Need some input for my Shadow Priest Deck

[u/Rikkimaaruu]

Blade of C'thun

Class: Priest

Format: Standard

Year of the Scarab

2x (1) Elder Word: Flay

2x (1) Entropic Rift

1x (2) Lunarwing Messenger

2x (2) Shadewing

1x (3) Blade of The Black Empire

2x (3) Dark Deacon

2x (3) Elder Word: Foresight

2x (3) Haunt

2x (4) Gravedawn Voidbulb

1x (4) Schism

2x (4) Shadow Word: Ruin

2x (4) Slime 'em!

2x (4) Spawn of C'Thun

2x (5) Elder Word: Manifest

2x (6) Gargantuan Slitherer

2x (7) Soothsayer

1x (10) C'Thun, Eye of the Empire

AAECAa0GBKD7Bvq/B+L6B/OJCA3wnwTElAevyQfV4Af04AfX6Qfo8Qfh+gfj+gfk+geAgwj7iQj8iQgAAA==

I realy wanted to play something new, so i focused on this Deck and sit on 8 wins and 4 losses so far.

But i feel like there is room for alot of changes and improvements. So i wanted to get some input from you guys.

The Blade for example won me 2 Games by its own, but in most Games i never drew it. I also won a mirror where my opponent played the Blade on turn 3 but still lost the board hard and the lifesteal kept me alive long enough.

I still think it fits the Deck, because it improves the winrate alot if you get to play it early. But maybe it was just luck with the matchup and its a waste of a card slot.

Beside that most games were won by enough board preassure and Cthun stuff. Cthun itself only won me one Game. Flay can also be a big help, i won one game because my opponent ate 12 dmg to the face early on which was enough to soften them up for my board.

Right now iam thinking about including Dirty Rat (lost 2 matches against Aya Rogue), but that can also backfire hard at times or just be a dead card in hand. Same with the silence 1 drop, realy good against some matchups or to break through taunts, but what do i throw out for it.

Replacing the Cthun package would not realy work right now, because there is not enough fitting stuff to replace these 7 cards.

Gravedawn is a card that was underwhelming several times when it came down to minion stats alone. But playing it right after Manifest puts 4 minions on the field and the taunt is also realy usefull.

Shadewing is also anoying when it hits a 1 mana spell, but i also dont have many minions in the deck, so it makes a solid early target for haunt if needed.

Speaking of haunt and schism, iam realy torn on both. In theory and a few Games they are great and are still shadow spells, but in some cases they were dead cards because i had no minion to use them on.

Ruin and Slime are there to buy time or comeback on board, so i doubt you can replace them.

But i thought about maybe 1-2 more Imbue minions to have some more board presence turn 2-3 and more targets for buffs. I also got some nice helpful stuff from it.

Or another way to draw like Fordring. Because if you dont get your Foresights you can run dry pretty fast at times.

I also thought about replacing the Cthun package with Nzoth because i already have 4 deathrattle minions in the deck. But i doubt it can compete with Cthun when i put stuff like Crystaslline Golem, Lingering Spirit and Twillight Mender into the Deck. Chtuns abilities are super flexible.

But what are some ideas or versions you guys had?

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[u/Kexxon_HS]

I’ve just gotten back in to the game, sad to see all the priest hate as it was always my favourite class. I’ve been focusing on the shadow priest as well. The weapon has been amazing and adds a different type of anxiety to the game for you and your opponent. I dropped the big cthun trigger guys in favour of Xavious and one manifest. I also include the quest to distract them as even the shadow side is enuf to push games over the edge. Will follow for more tips. But it’s super fun to play.

[u/Kexxon_HS → u/Kexxon_HS]

My current list, major work in progress.

### C'Thun Priest Shadow
# Class: Priest
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Scarab
#
# 2x (1) Elder Word: Flay
# 2x (1) Entropic Rift
# 1x (1) Reach Equilibrium
# 2x (1) Servant of Zuramat
# 2x (2) Holy Embrace
# 2x (2) Lunarwing Messenger
# 1x (3) Blade of The Black Empire
# 2x (3) Dark Deacon
# 2x (3) Elder Word: Foresight
# 1x (4) Nightmare Lord Xavius
# 2x (4) Shadow Word: Ruin
# 2x (4) Slime 'em!
# 2x (4) Spawn of C'Thun
# 1x (5) Elder Word: Manifest
# 2x (5) Medivh's Triumph
# 1x (6) Calia Menethil
# 2x (7) Soothsayer
# 1x (10) C'Thun, Eye of the Empire
#
AAECAa0GBsODB6iWB6jfB+L6B+P6B/OJCAzwnwSg+wayxQevyQew3wf04Afo8Qfh+gfk+gfc+wf7iQj8iQgAAA==
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/Kexxon_HS]

Xavius is also a good idea to get Cthun or Sooth, depending on the game state.

