Introduction
”Minions, servants, soldiers of the cold dark! Obey the call…of Kel’Thuzad!”
Deathrattle, a fairly powerful mechanic in the standard format, is a complete powerhouse in the wild format. Due to the wild format having access to Curse Of Naxxramas, the first Hearthstone adventure which had also heavily focused on the deathrattle mechanic, all the best deathrattle minions in the game are a part of the format which means that you can build some pretty frightening deathrattle decks and today we’re going to explore those!
Before we begin I would like to make a small announcement. I’m taking a break from the ”Definitive Guide To” articles until March. It is a well needed rest for me because although I love the series I haven’t been having fun writing it and my current feelings about that series are well reflected in my writing which is going down in quality with each new ”Definitive Guide To” article so I believe that a break is well needed. Thankfully I get to write about the format that I absolutely love and enjoy the most, the wild format, and I hope that you will have as much fun reading my wild articles as I’m having writing them 🙂
Sit back, relax, and let’s dive right into this! 🙂
The Basics Of Necromancy
Deathrattle is one of first few keywords in Hearthstone, one that has been around forever, and what it does is that it gives a minion secondary effect which triggers once that minion dies. Now, if I were to rank the keywords by power going from the least powerful keyword to the most powerful keyword than you can bet that the most powerful keyword in the entire game is deathrattle. Ok, so why is deathrattle so powerful? Like a lot of other keywords, deathrattle is a minion exclusive keyword, which creates a very tricky scenario for your opponent. Usually what your opponent wants to do is to remove your minions from the board but in this case he/she will most likely get punished for doing just that. This is why deathrattle is so powerful. Not only does it usually provide you with some sort of reward once your trigger it but it also punishes your opponent for removing your deathrattle minions. You’re basically putting your opponent in a no-win scenario.
Regarding the strength of deathrattle cards, well, most powerful deathrattle minions came out in Curse Of Naxxramas but then again that was to be expected because it was both the first adventure ever and it was heavily deathrattle themed. At this point Blizzard still had very little idea on how to balance deathrattle cards and what effects can be deemed to powerful for the game. Deathrattle was one of the least used keywords pre Curse Of Naxxramas and due to that the first adventure served more as a testing ground to for future deathrattle minion development. The end result was a deathrattle metagame revolving around undertaker. When Goblins Vs Gnomes came out there was still a decent number of deathrattle minions but only one of them stood out and that one was piloted-shredder which is a staple in almost every wild deck out there. It was only after Goblins Vs Gnomes that the development team had began creating less and less deathrattle minions. Eventually nzoth-the-corruptor came out in Whispers of the Old Gods and we were told that it serves as a benchmark for all future deathrattle minion designs.
This leaves us at the present day!
Top 10 wild deathrattle minions
The article had only began and I’ve already talked quite a lot about the keyword and how powerful deathrattle minions are so I’ve figured that it is only fitting to make a top 10 list of most powerful wild deathrattle minions. The only two conditions for a minion to be on this list is to either have deathrattle or to somehow interact with deathrattle. Also, all minions on this list are neutral minions.
Number 10: Zombie Chow
Most new players probably don’t even know of this card. Before Curse of Naxxramas was released the metagame was, shockingly, very aggro heavy so there was a need for a card that could and would slow down the metagame and that card later turned out to be zombie-chow. zombie-chow could efficiently trade with every 1 drop in the game and almost every 2 drop in the game before dying and thus effectively slowing down aggro for 2 turns. The power that this card had was pretty crazy for its time and it was used in a lot of wild decks for a very long time until 1 drop minions simply became too good and zombie-chow just couldn’t compete with them anymore.  Today we have mistress-of-mixtures.
Number 9:Â Mad Scientist
mad-scientist had vowed to show us all and he has been showing us his incredible power and usefulness all the way from Curse of Naxxramas up until Whispers of the Old Gods. mad-scientist is a powerhouse mandatory staple in all wild freeze mage and hunter decks because of its ability to play a random secret from you deck. Because mad-scientist can’t get you a duplicate of the secret that you already have in play than you wouldn’t believe how easy it is sometimes to get an ice-block from it. This card is also most likely the reason why eaglehorn-bow was nerfed a week after Curse Of Naxxramas was released. The only reason why it is on the 9th spot is because it is useful only in 2 classes out of 9.
Number 8: Nerubian Egg
The dreaded nerubian-egg has been the bane of many players who have faced against it, especially in an egg druid or zoo warlock deck. nerubian-egg was the first egg card that we’ve received and it is still the very best one. When it came out it didn’t look too powerful until the players found out how easy it is to give it even temporary attack, trade into something and then crack it open to get a 4/4 minion. Because of this the egg had found a home in many decks which utilized smaller minions but it was mostly used in zoo warlock. Recently the egg has been seeing a lot of play in the egg druid deck where it is usually either buffed with a +1/+1 spell or given taunt thus forcing the opponent to crack it open.
