Weekly Legends: Reno Priest

Introduction

This week is going to be more about deck building and deck construction than it is going to be about practice. That is because we are (finally) diving into Reno Priest, a deck that I have been excited about since Mean Streets first dropped. While many people have played this deck (in its many iterations) for a long time, I have yet to cover it. Now that the list has been almost settled, I wanted to really take a look into how it plays. This is because, not only is it unique (and can teach you a lot about playing Reno decks), but it also has some incredibly interesting cards. I never miss a chance to play fun cards, and few decks in the game run more than this one.

When you play Reno Priest you have to play dragons. There’s just no way around that. However, there are a ton of different cards and choices that you can use to fill it out. The meta is set, but it changes drastically based on where you are on the ladder. As a result, you always want to be able to play the cards that are best for what you’re seeing the most. Do not be afraid to tweak this list. Reno decks are weak because of their inconsistency, but they are strong because of their versatility. This is the iteration I currently like the most, but it is not going to be perfect for everyone. Know that, and if you keep saying “man, I wish I had x card,” just put it in.

Key Cards

Dirty Rat

If you’ve been paying attention, you know how much I’ve been preaching the use of Dirty Rat. This card is insanely good, and shuts down many decks right in their tracks. However, it is not easy to use. A 2/6 for two for taunt is a solid body, but this is something you never want to play early and you don’t want to keep it in mulligans. That’s because the ability is just too much of a drawback. Even if you hit a small minion against aggro you are still letting them cheat something into play for free. Not to mention, many of the aggro decks these days have big minions like Flamewreathed Faceless and Frothing Berserker. The two drop should almost always be saved for the later stages of the game when you have answers in hand or a strong board to back it up.

Though Dirty Rat‘s ability is random, you still want to try and have a specific card in mind when you use it. For instance, when facing against a slow Druid deck you want to get Ancient of War, but when going up against a Reno list you should look for things like Kazakus and Reno Jackson. Even when playing aggro you want to try and hit charge minions so you can remove them right away and negate an effect. The way you do this is by thinking about the possibly minions your opponent could have in hand, and then dropping the rat right before the turns where those cards would normally be used. It is also smart to wait until the later turns when trying to hit a slow control finisher.

Brann Bronzebeard

While Brann Bronzebeard is always going to get you value, what type of value he gets you is very important. This deck has a lot of small interactions with the dwarf, and they are all important in different matchups and different situations. When playing aggro you typically just want to use this card as a body, a distraction, or to buff a minion like Wyrmrest Agent or Twilight Guardian. However, when facing control you need to save this for Kazakus and double value cards like Netherspite Historian. Maximizing value is essential in today’s world, especially in a list that only has one-ofs. It is easy to try to use Brann to double draw or get a big threat, but those don’t win you the slow games. Going big on value does.

Do not be afraid to play Brann as a tempo play early on against non-control decks. This is a very interesting point that is a microcosm of a bigger theme of this list. You are a Reno deck, which means you are a control deck. Do not forget this, and never underestimate just how important it is to get things onto the board in today’s Hearthstone. A lot of the cards in your deck have unique abilities or fun combos, but bodies are often going to be better than playing nothing. This is not always going to apply, but when facing fast or midrange decks you have to be able to clog up the board. While there are many times where an aggro deck will ignore this card, they won’t do that against Priest fear of you rolling into them with some big dragons. As a result, treat Brann more like a 2/4 with taunt when facing a Pirate or Shaman deck. Always use him to soak up extra hits when trying to make it to a Reno Jackson or clutch heal.

Priest of the Feast

Priest of the Feast is a very interesting card because of how important it is in the current meta. Aggro decks (Shaman and Warrior being the leading culprits) are absolutely everywhere and they will make you pay for slow or weak draws. To fight that you need to be able to heal with whatever you have, and there is perhaps no better healing right now than Priest of the Feast. This is because the four drop is both an anti-aggro card and a tempo play. It is rare to find cards that fall into both of those categories, so when you find one it is important to pay attention. Don’t be afraid to run this out and just gain three health, but also don’t be afraid to hold it back to gain fifteen and lock down a game. Read the matchup you’re in and know how important the 3/6 is going to be.