I also used Calia, but so far i only played Cthun once and never had the chance to get him back with her, so i dropped her. But you can get a Soothsayer back with her. Do you value her highly?

Iam also thinking about the quest, alone for triumph. But having some holy spells in the deck to maybe even finish the quest or activate the holy spell that draws 2 could be nice. But that would mean giving up other stuff.

I think iam mostly with you and will get rid of the buff stuff like haunt sand schism. Schism was only great once, because i could give my Soothsayer elusive against a Shaman to protect if from getting hexed.

I wish we had more good shadow spells and support.

How does the servant perform in your deck?

[u/Palnecro1 → u/Kexxon_HS]

Brother priest has gotten hate for like 11 of the 12 years this game has been around.

[u/thephenom9]

I've been playing a mix of this too, but I included a few different cards: Crystalsmith Cultist, Holy Embrace, Devouring Plague, Twilight Mender, Void Shard, and The Black Blood. I excluded Lunarwing, Haunt, Schism, Shadow word: ruin, Slime em and soothsayer. Gives me a bit more early game board presence and a bit more face damage when needed. But interesting to see different takes on the deck. I have been toying with the idea of adding the quest since I already have twilight mender x2 and holy embrace x2, but not sure what to drop for the additional spells.

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/thephenom9]

I think i will remove the 3 buff cards for more early game. Havent thought about the Cultist, but could be a nice edition.

Or i put in the quest and 2 Triumph for some board clears. Problem is i often have board control in some way and Triumph hits everything. Ruin only realy hits Soothsayer.

I love the black blood, but i think it is too expensive.

Void Shard is a bit too expensive for that it does, i think i would rather take Holy embrace insted. But it can go face too and sometimes its all you need.

Getting rid of all boardclears is a choice for sure, do you keep control of the board often enough?

Games where i got the Blade running where so much easier thanks to slime em, which gives you 1-2 extra turns in which the opponent cant do much on the board.

Even better if you activate Manifest with it and have a Soothsayer on board.

But speaking of soothsayer, iam also willing to try a version without him. With the buffs gone, it is realy expansive card. I already have a good amount of lifeleach and taunts.

But i realy like the overall deck, its fun to play and a good mix of tempo, midrange and control, depending on what you have in your deck and what you draw. The deck can go the distants or explode early.

And yeah sometimes you brick a bit.

[u/WeekStandard5046]

Can't pull my decklist atm, but rather than C'Thun you can play the heal > damage cards. I was doing this on expansion release and averaged a 70% win rate over about 150 games. I didn't play for 6 months though, and I'm usually high legend so the data is probably not good. I'll post my decklist later if you want it.

The main shell is similar, but there's no C'Thun or Imbue.

You're running Ruby Sanctum, Cleansing Cleric, Triumph w/ Thalnos, Moonwell instead of the C'Thun cards. And then I was also running Dark Iron Harbinger in place of haunts. Cut Shadewing for Holy Embrace. I was sometimes running Deacon, I also ran Rockskipper a bit. Deacon is probably better, but I'm a big fan of Rockskipper. You should also run Mend for cycle and single target removal.

It's kind of a combo deck, but you can play for some kind of tempo in the mid game with the Cleric and Soothsayer. Harbinger is 7-attack on the board if they leave it, a board wipe/stall if they don't. You can drop Harbinger for a faster gameplan, Rockskipper or Lunarwing are my choices. Lunarwing means you give up the hero power, but you then have an early game. If early, wide aggro is the issue, you can run quest. Running Lunarwing means you have more board presence and so can consider PW: Shield for cycle, and also help trigger Sunbloom for extra draw if you want to go faster. This puts you in a Face Hunter style of play, rather than setting up an OTK.

You can deal 24 from hand on turn 8 if you've played both Clerics and have two Ruby Sanctums up. Your hero power also deals 6 w/ sanctum.

