Note: While I played with a Mimic Pod in the video, I much prefer the list with double SI:7 Agent.
Introduction
Even though summer rapidly approaches, our class is holding strong. This week we are going to change up from the midrange builds to look at one of the more interesting meta decks in Miracle Rogue. While many were skeptical that the deck would fade out once rotation hit, auctioneer and the never-ending chain of spells proved to be just as good as ever. Though me and Miracle do not have the best history (see 2013) there is a lot to be said for the deck. Not only is it one of the premier combo decks in the game, but it also is quite tricky to play. Each game is going to look differently, which means you need to be ready to adapt a lot. There are many different avenues you have to take when piloting Miracle Rogue, and we are going to explore what those paths look like in today’s article.
The Deck
This list is pretty close to what Eloise build some time ago. There are a lot of different versions out there right now, and most of them have moved away from the original core to stack up more spells or aggression. While those styles work, I vastly prefer the slow, board-control oriented lists. Not only do you have access to some stronger late-game, but you also do not as many dead cards as other builds. It is easy to get stuck with a hand full of combo cards and then die when piloting combo. By playing threats (the giants) over more conventional packages you can play more styles than you may be used to. That switch is the big change here. Beyond that, you are just doing what Miracle loves to do; applying damage and drawing cards.
Early Game
The early turns of Miracle Rogue are all about staying alive. It has long been a truth that Miracle can pace or overcome any deck once they get to their combo turns. However, it is also very easy to get overrun, especially in today’s meta of Pirate Warrior, Aggro Druid, and Hunter. You have to use resources your limit your damage and do what you can to stay alive. Be liberal with your removal and do not hesitate to burn something down. The only removal spell you don’t want to use here is Sap if you can afford to hold it.
While your combo is always going to be useful, these are the turns of the game where it really comes in handy. Things like SI:7 Agent, Eviscerate and Edwin Vancleef all help you cement an early lead, which needs to be your primary focus here. Wait on playing your cheap cards if they can help you set up combo on three and four, and be very careful about when you use the coin. A 4/4 Edwin on two is very strong, but you may need your SI:7’s ability more.
There are going to be modes here, and you play to each based on your hand. If you have cheap minions or good combo cards you want to make a push for the early board and work hard to build into your middle turns. However, if you have a lot of spells (or just have a Gadgetzan Auctioneer) then it is better to play the role of control.
Middle Game
Your middle game is going to be where you switch to a tempo deck. The first turns are focused on keeping your health up and then it is all about taking over the board. Without Leeroy Jenkins, you do need to get some minions down to really take your opponent out of the game. Fortunately, it is does not take much to pour on lethal (especially with Sherazin on board). Your goal should be centered around finding pressure, and then using that to supplement a strong curve.
Vilespine Slayer is your most important minions during these turns and you want to make sure you get it down during a big swing. Like so many of your threats, the flower is incredibly powerful while you’re ahead. In fact, most of the time you win by putting down a strong board and then blowing up your opponent’s largest minion or single taunt. Do not burn this card carelessly, but also do not be afraid to play it. If you see a big body that can get you ahead on board, trigger the combo.
Gadgetzan Auctioneer is very important and you should not hesitate to go off with it. Even if you can only get two or three spells, that is typically enough value. You are a combo deck, but that combo is primarily built on the back of tempo plays. Drawing your whole deck is going to be strong, but sliding down a must-kill 4/4 alongside two or three draws is fine.
Late Game
The late game for this deck is going to be spent trying to set up lethal as much as you can. Sherazin, Corpse Flower, Edwin Vancleef, Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Arcane Giant are all great for this. Your best direct damage is going to be Eviscerate, but Cold Blood helps out with your last bits of damage as well. This is the final push, where you want to leverage as much tempo as you can to hit your opponent hard. Every bit of damage matters during the later part of the game, and you should try to poke with your dagger as much as you can.
Do not be afraid to go in with Arcane Giant. The 8/8’s will discount a lot, but if you need more spells you should not hesitate to burn a couple of cards to make them cheaper. Nothing blows your opponent out more than clearing the board and then slamming a cheap threat. These cards are your finishers, and if you can get them into a situation where they are ahead it is more than worth losing a spell or two.
Matchups
A breakdown of the different decks I see while playing ladder.
Pirate Warrior
Pirate is going to seem like a tough matchup at first, but it should be favored barring a perfect weapon draw. Not only do you have a lot of ways to take down early threats, but you also have a lot of ways to push out big bodies. As I have mentioned in the past, Pirate is a deck that loves to either play the tempo game or ignore the board. If you can get ahead of them it takes away both of those avenues of play. Even something as simple as a lone turn three SI:7 Agent may force them to trade in with Kor’kron Elite turn four. That then keeps you in control and eats four damage all in one go. Those type of plays are how you win this one because they both protect your health (priority number one) and make it so you have the tempo advantage (priority number two).
