Deck Guide: Combo Druid
Author: Joseph Scalise
Man has it been a tough two weeks. I’ll say that much. The ladder has been all over the place, which is a double edged sword. On one hand, it’s nice that there is a diversity of decks out there. On the other hand this metagame is a tricky one to pin down. Some days I’m fighting through hordes of Hunters and Zoo, and others it’s all Priest, Handlock and Shaman. Ever hero has a chance right now, which has been great for everything except my ladder climbing. Well, that was until I built this deck. Before this deck I was sitting in the purgatory that was rank 10/9. Now, I’m back in the upper ranks and, more importantly, I’m having fun doing it.
This deck came first about when I got crushed by a Ramp Druid. I didn’t get beat. I didn’t get outplayed. I got crushed. He had a perfect curve, ramping into Loatheb, Cairne, Ancient of Lore and the Force of Nature/Savage Roar combo. I was upset, but it got me thinking. It is a rule of trading card games that when a metagame is in turmoil (like this one) you need to find a constant. What that means is that you need something that is good against all decks. For me, that is the Force of Nature/Savage Roar combo. Everything in this deck is about that combo, with each card building to an eventual Savage Roar win.
2. Key Cards
A lot of the cards in this deck are routine Ramp Druid cards. I won’t be covering those cards in depth, but there are some key cards that cannot be cut which I will explain in further detail below.
When playing Warrior early in the season I said one of the reasons I liked the class so much was due to the fact that Fiery War Axe was a great answer to Undertaker. In this meta you absolutely need an answer to Undertaker, and this deck’s answer is Wrath. To be honest I didn’t even want the card in the original list, but if you don’t have a strong ramp opening you need this card to stay in the game. Wrath is very versatile, which is why it has always been an auto include in Druid, and the card draw mixed with a way to take out Undertaker is necessary.
Harvest Golem is a card that found its way out of Ramp Decks (or Druid decks in general) but it is essential in the current meta. Hunter and Zoo are everywhere on the ladder, and both have a hard time with the Golem. It trades early, sticks around and has the token aspect of being able to hang around for the combo. Running two is an absolute must in this deck for both the early and late game purposes. Watch out for Priests, as they love to take these with Cabal Shadow Priest, but mulligan for this card against every class. Play them early and play them often.
Faceless Manipulator
This card may seem like a strange choice in this deck (especially as it takes a slot over a second Azure Drake or Spectral Knight) but like Harvest Golem I think this card is an essential tool. There are many merits in running another card in replacement for the manipulator, but I wouldn’t. The reason for this is, while this is the only card in the deck that doesn’t set up the combo, it is good against most decks. Like the force/savage combo, Faceless Manipulator is a card that comes in handy time and time again. Going in cold against a diverse meta you want versatility, and no card has more versatility than this card. He also is very good at giving you another Spectral Knight or Cairne to help make your combo just that much stronger.
Loatheb
In terms of setting up the combo, no one does it better than Loatheb. Every card in this deck serves one of three purposes: disruption, resilience or card draw. No card in this deck does disruption better than Loatheb. He is great when Innervated out early, because he’s impossible to remove and will help you control the board until your big threats come out. He is also good on turn five or six when you need to regain board control. However, his main purpose is to be played the turn before you want to Force of Nature/Savage Roar. The reason this deck works is because you are almost going to use the combo with a big creature on board (ramping up the damage potential) and Loatheb is a minion that will always be around.
How the mighty have fallen. Cairne was once the Druid staple. A midrange card that terrorized the meta and made control decks quiver in fear. However, Sap, Freezing Trap and an aggressive meta made him just too slow. Now that the gears are shifting and midrange decks are back, he once again has his time to shine. There’s not too much to say about Cairne that hasn’t already been said. He’s as good as he’s ever been, and is great
when you can combo him with Faceless Manipulator. He’s great against control, can give aggro nightmares if Innervated early enough, and keeps a creature on the board for the combo. He’s mostly in this deck as yet another way to keep something on the board for the end of the game.
