Hearthstone: The Return of the Druids

For a long time, Druids have dominated the meta in Hearthstone, with their insane ability to ramp up their mana with Nourish and Wild Growth. With this ramp, they were able to run multiple decks like Malygos Druid, Mecha’thun Druid, Togwaggle Druid and sometimes a mix of all three at once. You’d never know which one they are running until it is too late.

So, Blizzard decided to slow them down by increasing the mana cost of Nourish and Wild Growth by one. And it worked, a little too well though. Druids were completely knocked out of the meta with this nerf. But now in Rise of Shadows, Druids are coming back with fang and claw ready.

Deck Tech

Release the trees!

Druid comes charging into the Year of the Dragon with a powerful deck. Token Druid is very similar to the Token Deck seen in the Wild Format, although with a few changes for format reasons. The goal of this deck is to flood the field with weak creatures, with cards like Whispering Woods. After summoning your minions, you then buff them with cards like Power of the Wild and Blessing of Nature. After the buffs, you can basically destroy your opponent by comboing out with one or two Savage Roar. The deck is very simple but very powerful.

Why is it good?

What shall we hunt?

One of the biggest reasons that this deck is so powerful is because of the lack of board removal cards. The only cards that can deal with the Druid’s board are cards that deal one damage to all minions or destroys most of the board. Unfortunately, many of these cards are either not used in the decks that could run it, or you simply don’t draw the cards.

Fan of Knives and Brawl are the most common cards that are in Rogue and Warrior decks respectively that could deal with these boards if the Druid is set up on curve. So, unless your opponent has played minions to trade into your minions, you are set up for lethal if you have the buff cards.

It can also be difficult to deal with because of how many times the Druid will fill their board with small minions that pose a threat if not dealt with. With two Whispering Woods, two Mark of the Loa, two Dreamway Guardian, two Landscaping, two Soul of the Forest and two the Forest’s Aid in the deck, your opponent is pressured to clear the board a lot and consistently with no downside of losing tempo. This can be difficult for them to achieve as you will simply repopulate the board and set up for lethal again and again.

It becomes incredibly difficult if you are able to pair Archmage Vargoth with any of these spells because he will cast them again and give you even more minions to play.

Counter Decks

Two cards for the price of one.

This deck does have a few weaknesses that could be exploited. It suffers to board clears or Warriors who are able to armor up enough to survive the burst damage. Warriors seem to be the best counter to this deck, with their ability to gain large amounts of armor very rapidly as well as their board clear cards, like Dyn-o-matic and Brawl. They also get the upper hand with Mad Genius, Dr. Boom, giving all mech minions rush, making it easier for the Warrior to clear out the tokens the Druid makes.

It will always be an uphill battle for the Token Druid when going up against any of the popular Warrior decks. But if luck is on your side, it is possible. If the Warrior doesn’t draw their board clear cards or doesn’t get enough armor to survive the huge burst of damage, they lose like any other class in the game.

Worth Crafting?

This deck is extremely easy to make at only 5960 Arcane Dust if you have none of the cards. It generally only runs one legendary, and even not having him would not destroy the entire deck and could be played with another buff card or a token summoning card. Token Druid doesn’t require a ton of thought to play, with the main idea being fill the board, buff and then go face. Although the more thought you put into your plays, the more this deck will reward you. Knowing when to commit to a play or when to hold back will either win you or lose you a game. It’s a great deck for starter players and experienced players.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.

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