Mountweaver Priest Budget Deck List & Guide for Darkmoon Faire - Budget Deck Breakdown

Hearthstone is a game that's meant to be played for fun. Unfortunately, it can sometimes seem like fun can only be had with decks that are overflowing with legendaries and whose crafting cost looks like a phone number. That's what this series hopes to change. Thanks to duplicate protection and the new ranked rewards system, it has never been easier to own every Common and Rare in Standard. I've made it my mission to create or spotlight memey, interesting, or just plain fun decks using cards that everyone should have in their collection: Basic, Common, and Rare (with the occasional free Legendary thrown in). They should be perfect for newer and returning players, or for anyone looking to enjoy themselves and save their dust. Join me, and together we'll make Hearthstone fun for everyone.

Mountweaver Priest

Nazmani Bloodweaver is the card I was most excited to play with when Madness at the Darkmoon Faire launched. Unfortunately for me and people like me, Nazmani Bloodweaver—like the Romans—initially had no concept of "zero." Now that Nazmani Bloodweaver is no longer bugged, it has taken its rightful place as a powerful enabler of hijinks. Thanks to its rarity, Nazmani Bloodweaver has also become my favorite budget build-around for all sorts of decks and combos. It's a tale as old as time: the story of a boy and his Bloodweaver.

This deck is my favorite of the ones I've built around Nazmani Bloodweaver, as it utilizes the Bloodweaver's cost-reduction ability to enable big board swings—either with Psyche Split or, preferably, with a board of Beasts from Exotic Mountseller.

Key Cards

In most games, Exotic Mountseller will serve as your finisher by comboing with cheap and cost-reduced spells to create a board of Beasts. Your cost reduction is going to come from Nazmani Bloodweaver, which is also a solid three-drop, and Palm Reading. Also included are Wandmaker and Cobalt Spellkin to generate more cheap spells to fuel Bloodweaver and Mountseller turns. Insight is card draw, but crucially can also reduce the cost of your Mountseller to make your combo turn come that much quicker. Psyche Split is your best bet at winning the board without Mountseller, and a great way to get additional cost reduction during a Bloodweaver turn.

Mulligan and Gameplay Tips

Your mulligan is fairly simple. You're looking for an opening hand with one piece of cheap interaction (Holy Smite or Penance) and Palm Reading. With Palm Reading in hand, you'll also be looking for Wandmaker, Novice Engineer, and Insight. You're not necessarily going to want Nazmani Bloodweaver in your opening hand because you'd rather hit it off of Insight, but it's a fine keep against faster decks for an on-curve play. You can also keep Draconic Studies if you're against something aggressive to use in the early turns for a body to contest the board.

So, how does this deck want to play? Ideally, you'll spend the early turns drawing cards and contesting the board with cheap minions and cheap spells until you're ready to chain spells with Nazmani Bloodweaver or Exotic Mountseller and overwhelm your opponent. In a pinch, Palm Reading does a decent Bloodweaver impression with spells generated from Wandmaker and Cobalt Spellkin, making it a lot easier to go wide with Mountseller on curve. Beyond that, there are a couple of rules to keep in mind when playing.

Rule 1: Don't spend every spell on a Bloodweaver turn—in other words, never go full Bloodweaver. You want to get some cost reduction, but you also want to save spells for Exotic Mountseller. You will run out if you aren't careful.

Rule 2: Use your Discover effects wisely. It's important to have as much information as possible before you Discover, so be patient with Renew. You can be less patient with Palm Reading, but you generally want to wait until you have three or more spells in hand to discount (and remember that it discounts the spell you Discover). With Draconic Studies, try to take the Dragon you feel it will be hardest for your opponent to answer.

Rule 3: Don't forget to play for the board. While you want to save as many spells as possible for Nazmani Bloodweaver and Exotic Mountseller, look for opportunities to put your opponent on the back foot with a timely Psyche Split or some combination of cheap spells.

Card Replacements for the Rich and Famous

I have a few suggestions for card changes if you're interested in the main synergy of the deck, but want to power it up with a few, more expensive, cards. Sethekk Veilweaver can replace Novice Engineer as another spell engine—I would recommend this change if you already have the card. Cleric of Scales also serves as a useful spell tutor, and can come in to replace Whispers of EVIL and a Penance.

If you want to go greedier (but are still on a budget), Embalming Ritual can replace Whispers of EVIL to make your board harder to deal with. I've elected to keep it on the sidelines for now because it's such a situational card (and you've got a decent chance to get at least one from Wandmaker or Cobalt Spellkin). The same logic applies to Wave of Apathy. If you're less worried about stats and more interested in copying things, Gift of Luminance is a fine replacement for Psyche Split. If you're facing more control decks, you can swap Apotheosis and Whispers of EVIL for two copies of Grave Rune or one and another Raise Dead.

I have been having a blast playing this deck—even in games that I don't end up winning. Keep that in mind while playing this deck; play it like you want to enjoy yourself and don't worry about winning every game. This deck doesn't have a 100% win rate, but it does have a 100% Fun Rate®.

(Legal disclaimer: "Fun Rate" is not a concrete measurement of anything and is subject to change depending on a number of factors, including whether your opponent is an Evolve Shaman.)

Are there any budget decks that you've been experimenting with? Tell us in the comments below!