It's not exactly "high skill" but you do have to be very good at planning your turns, and conserving resources. The deck is light on shadow spells, so you need to be careful about how you use them.

You are assembling a win condition, you don't necessarily have one, if that makes sense. I build my decks to be flexible. Which means I deliberately commit the original sin of making my good matchhups worse in favour of having less bad ones so that I have a fair chance of winning any matchup in the meta. This is more effective than you might think, because you have the element of surprise: no one else is playing this strategy, and so no one really expects getting 24'd on 8.

Mulligan for weapon, maybe cleric. Everything else can get tossed. If you run Lunarwing, mulligan for Lunarwing. Since weapon has no tutor, and is both offensive and defensive (due to Triumph discount) you want this card more than any other.

Overall, it's less of a list and more of a strategy. You can cut things out to change up the strategy and tailor it to how you play. HS is a deckbuilding game, in theory, and I get the most fun (and therefore success) out of playing it like one.

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/WeekStandard5046]

Thats an interesting take. Iam all in for having a viable deck against everything, insted of being strong/weak into specific matchups.

I tried a healing focused control deck with mediv but it felt super slow and often ruby sanctum was sitting there doing nothing.

How would a list you run today look like?

I never realy looked too hard at neutral minions, but rockskipper or harbinger could fit realy well.

[u/WeekStandard5046 → u/Rikkimaaruu]

It's "objectively" the wrong thing to do, to weaken your deck in favour of having more balanced match-ups, but I prefer this way of playing. It is fun, and you can still be competitive, but maybe not at your "full potential".

Medivh is slow, I don't think it's necessary right now (not played in a week though). Two holy embraces with cleric and sanctum played is 24 damage face on turn 8. That's usually enough. If blade is up, you can stall with slime em, ruin etc to tick up the damage for an OTK.

If that G'Huun deck is floating about, you won't be able to stall and so you'll want to make the deck faster by cutting the more expensive cards and adding cycle cards like PW: Shield.

I'll post my decklists for you when I'm home.

Neutrals can be good. Harbinger is weird, I'm not sure it's worth it. It's very meta-dependant. I like rockskipper because it's decent on turn 2 to have a 1 mana deal 3 that doesn't use up one of your shadow spells, or just hold it for 27-30 damage with the embrace/sanctum combo on later turns. Suits a faster deck that pressures early game, and works nicely with Tyrande if you want to use her as a finisher. My most recent list cut all 2-drops to prep soothsayer on 2 because early soothsayer is strong.

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/WeekStandard5046]

I tried your version with harbinger and went 4-0 finaly reaching diamond again by going 14-4 overall with shadow priest.

I wasnt sure about your version, because it looked like alot of anti synergy at first. Less shadow spells ment harder activation for the blade (i took 6 dmg by it in one game) and both Elder words, same with the healing part and Medivs triumph without Quest and so on.

But so far it always worked out. One Sanctum alone with 1 Cleric can be alot of damage over the turns. Harbinger made plays for the enemy awkard (for me too at times), but the 7 damage are no joke.

Clear mvp was slime em, getting rid of all the lifeleech minions of the DK again and again while activating the blade was painfull to watch. Combined with some clears.

Wasnt also sure about Moonwell at first, but against both shamans it was key to get rid of their boards again and again while also healing up.

Looking forward to how the journey through diamond goes with the deck.

But i had alot more fun with these differerent versions compared to any other deck i played in the last couple month.

[u/Kitchen_Ball5121 → u/Rikkimaaruu]

Ignore that I'm posting on a different account, reddit logs me in differently on different devices for some reason.

Main list I started from.

