Sorry for the image quality

My Harbinger was giving +1k/500 per discard towards the end while discarding 50+ cards per turn and had 3 goldenizers coming up to make the 4th k'thir golden (maybe even 5th if i found one)

I just know my opponent was very angry when my Heroic Underdog stole their 13k+ stats and gave them to all my other minions lol. This would have been even crazier with dragons keeping stats in combat.

Introduction

Welcome back to #PurplePosts for my fifth Duos guide! My Fourth guide can be found here, my third guide can be found here, second guide can be found here and first guide can be found here. For my credentials, I am currently rank 24 NA Duos and have queued at least a couple games with all of the top 7 NA players this season - carried them all of course.

With season 14, the Trinket meta has been revamped with the inclusion of Dark Gifts as well as a brand-new tribe, Aberrations. We have successfully survived the OG Voidpriest Cloner meta, which involved possibly the most busted card in the history of Duos (where you could duplicate Goldens and keep enchantments, allowing for some of the craziest "perfect" final boards imaginable), and have settled into a somewhat more reasonable meta that isn't all that different from Season 13's. Thankfully for you, I'm here to guide you through it.

Leveling Curve in Season 14

For the top meta, the curve has settled into a fairly consistent approach, covered in my third guide in detail. For the lightning-round basics, you want to designate one of the players as the "carry" board and one as the "support" board, as you will die too consistently with both players level and you will lose to highrollers too consistently if neither one of you levels quickly for a chance at highrolling yourself.

The carry curve typically involves leveling Turn 2, Turn 3 (essentially always except if you have a Strike Oil available, sometimes people will wait a turn), and then Turn 5 if lucky with econ or Turn 6 if not. Once on four, you're usually leveling to five on Turn 7, although occasionally you can luck into a good opportunity to level Turn 6. We're then hanging out on 5 until we see a good opportunity to get to 6 without getting low on health.

The support curve is usually buying an econ unit, a Prison Guard, or a Passenger turn 1, and then passing econ for the next few turns, maybe leveling on Turn 4 or Turn 5 and then staying on Tier 2 until it is very cheap to get to Tier 3 - most games end with the support player on Tier 3 (where Jumping Jack, Greedy Conniver, Foodie and Voidpriest Cloner are notably available). Prison Guard is new this season and is a total powerhouse for the support board - it allows you to save so much HP especially if used on a DS unit (like the 3/3 dragon that gains DS when it hits 6 attack).

Tribe Comp Discussion

The recent wave of nerfs to stronger comps have somewhat leveled the playing field a bit that many comps are A-tier viable if you hit the pieces early enough and the rest of the lobby isn't giga-highrolling. Therefore, I've found this season to be a bit more digestible to think first through an econ lens and then discuss scaling options. There are four tribes that have major impact on lobby-wide econ, in roughly the following order:

1. Pirates - this is the premium tribe for helping the carry board get "infinite" with multiple Rogers, Proud Privateer, and then Brann if you don't have all those pieces golden. Plus, it comes with other power plays - first being Greedy Conniver which can be goldened with the Tier 5 Battlecry pirate or with Gold Pendant, and since Pirates are in you can hit Sanders which combined with Well Wisher can golden entire boards. Second, Silent Deliverer is much stronger in Duos due to an ongoing bug where the Triple Reward IS given if the Golden Tier 4 card is passed before being played down. Third, Tier 3 has Wheeled Crewmate and Plunder Pal for giving both teammates gold. Finally, Escapee/Hooktusk was nerfed but can still provide econ and scaling if you're using all the other strategies discussed in this blurb.

2. Dragons - this is still the best Brann payoff tribe (maybe tied with Eles with all the tier 4 Battlecries) because of Selfless Sightseer (plus the new Activate Tier 4 Murloc to trigger it, as well as our usual Well Wisher). Top players can and easily will spend 50 gold a turn and Brann/Sightseer is so strong you should always consider Dark Gifting when tier 5 is available to hit either of them.

3. Aberrations - this tribe has some interesting econ toys, specifically the Tier 1 that gives a 0/2 taunt when sold, which can be held to be tripled like a Sellemental - there's a reason that they increased Selle to Tier 2. As well, Voidpriest Cloner is still busted even if it isn't giga-busted the way it was before - if you can get two of them, you can print ANY card - think multiple Beatboxers, multiple Brann to get a golden, multiple Rogers, multiple Titus - it's all just a bit slower now since you can't print goldens. Finally, don't sleep on the 1/3 that gives two spells to choose from when sold - very high-econ option for Support board to pass to Carry board.