It is important to remember damage in this game because, given enough time, Pirate will wear you down. They are eventually going to draw their weapons and their upgrades, and you have no healing or taunts to save you when that time comes. For that reason, once you get a big body down or a very large board you need to put on pressure. A gigantic Edwin Vancleef is almost always how you’re going to end this game, as will an Arcane Giant. Warrior has no good answer to those cards outside of valuable burst, and if they use damage to clear you are going to be able to really hit them where it hurts. This is not a game of attrition, it is a game of fast damage. Recognize when you’re in control and do everything within your power to push hard when that time comes.
Midrange Paladin
Midrange Paladin holds strong atop its ivory towers, and Rogue could not be happier about that. This deck is very strong against all versions of Paly because of the way you push. Paladin is a proactive deck in theory, but most of their more powerful minions are reactive or control-oriented. For that reason, it is important to get ahead early and then morph into pure tempo where you efficiently take out your opponent’s minions while adding your own. This really pushes Paladin back and makes it so you can hit your big minions ahead of theirs. Work to save your Sap and Vilespine Slayer for the later turns. Having access to those cards is important because Paladin typically depends on a big taunt to protect them, and if you can easily get rid of that wall you can put together lethal.
The only way you lose this game is by letting the first three turns get away from you. Paladin’s best tools here are going to be Murloc Warleader and Gentle Megasaur. You have no AOE, and there is no real way to come back from the swings those cards provide. As a result, you need to kill all of your opponent’s early murlocs. This then puts a stranglehold on what they can do and vastly limits theirs. They will often be forced into some very awkward situations at the point, which gives you the opportunity to curve into a Gadgetzan Auctioneer. Once you do that, the game is over. Just be careful when you’re ahead about extending into an Equality and do not go all in on an early Edwin Vancleef
Midrange Hunter
Midrange Hunter is very popular right now, and it is a good reason to team up with auctioneer. While Rexxar can play quickly and set up a lot of damage, most of the time they aren’t going to have the speed to match you. The way you win this game is by anticipating what Hunter might do. That is to say, knowing how to keep them off of Houndmaster, Crackling Razormaw or other swing combo plays like Tundra Rhino. There are going to be some turns where you need to clear and some where you just push. Yes, it may not feel good to trade your big early Edwin Vancleef into your opponent’s Pack Rat, but if you don’t have an easy way to handle Houndmaster it is the right call. You don’t need to get greedy once you’re ahead. You can simply slowly break your opponent down.
Your turn six is going to trump their turn six. However, you need to have the breathing room to easily play Gadgetzan Auctioneer without succumbing to too much damage. Steady Shot is always going to be there, and that means you have to be careful about your health. I would never extend into too many minions and always try your best to keep one or two big bodies versus flooding. Some Hunters run Deadly Shot, but most focus much more on their minions over spells. That is very good for you because if you are able to eat some key damage and soak up a midgame turn you should be able to get the lead you need to run away with this one.
Note: Save Sap for Savannah Highmane, as it is your only clean answer to the 6/5.
Aggro Druid
I have seen a huge jump in Aggro Druid over the past week or so, and that is not great news for Miracle. Though you can get ahead of them with some of your bigger swing turns, they can just out power you very easily. The lack of AOE is usually not too big of a problem against other fast decks because your early plays can one-for-one them, but you will crumble against Druid’s cheap buffs. Even if you do manage to get ahead, they can just slam down Living Mana and put you in a very bad spot. The biggest rule of this game (besides early board control) is to do what you can to save your Fan of Knives for the mana. That goes double with Bloodmage Thalnos. The spell is very hard to take care of, and you need to be ready for it if you can. If you don’t have any good removal options, then beat the crystals by stringing together threats before turn four.
The way you win this game is the same way you take out Pirate. Your goal is to remove all of their early plays as efficiently as you can, and then get very big, very quickly. Aggro Druid has absolutely no removal to speak of (most decks don’t even run Swipe) so everything you put down that they want to clear has to be taken out with minions. That effectively makes all of your bodies removal spells. Know this, and try to favor bodies over spells. The only exception to that rule is when you need to remove synergy cards. Always clear out beasts to stop Mark of Y’shaaj and be do not be afraid to limit minions to stop a Savage Roar.
Quest Rogue
Quest Rogue continues to love their caverns, and for very good reason. The combo deck has continued to get better and more refined with time, which can lead to some problems. They have explosive starts and many ways to stall before they start going in with their bounce plays. Even so, you are going to be quite favored in this matchup. Your goal is, instead of trying to push one minion that can simply be Glacial Sharded out of the game, is to create numerous bodies and use those to push as hard as possible. This is the one game where you want to favor threats. Vanilla cards are very good against quest, so just having a 3/3 or a 2/2 can really do some work. You should also always try to coin out an early Edwin Vancleef when possible. Getting a chance to put a 4/4 on turn two that is likely going to go uncontested is very important. Focus most of your attacks on your opponent’s face and only take the time to clear when they leave a minion down that you do not want them to play again (such as Novice Engineer).
