Opposition’s Legend Big Dragon Druid

Card choices

• Kun, the Forgotten King or Barnes? Kun was the only card I didn’t have and I highly doubt he’s necessary to make this deck successful. From rank 14 to legend in a week, I faced a lot of paladins against which the earlier Barnes body was better. Barnes also has several chances to completely lock out a game on turn 3 or 4 if he gets Deathwing: Dragonlord, Dragonhatcher, Ysera, The Lich King…
• One copy of Ultimate Infestation? Some lists play two copies of Ultimate Infestation and no Primordial Drake. My reasoning is that not only does the drake increase the chance your Dragonhatcher grabs a taunt, it’s also very strong against aggro whenever it’s played (especially on turn 4 or 5 if drawn by Bright-Eyed Scout). Beside the advantage of Primordial Drake, having two copies of Ultimate Infestation is redundant in this deck. There are too many 9- and 10-drops that you don’t need the draw. Plus, you play creatures by Recruiting them, not by drawing them…
• Drakkari Enchanter? Yes for many reasons. You can keep it against aggro (having two end of turn effects isn’t the thing that’s going to beat a paladin) and it deals with annoying 1-hp creatures. People usually freak out about it (I would smell a rat if someone played that on turn 3 also) and may spend costly removal on a 3-drop. Job well done as far as I’m concerned. The enchanter makes your Master Oakheart turn much more powerful because you may recruit two big threats, two taunts, a big threat and a taunt — two is better than one. Besides that, it can back up any of your powerful recruiters if your opponent doesn’t have enough to finish them off. When you only have 8 dragons in the deck to account for, doing the math on getting a taunt is a lot less nerve wracking with the Enchanter in hand or on the board.
• One Mire Keeper? The four slot’s a little crowded with Barnes and Mire Keeper isn’t the best way to ramp (costs more than any other ramp spells). If you’re ramping to a huge Master Oakheart of Dragonhatcher turn, chances are good your 3-3 Mire Keeper won’t seem so important (except against aggro).

Turn 4 choices

Turn 4 choice is important. Try to always play Bright-Eyed Scout ASAP. It has a few outs to win the game. Bright-Eyed Scout > Barnes almost 100% of the time. Against aggro decks it could be a Primordial Drake for 5; against control decks it could be a Dragonhatcher for 5.

Bright-Eyed Scout and Barnes > Mire Keeper unless you hold Wild Growth (lets you ramp with 4 mana -> 6 and play Bright-Eyed Scout + Wild Growth).

Mulligan choices

Wild Growth, Jade Blossom, and Mire Keeper always keep. Only keep Nourish if you’re against a non-aggro deck (I don’t keep it against mage. Counterspell will be backbreaking).

Always keep Scout in your opening hand and Swipe against paladin.

It’s not uncommon to mull all your opening cards. Thanks, Recruit mechanic.

In-game choices

• Count the dragons left in the deck. When you have the choice between a Dragonhatcher with a 1/3 chance to grab a taunt dragon, it’s safer to put down the Sleeping Dragon instead.
• This is NOT a late game deck. It has a huge burst in the midgame and then has no cards left to draw late. The threats are binary — your opponent either deals with the 12 face damage coming their way, or they lose. Don’t play the slow game. Force your opponent to answer your threats instead of the other way around. If you don’t dictate the pace of the game your several big minions won’t be as effective as the enemy’s spread board.
• Spreading Plague or Swipe first? If you’ve ramped in the early game you likely have a choice to play SP or Swipe first against a large board (think: Paladin or a lucky priest). It’s almost always correct to play Plague > Swipe (think of it as a one damage AOE). Once the enemy attacks into the bugs you can swipe then efficiently finish off their key minions with the last couple bugs.
• If your board is large, play Deathwing: Dragonlord ASAP against control decks. You need to have a threat every turn against freeze mages and cubelocks — you can’t do that without deathrattle.
• Be careful of choosing spiders from Malfurion the Pestilent against Priest. They’ll use a Potion of Madness and drop your 4-12 taunt.
• Your health total can get pretty low. Try not to worry about it until you’re assuming a 1- or 2-turn lethal from your opponent. Otherwise you end up with 25 life, 20 armor, and no board. Earthen Scales tends to sit around in your hand and is a very cheap way to gain 13 life.
• Don’t be afraid to use Earthen Scales to trade in the early-midgame against most decks. One is usually sufficient to keep you alive until you start playing big threats and the other can usually help you make a favorable board trade with a 4-drop.