Porcupine’s Time to Shine

(like the bright shiny mech that it is)

You all remember this little pokey-man from Ashes of Outland. Or maybe you don’t. Such a small deathrattle, hardly worth the notice. But what if we could scale it up? Make it something worthy of our attention? 

The Core

Now that our spiky boi has been given a dual tag, we can do so much more. Previously we only had Serpentbloom to make our shots poisonous. Now we can magnetize a Venomizer on it for the same effect. Sure this means a board clear, but more importantly, it means more shots go face.

The Copiers

Your first goal is to make sure you have multiple copies of your guy. Silence and transform are real and the best way to play around it is to make sure you have waves of threats. In many games I don’t play the porcupine until turn 7 along with Dire Frenzy. If you don’t have at least one in hand and one in deck, you better work like hell to make sure you do.

The Tutors

These get your cards out of your deck. Take care not to empty your deck though. This will leave you vulnerable to hand disruption. Try to make sure you always have 2 in there before you pull the trigger. If you really need it and are about to die… I guess it probably time.

The Buffs and Triggers

It’s so great that many of the cards do two things at once. The location can give you the two extra damage and let you take a trade. Fireworks Tech lets you soften a board, or clear it if you have poison. Save Goblin Prank for a finisher. 

The Damage

This is the variable part, and mainly has some of the new Arcane spells. If you have another early game package you’d like to insert, like Wildseeds, go ahead. You just want to keep the board clear to maximize your FaceTime in the mid to late game. I had Ricochet Shot in there for a while but then I switched it to Flare because I was seeing a lot of secrets  

The Draw

Sir Finley is either an early game mulligan correction or late game access to your Dire Frenzied Porcupines. Definitely keep this guy out of your mulligan. Barak can get you those tutors in the late game. Flare can keep secrets in check, but Tracking is probably better  

The Rest

Dragonbane is a solid finisher and a soft taunt, there are some small mech synergies as well. Necromechanic is also a good finisher, there’s only one, because the second was always a dead card. Beaststalker Tavish can do a lot of mid game work if you’re lucky enough to draw him. The 9 damage secret can get you within lethal distance and force the opponent into trades. Astalor Bloodsworn is in there because newcard, also adds to the pew pew flavour of the deck. And yes, it’s a Renethal deck because the deck easily takes more than 30 damage before stabilizing. 

The Mulligan 

Ironically, even though this deck is all in on the Porcupines, you need to keep it out of your opening hand. He’s going to be no good to you uncopied and unbuffed. Look for the Breeder, the Wrangler, and the Scavenger’s Ingenuity. If it looks like the opponent will be fighting for board, keep the damage, you want to buy your self some time to get the cards you need. 

The Early Game

Try to keep the board as clear as you can. Defensive tools are limited so you’ll need to be playing your damage and your minions. Arcane Quiver can help you find Shellshot. If you are seeing more aggro, swap out Flare for Ricochet Shot. Drop your locations as soon as you can, you won’t have a chance later. An early Shan’do can make sense here, a small early buff can multiply with copies.

The Mid Game

You are in survival mode. Hopefully you have the 5 mana Astalor, or Tavish to play defensively. You might need to play an early porcupine, but play the unbuffed bait rather than a big one. You’ll have to try and get it silenced so that you can make you late game plays with more confidence. A Dragonbane is good on a slower board to bait out single-target removal. Make it to turn 7 and you should be able to drop your boi along with a Dire Frenzy. 

The Late Game

if you are lucky enough to have made it this far, you should have a location or two on board and some buffed porcupines in deck and in hand. Deathrattle is slow so don’t rely on your opponent to trigger it. Ini and Shan’do come in very useful here. Load the pokey-man with poison and double up your board power. Use your triggers or rush into larger minions. Hold back a Goblin Prank and the Necromechanic. If a pokey-man survives, this is a great way to burst your opponent down with 3X your attack damage if they left their face open. If you don’t have what you need in hand, Sir Finley can help you out.