Weekly Legends: Jade Rogue

Introduction

This week, we’re going back to Rogue. Valeera has been popular in my series as of late, and for good reason. Not only is Miracle one of the most fun meta decks to play, but she lends herself to a lot of interesting strategies as well. The one we are going to explore this week is a Jade deck that uses a very interesting mix of cards that just feels good. When you build and play enough decks you know when you find something special. Something that just pilots well and runs smooth. This deck is exactly that, blending together a series of powerful interactions with strong aggressive openings to create a tempo deck that both opens and finishes strong.

While many people (including myself on various occasions) have attempted to create a working Jade Rogue deck, they were largely unsuccessful. Now that I have seen this list I believe that was mostly due to the fact that people tried to do much with it. When you see a deck like Jade Rogue you instantly think tempo, which then forces you to play most of the good value cards Rogue is known for, like SI:7 Agent and Edwin Vancleef. However, this build says to hell with the classic “must play” rules everyone follows and cuts a lot of the cards that have defined tempo in the past. By doing so it opens up the early game and creates a very nice flow that lets you hold your own on the current ladder.

Key Cards

Jade Shuriken

While there are quite a few jade cards in the deck (as evidenced by the name) Jade Shuriken is the one that bears focusing in on. The reason for that is because it is the only jade card that you have to work for. Things like Jade Spirit and Jade Swarmer reward you by simply putting them onto the board, but the shuriken needs combo to work. You want to be very careful about that and take your time to make sure it triggers. Any good midrange deck needs to be able to pump out strong minions at a reliable pace, and that means you have to get as many jade golems as possible. Just using this to use it is not going to work. Neither is just having it rot in your hand because you didn’t plan ahead.

Imagine this spell as this deck’s SI:7 Agent. That is to say, this is the type of card you need to try and save cheap spells and minions to make this work. For instance, if you a Jade Shuriken and a Swashburglar against Shaman it is often best to hold off on the burglar turn one to get potential use off of the shuriken on three (especially if they open with a Small-Time Buccaneer). Of course, these type of plays are always going to be based on your hand and your curve, but you do need to be aware that you don’t always want to play cards just to play them. It is also important to remember that this card does not need to be used with the combo. While I would say you almost never want to do that, there are times where you are absolutely going to need two damage.

Sap/Defender of Argus

Why, you may ask, are these two cards being grouped together? The answer is because they are both very strong cards that are just one-ofs. I have long talked about the importance of knowing how to use singletons in any deck. These are great examples of that idea because they both have such powerful-but-niche abilities. Sap is the best tempo card in the game. It can take down taunts, set back big threats and eat up mana. In contrast, Defender of Argus can grab the board, protect your minions from AOE, and set up walls against aggro. All of those plays are very powerful, so you always want to have a plan for these cards when they are in your hand.

Work hard to set up Defender of Argus against things like Swipe or Pirate Warrior by holding back cheap minions until you can play them alongside the 2/3. In contrast, when you have Sap you have to make sure the target you’re bouncing is the best target you have. The two mana spell should be your last resort, and you don’t want to use it one a six drop just to get hammered by Ancient of War the next turn. Beyond that, I also bring up these cards to mentioned that they can be tweaked if needed. This deck has a very solid core, but there are a few fringe cards or flex spots that can be used to adapt to the meta. These two here are the prime examples as they both fight against distinctly different things. The Defender is normally not going to do as much against Shaman, but it can crush Pirate. On the flip side, Sap is generally going to be very stronger against Shaman. Adapt accordingly.

Bloodmage Thalnos

You are a Rogue deck, and that means spell damage matters. However, you are also a midrange deck, and that means you need to draw cards. This comes to a head with Bloodmage Thalnos, which is still one of the best value cards in the game. The reason I bring up Bloodmage is because the skeleton is not always going to be straightforward to use in this list. There are a lot of very strong spells that work extremely well with spell damage. Not only do you have the classics like Fan of Knives, Eviscerate and Backstab, but you also get the added bonus of being able to buff Jade Shuriken as well. There are going to be many games where you need to wait for those spells (especially fan) when trying to get value against the other board-centric decks that have taken over the meta. However, you also need to make reads when your hand is awkward, or when Bloodmage is much better served to get you another card. This is not going to be easy to see, but if you’re planning your next turn and find that you aren’t going to have the proper answer to your opponent then you should just go ahead an put him down rather than fall behind.