I know what you’re thinking, Frost Elemental? Yes. Really. This card is not only an essential card to this deck, but it is the one card that made my ladder climb possible. This card acts just like Loatheb, locking down your opponent to give you either board control or a way to set up the combo, but it shuts down minions instead of spells. What’s important about arena all star Frost Elemental is that, not only does it keep your opponent’s minions from being able to respond to it, but it also protects your other minions from taking damage the next turn. In this way it sets up the combo perfectly, because it allows that extra minion to stay alive, dealing the extra six or so damage you need to win. The combo does fourteen damage, but this deck is trying to do twenty plus damage in one swing. Frost Elemental makes that happen.
Although this card may have more of a purpose in a traditional Ramp Deck, Ancient of War is in this list because of its resilience. Yes, it can be a nightmare for aggro decks to deal with, but it’s mainly here because ten health is very hard to remove. This deck creates pressure through a large diversity of threats, and Ancient of War is your juggernaut. You can play this soon to bait out your opponents removal, but a lot of the time I will wait until I have exhausted my opponent’s resources before dropping this ancient. You can play it either way, but always, always be on the look out for The Black Knight.
3. How to Mulligan
Mulliganing in this deck is pretty straight forward. As this deck is built as a way to combat all classes there is no special way to fight against separate classes. What that means is, mulligans are always the same for each class. The strategy is simple here: mulligan away anything that isn’t an Innervate, Harvest Golem, Wild Growth or Wrath. Seriously. You are always looking for those four cards. Those are the catalyst of this deck, and each one is needed to keep you in the early game or prevent you from falling behind.
The only time your mulligan strategy changes is when you either have a Wild Growth or Innervate in your first hand. In this case, you want to keep midrange threats in order to power them out early. Any five drop is fine to keep with Innervate, but you should still get rid of six or seven drops. When I have an early Innervate or Wild Growth I will also mulligan my other cards aggressively in hopes of finding a Keeper of the Grove. That card is a perfect answer to an early Undertaker, Mad Scientist or Northshire Cleric and should always be brought out as early as possible
4. How to Play
I’m sure this has been hammered home by now, but it’s all about the combo. I stated this earlier, but every minion in this deck is either about resilience, disruption or card draw. The reason this deck is so strong isn’t that it has the ability to combo, but rather than it has the ability to combo with other minions. Fourteen damage is nice, but you are shooting for the stars here. Often this deck hits twenty plus damage, and every minion makes sure that happens. Like all Druid decks, board control is the most important aspect here. Make sure that you always clear your opponents minions when you can. Use Loatheb and Frost Elemental to lock down the board when you can, and always be aware of how much damage potential you have.
There are two Savage Roar and two Force of Nature in this deck. That’s important to remember because you can use one of those cards early (for damage or removal) and still have hopes of drawing into them later. While you want to have the whole combo, because you almost always have minions on the board, many games are won on the back of Savage Roar. This card comes in handy time and time again, and you can easily set up wins without the trees to go with it. If you start ramping early this deck works very well, but above anything else, make sure you keep your minions alive. There are plenty of ways to do this, and each one should be utilized to it’s best effect. Never play a card just to play it (The Black Knight) unless you have a sure fire kill the following turn.
5. Matchups
Hunter
Get ready folks, this class isn’t going away any time soon. You need an early game here otherwise you will get run over. Innervated or Wild Growth’d keepers are very important, shutting down Mad Scientists, Undertaker and Haunted Creeper. Wrath and Harvest Golem are also very key. While this match is one of the toughest (due to the fact that their hero power can get around taunts) it is by no means unwinnable. I would say it is about fifty/fifty, with most of the games coming down to if you can combo before their hero power knocks you out. You will almost always have board control after turn six, but unfortunately sometimes that’s not enough.
The most important thing to note is never attack a big taunter into a potential Freezing Trap. Even if its the only minion you have, don’t risk it. Let them run their minions into yours until you can check it with something that will benefit from it like Loatheb, Frost Elemental or Ancient of Lore. Also, don’t forget that Frost Elemental can shut down an attack from an Eaglehorn Bow in a tight pinch.