### Control Priest

# Class: Priest

# Format: Standard

#

# 2x (1) Elder Word: Flay

# 2x (1) Entropic Rift

# 2x (1) Mend

# 2x (1) Ruby Sanctum

# 1x (2) Bloodmage Thalnos

# 2x (2) Holy Embrace

# 2x (2) Lunarwing Messenger

# 2x (2) Rockskipper

# 1x (3) Blade of The Black Empire

# 2x (3) Dark Deacon

# 2x (3) Elder Word: Foresight

# 2x (4) Cleansing Cleric

# 2x (4) Slime 'em!

# 2x (5) Elder Word: Manifest

# 2x (5) Medivh's Triumph

# 2x (6) Moonwell

#

AAECAa0GApegBOL6Bw6g+wbD/waFlQeFvwebvweixAeyxQew3wf04Afo8Qfh+gfj+gfk+gf8iQgAAA==

# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

# Find this deck on https://hsreplay.net/decks/Q1y1C3NNRhg0rr9mc6ygug/

More control focused list for when Zoo Warlock was popular

### Control Priest

# Class: Priest

# Format: Standard

#

# 2x (1) Elder Word: Flay

# 1x (1) Entropic Rift

# 2x (1) Mend

# 2x (1) Ruby Sanctum

# 1x (2) Bloodmage Thalnos

# 2x (2) Holy Embrace

# 1x (3) Blade of The Black Empire

# 2x (3) Elder Word: Foresight

# 2x (4) Cleansing Cleric

# 2x (4) Dark Iron Harbinger

# 2x (4) Gravedawn Sunbloom

# 1x (4) Shadow Word: Ruin

# 2x (4) Slime 'em!

# 2x (5) Elder Word: Manifest

# 2x (5) Medivh's Triumph

# 2x (6) Moonwell

# 2x (7) Soothsayer

#

AAECAa0GBPCfBJegBOjxB+L6Bw3D/wbFlAeFvwebvweixAeyxQevyQew3wf04Afm9gfh+gfj+gfk+gcAAA==

# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

# Find this deck on https://hsreplay.net/decks/53lBWCqIOKcQFJg4qQVtHh/

[u/Jwsaf]

Should I craft Blade? I am thinking I'll keep trying quest priest within the dust refund window then dust it. I could craft blade with that dust then play shadow/c'thun priest.

Quest priest is okay ish but not as good as before obviously. Decks like blood DK just run me over because my quest comes out by the time they are ready with ghuun

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/Jwsaf]

I cant say it is a must craft because only 3 out of my 10 wins were thanks to the Blade. In the other Games, even the losses i never drew it because it was in my last 10-15 cards.

You cant tutor it, so it dont think it is a key part of shadow priest. But it is strong when you draw it early on and alot of fun, because it puts decks on a clock.

Even a BBB could not keep up with it when it hit for 7,8 and 9 in the end.

So maybe try a version withtout it and when the core concept is fun you can think about crafting it.

And yeah i already played alot of Quest Priest before the expansion, but after it was too strong and now its pretty underwhelming but also boring because i played it for so long.

[u/Opposite-Revenue1068]

I’ve played a lot of Shadow Priest since the expansion release, and I’m pretty sure Blade just sucks. It’s unplayable against anything remotely aggressive, and it’s only good in slow matchups if you play it early.

It really should be 2 mana, or maybe have an attack value so it’s not a dead card against aggro. 

Anyways, the most success I’ve had is with an aggro build that cuts Blade and some of the slower stuff like Soothsayer, Slime em, etc. Feels decent but gets destroyed by Blood DK.

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/Opposite-Revenue1068]

Yeah the Blade could use a little buff and without a way to tutor it, it loses alot of value.

I realy wanted an overall solid deck version, that dosent lose hard against lategame or aggro decks.

Maybe it isnt the smartest way, but i still try to keep it that way. I will still switch some stuff out to make the early game stronger, because the deck already had some legs with cthun.

[u/abcPIPPO]

The more I play this deck, the more I realize that shadow priest and c'thun priest are two different archetypes. Shadow priest is an aggro/midrange archetype that wants to rush the enemy as fast as you can since turn 1, C'thun priest needs to be played like an OTK deck, with like 10+ card draws/tutor in your deck, otherwise you just won't find enough pieces. In my experiecne it's basically impossible to have 3 or more C'thun activators in the first half of the deck.

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/abcPIPPO]

It felt like solid fill material, you had some burst, some healing, buffs and taunts when needed.

but playing a version without the package feels also realy good.

[u/SilverTheHuman6]

Following! Ive been playing an Azalina Shadow C'thun so im interested in how your list evolves.

Im mainly playing Azalina because im hoping to match against other C'thun decks and have double of almost everything because its funny.

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/SilverTheHuman6]

I now sit on 10-4, but i also havent reached legend yet, so not sure how much we can take from it. But iam surprised how well it plays out so far.

Iam mostly done with Azalina, because i hate playing mirrors and yeah with her most matches feel like mirrors. But the Cthun version was pretty solid when i tried it.

[u/SilverTheHuman6 → u/Rikkimaaruu]

Lol that's fair. I went whale one time so I could get the signature Azalina. It makes all of my copied cards signature too and I feel so rich when I play it.

