Priest isn't dead, stop whining

Submitted 2 years, 8 months ago by

Since some of you are very easily discouraged, I have cooked up a functioning Control Priest list that can hold the line against aggro decks and still play the long game. Use it. Learn it. And don't complain when you lose to Hunter because you failed to manage your ressources accordingly.

Deck ID Not Found

It's not gonna be a tier 1 deck (as it shouldn't be anyways) but I'd be very surprised if you couldn't take this to Legend in the current meta (which I can't prove unfortunately because I'm already there).

Just play super safe into both Shaman and Demon Hunter and always except them to have the best cards in every situation because if you don't they will blindside you and you die.

  • YourPrivateNightmare's Avatar
    Skeleton 2010 4741 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago

    Since some of you are very easily discouraged, I have cooked up a functioning Control Priest list that can hold the line against aggro decks and still play the long game. Use it. Learn it. And don't complain when you lose to Hunter because you failed to manage your ressources accordingly.

    Deck ID Not Found

    It's not gonna be a tier 1 deck (as it shouldn't be anyways) but I'd be very surprised if you couldn't take this to Legend in the current meta (which I can't prove unfortunately because I'm already there).

    Just play super safe into both Shaman and Demon Hunter and always except them to have the best cards in every situation because if you don't they will blindside you and you die.

    I tried having fun once.

    It was awful.

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  • dapperdog's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 1890 5542 Posts Joined 07/29/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago

    Im surprised to see Devout Dungeoneer in your list. Is that draw one random spell from your deck that comes with a token 2/3 really that useful? I would think Wandmaker would still be relevant even with the Renew nerf, and at very least on a good day it does curve into scorpid on 3.

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  • PopeNeia's Avatar
    Darkmaster 640 841 Posts Joined 07/06/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago
    Quote From dapperdog

    Im surprised to see Devout Dungeoneer in your list. Is that draw one random spell from your deck that comes with a token 2/3 really that useful? I would think Wandmaker would still be relevant even with the Renew nerf, and at very least on a good day it does curve into scorpid on 3.

    I don’t believe the list is completely optimized yet, so there are clear places for improvements.

    That being said, I hope this is what Priest becomes rather than that abomination of a deck in Standardright now

    This ain't no place for a hero

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  • Alfi's Avatar
    Devoted Academic 1790 1375 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago

    What is the win condition? I cannot see any. 

     

    -=alfi=-

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  • YourPrivateNightmare's Avatar
    Skeleton 2010 4741 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago
    Quote From Alfi

    What is the win condition? I cannot see any. 

     

    The same as any other Priest deck. Don't die and win because you have more cards than your opponent.

    I tried having fun once.

    It was awful.

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  • YourPrivateNightmare's Avatar
    Skeleton 2010 4741 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago
    Quote From PopeNeia
    Quote From dapperdog

    Im surprised to see Devout Dungeoneer in your list. Is that draw one random spell from your deck that comes with a token 2/3 really that useful? I would think Wandmaker would still be relevant even with the Renew nerf, and at very least on a good day it does curve into scorpid on 3.

    I don’t believe the list is completely optimized yet, so there are clear places for improvements.

    That being said, I hope this is what Priest becomes rather than that abomination of a deck in Standardright now

    Oh no, obviously not, this more of a proof of concept. Flesh giants is still a viable shell, but everything around it can be modified to actually target the meta (like running Illucia or even other gimmicky stuff to counter specfic matchups)

    I tried having fun once.

    It was awful.

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  • YourPrivateNightmare's Avatar
    Skeleton 2010 4741 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago
    Quote From dapperdog

    Im surprised to see Devout Dungeoneer in your list. Is that draw one random spell from your deck that comes with a token 2/3 really that useful? I would think Wandmaker would still be relevant even with the Renew nerf, and at very least on a good day it does curve into scorpid on 3.

    I hear you. In my original build I did include Wandmaker because I thought that the chance of getting Flash Heal mmight make all the difference in aggro matchups (and I used to runn Acolyte and Odds so Wave was also a desired outcome) but I eventually realised that with Renew completely removed Wandmaker becomes a 50/50 in any given matchup since all other results are effectively situational. Dungeoneer, despite not having great stats, will at least pull an actual good card 100% of the time (and occasionally reduce Renew to 0, which is nice) and in aggressive matchups he makes Raise Dead better because you don't have to gamble on getting a random spell you can't use. There is an argument to run Insight or Thrive in the Shadows instead, but I just prefer having a body on board.

    This might change with the new set if there's a really useful 1-cost spell. If not there might even be an argument to include the new Pandaren gal that discover a spell that wasn't in your deck (which could be great for finding extra healing)

    I tried having fun once.