Number 7: Deathlord
deathlord is the original dirty-rat. The card also came out in Curse Of Naxxramas because the players had desperately needed an answer to aggro decks so an answer was provided. Well…more answers were provided but deathlord was certainly one of them. The card quickly found home in control warrior and deathrattle priest decks because it was the perfect early game anti-aggro tool. You didn’t care if it brought out a small minion because you could easily deal with those. deathlord today is used in all Reno deck, alongside another great taunt minion, dirty-rat, because it offers some measure of survivability and it is still being played in some control warrior decks because it is a great anti-aggro tool.
Number 6: Haunted Creeper
haunted-creeper is one of the best 2 drops in the entire game. While it is not necessarily the single best 2 drop in the game it is definitely up there. Ever since its introduction it has been hard not to encounter it on the ladder because this card was literally almost everywhere. Every hunter deck had played it, every zoo deck had played it, every midrange deck had played it, almost every deck archetype out there except for combo and control ran two copies of haunted-creeper because the card was that good. Even today you will have a difficult time finding a hunter, warlock or paladin deck that doesn’t run two copies of haunted-creeper unless we’re talking about Reno decks or standard decks in the wild format.
Number 5: Piloted Shredder
Ok, now we’ve entered the ”extremely powerful minions” territory and there is no other minion better suited to welcome you to that territory than piloted-shredder. This card is a walking powerhouse, the very best common deathrattle minion in the entire game, the card that found home in almost every deck in the entire game because it was simply that good. If you weren’t running this card than you either had an incredibly strict deck list or you were just doing something wrong. The only reason why is this card number 5 is because its deathrattle becomes worse with every new 2 drop that gets introduced into the game and we saw that with cards like doomsayer and darnassus-aspirant but at least now you can get dirty-rat from it.
Number 4: Sludge Belcher
The number 4 spot goes to the best taunt minion in the entire game, sludge-belcher. sludge-belcher is the stickiest and most cost efficient taunt minion in the game. It is effectively 2 minions with taunt in the body of 1 and it has been the staple, go to taunt minion ever since it was introduced in Curse Of Naxxramas. When your opponent is playing a aggro deck and he need to spend 2 attacks or sometimes even much more to remove a single taunt minion from your board than you know that the minion is doing something right and sludge-belcher is definitely doing something right. It is a staple in every non combo wild deck out there and if you’re looking to get into the wild format and you’re wondering what card should you get first than my answer is sludge-belcher.
Number 3: Sylvanas Windrunner
Because sylvanas-windrunner is now being moved to wild format I have no problem in putting her on this list. sylvanas-windrunner is not only a powerful legendary card but also community voted the best legendary minion in the entire game and while I do not 100% agree with that because that spot goes to the number 1 minion on this list, sylvanas-windrunner is definitely a powerhouse deathrattle minion with the ability which usually changes your opponent’s entire game plan and forces him/her to play around your sylvanas-windrunner either by trading all of his/her minions into sylvanas-windrunner or removing sylvanas-windrunner with spells.
Number 2: Dr Boom
While dr-boom is not a deathrattle minion it does interact with the deathrattle keyword in a way that it puts two deathrattle minions into play and thus it is qualified to be on this list. If I’ve needed to bend the rules a bit to fir dr-boom on this list then why is it above the previous card? The answer in because dr-boom is not only the best 7 drop in the entire game but also one of the most powerful legendary minions in the entire game, second only to the number 1 card, and while sylvanas-windrunner forces your opponent to play around her, dr-boom most often either seals the game or removes a good portion of your opponent’s board with his pretty explosive boom bots which deal 1-4 damage to a random enemy.
Number 1: N’zoth, the Corruptor
Wait, how can nzoth-the-corruptor be on this list? It is not a wild exclusive card? No, it is not but it might as well be and it will be soon enough (just 1 more year!). nzoth-the-corruptor is not only the most powerful deathrattle card in the means of interaction with the keyword but, in my opinion, the most powerful legendary minion in the entire game. There are multiple deathrattle deck built around this card and control decks have been using it simply because bringing back their 3-4 deathrattle minions back on turn 10 is good enough to justify an inclusion. Besides, nzoth-the-corruptor is what I call an ”eternal value card” which means that not only is it good now but it will be good forever and ever. Every time a new deathrattle minion is made nzoth-the-corruptor becomes a little bit stronger. Think about it. This is a deathrattle minion that will just keep getting stronger and stronger with every new set and that is why nzoth-the-corruptor is number 1 on this list.
