Introduction
As promised last week (I am a man of my word after all) we are going to spend this session delving into Miracle Rogue. While there are a lot of decks I have to cover over the next few months, the new version of Miracle is both a lot of fun and not easy to play (especially with some of the more aggressive lists running rampant). That blend makes it a perfect specimen for my series. The deck is in a really solid spot right now and, because of all the unfair things it can do, it matches up well against almost all of the field. Yes, it is not the strongest build versus aggro (more on that later), but that also isn’t as bad as you might think. I love a list that can match up against any class, and this one does that and a little bit more.
The Deck
Oh, my are there a ton of different Miracle decks running around right now. Some rely on Questing Adventurer, some rely on Leeroy Jenkins, and some just rely on a never-ending stream of strong value cards. As you can see, I prefer the versions that run the classic Miracle route with Leeroy as your finisher. That is because I like consistency, and this list really delivers on that front. You have spells, you have draw, and you have burst. That’s it. Nothing more and nothing less. Sure, the pirate package is there, but that’s a given these days. A deck like Miracle thrives off of being able to play each game exactly the same, and this has the fewest wrenches possible.
Early Game
Who’s in charge now? The start of this game is going to be carried by a mix of your pirate package and cheap, efficient removal. Aggro is currently king of the game, and you have to be able to do something on your opening turns that is more than “dagger, pass”. Enter the pirate package, which you just want to use as a way to control the board and keep things like Pirate Warrior at bay. Though a quick opening can stack up damage, you need to know that you want to use your early cards for board control over anything else.
In this meta it is key to try and take down every single early threat that your opponent comes up with. Beyond just the pirates, you are going to spend most of your games being reactive. However, you want to do it in a way that sets up minions or plays to the middle game. That means you just always want to think about how your removal is going to set up a threat. For instance, you typically want to use Backstab on a one drop, but if you can use it to set up a good SI:7 Agent on turn three that could be better. Those little things matter and you need to understand why you’re playing removal more than just “I need to kill something.”
It is also important to make reads to when you need to go with the aggro gameplan. Despite my earlier note, pirates are inherently aggressive, and when you’re up against a deck that starts off slow you should not be afraid to push hard. There are not too many slow decks around, but they definitely exist. I would say you need to make a read as early as turn two if you want to use your pirates to leverage damage or if you simply want to use them to trade.
Middle Game
The middle game is by far the most important for you because this is where you are going to put games away. You are not an aggro deck, but you do not want games to go long. This is where you are going to get in your damage. Burst is going to come, but it does not have to come all at once. If you see two turn lethal against a deck that doesn’t have healing (just about all of them) you should not hesitate to just go hard and show your hand. It is too easy to die with burst damage in hand.
Know that, as a Rogue deck, you are always going to be in control once you get ahead on the board. Your beefy threats are Azure Drake, Tomb Pillager, Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Edwin Vancleef. Any of those on an empty board (or against a weak minion) will skyrocket your chances of winning. While many decks can afford to run out their own minions to challenge an opponent’s, they cannot do that against Rogue because of how much burst and removal you have access to. As a result, do not be afraid to just run out big bodies and let your opponent deal with them. Playing scared is a very good way to fall behind, and you can’t have that.
As a Miracle Rogue deck you want to just play to Gadgetzan Auctioneer. Often that means just living until you can play Gadgetzan Auctioneer. If you have the goblin in hand you want to do what you can to limit damage and extend turns while also making sure you can also do something with the goblin when he comes down. Depending on what you’re facing, there are many times where you can often using spells until turn six. That is especially true if you have a coin or Preparation. As this list has no Conceal you need to get as much value from the six drop as you can.
However, against faster decks (or if you have a second auctioneer in hand) using the first one as a tempo play to get a card or two is completely fine. In fact, it is often right. Your opponent will never let the goblin live, and that means something like Gadgetzan Auctioneer/Preparation/Fan of Knives to net cards and tie up their turn can often give you the small space you need to put together lethal.
Late Game
“Late Game” is a very interesting term for Miracle Rogue because it blends in a lot with your middle turns. I would say this mainly pertains to turns six through eight, where you have either gone off or you are just trying to get something to stick. In those situations, you just want to try and find any damage you can and amass it as quickly as possible. Hyper focus on card draw here, and let your opponent answer your threats rather than the other way around.
That being said, if you do make it to the later turns (usually past ten) you are going to play based on the situation at hand. Against faster decks you want to use your spells for damage control and pace your opponent by leveraging your threats. However, when clashing with control you typically want to do your best to wear down their health and set them up for a big burst finish. This is going to have to be slightly tweaked for each matchup, but damage is going to be your first option. Even just running out a Cold Blood onto a midrange threat to get in some hits can be the difference between ending a game and falling behind.
