Reworked In-Depth Miracle Rogue Guide by Guukboii
- Last updated Dec 13, 2016 (Gadgetzan)
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Wild
- 16 Minions
- 14 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Miracle Rogue
- Crafting Cost: 8460
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 12/12/2016 (Gadgetzan)
- Guukboii
- Pro Player
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Tournament Decks:
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Reworked Miracle Rogue Guide (In depth)
“The Pleasure is mine”
Table of Content:
1. Intro
2. General Mulligan
3. Class specific Mulligan + Playstyle
4. General Strategy
5. Rogue Questions Answered
6. Tips & Tricks
7. Possible Replacements
1. Intro
Arr Mateys,
I am Kobe 'Guukboii' Van Schepdael and I'm a Belgian Hearthstone player. A few months ago I wrote an In-Depth Guide on Miracle Rogue ( which had a lot of success and I received tons of positive feedback from all of you guys. Some of you have asked me if I was going to update the guide after the expansion and since I promised I would, here is me delivering on that promise. I am going to use my old Guide as a ‘shell’, so there might be some copy/pasting on things that didn’t really change much. For everyone who is tuning in just now I’ll do a short introduction of myself: I've been playing Hearthstone competitively for almost 2 years now. During my early days I was a huge fan of miracle rogue. Even after the Leeroy Jenkins and Gadgetzan Auctioneer nerf I kept playing it. Although when the meta shifted and decks got too fast 'Miracoli' wasn't really viable anymore. I never liked Sprint Oil Rogue so I tried a version with Coldlight Oracle, Loot Hoarder, Gnomish Inventor and [Azure Drake]. This deck got me qualified for the Viagame HouseCup #2. But I didn't feel like the deck was strong enough to compete with the Tier 1 decks so I quit playing Rogue and focused on other classes for the time being. After the introduction of Standard, Miracle Rogue got viable again, a lot of strong cards like Dr. Boom and Piloted Shredder rotated out and even though Blade Flurry was nerfed, Rogue could finally shine again. Now with the new ‘Mean Streets of Gadzetgan’ expansion Rogue feels even stronger. It might not seem like it but the ‘Counterfeit Coin’ actually helps A LOT. I see the card as a smallerInnervate which has the advantage of being easily abused by Rogue as a class and Gadgetzan Auctioneer as a card. But not only our extra coin helps, Small-Time Buccaneer is basically a Flame Imp for Rogue. 90%+ of the time you’ll dagger up on turn 2 anyway and if you’ve played a Small-Time Buccaneer on turn 1 it’s extremely strong to keep up with the early game of some other decks, especially combined with cards like Backstab.
A disadvantage of Rogue at the moment is that Pirate Warrior and Aggro Shaman are pretty unfavoured matchups. Although our 1-drops helpt a lot, Rogue has no access to heals or taunts so you might get raced down pretty quickly if you don’t have the right answers. But, playing correctly, Rogue has a REALLY GOOD matchup against Renolock, Jade Druid and Priest. (Dragon priest is worse than Reno priest for us but still good) Which makes up for it. I personally got legend with Miracle Rogue this season and I’ve seen lots of people getting into Top10 Legend with Rogue, Mr Yagut even hitting #1 Legend last week. So I think the favoured matchups definitely make up for the unfavoured ones.
Before we begin, I'd like to mention that in my opinion Miracle Rogue is one of the hardest deck, if not the hardest, to play PERFECT in the game. There are almost no turns that are completely obvious and every play you make is a decision that will affect the next turns. So some people may disagree with what i'm writing here, but like many things in Hearthstone, topics like these are always up for discussion. Now let's get started.
2. General Mulligan
With the addition of Patches you should always be looking for a pirate 1-drop, being Small-Time Buccaneer and Swashburglar. ALWAYS mulligan Patches away, even though it’s a 1-drop it’s fairly obvious you never want this card in your hand. I can probably talk an hour about how strong Patches is but the main point is that you absolutely want to get him for free. If you do have a Small-Time Buccaneer already, throw away other 1-drops and look for cards like Backstab, SI:7 Agent and Tomb Pillager. Keeping Preparation is sometimes correct as well but we’ll go over the mulligan in specific matchups/situations below.
