Aggro Token Druid Deck List Guide (Post Nerf) – Kobolds – February 2018

Class: Druid - Format: mammoth - Type: token - Style: meta-deck - Meta Deck: Aggro Token Druid

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Deck Import

Our Aggro Token Druid guide for the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion will cover the ins-and-outs of this aggressive deck. This guide includes Card Choices, Mulligan Strategies, Winrates, Gameplay Strategy, Card Substitutions, and Tech Cards!

Introduction

Aggro Token Druid is one of the most aggressive decks in the current meta. The deck wins the game by snowballing the board in the early game and finishing the game with huge burst from Savage Roar. It runs several small minions, and different means of generating tokens and potent AoE buffs. Some games end as soon as turn 2 or 3 after Druid overwhelms the whole board with 2-3 attack minions.

Kobolds and Catacombs Update

In Kobolds and Catacombs, Aggro Token Druid gained two critical new tools further increasing the power level of the deck. Corridor Creeper has taken the competitive scene by storm and was welcomed with open arms by Aggro Token Druid. While not quite as flashy, Dire Mole offers another efficient early game minion that is right at home in this archetype.

Update: Aggro Token Druid (February 2018 – Post Nerf)

Aggro Token Druid might have enough stuff to replace the pirate package/Corridor Creeper and continue on as a powerful aggro deck, but it will remain to be seen how the balance changes will alter the meta!

The deck list above is up-to-date, but we will need some time to update the guide below.

Check out our Budget Aggro Token Druid!

Aggro Token Druid Card Choices

Class Cards

  • Enchanted Raven – For an Aggro deck, a one-mana 2/2 is about as good as it gets. The Beast tag makes Raven even better thanks to its synergy with Mark of Y’Shaarj.
  • Mark of the Lotus – Arguably the best card in the deck, Mark of the Lotus can turn a board full of tokens into an overwhelming threat.
  • Druid of the Swarm – Another efficiently statted Beast, Druid of the Swarm sets up a roadblock against aggro decks and provides a sturdy body against control.
  • Mark of Y'Shaarj – With so many efficient Beasts in the deck, Mark of Y’Shaarj can pick up a lot of value.
  • Power of the Wild – While not quite as powerful as Mark of the Lotus (thanks to its additional mana cost), the flexibility of Power of the Wild is worth a spot in this deck.
  • Crypt Lord – In any matchup, sticking minions is crucial. Crypt Lord can protect damaged minions and frustrate control decks with its staying power.
  • Savage Roar – Savage Roar offers the payoff for sticking a wide board in the form of significant burst damage. Even the threat of Savage Roar forces an opponent to react.
  • Living Mana – As a deck reliant on minion damage, Aggro Token Druid frequently needs some board refill. Few cards provide this as well as Living Mana.

Neutral Cards

  • Bloodsail Corsair – A staple in Aggro Token Druid since the release of Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, Bloodsail Corsair can help pull an early Patches from your deck.
  • Dire Mole – It may be hard to believe, but in certain matchups, Dire Mole provides an even better turn one play than Enchanted Raven.
  • Fire Fly – Frequently, Aggro Token Druid risks running out of gas quickly. Fire Fly offers the ability to replace itself in hand and continue pumping out minions on board.
  • Patches the Pirate – Hearthstone’s greatest villain may be Patches the Pirate. His frequent presence may feel tiresome, but he definitely deserves a spot in this deck.
  • Dire Wolf Alpha – Dire Wolf Alpha can turn a wide board into an efficient trading machine or provide the extra bit of damage needed to close out the game.
  • Southsea Captain – Southsea Captain offers another Pirate to pull Patches essentially summoning a 5/5 for 3 mana.
  • Bittertide Hydra – One means of combating board clears is a single large minion. Bittertide Hydra can leave your opponent with the difficult choice between single-target and mass removal.
  • Corridor Creeper – Let’s face it, a lot of your minions are going to die over the course of a game. Fortunately, Corridor Creeper (everyone’s favorite pre-release sleeper) can come into play at a discount when this inevitably happens.

