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Mulligans
General Mulligans
Rampity Ramp! Generally you want to mulligan for ramp, so that you can hit faster that sweet 5-7 mana threshhold where you can just taunt after taunt after taunt.
Aggro Mulligans
Removal is prerium, since you don't want to get eaten away with that Tunnel Trogg that just did he's 15th damage to your face and is still going. Innervate also helps you a ton, if you can pull out an ealy Bear or a Cat. Also don't hesitate to Ramp if you get your Taunts faster with that even if you would take some more damage because of that.
Midrange Mulligans
Pretty basic stuff here too. It's hard to determine if Shaman or Warrior is Aggro, Midrange or Control, but against Hunter it's gona be always Midrange. Darnassus Aspirant is a really good keep with coin and Living Roots/Wrath, since it contests Fiery Bat and you can protect it with removal. Hardly any Hunter keeps Quick Shot in their opening hand agains Druid and Doomsayer is kinda meh answer since you can use your extra mana anyways and just keep Ramping.
Control Mulligans
Control and Combo mulligans are just batshit crazy. These kind of games are just nuts when you Coin + Innervate + Nourish + Wild Growth on turn 2, and then follow up with turn 3 Dark Arakkoa and so on. Only safe Combo and Control assumptions are Rogue and Priest, since you kinda don't give a damn of their daggers and puny little Curators. Even Warrior now-a-days is almost always Tempo, Dragon or Aggro.
HUGE Update on matchups!
So I just hit my first time Legend with this decklist, and I have to say I had a blast! Usually I just grind the golden epic from R5, but this time I actually enjoyed playing ladder with such overwhelming winrates.
Matchups:
Free wins:
Freeze Mage:
Just keep dropping those minions and save removal (Living Roots, Wrath, Mulch, Swipe) for Doomsayers. Don’t overexted to Flamestrike, but feel free to drop all +4 health minions on board anyway.
Control Priests:
You just have way too many threats in your deck for them to deal with, and Druid of the Claw doesn’t die to any Shadow Word.
Face Hunter:
Even tho this isn’t a “real” metadeck anymore, you still run into them (especially early in the season) every now and then. They just can’t deal with all the taunts and removals you have, and run out of steam very quicly.
Renolock:
Their boardclears are very lackluster (watch out for shadowflame tho) and removal kinda iffy against you minions. Just try to bait out a Siphon Soul before you throw Ancient of War or Ragnaros the Firelord. Also don’t throw your Rag on an empty board if they have 8 mana next turn, since their Rag could potentially snipe yours.
Fairly easy matchups:
Tempo Mage:
This is almost ‘Free win’ tier matchup (I haven’t lost any), but if you are really unlucky with your opening hand they can burn you down before you can lay your taunts on the way. Living Roots and Wrath are key cards in this matchup since you want to remove their Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Cult Sorcerer right away. Don’t hesitate to Swipe a sole Flamewaker, but try to plan your turns so that you could kill it with Druid of the Claw with charge without taking too much damage in the earlier turns. Use Raven Idol to fish for armor and heals.
N’Zoth and Dragon Priest:
Kinda same deal with as with Control Priest, but atleast these dudes have some lategame as well. Full on Tempo Dragon Priest can potentially out tempo you, but your earlygame should suck alot for that to happen. Atleast I haven’t lost a singe game against Priests.
C’Thun Warrior, Priest and Druid:
Generally speaking C’Thun buffing minions are quite bad tempo wise, and this deck is all about tempo. Even when they drop Twin Emperor Vek’lor it doesn’t slow this deck so much you wouldn’t win before (or even after) they drop C’Thun. Also remember to laugh at their River Crocolisk and save your Wrath to something more important.
Aggro Paladin, Warrior and Warlock:
Quite easy when you just remove their earlygame threats and follow up with mid to lategame taunts. Save Harrison Jones for Arcanite Reaper or Upgrade!d weapons. Don’t waste it for a 3/1 Fiery War Axe if you have any other plays. If you face alot of Aggro Warriors and other weapon classes I would recommend to tech a Acidic Swamp Ooze over Darnassus Aspirant.
