Weekly Legends: Elemental Priest

Introduction

As we (hopefully) move closer to the release of a new set, I figure it would be time to look into a deck I have been putting off for a while: Elemental Priest. This deck has some of the coolest cores in the game, and allows you to sculpt your gameplan in a variety of interesting ways. Though it is not a deck that is extremely popular, a player known as Touretto recently took this build to the top of the ladder. That’s good enough for me. Legend is always going to be impressive, especially when playing an off-beat list like this one. Though things may not make sense when you first look over the thirty, everything here has a set purpose and moves toward a certain goal. It is times like these where you need to get some fun energy into the game, and a deck like this one can be a great way to inject some freshness.

Key Cards

Potion of Madness

Planning. Planning is one of the most important aspects in Hearthstone, and nobody talks about it. You always need to be able to predict your opponent’s next turn to be good at this game, and you want to always think about the possible cards your opponent could have. Sometimes that is a gigantic minion you can’t beat, and sometimes it’s a removal spell. This mechanism is on hyper-display with Potion of Madness. The one mana spell has proved its worth as one of the most powerful Priest tools in the game and in the right situation it can be a huge blowout. However, note that I said “in the right situation.” This card is a huge balance between taking value right away or setting it up for when you can go even bigger. Knowing the right path is key.

Typically, you want to use Potion of Madness based on your hand. If you have a slow draw or a weak curve you should jump at the chance to take down two early minions. This can be something as simple as killing an Alleycat or eliminating Swashburglar and Patches on turn one. While this may not be exciting, anything to slow down your opponent can come in handy. That being said, most of the time, you do want to weigh your options. If you are able to fight for the board with minions then it is often better to wait on the spell. Yes, that Alleycat might get to stick around, but getting the ability to kill a Kindly Grandmother is much better. You need to make reads when using this card and figure out which play is going to advance your board the most.

Radiant Elemental/Kabal Talonpriest

I have lumped these two cards together because they both are great examples of how this deck wins. Tempo (yes, we’re talking about tempo again) continues to become the most important thing in the meta, and these two are the cards that help you get ahead. You want to always try to get anything out ahead of your opponent. That’s just basic Hearthstone. However, it is much more important that you get things out that your opponent needs to deal with. For example, your opponent doesn’t know you’re not running the Inner Fire/Divine Spirit combo. In fact, most assume that you are. As a result, when you buff up a minion with Kabal Talonpriest they aren’t going to be able to ignore it. The same idea applies to Radiant Elemental. It is an old rule, but it matters. Always try to sculpt your board in a way that makes your opponent react with spells rather than minions.

In the current meta of Paladin, Hunter, Mage and Warrior, bodies are almost always going to matter more than abilities. While you have many different catch-up tools, this is the mantra you want to live off of. The reason Radiant Elemental and Kabal Talonpriest embody this is because they both help you push while also providing you with strong board presence. Think of these cards in the same way you would Knife Juggler. That is, they have an ability than can get you immediate impact, but once they do that, they still need to be removed. A 3/4 body can stack up damage in a hurry, and an unchecked elemental can grow out of control. Push these two cards out early and often. Just leveraging them as threats can be enough to derail your opponent’s entire plan.

Fire Plume Phoenix 

One of the more interesting (and important) inclusions here is Fire Plume Phoenix. The 3/3 is not the most exciting card in the deck, but it is a great option in a class that typically does not have great elementals at its disposal. Two damage goes a long way in the current meta and helps your pick off or trade into early minions (like murlocs or beasts) that your opponents are depending on to hold down the board. There is so much quick-build decks right now that killing even one thing is important. For example, being able to knock your Crystalline Oracle into your opponent’s Mana Wyrm to set it up for a kill can be the difference between winning and losing a game. That may sound like overkill, but it is very easy to die to the one drop. This also applies to other threats you may not be able to challenge. This card also does a great job on curve before Servant of Kalimos and helps you chip down bigger threats. Shooting and then threatening and 5/5 can put your opponent into an odd position that makes your next turn stronger.