Deathrattle decks
We’ve reached the last section of this article and the one that you’ve all probably been waiting for. In the spirit of the last article I’m going to share with you my 3 deathrattle wild decks. Do note that at this very moment not all of them are equally good on the ladder because of the heavily aggressive pirate package but once the pirate package is nerfed using these decks will become much safer. If you’re wondering which of these decks is the safest one to use that my answer would be deathrattle priest and reno priest.
Deathrattle priest
Only once I’ve arrived at this point in the article have I noticed that I have already shown you this deck but I can’t make a deathrattle deck list without the best deathrattle deck out there so I’ll just repeat myself for those of you who have missed the original article with this deck.
When the standard format was introduced this was the deck which I was playing the most. I love nzoth-the-corruptor and I’m willing to argue that it is the most powerful minion in the entire game. With this deck you’re trying to do the obvious. You’re trying to beat down your opponent with you deathrattle minions if you can and if you can’t do that then you drop nzoth-the-corruptor once you’re opponent has exhausted all of his/her AoE spell and 9/10 time you will win the game after that.
Ever since nzoth-the-corruptor was introduced to the game, Deathrattle Priest has been one of the more powerful wild decks. Unless your opponent is playing a completely mindless aggro deck it becomes too much of a trouble for them to constantly clear your board and because piloted-shredder and sludge-belcher are so perfectly balanced cards your opponent will need to clear them effectively twice thus spending more resources to do so. By the time your opponent is done trying to clear all your deathrattle minions from the board, you’ve already collected a good portion of dead deathrattle minions and exhausted all of your opponent’s AoE spells so it is perfectly save to just drop nzoth-the-corruptor and watch your opponent concede.
For survival you have a big taunter in the form of deathlord along with two board clear spells, holy-nova and lightbomb, and finally you have my personal favorite, justicar-truehart, to help you keep your total HP high enough to last until a perfect nzoth-the-corruptor turn. You can also try a dragon deathrattle Reno priest where you’ll just add a single copy of these minions alongside dragons to have an alternate win condition.
Deathrattle Hunter
The second deck is a bit more casual than the previous one as in not as highly efficient nor highly competitive as the deathrattle priest but still a good deathrattle themed deck which can have some good results.
The idea behind the deck is to use the powerful deathrattle minions that hunter has and try to get the most out of them. Another, more tame, version of this deck saw some play when the standard format began but it just didn’t had what it takes to be more competitive and to stand out among other hunter deck. Luckily for us, this is the wild format and in the wild format powerful deathrattle minions run rampant. So, how do we play this deck?
You’re trying to play this deck as much on curve as possible. The only department where you’re lacking is in the 1 drop minions but there just wasn’t enough space to fit in everything that I wanted to fit in so sacrifices had to be made somewhere. Your deck is filled with a lot of powerful sticky minions like haunted-creeper, piloted-shredder, sludge-belcher and savannah-highmane to help you maintain some sort of board presence. mad-scientist is here to fetch you your secrets to keep the durability of your eaglehorn-bow up and you’re playing just one houndmaster because this deck has less beast minions than usual. Although ragnaros-the-firelord isn’t a deathrattle minion it sure is your best option for an 8 drop. nzoth-the-corruptor is your endgame minion which should ensure your victory once it enters play.
Keep in mind that nzoth-the-corruptor can bring back only up to 6 minions if your board is empty so try not to overextend with your deathrattle minions if that is possible.
In case that you find this deathrattle deck boring I have some revisions to make it more fun but you’re sacrificing efficiency for fun!
One card that I’ve tried to place in this deck, and I was trying to place two copies of it, is feign-death. I love the effect of this card but I’ve never managed to make it work the way that I’ve wanted it to work. If I can get it off than most of the time it is when I have about 2 deathrattle minions on the board because others have already been killed so there aren’t as many triggers as I want them to be. You can still place feign-death in your hand if you’re adamant on trying to make it work. The card has a lot of potential and you should definitely keep an eye on it because it is only a matter of time when Blizzard completely forgets that this card exists.
Deathrattle Rogue
Ok, the last deck on this list is going to be deathrattle rogue.
For those of you who have played the standard format somewhere near its introduction you might be well aware of the existence of a deathrattle rogue deck. This deathrattle rogue deck functions in pretty much the same way but it uses some of the more powerful deathrattle minions which are exclusive to the wild format. The goal of the deck, as with any other deathrattle deck, is to play your nzoth-the-corruptor and win with it.
One thing that you must have noticed about this deck is that I’m running two copies of shadowstep. Unlike with the previous deck I’ve decided to fully embrace the rogue’s deathrattle potential and there is nothing more powerful than playing your nzoth-the-corruptor, filling your board and then playing shadowstep to return your nzoth-the-corruptor back into your hand only to have your opponent have to deal with yet another nzoth-the-corruptor on the following turn. Trust me, most opponents will most likely concede than try to handle two nzoth-the-corruptor turns in a row, especially if you manage to play your 2nd shadowstep as well. Playing two copies of shadowstep instead of one copy and a bran-bronzebeard was a decision that I’ve made after testing the deck a little bit and seeing that playing bran-bronzebeard only because of antique-healbot was just not worth it.