Aggro Token Druid Mulligan Strategy & Guide

VS Aggro Decks

Higher Priority (Keep every time)

  • Enchanted Raven – A turn one play is critical against other aggressive decks. Enchanted Raven can often trade up and give you an early lead on the board.
  • Mark of the Lotus – Timing of the Mark of the Lotus is always critical. Against other board-centric decks, you want to ensure a favorable board state early in the game and Mark of the Lotus helps do exactly that.
  • Bloodsail Corsair – Against weapon classes, Corsair can obviously get value. His true purpose, however, is to pull an early Patches out of your deck to receive buffs and/or clean up damaged minions.
  • Dire Mole – In aggro mirrors, the extra health on Dire Mole actually makes it preferable to Enchanted Raven in many openers.
  • Fire Fly – Fire Fly is probably Aggro Token Druid’s worst one-drop minion, but the necessity of an early minion curve still warrants holding it if you don’t have other options.

Lower Priority (Keep only if certain conditions are met)

  • Druid of the Swarm – Druid of the Swarm can put an immediate halt to your opponents aggression by assembling a frustrating wall, especially paired with Mark of Y’Shaarj.
  • Mark of Y'Shaarj – On the play with a turn one Beast, there are few better turn twos than Mark of Y’Shaarj.
  • Dire Wolf Alpha – While Dire Wolf Alpha doesn’t necessarily want to come down on turn two, having the option to buff minions and trade efficiently is nice to have, assuming there is already a turn one play in your hand.
  • Southsea Captain – With turns one and two plays already accounted for (or when you’re on the coin) the swing turn Southsea Captain provides makes him worth considering in your opener.
  • Crypt Lord – If you’re absolutely certain the opponent is piloting an aggro deck, Crypt Lord can stop them in their tracks. That said, maintaining board control on turns one and two is still all but a requirement for victory.
  • Corridor Creeper – In a deck with a slew of one and two cost minions, it may seem strange to hold a seven drop, but the earlier Corridor Creeper is in your hand, the sooner it can be reduced to zero mana.

VS Control Decks

Higher Priority (Keep every time)

  • Enchanted Raven – Against slow decks, the extra bit of aggression Enchanted Raven provides makes it the favored one drop in slower matchups.
  • Mark of the Lotus – While you may hold Mark of the Lotus a bit longer in these matchups, it’s still an important part of Aggro Token Druid’s game plan.
  • Bloodsail Corsair – Early Patches pulls are always beneficial. With a buff spell in hand, especially, it makes sense to hang on to Bloodsail Corsair.
  • Dire Mole – Even though Enchanted Raven may be a bit better in these matchups, Dire Mole is still a reasonable turn one play (especially with a Mark of Y’Shaarj to follow).
  • Fire Fly – Again, not the ideal turn one play but better than passing. Likewise, Fire Fly can help fill out your curve over the course of a couple turns and is worth keeping.
  • Corridor Creeper – Against decks with significant amounts of removal, minions are going to die. If you have Creeper in hand when this happens, at least you’ll get a free 5/5 out of that inevitable board wipe.

Lower Priority (Keep only if certain conditions are met)

  • Druid of the Swarm – Druid of the Swarm is not nearly as potent against slower decks. Still, the resilient body and Beast tag makes it a reasonable early-game play.
  • Mark of Y'Shaarj – If you can stick an early-turn Beast, Mark of Y’Shaarj can either force removal from your opponent or leave soaking up additional damage.
  • Power of the Wild – Against slower decks, you have a little more time in the early game to establish a board. Once you have that, Power of the Wild can reward your spread with an AoE buff. At worst, its a two mana 3/2.
  • Dire Wolf Alpha – Early aggression can help drop your opponent in range of Savage Roar. Dire Wolf helps get some extra chip damage in to set up this game plan.
  • Southsea Captain – A three mana 5/5 is certainly welcome in aggro decks. If you’re on the coin or have a one and two lined up, Southsea Captain is a good keep.

Aggro Token Druid Win Rates

Winrate stats are currently unavailable for this deck at the moment!

Aggro Token Druid Play Strategy

While Aggro Token Druid may have the appearance of simplicity, your strategy varies depending on the matchup. In general, against Aggro decks you want to prioritize control of the board while whittling away at the opponent’s life total. When facing Control decks, toeing the line between applying pressure and overextending into removal is critical to success.