Edwin VanCleef should always be kept on coin (yes, Counterfeit Coin as well) and/or when you have a Preparation.
NOTE: You ALWAYS want either a Small-Time Buccaneer or a Swashburglar because Rogue doesn’t have anything to do on turn 1 and it is insanely good in combination with Patches to contest the board early. This is absolute priority against almost every class, not only because having a 1-drop is always good but also because you get Patches out of your deck, which is a card you don’t want to draw because it doesn’t have enough value in itself.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar
Backstab: Only when you already have a minion in hand. Minions are extremely important against a druid.
[SI:7 Agent], Tomb Pillager. Azure Drake can be kept when you have a good opening (eg. Small-Time Buccaneer, Backstab and Tomb Pillager) and preferably on coin.
Playstyle: Against druid you will usually win when you gain control over the board, try to keep it that way, don’t be afraid to sap something just to make them spend all their mana next turn again without reacting to your board. Conceal is also very strong in this matchup, if you see an opportunity to just Smorc, Conceal and win next turn, even when they have a board, go for it. Although be aware of cards like Feral Rage that can interfere with that plan. Another win condition against Druid is Edwin VanCleef. Most Druids cut Mulch completely so they have no answer at all against him. If you see an opportunity to make him huge, do not hesitate. A 12/12 minion on the board is almost an instant win in this matchup.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar, Backstab, SI:7 Agent, Preparation, Eviscerate. On coin: Tomb Pillager.
Playstyle: Jade Shaman is probably the easiest matchup, their start is likely pretty slow but we don’t know that going into the game so prepare for an Aggro Shaman, which is unfavoured due to us having no answer to Doomhammer. Shaman will most likely be the agressor in this matchup, try to turn the tides and push as much facedamage as you can, once they have to play defensively you will have the upperhand. Try to be conservative with Sap prior to turn 4 because their Flamewreathed Faceless's are a huge threat, we usually don’t want to trade our minions into it unless we have to.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar
Backstab: Only when you have 1 or 2 minions already, preferably an SI:7 Agent. Backstab is not that good against Reno priest. If you expect Dragon Priest, keeping Backstab is correct in any case.
SI:7 Agent, Tomb Pillager. On coin: Azure Drake and even Gadgetzan Auctioneer if you have a Tomb Pillager.
Playstyle: Don’t be afraid to pass a turn if that means you can have a better turn with Auctioneer. Eg: Instead of Coin - Auctioneer - Prep - Conceal turn 5, go with: Pass turn 5, then Auctioneer - coin - conceal - Prep - Sap/Evis/Shadowstrike turn 6.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar
Backstab,Eviscerate, SI:7 Agent. On coin: Tomb Pillager.
Playstyle: Using Sap on a Savannah Highmane is insanely strong but don’t be too greedy on it, sapping an Infested Wolf when you already have board is perfectly fine! Try to keep track of your health and make sure they can’t just Smorc you, make good trades if necessary but go face as much as possible with your minions. Same as you Hunter doesn’t have acces to heal or (instant) taunt, although be aware of Houndmaster.
Mulligan for Renolock since it’s the most popular warlock archetype at the moment.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar, SI:7 Agent, Tomb Pillager
Playstyle:
Against Zoo: Keep Backstab and Eviscerate as well. Try to keep the board as clean as possible, once they have nothing and you have minions the game should be won.
Against Reno: Keep playing for board, don’t try to ignore their minions and push face because it might be punished by Reno Jackson. Try to burst them down from 20+ or make a huge board with Conceal and/or Edwin VanCleef before turn 8 (Twisting Nether) or after you’ve seen most boardclears. They only run 1 of every card so once you’ve seen a card you don’t have to play around it anymore, use this to your advantage.
Pirate Warrior is the most popular and most dangerous so definitely mulligan for this archetype. I already said it above but the priority is to find Small-Time Buccaneer and Swashburglar in the mulligan, all the other cards are secondary options. In this matchup it’s especially necessary to have a 1-drop and Patches, that comes with it, to contest the board.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar
Backstab, Preparation: If you have a 1-drop.