Matchups
A breakdown of the most popular matchups in the game.
Miracle Rogue
I would say that this deck is the first or second most popular deck in the game (which is why we’re covering it in the first place). That means you better strap in and understand how to win the mirror match. This game is going to come down to board control and damage potential. Getting ahead with any minion, no matter what it is, is how you take this down. Rogue snowballs better than any other deck in the game. Because of that, you want to work hard to be the one who’s ahead on the board. Just do it within reason. Like yourself, your opponent is going to have access to easy removal like Sap and you don’t want to spend three or more cards to make a big Edwin Vancleef or Tomb Pillager/Preparation/Sap play just to have it negated by one card. Card advantage matters here.
It is key to note that many Rogue lists these days run at least one copy of Conceal. That is a big problem for this version because it is extremely hard to beat the one mana spell with a more honest deck like this one. In fact, if you are behind or down when they use it the game is almost always going to over. For that reason, you really want to make use of your damage in this game and work hard to pressure your opponent before turn six to at least make them think about using their turn setting up an Auctioneer. If they are comfortable or out of burst range they will simply ignore your threats, but if you can leverage your pirates (and maybe even a Cold Blood or Eviscerate) they might hold back, giving you time to play your own combo.
Aggro Shaman
Right below (or next to) Miracle Rogue is Aggro Shaman. This matchup is all about trying to make it through the first three or four turns because once you get out to your minions you can take priority. However, before that you need to be able to play reactively and use your removal to take out every single threat you have. The biggest part of beating Shaman is by taking the board from them. Even if you can only do this for a turn or two it will give you a ton of breathing room you. This is one of the matches where playing Preparation with a removal spell alongside a threat to gain priority is often right, especially if you take out something big.
Sap is the most important card in this game because it hits both Totem Golem and Flamewreathed Faceless extremely hard. If you can leverage early minions and then build into strong tempo swings you should be able to take this one over. It is very important to always keep track of your opponent’s damage potential, and see how easily they can kill you versus how quickly you can kill them. For instance, trading into a Totem Golem while you are in your mid-teens is very important if you haven’t seen any burst damage, but you can often use your Tomb Pillager to go face instead if they have already seen a few spells.
Pirate Warrior
The way you beat Aggro Shaman is by clearing out their first threats and then using your big minions to quickly take them down before they can draw enough damage to finish you off. You want to use that same plan when facing Pirate Warrior, except you need to kill your opponent even faster. Where Shaman’s backup plan is to switch to a more midrange game and grind you down with big threats, Pirate’s plan is to get some weapons and beat you in the face until you stop moving. Unfortunately, that plan works extremely well against you because you have no taunts and no healing. It’s important to view this game as a race where you try hard to leverage damage and do everything in your power to make your opponent afraid.
Pirate makes a living on ignoring the board. That works very well for them in many situations, but it can also create some real problems against burst-heavy decks like Rogue. Many good Warrior players know this, and they will use some of their damage to limit your minion count if you hit them in the face once or twice. Soaking up damage is essential against a deck like this one, because the difference of taking five from an Arcanite Reaper and having that five go to your board can often be the difference between winning and losing. Like when playing Shaman, you want to try and take the board in this game. However, the difference here is that you don’t really want to use the board to clear more threats, you want to use it to kill your opponent as quickly as possible.
Renolock
Renolock is an odd game where it is very easy to fall behind, but it is also very easy to win. While you can be overloaded by a stream of large threats and big bodies, you also can quickly burst them out of the game. This is a matchup where you don’t need to be afraid to take your time. While some Renolocks run the Leeroy/Faceless combo, they won’t be able to put that together until around turn ten, and by that time you should have the tools to stretch this one out of reach. All that matters here is drawing cards and not taking lethal damage. Do everything you can to get cards into your hand and tear through your deck as fast as possible.
The most important card in this game is Sap. In fact, it is so key that you need to be absolutely sure when you use it that it is the best play at hand. Not only does the two mana card instantly negate any big taunt your opponent can have, but it is the only clean way you can play the tempo game and fight back against large, high-health minions like Mountain Giant and Twilight Drake. The main way you lose this one is by not being able to take out your opponent’s turn four or five play because an unanswered body will allow them to take over the damage and dictate the game. Do not be afraid to burn a lot of resources on a single large card. It’s often better than dying. Just don’t play out your whole hand at once.
