Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis: Vs. Aggro Paladin

Welcome friends! My name is Blackacre and I piloted the Miracle Rogue to Top 20 NA. After receiving numerous requests for a guide on how to mulligan/play each of the major matchups in the metagame I have given in and created a comprehensive guide, containing 11 matchups analysis. I’ve broken up the match analysis into […]

Welcome friends! My name is Blackacre and I piloted the Miracle Rogue to Top 20 NA. After receiving numerous requests for a guide on how to mulligan/play each of the major matchups in the metagame I have given in and created a comprehensive guide, containing 11 matchups analysis.

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I’ve broken up the match analysis into multiple guides (it’s too much for one guide/sitting). This guide covers the matchup analysis of going against a Priest, as a Miracle rogue.

For the deck list and core deck guide, please find it here.

Matchup Analysis

The goal of the Aggro Paladin is to play cheap and aggressive cards as fast as possible, then once he/she has emptied his/her hand play a divine-favor to refill the hand and give them enough fuel to finish the game. This is an extremely aggressive deck that is essentially trying to burn you from 30 to 0 as fast as possible. Since this is the case, we need to value our life total very highly in this matchup. Every point of life matters.

Since the Aggro Paladin is extremely dependent upon a big Divine Favor to give them the staying power to finish the game, we want to unload our hand as fast as possible. If both players are playing off the top of their respective decks, this will favor us greatly, as we have much more powerful cards on average. So let us look at the cards that help us achieve this goal.

Mulligan Guide

Keepers

backstab

There are literally no cards in modern Aggro Paladin lists outside of argent-squire that survive a Backstab. This makes Backstab an ideal card to not only slow down the aggression of the Paladin, but also to help us empty our hand quickly. Keep two of these if you get the chance!

preparation

There are very few matchups where we want a Preparation in our starting hand, but this is one of them. The tempo boost from the Preparation is perfect for stabilizing the board as well as helping us empty our hand.

blade-flurry

Blade Flurry is great in this matchup. The vast majority of minions in the Paladin deck will die to the 1 damage and it is the Paladin’s goal to flood the board as quickly as possible, so you will often hit 3+ minions with this spell.  Keep this in your opening hand.

edwin-vancleef

VC is very powerful in this matchup. The only answers the paladin has to a big VC is the 2 equality they run and those also requires them to sacrifice one of their minions. Since we are trying to empty our hand anyways, this is a perfect matchup to go crazy building the biggest VC you can make.

fan-of-knives

FoK is very powerful in this matchup. It acts as a 3 mana board clear in most situations and that is super efficient. Keep this in your starting hand for sure.

earthen-ring-farseer

This card is great in the matchup. The life gain can be very relevant and the 3/3 body will often trade 2 for 1 with the Paladin’s minions.

Situational

si7-agent

This guy is our anti-aggro specialist. As long as you have any way to combo him you should be happy to keep him.

Throw It Back

shadowstep

Shadowstep is too slow in this matchup. Mulligan it for better options.

cold-blood

Cold Blood should never be kept in your opening hand.

conceal

Conceal is a value card and we are looking to empty our hand instead. Mulligan this every time.

deadly-poison

Deadly Poison is very bad in this matchup. None of the Paladin’s minions have more than 2 health and having to take damage to remove them is not optimal in a matchup where your life is such an important resource.

eviscerate

Eviscerate does not match up well against all of the 1 toughness minions in the Paladin deck. Mulligan this in search of better options.

sap

Sap is absolutely terrible in this matchup. There are literally 0 targets worth Sapping at any point in the game.

shiv

Shiv seems like it would be ideal in this matchup, but it simply isn’t mana efficient enough. Spending 2 mana to remove a minion that your opponent spent 1 mana to cast is simply too slow. The fact that it draws you a card can actually be a disadvantage in this matchup as well. Mulligan this in search of better options.

bloodmage-thalnos/loot-hoarder

These two cards suffer from the same issue in this matchup. They offer a lot of value, but they are too slow for the matchup. You need more efficient answers to deal with the swarm of minions the Paladin will be playing.

leeroy-jenkins

Leeroy Jenkins should never be kept in your opening hand.

azure-drake/gadgetzan-auctioneer

The 5 cost minions are far too slow to keep in this matchup. Mulligan these without hesitation.

Closing & Other Matchup Analysis

Hope you guys find this matchup analysis helpful! I’ll be adding and creating more guides of other matchups.

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Handlock

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Token Druid

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Aggro Mage

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Priest

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Shaman

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Aggro Paladin

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Ramp Druid

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Control Warrior

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Miracle Rogue

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Aggro Hunter

Miracle Rogue Matchup Analysis Vs. Zoo Warlock


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