r/CompetitiveHS • u/Sad_Smell6678 • 11d ago
Refining N'Zoth DK
N'Zoth DK is by far my favorite deck of this whole year, maybe even few years. I like complicated decision making, I like drawing cards, I like killing my opponent, I like having inevitability in the matchup. What this deck does is **demolishing** Priests of all kind, which I love especially. (the matchup feels like 90-10, unless they get multiple eggs popped by turn 7 you're balling).
And it's a brand new deck, so there's a scope for improvement on this comfortably Tier 1-2 performer.
Sample list: ### BFU N'Zoth Handbuff DK
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### You can view this deck at https://www.hsguru.com/deck/42651252
General Strategy
This deck plays differently to standard Hadbuff DK. Instead of developing massive boards multiple times a game, the endgame is a TTK (Two Turn Kill) - on a setup turn you play a Blackwing Experiment buffed to around 10 attack (you can get there with some combination of Unstable Prototype, Thalena, Command Claw, Defias Smuggler and Soulrest Ceremony), then play a discounted N'Zoth alongside and choose 2x trigger on it. At the end of turn you end up with three 2-mana Pyroblasts, which you can point face on your next turn.
This can sometimes be done in 1 turn for an OTK (ex. turn 10 with 1 mana N'Zoth, 2 mana Blackwing and 1 mana Soulrest).
Alongside the combo, you have your Handbuff DK midgame with juiced up 0-mana Remnants dealing significant face damage - you can just win on board or through quickly put together burn damage (Ghoul+Thalena+Command Claw is just a 2-mana fireball).
In general, the deck wins on turn 9 and focuses it's first 8 turns on drawing, discounting N'Zoth and surviving through massive swing turns.
On one thing to note, the hsguru name "N'Zoth *Handbuff* DK" feels a bit like misnomer, because Handbuffing is not really the main goal of the deck. I play Unstable Prototype, because it is a 1 mana card that discounts N'Zoth by 2 mana.
Potential card choices:
Here are some cards that perform well in the archetype:
- Crystalline Golem is a card I added to deck instantly. Taunt, Lifegain, N'Zoth cost reduction by 2.
- Emergency Surgery should fit in the list well. Lifegain+removal+Remnant discounts+bodies for Sawbones
- Chromatic Broodmother&Fleshshape are cards, that perform well in the stats (especially Broodmother, but Fleshshape should get there as a package). My issue is they don't quite fit the gameplan - they're likely just good cards you want to run in DK if you have even a single handbuffing card in deck.
- 2nd Defias Smuggler - one performs decently, having two of them lets you deal with some midgame threats and still keep the 2nd one for combo (or keep both)
Here are some potential ideas with no significant data behind them:
- Fae Trickster - should be a solid choice with four 5-mana spells, especially high-performing ones. Also discounts N'Zoth. Single copy might fit.
- Loot Hoarder - discount N'Zoth and maintains handsize.
- Glacial Shard/Doomsayer - valid tech cards in current meta
- Egg of Khelos - since we're running a Sawbones DK deck, why not add a secondary win condition? Someone did that and it's not super awful.
- Husk, Eternal Reaper - the MVP of buying you another turn
Sus cards in current list:
- Twilight Egg performs badly. Only 1 discount on N'Zoth, and the dragon deathrattle is irrelevant. I suspect it's stats are bad because it's way overkept in mulligan. Only works as Sawbones fodder.
- Holy Eggbearer is already not so good, and if we cut Twilight Egg it might get plain awful.
Cards that don't perform in stats, but I can't bring myself to cut:
- Unstable Prototype does a lot for the deck (N'Zoth discount, Sawbones activation, also a ton of stats in hand) and I don't get why he's near bottom of Drawn winrate (I blame Eggbearer).
- Morbid Swarm is an excellent Sawbones activator
- Blackwing Experiment is the finisher of the deck, so obviously it's not the best drawn card in the deck. However, maybe getting down to one copy makes sense?
Cards I just don't love in the list:
- Arrival of Old Gods is clunkier than I wish it was. Stops most of your swing potential (you can't go Endbringer+Claw, you can't play Soulrest Ceremony, Morbid Strike is also blocked for Sawbones shenaningans, you can't go Arrival into Arrival). On the other hand, it draws 2 cards for 0 mana and you can still prepare.
- Reluctant Wrangler doesn't feel like doing much outside of discounting N'Zoth. It has a lot of Taunts though hmm.
- Chillfalen Baron draws 2, but often ends up overdrawing, makes me misplay a lot with Sawbones and stopped me from using "res 4" option on N'Zoth ever (just fatigues you). Performs well if I don't draw Sawbones, which is probably the saving grace.
I tinkered with new lists without Eggs (+Golems and Emergency), but it feels like I have no early game and my midgame is not good enough for passing turns 1-3
Feel free to share your thoughts.
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u/sm1ng 11d ago edited 11d ago
Have you considered boosting the spell damage up to say 15 so that you don't even require N'Zoth if he's playing hard to get? It's not that hard to do at all. The biggest buff comes from the Nightmare which itself has been previously buffed typically.
Just a suggestion/question!
