Hearthpwn

Hi!  I'm GRock.  I've been playing Hearthstone for just over a year, and I love the Druid class.  This deck is a fun take on the Midrange Druid archetype, with fun cards like Fandral Staghelm andViolet Teacher.

Since this deck seems to be quite popular, here's a more detailed write up for anyone who really wants to give the deck a try!

The deck functions by being a fusion between a good, midrange beast Druid deck, and a token Druid deck.  The beast Druid gives the deck a strong early game for board control, as well as some good midrange minions to contest the mid game.  The token side gives good value and control elements, which allows you to transition from a strong early game into a win.

Important cards to look for:

Violet Teacher:  This card is the bread and butter of this deck.  After a strong early push for board control, Violet Teacher grants huge value out of spells, which allows game-ending combos with Power of the Wild and Savage Roar.

Fandral Staghelm:  The other big 3/5, Fandral Staghelm fits the same description as Violet Teacher:  Epic value.

Mark of Y'Shaarj:  This card is insane when combined with Druid of the Saber, Druid of the Flame, and Mounted Raptor.  Keep this card if you can efficiently fit it in your curve with a strong beast like any of those.

Innervate:  The Druid player's favorite card.  Getting any minion out two turns early, or playing 8 mana of spells on turn 4 is what every other class dreams of, and Innervate makes it possible.  This should almost never be mulliganed.

Nourish:  The deck's only card draw, and some of the only ramp.  Absolutely necessary to keep the pressure on after aggressive plays in the early game.

Darnassus Aspirant:  While this card seems innocent enough, and is often removed early, therein lies the beauty of the card.  Especially against control, this card can often bait out high-value removal like Shield Slam, which opens up more options with big minions later in the game.

Power of the Wild:  A classic card in token Druid, Power of the Wild offers huge value with the amount of small minions this deck can generate.  Do not be afraid, however, to play the 3/2 panther for tempo, because it can often stop the opponent from snowballing a board advantage where otherwise they would.

 

Matchups: 

Against Druid:  The most popular archetypes of Druid are C'Thun and Yogg-Token, and both of these outvalue you later in the game.  Play super aggressively, and push out big minions as fast as possible, because Druid oftentimes just can't deal with an early Ragnaros.

Keep: Innervate, Druid of the Flame, Mark of Y'Shaarj, Ragnaros the Firelord (If innervate is in hand), Living Roots

Against Hunter:  Hunter is usually either face, or Yogg n' Load.  Against both, aggressively fight for board control.  Against face, however, preserve your own health first, and play greedily with your minions.  Against Yogg 'n' Load, play very carefully around board clears like Powershot, and don't be afraid to get a little low, but be mindful that this deck runs no healing.  Also remember that Call of the Wild can end a game itself, so be sure to have a plan to take care of it, like spell power on Swipe.

Keep: Swipe, Living Roots, Druid of the Flame, Innervate, Violet Teacher

Against Priest:  You almost never run into this matchup, although it's generally an easy one.  Since Priest no longer has Lightbomb, it's much easier to play around their board clears.  4 attack minions are so hard for Priest to deal with, and this deck can often get an abundance of them.

Keep: Innervate, Druid of the Flame, Mark of Y'Shaarj, Druid of the Claw

Against Mage:  Although Tempo Yogg Mage is the most popular archetype, Freeze Mage still exists.  Tempo Yogg Mage is a bit of a hard matchup, because they can often get tempo in the early game.  It's important to play very aggressively, and never expect anything to stay on the board.  Against Freeze mage, keep board control, keep your minion count low but threatening, and try to hero power often to build up a small stash of armor.

Keep: Innervate, Druid of the Saber, Swipe, Darnassus Aspirant

Against Paladin:  Most Paladin decks are aggressive these days, using divine shield to build up board advantages. Swipe is very good against these decks, and Violet Teacher allows you to burn out your opponent's hand while building up a board yourself.  Against control Paladin, play like a face deck.  You will lose in the late game, and you can't play around board clears, except Consecration.  This may be the only matchup where it's correct to keep Savage Roar.

Keep: Druid of the Flame, Swipe, Innervate, Violet Teacher, Savage Roar (Against N'Zoth Paladin), 

Against Rogue:  Rogue is usually Miracle, and in this matchup, it's important to save removal for Gadgetzan Auctioneer.  Beating Miracle Rogue is much more about burning them out than outright killing them, so it's often correct to use Savage Roar to deal with threats like Edwin Van Cleef.  Try to save Violet Teacher combos until either you have Power of the Wild, or you are certain they cannot counter you with Fan of Knives.

Keep: Swipe, Innervate, Druid of the Flame

Against Shaman:  Midrange Shaman is a rough matchup, because of Flamewreathed Faceless.  If this drops on turn 4, chances are you already lost, but if you can deal with that, or they don't have it in hand, your midrange minions will give you more value than theirs.  Try to save Azure Drake and Swipe for big boards of totems buffed by Thunder Bluff Valiant.

Keep: Innervate, Druid of the Saber, Mark of Y'Shaarj, Druid of the Flame

Against Warlock:  Zoo is hard.  It's a ridiculously consistent deck that dominates the early game, and keeps pressure through the game. Because you will almost never get huge tempo advantages over Zoo, try to play for value.  Your cards have to almost get 2 for 1 value consistently, because they will be playing twice the amount of cards you do as the game goes on.  If they get themselves low by tapping, Savage Roar can bring the game to an untimely end.  Don't play Living Roots on turn one, because Voidwalker beats it outright.  Save it for value later, or use it to kill Flame Imp if it is played.  Reno lock is a pretty easy matchup, just make sure you don't miss lethal.

Keep: Innervate, Savage Combatant (HUGE value out of hero power), Swipe, Living Roots

Against Warrior:  Warrior has so many different viable archetypes that it makes my head spin.  The two most popular are Tempo Warrior, and C'Thun Control Warrior.  Against Tempo Warrior, abuse their weak turns one and two, by developing and buffing threats early, then snowball that advantage into a win with Savage Roar.  Against C'Thun Warrior, play like usual against control:  Keep your board small, but having enough damage to bait removal.  Once removal is used, drop your big threats like Ragnaros the Firelord.  A properly timed Sylvanas can also steal a C'Thun, which could potentially swing the game.

Keep: Druid of the Saber, Mark of Y'Shaarj, Innervate, Druid of the Flame, Darnassus Aspirant

I hope you guys enjoy this deck, and thank you so much for all the views!  Be sure to comment about your experiences if you try out this deck, and I'll update with my climbing experiences.

Thanks!