Hearthstone Year of the Hydra, the 2022 Core Set, and Voyage to the Sunken City are almost here and it's about time we give Priest a review of what is to come. Below you will find our thoughts on Priest as they pertain to the brand new Hearthstone year. We're going to go over the archetypes we expect to see play, the heavy-hitting cards, a general overview of Priest, and a theorycraft deck for you to try out on Day 1.

Before we jump straight into our review though, we've got a few pieces of content you may want to check out.

Now with that done, let's jump into it!

Year of the Hydra Priest Quick Impressions

  • Although Sethekk Veilweaver and Nazmani Bloodweaver are rotating, Priest is getting tons of new Miracle toys.
  • Among the Miracle cards, Priest seems to be one of the premier classes to utilize Naga.
  • Another handful of Silence Priest cards enter the rotation, possibly the strongest batch yet.
  • Priest is losing some very strong Control tools, but the new Core set helps alleviate some of that pain.
  • Overall, I think Priest is looking decently strong and I rate it an 8/10 for its power level, with results varying by APM.

Priest Power Level

Year of the Hydra Priest Archetypes

There are a few different archetypes that have some great support right out the gate and another one that although it lacks support now, Blizzard adding a few cards for it means we might see things more positively further on in the year.

  • Miracle/Naga Priest - The cards that go into Miracle and Naga Priest decks are going to be essentially the same, so I am bundling them for the purposes of this review. Priest is getting more card draw in this rotation than it is had ever before. Combined with cheap spells and the triumphant return of Lyra the Sunshard and Radiant Elemental, make the archetype look very enticing.
  • Silence Priest - Technically existed ever since Purify came out way back in Karazhan and has seem some play here and there. This time however, they get have strong 1-drops in Helmet Hermit and Whispers of the Deep.
  • Control Priest - Losing strong cards such as Soul Mirror can be quickly overlook when you see that Lightbomb and Reno Jackson are added in the Core set.
  • Dragon Priest - Despite not having any support in Voyage to the Sunken City, the return of Drakonid Operative and Murozond the Infinite offer very strong incentive to build around.

With our quick archetype overview out of the way, let's talk more about them. 

Miracle/Naga Priest in Year of the Hydra

Lyra the Sunshard Card Image Priestess Valishj Card Image Handmaiden Card Image

  • The archetype Priest got the most support for.
  • Less card generation than before outside of Lyra, but plenty of draw to make up for it.
  • BEHOLD THE GLORY OF A NEW SUN.

Miracle Priest is a deck that was thriving before the rotation, thanks to the powerful combination of Sethekk Veilweaver, Nazmani Bloodweaver, Palm Reading, and various ways to copy or resummon the aforementioned minions to vastly reduce spell costs and generate huge quantities of stats and answer out of thin air. All these things are rotating and we are left with the newly supported Naga version of Miracle Priest. The Naga version replaces card generation with card draw and mana reductions with mana refreshing with an added emphasis on more than two minions. Priestess Valishj is the first 0-mana legendary minion ever and is the main way you will have mana to play out large turns. Handmaiden is your most reliable draw, with Northshire Cleric being a more situational case of drawing. Serpent Wig can chain to create huge buffs and Queensguard has the potential to become a massive threat as well. 

Although most of the cost reduction and card generation is rotating, Blizzard also very kindly decided to bring back Lyra the Sunshard for huge amounts of spell generation as well as Radiant Elemental for consistent cost reduction. Even with all these new toys, you'll have to play them somewhat conservatively. With the loss of Raise Dead and Rally!, once you lose these minions, you're going to have a very hard time getting them back.

Silence Priest in Year of the Hydra

Whispers of the Deep Card Image Azsharan Ritual Card Image Switcheroo Card Image

  • An archetype that makes its rounds every so often to mixed effect.
  • As usual, only a couple of cards for Priest itself with some key parts in Neutral.
  • Shush!

Silence Priest has never really be a super-strong archetype, although it has left its print between Tier 2-4 on occasion. One of the major weaknesses Silence Priest faced in the past was that it wasn't very good ad dealing with enemy board pressure or regaining tempo once it was lost. Whispers of the Deep is a massive step in fixing this issue by converting a minion's raw Attack stat into flexible board removal for a very low cost. Azsharan Ritual is another silencing card Priest received, and is more or less pure powercreep on Unsleeping Soul from the last time Silence was pushed. Ritual has some flexibility in that it can target enemies to get rid of buffs while creating some tempo as well, with the Sunken Ritual not likely being a huge boon compared to other sunken cards.

One of the wackier and less immediately obvious synergies Silence Priest got was with Switcheroo. The stat-swapping is a bit tricky to work around, but could make for some interesting board swings. Let's say your Switcheroo draws Priestess Valishj and Selfish Shellfish. You can play Valishj as a 0-mana 7/7 and Shellfish as a 4-mana 1/1, which you then silence with Whispers from the Deep to get two 7/7s and deal 7 damage split across enemy minions. While convoluted and unreliable, this combo might occur just enough to bump Silence Priest up a tier or two.

