J4CKIECHAN’s Yogg-Saron Token Druid Deck List Guide

J4CKIECHAN has been making interesting decks for a while now, but this might be his strongest original creation. Yogg-Saron Token Druid got him all the way to Legend Rank #2, and eventually had him finishing Legend Rank #100, after refusing to camp at his previously lower rank. Every deck that has Yogg-Saron, Hope's End is always met with a bit of hesitance because of the nature of the card. The RNG aspect can be a bit crazy, but often Yogg will clear your opponent’s board and generally put you in a better position than you were in previously.

Thanks to J4CKIECHAN for allowing us to re-host this guide. Be sure to check out his highly entertaining Twitch Stream and give him a follow on Twitter!

I have been playing Yogg Token Druid at high legend this season, peaking at #2 EU, so I decided to make a guide on the deck! I have been tweaking it constantly and have realized there are many different cards which can fit in the deck.

Play Style

The aim of this deck is to use combinations of cards together to create extremely powerful turns. For the first few turns you are usually stalling with Wrath, Living Roots and Swipe, while using Wild Growth and Mire Keeper to ramp. After this you are looking to use Violet Teacher and Fandral Staghelm in combination with AoE buffs such as Power of the Wild and Soul of the Forest to create a board which your opponent cannot deal with. Or if they can, just build it back up with Wisps of the Old Gods! If you’re getting destroyed you’ve just gotta Praise Yogg!

Card Discussion

Innervate – Can work wonders in this deck, allows you to Pull off crazy turns with cards like Violet Teacher. In Aggro matchups it is often good to use Innervate to get a tempo swing n your favour, Whereas against control it is useful to hold on to it for late game combos.

Living Roots – Very effective against aggro when played turn 1. The flexibility of this card is great, it can be used to help flood the board mid game or to remove annoying 2 health minions early on.

Raven Idol – You almost always want a spell with this card, as you are guaranteed to get a Druid class card, there is a spell for almost any situation, card draw, AoE, Direct damage, Minion creation. Generally against aggro you know the cards you are looking for (Innervate/Swipe/Starfall) so you can use it whenever you have mana left over. However against control it is harder to predict how the game will pan out, so it can be useful to hold on to it until you know exactly what you are looking for, often against control you are looking for more pressure (Eg. Wisps of the Old Gods or Force of Nature).

Power of the Wild – Has amazing Synergy with so many cards in the deck, you can great insane value out of this card very easily later in the game. The only time i would summon a panther is on turn 2 against Aggro decks if you have no other options.

Wild Growth – Wild skill on turn 2 can often win you games.

Wrath – Great for removing early threats however if you are in the mid-game and you are low on cards you have to use this for the card draw, even if the 1 damage doesn’t do much.

Feral Rage – Decent removal and the armour can be amazing against aggressive decks and Freeze Mage.

Mulch – The deck can struggle to deal with single big minions such as C'Thun and Sea Giant so Mulch is great to have in the deck just so you have an answer to big threats. Don’t be afraid to use it on early threatening minions like Frothing Berserker if you have no other way of dealing with it.

Savage Roar – Your best card for burst damage, i was running 2 but there was too much aggro on ladder, it is a card that is amaaaazing against control, the one turn they can’t deal with your board you just punish them with up to 16 damage for 3 mana. Don’t be afraid to use Savage Roar in the mid game if you only have 1/2 minions on board, it doesn’t have to be used for burst, it can also be used for efficient trading.

Soul of the Forest – Fantastic for closing out games, your enemy will need multiple board clears to remove your board. Just be wary of that card everyone plays Mass Dispel. Seriously though it is a very powerful card even if only used on 3/4 minions.

Swipe – Solid removal which is great against aggro, and if this deck sees a lot of play on ladder Swipe is great in the mirror too!

Fandral Staghelm – This guy is completely bonkers, he has synergy with so any cards in the deck. In control matchups you really want to abuse him and combo him with cards like Wisps of the Old Gods. Against more aggressive decks you way have to play him on turn 4 and hope he survives, but if he does……GG!!