Tip and Tricks
Understand your combo. SI:7 Agent, Eviscerate, Vilespine Slayer and Edwin Vancleef are all great cards that you really need to trigger. This often means holding back cheap spells early on to make sure you have ways to set up your bigger threats later on. A turn one Hallucination may seem obvious, but sometimes it is better to hold off to make sure you can use it with Eviscerate to kill a turn three Frothing Berserker or Animal Companion.
Counterfeit Coin is a very tricky card to use because of how many ways it can help you. If you have one early you want to analyze your hand and see what situation it is going to be the most useful in. Coining out Edwin Vancleef is a good way to put pressure on decks that start slow, but saving it to play a turn four Vilespine Slayer is also a good way to get ahead. If you have no immediate plays, just keeping it for Gadgetzan Auctioneer is more than fine.
Preparation is almost always going to be dropped with Gadgetzan Auctioneer, but do not underestimate it as a tempo play. If you start out on the board quickly, adding threats while also being able to Sap or Eviscerate your opponent’s minion can be the key swing you need to push ahead on board and never give it back.
Sap is one of your best tempo cards. The two mana spell is an absolute powerhouse that can give you lethal in a ton of ways. However, it is also your only cheap answer to big threats. Slayer does a good job of controlling the board, but there is a big difference between two and five mana. If you know your opponent is trying to set up a big mid to late game body you should save the spell for it at all costs (especially if that card has deathrattle).
Know when and how to resurrect Sherazin, Corpse Flower. Typically, you don’t want to go too far out of your way to get the 5/3. She is a strong play but she should come out organically. The only time where you really want to push to get her back is when you are trying to set up lethal or when you’re already ahead and you want to to tempo your opponent down. It is not hard to play four cards in this deck, but you don’t want to be careless about it.
Mulligan Guide
Miracle Rogue is not an easy deck to mulligan with. Your primary goal is to look for cheap spells and all of your small minions. This helps you stall and gives you tools to survive an early push.
Must Keeps:
Backstab Hallucination Swashburglar Razorpetal LasherSituational Keeps:
Counterfeit Coin can be kept if you can use out of it in the first three turns.
Preparation is a solid keep if you need to fight for the board and you can pair it with a spell to back up early threats.
Bloodmage Thalnos is a strong keep if you also have early spells to go along with him.
Eviscerate is good when you have minions and you’re playing another board-focused deck like Hunter or Pirate Warrior.
Edwin Vancleef should always be kept with a coin, but I won’t keep him without it.
SI:7 Agent is a good keep with the curve or the coin.
Fan of Knives should be kept against any aggro deck, which includes Hunter, Warrior, and Paladin.
Sherazin, Corpse Flower is a strong keep against any slower control build like Priest. You can also keep her against a midrange deck if you have a strong opening.
Replacements
The core of Flower Miracle is the same stock that Miracle has always had. However, there are a couple cards that can be tweaked to change up the cards around your spell package. One of the Miracle’s strongest elements is that they are almost always going to have strong plays because of their core. This makes it so the cards that revolve around the auctioneer package do not have to be incredibly strong or versatile. Choose to play what best fits your style.
The single Cold Blood and Sap can be changed out for other tech cards or spells. A second Cold Blood is always an option for the Sap, but you can also run a second Sap over Cold Blood. In addition, things like Shiv, or even Razorpetal Volley can be tested in these spots.
The original list ran a single Mimic Pod instead of the second SI:7 Agent. This gave the deck some extra power on the spell end, but made it quite worse in terms of getting early board. I much prefer the tempo SI gives, but if you find yourself wanting more swing plays or stronger spells I would suggest testing the pod.
Arcane Giant is a very strong finisher, but be aware that it is not your only option. Many Miracle players these days have chosen to go with good ol’ Leeroy Jenkins, and he is a fine choice. If you do prefer the burst over the 8/8’s I would replace them for Leeroy and another Cold Blood.
Conclusion
It’s a Miracle! It is well know that I have never been the biggest fan of this deck (I still have nightmares about five mana auctioneer) but the new list has so many cool and fun interactions that it really is a blast. I personally love Sherazin, and there are a lot of interesting choices to be made each game. I hope you like the build, I hope you’re loving the series, and I hope you are truly and wonderfully happy wherever you are. Thanks for reading and, until next time, may you always play four cards a turn.
Published: May 24, 2017 09:14 am