at 6 mana just almost never seen. If you want the burst heals / reach and don't want to play flash heals/Lotn, it's an option. Because of the high mana cost it typically prohibits doing anything else with your turn, and because it doesn't directly synergize with any other cards it makes for a better arena card than constructed. (Other than Velen's Chosen I suppose)
Mind Control - I ran 1 earlier in the season and it was OK. It basically is in the Ysera/Confessor class (although more reactive, and oddly sometimes more flexible) where you want 1 of the 3 for a late game bomb, 2 is basically too greedy and 3 is unheard of. And of the 3 it's probably the least best, but again, an option.
Alright, let's build your control priest! So we have some staples (above), we have some cards that are almost always included... How should we handle curve?
Ideally we have some 1 drops to go along with Northshire Clerics. It's important to be on the board early; everything is a fight for board control, and falling far behind in tempo can lead to losses if we don't have the comeback pieces in hand. The *only* real choice is whether to include Zombie Chows. Zombie Chow has odd synergy with Auchenai; if they die with Auchenai on board, they mind blast your opponent! This actually is highly relevant and a win condition in some specific matchups. I almost always run 2. It's reasonable to only run 1.
If I don't have chows, or don't want to run them, are there any reasonable alternatives?
Some of the spells above (like Smite) gain some value if you're not able to immediately play the board. Because of the Undertaker nerf, an archetype that used to be very strong is not strong anymore. So...
Injured Kvaldir - I tested these guys a little and they just weren't strong. This is weird given how insane Injured Blademasters are, but maybe it's because even a 1 mana 2/4 (using 2 cards) isn't quite the same as a 3 mana 4/7. In any event my hunch is this is a reasonable/required card in a Rez deck (didn't include that card in the priest card writeup since I don't think it has any role in a standard control priest) but without that card Kvaldir belongs on the sideline.
Lightwarden - Why play lightwarden when you can run Light of the Naaru! Seriously though, just run LotN. But if you really want additional 1 drops, the hero power synergy is quite obvious.
Shield Bearer - Yeah this sounds crazy but remember how I said high health minions matter? If you're playing double velens this is a target for it, also helps vs aggro a bit. I wouldn't use them (chows chows chows!!!) but just including it as a viable possibility, even if it looks weird.
Of those neutral options, none are great outside of Chow. But again, they are possibilities.
What about 2 drops? I've expressed some discontent with 2 drops. It's not that necessary to have a lot of 2s of course and you don't really need a pure curve in priest. (Due to all the cheap spells a curve graph can look really weird for control priest) In any event, of the 2s above (Shrinkmeister/Shadowboxer) I'd lean towards 1 (or 2 I suppose) Shrinkmeisters.
Acidic Swamp Ooze - An anti-weapon Tech. I sometimes use 1 and when it gets value it feels great and when it doesn't I wish it was a shrinkmeister.
Crazed Alchemist - WAY too combo oriented and not a realistic option, including it here only because the Wow! Science! ability pairs with Shadow Word Death/Pain and/or Cabals really well, which means it's something you could potentially consider. But at the end of the day a 2/2 doesn't accomplish much if you're playing to curve and it's probably too combo oriented for an already combo heavy deck.
Doomsayer - Because Priest lacks things like Nova to combo for a board wipe, it's not really something I'd include. BUT it has high health, (if it gets silenced!) which means it's a big body that can do stuff. And Doomsayers are great anti aggro. Just including any 2 drop that I could envision including. Once again though at the end of the day probably too niche.
Garrison Commander - A 2/3 Body? Check! Card text that enables the card to scale well in the later game? Check! TGT hasn't been out for that long so I feel like a lot of cards are getting passed over. Garrison Commander is one of those cards. Something I'd def consider in priest if you want more 2s.
Gilbin Stalker - The reason this card has seen constructed play, and I'm quite fond of it, (aside from having a gold one, which is why I used it in the first place lol) is that stealth allows you to trade -> heal it up on your own terms, or keep it stealthed to throw down a buff on it. (Ie Velens) Totally reasonable.
Loot Hoarder - Moreso used in combo-centric decks, and if we're talking priest, that would be a mind blast/velens deck. Regardless if you need more card draw and just want to take a flier it's not horrible.
