Hearthpwn

Any replacements for Alex?

Hi Faythful,

Thank you for the great deck and guide! I just had a few questions for you:

1) What are your thoughts on Cabalist's Tome instead of Flame Lance, especially as the deck is already running Forbidden Flame?

2) Do you think Dirty Rat has a place in this deck as a stand alone and also in combination with a MC Tech, potentially replacing Sylv and Second-Rate Bruiser?

3) If you had to choose would you include only Sylv or only Emperor and why?

4) What are your thoughts on Kabal Courier and Ice Barrier?

Thanks again!

Any replacement for Alexstrazsa? I have dust for only one legendary and will probably go for Kazakus. Maybe Medivh or Ragnaros? 

Hi!

I am hovering at rank 7-9 and can't seem to progress further. 

Have always been interested in reno mage. 

Do you think archmage has a place in this deck in place of Sylvanas? Or is he too slow?

Thanks!

Archmage is a 7 dmg soak or a sap target versus non-control decks, so Sylvanas tends to do better against these decks.

Of course if you face more control decks than aggro/midrange (unlikely) , then you can switch with Sylvanas.

Thank you. 

I know you mentioned that there would be special notes for renolock and priest - but ill jump ahead and ask what is the win condition against renolock? I read somewhere that it is better to save bolt, fireball and roaring torch for them after they play jaxx or after you Alex. 

Find that I always have to use these in order to survive. 

Think I'm just bad at resource management..

vs Reno Lock - Firstly, not all run Jaxx, due to poor use against many decks.

70% winrate (no Jaxx)

55% winrate (with Jaxx)

Keep Sheep/Flame Lance, they will usually keep Drake/Mountain Giant vs Control.

And yes, always use your other removals, like Forbidden Flame etc before your roaring torch/fireball.

Double Kazakus potion is not necessary, You can get a 10 mana 8 dmg potion if you think Jaxx is coming. 10 mana 10 armor potion is also useful if you have no Iceblock up and fear the combo. Usually this is combined with a board clear option.

The other option is you use Kazakus potion to clear their main threats, and save Torch+Fireball for Jaxx (frostbolt is not necessary, since they will drop to 13 pretty easily.

If they turn Jaxx on close to fatigue you will likely win, the hardest condition is when they T8 board clear + Doomsayer, then rush Jaxx on T9 , then on T10 get 10 armor from Kazakus potion, this is the dream condition for Renolock to beat this deck, and if they get it you just lose.

Ideally you want to line up these threats - removals

Mountain Giant - Flame Lance

Twilight Drake - Sheep/Forbidden Flame

Sylvanas - Sheep/Forbidden Flame

Emperor/Abyssal - Frostbolt/Flaming Torch + Aoe or trades

If you have iceblock up and remove these threats, then they are out of options, maybe a Kazakus board, but you can counter with your own Kazakus clear.

Then when they Jaxx, you have your 13 dmg ready. This is the game plan going into this matchup, of course every match/draw is different and you have to adapt, but you should have this in mind.

Mulligan: Draws (Arcane Intellect, Acolyte) Early Solutions (Flame Lance/Sheep)

Drawing alot of cards is important in this matchup, because you have a game plan, and your cards line up perfectly with theirs, as described above.

Thanks for the very detailed reply. I guess the problem with inexperienced players like myself is that we pull the trigger too early for crucial removal spells. 

Got stomped by a jade shaman who had multiple golems past turn 16 haha. But I'll learn. 

Honestly ive been playing Malygos rogue and im a terrible reno player but the deck seems ninteresting i just have no clue of how to play it, what to mulligan for and whatnot i feel like i end up not having something to kill the other person 

This deck is a heavy control archetype, you win like control warriors by running the enemy out of resources. (This is why it is unfavored vs Jade druid) So you have to survive vs fast/midrange deck, and calculate for fatigue wars against control warrior / Mirror.

(PS: Dragon priest is midrange, you run them out of resources, but you might need the bran+kaza combo to handle all the resources they get from Operative)

In some cases you win by having a little board + Alexing the opponent in the face + a little burn the next turn.

for mulligan i wrote a few down for 'lowrider910' below.

If you had to switch one card for solia, which would it be?

I love Solia too, I actually got to Legend using her - but then was having trouble reaching high legend.

Solia can do crazy things like turn 4 Kazakus , turn 6 coin Solia + 10 mana Kazakus potion (best with summon 3 minions + 6 health, makes a board only removed by Twisting Nether and Brawl).

But she is just too late, having her in hand is useless until turn 7, so I switched her to Water elemental and made the climb to top 100 much smoother. Playing this deck you want to have a 4 drop on turn 4, with 3 options (Kazakus, Vendor, Water ele) chances are high you will, and this boosts your win percentages.

I climbed from rank 10 to legend, then to top 100 legend with basically this deck.

Strengths

-it can beat most decks 60% of the time if enough games are played (I have 60% winrate over 200 games, so you can go into any match-up feeling comfortable)

-Versus aggro/midrange you have enough early game mulligan options (Arcane Blast, Doomsayer, Frostbost, Babbling book, Forbidden flame, volcanic potion, forgotten torch, Mistress, you can also keep soulcaster for 3 drop, bran can also be dropped on 3 for tempo, you don't need his value in these match ups)

-Vs Dragon priest and Reno Lock have special notes, I'll write it up if enough ppl want to play this deck.

-Versus heavy control (ie: control warrior/Reno mage mirror) you want the Bran + Kazakus + Soulcaster Kazakus wombo combo. This will put 2 more kazakus in your deck, which helps you win fatigue. You have to be at safe health because now your Reno won't activate, or you can Reno first - if its the last 3-4 cards when you do this then its also pretty safe.

Weakness

-Jade / Kun combo Druid is your nightmare - but not un-winnable (about 35% winrate), this is because unlike other control decks, these will kill you before you draw your deck.

-The current Rogue is also tough, but still way better than Druid, around (50% Winrate)

Ragnaros was to improve the Druid match up, it helped but hurt the other matchups like aggro shaman too much. Sylvannas is used instead,  she is much more consistent, and great vs Druid and Dragon priests.

The variant i posted here is the most consistent, and the one I used from 1000~ legend to top 100.