Vs Aggro

As mentioned, against other aggressive decks (especially those that are board-centric) maintaining control of the board state is of utmost importance. While this is an aggro deck, it cannot apply pressure without minions in play. With this in mind, spending early turns making favorable trades into your opponents minions is very common. Here, Dire Mole and Enchanted Raven can put in a lot of work from the first turn in the game.

Because minion presence is the primary goal, going in on a buff spell earlier than usual (whether Mark of the Lotus or Power of the Wild) may be the correct play in order to lock down control of the board.

If you are able to lock down the board state, the game is often won as there aren’t many aggro decks that will be able to recover from a lost board. Even a free Corridor Creeper is often too late to make a difference if you have managed to spread the board. The burst from Savage Roar punishes opponents who get behind early.

In situations where you do fall behind, Living Mana does offer a uniquely aggressive comeback mechanic, so don’t reach for that Concede button too early.

Vs Control

Against control decks, early turns are frequently more about sneaking as much damage in as possible than trading efficiently. Chip damage in the first few turns can make the difference in the outcome of the game. Early minions are still important, but face is more commonly the place in these games.

Again, timing AoE buff spells are important in these matchups. Here, you want to eek out as much value from them as possible. Frequently, this means holding your buffs a bit longer than in the aggressive mirrors but not so long that you miss out on ever-important damage.

Perhaps the most important consideration in these games is the mass removal the opponent has available. Often, buff spells are best used to pull minions out of range of would-be board clears. Dodging a devastating Shadow Word: Horror or Defile turn, for example, can leave your opponent without any answers.

Typically, these games end with a big burst turn thanks to Savage Roar, so always be aware of how much damage the card represents, whether or not it is currently in your hand.

General Play Strategy

  • After the first few turns, try to count your potential damage every turn, especially with Savage Roar in your hand. It’s easy to burst the opponent down from 15+ with this deck and it’s very easy to miss lethal if you tunnel too hard on the board.
  • If you miss a two-drop, you can use Power of the Wild to summon a 3/2. It’s not the best play, but it’s easy to forget that this card has two options and miss out on developing the board.
  • Obviously, you aim to play Mark of Y'Shaarj on a Beast (Enchanted Raven and Dire Mole, especially), but you don’t want to fall into a value trap with this card. If the situation presents itself, buffing up any minion can lead to a victory.

Aggro Token Druid Card Substitutions

Despite its relatively consistent success over the past few expansions, Aggro Token Druid has remained a relatively inexpensive option for players looking to make their way up the Standard ladder. The deck does run four Epics but two of the four are easily parted with. Likewise, a single Legendary keeps the Arcane Dust fairly reasonable.

Aggro Token Druid Card Tech Cards

Aggro Token Druid has the benefit of being able to squeeze in just about any minion with an efficient mana cost. As a result, there are several tech cards that can easily rotate in should you find yourself needing an edge against certain matchups. The section below offers a recommendation for a few such cards, as well as the card they replace and the matchup they are targeting.

  • Spellbreaker – With the rising popularity of Cubelock, having a means of getting past Voidlord is all but a requirement. Spellbreaker is the best Neutral Silence and can be considered as a one-of in this deck. Spellbreaker can sub in for the lone copy of Crypt Lord in this list.
  • Golakka Crawler – The Pirate package isn’t going anywhere for some time. If anything, Corridor Creeper has made it more common among aggressive decks. To account for this, two Golakka Crawlers can rotate in for the Dire Wolf Alphas. Why bother trading up into Pirates when you can just eat them?
  • Hungry Crab – While Murlocs are less common after the Murloc Warleader nerf, Murloc Paladin is a still one of the more popular decks in the format. Hungry Crab can sub in for Fire Fly and offer massive swing turns (with limited downside) against decks full of angry humanoid fish.

Roffle

A card game veteran, Roffle has been infatuated with Hearthstone since closed beta. These days, he spends most of his time tinkering with decks on ladder or earning gold in Arena (f2p btw). In particular, Roffle has a wealth of experience in competitive Wild Hearthstone, including a top 16 finish in the inaugural Wild Open Tournament and numerous high end of season finishes since the format’s inception.

Check out Roffle on Twitter or on their Website!

