200+ Mage Massacring Maj Murdering Kick Ass Rogue Deck!

[LordKronos]

My original goal was to bring a Rogue deck from a 0 rating to a 200 rating. Not only have I achieved this, but I've also created a competitive Rogue deck that consistently defeats mages. Nothing pisses me off more than people who play the same mindless 30 card mage and Gwen decks. That's why nothing is more satisfying then to beat those players with a hero that most people think can't compete with top players. This deck may not look effective on paper, but with the deck below, I'm 12/14 and brought my rating from 190 to 200.

1x Lance

4x Jasmine
4x Blake
4x Raven
4x Aldon
3x Aeon
3x Nightshade

3x Assassination
4x Reconnaissance

Total: 30 Cards
22 Allies
7 Items

Strategy and Reasoning:

The overall strategy for this deck is to play allies which are durable. The overwhelming onslaught of high health allies defies fire balls, arcane bursts, and Nishaven's ability without fail. Using Lance's ability, board control is easily established, and then it's just steady damage against the other hero.

A typical game starts as:

Turn 1: Sac an Assassination, Recon or Nightshade.
Turn 2: Play Blake, or if no Blake, Nightshade. If going second, play Blake and use Lance's ability.
Turn 3: Play Jasmine if going first, or Aldon if there is a 4 health enemy ally on board. This gives Blake 4 attack which can keep your board control.
Turn 4: Play either Aldon if not already, if already played, another Jasmine.
Turn 5: Play Raven.
Turn 6: Play Aeon.

Jasmine: I rarely use her for her ability, more so for the cheap 3cc. With Aldon, a 4 attack with 4 health for 3cc is a steal, and once 6 resources are built up, playing 2 Jasmines can be a game changer.

Blake: Need to have 4, because he needs to be played on turn 2. With Lance's ability, he can be played whether or not you go first. This way, he can easily give you board control by turn 3. Unless Aeon is in play, he is usually sac'd later on.

Raven: Absolutely need 4 Ravens. This deck is built around her and Aeon. Not only is her ability amazing, but at 6 health she is able to withstand supernova, Nishaven's ability, fireballs, arcane bursts, Zaladar's ability, you name it, it won't kill her. The 5cc is well worth what she does for this deck.

Aeon: Because of the fact that he takes all burn cards, he is essential. As soon as you can play him, do it. Just like Raven, he can survive many things. So once he and Raven are in play together, you can essentially chalk up the win.

Nightshade: More of an annoyance/distraction to the opponent then anything, he usually gets sac'd. However, he's not terrible if Aldon is in play.

Assassination: Very rewarding to exhaust a Nightshade and kill a Plasma. I keep this in here because in middle gameplay it comes in handy. But, in early gameplay it usually gets sac'd.

Recon: Useful in mid-game, but gets sac'd early on just like Assassination.

Overall, items are rarely used in this deck. For some reason, the volume of allies is very effective. I can't fully explain how effective this is, so try it and give me some feedback.

[Kramil]

Hi! I did the same thing (start with Lance and bring it to over 200 rating) but my version is pretty different from yours...you don't use any stop thief, how do you manage Gwen or SS? I used for a long time assassination, but i realize that i use it only when it wasn't really necessary cause i have board control yet or no allies in play...i also use retreat and no reconnaisance (but i'm thinking about it)...No bad santa? i agree with you for raven and aeon...they are the only chance against mages...but with high rank player i win only one or two times...they can easily destroy your allies and damage your hero at the same time...but i love this deck

[MattOG]

While I don't doubt the validity of your success with this deck, rogues always lose to a deck with an average draw and board wipe ability. I'm guessing you haven't come across that many good Mage or Priest players. They should take this deck apart without much trouble.

To be clear, I'm not slamming the deck, I'm saying rogues in general are weak. This deck looks to be a strong variant of a weak class, but nothing more.

[Orenjer]

I think your build is feasible but majority of your deck is made up of allies. If you go up against heroes with a lot of card advantage, they can quickly find ways to deal with your allies and your temporary boost with reconnassaince may be too late.

How do you deal with opponent's items/weapons?

[graphlem]

+1 to MattOG's comments. Don't get me wrong, I have a Lance deck that's fun and can do OK, but vs other decks over 210/220 it gets it's a$$ handed to it, and the only reason it ever does well is the cards you use above, plus Stop Thief. I really hope they buff the Rogue support cards, they need to cost less to make this class viable. My feeling is Rogues shouldn't be about things that cost a lot, they should be decent in power, go quick (draw lots of cards), and be tough to target. Doing the following would help them out a lot imo:

Reconnaissance, cc3: Draw a card. Allies you control gain +1 and Haste until end of turn
Sorcerous Poison, cc3: Ongoing: target Ally poisons enemies that are damaged by it
Stop, thief!, cc4: Destroy target item. Draw a card
Assassin Training, cc4: Ongoing - your Allies have Stealth and First Strike
Ill-Gotten Gains, cc4: same
Lay Low, cc4: Draw a card. Your Hero and Allies cannot be targeted until your next turn
Mugged!, cc3: same
Nightshade, cc2: 1/1, Nightshade has Ambush, Stealth, and cannot be targeted
Throwing Knives, CC3: same

I think the above would help balance them against much tougher Classes.