Mire Keeper – Just a solid minion in the deck, i often coin him out on turn 3. Deciding whether to go for the mana or the slime can often be a tough desicion. If you have a lot of cards in hand or can see that your next few turns will be significantly stronger with the extra mana then go for that. But often against aggressive decks it can be better to go for the Slime as it helps contest the board and can stifle some of the early pressure.

Violet Teacher – Similar to Fandral against aggressive decks you may have to play her on turn 4, but against control you want to get as much value from her as possible. Be aware that if you know your opponent will not be able to remove her Innervating Violet Teacher on turn 2 can often be very powerful if you have cheap spells to follow up with the next turn.

Nourish – Can be amazing when combined with Fandral Staghelm. But in general it is just a solid card draw that helps you to find your threats. If you already have plenty of cards in hand or can see that the game is lost without a crazy Yogg, then go for the mana.

Wisps of the Old Gods – When i first saw this card i thought to myself “what a joke”, but it turns out that the card is actually insane! What makes it so good is that it has such incredible synergy with so many other druid cards. It can be really annoying for your opponent if they use a bunch of cards to remove your board, then next turn you instantly build it up again just with 1 card! It can also provide a lot of burst damage if you already have a solid board.

Cenarius – Nothing much to say about this one, anther buff for all our minions or just a solid drop if we have no board.

Yogg-Saron, Hope's End – Mr. RNG himself. We have so many spells in the deck that Yogg can go absolutely crazy and get you out of almost any situation. It is important to be sensible with him though, ideally you want to play him when your opponent has a board and you don’t. If you play him when you are ahead then he will often end up clearing your own board and benefiting your opponent. So if you’re ahead, it’s a good idea to just not play him!

Mulligan

In general, you are always looking for Wild Growth and Innervate. Being able to cheat mana is one of the things that makes Druid so strong. Having access to a lot of “quick” mana is particularly great in this deck as it relies on synergy to create extremely powerful turns.

Innervate/Wild Growth – Always keep.

Living Roots – I would keep Living Roots vs aggressive decks, however, you don’t want to keep it against Warrior and Rogue. Rogue frequently uses Hero Power on turn 2 anyway so they easily kill your Saplings if you play them on turn 1. Warrior also punishes turn 1 Living Roots with cards like Armorsmith.

Wrath – Many classes have early threats which Wrath can deal with, so I would usually keep it. I wouldn’t keep it against Warrior as most of their early minions have 4 health.

Feral Rage – I would only keep Feral Rage if I already have a Wrath/Living Roots in my hand, and only if I am against a deck which has early 4 health threats such as Shaman (e.g., Totem Golem) and Tempo Warrior (e.g., Frothing Berserker). You usually don’t want to keep Feral Rage against control.

Mire Keeper – I would usually keep this against control as the extra mana early on is nice, and you can afford to hold onto it as control decks don’t tend to put pressure on you for the first few turns. Against Midrange decks, I would keep Mire Keeper if you also have an Innervate or Wild Growth in hand. I would typically mulligan it against aggressive decks.

Violet Teacher – I would usually keep against control as it allows you to create early pressure. I would always keep it if I also have Innervate and The Coin, as you can make some very powerful plays early on with Violet Teacher and Innervate.

Raven Idol – You don’t want to keep this card against control decks as you don’t really know what you want to choose from it early on. Later in the game, you can choose a card that fits the situation you are in. However, I would sometimes keep it against aggro if I already have a turn 2 play in hand such as a Wild Growth. This is because against aggro you usually know the cards that are going to win you the game (Innervate, Swipe, etc.), so you can use it on turn 1 to make the most of the mana and find a card that will help you out early on.

Power of the Wild – This card can be used much more effectively later in the game. The only time I would keep it is if I had a very specific hand where I can get great early value from it. An example of this would be if I had The Coin and double Living Roots (The Coin -> double Living Roots turn 1, then Power of the Wild turn 2) Another example is if I have The Coin, Innervate, and Violet Teacher (turn 3 The Coin -> Violet Teacher -> Innervate -> Power of the Wild).

