MUA: Yogg Druid vs. Tempo Dragon Warrior

Introduction

Yogg Druid is one of the best current decks in the meta. It has a strong curve, solid draw and powerful finishers. If you want to take it to the ladder, you should know how to pilot is against some of the other powerful lists, like Tempo Dragon Warrior. In this guide we will look at both decks and analyze how Yogg Druid can use a mix of efficient card draw and solid removal to take Warrior down.

Sample Decklists

Though you need to play the token core of Yogg Druid in order to make the deck work, there is a lot of variation you can make outside of that. A lot of the cards in the list are one-of’s or tech-cards that can be freely swapped in or out depending on the decks you are facing. For instance, if you are seeing a lot of aggro you can play more early game or removal cards, while you can play some bigger finishers if you are seeing a lot of control. More card draw is also an option. Just tweak the deck in a way that you best understand it.  To give you a start, one sample list has been put on the side.

Mulligan Guide

When facing Warrior you always want to assume they are aggressively slanted. This is because you will always have time to recover against control if you mulligan wrong, but you will get run over by Tempo. Your job here is to look for early removal and early ramp. While Tempo is strong, they will have some dead turns. You just need to limit the damage they do before those turns come around.

Cards to Keep

Innervate Living Roots Raven Idol Power of the Wild Wrath Wild Growth

Situational Keeps

Feral Rage and Swipe follow the same rules as Mulch.

Mire Keeper can be kept with early ramp.

How to Win

The way you beat Dragon Warrior is by running them out of cards and slowly grinding down their damage. While they are an aggro deck, they only have a few forms of fast damage. Like Shaman, they often depend on using the pressure caused by their early game to back up their middle game and big threats. If you can stay one step ahead of them and constantly clear their minions you should be able to take over the game.

The other part of this game is setting up your large threats. Unlike slower forms of Warrior, Dragon Tempo is a deck that has very little ways to clear, relying on their two Executes and charge minions. If you can bait out one or two Executes early on, you should have free reign to play whatever you want. Just run out your threats and see if your opponent can answer.

Early Game Strategy

The most important part of the early game (and this matchup) is properly identifying your opponent as Dragon Warrior. This will help you plan out the future turns and allow you know how to pilot the first turns of the game. Sir Finley Mrrgglton and Alexstrasza’s Champion are the two cards that should tip you off early on, but Frothing Berserker is also a good indication. If your opponent plays any slow armor cards then you are not facing Dragon Tempo.

As mentioned, you want to clear as efficiently as possible. Living Roots, Wrath and Swipe are your early options for that and you want to use them on any threats that come down. Though you want Wrath for an early Alexstrasza’s Champion, do not be afraid to Living Roots/Hero Power it down. You just want to get things out of the way as early as possible.

Watch out for turn three. Frothing Berserker can be a huge problem card if you aren’t ready for it, and you need to have a plan to do four damage when it comes. If you cannot kill it right away, sometimes it is right to kill it over two turns. Wrathing it is also not a bad move, since it can’t get area buffed at one health. This card is so strong that if you have no answer you should Mulch it.

The last important aspect early on is playing to your ramp. You need to get extra mana crystals as soon as you can, but you also need to clear. The way you balance those out is noting how important ramp is going to be versus killing what is on the board. For instance, taking an extra hit from a Faerie Dragon is worth getting to an early Mire Keeper, but completely losing the board to a couple of minions is not.

Note: Always use an early Raven Idol for a spell to find ramp or damage.

Midgame Strategy

You want to try and go as big as you can during these turns of the game. This will really help you put the pressure on your opponent and force them to think about clearing rather than going face. You will most often win if you can get to the later stages of the game at a reasonable life total or if you can work to overwhelm your opponent. Each of those modes are going to require you to get some board presence.

Violet Teacher is your best card here and you always want to go “all in” with her if you have the chance. Tempo Dragon Warrior runs very little AOE. As a result, if you can get a board full of strong minions with more than one health you will be able to control both pace and priority. From there you can just climb up your damage and make it so nothing they have ever sticks.

Though they have many threats, Tempo Warrior’s most dangerous minion in the middle game is going to be Kor’kron Elite. The 4/3 does not trade well, but it does a great job of stacking up pressure and forcing you to play defensively. If you keep board this shouldn’t be a problem, but once you lose it, the 4/3 is often going to too much damage to handle.

You should also be aware of Twilight Guardian. The 3/6 is not going to apply a ton of pressure, but it will lock down the board and keep you from trading into your opponent’s lesser minions. Just like with Frothing Berserker, you want to be aware it exists and have a plan to clear it if you can.

Do your best to set up Fandral Staghelm if you have him in hand. The 3/5 can crank out tons of value, but you only need to play him with one or two cards. This will further your gameplan and also put down a solid body your opponent has to get rid of.

Note: You almost always want to Nourish for mana crystals. This will rocket you towards your late game and give you many more options. Only draw if you are out of options.

Late Game Strategy

The final stages are largely going to be dictated by large minions. You have Yogg Saron and either Cenarius or Onyxia, while your opponent has Malkarok, Grommash Hellscream and Ragnaros the Firelord. Anytime you have an opening you should slam a big minion. If you have an opening and you don’t have a big minion, play as many minions as possible to make it so you can trade into anything your opponent puts down.

Aside from the finishers, you need to push for damage. Though you want to try and control what Warrior can do, you are a deck with lots of ways to set up lethal (especially once you fill up the board). Always be aware of what potential you have in hand and try and build towards Savage Roar if you have it.

If you fall behind, pull the trigger on Yogg Saron. The Old God should never be used when you are ahead or the game is tied. However, once Warrior gets ahead in the damage race it will be very hard to come back. Even if they just have one big threat and you have nothing, it is almost always going to be right to play the 7/5.

Final Tip

Try to stay above 15 life for as long as you can. This will help offset Drakonid Crusher so you don’t have to worry about a sudden 9/9, especially on turn six or seven.

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