Unearthed Raptor

Like Jade Shuriken, Unearthed Raptor is a card you want to work very hard to set up. In the past iterations of deathrattle/value Rogue this card has largely served as a curve-filler that would also sometimes get massive value. While that is also true to a certain extent in this deck, I find myself holding onto this card to get value plays more and more. Unlike past value Rogue decks, you have a very strong opening thanks to cheap spells and the Pirate package. That takes pressure off of your middle game and gives you a lot more leeway with what you are able to do. That means you can hold onto the 3/4 a lot of the time in order to try and play it for value rather than just another body. This makes your overall gameplan much stronger and gives a lot of late-game potential.

The reason Unearthed Raptor is so strong is because it can create Jade Golems. When you have the fossil in hand alongside another deathrattle you want to always think of how you are going to get them down together. With the exception of Jade Swarmer, your two drops are almost always going to die before a proper trigger. As a result, you are usually going to get value from this on turn five with a two drop in the same turn, or when copying Aya Blackpaw. This is a very strong interaction that may seem odd, but it works quite well. Unless your opponent is control Shaman, most decks are going to leave Aya alone if they do not have a direct answer (since her deathrattle makes her stronger). Take advantage of that, and use her to try and get raptor value if you happen to find yourself with a 3/4 later on in the match.

N’zoth the Corruptor

You are a midrange deck, which means you are not control. Say that to yourself when piloting through the long games because it will help you understand that, unless something odd has happened and you have played no deathrattle minions, you need to pull the trigger on N’zoth, the Corruptor as soon as you can. The ten drop is a very slow play in an aggro world, but it is also a game-ending if you set it up while ahead or at a high life total. Understand that the Old God is more powerful than anything else you have, so much so that it is ok to use up your resources just to buy time until you can get to ten. Card advantage is important with this deck, but surviving until N’zoth usually matters more.

Having N’zoth in your back pocket is phenomenal because almost nobody will see it coming. There are many games where your opponent’s will try to go long believing they can out-pace you, and you can punish them for it. Though most of your games are going to end during the middle stages (if everything goes according to plan) it helps to know that you can lean on the ol’ 5/7 if need be. Re-summoning a board full of deathrattle minions is powerful, and that goes double when those deathrattle minions summon Jade Golems that get absolutely gigantic. It is going to be very hard for any deck to answer N’zoth for that reason, and you need to know that. If you aren’t putting together a strong push don’t be afraid to focus on your opponent’s board and prepare for a grindier match.

Matchups

The five decks I see the most while grinding up the ladder.

Aggro Shaman

Every week I come on this series and say “x deck is good against Shaman.” And yet, every week Shaman continues to get more and more dominant. That may sound like a paradox, but the truth is the reason the decks I cover are worth covering is because they do well against Thrall and his army of overload. This deck has a very powerful curve and many ways to win the early board. Once you do that, you can really hit Shaman where it hurts. While the class has the best minions in the game, there only real comeback cards are weapons and Maelstrom Portal. That usually means you can just keep playing more and more strong threats while they try to catch up. That plan then buries them in so much power that you can simply pace the game in your own way and make sure they don’t get anything to stick.

Win the first turns. That is your only real priority, which means you really need to look two or three turns ahead to see how to best use your removal and trigger combo cards. Using a Backstab on turn one to kill a Small-Time Buccaneer is often a very strong play, but sometimes it is going to be better to wait a turn to play it with Jade Shuriken on turn two to get some board presence or answer a Totem Golem. Playing a turn one Swashburglar and then running Patches the Pirate into your opponent’s face is fine, but there are also going to be scenarios where you want to wait a turn to use Patches with Backstab to clear the next turn. Each situation is going to be different, but you want to think hard about each spell you have and know when and how you should use them to keep Shaman off the board.

Miracle Rogue

I have played this matchup more than a few times and I am not sure where the chips fall. You win this game by out-tempoing your opponent and being aggressive, but that is not going to be easy to do. As always, if Rogue slides into turn six with a comfortable lead or life total the game is just about over. This is especially true with this deck because you have very few aggressive cards. To win, you need to stick to your curve and keep up pressure on your opponent at all costs. This is perhaps the only game where you want to prioritize damage over anything else because of how key ending the game during the middle turns is. Save your damage spells here so you can use them as removal or burn depending on how the game is going.

Watch out for Sap. The two mana card can destroy your progress and it really hurts your Jade Golem plan if you aren’t ready. You typically only want to let your opponent play it when they are choosing it over minions, such as when they use it to answer a Tomb Pillager instead of playing their own. Also, it helps to keep Jade Swarmer stealthed moving into the middle game. This will prevent them from bouncing it while also helping you both resist AOE and get in extra clearing damage should you need it. Priority is key, and the more your opponent plays spells the less they will spend time playing minions. Keep them on the back foot as much as you can.