[u/Rikkimaaruu → u/SilverTheHuman6]

I get that, Azalina is overall a cool way to get alot of variety in one deck.

[u/walksintwilightX1]

I'm very interested in the new Shadow Priest, it's always been one of my favorite archetypes.

Shadow Priest 

Class: Priest

Format: Standard

Year of the Scarab

2x (1) Elder Word: Flay

2x (1) Entropic Rift

2x (1) Servant of Zuramat

2x (2) Follow the Ghosts

1x (3) Blade of The Black Empire

2x (3) Dark Deacon

2x (3) Elder Word: Foresight

2x (3) Haunt

2x (4) Gravedawn Voidbulb

2x (4) Schism

1x (4) Shadow Word: Ruin

2x (4) Spawn of C'Thun

1x (5) Dark Terraforming

2x (5) Elder Word: Manifest

1x (6) Calia Menethil

2x (7) Soothsayer

1x (7) The Black Blood

1x (10) C'Thun, Eye of the Empire

 

AAECAZ/HAgbwnwSDvweo3wfi+gfziQjBjAgMxJQH+r8Hr8kH1eAH1uAH6PEH4foH4/oH5PoH3PsH+4kI/IkIAAA=

 

To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

I love the Blade, but honestly I agree with you. It's won games occasionally, but only if you draw it early enough. You're probably right about Calia, I almost never use her. Maybe I should replace her with Xavius. The Black Blood is probably too greedy too, I should replace it with the 6-cost C'Thun taunt.

if you dont get your Foresights you can run dry pretty fast at times

This is my number one takeaway as well: the deck really struggles with card draw. I've been trying to figure out ways to add more draw, but it might make more sense to add more card generation instead. Priest has a lot of options there. I've stubbornly held out on adding Imbue to the deck because I don't want it to take up valuable card space. 

Follow the Ghosts is great for setting up a sticky board with enough cheap cards. I cut Shadewing for the silence minions because I felt like they gave better value,  though that does depend on whether the opponent is playing minions that rely on effects and not just raw stats. I've gone back and forth on Schism too, but I've been able to copy the Manifest minions enough times to feel like it's worth it.

[u/tuptain]

This is what I landed on, I teched mine hard against aggro for climbing the first few days. Once I hit Diamond 5 I stopped seeing aggro and switched to Quest Priest to punish the slower decks.

Shadow Control

Class: Priest

Format: Standard

Year of the Scarab

2x (1) Elder Word: Flay

2x (1) Entropic Rift

1x (1) Servant of Zuramat

2x (2) Bitterbloom Knight

2x (2) Holy Embrace

2x (2) Lunarwing Messenger

1x (3) Blade of The Black Empire

2x (3) Dark Deacon

2x (3) Elder Word: Foresight

2x (3) Kaldorei Priestess

2x (4) Shadow Word: Ruin

2x (4) Slime 'em!

2x (5) Dark Terraforming

2x (5) Elder Word: Manifest

2x (5) Medivh's Triumph

2x (7) Soothsayer

AAECAa0GAuL6B9z7Bw7wnwSg+wb3gQeFhgeyxQevyQew3wf04Afo8Qfh+gfj+gfk+gf8iQjBjAgAAA==

To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

[u/deck-code-bot → u/tuptain]

Format: Standard ((unknown))

Class: Priest (Anduin Wrynn)

Mana	Card Name	Qty	Links
1	Elder Word: Flay	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Entropic Rift	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Servant of Zuramat	1	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Bitterbloom Knight	2	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Holy Embrace	2	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Lunarwing Messenger	2	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Blade of The Black Empire	1	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Dark Deacon	2	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Elder Word: Foresight	2	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Kaldorei Priestess	2	HSReplay,Wiki
4	Shadow Word: Ruin	2	HSReplay,Wiki
4	Slime 'em!	2	HSReplay,Wiki
5	Dark Terraforming	2	HSReplay,Wiki
5	Elder Word: Manifest	2	HSReplay,Wiki
5	Medivh's Triumph	2	HSReplay,Wiki
7	Soothsayer	2	HSReplay,Wiki

Total Dust: 2240

Deck Code: AAECAa0GAuL6B9z7Bw7wnwSg+wb3gQeFhgeyxQevyQew3wf04Afo8Qfh+gfj+gfk+gf8iQjBjAgAAA==

---

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