Tempo/Aggro Rogue had left a strong presence in the early Knights of the Frozen Throne meta but the popularity of the deck subsided a little over time. Rogue as a class is slightly tricky to pilot and it takes a bit of experience to get used to the nuances of most Rogue decks. The difference between knowing when to go all in and push for a win and when to play passively and hold onto some cards for powerful turns is essential. Today we will take a look a new Tempo Rogue list that makes use of C’thun synergy in the deck and takes a unique approach to the otherwise highly aggressive deck. This deck is by OneLastPoint, who hit Rank 4 with the deck from Rank 17. Full credits to him for the decklist!
Card Choices
Backstab: Backstab is a cheap and efficient early game removal that works very well against aggressive decks. You definitely want to keep it in your hand against aggressive decks as it potentially allows you to clean up early game boards and take control of the board by playing your minions without investing any mana.
Shadowstep: We have plenty of high value Shadowstep targets and each of these targets serves a unique purpose. Getting it off in your early turns with Prince Keleseth can be devastating while using it on Leeroy can allow you to get a ton of burst damage.
Fire Fly: A decent 1 drop that makes up for the lack of 2 drops in the deck and allows draws you another 1/2 from its Battlecry which can be used for early game board presence.
Patches the Pirate: Patches draws itself out of the deck if you play any Pirate and pulling it out after buffing your deck with Prince Keleseth can be very powerful and allow you to make value trades.
Southsea Deckhand: Southsea Deckhand is quite good in Rogue decks because you do not need to slot in standalone weapons in the deck to get its Charge effect off and you can simply use your hero power to get value out of the card.
Swashburglar: Swashburglar allows you to draw outside your deck and also has some Pirate synergy involved in the deck. Being able to draw cards that your opponent isn’t prepared to deal with gives you an extra edge.
Prince Keleseth: Prince Keleseth is quite powerful in Rogue as you pretty much need to lose out on only Eviscerate among 2 mana cards with Sap not being popular in the meta game (and Vilespine being the removal of choice). Being able to play Prince Keleseth multiple times with Shadowstep and Shadowcaster, you can get insane value off of the card.
Southsea Captain: With a decent amount of Pirates in the deck, Southsea Captain can allow you to buff up your board and make it more resilient to board clears and trades.
Edwin Vancleef: Edwin VanCleef has the potential to win games on his own in some matches if you manage to make a big Edwin very early in the game. It is a solid minion overall and you get decent value out of the card with plenty of 1 and 0 cost cards in your deck
si7-agent: SI7 is a very powerful board control tool that develops a 3 mana 3/3 that deals 2 damage if you manage to combo it which is quite easy since you have access to so many 0 and 1 mana cards.
Twilight Elder: It is a solid 3 drop that has decent stats and also buffs up your C’thun. If left alone it can buff up the damage you can do with C’thun by a great extent. It can help you get good trades versus aggressive decks quite easily.
Vilespine Slayer: Vilespine Slayer is one of the best hard removals in the game right now and being able to wipe out pretty much anything at all for 5 mana and also develop a 3/4 in the process.
bright-eyed-scout: You ideally want to play your Bright-Eyed Scout after you play Hemet, Jungle Hunter to high roll one of your bigger minions. While the card choice does seem a bit sketchy, it has worked fine for the deck creator and has helped him reach Rank 4 from Rank 17 this season with a good win rate.
Cobalt Scalebane: A very dangerous minion to leave on the board as it adds a ton of attack on the board and needs to be dealt with immediately. With many cheap minions in the deck, it is very easy to find targets for your Scalebane to buff.
hemet-jungle-hunter: It is a solid minion that clears out all of the cheap cards left in your deck to ensure you get to your lategame. While it can backfire in games that are almost certain to go into fatigue, it works better in almost every other scenario and helps you close out the game and get to your strongest possible plays in the lategame.
Bonemare: Bonemare is a very good value minion that adds 9/9 stats and partial taunt to the board for just 7 mana. You have plenty of cheap minions to get value out of the card and it is one of the strongest Commons in the KFT set.
blade-of-cthun: Among all of the cultists to buff C’thun, Blade of C’thun has the potential to buff C’thun by the most amount of stats. We only have one in the deck as a third hard removal after two copies of Vilespine Slayer. You can also use Shadowstep to get even more value out of the card.
cthun: C’thun is a solid win condition in the deck and can deal a ton of damage through its battecry. You can even play Shadowstep to get even more value out of the old god to close out the game or simply wipe out enemy minions.
Deck Code
AAECAaIHBrICya8Cza8CkbwCnccCnOICDLQB7QKoBdQF3QjUrwKStgKIwQKBwgLrwgLKywKmzgIA
Mulligans
- Fire Fly
- Backstab (against Aggro)
- SI:7 Agent (with Coin)
- Swashburglar
- Prince Keleseth (and Shadowstep)
- Twilight Elder
Situational keeps
- Southsea Captain (with good curve with pirates)
- Edwin VanCleef (with coin and other cheap cards)
- Shaku, The Collector (with good curve)
Conclusion
This is a very unique and fun take on Tempo Rogue and having C’thun as an alternate win condition is a great idea. If you have the necessary cards, do give the deck a shot as it has been a lot of fun for me on ladder and the deck works pretty consistently.