Control Priest in Year of the Hydra

Blackwater Behemoth Card Image Whirlpool Card Image Lightbomb Card Image

  • Powerful tools lost to rotation (R.I.P. Soul Mirror and Hysteria).
  • Gained very powerful mid-late game options.
  • Board clears, stealing, and win-cons, oh my!

We say goodbye to strong board control options with this rotation, but say hello to some new and returning tools! Lightbomb hasn't been in Standard rotation since 2016 before Whispers of the Old Gods rotated it out. It is a fantastic way to deal with threatening enemy boards, since dangerous minions tend to to have Attack that is equal to or higher than their Health. Blackwater Behemoth as a removal options is not typically reliable, since Behemoth's Lure forces a random enemy minion, but an 8-health swing while removing a minion and leaving 8-Attack in Lifesteal is still pretty nifty. 

Whirlpool is a tricky board clear to make exceptional use of. In terms of immediate board impact, it does the exact same as Twisting Nether for Warlock but for 1 more mana, which feels quite underwhelming when we've had Plague of Death in the past. The extra utility of destroying other copies might be niche, but can also be built around. If you're running Reno Jackson, chances are you don't get hit quite as hard from your minions dying compared to the opponents. Additionally, since Control decks often run a lot of spells, you're less likely to be impacted by enemy minions collaterally destroying your copies, barring an unfortunate mirror-match. 

Dragon Priest in Year of the Hydra

Murozond the Infinite Card Image Drakonid Operative Card Image

  • Two cards for Core Priest, and a few more in Core Neutral.
  • Can be taken in a more mid-range or control style.
  • Big dragons, coming through!

Not a ton of support was given for Dragon Priest, with literally none offered in Voyage to the Sunken City. However, the support it did get was very powerful. Drakonid Operative is so strong that Blizzard themselves admits to printing it to push the limits of the Dragon Priest archetype way back in Gadgetzan days. Joining our lovely secret agent in Priest's Core rotation is Murozond the Infinite, who doesn't provide any direct Dagon synergy other than the tribe, but is a very strong stand-alone card that is especially usable in slower decks as a way to respond to large enemy turns.

Most of the other support for Dragon Priest was either printed in Onyxia's Lair or came as Neutral cards in the Core rotation, so there isn't much left to say about Priest's cards specifically. The dragons coming into Neutral Core help support mid-range or slow strategies with their 4-5 cost range. The most notable returns are Twilight Drake and a buffed Azure Drake, both of which should help round out Priest's mid-game.

Year of the Hydra Priest Heavy-Hitters

With a fresh Core Set and the Voyage to the Sunken City, there are a ton of cards to talk about in our review. We're going to go over the heavy-hitters, the cards that are going to make the most impact to start this year off.

Lyra the Sunshard's Impact in Year of the Hydra

Lyra the Sunshard Card Image

Hope you brought some strong sunscreen

Lyra the Sunshard is a card that likely needs no introductions since it has been the resource-generating backbone for Miracle Priest whenever it was in rotation. The ability to generate a theoretically infinite number of spells is nothing to snuff at and makes Lyra a win-condition all on her own in some cases. There will be times when you create a dud card, such as one that is too expensive to continue the chain or that negatively impacts your side of the board, but that is easily overlooked when you consider the insane swing potential of the card.

Due to Lyra's immense strength, she also makes herself quite applicable in a variety of Priest decks. Lyra becomes a win-condition in Miracle Priest, a value engine in Control, or a generally good card when combined with a few cheap spells, which Priest is in no shortage of. Unlike in previous rotations however, Priest will have a very difficult time resurrecting or creating copies of Lyra, meaning that you need to make her play count since it is probably the only shot you have with her.

Murozond the Infinite's Impact in Year of the Hydra

Murozond the Infinite Card Image

Hopping between rotations is some next-level time travel

Joining Lyra in Priest's Core 2022 set is Murozond the Infinite, which I imagine will be a staple Control and Dragon card for the remaining year. Although he is not quite as flexible as Lyra, the sheer power of his battlecry will always make him a powerful contender for any Priest deck that intends to enter the late-game. That said, the strength of his battlecry is also somewhat dependent on the state of the meta since his efficacy is dependent on what exactly your opponent played last turn.

Some very key things to note about this is that like all cards that 'replay' other cards, he does not trigger battlecries. This means you will not bounce the enemy board back from a Rogue who just played Shadowcrafter Scabbs, you will not generate a cool treasure from someone who just played Queen Azshara, and you will not destroy all enemy minions if the opponent played Gigafin. That said, any spells are played at their full effect, Colossal minions will still summon their appendages, and you will still benefit from Rush and/or Charge. If you opponent pops off with a Mr. Smite turn but doesn't kill you outright, you could immediately turn the tides and possibly kill them instead!