    It was awful.

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  • Xristophilus's Avatar
    215 43 Posts Joined 11/11/2020
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago

    Curious as to the omission of N'Zoth, the Corruptor, since HSReplay stats peg it as the third-highest-winrate card in pre-nerf Control Priest. Is it a question of diminished value (I noticed the pirates are omitted too), or is it just too slow without pre-nerf Blademaster Samuro + Apotheosis?

    "Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."  --  Sun Tzu, The Art of War 3.18

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  • Alfi's Avatar
    Devoted Academic 1790 1375 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago
    Quote From YourPrivateNightmare
    Quote From Alfi

    What is the win condition? I cannot see any. 

    The same as any other Priest deck. Don't die and win because you have more cards than your opponent.

    Except ypu have this card draw so you will not have that much card

    -=alfi=-

    1
  • YourPrivateNightmare's Avatar
    Skeleton 2010 4741 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago
    Quote From Alfi
    Quote From YourPrivateNightmare
    Quote From Alfi

    What is the win condition? I cannot see any. 

    The same as any other Priest deck. Don't die and win because you have more cards than your opponent.

    Except ypu have this card draw so you will not have that much card

    you still have boatloads of card generation and can run your opponent out of ressources before they run out of cards.

    Yes, you still can't beat Warlock and hard Control Warrior will probably beat you...but all of that happened before as well. The meta is almost entirely aggro to midrange at this point and you do not win by just having more stuff, you win by staying alive until they can no longer kill you at which point a single big minion carries you to victory.

    I tried having fun once.

    It was awful.

    0
  • YourPrivateNightmare's Avatar
    Skeleton 2010 4741 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago
    Quote From Xristophilus

    Curious as to the omission of N'Zoth, the Corruptor, since HSReplay stats peg it as the third-highest-winrate card in pre-nerf Control Priest. Is it a question of diminished value (I noticed the pirates are omitted too), or is it just too slow without pre-nerf Blademaster Samuro + Apotheosis?

    I'll be real here. I have never liked N'zoth and always thought it being shoehorned into Priest.

    Realistically, you can probably run N'zoth in this deck even without Southsea Scoundrel and get good results (in fact it might actually be better since LIghtshower has been difficult to justify without additional synergy) but I personally just don't see the point given how our win condition is outgrinding the opponent instead of trying to beat them on board (and Flesh Giants are usually enough swing pressure).

    Maybe if Libram Paladin was more prevalent it would be worth running, but against something like Shaman and Demon Hunter N'zoth won't help you early and might just end up being a dead draw when you don't want it.

    If you want to run it you can probably cut one Devout Dungeoneer, since Cleric does most of the heavy lifting in terms of draw anyways

    I tried having fun once.

    It was awful.

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  • Xristophilus's Avatar
    215 43 Posts Joined 11/11/2020
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago

    Gotcha! Makes sense. I might reinstall and try your list plus N'Zoth--I've always run him primarily to get an extra Lightshower Elemental (kinda like DH uses him mainly to get a third Illidari Inquisitor), which can be really big sometimes, but he definitely does end up dead in your hand other times. Thanks for the list and the explanation!

    "Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."  --  Sun Tzu, The Art of War 3.18

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  • YourPrivateNightmare's Avatar
    Skeleton 2010 4741 Posts Joined 03/25/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago
    Quote From Xristophilus

    Gotcha! Makes sense. I might reinstall and try your list plus N'Zoth--I've always run him primarily to get an extra Lightshower Elemental (kinda like DH uses him mainly to get a third Illidari Inquisitor), which can be really big sometimes, but he definitely does end up dead in your hand other times. Thanks for the list and the explanation!

    Just to let you know, I've actually included N'zoth now because I realised that the 2nd Dungeoneer is way too clunky most of the time and N'zoth adds a valuable last ditch effort to hold off tempo decks in the lategame.

    There might also be an argument to replace the other Dungeoneer with a single Apotheosis since that extra bit of healing can come in clutch, although I'm not sure if it doesn't end up being a dead draw in a lot of situations.

    I tried having fun once.

    It was awful.

    0
  • Alfi's Avatar
    Devoted Academic 1790 1375 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 2 years, 8 months ago

    Based on HSReplay priest is the worst class, period. Best deck is 46% winrate.

    So yeah, priest is dead. 

    Blizzard could not nerf the real cultprits - Raise Dead and Palm Reading as both are shadow spells and most likely aimed for the shadow priest archetype they are building, so they cancelled all Priest healing and now while agro can deal 15-25 damage burst Priest is unable to efficiently heal.

    -=alfi=-

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