Wild play Quest Rogue

Before the new ‘The Caverns Below‘ quest update (now; use five minions with the same name – instead of four), it not only worked using Glacial Shard but also worked great using zero cost minions like Target Dummy, Murloc Tinyfin / Wisp

Having at least two sets of those assured a faster four minion combo. Many times I was able to convert to 5/5 minions on the fourth mana having a Preparation at large … combo;

one zero cost minion > two Shadowstep  > either one Gadgetzan Ferryman  or one Youthful Brewmaster  > dumping a Preparation + Crystal Core.

Until I made this deck I didn’t play rogue much, since often the combo and 90 minutes available time to calculate / play out annoyed me.

Making this deck on the other hand … made combo’s faster, straight forward and often secured a fast board control. Having two 5/5 minions on the board (especially if one was Target Dummy on fourth mana), made many an opponent to concede.

I made it halfway to a Golden Rogue Hero in a couple of weeks with this deck …

It took discipline not to play out all or fill the board with low cost minions since Priests and Warriors removed them fast. But a fun mechanism was when a lot of opponents silenced, or ‘converted’ the minions. The Crystal Core secured them still being 5/5 minions;

Priests using Mass Dispel, or Shamans using Devolve – even Mages sheeping with Polymorph… caused many a giggle. Sure their cards worked and I often sensed a sigh of relief on their side of their monitors, because my minions changed accordingly to their intentions … but to their surprise and probably followed by a scream, were … when we both (after a short while) witnessed the minions changing back their attack/health to 5/5 … no matter how they were transformed !

The new patch using five minion name, makes this deck harder and slower to play, but I think the zero cost minions gets it back on track. The update won’t affect this deck much.

I honestly haven’t seen players using zero cost minions as name minions, since the quest card release (and I wonder why, they were practically free), but they might come in handy now. I have so far had great benefits from them. So I think we might see them welcomed to the boards in the future, if playing Rogue quest.

Also … to my knowledge I didn’t see any other player using Glacial Shard  for those couple of weeks where I halfway’ed my Rogue to 500 wins. All of a sudden, many used them since they froze Hero weapons, ‘tough to remove’ minions and to a good extend secured board control.

I relied on them to keep board control until Crystal Core and it probably still works that way.

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Primary and hard mulligan (more than ever); zero cost minions; Murloc Tinyfin / Target Dummy + the return-to-hand spell; Shadowstep or minion(s); primarily Youthful Brewmaster / Gadgetzan Ferryman. Remember … Gadgetzan Ferryman only works in combo’s – it is easy to forget in the heat of the battle that is doesn’t return a minion for free as Youthful Brewmaster. And don’t play your name minions with combo spell / minions out too early, since you may later have two of the other zero cost name minions via Mimic Pod.

When you close in on five mana’s then you may have a better view of what to play out.

Secondary mulligan option; If you have the Preparation keep it, but don’t mulligan for it. Keep the Mimic Pod if you have it, but never mulligan for it.

Against weapon Heroes you can mulligan for a Glacial Shard, but rest assured your opponent will deal with them as fast as they can. If you mulligan or have one after mulligan, save them until they can be converted into a 5/5 – they might come in handy as a throw-freeze, retract, recast-refreeze and staying 5/5’ed.

I have used them with great success both as board control and name minions, but in my opinion they are too slow now, since you need to cast five of them.

A ‘never mulligan’ … Coldlight Oracle, Fan of Knives, Moroes*) see later. Use the Murloc, F-o-k’s or Mimic-Pod on your third mana if you have them, but in any case …

… never use Coldlight Oracle as the name card (The Caverns Below). I have tried and you will end up with hand either … being so full of cards that you’ll lose the important ones or you won’t have space for your Crystal Core to drop.

If you have both the Mimic-P and Murloc on your hand after mulligan, play the Pod since it doesn’t benefit your opponent. If you have the Murloc, play it on third mana so you increase your hand but the longer you wait – the better. I preferably use it after I convert into 5/5 minions.

Mimic Pod over Coldlight Oracle.

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Up against i.e. Priests Dragonfire Potion , Warriors Brawl and Mages Freeze Mechanics + removals like Frost Nova + Doomsayer or Blizzard + Flamestrike (as well as all other mass removals) – don’t keep more than three minions on board, and always use your charge minions if the board is clear and you can retract them to your hand.

Your charge minions are too valuable to let them be terminated by mass removals ! Use your static minions as main damagers, board blocks, minion removals and your charge minions later … as a 5/5 surprise. If you can retract them to your hand, you deal 10 damage for very little mana cost.

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No coin play …

I. The Caverns Below,

II. Hero Power (and avoid using your weapon, unless or until you can combine it later with the 2 or 4 damage combo on Eviscerate as an early remover). But don’t forget … using mana on Hero Power doesn’t trigger a card combo !

Keep the weapon so it has one round left; dropping Southsea Deckhand (thus getting a free Patches the Pirate), offers later a great advantage. Getting Southsea Deckhand without a weapon to trigger it – is a great bugger, unless you can afford the Hero Power with your mana.

III. Throw your three cost cards. Priority; Mimic Pod, Fan of Knives, Coldlight Oracle. Never Moroes*).

Coin play …

I. The Caverns Below,

II. Coin + Throw your three cost cards. Priority; Mimic Pod, Fan of Knives, Coldlight Oracle. Never Moroes*).

or … coin + Eviscerate as an early 4 damage remover.

III. Throw your three cost cards. Priority; Mimic Pod, Fan of Knives, Coldlight Oracle. Never Moroes*).

* Drop Moroes when it can be converted into a 5/5. A stealthed 5/5 minion that drops a free 5/5 Steward at your end of your turn is a frustrating card to overcome by your opponent.

In most situations … wait using your get-extra-cards-on-hand until you reach from three mana’s and upwards. Don’t hesitate to use your charge minions as board removers if they survive and you can retract them. 

An advice I haven’t seen others use and benefit from; a frozen minion that is silenced will be free’d thus being able to attack. Don’t include silencers in your deck, but be aware … if you play this deck and silencers are Meta cards that you could face a nasty surprise !

Against Hero secrets … don’t go for face until your minions are 5/5’ed – if a Hero has cast a secret. Your minions are too often lost. A good secret that somehow benefits an attempted face damage is Freezing Trap, but not worth the risk. Let your opponent deal with your board minions thus wasting tempo and minions – build your hand up towards Crystal Core.

It takes discipline, but it can be done. Even against a quest Priest Awaken the Makers > Amara, Warden of Hope !

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Good luck, and in any case this deck is … fun to play.