Dragon Priest Deck List Guide (March 2017, Standard) – Season 36

Class: Priest - Format: kraken - Type: midrange - Season: season-36 - Style: meta-deck - Meta Deck: Dragon Priest

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Deck Import

Dragon Priest has been around in some form or another since the release of Blackrock Mountain when many dragons and dragon synergies were added to the game. Mean Streets of Gadgetzan has added two powerful cards in Drakonid Operative and Dragonfire Potion to the deck. Our Dragon Priest deck list guide will teach you Mulligans, Play Strategy, Card Substitutions, and go over the Combos and Synergies of the deck.

This deck list is based off of Hotform‘s version of the deck.

Update – Dragon Priest March 2017, Season 36

This continues to be a solid list for the ladder. Dragon Priest is a great deck for climbing, and is fun and relatively easy to play.

Should I Purchase the Blackrock Mountain Adventure?

Dragon Priest still relies on two specific cards from the Blackround Mountain adventure: Twilight Whelp, and Blackwing Corruptor. Is this deck playable without them? I would tend to say it’s not, because Twilght Whelp is very important in the early game, while Blackwing Corruptor is a strong mid-game minion that helps gain tempo and in some cases leads to lethal. Unfortunately, while Twilight Whelp is in the third wing of the Adventure, Blackwing Corruptor is in the last.

Read more about the Standard Rotation Schedule

The problem is that as of this writing, Blackrock Mountain is rotating out of Standard soon. There are a fair amount of cards still being played in popular decks: Blackwing Corruptor, Drakonid Crusher, Emperor Thaurissan, Flamewaker, Imp Gang Boss, Quick Shot, and Twilight Whelp. This is not including cards that sometimes see play, such as Blackwing Technician, Dark Iron Skulker, Dragon Egg, Grim Patron, Lava Shock, Nefarian, Revenge, and Solemn Vigil.

Check out the full list of Blackrock Mountain Cards

It’s hard to determine value because it depends on your situation. If you’ve got money/gold burning a hole in your pocket, then I would say yes it’s worth it. If you plan to really play a lot of Hearthstone in the upcoming months, then again I would say yes you’ll get your moneys/gold worth. If you like the idea of Wild and could see yourself playing it in the future then it could also be worth it to you. If you don’t fall into one of those categories then it’s more difficult to recommend. Remember, you’ll also want Brann Bronzebeard (second wing of League of Explorers, but is somewhat replaceable) and Netherspite Historian (last wing of One Night in Karazhan and less replaceable).

Also, keep in mind that while Wild might not be super popular now, there could come a time in the future where the stars align and it picks up in popularity.

Dragon Priest Mulligan Guide and Strategy

Against aggressive decks you are looking for your early minions like Northshire Cleric, Twilight Whelp, Wyrmrest Agent. You can also keep spells like Shadow Word: Pain (especially good against Shaman), and Power Word: Shield if you have something to play it on. Against more midrange-y decks you can keep slightly higher drops like Kabal Talonpriest (you can keep this against aggro if you have an early drop) and Twilight Guardian (especially with a 1-2 drop that needs activation). Against control you can consider keeping heavier cards like Drakonid Operative that is one of the most powerful cards in these matchups.

Check out our List of the Best Standard Decks for Hearthstone Ladder

You are also looking for a good curve, if you have a 1, 2, and 3 drop (4-drop on coin) even if it’s slightly sub-optimal you’ll likely want to keep it.

Now the big key to mulliganing with Dragon Priest is sometimes keeping a larger dragon to activate some of your early minions (if you have an early game minion that needs to be activated). The best one to keep is Twilight Guardian when you are against an aggro deck, but a card like Azure Drake can also be kept because it will guarantee activating Twilight Whelp and Wyrmrest Agent.

Why not play Wrathion?

There was some initial excitement about Wrathion upon the reveal, but on average you are likely to only draw one card which makes that aspect kind of weak. This is compounded with Wrathion’s weaker stats and the fact that it isn’t a dragon. If you already have the card and really want to play it you could consider cutting an Azure Drake.

Dragon Priest Matchup Win Percentages

Here’s a look at how Dragon Priest stacks up against other decks in the meta. Thanks to Metastats for allowing us to provide these statistics!

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

Dragon Priest Play Strategy

Dragon Priest is all about maintaining board control and eventually winning by punching your opponent’s face with Dragons. This is a very minion-centric deck, so you’ll need to know when to use your Hero Power to heal your minions (most of the time) and when to heal yourself. Always remember that playing a Taunt such as Twilight Guardian can effectively be a heal because it can reduce the damage heading towards your face. Due to Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, you now have a come back mechanic in Dragonfire Potion which can allow you to get back into the game while preserving the dragons on your board.

The early game for Dragon Priest revolves around trying to secure the board with relatively high health minions. These minions generally require the activation of dragons, so one of the main skills of Dragon Priest is managing your hand in a way that allows you to continually activate your minions. Twilight Whelp and Wyrmrest Agent are great at getting trades and grabbing board control. Power Word: Shield and Kabal Talonpriest can really help keep these minions alive, it’s huge to get an on curve Talonpriest while hitting a minion with the buff.