Recombobulator - (And Youthful Brewmaster) This is included because some gimmicky priest decks have used this card in conjunction with things like Shadow Madness. (Which totally works) I don't like the 3/2 body if forced to tempo it out, but standard priest decks have good recombob targets (like Justicar or Cabal!) so it's a viable option. I don't have enough room for fun cards like this but it's reasonable. The brewmaster is more far fetched but does serve combo potential.
Sunfury Protector - Not sure what you want to taunt up but it's the kind of thing where a 2/3 serves a purpose and maybe you're not playing taunts so you want some anti-aggro potential. Just an idea.
~~
For 3 drops, I normally run 4. My default are the IBM x2 and 2 flex spots which go back and forth between Dark Cultists (mentioned above) and...
Deathlord - The ultimate anti-aggro. This card has lost me (and many other people) a lot of games, but it's a gamble - you expect it to save/win more games than it loses. It has a ton of health which enables circle of healing to do work, if you're playing Velens Chosen it double combos since it really is fine if it gets silenced, etc.
The other lesser-used options?
Acolyte of Pain - Great because you can heal it to get more cards, or if you're using Velens/pw:s can get a lot of cards from it. Also combos excellently with pyro, as every time you cast a spell you'll draw a card. It's a reasonable alternative.
Earthen Ring Farseer - The heal combos with Northshire and Auchenai. Way back in the day I ran one. For whatever reason they have fallen off the face of the game in basically every deck. Solid card though and reasonable.
Eydis/Fjola - I tried Eyedis and I was not impressed. A 3/4 body matches Dark Cultist (without the deathrattle) and the sisters offer some upside with power word shield. (And velens, if you're running 1 or 2)
Imp Master - No one ever actually uses this, but the reason I bring it up is because it damages itself it synergizes with the priest ability. It also creates tokens which could matter if you're looking for a target to buff. At the end of the day this card just isn't quite constructed quality so it never sees play but I could imagine it working.
Mind Control Tech - Generally unnecessary in priest, always good for additional trolling.
Spider Tank - If you don't have Nax, the 3/4 body is a reasonable replacement.
Anyway, that should give people the basic framework with which to work!
Why play control priest?
Control priest is one of the few true control decks that is top tier competitive in hearthstone. The game plan from turn 1 is all about controlling the board - its the best way to utilize your heal hero power, which is unique in that when the priest hero power is good it's REALLY good, and when it's not useful, it's the WORST. (If you're at full and passing early game turns with no board, it feelsbadman)
Priest is also one of the only classes (warrior being the other, and KINDA druid) that has comeback potential once you've been dropped into lethal territory. Coming back from near defeat is a lot of fun, as is the fight to stabilize vs both face/aggro as well as combo/midrange decks.
If you don't like longer drawn out games, or decks that have limited burst so you can't seize a weakness and pounce, priest probably isn't for you. If you like the notion of INTERACTIVE DECKS that don't LEEEEEROY your opponent to deal 30+ damage in one turn, then maybe priest IS for you!
How is control priest in the meta?
Priest is capable of dealing with all kinds of cancer. Since they can heal and all. (Ok, lame joke) Seriously though, due to a wide variety of tools, priests are one of the few classes that have both elite single target removal as well as various board controls/aoes. They also have solid card engines to fight longer games.
Control priest deals with aggro, midrange, and even other control decks (minus super super control decks) well. The only matchup that tends to be quite bad are the super combo decks, where you lack enough aggression to pressure and just die to 30+ damage in one turn. Lucky for priest, charged frothings are no longer possible, which means the only combo deck that tends to terrorize is freeze mage. Luckily not many people play freeze mage.
Why not dragon priest?
Dragon Priest is a totally fine deck archetype. It plays a little differently, as it is less reliant on combos and more reliant on a solid curve and value minions. It's all a matter of preference; I believe classic control priest is actually stronger both in the mirror as well as vs. a field of decks, but they do different things and I wouldn't fault anyone for playing dragons.
In general, because dragon priest plays 4 taunts (minimum) they tend to have an even better time vs super aggression. (Whelp into Wyrmrest shuts down opponents, especially if you can back it up with a Twilight Gaurdian) From the other perspective, I feel as though Dragon Priest deals with token decks (like midrange paladin) a lot worse than control priest.
What are the core cards for control priest?
The backbone of a control priest is built around the following cards:
Northshire Cleric - Almost every priest deck uses these as the card engine. A 1/3 body is fantastic vs early aggro, but mainly is important because you can draw a card when you utilize your hero power. Clerics by themselves are generally enough to completely fuel a deck, although there are a few cantrips that are typically run.