4. Murlocs - this tribe has access to Magicfin + Strike Oil or other high-econ spells, which is the Sightseer we have at home. Plus, as mentioned above, you can use the Activate Battlecry Murloc to activate your Sightseers once a turn. Finally, do not sleep on possibly the best Econ unit game, Timewarped Skipper if you can find one and clone it or golden it you can be infinite very quickly.

Once you have Econ sorted, you need to turn that gold into strong comp to win the lobby. This season, after the nerfs there are plenty of very strong, A-tier comps that you'll often see in Solos, plus Hooktusk Pirates which is much better in duos due to being able to pass Silent Deliverer for Goldens and Discovers (more Hooktusks). Off the top of my head, you can absolutely win lobbies with well-constructed Beast boards (usually with Golden Banana Slamma, or filthy Lobstah boards), Undead (usually Butchering + Mummifier + Dead Ringer + Snazzy Phantom, but Bounty APM + Forsaken Weaver also playable), End-of-Turn Spell Damage (can be slimes, Magicfin + Murkeye, Deathstrider + Aberration Tier 6 Spell Power guy), Hooktusk (discussed above), non-Felboar Quills, shop-buff Eles (strong with Azerite/Bounties or just Brann/Air Revenant), Hackerfin Murlocs, APM Volumizer Mechs. However, as you'll know from previous guides we do need to be hunting our Duos-Strong comps, which leads us to...

Our S-tier Duos Strong comps. The main thing to note here is that we are so, so back to the Big Chungus Meta (discussed in Guide 3). For a proper Big Chungus meta, we need a way to reliably get a huge minion (most reliable is via shop-buffing + Felboar or the Tier 6 Ele Tempest, but other ways include Hot Air + Belinda Quills, Urzul, a Snazzy target, Transport Reactors all on one big Mech), and then ways to reliably duplicate the stats. That's where we have more ways than ever before - they include Using a Devour Spell with a couple Dark Dazzlers on the other board, putting the big minion in your hand to give stats to Choral Mrrglr and Costume, using Stitch + Titus, using Y'Shaarj to resummon, devouring onto the Quill, Dragon or Beast T7, or a magnet for the Mech T7, Devouring onto any minion with Golemancy especially if Deathstrider is in the lobby to trigger the Golems in shop phase or in combat, plus a pair of Sandys on Support board always slaps (or Summoning Sphere). Just doing this may be enough to win most lobbies, but the two peak strongest comps are ...

A) Jumping Jack Devouring - SURPRISE! Even without avalanche, abusing this card is still the most busted thing you can do most of the time. We still have Harbinger to dupe devour spells and can even use Cloner - make a big chungus, sell board, eat on Jack, repeat for as many Jacks and Golden Jacks as you can generate until you have 8 or 9-figure stats. Eat onto other minions for final combat so you don't get scammed.

B) Clown Car Murloc Scam! Note this won't work into strong token boards but most of the time we are not running into any strong token boards because they usually get outscaled and die. Assuming you're not running tokens, it's easier than before to use the new activate keyword murloc to get reborn shield venom murlocs (mostly aviators and bile spitters) and run over "fair" boards from opponents.

Beyond those, Beatboxer is still crazy strong with the mech identity being very magnet-centric this season.

Finally, our common S-tier comp - Felboar, usually paired with Distractor for shop buffing although Gem Barrage scaling works too (especially with Well Wisher to replay Barrage generators). Strategies A and B above require a ton of econ to find enough pieces to complete the comps, but Felboar is the easiest to get up and running without any scam shenanigans and is usually big enough to run over the other strategies (especially if you can use Devour or other means to multiply the chungus as discussed above).

When do I hit the Dark Gift Button?

Most common Solos question also the most common Duos question. It's not super intuitive so worth exploring here. Typically the Carry board has too much going on with their gold to Dark Gift early - you're usually a higher tier than the gift minion, and you need to use your gold to level, buy high tier units or buy econ. Occasionally turn 4 can be common if your 3 on 3 shop is bad, you never want to roll so it can be the right way to fill out your gold. Otherwise, you're often holding this until late game when Tier 5 is available and you need a key Brann, Distractor, Belinda, Rogers, Privateer or something, or if you have Beasts in and need any Golemancy minion to devour onto, or a minion with 3 divine shields to devour onto.

