If you’ve read many of my previous articles on Hearthstone then you’d realize my affinity towards quirky, fun, and niche deck archetypes. I gravitate more towards Priests, Shamans, and Mages because of their general ease of play and class specific cards; I enjoy a good theme deck like Dragon Priest and Mech Mage and the class specific cards that the Shaman provides are some of the most unorthodox the game has to offer. That’s exactly why I love Senfglas’s Shadow Priest deck as it’s a combination of everything I look for when looking to play a new deck and Senfglas does an excellent job taking advantage of once perceived useless cards while also integrating some new League of Explorers cards within it too.
Mulligan Phase
Zombie Chow should be the number one card to look for in all matchups, especially when it doesn’t provide additional value past the early game due to the lack of anAuchenai Soulpriest being present in the deck. In general though, looking for an Unstable Ghoul, Acolyte of Pain, and Deathlord, as they will help your transition into the mid-late game stages of the match.
How to Play
Much like Control Priest, the Shadow Priest is built around controlling the board until late game and then fatiguing the opponent to defeat. However, unlike Control Priest, the Shadow Priest dosen’t always have to go to fatigue thanks to Shadowform.
The begging-mid stages of the game should always be played defensively. Try to lure out as much of the opponents’ removal and minions as possible in the early stage. With five (Holy Nova, Lightbomb, and Excavated Evil) devastating AoE spells at your disposal, removing the board isn’t completely reliant on the Auchenai SoulpriestCircle of Healing combination anymore. Shadow Word: Pain, Zombie Chow, Unstable Ghoul, Deathlord, and Sen’jin Shieldmasta are also all great cards to sustain the early game board presence until you can perform a large AoE wipe.
By the mid-late game stage you should have drained the opponent of most of their resources and depending on your health pool, it will be time to initiate protocol: Shadowform. In most cases it’s best to first set up a Shadowform by placing a Tournament Medic on board to substitute for the lack of continuous heals. If you’re health pool is looking dangerously low by mid-late game, it’s usually best to play either a Holy Fire or Antique Healbot to try and get your health points back up. Around turn7-10 you should have complete control over the tempo with a myriad of possibilities to end the game with. In most cases, the inspire synergy is the primary win condition of this deck, the ability to do 2-3 damage per turn with the hero power coalesced with the Tournament Medic and Kodorider is just too much for most classes to endure.
Possible Replacements
Vol’jin: In a perfect world, were you own every Hearthstone card, I would say KEEP Vol’jin as his synergy within this deck is amazing and for a five drop he’s a perfect fit. Unfortunately, most of us don’t live in a perfect world and owning class specific legendry’s are for the Hearthstone 1%ers. So, if you don’t have Vol’jin, I would say replacing him with another Shadow Word: Death, Big Game Hunter, or Holy Champion would be adequate.
Cabal Shadow Priest: I’m not really a big fan of this card as it usually just ends up sitting in my hand too long or I just get poor value when I eventually use it. In most cases, I feel like replacing it with a Dr. Boom will provide more value. For only one more mana, you usually get a significantly larger set of stats from Dr. Boom opposed to the Cabal Shadow Priest and in most cases playing a Dr. Boom is never the wrong play!
Sen’jin Shieldmasta: This card breaks my poor little heart. Firstly, I know why it’s needed in this deck: it provides additional stall to get into the mid-late game stages and for 4-mana this is probably the card to be played. The reason it breaks my heart is because it’s a Sen’jin Shieldmasta and the Sen’jin Shieldmasta is a garbage card. So instead of removing both shitty Shildmasta’s, just remove one and replace it with either a Shadow Madness or Piloted Shredder. Shadow Madness provides additional stall much like the Shieldmasta, but instead of stinking up the board you can clear multiple minions and sometimes receive the spoils of a deathrattle card! The piloted Shredder is a good choice because it isn’t a Shieldmast, a.k.a “a shitty card.”
gssguy 