Playstyle: This is probably the worst Matchup of all, if they have a Fiery War Axe, Upgrades and Arcanite Reaper they might even win without ever playing a minion. Try to either make a huge Edwin VanCleef early or rush them down with Cold Bloods. In a lot of my matches I’ve lost to a pirate warrior when it came down to 1 turn. It’s definitely possible to beat them but they win the facerace most of the time. My most valuable tip is probably not to get triggered when you play against one, move on to the next game. (Speaking from experience)
Most of the time the problem is that you don’t know what kind of mage it is, I'd suggest mulliganing for Tempo Mage because against Reno/Freeze Mage you have a lot more time.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar
Tempo Mage: Backstab, Eviscerate, SI:7 Agent, Tomb Pillager.
Reno/Freeze Mage: SI:7 Agent, Tomb Pillager, Azure Drake.
Playstyle:
Against Tempo Mage: They don’t run any heals or taunts so push as much facedamage as you can , they don’t have many good Sap targets so sometimes it’s even justified to sap and Azure Drake if he can’t reply it without ignoring your board. The best target is most like: Water Elemental.
Against Freeze Mage: Make a huge Edwin VanCleef early on or try to pop their Ice Block before the Alexstrazsa turn with Cold Bloods and Eviscerates.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar
SI:7 Agent, Tomb Pillager if you know it’s anyfin paladin. If you suspect Aggro then keep Backstab as well.
Playstyle:
Anyfin Paladin: They can’t heal, taunt and deal with your board at the same time. Put as much pressure on them as possible but don’t overextend. Be aware of an Equality combo (with Pyromancer or Consecration). Either bait one of their combo’s out with your board and then go for an Auctioneer conceal play or go for an Auctioneer Conceal play, draw lots of cards and make a board after. Keep Sap preferably for Tirion Fordring or Ragnaros, The Lightlord but don’t hesitate to Sap Murloc Warleader if this means you can slow him down a lot and make a lot of tempo at the same time.
Aggro Paladin: Same as with zoo, try to keep their board clean to play around buff-cards like Blessing of Kings. Don’t be too greedy on your own cards because if your handsize is too big Divine Favor might get a lot of value.
It is really important to be the aggressor with initiative in this matchup. If you're behind you'll most likely lose. Your health is extremely important. It happens very often that one of the rogues will do a 2-turn lethal setup and if you're high enough on health that can be prevented.
Small-Time Buccaneer/Swashburglar
Backstab, Preparation: Only when you have minions already.
Playstyle: Rogue can’t do anything against a concealed board, try to find the right moment to push with your minions and Conceal them. The rogue with the highest health during the midgame usually wins.
4. General Strategy
Early-on you want to keep their board as clean as possible. Use removals like Backstab [/card] (possibly with [card]SI:7 Agent) and Eviscerate to slow them down. Turn 4 or 5 you should always try to play a minion while possibly removing something with Preparation (+ a spell) or Backstab. After turn 6 the best case would be that you can play Gadgetzan Auctioneer on a near empty board and start cycling A LOT, with the coins you got from Tomb Pillagers, Counterfeit Coin, Preparation and other spells. After that, you want to find a good turn to push for lethal. This is something Rogue can do very easily. You just need some minions, Cold Blood them and Conceal the board. Then kill them the turn after with your board and the extra burst you can get from Eviscerate and Leeroy Jenkins
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The Complete guide is on my twitter! Enjoy!
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My Team: Sector One (http://sectorone.eu/)
My Twitter: @ONE_Guukboii (https://twitter.com/ONE_Guukboii)
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I wouldn't advise that. Patches is GREAT, but not exactly mandatory. The thing is, he basically helps you push a little bit more damage, to make it easier to finish your opponent while removing a slot of your deck for free, making it easier to find all the damage you need to finish the game with said damage.
That beeing said, I wouldn't recommend you crafting him, since Xaril CAN be used on Miracle (suboptimal, but still viable), and since you don't plan on playing pirates, it would be kind of a great investment on this card.
Xaril is decent replacement but, wouldn't play it w/o Patches. It just opens a lot of starting trades or just that chip damage you need to finish the game. If you don't want to craft Patches, cut 1 SI for a Questing Adventurer the extra spells(from Xaril) can help that card and your VanCleef and maybe try to fit in another conceal somewhere if you go that route.
I run 1 SI and 1 Questing. Little less removal but opens up another threat that has to be answered.
