Hearthpwn

This was the deck I was playing initially.
I had troubled removing Shaman's 3/4 health stuff with my board clears, had troubled vs MalyRogues as they usually just outtempo me early on. Versus Control Warrior I managed to win only if they didn't have their removal, and vs Cthun Warrior I actually lost all games. I was reluctant to change any cards as I had heard several pro players saying you shouldn't do that - you should just grind. However, when I reached rank 1 with 4-5 stars and then fell back to rank 3 with no stars (this happened 3 times) I started to get really frustrated. I said f*ck it - it's time for a change. Hence - this deck.

Curator Malydruid is a weird kind of deck that actually feels a bit midrangey. That is because vs. Aggrodecks you are usually on the defensive for at least a few turns, while vs. Controldecks you are the one pressuring.
That being said, you are that guy who always has something up his sleeve, being able to pull out insane bursts of damage with Malygos, sometimes crazy healing with Feral Rage and Raven Idol gives you what you lack in a situation (if you believe in the heart of the cards, Yu-Gi).

Innervate - just a better Preparation. Really unfair card, use it to smooth out your curve, pull out a combo with spellpower + spell, or crazy Fandral Staghelm turns. The combinations are really limitless.

Moonfire - on its own it helps clearing early game minions and has the added bonus of reducing the cost of your Arcane Giants. Vs slow midrange and control decks you might want to consider saving it for Malygos though. However, if it's turn 6 for example, you are playing vs midrange hunter, there aren't immidiate threats you need answering, and you Arcane Giant costs 7, by all means - Moonfire his face and slam that giant .. ontop of him. Let him deal with it.

Living Roots Cheaps spells for Malygos, or early game removal. Sometimes (vs Shaman, Hunter, Warlock mostly) it's okay to play as 1/1s on turn 1. It forces your opponent to deal with the cute Groots while you are free to take turn 2 to Wild Growth or just stall his pressure.

Raven Idol This card is the embodiment of Druid's greatest strength - versatility. Against agressive decks you can use it on turn 1 to find ramp or removal. Against Midrange decks it's most flexible. Against Control decks you should try and play with when you have Fandral Staghelm to give you that extra juice to keep pressuring. Also, you can might find Living Roots or Moonfire to increase your burst potential, especially if you were forced to used some it in the early game. It also decreases your Arcane Giants by 1, so don't forget that.

Wild Growth Probably the best card to have in your hand on turn 2 in the game. It's function is two-fold - 1. You get to more mana to play each turn, meaning it's easier to outtempo your opponent and 2. You get to play more significant, win-condition relevant stuff. If you get it past turn 6-7 you should generally save it until you have 10 mana because not only does it draw you a card (which is usually more valuable than getting from 8 to 9 mana) but it also lets you cast 2 spells, decreasing your arcane giant's cost by 2.

Wrath It's okay to use this for the 3 damage early on to remove key minions for your opponent like Tunnel Trogg, Mana Wyrm, most 2 drops. Use it for draw if you have a bad hand. Great it Fandral. Unless you are really under pressure, it's generally better to cycle it in the midgame. 

Feral Rage Actually one of my favourite cards. Key in surviving against aggro, extra removal vs midrange. Against control it's usually OK to hit face with it. If you play it with Fandral vs aggro/midrange it's usually from there on because you heal, remove and develop a board at the same time.

Jungle Moonkin Now we're talking. At first I was very, very skeptic about this card. You mean what? Giving a tempo mage or a midrange shaman +spell damage? Are you crazy? The reality is somewhat different though. This card is why Midrange Shaman became my best match-up from being one of my worst match-ups. The way they usually structure their board, they usually have 1 big thing (4/5/6 health) and lots of other smaller things (1/2/3 health). That's perfect for Moonkin + Swipe and it leaves you with a board of a 4/4. Yes, they have +spelldamage but what are they gonna do with it? That's right, they are going to remove it. Obviously, you won't play this vs Midrange Shaman if you're at 8 health and you suspect he has double Lightning Bolt in hand. 
It also lets you burst face damage earlier. Moonkin + Swipe + 2xLiving Roots, 2xMoonfire is 20 damage for 10 mana. Not to be underestimated. I've found it's actually worst against Rogues as they can remove it for 0 mana with Backstab so keep that in mind. 

Mire Keeper Part of your dream opening of Turn 2 - Wild Growth, Turn 3 - Mire Keeper for ramp, Turn 4 - Emperor Thaurissan. It's actually sometimes to summon a slime in the early game if the situation calls for it. 

Swipe My second favourite card. There's a thing with Swipe + spellpower that I have never heard anybody talk about before. It is the reason why Jungle Moonkin works so well in this deck. If you have (+1) spellpower and cast, say, a Fireball you deal 6+1 additional damage, obviously. Whereas if you have (+1 ) spellpower and cast Swipe you deal (+1) spelldamage to your target and (+1) to everything else. Mathematically, when you Swipe with spellpower you at least double the value of the +spelldamage. IMO, that's HUGE. 

