The Lich King Lifesteal Dragon Priest Deck

Aim of the deck

This deck aims to win by keeping The Lich King from dominating the early board, and then taking over with both tempo advantage, and card advantage in the late game. A Lifesteal package is included to buy enough time for those advantages to take effect.

Strategy

Mulligan

Shadow Word: Horror is the single most important card in the deck as it deals with The Lich King's seventh turn with ease. It should therefore be kept in the opening hand. Other than this, the deck aims to play roughly on curve. Twilight Whelp is both a great Dragon activator, and a strong board presence if needed. Northshire Cleric is key to drawing cards early. These 1-drops are very powerful and should also be kept in the opening hand.

If you like part of your opening hand, Kabal Talonpriest can also be kept. As discussed later in the guide, it is far preferable to Acolyte of Agony in the early-game. If you do not have Shadow Word: Horror but do have Shadow Visions, you can keep the Shadow Visions as a way to find your Shadow Word Horror.

Early Game

In the early-game you will be looking to use your Hero Power to draw cards with Northshire Cleric, as well as using your Shadow Word: Pain to remove annoying minions such as Sludge Belcher and Water Elemental. Your Kabal Talonpriest can help keep control of the board.

Until Turn 5, you will be using limited resources to stop things from getting out of control. Do not be afraid to use the Shadow Word Pain on lesser minions if you have to. You should also not be afraid to use your Shadow Visions to fetch either card draw, or an extra Shadow Word: Horror if you need to remove an irritating board.

Turns 5 and 6 are where the game begins to turn around. Your minions from this turn onwards are very powerful, but as the deck struggles to empty its hand anyway, you should not be afraid to use them suboptimally. This is not true for The Black Knight which should be saved for the late-game at all costs.

On Turn 7, you should be aware that you are usually going to play Shadow Word: Horror on the following turn. With that in mind, you should not play any 1 or 2 Attack minions, and you should trade away the ones that you have in play.

Turn Eight

Turn Eight as Priest is one of the easiest Turn Eights in all of The Lich King encounters as Shadow Word: Horror takes care of all of the opposing minions. You should be aware going into the turn of which minions, if any, The Lich King will get back when you remove the Souls and plan your removal accordingly.

Late Game

Gaining control of the game through Book Wyrm, Obsidian Statue, The Black Knight, and Mind Control is relatively easy. The problem is that none of these cards kill The Lich King particularly quickly, and the clock is ticking thanks to Remorseless Winter. This is where having Acolyte of Agony held back is of great use. As soon as you can get the Acolyte down behind a Taunt, or on an empty board, you will be able to negate large chunks of Remorseless Winter's effect. Obsidian Statue is amazing in this role as well, but is a prime target for The Lich King's Obliterate.

You should also find that you always have plenty of cards in hand. The temptation is to keep playing for card advantage, but from about Turn 11 onwards, you should often prioritise healing your own face every turn. You will usually have full control of the game, and so not dying to The Lich King's Hero Power is the main issue to contend with.

If you still have any Shadow Visions remaining, this can be used to grab a second copy of either Greater Healing Potion, Mind Control, or Dragonfire Potion depending on what you have left, and what you need. You should also be aware that your second Shadow Word: Horror is not useless, but is good for clearing up the first wide board that The Lich King tries to make. If he establishes a board, it can sometimes be difficult to clear up after an Anti-Magic Shell.

In general, Mind Control should be used on the first minion that The Lich King manages to use his Bonemare on.

Changelog