Zoo
Zoo is a menace that also happens to be the easiest matchup for this deck. We have so much access to taunt, removal and silence that any form of acceleration usually just shuts them down. If you can get any type of momentum it is very hard for Zoo to come back. Remember, while setting up the combo might be tempting here (especially because of their habit to life tap) you want to always keep their board clear. Zoo thrives off of minions, and if they don’t have any they can’t really formulate a strong gameplan.
Handlock
Another pretty easy matchup, Handlock only really gives us trouble if they have a Mountain Giant before we can establish a strong board. You are always going to win with the combo, so Molten Giants aren’t usually a concern. The Black Knight is very important here, as are Sludge Belchers and the like. You will most likely be able to get them in range pretty easily, and both Loatheb and Frost Elemental shine in keeping the few threats they do have in check. The only thing you need to be aware of here is their ability to heal with an Earther Ring Fareseer or Siphon Soul.
Control Warrior
A deck that will always be strong, Control Warrior is a tough matchup for several reasons. One, they have a lot of armor, which can be tricky when trying to set up a one turn kill, and two, they have ways of removing everything. In this matchup you are a straight ramp player, forcing them to deal with your threats as you lay them on the board. While it might be tempting to accelerate into the combo, often that plan can get spoiled too easily by something as simple as an Execute of Shield Block. They have many types of removal in addition to a plethora of annoying creatures. The way you win this match is through the combo, but usually only after you have exhausted all of their resources. Your advantage in this matchup is large minions, so play them early and play them often.
Shaman (Midrange)
With Sea Giants slowly phasing out of Shaman decks, the midrange deck is becoming more and more the norm. This matchup is a straight up clash of power, big creatures fighting back against big removal. They, much like Warrior, have ways of clearing everything you play. However, they have the advantage of being able to do so while also silencing in the process. This is very tricky, and can be a hard matchup if you fall behind. Loatheb could not be a better turn eight play to set up the combo on turn nine. He also is amazing in the mid-game if you have control of the board.
This match is all about board control, and one of the distinct advantages we have is that Fire Elemental is generally a weak play against all of our big minions. Not only that, but if you force Shaman to overload early while ramping into threats they almost can never come back. One last thing to mention is that they can never heal, so what life they’re at is what they get. As such, there are many times where I will use a Savage Roar early on in the game as a way to put them at low health so I can more easily finish them off later.
Deathrattle/Control Priest
Priest is another matchup that almost always falls in our favor. A little ramp goes a long way here, as most of our mid-range threats are very good against Priest. They find strength in their answers, but cards like Spectral Knight, Sludge Belcher and Cairne make most of their removal useless. They can start off very fast, with turn one combos such as Undertaker/Zombie Chow, but those combos are also weak to Keeper of the Grove and can’t punch through a belcher. The two cards you always need to be aware of are Cabal Shadow Priest and Auchenai/Circle, which are both really good at clearing the board. If you manage to keep their minions in check, much like Zoo, they usually will not be able to build up enough momentum to survive a combo hit.
6. Budget Replacements
This is a rather expensive deck that, unfortunately, doesn’t have any strong replacements. Every card has it’s purpose, and most of them are key to the gameplan. All four ancients are very necessary in balancing between card draw and late game potential, and this deck should not be played without them. Cairne is very essential, giving you a resilient minion that also does a good amount of damage. If you absolutely need a replacement for him I would run another Spectral Knight, although it’s not quite the same.
The last (non-free) legend in the deck is The Black Knight. Normally, I would suggest a silencer as a replacement for the six drop. However, this time around The Black Knight isn’t here to clear taunts to set up the combo (although that’s an added bonus). Rather, he’s just here for board control more than anything else. Getting a four/five in exchange for removing an opponent’s minion is huge and the kind of interaction this deck thrives on. You could try to run a Spellbreaker in his place, but that won’t get you the same kind of result.
Well, that’s the deck. I’m very excited about it, and fully plan on taking it to legend in the coming week. As always, thanks for reading guys. Until next time, may your Innervates come early, and come often.
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