50-50 Matchups
Beast Druid:
With right opener they can out tempo you, but I think I still haven’t lost a single one of these matchups (haven’t faced alot either). They tend to run out of steam like any other aggro/tempo deck in the lategame when your 4’th big taunt drops down. Remember to save Swipe for those crazy Violet Teacher turns they tend to play.
Midrange Shaman:
Definetly the craziest and unfair deck around meta right now and can easily win if they curve out perfectly. Still I think I have above 50% winrate against this deck. Don’t be afraid of milling yourself with Harrison Jones and bait out the first Hex before playing Ancient of War or Ragnaros the Firelord. Dark Arakkoas are also really nice in this matchup since they trade so favourably against Thing from Below
Tempo and Patron Warrior:
Just another skill/draw/luck based game. Save removal for Frothing Berserker and Sylvanas Windrunner and/or Mulch for their Ragnaros the Firelord (Tempo).
Control Warrior:
If they get an early Justicar Trueheart without losing too much tempo (as in you don’t have Wrath or Azure Drake + Living Roots) it can be a hard game to win, but if you don’t overextend to brawl too much it should be winnable match.
Zoolock:
Really one-sided matchup. Either he runs completely over you by drawing both Power Overwhelmings to trade to your taunts and finnishes before you can stabilize or then you win with the first (or second) taunt. Try to save Swipe for Forbidden Ritual, but don’t be too greedy with it if you are already loosing.
Hard matchups:
Miracle Rogue:
Sap is a pain in the ass and if your opponent is smart enough he will save it to lategame where you are forced to play your Ancient of War into it. Try to bait it out earlier in the game with Fandral Staghelm or Druid of the Claw. Save Mulch for that ridiciously big Edwin VanCleef and search reach from Raven Idols. Remember: You are the aggressor in this matchup!
N’Zoth Paladin:
In all honestly I haven’t queued into a single game against N’Zoth Paladin, but I know this isn’t an easy matchup. Even if you can easily deal with their Doomsayers they just have way too much large removal with Humility, Aldor Peacekeeper and Keeper of Uldaman + Equality combos. I’d say you have to Mulch your Sylvanas Windrunner to steal their Tirion Fordring and hope that’s enough to win the attrition game.
Midrange Hunter:
This matchup is in my oppinion the hardest of them all. Living roots is a very key card because it removes early beasts such as Huge Toad, King’s Elekk and Huffer, but it also acts as an protector for our big taunts so that they can’t get Deadly Shot’d and Freezing Trap’d. You kinda have to hope your opponent doesn’t draw both savana higmanes and Call of the Wilds, otherwise you are pretty much screwed.
Please hit like if you want more info from this deck like mulligans and matchups.
I’ll be updating this every now and then when I feel like it. I’ just really excited to hit Legend with a deck I made my self, and I’ll gladly aswer any questions if you have any.
Check also my Hearthpwn list for more Q/A and info: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/559973-winsteak-to-legend-midrange-druid
This is quite simply the best deck in the game. You can try cool brews with new cards or jam C’Thun decks like everyone likes to do right now but, if you wanna win, you play this.
Nice to hear you like it. I’m not saying it’s the best deck in the game right now, but I sure think pros underestimate it quite alot – tho Neobility did hit Rank 1 legend with a Ramp Druid list similar to this.
I think it’s complicated but, any replacement for Fandral :/
First I thought of Spellbreaker, but it’s not necessary if you are not facing alot N’Zoth decks. It does kinda help against Darkshire Counsilman, but then again it dies so easily to a 1/1 token buffed by Abusive Sergeant or Dark Iron Dwarf. Keeper of the Grove should be better against Zoo tho.
If you want to go greedier you can swap it for another lategame threath like Deathwing, Ysera, Onyxia, Arch-Thief Rafaam or Soggoth the Slitherer (or North Sea Kraken if you are going budget).
You can also try Savage Roar especially if you put Onyxia in your deck.
Darnassus Aspirant should be a fine replacement also or if your hand feels too clogged with it in the earlygame (bad synergy with Wild Growth, that’s why I include only one) you should try some random 4-drop like Violet Teacher.
Oooor if you are facing alot of weapon classes I would suggest Acidic Swamp Ooze. I’m pretty sure i’m teching one in, because new season arrises and people will be playing Aggro Warrior alot for sure.
Hope these tips help ^^
Thanks a lot for the answer π