In the midgame you’ll be looking to maintain your board and start pushing damage with your strong midrange minions. A thing to be cautious about is the usage of Dragonfire Potion. You have to keep in mind which cards are dragons, cards like Wyrmrest Agent, Kabal Talonpriest, and Blackwing Corruptor are not dragons and will therefore take damage from the potion. The other potential issue with Dragonfire Potion is that it won’t damage your opponent’s dragon minions. A popular card like Azure Drake will take no damage and will continue to be a problem for Priest to deal with.

Against slower decks is where Netherspite Historian and Drakonid Operative really shine. You can grab a larger slower dragon from Netherspite in these cases that will continue to win the value game, while Drakonid Operative uses your opponent’s deck against them. Netherspite Historian is also decent against aggro because it has a fair amount of health and can get you an extra taunt like Twilight Guardian or even another Chillmaw if you think you will survive to play it.

Dragon Priest Card Substitutions

Dragon Priest Combos and Synergies

Brann Bronzebeard and Drakonid Operative is a super powerful combo against slower decks. Blackwing Corruptor can be comboed as well, which can lead you to sneaky lethal opportunities so always keep an eye out for it. Netherspite Historian is also a great pairing with Brann.

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27 Comments

Discuss This Deck
  1. deepblue
    March 25, 2017 at 9:02 am

    -2xMuseum curator, -Chıllmaw, +Ooze, +potıon of madness, +defender of argus. Works better with these replacements in this “pirate war” meta 🙂

  2. Wpb
    March 22, 2017 at 1:00 am

    Why Museum Curator?
    Should be Netherspite Historian.
    Thx.

  3. Dragonpriest lover
    February 8, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    What’s the best replacement for Chillmaw?

    • Evident - Author
      February 9, 2017 at 8:45 am

      Book Wyrm or Blackwing Technician.

      • Dragonpriest lover
        February 9, 2017 at 10:41 am

        Thank you! Ysera isn’t as good as those two?

  4. dtlfdtmr
    December 31, 2016 at 4:28 am

    Since this deck is having a hell of hard time against Renolock (mostly unwinnable if not for a bad draw by the opponent) I have seen Zetalot playing Velen and Holy Smite and Mind Blast.

    While I think this is a viable tactic, it robs me of two to four slots, that I would really like to keep for one Pain, Ysera and a Potion plus maybe a Whelp or two as the Whelps are essential for me against Aggro.

    How about running Alexstrasza? Might be a dumb thought, but I have seen it winning games against Reno for me when I got it through a Historian and dropped right after Reno.

    • Evident - Author
      December 31, 2016 at 8:19 am

      Might be worth trying, but are you facing enough Renolock to justify that inclusion?

      • dtlfdtmr
        December 31, 2016 at 8:31 am

        I am currently stuck between ranks 9 and 10 on Europe and face Renolock or Reno Mage in about one third of the matchups. (Split about 75% Renolock, 25% Reno Mage)

        Guess I will give it try and craft Alexstrasza, since that card will probably have a place in a lot of decks going forward, still.

  5. Mu7a4e7o
    December 26, 2016 at 1:31 am

    Pretty solid deck i would say… i miss some cards like chill,but i replaced it with nefarian ,also i miss one dragonfire potion so i used holy nova instead… Made 10 games so far and for now win rate is 100% -this deck is really effective against aggro decks,which are so popular now after we got MSOG

  6. Nihil
    December 21, 2016 at 4:34 am

    why ppl post this kind of deck with everything under 50% of winning rate?? another deck that consistently lose vs everything

    • Evident - Author
      December 21, 2016 at 7:13 am

      It has a positive win rate against both Shaman decks and Jade Druid. Those decks being some of the most popular.

  7. Midnight
    December 18, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    What would you swap out for Velen and Ysera, I took out bran, 2 ooze, and a whelp for Velen ysera and 2 mind blast

  8. Midnight
    December 18, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    I swapped out 2 Ooze a welp and brann for 2 mind blast ysera and velen

  9. PlanB
    December 17, 2016 at 8:59 am

    any chillmaw replacement ?

    • Evident - Author
      December 17, 2016 at 11:08 am

      I’d go with Ysera or Nefarian, one of those big Dragons.

  10. Yep
    December 16, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    What about replacing one Azure for an Entomb?

    • Evident - Author
      December 16, 2016 at 5:05 pm

      That’s fine, you might actually cut a Dragonfire Potion.

  11. Cellz
    December 13, 2016 at 11:16 pm

    How important is kabal talonpriest in this deck? It’s not a dragon

    Thanks

    • Evident - Author
      December 14, 2016 at 8:46 am

      It’s pretty important, if it gets a target on-curve against aggro you’ll be in a very favorable position. It’s a strong minion with a good effect.

  12. DocBrown
    December 13, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    Had success a few days but now I somehow am always in trouble dealing with 4 Attack minions.
    Priests drop Injured Blademaster early and I simply can’t handle with them, later Azure drake etc..
    If you mulligan and get a bad hand so you don’t have board to deal with that, you’re done. hmm.

  13. Chris
    December 12, 2016 at 11:48 am

    Priest has always been my go to class and glad to see it’s making a comeback. Been running a similar decklist as this one. Don’t have Chillmaw so I have replaced that with Potion of Madness against Aggro.

  14. PennFifteen
    December 12, 2016 at 11:42 am

    Curve out. Heal some stuff. Drop dragon bomb. Profit

  15. NoName
    December 12, 2016 at 7:04 am

    I love this deck