Due to the good reception of the last off-meta post, we return with some more! Last time we explored some criminally underused Ashes of Outland legendaries, and now we'll dive back into the first expansion of Year of the Dragon, Rise of Shadows, to help some old friends to see more play with the help of HSReplay's data.
DISCLAIMER: Due to the off-meta nature of (most of) these decks, the amount of data available is quite scarce. Your results may vary.
Highlander Warrior (with Barista Lynchen and Archivist Elysiana)
I'm probably stirring some people's traumas right from the get-go as Archivist Elysiana used to be a common sight in the dreaded Control Warriors. Nowadays she has fallen out of favor, but still sees some fringe play in decks like this Highlander Warrior, which boasts 55+% winrate from Diamond to Legend.
Highlander Shaman (with Swampqueen Hagatha)
It seems that some cards need the tag-team of Zephrys the Great and Dragonqueen Alexstrasza around them to see any play. While this deck doesn't quite reach the performance of the Warrior, it's still on the positive side of things around the same ranked region.
Token Druid (with Keeper Stalladris and Archmage Vargoth)
Stop stealing the limelight Vargoth, you still see plenty of play in Priests. But remember Stalladris? He used to see some play before Untapped Potential came and outshone his effect. This deck is very much the spiritual successor of the Token Druids back then, and has a positive winrate all the way through Gold after which the data gets too sparse.
Dragon Hunter (with Vereesa Windrunner)
I agree, this is borderline cheating. Slamming an underplayed legendary into a well-performing meta deck will naturally lead to good results. Nevertheless, the deck does run some more direct damage spells that the usual variants to help get more value out of Thori'dal. The deck's winrate peaks at legend with a 56.6%.
Malygos Rogue (with Jepetto Joybuzz)
Another deck that might feel like somewhat meta-ish but if you're going to build a Malygos Rogue, leaving out the powerful Rogue tools that can make cards cost 0 would be pure madness. While Malygos is the dream target for Jepetto, turning some other minions into 1-cost 1/1s can make other combo shenanigans much easier as well. The deck's winrate is hitting the same 55+% region than the Highlanders at the beginning of the post.
Murloc Shaman (with Scargil)
There's only one type of deck where this Murloc legendary sees play, although one could argue that the real gift of Rise of Shadows to the archetype was Underbelly Angler. The deck's data only covers the lower part of ladder but it does hit the heights of 56.5 % winrate there, with only Demon Hunters and Rogues being able to reliably stop the waves of our fishy friends.
Comments
omg i forgot that Jepetto Joybuzz is in the game, and i even have it. Will need more tinkering in the collection, i guess.
Elysiana *shudders* I hated that version of control warrior with a burning passion, it made for such a weird arms race. Anyway nice decks! Jepetto seems like a good fit in maly rogue imo
Thought you might list wild decks as well.
Ran into a Raza Priest using Archivist Elysiana last night when he ran out of ammo, er, cards; with that in play I thought my control mage was out of tricks to stay alive until he used Azalina Soulthief, sacrificing his four cards for my ... Skulking Geist. Maybe he thought I had a draw spell, frost nova, badass minion reduced to 1-mana cost or secret. Gave me the win on the following turn with the minions I had on board.
Talk about ruining tempo and shooting yourself in the ****. But I would say Archivist would make sense in wild Raza Priest. Just use better judgment than that guy :P
/one of the best 30 minute games I've had of the current meta and I enjoy the absurd long contests that seem to get rarer and rarer, but I had a lot of luck on my card draws as well as not losing Reno Jackson on his first card of the game, Dirty Rat
//don't use the un'goro quest for mage. Dishonorable thing.
Uhhh i like all of those! A little end of month distraction.
I just piloted (pretty successfully) this highlander Shaman list to 500 wins.
Unfortunately I can safely say, Swampqueen is the worst card in this deck. You just never have 7 mana to spare for a 5/5.
Nevertheless I played her 2-3 times and hit eye of the storm once. This pretty much flips the table.
I love playing control decks, ergo, I loved Archivist Elysiana from my first sight on her. However the meta was so aggresive this last few days that there was no place for her.
Maybe with the last changes she'll find a way in some of my decks again. Great decks!
Well, Elysiana kinda disappeared after the nerf. It should probably be reverted at least upon next Rotation (she's not dangerous for Wild).
I crafted Archivist Elysiana for a warrior deck when it first came out and haven't touched her since.... would be a good time to try again
I've been playing with Archivist Elysiana in my Gala-Priest for like 2 Weeks now. She's actually doing pretty well, since you can reduce her cost with Fate Weaver and make her playable alongside other Cards, like Shadow Word: Ruin. And usually Nobody expects her, especially Priests („Ha! I Shadow Madnessed your Reliquary of Souls! Now you're gonna lose in Fatigue!!").
Huh, seeing Elysiana up close, she suddenly reminds me of Spock :D