Dragon Priest
Rogue has always been good against Priest, and that holds true to this day. This is probably one of your strongest matchups, and you will likely only lose if you just cannot keep up with their curve. Dragon Priest has a lot of bodies, and you should do your best to keep them in check for the first three or four turns before you start playing out your hard-to-answer minions. The whole plan with this game is getting ahead on the board and then putting down any four attack minion, be it Azure Drake, Gadgetzan Auctioneer, or even a 4/4 Edwin Vancleef, on an empty board. Priest’s only real way to deal with your board when they fall behind is Dragonfire Potion. This is important to be aware of because you never want to run out too many threats (often more than one or two) when you haven’t seen AOE. From there you can just pace the game by going face hard, using your spells to keep anything they have off the board, and playing to your goblin.
Tip and Tricks
Always understand how and when to use Preparation. There are going to be games where you need to save if for Gadgetzan Auctioneer, and there are going to be times where you use it as a large tempo play. There are so many different situations out there it is hard to look at them all, but do not just assume the free spell needs to be used on turn six. Playing it earlier (especially to get a big Edwin Vancleef) can often be a great way to put games away before they get started.
Playing Bloodmage Thalnos for card draw is often right. It is very easy to hold onto the two drop for fear that you will lose value, but I find myself just running the two drop out more and more. Unless your hand is strong, of if you absolutely need the spell power for a very specific reason (lethal, Fan of Knives to clear etc.) you should drop this down anytime you have nothing better to do.
Know when to go all-in on Edwin Vancleef and know when to not go all-in on Edwin Vancleef. Even if you can make an 8/8 or a 10/10 on turn two or three does not mean you should. Pulling the trigger against aggro or Druid is right, but against slower decks with strong removal you often don’t want to take the chance (as noted in the video).
Triggering SI:Agent is very important in a lot of matchups. So much so that when facing aggro you should not be afraid to hold onto an early coin play or Backstab (even sometimes a Preparation and a spell) to use it to clear. The three drop is one of the best tempo plays at your disposal, so be aware if you are ever going to have a target for it.
It is also important to play to your burst. Healing is becoming more and more scarce these days, and you should recognize that. For example, when facing Pirate Warrior, Aggro Shaman, or Miracle Rogue there are going to be games where it is right to just use a few burn spells to put pressure on and set up a finisher like Leeroy Jenkins.
Mulligan Guide
You want to mulligan in two different phases depending on what you are up against. When playing against aggro you need to work to find all of your early minions and cheap removal to keep you afloat. However, against control you can look for removal and some slower draws because you’re going to be in the game longer. In either case, you want to look for pirates, but the way you use cards after that changes from opponent to opponent.
Must Keeps:
Backstab Swashburglar Small-Time BuccaneerSituational Keeps:
Counterfeit Coin can be kept alongside a fast opening where you want to burst your opponent down. It is also great going second for a turn one Edwin Vancleef against a deck that doesn’t run removal.
Bloodmage Thalnos can be kept against aggro if you have other early removal to go with it.
Eviscerate is a good keep when facing down Shaman or Pirate.
Sap can be kept against Druid and Shaman if you have a good hand around it.
SI:7 Agent should always be kept with a strong curve or the coin.
Edwin Vancleef can be kept against decks with low removal like Druid or Pirate as long as you can buff him up early.
Fan of Knives should always be kept against aggro.
Tomb Pillager can be kept if you have a curve before it or if you’re playing against control.
Gadgetzan Auctioneer can be kept against slow decks, especially if you have good opening cards to go with it.
Replacements
There are quite a few versions of Miracle Rogue, and they all have wildly different cores even though the outer cards are the same. Whatever type of finisher you choose is completely up to you, but you want to make sure it best fits your play style. You can run just Leeroy Jenkins, you can run just Questing Adventurer, or you can find a way to mix of both. The choice is yours.
Conceal is an option if you’re seeing a lot of Rogue or control. Though this card isn’t needed to win these days because you can go off in one turn, it is very strong in a few key matches. I would probably cut a Counterfeit Coin for one.
You can also cut one Counterfeit Coin to run another tech card, such as Earthen Ring Farseer or Acidic Swamp Ooze (Farseer is better here).
A lot of people like Shaku, the Collector for the three drop slot. While he is fine here, I think there are just better options available. The three drop usually only gives you one card, and that isn’t usually worth the investment.
Conclusion
While I am not the biggest Rogue fan, I really enjoy the new Miracle build. All versions of Miracle Rogue are always fun to play because they go off better than any other deck, and the new one is just more of the same with a slightly new twist. This time you get some Pirates, which allows you to play a few different modes and gives you a chance to live longer. That then means you get to auctioneer and combo kill more, which is really the point of it all. Thanks for reading and, until next time, may you always draw your deck on turn six.
Published: Feb 1, 2017 12:45 pm