Odd Priest - Full Anti-Aggro

Like Odd Warrior, but worse better.

Odd Priest is a deck that resulted from getting Murozond the Infinite from packs and wanting to make a big, greedy Control Priest. Ironically, he can't be played in an odd deck, but them's the breaks. Back then this was a typical meme homebrew deck - it wanted to combat aggro, control AND combo, but failed 4 out of 5 times against all three. Eventually I made a version that was decent, even posted it on this site (it's deleted now) and shelved it into my HS collection of bad decks, right between Mecha'thun Shaman and Elusive Druid.

With each expansion I'd spend about 10 minutes to edit the deck a bit, keep it "up to date" even if I didn't play it. It got more and more anti-aggro, while also getting worse and worse against control. Recently, however, I've finally decided to ditch most of the Galakrond support I had for so long and fully accepted that I won't beat highlanders, but at least I could beat aggro. And now I can actually say it's sort of a success!

This is strictly an anti-aggro deck, though. If your pocket meta has slower decks, they will beat you. As for combo, you actually have chance if your Deathlords pull something good, and of course Mindrender Illucia if you're clever enough (or if your opponent isn't). Worth mentioning my MMR is likely not very high, but I do generally face Secret/APM Mage, Murloc Shaman, Reno Priest/Warlock/Shaman etc.

Removal such as Holy Smite, Breath of the Infinite, Mass Hysteria and Psychic Scream are staples, so I'm not gonna focus on them. Instead I'll explain some of the more unusual options:

• Devouring Plague - Seemed sketchy to me too, but it's quite decent at dealing finishing damage while also healing. So far it works well.
• Shadow Madness - Like a more controllable Ramming Speed or even Hysteria, but catered to fighting aggro.
• Time Rip - Turns out Priest has no cheaper single-target hard removal that's odd-costed. Guess we're forced to play Galakrond.

Survival is easier with an upgraded Hero Power, but only a Hero Power isn't enough:

• Armor Vendor - It might seem unusual seeing this one in Priest, but it's just a really good card.
• Deathlord - The Big Bad Taunt. It doesn't matter that it pulls a minion when you just clear the board on the next turn.
• Already mentioned Devouring Plague, its healing is not to be ignored.

Draw and generation isn't very great, but that's what happens when you specialize to fight aggro:

• PW: Shield - Why wouldn't you run a 1 Mana draw with an upside? Cycle is welcome, especially if you need Illucia.
• Northshire Cleric - Usually draws one, maybe two. Frankly a bit underwhelming, but draw is hard to find and it's a good turn 1 play against aggro.
• Palm Reading - Neat card, helps set up boardclears a turn earlier, and most of your deck are spells anyway.
• Archdruid Naralex - Last bit of leftover greed, but the fact it can generate some very good cards makes it worth it.
• And of course, Galakrond is here as a threat-maker when Token Druid starts stalling for a Voracious Reader topdeck. Make no mistake; although the idea of infinite value sounds appealing, it's too slow and too random to pressure most of Wild control decks.

Tech cards give you an edge against certain decks, provided they aren't at the bottom of your deck as usual:

• Mindrender Illucia - The one tech to rule them all. If timed well, opponents will concede out of rage alone.
• Already mentioned Deathlord, a strong anti-aggro tool, but can be quite good against combo if you're lucky skilled.

      The new cards:

• Shard of the Naaru - Tech against board buffs, should work alright because you can just trade it away, but remains to be seen.
• Rustrot Viper - If I had Gluttonous Ooze, I'd try it at least, but Viper is not only a vanilla minion, but also Tradeable. Also enables a potential dream counter to Kingsbane Rogue
  (Viper + Illucia + Cavern Shinyfinder/Secret Passage/Raiding Party + Kingsbane)

Stylish victory can achieved with only one card, but when it works, oh my does it feel great:

• Baku the Mooneater - Playing this bad girl when the aggro fella lost all their resources and smashing it into their face until they die is the ultimate sign that you're a certified master of Hearthstone.

As far as matchups go, aggro decks are generally alike, with some exceptions:

• Do the control thing - clear & heal, don't get steamrolled, get good RNG and take advantage of your unexpectedness.
• Northshire Cleric must be used to draw UNLESS it's turn 1 and you're going first.
• Use Palm Reading primarily to be able to play Mass Hysteria/Psychic Scream earlier.
• Definitely be careful, but you can let them overextend a little - you've got recovery, so the real challenge is playing around their Secrets, strategic buffs and Loathebs. Deathlord helps.
• Theoretically, you're doomed against Kingsbane Rogue. They aren't often on ladder though.

Against combo you pretty much exclusively search for Deathlord and Illucia. Luckily, Deathlord is generally just a great keep in the mulligan.

Against control your gameplay is also generally the same for all control decks:

• Emote 'Well Played'
• Concede
• Think about how confused your opponent is right now 

That being said, there are exceptions, namely Reno Priest. Since this deck practically functions as a combo deck, you have some outs. Deathlord can pull combo pieces, Illucia is extremely important, but they're not the only cards you've got. One thing that happened to me is I used Dream from Archdruid Naralex to bounce a Lorekeeper Polkelt right after it was played, filling the opponent's hand and burning their Shadowreaper Anduin.

Finally, feel free to make substitutions to the deck as it's very flexible and nothing is truly crucial, except Illucia if you want a chance against combos. I don't have lots of legendaries, but I'm quite certain that if you try to go greedy, you'll end up disappointed. Some ideas:

• Awaken the Makers seems really cool for a whole different take on Odd Priest.
• Ysera the Dreamer and Drakonid Operative as a part of a more Dragon-oriented value list.
• If you really want to meme things up, put more high-health minions and use Glitter Moth + Void Ripper for a giga-brain OTK. Divine Spirit Inner Fire who?