Thief Rogue Deck - Fractured in Alterac Valley

Thief Rogue Deck Mulligan Guide

Thief Rogue relies on certain minions that benefit from owning other class's cards in order to generate tempo. It is important to look for these key cards in your opening hand to play to the deck's strengths.

• General Mulligan (keep regardless of what your opponent is playing) — Double Agent, Wildpaw Gnoll, Coldtooth Yeti.
• Mulligan against Aggro (also keep if you think you are playing against an aggressive deck) — Brain Freeze.
• Mulligan against Control (also keep if you think you are playing against a slow deck) — Cera'thine Fleetrunner.

Thief Rogue Deck Strategy

During the early game, you will be disguised as another class thanks to Maestra of the Masquerade, which will give you the element of suprise against your opponent. Additionally, as you are technically another class during this time, each Rogue card you draw will count towards discounting your Wildpaw Gnoll and your Double Agents will also be active until you reveal yourself by playing a Rogue card. With this in mind, it is often good to skip Turn 1 and only play on Turn 2 if you have Reconnaissance or can Coin out a Double Agent.

Going into Turn 3, you should be looking to have either a Double Agent in play, or combo out a Coldtooth Yeti using Preparation or Foxy Fraud. With this tempo, you should be in a good position to fight for control of the board, which can be supported by Wildpaw Gnoll, Prize Plunderer, and Brain Freeze as needed.

From Turn 5 onward you should look for opportunities to play Cera'thine Fleetrunner. While the results of the card may vary, the fact all minions generated are discounted by 2 means they will nearly always offer excellent tempo. Following the use of Cera'thine, you can start your turns with a Secret Passage unless you have a strong play already lined up. This will allow you to get out 2-4 solid minions from other classes into play to really pump up the tempo, without diminishing your hand size.

Throughout the game, you should try to keep track of cards you have ever played from other classes to the best of your ability, to plan your usage of Contraband Stash. While the card is nearly always excellent to play, knowing you have that nice taunt from Tirion Fordring or board clear from Flamestrike can be clutch when you're in a tight spot. With this in mind, it can sometimes be worth holding back on cards that are practically useless, such as Arcane Brilliance, to ensure they do not take the place of your more powerful cards when palynig Contraband Stash.

To close out games, you will nearly always win by pure tempo. While your opponent may stop your initial push, the ability to instantly repopulate the board with Contraband Stash alongside the strong draw potential of Secret Passage and Swindle means that you will never slow down throughout the game.

Against Aggro, your early-game tempo is essential to ensuring you do not get overwhelmed. Wildpaw Gnoll in particular is excellent at helping to maintain control of the board. You should also priortise removal cards, healing, and Taunt minions from the Discover effects of Wand Thief and Reconnaissance to ensure you do not get caught off-guard by direct damage.

Against Control, you should try to plan your Discover effects and Reconnaissance carefully to ensure you can maximise the value of your cards. Cards like Tirion Fordring and any Prime minions, especially Envoy Rustwix are especially powerful to Discover from Reconnaissance, especially if you are able to bring them into play multiple times with Contraband Stash.

Thief Rogue Deck Card Swaps

• Against Aggro — Add 2x Backstab for 2x Swashburglar for additional early-game removal.

Changelog