Hearthstone at its core is a game that people should have fun with, but that can get bogged down in the pursuit of competitive meta strategies. Thus, I humbly present Memes and Dreams, a series on Out of Cards looking to bring some good ol' memey fun into people's Hearthstone experiences. Each week we will do a deep dive on a different 'for fun' deck, discussing the basic ideas of the deck, what makes it tick, and roughly how to pilot it. This week we make a triumphant return with an awfully SUS Rogue deck.
An Emergency Article Has Been Called
Hey everyone, Blood Mefist here, here today with another Memes and Dreams article. It's been a bit since I last posted one of these since life has been really kicking my butt and I frankly got burnt out last expansion. However, United in Stormwind has arrived and I've time to marinate with the new cards and cook up some new stuff that I'm excited for. To kick off what is essentially "Season 2" of Memes and Dreams, we'll be going over a deck that highlights some cool inclusions from the new set. The meme potential of Maestra of the Masquerade has had custom Hearthstone communities iterating on it years before its recent manifestation into the actual game. This deck aims to essentially NEVER reveal that you are a rogue and instead utilize Lady Prestor unique ability to turn cheap Neutral minions into potential powerhouses.
The Meme - Use Maestra to disguise yourself and bewilder opponents into thinking that they are back at rank 25 with your seemingly unoptimized deck.
The Dream - Right before you destroy your opponent with your third 1-3 mana Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, play Maestra and reveal your grand deception to the opponent.
Key Cards
Maestra of the Masquerade and literally the whole point of the deck. Without her, you're just a weird Rogue with no class cards or any meme to back up the nonsense that is the deck. This deck has no real place without her, which is a tad unfortunate since it means there is truly no replacement.
Lady Prestor is another wonderful meme card, and is one that thankfully is given out for free! Not only does she offer some potential for randomly generated win conditions, but she herself is an imposter, fitting the theme of the deck perfectly.
Auctioneer Jaxon helps showcase the many Tradeable cards in the deck by being literally the only card in the entire expansion that synergizes with the mechanic. Her primary purpose is to change the simple cycle of Tradeable into a more reliable way of finding Lady Prestor so that we can actually get the ability to close out the game.
Honorable Mentions
Similar to Jaxon, Taelan Fordring offers and excellent way of ensuring Lady Prestor is in-hand by turn 6. Though his effect is a bit slow and he becomes an awful dragon post-Prestor, he offers reliability that no other cards can really guarentee.
These three cards offer the ability to generate spells, which is invaluable in a deck with literally no spells included. They can find a surprise lethal, extra cycle through the deck, and they also offer the only triggers for the likes of Crimson Hothead and Onyx Magescribe, should those be generated from Lady Prestor.
Budget / Alternate Options
Maestra of the Masquerade and Auctioneer Jaxon are the only legendaries in the deck that aren't free, and Jaxon is the only one that can truly be replaced. The unique cycle offered by Jaxon is difficult to exactly replace, but there are plenty of Neutral draw cards such as Prize Vendor or Loot Hoarder that could work alright. Transfer Student offers potential spell-generation, which makes it a decent replacement as well.
This deck has literally no epic cards, which is handy for those on a budget! In this situation, we'll just go over some other generically handy replacements. Some cards can be good at stalling opponents until you get Lady Prestor, such as Annoy-o-Tron or Frozen Shadoweaver. Other cards to consider are cards that generate some for of value, with especial attention to spells. Brightwing is nice and meme-y with her ability to generate new legendaries, but Mailbox Dancer is handy for getting Lady Prestor out ASAP or generally helping your curve.
Since this deck runs pretty light on 4-drops (Royal Librarian being the only one), Kazakus, Golem Shaper is a powerful consideration. Not only is he also a dragon in disguise, but he's also just a generally very powerful card. He isn't run in the initial list only because I valued showing off more Tradeable cards since the expansion is new. Cards that help the consistency of getting Lady Prestor are also good considerations. Sphere of Sapience is similar to Auctioneer Jaxon refining your cycle, but Lorekeeper Polkelt and Cornelius Roame are also decent considerations.
Murozond is easy enough to work in since the only real prerequisite is being a Neutral card. Auctioneer Jaxon is the best cut to make if you're running on a budget, but otherwise I would say Death's Head Cultist is the best cut since its one of the more expensive cards and doesn't offer cycle like many of the other cards in its mana-range.
Strengths
Being almost exclusively cheap minions, this deck has a decent time establishing some early-game presence. Lack of removal spells or higher quality class minions can make it a bit difficult to maintain control of the board, but you'll literally always have a minion to play. Once Lady Prestor comes down, you gain a stronger ability to close out games since you can potentially mana-cheat out powerhouse dragons such as Plagued Protodrake, Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, Ysera the Dreamer, or Onyxia the Broodmother.
Weaknesses
This deck doesn't have the resource generation or damage push to get through many Control strategies. None of the minions apply much pressure on their own, so you rely entirely on the little spell generation we have or on an early highroll from Lady Prestor. Control decks are too often able to clear off the relatively weak minions and can recover from whatever damage we are able to do.
Closing Thoughts
This deck is definitely not good. Locking yourself out of more or less all class cards is generally inadvisable in Hearthstone given their power and inherent synergies. However, there is a unique joy to playing an entire game with your actual class disguised and your opponent has no idea (until they wisen up because you're running all Neutral cards). It's also pretty fun having no two games be at all alike. What class you end up with will drastically change your available resources from generated cards and playstyle with your hero power. On top of that, the massive discrepancy in what Lady Prestor can generate can create some very cool games where you play 2-3 legendary dragons for 3 or less mana. Sorry again for the unannounced hiatus, but I am excited return writing Memes and Dreams!
What is your meme deck of choice? Do you try different ones for each expansion or do you try to evolve old ones with new cards? Do you have any meme dream stories? Tell us in the comments below!
Comments
I know I'm a little late to the party, but I just wanted to say thanks for posting this as it helped me tinker with my own Our Lady of Prestor meme and I hadn't found a deck for Jaxon yet.
I also just wanted to give a shout out to Magtheridon as another neglected card that synergizes pretty well with Prestor. Getting a 4-mana 12/12 dragon is great, but even if you draw it early you can often combo it with a cheap copy of Deathwing later.
Deck ID Not Found
I didn't have Auctioneer Jaxon in my collection, but I felt inspired to make a similar deck with what I had. Battleground Battlemaster is included as you might be able to find lethal off a stealth or divine shield golem if it summons a copy of itself a copy of itself from Kazakus, Golem Shaper. I would not take this into any game that would affect your ranking, but the Watch Posts are able to take advantage of slower decks. That, and some decent luck with spells you've discovered or generated from Wandmaker might be enough to cheese out a win with this list once in a while.
Now i want my Wisp+Lady Prestor deck, please! Should be able to pull it off on turn 2 with Shaman or Druid too :D
This looks fun. Too bad that Wyrmrest Purifier is now in Wild.
Brilliant idea, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for awesome deck. I know it’s no power house but it is fun.
Finally a deck where I get to use all of these usele... I mean, wonderful legendaries.