Introduction
This is yet another Yogg-Saron inspired deck. It was first seen in competitive play by Tars, who brought it to Dreamhack Austin and managed to defeat his opponent convincingly with it. Recently it has been popularized by J4CKIECHAN, a popular player and streamer who uses unconventional decks to achieve high Legend. The list here is the one he used to achieve rank 2 Legend in EU. The deck is all about playing spells and making use of spell based cards in order to take the victory. The synergy between the cards in deck is so great that it is able to overwhelm many other decks, and if it can’t, it can always fall back on Yogg for some last second shenanigans.
Decklist
As stated, this is J4CKIECHAN’s decklist. There are a few one-offs that could easily be removed or have a second copy put in. Mulch in particular I’m unsure on, I haven’t seen enough of the results to see it go poorly yet, but the concept always scares me. The other card I would be very willing to cut is Soul of the Forest, which seems to often be a dead card. The major difference between this list and Tars’ is that Tars ran Summoning Stone, which actually worked very well for him, and may be worth playing with if you like that idea.
Playstyle
The playstyle of this deck is very reactionary. Because it’s almost entirely spell based, you often have to wait for
your opponent to make a move and counter it. Sometimes it’s the right move to hold a few cards if you know you’ll get value off of Fandral or a big Violet Teacher play. Surprisingly this deck does quite well against most decks. Against aggressive decks you can often ramp into your removal before they get you to a critical place, and you can use your hero power and Feral Rage to keep your life total up (Note: if you are facing a lot of aggressive decks, putting in a second Feral Rage over Mulch is suggested). Against Control, you can play it slow and get massive Violet Teacher and Fandral value to simply outvalue them. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you don’t think you can win, Yogg is a backup plan. With how many spells this deck is guaranteed to play, Yogg will very rarely not clear the entire board, while often giving you a massive advantage – and sometimes killing you outright. Playing Yogg is always a gamble, which is why he’s only used in dire situations.
Matchups
Shaman
This is one of your hardest matchups, simply because Shaman is one of everyone’s hardest matchups! Unfortunately Mulch is your only good answer to Flamewreathed Faceless, so you can very easily lose to that alone. However, you are able to answer most of their other threats without too much trouble, and if you are able to go off with Violet Teacher, their only good answer is Lightning Storm, which most Shamans only run one of, and which is a five mana card (over two turns) that doesn’t even deal with the Teacher herself. Not the best matchup, but as far as decks that beat Shaman, this one isn’t bad.
Warrior
Face Warrior is fairly easy, Wrath, Swipe, and Living Roots take out their offense, while you are able to heal back up with your hero power, just enough to secure the win most of the time. Control Warrior is a much different game, and you’ll want to play for big boards off of Violet Teacher and lots of value from Fandral. Warrior’s weakness is their board clear, forcing them to Brawl a Violet Teacher is great for you. Whisps of the Old Gods is another great way to fill the board to keep pressure up.
Zoo Warlock
This matchup is surprisingly good due largely to Swipe. The other reason is that Zoo dominates through making good trades constantly, but your deck doesn’t have anything to trade into. Their reluctance to simply go all in at your face often works in your favour, and if they do you can easily capitalize with cheap removal. Your only minions have large health pools as well, making them awkward damage soaks, after getting value on your turn. The matchup can easily be lost by being overwhelmed, but it’s fairly good if you can draw your answers or ramp.
Rogue
This is probably your worst matchup. Rogues use a very similar method of controlling the board, but their damage is a lot more reliable with nothing in play, and their removal trumps your board through use of Fan of Knives. If they are running Conceal that single handedly ends you as well, since you have no non-target removal. This is a matchup in which you’ll want to take control of the game as fast as possible, or rely on Yogg.
Hunter
The Face Hunter matchup can be difficult since you aren’t running taunts and the Hunter hero power mixed with charge minions can simply get past your removal since they aren’t expecting to live more than a turn anyway. Mid-Range Hunter is a lot better as it simply gives you more time to make big plays. Your biggest fear is Unleash the Hounds off of one of your minion generating plays; it simply ends any chance you have.
Mage
Tempo Mage is a fairly even matchup, your removal can easily deal with their early minions, while your board generation is a lot more than they can handle typically. The hardest thing is playing around Flamewaker, who can easily clear your board of minions. You’ll want to make some value plays here, as you will rarely be overwhelmed by their board, and will have to play against their card draw and potential Antonidas plays. Freeze Mage is almost unwinnable since your only healing is Feral Rage, and it simply doesn’t give enough to keep you alive. Your best bet here is flooding the board, and taking healing from your Raven Idols.
Deathrattle Paladin
This is another very difficult matchup, but not unwinnable. Deathrattle Paladin has four solid board clears you will need to worry about – two Equality + Pyromancers, two Consecration. If you can manage to build a board around those, you can very easily snowball the game in your favour. If you can build a board with three or more health it forces them to use big removal, paving your way for more things later. Fandral and Teacher are both big threats since they can’t easily be removed.