[LordKronos]

Hi! I did the same thing (start with Lance and bring it to over 200 rating) but my version is pretty different from yours...you don't use any stop thief, how do you manage Gwen or SS? I used for a long time assassination, but i realize that i use it only when it wasn't really necessary cause i have board control yet or no allies in play...i also use retreat and no reconnaisance (but i'm thinking about it)...No bad santa? i agree with you for raven and aeon...they are the only chance against mages...but with high rank player i win only one or two times...they can easily destroy your allies and damage your hero at the same time...but i love this deck

Well, as far as Stop, Thief! goes, I'd rather play Raven at 5cc. Chances are, by the time you play Stop, Thief! the opponent has already attacked you. Raven can take a direct attack from Gwen or Amber and live, or take two defensive attacks and live. So, I play either her of Aeon to try to exhaust the weapons durability by attacking with Raven and Aeon and then using Lance's ability on them. Ever since I started employing this strategy Gwen decks haven't been much of a challenge anymore. If you search me you can watch some of my games and see me use that tactic. I played with retreat and found that in most of the situations where I'd use a retreat, a Recon can give me the added attack (combined with Aldon) to outright kill the enemy ally, while having a draw advantage. Also, if you draw a retreat when you don't need one, it's a dead card. If you draw a Recon when you don't need one, you can always use it just to see your opponent's hand and draw a new card.

While I don't doubt the validity of your success with this deck, rogues always lose to a deck with an average draw and board wipe ability. I'm guessing you haven't come across that many good Mage or Priest players. They should take this deck apart without much trouble.

To be clear, I'm not slamming the deck, I'm saying rogues in general are weak. This deck looks to be a strong variant of a weak class, but nothing more.

Well, I will in no way disagree with your statement that rogues are weak. That's exactly why I started to play rogue, for the added challenge. However, this deck doesn't always lose. Obviously it's at a disadvantage to a draw deck, but not a crippling disadvantage thanks to the durability of Raven and Aeon combined with Recon for card draw. That same durability also helps it survive board wipes. Obviously tidal wave can't be defended, but they survive Nishaven's ability, Super Nova, etc.

I think your build is feasible but majority of your deck is made up of allies. If you go up against heroes with a lot of card advantage, they can quickly find ways to deal with your allies and your temporary boost with reconnassaince may be too late.

How do you deal with opponent's items/weapons?

Explained this in the response to Kramil. The way I deal with weapons in general is how I deal with Gwen and SS. I try to attack while keeping my allies alive and decreasing weapon durability. If I have an ally who would be killed by SS, I Lance's ability it. I like to use Raven and Aeon to kill a weapon, and even Jasmine and Aldon, because they can withstand a defensive hit.

[Nasst]

My suggestion:
-3 Nightshade
-3 assasination
-4 reconaissance
-1 lance

+1 Boris
+4 blood frenzy
+3 jeweler's
+3 war banner

[LordKronos]

My suggestion:
-3 Nightshade
-3 assasination
-4 reconaissance
-1 lance

+1 Boris
+4 blood frenzy
+3 jeweler's
+3 war banner

Refer to signature.

[ertai88]

lol@Nasst
lol@LordKronos signature - thats why im just trying it out too!

First it was a 40 cards-set but i realized it was very very weak. So i trimmed it down to 30 cards

It looks like this:

3 Blake
2 Puwen
3 Jasmine
3 Aldons
4 Raven
2 Aeon
4 Assassination
4 Stop, Thief!
4 Retreat

I find myself resourcing Retreat early game most of the time. She is more useful late game but i am focused on allies at the beginning. I would also welcome opponent casting Bazaars.

The thing is, there is hardly any personality or theme going on in this deck except allies, which any human decks could still do it. Lance ability doesnt really stand out or change the game imo. Banebow, Zaladar, Arrows and Spells still gets through, its hardly considered "Stealth"

I can appreciate graphlem's ideas because Rogue could use some tweaking to let it stand out on its own.

[LordKronos]

lol@Nasst
lol@LordKronos signature - thats why im just trying it out too!

First it was a 40 cards-set but i realized it was very very weak. So i trimmed it down to 30 cards

It looks like this:

3 Blake
2 Puwen
3 Jasmine
3 Aldons
4 Raven
2 Aeon
4 Assassination
4 Stop, Thief!
4 Retreat

I find myself resourcing Retreat early game most of the time. She is more useful late game but i am focused on allies at the beginning. I would also welcome opponent casting Bazaars.

The thing is, there is hardly any personality or theme going on in this deck except allies, which any human decks could still do it. Lance ability doesnt really stand out or change the game imo. Banebow, Zaladar, Arrows and Spells still gets through, its hardly considered "Stealth"

I can appreciate graphlem's ideas because Rogue could use some tweaking to let it stand out on its own.

Glad you at least are giving rogue a chance haha. How's your build working for you?