Beneath the Grounds is great against any Reno, kazakus, priest combo variants. I put it in in place of fake coin
Have fun playing a waaay worse version of the deck. Fake coin is a must have for this deck.
I agree, But I wouldn't lose the coin, I'd rather lose a sap.
Sometimes sap is a timewalk... uhh I mean is a free turn. Its a one way ticket to value town. If there was a card that says, 2 mana to burn all your opponents mana crystals and take an extra turn, it would be an auto include in every deck. Sap is that card half the time. fake coin is more or less a lotus pedal. it gets stuck in hand late game and is card disadvantage for slight gains early. If it weren't for auctioneer it would be redundant at best. No one wants to have a fake coin, real coin, and preparation in their hands until you are in auctioneer mode. therefor I think I can live without it.
eh you may know more than me. ill try it and see. thanks. also ever 5 ladder rungs the meta shifts. as pass 15-10 i saw a lot more pirate variants, so i take it out, and as i get higher up from 10-5 (where i am now) i seem to find the reno-lock is more prevalent.
IF ONLY SIDEBOARD WAS A THING
Awesome guide :)
Btw can you suggest any replacement for Swashburglar and Tomb Pillager ?
Tomb Pillager is important when u r against midrange or control in the mid game.
Swashburglar can be replaced by some low-cost card according to ur habit. ^^
You kinda need to view Small Time Buccaneer, Swashburglar and Patches as one package since getting out Patches needs to be consistent which is why you need the 4 one-cost pirates. Both potential replacements also aren't as good later in the game.
I would try Southsea Deckhand which could also function as burst when you need it and as a turn one play to put out 3 damage.
I wouldn't include Bloodsail Raider but you could. It is usually a 2/3 on turn 2 and you usually are fine with just daggering on turn 2 so then the only reason to run it would be to get out Patches consistently.
Tomb Pillager is good because it isn't just a 3 mana 5/4, it gives you more triggers for auctioneer and it puts 5 damage on the board and it's a play on turn 4. My replacements will be 4 drops because that slot would be to empty without them.
First of all I would replace one of them with Xaril, Poisoned Mind which is a great card, but unfortunately a legendary. It has way worse stats than Tomb Pillager but the toxins are incredibly good. This card will make your deck more centered around your Auctioneer since the 3/2 is so weak and won't deal significant damage.
Secondly, you could try Violet Teacher. This card could also be a replacement for Leeroy in this deck because it gives you another win condition. It's not that good right now because of the amount of board clears in the meta. I think I would still put these in if you have no Tomb Pillagers because they have good stats against pirate/aggro decks and can generate pressure like Tomb Pillager does.
Lastly, you could try Barnes, but I don't think you'll have that one. It's ok I guess. You have a change to get auctioneer or spell damage as a 1/1. It's a play on turn 4 and trades decently so you could try it but I wouldn't recommend it.
i need a replacement for tomb pillager as well
I really enjoy to play rogue deck but im quite unsure if it is worth to craft Patches the Pirate in general. Does anybody has some tips for me?
Just go and craft it men. Its gonna be played until it gets out of standard or blizzard nerfs it. It is played in 50% of the decks now, so crafting it enables so much options :P
Patches the Pirate just like a small small Gadgetzan Auctioneer in the early game. When u put a pirate, pull him out from ur deck onto the board, that move compresses ur deck as just 29 cards. It makes u more easily to draw the cards u want in ur game. Also it makes u more easily to contest the board early with two minions in turn-1 so, if u still think it doesn't worth? ^^
Thanks for all the replies. I will craft him tomorrow! :)
I am REALLY new to the rogue class, and i've only played a very few games with this deck, but they seemed EXTREMLY fun tbh... As a rogue noob i have a question though... When should i go for edwin plays? and how big should a edwin be? Like i dont know wether to play him early or go for the greedy plays...
When to play him and how big Edwin needs to be highly depends on the MU...
Alright! Thanks for taking the time to explain the different match-ups. I really appreciate the help! :)
-1 +1 is my personal take, Conceal can be a dead card at times and I've noticed a lot less hard removal is being run compared to weapons.
I was dumb and DE'd VC a year ago... Thoughts on Questing Adventurer or the slower Red Mana Wyrm as a replacement until I re-craft him?