Tol’vir Stoneshaper/Servant of Kalimos

What do the two above cards have in common? That’s right, elemental triggers. I bring this pair up, not to discuss the obvious “have an on-curve elemental, play it” style of game, but rather, how you sculpt your curve knowing these are in your deck or hand. First, let’s talk about when they are in your hand. Playing elementals on curve is easy, but playing them off curve is going to be much harder. Let’s say you only have Servant of Kalimos and Fire Plume Phoenix in hand against a midrange deck. You want that servant to trigger. That means when you play Fireplume you better be ready to drop down the servant next turn. Make sure you can do that when you commit the 3/3. This may take you off of a turn four fire plume, but that’s more than fine. Don’t get caught auto-piloting, and always think about how badly you need a trigger vs. a body. This can also mean something as simple as holding back a turn one Crystalline Oracle to play turn three before a Stoneshaper.

The other tricky part is planning to draw these cards when you aren’t sure if you will. Playing to your outs can win you a lot of games you would normally lose. For example, topdecking that clutch Tol’vir Stoneshaper against a Pirate Warrior during a race (or when you’re at four life) can instantly shut things down. However, in order to put yourself into that situation you need to be able to drop an elemental the turn before you topdeck the card. This is a tricky line to walk, but you should always do your best to think “how on Earth do I win here?” It is easy to only get focused on the cards in front of you, but if a clutch topdeck is an out, then play to it. You never want to draw something, look at your hand, and then shake your head because your would have won if you just played an elemental last turn.

Holy Nova/Shadow Word: Death

This deck has a lot of strong minions and powerful bodies that it uses to trade well and control the board. While that plans works well, it also means the list has stretched its removal extremely thin. So thin that you have many cards (such as these two) that are one-ofs. That does not hurt the deck, but it does mean you have to be careful. You simply cannot afford to burn a key spell on an inopportune target just because it’s there. Always make sure you are taking the right path. For example, pulling the trigger too early on Holy Nova against Token Druid or Token Shaman can allow them to quickly refill, while using Shadow Word: Death on something you can trade into will leave you exposed to some of the larger threats running around right now.

The biggest rule here is to always look for your board first before moving to spells. If you have strong minions or a good amount of power you want to try your best to trade them in. That is, unless you need to push for damage or play the tempo game. There is no reason to give up your board when your hand is all spells. On the flip side, there is no reason to use your clutch AOE or removal when all you have are minions. As with so many of the cards here, this is a very tricky balance to achieve, but you never want to leave yourself in a bad position because you chose to pull the trigger at the wrong time. It helps to think of the possible worse case scenarios too. If there a card or play you cannot beat without your spell you need to save that spell. No question.

Matchups

These are the decks that I see the most while playing ladder.

Discover Mage

Mage is a game that can feel very hopeless at times, but it is probably one of your better matchups. The reason for this is because, for all of their flair, Discover Mage is a slow deck. They typically make a quick push, but once that gets answered they will usually turtle up and start adjusting for their late plan. You are going to often take the board around turn three or four. From there, your opponent is going to make a push towards their end-game burn by controlling your minions with their burn. This is a game where you cannot lose the board. Mage just has too many threats and there is almost no amount of healing that can climb out of their reach. Answering your opponent for the first five or six turns is a good way to lose. However, if you can keep your opponent focused on you it is possible to run them out of cards.

Save your healing. This is the golden rule of this matchup. Your hero power is solid, but it won’t do much against a turn nine Alexstrasza. Rather, you need to conserve things like Holy Nova and any random spells you get from Lyra the Sunshard. Priest of the Feast is going to be the best card in this matchup and you typically want to save him for after the dragon. Shadow Word: Death is the best combo for that situation, but a strong board to trade mixed with a few cheap spells also makes the 3/6 quite strong. Always be ahead by turn nine.

Pirate Warrior

Pirate Warrior is going to be one of the games where you desperately need your early tools. As odd as it is, taking the board from today’s versions of Warrior goes a long way. They are a deck that loves to leverage their damage through minions, which then allows them to quickly close out decks with their burn or weapons. Put a stop to that as soon as you can and be proactive with your removal options. You are typically going to get out ahead in the middle turns of the game. The earlier stuff is all about controlling the board and making sure your opponent can never leverage their swing minions like Southsea Captain or Bloodsail Cultist. Do not hesitate to kill pirates to shut down the 3/4.

Turn four is very important in this game. So much so that not having board presence can rapidly lock you out. Kor’kron Elite is a nightmare for your deck to deal with and if it comes down uncontested it can easily do eight or twelve damage. You just cannot allow that to happen when facing down Pirate. In fact, you should do anything (including saving an elemental) to get down a Tol’vir Stoneshaper against your opponent’s board. This is one of the best options because it both shuts down elite and then locks out a potential [card]Arcanite Reaper. This game is about pacing your board, slowing things down, and getting up taunts or heals when you can. The first two walls will likely only slow your opponent down, but the third should finish them off.

