Well met!

Each week I plan on constructing a deck that listeners email me with.  I will play the deck in casual mode with a best of 5 format, and report back on it!  I will test anything, be it something funky or traditional (I do prefer the funk though).

Without further adieu, here we have a deck sent in by Keith, “Fly“.

I do play World of Warcraft, casually.  The Shaman is my class of choice. However, I never have been fond of it in Hearthstone, being one of my least played classes.  Earlier in the day before Keith sent me the email with his decklist I was flipping through my collection and landed on Ancestral Healing.  Pondering the consideration of building a deck with Ancestral Healing I remembered seeing decks with this card and deathrattle combinations.  Yet, I decided to pass and went to play on the ladder.Upon seeing Keith’s email, I was enlightened on some effective uses. Here’s a short excerpt from his email:

“It can be used in combination with many powerful cards, such as:
– Injured blademaster. A 4/7 with taunt on turn 3 is extremely
difficult to due with, especially for priest, Zoolock, Handlock and
Paladin to some extent (Druid has slightly fallen out of meta in my
opinion). The injured blademaster can also be dropped alone on turn 3
as a target for the healing totem (which, imo, is another
underestimated totem and will usually be ignored by my opponent, which
is a good thing)
– The Black Knight as a 2 card combo for 6 mana, summon a 4/5 minion
and destroy one of your opponent minion. The Black Knight is extremely
powerful right now due to the use of Sludge Belcher in every deck and
Ancestral Healing allow TBK to remove virtually any minion. I have
removed so many Rag, Ysera and KT using this combo in the past 2
weeks.
– Feugen is another card that nobody uses but have great potential. It
is a 4/7 for 5 and pasts the vanilla test. Furthermore, at 4 attack,
it is very hard for priest to due with and Ancestral Healing will
force your opponent to suicide their minions into yours.”

Looking at this deck I was puzzled at a few spots.  I looked up and down the list twice for Stalagg and he was no where to be found.  I would never imagine constructing a deck without his, for lack of a better phrase, other half. The synergy these two cards have is epic, essentially giving birth to the behemoth that is Thaddius.  However, a 4/7 minion for 5 mana is quite hefty.  Another item that baffled me was that Keith only ran 1 Lightning Bolt and especially only 1 Hex!  Yet, I put my faith in the Light and trusted Keith. So, how did it go?

 

The Results: 3/5 wins.

Game 1:Warrior (Aggro)-Loss

Game 2:Warlock (Demons/Aggro)-Win

Game 3 :Hunter (Secrets)-Loss

Game 4:Hunter (Secrets)-Win

Game 5: Hunter (Secrets)-Win

 

My thoughts?

This was certainly a fun funky deck to play.  The first game versus Warrior felt like a little league baseball team (me) squaring off against a professional one.  I had no business playing against him.  The Warrior was aggro and beat me down incredibly quick. To be honest I was demoralized.  The second game against the Warlock demon deck definitely made me smile. The Warlock had a Void Terror out well into double digits of attack and health. I threw down Ancestral Healing and The Black Knight without hesitation. For only 6 mana I destroyed his big boy and I was left with a 4/5 minion and serious board control. The last three Hunter matches were all very similar. I never drew into Al’Akir as a finisher.  However, I did have my Doomhammer enhanced with Rockbitter Weapon swinging for 10 damage to the face.  Feugen came up twice and I was able to heal and taunt him back to full health after running into some minions to clear the board. If I was a betting man I would think my opponents who saw Feugen feared some kind of insane Kel’Thuzad, multi-Thaddius, infinite anger deck, and they would have been wrong.

 

Overall

Fun and funky! I had fun playing this deck, but I don’t think I would take it to the ladder.  I feel there are too many aggro decks that would eat this deck alive.  I do plan on keeping it for a bit and doing my quests with it in casual mode.  Don’t get my wrong; I had a ball playing it because it was different and clearly effective, noted by the winning percentage. Thanks, Keith for sending it in!

-MickMack