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140 Comments

Discuss This Deck
  1. Dabestburk
    February 10, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    I do have the dust to craft it, but are there any good replacements for leeroy?
    Right now I am running x2 crypt lord instead of branching paths and leeroy and cobalt scalebane instead of hydra
    Thanks for any help 🙂

    • Andrew
      February 22, 2018 at 8:29 am

      Thoose are actually pretty good replacements.

    • Matt
      March 11, 2018 at 7:26 am

      Fungalmancer? Why doesn’t this deck run fungalmancer?

  2. Poon
    February 10, 2018 at 6:32 am

    Is this deck dead? I started the game last Sunday and picked Druid. Immediately disenchanted everything to build this. Then the nerfs happened two days later. Should I just start another account?

  3. DestinyXXX
    February 8, 2018 at 3:22 am

    How’s it possible that with the nerf Vicious Fledgling became better than Crypt Lord as a 3 mana drop?

    I like the 1x Branching Paths but maybe 1x Soul of the forest is better against AOE clears.

    I will try a list with 2x Crypt Lord + 2x Branching Paths.

    • Vickman76
      February 11, 2018 at 1:33 am

      What about Tar Creeper? Also id play 10-15 games then check the win rate %. This deck can gt you to 15-12 maybe lower. Its fast,thats why I like it.

  4. Paul R.
    January 11, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    I like this deck, it does have some small flaws however.

    First off, it gets crushed by anything running heavy taunt (Warrior Quest, for instance) – nothing to do about that without changing the whole make up of the deck. Combo decks that feature heavy board clear can also out last it… but again, short of altering the basic concept of the deck, that’s just a beat you’re going to have to either try and outrace or endure.

    I did remove the single Crypt Lord and replaced it with The Black Knight, as he is an excellent solution to that “final line of defense” Taunt that folks will play, and is great removal against The Lich King and his ilk.

    I know it’s a raging debate, but I’m firmly in the “hate it” camp of the Bittertide Hydra… I’ve lost literally DOZENS of games because of this cards horrific drawback. In a Priest deck that can silence it 19 different ways, it’s great… for the rest of us, hell no.

    As this deck tends to run fast and dry by turn 5, I replaced the Hydras with Nourish. A lost turn of tempo is worth the ability to refuel.

    As I don’t yet have the Living Mana cards, the old standby Force of Nature is a respectable, if inferior, replacement.

    My only other change was to remove the Druids of the Swarm for Golakka Crawlers. Being able to turn Patches into Crabby Patty buffs is great!
    Turn 1 – Corsair/Patches, hit for 1
    Turn 2 – swing for 2 (or swing for 1 and remove a 1/1 with the Corsair), drop Crab for a 3/4 body with no drawbacks

    • Matt
      January 14, 2018 at 7:32 am

      Taunts alone don’t stop the deck. It grows exponentially if you just put stuff in front of it instead of actually dealing with the board.

      If you don’t have living mana I’d probably try druid of the claws and argent commanders as the finishers instead of nourish.

      • Paul R.
        January 21, 2018 at 2:23 am

        It’s been my experience playing this deck that big taunts do, indeed, stop this deck dead in its tracks.

        +1/+1 buffs do little to overcome 6, 7, 8, toughness taunts, especially the stegadons and such that replace themselves upon death… and while the taunts themselves generally aren’t strong enough alone to kill your minions, while you’re dealing with the taunts, your opponent is finishing off your board with what s/he has in hand.

    • Matt
      January 14, 2018 at 8:56 am

      If your curve stops at 3 nourish gives you about 4 mana of reload on 6.

    • ringo11
      January 18, 2018 at 8:01 am

      Nourish doesn’t fit this deck at all, you always need to be putting new threats on the board.

      • Paul R.
        January 21, 2018 at 2:21 am

        Ringo11 – And how do you propose to “always put new threats on the board” with an empty hand?

  5. Darthbrosius
    January 9, 2018 at 11:31 am

    The new guide is fantastic, GJ. Why not playing both 2x Living Mana and 2x Soul of the Forest instead of 2x Hydra?

    I conceptually like 2x Hydra only in my secret mage since in the last turns -when I’m bursting face- I always have my 1x Ice Block protection.