(Power Word: Shield) - Wanted to lump the spells together, but I guess I'll just go by mana cost. PW:S is just a cute, cheap cantrip that also serves a very very significant role. It helps keeps minions alive so that they can be healed, it can be a combo activator (more on this in a second), helps thin your deck, and often allows easy 2 for 1s or whatnot on an already played minion prior to a trade. I can't imagine not running them to be honest.
Wild Pyromancer - The joke is this is the best priest card of all. Yes, it's not a priest card - that's the joke! Because priests are capable of healing the pyromancer, it allows a minion that can pump out aoe whenever necessary. The synergy with PW:S (above) is obvious, but due to the wave aoe, has the secondary synergy with damaging your own minions and then healing them to draw cards.
Injured Blademaster - The staple 3 drop, the 4/"3" body isn't anything special, but because it has 7 health but damages itself, it's a high health minion (very important for priests) that immediately can draw a card if a Northshire is in play already. The reason high health minions are so valuable is because they are more likely to survive combat (obviously) which then allows the player to utilize the hero ability. As noted above when you are able to use this ability it's probably the best in the game, so IBM is a core card. Also has synergy with...
(Circle of Healing) - A bizarre 0 mana spell, when this spell sits in your hand with no combo it's useless. But it's the ultimate combo card!!! With northshires on board, Circles are capable of 0 mana draw X (1, 2, 3, 4, ... so on!) which makes this card the most potentially broken cards in the game. Synergizes with pyro as a 0 mana deal 1 damage to everything; if you play it with the IBM, it's a 3 mana 4/7 (which is on par with a 5 mana card, like Feugen) although yes does require 2 cards. And finally...
Auchenai Soulpriest - The MVP of any priest deck, it's the one card that enables using your hero power offensively. (Shadowform does this as well, but shadowform is a terrible card) A 3/5 for 4 mana is slightly bad stats (the yeti is probably the classic line for good stats, as it has collectively 9) Aside from being able to ping something for 2 damage, an auchenai circle is essentially a 4 mana flamestrike, which is the best comeback mechanism in the game. It's also the only priest card that enables burst / bypassing taunts to go straight to the face, which is why it's so important.
So that's 12 cards that I would consider uncuttable. Let's review some other near-staples...
Shadow Word: Pain, Shadow Word: Death - Almost no one runs SW:P. It's reasonable; 2 mana, hard removal for most early game minions. The reason why most people don't use it is it typically doesn't confer any massive advantage, (sometimes slight tempo gain) never 2 for 1s and is a somewhat pricey Pyro proc. When the meta is super fast or is laden with dangerous 2/4s or the like (like Imp Gang Boss and Flamewaker, the 2 primary targets, but also Murloc Knight, Water Elemental, etc.) it's something you can tech in. I consider it slightly overcosted since typically it just trades 2 mana for 2 mana, and is 100% reactive without any upside. (Like vs Knife Juggler or Shielded Minibot, or even Mana Wyrm, Secretkeeper, etc!) SW
is another matter; since Priests don't run BGH (3 spot is too contested, it only having 2 health goes against priest high health mantra, etc.) the Death(s) are your big minion removal. SWD is played far more often given the WIDE net of minions it can hit, but also because it almost always confers an advantage of some sort. If they spend 8 mana on a Rag, you can deal with that Rag for just 3 mana! Or a Tirion, a ~Boom (minus the whole boom bots, sadly) even Slyvanas, Loatheb, Justicar, etc. Even in a real fast meta there are a lot of 5+ power minions and so I very often run 2. A lot of very good players only run 1. This is more or less up to the user, but I'd consider 0 pains and 1-2 deaths standard, with sometimes switching this up a bit.Holy Nova - Nova is expensive AOE. The big plus of Nova (why it differs from a 5 mana consecrate) is the health gain on both minions and self often matters a lot. If you can ever get a Nova as a cantrip (or more!) it's suddenly super valuable. It also can be the lifegain required vs face hunter or the like (turn 7 nova/heal face!). Some lists run 2, but because of the bevy of aoe (and sometimes nova is very bad, like vs control decks or even vs some midrangey stuff) I almost always run just 1. Pyro-Novas let you board wipe 3 mana.
