Deck of the Week#9: Ramp Druid

by Team [IHU] - 6 years ago

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[DKMR]Alchemixt here from team Don’t Kick My Robot to bring you this week’s Deck of the Week. The deck of the week this time around is a more recent version of Druid that has been popping up quite a bit over the past month or so. This version is generally known as a “Ramp” style deck which utilizes the cards Wild Growth and Innervate to play out mid-large sized creatures well ahead of time. The strength of this kind of deck is to ramp up your mana and just keep slamming down threats at a pace that your opponent will be unable to keep up with. However, if you find yourself lacking the “ramp” cards, then you will be in for a much harder and longer game. There are a few different ways to build a Druid Ramp deck and we will certainly talk about them later but for now we can use this list as an example to start with.

2x Innervate – One of the most busted cards in the game right now which not only allows for some crazy openers but also fits the ramp theme of the deck perfectly.

1x Mark Of The Wild – A nice way to give your own minion taunt in order to live until the late game or it can be used on an opponents creature in combination with The Black Knight.

2x Wild Growth – This is the card that makes this deck different from all of the other versions of Druid and what you hope to start every game with. This allows the deck to execute its game plan perfectly by playing all your creatures earlier than expected. Also, the card is never dead because if you play Wild Growth while already having 10 mana you will obtain a card call Excess Mana which costs 0 and draws one card essentially replacing the Wild Growth.

2x Wrath – Quite the standard card in most Druid decks being a very effective removal spell.

1x Big Game Hunter – Druids generally have trouble dealing with large creatures such as giants. By adding one Big Game Hunter to the deck is gives the Druid an option to deal with an otherwise troublesome threat very efficiently.

2x Earthen Ring Farseer – Not seen in every build but we prefer these because it gives you an early play if you are missing Wild Growth and it can help you survive until your bigger creatures come down. That is not the most common role of these Earthen Ring Farseers though. The main purpose it to heal up damage that your taunted creatures have taken making them even more annoying for your opponent to deal with.

2x Harvest Golem – Again, not always seen in the ramp versions of Druid because in an ideal game you would always have Wild Growth on turn 2 and a 4 drop on turn 3. That is not always the case however and having a Harvest Golem can be a great early play either with Innervate turn 1 or just plainly on turn 3.

2x Swipe – This card is great, just read it.

2x Keeper Of the Grove – Very nice utility card found in many Druid decks. Having access to 2 silence effects can really help in some matchups. Being able to play this guy early and deal 2 damage can also be very effective against most aggro decks.

2x Senjin Shieldmasta – These are great taunt creatures that can hopefully bait out removal or The Black Knight before you drop your more threatening taunters.

2x Druid Of The Claw – One of the best 5 cost cards in the game. If you have the luxury of playing this guy early then you generally just want to throw him in taunt mode. However, if you are playing him on turn 5 or later then be careful of The Black Knight.

1x Faceless Manipulator – With so many taunters and expensive creatures it is always nice to be able to copy one.

1x Cairne Bloodhoof – A great card to ramp into early on.

2x Sunwalker – Overall just a great card and nice to ramp into against the aggressive decks.

1x The Black Knight – Works are our own removal and can also be used in combination with Mark Of The Wild on an opponents creature.

2x Ancient Of Lore – The main card draw of the deck with an occasional use of the healing effect.

2x Ancient Of War – Almost always played in taunt mode and generally you can bait out your oppenents The Black Knight before you play this one.

1x Cenarius – Some people play Rag in this spot but we prefer Cenarius because there are many Big Game Hunters going around lately and this card isn’t hurt by it.

Alright now that you have the jist of how the deck plays out lets talk about some tips, tricks, and alternate card choices.

Mulligans – Generally you need to mulligan aggressively for cards like Wild Growth and Innervate in order to execute the game plan. It is ok to throw back your large creatures in order to find the ramp cards. Your deck only has a couple Wild Growth but many large creatures, so the chances that you will find a creature to ramp into is quite likely. Keeping cards like Harvest Golem and Earthen Ring Farseer in the opening hand can also be a fine choice and especially if you know what you are playing against.

The Coin – I am sure the situation of having The Coin and a Wild Growth in your starting hand will happen quite often. The basic rule about whether or not you should coin out Wild Growth depends on if you have a 3 cost card in your hand. If you do not have a Harvest Golem or a Earthen Ring farseer that you want to play immediatly then just hold onto the coin until later.

The Gameplan – Usually this section would be much longer and more detailed but the gameplan of this deck is about as straight forward as you can get. Play mana acceleration into big creatures. Keep slamming down threats every turn of the game until your opponent has run out of answers or has no way of actually getting through all of your walls.

Alternate Card Choices:

Ragnaros The Firelord – There are not many late game cards that are better to ramp into compared to this one. The problem we have with Rag is that many people seem to be playing with Big Game Hunter and Faceless Manipulator in their deck which makes ramping into a Rag quite risky.

Ysera – A much safer card to ramp into as it has a higher toughness and cannot be hit by Big Game Hunter. This card is not as good when you play it if you are behind in a game but it can certainly put the nail in the coffin during a close game.

Nourish – A pretty decent card that fits the theme of this deck really well. The ramp effect can be nice, but if you are already at 5 mana then we would rather just be throwing down creatures. The card draw aspect is a really nice way to replenish your hand with threats, but Ancient Of Lore already fills that role nicely.

Force Of Nature + Savage Roar Combo – This deck is lacking the notable burst damage combo that can kill people out of nowehere. The advantage of not playing the combo is that you will never have semi-dead cards in your hand and there is always the chance that most people will be scared of the combo even though you don’t have it. The main disadvantage of not playing this combo is that it makes some matchups like Warrior Control, Handlock, and Miracle Rogue more difficult because you lack the finishing power.

We hope you enjoy this alternative Druid deck! Keep track of your stats on Hearthstats.net with this and let us know how you are doing!

[DKMR]Alchemixt streams Monday,Tuesday & Thursday from 12 PM – 5 PM EST at http://www.twitch.tv/alchemisxt. You can find all of DKMR’s streamers on their website with times and the days they stream!

Guide written by [DKMR]Alchemixt

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