Another card that is missing from this list is unearthed-raptor and that is just because I didn’t find it to be too useful. Not that it is a bad card but I’ve never really liked it and if I can play the deck without it then I will do so. If you like the card than you’re more than welcome to try it out but when I play it I always have the feeling like I’m not playing the card to its full potential, like something else is missing in order for me to play it perfectly, and since the next expansions seems to revolve around dinosaurs, according to the leak, we might just get that something.
The future of deathrattle
What does the future hold in store for deathrattle?
I’ll use this opportunity to talk a little bit about the upcoming expansion as well. You’ve probably heard that the next expansion will be themed around Un’Goro. Un’Goro Crater is an area in World Of Warcraft which is filled with dinosaurs. Now, because we know that dinosaurs exist in Hearthstone and he know that fossils exists as well due to the fossilized dinosaurs that we’ve seen in League of Explorers I feel pretty safe to say that we will get some fossils in this expansions as well or at the very least some explorer/archaeologist minions that will have something to do with deathrattle. What I’m more certain about, regarding the upcoming expansions, is that discover will make a return and it will be more represented than in the previous expansions. The expansion title is supposed to be Lost Secrets of Un’Goro so it will probably be themed around exploring and exploring and discover go hand in hand. I’d place my bets on a lot of discover, deathrattle and secret cards!
When it comes to deathrattle minions and their effects I don’t expect that we’ll be getting anything like  piloted-shredder any time soon. Blizzard, right now, has to be very careful on how they approach deathrattle minions because nzoth-the-corruptor is still a part of the standard format. I don’t say that they don’t care about the wild format but the health of the standard format comes before the health of the wild format so don’t expect to see any too crazy deathrattle minions any time soon.
Regarding what kind of deathrattle minions do I believe that we will get in the future I have a few ideas. We’ve got baron-rivendare which makes all deathrattles trigger twice. We’ve got faint-death which immediately triggers all deathrattles. We’ve got princess-huhuran which can trigger a single deathrattle effect once as her battlecry. What we’re missing is a deathrattle minion which, when it dies, triggers a deathrattle effect of a randomly chosen friendly minion. I’m 100% sure that we will eventually get a deathrattle minion with such an effect and it is not even that powerful effect to begin with. Another deathrattle minion that I’m 100% sure that we will get in the next expansion is a minion which destroys a random enemy secret as a deathrattle. I’m 100% percent sure that such a minion is coming in the upcoming expansion! Is it a powerful effect? Think about it this way: if your opponent plays a secret and you play this minion and not trigger that secret than your opponent is probably going to lose their secret no matter what. If they attack into that minion than they will lose that secret. If you kill that minion in any way while avoiding triggering that secret then your opponent will still lose that secret. It is not the most powerful effect in the game but it is not bad either. It all depends on the cost of that deathrattle minion.
So, in summary, what can we expect in the near future? Expect a lot of deathrattle minions in the upcoming Un’Goro expansion but don’t expect anything too crazy. As long as nzoth-the-corruptor is a part of the standard format you can’t really expect the developers to make powerful deathrattle minions that summon other deathrattle minions. We might still get that kind of deathrattle minions but they will most likely be smaller, lower cost minion and not some well stated big 4-5-6 drops which then summon another smaller but well stated minion. Expect a lot of simpler and smaller deathrattle minions and least until the April 2018 expansion. I could be wrong, I hope that I’m wrong because I absolutely love nzoth-the-corruptor and I want to play it in standard, but I wouldn’t get my hopes too high up.
Conclusion
We’ve reached the end of this week’s ”Running wild” article. I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading it and that the decks that I’ve provided you with will at least inspire you to try some deathrattle shenanigans in the wild format. One more thing regarding the wild decks that I’ll be providing in the future ”Running wild” articles: do you prefer more competitive wild decks or do you prefer more fun yet decent wild decks? The difference between the two would probably be something like the difference between secret paladin and this deathrattle hunter/rogue. Let me know what you think and I’ll provide you with those decks! Hopefully the pirate package will be nerfed next week and it will make room for more various wild decks. Regarding the article schedule, the next ”Running wild” will come out on the 23rd and ”The Definitive Guide To” series will continue in March after I’ve had my well deserved break from it 😛
What do you think about deathrattle decks? Do you enjoy playing them? What new deathrattle minions do you wish to see? Leave your feedback in the comments below. As always  if you’ve liked this article do consider following me on twitter https://twitter.com/Eternal_HS. There you can ask me all sorts of Hearthstone questions (unrelated to this article) and I’ll gladly answer them as best as I can!
Published: Feb 19, 2017 01:05 pm