Midrange Paladin

Midrange Paladin is quite the beast. A beast that can really put the pressure on you. This game is going to be your hardest because, outside of some unique situations, Paladin and you are playing the same game. You are both midrange decks that lean of different packages to take the long game. Unfortunately, your curve ends at five and they have some of the best finishers ever printed. What that means is you aren’t built to go where they can. This is a game where you want to try to overwhelm your opponent in the middle turns. Push hard early on, leverage minions, and never let your opponent keep any murlocs. A few well-timed spells and two or three bodies are all you need to force some bad plays.

You want to lean on Lyra the Sunshard to take this one. This means the original as well as any copies you pull with Servant of Kalimos. Not only will the 3/5 give you more options, but things like Mind Control or Dragonfire Potion can win the game on their own. You typically want to hoard cheap spells with her and then go off once you get an opportunity to do so. She is one of the best reasons to pressure the board because playing her ahead of Paladin is almost always going to bait out an Equality. In fact, just putting her down with a spell or two on an empty board can be a great way to bait out the two mana spell. If they don’t have it, even better.

Aggro Druid

Aggro Druid continues to become more popular by the day and it will likely move up the chain even more by the end of the month. The list is extremely powerful and has some of the quickest and most dangerous early turns in the game. You cannot play this one soft. That is to say, mulligan hard for all of your cheap cards and throw every single thing back that doesn’t help you deal with early aggro. No exceptions. Potion of Madness can end the game on its own, Tar Creeper and Shadow Word: Pain are fantastic for early control, and a strong stoneshaper is going to blow your opponent out. Just be smart with your removal and don’t pull the trigger too early. It is always better to try and use your minions first unless you absolutely need to prevent a buff (like Mark of Y’shaarj) from sticking. Save Holy Nova for Living Mana if possible.

The goal of this one is to just get a body (any body) ahead of your opponent’s minions. They have a lot of burst and quite a few buffs, but almost all of that is concentrated in building up a board. This game should be treated exactly like Hunter (covered below). You just want to work on stopping all of your opponent’s threats in any way you possibly can. Druid is largely a class cannon. Very powerful, but it does not take a lot to completely knock them off the rails. As soon as you get out ahead of them you should be able to take this. Leverage all of your resources to that plan and do not be afraid to burn spells early on.

Midrange Hunter

As mentioned, this is going to have many similarities to Aggro Druid. Though Hunter has a little more catch-up cards than Malfurion, they are still very susceptible to decks that can match them early. A well-timed Potion of Madness or Shadow Word: Pain should leave them scrambling. However, as you well know, a single swing turn from Hunter is going to destroy you. This is a matchup where you need to work hard to be proactive. Give priority to your bodies, build up your curve, and kill anything that can be comboed. Hunter feeds off of itself, and the more you restrict their beasts the more they are going to have to take sub-optimal routes. Your goal is tempo, but the real power comes from forcing your opponent make bad plays. One single lone Houndmaster will give you a way to really push and force them into a corner. Beyond that, be careful about setting up Scavenging Hyena and always watch out for turn six. If you don’t have your Shadow Word: Death, aggro is the only way to shut down Savannah Highmane.

Mulligan Guide

Mulliganing with this deck is like mulliganing with any other midrange deck. That means you want early minions and spells that help you build into your middle game. Your must-keeps are Crystalline Oracle, Northshire Cleric, Power Word: Shield, Radiant Elemental, and Shadow Word: Pain. Beyond that, you should keep Potion of Madness whenever you are up against aggro and you should always keep Shadow Visions when you have an early minion. Kabal Talonpriest and Tar Creeper are both great with a curve or the coin. Fire Plume Phoenix, Tol’vir Stoneshaper, and Priest of the Feast can all be kept with the curve and the coin. Stoneshaper is also a great keep against aggro if you have the coin and an elemental to play before it.

Conclusion

Elemental Priest? Yeah, baby! I have been excited to feature this deck on this series since the first iterations hit legend shortly after Un’goro dropped and I thought this would be a perfect time to do it. Remember, none of us are slaves to the system. While netdecking is your quickest path to success, this is the time (the middle months between sets) where you should branch out with other strong decks. If you’re looking for something fun and different I would definitely give this a go. Until next time, may Lyra always give you what you need.

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