Deck Guide: Token Druid
Author: Joseph Scalise
In this week’s deck write up we are bringing back an old favorite: Token Druid. While normally I write about decks that I have built, today I’m actually going to a feature a deck that a friend of mine (BattleBurned) took to legend, and it’s a deck I have been playing with towards the top of the ranks. It is, like last weeks, another Druid deck that uses the combo to fight against the ever shifting meta, but this one goes about that plan a little differently.
Token Druid is a deck that has always been about building a strong board of resilient minions. Each card is built towards ending with the combo and allowing you to keep board control through cheap, effective minions. This version of the deck takes the traditional old token deck with combos like Violet Teacher and Power of the Wild and mixes it with the new Kolento style deck with things like Haunted Creeper and Echoing Ooze. It works really well, and is a great silver bullet for fighting back against a Hunter heavy metagame.
Key Cards
Zombie Chow
Zombie Chow in an aggro/combo deck? Yes. So much yes. When discussing the deck with BattleBurned I was really suspicious of the chow, but it is extremely important in the current meta. This card on turn one is a key play in the aggro matchups (which take up a good portion of the ladder), and will single handedly swing games. It is not simply that this card can win a fight with most early minions, but that it allows you a turn or two before your more resilient, stronger minions can be put on board. One big aspect of this deck is board control, and no card controls the early game better than Zombie Chow. Always try and mulligan for this card in every matchup and never mulligan it away.
Echoing Ooze
Oozing out of the walls is a very interesting two drop. Echoing Ooze was a key card in Kolento’s token builds, but this card works much differently in this deck. Echoing Ooze is primarily a card that functions with the help of something else, be it a Mark of the Wild or a Defender of Argus. However, in this deck, because the only real buff for it is Power of the Wild (which works just as well after the Ooze has been played) it is just two one/twos for two, and that’s just fine. Token is a deck that gains board control and victories through sheer number of minions, and ooze fits right into that plan. I primarily will run this out on turn two as a way to represent two distinct threats. Sure, it’s not the heaviest beater, but it works so well with Savage Roar and Power of the Wild that the card is a must have.
Probably the strangest card in the thirty, Soul of the Forest is a wonderful silver bullet that makes unwinnable games suddenly winnable. This card has many downsides; needing minions to be good, needing a lot of minions to be good, and costing four mana. These are reasons you would never want two. However, a well timed Soul of the Forest can also bring you back into games and make combat math miserable for Control or Midrange decks. Obviously this card should never be kept in when mulliganing, but if you curve right into this card after spamming cheap minions (especially creeper and golem) you can set up a Savage Roar win by turn six or so. Not only that, but there are many decks that have real trouble handling a board that can replace itself with a bunch of two/two trees (Warrior).
Pay attention class! Violet Teacher was an old token favorite (as many of you know) that really fell out of favor during the rise of Naxx. I am largely unsure why this happened, but in a deck that wants to spam creatures to build board control no one does it better. There’s not too much to say, but I wanted to talk about her because she is a must have in this build. Because of the nature of this deck you can get board control early and then save teacher/power to come back just in case of a Lightning Storm or the like. This is her strongest attribute and best use. Also, if you lack an early game she can quickly let you take over the board when comboed with Innervate and other cheap spells.
Loatheb
It seems that I discuss the possibilities for Loatheb in ever article I write, but he’s just so good. He gets even better when worked into combo decks like this one. The reason is, you want to do whatever you can to keep board control. Loatheb makes it so your plans will almost always go unfettered. If you want to set up a Force of Nature/Savage Roar play on turn nine (or some other turn) playing this card before hand is the best way. While there are a lot of problem minions in the game, your Savage Roar plans (and board) are almost always interrupt by powerful spells. Placing a 5/5 onto the board that can also disrupt those spells is a great way to cement wins. Loatheb is just also a fantastic play when you already have board control to keep you in a position to win.
How to Mulligan
Due to the way the metagame (and this deck) is built, mulliganing never really changes. You always want to look for early minions to play, and then hope to draw into spells to back them up. Zombie Chow, Haunted Creeper and Echoing Ooze are how you always want to start the game, and you should mulligan away everything else that isn’t an Innervate. Innervate is always a must keep in Druid, and if you have it you should try and look for either a teacher (to play turn one or two) or a Harvest Golem.
When playing against an aggro deck (Hunter or Warlock) I find it a good idea to always keep Swipe and look aggressively for Wrath. Swipe may seem slow, but if you have access to some strong early turn plays, Swipe can really help you cement board control. Swipe is especially strong against aggro as it kill off all three Animal Companions and does away with both Dark Iron Dwarf and Nerubians. This is very important. Sometimes If I have the coin I will also keep Keeper of the Grove against Warlock due to the versatility of being strong against both Handlock and Zoo. The only other part of mulliganing is to get rid of Harvest Golem unless you have a turn two play or you have the Coin. I know that sounds strange, but you usually want to start a lot faster than turn three. Always keep Harvest Golem if you have the Coin.
How to Play
While this deck is an aggro deck, it is an aggro deck in the same way that Zoo is an aggro deck. It’s all about board control. There are two of the combo in this deck, and you should always remember that. The combo is your ace in the hole, and always give you an out to suddenly win a game. You want to try and start the game with small, efficient minions and then build up from there. Zombie Chow, a two drop into Harvest Golem into Swipe is a great curve, and the type of opening you want to have. This deck is always trying to get your opponent to fourteen by turn nine, but a curve is just as important. Unlike many other aggro decks, this deck has the ability to explode ahead through Innervate and also has the ability to scale into stronger creatures. Sludge Belcher, Ancient of Lore and Violet Teacher are your heavy hitters, and will allow you to match up with stronger decks as the game goes on. Start low and end fast with this deck and you can pile up the wins.
