1.27 Zhanna 'Mournful Resurrection' Deck

[Harakhte]

Howdy,

Despite the general disrepute of how useful Resurrection & Mournblade are to a Priest, that hasn't stopped some of us attempting to make a decent run at the idea. I keep a list titled 'Cards I Need To Find a Good Use For' and both Rez and MB were near the top, so after giving up in 1.26, with the allies released in 1.27 I started again. There ended up being a number of similarities to Brontos' Brontozhanna but the focus of each deck is slightly different. A couple caveats: this isn't guaranteed to win you games, or even make much sense to mainstream Priest thinking. It is still a work in progress, and might stay that way through 1.28 as well. Try it if you like, but your mileage may vary.

The list:

1xZhanna

2xLily
4xKris
2xBirgitte
3xAldon
4xOracle
3xAeon

4xTidal Wave
2xIce Storm
3xDestroy Arms
2xResurrection
2xSmite
3xBad Santa

2xKing's Pride
3xMournblade

Total: 40 cards.

Main variations add 3xJasmine for 1xAldon and 2xBirgitte, and/or switch the Ice Storms and Smites for 4xRetreat.

The primary goal is to make use of Kris, boosted by Aldon and KP, as a renewable source of damage and Mournblade fodder. Tainted Oracle provides extra draw, and another source of MB fodder, before the Tidal Waves while afterwards Rez and Bad Santa are used to clean out your graveyard. Ice Storm and Smite offer extra sources of ally removal, and surprise DD later in the game (not many expect to see Smite that often) and were chosen over Retreat because they tend to kill things, rather than return them to the owners hand. The main reason for using Retreat instead would be to multiple-cast the same Kris with Aldon/KP in play, and keep allies off the board until control is established pre- and post- Tidal Wave. The use of Birgitte and Aeon are for protecting Aldon, Kris and Oracles, helping to allow you to control when/how they die as much as possible,

The Mournblade is a catch-all, offering (sort of like Rampage or WotF) some benefit from ally deaths, and combined with judicious use of Kris, Oracle, Tidal Waves and IS/Smite, often at least as much damage per attack as Amber gets with a JD. What it isn't is the primary point of the deck. Like Rampage or WotF or NP, it is great when you get it set up, but it is only an accessory to victory, though so far in my testing I was surprised by how much utility it provided and how often the inability to keep both KP and MB off the board (aided and abetted by Lily) led to it eating up the available item destruction and allowed a KP win condition, or how often the MB was ignored and provided the final 10 damage or so.

That's it for now, so I hope it was at the very least of interest. I'll update the thread as the development progresses and I always appreciate constructive comments and criticism.

Cheers,
-Harakhte

[Brontos]

Kris is a good addition to the deck.
But I'm not sure about smite. I don't like the card.

[Newari]

Harakhte, nice idea. Mileage may very but a fun idea. On your list of cards to find useful, do you have Here Be Monsters on that list?

[Pie Flavor]

Edit: nvm

[Harakhte]

HBM, eh? Can't say that it is, though it does have it's uses. If there is an under-used Shadow ability that I favor it would be Shadowspawn.

Cheers,
-Harakhte

[ertai88]

Harakhte, I like your style very much. I appreciate your concept on it. A little unconvention build makes this game a little more interesting. Thanks for sharing!