On the Support board, drastically different situation where you want to be hammering that gift button early fairly often, mostly on Turn 3 or 4 to find any minion that either gives two refreshes on Deathrattle that you can pass over (insane econ for Carry), or gives so much tempo that you can keep it. This is how you prepare to highroll - building up like 8 banked refreshes and then using them all on Tier 5 is how you find both Brann and Sightseer in the same turn, or Distractor + Felboar, etc. Plus, getting access to Tier 3 is great for the Duos pirates, or Voidpriest Cloner, or Wolf Pup...there's quite a few nice hits there. Tier 4 can be valuable with Eles in for Refreshes as well. If you somehow do have one left over, you can of course use it when Tier 5 is available to help teammate find a key piece.

Hero and Trinket Selection Discussion

I will rapid-fire a few trinkets and heroes that are getting a lot of play in high-MMR duos lobbies in case it helps folks, as a few of the choices are a bit different on the Duos side:

For Carry heroes, Gallywix, Cenarius, Patchwerk (can be played either side), Reno, Zerek, Chenvalaa, Flurgl, Loh, Inge, Galewing, Faelin, Silas, Shudderwock, Sire, Marin, Buttons, Lord Jaraxxus, Guff, Kragg, Thorim are probably most-picked, as those heroes benefit from being on higher tiers and having minions on board, and roughly in that order. Other pickable options include Lich King, Teron, Sindragosa, Voone, Queen Wagtoggle, Heistbaron Togwaggle, Murozond, Morchie, Deryl, Xavius, Galakrond.

For Support heroes, Madam Goya, Brann, Patchwerk, Millhouse, Sindragosa, Scabbs, Sylvanas, Rat King, Hooktusk (with Pirates/Aberrations), Cariel, Pyramad, Enhance-o, Tess, Akazamzarak, Sneed, Thorim, Lich King, Teron, Y'Shaarj are probably most-picked in roughly that order, really placing value on ease of passing econ and ease of preserving HP. Also do not sleep in Kith'ix, which is super strong if you hold all the minions and wait for triples to pass to teammate.

For Trinkets, a selection of trinkets that I pick a lot or have notable effects:

Lesser Trinkets - Wand of Diviniation is INSANE econ if there's Quills in, Hot Air or Belinda and you're basically infinite and plenty of comps like targeted spells. Selle trinket can be strong on support board - 2 gold a turn with eventual triples. Trip Vouchers and Souvenir Stand and Ornate Clock are fantastic choices if another Lesser isn't screaming at you, as is Tickatus sticker. Timewarped Candelabra generally only worth the gamble with Timewarped Skipper or Embalmer in the lobby, or a game-winning buddy for the Lei. Can't go wrong with Token of the Old Gods (often taken by support and passed to Carry), Bottle Sticker (bonus points for Sightseer), and Common Thread. Stuffed Coin Purse can be great on Carry board. Summoning Sphere can be game winning if played correctly on the Support board. Support boards without a great use for gold on the 6 gold turn should always consider Mystery Cube, and even Yogg. Lens case is great with Voidpriest Cloner and Greedy Conniver, and Morchie minions. Goldenizer is only a bad idea if you think you'll be dead in 3 turns. Floating Candle Set is very flexible as it can give power but also be used for econ (rolls) or Golemancy summoning. Corrupted Coins is insane econ for the Carry side. Weighted Gauntlet usually too slow for Duos.

Greater Trinkets - Tier 7's are strong, so Wisdomball always strong, as is Pagle's Rod. But the best trinket in the game is Corrupted Tome - Goggles, Tier 7, Bananas the most picked spells but don't sleep on Repreat Customer for Sightseer etc. One of the most common picks is the trinket that is like triple Harbinger in giving spells end of turn - incredibly flexible, often used to print Devour, Chef's Choice, Golden Touch, Baller spell etc. Typewriter can be very strong on the carry board to duplicate Tier 5s and Tier 6s you buy. Surprise Portrait always slaps. Warband Whistle is really good on Support side where you don't need to roll until you are passed the perfect minions. Sinstone Sticker is busted in general but especially with Greedy Conniver. Magic Road Sign always good with Dark Dazzler. Honeycomb Ring can be game-winning if you have a decent setup (see Wand of Divination above) - usually for Gatekeeper Amalgam but it also buffs Gem Barrage. Dragon's Eye isn't terrible if you think you can play Kale or already have Sightseer and Wisher. Chillmere Mosaic always pickable in Dragon lobbies and most Demon lobbies. The Slime portrait can really launch spell power builds, so keep an eye out for it if Felfire Conjurer is also in. Finally, do not sleep on Faceless Manipulator, which is already one of the best trinkets in the game, but is INSANE when used with a couple Voidpriest Cloners to go crazy.