    Why the better with taunt rule doesn’t apply to Southsea Captain vs Tar Creeper as well? If you do -2 SS Captain +2 Tar Creeper.

    RIght now I’m testing your list at Legend with these variations:
    -2 Hydra
    +2 Soul of the Forest
    -2 Ss Captain
    +2 Tar Creeper
    -1 Crypt Lord
    +1 Spellbreaker

    Ps: but I reached legend with a list with 2x Penguin 2x Golakka 2x Spellbreaker (instead of Hydra / Captain / Swarm) + 1 Crypt Lord as my only taunt minion, in a meta full of highlander priests, control N’Zoth lock and pirates.

    • Darthbrosius
      January 9, 2018 at 11:40 am

      *if you replace the ss captains with tar creepers you can replace as well 1x Crypt Lord for something better. A Spellbreaker maybe?

      Ps: tell us in the guide the state of the art about the Penguins. I won games with the little bit of extra burst in the first turns and it’s the perfect target for mark of YS turn 2.

  6. JoyDivision
    January 9, 2018 at 6:35 am

    Maybe I’m dumb but: What the heck is this ‘Control Priest’ thing? The priest decks I know are Razakus, Big and Spiteful Summoner Dragons, maybe Inner Fire Divine Spirit Combo.

    Can someone please explain?

    • Roffle - Author
      January 9, 2018 at 9:59 am

      Following the link it appears to be the Satellite/Big Spell Priest that’s being categorized by Metastats as an older archetype. This is likely because it’s so new and the algorithm doesn’t yet have a definition for the archetype yet.

  7. Donpedro
    January 8, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    61% wining rate with Jade Druid ???? !!!!! Ridiculous !

    • Roffle - Author
      January 9, 2018 at 10:15 am

      Spreading Plague can be rough, but the matchup is highly favored for the Aggro Druid.

  8. Matt
    January 8, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    Never been a huge fan of running captain and corsair in the same deck. The stats are usually better when you choose 1 or the other. Is the penguin still pretty good instead?

    • Roffle - Author
      January 9, 2018 at 10:06 am

      HSReplay stats seem to suggest running both is better in Aggro Druid. If I had to pick one for the deck, it’d be Corsair.

      FWIW, when sorting Aggro Druid decks by win rate, the overwhelming majority of lists have at least one Captain. Individual stats for Captain in Druid aren’t great, but the card seems to perform better than other common inclusions at the 3-mana slot.

      • Matt
        January 9, 2018 at 4:30 pm

        Interesting. I hadn’t looked at the stats for agro druid specifically. Was just remembering back in the zoo lists where running 1 or the other was better.

  9. Darthbrosius
    January 5, 2018 at 6:46 am

    Isn’t Stubborn Gastropod always better than Druid of the Swarm? It is also a beast…

    • Darthbrosius
      January 5, 2018 at 7:31 am

      I wouldn’t play both BTW…

      • Fear
        January 7, 2018 at 4:13 am

        Welll When the Druid of the swarm is played , the taunt / posion minion are beasts. However the card itself isnt shown as a beast type.

        • Darthbrosius
          January 7, 2018 at 5:44 am

          Ty, I forgot that. Well, Gastropod is both Taunt and Poisonous and costs the same. A guaranteed 1 to 1 trade even mid game with stronger minions in play (example: you kill everything on opponent’s board except a corridor creeper that’s forced to trade himself on the gastropod)… They are actually the same, I don’t understand why everyone plays Druid and nobody plays Gastropod. Another case of class cards syndrome?

          • Darthbrosius
            January 7, 2018 at 6:00 am

            BTW, Cobalt Scalebane is also ALWAYS better than Bittertide Hydra. They have the same value, it doesn’t fear Defile/Wild Pyromancer/Anduin and more important it isn’t cleared by Dragonfire Potion!

            2x Spellbreaker + 1x Cobalt Scalebane >>> 1x Spellbreaker + 2x Bitterhide Hydra

            2x Druid of the swarm + 2x Crypt lord or Tar creeper are too many and slow down the deck, I’d replace 2x of them with 2x 0 mana 1/1 beast Penguin.

          • Darthbrosius
            January 7, 2018 at 8:03 am

            *and they (2x Druid of the Swarm + 2x Crypt Lord) slow the deck down.