Cabal Shadow Priest - I *almost* put them in the staple category, but there is some discretion allowed with CSPs. A 4/5 for 6 mana sounds like a bad deal, but the swing gained from stealing a minion is very often game winning. The only reason there is discretion is they are yet another reactive card that is very underpowered when played without a target. (But sometimes necessary) The other problem is there are a LOT of good/necessary 6 mana cards, between Lightbomb (will discuss that next), Slyvanas (combos with Death to function as a mindcontrol for 1 less mana!), Justicar (very strong with the Priest hero power, especially with an Auchenai on board), etc. Some lists run just 1 and I think that's fine.
Lightbomb - In today's meta not playing lightbomb is not really an option. It's a total board wipe. The only question is whether to run 2 or just 1. There is slight synergy as well if you play cleric and then lightbomb and heal it, it serves as a 9 mana cantrip. Expensive but sometimes necessary!
~ Other cards sometimes run...
Flash Heal / Light of the Naaru - More combo pieces, oh boy. These serve as the cheap procs for pyro (remember how I said shadow word pain was a little expensive as a combo piece? These are half the mana!) but also have some utility. The combo with auchenai enables them to be used offensively as very cheap lava bursts or frostbolts, they can be comeback burst heals vs super aggressive decks, and LotN can be played as a regular lightwarden, which can be very important.
Thoughtsteal - I ping-pong love and hate with thoughtsteal. As I've told a friend before for arena, the better your opponent's deck, the better the thoughtsteal! (So at 12 wins its really really good!) The same is true on ladder. It's a very bad card vs fast decks as card advantage for the mana cost is almost never worth it, plus their deck typically wont help you very much. In the mirror, or vs control decks, man oh man it is a free card for a low relative mana cost. It's also another way to get cards to trigger pyro.
Velen's Chosen - A buff that isn't quite as amazing as PW:S, but good enough that it is played in a lot of priest decks. I'm not as high on Velens because it's another reactive/combo necessary card that requires having a board. But 2/4 for 3 is ridiculous, even if the spell power rarely matters. I also think the 3 spot is very competitive given you want some minions, SWD is 3 mana, and if you choose to play stuff like thoughtsteal etc. its hard to squeeze it in. But it's a valid choice.
Holy Champion - This card can get out of control if you have novas/circles with some minions in play. It also has flexibility to be a simple 6 mana 5/5, which sometimes is OK. I feel like I've shared thoughts on this guy before, and really is a matter of preference for how many 4 cost minions you want in a deck. If you want 4 (which is a bit bulky) you probably want to run 2 along auchenais.
Voljin/Confessor - Didn't want to talk about legendaries too much, but both of these cards are better the slower the meta. Voljin is the best way to deal with things like 8/8s or 4/12s (!) if you have ANY board at all. Voljin/Nova (or Voljin/Smite) or Voljin/Auchenai pings are all common and great combos for a clear. Confessor is basically a 9 mana slot machine. I don't play confessor; I think she's inferior to Ysera (I love Ysera) and I think it's too greedy to go with both. (Although defensible) She obviously can spiral out of control. (So can Ysera, but Ysera as a 12 mana toughness is much harder to clear than Confessor) So, they're judgment calls and not necessary, although both individually strong.
Shrinkmeister - I forgot to include this card earlier. A lot of decks include 1 (I generally do) specifically because the combo with Cabal is so strong vs targets that are otherwise GG for a priest. (Malygos/Ysera in particular) Very strong to grab belchers, shredders, etc. A 3/2 isn't great for tempo vs faster decks but if you are ABLE to get value from its battlecry with a minion on board it already has proved itself.
Dark Cultist - Really strong 3 mana card. It's a 3/4, which is the premier 3 mana stats, and its deathrattle is actually useful and sometimes relevant. Way back when undertaker priest was a thing this card was the super nuts, but as is it's a complementary 3 drop next to IBM. I cut them when faced with aggro because I'd prefer a taunt (and 2 vs 3 power is fairly equivalent) but in the grand scheme of things Cultists are better cards than deathlords.
~ Priest specific cards almost never run... (But maybe!)
Silence - Priests don't run silence (like owls) since there is never enough room. So why would you run a 0 mana spell?! Well, it's yet another potential pyro combo piece. That's about it. In my opinion Silence never justifies itself, but if you're playing stuff like Acolyte of Pains (will touch on those later in the post) you may want more cheap triggers. Also, in the current meta silence does have a lot of value, so it's something to consider. Probably not worth it though.
Holy Smite - Offers some minor direct damage and yet another cheap proc for pyro. If you want more anti aggro or you're using more +spell power it's certainly an option.