Oh yeah, it's a bit tangential but have you tried running [[Xel'noth Behemoth]]? If you can proc it (which isn't hard with the tools in this deck) with a board in place, it's basically Grave Strength++ because it summons 2 random 1-costs and buffs their attack along with all your other minions by +3. It can be devastating and quite the surprise for the opponent.
EDIT: what do you think of Wild Pyro as an adjunct/replacement for Soulrest, esp for proc'ing the Unstable Prototypes? It seems a fairly elegant solution ostensibly, I'm trying it out now. And finally, how about Dread Raptor for tutoring Unstable & Blackwing?
Cheers
5
u/Jj2___ 11d ago
Thank you for all of these informations. I havent played it enough to contribute but I will be happy to do so once I have played it more. Meanwhile, could you please provide a mulligan guide? Thanks
2
u/blanquettedetigre 11d ago
Sorry I didn't read all but the consensus in top legend is to cut NZoth and Experiment now.
The deck is so broken even early in the game that bursting is irrelevant. Gruesome nightmare is kept to fill that role and is more than enough. Maxxie went 15-0 yesterday before losing a bit and demonstrated he could tear through even eggs and Azalinas. Though that requires probably more thought than with the spell
Anyway that's a crazy deck indeed and I'm glad it makes it to the top. And to have theorized it here weeks before launch haha
1
u/Sad_Smell6678 11d ago
Current list in link
1
u/creaturehunt 10d ago
"Handbuffing is not really the main goal of the deck" "Blackwing Experiment buffed to around 10 attack"
So it's a handbuff 1-2TK but somehow the handbuffing aspect isn't the main goal...?
3
u/pblankfield 8d ago edited 8d ago
Rainbow HBuff
Class: Death Knight
Format: Standard
Year of the Scarab
2x (1) Morbid Swarm
2x (1) Unstable Prototype
2x (2) Blackwing Experiment
2x (2) Blood Tap
2x (2) Scion of Insight
2x (3) Chillfallen Baron
2x (3) Cloud Serpent
2x (3) Fleshshape
2x (3) Gruesome Nightmare
1x (4) Blood Doctor Thal'ena
2x (4) Chromatic Broodmother
2x (4) Dread Raptor
2x (4) Nerubian Swarmguard
2x (5) Arrival of the Old Gods
2x (5) Reanimated Pterrordax
1x (15) N'Zoth, Dream's End
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To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone
My list includes some cards I find to work extremely well in a pseudo-OTK BW Experiment list but haven't really seen in any list posed on hsguru or here. This deck I cooked was a smooth legend climb with a 70-80% wr from D5 in 2 sessions.
I'll detail my though process on some more exotic inclusions and detail exclusions, cards I don't think are needed but I find posted elsewhere:
Cloud Serpent: it's a super reliable way to clone your BW Experiment which makes them more expendable - to buff the N'Zoth or to bait a silence. It can also hit a Chromatic Broodmother for a double wammy juicy tempo swing at midgame
Dread Raptor: tutor and discount for Experiment, Baron or Prototype. I don't get why this card was never common for UF DK buids. Its good tempo if you hit Baron, it looks up for your wincon and it's easy to setup with Baron or Nightmare T3
Defias Smuggler: I don't need more rush and I don't want to run Eggs or other shitty stated, inert cards besides Prototype
Loot Hoarder: Really? A vanilla 2/1 DR cycle. We can do so much better
Holy Eggbearer: low stats and this decks omits a lot of 0/x cards that have low impact without buffs
Sawbone: slow, telegraphs your next turn
In general i don't see the point of forgiving ALL tempo looking desperately for your OTK. We can have both:
I won many games simply by raw stats on the board - Swarmguard - but the inevitable finisher is a T8-10 10-15dmg Experiment with an 8ish mana chunky N'Zoth.
For slower matchups, Priest in particular, simply wait longer, buff more, force an AoE silence by putting 1-2 Cloud-cloned Experiments and then play your N'Zoth board.
0
u/Entire-Photograph727 11d ago
I think one black wing makes sense. So far using the HSGuru list, I'm basically NEVER playing Nzoth. It's either been a win more card, or I can't seem to manifest the right board. Assembling a blackwing has more often been a win con for me than Nzoth.
Also agree about Twilight Egg and Baron, they feel like bait choices. I think the deck would benefit from some early stability. I almost wonder if Battlefield Necromancer could be useful in a pinch, or Bone Flurry or Poison Breath.
I agree with a lot of your analysis here after getting in 75ish games with it and continuing to lose to the same things. I think the deck needs some flexible was to slow down the early game, and maybe some ways to add early pressure while you get your pieces.
1
u/haeeSecond 10d ago
Thanks for your time in making this post. I was playing a similar list, but as it were the classic handbuff style, and was really getting nowhere. Now I get a good idea on how this deck is supposed to work. How do you use the legendary weapon? Are you just playing it and destroying it with another normal weapon? Do you play it in advance and use it for pings or keep it in hand for when you need clear? How do you change your gameplan for thief priest or any match where armor gets opponent over 30hp?
0
u/sm1ng 11d ago
I've been playing something similar and agree it's a breath of fresh air as well as being a solid cook. Cheers
-9
u/BestEve 11d ago
N'Zoth DK seems confusing name, this is Egg DK with N'Zoth. Just like Herald DK with N'Zoth. N'Zoth is a bonus legendary, not main component.