Redbeard launched a revolution in our last deck battle episode when he finally toppled the 6-month reigning deck to claim the throne for his Barbarian Warrior deck. This week, the first challenger approaches: a Spell Power-heavy Druid deck designed to stall to the late-game and nuke you down in one, horrifying turn.
Can the lunar-powered Druid handle the might of a rage-filled Warrior loaded to the gills with weapons? We find out this week!
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Hello!
- Mick is on the show this week
- Topic: The Arcane Druid deck
- Reasons to be happy this week
What is a Deck Challenge?
We do these Deck battle episodes once a month. This is where the guest hosts bring on their favorite deck onto the show, and break it down for you — telling you what cards they put in it, how it works, and why they like playing it.
Then, they put their decks to the test and do battle against me in a best-of-3-series, live on the show. The twist is that I always use the current Reigning Champion Deck of the show — the last deck a guest host brought onto this show and won with.
And we finally have a new defending champion deck! Redbeard’s Barbarian Warrior deck won the throne on episode 29, when it beat the defending champion deck that held the throne for 6 months!
But Mick has crafted his own deck that he thinks can usurp this Barbarian King on its very first week. To help you build his deck, Mick has put together a full deck list, along with some great commentary and substitute cards in case you’re missing a few of the cards he uses.
Past Deck Battles
Hunter Beastmaster vs Warlock Swarm
Hunter Beastmaster vs Secret Mage
Hunter Beastmaster vs Muhammad Ali Shaman
Hunter Beastmaster vs Power Paladin
Hunter Beastmaster vs Barbarian Warrior
The Deck
- The Arcane Druid: Stay alive. Kill them with massively empowered spells late.
- How it wins: This is a Druid control deck that ramps up nicely into a Spell Power massacre. It takes advantage of an under-utilized Legendary, Malygos, and a number of versatile Druid Spells to really frustrate and confuse your opponent.
Five Key Cards
- Malygos: You can’t really play the deck without him. Sorry.
- Swipe: Once buffed, it destroys everything. Great for board clears and can be used to go to your opponents face.
- Ancient of War: So very versatile, but he’s really there to set up the Malygos Drop. Ironbarks can be used as a substitute.
- Starfire: Once Malygos is out, this becomes a super cheap, straight-to-the-face Pyroblast. Paired with Swipe, you can do 19 damage in one turn and clear the board.
- Wrath: Early game, this is great for helping you keep the board clear.
Full Deck List
You can get more insight into the deck by reading Redbeard’s guide, which goes through every single card with full explanation and advice, but here’s the simple deck list with no commentary (ordered by mana cost), if you’d rather just try it out yourself.
Creatures
- 1x Kobold Geomancer (2)
- 1x Pint Sized Summoner (2)
- 1x Big Game Hunter (3)
- 2x Keeper of the Grove (4)
- 1x Spellbreaker (4)
- 1x Azure Drake (5)
- 1x Faceless Manipulator (5)
- 2x Ancient of War (7)
- 1x Ironbark Protector (8)
- 1x Cenarius (9)
- 1x Malygos (9)
Spells
- 2x Moonfire (0)
- 2x Claw (1)
- 2x Wrath (2)
- 2x Healing Touch (3)
- 1x Mark of Nature (3)
- 1x Bite (4)
- 2x Swipe (4)
- 2x Starfall (5)
- 2x Starfire (6)
Sideboard
If you don’t have all of the ideal cards, here are some quality backups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- Dalaran Mage (replace Kobold Geomancer)
- Ogre Magi (replace Azure Drake, Keeper of the Grove, or Spellbreaker)
- Archmage (replace Faceless Manipulator or Azure Drake)
- Ironbark Protector (replace Cenarius)
- Druid of the Claw (replace Ironbark Protectors or Ancients of War)
- Lord of the Arena (replace Ironbark Protectors or Ancients of War)
- Sunwalker (replace Ironbark Protectors or Ancients of War)
- Naturalize (replace Starfall)
The Defending Champion Deck
Redbeard’s Barbarian Warrior Deck uses weapons and fast-acting minions to put the pressure on early and keep momentum up into the mid-game.
The Barbarian Warrior Deck has reigned supreme for 1 month, and has beaten 1 deck before this episode.
The Duel!
Josh’s perspective
Mick’s perspective
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Scott Valentine: “Do you hold onto silence effect cards for late-game or play them early? Have you had any creative uses of Silence.”
- iTunes Review: Callum Orr
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Listen to Mick and Josh on Mick’s podcasts: The Starting Zone and Stormcast
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
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