CardinalXC’s N’Zoth Deathrattle Priest (Wild) Deck List Guide

There hasn’t been a ton of excitement around Wild recently, but once people tire of the Standard meta we’ll start to see people creep into the format. There are people playing now, however, and CardinalXC used this N’Zoth Deathrattle Priest to legend! The deck gets to take advantage of a lot of deathrattle cards that are available to you in Wild like Zombie Chow, Deathlord, and Sludge Belcher.

Thanks to CardinalXC for allowing us to re-host the guide!

INTRODUCTION

This season I hit legend for the first time. I have found this subreddit and the deck write-ups extraordinarily helpful. I am happy to be in a position where I can contribute to the community that has contributed so much to me. Hopefully this is useful, I think Wild is great for hitting legend.

For the last ~6 or so seasons I’ve exclusively played control priest. It is my favorite class by far. I switched over from standard because the lack of hard removal and lightbomb makes it very difficult to play reactively.

I think this deck is outstanding in the wild meta for several reasons. First, it can beat secret pally, which represents at least 1/4th of ladder. Secondly, it can beat most aggro decks because of it’s solid heals, board clears, and taunts. Lastly, you are favored against every warrior variant. Only real disadvantage is that OTK decks are an autolose.

KEY CARDS

• N'Zoth, The Corruptor: Although N’zoth may be the defining card of this deck, it is not actually your main win condition. In most games I won I did not play N’zoth. N’zoth is an outstanding finisher against control and an outstanding comeback mechanism against aggro. But, in general, think of this as a very minion based control priest. You do not need to draw N’zoth to win, one of the strengths of this deck.
• Sylvanas Windrunner: Don’t get greedy with this card. Play it on curve instead of trying to steal minions. Kills opponent’s tempo, they have to play around it, and you can keep it coming back with N’zoth.
• Sludge Belcher: Best card in the deck. Good against control, aggro, and midrange. Almost always worth playing on curve, even if it trades unfavorably.
• Museum Curator: Usually you don’t want the greedy pick, you want the on curve pick. This card has N’zoth synergy, helps you fill out your curve, and is outstanding against warrior.
• Cabal Shadow Priest: Only have room for 1 because you want your big drops to be removal, or have deathrattle. Very good card though, lots of 2 drops in meta.
• Power Word: Shield: Don’t like keeping this in my mulligan, unless you have Zombie Chow + Northshire Cleric you are expecting to stick around. Great Cycle in the mid to late game.
• Shadow Word: Pain: Great response to Doomsayer, Acolyte of Pain, Sludge Belcher. Only run one because you generally want to be proactive rather than reactive during the early game. This is the closest thing the deck has to a “tech slot.” If you want to cut a card, this would be it.

NOTABLE EXCLUSIONS

• Velen's Chosen: Outstanding against priest but I don’t think there is room for this card. Also really bad against warrior because they can use their hard removal on your minions and generate card advantage through the 2 for 1.
• Dr. Boom: Had him in for a while, but it is difficult to race secret paladins and other tempo decks on the board. Removal is preferable. Cut him for entomb, mostly because you almost always need one in hand vs. control.
• Cairne Bloodhoof: Too slow/ non impactful, you are already favored against control. 6 spot is very crowded.
• Harrison Jones: You usually don’t need the draw against warrior, you will beat them anyway. You also want your big drops to have deathrattles.
• Eater of Secrets: Very common tech card in wild. Don’t think it is necessary though because you can beat secret pally pretty handily. The body is garbage too.
• Elise Starseeker: You don’t win in fatigue. You win with N’zoth. If it goes late you will almost always win, so elise really isn’t necessary.

MATCHUP SPECIFICS + MULLIGANS

Warriors (Favored/ Heavily Favored):

• Mulligan: Lightbomb, Museum Curator, and Zombie Chow. Lightbomb seems like an odd keep but is absolutely necessary against patron and tempo.
• How to Win: Lumping these together because the variant doesn’t have that much effect on your win con/ playstyle. If they are patron, it’s hard to lose, because they have 2 patrons and you have tanky minions + 4 aoe. If they are control, Bait out a brawl by dropping 4+ minions on the field. After you see the first one, drop N’zoth and get that win. All your deathrattle minions shaft control warrior.

Priest (Even):

• Mulligan: look for Northshire Cleric, Zombie Chow, Shifting Shade, Museum Curator. Almost always a mirror, saw one dragon priest though.
• How to Win: Just try not to N’zoth first. After they N’zoth, you entomb theirs and they will be fucked. Make sure they have minions on the board when you N’zoth, because any board clear like Lightbomb will clear their board as well.

Miracle Rogue (Even):

• Mulligan: look for Auchenai Soulpriest w/ Circle of Healing, Museum Curator, Deathlord, N'Zoth, The Corruptor.
• How to Win: Sludge Belcher is a great on curve play here. Make sure you have a way to deal with Gadgetzan Auctioneer and use plays that avoid sap. Flash Heals are quite good.