As with Brann, I believe you want to set up Priest of the Feast into situations where your opponent is going to have to answer it right away. Six health is not easy to deal with, and that goes double for hyper aggro decks that cannot afford to waste resources on the board. As such, this card is one of the best ways to stall. Stalling is a very important part of any Reno list because every turn you stay alive is an extra step towards getting a full heal, solid removal spell, big finisher, or clutch taunt. You do not have the consistency of other decks, so you have to be able to stretch out your turns as much as possible. PotF is one of the best ways to do that because most decks cannot let it live. There is a certain fear built into this card that your opponent will respect. Know that, and do not be afraid to use this to soak up extra damage if needed.

Kazakus

As with any Reno deck, it is very important to properly use Kazakus. The four drop is a very good card, and you want to always sculpt it to the immediate situation at hand. Five mana is almost always going to be the best option (for both the four damage AOE and the ability to draw or gain armor) and you should try to get it anytime you are facing down aggro or midrange. One will be chosen the least, but doing two to the whole board or doing three damage and gaining four armor can be really clutch against faster decks. Finally, when facing control you always want to combo the 3/3 with Brann Bronzebeard. Getting two ten mana potions is extremely important against slow decks because it gives you the extra longevity you need to make it through the game. Look for the 8/8 demon and resurrect first, then think about getting damage and armor. The last two are very good if you are under pressure. Regardless what you choose, never just run out the gang boss without a plan.

The Finishers

As mentioned, one of the best parts of this deck is how much control you have over the cards. Finishers are always going to be subjective, and that goes double in a Reno deck where everything slots in and out like a lego piece. The two I have here are Alexstrasza and Ysera. Not only are both of them dragons, but each serves a very important role on the current ladder. Alex allows you to be aggressive while also providing a way to heal against aggro, and Ysera (one of my all time favorites) is your trump card that can beat any deck in the game on her own. In this way, one is good against control and one is good against aggro. Your finishers, whatever you choose, should always directly counter a popular archetype.

The only real stipulation when choosing your large threats is that you want at least one to be a dragon. Without two-ofs you do not have the built in triggers that traditional Dragon Priest does. As such, you want to get the most chances to put one of the fire-breathing reptiles into your hand as you can. However, having one should be enough for your triggers. Ysera and Alexstrasza are both dragons, but I would probably still run the same package if one of them did not have the tag. Ragnaros the Firelord is also a good option, and is something I would recommend over Ysera if you are seeing an overwhelming amount of Rogue. Chillmaw is a great substitute as well if you’re facing a ton of aggro (especially Shaman).

Matchups

The five decks I’ve seen the most so far.

Aggro Shaman

It took a month, but Shaman has once again reached the top of the meta. This time it has done so in its aggro form, which combines a slew of classic threats (Tunnel Trogg, Totem Golem, Flamewreathed Faceless) combined with fast burn, Pirates, and Jade Golems. While this match is very tricky, it should be in your favor if you aggressively mulligan for removal and make use of your healing. As when playing against any aggro list, you should work hard to clog up the board and removal all of your opponent’s threats. Shaman is a deck that thrives off of powerful interactions, but the modern lists have also cut card draw. If you can get them into the later parts of the game you should be able to whittle away at their hand, which then forces them into a topdeck war they cannot win. The way you lose is by being overwhelmed, so you should work hard to use your early resources to challenge their plays and never let them get comfortable.

Your whole focus here should be the middle turns (five through seven). That is because that is almost always where the game ends. Either Shaman has the final points of burst they need to lock it down before you can get to Reno Jackson, or you destroy their opening completely and coast. No matter what, Thrall’s final push is almost always going to be during that stage of the game, and if you can survive it this one is going to be yours. The final tip here is to make use of your hero power. The extra two health is very important when facing a burn based deck, and you want to work hard to keep your life total up. If your opponent has only burn left in their hand you should always favor healing over other plays.

Miracle Rogue

I am not sure how or why this list caught on so quickly, but the Pirate Package Miracle Rogue deck has completely taken over the ladder. That is never going to be good news for Priest, especially one as inconsistent as Reno. There are a ton of different Rogue builds right now. However, all of them revolve around using card draw and early aggression to build into some type of finisher combo, be it Questing Adventurer, Edwin Vancleef, or Leeroy Jenkins. That means the longer the game goes the worse chance you have of winning. Know that, and work hard to set up a board as the turns progress. It is also important to save Dragonfire Potion for Conceal if you can.

While it may seem odd, you want to be the aggressor in this matchup. That is by no means your normal or comfortable role, but you do have a lot of solid bodies that can create a very strong curve. Use those threats to push from the very start of the game and never look back. That will allow you to control the board and out-tempo your opponent before they can get properly set. If Rogue even gets one or two turns where they are not under pressure they can take priority, which they will then use to dictate the pace of the game. Stop that from happening at all costs and throw whatever bodies you have down onto the board. Forcing Rogue to interact with something is one of the best way to buy some extra time.