Inner Fire/Divine Spirit - In control priest you're not going for gimmicks like this. They are not an option, only included them because they've gained popularity in some dragon decks. In a different kind of priest deck with something like Tournament Medic I think they're viable but I would avoid at all costs in control priest.
Shadowboxer - Yes, it's a mech. No, mech does not matter for Priest. The reason it's included in the rarely category is that a 2/3 for 2 is a lot better (in priest) than a 3/2, and the card text has some very slight synergy. (It is kinda like a knife juggler, only not as good or reliable) Personally I've tried 1 and like every 2 drop other than Pyro it didn't really disappoint but it never really proved itself either.
Shadow Madness - A combo piece that gains value if you're playing 1 or 2 shrinkmeisters, this card was a lot better when Zoo was more popular. It has POTENTIAL to ~3 for 1 (often 2 for 1) but can sit in your hand as well. Typically you don't want your deck TOO reactive, and the 4 spot is already a bit clunky if you go with Auchenais AND Holy Champions. I almost never run 1 nowadays but because I have gold ones on all servers sometimes I just run them anyway.
Holy Fire - An expensive removal / potential direct damage / burst heal all in one! Holy fire is basically the kind of card that if it was 4 mana (~fireball with benefits) it would be the best card in the game, at 5 mana it would be fair and run more often, but at 6 mana just almost never seen. If you want the burst heals / reach and don't want to play flash heals/Lotn, it's an option. Because of the high mana cost it typically prohibits doing anything else with your turn, and because it doesn't directly synergize with any other cards it makes for a better arena card than constructed. (Other than Velen's Chosen I suppose)
Mind Control - I ran 1 earlier in the season and it was OK. It basically is in the Ysera/Confessor class (although more reactive, and oddly sometimes more flexible) where you want 1 of the 3 for a late game bomb, 2 is basically too greedy and 3 is unheard of. And of the 3 it's probably the least best, but again, an option.
Alright, let's build your control priest! So we have some staples (above), we have some cards that are almost always included... How should we handle curve?
Ideally we have some 1 drops to go along with Northshire Clerics. It's important to be on the board early; everything is a fight for board control, and falling far behind in tempo can lead to losses if we don't have the comeback pieces in hand. The *only* real choice is whether to include Zombie Chows. Zombie Chow has odd synergy with Auchenai; if they die with Auchenai on board, they mind blast your opponent! This actually is highly relevant and a win condition in some specific matchups. I almost always run 2. It's reasonable to only run 1.
If I don't have chows, or don't want to run them, are there any reasonable alternatives?
Some of the spells above (like Smite) gain some value if you're not able to immediately play the board. Because of the Undertaker nerf, an archetype that used to be very strong is not strong anymore. So...
Injured Kvaldir - I tested these guys a little and they just weren't strong. This is weird given how insane Injured Blademasters are, but maybe it's because even a 1 mana 2/4 (using 2 cards) isn't quite the same as a 3 mana 4/7. In any event my hunch is this is a reasonable/required card in a Rez deck (didn't include that card in the priest card writeup since I don't think it has any role in a standard control priest) but without that card Kvaldir belongs on the sideline.
Lightwarden - Why play lightwarden when you can run Light of the Naaru! Seriously though, just run LotN. But if you really want additional 1 drops, the hero power synergy is quite obvious.
Shield Bearer - Yeah this sounds crazy but remember how I said high health minions matter? If you're playing double velens this is a target for it, also helps vs aggro a bit. I wouldn't use them (chows chows chows!!!) but just including it as a viable possibility, even if it looks weird.
Of those neutral options, none are great outside of Chow. But again, they are possibilities.
What about 2 drops? I've expressed some discontent with 2 drops. It's not that necessary to have a lot of 2s of course and you don't really need a pure curve in priest. (Due to all the cheap spells a curve graph can look really weird for control priest) In any event, of the 2s above (Shrinkmeister/Shadowboxer) I'd lean towards 1 (or 2 I suppose) Shrinkmeisters.
Acidic Swamp Ooze - An anti-weapon Tech. I sometimes use 1 and when it gets value it feels great and when it doesn't I wish it was a shrinkmeister.
Crazed Alchemist - WAY too combo oriented and not a realistic option, including it here only because the Wow! Science! ability pairs with Shadow Word Death/Pain and/or Cabals really well, which means it's something you could potentially consider. But at the end of the day a 2/2 doesn't accomplish much if you're playing to curve and it's probably too combo oriented for an already combo heavy deck.