Azure Drake One of the best cards in the classic set. Great stats distribution, cycles itself, buffs your many spells. Auto-include. Period.

Nourish That was the card I had most troubles with. I am still never sure when it's correct to play it for crystals or draw. I was a little surprised when I found it usually works out better if you draw with it even on a 5-mana turn (especially if you have Emperor Thaurissan in hand because it gives you so many more options and has the potential of drawing into your board clears and your your Malygos win condition faster. Still, I guess it is better to ramp with it if you can use the 2 mana you gain immediately the turn you cast it for full value - for example Wrathing a minion or something. Also, great with Fandral Staghelm obviously. 

Corrupted Seer A lot of people asked me why this card, why not Baron Geddon and so on. 
1. It's a murloc and the only murloc in your deck which means two things
         - you can draw it "on demand" with The Curator
         - drawing it with The Curator thins out your deck, so it decreases the chance you draw a minion when all you need is a spell. 

2. It's 1 mana cheaper than Baron Geddon which lets you play a Swipe with it on 10 mana, or Mire Keeper for the Slime. 

I think in the cases you use it it's perfectly statted - a 2-drop body, casting a 4-mana spell (Concecration). 

Use it to clear a Shaman's board (+Swipe it's great too). Another very good use is to kill a Hunter's 4/2 Panther from Cat Trap the same turn you proc it with a spell, say Moonfire. 


The Curator One of the best cards in the Karazhan expansion imo. I think it's generally better than pre-nerf Ancient of Lore. It's draws cards, has Taunt and better stat allocation. It guarantees drawing into your board clears or a chance of drawing Malygos into your win condition. Love. It. So. Much.

Malygos He's the essense of magic. Period. Obviously part of your win condition. Malygos + 2xMoonfire, + 1xLiving Roots deals 19 damage for 10 mana. This can be increased a lot with a good Emeperor Thaurissan proc or with Innervates.

With that being said, it's sometimes better to use it to clear the board when you're in a bad spot. It's a little tricky to decide when that is, it comes with practice and keeping track of your opponent's removals. 


Arcane Giant -  I think this card is the reason this deck is so good. Usually you struggle removing opponents creature and developing a good board in 1 turn as a druid, even with Innervates. But with 2x0-mana 8/8s the swing turns you can make are just crazy. Keep in mind that Innervate reduces the cost of Arcane Giant effectively by 3. 

Specialmentions:

Fandral Staghelm - Great card design. If you have a good hand and you can Innervate it out on an early turn and follow up with any of the "Choose One" cards you should generally go for it, especially vs aggro/midange. Vs Control it's a better idea to save it until you can use a bunch of them in one turn. A special mention deserves the combo of Fandral + Starfall, which deals 2 damage to all enemy minions and 5 to a targeted minion, but with Fandral, the target takes 5. Good for clearing Shaman's boards if you have discovered a Starfall from Raven Idol. 
Fandral Staghelm + Raven Idol - juicy and much needed value vs Control decks.

Emperor Thaurissan - against midrange/aggro decks it's usually good to drop him on curve, especially if you have 1 or 2 pieces of your board clear combinations (Swipe,Jungle Moonkin, Azure Drake). Against control decks (except Control Warrior) I'd advise dropping it when you can ensure a proc on Maly+Combo pieces with. The idea behind this is that Priest, Paladin and Warlock use a ton of heals and often times they will heal to full health. Ensuring a OTK is generally very good against these decks. However, if you have nothing better to play on a turn with 6-10 mana, by all means - don't skip that turn. Drop your Thaurissan. 
A special mentions deserves the cases when you can get a Thaurissan proc on Fandral Staghelm and "Choose One" cards - this usually means you've won the game. 

Of course your Mulligan Strategy should depend on the class you are facing but it usually follows the same principle most of the time.
Generally you want to have at least 1, certainly 2, sometimes 3 Prime ramp cards (Wild Growth, Innervate, Mire Keeper) in your starting hand. I don't consider Nourish to be a ramp card since I mostly use it for draw. 

That being said, you always keep 1 Wild Growth, 2 Innervate and 1 Mire Keeper. 

Against control decks or slower midrange decks you can consider keeping 2nd Wild Growth and 2nd Mire Keeper if you have them. 

Against aggro decks you should only keep 2nd Mire Keeper if you have an Innervate or The Coin and should seriously consider playing the second one for the Slime. 

I recommend mulliganing Swipe away, despite being one of the backbone cards of the deck, because using it too early (if you don't have a board) isn't impactful enough to justify keeping it. 

If you have any of the Prime mulligan cards, you could keep Wrath, Living Roots, and maybe Feral Rage. 

If you have 2xWild Growth you can consider keeping Emperor Thaurissan and maybe Azure Drake. 

If you have The Coin, keeping Fandral Staghelm + Innervate + ANY 1/2/3/4 mana cost "Choose One" card is okay, moreso vs. Aggro than vs. Control(against Priest it's not so good because Shadow Word: Pain feels really bad.)

Against Hunter, Shaman and Rogue you can keep Feral Rage if you have at least 1 Prime ramp card.