Quest Resurrect Priest Deck List Guide – Descent 2nd Nerf – January 2020

Check out alternative versions of this deck on our Resurrect Priest archetype page!

Quest Resurrect Priest Mulligan Strategy & Guide

Vs Aggro Decks

Higher Priority (keep every time)

• Breath of the Infinite – One of our most important tools against super aggressive decks.
• Penance – 3 damage for 2 mana and some healing? This card can help tremendously dealing with early sturdy boards against archetypes like Face Hunter or Pirate Warrior.
• Forbidden Words – A very versatile control tool, Forbidden Words in general gets worse as the game goes by, so try and use it in the early or mid game.

Lower Priority (keep only if certain conditions are met)

• Convincing Infiltrator  – Keeping 5-cost cards in the mulligan doesn’t really feel right, but in Resurrect Priest’s case, it’s the cost of most of our minions. Paired with Psychopomp it can repeatedly end the oppression of early game aggro shenanigans or setups by combo and mid game decks.
• Sandhoof Waterbearer – Again, at first sight we don’t want to wait until turn 5 to play minions in aggro matchups. However, this tauren is a guaranteed 5 health restored, and much more important, 5 out of 15 health towards our quest. Because of its effect it becomes a prime target for your opponent. Similar to Infiltrator, Psychopomp adds tons of value to this card in the mid game against aggro opponents, because it helps us into the overwhelming late game of Quest Resurrect Priest.

Vs Control Decks

Higher Priority (keep every time)

• Sandhoof Waterbearer – In most situations against control opponents, we won’t need to heal up on turn 5. However, we still need a proper resurrect pool in the later stages of the game. 10 stats on board on turn 5 are enough to build some pressure in the mid game and may bait some bad trades or removal cards.
• Convincing Infiltrator – Shuts down any shenanigans in the mid game in control matchups and fills up our resurrection pool.

Lower Priority (keep only if certain conditions are met)

• Psychopomp – Only keep if you already hold one of your 5-drops.
• Zerek's Cloning Gallery – Keeping this spell in the mulligan feels very wrong, it really does. But it’s one of your win conditions in the mirror match and in some hefty unfavored control matchups, including value heavy-hitters like Galakrond Priest or Galakrond Rogue.

Quest Resurrect Priest Play Strategy

General Strategy

Quest Resurrect Priest may be one of the most polarized archetypes in the history of Hearthstone. Many call the resurrect theme the most severe design mistake in the game. Others, however, love the versatility of the deck and its different playstyles depending on all the different matchups.

As already said, the meta game shift thanks to Descent of Dragons has been massive, and Quest Resurrect Priest not only fits perfectly into a meta full of aggressive decks, but also plays extremely different in comparison to Saviors of Uldum.

The general theme of this archetype plays out pretty simple: Survive in the early game to finish your quest and overwhelm your opponent with resurrected and buffed up minions in the late game. For that, Quest Resurrect Priest didn’t really had to change much in his line-up.

The only shooting star from the Descent of Dragons set is Breath of the Infinite. This powerhouse removal spell is well-statted on itself and synergizes very well with the otherwise heavy curve in terms of card cost. It also fills a hole in the archetype’s removal options against super-aggressive early game boards.

The two other wide board removal cards are Mass Hysteria and Plague of Death. Especially Mass Hysteria should be used very liberally, just because you have so much removal at your disposal. Plague of Death wants to clear problematic and over-extended late game board states to make resurrect follow-ups have more impact.

Forbidden Words, Penance and Shadow Word: Death complete the heavy board control package. Especially Forbidden Words should be used in the early stages of the game, just because you have more fitting opportunities to remove low-attack problematic minions like Necrium Apothecary or Skybarge. Use Penance to remove early game threats like Phase Stalker and don’t be too greedy in terms of its Lifesteal effect!

Now to the minion part of this archetype: Convincing Infiltrator and Sandhoof Waterbearer form the base of minions you want to resurrect early with Psychopomp. The latter will help you to complete your quest, especially if resurrected.

Zilliax and Khartut Defender complete the main minion package. They cover all the bases for every control deck: Healing and Taunt together with Divine Shield or Deathrattle summoning and Rush can lock down aggressive opponents in the mid game already.

Psychopomp may be the most powerful enabler in our deck thanks to its Reborn effect and secures a safe ride into the later stages of the game if it hits one of our four main minions. 

Archmage Vargoth takes a very special place in this list. In a perfect world, you want to summon him through Zerek's Cloning Gallery, and later on resurrect him with Mass Resurrection on an empty board to cast the 9-cost spell once again.

Batterhead also has lots of situations to fit in, most noticeably as a 10-mana play in combination with our upgraded Hero Power. Having a 6/15 minion with Rush and Windfury on minion kill in play can not only deal with wide board states if you’re running out of spell options; it’s also poses a growing threat if your opponent can’t deal with it.

Last but not least we have the resurrect package. Catrina Muerte synergizes greatly with Zerek's Cloning Gallery if you can manage to sacrifice one of your 1/1 Batterheads; besides that, it’s also just a solid on-curve play against control and heavy-value opponents.

Zerek's Cloning Gallery fills up our resurrection pool with all those juicy late game minions while providing decent removal and survivability due to the Deathrattle effects by Khartut Defender and Convincing Infiltrator.

Mass Resurrection is our most valuable late game resource, especially in control matchups. As said, paired with Archmage Vargoth it becomes a board full of powerful minions that may be able to seal the deal in super late or fatigue situations.

Last but not least, Activate the Obelisk provides a whole other win conditions with this archetype. Paying 1 mana and 1 card slot is easy to do for Resurrect Priest, and the upgraded Hero Power just adds so much value over the course of the game.

Completing it should become a top priority, especially against control opponents. In some situations, this will actually turn into you healing your opponent or its minions, which is completely fine thanks to copious amounts of board removal in your deck. As already said, a buffed-up Batterhead or Zilliax can save your life or turn into a lethal board-clearing machine.

Ultimately, Quest Resurrect Priest is a perfect choice in the current meta if you want to shut down dominant decks like Galakrond Warrior or Face Hunter. Every Hearthstone player should at least play some games with this archetype to understand the reasoning behind its polarized image within the community. And maybe you’ll even become a fan of it!

Vs Aggro Decks

You’ll need to follow your one mantra against aggressive opponents: Don’t be greedy. Use your board removals at hand, and shut down any aggression as early as possible.

The amounts of value you can produce in later stages will be more enough to shut down any aggressive deck, most noticeably Face Hunter and Pirate Warrior.

Vs Control Decks

Funnily enough, you’ll need to follow your only other mantra against control opponents: Be greedy. You have tons of survival tools in your list, so try and use them to finish Activate the Obelisk as early as possible.

Don’t overextend and try to make optimal use on your Mass Resurrections. Identify your opponents’ archetype and think about when to use Plague of Death. Fill up your resurrection pool, and look for timings to get in damage in the mid game.

A well-timed Mass Dispel can also work wonders against Highlander Rogue and other control archetypes working with effect-heavy board states.

Quest Resurrect Priest Tech Cards and Card Substitutions

• Batterhead – The minion pool for this deck is very straightforward and mostly mandatory; however, some player may not have this epic card at their disposal. You’d need a similar minion to replace it, so a decent substitution would be Mosh'ogg Enforcer. It can also be used to replace another big minion (but removing most of them will make the deck much worse).
• Grave Rune – If you feel like you need more minion presence, this tech card is for you. We don’t see many Silence effects in the current meta, so switching this against one of our removal spells could pay off in longer value wars.