          • Matt
            January 8, 2018 at 4:51 pm

            Hydra is harder to clear than scalebane overall and doesn’t require another minion to be on board which is tough post turn 5.

          • Roffle - Author
            January 9, 2018 at 10:12 am

            It’s partially the fact that the 1/2 body is too fragile in the early game whereas a 1/5 can soak up a lot of damage in Aggro mirrors and remain on board to receive buffs. Sometimes, you’d also rather not have the Taunt on your Poisonous minion so you can dictate the trades for the kill.

            Stats also suggest that Bittertide Hydra outperforms Cobalt Scalebane in Druid so I would disagree that the latter is always better. Often, you’re playing the beefy 5-drop because you just lost the board. In those circumstances, Bittertide is better.

    • Matt
      January 8, 2018 at 5:00 pm

      Swarm gives more flexibility. 1/2 poisonous minions almost effectively have taunt anyway.

      • Darthbrosius
        January 8, 2018 at 11:05 pm

        Ok, you convinced me, Swarm is just a little better than Gastropod (but I wouldn’t add too many Taunt minions and it faces heavy competition by the bigger Tar Creeper and Crypt Lord).

        I’m still not sure about Hydra. That guy is a mini Velen for free for highlander priest (but you really want to win the games before Anduin is played, therefore it’s okay).

        Against aggro the opponent’s can trade Hydra while also going face. It’s a really nice present.

        I like it only against jade Druid. Turn 5 you trade your all board for value and leave just 1-2 strong minion (usually a Creeper Summoned for free and a Hydra / Scalebane) behind. Spreading plague won’t do nothing (especially with a Spellbreaker in your hand, but that’s asking too much).

        • Darthbrosius
          January 8, 2018 at 11:24 pm

          Ps: I play Hydra in my Secret Tempo Mage list, but I have an 1x Ice Block there and a lot less minions.

          In Druid a cheap minion is usually topdecked around turn 6, thus you can get value off Cobalt Scalebane. If you want to play a “big” minion that’s the way to go. Expecially if you play 2x Penguin like I suggested.

          Pps: dire wolf alpha is already a soft taunt minion which costs 2 mana and it’s a lot more aggressive than swarm. I’d go with just 1x Tar Creeper / Crypt Lord / Saronite Chain Gang.

          • Matt
            January 9, 2018 at 1:21 am

            The taunts let you go wide even against agro to get value out of your buffs.

            You only play hydra in decks with lots of minions. It’s like a big flappy bird. You need to have the board for it to be any good but if you do it ends the game.

          • Darthbrosius
            January 9, 2018 at 1:45 am

            2x Penguin 2x Wolf Alfa 2x Southsea Captain 2x Spellbreaker are better against slow decks (ultra aggro druid)

            2x Swarm 2x Golakka 2x Crypt Lord/Tar Creeper 2x Cobalt/Hydra are better against aggro (anti-aggro aggro druid)

            You can try a mix of those packages (I reached legend with the ultra aggro + Golakka build).

          • Darthbrosius
            January 9, 2018 at 1:48 am

            The 2x Hydra fits better in a tempo deck (like my mage) than in an all-out token aggro (like my ultra aggro token druid).

            If you wanna go hybrid, do it! 😀

  10. Draco46
    December 13, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    What can I replace Patches with as I do not have him? 🙁

    • Draco47
      December 21, 2017 at 9:15 am

      stonetusk boar

      • AboveThunder
        December 23, 2017 at 5:18 am

        No, stonetusk boar is a bad card, Patches is only worth it for the pirate synergy. If you dont have him get rid of the bloodsail corsairs too and add tidecaller and 2 rockpools

  11. kaidan
    December 11, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    This deck is still valid.

  12. Gago
    December 3, 2017 at 3:35 am

    Any replacement for southsea captain?

    • DUDUMAN
      December 4, 2017 at 11:21 am

      I use fledgling instead of southsea

      • Zipp
        December 15, 2017 at 10:21 pm

        Same. It’s a really useful play especially when you hit face with windfurry. Easy 8 damage is a threat to anyone.

  13. MISZU
    November 13, 2017 at 10:43 am

    pick leroy jekins