Doomsayer - Because Priest lacks things like Nova to combo for a board wipe, it's not really something I'd include. BUT it has high health, (if it gets silenced!) which means it's a big body that can do stuff. And Doomsayers are great anti aggro. Just including any 2 drop that I could envision including. Once again though at the end of the day probably too niche.
Garrison Commander - A 2/3 Body? Check! Card text that enables the card to scale well in the later game? Check! TGT hasn't been out for that long so I feel like a lot of cards are getting passed over. Garrison Commander is one of those cards. Something I'd def consider in priest if you want more 2s.
Gilbin Stalker - The reason this card has seen constructed play, and I'm quite fond of it, (aside from having a gold one, which is why I used it in the first place lol) is that stealth allows you to trade -> heal it up on your own terms, or keep it stealthed to throw down a buff on it. (Ie Velens) Totally reasonable.
Loot Hoarder - Moreso used in combo-centric decks, and if we're talking priest, that would be a mind blast/velens deck. Regardless if you need more card draw and just want to take a flier it's not horrible.
Recombobulator - (And Youthful Brewmaster) This is included because some gimmicky priest decks have used this card in conjunction with things like Shadow Madness. (Which totally works) I don't like the 3/2 body if forced to tempo it out, but standard priest decks have good recombob targets (like Justicar or Cabal!) so it's a viable option. I don't have enough room for fun cards like this but it's reasonable. The brewmaster is more far fetched but does serve combo potential.
Sunfury Protector - Not sure what you want to taunt up but it's the kind of thing where a 2/3 serves a purpose and maybe you're not playing taunts so you want some anti-aggro potential. Just an idea.
~~
For 3 drops, I normally run 4. My default are the IBM x2 and 2 flex spots which go back and forth between Dark Cultists (mentioned above) and...
Deathlord - The ultimate anti-aggro. This card has lost me (and many other people) a lot of games, but it's a gamble - you expect it to save/win more games than it loses. It has a ton of health which enables circle of healing to do work, if you're playing Velens Chosen it double combos since it really is fine if it gets silenced, etc.
The other lesser-used options?
Acolyte of Pain - Great because you can heal it to get more cards, or if you're using Velens/pw:s can get a lot of cards from it. Also combos excellently with pyro, as every time you cast a spell you'll draw a card. It's a reasonable alternative.
Earthen Ring Farseer - The heal combos with Northshire and Auchenai. Way back in the day I ran one. For whatever reason they have fallen off the face of the game in basically every deck. Solid card though and reasonable.
Eydis/Fjola - I tried Eyedis and I was not impressed. A 3/4 body matches Dark Cultist (without the deathrattle) and the sisters offer some upside with power word shield. (And velens, if you're running 1 or 2)
Imp Master - No one ever actually uses this, but the reason I bring it up is because it damages itself it synergizes with the priest ability. It also creates tokens which could matter if you're looking for a target to buff. At the end of the day this card just isn't quite constructed quality so it never sees play but I could imagine it working.
Mind Control Tech - Generally unnecessary in priest, always good for additional trolling.
Spider Tank - If you don't have Nax, the 3/4 body is a reasonable replacement.
Anyway, that should give people the basic framework with which to work!
10-22-2015
, 11:13 PM
10-23-2015
, 09:56 AM
10-23-2015
, 06:49 PM
10-24-2015
, 11:40 PM
10-28-2015
, 12:41 PM
10-28-2015
, 04:58 PM
11-18-2015
, 11:21 AM
...i am still playing inner fire dragon, this is my current list:
Got Chillmaw this week and also crafted Sylvana, so i had to cut some cards in order to squeeze them in. I decided to drop one sorcerer for Chillmaw and a SWD for Sylvana. Feedback would be welcome...
- I allready miss the second SWD... What else could i drop instead of it?
- 2x HNova and 1x LBomb or the other way around? What do you prefer and why?
Got Chillmaw this week and also crafted Sylvana, so i had to cut some cards in order to squeeze them in. I decided to drop one sorcerer for Chillmaw and a SWD for Sylvana. Feedback would be welcome...
- I allready miss the second SWD... What else could i drop instead of it?
- 2x HNova and 1x LBomb or the other way around? What do you prefer and why?
11-18-2015
, 04:57 PM
