Getting tired of playing or playing against Huntards? How about Watcher or Ramp or Token Druids? Afraid to battle against a Control Warrior? Ever want to not battle against Zoolock or Handlock anymore? Well, while Hearthstone is still very much all about the Face Hunter and Zoolock, there still is a sign of hope that the game has not gone stale. Here comes the arrival of redditor Slurmz's "Dragon Priest" deck which just hit legendary. He has apparently been perfecting the deck for a month now, so much so that it has a win rate of over 80% against Hunters. According to Slurmz, the general objective is like that of Ramp Druid, wherein board control is of the necessity. Shadowform is used against control decks, while keeping the life total up is for aggro decks. Moreover, Holy Smite is one of the key cards in Dragon Priest, as it is a cheap damage spell that works well with Spell Damage, especially that of Prophet Velen and Malygos (hence, dragon).
Power Word: Shield is used similar to cycling in Magic: The Gathering. It is used to dig for more useful cards, aside from giving better defense especially with a five-turn 3/7 Senjin drop. Additionally, Mind Blast is deemed as "the great finisher" as it also works well with all the Spell Damage creatures, especially with Prophet Velen and Malygos as having both in play makes Mind Blast a 20 damage spell for two mana. Shadow Word: Pain is used to hinder the enemy from acquiring board control, while Bloodmage Thalnos can be used to distract the opponent, especially with its Spell Damage and card-drawing abilities, with the former making Holy Smite and Mind Blast a bit stronger than usual. Shadow Mandness, meanwhile, is for dealing with Zoo and also synergizes well with Wild Pryromancer.
Speaking of that, Wild Pyromancer is one of the best cards for board control, as it can be used with your other cheap spells to clear the opponent's board. Power Word: Shield can be used to make the Pyromancer stay a bit longer for more removal. In tandem with Wild Pyro for dealing with multiple creatures is Holy Nova. Shadow Word: Death is for helping the deck prepare for its late finishing move. Additionally, Shadowform is considered as the deck's primary ramp tool as it allows for an advantage against Control. One great thing about it is that you don't really have to use it immediately and stay with your healing ability. Another is that it works well with Prophet Velen. Amusingly, your hero power resets when you use it, so you can actually heal and then use it to deal two damage, or deal two damage (already using Shadowform) then cast another Shadowform for an additional three damage in the same turn, all for seven mana. Sen'jin Shieldmasta is the great 3/5 Taunt creature that is deemed "extremely important" for providing time to gather the combo pieces. Moving on, Azure Drake is the smallest dragon in the deck, but allows both card advantage and spell damage. Faceless Manipulator, meanwhile, is ideally used for Malygos or Prophet Velen in the late game to provide extra deadly damage. Holy Fire is considered as the most important heal spell, aside from the five damage is produces, not to mention its synergy with Velen. It is also essential when you have used Shadowform. The Divine Shield + Taunt Sunwalker is also in the Dragon Priest deck to deal with aggro, hunter, and/or zoo.
Prophet Velen is an amazing creature in this deck that works well with a lot of cards. It allows for a quick increase of four life points through the Priest's hero power, or a quick lethal with Shadowform. It has to be remembered though that the damage dealt is doubled only
after spell damage. Ragnaros the Firelord is also in the deck to bring the offensive, and should be dropped first among all the late game finishers because there is no combo for it, and also since you want your opponent to use all of his/her removal spells immediately before Velen or Malygos enters the field. Another dragon in the deck is the legendary Alexstrasza which will likely be the first legendary card to be played. It is supposedly normally used on the enemy because there is a great likelihood that the opponent still has a lot of life points even in the late game simply because the decks lacks consistent cards to deal damage early on. A word of caution is that using it on yourself on desperate accounts can still prove to be a bad thing as it removes a huge chance to win the game. Finally, Malygos is of course the most badass dragon in the deck, giving you an almost certain win if it isn't dealt with in one turn. As much as possible, it should not be killed as it is essential for the combo with Prophet Velen.
While it is indeed a new, very creative deck, it isn't exactly something that everyone has the resource to. From Ragnaros to Bloodmage to Velen to Malygos, it would cost similarly to Ramp Druid and Control Warrior. Finally, Slurmz provides two videos that will show how the deck is used.
First one is against Noxious, while the
other is from his point of view. <
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