Shaman (Favored):

• Mulligan: Deathlord, Shadow Word: Death, Zombie Chow, Auchenai Soulpriest. Keep Circle of Healing w/ Auchenai Soulpriest. Auchenai is worth keeping because Auchenai Circle almost guarantees a win. Keep Shadow Word: Pain with nothing else.
• How to Win: Mostly decided in mulligan because gameplay is intuitive. Keep board clear and use taunts to stabilize. Midrange is easier than aggro in my experience.

Druid (Heavily Favored):

• Mulligan: Deathlord, Zombie Chow, Museum Curator, Shadow Word: Death.
• How to Win: C’Thun druid is rare but a cakewalk, they lack any form of decent removal and you have an abundance of it. Don’t Entomb C'Thun – unfortunately, it doesn’t maintain buffs. The other most common variant is egg druid, which can be pretty nasty, but is still favored. Pop all eggs, get value out of Cabal Shadow Priest, then use Lightbomb or Holy Nova to clear. Don’t let their board get big because the deck runs so many buffs.

Secret Paladin (Favored):

• Mulligan: Northshire Cleric, Zombie Chow, Lightbomb. Keep Auchenai Soulpriest with Circle of Healing, and keep Museum Curator or Deathlord if nothing else in hand is good.
• How to Win: I’m spending more time on this one because of how common the matchup is, and how difficult it is to play correctly. The way you win this is by having a minion on the board and Lightbomb in hand when they drop Mysterious Challenger. Play aggressively in the early game, focusing on board and forgoing card advantage. You usually either stabilize by turn 9, or die. N’zoth can provide for game-winning comebacks, as Secret pally has weak AOE and little burst.
• Divine Favour: Always have this card in the back of your mind. Don’t hold coin for long. You want to make a tempo play pre-turn 6. The Coin is disastrous against Divine Favor. Don’t worry about drawing too much before you stabilize, but after you stabilize, try to have 4 or fewer cards in hand. You will out value them so plays like Flash Heal face are actually recommended.
• Threats: Save Entomb for Tirion Fordring. No exceptions. Some pallys run N’zoth. Pain in the ass but rarely affects much because the game is usually decided by that point.

OTK Decks (Unfavored):

• Mulligan: Shadow Word: Pain, Museum Curator, Deathlord, Auchenai Soulpriest.
• How to Win: This includes Freeze Mage, Malygos Rogue, and Anyfindin. Generally you want to play aggressively for board, entombing threats like Sludge Belcher, than burst them down w/ Auchenai Soulpriest + Zombie Chow, Circle of Healing, Flash Heal. Anyfindin is the deck’s worst matchup.

Renolock (Favored or Unfavored depending on variant):

• Mulligan: Zombie Chow, Museum Curator, Deathlord.
• How to Win: Favored if they don’t run Leeroy Jenkins + Faceless Manipulator combo, unfavored if they do. Bait out AOE (usually some combination of Twisting Nether, Shadowflame, Demonwrath, or Hellfire.) Drop N’zoth when they have minions out because their aoe will kill their own minions. They will usually stay in the high teens for health, and will be at 15 if they Lord Jaraxxus, so save auchenai burst. Justicar Trueheart is great here.

Zoolock (Unfavored):

• Mulligan: Zombie Chow, Museum Curator, Deathlord. Power Word: Shield with low drop.
• How to Win: This matchup is not favored because of the sheer amount of token spam and the bursty finishers, and the fact that this list doesn’t run Wild Pyromancer, which is amazing against Zoo. The additions of Darkshire Councilman + Forbidden Ritual really hurt priest. If they run Sea Giants + Doomguard it is probably even to favored, but the Enhance-o Mechano finisher is just brutal. Try to use AOE’s liberally and take back board control. You out value them if the game goes long enough. Lightbomb can really take back the board. Fortunately not many in Wild, I think all the Zoo players are in standard.

Hunter (Even):

• Mulligan: Deathlord, Zombie Chow, Power Word: Shield
• How to Win: Face is easier than Midrange/N’zoth. Generally you want to get the board early then use taunts + Justicar Trueheart to stabilize. A lot of Hunter’s are running things like Sylvanas Windrunner, N'Zoth, The Corruptor, Princess Huhuran, and other things that are difficult to remove. You generally want to Entomb Savannah Highmane, then use N’zoth to take back the bard and win.

CLOSING COMMENTS + LADDERING TIPS

For whatever reason this deck is very “streaky.” I didn’t collect stats (recording losses really tilts me) but I made it from 15 – 9 with only 2-3 losses, and got a 7 win streak that carried me through rank 3 without losing. Similarly, I had some bad loss streaks (Top of 5 to bottom of 6). I would say if you lose 2 games or more in a row, analyze your mistakes, then do something else until your mind is clear. This really helped me in ranks 1 – 2, which are very hard because you frequently cue into high legends.

This deck is not optimized. I made it myself, and to be honest, it is the first time I’d seriously laddered with a homebrew deck. If you think a card is better for the decks you are facing feel free to try it out. What makes Wild so fun is the sheer amount of homebrew decks. Let me know if you have any successful additions!!