Matchups
Zoo
One of the prime reasons to play this deck, Zoo is a great matchup that is always in your favor. Zoo has always had trouble with hard to remove minions, and since you can spam the board backed up with removal they usually can’t keep up. Harvest Golem, Echoing Ooze and Haunted Creeper are all very hard for Zoo to deal with, and Keeper of the Grove is yet another tool that can silence eggs and kill of Knife Jugglers. As always, if you Innervate out something early you will almost always win, and once you have board control you will almost never lose it. Swipe is an all star here, and the only card you need to be wary of is Doomguard, which should be dealt with at all costs.
Handlock
Unlike Zoo, Handlock is a very tricky matchup to navigate through. However, it is also quite winnable. A turn four giant can be an absolute nightmare, but a Drake is usually doable. This is a matchup you are only going to win off of Savage Roar, which is in your favor. The reason for this is that roar allows you to always keep them at higher life, which takes away their potential for Molten Giants. In addition, Keeper and Swipe are also great tools for finishing off a Handlock that has put down to very low life. For this reason, if I do have close to lethal and one of the aforementioned cards in my hand, I will usually try to knock their health down before they have a chance to play taunts. Start early and fast here, as one of the only ways to stop a turn four giant is through running all or most of your minions headfirst into its eight health.
Shaman
Besides Hunter, I would say that Shaman is the most popular deck these days on the ladder. Whether that is due to a genuine interest in the deck or botting I do not know, but either way this is a class you are bound to encounter. Shaman is a fifty/fifty matchup that really comes down to the first two turns of the game. It may seem strange to simplify the matchup like that, but the truth is if you get started early they can’t come back, and vise versa. Their removal is great at answering every minion we have access to. Earthshock and lightning bolts are all-stars for them, and Hex can answer everything that comes after. However, if they lack early game removal it is really hard to lose as you will usually be able to play minions without resistance. Feral Spirit is annoying, but a strong board (and Wrath) can answer the wolves just fine. In addition, Loatheb will help keep things rolling along or merely end a game on his own.
The main rule in the Shaman matchup is to never let them have minions of any kind. Always kill spell power totems (for Lightning Storm purposes) and clear out anything else to play around Defender of Argus. They have no healing, so all damage you do sticks, which makes the savage/force combo even better. Violet teacher is a great way to rebound after a board wipe, and as such I will almost always save Power of the Wild in this match unless I need to put pressure on.
Control Warrior
BattleBurned claims this matchup is the hardest there is, but I have had great success against the armored menace (currently 6-1). It seems that unless they have an early Armorsmith, there isn’t a lot they can do to fight back against most of your cards. Keeper of the Grove is really strong with coin, but it’s usually two slow if you’re going first. However, being able to shut off Armorsmiths, Acolyte of Pains and Sludge Belchers are all really important. Warrior only runs two taunts in the form of Sludge Belcher, and if you can get through that they are really weak to the combo.
Hunter
Another ladder menace, Hunter, while not favorable, is around a fifty/fifty split. You can’t really ask for a better win rate against Hunter, and as such this deck delivers. Just with Zoo, Harvest Golem, Haunted Creeper and your removal give them a lot of early game trouble. Zombie Chow is also fantastic here, and the savage/force combo usually will always finish the job. The tricky part is playing around Freezing Trap and staying alive long enough to combo kill them. The best advice for this matchup is to always assume every trap is freezing, and play around it accordingly. The reason for this is, Freezing Trap can really swing a game if it hits a Harvest Golem or some other slow minion.
The rule of Hunter is to stay alive, and the best way to fight them is to always be one step ahead. Always be aware of what they can play and what they haven’t played. For instance, know that their turn two is almost always going to be either Mad Scientist or Haunted Creeper and plan for that by coining out an early golem or holding back Wrath. Also, Swipe is your best (and only) answer to Animal Companion so know that. It also is a great way to deal with Snake Trap. The last note is to remember that Unleash the Hounds is finding its way back into the meta. Spamming creature is key, but don’t get blown out at the wrong time.
Priest (Deathrattle/Control)
Every deck has a nightmare matchup and Priest is this decks. You just don’t want to play Priest, and there are many, many reasons for that. One, they can come out of the gates better than you can, and also have a fantastic board reset in Auchenai/circle. Holy Nova is great against us, as is Shadow Madness, Cabal Shadow Priest and Sludge Belcher. If they slip up and play nothing the first few turns a combo kill may be possible, but for the most part they have all the answers to all of our questions. Ancient of Lore is very good for the later stages of the game, and Soul of the Forest can be very good, but since you need to start fast you can never really afford to keep either of them. I will usually keep Swipe in this matchup as a way to fight back against Dark Cultist, another problem card that can ruin a strong start.
Budgets
This is a very cheap deck that only runs one free legend. All of the cards are in place, and there isn’t anything to change. Just a solid, fun to play, cheap deck. I hope you enjoyed this week’s deck tech, and I hope that you enjoy the deck. As always, thanks for reading, and until next time, may you always roar your way to victory.
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