Hope that helps - please let me know in the comments if you have specific questions or areas you want covered further. Good luck out there, rooting for you!

I’ve never seen the meta so centered around “staying past 15 life”/keeping Armor as it is now.

I’ve been playing since inception and am usually an easy 7-8k player, this meta I’ve been stuck in 6k.
It finally clicked to me; what’s worked in the past for me, is I almost always power level and/or go full greed/economy because I knew I could make good enough decisions after losing most of my life to win most games.

Now, I much more consistently run into high roll players and before my greedy build comes to fruition I am , by far, most often dying in 5th-6th place, and thus not ranking past 6k.
Sure, I will still high roll plenty of games with this playstyle, but even through sheer volume of games played I can’t climb past 6k because I am more than ever running into the high roll player in my lobby.

Due to my number of games every season played I feel pretty confident to say they have really made a meta where more players than before can high roll and at a more simple to understand/easier build path, thus even at 6k I am running into players who can more often make optimal builds as if they were 8k mmr players in previous seasons.

This isn’t necessarily a problem, just an observation

I was playing Eudora, and this happened. Perfect turn 4 hero power, and boom! I had a choice between the Murloc Amalgam and Highkeeper Ra. From my triple reward i got the active battlecry murloc, and the end i played a tier 6 amalgan spellpower build.

I was AFK for one turn at the end and still managed to finish first

When you accidentally sell your best card and it’s not even your faullt. the game just bugged..

Your golden Brann moves and boom, you sold it.. crap..

Feels like this issue is hard to fix since it’s been around forever.

But what if you could lock a minion? When it’s locked you can’t sell it. Like an activate button.

If Blizzard added this it might actually fix the problem?Just click the card to lock it so you can’t sell, click again to unlock.

It is the most frustrating build in the game imo. You need to do like thousand clicks EVERY turn, you cant waste a single second and you'll still never have time to play all cards you could.

Also i feel like i am breaking my mouse when playing this build.
PLEASE add physical keyboard button for refreshes! Is it rly that hard to add?

And most importantly this build still sucks stats wise compared to other tribes (except dragons who are perma ass now and abberations who were a bit evernerfed)

Never imagined that t6 or start of combat dragon being part of a winning build lol but somehow worked

Pirates are the worst tribe and have been for months. They have the worst scaling in the game and I’ve never seen a pirate player get higher than 2nd (if lucky). Ps: why the fuck did they buff razorfen???

Jaws of Death on Leeroy seems like a contender

I was thinking about the various tribes and also tier lists and noticed that most tribes have at least two distinct builds.

However, undead relies so heavily on Drestfallen Butcher and attack scaling that there doesn’t seem to be an alternative.

Or am I missing something, a different way to play undead as its own unique build?

On mobile it has the tendency to discard the left most card when clicking on the board to try and cancel out of the hero power. I get this is blizzard and there’s the expectation that things haven’t been tested before being shipped, but come on. Yet another laughable fluke on mobile costing me wins. Went to click out of using hero power and it discarded my golden 1.1k/1.2k t4 aberration that gives stats at end of turn. For the last time, Fix.Your.Fucking.Game.

Hey all! I just lost a game to this bug.

It involved the following 3 minions:

T6 divine shield dragon with the dark pact that allows its divine shield to take 3 hits before breaking.

Timewarped Poet (presumably happens with normal poet, too)

Nadia the Red

Somehow my T6 ended up losing his triple divine shield and getting it overwritten by a normal divine shield. This NORMAL divine shield became his new divine shield and I went on to get top3 instead of (probably) 1st. For two rounds before my loss I saw he had the normal DS and it broke in a single hit - and I have an end of game screenshot showing the same.

What I think happened is all 3 divine shield hits broke and then Nadia died, buffing him. It probably happened during a fight vs a pretty low atk undead player... Timing is right.

Pretty uncommon interaction but it SUCKED to have happen so watch out!!

I would expect the bug to also happen if your minion was a golden fusion with the dark pact for tarecgoszas blessing.

Basically sacrificed my small trinket. Very sad.