(Guide is work in progress throughout this weekend!)

Introduction:

This deck was inspired by a Reddit post by the user Rozone who shared their take on an Odd Questline Gonk Druid. Upon seeing their list and how much they were enjoying the questline, I looked back with fondness at my time with Odd QL Druid at the start of Stormwind. Since Lost in the Park was one of the goldens I got with my pre-order bundle, I spent most of my time with versions of the odd questline decks that floated around once the expansion released. A comment in the Reddit thread suggested using [Hearthstone Card (SCH_607) Not Found] as a more efficient copy effect for Gonk, the Raptor and it got me thinking…what about a tutor for the big guy that could possibly make a combo more reliable and cheaper to pull off? I immediately went to add Living Seed (Rank 1) into the deck only to remember it’s an even-cost card. Stuck on the idea of a Gonk tutor, I decided to throw the odd-cost restriction out and see what I can could come up with. After some discussion and testing with the wellspring of fun deck building knowledge that is Swizard, we arrived at the list posted here. 

The result has been a fun, multifaceted questline druid deck that has multiple ways to close out a game thanks to the combinations of Brann Bronzebeard, Guff the Tough, Gonk, the Raptor, Wildheart Guff, and Flobbidinous Floop (one of my favorite cards I somehow forgot about until a few days ago while revising this deck.) While the lack of an upgraded hero power does take some getting used to when compared to the Odd versions that can stack obscene amounts of armor quickly, I have found that I actually don’t really miss Dire Shapeshift at all, especially when we are most likely going to be replacing the hero power with the Wildheart Guff upgrade. 

Win Conditions:

  [Hearthstone Card (Shan’do Wildclaw) Not Found] 

One of the biggest strengths of this deck so far is the flexibility in win conditions when compared to the Odd Questline version I used to play back in the Stormwind days. Because you are allowed to add in even-cost cards, you gain access to a secondary/tertiary win condition card in Flobbidinous Floop. He opens up alternative combos that can help you close a game in ways that it appears opponents don’t expect. Generally speaking, the deck revolves around three finishers:

1. Brann Bronzebeard + Guff the Tough. The old standby from the odd version, this combo can close out games provided you have been able to chip away with face damage over the course of play. 

2. Gonk, the Raptor + [Hearthstone Card (Shan’do Wildclaw) Not Found] + some source of attack strength powerful enough to kill off the opponent’s board. This copy effect gives you two attacks for every minion you kill, so clearing your opponent’s board can quickly turn into lethal damage to their face. Just make sure you do your math right. I don’t. Frequently. 

3. Either of the aforementioned finishers plus Flobbidinous Floop. Floop opens up the previous combos by giving you another copy of Guff, Gonk, or Shan’do depending on your play order. This increases the damage you can do, provided you have also ramped up enough mana using Wildheart Guff. In a few days of testing I have had more than a few games end with Brann, Guff, and Floop copying Guff for a surprise 32 face damage out of nowhere. Floop turning into Gonk means that each minion killed gives you three more attacks, exponentially increasing your damage if the opponent has a killable board. Floop also acts as insurance in the event you need to sacrifice your first Gonk to do some board clearing in a tight spot. You will still be able to play Floop into Shan’do to preserve the dual-attack combo. 

Questline Support:

Not too much to say here. These are all of the cards you have that help you complete the questline and get to Guff the Tough so you can start thinking about closing out the game. One benefit of having even cost cards in this deck has been the ability to corrupt Moontouched Amulet earlier than one would be able to in an odd deck. Getting that extra 6 armor earlier in the game can be huge depending on the matchup, whether it be for pure survival or for use while Gonking the board to death. Having Bite, Park Panther and Flobbidinous Floop in the deck means more options for corrupting the amulet when compared to only having Guff and Baku available in the odd version. 

Park Panther was a late addition to the deck prompted by Swizard, and I have seen the light after some play testing. Replacing Gnash in the original deck, the panthers offer some proactivity on board that doesn’t rely on using your face to take out a minion or two, while also progressing the quest. It does mean that you lose out on the armor from Gnash, but I still haven’t been lacking for armor while playing this deck most of the time. 

Tutors/Card Draw/Other Support:

Mulligans & Matchups:

Conclusion: