Team IHearthU Deck Guide: Kolento Blizzcon Druid

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Introduction:

In today’s deck we will be looking at a token druid deck that Kolento used in the Blizzcon World Championships. It was previously created by Strifecro to combat the old Hunter list before the introduction of Undertaker and had got Kolento to #1 Legend. It is a fast Druid deck that does not rely on Wild Growth, but instead it gets out early game minions compete with the aggressive decks in the metagame. The strength of the deck is that it has a good shot at beating virtually any deck in the game, at the cost of not having any overpowering one sided matchups. This makes it
a great deck for ladder and tournament play.

Key Cards:

Innervate: One of the cards that makes the Druid class incredibly powerful. It is the only class that is allowed to bypass mana which creates for a massive advantage in tempo. It is extremely useful against aggressive decks to compete with their low mana creatures to help get out a big threat early on to steal board control. Against slow control decks it can be used to get out an early 5 mana minion such as Spectral Knight or an early Ancient of Lore on turn 3 or 5 . This gets you a strong 5­/5 body and nets you 2 cards plus the draw you will receive next turn to give you many more options for the following turns.

Echoing Ooze: A unique card that is rarely seen in any other deck. It is a sticky minion that can help shutdown aggressive decks that also has many synergies with other cards in the deck. It combos extremely well with Savage roar by giving you extra minions on the board that will be difficult to clean. It also combines well with Defender of Argus which can create two 2/3 taunted Oozes as well as possibly taunting another minion on the board. This will net you 1/1 stats on 3 minions as well as giving them all taunt. The best scenario would be to have a Spectral Knight out on turn 5, and then on turn 6 play Ooze with a Defender between both minions creating an extremely powerful board.

Savage Roar: The main finisher of the deck that secures the win. Most of the deck is revolved around this card in the way that the minions are difficult to kill. This almost always nets you guaranteed savage roar value to help trade into stronger minions or do high burst damage to the enemy hero. In combination with Force of Nature it is one of the best finishers in the game that puts your enemy on edge at all times.

 

Shade of Naxxramas: Another unique card that is mostly unique to the Druid Class. Similar to Echoing Ooze it is a minion that can be difficult for the enemy to remove, but this time because of the stealth effect and its ability to continuously grow each turn if left in stealth form. The deck is centered around finishing the enemy off with Savage Roar and Shade of Naxxramas can fulfill this role really well. In some games the Shade will be able to stay on the board the entire game and then single handedly kill them with Force+Savage combo. This causes fear in the opponent which can create for subpar plays to continuously play around the combo.

Spectral Knight: A very strong 5 mana creature that is also only currently used by Druid. It shines here mostly because of its ability to be difficult to kill and the possibility of being Innervated out to take full board control. Its ability to stay on the board gives you guaranteed damage to the enemy or their minions as well as helping as a finisher with Savage Roar. Look to taunt this minion to make it very difficult for the enemy to get past .Unless they have Black Knight it should be near impossible to get through without strong damage on the board.

Ancient of Lore: One of the most important cards in the deck. It allows you to put a big threat on the board while replenishing your hand. This draws you closer to your burst damage combos to help kill the enemy hero. Has extremely high value when innervated. Don’t be afraid to use the heal effect if you are worried about dying against aggressive or OTK decks.

 

How to Mulligan:

Mulligan-ing with this deck comes down to having a good curve. Look to play a
creature on turn 2 and then have a play on every turn from then on. This prevents aggression from
the opponent while putting pressure on slower control decks to be on the defensive. Against all
decks it is important to keep Innervate to have extremely powerful turns and gain tempo. Echoing
Ooze and Haunted Creeper are must keep in practically all matchups because of their ability to
stay on the board and help kill Early minions against Zoo and Hunter decks. Harvest Golem and
Shade of Naxxramas are also really strong keeps against all classes because of their value and
stickiness to the board. They can trade well and help set up a nice curve. Big Game Hunter is a
must keeps against Handlock, as well as Keeper of the Grove against both types of Warlock. If
you are against an aggressive deck look to keep Wrath in your opening hand as well. If you
have innervate in your hand do not be afraid to keep Spectral Knight to get out an early big threat.

How to Play:

The general game plan with this Token Druid Deck is to continuously play sticky
minions on the board, and eventually finish them off with a Force of Nature + Savage Roar
combo. Almost all the minions in the deck are extremely difficult to remove, making the deck fairly
easy to play but difficult to master. The real skill comes from knowing when to go to the face and
when to trade on the board. This requires a lot of planning on your future turns and what you
have in your hand or can possibly draw into. Do not be too greedy on holding into your Savage
Roar or Force of Nature if you need to clear the board or get guaranteed damage on your
enemies face if you are worried that your board will not live any longer.

Matchups:

Hunter: One of the matchups that the druid deck was teched to beat. The strong survivability of all minions and the good amount of removal and taunts in the deck make for a strong matchup. Look to seize early board control as soon as you can and be mindful of all the traps being run in the metagame. Many Hunters are favoring Explosive Trap over Snake trap in the metagame making it a good idea to test traps by attacking minions. This becomes an obvious choice if you already have swipe in your hand. Most Hunters always run Freezing Trap and Echoing Ooze makes for a great card to trigger this trap.

Warrior: A great matchup for Druid. Warriors strength comes from its ability to remove minions with its weapons. This strength is negated with this deck because the minions cannot be properly dealt with in 1 attack. This will allow you to continuously keep board control and pressure on the warrior. Look to play around brawl if possible and look for good opportunities to do aggressive plays with Druid of the Claw in Cat Form.

Miracle Rogue: Similar to the Warrior matchup many of the rogues spells can not get full value
due to the Deathrattle and sticky effects of each minion. Look to get out an early Spectral Knight. In combination with Argus it can generally win you the game as their spells are their main source of removal. Loatheb is extremely strong in this matchup to secure board control or prevent Gadgetzan to draw many cards. Miracle Rogue usually has minimal defenses and heals making your high burst damage combos extremely effective.

Zoo: Possibly one of the weaker matchups, but it is still winnable. Look to get out early minions and keep early removals. Keeper of the Grove and Innervate can gain large tempo to help win this matchup. The Zoo player may have trouble cleaning your board so its possible they attack your face, so be wary of how much damage you have at all times and look for lethal opportunities.

Budget Replacements:

The deck is fairly cheap and contains many core Druid cards used in other
decks. The expensive cards like Ancient of Lore, Force of Nature, are key cards that are needed
for the deck to win. Black Kight can be possibly replaced for aggresive cards like Argent Commander.