Yogg-Saron, Hope's End – To truly Praise Yogg you must always keep in in your hand. (However if you actually want to win games then never keep him in your starting hand as you want to use him later in the game after you have used a bunch of spells)

Matchups

Warlock Zoo

A difficult matchup. If you don’t draw well they can overwhelm you early on. Innervate is insane in this matchup, so hard mulligan for it. Living Roots, Wrath, and Swipe are also effective at dealing with the early pressure.

Aggro Shaman

Similar to Zoo, you can get overrun early. Holding a Wrath for Tunnel Trogg and a Feral Rage for Totem Golem is very useful. Since they don’t run AoE, getting a big Violet Teacher turn can win you the game. Their lack of AoE also means that if you get ahead on the board they struggle to come back. Be aware that using Feral Rage for armour in this matchup is usually very effective.

Midrange Shaman

A very even matchup, often comes down to who gets the best draws to snowball an early board advantage. You mulligan similar to how you would against Aggro Shaman, however one big turn doesn’t outright win you the game as they run Lightning Storm. You do need to play for tempo in this matchup though so dropping a Violet Teacher or Fandral Staghelm on turn 4 is usually fine.

Freeze Mage

This is a very good matchup. They don’t apply any pressure, giving you time to build up a board. Soul of the Forest is insane in this matchup as your board becomes almost impossible to remove. You need to pop their Ice Block as soon as possible, so keep building a board until you get a chance to do a lot of damage with Savage Roar.

N’Zoth Paladin

Another good matchup, they don’t apply any early pressure so you have time to cycle through your deck and find your cards that can flood the board, they only have 4 AoE effects; 2 Consecration and 2 Wild Pyromancer so keep track of how many they have used, you can try to bait them out with small combos, then when they are low n cards or have used all AoE just go nuts!

Tempo Warrior

This is usually a close one, they have multiple whirlwind effects but if you can deal with their early threats they can often run out of steam, allowing you to build up a powerful board yourself, it is really important to have a way of dealing with Frothing Berserker as if you do not deal with this early it can get out of control insanely quickly.

Control Warrior

Despite having a lot of removal, this matchup is actually very good. You really need to be greedy in this matchup, for example when you play Violet Teacher or Fandral Staghelm make sure you are using the with a bunch of spells.

Miracle Rogue

Be wary that when you build a board up you can get punished by Fan of Knives, however they only have 2 and that is the ony AoE they run, sometimes you can bait one out just by using a Living Roots or a Violet Teacher with a coupe of spells, and then you can go crazy with Wisps of the Old Gods!

Priest

A good matchup, they usually have a lot of removal but you can just keep building up a board over and over until they can do longer deal with it. It is often not a good idea to play Violet Teacher and Fandral Staghelm for tempo because you can get extremely punished by Shadow Word: Pain.

Tech Choices/Replacements

Emperor Thaurissan – Reducing the mana cost of cards makes it a lot easier to pull off powerful combinations. However, if you are running Emperor Thaurissan you should also use more card draw in the deck such as Azure Drake and Bloodmage Thalnos. I am not using Emperor Thaurissan in this current list because a lot of the time I only have 3 or 4 cards in hand. More card draw would mean you often have more cards in hand and can make much better use of Emperor Thaurissan.

Azure Drake – Very viable in the deck. The card draw is great and the Spell Damage can also be very useful with Swipe, Wrath, and Living Roots.

Force of Nature – Surprisingly good in a token druid list, and definitely worth playing if you feel you want more ways of flooding the board. However, it is by no means essential and I don’t think there is room for it.

Onyxia – Definitely worth consideration. While it is 2 more mana than Wisps of the Old Gods, you get an 8/8 body. Onyxia is definitely strong in the deck, but it is harder to combo with cards like Power of the Wild and Soul of the Forest due to the high mana cost.

Arch-Thief Rafaam – A great late game threat, however, it is very slow. While definitely an option, Onyxia is probably more suitable.

I hope this guide is useful and you enjoy the deck!

If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comment section below or tweet me at https://twitter.com/F2K_J4CKIE_HS

Also here is my twitch where i regularly stream https://www.twitch.tv/j4ckiechan