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Hearthstone: Post-patch Rogues
 

Rogue week. The post-patch rogue.


There's been a influx of Hearthstone players lately, and perhaps many never experienced the era where rogue truly ruled town. Pre-patch rogues could add weapon damage with their hero power, shiv costs 1, headcrack was 2 mana, backstab had no limitations whatsoever. Oh, and the Defias brothers were 2/3 + 2/1 champions.

After the patch, it felt like rogues were nerfed to the ground. They seemed to cease existence in both arena & constructed. I myself left rogue (was my main) for mage as my previous strategies became defunct. TL Open #1 was pretty evident of the rogue downfall-



As Hearthstone tournaments start to take in the direction of 3 chosen heroes, I decided to pick rogue back up. The success I've been having on both on constructed & arena was quite surprising as I wasn't expecting any success at all. I think many of us ex-rogues ditched her a tad too quickly. There's still much explore with Valeera.

The fact is rogue now will never be like the rogue before, but they still have much power to be utilized from a different angle and can still be quite a threat at the top of the game. Rogue has lost a lot of surface appeal, but they are still pretty deep monsters waiting for a wake


Constructed playstyle:

Rogues still has decent synergy with aggro decks. The hero power still makes rogue a decent tank all game. Along with weapons & poisons, rogues can make calculated efficient trades with hero life for board/card advantage. This is also one of the reasons rogues are decent for control decks. With the nerfs, rogue's reach is a tad shorter than it was before but nowhere close to weak.

Miracle & spell damage rogues still exist, just not at the pure power they use to be. Rogues today seem to use an aggro mindset to patch holes the new patch has left them.


Arena playstyle:

You can't go wrong with going full aggro. The 2/3 mana dominance or 4 mana dominance playstyles both fit smoothly with the hero power. Vital spells like backstab, eviscerate, assassinate helps push you further in efficiency. Here's one of my recent rogue area runs:




Rogue cards (post-patch):

- Backstab - Still as useful as pre-patch, except now we have to do a tad more calculation and be careful with order of actions.

- Preparation - More relevant to dominant combo/miracle decks. Less useful for aggro.

- Shadowstep - So many different uses ranging from healing, double battlecry, double tokens and more. The non-minion version of brewmasters.

- Cold Blood - Personally I like to view this card like a permanent eviscerate, with the added bonus that every turn my minion isn't taken care of I get a free +4 damage.

- Conceal - The questing adventurer's best friend. Well, the card for you wreck havoc and be invincible next turn. Great synergy with decks that are based around key minions (questing adventurer, gadgetstan auctioneer, vancleef, etc.)

- Deadly Poison - Play rogue? Get this.

- Sinister Strike - I use to feel this card was garbage pre-patch. Now I feel it's a good fit in rogue rush-down decks. It serves enough purposes to warrant a place in the deck imo, direct damage to hero + low mana cost for combo activation.

- Betrayal - There was a moment in time where I thought 1 of these was a necessity in rogue decks. After a while, the fact that it always leaves a minion alive makes me feel there are other better options.

- Blade Flurry - The great thing about this card is it also hits the hero, meaning if we have 2 duration on the weapon, we can do 2x damage on a single target and have everything else take AOE damage. Rogue version of swipe.

- Eviscerate - as seen in my arena run, take as many as you can!

- Sap - Often underestimated. It open's pathways to enemy hero, removes damage, and effectively wastes a enemy turn for 2 mana. Depending on the rogue deck though, I wouldn't say every deck needs 2. 1 is often a welcome sight.

- Shiv - With it's mana cost now doubled, it isn't as flexible as it use to be. Though the cost now is more realistic to its power. 2 mana, 1 damage, draw a card, activate combo process. No longer a 'always get have 2 in deck' card, but still very useful.

- Defias Ringleader - The scrubs that left town. I still feel a coin + defias turn 1 opening is strong even with the 2/2 nerf. I love giving the leader Cold Blood to the leader turn 2. If not quickly removed, it spirals out of control for a quick win.

- Perdition's Blade - It's a weapon. You're a rogue. Get it.

- Fan of Knives - The other AOE in rogue's arsenal. IMO draw card is the main attraction, 1 damage AOE is a nice bonus.

- Headcrack - I find this a lot less useful now that the cost has incrased from 2 to 3. 3 makes it a endgame card, which 2 damage endgame isn't too good. Juggling 2 of these consistently is near impossible compared to before.

- SI: 7 Agent - Still useful, decent for early trades for card/board advantage.

- Master of Disguise - Still not a fan post-patch. I can think of a lot of scenarios where he would be useful but I would much rather another card in place of it.

- Assassin's Blade - Wha- weapon? Rogue? yes please. (this + deadly poison = 20 damage)

- Assassinate - The removal. Every rogue should run minimal 1 of these in their decks.

- Vanish - Not a fan for its mana cost. Usefulness depends heavily on the scenario. Chances are if you're losing and you use this, you're still losing. If you're winning, you might end up losing after casting this.

- Sprint - After experimenting around a lot with this card, my only advice is if you're gonna choose it for your deck. Have 1 maximum. Losing 2 turns in a game is simply not worth it.

- Patient Assassin - The 1 life cobra. Main reason why I'm not to keen with this card is that most minor AOE's can take it out.

- Edwin VanCleef - Great card. Even outside of a miracle deck, its combo numbers are very much worth its mana cost.

- Kidnapper - A free sap when combo'd. I'm still not sure how I feel about this. The sap is amazing, but the minion value is quite poor. Still haven't been able to fit this into any of my decks.


Quick tips

- Don't feel obligated to attack with the hero as soon as you activate the power. Saving that durability for a 2 deadly poison hits is often more efficient.

- Rogues are all about combos. The priority of playing cards is different than most of the other classes. Low mana cards (0-1 mana) are often your combo starters. Try not to use these spells without a combo unless absolutely necessary. Most rogue combos are worth the trouble.

- Get comfortable with a low life rogue. Much of rogue's play is about trading damage to the hero so our minions can survive. 'Reckless' trades are fine, but start being more conservative around the 10-15 life mark.

- The coin is a spell, which makes it one of the perfect combo starters in the early game.


Next week

This week was suppose to be Warlock Murloc, but after TL Open #1 I thought it would be a good opportunity to give rogues a nudge so hopefully we can see more in play. I won't make promises I can't keep, so next week will most likely be Warlock Murloc xD!


Till next week~


Valeera's 7th choice prom date,
Reere.