Introduction
In the Quick Brews series, I’ll make a single pre-release deck for each class and talk a bit about it. However, since it’s impossible to tell how the new meta will look like, those might not be the best lists or they might not even work at all. And so, I don’t recommend crafting the cards Day 1 – you should probably wait and see how the meta turns out!
Next deck utilizes tons of cheap minions and token generators to complete The Caverns Below. I think that it’s the best way to approach the new Rogue’s Quest, but will it be good enough?
Elemental Quest Rogue
So, what’s the point of this deck? It looks kinda weird, but hear me out. The single easiest way to finish the Rogue’s Quest is through the Flame Elemental – the 1/2 token that’s generated from Fire Fly and Ingeous Elemental. You can only put up to 2 copies of a normal minion to the deck – this deck can generate 6 copies of Flame Elemental without any “outside help”. If you count bouncing Fire Fly and using Shadowcaster on Igeous Elemental, finishing the Quest should be really quick.
Rogue’s problem was always dying. The class is very vulnerable, with no class Taunts or way to gain health. After finishing this Quest, you should be able to win the games quite consistently, but until you finish it you’re quite vulnerable. That’s why running cards like Tar Creeper or Tol’vir Stoneshaper can increase your survivability. Mimic Pod hitting either Fire Fly or Ingeous Elemental is pretty much a Quest completed and it hitting something else isn’t that bad at all, it’s like 2 cards for 3 mana, similar to Arcane Intellect, but it has better synergy with the Quest. Can also be used to refill a bit after you finish the Quest.
So, the idea is to get the Quest done as soon as possible. But what then? Well, having all your minions as 5/5’s is very powerful. Let’s look at what your deck does after you finish the quest. Southsea Deckhand – 1 mana 5/5 with Charge. Swashburglar/Novice Engineer – 1 & 2 mana 5/5’s that give you an extra card. Fire Fly – 1 mana 5/5 that gives you another 1 mana 5/5. You get 2x 5/5 for just 2 mana.
Why 2x Shadowcaster? It might seem that the card isn’t insane AFTER you finish the Quest (because it’s 4/4, so buffing it to 5/5 is not a big deal), but the truth is that it’s one of the most powerful late game cards. You play Ingeous Elemental and Shadowcaster it immediately – that’s like game over. You have 2x 5/5 on the board, one of which Deathrattles into 2x 1 mana 5/5 and you have another 1 mana 5/5 that Deathrattles into 2x 1 mana 5/5’s… That’s a 2 cards combo that provides 7x 5/5 in total. Good luck dealing with that.
The deck plans to close up the games quite quickly. It has pretty slow early game, but it should catch up once the Quest is done. Refilling the board with new 5/5’s every turn is incredible tempo turn after tempo turn – no matter who you play against, it’s very unlikely that he will have a way to answer those.
One a bit “controversial” choice is Edwin VanCleef. Isn’t it just a 5/5 after the Quest? No! Actually, every +2/+2 buff is applied AFTER the Quest turns it into 5/5. So you can get it out as a let’s say 11/11 quite easily. Then, it’s also a great move BEFORE you play the Quest. You get tons of 1 mana tokens + you have Shadowstep in the deck, it makes an average turn 4/5 Edwin very, very powerful. Let’s say you play Fire Fly + Shadowstep it + play it again + play the 1 mana token + Edwin = you get 10/10Â while doing exactly what you want with your Quest (getting more Flame Elemental tokens). Edwin can offset the tempo loses you’re getting from bouncing the cards back and it can keep your opponent busy while you finish your Quest.
When I first seen the Quest I didn’t think that it will be any good. After theorycrafting a bit and trying to build a deck around it (with the help of /r/competitiveHS this time around, because I’m not a big Rogue expert) I’m really curious about how it will turn out. It looks good in theory, but it might not work out well enough in practice. Anyway, I have my hopes up higher than I had at the start, but I still wouldn’t recommend crafting the Quest right away!
Closing
Thanks for reading! Remember that those are still prototypes and they will first need to be tested on the ladder and optimized. I will test most of those decks on the first days of the expansion and I will write full guides for the ones that will turn out to be working properly.
Good luck on the ladder and until next time!