Illuminate's Impact in Year of the Hydra

Illuminate Card Image

There's something very satisfying about Lyra's attack quote becoming a card

Illuminate is a card that has gotten a lot of buzz about how strong it is. Being a 0-mana spell baseline is very strong due to its intrinsic ability to continue miracle chains from Lyra and ability to immediately trigger Naga effects. Being able to control your draw and offer a whopping 3-mana discount is extremely delicious icing on a very moist cake. 

The universality of this effect is also what makes it so strong. Of course you run this in miracle priest to allow for stronger chains and effects, this can help find an answer for control decks while making it cheaper, it can be used to fish out an integral combo piece or win-condition (like the Purified Shard), and it directly synergizes with sunken cards such as Sunken Ritual. If Priest didn't have so much card draw I would have my doubts about this card, but there is truly so much draw for Priest that they can easily make use of this card.

Northshire Cleric's Impact in Year of the Hydra

Northshire Cleric Card Image

Saving the best for last, one of the most stand-out cards in Year of the Hydra is the returning Northshire Cleric. Northshire Cleric gives Priest a very threatening turn 1-2 play. If the Cleric is played the opponent must either play a minion with 3+ Attack or no minion at all, lest they risk the Cleric trading in and allowing the Priest to draw from healing it. Outside of that, Northshire Cleric also famously combines with Wild Pyromancer to create huge draw plays when used with AoE healing, such as Gift of the Naaru in the current rotation. These plays occasionally result in "Going Full Northshire", which entails the player controlling the Northshire Cleric overdrawing and killing themselves from healing too many times. Northshire Cleric can find a place in a great many decks, ranging from Miracle to Aggro to Control, and is this flexibility which made it a staple in previous meta games, and will likely make it a staple again.

Neutral Cards for Priest in Year of the Hydra

Queen Azshara Card Image Zola the Gorgon Card Image

Since Miracle/Naga is one of Priest's premier archetypes this coming year, it only makes sense that some of their best Neutral fits would also be Nagas. Queen Azshara is an easy inclusion in any Naga-based deck since its effect is easily triggered and further synergizes with the deck, potentially offering 10-face-damage in Xal'atath, huge board swings with Horn of Ancients, or even more miracle shenanigans with Ring of Tides or Tidestone of Golganneth. Zola the Gorgon is yet another powerful Naga for her ability to create more Naga from the ones on the board. This means doubling down on the already potent Naga effects, but more specifically also allows for Serpent Wig shenanigans to ensue.

Wild Pyromancer Card Image Injured Tol'vir Card Image

Wild Pyromancer is a classically strong card in Priest for Priest's ability to not only spam cheap spells, but also keep the Pyromancer to continue going wild. Injured Tol'vir also uniquely synergizes with Priest's healing since it is the only class that can heal minions without needing any cards. It is questionable whether or not Tol'vir sees play in Priest, but if any class would use it, it's almost definitely Priest.

Selfish Shellfish Card Image Helmet Hermit Card Image

Selfish Shellfish and Helmet Hermit immediately find a home in Silence Priest. Both can make excellent use of Whispers of the Deep and Azsharan Ritual/Sunken Ritual with their large base-stats and relatively cheap cost. Another Neutral worth considering is of courseSmothering Starfish, which can immediately activate any friendly minions you may need silenced. It can get a bit tricky if you're also using buffs such as Bless or Defender of Argus, but the Starfish is still worth consideration.

Wig Priest - A Theorycraft Deck for Priest in Voyage to the Sunken City

The two archetypes outlined in Voyage to the Sunken City are Miracle/Naga and Silence Priest. While Silence Priest will likely be more hipster, the Naga cards are just too sweet to not build a deck around. There are so many cool and potentially strong Naga that it is hard to pick which ones to run. In this theorycraft, I've opted to push the early-game pressure a bit more with Vicious Slitherspear and Murkwater Scribe. The most basic plan is to hopefully get large minions in the form of Queensguard and anything buffed by Serpent Wig to stick and push aggression. If that fails, there is always Queen Azshara and Lyra the Sunshard as back-up win conditions. 

Wigging Out Priest Theorycraft
A Miracle Priest Deck created by . Last updated 2 years ago
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Final Thoughts

Priest is looking pretty solid for this upcoming rotation. The Miracle archetype is getting a nice facelift with Naga synergies and relying on 1-2 copies of their minions, rather than the many generated ones from past iterations. Control Priest has a ton of different directions it can be taken, such as with Seek Guidance, a Reno Jackson strategy, a Dragon-centric chassis, or some (un)holy combination of all three! Speaking of, Dragon Priest also has a couple exciting directions thanks to Drakonid Operative being a strong and flexible card. Silence Priest looks better than it has in a long time, which isn't to say that it will make huge waves in the meta, but it has a much better chance now than it has before. Priest gained a ton of cool and interesting synergies and directions to build around or build together this rotation and I can't wait to see what people come up with!

Thanks for taking the time to read our review on Priest for Year of the Hydra. Do you agree with our take? Let us know your thoughts on our review and Priest in the comments below.

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