Pirate Warrior

How far and fast the mighty have fallen. Pirate Warrior has completely dropped off the map for the past two weeks. So much so that I am only including it here because many other people who aren’t myself tell me it is still around. This is perhaps one of the best reasons to run Reno Priest because you just have so many tools to deal with Garrosh and his one-eyed hoard. While it is very easy to get caught up in the control side of this deck, if you look at the curve you will see that it is quite low. That is because there are a ton of early, anti-aggro cards here on top of the midrange power from the dragon package. You win this game by taking advantage of those early openings and using them to kill everything in sight. Making it past turn four is very important in this game, and you are going to do that by having the board. That will help you leverage some bigger threats and buy you time to either heal or set up a taunt.

This game follows the same rules as Shaman, but here you have to be even more careful. Warrior’s weapons get huge out of nowhere, and they also come equipped with massive amounts of burst. If you have Acidic Swamp Ooze you want to hold onto it to hit an Arcanite Reaper or upgraded weapon. In addition, surviving until Reno Jackson is a very viable strategy, and if you have the explorer in hand all you want to focus on is making it to six by any means. Don’t worry about what abilities your minions have or the value you could get out of your spells, just get to six. Beyond that, use all of your energy to set up taunts and maximize healing.

Renolock

While not as powerful as it once was, Renolock has bounced back a bit during the early days of the new season. The Warlock deck still has its weaknesses, but it has its strengths as well. This game is going to be very hard, but, like Rogue, it is winnable if you control the board and keep up a constant string of pressure. Never be complacent here, and work so that you are always the one putting a minion onto an empty board. This is especially important during the early turns when your opponent is going to spend their time life tapping. For that reason, Shadow Word: Pain can be a good early keep in this game as a way to stop a turn two Doomsayer.

Besides priority, the most important aspect of this matchup is playing around AOE. Renolock has a lot of ways to clear the board, but only a few of them are going to be able to do it cleanly. You can use this to your advantage by forcing them to make bad plays or use multiple cards to get rid of your threats. Use all of your discover cards to pack your hand full of big threats. Also know that if they get to Lord Jaraxxus the game is probably over. You need to end things before then, or have such a big board they cannot change into the demon.

Note: A late Dirty Rat on Reno Jackson or Kazakus can be one of the strongest plays you can make here.

Dragon Priest

Dragon Priest is a very interesting game because it is going to feel like a mirror match until you begin to move into the middle to later turns. Just try and mitigate your opponent’s early cards to stop them from being able to get value from things like Kabal Talonpriest and Northshire Cleric. Dragon can overwhelm the board and just decimate you if you fall behind (especially because Dragonfire Potion does nothing against them). Note that both you and your opponent have relatively low curves with only a few finishers. As such, this game is almost always going to be won through sheer card advantage over anything else. Maximize your discover plays and do not be afraid to draw cards. Priest has now cut Entomb, so they are going to have absolutely no answer to Ysera. Work very hard to put her into a situation where your opponent has no board or very little cards.

Mulligan Guide

As a Reno deck you need to absolutely sure than you do not want something in your mulligan. Everything is essentially a legendary, which means you have a very small chance of getting it back in a reasonable time. You typically want to always mulligan for and keep the dragon package, and throw back your slow cards. Look for Northshire Cleric, Holy Smite, Potion of Madness, Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Control Tech and Wild Pyromancer against aggro, but look for value cards like Netherspite Historian, Kazakus, Brann Bronzebeard and Twlight Drake against midrange or control,

Twilight Whelp and Wyrmrest Agent are both must keeps, and you want to keep both Twilight Drake and Twilight Guardian if you have the coin and a strong curve. Power Word: Shield is very good with early minions, as is Kabal Talonpriest (though the three drop is also strong with the coin. Shadow Word: Death should be kept against both Druid and Shaman, and you always want to keep Reno Jackson when facing any aggro deck.

Conclusion

I really enjoy Reno decks that aren’t Warlock. While Renolock is by no means a bad or boring deck, it just doesn’t quite have the pizzaz that Priest does. I rarely get to team up with Tyrande, so when I have the chance to play her and a Reno build I am going to take. Reno decks are some of the most fun constructions Heathstone has ever had, so I think it is important to enjoy them for their last few months. Until next time, may you always heal for free.

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