Pirate Warrior

This one is going to be tough. As with Shaman, this is a game where the first turn or two matters. However, unlike Shaman, there is really no recovering from a slow start unless you have Defender of Argus and some targets for it on turn four. For that reason, early removal and the Pirate battle are almost always going to decide this game. Your first two or three turns should be dedicated to controlling Pirate’s minions. As with Shaman, you need to have a set plan for each card they could play, and then work towards that goal. If you can make it to turn four without taking too many hits you can start to race them, but if you lose the board before that point the game is usually going to slip out of your grasp.

You need to be aggressive in this matchup and work hard to both find and push through damage wherever your see it. This is because, even if you do a good job of mitigating the board, Pirate has so much out-of-hand burst that they can still kill you with ease. Arcanite Reaper, Leeroy Jenkins, Mortal Strike, and Heroic Strike all let them go zero to sixty even if they are far behind on board. As such, it is often right here to just play the biggest minion you have rather than worry about a long term plan. There is simply no late game here and you need to be aware of that early on. Clear what you can and hit them hard. Everything else should fall by the wayside. The only exception to this is when you have Defender of Argus, which you should work very hard to set up. I usually hold onto a small minion or two just to make sure I’ll have some way to fight against an Arcanite Reaper.

Renolock

Rapidly (and I mean rapidly) dropping down in popularity, Renolock still has its place in the meta. This is a more welcome matchup because it is breeze when you get your deathrattle package going. However, when you need to play a more honest game things can really start to get out of hand in a hurry. This is a matchup where you need to be really careful about always having something on the board. Renolock loves to sit back and tap, and you need to try and hit them hard each and every turn. That does not mean you want to blindly run out minions as when playing against Pirate, but it does mean you always need to be hitting your opponent in someway. As with any midrange deck in this style, board presence is all that matters to you. Always try to make sure you have something that makes a golem on the board. The jade plan works extremely well against Renolock so don’t be afraid to drag this one out. They only have three real AOE’s, and if you dodge or fight against them with deathrattle they will not be able to properly keep up.

Jade Druid

Sorry Priest, Malfurion has taken your spot. I am not sure what laws govern the ever-shifting popularity that dominates the Hearthstone ladder, but I do know that Druid has seen more play for me this month that it has the past two combined. The Druids I have encountered have all been the classic value-Jade variety, which means you typically want to treat this game like a mirror match. Take this one long and work hard to get your golems going as soon as you possibly can. Plays like Aya Blackpaw and Jade Spirit are how you end this because they fill up the board with strong minions Druid simply cannot answer. In the world of jade golems have bigger minions is all that matters. Do whatever it takes to not fall behind.

Perhaps the most important shift when facing Druid is going to be with your mulligans. Druid, Jade or not, simply does not like a string of strong bodies. And, your deck does a very good job at running out a string of bodies. For that reason, this is the one matchup where you can raise your curve a bit and keep things like a lone Tomb Pillager or a Jade Swarmer/Jade Spirit hand. This is because Druid is going to typically start out slower than other decks, which means you don’t have to come right out of the gates. You want to get ahead (and if you have a fast hand you should take it) but you also do not need to throw back some solid threats either. Things like Unearthed Raptor and Tomb Pillager work very well at keeping Druid on the back foot.

Mulligan Guide

The plan here is to start out fast, and you have a ton of ways to do so. Backstab, Swashburglar, Small-Time Buccaneer, Jade Swarmer and Undercity Huckster are your must keeps. Jade Shuriken should be kept in almost every matchup, but you shouldn’t take it when you have nothing else or no way to trigger it.

Bloodmage Thalnos is a strong card against aggro if you have other cheap spells. Eviscerate and Fan of Knives are both very strong against aggro, while Unearthed Raptor should always be kept with the coin or a curve. Sap is good when facing Shaman and Druid. Defender of Argus is very strong when facing aggro if you have a good curve, and it should always be kept against Pirates. Finally, Tomb Pillager and Jade Spirit are both good if you have a strong curve into them.

Conclusion

Wow. I honestly did not expect to like this deck as much as I did. I always will have a soft spot for Rogue (my second gold class), but it always seems to just come up Miracle. This, however, is a ton of fun and truly feels like an old-school midrange/tempo hybrid that I’ve tried to make so many times. Yes, you have to play Pirates, but that is a necessary evil for the current meta. There are a ton of smooth interactions here, and it is quite fun balancing them all. Until next time, may you always trigger your combos on curve.

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