Hooktusk Smite Combo Rogue

UPDATE

Currently up to Diamond ranks at a 15-13 win rate based on HDT stats.

Intro

Okay!  So this is a deck!  It's not a great deck, but it's honestly not shaping up to be absolute trash either.  I've actually done a majority of my early climb on Wild Ladder with this and just hit Platinum 5 with a record of 9-10.  (Yes, only Platinum so far.)  That record also includes a few games before the big overhaul of the deck, which honestly after looking back on my list of games in HS Replay, subtracting the two recorded games with the original list makes my record 8-9.  So not a big change!  I also had a few wins earlier on mobile, which aren't recorded on the stats.  I'm not 100% on the exact win rate because of that, but (in lower ranks) I'm just around 50%.

So to me that says that this is a viable MEME deck if you understand how to pilot it efficiently.  I'm still learning myself, and it's got some complex turns I've taken to the rope trying to decide exactly how to use some of my resources.  I'm sure I'm not always getting things right, but I've been having a blast and that's all that matters!  Maybe someone smarter than me can figure out some edits to make it more viable as a ranked climbing deck, but with the amount of Questline Warriors and Questline Hunters, this deck is likely more the "For Fun" variety than ranked.

Draw and Reduction

This uses some of the same tools as Garrote Rogue to get the cards you need and reduce costs.  Namely Efficient Octo-bot and Field Contact.  It also utilizes Elven Minstrel to draw out minions, and Raiding Party to specifically draw out our only two pirates (who we'll discuss further down).  Funny enough, the weapon included is Blackwater Cutlass which is also a decent draw AND reduction tool, especially when it hits higher cost spells like Potion of Illusion or the already mentioned Raiding Party.  Sometimes even an early reduction on Swindle can set up an easy combo of the card, or get it ready to pair with Field Contact for a bigger draw turn.

For activating the Frenzy on Octo-bot you have a few options.  Backstab is always handy, Shiv also draws a card (after the reductions, fyi), and if your opponent has a minion with 3 or less attack, Animated Broomstick can also be used to rush Octo into an enemy and proc the reduction.  Broom also helps clear the enemy board at the end of a big draw turn with Field Contact and other minions coming down on your side.  Bounce effects like Shadowstep and Tenwu of the Red Smoke give you flexibility to either bounce Octo for more cost reduction plays or bounce other important minions in crucial times.  One example of a non-Octo-Bot bounce with Tenwu... if you don't draw Brann but have gotten some reductions for Tenwu and Hooktusk, you could bounce Hooktusk, play her again, and effectively do the same thing as Brann + Hooktusk.

"But Thonson, what are you even talking about?!?!"  Let me explain!

Hooktusk and Smite

If you haven't guessed it yet, this deck revolves around a combo where you play Mr. Smite, use a charged up Togwaggle's Scheme to shuffle multiple copies into your deck (at minimum 3, or more like 4 in case you draw one prior to your Hooktusk play), and the next turn you play Captain Hooktusk with an optional Brann Bronzebeard.  You want to Brann + Hooktusk on an empty board with at least 5 Smites in the deck to get the max 36 charging damage.  In at least one game I was able to reduce the Tog Scheme to 0 and reduced both pirates by 2 mana and right before my turn 10 my opponent was nice enough to clear the entire board for me.  So with my reduced cards I played (4) Smite, (0) Scheme, (6) Hooktusk to summon five 6 attack charging pirates to OTK them (they were actually at 30 hp too).  So depending on how much time you are able to set this up it can be an OTK, but it is often more of a TTK with the first turn being Smite and Scheme followed by Brann and Hooktusk the following turn (or just Hooktusk).

What do I need to reduce?

The only reductions on combo pieces you ACTUALLY need are at least one tick on either Brann or Hooktusk.  If you are in a slower match up that gets to turn 10, this 1 mana reduction on either card makes them a 10 mana play, and can fill an empty board with up to 36 damage from charging pirates.  If you don't need that much damage, the reductions aren't actually needed at all, other than to speed up your win condition.

What I've found is that in some (most??) cases is that you are better served using at least one Octo to reduce the cost of your draw engine pieces and maybe Scabbs to help facilitate a big draw turn that can be followed up by or include another Octo cost reduction play.  But if you get that early Raiding Party off with a Scheme then reducing the pirates and scheme are big so you can get to the combo turn faster.

Other cards and alternate uses

Scabbs Cutterbutter - I included Scabbs thinking maybe he could help me get the combo off quicker, and possibly in a single turn.  Truthfully, he kind of can't!  But what I've found that he CAN do is help with your draw turns using Field Contact.  If you haven't been getting good draws you could play him and bounce back with a Shadowstep.  Then next turn Field Contact into Foxy Fraud into a free Scabbs, then play a few more combo or battlecry cards for 3 less than their normal cost.  Raiding Party or even Potion of Illusion could be good choices depending on the mana you have left to spend to (because Potion would still cost 1).  If you were to potion these three minions they make for a good combo the following turn as well, drawing more cards and setting up for a potential big cost reduction turn later.

Also, don't be so hung up on the combo that you miss other opportunities to win.  I actually missed lethal one game only because I didn't have the foresight to hold onto a Shadowstep for the following turn, instead trying to bounce something on the board back to my hand.  I think I bounced a Scabbs thinking I could use him later.  But if I had kept it, I could have played Smite, Tenwu, Smite again for 1, Step the Tenwu to play on Smite, Smite face again for 1 mana, repeat with the second Step and Tenwu, Smite.  This would have gotten me 18 damage face when my opponent was at 14.  If I hadn't been thinking so much about trying to get the combo off I might have seen it.  But, lessen learned!  And because you have both Shivs and Backstabs you can use one or the other, or a few of both for early removal of enemy minions.

Mulligan

I usually just try to make sure I have cards in hand that can draw.  Cutlass is always good because it can draw and reduce a spell by 1 when traded, or be used as early game removal.  Keep Swindle, Foxy Fraud to help activate the Swindle, If you're on Coin and have a Fraud then keeping a Minstrel isn't bad either.  Raiding Party is another good one to keep with Fraud, or if you keep it and it's your only spell you could trade your Cutlass and get a reduction on Raiding Party.  FYI, the cost reduction happens after the trade so it could also reduce the card drawn if it draws a spell. 

If you're having issues drawing your Scheme way too late you may want to keep one of them in the mulligan as well. Remember, these charge up over time so if you play it the turn you draw it you only get 1 Smite copy added to the deck, which isn't great unless that's all you need. 

Conclusion

There are a few other options you could swap in, such as Shroud of Concealment instead of Minstrel, or instead of Raiding Party.  But for now this is the list I'm sticking with.  Minstrel also triggers the effect of Field Contact while Shroud does not.  Raiding Party also triggers Contact's effect, and it draws you a Cutlass if played in a combo.  

The deck has been fun so far, able to win against slower decks without too much in terms of taunt.  I did manage to win while punching through a bunch of 1/5 taunt Scarabs in a match against a Druid, but Big Priest level of taunts... Yikes!  Hyper Aggro decks such as the previously mentioned Questline decks?  Good luck!  Slower Aggro to Midrange opponents?  Get a little lucky on the draws, play it right, and you can take them down!  But again, the deck is fun!  I am enjoying it right now and I'm glad I am (because I crafted Hooktusk to make the deck)!  Hopefully if you give it a go you'll have some fun too!

If you try it out let me know how it went in the comments, and leave any suggestions of card changes you might make when playing the deck yourself.

~ Thonson

(first screencap on mobile is the OTK game mentioned above, second was first successful combo while on PC against a strange type of combo lock)